Title :Why he won't go out

This is just like my alternate ending...you know how it is.

Spoilers : Weeping Willows

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

Chapter 6

Catherine sat in the driver seat of her vehicle, she placed her trembling hands on the steering wheel but she was far too emotional to drive. She sat back on her seat wondering how things had gone this far, how things had gotten so out of hand but she always came back to the same conclusion. She wanted a social life, she wanted to work, but couldn't have both, so she did what she had to do. She quit. But as she sat inside the Denali shielded from the rain she wished she hadn't and tears streamed down her face.

After sitting for a while longer she tried again to take some kind of action. She let out a deep breath and turned the key in the ignition. As the engine revved she closed her eyes and took another deep breath, now she had to go and face it all, her mother and her daughter.

As she drove down the abandon Las Vegas streets she continuously ignored the vibrating cell phone on the seat beside her. Taking one glance at the screen and decided that no one in their right mind would want to talk to her, especially not him.

Pulling into her driveway she noticed the matching blue Denali on the side of the road. Not being thrilled at all that he had come to her home, she hesitated before entering her house.

Stepping inside she slammed the door shut and looked up at the three faces staring back at her.

Her mother didn't even bother to ask what had happened to her " You quit you're job?"

Catherine glared at her as she kicked off her wet shoes. " Don't even mother, I'm not in the mood and I won't be for quite some time so save it, I know you will." With that she sighed, threw her keys on the table by the door and headed toward the bathroom.

Gil stopped her as she headed past him and refused to make any contact whatsoever.

"That's it?" he took her arm in his hand. " You have nothing to say?"

Catherine ripped away from him " Don't you touch me!" she snapped "Why the hell are you even here?"

Gil shook his head " I can't believe you, you drop a bombshell on us at the lab and you quit, then you disappear without any word to anyone, do you know how worried we were? How worried Lindsey was?"

Catherine looked over at her daughter who still had tears in her eyes as she sat on the bottom step watching her."Lindsey I'm.."

Lindsey stood up" You quit you're job?"

Catherine stepped forward ' Sweetie, I didn't want you to find out like this but."

Lindsey didn't wait for a response, she just turned and stormed off to her room.

Catherine turned back to Gil in time to see her mother grab her things and leave the house. " Great, you happy know, you manage to screw up what little decent home life I had left, you must be so proud, you want a certificate you can frame it and hang it in your office."

Gil raised his eyebrow " You're blaming me? I'm not the one who quit my job and decided to take off for a few hours and not tell anyone where to find you, not let anyone know that you're okay, jeez Cath what's going on with you?"

"Nothing! Nothing is wrong with me, I'm fine, it's you, you have this problem where you get involved with things that don't have anything to do with you, Like now for example. I'm home and yet you're still here, probing me on the oh so secret life that I don't even have."

"I'm not probing you it was a simple question, you're not yourself lately , your so.. you've changed, there I said it, and you can't deny it, Cath I'm worried about you!"

"Well don't be" she snapped back " I'm not a baby, you're not my father," she paused "You're not my friend,"

"Since when?" he whispered trying to mask the hurt he as feeling.

"I lost you a long time ago, you were never there when I just needed to ..." she stopped herself " Why are we even talking about this? Just go home Gil. I can't do this now"

"Well I want to!" he raised his voice stopping her in her tracks " We are going to talk about this, you can't just wake up one day and decided you don't need your best friend anymore, you just can't do that to a person!"

Catherine shrugged " I didn't think you cared, you didn't care last week when the lab's reputation was on the line! Not about me anyway. Other wise you would have know, and you wouldn't have been such a selfish jerk about the whole thing."

"About what whole thing?" he replied "About the fact that you picked up a complete stranger at a bar, who wouldn't have had a second thought about taking what he wanted from you? About the fact that he became a potential suspect in a double murder case? And the fact that you tried to hide it?" he paused " From me?"

"I don't see what it had to do with you, my wanting to tell you was like a courtesy. My life is my business, I don't probe you and judge you about the things you do or don't do with your life, like Lady heather..or Terri..or Sara!"

"What do any of those women have to do with it? And a courtesy what the hell does that even mean. I only stepped in because I was..am worried, you're not acting like the Catherine I know and love, you're acting like this.." he stammered " Like a .."

"A whore, A slut.. What? Did Ecklie tell you to come here and lay it out for me? Did he tell you to come here, to tell me what a slut I am what an embarrassment to the lab I've been?"

"No!" he replied "And where are you getting that from. I came here because I care about you, you're my best friend, I came here because I don't want to lose you, I came here because it occurred to me the moment I found out he was a suspect that I could have lost you! You could have died, he could have been the killer and one of those women that were killed could have been you."

Catherine glared at him but didn't say anything

"It hurt me to have to stand there next to you and listen to the things he was saying, he didn't know you and he was making all these assumptions and judgments. And then I see the scratch on your face and I know you say he didn't do it but, whether he did or he didn't you got it because he was a jerk, not because I'm the jerk." he sighed "Whatever, I'm sorry I came here, I had no right after the way I treated you, I'm sorry, Lindsey called me and she was worried...I...,"

Gil stopped in mid phrase and waited for a reply, When she retreated to making no contact like she had when she first arrived he gave up.

Without another word he walked out into the rain.

tbc