Chris wiped her face and shook her head slightly. "I'm not trying to. Please understand that. I'm just scared because I want you to know all of me, no walls, no barriers. I don't want to have secrets or things we don't know about each other."
He nodded and smiled at her. "Okay, I respect that, and I appreciate that. You haven't scared me off yet." He laughed.
"Oh, okay there you." She laughed back as he managed to lighten the air. Chris knew he needed to get on the road though. If he didn't leave soon, he would be home late and rushed to be ready for work tomorrow. She also knew that time was ticking, and she needed to get back for her shift at HQ. "As much as I hate this, you have to go, don't you?" She said slowly raising her eyes to his,
"Yeah, I mean, I better. But hey, I don't want to, I know you gotta work and I have a few hours to drive, so..." he reached out and held her in his arms.
"I'm really gunna miss you." She answered squeezing him slightly and burying her face into him.
"Me too Chris, me too." He whispered inhaling her scent.
"Have a safe shift. Call me afterwards?" He asked looking at her. Suddenly her thoughts went to Street. How she had arranged to meet up with him and talk. Shit, she should probably tell him that… but without the whole picture he might jump to the wrong conclusion... and… "Chris? You still with me there?" He asked watching her.
"Yeah, sorry, I ah, made plans to help Street with something after shift today actually… and now…"
"Oh," Jared said looking down. "Well, I..."
"After what I just said I know your probably trying not to think the worst. But trust me Jared, I just need to help him with an issue and that's it. Nothing crazy." Chris said. While she still didn't fully know what was going on with Street, she assumed he and Molly had had a fight and he wanted advice on how to fix it.
Jared inhaled and nodded. "I trust you Chris. You said he is your friend, and that other stuff is in the past for both of you. It's okay." Chris still felt like it upset him though.
She flattened her lips and took both of his hands. "I can cancel and stay in and call you though." She began.
"No, Chris. You can't ditch your friends and life here just for me."
"If I want to I can," she grinned. He couldn't help but laugh back.
"No, hey, relax. It is honestly okay. How about you call me after your done helping him?"
"Okay," she smiled I can do that.
"We can maybe lay in our own beds and talk till one of us falls asleep." He said eyeing her.
"Mmm, sounds... intimate." Chris laughed nudging him.
"No," he chuckled, "No funny business, you know I am not rushing that. I just want to find ways to feel close with you despite the distance."
"Okay, deal." She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him hard. "See you soon," she smiled hopefully as he climbed into his truck.
"Sooner the better." He winked as he started the engine.
As Chris drove back towards HQ watching the time, all she could think about was how much it hurt watching Jared drive away. 'Come on girl,' she whispered to herself. 'Get it together. He is just a guy, you won't die.' She chuckled at herself for being this pathetic. But at the same time, she knew how nice it felt to have someone who made her feel like this, made her feel special and wanted her. He was suddenly important to her.
That though made her grimace a fraction. Those words instantly switched her brain to Street. She swallowed hard. She was worried about him. She felt bad for brushing him off the last few days, but she told herself. 'He has Molly, whatever their fight was about I am sure it will all work itself out, and anyways I have a right to be happy too."
The traffic along the interstate was backed up and Chris knew she would be cutting it close to make it on time.
Walking into the locker room 5 minutes late she kept her eyes down and just smiled lightly with "Hi's" to the guys.
"Sorry Boss, won't happen again." She said quietly to Hondo as he watched her. He knew something was up with her. He glanced to Deacon who also wore a worried frown and nodded slightly, inferring he would check it out. Chris being late was not normal at all.
As she sat down and undid her sneakers, she felt Street kind of watching her. She didn't want to look at him right now. She was dreading having to talk to him later.
As Deacon and Hondo headed out not long after, Tan slid down next to her and grinned at her. She eyed him sideways and let out a "What?" a little defensively as he grinned.
"So um, we all wanna know, who um, who was your friend on scene today?" He chuckled. Luca turned around and laughed as Street shook his head.
"Oh, leave her alone Tan." Luca laughed, "If she wants us to know she will…." But before he could finish Deacon opened the door.
"Let's roll, we have a case."
Soon they were all listening to the briefing from Lynch about a string of shootings in South LA. Hondo divided them up with leads to chase down and to Chris's annoyance he paired her with Deacon. Chris knew Deacon would not pry or gossip, but he was scary good at knowing when things were off, and she knew he would pick up on her nerves about all of this with Street and Jared. So, she did her best to focus on the job and not think about them.
As she walked back downstairs to find some files, she met Rogers near the gym. "Hey, you're heading home?" Chris asked her.
"Yeah, big shift. Thanks for your help out there today. You were great with um, Lilly." Erika said with a smile. Chris nodded and smiled back.
"Thanks."
"Hey," Erika said tapping her arm. "You seem a bit flat? You, okay?"
"Yeah, I'm good." Chris tried.
"Okay, nope, spill," Erika said tugging her arm and stepping into a niche in the wall.
Chris sighed heavily. "Jared left." She whispered.
Erika's eyes widen. "Left as in went home or left as in ended it?"
"No" Chris laughed, "he had to go back to Las Vegas."
"Oh god," Erika said with a hand on her chest catching her breath. "You scared me then. Why this mopey sad Chris then? You miss him? Longing for his loving already?" She laughed flicking Chris's arm.
"I just, I dunno," She shook her head. "Yes I miss him, bad, but Tan has already started asking questions and I promised Street I would meet up with him to help him with..."
"Oh, Street was asking a lot of questions after you left the scene." Erika interrupted.
"Great!" Chris sighed.
"Hey, I didn't say anything. I played dumb."
"Thanks" Chris smiled. "I'll work it all out, I just have to go get this done and get back to Deac."
"Okay, go, here if you need a shoulder." Erika grinned.
Shift had ended 45 minutes ago. She had left before him, simply saying, "See you soon," as she left the locker room. He nodded and gave her a small smile. Maybe a nervous smile, she wondered, or maybe a worried smile. "Why on Earth would he be nervous though or worried? I am not the enemy here," she asked herself as she stirred the pasta sauce through and checked the garlic bread.
Soon his knocking on the door had her calling "Come in, it's open." He inhaled and hesitated slightly before opening the door. He wasn't sure how this was going to play out. What would Chris think if he opened up about it all? He had planned to, but after seeing her with this guy today, he wasn't sure. Was she dating someone? How come she hadn't told him? Was she that mad at him? Would what he had to say be an issue for them moving forward now?
"Hey," she smiled as she looked up from the counter.
"Hi, that um, smells great!" He offered a little nervous.
"It's just a pasta and sauce reheat from the deli…. I can't take the credit." She said without looking up as she spooned it into bowls and pulled the garlic bread from the oven.
"Well, I am suddenly starving." He said, moving to sit opposite her at the counter.
She continued to get it all served as he watched her move about. His gaze on her was making her uneasy and she was beginning to feel tense. She stood up from the cupboard and looked at him.
"What?" He said looking back at her.
"Are you gunna talk or is this just gunna get weird?" She smirked a bit looking away.
"I um, okay." He said. "I am not sure what to tell you first here though or ask for that matter?"
'Ask' she whispered to herself. 'Shit' he wants to know about Jared. She knew she couldn't hide it forever. She knew she would have to cough up and tell him she had started dating someone.
"Ask?" She said eyeing him and tilting her head, "What do you want to ask?" She wore a slight smirk, thinking she would make him work for it a bit.
He let out a breath and licked his lip, "Well, you can probably guess there was a lot of talk about you and the guy from the mission today. You obviously "knew" him." He said holding up his fingers.
"Yes," She said putting down the serving spoon and passing him a bowl.
"Well, how? Who is he?" Street prompted with a laugh. "I mean they all thought I should know being your 'best friend'" he said with fingers up again. "But well, you and I know we haven't been that close lately and I have never seen him before, so?"
Chris swallowed hard and looked at her pasta for a few seconds. This was it. Telling him about a guy she was dating, keen on, wanted something with. She had no idea how he would react.
"His name is Jared." She said slowly, she glanced up at him and watched him for a reaction. "I met him in Virginia last week. He is a cop from Las Vegas."
"So why was he here, in LA this morning?" Street asked watching her.
"He was, ah, in town, visiting."
Street stood nodding for a second in silence. He wanted to ask, "Visiting who?" and get clarification on if she was really dating this guy. Was he here to see her? But, then again, honestly, he didn't want to hear the answer, so he just nodded and took another mouthful of pasta. Could she be dating him? She just said she met him last week. Maybe they are just friends? Street's head was trying it's best to keep him calm but was also going around and around like a carousel.
Chris took a swig of her beer and watched him. She knew she was holding back. But she was scared of how he would feel or react. They had been so distant, then with what happened the other night before Quantico… she just knew talking about her love life would be hard, especially if he was having issues with Molly. Tonight, was meant to be about her helping him, not her bragging about how she had pulled herself out of the rut and found her happy again, when clearly, he wasn't happy. So, Chris decided to change tact and ask him about something.
"Okay, so, the other day when you arrived here. You clearly wanted to talk about something. So, time to start talking. What is up with you? Is it Molly? Cause I have seen how down you've looked lately and like you said we haven't exactly been that close. But I know it's time for me to be your friend again and be there for you and get back to that."
Those last few words felt like a punch to Street's chest. She was just here tonight as his friend, being a shoulder to cry on? He pursed his lips and briefly closed his eyes. He suddenly doubted being ready to tell her anything he planned on.
"Kind of," he mumbled swallowing his food and looking anywhere but at her.
"What does that mean?" She laughed a little. "I can't help if you don't tell me what is happening?"
He sighed and slowly glanced up to her. She was scanning his face and eyeing him, Street knew she was trying to read him, to work out where this was going. He glanced back down and fidgeted with his fingers.
"Okay, well, when you were away in Virginia, I um, I took some time to do some thinking."
"Okay, good?" She said slowly, trying to determine if that was a good thing or not.
He exhaled and stood up from the stool. "I dunno if it's good, right now I dunno what it is." He said as he stepped away to the window. Chris turned on her stool watching him. His hands in his pockets he stood with his back to her and stared into the darkness. She put down her fork and fidgeted with her fingers slightly before trying again.
"Explain to me what happened in your head then. What were you thinking about while I was away.?"
"Everything. If how my life was what I wanted."
"Wow, deep." She chuckled trying to lighten the mood. It worked. He smirked and looked back at her. Even with how strained they had been he couldn't deny she could always still make him smile. Then Chris's face dropped slightly as those last few words replayed in her head.
"Hang on was? How your life was? Why is that past tense?" She said looking up at him.
"Because" he turned around and leant on the wall. "Because I ended it with Molly."