While in the trailer, Nick updated some of the Grimm files he'd been behind in, trying to keep his mind off his fight with Monroe. But his thoughts were continuing to drift to the hurt look Monroe had worn when Nick drove off.

Finally, Nick put his books away and locked up the trailer. He returned to his jeep and as he made his way home, he called Juliette, leaving a message on her voicemail.

"Hey Juliette, it's me. Change of plans…Monroe's parents came into town unexpectedly, and I think he's going to be with them tonight, so I'm on my way back to the house. I'll see you when you get home. I love you…bye."

Nick walked in his front door a few minutes later. He went to the kitchen for a beer, then returned to the living room. He stood by the fireplace, with his arm propped up on the mantle, and stared at the wolf figurine. For the first time since meeting Monroe, there was a part of Nick that felt as though he were defending his territory against the Blutbad.

xXxXx

Jack trailed Nick's scent to his house, where he spotted the jeep he'd been driving earlier. Sniffing the air, Jack thought, No other recent scents, so no one has come to pick him up. The Grimm must still be here.

The Blutbad cautiously made his way onto the property, and carefully peeked through one of the front windows. He saw Nick in the living room, standing near the fireplace.

Jack remained near the window, out of sight but still able to see the Grimm. In order for his plan to work, Jack needed to be able to get in and out of the house without the Grimm knowing he was there. When it was clear to Jack that Nick would be in the living room for a while, he carefully made his way around the house, looking for another entrance.

Jack finally spotted his way in. On the back side of the house, there was an upstairs window that someone had accidentally left open, and as luck would have it, there also happened to be a ladder leaning against the wall.

Jack smiled. I'll bet the Grimm doesn't know about this. And if by chance he does, he doesn't know it's going to help a father show his son the light.

After widening the base, Jack climbed the ladder and silently entered the house. Finding himself at the end of a hallway, he went in search of the Grimm's bedroom. Upon finding it, Jack immediately went to the closet. He opened the door and pulled out one of Nick's T-shirts off its hanger.

Jack groaned at the smell. Ugh…he must wear this one a lot; his scent is all over it. Well good…the stronger, the better.

The Blutbad closed the door, and with T-shirt in hand, he exited the house the same way he'd entered. After propping the ladder against the wall again, Jack left the Grimm's property and made his way back to Monroe's house.

xXxXx

Monroe never did make it over to Rosalee's. Instead, he just drove around town, Nick's words ringing in his ears.

You said they were asking questions…Tell them everything…It's not enough to tell them I'm different…I won't burn your house down or chop off your head…It wasn't easy for me to explain why we're friends…I protected you…I shouldn't have to ask you to do the same.

Monroe knew Nick was right. After all, the Grimm had been so quick to defend him when Mrs. Burkhardt attacked him. Why couldn't Monroe hold his ground when it came to his own parents?

Monroe also thought about what Nick had said about the figurines.

Standing back to back, protecting each other…Maybe I was wrong about that.

The Blutbad wondered exactly what Nick meant by that. Wrong about the figurines, or wrong about…them? He wasn't starting to reconsider being friends with Monroe, was he?

Monroe had no idea whether it was too late to do anything, but if it was the last thing he did, he promised himself that he would stick up for Nick, the way he should have in the first place.

With that in mind, Monroe turned his Beetle around, and as he made his way back home, he called Rosalee to ask her to meet him at his place for moral support.

xXxXx

Juliette made her way to the car after getting off work. Once settled in the driver's seat, she checked her cell phone for any missed calls. Only one - Nick. She decided she would listen to his message later; first she wanted to go over to Monroe's and make sure he was doing okay.

Honestly, Juliette wasn't even sure she wanted to listen to the message. She'd been trying so hard to remember him, but nothing she tried was working. She kept having small flashbacks of things she'd seen or heard, but none of it making any sense.

For instance, what had Bud the refrigerator man meant when he'd begged her not to let Nick hurt him, and what was with the pies and the quilt? When she'd talked to Bud a couple weeks ago, he'd said something about Nick being a Grimm, whatever that was. When Juliette asked what he meant, she'd gotten the impression he was trying to hide something.

Come to think of it, she would get the same feeling whenever she'd talk to Monroe. And she didn't understand that. He was supposed to be a good friend of Nick's - a good friend to both of them apparently, since she could remember having him over to dinner - so why would he hide something that might help her remember Nick?

Oh well…maybe she'd ask him when she got to his house.

xXxXx

Rosalee sighed as she ended the call from Monroe. They hadn't talked long, only a couple minutes, if that long.

He hadn't said much at all, really…just that there was something he needed to take care of, and he wanted to know if she could meet him at his place.

"Yeah, sure," she'd agreed. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

The Fuchsbau wondered what was going on. Monroe sounded more tense than he normally did, and Rosalee was concerned it might have had something to do with his parents. Neither he nor Nick had called to tell her what ended up happening with them. The thought crossed her mind that maybe Nick had been right this morning. Maybe Monroe's parents really did find out about Nick and something had gone wrong.

Rosalee tried to stop it, but her imagination was running wild with horrible possibilities as she hid the cash box, locked up the shop, and drove over to Monroe's house.

xXxXx

Jack hid in the trees across the street, waiting for Monroe to come home. He stood stripped to the waist, with the Grimm's T-shirt laying on a nearby branch.

Not knowing when Monroe would return, Jack would have to be ready to don the T-shirt and hit his son with the blunt end of the branch as soon as Monroe exited the car, without letting him know it wasn't the Grimm attacking him.

The older Blutbad knew it was underhanded to trick his son like that, but Jack didn't know any other way to go about convincing him that having a Grimm around was a bad idea.

Jack continued to watch his son's house, and his patience soon paid off, though not without an unexpected visitor.

xXxXx

Just as Monroe was approaching his house, he saw a car pull into his driveway. He thought it resembled Juliette's, so he parked his Beetle on the street. That way, he wouldn't block Juliette in.

Nick wasn't kidding. She really did drive over to see me. God, she picked a bad time for a visit.

He and Juliette exited their vehicles and started walking toward each other. Monroe was about to call out a greeting to Juliette when the smile on her face contorted into a look of fear as she gazed at something behind him.

At the same time, Monroe caught a whiff of a strange blend of scents and heard rapid footsteps coming up behind him.

Not looking back, the Blutbad broke into a run towards Juliette. He knocked her to the ground and shielded her with his body just as he was rammed in his lower back with a blunt object.

The pain washed away the fact that he was protecting Juliette, and Monroe's back arched as he involuntarily woged and let out a howl.

The attacker dealt a few more blows before dropping his weapon and running off. Monroe, nearly unconscious from the beating, rolled onto the ground and returned to his human form. He was so close to unconsciousness that he didn't see Juliette stand and run to her car.