Catherine stared at her, awestruck. It wasn't exactly the reaction Jackie hoped for, but she figured the girl sitting between them had something to do with it. Maybe surprising her on campus wasn't the best idea.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. I can come back" she said, grabbing the door.

"Jackie." Catherine finally spoke. "What a surprise," she said professionally. "Adrienne, do you mind if we pick this up after lunch?"

"Yeah, no problem."

"No," Jackie waved her hand. "Don't let me disturb you."

"I could use a break, I'm getting pretty hungry" the girl smiled. She collapsed the binder that was resting on her lap and picked up her book bag. Jackie couldn't help but notice how comfortable she looked in Catherine's office. As she passed by her on the way out she flashed Jackie a smile before closing the door behind her.

Jackie leaned back and held her ear against it for a moment until she could no longer hear her footsteps. "I think we're safe."

"What are you doing here?" Catherine's voice finally softened as she came out from behind her desk.

"They surprised me with a few days off so I decided to surprise you." Jackie responded, as they met in front of her desk. Catherine threw her arms around her shoulders and Jackie squeezed her tightly.

"Is this okay? I hope I didn't just interrupt something important. I know you're busy."

Catherine leaned back to look her in the eyes, "Are you kidding me? This is more than okay." She said before hugging her again. "Oh," She sighed as she squeezed her harder. "I missed you so much girl."

Jackie smiled to herself.

Their grip softened and Catherine held her face in her hands, kissing her on the lips before returning to the other side of the desk. "Hungry?"

"Starving."

"Let me clean this is up real quick then we can get out of here."

"So who was that?" Jackie asked as she watched Catherine shuffling through the papers on her desk.

"Who was who?"

"The girl that was just in here."

"Adrienne? She's my T.A."

"Your T.A.? Since when do you have a T.A.?"

"Since this semester. I told you about her."

"No you didn't."

"Oh. Well that's Adrienne."

Jackie wasn't sure if Catherine was doing it intentionally, but she hadn't made eye contact with her since bringing her up. A dull ache slowly grew in the pit of her stomach.

"She seems nice."

"Yeah, she's been a big help."

"Is she a grad student?"

"Uh, yep."

Catherine looked up at her, but only after changing the subject. "So what are you in the mood for? I've got a couple hours to spare."

"You choose." Jackie replied, suddenly not having much of an appetite.

"Come on..." Catherine said as she grabbed her purse and came back around the desk. "You're in town, I want you to choose. What do you miss the most? What do you get a craving for over there?"

Jackie smirked as she pulled Catherine close to her. "You."

Catherine's mouth broadened close to hers before distancing their bodies with her hand. "Not here. But later..." She smiled, as she touched the tip of Jackie's nose playfully.

"Actually, I do know a place we can go to."

Catherine expressed her wariness when they pulled up to a restaurant.

"It's safe, some of the cast told me about it."

They slid into a tall booth giving them plenty of privacy but when Jackie grabbed Catherine's hand, she quickly withdrew it.

"No one can see," she insisted as she looked around to show her.

Catherine looked around for herself and Jackie took her hands again, but she pulled them in once more. "Jackie, please." She insisted.

"Okay, okay." Jackie tried not to read too much into it, she knew how Catherine was in public. "So how was San Diego? I feel like I'm so out of the loop on what's been going on."

"Maybe if you would pick up your phone once in a while..." Catherine teased, as she bit her straw.

"I know, I'm sorry. Things have been so crazy, but that's why I came. Doesn't this make up for it?"

Catherine flashed her a sarcastic irritated look.

"Isn't seeing this face in person so much better?" She placed her fists on her cheeks and grinned.

Catherine scrunched her nose and shook her head no.

"You're a jerk," she laughed. "So how was San Diego?"

"It was good."

"That's all you're going to give me? It was good?"

"It was a nice break in the routine, also really beneficial. What about you, how's the movie?"

"Exhausting. Half way done though!"

"Ugh, it's going too fast." Catherine teased. "So what happens next"

"Well, ADR work back in L.A. then hopefully enroll back in school until the promotional tour begins."

"ADR?"

"Automatic Dialog Replacement. Voice over work. Basically I watch the movie and input my voice where needed if it wasn't captured well enough during filming."

"Sounds tedious."

"It is."

As they ate, Jackie couldn't help but bring up Adrienne again. "Adrienne's cute."

"Is she?" Catherine didn't look up from her salad.

"You don't think?"

She stabbed the lettuce with her fork as she shrugged her shoulders. "I haven't really had time to notice."

"How long has she been with you?"

"Couple of weeks?"

"What's her major?"

Catherine took a sip from her water. "What's with the twenty questions?" She laughed.

"Just trying to catch up."

"Do we really want to waste the few days we have talking about work?"

"Can't I just hang out in your office the rest of the day, I promise I won't make a peep." Jackie plead as they sat outside Catherine's house after lunch.

"I will never be able to get anything done with you there" Catherine laughed, leaning over and grabbing Jackie's shirt to bring her closer. "I'll be back as soon as I can" she said, kissing her.

Jackie stood on the curb and waved as she watched Catherine drive down the street.

"So who was that?" Adrienne asked when Catherine met back up with her in the office.

"You didn't know who that was?"

"Should I?" She asked confused.

"Jacqueline Kirk?"

"Not ringing a bell."

"She's an actress."

"Oh, really? What's she been in?"

"Neptune 26."

"Eh, not really my thing."

"Yeah, it's kind of a kid's show." Catherine couldn't believe she just said that. She immediately felt guilty for cheapening Jackie's work.

"So how do you know her?"

"Well, she goes here, but I know her from back home."

"From Indiana?"

"Yes, it's a long story, we should get back to work."

"Don't go," Jackie plead the next morning as Catherine got out of bed.

"You know I have to."

"Can you come home for lunch?"

"I'm afraid not, I have a meeting."

"You're killing me."

"I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you tonight." Catherine said as she threw her arms around Jackie's neck as she was seated on the bed.

"Promise?" Jackie said as she looked up.

"Pinky Promise." Catherine bent down and kissed her.

Jackie was going stir crazy hanging out at Catherine's all day. It was nice getting rest but she hated how much time was being wasted not being with Catherine. It was such a tease being in her home without her. She decided if Catherine couldn't come to her, then she was going to go to her. She raided her refrigerator and made them a picnic lunch, she figured Catherine would at least be able to slip in a quick bite to eat.

When the cab dropped her off on campus, she panicked when someone called her name.

"Jacks!"

She was relieved to see it was just Hannah.

"Hannah!"

"What are you doing here?!"

"They gave me a few days off."

"So you came to school? Oh." Hannah smirked, suddenly realizing why.

Jackie smiled sheepishly.

"Well I won't keep you" she said, looking down at the basket. "If you have any spare time, I'd love to catch up."

"Yeah, yeah of course! I'll call you."

Hannah gave her a big hug before heading off in the other direction.

Jackie pressed her ear against Catherine's door but didn't hear anything. She took a chance and tried opening the door, to her surprise it was open. When she stepped inside it wasn't Catherine who greeted her, it was Adrienne.

"Oh I'm sorry, I thought Catherine was in here."

"She's in a meeting." Adrienne was sitting in Catherine's chair which irked her. "She didn't tell you?"

The way she said it, further irked Jackie. "Yeah, I just thought she could use a quick bite to eat, I know she's slammed today."

"Oh, uh, we already ate" she said, eyeing Jackie's lunch condescendingly.

"That's alright. I'll just leave this here."

"Okay, I'll let her know you stopped by."

Jackie stood there staring at her, probably for a little too long. "I'm Jacqueline Kirk" she said, reaching her hand out to her. "I didn't catch your name before." She knew it was childish, but she wanted to belittle Adrienne.

"I know, Catherine told me."

Catherine? She was calling her Catherine? The pit of Jackie's stomach now felt as if it were engulfed in flames.

"I'm Adrienne."

"That's right, her new T.A. So how have the last two weeks been? Crazy?"

"Two weeks?" Adrienne asked confused. "You mean our trip to San Diego?"

Jackie felt as embarrassed as she did angry. Clearly Adrienne had been around for more than "a couple of weeks," and she went to San Diego with her. Catherine had told her it was just her and Leslie.

"Yeah, how was it."

"It was a blast."

"That's great." Jackie forced out. "Well I better be heading out. Nice to meet you."

Jackie stormed down the halls, her entire body engulfed with rage. She turned the corner and ran straight into Catherine.

"Jackie, what are you doing here?" She asked, confused.

She tried to gather her composure, not knowing where to start.

"Are you okay?" Catherine asked, examining her.

"Can we go somewhere?"

"Jackie, I'm really busy-"

"Please."

Catherine looked at her concerned, "Yeah, of course." Her voice softened. "Come down to my office."

"Adrienne's there."

"Oh, well..." Catherine looked around, "Come on." She took her to one of their places. One of their special places. The equipment room that only Professors had access to. Catherine shut the door and looked at her. "What's wrong?"

Jackie just stood there, trying to keep the tears at bay. She was feeling every type of emotion possible and couldn't decipher which she felt the strongest. She wanted to say so much, and didn't want to say anything at all. She didn't want anything that was happening, or had happened, to be real. She wanted things to go back to how they were before she left. Before she felt like a stranger in Catherine's office. Before some new girl was sitting in Catherine's chair. She wanted to be back in Catherine's chair, kissing her for that first time again.

"Jackie?" Catherine interrupted her clustered thoughts. "What is it?"

Jackie went towards her and kissed her hard, knocking her into the wall. "What are you doing?"

But she didn't answer, she just kept at it. Needing to be with her, needing that connection again, needing to erase whatever happened.

"Stop it!" Catherine tried pushing her away. "Jackie, stop it!" She finally grabbed her wrists and forced her off her. "What is wrong with you?"

"Do I not do it for you anymore?" She snapped.

"What is going on?" Catherine asked bewildered.

"Nothing," she shook her head as she opened the door.

"Jackie" Catherine called after her, but she stormed out of the building.