TRYING TO HIDE THE PAIN
AUTHOR'S NOTE/DISCLAIMER
Doesn't take place after any particular episode. Characters belong to Dick Wolf and NBC.
As soon as the shift was over, Kelly changed into his civilian clothes, went out to his Camaro, got in, started the car, and headed for Erin's apartment. He just-he needed to forget what had happened. He needed to get the image of that little boy out of his head. He just-he needed to get lost in Erin. Once he got to the apartment, he smiled as he heard the sound of her laughter as she listened to the radio. He could get lost in her and finally get that image out of his head. He went up to the door, used his key to get in, and then followed her voice to the kitchen.
"Hey, Kel-" Erin's greeting was cut off as Kelly kissed her, cupping her face in his hands and she moaned, leaning into the touch before pulling back.
"What's wrong, Babe?" she asked, seeing the pain in his eyes.
"Nothin'. I'm fine," came the answer and he went to kiss her again, reaching for her jeans, unbuttoning them. Instead of leaning into the touch more, Erin merely pushed his hands away, zipped up her pants, and then cupped her boyfriend's face.
"Babe. Talk to me. What happened?" she asked softly. Though they hadn't been together for very long, she had learned that her boyfriend had a habit of trying to use sex as a distraction when he was hurting. Seeing that she wouldn't be deterred, he sighed and slumped his shoulders.
"The last call, we had a bit of traffic before we got to it. The fire was pretty bad and we went as fast and thoroughly as we could but-we got called back out and-" Cutting himself off, Kelly pulled Erin close, rubbing against her.
"Later," she scolded, backing up a bit after squeezing his shoulder. "Come on, Babe. Finish the story," she urged. What's up with him? What's making him act like this? she wondered. What could be so bad that he didn't want to talk about it? Sure she had seen him act like this before, but she had a feeling that something major had happened, though she didn't know what.
"There was still a kid inside. We lost a kid," Kelly murmured and her face became pained.
"Oh, Babe," Erin whispered, pulling him close. No wonder he hadn't wanted to talk about it.
"I totally failed. I should've been more thorough," Kelly whispered.
"No, Babe. You've said it yourself that sometimes you lose people. It wasn't your fault," Erin assured, letting her knuckles caress her lover's face. Damn, no wonder he's so torn up, she thought.
"I should've…" As Kelly's voice trailed off, Erin placed a comforting kiss on his shoulder.
"I'm right here," she assured him. "I'm not going anywhere, Babe. I've got you." She wrapped him in a hug and he leaned into her, reveling in her warmth.
THE END