Somebody Catch My Breath Chapter 13, a preacher fanfic

AN: All right, another chapter! Once again there is a lemon taken from this chapter here on , but it can be found on my AO3, same name as here. Enjoy!

Chapter Thirteen

Inside Out-The Chainsmokers feat. Char

Bend your chest open so I can read your heart

I need to get inside, or I'll start a war

Wanna look at the pieces that make you who you are

I wanna build you up and take you apart

Let me see the dark sides as well as the bright

I'm gonna love you inside out

Let me see the dark sides as well as the bright

I'm gonna love you inside out

Elain and Cassidy had just finished cleaning up after breakfast when Tulip came in through the kitchen, carrying a few things for Sunday's church service. Jesse was expecting quite a crowd and Elain was happy for him. He'd been struggling for a while to get more church attendees and now there would be more than the church could house.

"Emily asked me to help with some errands," Tulip explained as she shut the door behind her.

"Really?"

"Why does everyone sound so surprised by that?"

Elain looked to Cassidy then back to Tulip. "I'll be right back Cass."

Cassidy nodded and watched Elain follow Tulip.

Elain helped Tulip put away the stuff she'd picked up, putting it in the storage closet, and once they were done Tulip turned to Elain. "So? Did you do it?"

"Do you mean did I make out with Cassidy?"

"Uh huh," Tulip grinned, already knowing the answer. She hadn't missed the soft look Cassidy gave Elain after she'd turned to follow after Tulip.

"Yup. Sure did," Elain grinned, eyes bright.

"I told you!"

"Shhhh. You've gotta' promise me somethin' Tulip."

Tulip folded her arms across her chest. "Jesse doesn't know yet, does he?"

Elain shook her head. "He also kind of forbid Cassidy from being anything more than friends with me."

"Kind of?"

"That's what Cassidy told me."

"And did you tell Cassidy that-"

Elain shook her head, fearing Cassidy would hear. "No. Not yet."

Tulip put an arm around the younger woman's shoulders. "Look Honeybee, you gotta' tell him."

"I will, I just…" Elain sighed trailing off.

"You're afraid of how he's goin' to react."

Elain nodded.

"Well, it's up to you, but sooner is better than later."

"What's better than later?"

Elain jumped and turned to see her brother. Cassidy behind him.

"The sooner we can get out of here and go find Carlos is what," Tulip said. "And Elain agrees. Right?"

Elain wanted to shove Tulip for putting her in the middle, but she was doing the exact same thing concerning her and Cassidy and damn if Tulip wasn't using it to her advantage. Although Elain had made it clear to Jesse she'd be fine for a few days without him if he decided to go with Tulip. "Sure do."

"We're not talkin' about this now. What are you two really doin?"

"Puttin' away church stuff, remember?" Tulip said as she guided Elain out of the room and pushed past Jesse.

~O.O~

That night after Jesse checked on Elain she crept out of her room and down the aisle of the church, taking the stairs to the attic. When she got to the door it opened before she could knock.

"I was just on my way to your room."

"I thought we could stay in your room for the night," Elain explained, glancing into the attic behind him.

"Well it's not as nice as yours."

"No, but a change of scenery would be nice."

Cassidy held the door open and she stepped inside. A lot of the junk was pushed to the back wall and there was an old mattress covered in blankets pushed against the left wall, just out of range of a window. Cassidy had actually managed to fix the air conditioning a few days ago and he'd found another fan to hook up in the attic to circulate the air.

Cassidy sat down on the mattress and scooted so his back was against the wall before patting the spot next to him. "Now, am I correct in thinking that you came here so we could shag without getting caught?"

Elain's face flushed profusely and Cassidy chuckled. "I'm just messing about love," he said as she sat down next to him.

"What if I did come here for that?"

Cassidy's brow quirked up and Elain bit her lip, suddenly finding the junk against the wall very interesting,

Cassidy gently gripped her chin in his hand and made her look at him. "Are you sure you want to be messing around with a fella like me?"

Elain sighed. "Look, I'm not goin' to give you some cliché crap about how I know deep down you're a man with a heart of gold, because you don't want to hear that and to be honest this is all moving pretty fast, but I…I want to be with you."

Cassidy nodded. "I'm a right mess."

"You-you're lost. You've probably been through so much in your existence, some you've told me, some I probably don't wanna' know. You're just like anyone else, lookin' for somewhere to belong. And…what I'm tryin' to say is I know that you try. You look out for Jesse like you've known him for years and I can see that you're tryin' to be good, in your own way."

"So you want me to be…" Cassidy started, his tone serious.

"I don't want you to be someone you're not, because then you wouldn't be you. And everything you've been through, that's who you are now, the guy, vampire, that's tryin' to be good in the middle of nowhere."

Cassidy regarded her for a moment before pulling her onto his lap so she was straddling him. He kissed her, harder than he had yet and Elain fisted her hands in his shirt, settling onto his lap.

~O.O~

"The other mornin'…when you were talkin' with Jesse…you told him you fell in love. Did you-did you mean me?"

"Of course I did."

She pushed up to look at him. "You love me?"

"I do. I really do," he smiled at her, still blissful from their joining.

"I love you too Cass," she said, kissing him softly.

~O.O~

The next morning Elain was woken by the feeling of fingers on her back. Cassidy's fingers were tracing her tattoo, which was identical to Jesse's and also in the same spot as his. "Did a mean old lady give you this?" he asked her.

"Yeah," Elain answered, but she didn't feel like elaborating as she turned to face him.

"Matching tattoos from a mean old lady, huh? I bet that's quite a campfire story."

"Not one I want to talk about if I can help it."

Cassidy sensed the shift in her mood immediately. Normally he'd try to get someone to open up, he was good at it even, but he didn't want to push Elain, especially after the wonderful night they'd just had together.

Elain didn't want to leave, but Jesse was probably going to be up soon and she didn't want him to go looking for her and find her here. "I'm goin' to take a shower," she told Cassidy, pulling herself up into a sitting position.

Cassidy watched her as she stood and frowned when she swayed on the spot. He quickly sat up and reached out a hand to her hip to steady her. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I-I just got up too fast is all. I'll meet you downstairs."

While she was showering she started to take stock of how she was feeling. She was exhausted, probably because of last night's activities, and she could feel a headache building. When she stepped out of the shower and started toweling off the lightheadedness she'd experienced in front of Cassidy came back again and she reached out to the wall to steady herself, focusing on the wall as she pulled air into her lungs. Once she felt better she finished drying off and pulled on the clean clothes she'd grabbed from her room, picking up the ones she'd worn yesterday off the floor and tossing them into the hamper. She made her way to the kitchen to find Cassidy dressed. He'd spread peanut butter over a slice of toast and was handing it to her when he accidently stuck his hand in the sunlight coming in through the window over the sink, cursing.

"Don't take the Lord's name in vain, Cass," Elain teased, inspecting his hand and marveling at seeing his skin heal up close.

"Oh, you mean like last night? 'Cause I'm pretty sure you were taking the Lord's name in vain when my head was between your legs."

"What the fuck did you just say?"

Elain and Cassidy froze, his hand still in hers as Jesse stormed toward them.

"Look Padre-" Cassidy started, but was cut off when Jesse's fist flew toward his face.

Elain yelled out as her brother shoved her away from him and Cassidy. Before Jesse could land another blow Cassidy had his arms around his friend's waist and was hoisting him into the air, only to slam him down on the kitchen table.

"Now look Jesse-Ah!" Elain watched as Jesse launched himself at Cassidy, knocking him down to the floor, his fist flying into Cassidy's face a second time.

Elain cried out, reaching forward to try and stop her brother when Cassidy got the upper hand, elbowing Jesse in the ribs with enough force to shove Jesse off of him and get away. He had his hands up, ready for Jesse's next move when Elain stepped in–between them.

"Both of you stop right now and act like adults for once!"

"I told you to stay away from my sister!" Jesse said as he stood, pure rage in his eyes as he looked between his supposed friend and his younger sister.

"I'm not just sick you know!" Elain yelled, her chest heaving.

"What are you talkin' about Elain?"

"All you do is coddle me! I'm not a child! And yes, I am sick, but that's not all that I am! I'm a person!"

"I know that!"

"Do you!? I still have to try and live my life and I like Cassidy. I like spendin' time with him. Bein' with him. He makes me happy. So what's the problem?"

"The problem is he's not good enough for my sister!" Jesse spat.

"That's for me to decide! And while we're talkin' about relationships…why don't you…why don't you worry about…about yours." Elain had started coughing and was now trying to speak through them.

"Excuse me?"

"You and Tulip! You have to sort that out one way or-" she coughed some more before bending forward and clutching her head in her hands. "Jesse," she gasped, her eyes filling with tears as he started to realize something was wrong. "I can't…breathe…I can't. My head."

Jesse looked at his sister, the anger in his eyes changing to concern as he saw tears slip down her cheeks. He stepped forward and swept an arm under her legs, lifting her into his arms, and headed for the door.

"What's happening?" Cassidy asked, concern all over his face.

"I'll take care of my sister. I want you gone by the time we get back," Jesse said, pulling the keys to his truck off the key rack by the door.