AN: Spoilers ahead for those that haven't watched the entire first season of Beyond. There are bound to be some inconsistencies between this story and the show since I watched nearly all of the episodes in a binge session. I'm not sure how close the town where Lydia lives to Jeff's hometown, but imagine that it's close enough that they would know a few things about each others towns and you'll probably enjoy this story more. Just consider this story to be mostly AU. Please forgive any editing issues. I'm on a one shot kick that seems to be knocking my writer's block in it's ass and I'm going to keep churning out the one shots as they come. Hopefully you'll enjoy the story anyway. Thanks for reading! :)
Jeff liked the mini pecan pies they made over at Jessup's bakery more than any other food. Honestly, he'd probably eat them every day if he let himself but he usually limited himself to a couple on Sundays. Today he was going to break his routine. He didn't really deserve them but he was going to have them anyway. Today had been one of the bad days.
It had been hard at first, when he began visiting Christine. They didn't really know each other. She was his sister-in-law but he could probably count one one hand the times they had physically been in each others presence. He hadn't even been at the wedding. He'd been in Afghanistan then.
Not that Kevin would have invited him if he'd been stateside anyway. He and Kevin hadn't been close for years, really even before Holden's accident they'd started to drift apart. There were five years in between them and he'd been more concerned with keeping up appearances with his friends than hanging with his little brother. No, they hadn't been close, and now they never would be.
It was his fault. He could have tried harder to bridge the gap between them but he hadn't. He'd blamed it on his busy schedule, and though he'd been ashamed of it, he'd even lied to get out of family gatherings just so he wouldn't have to look into his brother's eyes. At first it was because of immense guilt; a guilt that had even driven him to church a time or two. Then it was because he wanted Kevin to come to him. He told himself that his little brother needed time, that it was better to let him come to grips with everything that had happened. That Kevin would come to him when the universe felt that it was time for them to reconcile.
What he really should've been telling himself was how much of a chickenshit he was being by not manning up and taking whatever Kevin threw at him.
Now, even though he was pretty fucking sure about who killed his brother and a little less sure about exactly how his brother got involved with the whole situation, he still had to keep quiet. For Christine and his unborn niece. To keep them save from those Hollow Sky wackjobs.
So he kept his mouth shut and his feelings underwraps. He comforted Christine in her grief and fixed shit around his brother's house. He tinkered with the busted old truck that he'd spent a chunk of his savings buying. He pretended that his entire world wasn't different, that it hadn't changed once he found out about what Holden could do.
The only time he'd felt better was when he'd been around Lydia. Even with Holden knocked out with a gunshot in his shoulder, with danger coming, and with the swirl of dark emotions that had made his chest hurt, she'd been a reprieve. Her nerdy devotion to quoting action movies and her good nature, which had even overruled her hesitancy at helping them, had loosened that pressure in his chest enough that he'd enjoyed himself, in spite of everything that was happening.
So when he saw the flyer on Jessup's counter advertising a Jean-Claude Van Damme two film showing on Saturday over at the old Wicker Theater he'd immediately thought of her. Weeks after everything had happened she still popped up in his thoughts and so he hadn't allowed himself to talk himself out of driving over to invite her out. He paid attention when the universe was telling him something, and those memories of her were bright and colorful, meaningful. They were the brightest facet of his life nowadays. Actually being around her had to be even better.
As soon as he parked his truck near the pharmacy it suddenly occurred to him that she might not even be working. He felt a little stupid then. It was a small town and he'd look odd as hell if he walked in asking about her when she wasn't there. He kind of wanted to throw his truck in reverse and drive back home. No one would even know that he'd been there.
Instead he pushed down the notion and got out of his truck. Even if she wasn't there he could just pretend that he was just passing through town and needed a bottle of aspirin or something.
As he reached the door he noticed that the glass had been replaced, and when he stepped through he also noted the fresh coat of paint on the walls. The shelves were even arranged differently.
And she was there.
She was turned away from the door but he recognized her cloud of curly hair immediately. When she turned and spotted him her blue eyes widened behind her glasses.
"I wasn't expecting to see you around here ever again," she said, looking around him to see if he was being followed. "Someone else been shot, because I'm telling you that I'm not sure I can help this time. Seriously, I'm holding onto this job with my fingernails. Thank God they were too lazy and cheap to replace the interior surveillance equipment, but the hardware store next door got a good shot of creepy mustard jacket, so the story I spun wasn't too outlandish."
Jeff held his hands up. "I don't have anyone with me, shot or otherwise this time. And, I'm sorry that I left a shitstorm for you when I left. I came to make amends."
Lydia waved her hand. "Insurance took care of the door and everything..."
"Not for that," Jeff interrupted, "I came to make amends to you."
A small smile appeared on her face. "What did you have in mind?"
"There's a showing of Bloodsport and Timecop over at the Wicker on Saturday. We could get something to eat first," Jeff said.
Her eyes widened again, then her smile grew wider. "You asking me out on a date?"
"Uh...I guess I am," Jeff said, feeling uncharacteristically shy. He actually hadn't thought of it as being a date, more like just hanging, but he found that he liked the thought of it being a date even better.
"Pick me up at seven?" She asked, a soft blush warming her cheeks.
"I'll be here," Jeff assured her.