The second the door opened he knew it had been a good idea to pack an overnight bag. Her eyes were red and her lips were drawn in a thin line, and even though she hadn't been continuously crying for a while, he could tell she was on the verge. Gently he tipped her chin up and looked into her eyes, those big brown eyes that were usually dancing with happiness were now clouded with something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"Danny said you might not be okay. Was he right?"

She nodded and he stepped inside, setting his bag on the floor and closing the door behind him. She stood staring at the floor until he tipped her chin up again.

"Lindsay."

Her arms went around him quickly and she buried her face in his chest, letting him kiss her hair and hold her tightly while she started to cry. He knew it had been a bad case, with the unknown of why looming over her. He knew it hit in all the wrong places, a country girl in the city, a little too innocent for her own good. Increasingly he was discovering that something had happened to Lindsay a long time ago, something she kept a secret. He didn't want to pry, he figured she would tell him someday, but he knew that it probably exacerbated the feelings of this case.

He rubbed her back as she cried, not saying a word, hoping that she could feel the comfort for a while. Her tears slowed after a moment and he kicked his shoes off, keeping his arms around her and leading her to the bedroom.

"Where are we going?" she nearly giggled, walking backwards.

"We're going to go lay down. You're going to let it all out and I'm going to lay here and hold you until you kick me out for propriety's sake."

"I might not kick you out at all," she confessed as they crossed into her bedroom. He gave a small smile as they lay down, adjusting arms and legs and pillows until she had no choice but to rest against him securely. He tucked her hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead, watching her eyes move beneath closed lids, knowing that she was working up the courage to say something.

"I don't understand," she sighed shakily, tracing the pattern on his t-shirt. "Why?"

"I don't know. I don't think he even knows."

"Nobody ever will. Her father… Adam, the look on his face… I can't handle mothers but it wasn't until now that I realized that fathers are just as bad. He'll never understand. He'll never know. His little girl was taken from him and he'll never know why."

Adam didn't say a word, just ran his fingers through her hair until all the curls had fallen out. She wasn't looking for answers, she knew he didn't have any and it was helping that he was silent. She could just be comforted for a while, instead of trying to explain how she felt or why she felt it. He was just letting her go.

She blinked once and it all came back, the case, her own past, the first time she'd had to use her gun. It all came rushing back, catching her so fast she couldn't stop the tears, couldn't regulate her breathing, couldn't do anything but completely surrender to it, let it hit her full force. Her tears came near violently at first, almost as if purging for a while, then slowed down to normal. She breathed through them, wanting to stop them but knowing that it wouldn't be good if she did. She had to get it all out.

Adam held her tightly, dropping gentle kisses into her hair, on her forehead, then kissed the tears off her cheeks once she had calmed a little. He reached over her and grabbed a tissue off the nightstand, letting her blow her nose and regain her composure before he spoke.

"I'm going to stay tonight, okay?"

She nodded against him, having absolutely no problems with that, as she knew she would most likely not sleep tonight anyway. Sighing, she looked up, into his eyes, and felt such a surge of love her heart almost stopped. He was taking care of her and she was letting him and never before had she allowed that to happen so easily, or at all.

Carefully he rolled over onto his back, taking her with him and keeping her firmly against his chest. One hand ran gently over her back, up and down her spine over and over until it almost became a part of her. She wanted to melt into him for a moment, close her eyes and just exist for a while. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Adam?"

"Yeah Linds?"

She drug her head up from his chest and moved so she could sit up slightly and look at him.

"You are the only place I have ever felt safe," she whispered reverently, as if revealing her innermost secret. "Totally, completely safe."

He'd always heard it was an insult to be the safe guy. Women liked dangerous men, it should be a badge of honor. Instead he found himself proud to be safe, especially in this way. He didn't know what to say though, and just kept his eyes on her until she spoke again.

"I don't trust anyone else."

The five words nearly knocked the wind out of him and he stared at her in wonder. It was beyond him how she could not trust anyone, and even more puzzling as to why she had picked him. What had he done to earn her trust? Slowly he reached up and cupped her face in his hand holding onto her gaze for dear life.

"I don't know why that is, Linds, but I am going to do everything in my power to make sure you can always trust me."

"I know you will. You love me, don't you?"

"Very much. You're my best friend, how could I not love you?"

She smiled, knowing that that was the exact answer he was going to give her.

"I love you too. Thanks for staying."

She settled back down against him and he found her hand, lacing their fingers together. The urge to kiss her was overwhelming, it had been since the New Year's Eve teasing about it and right now he could think of almost nothing else. Here she was, someone he loved truly and deeply, curled up against him, trusting him with her emotions and her heart, letting him know that she loved him and was letting him into her life in ways she'd never let anyone else before. He didn't quite know how to reciprocate that other than to kiss her with all the love and care he felt towards her.

But now was not the time for that. He was almost certain that time was coming, and fast, and even more certain that she knew it and was ready. It was no secret that they were attracted to each other, and long days and evenings spent together were evidence of the fact that it wasn't just on a physical level either. He could talk to her and be with her for the rest of his life and not get bored. Sure, the friendship had started out over trivial things, but it was soon apparent that they were almost abnormally comfortable with each other. He now knew that it wasn't normal for her to be like that and he knew that it wasn't normal for him either. But somehow, for some reason, they'd both let their defenses down around each other. He'd noticed his nervous habits would vanish around her. As much as he made her feel safe, she made him feel the same.

"You smell really, really good," she said suddenly, without any introduction.

"I do?"

"Mm-hmm," she confirmed, nodding slightly and burying her nose in his shirt.

"Linds, you're smelling me."

"I don't sniff just anyone, you know."

"That's… so wrong."

She giggled and leaned up to look at him again.

"You know what I think?"

"I can only imagine."

"I think that no one else in the world would be as amused by us as we are."

"I hope not. I don't think the world could do with much more insanity."

"Do you think other people think we're weird?"

"I think that I don't care what they think."

"You're a good man, Charlie Brown."

He chuckled and gently moved her head back down to his chest.

"Go to sleep Lindsay."

"You're really staying?"

"I'm really staying. You trust me, remember?"

"Yeah. Thank you."

"Goodnight. I'll be here when you wake up."

She slept soundly for several hours half waking for a brief moment to move off of him and next to him instead. He rolled over and curled around her muttering something that she couldn't make out before she drifted back to sleep. When the sun finally did come up and they both came into greater states of awareness, they realized how peacefully they'd slept next to each other, almost as if it was the most natural thing in the world. He didn't even mind when she stretched and invaded his territory.

"Ow, you whacked my nose."

"Sorry," she apologized, turning over and planting a hazy kiss on the end of his nose. "Better?"

"Getting there. How about you?"

She nodded and let out a short yawn while he twirled her messy hair around his finger. They lay there in silence for a while, blinking and waking up and finding absolute comfort in the presence of the other.

"Hey Adam?" she asked, after what could have been thirty seconds or thirty minutes.

"Hmm?"

"Why'd you come over here?"

"Because I wanted to make sure you were okay. Danny said you weren't and if he could tell then… I just wanted to check on you. I didn't want you to be alone."

"Why?"

"Because you're my best friend and I love you. That means I care about you. That means I care about your mental state and your emotions and I wanted to check on those too."

"Why'd you stay?"

"Do you know how hard you are to leave, Lindsay Monroe?"

"What?"

"I hate leaving you. Even when everything is good and right and happy. I hate saying goodnight because… I just want to hang out in your world. With you."

"Adam."

He would have stopped talking but he wanted her to know how much she meant to him and how important she was.

"You ever notice how nothing else really matters as much when it's just us? How we don't pay attention to the outside world?"

"I think that's because we're full of ourselves."

He smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"Either way, we've got something special and I like it."

"What are you going to do today?"

"I dunno. You?"

"I dunno."

"Know what we could do?"

"Hmm?"

"Not move from this spot all day long."

"Okay. Going back to sleep?"

"I think I want to change my pants first."

She chuckled as he stood up, his hair a near rats nest. He looked like a little boy as he stood there in the morning light, rubbing his eyes. She suddenly wondered what their little boy would be like, then just as suddenly shook her head of the thoughts. This was Adam, her best friend. Sure they may have danced around the issue, but he wasn't interested in her, not for long term anyway. He didn't want a family and a home and… she frowned as she watched him stretch then leave the room. She was kidding herself. He did want it. He was meant for it. He would be the perfect husband and the perfect father and she could imagine waking up with him every morning.

She sighed and buried her face in her pillow. This was getting ridiculous. It was just the heightened emotions of the case, the peace she'd felt in his arms. They weren't going to be together. A home and a family was in both their futures but not together. Surely not together.

She heard the shower go on and she sighed to herself, shaking her head and throwing the covers back. She could still see his imprint on the bed beside her and she smoothed out the wrinkles. This was all going to her head. She needed coffee. Standing up, she made her way into the kitchen and found what she was looking for, pouring it into the machine without measuring or really even looking. She didn't have anything in the fridge to eat for breakfast, but she had plenty of cereal in the cupboards. Adam always bought her a box when he went to the store. Never anything name brand, the weirder the better. She had seven boxes in there, from Apple Zings to Tiger Power. She pulled down all the boxes and found two mugs, as all her bowls were dirty.

The shower went off and he found her in the kitchen a few minutes later. He was dressed in sweats and a t-shirt and she leaned against the counter, standing one foot on top of the other so she wouldn't run across the room and suction herself to him like she wanted to do.

"Aw, you made breakfast," he chuckled, inspecting the boxes. She slugged his shoulder and he chuckled, holding the large Montana State University mug out to her. She took it and grabbed a box of cereal, pouring it in before adding the milk and jumping up to sit on the counter. He joined her and they ate silently for a minute before he kicked at her bare feet.

"Those puppies are like icicles in the morning, you know."

"Shuddup."

He smiled and reached over to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Are you really feeling better this morning?"

"A little. It's not one of those things you ever really feel completely better about, but I'm functional."

"Okay. Well we don't have to just be sloths all day. We can do something. Or you can kick me out and go do your independent woman thing."

"As proud as that would make Beyonce and the rest of Destiny's children, the idea of laying around all day is much more appealing."

"I like 'em lazy."

A slow smile slid across her face and she shook her head.

"Adam I don't even know about you."

"That's okay."

She put her mug on the counter and leaned over to hug him, squeezing him as tightly as she could.

"I do know that I really like you though."

"I'm pretty fond of you too," he said, kissing the top of her head.

"I'm going to go shower. Raid my movies."

"I was going to go down and get a paper so we can read the comics."

"I like the way you think."

"Chicken go cluck-cluck, cow go moo, piggy go oink-oink, how 'bout you? Wanna be an animal just like you!"

"Linds, you've seen this movie too much. You've quoted the whole thing."

"And you're beaming with pride," she shot back, still using the character's voice. "Lemur go pfft-pfft, Ostrich go baah, koala go click-click."

He rolled his eyes but laughed anyway. He'd never known anyone else that had seen this stupid movie, and especially not a girl that owned it. He'd hold onto her.

"I'm sure on some planet your style is impressive, but your weak link is, this is earth."

"Hey that part already happened! Don't be what you get when you cross an owl with a bungee cord!"

He shook his head, knowing that she was being silly now to balance out the angst riddenness of the night before. He didn't mind, the giggling and laughter was a nice change.

"So what are your thoughts on food?" he asked, this morning's cereal just a distant memory.

"Well," she started with a thoughtful sigh. "I like food a lot. I daresay I may even love food."

"Well what kind of food are you lusting after for lunch?"

"It's only lunch time? I feel like we've been sitting here for a lot longer than that."

"It's three in the afternoon."

"Then it's time for linner."

"Huh?"

"Lunch dinner. Lunch supper. Lupper?"

He just stared at her for a moment.

"Either way," she said finally, grinning.

"You are beyond weird."

"Yes! I've finally reached your level."

"You are pretty much my favorite of all time in the history of forever."

"That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me."

"Oh surely not the nicest."

"Maybe not the nicest, but the one I liked the most."

"I'll go with that."

She smiled and leaned back against him with a sigh, loving how his lips immediately found the part in her hair and his arm went around her shoulders.

"Hey Adam?"

"Hey Lindsay?"

"Thanks for being here. I don't always deal with things very well on my own."

"You never have to be on your own. All you have to do is ask."

"That's kind of a foreign concept for me so if I shut you out, it's not your fault."

"Noted. Wanna go for a walk and find food? Maybe that café down the street?"

"Yeah. You don't mind being seen with my when my hair's not done?"

He gave her an incredulous look and she ran her fingers through her hair, wondering if it was as bad as she imagined it was.

"Okay, lets go."

He stayed with her until late, when her eyes were drooping and he was aware of just how long it was until he had to be back at work. He was temped to just crash with her again but he knew they couldn't make it a habit. He needed to go home and she needed to have some time to herself. He stood from the couch and she walked him slowly to the door, neither one of them saying anything as they stood there. He reached over and tucked her hair behind her ear, earning a little smile.

"You're off tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. If you want company later in the day, let me know. I'm off at four."

She nodded and he stepped closer, lifting her chin up to look at her.

"You're beautiful."

She couldn't help but smile as his eyes stared into hers.

"No one's ever said that before."

"What?"

She half shrugged and dropped his gaze for a moment until he framed her face with his hands and made her look at him again.

"I don't know what kind of morons you've been hanging out with," he half teased. "But anyone that ever claimed to love you should have told you how beautiful you are. Do you hear me?"

She nodded and allowed the gentle kiss on her forehead.

"Thank you for being here, Adam. For everything."

"Anytime. You be good, okay?"

She smiled and he hugged her tightly.

"Goodnight Adam."

"Night, beautiful. Sleep good. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

And with that he was gone, closing the door softly behind him. She locked it and then held the cold metal in her hand for a moment, wondering how such an amazing man was still single. She shook her head and moved through the apartment, turning off lights and cleaning up dishes as she made her way into the bedroom. The sheets were still messy from this morning and she smiled, finding the t-shirt he'd changed out of thrown across her extra pillow. She changed out of her clothes and into pajamas, crawling into bed and grabbing the shirt. She felt foolish for holding it close and burying her face in it, but she did that anyway, loving how it made her feel. Safe and loved, something she hadn't felt in a very long time, or never in the right way. Laying down against the pillows she closed her eyes. The questions of why were still swirling around in her head. She couldn't get Sara Butler's face out of her mind's eye. She wanted to go down to the jail and beat Vackner within an inch of his life until he told her the truth. Normally she would have hopped out of bed and paced all over the apartment until she could honestly not take another step. But not tonight. Tonight she knew she had to accept it. In the morning she could wonder again, but for tonight she needed sleep. She pulled the covers up over her shoulders and hunkered down with the pillows and the t-shirt until she was so uncomfortable even a bout with insomnia couldn't keep her awake.

"Goodnight beautiful. Sleep good."

That was all she heard over and over until sleep came.