Thanks to: dreamcatcher33, kipperoo453, and LuvAngel448 for the fantastic reviews. You guys are so encouraging.

Title: Middle of the Summer With a Chill
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: See chapters 1 and/or 10

Ennis came home after ten long hours, smell of cattle and looking tear-worn. He peeled off his jacket and knocked off his boots before falling on the bed next to Jack.

"How'd today go?" Jack looked at him curiously as he rolled over.

"Eh…" Ennis' body jerked as he grunted, "Not much news, really."

Jack nodded. "Go 'n' take a shower, friend, I missed yeh."

Ennis grinned as he got off the bed, hearing it squeak. Jack watched him go to the bathroom, and then rubbed his rough face. He was envious that Ennis could just shave or shower whenever he pleased. It took Jack almost twenty minutes to shave because he had to crawl into the bathroom, call Ennis to get his razor, shave a little, stretch to look in the mirror, and do it all over again.

And showers, well they were just out of the question. But every night since he'd arrived, Ennis would fill the tub, put Jack in (legs over the side of course) then climb in behind him. It was the one thing Jack knew he would miss about his injuries.

He scratched an itch on the top of his cast, then sighed. This was no good. His man was home and he was out here all lonely. Eventually, after what seemed like eons, Ennis came out of the bathroom. He had one towel tied low and loose around his hips and was using another to tousle his dirty blond hair. He opened a drawer and pulled on some boxers, then looked at Jack. The man looked like he was waiting for something.

"Sorry, Bud. No bath tonight. 'M too tired."

Jack just nodded where he laid on their, yes THEIR, bed and opened his arms for a hug. Ennis clambered onto the bed, thankful for the soft embrace and put his head on Jack's chest. He listened to his heartbeat, like their second night on Brokeback.

"What's goin' on, Ennis?"

But the bulky man was already snoring.

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Jack wanted to take a bath himself, today, he decided when he woke up in an empty bed. The sheets were gathered around his feet in a pile, and the quilt was pulled up to his chin. It was the middle of the summer, why was it so damn cold?

He rolled out of bed and shuffled over to the window. Pulling the cream curtains back, he examined the dreary weather.

"Ugh. Work's gonna be a pain in the ass fer Ennis today," he spoke to the empty house.

He dropped the curtains and crawled back to the bed. Rarely did he make his bed at home, but he slept alone then, no need to. He tugged the sheets up and inhaled when he caught a whiff of Ennis' scent. Next the quilt. Then he jammed the pillows back on. It looked like a four year old had done it, but he had been on his knees the whole time. He was moderately proud of his accomplishment.

He pulled a pair of folded jeans off a chair (whether they were his or Ennis', he did not know) and made his way into the bathroom to run the water. He was slightly frightened to attempt this on his own, he wasn't sure how he'd get in or out, but he needed to get clean.

He plugged the tub and started to run the water. It had been so long since he'd done this, it felt almost foreign to him. He then grabbed the edged of the tub and tried to pull himself up. He attempts were not rewarded; he collapsed next to the tub, amazed at how much this exhausted him. Suddenly, he felt a spasm of pain in his ribcage.

"Oh fuck," he thought, "I didn' take my pills today!" There was no way he was reaching the medicine cabinet on his knees. He stuck his forearm on the sink and pulled himself up. For a moment he wobbled on two casted feet, but he eventually gained his balance, the pain making him gasp.

He tried to grab at the bottle, but couldn't grasp it, because as one of his supporting hands left the counter, he couldn't stay up. He put out his hands to stop himself from hitting his head as he fell. An immense pain shot through his arm as it his the porcelain tub and sent out a sickening crack.

Jack pulled his arm in and hugged himself. He hoped it wouldn't be too long until Ennis got home.

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"OH MY FUCKING GOD!"

"Wha-?" Jack woke up to Ennis' scared face in his. His arm was bent an odd angle and hurt more than he could believe. Ennis' daughter Junior stared over her father's shoulder at the felled man he was cooing over. Why did Jack have to fall in his underwear? The situation was embarrassing enough as it was.

"What happened to you?" Ennis tugged the rubber stopper out of the drain which had overflowed and gotten a fair amount of water in the bathroom and bedroom. Jack sat up, leaning against the bath, "'M so sorry Ennis. I didn' mean for this to happen."

"Don' be, jus'...What in Hell happened?"

Jack told Ennis everything, from making the bed to falling on the tub, the whole time Ennis shook his head. Junior had disappeared to the other room and she could be heard talking to someone else.

"What're they doin' here so early?" He asked, desperate to change the subject.

"Huh?" Ennis hadn't been expecting that question. "Oh, thur train came in early. They were waitin' outside when I got home. I come in and call yer name, cain't find yeh, anywhere! Then I see the wet bedroom carpet, "Oh, God," I think, "Someone's come to kill Jack!" So I run in here and find yeh. What were you thinkin'?"

"That I needed my God damned pills and somebody had left them where I couldn' reach 'em."

Ennis sighed. "Well, come on, you need to change and then I want you to meet my girls. They shore have grown since yeh last saw 'em!"

A/N: There you go, it's twice as long as the last chapter, as a little encouragment for some more reviews:)