Cameron sighed fondly as Kirsten sat beside him in the car. Bag at her feet and hands folded in her lap as she waited for him to drive them home.
"Really Stretch, I'm fine. Don't you think the doctors would have made me stay if I wasn't?"
The blonde had stayed with him from when he had been revived till he had been released from the hospital. She had stayed all night by his bedside, holding his hand and making sure the doctors checked and rechecked everything. He had appreciated her company and care, of course, but he saw how worried she was.
"They hardly knew the whole situation they could have missed something. And anyway this isn't about you."
Cameron snickered, confused at Kirsten's completely serious expression.
"How is this not about me? You're all insisting on staying at my house for the night. And I love you guys but you don't have to be worried."
"Well too bad cause we are." She turned to him, eyebrows creasing in grief.
"You died Cameron. And you almost didn't come back. We all had to watch you're dead body being slid into that corpse cassette like you were one of the murder victims we investigate. I held you as your heart stopped. You had to be shocked over and over again. You're body was cold and they called you're time of death. So, yes, we are worried and we are going to stay with you because we'd like to see you alive and well before we sleep so we don't all dream about you dying."
Cameron watched as Kirsten tried to control and understand her emotions. Her eyes were watery and her breathing uneven like she was fighting not to cry. The scientist rubbed her shoulder in comfort and smiled sympathetically.
"You're right, I'm sorry. I didn't think how hard that would have been to watch. And hey at least this means I can finally cook for you all."
Kirsten smiled and watched him as he started the car, her eyes lingering on the soft smile on his face. Ever since she stitched into Cameron she had been having…..feelings. She had experienced residual emotions from other Stitches before but those hadn't been hers, they were different, muted almost. These new emotions were hers and she didn't know how to control them. When she bounced from Cameron's stitch and saw him lying on that table…She had felt pure fear and grief. She hadn't even felt grief when her mother died or her father left. She had wished they were still with her of course but it wasn't the all-consuming agony she felt when she saw Cameron laying on that table.
Now that he was back it was hard for her not to feel so much when she looked at him. There were just so many emotions swirling around inside her she didn't know what to do with them. She wondered if it felt this way for everyone else all the time. She wasn't sure she liked having such strong reactions to things, but when she got this warm fluttery feeling in her stomach watching Cameron smile….she thought it might not be so bad.
They pulled up to Cameron's apartment and went inside to be met with Camille and Linus already in his lounge, trying to drag a mattress into his bedroom.
"Uhh hey guys what are you doing?"
"Yeah and how did you get in?"
Camille smiled proudly.
"I have skills in areas you two haven't even heard of. I am one talented woman."
Linus poked his head around from the other side of the mattress.
"Yes but I helped. You guys got here pretty quick, you must have been driving pretty fast."
Cameron dropped his bag onto his counter and started pulling out food for dinner.
"Yeah well, this one now has a concept of time and is apparently not one for patience. Every twenty seconds it was 'Are we there yet?' ' how long does it usually take to get to your place?' 'how am I supposed to know what ten minutes feels like yet?' she was driving me crazy."
Kirsten just shrugged when Cameron gestured to her, making herself comfortable on his couch.
Camille and Linus continued dragging the mattress into their friend's bedroom as said friend made dinner for them all. Kirsten watched Cameron work, humming to himself as he chopped vegetables and threw them in pans, smiling to herself as she watched the man in his natural environment.
Kirsten liked the way he danced around his little kitchen, cooking for his friends and spending time doing something he loved for people he cared about. Kirsten watched and knew that this was what happiness looked like. She had seen it before but hadn't truly felt it herself, until Cameron smiled at her and took her hands, dragging her into the kitchen with him to help with dinner. She couldn't stop the smile from lighting up her face at the warmth of his hands. There was a heat in her chest and her cheeks that she felt every time she looked at him.
She snuck up behind him while he was peeling aubergines and curled her arms around his middle, resting her cheek between his shoulder blades as he paused in his movements.
"Kirsten?"
"Sorry, I just wanted to…..you make me happy. And that's a big thing for me because I haven't really understood what happy felt like. Until now. Thanks."
Cameron blushed and smiled, squeezing her hand as it gripped his waist.
"You're welcome, and for the record, you make me happy too."
Kirsten sighed before letting go, smiling so big at Cameron he could see it in her eyes. She looked so beautiful he thought, even if they hadn't gotten the plates for the car, dying was worth it to make her smile that way.
Once everyone had eaten dinner, and complimented Cameron in his wonderful cooking, they all headed in for bed, declaring that Cameron needed to get some rest. The scientist rolled his eyes but went anyway. Camille and Linus crawling onto the mattress on the floor together while Kirsten slid herself under Cameron's blankets to lay down beside him.
"If I knew you were sleeping in my bed I would have taken the couch."
Kirsten scrunched her nose up and squinted her eyes at him.
"That would defeat the purpose of this, and besides, it's not like we haven't done this before."
Camille and Linus both sat up on their mattress.
"Ohhhhhh did you two-?"
Cameron and Kirsten very quickly corrected them, stopping their thoughts from going anywhere they shouldn't.
"No, no , no. We never-"
"I had a bad dream and Cameron let me stay over. Nothing happened."
Camille made a noise of disappointment while Linus gave Cameron a face that said "you lie, tell me the details later."
Cameron shook his head and flumped back down into his pillows.
"Goodnight you guys."
Three cheery 'goodnights' rang out at once, making Cameron smile before he closed his eyes.
He breathed in deep and snuggled into his blankets, beginning to drift off when he felt a touch on his wrist. Opening his eyes and slowly turning his head the scientist looked at Kirsten's guilty face. She held two fingers at his pulse point as she looked up at him.
"Sorry, just making sure."
Cameron sighed. "It's not going to stop."
Kirsten shook her head and looked down at where his fingers were trailing along her wrist as she held his.
"You don't know that."
Cameron frowned. He had done what he did to protect her but now he could see how much it had hurt her. She was still scared for him, which was worse since she wasn't used to feeling that way outside of a stitch.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you, we needed the information and I needed to-"
"Keep me safe, I know. Next time, make sure dying isn't part of the plan."
" I was only mostly dead but sure, next time I won't die."
"Good. I refuse to lose you again Doctor Goodkin."
She shuffled over in the bed and laid her head on his chest, curling her arm around his waist as she snuggled him. She could hear the beating of his heart in her ears and feel the rise and fall of his chest. Her other hand found his and laced their fingers together. Cameron tensed a little in surprise before he smiled and relaxed into her touch, kissing her head and squeezing her fingers back.
"Goodnight Kirsten."
The blonde lifted her head long enough to kiss Cameron's cheek before she rested her head back on his chest.
"Goodnight Cameron."
Two voices drifted from the mattress on the floor.
"Goodnight you two."
Cameron fell asleep with a smile on his face.
(let me know if you want more idk what to do tho also this is named after the song by ball park music its a pretty good song)
