A/N: Step right up, step right up to Kamikaze Angst Fest '05! Tickets are free if you review afterward!
She awoke the next morning to the sight of Bobby, already dressed in his suit pants but still shirtless, pacing her bedroom with a cell phone to his ear. Her phone, she realized after a glance at the nightstand showed that his was still lying there. Without bothering to lift her head off the pillow, she opened her eyes the rest of the way and said, "Did you sleep like that?"
His pacing came to an abrupt halt as he realized that she was awake. "Uh, no," he managed guardedly, tilting the phone away from his mouth so as not to confuse whoever was on the other end. "I wore sweatpants."
"But no shirt?"
He sighed and rubbed one hand over the stubble on his face. "Yes, but would you please - No! No I'm here," he cut himself off, turning away from her, as the voice on the other end of the phone returned. "Oh, good. Thank you. Uh, she'll probably . . ." A short pause. "Yeah, I guess you know her well enough to expect that already."
"Bobby," Alex hissed from the bed, having had no difficulty figuring out that he was talking about her to whoever was on the other end of the phone. "Who is that?"
He waved a hand over his shoulder, shushing her, as he nodded against the phone. "So we'll say, like, an hour? . . . Ok, great. Thank you to both of you." He closed the phone but didn't turn around.
"Bobby," Alex repeated impatiently. "Who the hell was that?"
"Sean." Reluctant to face her wrath, he kept his back to her as he began to rummage through her closet for one of the shirts he'd hung there.
"Se - Bobby! " she said indignantly, pushing the covers aside and beginning to stand up. "I told you I didn't want you to call him!"
He selected a shirt and pulled it off its hanger. "I'm not taking you in with me today. You're too tired."
"I'm not tired! I'm awake right now, aren't I, and you didn't even have to wake me up!" Irked by his lack of response, she stalked over to where he stood and gave his shoulder a hard push. "Look at me! I'm not tired, damn it."
He finally turned toward her as he began buttoning his shirt. "Don't bother arguing with me about this. You've been pushing yourself way too hard, and last night only made things worse. You need to relax for a day."
"Last . . . I can't believe you!" Glaring at him, she planted a hand in the center of his chest and shoved, backing him up toward the wall. "Is this your revenge for me not wanting to play dissect-the-relationship with you last night?"
He pulled her hand off him as gently as he could and forced it back to her side with one hand while he buttoned his collar with the other. "No! This is not a 'revenge' of any kind. I'm not that petty."
Alex snorted and pushed past him to get to the closet. "I think I'll try to wear one of my own shirts today."
"You're welcome to try," he replied, not taking the bait she was so eagerly dangling in front of him. "If you can get it on without any pain and without any help, then you're ready to. Now, would you please listen to me for a second?"
"About what?" she replied sharply, yanking a blouse off its hanger. "I don't want to hear any more about what I'm not 'allowed' to do."
"I was going to tell you what Sean and I decided," he said mildly. "Do you not want to hear that, either, and just take your chances when he gets here to pick you up?"
"I'm not going with him. I'm going with you." She moved to unbutton her shirt and watched as he spun around to put his back to her so fast that he almost fell. "You're ridiculous, you know that? Or have you forgotten last night already?" she taunted as she pulled on her pants.
"You know I haven't," he said softly. "You're spending the day with Joanna doing . . . whatever it is women do to relax. Getting a manicure or something. Don't tell me you won't enjoy that."
"It's not a matter of what I'll enjoy!" she retorted in a voice that was only a few decibels below yelling. "It's a matter of me wanting to go to work and you having no right to stop me."
He turned back to face her, too impatient now to wait until she was fully dressed to talk to her. "Eames, listen to me."
"Why should I?" She was so infuriated that her hands were shaking as she tried to button the loose blouse and she muttered a curse.
"Let me." He pushed her hands away and efficiently finished the rest of the buttons. "I want you to listen to me so I know you understand what I'm saying. This is not a revenge. It's not me punishing you. It's not even me being too afraid that you'll hurt yourself to let you go to work."
"Then what is it? You being a control freak?"
"No." He crossed the room and sat on the end of the bed, pulling her to stand in front of him. Taking her face in his hands and forcing her to look at him, he went on, "You need a chance to relax, Alex. To just spend a day not trying to prove to everyone how tough you are by working yourself to the point of exhaustion. Besides," he added after a short pause, looking away uncomfortably, "we need to get out of each other's pockets for a while."
She waited silently for a few seconds, giving him a chance to say something to soften the blow of his last sentence, but he didn't seem to have anything to add. "Out of each other's pockets," she finally said in a tightly controlled voice. "You're right, of course. I've been telling you for weeks that you didn't have to force yourself to take care of me. Guess you finally caught up to what I was saying, huh?"
"Alex . . ."
"No, it's ok," she told him, turning away and snatching up a pair of shoes as she headed for the bedroom door. "I understand. When is Sean picking me up?"
"About half an hour. But Alex -"
She ignored him. "I think I'll wait for him outside."
"No you won't! It's below freezing out there!" He grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the apartment door as she reached for the knob.
"Ok, fine. I just thought I'd give you a chance to get all your stuff together without me in your hair." Without waiting to see his reaction to that, she turned and went into the kitchen, leaning forward against the counter as she pretended to contemplate the coffee maker so she could avoid looking up.
He followed her, but stayed in the doorway of the room as he asked quietly, "Are you kicking me out?"
Still looking down at the counter, she shook her head. "No, but from what you've said in the past few minutes, I get the impression that you're kicking yourself out."
"Well, I'm not!" He slammed a hand into the doorframe in frustration. "Damn it, all I said was that we should get out of each other's pockets, not that I should leave you on your own while you're hurt!"
"I'm not that 'hurt' anymore, Bobby. You just watched me dress myself. Last night I did half the washing when we did my hair. I can get by without you if you don't want to be here." The words stung even her, and as she spoke she fought the urge to apologize, to beg him to stay.
"What if I do want to be here?" he challenged, walking farther into the room until he was standing behind her. Putting a hand on her shoulder, he sighed. "I wasn't trying to start a fight, Alex. I just thought you should give yourself a day off - from everything that's been stressing you. Myself included.
She shook her head again but didn't turn around or speak.
"Come on, please. At least look at me?" he coaxed, tugging on her shoulder to try to make her turn around. She resisted the movement and he didn't dare pull any harder than he already had, knowing it would hurt her ribs, so he moved next to her and bent to the side to see her face. "Alex?"
"Why do you have to make things so hard?" she burst out suddenly, surprising them both. "Why can't you just leave it alone and enjoy things?"
"Leave what alone?" he asked, wondering if he'd missed a topic change or if he was just denser than he thought.
"Everything."
He sighed. "Look, I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you're asking me."
Whatever response she would have made was cut off by the sound of a knock on the door.
"Must be Sean," Alex said quickly, backing away from the counter and the man leaning against it. "I'll, uh . . . I'll see you tonight." Not giving him time to think of a response, she grabbed her purse and made for the door.
"Alex!"
Her hand on the doorknob, she turned around to watch him approach. "What?" she asked warily.
In answer, he put his arms around her and pressed a light kiss on her forehead. "Please, try to let yourself unwind today."
With a heavy sigh, she nodded against his shoulder. "I'll try." She turned the knob and pulled the door open, then looked back at him. "Bye, Bobby."
"Bye," he echoed almost soundlessly as he watched the door close behind her.