AUTHOR: trista groulx (the dustytiger)
DISCLAIMER: kim, jimmy, bobby, carlos, lieu et al don't belong to me, they belong to NBC, their creator and the actors and actresses who portray them
RATING: R for sexual situations (not really anything really "r" about this one)
SUMMARY: She might have the ring but what good is when you're in a fight?
AUTHORS NOTES: conflict resoulution time, i'm not so good with this, i do prefer fluff...all right this is the end ties up loose ends it's getting a tad blah, so we'll leave it on a "happily ever after" note
The shift was over, and Bobby had hardly talked to her since he had put the ring on her finger. Even though it had been a very slow second half of the day and they didn't have much to do. When they were in the bus they didn't say more then was necessary. She was pretty sure it had to do with Jimmy. She had taken a little longer to get ready to leave. She went out to meet him at his car. He was already sitting inside waiting for her. She slid in, and he turned the key, and pulled out.
"Joey's staying at Jimmy's tonight," she explained.
"All right," Bobby said.
"So are we going to talk or are we going to be five year olds giving each other the silent treatment?"
He shrugged. "Look Kim, I don't know what I want to say."
It didn't take long from them to get to the apartment. He followed her up, and into her apartment. He went to sit in the living room, while she made a pot of coffee. She didn't wait for it to finish before she went back into the living room. She sat down next to him, but didn't want to cuddle up to him.
"Bobby, please, talk to me," she begged.
"What's there to talk about?" he spat. "You still have feelings for Jimmy."
"Because I followed him upstairs to talk to him?"
"If you do, just tell me."
"Bobby, we've been through this before."
He shook his head. "And you still go back to him!"
"He's still my past, I can't help that!"
"Why do you just keep going back?"
"I'm not! I haven't been with him!"
"Physically, but sometimes Kim, when you look at him, you-"
She stood up, and began to pace. "No! I want to be with you!"
"You have a restraining order against him!"
"I know that!"
"But you've been alone here with him!"
"Joey was sick!"
"You're supposed to try and stay away from him at work, and today you followed him upstairs!"
"I needed to talk to him!"
"About?"
"How this was going to effect Joey!"
"You're full of it!"
She stopped pacing. "We talked about other things too. I shouldn't have kept it from him. He was actually shocked we were together."
"Bullshit!"
"What?"
"He thought he knew for weeks! So he had his suspicion confirmed, it's not like our being together came from nowhere! You just keep letting yourself be sucked in by him, and I'm tired of having to see it."
"I'm sorry that I'm stupid then!"
He got up and wrapped his arms around her. "You're not stupid." He began to caress her cheek.
She pulled away from him. "No, we're not doing this again, we're working through this entire thing."
"I'm sorry."
"You don't get it do you? Jimmy's my past, Bobby, he is. But I still care about him, and I can't just stop. I can't watch him be hurt, I can stop loving him, and I can stop being with him. But I can't stop caring about him when he's right in front of me. I can't just pretend he's not getting hurt, especially when I'm the one hurting him."
"I believe it when you say you don't love him."
"I'd stop caring if I could." She began to cry.
"No, I don't want you to that. The way you care about everyone is something I love about you." He took her in his arms, and he kissed her forehead.
She smiled at him. "I know that I shouldn't still care about Jimmy, but I can't just stop. We've been through so much, I can't just make that all go away."
"I know."
"I can try."
"No, that's who you are. I don't want to change you."
She kissed him lightly. "Do you really understand?"
"I know that it's just a part of you. You see someone hurting and you want to comfort them, no matter who they are. I see it every day when I work with you. What draws you to Jimmy is was drives you in your job."
"Probably."
"I've seen you, especially with other mothers. You are so good at making the person feel like it's going to be all right. Somewhere amid all the chaos that's going on around them, you're there. Just telling them it's going to be fine, and staying calm, and that helps them."
"I can't just stand there if I'm doing nothing, while their world is falling apart around them."
"I know that. You don't like to see people hurting. You know it's a part of life, but you always seem to want to help everyone else deal with their pain."
She nodded. "That's all it is."
He kissed her forehead again. "That's what you want from someone isn't it?"
"What?"
"You want someone to be there for you when everything's falling apart around you. You have a need to receive what you usually give."
She nodded. "You do that, most of the time, Bobby."
"Does Jimmy?"
"Sometimes."
"I'll try to keep doing it."
She was crying again. "I know it's selfish to ask for it back, but I need it. Usually you're really good at it, but sometimes it's not enough. That's why I care about Jimmy, when it counts he is there. I'm sorry, I'd stop if I could."
"No, I trust you. I know that you love me, and would never cheat on me, because you know how much that hurts." He kissed her lightly. "But I don't trust Jimmy."
"Trust that I have him at a safe distance, and have something over his head to make sure he continues to behave."
"All right."
She kissed him lightly on the lips. "So is this resolved, no more acting strange because I still talk to Jimmy?"
"Yes, it's resolved, I'll try not to react. It's just hard."
"I know it is. And I'll try to have you stay close when I'm with him from now on, as extra security."
"Thank you, I'd like that."
She hugged him, and they went to sit on the couch. She caressed his cheek lightly, and kissed him. It was a long, but gentle kiss. She left her hand on his cheek, and his hand was stroking her hair lovingly. She pulled away, and laid her head on his chest after a long moment.
"This is beautiful," she whispered, holding out her left hand.
"I thought it would suit you," he replied, his fingers still playing with her long hair.
"So you had it made?"
"Yeah, the day after you said you loved me."
She smiled. "Really?"
"Yeah, I know I was jumping the gun, but I knew I had to have it on order because I wanted that exact ring, I didn't want to settle for second best sometime down the road."
"Why this?"
"I don't know, it just seemed right. I knew I wanted the heart shaped diamond. The jeweler explained that sometimes it looks nice having smaller diamonds set in the band. I thought about it, and realized that the small ones around would probably make the heart shaped one stand out more."
"You were right. What made you put it on me while I was sleeping?"
"I saw you laying there, looking all peaceful, and I just couldn't seem find the right time to give you the ring. I wanted to do something really unique, since I had already asked you, and I knew the answer. I thought you'd wake up in the middle and ask me what I was doing, and then I'd say something romantic, and it would be a nice story to tell. But you didn't, I couldn't take the ring off once it was on, so I just left it."
"I was really surprised when I woke up with it there."
"I know. I never thought you'd kiss me like that in front of everyone."
She smiled. "I'm not going to make a habit of it though."
"That's fine. As long as I get to kiss you anyway I like when we're alone."
"Of course."
He leaned down and kissed her teasingly lightly. His lips not even touching hers, his tongue just tracing her lips. Her breath caught, and for a long moment she could not think of anything else but his touch. He moved away, and wrapped his arms around her.
"Bobby," she purred with delight.
He kissed her again, this time a proper kiss, but still a very light one. She sighed with delight, she really liked his kisses, they were some of the best she had ever received. They just kissed for a very long time, and that night she was not complaining. She just wanted to have him close.
"This is nice," she whispered, pulling away.
"It is," he agreed.
"I love you."
"I love you, too."
She wrapped her arm around him, and laid her head above his heart. She just listened as it beat. It was nice to just relax with him, and listen to his heart. It was such a change of pace from a usual day. Before she even realized it she had dozed off.
The next thing she remembered was being carried to her room. She woke up, and smiled at him. He smiled back at her. She then put her arms around his neck, and kissed him lightly.
He put her down on the bed, carefully, without breaking the embrace. She pulled away to let him get on the bed with her. Instead of lying down next to him, he removed his shirt, pants, and socks. He then started to undress her, starting with her socks. She had to help him a little bit.
"What pyjammas do you want to wear?" he asked.
She pointed at his discarded t-shirt on the floor. "That."
He smiled at her, and handed her the t-shirt. He had started keeping a few changed of clothes there. She put the shirt on, and then unhooked her bra. Then slipped off the sleeves, while still wearing her shirt. She then pulled the bra out, and threw it on the floor with the rest of her clothes.
"Is it bad that I found that extremely sexy?" he asked.
"No," she replied, smiling. "But you'll get used to me doing it soon enough."
"Since when do you wear bras?"
"What?"
"Usually you just wear those tank tops that you don't need a bra for."
She shrugged. "I need to laundry?"
He kissed her. "I guess I still have to learn your secrets."
"I guess so."
He laid down next to her. "Is there any reason you're not pawing at me tonight?"
"Just that time of the month."
"All right, good."
She kissed him. Then the both curled up together and fell asleep. Both glad that their argument had finally been settled. Both even happier that she finally had the ring on her finger where it belonged.
the end
end notes: loose ends now tied, kim and bobby are not fighting, she's got the ring, she's over jimmy, and she's not pregnant.. what more do you want? i know 24 parts ug, but it's all i've got, unless you want another strong "r" chappie... tell me if you're intrested, else this is the end, so thank you a thousand times to all those who have had kind words to say, or have even just read it the whole way thru, i loved writing it, but it's just going to stale and too blah to keep going, big thanks to nina for the support, and all those who stuck by during my writers block, i really appriciate it hugz and kissez all trista aka dustytiger