A/N: Thank you all for your comments. I hope you all enjoy chapter 3!! As always reviews and comments keep me motivated to write more!

Mulder looked over at Scully, over his turkey melt and couldn't help but smile. He couldn't believe he was only gone for seven months. Every minute he was apart from her felt like an eternity. He was sure she was going to tell him it had been years when she told him how long he had been missing.

Thinking about Scully had been the one thing that had kept him going. Refusing to be a reason she would be sad was what got him through.

Looking at her he noticed something he hadn't noticed before. He had been so fixated on looking at her face that he hadn't notice the different jewelry she wore around her neck.

"Hey Scully did you get a new necklace?" He asked.

"Yeah, I lost mine a few months ago." Scully said irritated.

"I'm sorry." He said, knowing how meaningful the cross her mother gave her was.

"It's ok." She sighed, "It has to be somewhere in my place. I'm sure it will show up in time."

Scully looked up at the clock on the wall. Finally it was 5 o'clock. She sighed and leaned back. She looked over at Mulder, who seemed to be deep in a file.

Oh, please not a new case tonight, it's Friday night.

"Are you staying late?" Scully asked

"What?" Mulder asked, then saw the time. "Oh... Um... no, well... I want to finish looking this over."

"Need help?"

Mulder smiled at her offer. While he knew she didn't really want to, he knew she would stay if he asked.

"No I won't be long."

"Do you want me to bring over some pizza?" She asked hoping he said yes. She had stopped staying over at his place after he had come back to work, and she missed the time they had shared together.

"How bout I pick up some Chinese on my way and you can just head over to my place?"

"Sure that sounds great." Grateful that he wanted to her to come over as much as she wanted to. "Don't forget the extra egg rolls." She said happily and she gathered up her stuff.

"Do I ever forget your extra egg rolls?" Mulder asked laughing.

"No I guess you don't." Scully smiled. "Ok well I'm gonna head out and I'll see you in a little bit? She asked.

"Yeah I won't be too much longer. I know I can't leave Dana Scully waiting for food for too long." He said remembering the times he had made her wait and found out Scully gets very hangry.

Mulder watched her walk out the door, happy that they had fallen back into their comfortable relationship. He had been thinking for months now that he wanted to talk to her about their feelings, but he was worried about making things awkward.

Maybe tonight I'll find the courage. He thought with a smile and went back to his file.

Skinner glanced over at the clock on the wall.

5:40pm.

Great. She should be gone by now.

He grabbed the small envelope he had shoved into his desk when he got in that morning. He wanted to give it to her, more accurately he wanted her to have it, but he didn't want to see her.

He tried to tell himself he didn't care that she could so easily turn away from him and pretend nothing happened between them. He tried not to think about how she felt in his arms and how light his heart felt when he woke up in bed next to her.

Shaking his head he headed to the elevator. He knew the moment they first kissed he was playing with borrowed time and it could, and did, all stop on a dime. That didn't stop him though, from soaking up every ounce of Scully he could.

As the elevator doors opened on the basement floor he thought about going back up. He thought about keeping it, the last piece of her. He knew that was selfish and unfair but he could feel himself torn. Torn between walking out of the elevator and down the hall, and just pushing the button for the first floor. His hand tightened around the small envelope and just as the doors where about the close he stepped out.

No he couldn't keep it. He wouldn't punish her by keeping it, and he would torture himself by holding on to it. It was his last piece of her, and the last evidence of the time they shared and it was time to let it go.

It was time he let go of his hope of being with her again.

He forced himself down the hallway to their office. As he opened the door, intending on leaving the envelope in her desk, he remembered she doesn't have a desk and there was no way he was just going to leave it on the top of the desk for Mulder to find.

Just as he backed out of the office and decided to mail it to her instead, he heard a voice behind him.

"Hey Skinner. You need something?" Mulder asked walking past him into the room.

Skinner mentally kicked himself. Of course Mulder would be working late when he finally decided to give it back to her.

"Ah. No. I just had something to give Agent Scully." He said absence mindly looking down at the envelope he held in front of him.

"Oh she left already I can give it her when I see her." Mulder said taking the envelope before Skinner could react.

"That's ok I can give it to her some other time." Skinner said panicking and trying to take the envelope back.

"No problem Skin-Man. I'm seeing her in a bit." Mulder said grabbing his jacket and heading to the door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Skinner couldn't move or breathe. In Mulder's hands was pretty damning evidence of his relationship with Scully. He wanted to yank the envelope back, but he knew that would be even more suspicious.

Maybe Mulder will respect Scully's privacy and not open it. He thought and hoped as he headed to the elevator. Maybe this won't all blow up in my face.

Scully and Mulder sat on his couch with the remaining Chinese food on the coffee table in front of them.

"Scully you still have some egg rolls there." Mulder said smiling at her.

Scully groaned. "No, no more food."

Mulder laughed at her. "Nother beer?" he asked getting up.

"Yeah, thanks."

As Mulder grabbed the beers he saw his discarded jacket and remembered the envelope Skinner had wanted to give Scully. He thought about how awkward Skinner had seemed when he had taken it, and couldn't help but wonder what was in the small envelope.

Walking over he grabbed the envelope and headed back to the living room.

Setting down the beers he started to open the envelope for her. "Hey I forgot, Skin-Man wanted to given this to you but you had already left." He said not looking at her.

Scully could feel her heart drop to her stomach as she watch Mulder open the small envelope. She started to reach for it, but Mulder had already opened it and poured the contents into his palm.

The only sound in the room came from the TV and the sound of their breathing.

Mulder stared at the thin gold chain and small cross that he had seen countless times before. His mind tried to connect the dots and figure out how Skinner had managed to come by Scully's favorite necklace. He kept coming back to one possibility, but he knew that it was rediculous.

Scully stared at the small chain and couldn't move. Maybe she could come up with some explanation of why Skinner could have had it.

You already told him you lost it. Idiot.

"So. I guess you didn't loose it in your place?" Mulder half said, half asked.

Scully didnt know what to say. She didn't want to out right lie to him, but she didn't want to tell him the truth by any means.

Mulder finally tore his gaze away from the necklace and looked at Scully. Her face was fixed on the necklace. He could see a mixture of emotions on her face. Fear. Guilt. Embarrassment.

"Scully?" He asked

She lifted her head to meet his gaze. She could see the confusion and disbelief in his eyes. So much for the past staying in the past.

"Scully?"

"I... um...I..." Scully didn't know what to say or even how to start.

Mulder took her hand and laid the necklace in her palm and closed her hand and held it for a moment then let go. Scully looked at her hand and then looked up at him confused. She could see the hurt in his eyes.

"It's late." Was all Mulder said, then he got up and started gathering up the leftover food and taking it to the kitchen.

Scully felt broken. She didn't know how to fix this. She didn't even know if she could. She took a deep breath and stood up and walked to the kitchen when Mulder had yet to return.

She found him rinsing off their silverware.

"Need any help?" She asked, testing the waters.

"No." The short blunt response was all she got.

"Okay." She said softly. She stood watching him for a few moments until it was obvious he didn't want to talk to her.

Scully went back to the living room and slipped on her shoes and pulled on her jacket when she started back to the kitchen to say good bye, Mulder brushed passed her and went to his bedroom.

The only good bye was the slam to his bedroom door. Scully could feel the tears prick the back of her eye lids but she refused to let them fall.

As she locked the door behind her and headed out the of the building to her car she tried to replace her guilt and sadness with anger.

While she was fairly sure Skinner wasn't trying to hurt her on purpose, anger was a much easier emotion to deal with that guilt.

As she started her car she decided if she couldn't talk to Mulder and try and fix this she was going to yell at man that put her in this position. So Scully pulled out onto the road and headed to Skinner's apartment.