House of Cards
Sitting on the plane next to Jenna and Ross, Naomi looked out the window lost in thought. Las Vegas had been amazing, heart-breaking and confusing. Her hands rested on her stomach as she thought of Josh.
"Naomi…you okay?" Ross' voice broke her jumble of thoughts. His eyes locked onto hers as she turned her head to look at him. She was hollow inside and her eyes conveyed this. Normally she'd have Josh with her after big events like this but he wasn't and for good reason.
"Honestly? No. This sucks much more than I could have expected." Naomi sighed as Ross reached his hand over, pulling up the armrest between them and pulling her close into his arms. He kissed the top of her head as she cried softly. Jenna was passed out next to Ross so she didn't hear Naomi crying.
"It'll be okay, Nami. Not now but soon. And no matter what happens you will always have me." Ross stroked her hair as he spoke. He felt his own eyes filling with tears for Naomi at the situation she was in. As he looked out the window over her head he could see the day breaking over the hills and towns. Holding her still close the two would fall asleep in the position they were in.
A few hours later the flight attendant would wake the trio up. Announcing they had landed and would be able to get off soon. Ross released Naomi as Jenna looked over cocking her head in slight wonder. Ross just shrugged and Jenna took his response not asking anything further or venturing to do so. Helping Naomi stand Ross placed her in front of him as they walked off the plane and through the terminal; Jenna was close behind but remained silent.
"Oye, my phone is going crazy from texts." Naomi laughed to Ross as Jenna helped him get their luggage off the belt. Naomi turned away missing the way Ross grinned at her. The majority of text messages were half from Josh, half from Dan, a quarter from Rich and Forrest and a few from Dana. She tapped through her I-phone to rid it of some of the messages, answering Dana, Forrest, Dan and Rich.
Just as she began to type a response to the nearly 50 some apology messages from Josh, Ross bumped into her and grabbed the phone from her shoving it into his back pocket.
"No…come on, let's get home." Ross stated as Naomi huffed and crossed her arms across her chest, walking beside him, Jenna trailed behind texting away with a free hand. After driving back to their house, Jenna passed out on her and Ross' bed and Naomi lay down on the kitchen island, her eyes shut as she relaxed.
Ross had spotted her laying there but decided to let her relax a bit before returning her phone. He had managed to put Josh on Naomi's block list. As he walked into the kitchen he put her phone on her stomach and smiled as she opened her eyes to look at him. He had leaned against the island his right hand reaching to run his fingers through her hair.
"Nami…" Ross whispered her name as he sighed, helping her to sit up. Upon sitting up she grabbed her phone, placed it in her pocket and leaned her forehead on Ross' chest. Ross let his hands rest on her lower back a moment before he realized Naomi had fallen asleep. She had started to murmur and whimper in her sleep as he carried her to her room, laying her down carefully.
"Josh…Why?" Naomi's words struck Ross' heart as he helped to make her comfortable. He pulled her phone out of her front pocket and laid it on the dresser. Finally, he reluctantly left the broken-hearted beauty to curl up in her sheets and drift.
Ross would curl up next to Jenna, but thinking, as many were at that moment, of Naomi. Naomi would barely wake a few times during the course of her sleep but did not hear her phone. She was content in just forgetting the world and the new problems she would have to face upon waking. Some of her dreams were peaceful whilst a few times Josh appeared only to be stopped by Ross, Rich, Forrest, and Dan.
Finally after resting for a good amount of time Naomi would roll out of bed, lumber towards her shower and change into shorts and a black tank top, pulling her wet hair back and out of her eyes and way. As she walked out of her room she grabbed her phone and noted all the messages from Josh were gone as well as his name had an "x" by it.
Chuckling she answered Dan's text message and shoved her phone into her pocket. She didn't note Jenna or Ross weren't there until she found the whole house empty upon exploration. The sound of the washer and dryer running didn't faze her as she began to pull out the vacuum and plug it in. She ran the vacuum through the house only stopping to answer a text message or two.
Just as she finished she heard the house phone ring loudly making her jump. Putting the vacuum quickly into the closet she grabbed the hand held off its charging spot in the den and answered it not expecting to hear who she did.
"Baby, please talk to me…I'm sorry." Josh's voice was sad, soft and more than begging, it was near pathetic. Deep down past the way he acted, and was always bound to act, he loved Naomi and after realizing she might be pregnant he felt even worse than he did when he cheated on her.
"Why, Josh? What's the point?" Naomi walked into the kitchen, resting her elbows on the kitchen's island. She ran one of her hands through her hair listening to him breathe deeply, something she had always enjoyed doing when he had fallen asleep on her lap, he wasn't a snorer thankfully.
"Because I want to be involved in my son or daughter's life and I love you, you know that I do Naomi." Even though his words sounded good and sounded honest, deep inside her heart Naomi knew he'd just cheat on her again. The facts made her body feel weighed down and even worse than she already was.
"Listen, I don't want to talk about this." Naomi finally found her voice and pursed her lips, zoning out, as Josh began to babble and rant in her ear. She didn't hear the door open or the sound of rustling. Ross had dropped his bag with his fighting and training gear on the couch on the way in and headed to the shower in his and Jenna's room. He was quick but thought Naomi had left and hadn't noticed her in the kitchen, so he simply wrapped a towel around his waist and headed to the kitchen.
"Goodbye then Naomi…I've said my piece. Think about it." Josh finally decided that if Naomi wasn't going to answer he might as well hang up the phone so he did. As Naomi placed the phone down she spotted a cloth on the ground and bent down to pick it up and at that moment Ross walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge, which Naomi heard and popped her head up to note Ross was essentially naked, save for the towel wrapped around his waist.
"Ross?" Naomi's voice hitched as he shut the door to the refrigerator and turned to look at her with a surprised reaction.
"Nami…uh….hi?" He was clearly embarrassed and this made Naomi chuckle and stand wiping at the counter as she averted her eyes away from the constant track up and down his body.
"So…where's Jenna?" She asked trying to focus on the imaginary dirt she was wiping at with the cloth. Ross' embarrassment faded as he watched her, noting her unwillingness to look him in the eyes.
"Jenna went to spend the day with my mum. You okay?" He asked walking over to stand next to her. Naomi fidgeted a bit. Ross was attractive and she knew that but had always avoided situations where she would be alone with him…while he was half naked.
"Sort of. Josh called." Naomi watched from the corner of her eye how Ross clenched his fists and placed them on the counter, even his finely sculpted abs, flexed.
"And?" Ross' voice was clearly annoyed. He wanted to strangle Josh and possibly cut his body up into little pieces.
"And I left him rant in my ear for a bit before he finally understood I did not want to talk." Naomi was still moving the cloth around, watching it to keep her attention away from Ross' penetrating gaze, as well as his still slightly wet body. After watching her move the cloth around a few more seconds, he placed his hand on top of hers.
"You cleaned it. Calm down. I'm not going to bite you." He responded as she finally looked at him, his perfect blue eyes blazing down at her, warmth filling them as he looked at her.
"Not that I would mind if you bite me." She muttered before she could control her lips and he grinned. Her body turned as Ross came around to stand in front of her, her green eyes staring into his. His hands rested, one on each side of her body, but resting on the counter. As he leaned forwards, Naomi closed her eyes and felt his lips melt against her.
As his hands moved from the counter to trail up her body, her skin warmed under her clothes and she shivered a bit, his tongue sliding into her mouth as she let out a soft gasp. His tongue spiraled around hers as he pulled her closer. Neither would pull away, not for a few moments before they both heard the door shut and Jenna's voice rang through like a bell.
Ross moved back and pushed Naomi down so she was hidden from sight. As Jenna rounded the corner she spotted Ross standing there and he walked over to meet her halfway.
"Tough day at the office?" Jenna asked running her hands down his arms and the large erection that had appeared when he was kissing Naomi had not gone away. Jenna began to mess with the towel while a slightly dazed and confused Naomi sat hidden waiting for them to leave.
"Come on lets go to the bedroom." He was hiding his anguish well and as Jenna skipped ahead of him, he called out promising to catch up. Naomi stood and turned to look at him.
"I…have to go back to the states for a while." Naomi whispered not wishing Jenna to know she was there. Ross clenched his jaw and tried to hold his composure.
"Don't leave, please?" He begged quietly moving to touch the side of her face with his fingertips a soft smile appearing on her face as he did this.
"I need to. I'll go to Ohio and have Dan come meet me; I'll stay with him and help at Rich's." Naomi let her hand rest on his as he flattened his palm against her cheek to bring her towards him, his lips kissing her forehead softly.
"I'm not sorry about that kiss." He whispered to her and she closed her eyes bathing in the fact she had just kissed her brother-in-law, with no regrets.
"Neither am I. Now go before she gets suspicious." Naomi smiled wider pushing him down the hall. She walked out the front door, not hearing the noises that followed after Ross walked into the bedroom.
"I am so not going to ask you but once…find us an apartment within the next 48 to 72 hours and be ready to receive me at the airport in Ohio?" Naomi was serious as she spoke to Dan and he automatically agreed and withheld the questions he had about her sudden decision. As she was hanging up the phone she heard the door open and Jenna's voice carried to her ears like a soft happy relaxed melody. Naomi thought she might throw up.
"Been out here long?" She asked and Naomi shook her head. A huge part of Naomi knew Jenna was afraid of Naomi and Ross "hooking up", as she had so blatantly put it. But as usual, Jenna was overconfident and thought she was just a bit better looking than Naomi. Naomi's eyes shot to where Ross was standing behind Jenna. There was shame on his face, as if he felt bad for sleeping with his own wife.
"Nope, not at all, but bad news, I'm heading back to the states by tomorrow or at least the next day for a while." Ross' jaw clenched again visibly annoyed he turned away heading towards the kitchen and slamming cabinets shut, checking for something to make as dinner.
"Okay, just be careful." Jenna responded kindly as Ross appeared beside her again, her eyes shot to look at him along with Naomi's.
"Couldn't find anything, going to get a pizza." Ross grunted out and kissed Jenna on the cheek. His keys in his hand, his eyes conveyed hurt at Naomi's decision to go. Naomi stood from where she had been sitting and stared after him a moment before she started after him.
"I'll go with him…he's dense." Naomi teased to which Jenna shrugged and shut the door as Naomi leapt to reach the other side of the truck before Ross started it. Banging on the window Ross hit the unlock button staring at her as she got in.
"Reason for going?" Ross was being harsh as he tended to be when hurt, so as he started the car and pulled out he kept his mouth shut, thinking. Over the past 4 or 5 years he had grown accustomed and okay with Naomi flying back and forth between the US and the UK, being gone for 4 to 5 months at a time, but now he realized what had been him simply protecting, caring for, listening to, and watching had grown into something more.
"You." Her answer was short and her eyes on his seeing the same fire that had burned in his during the kiss was there now, but there was that hint of hurt and pain.
"Then why are you going?" He gripped the steering wheel as he drove glancing away from her and waiting patiently for her answer.
"Ross…you are my sister's husband. If I don't get away I'm going to end up doing something I'll regret. I already have enough to worry about and you know that." Naomi watched Ross' knuckles turn white, so she placed one of her hands on his as she continued. "Ross I don't want to do or say anything…yet. This isn't the time. Just know you have a place in my heart and how you feel…you aren't alone, okay?"
As she finished they pulled up to a pizza place and he stopped the car turning his head to look at her. His blue eyes rimmed with tears. He felt for her, so much more now, but he knew she was right. He knew he couldn't hurt Jenna, so he just nodded.
"I'm sorry I want to keep you here, protect you, but you are right." He managed to get out as Naomi moved both hands to hold his cheeks, her fingers and thumbs catching his stubborn tears. Naomi was only able to hold her composure until she felt his jaw tremble from speaking, and Ross noted the tears that befell her cheeks.
"It'll be okay. I promise. We'll figure this out, apart or together." Naomi heard her voice crack and she pursed her lips shut, realizing the composure she thought she had, had faded.
"If I can be a success in fighting, I can be success in ensuring we both end up happy." Ross joked trying to lighten the mood and Naomi chuckled as Ross pulled her to him, running his fingers through her hair as she smiled into his chest.
"Sounds like a plan. Now come on, she's going to get worried." Naomi patted his back, making him release her. Nodding her got out of the truck, Naomi joining him soon as they ordered two large pepperoni pizzas and rushed back to the house.
"So there's a flight Saturday?" Naomi held the phone between her shoulder and ear talking to Dan and nodded searching the site he had emailed her on her laptop.
"Mhm, now you ready to explain the sudden want to come to the states?" Dan asked her as he removed his bags from the belt at the airport. He could almost see her shaking her head as she sighed.
"No, not yet." She answered him while her eyes moved from the screen to Ross' face and trailed down his body back to his feet which were lying in her lap.
"Right, well, you can explain when I see you." Dan wasn't going to ask if that was okay, he knew she understood explanations had to be given. Ross wiggled his toes while Jenna leaned her head back from her spot in front of the couch.
"I know. Okay, I booked the flight and what about sleeping arrangements? Where we staying at?" Naomi asked pulling up her messengers to see everyone but a few people offline. Logging back off she listened to Dan place his bag in the car he had rented.
"Found a two bedroom apartment about 20 minutes from Rich's gym. I think you'll enjoy the new talent I hear is coming in to train. Anyways I'll see you tomorrow?" Dan had gotten into the driver's seat and started the car but waited to hang up with Naomi first before he would start driving.
"Sounds absolutely lovely and you actually think the new talent is acceptable for your standards? I cannot wait to see this, talk to you tomorrow though, night Dan." Naomi was smiling as Dan chuckled at her comment and finished with a simple bye and hung up.
"So everything all set over there?" Jenna was moving to head to bed as Naomi pushed her phone into her pocket, laptop closed and placed on the arm of the couch. Ross had noticed Jenna move but was still watching a movie so he wasn't ready to leave the room.
"Yep, it's going to be fun. I'm sure Rich will have me working non-stop…again." Naomi grinned as she remembered the last time she had spent time at Rich's gym, PowerStation.
"Well I'm heading to bed. Ross you coming?" Jenna asked him and he shook his head before he responded.
"Nope, going to finish watching the movie." Ross' response was as simple as the way Jenna shrugged and disappeared.
"Would you get your feet off my lap now?" Naomi was cocking her head to the side as she spoke and Ross nodded sitting up and giving her some space. Placing her feet in his lap she smirked and sighed letting her eyes close as she let the feelings of exhaustion slip in finally, taking hold.
Ross noticed her falling asleep, letting her do so while he watched the rest of the movie. Then for the second night in a row he carried Naomi to her bed and laid her down, covered her up and moved her phone from her pocket to her dresser. And though he didn't want to fully, he fell asleep beside Jenna.
Wow. Second one down. I have taken a lot of time to pre-write the first and second chapter by hand. Part of the third one is already written just have to type it up. Maybe then I'll stop writing by hand. Anyways review please.
Much luv,
Animus Patronus
