"I'll go and dish up the Chinese, come down whenever you're ready." Sam closed the door to Jo's room behind her, leaving her new house guest to finish unpacking and freshening up after days in the same clothes. She had just reached the bottom of the stairs when the landline rang.
"Sam Nixon."
"Hi Mum, how's things? Or rather how's Jo?" Abi could resist digging for information no longer, talking to Sarah about the situation she had left at home had reignited the spark of interest.
"Hi Abs, having a good time? Jo's ok. Listen, do you mind if she stays with us for a while?" Sam hurriedly filled Abi in on the pertinent bits of the day, conscious that Jo might come down at any moment.
"Geez Mum, what an absolute loser! I'm glad Jo's got you as a friend, sounds like she can use all the support she can get at the minute and she couldn't get better from anyone else. It's fine by me for her to stay as long as she needs to." Abi was shocked that a woman would treat another so badly but then she knew firsthand that the nicest, most trustworthy people could turn out to be twisted inside.
"Thanks Abi. I've got to go, we're on a Chinese and I'm on dishing up duty – it wouldn't do for the guest to come down and there be no food waiting for her!" Sam hurried to end the conversation as she heard movement from upstairs.
"I love you Mum, you big old softie." Abi smiled into the phone as she heard the fondness with which her mother referred to her friend.
"Hey less of the old, thanks! I love you too. See you tomorrow."
"Someone special?" Jo couldn't help but overhear the last snippet of Sam's conversation, surprised by the tiny nugget of jealousy ignited by her words, wondering who held Sam's heart.
"Abi, so yeah special is the right word but not in that way. I've never felt comfortable opening up my heart to anyone since Hugh stamped on it last time." Sam heard herself admitting more to Jo than she had intended but thought given the trust the brunette had shown in her, it was a fair gamble.
"I can't see myself letting go of my heart again, not after this." Jo helped Sam arrange the cartons of Chinese food on the dining table between the two plates.
"Give it time, it gets easier to imagine – no easier to do, but you do get to the point where you can consider it happening again. Not everyone is like Tessa, there are women out there who would love you, every part of you, for who you are. You're good-looking, intelligent, entertaining…" 'and have gorgeous eyes that I could quite happily drown in', Sam added mentally, chiding herself immediately, 'way too soon to be thinking things like that!'
"Maybe but for the moment, let's drink to being single and the opportunities it presents!" Jo felt her cheeks glow under the weight of Sam's words as the two women seated themselves and prepared to feast on their banquet.
Sam and Jo had spent the evening in companionable quiet watching DVD's and chatting about their lives outside the police force, both inwardly relishing the opportunity to get to know one another on a more personal level. After Jo stifled a fifth yawn in as many minutes, Sam suggested it might be time they both turned in for the night.
"Listen Sam, I really appreciate you letting me stay here. Your support's meant a lot to me." Jo smiled shakily at her new friend, feeling more calm than she imagined she ever could after the previous few days. "Thank you, for everything."
"That's what friends are for. Give me a shout if you need anything. Hope you sleep well, you still have a lot to catch up on from the last few days." Sam pulled Jo into a brief hug before ushering her upstairs.
Sam busied herself washing the glasses they had used and turning off the lights before she too climbed the stairs to get ready for bed. Jo's light was already out by the time she had finished in the bathroom so she turned the light out in the hallway pushing her door to but leaving it slightly ajar in the event that Jo needed her during the night. She thought it best not to analyse why the thought of Jo reaching out to her elated her, despite the empathy she felt towards her situation, fearing that she was not ready to accept the answer, and knowing that even if she did admit her feelings for Jo were more than friendship, there was no hope of pursuing a relationship with the brunette.
Jo lay in the double bed in Sam's spare room, sleep evading her even as her brain went into meltdown from lack of rest. Random thoughts and memories from the five years she had shared with Tessa taunted her every time she closed her eyes, preventing her from relaxing. She rolled onto her side, pulling a pillow to her in an effort to simulate the warmth of another body, always having found sleep in the comfort of someone else's arms, no matter how troubled her mind had been. When this served to be of no help, Jo rose from the bed and threw on a sweatshirt over her T-shirt, pulling her hair back into a high ponytail to keep it out of her face. Creeping towards the stairs, Jo was unable to resist peeking into Sam's room through the slight opening on her way past, a familiar warmth igniting in her core at the sight of Sam sleeping soundly. Continuing on her nocturnal journey, Jo stealthily made her way downstairs, knowing of one thing that would take her mind off her own situation. She had seen Sam earlier in the evening with the case files for their current assignment. Retrieving them and helping herself to a glass of water, Jo settled herself at the kitchen table, closing the door so she wouldn't disturb Sam by having the light on, and prepared herself for the horrors that lay with the flimsy cardboard files.
Sam sensed rather than heard movement from downstairs as her subconscious raised her from the deep sleep she had been enjoying. For a moment, she assumed that it must be Abi, used to her daughter's increasingly restless nights as her pregnancy neared full term. As her conscious mind kicked in, she recalled that Abi wasn't at home but Jo was. Fearing that she had had a bad dream or that some painful memory was preventing her from sleeping, Sam pulled on her cream silk robe, fastening the tie-cord at her waist as she trotted down the stairs. As she approached the kitchen, seeing the light seeping from beneath the door, she heard the tap running followed by the sound of someone sitting on one of the chairs. Satisfied that this wasn't the behaviour of your average burglar, Sam opened the kitchen door, eyebrows scooting towards her hairline at the sight of Jo, hair pulled back from her face, wearing a sweatshirt and pyjama trousers, her bare feet resting on the cold lino floor, hunched over the dossier of information on the latest villain they were tracking.
"Interesting cure for insomnia DC Masters." Sam's tone was mildly admonishing, almost sounding like a mother who had caught her daughter reading under the bed covers.
"Sam, I think I may have something we can chase up on this. Before you chew a chunk out of me, just hear me out, please?" Jo barely paused long enough for Sam to respond before she launched into her theory, "all of these women live alone right? But they haven't done for very long. Up until recently, all of them were sharing their homes with partners or spouses. I was thinking about all the things I'll have to do now that Tessa doesn't live with me. Have we checked whether all these women have changed the names on any of their utility bills recently? I know at least two of mine are in Tessa's name, phone and gas bill. It might be that there's some sort of connection there. I'm pretty sure some companies keep a record of recent changes of bill payers, so that they know when to start the billing periods from. Maybe an employee is using this information somehow, or even feeding it to our guy. It's got to be worth looking into." Jo spoke quickly, hoping to distract Sam from the fact it was nearly three in the morning and she was sitting in Sam's kitchen pouring over a case rather than trying to sleep.
"I asked Phil earlier to see if there was any sort of common ground between the victims so we can run your theory by him later, when we're both on duty. For now, you need to at least try and sleep." Sam took in the shadows growing ever deeper beneath Jo's ordinarily vibrant eyes, her concern increasing ten-fold. "What will it take to get you to sleep?"
"Nothing that I can ask you to do." Jo saw Sam blush and realised how her words had sounded. "I didn't mean that!" Jo felt her own cheeks glow at the unintentional innuendo. "It's just…it's been so long since…since I slept alone, it feels…I can't get my mind to relax without someone beside me. I know that I'll have to, it just might take a while for me to get used to it." Instead of feeling less embarrassed about the true meaning of her original statement, Jo felt more ashamed, like she was admitting how weak she was. "Maybe it would be better for me to stay at home, I don't want to disturb you."
"And you really think that lying awake at home is going to be any better? It's understandable Jo, you've been with Tessa for five years, that's a lot of nights spent in her arms. It's bound to feel somewhat alien to begin with, especially sleeping in a different bed in a strange house. But you're going to make yourself ill if you don't give yourself a chance to rest. Come on, come with me, let's try an experiment." Jo gave Sam a quizzical look but did as she was bid and followed Sam, turning off the kitchen light as she went. In the darkness, Sam reached for Jo's hand to guide her back to the spare room, feeling her heart begin to pick up its pace as she led the woman she harboured feelings for to bed, knowing that she would need to keep a tight reign on her hormones. Turning on the bedside lamp, Sam gestured for Jo to lie down on the bed, averting her eyes as Jo stripped off the sweatshirt she had been wearing downstairs, still sporting a confused expression.
"How do you normally go to sleep? How do you lie?" Sam looked down at Jo lying in the double bed, her expression soft. Jo turned onto her side, one arm stretched along the bottom of the pillow beside her. "Ok I'm going to lie next to you," Sam watched Jo roll onto her back again, the beginnings of vehement protestations on her lips and jumped in with her own insistence that Jo give it a try. "If this is the only way you're going to get any sleep tonight Jo, I don't care if I have to lie on top of you! One way or another, you will rest and whilst I don't really want to have to explain to the DCI in the morning why you have concussion, I am fairly handy with a frying pan when the need arises – and I'm not talking about making omelettes!"
"Sam, I can't…you don't…we…you…I…argh," Jo's scrambled brain tried to decipher a single sentence but failed to find one resulting in a frustrated grunt.
"Just until you fall asleep Jo, then you can have the bed to yourself again. You fell asleep fairly easily earlier on the sofa when I was holding you so why not give it another go, see if I can't have the same effect again? What have you got to lose? I'm not going to tease you about if that's what you're worried about." Sam untied her robe as she coaxed Jo back into her usual sleeping position, slipping the silky gown from her shoulders, seeing Jo rapidly avert her eyes as Sam's nightdress – which halted mid-thigh and was only held up by two shoe-string straps – was revealed. Knowing that she couldn't change her attire without giving Jo the wrong impression, Sam slipped into bed beside her friend, suddenly feeling a little awkward. "Ok, so what now? Do you want me to lie facing you, with my back to you, on my back, how works best for you?" Sam prompted as she lay on her back, feeling the heat emanating from Jo's body but resisting the urge to turn towards it and cling to her.
"Umm… I don't know. Most times Tessa faced away from me, I guess." The admission was spoken with more surprise at the realisation than hurt. Sam squeezed Jo's hand before turning away from her, feeling Jo mould to her curves from behind. The feeling of Jo's body spooned into her, fitting so perfectly along her length, threatened to distract Sam from her primary goal of the moment.
"Just do whatever feels natural Jo." Sam had felt Jo go to place her arm across her waist before withdrawing it again for fear of overstepping the mark. As the arm slid tentatively back into place, Sam gripped Jo's hand in her own, squeezing it supportively as she asked if the brunette was comfortable.
"Yes." Jo's voice was timid as though suspecting she might be subjected to cruel ridicule or rejection at any moment.
"Good. Try to get some sleep then. If it doesn't work, we'll try the frying pan!" Sam grinned into the dark as she heard and felt Jo snigger behind her.