Sorry this is another fluffy one... but it's important. Anyway, we'll be moving on more with the investigation in a couple more chapters. Just have one more thing Greg has to take care of at Liz's before we move on.

What are you thinking so far?

Enjoy!

And please review.

Half Past Now

Greg dropped the last load into the dryer and moved into the kitchen to put the dishes away. He'd done a whole host of chores that day and wasn't even half done with the list. Four loads of laundry, two loads of dishes, sweeping, mopping, making all the beds, taking four bags of trash to the dump, and he'd managed to chop up four onions to put in dinner when he started it an hour later. He had honestly thought that he could help Liz out with her chores and be done in an hour or so and he'd be able to go home. It was nearly three o'clock though and he'd been wrong.

He shrugged the fatigue off of his shoulders like a bad habit. He'd sleep when he finished his shift that night, it wasn't as though he'd never gone a day without sleeping before. His phone rang for the fifth time that day, it was Nick calling again. He must have just woken up. Greg looked around and didn't see Liz anywhere in earshot.

"Hey Nicky," he greeted as he pulled the phone to his ear. He couldn't withhold yawn. "What's up? You sleep well?"

"Where in the hell have you been?" Nick's rage took Greg by surprise. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Five of three," Greg said rudely. "What the hell's going on? What'd I do?"

"You didn't come home," Nick said. "You stood me up. You've been ignoring my calls all day. You didn't even send me so much as a text to tell me what was going on."

"I'm at Liz's," Greg said abruptly. "Where else would I be?"

"I don't know... at breakfast with me?" Nick responded, though Greg was pretty sure that wasn't the only reason why Nick was angry. He'd never been this upset over a missed meal before. "What are you doing there anyway?"

"What do you think I'm doing?" Greg said, hotly. "Honestly Nicky, Liz's husband just died."

"Well I get that," Nick said more gently. "But just because some woman comes running back into your life doesn't mean you can just forget about me."

"Oh," Greg said, all of a sudden feeling badly. "It's not like that. I promise, it's not."

"Did you at least get any sleep?" Nick asked, showing obvious signs of concern. "Because you didn't get a whole lot yesterday and you worked all night."

"Not exactly," Greg said. "But it's not like I haven't pulled my share of doubles. I'll be fine."

"Greg," Nick admonished him. "You can't just... ugh! I swear sometimes you drive me crazy."

"Tell me something," Greg said. "If it was your friend whose husband just died... where would you be?"

"Point taken," Nick agreed, and couldn't help but chuckle. "I'm gonna go. I'll see you at work. And, I'm gonna probably head back to my place after shift. You coming?"

"As long as I'm still invited," Greg said, giving the smile he knew always melted Nick's heart... even though he couldn't see it.

"You promise you'll be there?" Nick asked, pretending he didn't know Greg was giving him that look.

"I promise," Greg agreed.

"Then you're still invited," Nick said. "I'll tell Catherine you had something come up and you'll be in a little late, buy you couple hours. Get some sleep."

They hung up on a good note. Greg was feeling badly that he'd been avoiding Nick all day. There usually wasn't anyone in the whole world he enjoyed time with more. He heard Liz come into the room and she gave him a half smile. "Who's Nicky, she the little lady?"

"Something like that," Greg said with a chuckle.