Chris knew Luca was a man of his word, and if he'd promised a Fun, Food, and Friends night, he would deliver it as soon as she managed to get to his place. After the past tense few weeks, she craved nothing more.

Coming home from Germany had not been what Chris expected. The whole TLI experience had not been how she'd pictured it. She'd missed home—and Street—more than she cared to admit, and she'd had to bust her ass harder than ever to keep her focus. She'd survived the three months abroad with a bit of effort and also thanks to Luca—and sometimes despite him. And though she didn't regret a single moment, she'd anticipated all the personal and professional growth happening there would have changed something in her life, or at least in her career. Yet...

Yet Chris now hesitated outside the familiar wooden fence with the humid mid-fall air sweeping at the wild strands escaping her tiny ponytail and started to realize that maybe the TLI had been just a summer project after all.

Everyday life was a different realm.

A realm where the grief for Erika's loss still played at the surface of her conscience. A world where Street—whose best friend status she deeply regretted losing—still felt miles away despite them working back-to-back again. A place where being a female cop still required fighting prejudices and where Chris, as the first woman to get past the SWAT academy, though not the only one anymore, still felt the responsibility of opening new ways for others while struggling non-stop to prove her worth. Over and over and over again.

Nothing had improved around Chris, and maybe nothing inside her changed either.

She shook that off and finally stepped inside her friend's property. Doing so, she came in sight of the picnic table in the yard, and an equally unsettling thought invested her. The memory of the fundraiser night. The cursed kiss. And as summoned, one of Mackenzie Zee Miller's songs Chris had been torturing herself with lately flooded her mind.

It's the whisper of the moon
Carried to my soul by the wind.
Listen to my heart sing
What I wish it could have been.

No. Chris outright refused to go down the what-if road. It was too slippery, and she'd landed heavily on her ass already in the past trying to walk it.

She ought to move forward, not backward.

Things with Street were what they were, and that was that, at least in the romance department. That kiss had been an utter mistake, another reminder to stir away from alcohol. She'd betrayed her partners with that kiss, and Chris still couldn't forgive herself for that. The throuple mess might have been doomed from the start, but still, drunken cheating had not been fair to Ty and Kira, who'd always been honest with her.

We're walking parallel roads,
We're living distant lives.
It's what was written in the stars for us.
It's what did us part.

It struck Chris how she could relate so deeply to this song and to its writer—a woman she didn't know at all. It threw her off balance how the same man could provoke such feelings in both of them. Because there was no doubt these lyrics were dedicated to Street. After all, how many lovers had Zee left behind to pursue her musical career? How many hearts had she broken?

And still, her words rang so true to Chris's soul. She and Street walked parallel lives, so close to each other but never being able to touch. But if a romance was out of the question, her feelings for him were too deep to poof away on command. His friendship still was one of the few firm points of her life. Chris wanted Street in her world and ached to be part of his again.

She needed her best friend back.

But, Guardian of my soul,
I know you'll never leave me alone.

The lyrics kept overflowing Chris's mind despite her best effort to set them aside, and she hoped those last lines of the song would apply to her situation. That Street would never really leave her alone.

Right now, though, she didn't believe it.

The pattern in their relationship was clear. Chris pushed Street away whenever she felt he was getting too close, and Street always fought his way back to her. But now it was him pushing her away, and Chris's heart stuttered as she realized she was doing the opposite of pulling him back to her.

It was her turn to fight for their friendship, and she would do just that as soon as she managed to swallow her pride.

So probably not tonight because tonight, Chris strode forward to the entrance with not much hope Street would actually be home. Lately, he spent all his time with that woman, and that was unsettling enough. Zee had been a huge comfort for Street after his mother passed, but still, there was something unnatural to their bond that Chris couldn't digest.

Chris gave one rap at the door, which immediately swung open. The inviting scent that permeated the open space living room and kitchen invested her and made her stomach rumble. "Hope you didn't start without me," she said, peeking in.

"No worries, I just got here myself." Tan moved from the entrance to make room for her. His Hawaiian shirt was loud enough to anchor Chris to the present more effectively than the spicy aroma wafting through.

"What took you so long?" Luca called from behind the kitchen island, where he was laying out a dozen plastic containers, all filled with samples of Xiamara's best cuisine. "You couldn't decide what to wear for us?"

"Something like that." Chris couldn't help grinning in response to Luca's dazzling smile.

Clearly, no one had given half a thought about their outfits tonight. Chris had chosen her most comfortable clothes, denim jeans and one of her favorite hoodies. Tan completed his tourist look with flip-flops and khakis. Luca was in his usual gray long-sleeved T-shirt and sweatpants. And Street—who was actually here, to Chris's surprise and relief—had on dark jeans and a black and blue plaid shirt over a cotton T-shirt.

Normalcy at its finest, Chris was glad to notice, although while she knew Hondo had to call himself out earlier, she was a little surprised to see there was no sign of Deacon.

"Great." Street dialed something on his phone before plucking it in to charge where he could easily reach it. "Ready to start?"

"Relax, man." Luca rested his big hands on Street's shoulders and squeezed them in a light massage. "Your girl will be right there when we've finished taste tasting. These delicacies need to be savored unhurriedly."

Chris's stomach clenched; Street was planning to flee from them to be with his girlfriend. He was here, but not really here, as often happened lately outside of work. Chris tried to distract herself by petting Duke, who looked over-excited from the smells in the air.

"Why couldn't Zee come again?" Tan perched on a stool at the long side of the kitchen island. "Bonnie was ready to reschedule her work commitment to meet the famous Mackenzie Miller. You know she's been pestering me for weeks."

"How could I forget?" Street's expression always darkened a shade when his girlfriend's full name was mentioned. "Your wife's non-stop texting me, too."

"And you know Duke would have loved to have Jamie around if Zee didn't manage to find a babysitter," Luca added, trying to sound casual. They all walked on eggshells when bringing up the little girl. The slightest hint at a serious discussion, and Street clammed up faster than ever.

"Jamie is a great kid, but still just a kid. She's been having some trouble adjusting to all the changes she's going through." Street's expression was scrunched, pained even, as he said so. "New home, new school, new people… Even the ocean is not the right ocean to her eyes, and she's starting to feel the weight of the weeks passing away from the only place she ever called home."

Luca's eyes filled with empathy. "Must be tough for such a little girl."

"Must be tough for her mother, too," Tan said. "But you know we would be glad to help both of them overcome those changes, right?"

"Of course." Street let a sigh escape. "Zee is just…busy."

"Well, they're lucky to have you here caring for them."

Chris knew Tan was right. Street was a blessing to Zee and Jamie. But still, there was something in this situation she couldn't put her fingers on.

"I'm the lucky one." Street smiled sheepishly. Or was there something else in his change of expression? "Anyway," he continued, "Zee opted to spend some quality time with Jamie. And I promised to be there to read her the bedtime story later, so…"

Could he be any more painfully sweet with the kid? Chris carefully avoided meeting anyone's gaze but spotted Luca and Tan exchanging sugary grins.

"Can we start the tasting, please?" Street pressed again.

"Are we not waiting for Deac?" Chris winced, catching her annoyed tone a bit too late, and busied herself washing her hands at the kitchen sink.

"He's not coming." Luca shrugged, resigned. "The whole litter came down with sore throats. Annie needed him home."

Chris held back a sigh as she settled down at the long side of the kitchen island beside Tan. Things were different when children were involved. A shiver crept up Chris's spine. Street had his own kid to prioritize now. And Tan could be the next on the list. Then maybe Hondo, too, since his relationship with Nichelle grew more serious by the day? That would leave just her and Luca having no concrete plan to form a family of their own any soon.

"Alright, dinner's ready," Luca said, interrupting Chris's spiraling thoughts. "C'mon buddy, out of the way," he told Duke, who was waving himself in and out of their feet. "Whatever he might tell you, guys, I've already fed him." He gestured to the containers he'd lined up on the counter. "This is all human food. No exceptions."

Chris chuckled despite herself, giving Duke a sorry Buddy look before busying herself into helping Luca pass the goods.

"Give it here. I'm starving." Street took his and Tan's plate and settled at his friend's side at the short end of the island, as far from Chris as possible.

The tension between them had not loosened up after the confrontation fiasco about Jamie and Zee they'd had in the locker room. Chris had tried to mend fences when his mom died, but Street kept playing Chris's own game with her, being as professional as ever at the HQ but carefully avoiding being alone with her, provided they weren't ordered to pair up on the job. It drove Chris mad how they were both bad-timing champions.

"I'm serious, Street," Tan said around a mouthful of empanadas. "Bonnie—" he gulped the food down "—will already ask for divorce if I fail to convince you to introduce your girlfriend to her."

"Okay, okay." Street lifted his hands in surrender. "I don't want to be responsible for that. Tell Bonnie they'll meet one of these days." His tone was elusive, his eyes gliding along the food choice. He started munching, then swallowed hard. "This is fantastic." He took another bite. "Yes, this definitely goes in the updated menu."

Street's diversion tactic worked, and just like that, the conversation eased back to the food truck and stayed there for a while, punctuated by Luca making all of them laugh with this or that story about the adventures he and Chris had in Germany.

All was smooth and joyful for about an hour, then Street excused himself. Duke followed him to the entrance, got a distracted farewell scratch behind the ears, then returned to settle between Luca and Chris's feet a moment after the door closed at Street's back.

"I didn't think I would have lived long enough to see the day he skipped dessert in favor of a woman." Luca shook his head, presenting Tan and Chris with the three sweet choices.

"At least tonight was something," Tan said. "Street hardly spends time with us out of work anymore."

Something but not enough. Chris refrained from shaking her head.

"I admit that if I hadn't met Zee firsthand, I would have been a little worried, but…" Luca perched on his stool, spoon in hand to attack his arroz en leche. "I think Street simply has his hands full with love and his first taste of a traditional family."

Chris's chest constricted. Could it be this that was really bothering her? Street having a chance at a traditional family before her? At her place, even? Was she really that petty? That desperate? It wasn't like Chris didn't receive love and support for the relatives that raised her, but…

"Street and Zee might not be all that communicative with us," Luca continued, "but I don't smell anything rotten there."

Was this the moment for Chris to reveal to the guys what she suspected about Zee either betraying her husband with Street or fleeing from a bad marriage and using their friend as free aid?

Tan took a huge bite of his bunuelo, then swallowed hard. "Since we saw Mackenzie at the funeral, my curiosity about her doubled. I know Bonnie claims she's great, but I think it's weird that my wife talks about her more than her boyfriend does." He turned to Luca. "And you, too, keep swearing she's great, but then why is Street so reluctant to introduce her to us?" He looked down at his plate, a frown on his face. "You don't think it's because Zee doesn't want to be bothered by fans in her private life, and now that Bonnie exposed her to us, she wants to keep the distance?"

"Your wife is not the reason Street is acting all mysterious and idiotic." Chris was about to spit out her theory born with the in-laws conversation she overheard, when something in Luca's gaze caught her eye. "Wait, you are suspicious of her after all. What do you know that we don't?"

"I'm not exactly suspicious, but I did some digging," he admitted.

"Tell me none of you had a background check on her." Tan grimaced. He clearly had thought of doing it himself but didn't.

"It never crossed my mind," Luca said, then they both looked at Chris.

"I didn't," she defended herself. Not that she hadn't thought of doing it. However, the risk of being caught and putting the final nail in her relationship with Street was too high. She picked at her bowl of arroz en leche and turned to Luca, trying to stir the conversation back to its original course by putting two and two together. "You asked Buck about her, didn't you? That's why you really went to see him last night."

"Actually, I had already planned to spend some time with him, and the matter of Street's girlfriend happened to pop up. You know, after Buck gave me an earful for not forwarding him the info on Street's mom's funeral in time for him to attend it."

They all forgot to do it. Chris mentally kicked herself. If they'd called Buck, Street would not have been alone with his girlfriend when 20-David team had to go back to work. Well, that and he would have had more support in his grief, which was the most important thing. She mentally kicked herself again.

"So Buck did remember Zee from the first time she was around?"

Chris refrained from rolling her eyes at Tan's captain-obvious remark.

"He did remember her, though he never actually met her. Apparently, she used another last name back then, but that's easily explained by her now using a pen name to protect her privacy."

Or to her being married, Chris thought, frowning at her dessert as her stomach closed.

Luca anxiously stared at her expression. "Something wrong with the food?"

"No, this is great." She took another spoonful to her mouth. "It's definitely in. One of my favorite Latino desserts." She forced a smile. "My stomach is full."

"You sure you okay?" Tan gulped down another two bunelos before attacking a bowl of arroz en leche. "I don't think I've ever heard you say that."

"I'm sure. Can we go back to the matter at hand? Is there something you need to share about Zee or not?"

"Full stomach or not, you both would want to eat these before I tell you what I discovered." Luca handed each of them a piece of borracho. "The thing is too full of rum to be served with the food truck without a liquor license, but it can't hurt us tonight."

They complied, devouring the piece of cake, but Chris didn't even register its taste. She'd never been a gossip girl, but this seemed too big to let go. If even Luca now thought there was something more behind Street's relationship with this woman, she needed to uncover the truth.

"Alright, I'll come clean. I don't know what I overheard that afternoon, but Buck rules out Jamie can be Street's daughter."

"What do you mean she can't be his? You were so sure of it." Tan dabbed his chin with a red paper towel with the Guatemama's logo on it.

Luca grimaced. "I jumped to conclusions, and I shouldn't have."

Chris's temper flared. "Did you, now?"

"I deserve that." Luca held up his hands in surrender. "And probably we all owe Street an apology. But hear me out first. The full story, or at least what Buck knows. And from the start."

Tan and Chris nodded, signaling they were all ears.

"Buck was nothing short of stunned to learn that Zee was the mysterious ex-girlfriend that came back into Street's life. When Street told him about getting back together with someone he'd briefly dated in the past, Buck confessed to me he got worried he was messing up with Molly. However, once he was reassured that wasn't the case, he didn't put much thought into the girl's identity."

Chris pursed her lips. Street's relationship with Molly was still a sore spot for her.

"Buck had never personally met any of Street's girlfriends; none of them had ever been serious enough. Zee was a bit of an exception since things were getting serious with her, but all the same, she still didn't last long. Thing is, Buck still ruled her out as a possibility for a present reconnection. He was fully convinced Street had closed her off for good after the way she treated him the first time."

Chris's heart skipped a beat. "How did she treat him?"

"Let me tell you the story exactly as Buck told me," Luca said, implying no interruptions. "Once upon a time, Street's old instructor was absolutely obsessed with this diner in Long Beach. It was the only place he let Street stop to have a break whenever they were on shift."

Why the heck did he have to approach it in such a roundabout way? Chris thought, holding back a sigh.

"There worked a beautiful waitress whose aspiration was to make a living from her passion for music."

This time, Chris couldn't help noticeably rolling her eyes. It was indeed a perfect prompt for a country song.

"The young cop couldn't help but fall in love with the simple but charming girl. While young Mackenzie, Zee from then on, fell right in for the overconfident-on-the-outside, golden-hearted-inside boy."

Fitting descriptions. At least for what Chris knew about Street. But was Zee really that straightforward, or had she planned to play with Street from the start?

Luca went on, "Buck said Street was totally smitten with her. Wasted at first sight and burning steps."

A sense of uneasiness tingled the back of Chris's neck.

"That was the first serious relationship Street ever had. So serious, he was looking up rings."

Tan's eyes went wide. "Engagement rings?"

"After only three months of dating," Luca confirmed with a nod. "Street was very real about it all. And from what Buck could understand, Zee was on board. So, young Street was waiting to save up enough money to buy her a nice ring before officially popping the question."

Chris's stomach churned. This was the kind of history the two shared. The kind of history that made Street go blind all over again for love. But if they were so close to forming a family, why did that woman back out of it when the pregnancy test came out positive?

"However, before Street could make his move, Zee 'chewed him and spat him out,' to put it in Buck's exact words. She fled from LA without a warning or much of an explanation. Street was devastated, the foul play hitting him right in his soft spot, fanning his trust issues and insecurities." Luca sighed. "Buck said it was ugly."

Tan and Chris exchanged a meaningful look. Now she had confirmation the woman had always been bad news for Street. One of the many reasons he'd had such a hard time letting himself feel part of their SWAT family when Buck put him there.

"Let me get this straight," Tan voiced his thoughts, matching Chris's. "Street was more than ready to create a family with Zee, and she seemed prone to marry him, except she got a positive pregnancy test and got cold feet? But then she decided to keep the baby and raise her on her own? This doesn't make any sense."

Or maybe, Chris thought, horror clawing at her lungs, Zee cheated on Street, getting herself pregnant, and thought fleeing was better than telling the truth or living a lie with the man she supposedly loved?

"Because that's not what happened."

"Then what did?" Chris said, her head spinning. "Because I still can't get how any of this rules out the possibility of Street being the girl's father."

"Yeah, it took me a while to shine the light on the right details of the story, too. Remember I mentioned it was Street's instructor the reason the two lovebirds met at that diner?"

Understanding dawned on Tan's face. "All this went down when Street was just a rookie cop?"

"Fresh out of the academy." Luca nodded. "The involvement in the relationship miraculously didn't threaten his young career, but the breakup sure did, according to Buck. He didn't go into details, but he said it took him some serious effort to keep the kid on the right track. And that's why now he can hardly believe we're talking about the same woman from those days. But after all, Street isn't the same man either, right?"

People change. Grow. Street was living proof of that. Chris herself hoped others could say the same of her, though recently she doubted it, feeling stuck. Regressing even. She mentally shook herself. The point was, could history still repeat itself? Would that woman threaten Street's career again, after all the battles he'd had to fight to come as far as he did? After all the hard work he'd put into becoming a better person?

"Okay, then Street had been with Zee over ten years ago," Tan said, doing the math and taking Chris back to the poignant details of their conversation," but you told us Jamie is younger than that."

"Exactly. The time frame doesn't fit."

"But you definitely heard them talking about a pregnancy test being why Zee left Street back then," Chris pressed. "To not ruin his life or something like that, right?"

Luca was silent for a few beats, thinking hard, then sighed. "I'm not sure anymore…"

"You're not…" Chris trailed off, trying to rail in her frustration.

"Maybe Zee was pregnant but decided she wasn't ready to become a mom. Or that Street wasn't a good fit as a dad. Or maybe she didn't tell him because she feared Street would have forced her to have the baby even if she didn't want to," Tan said, a shadow crossing his face. "So she left without telling him."

Horror took Chris's breath away. That woman wouldn't have dared. Would she have?

"Or maybe it wasn't at all her choice that the pregnancy didn't go through, and she was grieving too much to face Street and put him through that sorrow." Tan's own experience with Bonnie showed in the low tone of his voice. Maybe, just maybe, they were being too harsh in judging Zee?

"I didn't even consider that possibility." Luca got up and busied himself making coffee for them all.

"But later on, Zee had Jamie," Tan said, a glint of hope for himself and his wife glinting in his eyes.

Chris felt for him, but the more pressing matter of Street's situation took front and center in her brain.

"Man, you should see the little angel," Luca said after a while, passing the coffee mugs around. "I still can't believe I was wrong about Street being her father."

"But we can't rule out the possibility that Street thinks Jamie is his, right?" Mixed feelings dancing inside her, Chris voiced the doubts she still had. "Or that Zee is making him believe it."

"Oh, c'mon. Street can't be that bad at math. And Zee didn't strike me as someone who would ever do that."

"Okay, but Buck can't know for sure that Street couldn't have traced her in Charleston, maybe after casually hearing her music, and went in search of answers. Or that it wasn't Zee who came back to LA at some point, and they were careless enough to"—Chris couldn't bring herself to say it but forced herself at last—"reconnect not using protections."

"Buck is adamant they didn't see each other at all until a few weeks ago, as Street told us. He said Street couldn't even hear her name for the longest time and threw himself head-first in dating apps and one-night stands met at a bar as a stress relief when he didn't restore to biking around."

"That's how he still was years later when we met him," Tan pointed out, and Chris well remembered. She even ungraded his profile, way back when they were only starting to get close and things were easier between them.

How Chris longed to go back there. So much so for growing and moving forward.

"And omissions are a thing," Tan continued, "but we really don't have any reason to suspect Street lied to us."

"Buck swears he would have noticed a change in Street if he'd reconnected with Zee even for just one night. Like he noticed a change in him lately. Only this time, he put it on the consequences of the transplant and the new level of mess with his mom."

"But we're not sure about anything," Chris said, determined to keep the point as her gut still told her something was off. "Maybe Street's reconnection with Zee for Jamie's conception matched with some other major thing in his life, and Buck mixed the signs back then, too."

Luca sipped his coffee, deep in thought. "We're not even sure Street has ever believed Jamie is his biological daughter. Has he ever outright commented on that to any of you? Directly confirmed or denied?"

Tan and Chris exchanged a look, then both shook their heads. But Street was being evasive with the whole situation, so it wasn't their fault none of them noticed, right?

Right?

"Zee might have hurt Street in the past, but I don't think there's any reason to be so suspicious of her now," Tan said, resting his mug on the kitchen island. "With this new information, I think Jamie can realistically be her late husband's."

Late husband. So Zee was a widow, not an adulterous. A wave of relief hit Chris, immediately replaced by shame.

"You knew she had been married and didn't think to share the info with us?" Luca shifted his gaze from Tan to Chris. "Oh, come on! You too?"

Chris's lips tightened. "I overheard Street's side of a phone conversation where he mentioned Zee's in-laws, but I didn't want to jump to conclusions." Liar. Chris knew she jumped the gun way faster than she literally did on the job, but Luca deserved the tease for planting the seed about Jamie being Street's in all their heads.

Both Tan and Luca skeptically eyed her before the latter spoke up. "You thought she was still married; that's why you've been so biased against Zee since the beginning." He shook his head. "Because you didn't make assumptions."

Another wave of shame made Chris hot all over. "I'm not biased, okay?" But wasn't she really? "But I might still be a bit sore from past times when Street kept things from me. From all of us. It triggered my instincts," she admitted.

That was what was happening. The reason why Chris wasn't giving this Zee a real chance. If Street, her—supposedly—best friend, was happy, she should be happy for him. Except he wasn't. Chris could feel it deep down in her bones. And her teammates were finally starting to see something wasn't completely right there, too. They just couldn't put their finger on it yet.

"What about you, Tan?" Luca luckily dropped the bone with Chris. "How do you know about Zee losing a husband?"

"I might have done some digging on my own."

"Meaning you asked Bonnie to give you fanbase gossip." Luca gave a soft chuckle. They were turning into old gossips after all. "You learned a lot then? Although you keep repeating she is such a private person."

"Not that much, no. Mackenzie values her privacy a great deal, so she usually doesn't take many interviews. And when she does, the little personal information she discloses has a sketchy timeline at best. And that's also why I didn't come straight to you with what I learned. It didn't seem relevant to her relationship with Street. When we all finally met her, I didn't want to make her feel like we had already made up her mind about her beforehand."

"Fair enough," Luca sobered up, a glint of guilt crossing his face. Chris felt that too, but still… This was Street's life they were talking about.

"All Bonnie and I really know," Tan continued anyway, "is that at some point in her life, Zee started sponsoring fundraisers for the families of veterans who lost their lives in the line of duty because of her personal experience. No one in her fanbase knew she was an army wife before that, and her late husband's name never became public, let alone any pictures of him. And despite fans having all kinds of theories about the hidden dedications of Mackenzie's very emotional songs, they're just that, theories."

"Okay." Luca got up to clear the kitchen island, probably just to keep his hands busy. "Seems like we should just wait until Street and Zee are ready to let us in."

"It had been a rough six months for Street," Tan pointed out. "Maybe we are being a tad overprotective other than simply curious. But still, I wish they would let us all in sooner rather than later."

Something wasn't right, Chris knew it. But was it really something about Zee or something inside Chris herself? Feeling her uneasiness, Duke came to her and put his snout on Chris's lap, infusing some warmth into her.

"Be patient," Luca said, a warm smile back on his lips. "I think Street is trying to keep Zee to himself because he secretly fears she would bolt on him again, but from what I saw, there's no chance she will. When you finally meet her and Jamie, all these theories won't mean anything anymore."

"Just convince Street, then." Tan stood to help since Chris was pinned on her stool by Duke. "Bonnie isn't the only one dying to meet the famous woman."

Chris refrained herself from shaking her head. She would gladly have a talk with that Mackenzie, only the last time she went behind Street's back and talked with the woman who was threatening his future, things didn't go so well, and their friendship had still not recovered from the spiral down it took. Although, she'd been right that time. His mom had indeed taken advantage of Street's good heart, had him go through hell to give her a piece of his liver, and then just wasted her last chance, leaving him grieving and lost.

-o- -o- -o-