Chapter 3: Breaking Me

"Everyday I see your face I wish I'd stayed

Don't even know what made me run away

It's just the way I play the game"

Mac and Stella lay side-by-side in the bed, breathing normally again.

"That was too soon. We shouldn't have done that already," Mac mumbles, touching her arm.

"Do you regret it?" she whispers.

"No, I only wish I had said I loved you sooner. We should have taken the steps before getting in bed together. Knowing you, you'll probably say we need to slow down next time we head here together."

"What're we going to do at work?"

"Professional, strictly business. They can't know until this gets serious."

"So we're hiding like you did with Peyton?"

"What? How do you…?" Mac wanders off.

"I saw you when I walked in; she had her hand on your cheek, and you swatted it off. I ignored it," she turns her face up to look at him.

"What're we going to-" he is cut off by a knock on his apartment door. They look worriedly at each other and scramble for their clothes.

Stella grabs what she finds and heads to the bathroom while Mac dresses quickly. He buttons his shirt, walking to the door, and sees hers on the floor. He runs back to the bedroom and tosses it to her.

"Answer the door, Mac. We know you're in there," Danny calls from the other side of the door.

One of their cell phones rings, and he answers it while opening the door. "Hi, Danny. What do you want?"

Lindsay looks at him. "Why'd you answer Stella's phone?"

"Oh, she's using the bathroom right now," he says loud enough so she can hear him.

"You look a little disshelved, Mac. Are we interrupting something?" Danny asks.

"Emotional is not a word I'd use to explain myself

But now I'm down upon my knees

Baby, please take me back"

"You do know what time it is, right?" Mac says. He hears Stella flush the toilet, pretending to be using the bathroom while dressing and is relieved; she's better at lying than he is.

"Why're you two here?" she asks, standing beside Mac, confused.

"Oh, we called earlier to see how you were, and neither of you answered so we thought we'd come in person and say hello," Danny says.

"It's nine-forty-five; you could have woken us up. Or maybe we were out seeing a movie or something and couldn't have our phones on?" Mac suggests.

They avoid the questions. "Who gave you the flowers, Stel?"

"Mac."

"Wow. That's really nice of you to do that for your partner."

"We're going to leave now so you can continue whatever you were doing. Have a good weekend," Lindsay drags Danny to the elevator. "They're hiding something. Her neck had a red spot."

"Maybe it's from the explosion."

"No, it wasn't there yesterday. Mac bit her."

"He's a vampire?"

"You know what I mean, Danny."

"Are you implying that they were in bed together, and we interrupted them?"

"Think they believed us?" Mac asks.

She kisses him and smiles, "No."

"I don't want to be in love but you're making me

Let me up I've had enough

Girl, you're breaking me"

"The whole lab will know Monday. Are you still forbidding me from kissing you?" she asks, curling up in his lap.

"Yes."

"You're not very nice, Taylor."

"I love you too, Stella," he chuckles. "What do you want to do the rest of the night?"

"Sleep."

"Now?" She nods. "Guess I'll just have to be content watching you."

"Like you don't like doing that any time?" Stella smiles.

"I like to watch you most while you sleep."

"Why?"

"Because you look so peaceful, like you've had a good life. When you're awake, I'm reminded of all you went through to get here," Mac explains.

"But I'm with you now. I do have a good life."

They sit in silence for a while until Mac's hand makes its way down her leg to her feet. "Stop it," she screams, fighting laughter as he tickles her feet. She wiggles, moving away from him.

"Okay, I'll stop," Mac surrenders, and she lays out on the couch, back on his legs.

"Don't let me sleep here tonight," she says, closing her eyes.

"Here I am just half a man standing alone

Feeling like I lost my only chance

At happiness when I let you go"

"See you at seven," Stella kisses him before heading up to her apartment. They were going to some dinner party thing for the city that evening he had to attend. Mac had offered to leave her alone for the day so she could get ready, and she already knew the perfect dress in her closet. The only issue was covering all the cuts up not hidden by the dress. The doctor had said after two days she didn't have to wear gauze pads on the cuts.

When she enters her apartment, the first thing she does is look through her mail. Nothing important there. She sits down on the couch with the new mystery book she just got. She had no idea why she read these books; they always had something wrong or not possible in the plot. Being a CSI, Stella knew what could happen and what was made up. Only someone in her profession could write a true crime. After reading a third of the book, she falls asleep, dreaming of Mac. Whether she wanted to be or not, she was in love with him.

A little after five she wakes up. Grabbing a banana, Stella goes to her closet to find the red dress. Then she finds accessories, including a necklace Mac had bought her for her birthday last year and a bracelet from Christmas three years ago. A few minute later she slides under the hot water in the shower.

"I don't want to be alone thinking about you, girl

I got nothing left to hold in this lonely world"

Mac spent the day thinking about Stella. He found he missed her, and she hadn't been gone that long. There was no way he'd leave her tonight. He longed to see her, hold her in his arms. After wasting the afternoon doing nothing, he decides to get ready early and go see her. Before leaving, he packs a bag so he can spend the night, if she lets him.

Mac knocks on her door and gets no answer. Pulling out the key she gave him, he opens the door, looking around for her. The shower water is running, and he assumes that's where she is, getting ready; he was an hour early, after all. The water turns off, and he waits a few minutes before going to see her.

Her back is turned to him, robe covering her, as she blow dries her hair. As she turns the device off, he knocks on the door frame.

She turns around, surprised, "You're a little early."

"I missed you."

"It's only been seven hours, Mac."

"What, I can't miss you in that time?"

She smiles, "What're you going to do tonight then?" Her arms wrap around him. Over his shoulder, she sees a bag on the floor. "You invited yourself, I see."

"Hope you don't mind," he hugs her back, kissing her temple.

"No." She turns around and puts on her make up.

"Are you going to cover the scars?"

"I don't know."

"Don't. They're not bad. You look fine without covering them," he watches her pick up a necklace and try to put it on.

"Going to help or not?"

He does, "There. That it?"

"Until I put the dress on." She walks past him, and he follows. The robe falls off her shoulders, and even though her private areas are covered, his breath is still lost. Stella slides the dress on, and Mac automatically goes to zip it for her.

"Beautiful," he whispers. "But when are you not?"

"The first time I was ever touched

Was the day I lost your love

I can feel it in my flesh and blood

My soul can only take so much"

"That was boring," Stella says as he walks her back up to her apartment after the dinner.

"I never said it would be fun." They step into the elevator. "I'll have to make your night more exciting."

"What do you have in mind?" Stella grins slyly at him.

"Well, first, that dress has to come off."

"I thought you said you liked it."

"I do. I just like what's underneath more."

"Mac Taylor, stop flirting with me."

"Then you stop wearing clothes that make me can't help but flirt with you," he kisses her bare shoulder softly while she opens her apartment door. He pins her against the door as he closes it, kissing her hard. As his tongue meets hers, his hands roam her body. Her dress slips off her slim form. "That's better," he whispers.

Stella pushes his shirt off, fingertips gliding over his chest. She unbuckles his belt and lets him pull off his pants. They stumble to the bedroom in each other's arms. Mac trips and falls onto the bed, but Stella is back in his arms before he realizes she was missing. He nips at her neck, and she pulls away.

"Don't leave a mark. We'll definitely be questioned Monday," she warns.

"I think we already will be. Danny and Lindsay know we were up to something. Besides, you left your mark last night."

"Like anyone at work will look at your back. My neck is visible to everyone." She leans back down to kiss him and lets him flip her onto her back while biting her neck softly, careful not to leave a mark.

"So there it is

Why can't you give us one more try

You and I could find a way to live

If you let me in one more time"

"Mac," Stella shakes his shoulder in the middle of the night. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm… I just had a bad dream," he says, pulling her back down beside him.

She looks expectantly at him. "About what?"

"You… us. I messed up really bad. I cheated on you, and you got mad and broke up with me, not that I could blame you. And it hurt so bad; we hardly ever talked to each other. Then, like a week later, I was on my knees in front of you, begging for you to take me back. You wouldn't, Stella," Mac explains.

"First, that dream would never come true because you can't cheat on me. Second, this probably has to do with Claire. You're afraid of losing me too, in a different sense. And if it hurt that badly in the dream, so much that you looked really troubled in bed, I think you are getting a little too obsessed with me for only dating for a day," she kisses him, cuddling up next to him again.

"I think I figured out that I love you, not just think I do."

"You've known that all along, Mac. Let's go back to sleep."

"Night, Stella. I could get used to saying that," he kisses the top of her head.

"Love you, Mac."

"Love you too, Stella."

"You know, you woke me from a good dream. Johnny Depp was about to propose to me, I think," Stella teases.

"I said good night, Stella."

"I know you lost your faith in me but I still believe

Can I make you understand, can I make you see

That I am desperate for your love and it's breaking me

It's breaking me"

A/N: Jonny Lang. I totally forgot yesterday was Wednesday, and I needed to post. I did remember to watch all my shows, but then I was so mad that the president was on and it was a rerun. I noticed on Miami Monday they had a commercial advertising the rerun. I just thought they were a little comfused; now I know why. Hopefully I can get more chapters typed this weekend because I've only got the next two done although the story is finished in my notebook. Sad ending. I got a really low A on my bio test and high B on Western Civ, yet an A+ on trig. Normally I do really good in bio and pretty good in civ, but low A in trig. I still have and A in everything so... I don't really care. Thanks for reading. Stupid thing won't put my story on the list. I don't know how to contact them to tell them.