Disclaimer: Moonlight and characters don't belong to me; I'm simply a fan having fun with the characters.
The first thing Beth noticed when she stepped into her apartment was that the lights were on. Strange. She was sure she had had turned them off this morning… Then she saw Josh.
"Oh my god…" Her hands flew to her mouth. "Josh. I am so sorry."
"What happened, Beth?" He was standing at the sink, arms crossed. "I thought we were going to talk."
Beth cringed at his tone. "I was at work…"
"At the office? Because I came by to surprise you and you weren't there. They told me you had left hours ago. So I came here, thought I'd surprise you with dinner… but you didn't show."
"I was following a story!" Beth couldn't believe that of all things, he had chosen to zero in on this. "You should understand; weren't you the one who stood me up for work just yesterday?"
"But I called," he countered. "I didn't leave you hanging."
"Right." Beth sighed. "Look Josh, I'm sorry. About dinner and everything else. I don't know how many times I can say it, but I'm sorry."
"You don't need to apologize for caring about your work Beth. I know you're sorry. It's just…"
And here they went again. Beth could almost hear what he wanted to say. "Just what, Josh?"
"It just feels like these days, you're spending more time working on cases with Mick than working on us."
Beth regarded him silently. She made her way to the sofa and sat down before finally answering. "I don't know what to say, Josh. I care about this relationship; you know I do."
"Beth," he said pleadingly. "All I'm saying is, every time I see you, either he's just dropped you off, or you're running off to meet him."
Beth frowned. "That's not true." She didn't spend that much time with Mick… did she?
"Well it feels true."
"Okay… so say it is true. So what? You have nothing to worry about."
"Right." Josh laughed hollowly. "Our relationship is on the rocks and I shouldn't be concerned when my girlfriend is spending time with another man whom she gets along flawlessly with."
"Mick and I fight…"
"About what?" Josh asked bitterly. "Little things that you end up laughing about five minutes later?"
"Not that it's any of your business but we've fought about his obstinacy and about my coming along on his investigations."
Josh narrowed his eyes. "And you're telling me you don't find his concern the least bit charming?"
"I never said he wasn't a gentleman, Josh. But I'm not saying he's perfect either because he isn't… and I don't expect him to be."
"But you expect me to be perfect, right? To understand when you space out and forget about us. To not be jealous when you spend time with Mick St. John."
Beth shifted uncomfortably. It was true—she did expect those things of him. But was it so unreasonable? Wouldn't any woman expect that of her boyfriend? "You're jealous when you have no reason to be… you don't even want me working with him for goodness sakes! He's a valuable source of information!"
"Is that all he is to you, Beth? A source of information?"
"What do you want me to admit, Josh?" she almost shouted, exasperation clear in her voice.
Josh quieted. "Look, maybe I should just leave…"
Beth didn't answer; she just sat there and twisted a strand of hair around her left index finger.
"Beth?"
Beth let go of her hair. "Maybe you should." She stood and swept into her bedroom without a single glance back.