Fake Fan Fiction ❯ Loves Company ❯ Cold Consolation ( Chapter 9 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: Kita and Subu-chan 
Sometimes cops cry too...
Anime/Manga: Fake Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Romance / Police / Mystery | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 05.03.2007 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.8K | Visits: 426 | Status: Completed
Sometimes cops cry too...
Anime/Manga: Fake Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Romance / Police / Mystery | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 05.03.2007 | Pages: 2 | Words: 2.8K | Visits: 426 | Status: Completed
Chapter Nine-Cold Consolation
A/N - Sorry for the cliffie last chapter. Hana has already let us know what she thought of that. Many thanks to everyone who reviewed.
Disclaimers still apply. Warnings - still blood and ickiness. And a cop breaking down in tears…
Drake’s flashlight slipped out of suddenly numb fingers and clattered against the cracked and broken marble. “Stephanie…”
His mouth was dry as he staggered an unwilling step forward. Memories from the annual Fourth of July precinct picnic and the laughing teenager who had corralled both her father and Drake into the charity ‘Drop-a-Cop’ booth filled his thoughts. She had been the first to plunk down her money and drop Drake into the water. She had a fastball to be proud of. Marty had fared no better at his daughter’s hands, either.
Memories of her, when she was younger, following her beloved daddy to work and making herself at home in Chief Smith’s office after a perplexed uniform found her in the precinct room, happily coloring on a witness statement left unattended. The look on Marty’s face when he had come out of Smith’s office with the precocious seven-year-old and his tale of the shock of seeing her perched in the chief’s lap and happily telling him stories about her favorite, battered plush walrus toy.
“Stephanie…?” Drake managed, his voice shaking. God, don’t let it be true, he prayed. Don’t make me have to tell Marty that I found his daughter gutted like a fish by a psycho…
Drake nearly dropped his gun as a shaking head lifted from the bloodied arms, staring at him with blank, shocked eyes. He wanted to cry in relief as Stephanie blinked slowly at him before bursting into hysterical tears. Drake gathered her in his arms, heedless of the blood smearing his clothing. Stephanie clung to his shirt, sobbing in absolute terror.
He was still clutching her tight and fighting back tears of his own when backup arrived. Even though he knew it was no use, he asked one of them to check on the other girl. The uniform pressed shaking fingers to a pale throat and shook his head. It was too late for the other girl.
Drake lifted Stephanie carefully; heedless of the cooling blood soaking both of them, and carried her unresisting form away from the body of someone who had been one of her friends. He held her close until the paramedics arrived, called by the uncertain young cop who had dared to touch the body. He relinquished Stephanie to their care only reluctantly, wincing when her tears started fresh as one of the paramedics wrapped a blanket around her. It hurt to be able to do nothing for her; to erase the trauma she had suffered.
“Drake?!”
Startled, Drake turned to face the source of the shout as a frantic JJ came skidding around the ambulance. “JJ? What’re you doing here?”
JJ came to an abrupt halt, horrified eyes taking in the blood drying on Drake’s skin and clothes. “I-I heard the call come in as I was heading to the restaurant.” His voice shook slightly. “You idiot! What if it had been a trap? You know better than to do something so stupid! You’re a cop, for god’s sake! You know to wait for backup!!”
Drake took a single, startled step back as JJ ranted. “JJ…”
“Don’t you ‘JJ’ me, Parker! You could have been hurt…or…or worse!” JJ’s voice was rising on every word.
“JJ, c’mon, take it easy, okay? I’m fine. I’m not hurt.” Drake was at a loss. JJ had gotten mad at him before, but this was less mad and more scared. “I’m really okay, JJ.”
“But you could have gotten killed…!” JJ’s voice broke.
The tension fled Drake’s shoulders. So that was it. “I know it wasn’t the brightest trick, JJ. If I had stopped to think about it, I would have waited for backup, but I had a bad feeling, okay, baby? I was afraid that if I waited, things would have been worse.” Drake paused, a little surprised at how easily the endearment had slipped out.
JJ sighed and his whole body drooped. “I know. I know this, Drake, but I can’t help worrying.” He offered Drake a watery smile. “See what you do to me?”
Drake melted and after a quick glance around to make sure no one was looking, leaned down to gently brush his lips against JJ’s forehead. “I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.” He looked down at the blood drying on his hands with a grimace. “I’d hug you, but I’m a mess.” Drake’s mouth wryly quirked upwards. “And you’d have a hell of a time getting blood out of that silk shirt…”
JJ chuckled weakly. “I’d send you the dry-cleaning bill.”
“Ouch.”
“What happened?” JJ led Drake to his car and after some rummaging in the trunk, came up with a bottle of water and a hand towel. He crouched in front of Drake and concentrated on getting the caked blood off of Drake’s hands.
Drake sighed and relented to JJ’s ministrations. The shock of the cold water was a relief after the sticky feel of the cooling blood. “I found two of the girls our nutjob kidnapped.” He shuddered with horror. “They were both lying in a pool of blood.”
JJ’s eyes tightened at the corners. “And?”
“I thought they were both dead at first.” Drake said solemnly, his dry tone masking the terror he had felt. “I recognized Stephanie. God, I didn’t want to tell Marty that the bastard had killed his girl!”
Horror lit JJ’s blue eyes and Drake found himself shaking his head. “And I don’t have to. She was alive, but her friend wasn’t so lucky. Our killer did her the same way he did all those others.”
JJ swallowed. “So Stephanie’s a witness now. Marty’s gonna love that one.”
Drake managed a dry laugh that had nothing of humor in it. “He’ll live with it. His daughter is alive, which is more than we can say for the others.” He swallowed hard around the sudden lump in his throat. “S-she’s alive, JJ… Oh, god, she’s alive.” This time he couldn’t stop the tears, but they were more of relief than anything else. “She’s o-okay.”
JJ dabbed a smear of dried blood from his cheek and met his eyes. “Yes. She is.”
Drake made a small, choked sound that was halfway between a sob and a laugh. He looked down at the sleeves of his shirt, black with the drying blood of the other girl and started to shake. “I want to go home, JJ. Please, I have to get out of here.”
JJ nodded and rose to his feet. “Stay here.”
Rose had arrived with the forensics van, just as the ambulance with Marty’s daughter pulled away. JJ didn’t hesitate and reported all that he knew to the commissioner. When he had finished, he glanced back at where Drake had buried his face in his now clean hands.
“Can Detective Parker give his report later, sir? He’s a little shaken up.”
Rose’s eyes followed his back to Drake’s huddled form and something that could have been sympathy softened his eagle-like gaze. “Go. Take your partner home so he can get cleaned up. I want him back at the station no later than nine for a full report.”
JJ nodded and hurried back to Drake. He stole his partner’s keys and handed them off to one of the uniforms that had gathered to keep the curious at bay. “I have to take Detective Parker home. Make sure his car gets back to the station, would you?”
The other cop looked at the blood darkening Drake’s clothes and agreed, sympathy in his gaze. “Will do. I’ll leave the keys at the desk with Janet or Karin.”
JJ thanked him and hurried back to urge Drake into the passengers seat. Drake was silent as JJ started the car. After a long look at Drake’s pale face, JJ decided Drake was going to need a keeper tonight. He stopped by his own apartment long enough to throw some things into a duffel bag and hurried back to where Drake was still staring numbly through the windshield at the gray sky. He roused from his apathy long enough to offer JJ a sad little smile that was so very lost that it hurt just to see it.
It was a new feeling, looking after Drake like this. If the circumstances weren’t so dire, JJ might have decided he liked it. But right now, he was too worried to care. Drake was taking this a lot harder than usual.
Drake barely moved until they reached his shoddy little apartment building. He climbed out of the car and stood helplessly by as JJ got out and grabbed his bag from the back seat. “C’mon, Drake.”
JJ led Drake up to his apartment, shivering on the unheated staircase. Drake fumbled for his keys and blinked when he remembered that JJ had taken them. “Oh, shit.”
JJ turned a disbelieving stare on his partner. “You can’t mean to tell me you don’t have a spare key!”
Drake roused enough to give JJ a disgusted look. “Of - of course I have a spare key!”
“So where is it?”
“In my… car.”
JJ sighed and put a hand over his eyes. “If I didn’t adore you, I’d hit you now.” He sighed. “Fine. You stand there and tell me if anyone’s coming.”
“Wha - ?”
Drake could only stare, bemused, as his partner crouched in front of his door. JJ pulled his badge case out of his pocket and slipped several thin pieces of metal out of the leather. “JJ, are - are those lockpicks?”
JJ shot him an annoyed glance. “No. They’re a figment of your imagination, so shut up and keep watch.”
Drake did as he was told; feeling like his world was tilted at an angle. He heard JJ mutter something pleased and then the click of the lock disengaging. “Got it!”
He turned to see JJ straightening up and pushing the door open. “Did you just pick the - ?”
JJ stopped him with a finger across the lips. “Nope. And if you value your sanity, I suggest you forget what you just saw. Right?”
Drake managed a half-hearted smile. “Forget what?”
JJ reached up to pat him on the head as he tucked his badge case away. “Good Drake.”
Drake listlessly followed JJ into his apartment. JJ dropped his duffel bag and steered Drake toward the bathroom. “C’mon, Drake. Lose the clothes and get in the shower.” JJ gave him a little push to keep him moving. “I’ll bring you a towel and a change of clothes.”
JJ listened for the sound of the shower to start and then dug through Drake’s closet until he found a pair of worn jeans and a soft flannel shirt. Rose would just have to put up with the informal clothes. He found a fluffy towel in the hall closet and brought it all to the bathroom door.
There was no answer to his tap on the door and he cautiously opened it. The overhead light illuminated Drake’s huddled form behind the thin plastic curtain. JJ felt his heart in his throat at the stifled sounds Drake made beneath the muffling hush of the shower. He dropped his armful of clothing as a muted sob sounded clearly. “Drake? Drake, baby, what is it?”
Drake looked up with red-rimmed eyes as JJ pulled the curtain back. “J-JJ…” His voice broke and he hauled JJ against him in a desperate embrace, heedless of the water soaking them and dripping onto the floor.
JJ stifled an indignant squeak and returned the embrace as Drake shuddered against him. “Drake?”
“Y-you didn’t s-see her eyes, JJ. She s-saw hell. S-she was covered in her f-friend’s blood. She’s never gonna be able to forget that. Never!” Drake voice dropped to a broken whisper. “Never g-gonna be able to not see or remember.”
So that’s what it was… JJ held Drake, ignoring the just short of scalding water that sluiced over both of them. He’d long known Drake had a soft spot for his coworker’s kids. Seeing one of them suffer had cracked the shell of reserve he kept around his heart to keep it safe. He was hurting in a way that was worse than anything he’d felt in a very long time.
JJ rubbed a hand in soothing circles on his partner’s bare back, murmuring unheard words of comfort as Drake shook with the tears he very rarely let anyone see. When the water had cooled to nearly unbearable and Drake’s tears had slowed, JJ straightened. Drake’s shivers now had more to do with the temperature of the water, so JJ stretched around him to turn off the water. Somehow, the towel had managed to stay dry and he wrapped it around Drake.
Drake sniffled and scrubbed at his swollen eyes with the back of one hand. “I-I’m sorry, JJ.”
“Don’t be.” JJ helped Drake towel off with a soft smile. “You had taken all you could take. The dam had to break.”
Drake managed a hoarse chuckle. “You act like such a goof sometimes I forget just how smart you really are.”
JJ glanced down at his own soaking clothes. “And other times I really am a goof. Go get dried off and changed while I try to clean up the mess.” He glared at the water pooling around his feet.
“Don’t worry about it.” Drake said dryly. “I’ll take care of it when I’m dressed.”
“And get soaked again? I’ll get it. And I owe you that much for all my crying jags that you put up with. Consider this some payback.”
Drake’s voice stopped him in his tracks, calm and oddly thoughtful. “You don’t owe me anything.”
“Drake?” JJ couldn’t stop a shiver from climbing his spine. He had a sinking feeling that he knew what was coming. The gentle, introspective tone was a dead giveaway.
Drake’s voice was so soft that he had to strain to hear it. “This isn’t about owing anything. This is about you and I and…”
“Don’t!” JJ had to stop his voice from sounding panicked. “Don’t say it. You’re still shook up. Don’t say anything now.”
JJ had to look away from the flash of hurt he saw on Drake’s face. “Go on and get dressed. Please. I’ll just mop up a little and then I’ll come change clothes too.”
Drake turned away from him and left. JJ caught himself on the edge of the sink, shivering. Why are you so afraid of those three little words? some part of his mind chided cruelly. Why are you so scared that he might actually love you?
He sank to his knees in the cold water. I love him. And it scares the crap out of me…
A/N - Never let it be said that JJ doesn’t have his own share of issues. (I don’t have issues. I don’t even have a subscription. I’m the editor in chief!) *sighs* Shut UP, Akita!
A/N - Sorry for the cliffie last chapter. Hana has already let us know what she thought of that. Many thanks to everyone who reviewed.
Disclaimers still apply. Warnings - still blood and ickiness. And a cop breaking down in tears…
Drake’s flashlight slipped out of suddenly numb fingers and clattered against the cracked and broken marble. “Stephanie…”
His mouth was dry as he staggered an unwilling step forward. Memories from the annual Fourth of July precinct picnic and the laughing teenager who had corralled both her father and Drake into the charity ‘Drop-a-Cop’ booth filled his thoughts. She had been the first to plunk down her money and drop Drake into the water. She had a fastball to be proud of. Marty had fared no better at his daughter’s hands, either.
Memories of her, when she was younger, following her beloved daddy to work and making herself at home in Chief Smith’s office after a perplexed uniform found her in the precinct room, happily coloring on a witness statement left unattended. The look on Marty’s face when he had come out of Smith’s office with the precocious seven-year-old and his tale of the shock of seeing her perched in the chief’s lap and happily telling him stories about her favorite, battered plush walrus toy.
“Stephanie…?” Drake managed, his voice shaking. God, don’t let it be true, he prayed. Don’t make me have to tell Marty that I found his daughter gutted like a fish by a psycho…
Drake nearly dropped his gun as a shaking head lifted from the bloodied arms, staring at him with blank, shocked eyes. He wanted to cry in relief as Stephanie blinked slowly at him before bursting into hysterical tears. Drake gathered her in his arms, heedless of the blood smearing his clothing. Stephanie clung to his shirt, sobbing in absolute terror.
He was still clutching her tight and fighting back tears of his own when backup arrived. Even though he knew it was no use, he asked one of them to check on the other girl. The uniform pressed shaking fingers to a pale throat and shook his head. It was too late for the other girl.
Drake lifted Stephanie carefully; heedless of the cooling blood soaking both of them, and carried her unresisting form away from the body of someone who had been one of her friends. He held her close until the paramedics arrived, called by the uncertain young cop who had dared to touch the body. He relinquished Stephanie to their care only reluctantly, wincing when her tears started fresh as one of the paramedics wrapped a blanket around her. It hurt to be able to do nothing for her; to erase the trauma she had suffered.
“Drake?!”
Startled, Drake turned to face the source of the shout as a frantic JJ came skidding around the ambulance. “JJ? What’re you doing here?”
JJ came to an abrupt halt, horrified eyes taking in the blood drying on Drake’s skin and clothes. “I-I heard the call come in as I was heading to the restaurant.” His voice shook slightly. “You idiot! What if it had been a trap? You know better than to do something so stupid! You’re a cop, for god’s sake! You know to wait for backup!!”
Drake took a single, startled step back as JJ ranted. “JJ…”
“Don’t you ‘JJ’ me, Parker! You could have been hurt…or…or worse!” JJ’s voice was rising on every word.
“JJ, c’mon, take it easy, okay? I’m fine. I’m not hurt.” Drake was at a loss. JJ had gotten mad at him before, but this was less mad and more scared. “I’m really okay, JJ.”
“But you could have gotten killed…!” JJ’s voice broke.
The tension fled Drake’s shoulders. So that was it. “I know it wasn’t the brightest trick, JJ. If I had stopped to think about it, I would have waited for backup, but I had a bad feeling, okay, baby? I was afraid that if I waited, things would have been worse.” Drake paused, a little surprised at how easily the endearment had slipped out.
JJ sighed and his whole body drooped. “I know. I know this, Drake, but I can’t help worrying.” He offered Drake a watery smile. “See what you do to me?”
Drake melted and after a quick glance around to make sure no one was looking, leaned down to gently brush his lips against JJ’s forehead. “I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.” He looked down at the blood drying on his hands with a grimace. “I’d hug you, but I’m a mess.” Drake’s mouth wryly quirked upwards. “And you’d have a hell of a time getting blood out of that silk shirt…”
JJ chuckled weakly. “I’d send you the dry-cleaning bill.”
“Ouch.”
“What happened?” JJ led Drake to his car and after some rummaging in the trunk, came up with a bottle of water and a hand towel. He crouched in front of Drake and concentrated on getting the caked blood off of Drake’s hands.
Drake sighed and relented to JJ’s ministrations. The shock of the cold water was a relief after the sticky feel of the cooling blood. “I found two of the girls our nutjob kidnapped.” He shuddered with horror. “They were both lying in a pool of blood.”
JJ’s eyes tightened at the corners. “And?”
“I thought they were both dead at first.” Drake said solemnly, his dry tone masking the terror he had felt. “I recognized Stephanie. God, I didn’t want to tell Marty that the bastard had killed his girl!”
Horror lit JJ’s blue eyes and Drake found himself shaking his head. “And I don’t have to. She was alive, but her friend wasn’t so lucky. Our killer did her the same way he did all those others.”
JJ swallowed. “So Stephanie’s a witness now. Marty’s gonna love that one.”
Drake managed a dry laugh that had nothing of humor in it. “He’ll live with it. His daughter is alive, which is more than we can say for the others.” He swallowed hard around the sudden lump in his throat. “S-she’s alive, JJ… Oh, god, she’s alive.” This time he couldn’t stop the tears, but they were more of relief than anything else. “She’s o-okay.”
JJ dabbed a smear of dried blood from his cheek and met his eyes. “Yes. She is.”
Drake made a small, choked sound that was halfway between a sob and a laugh. He looked down at the sleeves of his shirt, black with the drying blood of the other girl and started to shake. “I want to go home, JJ. Please, I have to get out of here.”
JJ nodded and rose to his feet. “Stay here.”
Rose had arrived with the forensics van, just as the ambulance with Marty’s daughter pulled away. JJ didn’t hesitate and reported all that he knew to the commissioner. When he had finished, he glanced back at where Drake had buried his face in his now clean hands.
“Can Detective Parker give his report later, sir? He’s a little shaken up.”
Rose’s eyes followed his back to Drake’s huddled form and something that could have been sympathy softened his eagle-like gaze. “Go. Take your partner home so he can get cleaned up. I want him back at the station no later than nine for a full report.”
JJ nodded and hurried back to Drake. He stole his partner’s keys and handed them off to one of the uniforms that had gathered to keep the curious at bay. “I have to take Detective Parker home. Make sure his car gets back to the station, would you?”
The other cop looked at the blood darkening Drake’s clothes and agreed, sympathy in his gaze. “Will do. I’ll leave the keys at the desk with Janet or Karin.”
JJ thanked him and hurried back to urge Drake into the passengers seat. Drake was silent as JJ started the car. After a long look at Drake’s pale face, JJ decided Drake was going to need a keeper tonight. He stopped by his own apartment long enough to throw some things into a duffel bag and hurried back to where Drake was still staring numbly through the windshield at the gray sky. He roused from his apathy long enough to offer JJ a sad little smile that was so very lost that it hurt just to see it.
It was a new feeling, looking after Drake like this. If the circumstances weren’t so dire, JJ might have decided he liked it. But right now, he was too worried to care. Drake was taking this a lot harder than usual.
Drake barely moved until they reached his shoddy little apartment building. He climbed out of the car and stood helplessly by as JJ got out and grabbed his bag from the back seat. “C’mon, Drake.”
JJ led Drake up to his apartment, shivering on the unheated staircase. Drake fumbled for his keys and blinked when he remembered that JJ had taken them. “Oh, shit.”
JJ turned a disbelieving stare on his partner. “You can’t mean to tell me you don’t have a spare key!”
Drake roused enough to give JJ a disgusted look. “Of - of course I have a spare key!”
“So where is it?”
“In my… car.”
JJ sighed and put a hand over his eyes. “If I didn’t adore you, I’d hit you now.” He sighed. “Fine. You stand there and tell me if anyone’s coming.”
“Wha - ?”
Drake could only stare, bemused, as his partner crouched in front of his door. JJ pulled his badge case out of his pocket and slipped several thin pieces of metal out of the leather. “JJ, are - are those lockpicks?”
JJ shot him an annoyed glance. “No. They’re a figment of your imagination, so shut up and keep watch.”
Drake did as he was told; feeling like his world was tilted at an angle. He heard JJ mutter something pleased and then the click of the lock disengaging. “Got it!”
He turned to see JJ straightening up and pushing the door open. “Did you just pick the - ?”
JJ stopped him with a finger across the lips. “Nope. And if you value your sanity, I suggest you forget what you just saw. Right?”
Drake managed a half-hearted smile. “Forget what?”
JJ reached up to pat him on the head as he tucked his badge case away. “Good Drake.”
Drake listlessly followed JJ into his apartment. JJ dropped his duffel bag and steered Drake toward the bathroom. “C’mon, Drake. Lose the clothes and get in the shower.” JJ gave him a little push to keep him moving. “I’ll bring you a towel and a change of clothes.”
JJ listened for the sound of the shower to start and then dug through Drake’s closet until he found a pair of worn jeans and a soft flannel shirt. Rose would just have to put up with the informal clothes. He found a fluffy towel in the hall closet and brought it all to the bathroom door.
There was no answer to his tap on the door and he cautiously opened it. The overhead light illuminated Drake’s huddled form behind the thin plastic curtain. JJ felt his heart in his throat at the stifled sounds Drake made beneath the muffling hush of the shower. He dropped his armful of clothing as a muted sob sounded clearly. “Drake? Drake, baby, what is it?”
Drake looked up with red-rimmed eyes as JJ pulled the curtain back. “J-JJ…” His voice broke and he hauled JJ against him in a desperate embrace, heedless of the water soaking them and dripping onto the floor.
JJ stifled an indignant squeak and returned the embrace as Drake shuddered against him. “Drake?”
“Y-you didn’t s-see her eyes, JJ. She s-saw hell. S-she was covered in her f-friend’s blood. She’s never gonna be able to forget that. Never!” Drake voice dropped to a broken whisper. “Never g-gonna be able to not see or remember.”
So that’s what it was… JJ held Drake, ignoring the just short of scalding water that sluiced over both of them. He’d long known Drake had a soft spot for his coworker’s kids. Seeing one of them suffer had cracked the shell of reserve he kept around his heart to keep it safe. He was hurting in a way that was worse than anything he’d felt in a very long time.
JJ rubbed a hand in soothing circles on his partner’s bare back, murmuring unheard words of comfort as Drake shook with the tears he very rarely let anyone see. When the water had cooled to nearly unbearable and Drake’s tears had slowed, JJ straightened. Drake’s shivers now had more to do with the temperature of the water, so JJ stretched around him to turn off the water. Somehow, the towel had managed to stay dry and he wrapped it around Drake.
Drake sniffled and scrubbed at his swollen eyes with the back of one hand. “I-I’m sorry, JJ.”
“Don’t be.” JJ helped Drake towel off with a soft smile. “You had taken all you could take. The dam had to break.”
Drake managed a hoarse chuckle. “You act like such a goof sometimes I forget just how smart you really are.”
JJ glanced down at his own soaking clothes. “And other times I really am a goof. Go get dried off and changed while I try to clean up the mess.” He glared at the water pooling around his feet.
“Don’t worry about it.” Drake said dryly. “I’ll take care of it when I’m dressed.”
“And get soaked again? I’ll get it. And I owe you that much for all my crying jags that you put up with. Consider this some payback.”
Drake’s voice stopped him in his tracks, calm and oddly thoughtful. “You don’t owe me anything.”
“Drake?” JJ couldn’t stop a shiver from climbing his spine. He had a sinking feeling that he knew what was coming. The gentle, introspective tone was a dead giveaway.
Drake’s voice was so soft that he had to strain to hear it. “This isn’t about owing anything. This is about you and I and…”
“Don’t!” JJ had to stop his voice from sounding panicked. “Don’t say it. You’re still shook up. Don’t say anything now.”
JJ had to look away from the flash of hurt he saw on Drake’s face. “Go on and get dressed. Please. I’ll just mop up a little and then I’ll come change clothes too.”
Drake turned away from him and left. JJ caught himself on the edge of the sink, shivering. Why are you so afraid of those three little words? some part of his mind chided cruelly. Why are you so scared that he might actually love you?
He sank to his knees in the cold water. I love him. And it scares the crap out of me…
A/N - Never let it be said that JJ doesn’t have his own share of issues. (I don’t have issues. I don’t even have a subscription. I’m the editor in chief!) *sighs* Shut UP, Akita!