The door buzzer rings at three in the morning. Nathaniel's first thought is that something is wrong. Nobody shows up here without calling, least of all in the middle of the night. His mind immediately turns to Amber. Has something happened to her? Is it one of the guys from down the station, come to tell him the bad news?

Nathaniel undoes the latch, his heart in his mouth all the while, and finds Eric in the corridor with a suitcase in either hand.

"Melissa and I split up," he says before Nathaniel can even question why he's there. Nathaniel quickly ushers him inside before Blanche can run out into the darkness and directs him to the sofa.

Nathaniel takes a seat across from him and waits for him to say something, but Eric stares at the floor, his mind clearly elsewhere. Nathaniel palms nervously at the back of his neck, taking his time to choose his words. "I know you two were having problems, but damn, was it about having a baby or-?"

"No," Eric quickly replies, cutting Nathaniel off. "Well, yes, partly. I think I realised that I didn't want a baby because I didn't want to be tied to Melissa for the rest of our lives."

Nathaniel says nothing, but the surprise on his face says enough and Eric catches it immediately. "Don't get me wrong, I'll always love Melissa, but I don't see a future with her. I don't want my future to be with her. "

Nathaniel rises from his seat and moves towards the kitchenette. "Will I put on some coffee while we talk or do you want me to make you a bed on the couch?" He says as he fills the kettle anyway, with Eric, asking is a mere formality. "I'm sorry I don't have a spare room for you."

Eric shakes his head and follows Nathaniel into the kitchenette. He hits the switch for the kettle, turning it back off. "Nathaniel, I didn't come here because I needed a place to stay. I could've gotten a hotel room if I just needed somewhere to sleep."

Nathaniel's heart begins to pound. Day in and day out he hunts down some of the country's worst criminals but it's a conversation with his colleague that makes his heart race. Nathaniel clears his throat and turns his back on Eric. He begins putting away the mugs he just got out simply to avoid looking his partner in the eye. "So what? You came over just to tell me you split up? You could've done that at work."

Eric catches Nathaniel by the wrist and turns him towards him. "Don't play dumb with me. You know why I'm here, you know you're the reason I can't be with her."

Nathaniel wants to back away but there's no room for him to move. He shrinks against the cabinets behind him anyway, trying to get as far away as he can, even if it's an only an inch. "Don't. It's was years ago, you have to forget about it."

"I can't," Eric replies as he catches Nathaniel's hand again, this time rubbing circles in the back of his wrist with his thumb. "Don't tell you've moved on either."

Nathaniel shakes his head and his voice comes out more frantic and desperate than he meant for it to sound. "I was in hiding, I was lonely and confused. It didn't mean anything."

Eric leans in towards Nathaniel, slowly as if to give Nathaniel a chance to pull away, but he doesn't take it. He kisses Nathaniel gently on the lips, testing the waters, and finds no resistance. Eric lets it go on only as long as he needs to make his point. It's Eric, not Nathaniel, who pulls away first. "Now tell me that didn't mean anything."