Brianna and I sat on the couch at her new apartment, sipping pink champagne and watching TV. It was almost six o'clock and we were waiting for the evening news to come on. Brianna had invited Monica and me over to celebrate what we were about to see on the news.

After the hearing was over, I'd received a call from the district attorney's office telling me that I was no longer needed as a witness and that Emily would not be calling me to the stand. I was relieved to hear that, having hated the idea of putting a target on my own back if I spoke out against Derek. When I asked how come they didn't need me anymore, I was told that the prosecution had more than enough evidence for the jury to not only indict, but also convict Derek without any witness testimony. They told Nick the same thing, which he was irritated about, wanting to tell the jurors his personal opinion on the issue. He thought he should have that right since he was the investigator who had gathered the most evidence.

Monica was late, as usual. She'd been out to an early dinner with Monty at some French restaurant I couldn't pronounce the name of, and said she'd be here shortly. I was actually surprised they hadn't broken up again yet. Monica and Monty were a couple that you looked at and thought there's no way they go together. Somehow they made it work and she seemed really happy.

Brianna had stopped by the liquor store on the way home to pick up three different types of champagne. Jamie called her earlier in the day to break the news to us that the jury believed there was enough evidence presented by the prosecution to indict Derek. Brianna wanted to celebrate by getting tipsy and having a girls' night. I was surprised to find out that Jamie got her information direct from Emily, the ADA. It turned out they were old friends, having gone to the University of Illinois together and sharing a dorm before Emily went to Harvard. All the local news stations were covering the story tonight but we were only interested in Jamie's report.

"I'm here!" Monica called from the front door.

She walked in carrying a brown paper bag and I just knew it was ice cream and more alcohol. Monica believed those two things were the answer to everything, whether you were happy, sad, pissed, or any other emotion. She unloaded her sack and excitedly skipped into the living room, flopping down on the couch beside me. I was sandwiched between two overly-enthusiastic girls. I half-expected them to scream like twelve year olds at a boyband concert when the news began.

"Oh! Oh! It's starting!" Brianna said, turning up the volume louder than necessary.

"And let's get right to our top story tonight," said Rick Marshall, one of the anchors. "Our star reporter, Jamie Hollis, is on the scene downtown at the courthouse right now to bring you the latest in the indictment of one of Chicago's most prominent attorneys, Derek Hampton."

Jamie popped up on the screen, standing outside the courthouse where the wind had picked up tremendously and I almost thought she might blow away. Brianna leaned closer to the TV, paying extra close attention.

"Thank you Rick," Jamie said, attempting to keep her hair out of her face as it whipped around with the wind. "I'm outside the Cook County courthouse right now where earlier this afternoon the prosecution for the case against attorney Derek Hampton of the well-known Chicago-based firm, Hampton, Burns and Hampton, presented their evidence to a jury made up of twelve jurors, all of whom voted to indict Hampton on charges of embezzlement, fraud, forgery, and multiple other offenses."

"I'd like to point out that this is a felony case. Assistant District Attorney, Emily Richards, said the prosecution would not even consider a misdemeanor due to the massive amount of charges in this case. I tried to speak with Derek Hampton about the news of the indictment, but was directed to the Hampton family's spokesman who told me that the Hamptons are confident all charges will be dropped in this case soon. He says Derek Hampton is innocent and has been framed by disgruntled employees. I've been unable to speak with Robert Hampton, Derek Hampton's father. His assistant informed me he does not wish to comment at this time. I'll have another update for you on Channel Five News at Nine about when the trial might begin. Reporting live in downtown Chicago, I'm Jamie Hollis, Channel Five News."

The anchors returned to the screen and Brianna turned the volume back down. I hadn't learned anything new from watching Jamie's report, but it was nice to hear again for the twenty-seventh time today that Derek had been indicted. I was tired of hearing about it, but the good news was that the case would move faster following the jury's decision. I thought Emily had made the right choice in having jurors decide, rather than trying to convince a judge that she has enough evidence to proceed with the case.

I was anxious to find out when they might set the date for the trial. Since Jamie was going to have another report at nine, I figured we'd end up pausing whatever chick flick we were watching to see that.

"I'm so fucking glad he's in jail," Monica sighed happily with a smile, lounging back against the black couch pillows I'd bought Brianna as a housewarming gift.

"I think we all are," Brianna said, getting up to get more champagne. "Monica, there's a shit ton of champagne in here if you want some."

"I brought beer," Monica giggled, knowing Brianna hated beer. I liked it on occasion though.

"There better be Corona in there." I pointed a finger at her. Corona was the only beer I actually liked.

She grinned. "There is."

I wandered into the kitchen, retrieving a longneck bottle from the fridge. It wasn't as cold as I'd like it to be but it was good enough. I popped the metal cap off and Monica clapped her hands in celebration as if I'd popped the cork from a champagne bottle on New Year's Eve.

My phone started to vibrate in my jeans pocket and I shook my ass at Brianna to pull it out while my hands were full. I was trying to hold my beer, hold the freezer door open, and reach for a three-pint carton of ice cream at the same time.

Brianna slid her hand in my back pocket, laughing at the awkwardness of the situation and pulled out my phone. "It's Nick."

"Answer it," I said, grabbing the ice cream.

"Hello," Brianna said, probably earning a confused response from Nick. "No. It's Brianna. She's right here. Hang on."

"Sorry," I apologized when she handed me the phone. "I was juggling beer and ice cream."

"Why do I find that so easy to believe?" Nick chuckled. "I need to talk to you. Have you got a second?"

"Talk away."

"I just got a call from Evangeline Peterson. She's with the field office," he said as I set the phone down on the counter, putting the call on speaker for Monica and Brianna to hear. "She said Veronica Dashwood has been informed that she is not to be a part of Derek's defense due to it being a conflict of interest. It turns out she's the niece of Judge Flowers, who will be presiding over the trial."

"Do we know who's going take her place?" I asked. There was no way Derek was going to trust George to be his entire defense.

"Not yet. I'm sure we'll hear soon though. I think they're trying to schedule the trial for early July. Maybe sooner."

"Hopefully sooner," Monica piped up.

"I'm on speaker, aren't I?" he chuckled.

"Yes," Brianna, Monica and I echoed in unison.

"Ladies, you know I absolutely adore you, but can I please speak to my girlfriend alone?" Nick asked.

"Of course," Brianna said, pulling Monica by the sleeve out of the kitchen. "He adores us!"

I took the call off speaker. "What's going on?"

He sighed loudly. "I miss you." The sound of his voice was so soothing.

"I miss you too."

"Is there any chance you could just... I don't know... skip girls' night and come have date night with me instead?" he asked. I just knew he was sticking out his bottom lip, pouting.

It was really hard to say no to him when he was so adorable. And it had been a little while since we'd had a night to ourselves. I loved spending time with Brianna and Monica, but truth be told, I'd rather be spending the night with Nick. I'd take his soft lips and gorgeous body over beer and ice cream any day.

"Please?" he asked again.

I imagined spending the night wrapped up in Nick's arms and a pile of cozy blankets and that was more than enough for me to make a decision. He was impossible to resist.

"Alright," I caved. "Your place or mine?"

"Go home. I'll pick you up," he said. "We're going out."

I wasn't in the mood to go out to dinner or a movie. I wanted to have a lazy night inside.

"Oh. I'm not really feeling going out tonight, Nick," I said, instantly feeling bad about shooting down his plans.

"It's not what you're thinking," he insisted. "You'll love it. Just trust me."

"I'm holding you to that."

Nick hung up and I wandered into the living room where Brianna and Monica were looking through a pile of DVDs. They had five stacks set on Brianna's tiny coffee table and they were trying to pick three out of about forty to watch.

"What did Nick want to talk about?" Monica wiggled her eyebrows.

"I'm actually going to bail on you guys. I'm sorry." I made a regretful face. Nick's begging me to go out with him tonight and I just know he's doing the pouty face."

"That's irresistible," Brianna pointed out, nodding to emphasize her statement.

"You're no fun." Monica threw a pillow at me, joking. "We'll let you off the hook this time, but you have to have a real girls' night with us soon or I will stop buying Corona!"

I faked shock, putting my hand over my heart. "You wouldn't dare!"

Brianna burst into a fit of giggles at our exchange. "Go have fun with your man!"

I raced out the door and got on the highway, heading back to my house where I expected Nick to be waiting for me. I smiled at the incredible view I had of the Chicago skyline as I drove down Lakeshore Drive. The Willis Tower was lit up beautifully. It was kind of hard to believe that a multitude of office lights could paint such a stunning image, lighting up the downtown buildings perfectly every night. There was a full moon shining down on Lake Michigan. Sometimes I thought I could spend an entire night just driving the city loop a million times to see every possible angle of the city lit up.

I drove down my street approaching my house when I noticed a red pickup in my driveway and my heart immediately started pounding as about seventy-five possibilities went through my mind as to why there was a vehicle I didn't recognize at my house. I didn't want to go in the house if someone I didn't know had broken in. Then the idea crossed my mind that it might be someone Derek knew. I considered calling the police as I passed by my house and turned around in the cul-de-sac. My phone sat in one of the cup holders, lighting up with a call from Nick.

I answered the phone shakily. "Nick, there's someone in my-"

"It's me," he cut me off. "It's my friend's truck. I should've mentioned that. I'm sorry."

Relief flooded through me and I pulled into my driveway beside the truck, a rusty old style Chevrolet that looked to be almost my age. Nick opened the front door, jogging to where I was getting out of my SUV. He was dressed differently than usual. I was used to his FBI garb and his button ups paired with jeans or slacks. Rarely did he wear anything else. He had on old ripped Levi's with a plaid long sleeve shirt and a red and white ball cap that said Budweiser on it. I felt overdressed compared to him, even though I was also in jeans. It was a little too warm to be wearing pants though. The summer air wasn't overpowering, but warm enough for me to throw on some shorts that I hadn't gotten to wear since last September.

"Where are we going?" I asked, closing my car door.

Nick shrugged like he didn't know. "You'll just have to wait and see, I guess."

"Can I go change first?"

"Course. I'll be in the truck when you're ready."

I walked in the house, setting down my stuff and quickly making my way up the stairs to my room to change clothes. It took me a couple minutes of digging through my drawers to find my shorts. I hadn't taken the time to rearrange my wardrobe for summer yet. All my cold weather clothing was still in front of everything else. I decided that would be a project for me to do over the next weekend. I grabbed a pair of denim shorts and a red tank top and tried to change fast, feeling bad for keeping Nick waiting. I pulled my hair back into a loose ponytail and headed out to the driveway.

"You look cute," Nick smiled, taking in my appearance and starting the engine.

"You look country," I giggled.

He breathed a laugh, backing out of the driveway with one hand on the wheel and the other on my bare thigh. I scooted closer to him, enjoying not having a console between us for a change.

Nick drove for what felt like forever. I was pretty sure we'd been driving for about an hour, though it seemed longer. We were definitely not in Chicago anymore. We weren't even in the suburbs. We were surrounded by countryside. The full moon lit up the scenery as we passed by farm after farm. Off to the west was a wind farm. Tons of windmills flashed bright red lights into the sky as their blades turned, signaling to aircraft that something was there.

I cuddled up against Nick, hugging his muscular arm as he turned down a dirt road heading east. I felt at peace. Night drives were like therapy to me and they were even better with him next to me.

"Do you know where you're going? Or are you just driving?" I asked with my head on his shoulder.

"It's not much further."

We'd been listening to a rock station that turned into country music once we left the Chicago area. The radio was on a nice low volume. The dirt road was about to end but Nick kept driving. We ended up in the middle of a field surrounded by fireflies and the sound of crickets playing their nightly chorus. I heard frogs off in the distance and assumed there was a pond nearby. Nick cut the engine and I reluctantly released his arm from my grasp. He hopped out of the truck and I followed, scooting over and sliding out the driver's side.

The semi-tall grass tickled my legs as I walked through it. Nick pulled down the tailgate with a squeak and I jumped when a cricket hopped on my foot and startled me. Nick chuckled at me, laying out a blanket in the truck bed and overlapping it with another that flowed over the tailgate.

"What exactly are we doing?" I asked.

He climbed up into the truck bed, extending his hand to help me up. "Come on."

I sat down next to Nick on the edge of the tailgate. There was a picnic basket to my side. He reached behind me, picking it up and setting it on his lap. Opening the basket, he revealed egg salad sandwiches, two sodas, two beers, and a Tupperware full of blackberries, one of my favorite fruits.

"This is really sweet."

Nick returned my smile, handing me a sandwich. "I thought it would make you happy to get away from the city and be somewhere that you can hear yourself think. Plus, I'm a sucker for your smile and I knew this would make you smile."

"You've just admitted your evil plan," I joked, pointing my sandwich at him.

"Oh no," he faked shock. "Now you know all my secrets. What ever shall I do?"

We sat on the tailgate eating and talking until my back started to ache from sitting so long. Nick unfolded some extra blankets and we laid back against them in the truck bed, looking up at the stars.

"This is the first time I've really gotten a good look at the stars in a long time," I said, focusing on one that was twinkling a lot more than the others.

"It's hard to see anything like this with the glare of the city lights."

I loved Chicago, but sometimes I just needed to get away from the city and see some nature for a change.

"Thank you," I whispered.

I didn't look at him but I could tell Nick was smiling beside me. I felt warmth and happiness when he reached over and grabbed my hand, lacing my fingers together with a soft squeeze. This night was perfect.