PART ELEVEN: Involuntary.

She was sitting at the bed with a book in her hands trying to get herself distracted but she had been reading the same phrase for the last five minutes when her mother's voice interrupted the silent room.

"When are you going back to LA?"

"After Brass cuffs whoever did it." she replied without taking her eyes away from the book she had been trying to read.

"Grace..."

"What mom?! What good can I do if I am in LA?" she closed the book and placed on her lap.

"There isn't much you can't do here either, honey." Catherine sat at the bed next to her daughter.

"Geez, thanks mom!" she said as she got up from her seat.

"Grace..." she whispered her name trying to find words of comfort.

"I want to, I need to ask him why. I need to see Brass put him away, mom!"

Catherine couldn't say anything because there was nothing to say. If she had seen one of friends fall dead in front of her she also want to see the bastard who killed her being put behind bars. She'd also needed to ask him. Even if it'd never make sense. She looked at her daughter and noticed the tears rolling down on her face.

"Come here." she said as she made space for her daughter to lay next to her. Grace lie her head in her mother's chest as Catherine passed her fingers through her daughters hair. They lie there in silence. A comfortable, needed silence.

"Mom, what about Lou?" all of suddenly Grace's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"What about him?" she asked trying to hide the smile on her lips.

"C'mon you're all smiles and happy dances every time you're around him! Maybe not happy dances! But you do giggle a lot! And not to mention that at dinner I caught you staring at him and..."

"Stop it!" said Catherine as she started tickling Grace.

"It's the truth! MOM STOP IT!" STOP IT" despite her daughter's request Catherine kept on tickling her. "AH STOP IT! I HAVE SOMETHING TO TELL YOU! STOP IT!"

I have something to tell you caught Catherine's attention. But the smile in her daughter's eyes told her something different. And this time Catherine was the one being tickled.

"GRACE! STOP IT! STOP IT! TELL ME!"

"So now you wanna know, ahm?!" the only thing she could see on her mother's face was curiosity. "Ok, ok, ok! I will tell you! You weren't the only one stealing glances from another person at dinner!"

The screaming coming from his room had caught his attention. For a moment he thought something had happened but as soon as he got closer to the door he realized they were actually laughing. He was about to leave mother and daughter alone when Grace's words caught his attention. He hadn't been dreaming. He had really caught her starring at him over dinner. It hadn't been his mind playing tricks on him.

"Now for real. What about Lou?" Grace asked again this time her tone was softer and she had a more serious look on her face.

"We dated. I left. That's it." Grace couldn't help but noticing the sadness in Catherine's voice.

"Are you sure? I mean he still has some effect on you otherwise you wouldn't acted the way you did at dinner. And obviously he still has feelings for you. Every time I would mention his name or ask you if you were seeing someone you'd run away from the question. And if we did ended up talking about him you'd sound happier. When I visited you in DC you still had a picture of you two in your bedroom. You haven't been on a date ever since you left Vegas! Why don't you two just talk?" Grace let it out all the things that she had been wanting to say. If her friend's death had taught her anything was that life was too short to not tell others what's in your mind.

"It's not that simple."

"It could be if you'd just want it."

Her daughter's words cut like a knife. She knew she was right. She'd always avoid to talk about her love life - or the lack of it. She still had the picture Grace had taken of her with Lou in her bedroom. She hadn't been on a date ever since she left Vegas. And yes, at the mention of Lou's name she couldn't help but smile. An involuntary smile but it still was there. He still had an effect on her. Ever since she left Las Vegas she spent her nights alone blaming herself for being able to let go of the only good thing that had happened to her in the last five years.