Last chapter, guys! I have a few new story ideas i hope i can upload soon. I hope you enjoyed the story, let me know what you think!

"...I'm really sorry I lashed out on you earlier," Greg said as he looked out of the window of Nick's car. They were driving back to the lab from their crime scene, where they didn't get a chance to talk to each other.

"Don't sweat it. We were both stressed out." Nick gently smiled at his friend before looking back on the street.

"Yeah, but I know you are just trying to help and... I know I can be an unthankful jerk sometimes."

Nick chuckled. "I wouldn't phrase it that way, but... I won't argue with you about it, either."

"Thanks," Greg replied sarcastically with a smile on his lips. "I feel so lost right now, you know? I mean, I was ready to... think about sleeping with Camille the one day and back at being terrified of being alone with her the other. I'm scared that I'll never get to the point where I'm really ready to leave this all behind me."

"Well maybe that's the problem, you know? You trying to keep this behind you. It's part of you know and there's nothing you can do to change that. Stop trying to make the impossible happen by putting it behind you and start to learn to live with it, without it dominating your life. If that means you'll need another few months or even years to be ready for an intimate relationship, so be it. But I think you're stopping yourself from growing if you have these high expectations for yourself."

Greg stared at Nick, but looked away quite thoughtful after a moment.

Nick noticed, so he added, "Just face it, Greg. You'll never be able to forget about it, but just like with any other horrible experience it could be a faded memory in a few years. You're giving Novak too much power over your life as long as you won't accept that."

Greg started crying, there was no way for him to keep the tears from falling down his face. The night was too straining, too depressing for him to keep his composure. He had heard similar words from Nick and even Dr. Reyes before, but it was the first time they actually resonated with him.

Only a brief glance over to Greg was needed for Nick to notice his friend was crying. "...Sorry."

"No," Greg said with a smile on his face as he wiped away his tears. "You're right. Thank you."

Greg let Nick's wise words replay in the back of his head for three days now, constantly asking himself what to do with this insight. He knew something needed to change, but he wasn't sure whether he needed to take a step forward or one back, to where he was last happy with his situation. In these three days, he didn't contact Camille and they didn't meet at work, either. But today Camille decided it was time to meet up. She stormed into the break room at the start of the CSIs shift with a distraught look on her face. "Did he threaten you?!"

Greg looked up from his coffee with a confused look. "...What? Who?"

"...Ed, who else?! Did he?"

"...Yes."

She sat down opposite him. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I... wasn't sure you'd believe me."

"What? ...Why? Why shouldn't I believe you?"

"...Okay, it's not just that. I wasn't sure I could trust you. ...But that's my problem, it doesn't have anything to do with you."

Camille sighed. "Sure it does. I should've handled this all better. I should've showed you that I was appalled that Ed attacked you in the first place. I should've sent him out, not you..."

He shrugged. "What's done is done, Camille. There's no point in regretting the decisions you made."

"Please don't be that way. I realize I hurt you, but... I want to make it up to you."

"There's nothing to make up to. It's fine, I get it. He's your ex, you have history together and you thought he was more trustworthy."

"...Yeah, of course. And don't worry, I talked to him. He said he just wanted to scare you and didn't mean any of the things he said to you. He won't bother you again."

"That's good."

"...So we're okay?"

"Camille, you know I like you a lot, right?"

"...Oh god." She sighed. "That's never good."

He gave her a soft smile. "I really do. But you have to understand that it's not gonna be easy dating me. Just ask around the lab, I can be horribly moody. I have deep trust issues and can be way too sensitive. And any realistic chance of getting intimate with you in the next few... months, probably, flew out the window the second your ex attacked me. This all isn't your fault but I'll probably make you feel like it is every once in a while. I'll never mean it like that, but you'll be hurt by it, anyway. I'm not sure I want to put you through all this."

"...Because you like me, right?" She smiled at him. "Isn't that enough? Can't we just enjoy the honeymoon phase before we talk about these things?" She gently put her hand on his, but he pulled back as he gave her quite an uncomfortable look. This made her realize her optimistic, quite naïve idea would not work out like she wanted it to. "...Sorry."

"No, I'm sorry. I just can't put you through this, it wouldn't be fair. You deserve to be happy."

"...Well, don't you, too? I want you to be happy, Greg. And I just don't believe you'll be happier being alone than being with me. Let's just try it out for another few weeks. If one of us isn't happy then, we can go back to being friends, right?"

"...So it's really over?" Nick asked with worry in his voice as he handed Greg an evidence bag out on a crime scene.

"Yeah, it's better that way... I think." Greg grabbed the bag and put the evidence in. "She just doesn't get it, you know? She was trying but sometimes that's not enough."

"Sorry to hear that." He patted him on the back. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. It just wasn't meant to be at the moment. Maybe in a few months things will look different, but right now we're not good for eachother."

Nick was quite impressed with how mature Greg was handling the situation. "Will you be able to work with her?"

He quickly nodded. "Of course. It might take some time, but I'm sure we can be friends."

"I'm really proud of you, man. It takes a lot of guts to acknowledge that it's just not the right time." Nick kept on talking about this subject for quite some time, but he stopped as soon as he noticed his friend was crying. "...Greg?"

"...I'm fine. It's just been a few rough weeks and... I'm sorry." He sobbed as he wiped away the tears falling down his cheek.

Nick took a few steps closer to his friend to embrace him.

"...No, Nick, it's okay, I..."

"Shut up," Nick gently said to him, still holding him in his arms, "It is okay." They remained like that for a few minutes, giving Greg the opportunity to let all his pain and tension out, before going back to work. He felt a bit better after this cry and Nick's hug, but seeing Camille almost everyday at work would hurt him quite a lot for the next few weeks before he would be finally over their failed relationship.

Ende.