When Love Takes You In

Author's Notes: I'm leaving tomorrow for a little vacation. I'll be back on February sixth. I hope this chapter tides ya'll over until then.

Chapter Ten

The next morning found Ennis alone in bed when he woke up, reaching over and feeling a cold empty mattress beside him. He opened his eyes and was blinded by the morning sunlight leaking in through the window.

"Goddamn sun," he muttered. He wanted to roll over and go back to sleep, but knew Jack wouldn't let him even though it was the only day off they had for another week. So he sat up and almost fell back to the pillow with the nausea that slammed into him.

"Aww fuck…" He glanced at the doorway. It looked so far away to him. He couldn't remember ever being this hung over before, but he couldn't remember drinking so much so fast before either.

With all the effort he could muster, he pushed away the blanket and stumbled out of bed. He grabbed the first pair of jeans he could find and pulled them on. He didn't bother with a shirt before he walked out of the bedroom.

Jack was at the rickety kitchen table, hands around a cup of coffee, staring at the tabletop.

"Mornin'." He said without looking up. Ennis grunted back and sat down across from him. Jack shoved the coffee to him and he sipped slowly, not wanting to upset his stomach. When he could see that Jack wasn't going to talk first, he decided he should say something.

"Sorry."

Jack finally looked up at him with a curious look in his eyes. He studied Ennis for a minute, making the man uncomfortable.

"What?" Ennis asked, squinting over at him, the light of the morning too much for his eyes.

"Alma Junior was here earlier. I told her you weren't feeling well." Jack said. Ennis sighed with relief that Jack had covered for him.

"She told me about the move."

Ennis started to nod and stopped himself with a grimace as his head pounded. He settled for a "Yep".

"So that's what last night was about?" Jack asked, wondering how much Ennis remembered of the other night. Ennis looked down and tapped the coffee cup with his fingers, not really having any words for this conversation.

"Ennis… up till lately, I never got to spend much times with you. A few weeks a year for twenty fuckin' years… so there's still quite a bit of shit I don't know about you."

Ennis looked back up at him, confused.

"Yeah?"

"Like how close you are with Junior. I knew you loved your girls, but I never got the connection you had with Junior until I saw you both together and then your reaction to her leaving." Jack paused as Ennis's eyes went back down to the coffee cup. "You were right last spring too. I'd forgotten what it's like to be working on a ranch… hard work. So I wasn't able to grasp why it was so hard to get you alone for a week or two."

"Damn straight." Ennis nodded, bringing a small smile to Jack's face. He grew serious again and kept talking.

"Do you do this every time something in your life goes to the shitter?"

"Do what?"

"Drink yourself senseless. I'm not talkin' just drinking for fun and shit. That's fine and I'm all for it. But what you been doing Ennis…. It ain't right."

"The hell? I don't do what your sayin', Jack fuckin' Twist." Ennis's voice rose and he cringed as it reverberated in his own head.

"Yes… you do. How many times since I been here have I had to drag your sorry drunken ass in the house? Or even the times you actually drove back here? Frankly, I'm surprised you're still alive and not dead in a ditch somewhere."

Ennis stared at Jack, not sure of what to say. He cleared his throat and leaned forwards.

"So uh… are you sayin' that uh… well, what are ya sayin' exactly?"

"Ya scare me, Ennis."

Ennis was startled and tried to protest, but Jack beat him to speaking.

"Not like that, Ennis. I know you'd never do anything to hurt me, sober or drunk. But I'm scared of you getting yourself killed or even exposing us to everybody like you almost did last night."

"What? What'd I do last night" Ennis was scared to hear the answer.

"When you're that far gone, you become a sappy and sometimes pretty fuckin' horny drunk. Good thing you were almost passed out before you could do more than a little groping." Jack almost started laughing at the look on Ennis's face.

"Yer lyin'."

"No way. I thought sure as shit you'd start humping my leg last night." Jack exaggerated a little, still finding Ennis's expression too priceless. He settled down and got serious again.

"But really, Ennis… what if you had tried to drive last night? What if you died?"

"I never… I never thought much on it. Never thought of my death or if anyone would give a shit about it." Ennis admitted.

"Well, you better git to thinkin'. How do you think I'd feel? How do you think yer girls would feel?" Jack asked.

"Awright… I'm sorry. Now more, aright?"

"Fine. Good."

"

Ennis gulped down the last of his coffee, desperate for a change of topic.

"So what'd that lawyer want with ya?"

"Fuckin' L.D. Newsome…" Jack started with a grin, "… the old bastard was tryin' to bribe me even from his grave. Seems there was a small note in his will… sayin' if I ever left Lureen that I still get the money he was offerin'."

"How much money is that?"

"A whole helluva lot, Ennis."

"What are ya gonna do with it?"

"I had no idea… was thinkin' on it all night and mornin'… but I think I got an idea. Now… Ennis, this is my money and before you say anything, I'll do with it what I please." Jack stated. Ennis opened and shut his mouth a few times before he spoke.

"Jack, I'd never-"

"Hang on, I ain't finished. I decided that I want to move." Jack was having fun messing with Ennis's head, but knew that Ennis would forgive him after he finished.

"What! Aw shit… Jack why do ya- did I- I'm sorry about everythin', just don't…" Ennis stopped and groaned, holding his pounding head.

"I want to move with you… to Wisconsin."

"Wait… what? Jack you can't just-"

"I told you, it's my money and this is what I wanna do with it."

"Yer sure?" Ennis asked.

"There's nothing for me here, except for you. There are farms out in Wisconsin…. Can't be too different from ranching, right? I've sold farm equipment before and I know how to use it all. Well, yeah Ennis… I'm sure."

Hangover forgotten, Ennis reached over the table and captured Jack in an embrace that communicated the thanks that he wasn't capable of expressing through words.

---------

Ennis and Jack decided not to tell Junior about their plans to move with her. Jack came up with the idea to surprise her when they got there. They already had the information they needed from Junior without her knowing. She and Kurt had planned ahead and had a house waiting for them, so they'd already given out their future address to everyone.

Jack quit the job at the ranch so that he could figure out all the plans and arrangements for their move. He did everything over the phone and through the mail. He'd found a little house on an abandoned cranberry marsh. He and Ennis decided they could learn what they needed, fix the place up, and turn it into a profitable place.

Jack was happy about the move, not just because it made Ennis happy, but because it meant they could really start over with a place of their own. And nobody in Wisconsin knew them so they could make up any excuse as to why they both lived together. But mostly he loved the change that had come over Ennis because of the move.

Suddenly, Ennis was smiling all the time and didn't keep so close to the vest as usual. When they were in public Jack could feel Ennis's eyes on him at all times and when he looked over, he would see all the love that Ennis felt for him just in that gaze. When they were at home, Ennis was now, in Jack's own mind, silently nicknamed "Mr. Cuddles". He wanted to touch or hold Jack at every opportunity he could find in the privacy of their home. To Jack, just knowing that something he did is what put Ennis into this mood… well it made him feel so loved that he could bust.

This was one of those times. Jack was flipping through a booklet he'd gotten in the mail so that he could find out what kind of machinery they would need on the cranberry marshes.

He didn't hear Ennis softly approach from behind, but felt his rough arms snake around his shoulders. Jack put the book down on the counter and leaned back, taking in the warmth from Ennis's body.

"Mmm… I sure hope all this lasts." Jack murmured. Ennis nodded in agreement and started swaying, pulling Jack into his rhythm.

"How do you know what to look for and where?" Ennis asked curiously, glancing at a pile of information Jack had collected about cranberry marshes and the Wisconsin area.

"A friend told me who to talk to." Jack smiled. He nuzzled into the soft area between Ennis's shoulder and chest.

"Who?" Ennis wondered, trying to think of who Jack might have kept in contact with from Texas or someone he might have met in Wyoming.

"Remember Nurse Holly?"

Ennis stopped swaying.

"Nurse… you… Nurse Holly?"

End chapter

Well, that's all for now. I'll post the next chapter when I get back from my little vacation in Marshall. I imagine I'll probably be feeling just like Ennis was at the beginning of this chapter. My best friend told me that her goal is to get me so trashed I don't remember anything when I get back home. Uh… yay?