Okay so this is chapter 7. Thank you to those that have reviewed so far, your encouragement helps. x (:

Gil had taken the liberty of renting some DVDs in preparation for Lindsey's sleep over that night, with a little guidance from the girl in the store who directed him to the newest releases. He also bought in a tub of mint chocolate chip ice cream, which he recalled being Lindsey's favourite, popcorn, pizza and various other junk foods. As he scanned the items scattered over his table, the one thought that entered his head was; 'Catherine is going to kill me.' He took a deep breath, pushing that thought aside, before heading upstairs with the intention of checking one last time that the spare bedroom was ready for his guest. However, he was interrupted at the top step by the melody of Catherine's greeting as she stepped through the door.

"Hey Gil! It's only us," he heard her calling. Turning on the step, he began to head back downstairs. "I'm here," he replied as the owner of the voice came into view along with her daughter. In catching a glimpse of Catherine's legs which were bared by the short, fitted red dress she was wearing, his heart thudded in his chest and his gaze drifted slowly upwards to meet her enchantingly blue eyes. "Wow…" he whispered to himself, struggling to keep his breathing under control. Praying neither Catherine nor Lindsey had heard him or noticed his involuntary reaction, he approached the pair at the bottom of the stairs. "Hi Cath, hello Lindsey." He gave a friendly smile as he eyed Lindsey's bag. "You can take that upstairs if you want, first door on the right."

"Great, thanks Uncle Gil," Lindsey grinned. "I'll be right back." She left the friends alone as she went to make herself at home. As Gil fought to keep his emotions in check, Catherine was the first to speak up.

"She's been as high as a kite all day. Couldn't wait for me to bring her here and practically dressed me herself to get me out of the house sooner," Catherine laughed running her fingers through her soft curls. He smiled as he admired her outfit again, though not so discreetly this time.

There was a slightly awkward pause as Gil tried to conjure up some courage. "Cath you look unbelievably stunning," he admitted uncharacteristically, giving a lopsided grin. Catherine began to feel a little insecure under his scrutiny.

"Thank you, it's very kind of you to say so… But please stop staring, you're making me even more nervous," she laughed.

"I'm sorry," Gil blushed. "You have nothing to be nervous about though Cath, you look incredible," he gestured towards her as he spoke. There was another awkward silence as the friends maintained eye contact before Lindsey interrupted.

"Nice room, Uncle Gil."

He turned his attention to he girl. "Thanks, glad you like it. Your Mom was just telling me how excited you've been about tonight." He was surprised at how much easier he found talking to the girl was this time. He observed as Lindsey glanced at her mother with a 'what did you say that for?' look. One that he'd seen grace Catherine's features a few times.

She turned back to him. "Well I've never stayed here before and new things are always exciting," she rolled her eyes in the hope that it didn't seem she'd been as excited as her mother made out. 'Good going Linds, that was so lame,' she scolded herself. She then decided it was time to get rid of her mother before she embarrassed her any more.

"Shouldn't you get going Mom? Tyler will be at the house soon and you won't even be there." It seemed to work as Catherine glanced at the clock and cursed silently. She took a deep breath. "Okay, same rules as last time Linds. And don't force Gil to stay up late watching movies with you if he doesn't want to, okay? Be good honey," she hugged her daughter tightly. She then moved on to hug Gil too, thanking him as she did so. Gil held her closely, reluctant to let her go on her date but she soon pulled away. "I'll come round sometime tomorrow before lunch, is that okay?"

"That's fine, I can cook you lunch if you want." Gil replied. Catherine smiled. "Sounds good. Well I have to go," she turned to leave and opened the door. "Bye guys," she threw over her shoulder. "Have fun," Gil called after her, receiving a smile as she closed the door behind her. Gil sighed, missing the presence of the strawberry blonde already. "Well it's just you and me Lindsey."

Once again, Gil enjoyed being around the girl. She had many traits in common with her mother which didn't help when he was trying to forget about his friend and what she might be up to. He worried about her. If he was honest with himself, what he really wanted to do was find her and bring her back to his house away from Tyler, though he was sure she wouldn't appreciate that. 'I hope that guy realises how lucky he is,' he thought, not really paying attention to the film that he and Lindsey were currently supposed to be watching but instead remembering Catherine's tight fitting dress.

Lindsey briefly glanced at Gil and took note of his deep trance-like state. He was staring into space.

"Uncle Gil, are you okay?" She tilted her head. Gil's head snapped up and caught the girl's gaze. "Yeah, sorry Lindsey. I was just thinking." He looked away again, towards the television screen.

She paused before continuing. "About Mom?"

Gil turned his attention back to Lindsey. "Huh?" 'Caught,' he realised. Lindsey withheld her giggle at how guilty he looked. "I know you're thinking about her, you were looking at that butterfly on the wall." Gil glanced at the butterfly in question and it occurred to him that he had indeed been looking at it. 'Figures. She is the daughter of a fantastic CSI.'

"So what were you thinking about her?" Lindsey went on, bringing Gil out of his musing. A small battle broke out in his head. He knew he couldn't deny that he'd been thinking about the strawberry blonde but couldn't give the girl details on what he was really thinking. "I was just wondering about whether she was enjoying her date," she shrugged nonchalantly, hoping it would be a good enough answer. Lindsey smiled knowingly but decided not to press any further. Her mother had often mentioned how disclosed he could be so she turned back to the television. Gil was glad that the subject was dropped and tried to push any further thoughts or images of Catherine to the back of his mind. The night seemed to pass quicker that way.