After he has regained a little bit of his composure, his eyes land on the discarded bag in the sand. Jim carefully lifts the bag and thinks about what he should do now. Judging from the contents, Luna wouldn't necessarily miss all the toys, but he now had an excuse to go to Molly's or, if he was honest, Chris' house today.
Slowly he walked down the path that led to the apartment building of the two. Somewhere he had hoped to see Chris sitting somewhere. But he should probably not have so much luck today.
In his head, Street also tries to find the point at which the situation escalated. What should he have done differently? Deep inside, he also knows that it was unfair to blame Chris. It had been an incredible opportunity for her to do the training in Germany. And yet, that little spot in his heart was still hit and lonely.
Deep in thought by now, he has arrived in front of the building and stands in front of the doorbells. His eyes are glued to the two signs that are so familiar and yet foreign to him at the same time.
Street casts a glance over his shoulder to the back of the park. The scenery today is peaceful but in his mind's eye is that moment again when he first saw Chris again. Unexpected and unwanted and right now he wants nothing more than for her to show up at the end of the path. But no such luck. So he presses her doorbell and waits.
After several minutes with no response, Jim looks up at the sky almost in despair. Had she seen him on the screen and decided she didn't want to see him? Was he supposed to leave? But then Street remembers the bag he is still carrying and he presses Molly's doorbell. He immediately holds the bag a bit higher so she knows he's here to drop something off.
Molly wonders a bit who is at her door today, on a Saturday, but maybe it's a delivery. She puts the documents neatly stacked back on the table and goes to the door system. When she sees Jim's face on the screen and recognizes the bag with Luna's things, she suspects something terrible. And where was Chris?
She presses the door opener and opens her apartment door before reaching for her phone and dialing Chris' number. She's a little worried about her friend.
Chris picks up after only the second ring and Molly can hear in her voice that she's just playing the cheerfulness.
"Hey, don't panic we're on our way home."
"Are you guys still far away?" Molly asks cautiously, also glancing down the hall to see if Jim is up yet. When Chris answers, Molly sees him coming around the corner.
"No, we'll be right down in the park. Why don't we find a shady spot and still enjoy the pleasant temperatures?"
Molly puckers her mouth for a moment and holds up a finger to Jim that he should wait a minute.
"Okay, I'll put Luna's stuff away and then come down with something small to eat. Agreed?"
The slightly horrified exhale on the other end of the line and in her doorway doesn't bode well.
"Can you just tell him there's no point anymore today. I..." still Chris stammers out and Molly hurries to interrupt her. "I'll do what I can. I'll be right with you."
After hanging up, Molly turns her gaze to Street, who is standing in the doorway, a little embarrassed. She takes another deep breath.
"I guess you can guess what Chris just said. I really don't know why, but she doesn't want to see you anymore today. Thanks for dropping off Luna's stuff, but now you should go." Jim hears the distance in Molly's voice and is a little irritated by it. They had gotten along pretty well during his time here on duty, after all. He briefly considers whether to bring this up, but when he sees Molly's posture and facial expression he knows he'd better leave now. "Can you tell her I'm sorry? It wasn't planned that way," he mumbles softly and after Molly nods silently Jim leaves.
Outside in the green area, he sees Chris sitting on a bench and she turns away demonstratively when he steps out of the door. So he has no choice but to try again in the coming days. And now he had to find a way to stop the merry-go-round in his head.
Molly takes two wraps and water from the fridge before she goes downstairs as well. A thousand thoughts are racing in her head as well, and when she sees Chris sitting on the bench almost absorbed in herself and how Luna rests her head on her knees, Molly sighs.
"Hey," she says softly and sits down next to Chris. Chris looks up and picks up a bottle of water and the wrap, silently unwrapping the paper. Molly provides Luna with some more water briefly and then turns her attention back to her friend. "He said he was sorry." Molly starts carefully but stops immediately when she notices that Chris is shaking.
Molly takes Chris in her arms. "What happened? You guys, you wanted to talk, right? Did you guys fight?" Chris shakes her head.
"Not really. I - " she takes another deep breath. "I don't know if I can really tell you that. I just..."
Molly puts a hand on Chris's nervously twitching leg.
"Chris, after everything you've told me the last few days, what else is there to come?" she tries to punctuate it with a bit of humor but the exasperated look on Chris' face silences Molly again.
"I, he, we..." Chris' mind is on a roller coaster and her emotional chaos isn't helping her sort out the sentence right now. How can she say this right now?
"I asked about last year, why he left. We blamed each other and I had to leave. He stopped me and - " Chris swallows again and looks wide-eyed into Molly's understanding face. "I don't know exactly how or what happened but we kissed and then I just had to leave. That's why I had lost Luna's things." Chris lowers her gaze. She can't look at Molly now. It feels a little like she's betrayed and disappointed her friend again.
But Molly manages to push her own shock aside and pulls Chris back into her arms. "Everything's going to be fine. Maybe you guys will talk about everything again over dinner. And Chris, please don't forbid yourself to have feelings."
Chris shakes her head and sits up a little straighter.
"No, I need distance again now. That was just... I shouldn't have let it happen. We can't..." Molly reaches for Chris's hands making sweeping motions and waits until Chris looks her straight in the eye.
"Chris what exactly is the problem?" she waits a moment and when Chris looks down once briefly and then back into her eyes with an apologetic expression Molly adds. "I don't count here. So?"
"We just have to admit to ourselves that it can't work. Too much has happened and I don't know if I can trust him again." Chris's voice is almost inaudible she gets so quiet at the end, playing with the label on her water bottle.
"Okay, I understand. But if you don't talk to each other nothing is going to change about this situation. I really think he wants to work this out between you guys. You've always been such good friends." Molly's voice remains careful and calm. She would love to call Jim right now and confront him.
The woman in front of her had nothing at all to do with the tough cop she knew. Since Jim Street was back in LA permanently, he had not only messed up their friendship but apparently Chris's self-confidence as well. Luna had also realized that Chris needed more attention now and was even trying to climb on the bench, to the amusement of both women.
"Hey, you're too big unfortunately but we'll come down to you okay?" Chris talks in a soft voice to the cuddly Labrador and Molly has to smile.
"She can stay with you today too if you like."
No sooner said than done, the dog would spend the rest of the day with Chris and Molly could work in peace. However, as Molly stands alone in her apartment, she pulls out her phone again.
But before she types a message, she lets the phone slide back onto the table. No, she would not interfere any further. The two of them would have to sort that out on their own. And besides, what was she supposed to say to Jim anyway?