The door slammed open and then closed, startling Adam nearly out of his spot on the couch. He looked up and found Lindsay as close to fuming as he had ever seen her.

"What. Happened?"

She shook her head and sighed, flopping down on the couch next to him. Her arms crossed over her chest and she bit her lip, a sure sign that she'd had a bad day.

"I've got ten minutes," he said, settling his arms around her. "Spill."

"I got into an argument with Stella," she started. "And we argue all the time over cases, so it wasn't that big of a deal. But somehow Austin got into it and it just… it was stupid but I'm still bugged."

"Honey, the three of you have worked almost every case together for the last month. The days off have been few and far between and this was bound to happen. You and Stella will get over it, you always do. And you and Austin are best friends. You can't go that long without talking. And if you do, Danny and I are going to be the ones suffering the chatty repercussions. Keep that in mind."

She scowled and propped her feet up on the coffee table.

"I hate fighting."

"I know."

"Oh well."

"What are you going to do tonight?"

"Laundry. You wear a lot of clothes."

"And you don't?"

"Mine are smaller."

"We'll debate this later," he said, standing up. "I gotta go."

"When are you going to be home?"

"Probably around midnight. You gonna wait up?"

"Depends," she said with a shrug and a grin.

"On what?"

"Mmm, how you say goodbye."

He raised an eyebrow and leaned down to kiss her, chuckling when she grabbed his shirt and pulled him down further.

"Linds."

"What? I'm just trying to help your chances here."

"Thanks for looking out for me babe. I gotta go."

"Be safe."

He kissed her again and headed out the door, leaving her alone with the TV, the computer, and two cats. She sighed and grabbed the remote, turning the TV on and flipping through the channels once before the phone rang.

"Hello."

"Hey."

"Hi Stell."

"I'm sorry."

"Me too."

"Want to get coffee in the morning?"

"Always."

"I'm glad we could have this little chat."

"Me too. See you in the morning."

She hung up and sighed again as the tabby-cat jumped up onto the couch with her, mewing softly and nuzzling her leg.

"Hey Chewbacca," she greeted, scratching him behind the ear. "Did Adam feed you?"

He meowed in response and she stood up, heading for the kitchen.

"Aw, Fluffy," she groaned, finding cat food all over the floor. Fluffy had a habit of pawing food out of her dish before she ate it, but hadn't figured out how to put the food back in when she was done. Lindsay scooped the food off the floor and put it back in the dish, then moved to fill Chewbacca's bowl as well. He meowed his appreciation and she replaced the water in the dish with fresh, then went into the bedroom to change. Adam's clothes were all over the floor and he hadn't made the bed either. She was betting he hadn't even crawled out of it until noon anyway. She considered making it but figured it was a waste of energy that she didn't have. Instead she changed into sweats and one of Adam's t-shirts, then threw all their dirty clothes into a basket before taking them over to the washer. They'd been lucky to find a cheap apartment that had a washer and dryer, and the novelty of it still hadn't worn off, so they were doing more loads than they really needed to. She separated the lights and darks then started a load and went back to the couch. She hated when Adam was at work and she was home. There was nothing to do to occupy her time. Anything she thought of required energy and movement and was immediately rejected.

She grabbed her cell phone off the table, figuring she should call Taylor since they hadn't talked in three weeks.

"Hey Lindsay," Taylor said in greeting.

"Hey doll face. What's going on?"

"Nothing. It's snowing again."

"Where are you?"

"Your parents house. Mom hasn't been home in a week. And our heat got shut off, so your dad came and picked me up a few days ago."

"Oh Tay."

"It's alright. Your mom made me pie."

"You don't have to be so brave all the time."

"I know. I get bothered sometimes but right now I am watching the snow fall and drinking hot chocolate and I just don't have time to be annoyed. What are you up to?"

"Slowly melting into the couch."

"A useful endeavor. When are you guys coming back to town?"

"Not for a while. We used all our vacation time already. Maybe we'll just have to fly you out this summer."

"Seriously?" she screeched. "We could really do that?"

"Of course."

"That would be… epic."

"Yeah, pretty much. Hey, how's the boyfriend?"

"You can call him by his name, Lindsay."

"No, because in my head you're still ten and your boyfriends are amorphous or famous or both."

"You sound like your mom."

"Geez I'm old."

"Codger."

"Yeah yeah. Shut up and answer my question."

"Thaddeus is fine," she said, stressing his name. "He's a good guy Lindsay. And I'm a good girl. And if he treats me like crap I'm out. I promise."

"I know. But he's your first boyfriend and I just don't want you to get hurt."

"I appreciate that. But you have to let me grow up sometime."

"I am going to be a wreck when I have kids someday."

"And when is that going to be?"

"Oh hush."

"What? Am I not allowed to ask you stuff?"

"No, you're allowed."

"So when are you going to pop out an infant?"

"I don't know yet," she answered with a chuckle. "About nine months after I get pregnant I would assume."

"Specifically vague. I do not accept this answer."

"It'll happen when it happens, if you must know. Right now we're still getting used to being married. I don't know if we're ready for two a.m. feedings and baby poop."

"Well okay. But I want a phone call when it happens."

"You'll get one. Is there anything going on with you that you don't want to tell me but you need to?"

Taylor sighed.

"I started the process to get emancipated."

"Whoa."

"Yeah. I have to be living out of my mom's house and have my own income, but really that's the majority of it. Except she may have to approve, depending on the judge. Your parents said I could live here as long as I stay in school and keep my job and pay some rent. Which works fine for me. I haven't talked to my dad yet, but I don't see why he would say no. And my mom just has to be sober enough to sign her name to a document, so cross your fingers for that."

"Are you absolutely sure this is what you want?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Then I'm behind you one hundred percent. Just don't screw up majorly or you get to go to big people prison."

"I don't screw up majorly. I am pretty much incapable of doing stupid stuff. That was you who drove the snowmobile through the high school."

"Do as I say, not as I do."

"You always say that."

"I've never steered you wrong yet."

"Yeah. Hey, I gotta go, dinner's ready."

"You get to eat my mom's cooking and I sit here needing to go grocery shopping again because Adam is a bottomless pit. Where is the fairness in this?"

"I'll think of a snappy comment later. Love you Lindsay."

"I love you too kid."

"Hey Lindsay," Mac said, meeting her as she walked towards the lab.

"Hey Mac."

"I need you to do me a favor."

"Nothing good ever came from that phrase."

"We're having a surprise inspection."

"Not much of a surprise if they tell you, is it?"

"I guess not. I need you to clean some of the photo processors."

"Mac, is this punishment for arguing with Stella yesterday?" she asked, only half joking.

"No, it's because you're the only one who knows what you're doing. You said half the job in Bozeman was machine maintenance because you guys could never afford to get anything fixed."

"I never should have said that."

"You know that this makes you indispensable, right? And that's job security right there."

"I am comforted in knowing that my education and experience doesn't play into my indispensability at all."

He smirked and nodded, then headed for his office. Grimacing, she turned on her heel and walked to the back corner of the lab where the huge photo processor stood. They used it to print off crime scene photos for the files, as sending them out to a company would be a security issue. They also had a film processor on the off chance that there was a film camera at a crime scene. Both machines were always on, though the former was used exponentially more than the latter.

She tackled the printer first, taking off the cover and pulling out the first filter. It was hot and caked with a clay-like substance, and smelled disgustingly interesting. She took it over to the sink and rinsed it. It took a toothbrush to get it clean and she was almost done when Austin walked up beside her.

"Hey Aust."

"Hey."

They looked at each other for a minute before Lindsay sighed.

"I'm sorry."

"Man I'm glad you said it first. I kind of find it impossible."

"Well, I've had a lot of practice," Lindsay replied, finishing with the filter and turning around to replace it in the machine. "So are we still on for dinner with the boys tomorrow night?"

"If I can convince Danny that bowling is a totally manly sport, we're so on."

"You know, I only added the bowling because Adam says we're not old enough to just have dinner."

"But not young enough to go to the sock hop afterwards?"

"I suppose that's the case."

"The things we do for the insecurities of our men."

"They should worship the ground we walk on."

"Pretty sure they already do."

Lindsay nodded and finished with the second filter, replacing it in the machine and sighing.

"Aust, is there something else going on with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're been a little abnormal lately. I mean, abnormal for you."

"Thanks?"

"You've been quiet and just not yourself."

"It might be the weather."

"You and I both know it's not."

Austin sighed and leaned back against the counter, twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

"I guess there's some stuff. I just don't know if I want to talk about it right now."

"Well if you ever do…"

"You'll be my first call."

"Okay."

"I've got to get back to work. I'll call you later and we can figure out times for tomorrow night."

"Alright. Love you with my guts."

"Love you with my guts too."

This time when Lindsay came home she opened and closed the door in the proper manner and found Adam sitting at the kitchen table, paying the bills.

"Hey babe. Everything back to normal?"

"Yeah. Are you doing the bills?"

"I sure am. Pretty sure I did them right the first time too. And dinner's in the oven."

"You gonna be Mr. Mom someday?"

"I wouldn't go that far."

She grinned and settled herself in his lap, sighing as he cradled her in his arms.

"Thank you," she said after a minute.

"For what?"

"Doing the bills. Making dinner. Listening to me yesterday instead of trying to fix it yourself."

"You're welcome."

"I have court in the morning," she sighed. "Want to stay up late and help me get ready?"

"Always."

She smiled and relaxed into the comfort of his arms, glad to be home where he was the only one that needed her.