Chapter 16 : Red-handed

Later this night, the entrance door opened suddenly. Chris and Jim were deeply asleep on the coach, his head over hers. Her arm over his leg. His hand touching hers. At this point, nothing could have woken up. They were both so tired. Months of exhaustion to catch up. Months of nervous fatigue to let go. Months of tension and untold things.

Luca looked at them. He smiled and went to his bedroom. He had been able to come home a day earlier. He wanted to surprise Street who – he thought - was alone at home recovering. After all, he was not as alone as he believed. Lucky for him, Chris was there. As she had always been there from the day he joined SWAT. He had always suspected special vibes between these two. So after all, finding them, like this, was a natural move through the course of time.

In the morning, he would talk to Jim. To make things clear. To know his real attention. He could become very protective when it came to Chris. She was like his little sister. Someone he needed to protect from everything or everyone bad. Of course, he knew Jim was a good guy. But fraternizing with one of your teammates was something else. When you started to go this way, there was no turning back. And he wanted to be sure Jim was aware of this.

He entered his room to put his bag there. He will empty it later. There was no hurry. He went to the bathroom to freshen up. He needed to after the flight he just had. He walked across the living room to go back to his bedroom and looked once again at them before going to sleep. He let out a sigh. They were cute. Almost touching but too shy to do it. And yet they breathed at the same rhythm. Looking at them could even make him believe in true love again. But anyway, he will talk with Jim in the morning. Just to be sure. Just to explain to him that what was happening will have big consequences over both of their futures.

[…]

Chris woke up early. The sun was shining right in her face. As pleasant as it was during the day, it was not the same in the morning. She stretched smoothly and opened her eyes. At this precise moment, she realized she had slept all night, here at Jim's ... Even worse, her head was lying on his chest. Her hand was literally on his leg. How could she have let this happen? She moved quickly to interrupt this feeling she felt in her whole body, under her fingers. A feeling she liked too much to her taste. She hurried to untie her body from his.

Jim jumped as soon as she moved. He opened his eyes while she was standing right on her feet. He smiled looking at her. He had not dreamed after all. "Good morning."

Chris was embarrassed. All she wanted right now was to escape somewhere far away, to hide in a pit and get out only in a few years. Just to be sure the hurricane had passed. She could feel her cheeks blushing and she hated herself even a little more right now.

"Hey." Was the only thing she could articulate. She remained frozen. Nothing came out of her mouth. She turned and got her stuff.

"You want a cup of coffee or something? Better to start the day with something in the stomach."

"It's Ok, I'm not hungry… And I'm gonna be late anyway…"

"Chris, it's 6 and shift starts in 2 hours and you're only 15 minutes away from SWAT headquarters."

She lowered her head, not knowing what to answer. He was right. She was not late. She was hungry and her stomach was betraying her, making noise.

"I can prepare you some eggs and pancakes and make coffee. Come on… It was our last evening together and we felt asleep instead of enjoying the moment. So we could enjoy this morning before going back to our old routine…

She put her jacket and backpack on the sofa. "I may be hungry…"

"You're kidding, your stomach is crying for help right now."

She laughed. He was good at relaxing her. "So you know how to cook?"

"Don't underestimate me!" He smiled at her. His dimples were high, just like she liked them.

"Never, Long Beach." And she giggled.

She followed him in the kitchen and helped him to prepare breakfast. It was fun after all and it was a good way to end this period of their life. From tonight, she'll be alone in her apartment, not fighting for the movie she wanted to watch because the remote control would be all hers.

"Hey, kids? What's up?"

Both jumped and turned to discover Luca in pajamas. Eyes wide open. They looked at each other, concerned, surprised, dumbstruck and swallowed hard. At that moment, they knew they had thought about the same thing. Did he see them sleeping in the coach? Did he notice where their hands were? How close they were? Chris grabbed her cup of coffee and drank it to find an excuse not to answer.

"Hey Luca! Thought you were coming back tonight."

"Not happy to see me?"

"Of course, I am! Miss you, bro ! How was San Antonio?"

"Great! Had a lot of fun and worked a little. And you? How are you? And you, Chris? What's up?"

Chris almost choked with her coffee as she heard Luca pronounced her name. She coughed for a short while before being able to answer.

"Wow! Didn't think I was making you so much impression! I'm flattered." Luca joked. He could feel her anxiety.

She smiled at him. "Don't flatter yourself too much! Nothing new and I have to go to work. When do you come back anyway?"

"In three days! Hondo told me to take some days off to relax before diving into SWAT life again!"

"So see you in three days then! Good day, guys. Don't make things I wouldn't do!"

She grabbed her backpack and rushed to the door. Now she could focus on kicking ass and catching bad guys all day. Easier thing that her personal life which was a whole mess since forever… And even more since Jim Street showed up in her life.

[…]

Luca remained silent for a while. It was hard for him but he needed time to watch Street. Jim looked at Chris walking away and waved at her. Luca could feel all the bitterness in his eyes. When he arrived in the kitchen, he knew he had broken something. A kind of magic was surrounding both of them. But he had too. He needed to talk with Street to know what was going on.

"Happy to be home? I mean San Antonio should have been cool but there's nothing like home, right?"

"It was great, really. Hard work and a lot of fun. But my body is all knuckled up. Not so young anymore. At least my body."

Luca laughed while Street kept cleaning the kitchen. He turned, poured a cup of coffee and started to eat his eggs. "Want some coffee?"

"Sure! Thanks, bro. So, you seem to have spent a lot of time with Chris these days."

Street lowered his head in his plate as if he could hide here forever. He'd better talk or Luca will not leave him alone. "Yeah, she often came here to keep an eye on me. Checking if I was fine, if I needed anything. You know with my legs, my ribs… I can't do everything on my own… Not yet, I mean."

He hesitated. Had he spoken too much? He kept eating, hoping Luca did the same and came back to sleep. Except Luca was in perfect fit this morning.

"She slept here last night… I saw you in the sofa when I came back home…"

"Yes… We were both tired and we felt asleep. You know it happens sometimes…"

"And it happened a lot when I was not there?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Not judging, bro. Just asking."

"Two friends can fall asleep next to each other. No need to make a fuss about it." Jim was on the defensive.

"Bro, you're more than friend with Chris. I mean, it's kind of obvious. She means a lot for you."

"Yes, she's my best friend and I do care a lot about her." He put the emphasis on the "best".

"Come on, bro. We both know it's more than that… What you have with Chris is more than a simple friendship. Not that I blame it. Indeed, I'm jealous of this level of connivance. I just want to be sure you know what it means and what it implies in your professional life and your personal one. Because once you have crossed that line, there's no going back…"

Street lowered his head and swallowed hard. "It's not what you think… Nothing had happened between us… Never at least almost never…"

"Almost never?"

"One night, years ago from now, the night of the fundraiser, Chris came home with a bottle of whiskey. She was sad because she had a fight with Annie about Ty and Kira. I was depressed because my mom screwed up again. We talked. We drank. And we kissed. It was not planned. It just happened and neither of us was proud about what happened. It almost cost us our friendship… So I know what you say when you tell there's no turning back…"

Luca remained silent and watched Jim once again. He wanted him to talk. To tell what he was hiding deeply inside. What was worrying him.

"After it happened, all became awkward between us. We didn't talk for months… You know how stubborn Chris can be. How she can shut herself down. How harsh she can be. It took us years to be back to where we were before that kiss. So I do know what it means…"

Luca bent his head. "Not judging you, Street. Just saying, it's better if your mind is clear about this. You'll soon be back at SWAT and it'll be better if things are fixed at that point. For you, for Chris. For whatever you both are."

"We've spent a lot of time together since I was wounded… At the hospital, here… All I know is that I feel relieved and peaceful when she's around…"

Street stopped talking for a while. He needed time to process what he thought. What he felt. It was the first time he told all of this aloud. Until now, he had remained silent about it because he knew it was better to shut up these things. Because after it was public, things were getting too much complicated. But, still, right now he needed to tell the truth because it was eating him up day after day.

"I think I'm in love with Chris… How ever bad it may sound…"

Luca came closer and put his hand over his shoulder. "Does she know?"

"Don't think so. I've never told her anything if it's what you're asking. But I've feelings for her for a long time now… I even invited her on a date the first day we met… But she shut it down directly and told me it had to remain strictly platonic between us. So I became an even better friend instead… But my feelings never left me. Not even when I was with Molly."

"Was?"

Street took a deep breath. "She broke up with me last month. Didn't tell a thing about it to anyone…"

"Damn, Bro. That's hard…"

"But it's better this way. I never deserve her. She is a really nice woman and I've never been in love with her…"

"She knows about you and Chris?"

"Yes.. The reason why she broke up with me…"

"Just do not screw things up with Chris. She's a very good person but she's broken for whatever happened to her in her past despite all she can say."

Jim nodded his head, lost in his thoughts.

"If you really love her, go and get her. Show her you're the person she needs, the person she wants to be with. No one cares about the obstacles when there's happiness at the end…"

"Don't know you can be so wise, Luca."

"It happens but don't get used to it."

This day, Jim thought a lot about Chris, his feelings, his career and he concluded he needed to talk about all of this to Chris, even if it meant losing her forever.