Thank you guys for all your feedback; I really appreciate it! To those who've been waiting since last week, sorry! Been busy with finals but I've got several days off before the Spring term begins so I'm hoping to get a few more chapters in.

Flare102 - Wow! All I can say is, that is one big coincidence. I've never actually heard of "Dark Shadows" before, so the names Laura and Gabriel Collins really did come out of thin air, so to speak. Thanks for bringing it up; it's always fun to hear about things like these... but then again, I may be weird like that too!

Disclaimer: Moonlight and characters don't belong to me; I'm simply a fan having fun with the characters.

The little waves and familiar smiles directed at her did nothing to soothe Beth's nerves as she tried to make it to Josh's office unnoticed. She couldn't help but feel as if they were all aware of why she was here, though she knew she was being paranoid. Especially since no one paid any attention to her for more than a few seconds before returning to whatever they had been doing. She found the door to Josh's office open and wandered in cautiously, knocking to alert him of her presence.

He looked up from his desk. "Beth! What are you doing here?"

"I was hoping we could talk," she said quietly. "That is, unless I disturbed you from something important…"

"No, just paperwork," he said quickly. He leaned forward, squinting at her. "Beth, are you okay?" He touched the side of his face. "Your face looks a little swollen…"

"I'm fine. I just got a little clumsy last night."

He raised both eyes in disbelief but didn't question her further. "So what did you want to talk about?"

Beth closed the door, then reached into her bag and pulled out the little black velvet box. She walked to his desk and placed the box in front of him. "About this."

It didn't escape her notice that his eyes flew to her left hand as soon as he had seen the box. "You're not wearing it. Is it because you don't like it?" He looked at her hopefully.

"Josh, no! No! It's not about the ring. The ring is gorgeous, perfect. It's just—"

"It was my grandmother's. My grandfather didn't have much money when he proposed but he managed to get enough together to get a decent ring. And as it turned out, it was exactly what my grandmother wanted. You remember that day we talked about rings?"

Beth smiled half-heartedly. "Yes."

"I thought immediately of my grandmother's ring and how she would have been so—"

"Josh!" She hated to do this to him but… "I don't think it's going to work."

Josh stared at her, mouth still open from talking. "I… We… This… Look, Beth, if this is about the problems we've been having, we could fix it. I'm working on the Mick thing, I swear."

"It's not about that either." She held up her hand to silence him when she saw him prepare to interject. "Wait; just let me finish. I know we've been going out for a while and I know we've been pretty serious but I just don't think I'm ready to get married."

"It doesn't have to be now… I could wait until you're ready."

"Josh, you told me that if we were going to make this work, you needed to know that we're going somewhere. And I don't think we are. I think this is it."

"I didn't mean that!" Then, seeing the expression on her face, he hastily amended the statement. "I mean, I did mean it but not like that! I wasn't trying to say it was either we get married or we break up… I don't want to lose you."

Beth shifted on her feet and sighed. "I don't want to lose you either, Josh, but you were right… we keep going in circles and it's not fair to either of us anymore. We can't keep doing this."

The silence between them grew awkwardly and finally, Josh spoke, tone cold. "And this has nothing to do with Mick?"

So close! Beth thought. They had been so close to breaking it off civilly. "This is exactly what I'm talking about Josh! It always comes down to this doesn't it?"

"Are you telling me you expect me to believe that nothing happened between you and Mick between the night I proposed and now?"

"What are you talking about? You proposed the night before yesterday; what could possibly have happened in a day?"

"You went to him!" Josh accused. "What was I supposed to think?"

"You followed me?" Beth felt the blood rush to her cheeks as the anger and panic began to flare.

"I wanted to surprise you, take you out to breakfast. But you weren't home, so on a hunch, I decided to check his place and sure enough, your car was parked outside his building!"

"That doesn't mean anything!"

"Doesn't it? You said you needed time to think about it and the very next morning you went to his place? What, did you two break out the champagne and have a good laugh?"

"Nothing happened, Josh! We were just working on a case!" But she knew he didn't believe her.

"Right, right. Of course you were," he scoffed. "How is it that your cases always overlap? Come on, Beth; I'm not stupid. I've seen the way you look at him! And the way you talk about him, he might as well be a saint!"

"Okay! I admit it; I have feelings for Mick," she exploded. "But I didn't ask to fall for him and I certainly didn't ask for the guilt that came with those feelings! There! Are you happy now, Josh? You were right all along." Beth took a shaky breath. She could feel a tumult of emotions rising in her throat, threatening to overtake her.

He sat back in his chair, looking miserable. "No, Beth, I'm not happy. I thought—I hoped—that what we had was strong enough that I could ignore it and it would go away… but it wasn't. Since you met him, I've been losing you."

She sat and took his hand in hers. "I'm sorry, Josh. I never meant to hurt you."

"I know… I know. But does it have to be him?"

"Josh, Mick and I… we're not together… we're just friends."

Josh pulled his hand away. "Dammit Beth! I just want you to be safe! I don't want you to get hurt!"

She stared at him, bewildered. "I am safe… why wouldn't I be?"

He was silent and refused to meet her eyes. He seemed to be considering something, but Beth wasn't sure.

"Josh? Is there something you're not telling me?"

"He's not who you think he is." Still, he didn't look up.

"Look, I know Mick doesn't exactly do things by the book but he's not running from the law or anything if that's what you think," she said cautiously.

Finally he looked up and Beth was shocked to see that his eyes were wild, almost fevered. "He's been lying to you Beth! His name might not even be Mick St. John!"

Has he gone completely insane? "What are you talking about? Mick is exactly who he says he is."

"I'm sorry, Beth. I know you trust him but…" He reached under his desk and pulled a drawer open. "The only records of a Mick St. John was one born in 1922." He pushed a file folder across the desk at her. "See for yourself."

The blood drained from Beth's face. "You researched Mick?"

"Beth! Did you even hear what I said? 1922! That is not the Mick you know!"

"That was his father!" she snapped, the lie tumbling out automatically. She snatched the file from his desk. "What were you thinking, Josh? Jealousy or not, Mick's past is none of your business!"

He looked surprised at her reaction but his expression soon twisted into anger. "I was looking out for you," he spat. "You were so wrapped up in his charms that you couldn't see who he really was!"

"I do know who he is Josh! He's told me and his story checks out. So stop looking out for me. Stop this." She shook the file at him. "Just stop, Josh. He's not a common criminal so he's not your concern!" She rose. "I mean it Josh," she added quietly. "If you keep digging into his past, you'll be sorry."

"Is that a threat?"

"It's a warning. I care about you Josh and despite all this, I don't want to see anything happen to you." With that, she turned to leave.

"Beth! You can't just walk out like this…!"

"Goodbye Josh." She walked out of his office without looking back, managing to muster a smile as she passed all his colleagues again. Once she was outside, the tears couldn't fall fast enough. She knew without a doubt that she and Josh could never be friends again.