To Have & Have-Not
Chapter 1.
By: Priya LaLita.
JJ Adams groaned, rubbing the back of his neck to try and ease the tension. This was going to be a killer month. Three open cases, two with no solid leads, on the brink of exhaustion, freezing his ass off and being subjected to Christmas Music for the next twenty some-odd days was akin to torture. He'd always disliked the Holiday Season, but this year was proving to be the worst. Over-stressed, cranky, relatively alone. He sank back in the passenger's seat and flipped through the radio stations, irritated with everything he heard, eventually just shutting it off. He shivered by himself until the driver's side door pulled open, extending two steaming cups of coffee. He took them from the bare, reddened hands and settled them in the cup-holders.
"Goddamn it's chilly." Drake huffed, slipping into the car, rubbing his hands together.
"Chilly?" He grumbled, scanning the cups for his. "It's freezing."
Drake shot him an almost sympathetic smile. "Poor Malibu Barbie." He sighed, reaching over to ruffle his hair with a still cold hand. "The worst is yet to come."
"Don't remind me." He groaned, pouting a little, clutching his coffee cup.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm cold."
"Other than that, you were attacking the radio just a minute ago." He laughed gently and took his own.
"Was not." JJ said with a frown.
"Liar." Drake smirked and turned the radio back on, JJ cringing at the sound of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" coming out of the speakers. "You...Scrooge." He said, a shocked look on his face as he turned it down.
"What? Is it a crime to be insanely irritated by Holiday Music?"
"Yes." Drake laughed as JJ rolled his eyes.
"Whatever."
Drake flipped another channel, landing on another song, some Disney Star butchering another Christmas Carole, watching JJ grow visibly more agitated. "Holy shit, you're not kidding."
"And why would I be kidding?"
"Beats me, Bah-Humbug." He said, staring at him as JJ reached out and turned the radio off again. "Seriously, you were all crazy about Christmas last year."
"I was pretty crazy about everything last year." JJ said, sipping on his coffee, alluding to his fruitless chase for Dee's affection.
"But, really...how can you be all grumpy listening to that."
"How can you be all cheery listening to that?"
"Because...it's Christmas." Drake said, shrugging. "It's just part of the Holiday Spirit."
JJ snorted quietly in contempt. "Whatever you say."
"Are you seriously going to tell me you grew out of Christmas?"
"No, I didn't grow out of it. You can't grow out of something you were never into."
Drake narrowed his eyes at his partner and sipped his coffee before breaking into the cookie he'd gotten from the deli. JJ looked over and rolled his eyes at the tree-shaped treat.
"Okay, don't give me that, I didn't bake the cookie." He said through a mouthful, before swallowing. "So, you never celebrated at your house?" He broke off another piece and held it in front of JJ's mouth with a smile.
"Oh, my mother celebrated, she drank her martinis out of these cute little glasses that said Ho-Ho-Ho. I found it to be quite appropriate, thanks to all of her boyfriends hanging around the house when my step-father was out." He said bitterly, eating the bit of cookie right from his hand as Drake blinked.
"You've got issues, JJ." He said as his partner rolled his eyes again, slowly chewing.
"Whatever. I grew up Beverly Hills, Drake. There's no need for mommy and daddy to make up some story about some chubby guy in a tacky red velvet pimp suit to break into your house and give you presents when you're the kid who said I want a pony and got one."
"Issues." Drake said again as JJ huffed. "And did you just say pimp suit?"
"Whatever."
"Christmas isn't just about Santa."
"Sure. It's about Christmas Parties and flaunting your wealth to your friends and co-workers."
"It's about family and good will and doing good for others--"
"And trampling people to death in line at Walmart on Black Friday for mediocre sales on shitty merchandise and making an excuse to only do good things for others and being good to your family and helping the needy only once a year." JJ retorted as Drake frowned.
"Scrooge." He shot back, unable to find a comeback.
"Tool." He grunted holding onto his coffee tighter.
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Drake stared at the screen, at primarily blank slots in the police report, resting his cheek on his fist. His eyes drifted across the desks to his partner, watching him chew on the back of a pen as he focused on his own screen.
"So, you're not going home for the Holidays then?"
"Nope, didn't go home last year either, or before that."
"Yeah, but you were working, you got the time off this year."
"And I'm going to give it up."
"That's sweet of you." Drake said as he nodded.
"It's the right thing to do. I'm single, I have no local family, and I hate Christmas, it makes sense." He answered before closing the manila file open on the desk, shuffling the papers away into a drawer. "I'll be home, so...see you later, when you're done?" He posed it as a blasé question as he shrugged into his black Prada Pea-Coat.
"Yeah, do you want me to pick up something to eat?"
"Sure, if you want." JJ said with a small shrug, winding a scarf around his neck. "See you when you finish, then."
Drake nodded, then frowned, grabbing JJ's hand as he turned. "Come here." He said quietly, gently pulling him towards him.
JJ made a small, questioning noise as Drake squeezed his hand.
"Are you okay?" He asked as JJ nodded.
"I'm fine." He answered as Drake sighed and pulled him closer, using his free hand to pull down the Burberry Checked cashmere scarf from around his mouth.
He placed a small kiss on JJ's lips and smiled, resting his forehead against his.
"Get home safe."
"Mmhm." JJ smirked and leaned his weight on the arms of Drake's desk chair. "Stop wasting time."
"I'm not wasting time." He said, flashing a charming look.
"Liar." JJ whispered as Drake leaned in for another kiss.
"That makes two of us."
JJ tried to act annoyed, but failed, straightening and pulling his scarf back up, forming an effective barrier against the kiss.
"I'll see you later."
Drake sighed and licked his lips absently, leaning back in his chair. He glanced at the screen and groaned. Stupid paperwork keeping him here. He wasn't sure what was going on between them. Ever since they'd kissed on the roof six months ago, things just started to click. Slowly, but surely they'd gotten closer and closer, and before they knew it, they were even closer. It was casual, supposedly no strings attached, just sex; they didn't talk about it, but Drake wasn't sure what to think about it. In fact, it was kind of driving him crazy. He'd never felt quite like this before, so consumed by someone. He swallowed the lump forming in his throat, slowly trying to focus back on the screen, but failing miserably. There was a somewhat frightening sense of completion to this new level in their relationship. It just felt right.
(to be continued).
Hi all, thanks for reading. Many more chapters to come. Also, many many many infinite thanks to Daxemon who suffered through reading this for past month or so. I hope you enjoy it, and I will update soon. I'll probably update every Friday or so. xoxo PriyaLaLita.