Niles tried to make a show of returning to his paper work, as if he could actually ignore Gabe's presence. His friend was the only one who he never forced to listen to him, never punished for insubordination. "You've made your opinion of her more than clear," he said, not really seeing the papers before him.

But that's not what was weighing on Niles' mind. He'd let it slide far too often, and he couldn't take it anymore. Not with Gabe acting like everything was fine. He could keep himself together around anyone else, because no one else knew him. And telling Amanda about it all had just torn those old wounds open further, making it harder to push everything down again.

"You were supposed to be in that roller with me," he snapped. "Not Berlin. You whould have been there after to..." His shoulders fell and he shook his head. "I haven't even told you what happened." He rubbed at his forehead, not quite looking at Gabe, just at his feet where they rested on his desk.