Day 49-Lauren's POV

"You," it sort of just came out. I didn't mean that how it sounded nor did I mean how my smile faded nor the pain it caused her. "Aren't Katrina," I hurry to finish my initial thought hoping it wasn't too late to reverse the accidental damage but considering the wobbling bridge we've been on for the past two weeks nothing short of a time machine would fix this.

"What gave me away? Lack of scales?" she forces a smirk and there is such an effort behind her flirting, it's almost painful to see. Things always use to be so effortless for us and now here we were forcing something as simple as this.

"That is Katrina from records I meant Katrina from the lab,"

"And they say succubus' get around,"

"It's succubi but-" I shake my head at myself and look down at the floor for a moment rolling my eyes, I don't know why I had to correct her, it honestly just happened I wasn't trying to be an ass but that is how she takes it as her already faint smirk once again recedes. "Doesn't matter really,"

"Well wouldn't be a trip to your house if I didn't get a grammar lesion at least once,"

"Did you want to come in?" I ask slightly awkwardly as I step aside pushing to door open further allowing her a clear path wide enough that she wouldn't have to come to close to me. She looks at me hesitantly and I can see she is trying to debate it but we both already know her choice just as we knew I would eventually let her in.

"Thank you,"

"No problem," I shut the door and am almost holding my breath trying to figure out what was going to happen next. Were we supposed to talk? Were we going to? Were we going to push past and forget it all happened? "Did you want something to drink?"

"Sure,"

"I don't have any wine but I do have beer oddly enough,"

"That's fine," she smiles politely.

I steal a glance at her as I pass walking into the kitchen and luckily she doesn't notice. She reminds me so much of a child in front of the principle. She is so nervous, so worried about what to do or say. I don't blame her I am as well only comfort for me is that this is my apartment. Beyond nervous she seems so tired and I want to ask why, ask what she has been up to but for some reason I feel I've lost my privilege to know.

It had been fourteen days since I last saw her, well if we are being technical it has been thirteen and a half since we did end up driving home together—silently once again. I hadn't intended for so much time to pass without seeing her, without talking to her but one day turned into two and two days turned into thirteen.

I turn around beer in each hand the sudden thought that we might be needing more than the six I have on hand. She is sitting at the island and tapping her fingertips over the folder she had been holding. I want to ask for it but I also don't want her to think I am subtly dismissing her so I just hand her, her beer and smile as I take a mouthful.

"I'd say I'm sorry but-"

"You still think I deserved it," I finish her sentence for her with a soft smile from behind the rim of my bottle.

"Yeah," she nods taking a sip which turns into a gulp which turns into something that makes me seriously question her having an actual, working gag reflex. "I was a little outta line though," she says quietly the second she pulls the rim from her lips.

"You were,"

"I'm trying to apologize here Lauren," her eyes shoot up from the folder to find mine, her jaw tensed and her eyes semi narrow and I can't exactly tell if she is angry or-something else. "Can I finish?" I don't answer I just give this gesture that could only be described as a lazy shrug. "I had time to think and I can admit that if I look at my behavior as whole for that month then maybe I was a little-" she trails off lips pressing together and I can't tell if she is preparing to stand up and walkout or just deciding how much she wanted to admit I had been right. "I was a little ridiculous."

I raise an eyebrow and quickly take another swig of my beer trying to hide a smile that was dangerously close to making an appearance.

"I was unreasonable and a little crazy. I was slightly idiotic and dense when it came to certain situations involving some situations."

"Don't stop now," I chuckle softly in between sips which earns a scowl, its obvious she has rehearsed this once or twice but I won't embarrass her further than she already is.

"Cute," she finally cracks a genuine smirk and there is this little glisten in her eyes emerging that makes my heart skip a beat. "I just wanted to say that I am sorry. I've been trying to figure out a way to tell you that for the past two weeks and I just never seemed to find the right time."

"So you decided to play UPS?"

"Huh?" she looks at me like I just gave her the worlds most complicated math problem until something clicks that the thing she continues to fidget with is a folder intended for me. "Oh! Yeah, duh." she smiles and shakes her head at herself the way she does when she has embarrassed herself and I can't help but find it so adorable.

"I had been in the Dal and Hale was there talking about this case and I happened to mention that I was going to be in the neighborhood,"

"Really, how come?" okay so yes this was an indirect way of seeing if she had taken this little task as a way to see me or if it really was just convenience BUT this wasn't an unspoken conversation, no this was a subtle way of testing the flirting waters.

"Well see the thing was," she goes to take another drink of her beer to buy her time to come up with a believable answer but turns out she already finished it. Grinning to myself I turn around and grab her another from the fridge allowing her, her little 'time out'. "I wanted to see you," she says it softly as she reaches out for the bottle. For a second her fingertips rest over mine sending my eyes flying to hers, this silent understanding that she was trying for me remaining unspoken.

"Well, thank you." I speak aloud when we finally pull our hands apart. I know it was longer than a reasonable time frame that we held the bottle together just staring at each other but then again no one else was here to judge so what did it matter.

"My pleasure," her mesmerizing lips fix into her trademark seductive grin that tells me 'I want you'.

"You aren't getting anywhere near my bed," I say with a smile and she chuckles almost choking on her drink, her eyes widening like a child who had just been caught with it's hand in the cookie jar.

"I wasn't even,"

"Mm-hm,"

"I think you've had a bit too much to drink Doctor Lewis," her grin transitions into a smile. "I had no such intention."

"Mm-hm,"

"I didn't," I just grin at her and wait for the inevitable admission. "Okay well the thought did happen to cross my mind but you can't blame me for that,"

"Mm-hm,"

"You can't, if you didn't want me thinking about that then you should be so sexy,"

"Oh okay, well let me get right on fixing that." she stays silent, smile growing as I just know she has about twenty-some different dirty comments to follow that up with but surprisingly she doesn't say a word.

"So ANYWAY, Hale was filling me in about this Doctor Everett chick, something about how she has gone missing or kidnapped or something,"

"Doctor Everett?" I asked placing my bottle down and taking the folder from her, quickly opening to see if it's the same woman I'm hoping it isn't. "Hale mentioned I would want to look this over but,"

"Something wrong?"

"I—I know her,"

"Pretty well?" I look up from the page to her and I realize I had pretty much jumped from flirty, make-up mode to ignoring her.

"Yes actually she was a—friend,"

"Okay," she says softly leaning up, arms resting on the counter-top supporting her weight as she tries to see what I'm reading. "Let's see what we can find,"

I look up, my eyes catching hers and there is this softness, this inquisitive longing for an answer as to who exactly this woman was but she remains silent. Giving me a smile which speaks volumes she reaches out and touches my hand lightly for a just a moment, her way of saying I'm not alone before she tilts the folder just enough to be able to actually read it.

I want to tell her thank you, say how much it means to me that not only is she making an effort but she is doing this as well. I know she thinks me and Doctor Everett were something more than we were but she doesn't say anything. She is putting me first and I can't even begin to describe how much that means to me.

There is still so much left to say, especially after this but now isn't the time.