Diane was too close to tears to speak. She looked away and nodded.

Danny felt bad for making her cry, so he stretched out his arms and offered a hug. Diane put her arms around his shoulders, and he pulled her close. She buried her face in his neck, and Danny rested his cheek on hers. They rocked for a moment, and Danny rubbed Diane�s back. They just breathed together, Diane�s shallow, halting breaths colliding with Danny�s slow, deep breaths until she relaxed. As her breath slowed, she didn�t feel as much discordance, but it was still glaringly, uncomfortably there, in the mismatched rhythms of their life forces and in the strained and uncomfortable fit of his arms.

John stretched his arm out, trying to block Claire Kelly and Mary Franco. �Look, I wouldn�t go in there just now,� he said loudly, trying to slow them and warn Danny at the same time.

Claire scowled �Nonsense!� at John, causing him to retreat involuntarily, and she pushed open the door. �What the hell...?� Claire gasped and stopped in her tracks, and Mary pushed past her.

�Danny?� Mary said with a hoarse voice. �What are you doing?� Danny and Diane flew apart so self-consciously that Mary didn�t stick around to wait for the answer. �We�re through!� she shouted back over her shoulder as she stomped out of the coffee room and pounded up the stairs to the anti-crime unit.

Danny tried to follow her out the door, but she had disappeared before he could even call her name. He paused at the entrance to the squad, then hung his head and returned to his desk. He hadn�t intended for her to find out this way.

Claire slipped into the coffee room and locked the door behind her.

�So, Diane,� Claire began nonchalantly, �Harry called me yesterday all freaked out that you both were using the L word.�

Diane nodded, and she felt her face burning. She walked over to the window and stared out at the schoolyard across the street.

�You know, I have a rule,� Claire continued. �Never mess with anyone at work.�

�Yeah,� Diane said as noncommittally as she could, considering her life had become the polar opposite of that rule during the last few days. And not for the first time.

�Are you juggling?�

�No, not now.�

�So, that was goodbye?�