"If you make friends with yourself then you'll never be alone" Ryan muttered the words painted on his walls to himself. With a practiced smile, he willed himself out of the bed and into the living room space where his smile morphed into a frown when there was no brunet brewing a midnight coffee. He stood dazed for a moment before he noticed the noisy car horns of busy streets or rather lack of said noise and it was then he recalled having an episode the previous day which led to him dashing into his car and driving to his beach house. With a sigh, he looked up at the wall clock confirming the time was just a few minutes past 4 am making him immediately wish Armand was here. The brunet would have stayed up with Ryan, sing to him with his voice that could make the angels jealous till he fell back asleep. He dragged himself back to the bedroom.

Armand had given Ryan the idea of getting a place outside the city, away from the city noise and pollution to serve as an escape-safe-space whenever he felt overwhelmed or had an episode; so a house at a quiet rarely visited beach positioned to have a perfect view of the water just by looking out any of the windows seemed like the best option, and of cause this was to be expected since it was cause Armand himself who had personally picked it out. It worked great the first year and half, but now just like every form of therapy Ryan had tried, it wasn't working the same wonders. His brain chemicals, taken by surprise at first have now adapted to the 'treatment'. But given the view it held, Ryan still visited.

A lot of times Ryan looked back and wondered how he ever survived for so long before Armand came into his life. He stared back up at the painted words on his wall 'if you make friends with yourself, then you'll never be alone' Armand had said those words to Ryan during their first sessions roughly 3 years ago and Ryan though it was one of the weirdly accurate things he had ever heard, except when considering Ryan's issues, might have a whole new level of meaning.

Confirming from the flash of the neon light from the digital clock on his nightstand that only 7 minutes had passed since he last checked the time, he realized he had a long night ahead of him and he really wanted to hear Armand's voice but of cause he couldn't cause being Ryan he forgot his cellphone in his hurried frenzy to leave the house.

Time rolled by painfully slow for the dark haired man with only jenga to keep himself busy with and a can of soda which after drinking he headed back to his bedroom cause there is only so much time you can play jenga alone before you got bored out of your mind. He faced the celling shutting his eyes hoping by some miracle that sleep would finally take over. 

The sun still refused to rear its head and deciding he could no longer handle the boredom, Ryan did the only thing he could do in the middle of the night while stuck at a beach house with no cellphone or his favorite human being. In a white shirt over a pair of black slacks and no shoes and a black coat, he headed down to the beach. It was empty as expected which was a win-win situation cause it was quiet and the air was fresh not to talk of the calming sound of the ocean and the way it looked surreal with the moon casting its lights down on it and it also meant he was alone with his thoughts to think it through rationally.

He quietly walked along the shore of the waters with his mind all over place not thinking about anything specifically, and that was when he saw it. Something lying in the sand caught his eyes. He quickened his pace as fast as one could in the sands. He got closer realizing it was big and black. Perhaps a dog with black fur. He finally stopped in shock as he stood before the black dog which was definitely not a black dog. The black fur turning out to be a black gown and needless to the say the dog was a human, a lady. Ryan paused in confusion, tilting his head to study her feature. Brown pool of hair sprawled out around her head, dark closed eyelids with long dark lashes lapping over her pale cheek and dark lips in total contrast to her ghostly pale skin. Maybe the moonshine was playing tricks on him but most importantly, a steady chest; there was no rise and fall to indicate breathing. He stared longer eyes fixated on her chest waiting for even the slightest motion and when he got none, it was logical for him to conclude she was dead except for the nagging at the back of his mind telling him perhaps she wasn't as dead as he assumed and he could save her. With a groan, he got down on his knees and hoping he remembered how to give CPR since he never had to give one before.

"What was that song again?" he mumbled to himself before slightly parting her lips with his hands then breathing into her "how deep is your love. How deep is your love" he said somewhere between singing and mumbling , pressing down on her chest with open palms with each 'deep' twice then going back to breath into her parted lips. He did this four times before she suddenly coughed up water into his mouth making him recoil and land on his butt in both disgust at the exchange of salt water and surprise (surprised it actually worked).

He watched as she sat herself up spluttering and furiously coughing out the water in her lungs and taking in deep breaths.

"Hey err- h-how you feeling?" he reluctantly asked in a tiny voice.

She paused, not expecting the voice before turning her head to him

"Who the hell are you?" she asked in a raspy voice before clearing her throat glaring at him "who are you" she repeated her voice now smooth and dare Ryan say, she sounded symphonic

"The person who just saved you. Your welcome" he replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What the-" she looked behind her at the body of water then back at the man beside her "saved my life? yeah right" she chortled.

"wha- so you think you just somehow got air back into your lungs?" he snapped.

"well maybe I didn't want to saved you idiot" she murmured under her breath before looking back up at him with a what Ryan could only describe as a crazy look in her eyes "besides who goes about kissing strangers at the beach at night without so much as saying 'hi' to them"

"Kiss?" he couldn't believe his ears.

"Lips-to- lips, your lips on mine. I believe that's how kisses work"

"Wow okay I have nothing to say to you. The look in your eyes says it all"

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"It means you're crazy" he replied getting up

"Wait" she called out making Ryan stand still. He wasn't really going anywhere. "to answer your question, I drowned in a fucking salty ocean, got washed up to the shores of only heaven knows where, and the cherry on top of the icing, my rescuer isn't a hunk like in the movies but a scrawny effeminate looking man. So how do you think I feel?" her voice getting louder as she continued.

"Oh really" he shot his brows up taking the comment about his features to heart "well, have a nice day ahead you ungrateful little piece of s-"

"What you can't just leave me here" she cut him off

"Watch me" he took turned away

"I don't know where the hell I am" she darted her head around her to prove her point.

Ryan turned to her "oh I'm sorry, I thought you didn't want to be saved. Since this was apparently a suicide attempt so how about you just swim back into the water, close your eyes and rest in peace." He concluded giving her a wide smile.

"Why would say that to me" she began tearing up, lips quavering "you don't even know me and you're telling me to go kill myself. What are you, some high school bully" she sniffed as a single tear fell.

"Why the hell are you crying? You're the one who said you didn't want to saved"

"It was a figure of speech" she snapped sniffing

"Figure of speech, what is it supposed to mean. Enlighten me" he yelled not minding the eerie silence around them

"I was just being dramatic okay" she yelled back

"Why would you do that, it makes no sense"

"You make no sense" she weakly replied then added "I'm a lady, being dramatic is my DNA". She concluded rolling her eyes

Well that's definitely one more reason for Ryan to be gay. She stared at the sand as her crying died down. "So now what" she looked up at him.

"Now what" he mimicked her

"Are you seriously going to leave me here?" she asked eyes wide

"Well-"

"I promise you I don't know where the hell I am. You already rescued me, and leaving me in the hands of-"

"Ugh fine" he cut her off. He rubbed his temples "this goes against a lot of my principles but I guess you can stay at my place till daybreak then we'll see what next"

"Okay" she nodded before giving him a suspicious look "wait you're not getting any ideas are you"

Okay this lady is impossible he thought to himself "I'm not into crazy people" he simply replied

"Well the feeling is mutual cause I'm not into effeminate-"

"Don't call me that" he snapped

"Lanky guys" she corrected with and eye roll "with stupid haircut" she quickly added

"My haircut is just fine" he snapped

"Do you believe everything your mother tells you" she snorted

"I am really regretting this already" he muttered to himself "get up" he lightly kicked her on the foot

"I can't" she glared at him

"What, you crippled?"

"No I am not"

"Then get your ass up"

"My body feels inhumanly heavy from floating for what I assume to be at least 20 hours and my legs feel dead" she laid back down on the sand to prove her point

"So you can't feel them" he kicked her feet harder

"Hey." She snapped. "They feel wobbly not that the cells there are dead"

"You haven't even tried to get up yet"

"It's my body and I know the mechanics of my body and right now I know what I feel"

"Fuck fine" he sighed "I'm surprised you weren't pushed off a cliff or something" he stooped down to pick her up

"Ha-ha" she replied in a monotone draping her arms round his neck "but it's actually funny you should say that, because I was pushed off a cruise ship."

"You're a fucking dead weight" he grunted

"Oh thanks. What every girls dreams to be called 'heavy'" she sarcastically replied "I will tell you all about the attempted murder after a nice hot bath and a cup of hot cocoa"

"You know I'm sure whoever pushed you had a good reason and I might just see why"

"That is very rude. You don't even know me"

"First impression matters and from I gathered, you are an asshole and a nut job."

She rolled her eyes at him "I want the hot cocoa in the tub just to be clear"

"Just keep in mind that I can drop you and make sure you hit you fucking head and make it look like a goddamn accident ok" he glared at her imagining if he could pull off a move he saw in a movie once where the man broke another man in half by bending him over his knee.

After what seemed to Ryan like an eternity, he finally arrived at the house where the two proceeded to argue, with the brown haired lady insisting on Ryan carrying her to the bathroom.

"What, why did you stop?" she snapped her head at him

"How do you propose you'll take off your towel before I drop you in the tub?"

"Simple, I take it off" she replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world

"No way"

"It's not like you'll care"

"What was that?"

"You practically broke my gaydar" she scoffed "especially the decoration in here" she rolled her eyes

"I'm bi for your information okay-" he paused realizing he never got her name "- your name"

"Z"

"Is that short for something?"

"Just z" she replied with a lopsided smile

"Okay 'just z' I'm just going to place you in, take off the towel in the tub, I've got a lot to spare" he immediately did as he said and was headed out the door to silence her complaints.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"this is wrong on so many levels" declared Ryan with his eyes fixated on the celling walking Z in his arms to the bedroom "are you sure you're not crippled?" he paused so she could reach out and open the door

"now that you mentioned it, I think I can now feel my leg- oof" her statement getting interrupted as he threw her on the bed

"Good. Get dressed" he replied through gritted teeth and swiftly walking out.

Ryan blankly stared at the fully decorated Christmas tree in front of him. Thinking back to when he and Armand decorated it. He wasn't having an episode then, Armand just suggested it saying even an escape space needed to look Christmassy. He smiled at the memory as he went to adjust a crocked porcelain dove.

"Who has an ugly decorated Christmas tree in the living room in the middle of April" Z's voice came from behind immediately making his smile morph into a scowl. Why he is keeping up with her bullshit again, he wondered.

"My boyfriend and I decorated this, so no it's far from ugly. Besides what do you know?" he added the last part shooting her a glare

"Is he sick?" she casually asked. Ryan furrowed his brows in confusion. "Is he ill, mentally? She pressed on. Ryan frowned

"What the fuck is wrong with you"

"I wanna know if he's got some mental disorder like neurosis or psychosis so I could apologize for insulting his work" she shrugged

"Armand is perfectly fine" he snapped

"Bren-don" she slowly spoke, as if trying the name on her tongue "is his face as nice as his name?" she smiled at him.

Ryan rolled his eyes taking a seat under the tree letting silence envelop them.

"I'm bored" Z finally declared after about a minute "hey you" she called out

"It's Ryan"

"Well Ryan I'm bored"

"I heard you the first time"

"Well?"

"What am I supposed to-" he paused to look at the wall clock as an idea came to him. The time was just a few minutes to 12 noon. He wondered how time went so fast, was time supposed to fly so fast if one found himself in the first level of hell with a second class demon who wouldn't shut up "Come on we're going out" he said grabbing his coat

"Oh where to" she beamed

"The station"

"Like hell we are" she yelled retracing her steps "I did nothing" she declared then taking a pause "nothing you can prove- you can't right?" she quickly added the last part.

Ryan stared at her with saucer wide eyes, beginning to question letting her into his house "I'm just taking you to identify yourself or something. Just in case your relatives or friends declared you missing."

"Oh" she breathed out "I'm cool with that"

"Unless, they aren't the ones who tossed you into the ocean are they?"

"I wasn't tossed, I was pushed" she ignored the question already heading for the door.

They got into the convertible, Ryan drove around but they never made it to the station since Z got excited on seeing a seemingly empty fair which after much debating which included a lot of curse words and Z tackling Ryan to get a hold of the wheels, he caved (mostly out of love for his life) which is how they ended up on the Ferris wheel till the sun began to rear its head back into hiding.

With a lazy yet satisfied smile on her face, she leaned back against the leather seat as Ryan drove back to the house.

Pushing the door open, she made a straight line for the kitchen coming out less than a minute later with a bottle of wine and two champagne glasses.

"Did you seriously go through my kitchen?" which reminded him he hadn't eaten anything other than the midnight soda and he was surprisingly not hungry. And he assumes neither was z cause he could bet she would have definitely made that known.

"It's just wine. Wasn't hard to find" she sat next to Ryan on the arm of the sofa

"Are you here to kill me or something" he blurted out

"What?" she unscrewed the cork.

"You're acting way too familiar and comfortable in a stranger's house you just met with no intention of hooking up with."

"First of all, it's almost been a day and secondly you did save me" she handed him a glass filling it up "so you can't be a murderer. Except you saved me so you could kill me yourself which is unlikely" she concluded with a smile taking a sip.

"Well you could be a murderer" he stated

"True. But if I wanted to kill you, you'll be dead by now. So"

"Maybe you wanna kill me right before you leave" he argued

"Hmm well I guess we'll see" she winked.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Z shot up from the floor kicking over the now empty bottle in the process as she headed for the radio seated on the mantelpiece.

"I love this song" she smiled as the sound of the strumming of an acoustic guitar filled the room. "Ryan come dance with me" she swayed sideways staring at the dark haired man with a lazy smile on her face. He paused for a while, a smile of his own as he watched her take a fist full of her gown to allow her better movement. With a wine-clouded mind, Ryan got up and wrapped an arm around her waist while hers snaked around his neck, both drunk smiling at each other. She let her head lull back with her hair falling behind her.

The song ended a while later but the two continued swaying in one place with Z's head resting on Ryan's shoulders.

"Thanks for saving me" she whispered as if afraid someone else might hear her. He smiled back even though she couldn't see.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"he never made fun of me, he made me forget" Ryan quietly spoke staring straight at the brown haired lady lying beside him "with him, I actually felt completely normal, he makes me feel normal and that's not a feeling I was used to" a wide goofy smile on his face which always found its way to his face whenever he talked about Armand.

"Armand sounds like an amazing person" she smiled back

"Yeah he really is"

"you're obviously in love with him"

"And award for understatement of the year goes to Z" he replied with a chortle making her playfully roll her eyes

"Then why are you here?" she asked making him he blankly stared back at her, not making an attempt to reply "why did you come to your hideaway since you didn't have a breakdown?" she added

"I er- I thought I was going to have one" he knew he was a horrible liar

"I think what you meant to say was you convinced yourself you were going to have a breakdown so you could leave. Why?" she pressed on

He remained silent, staring in her general direction, not focused on anything in particular as his eyes seemed to go inward as if staring into himself. "I found a ring" he finally replied after what felt like forever "at the bottom of his sock drawer and I got scared, but kind of like scared in a good way cause I was also excited, dumb I know" he let out a dry laugh. Z made an 'mhm' sound to indicate she was listening. "But when I heard him making reservation at our favorite restaurant was when I panicked, I knew how the evening would have gone."

"So you ditched the dinner?" she inquired with a slight accusation plying in her voice

"The dinner is in a month's time, I just needed to be alone and come to terms with the whole the thing. I mean I obviously want to say yes- I just don't know what-"

"Goodnight Ryan" she abruptly cut him off turning away to face the other way.

He creased his brows cause how rude, he was in the middle of explaining his crisis and she cuts him off to sleep.

He must have fallen asleep at some point during his staring contest with the writing on his walls because a hushed voice invaded his dreamless sleep. "Hey Ryan" it called out. "Ryan" it called out again louder this time accompanied by a poke to his shoulder "Ryan wake up" the voice now sounded demanding

"What" he mumbled refusing to commit to waking up

"I wanna go"

"The bathroom is right there" he pressed his face further into his pillow. He finally gets a well-deserved nigh rest and she interrupts it with this.

"No I wanna go" she insisted

"What?"

"To the beach I mean" she clarified

"It's like fucking midnight"

"No shit" she rolled her eyes "that's why I want you to come with me"

"No way" he turned to his stomach wishing he could drown his head into the pillow, that way he wouldn't hear her.

"Ryan, come on" she shoved his shoulder "please" she reluctantly added

Both his eyes shot open on hearing the magic word, so she was capable of manners.

"Ryan please, you won't be long outside I promise"

"Fine" he exhaled wiling himself out up.

He trailed beside her till she paused at the shoreline. The cold midnight wind blowing up in both their hairs. Good thing he recalled to carry his coat even in his sleepy state.

"You can go back if you want to" she quietly stated without sparing him a look, her gaze fixed on the water.

Sleep induced and probably in a limbo between drunk and being hung-over clouding his judgment, he turned back and stumbled back in the direction of his house.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hands clasped together on the table before him, confusion etched on his face and his mind running at a hundred miles, the voices he had previously drowned out gradually began to resurface

"-anything but a murderer" exclaimed a voice beside him which he quickly placed as belonging to Armand. He turned to his left to see he brown haired man seated beside him seething with anger, if this was a cartoon, there would be fumes emitting from his ears. The suited man at the other end of the table simply scoffed walking out of the empty room saves for the table and chairs. "This is fucking bullshit" Armand raked his hands through his hair

The door opened as a lady in a black pants and a matching black tank top walked in taking a seat where the suited man previously was.

"Sarah" Armand stared back at the lady he was engaged to 5 years ago before she called off the engagement and went MIA on him only to come back two years later as one of the town's police officers. "Thank heavens it's you" he breathed out in relief

"Armand, it's nice to meet you again, well not minding the circumstance" she looked around the empty room "Forgive my partner" she sweetly smiled at them switching to professional mode "he's always bent on pinning the crime on the first victim"

"Well that must make him a shitty officer" Armand spat gaining a chuckle from her "Look Sarah, Ryan is not a murderer"

She stared back at him

"You haven't even presented any evidence linking him-"

"I believe you" she breathed out

"Okay then why are we here" he creased his brows.

"I just need a statement, oral statement from Mr. Ross, an alibi for his whereabouts on the 6th of May"

"He has one. Me. We were together at home all day. Or is my testament for him not enough?"

"We found his fingerprint all over the body" she calmly replied in contrast to Armand's tone

"What?" he scoffed

"Let's backtrack to what you told my partner, you said he left, fled the house on Friday the 7th and came back two days later, on Sunday the 9th"

"Flee is not a word I would use" he mumbled with a little bitterness behind it. If anyone fled from him, it was her.

She sighed guiltily avoiding his gaze as she caught on to the bitterness.

 "We have this beach house he uses whenever he feels overwhelmed, goes there to clear his head" he continued

"And how often does he go there?"

"Two to three times in two months. I thought you only needed his alibi for Thursday?"

"Just answer the questions" she spoke darting her eyes to Ryan who blankly stared back at her

"We've had the house for about a year now. And I can assure you that whenever Ryan leaves the house without informing me he is definitely there" he replied

"Pebble beach right?"

"Yes" he nodded "I'm sorry I thought you said you believed me, why still the interrogation?"

"It will be unprofessional to let you go off a hunch; I need evidence to present that will let you off the hook"

"Okay fine" he breathed out "whatever you need"

"Thank you" she smiled back. "Mr. ross?"

"Yeah" he replied actually looking at her his attention now fully in the room

"When did you first come in contact with Miss Berg?"

"Who?"

"Miss Elizabeth Handerson"

"I don't know who that is" he stared at Armand for clarification if she was someone he was supposed to know

Sarah simply pushed a picture to him. He looked down and immediately recognized her as the impossible lady from the beach "Z" he replied eyes fixated on the picture "what about her?" his mind immediately spinning, was she really a wanted criminal, did they suspect he is now an accomplice, is she a murderer, his mind kept spinning at thoughts

"What now, what did you call her?"

"Z. that her name, at least that's what she told me" he pushed the picture back to the officer "I barely knew her past a day"

"When did you first come in contact with Z?" she repeated

"On Friday night or should I say Saturday early morning at about past midnight at the beach"

"This doesn't add up" mumbled the male officer

"What are you – Sarah what is he talking about?"

"Forensics says she died on Thursday, about midnight" she replied

"There" he exclaimed "It means he obviously didn't do it"

"What part of we found his fingerprints all over her don't you understand" said an intimidating looking Spencer

"The part where he was nowhere around her when she died" Armand spat back at the male officer

"Z is dead?" Ryan muttered to himself but loud enough for his boyfriend to hear urging him to quickly hold Ryan's hand, rubbing a soothing circle with his thumb "I didn't do it" he looked up at the officers with wide pleading brown eyes,

"No one is saying you did Ryan" Sarah calmly assured him

"If you want a statement I can tell you what happened that day"

"What?" Armand went wide eyed the same time Sarah asked 'what day?'

"Oh do tell" Spencer coaxed with a smirk

"Okay so I met her at the beach like I told you and we spent the whole day together. Well er- she was kinda half dead, drowned obviously cause she was washed up at the shore. So I gave her CPR - "

"I'm sorry when was this again?" Sarah cut in

"Saturday. Really early in the morning, about 3am" he replied with a sniff

The officers exchanged a look

"So I took her back to my place and ran her a bath. I was gonna drive her to a station when the sun came up cause she said she had no idea how to get back. But I didn't take her, I was gonna, I promise but then we got distracted when she insisted on going on the Ferris wheel at the little carnival fair and by the time - "

"You were driving all the way to El Camino for a station?" asked Spencer

"No it was the fair at Caramel"

"Caramel?" Sarah asked bemused

Ryan nodded in confirmation

"Oh my God" Armand groaned

The officers exchanged another look then turned their gaze to him. He frowned. Why were they looking at him like he was crazy, why was Armand looking at him like he was crazy.

"Did I say something" he directed the question at his boyfriend

"Ryan you're full of shit" Spencer spat

"I don't -" he tried protesting

"Ryan that fair has been out of use for at least three months now. The only thing left is for the rides to be boulder down" said Sarah

"No" he firmly protested. "It was all there, in use. Empty but there were attendants – I think" he mumbled the last part to himself

"You know you gotta teach your friend to lie better" Spencer emitted a hoarse laughter

"My friend, really?" he shot the officer an unimpressed look "look Sarah I believe he's telling the truth" he turned to the woman

"Let me guess, you two had your first kiss at the fair a month ago?" Spencer mocked

"If you weren't an officer, I swear to God" Armand muttered to himself

"Spence will you shut your mouth for once" she glared at him

"He's schizophrenic" Armand continued then turned to his boyfriend "have you been taking your pills baby?"

"I'm sorry" he whimpered "I thought I was getting better so I stopped"

"Ryan" Armand groaned face palming

"Do they actually – do you think I killed Z?" his eyes immediately welling up with tears "I didn't do it Bren, believe me. I promise" he pleaded

"It's okay Ry I believe you" he held onto him, rubbing soothing circles on his back

"Don't let them take me. I didn't do it" he cried out

"You're not going anywhere" Armand assured him while hugging him to let the younger mam bury his face in his chest

"I'll take my medication. Please don't be mad"

"It's okay, I'm not mad" he lulled, placing a soft kiss on his head as he shot Sarah a look

The female officer held her partner by the arm as he led him out of the room as they stood by the one way looking glass

"Those two are-"

"Telling the truth" she cut him off

"I'm sorry I didn't get the joke cause as you can see I'm not laughing yet" he shot her a deadpan look "you believe them? Are you kidding me?"

"It all makes sense now"

"is this your way for apologizing to him, by letting him off cause you feel guilty for running out on him?" he shot her a steady look making her roll her eyes " Your guilt is clouding your judgment"

"I swear to God Spencer" she muttered glaring at him

"Well guess what" he continued "he's over you and I mean really over you cause as you can see he likes dudes now-"

"Spencer I promise you I am this close to using this Taser on you" she swiftly reached for the device and held it to his face

"Okay fine" he flailed his arms "But I mean, were we not in the same room, did we not hear the same bullshit? Then you gotta walk me through Sarah in case I missed it. Walk me through how any of it makes sense"

"Well if you would shut up I will" she spat gaining a glare "firstly, he has an alibi"

"Who is his damn boyfriend" he snapped

"Still and alibi" she countered

"Not good enough"

"And Armand said Ryan is schizophrenic and you heard him say he stopped taking his pills"

"So?"

"So when he met Miss Berg, she was already dead and washed up to the shore"

"But he gave her CPR and she revived remember" he mockingly replied

"Shut it and let me finish" She clenched her fist in frustration

"Okay" he raised his hand feigning surrender "Sorry officer"

"Maybe he did give her CPR or not, schizophrenia messes with the mind. But when he said they spent the day together, it was really just him carrying her around which would explain how his fingerprints got all over her"

"Well someone around was sure to have noticed him carrying a dead lady about with him" he interjected

"Pebble beach isn't exactly known for its packed population Spence" she reminded him as he remained quiet "now he couldn't have killed her because forensics report says salt water was found in her lungs and if he did say drown her in the ocean, the water was sure to clean off his fingerprints off her body especially after almost two days of floating"

"Holy shit you're right" he murmured as realization dawned on him "well now I feel bad for the poor guy" he looked through the glass at Ryan who was laying his head on his boyfriends shoulder. Sarah creased her brows in confusion

"He spent a day with a dead lady – her actual dead body. I don't think he's gonna recover from it. Ever"

"He obviously has no idea and I very much doubt Armand will tell him that"

"Sweet ignorant bli- wait he's telling his boyfriend something shhh" he frantically waved a hand at her

Sarah frowned, he was the one talking

"- and she said someone had actually pushed her off the cruise ship

"It's okay baby" Armand cooed

"Okay this guy is messed up. Armand is a fucking saint, I mean he deserves an award for staying with Ryan's messed up ass-"

"No wait. Hold up" he held up a finger to shut him up as she walked back into the room, her partner following suit " can you repeat what you said to Armand" she called out to Ryan.

 "Sarah you know he-" Armand tried to protest but went quiet when she shot him her 'shut up' look

"I said she told me someone had pushed her off from a boat or cruise ship?"

"The boyfriend" she muttered to herself

"What?" asked a confused Spencer

"He was the one to report her missing"

"Well why should we believe him" he glared at the two men

"Because they were last seen on a ship together" she clarified

"Of cause. The fucker did it" Spencer excitedly exclaimed "classic rookie love-murder-case" he added with a loop sided smug smile

Sarah rolled her eyes at him then turned to Ryan and Armand " you're free to go" she motioned with her head towards the door while heading for it as well before turning to her partner " come one we gotta pay Leo a visit"

"I just know the boyfriend did it" said Spence as they approached a cop at the counter

"Shut up spencer, you always think everyone did it" Said a tall officer with dark hair

"It's called good police work Jon" he replied gaining a patronizing look from Jon as they headed for the door "everyone is guilty until proven innocent."

"Oh my ears, my poor ears" mumbled Jon

"You do not want to say that in font of chief" Sarah replied with a laugh as they headed for their parked cars

"Or anywhere" Jon added

"What?" the clueless man creased his brows.

"I honestly don't know how you became an officer in the first place".

"I passed the fucking exam" he beamed taking the drivers seat beside Sarah as Jon took a different car.

The couple's drive home was quit save for the random music playing on the radio

"Are you mad at me?" Ryan quitly asked

"Of cause not babe" Armand flashed a smile at him before turning his eyes back on the road

"You know" Ryan began eyes fixated on the window "Sometimes the dead just want their stories to be heard"