A/N: Here it comes, the dreaded chapter six. *drumming*

# 100 Ways to Say I'm Sorry - Chapter 6 #

"Is he in?" I hear her distant voice from the bullpen and my head jerks up. I can see her talking to Ginger through the half-closed blinds. Ginger says something to her that makes her glance at my direction with a frown.

I don't know how long I've sat there but in some point she's ended the briefing. Now she's approaching the office. I watch her as she moves closer. She doesn't stop to knock, just walks straight in and stops to stand in front of the desk. "Is everything okay, Toby?" she asks softly.

I'm still leaning against my knees with my elbows. It's difficult to look at her in that position, so I straighten up with a long sigh.

"Toby?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you alright?"

When I don't answer, she starts moving; first to close the door and then to walk to me. She settles herself on the edge of the desk, two inches from me. Her hand reaches to brush my cheek and stays there. The touch makes me sigh again. I push the hand aside. "Don't."

She looks as if I just slapped her on the face. I turn to stare at my hands. "I'm fine." Fine? Sure, why not.

Her hands start moving, her thumb points at the closed door. "Ginger said something about --"

"It was fun."

She stops speaking in mid-sentence with her thumb still pointing. "What?" she mouths with a confused look on her face.

"The..." I can't stand to look at her, so I move my eyes as far away from her as possible, let them wander anywhere around the room as long as it's not her. "Last month. Us." My mouth suddenly feels dry again.

The room is dead quiet for a long time.

"Was?" she whispers.

Breathe, I tell myself. Just keep breathing.

"It... It was fun, but I don't think... I think we'd better leave it be."

"Fun?" Her voice cracks slightly. It makes me flinch.

Time to put on the masks. "We can't do this anymore. We've had our fun but now... It's better that we stop it before someone makes wrong conclusions."

Her hand slaps me. She doesn't say anything as she rises up and walks out of the room. The memory of her hand stays to burn my cheek, though.

Breathe. In and out. In and out. Keep breathing...

I don't know when my head started hurting, but the pain is now throbbing my temples.

TBC...

In the coming chapters: Who will kick Leo's ass to the moon? Will CJ ever find out the truth? Does Toby manage to get as drunk as humanly possible? Stay tuned.