Disclaimer: I own nothing, I'm poor, etc.

A/N: a sequel to 'Last Request', planned as a short multichapter. Differentiates in style though, so you've been warned. Thanks to everyone who requested this :)


The room is dim and a blue neon keeps flickering from the the dark corner behind his back. On. Off. On. In a slow rhythm, matching the music and her catlike moves. Off.

She's twenty something, hair dyed with cheap red dye. She's wearing some sort of lacy nightgown she's currently taking off under the heat of his gaze. He's plastered all right, but his eyes are watching her in careful scrutiny.

She registers the intensity of his look and lowers her upper body right before his eyes. She smells like sweet perfume and he can tell she's applied fresh lipstick on her plump lips right before she came into this room that conjoins the bar. Then she's moving up again and reaches to unhook her bra.

'Hey...' he sighs and lifts a hand to make her a sign to stop.

Her eyes pause on the ring on his raised hand. Neon flickers in blue abyss. On. Then off. He feels dizzy. He can't remember how he came in here. One moment he was outside, thinking the place must be really filthy, then he finds himself in a scarcely lit room that smells like sex.

His head feels heavy. He needs sleep.

She watches him with plump red lips half parted, brows slightly up.

'That's enough,' he gives her a short nod and moves her leg away as he stands up to leave.

Enough. Enough how? Well, not enough, of course, not nearly enough, but somehow she's just not what he needs right now. She's a book he won't read, he decides.

'We can go somewhere,' she smiles at his shoulder as he passes her by and he registers she's pretty under her heavy make up.

His head spins a little and he watches in a daze as she makes a catlike step forward and runs a hand down his chest, stopping right where his button line ends. Music carries from the front side of the bar in the meantime before another slow song starts playing. Heck, the place is really filthy.

'I'll help you forget,' she murmurs sweetly, casting a look at his wedding ring before her green eyes meet his.

He stares back for a moment.

'We can go some place,' she repeats her offer.

'Here's fine,' he replies and red lips smile gladly.


Eight Hours Earlier...

'Hey.'

Rory licks a lip, waiting for an answer, but there's only silence at the other end of the line. His silence meant for her.

'Jess?' she tries again, in case she didn't hear his reply.

Nothing.

She closes her eyes and rests back in the car seat, holding the mobile close to her ear, as if it were his palm. She can almost see his jaw clenching, almost feel the tightening grip of his hand over his mobile. He's not speaking to her. Not today. Not before he hears what she has to say to him. Fair enough.

At least he's listening. Of course he is. He's always been, she realizes.

'Look, I deserve this, alright?' she starts and breathes in through her nose.

'I...'

She wonders if he's still listening. He is.

'I should've answered your calls earlier, should've talked to you about that, that day...'

... that night, she finishes inwardly. About how I left without saying goodbye, without calling, without answering your calls, your texts, (your patience, your love, your everything)... I wouldn't be able to leave if I actually saw your face, do you know that? If I heard your voice, I ...

'I'm in Wyoming,' she breathes out.

His lack of response is expected yet conducts an unpleasant chill that soaks through her and makes her shift uncomfortably in the seat.

'I...'

Sentences are especially hard to finish today. She bites a lip, swallows and starts tapping her fingertips over the steer.

I didn't sign the papers. Couldn't. But that you already know.

'I haven't drunk from Luke's coffee for over three months now and I'm officially agonizing,' she blurts out.

I haven't seen you for over three months, she means.

'The campaign's halfway through now,' she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and looks out through the car window. A kid walking her dog. A teenage couple making out behind a shop corner.

'There's, ehm, there's been a lot of traveling around... I managed to sneak a peek around Elvis' house while passing through Tennessee,' she continues. 'Took a red stone from the Grand Canyon last month and put it in my purse, but yesterday I found out it had gone to chalk while rummaging for a hair pin...'

She thinks she hears him breathe and closes her eyes to the sound (even if it's imaginary, it's the best sound she ever knew) and thinks of the slow rise and fall of his chest and how it would speed when she pressed a palm to his pectoral and whisper something inappropriate in a crowded grocery store or wherever.

'Campaign's great,' she forces a fake smile he can't see and therefore lets it fade quickly. 'and traveling is really fun...'

... but it's not what I expected.

'Everything's fine...'

... but nothing's right.

'We met so many people...'

... but none of them made any friends.

'... I feel like we've talked to half of the nation...'

... but those talks never meant anything.

'I still feel excited...'

... yet so meaningless.

'I talked to Luke...'

... because I didn't muster up courage to call you.

'Congrats on your book, I just knew you would make it, once you set your mind to finding a publisher. He mentioned something about Truncheon... what is this place, I'm genuinely intrigued...'

She swallows and bites on her bottom lip.

'I... I hope you're doing okay.'

... and I really hope that you still think of me sometimes.

'... and I miss you,' she breathes out. 'Jess?'

She can't hear him breathe anymore.

'Okay, I'll hang up now... I guess. Bye, Jess.'

She closes her mobile and chokes on a breath.


Here's fine, he has just said and the redhead smiles in delight.

Two hours later he's taking the steps to his apartment, his eyes itchy with lack of sleep.

'Hey.'

Rory. He stops and gives her a quick glance before he passes her by and enters his apartment.


'Jess...' she breathes out as he passes her by, but he doesn't turn back.

She enters after him and closes the door hesitantly.

He throws his keys on the sofa and takes his jacket off to toss over the cushions.

She watches as he moves towards the kitchen box and pours himself a glass of water. His step is a little awkward and she realizes he's been drinking. Her eyes skim the living room and register the empty bottle of Jack's on the coffee table.

He's been listening. Of course he was.

'Jess.'

He turns to give her a sideways glance and his eyes are bloodshot. He doesn't seem angry, though. His look is sharp, yet it's missing something. There's certain... blankness behind the intensity of his gaze that scares her.

He's not interested in what she has to say, she realizes. It strikes her. Hard. For a moment her throat tightens and she can taste her own saliva.

'I quit the campaign this afternoon,' she says in a small voice and feels her eyes burn. Tell me I'm not too late.

'Dreams aren't what I thought they would be,' she admits and looks away before she musters up courage to search for his reaction. Some reaction. Any.

His features don't seem to shift and she steps closer, thinking maybe her eyes are too blurry and failed her.

'I'm sorry it took me this long to realize it,' she adds and her voice falters.

He stares back at her and she still finds no signs of understanding, or anger, or concern... or anything. Then she smells a sweet perfume and her face suddenly feels numb, blood drawn back.

He sees the change in her expression and lets a slow breath out through his nose.

'I see,' she utters, staring into nothing. 'Does...' she pauses for a sharp intake of air, 'does she mean anything?'

The cold laugh that crosses his eyes without reaching his lips tells her no. She relaxes.

'Good.'

Their eyes lock as she says a quiet

'I'll stay then. Do you mind?'

There. There's something in the look he's giving her now she hasn't seen in a while. It lights his eyes up for a second before it's gone and she remembers why she came back here. She allows herself to feel hope.

'Okay,' he says in a low, tired voice.

Then he's turning away from her and leaves the empty glass on the counter before he walks by and disappears into the bedroom. His bedroom. She made it like this, she thinks.

Rory moves to sit on the sofa, hands stiff in her lap, looking around the apartment that used to be her home.

She made things so, she thinks over and over, and it hurts. But there's hope, she realizes. She's made her choice to stay and he didn't stop her. This could be a start.

She sighs and stands up to take some covers for the sofa to sleep on tonight.


Two Hours Earlier

'How do you want it?' the redhead asks as she reaches to touch his waist but he catches her wrist midway.

'We're not having sex,' he shakes his head with a bitter smile.

'Whatever you say, boss,' she dismisses, sneaking her hand away and leaning into him, reaching up for his cheek.

He pushes her back patiently.

'I mean it,' he says gently yet firmly. Suddenly he's feeling very sober and she can see that in the change of his demeanor.

'O-kay,' she lifts her hands in mock surrender and steps back, slightly irritated. 'What do you want then?'

'How many clients do you have per night?' he asks instead of a reply.

Her brows knit.

'Are you a cop?' she asks, a bit alarmed. Her look darts towards the door behind his back and he shakes his head.

'I'll pay you to not have sex with any customer for one night,' he says curtly.

She looks at him incredulously. She can't understand.

He takes his wallet out and leaves some bills on the sofa, confirming his words. Her look moves between the man and the money before she grabs it to slip into one of her high heeled boots. Then looks back at him.

'Why?'

He shrugs.

'Does it matter?' he smiles bitterly.

She gives him a slow nod. A man not sharing a toy isn't that shocking. A man not wanting to play with a toy is, though. Anyway, it doesn't really matter.

'You sure you don't wanna...' she tries again.

'I'm sure,' he nods.

'Okay then,' she shrugs and sits back on the sofa. 'I guess I'm yours for the night to not have sex with, then.'


A/N: I'm curious, what do you make of the last part of this? I think it's more than a bit blurry and might need reworking to get my point through, so please, let me know what you think.