A Gradual Descent

Chapter 4: Damage

Author: Knowhere

Rating: R

Disclaimer: Nothing.

AN: Thanks for the responses. Please review when you're done.

Summary: Literati. She refused to be a cliché, falling for the seemingly dangerous guy when she was with the safer one. He refused to let the innocent girl of his friend to make him feel something unwanted. He'd tease, flirt, and have his fun, but they're both unprepared by the need to be with one another. AU.

---

Simon didn't come home for a week. It was unprecedented in their relationship. They never fought before; one of them always gave in before feelings were hurt. It was a silent agreement between the two of them. Both knew that they owed too much to each other to let petty differences wedge their friendship.

The doorbell drew Jess's attention away from his blank computer screen. Tea in hand, he shuffled his way to the door. Opening it, he almost shut it in her face. "What are you doing here?"

"Is Simon home?"

"No."

She held out her arm, holding a bag full of clothes, papers, and CDs. "I have some of his stuff. Can you make sure he gets it?"

He turned and left the door open. "Want to come in?"

"No, I probably shouldn't."

Jess smirked, despite the fact he knew he should stop talking to her. "Now that I'm finally being polite by inviting you in, you decline?"

She stepped through the threshold, but remained still. "Simon broke up with me." Rory blurted it out. "Well, we both decided it was best. Though Simon really did the dumping."

"I know."

Rory tucked her hands into her pockets. "Why am I not surprised? He told you?"

"Sorta." He sat down on the couch, not waiting for her to join.

"Did you…" She twisted her fingers together. "Did you tell him? About us?"

"What about us?"

Rory sat down with an impatient huff. "You know what."

"Yeah, he knows." Irritated as well, he brushed his fingers along the arm of the sofa. "It's why Simon's been MIA for the past week."

"He didn't seem angry when we broke up." She spoke quietly.

"That's because he's only upset with me."

"That doesn't seem fair. I was there too."

Jess chuckled without humor. "Yeah, I remember." He glanced over at her, huddled in the far corner of the sofa. "Doesn't matter. I hurt him. It was more about the fact that I betrayed him than about cheating. Simon's…a loyal guy. No doubt you knew that for yourself."

She scooted closer to Jess, wanting to reassure him. "You're a loyal friend as well." She continued even though he snorted his objection. "No, you are. You could have taken the situation further than you actually did. God knows I wasn't going to stop you at the time."

Jess laughed out loud. "How you can be such a seductive minx one minute, and then the naïve girl the next is really extraordinary, you know that?"

She blushed under his twisted compliment.

He watched her. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone blush so quickly before."

"Jess…"

"Yes?"

Rory met his eyes. "You're wrong for me." She put it bluntly.

He chuckled. "I'd be the first to agree with you there."

"You're rude and arrogant and conceited and uncaring."

"You really need to come up with some new insults for me. You've used those way too much."

Her voice became thick. "Why are you doing this, Jess?"

"I'm not doing anything."

"Yes you are!" Quick fingers brushed aside angry tears. "You made me want you! And now…you obviously don't want to finish what you started."

Her tears angered him. He didn't know why, but they did. He didn't want to be the cause, but at the same time, he wanted someone to understand just how much he was hurting. He swallowed. "I never said that."

"It's true though, isn't it? You got what you wanted. I'm no longer with Simon, but you won't risk whatever you have left with him to be with me."

"I'm no good for you. You said it yourself."

She wanted to hit him all over again. "That doesn't stop me from wanting you, damn it!"

He bit the inside of his cheek until he tasted blood. "I'm sorry."

That only made Rory even more frustrated. "I don't want you to be sorry! I don't!"

"Then what the fuck do you want?"

"I want you to want me!"

Jess clenched and unclenched his fists. "I can't."

She was breaking on the inside. Why was it so hard for him to want her? She had finally found someone who wanted her to be herself, and he was rejecting her. He encouraged her; he coaxed her real personality out, and now he wanted her to trap it inside again. "Why not?"

"I just can't."

"Why?" She pressed. "Because of what you feel like you owe Simon? You guys are even. You saved him, and he saved you in return. Why can't either one of you just let it go?"

"You don't understand." He told her hoarsely.

"Then make me understand."

Jess shook his head.

"Was it all just a game to you then? Kissing me? Making me realize that I was with the wrong guy? I should have known better than to think any of it was real."

That was more than he could handle. He reached for her across the sofa, pinning her body below his. "Think what you want, but it wasn't a game to me. I like it no better than you do."

"Let go of me." She struggled against his hard body.

"Isn't this what you wanted? For me to finish what I started?" His fingers crept below her shirt, seeking the bare skin of her midriff.

"Jess…" She whimpered below him.

He paused. "What?"

She bucked up against him, wanting to tell him to fuck off. But she couldn't. "Um…"

Jess let go of the tight reign of his control. He sunk down onto her willing body; fitting one leg between her parted ones. Resting bent elbows by her head, he teased her with fluttering kisses along her neck, drifting down and over her collar, touching but never settling his lips fully on her skin. Letting her feel the extent of his weight, he reached down to hook one of her legs around his waist, adjusting her until she hit his erection just right. He grasped at her shirt, pulling it over her head. Sucking her breast through the material of her bra, she groaned, wanting to feel him against her bare skin instead.

Rory nudged him aside, finding the fly of his jeans, unzipping and pushing down the dark denim with her hands. As she brushed against his hard arousal, he froze. Kicking off his pants, he went to work on her bra, finding the clasp at her back, he undid it and pushed the straps off her shoulders. He bared the skin to his eyes. His intense stare making her squirm in protest. Jess opened his mouth, wanting to reassure her, but couldn't find the words. Instead, he ducked down, swirling his hot tongue against the hardened nipple. She cried out, feeling him brush against the seam of her sex as he removed her pants.

Yanking off his t-shirt, she sat up, pressing him back. He nodded at nothing and gathered her into his arms. Forcing her to encircle his hips with her legs, he pulled her upwards, keeping her flush against his body as he staggered a few steps away from the couch. "Jess…"

"Shh. I'm not going to take you here on the couch."

Rory whimpered and caught his lips for the first time since their last kiss. But this time, his kiss was different. He had always been patient, but he wasn't anymore. He grounded her body against his, pinning her back against his bedroom door, drinking in her kiss. She gave in quicker. She was hot and ready for this. She needed this. "We didn't get this far last time. Are you sure?" Rory was nervous, biting her upper lip.

"Don't ask me that." He didn't have an answer and the throbbing all over his body made it hard for him to dwell on any single thought. He surely didn't want to think about it too deeply.

"Why?" Rory pursued. "Because I won't like what you have to say?"

Cynically, he winced. "I don't think either of us will like what I have to say."

She relented.

With his hands tight under her bottom, he maneuvered them to his bed, tumbling on top of her. He trailed a line of wet kisses down the shallow valley of her breasts, and then to the flat plane of her stomach, stopping briefly to dip his tongue into her navel. Going back up her body, he reached into her underwear, fingers tangling with the soft curls. Rory reached blindly for him, seeking him between the slit of his boxers. With a firm tug, she curled her fingers around him. He grunted and pushed aside her hands and her underwear in one quick gesture.

Fumbling into his nightstand for a condom, he ripped open the packet, unrolled it, and slid right into her. She arched her back, not accustomed to him. Once joined, it only took several quick thrusts and she was gone, wound too tightly from before to hold out any further. A couple more and he was right behind her, eyes squeezed shut and throat tight.

---

His breathing was deep and even. He knew that Rory wasn't asleep beside him. He sensed that she was staring up at the ceiling as well. They weren't touching. His head turned on his pillow, looking for her. She met his gaze. "You're gonna tell me what we just did was wrong, aren't you?"

"You know it is."

"Why?" She pushed. "I'm not with him anymore."

Jess sat up. "Stop being obtuse. You know it's wrong either way. Fact of the matter is I shouldn't have slept with you."

"Coward." She mumbled as she swung her legs over the side.

"What did you say?"

She turned, eyes unfriendly. "You heard me."

He grimaced upon hearing his own words being thrown back at him. "You're wrong."

"No, I'm not wrong. You call me a coward for being afraid to showing Simon who I really am. But you! You're so afraid of wanting someone, of admitting that you need something, that you'll take any excuse just to stay away."

She hit it so closely on the mark it scared him. So he did what he did best—he ignored it. "Fuck you."

"You just did. Forgotten already?" She stood and zipped up her jeans. "This is so complicated, it's beyond wrong."

He sighed, not knowing what else to say. He wanted to stop her. He wanted to pull her back into his bed again. Jess wanted to feel her under, on top, beside him more. He wanted to make it last longer the second time, the third time, the hundredth time…He wanted what he couldn't have. No, he wanted what he didn't deserve.

He was no good for her. They both knew it.

She started to walk away, but he reached out and grasped her wrist. "Wha—"

Jess tugged and she tumbled back into the bed, on top of his chest. "I can't need you. I just can't." He whispered fervently into her hair, almost like a benediction, but he snuggled close, arms clamped down on her as if he were afraid to be alone. Given the rare glance of his struggle, she let him hold her. And she held on too, as if they wouldn't regret it later.

---

Thirty. He was thirty and had never cuddled with anyone before. Not like this. Sure, he did the prerequisite post-coital thing back when he was green with supposed innocence, but ever since twenty-two, he never allowed any woman to stay in his arms longer than ten minutes after sex.

But she was curled up in his arms her hands stroked calmly down the front of his chest. Jess sighed, wondering what any of this meant. How long had it been? An hour? Two? He lost track.

Rory stirred and he released his grip on her. "I should probably head home."

His body tightened; he didn't want to let go. Forget tomorrow; forget later on…he wanted her now. "You could stay."

She snuggled closer, nosing his bare chest with a mumble. "Is that what you want?"

Jess didn't answer. He couldn't. Instead, he drew the covers over their bodies and sunk down further into his mattress.

---

When he awoke, sunlight was streaming in through his windows, and she was gone. Throwing his head back onto his pillow, he tried to recall the last time he was left alone in bed after a night with a woman. He couldn't remember. Something inside him always made him wake up first. He needed to be in control that way.

Rubbing at his tired eyes, he glanced down at the empty space beside him. The sheet dropped and pooled at his waist. He reached out and grabbed the post-it note on top of his alarm clock. In a loopy scrawl, she had written—Figure out what you want.

He balled up the note and threw it in the direction of the wastebasket, missing his mark.

---

Simon came back the next day, as quietly as he had left. If there was something different about him, he didn't voice it. Instead, he perched on the kitchen counter, shoulders hunched, looking very much like an angelic gargoyle, keeping watch over nothing. Jess came around and searched for his mug in the pantry.

Simon sipped at his coffee. "Dinner tonight?"

Jess stopped with his hand partially on the teapot of boiling water. Not looking back, he nodded. "Sure."

Each man regarded the other wearily. But a truce was called.

---

The doorbell rang, and she padded slowly towards the noise. Looking through the peephole, she was surprised at the face that greeted her. Opening the door, she leaned to one side. "Simon, hi."

He smiled his charming smile. "Heya Rory."

She backed up, allowing him room to slide past her. "What's going on? Everything okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah, it's all right. You?"

Rory shrugged.

Simon laughed sympathetically. "Yeah."

She bit her lip but went into the kitchen, making sure that Simon felt welcomed to follow. "This is awkward." She fiddled around with the fridge, hunting for something to drink. "Simon." She turned. "I just wanted to say sorry. I really am."

He lifted his hand. "No, don't be. It was fun while it lasted, yeah?"

She grinned.

"But we both knew it wasn't going to go anywhere. I really shouldn't have kept it going for as long as I did. But it was nice and I didn't want to loose it just yet."

"Me neither." She swallowed. "So, we're…okay?"

"Yeah, suppose so." Simon was easy that way. Apologize, and he saw the light. So different from Jess. You could beat Jess over the head with a two by four and he'd still stick to his guns. Rory didn't know whether to respect him for that or throttle him.

"I never meant to come between the two of you."

Simon leaned against her kitchen counter. "I know. We know."

"But I still did."

He nodded, not knowing what else to say.

"Jess may be a selfish guy, but he's a loyal friend." The heat behind her words was unexpected.

Simon's glance flickered. "And that makes you angry?"

"I don't what it makes me feel." She paused. "This is all very embarrassing."

"Why?"

Rory jerked her head up. It sounded so much like Jess. In that moment, she saw a startling similarity between the two men. They both had a tendency to question authority, among other things, with a simple 'why.' It was like talking to a child who didn't trust any of the accepted wisdom. "It just is. I mean you were my boyfriend. And Jess…well, he's your best friend." She hesitated. "He still is, isn't he?"

Simon scowled. "Of course he is."

"Just checking."

"Jess and I may not be on the best of terms right now, but I'm not throwing away over seven years of friendship for nothing."

Rory flinched as if he had burned her.

He was immediately contrite. "Sorry. Didn't mean to imply you're nothing."

"It's okay, I know what you meant." She gestured to the chair. "Sit down, please. Coffee?"

"Sure." He watched her dart around the kitchen, assembling two mugs full of dark liquid.

"Why did you come here today?" She set down a steaming mug before him.

He took it between his large palms. "Rory, there are some things you should know about Jess."

She squinted. "Okay, this is getting creepy. Simon, you're a nice guy, probably too nice to be real, but this is really beyond the diction of what is supposed to happen."

Simon looked shy and affronted at the same time. He knew he was a nice guy. He prided himself on that fact, but it didn't make it any easier for him to swallow what was going on around him. "Rory, do you think I like what's happening?" He raised his voice just a fraction. "I don't! Just because we both know we weren't meant to be together doesn't make it any easier to see you with my best friend."

She recoiled. Taking a breath, Rory spoke quietly. "But I'm not with Jess."

Simon lowered his voice back to normal. "You know what I mean."

"He doesn't want to be with me, in any case. So we don't have to talk about this."

He caught her hand across the table. "No. We do need to talk."

Angry, she shook off his touch. "What else could there be left to say? I kissed your best friend. I ruined your friendship!"

Simon watched her, eyes not entirely unkind. He knew it was hard on all three of them. No one was hurting any less. But he hadn't known Rory as long as he'd known Jess. So despite everything, he still sided with his friend more than this woman. He knew Rory was torn, but Simon knew she was tearing up Jess beyond words. "Rory." His voice was firm. "You owe me at least to sit down to hear me out."

What was it with these two men and loyalty and debt? God, she had never met any two friends who were so intricately bound to each other. But she sat nonetheless. "Okay."

Simon looked uncomfortable, but he continued, in a voice she recognized as his 'lawyer voice.' It was dignified and commanding. It allowed no room for discussion. "I didn't come here to convince you to be with Jess."

How odd that he should start out like that. At any rate, even if he could convince both her and Jess, she doubted that she wanted to even trouble herself in such a sticky situation anymore.

"Jess is…"

"Unpolished?" She filled in the gap, using the word Simon himself had used when he first described his friend to her.

He gave a harsh laugh. "Yeah. That's to put it lightly. He's such a jaded bastard. How he even got like that, I have no idea. For as much as I know, Jess has never been burned by love. Or by any woman. Hell, that guy has never had a serious girlfriend."

"What?"

Simon laughed, a deep rumble. "Jess has never had a serious girlfriend. I don't even think that guy has ever had a girlfriend. Period."

"That's impossible. Look at all those women he brings back to your apartment."

Simon's eyes narrowed. "Sex. It's for sex. Jess knows it and those women know it. They might try to squeeze something else out of him, but he doesn't give false hope to anyone. They know what he wants. Release. They give it. Freely. Don't condemn the guy just because there are plenty of loose women who are willing to follow him to bed."

This part of Simon frightened her. She had never heard him speak so crudely about women. It was almost like listening to Jess, but it was Simon's bright blue eyes that stared back at her instead. Rory almost shuddered. "Yeah, well." She couldn't help from keeping the bitter tone away. "He has enough women to start a small country."

Simon chuckled. "Yeah. You're probably right. Jess has a way with women. I've seen it for myself. It's uncanny."

"That's for sure." Rory mumbled.

Sobering, Simon paused. "Jess doesn't believe in love."

That struck her in the gut, knocking the wind out of her chest. "Oh."

"I'm sorry, Rory. It's the truth. I don't know what to say." He toyed with the handle of the mug. "I don't want you to get hurt."

Embittered, she bit out, "So you came here to warn me? What's the deal with the two of you? Him, warning me about how I'm no good for you. And now you! You, warning me that your friend doesn't believe in love."

"It's not a warning. It's the truth. And I didn't come here solely for your benefit, Rory." He reached out and tilted her chin up to look at him. "I don't agree with Jess. Anyone can see that. I want to fall in love. And I have. I don't regret any of it. But he doesn't want to ever go through what I did." He looked away, staring at nothing in particular.

"If you don't agree, then what are you doing?"

Simon's eyes sharpened. "It doesn't matter how much I disagree with him. He doesn't want it. Do you get it? Do you?" He almost reached out to shake her, but he didn't. "He doesn't believe, and I won't make him. But I won't see him hurt. I won't."

That was the heart of the matter. Despite all the betrayal, all that had come to pass, Simon was here to make sure that Rory didn't hurt Jess. Because she knew, in the end, their friendship reigned supreme. It ranked above family, responsibilities, and women. It really was inconceivable how the two stuck together. The amount of affection held between the two men was mind-boggling.

It was ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous. Simon was here to make sure she didn't hurt Jess? She got angry; more so than she had ever allowed Simon to see before. "How dare you come here to accuse me of hurting Jess? What gives you any right to say that to me? Just what the hell do you think you're doing?"

The vehemence of her words shocked Simon. He had never seen her loose her temper, certainly not to his degree. But Simon was reluctant to let go. He couldn't. For Jess's sake. "Jess is my best friend. That alone gives me the right."

"You guys are like one person! Did you know that he said the same thing to me? How can either one of you ever expect to fall in love when no woman could ever begin to compare to your friendship? No wonder Jess hides behind his women! No wonder you're always left alone. This is what's wrong with the two of you. Your friendship is so strong that no woman alive could ever be good enough for either of you. It doesn't matter how perfect or flawed the woman is. She will never be good enough."

Simon's jaw clenched at the fury of her words. How deeply they cut into his skin. He refused to recognize the truth in her statements. He absolutely refused. It supposed to be friends before girls. Watching her eyes flash before him, he got a glimpse of what must have captured his best friend. There was no doubt that this was the Rory whom Jess saw. Simon could never peel away her polite manners enough to see this raw and emotional Rory. It was Jess who had been able to strip away her carefully constructed pretenses. But Jess had done so with all the precision and delicacy of a bulldozer. He had plowed her down, with no regard for what was left behind. And now that he had removed her façade, Simon could see that Rory didn't know what to do. She didn't belong behind her mask anymore. But she also didn't belong in front of the world, alone.

"Get out." Rory stood and went to open the door.

Simon relented, but when he passed her, he paused. "Don't come near us again if you mean to hurt him. Do you hear me?"

This time, Simon really did scare her. She was afraid, but refused to let it show. "Fuck you Simon."

"No thanks." He shut the door behind him.

---

"Did you sleep with her?"

Jess choked on his forkful of spaghetti. "What?"

"You heard me." Simon reached for the television remote to turn off the CNN news report. "Did you sleep with her?"

Jess clenched. "Yes."

"When?"

"When you were gone for the week."

Simon swallowed, not knowing what to do with the information. He had suspected, of course he did, but he didn't know how to process the absolute fact. "And?"

"And what?"

Simon glared.

Jess glared back.

It was a game of chicken. It was a game that both men played with great skill to their own advantage.

Simon blinked slowly and forfeited.

Jess dropped his gaze as well, spearing his meatball with more force than necessary.

"Was it worth it?" Simon stared at him.

Jess didn't know how to respond. Was it worth it? He wanted to say no. Nothing was worth the loss of Simon's complete and faithful trust. But he couldn't. "Yes."

Simon tensed and suddenly swung his fist. Straight into Jess's jaw. Almost toppling in his chair, Jess fought to control the instinct to raise his hands in protection. He would take whatever Simon gave him.

Jess clutched his jaw and calmly stared up at his friend. "Feel better?"

Simon's chest heaved, but his breathing returned back to normal. "Yes."

"Good."

Simon sat back down. "Why her?"

"Why not?" Jess's walls were up. This was how he protected his heart. He refused questions that were too close to home. He was sarcastic, surly, and rude.

"Why her, Jess?" Simon raised his voice. "Was it just because she was my girlfriend?"

"No. Don't give yourself so much credit."

That seemed to soothe Simon. "Then what was it?"

Jess met Simon's gaze with a murderous one of his own. "It just is! I wish it wasn't her! By God, I want to take everything back. But I can't. I just can't."

Simon slumped in his chair with all the grace of a winded horse. "Make me understand, Jess." Make me trust you again.

"She's a different woman."

"How original." Simon rolled his eyes.

Jess sneered. "No. Not like that. She's a different person with you. That's why I knew she was never going to make you happy. Not in the long run, in any case." He rubbed at the bruise that was certainly forming on his jaw. "It's insane how she's different. It's unreal."

It was the Rory he saw when she got mad in her apartment. Simon was right. It was that Rory his best friend saw. It was the Rory that came out for no one but Jess. "You see it when she gets upset."

Jess narrowed his eyes. "Usually, yes. How did you know?"

"I saw it for myself."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I saw her. Today."

"Why?" Jess practically snarled.

"Why the hell do you think?

"I don't know anymore."

Simon struggled to his feet, dumping his half-eaten plate into the sink.

Jess followed. "No doubt you warned her about me."

The blond man whirled around, teeth bared. "I warned her away from you. No matter what you might think, Jess, I'm not a selfish bastard."

"Like me, you mean?"

"You're not one either." Simon watched Jess move around the kitchen, replacing clean dishes back into their rightful place in the glass cupboard. "Jess—"

"—I'm not good enough for her." His hand was clenched around a pristine white bowl.

Simon shrugged it off, knowing it was the only response that wouldn't set his friend off. "Yeah, you're probably right."

---

It was well past any decent hour. At half past three, he had a sinking feeling that this would prove to be a sleepless night. Swinging his legs over the side of his bed, he rubbed at his sore eyes, knowing that they were bloodshot. Walking barefoot, he winced at the feeling of the cold flooring beneath his toes. Slipping quietly into the hallway, he was surprised to find Simon hunched the same position he had first found him upon his return: perched up on top of the granite countertop, looking like a little boy instead of a grown man of thirty-one. As Jess walked by, Simon's eyes flickered to his jaw. Jess smirked. "Admiring your handiwork?"

Even in the dim lighting it was apparent that a distinctive bruise, almost purple, was beginning to form. Simon chuckled. "Of course."

"Who taught you how to throw a punch like that anyways?"

"You. From all those years of watching you."

Jess laughed. "You pay too much attention."

"And you fight dirty." Simon swung his long legs, occasionally bumping the base cabinets.

Jess pretended to be ignorant. "Is there any other way?"

Simon snickered. "For you? No."

"Yeah well," Jess looked suddenly serious. "Don't learn that from me."

For the next quarter hour, both men sipped their relative mugs, not uttering a sound. Jess walked over to the windows that extended almost from floor to ceiling, looking out at the sparse population below. It didn't matter that it was three in the morning the city was always bustling with activity. New York kept it's own time, apart from the rest of the world. Jess loved that about the city. Simon always wondered why the people of New York couldn't learn to slow down, even though he was guilty of maintaining the same breakneck pace of his other fellow city dwellers.

Simon cracked his knuckles and Jess stiffened at the sound. It was a clear signal; Simon was nervous. Jess cleared his throat but didn't look away from the window. "Is there something you want to say to me Cannon?"

"What if I told you it didn't matter to me?"

"What doesn't matter?"

"You. Rory."

Jess chanced a single glance over his shoulder. "I'd say you're a bad liar. No wonder you suck at poker."

"This isn't about her and you know it."

Jess sighed. "I know. It's about you and me. And the fact that you no longer trust me." He uttered the last part, almost afraid to hear Simon confirm the fact.

"If that were true, we'd no longer be roommates."

"Hm." Jess mulled over Simon's last statement. "But it's no longer the same."

"No. Of course not."

"It won't ever be the same again, will it?" Jess faced his friend.

"No, I don't think so."

It felt like there was a block ice in the pit of his stomach. "That's too bad."

"Yes, I suppose it is." Simon stood and walked in the direction of his room. Paused with his hand on the doorknob, he spoke. "If you want to be with her, the damage is already done, so there's nothing to loose in that respect. And if you don't want to be with her, fine."

Despite all the tension, Jess reverted to an old joke. "Is that what Simon says?"

For once, he didn't laugh. "Make your own decisions, Jess. It's about time."

"Been doing that since I was old enough to zip my own pants." He remarked wirily.

"Well, make this decision with your head, not your cock."

Jess rolled his eyes. "If you have something to say to me, I suggest you take the opportunity to say it now, while I'm paying attention."

"Are you paying attention?" He threw the question back at Jess.

"No."

Simon's features turned stone hard. "Don't play around with her. It won't end well."

"Just who are you protecting, Cannon?"

"I don't want you to get hurt. Well, at least not without knowing exactly what you're getting yourself into. I didn't damn well step aside just to see you hurt this girl either."

"Stepping aside? Is that what you call it?"

"Call it whatever you want, but the fact of the matter is, I'm no longer with her."

Jess knew he was being unreasonable, but he didn't care. Not at that moment. "You weren't good together."

"That's not the point."

Jess didn't like to be pitied. He was a proud man. "I'm not taking your leftovers."

"You weren't refusing them when she was in your bed." Simon became crude, knowing it was the only way to make Jess see. Like he said, Jess fought dirty and it was the only way to fight with him.

It stung because it was the truth. Heading back to his room, Jess didn't even flinch as he heard Simon's door slam across the hall.

---

AN: Please review after reading.