A/N: Hi guys, I'm all on the tablet so there's no proper formatting til next week. Hope everyone had a great New Year's!
Thanks for reading the Body Count Epilogue and I hope you got closure and some laughs out of it too.
As always, enjoy x
Saturday 7th November, 8.59am, Joss' apartment
If there was one thing Joss loved about John it was how he treated her son as an important part of her life, not an extension or an accessory. Where Cal was awkward around Taylor but very nice, John was kind and genuinely knew him. And even though she was shut out from their guy talk and incomplete sentences, that was alright with her.
"He hesitates, but that's normal for his age. I can't even remember the first time I touched a gun let alone shot one."
"I'm glad you were there for him."
"Anytime. I'll do almost anything you'll ask me, but I don't know why you didn't ask Paul."
"It's complicated." She changed topic because she'd never told anyone outside family or counselling about his PTSD. "Since when were you a guru when it came to the ladies?" She asked, already feeling full from a scrambled egg sandwich.
"I'm a master at making mistakes with the ladies, there's a difference."
"It looks like you're doing pretty good from here, besides scaring me half to death. You should call Finch; he's been a mess since Bear stayed in the hospital overnight."
He realised how far out of the loop he was. "What happened?"
"One of those clockers shot him, but he's gonna be fine and they're in lockup." He knew she knew it would take iron bars to stop him from beating that clocker to a pulp. "On second thought, I'll call Finch. You look like you could use some R&R."
He could use some Joss. He knew she hadn't showered by the smell of her skin and he liked that. Taylor and his gym bag were gone by the time she led him upstairs, and the second step squeaked. Her room was different, less grey, and there was a new blue and lime green bedspread like she was trying to recreate a beach in the middle of a New York winter. Her closet had some burnt orange and purple in it and of course, royal blue. The wall at the back of the closet had a giant world map with pins on it, of where she'd been and where she'd like to go. "Antigua?" He asked.
"Yeah, a friend said I'd love it. Where'd you wanna go?"
"Somewhere I've never been." He ran his fingers under her chin. "Wherever you're going."
In her life Joss had had 5 lovers; 2 great loves, 1 could've been love and 2 never gonna be loves; Paul, obviously, because he was her first and they did the love, marriage and baby carriage thing 'til it all went pear-shaped, and John because he was John were in the former. Cal was lying peacefully in the ground and sadly for him, she did more for him after his passing than she did when they were together. Ricky and Devon were just guys in uniform she appointed as mechanics; they occupied her time when she was resolutely single and in need of a tune-up. But John was the greatest lover of them all because he matched her, they could be strong for each other, and she was finally understood. And the package was good too, the total package. He didn't just serve her between her thighs and leave her heart empty; the bed, or the car for that matter, was warmer with him in it because he was present. He gave his all, all he had to give her, and she was grateful for that.
Sex too good made John rethink living like a hermit. Whether it was the thing she did with the berries that tickled or that he was propped up on his forearms while she did all the work for once, and her hair flicked back onto his chest as she showed what squats and lunges could do. He wasn't going anywhere, not with the view of the black bird on her back on full display. Joss had converted him from a legs man to an ass man and there was no going back. He wasn't going anywhere if she kept on going.
There was a twitch in his leg when they clumsily spooned, catching a breath. "You never told me your favourite position, John."
"A lot." He replied, nibbling on her ear.
"That's not a position."
"I don't like to limit myself, so my favourite position is whatever I like at the time. Whatever you do when you let loose."
"Are you saying I'm uptight?"
He knew she was sensitive when it came to feedback in the sheets, and wished he knew how to speak his mind without making her feel she was doing something wrong. "I'm saying the gag reflex thing is all mental. But the thing with the berries was great, that grapefruit thing is so overrated." She would usually be embarrassed but considering what she just did with fruit, today was not the day for pride. "Now you tell me."
"I can show you better than I can tell you but it needs water for buoyancy."
"Like a bathtub?"
"More room, a Jacuzzi's good. Anyway, maybe I'll muster up the Dutch courage to do it one day."
He kissed her forehead and hoped. "You gonna tell me about the gun thing? I'm only asking 'cause you seemed on edge about it and I don't like that. I get that you're cagey about your marriage and things that happened in your past, but I deserve to know especially if Taylor wants to come back to the range."
She tried to relax but her heart was racing. "Paul had a lot of problems when he came home. And when he wasn't bottling up his issues, he was lashing out at me. He used to do different things, strange things, like loading and unloading a gun at the table, or keeping watch 'til he fell asleep on the floor. I couldn't understand how damaged he was, I just wanted him to snap out of it and be the man we needed him to be. So when Taylor asked, I was worried because I don't want him to be the type of man who shoots a gun to let off steam or carries one out of fear."
"Why didn't you tell me before?"
"'Cause you and Paul were doing that chest-beating thing and I didn't want to add fuel to the fire. Besides, he's someone else's problem now and this is about my son. It's crazy, when I was standing at that door I realised he looks up to you. And not just in a badass MMA kinda way, but as a man, and that means a lot to me."
"He's still an asshole, Joss, and I don't like the way he treats you at all. I don't think you should carry his dead0 weight but that's your choice to make. And I think he's lucky to have a son like that considering his extreme asshole tendencies. But I'm here for you and Taylor and I can bite my tongue to keep the peace."
"You promise?"
"I never said I wouldn't slam the door in his face again 'cause he deserves it. And he better not show up here unannounced because you're my woman, all mine." He flipped her from her side to her stomach and pulled her legs around his waist.
"I'm your woman…all yours…"
