Chapter 10
As they seemed to every night, Nick and Jennifer lay awake beside each other long after they had crawled into the bed they shared. Their mood was tense, and little was spoken. Jennifer had made her feelings clear earlier as they had gotten ready to turn in for the night. The afternoon spent waiting for him to return had rattled her more than she cared to admit. She was determined that they never be split up again. But to her disappointment, Nick had not seemed so concerned about their teamwork skills. As they laid beside each other the silence was almost deafening.
But still, when Nick's mobile beeped, they leaned their heads in close to read the message together. They were still partners after all. Still Trish and Wesley, even if there was no one at that moment watching them be these actors. They were still undercover, together, and so they read the text message, together. And suddenly their plans for the next day were set.
An hour later they were both still staring at the ceiling, lost in worlds plagued by uncertainty and fear – worlds that wouldn't allow them to fall asleep at night easily.
"I wonder how Matt's going," Jennifer thought aloud as she adjusted her position under the blankets.
Nick's only reply was a muffled grunt, and Jennifer was reminded again of how little Nick thought of their colleague. He just didn't have the same level of respect for Matt that she did and she could only assume it was because he and Matt didn't share the long standing friendship that she and Matt did. But his uncaring attitude annoyed her and she turned to face him in the dark.
"He's not in a good way at the moment Nick," she insisted, trying to get a little bit of compassion out of him.
He shrugged his shoulders at her as he turned onto his side to face her as well. "He knew this was what it would be like when he came back as sergeant." His words were blunt and unsympathetic and grated at Jennifer. "It was his choice Jen."
She frowned, hard. "He's doing his best," she whispered angrily.
Nick's expression remained unchanged and he simply shrugged his shoulders at her again. He wasn't going to agree with her just to make her happy. He stood by his own opinions.
But it wasn't the answer Jen wanted to hear. It irritated her the way he didn't seem willing to make much of an effort to be friends with Matt the way the rest of the team did. Reaching her limit on worrying for the day, she let out a small, exasperated sigh and rolled back over so that she didn't have to look at him anymore, staring instead at the tiny crack of street she could see where the curtains didn't quite meet at the window.
She folded her hands under her pillow and tried to will herself to sleep. She closed her eyes and promised herself she wouldn't open them again until morning. She'd had enough of today.
She knew that he wouldn't be able to hold back for too long though. It only took fifteen minutes of her giving him the cold shoulder for him to shuffle over and offer a wordless apology. He always did it the same way – cuddling close to her from behind and smoothing his warm hands over her limbs. He was the most affectionate person she'd ever known, not afraid to dish out tender touches and passionate kisses whenever he felt the need to show her how he felt about her, and tonight was no different. And besides, they'd always slept closely like this, especially when they were undercover. The closer to each other they were the safer they felt. It was a habit they had formed very quickly.