-- Disclaimer: No... I don't own anything. --

-- This chapter is mostly Jack thinking with not much actual speech so hang with me... It's a rambler. --

Tell Me How Much You Love Me

Jack arose in the still early morning, somewhere around 7 by the look of the clock on the wall, and got out of bed fully awake. He'd found over the years that sleeping with Ennis helped him so much in the way of getting a good nights sleep, other then the occasional nightmare like the one Ennis had last night. What had that been about anyway? Through the tears and muttered words, he'd gathered that Ennis had dreamed him getting beaten to death somehow but that was all he'd gotten out of him other then sobs before the tears had subsided and the other had gone back to his usual tough self.

He absent-mindedly wandered to the bathroom and stripped off the loose pants he wore for bed before stepping into the shower that he didn't remember starting. Standing there under the hot water felt good, especially on his still sore neck from his fall a few days ago. He rubbed it gently, knowing it was just strained alittle buy hey, it still hurt. After a few minutes of giving himself somewhat of a massage, he began to slowly wash himself down as his mind wandered off to Ennis again. He knew the other loved him... He could tell by how worried he always was about him and in all the ways he touched him everynight... Jack shook his head slightly to erase that for the moment so he could think.

Was it too much to ask for Ennis to show some sort of affection other then when they were behind the locked doors of their ranch? They had friends who accepted it... They'd caught Ennis giving Jack a kiss once while they were at their house and had thought themselves alone. Of course Ennis got all flustered and was ready to high-tail it outta there once he saw them but they had immediatly raised their hands up alittle and told him that it was alright, that they were fine with it and the wife actually thought it was somewhat cute. Her husband had nodded alittle, of course 'cute' wasn't the right word for him but he was fine with it all the same.

So why couldn't Ennis show it around them? It wasn't like he was asking him to do him in front of them... Just... Holding his hand would be nice, maybe even a little kiss at some point... Was that too much? Jack sighed softly to himself and raised his face to the warm spray, closing his eyes against the world for a moment. Maybe he was pushing too hard. He knew Ennis had been raised by his father before he and his wife had died and he knew the horrible things Ennis had seen due to his father's intense dislike of gays but still... That was all in the past now and there weren't any people like that up at the ranch or at their friends house.

"Oh well..." He whispered softly to himself as he rinsed off and turned the now cold water off. Pushing the dark green curtain aside he reached for his towel and wrapped it around his waist, tossing his head alittle to shake the excess water out of his dark hair. Ennis, he knew, would probably be waking up soon and he wanted to have breakfast ready for him when that time came. The other was usually the one who got up in the morning and made breakfast, which then drew Jack down so they could go get chores done or just lounge around with each other if they didn't have anything big to do.

Drying himself off quickly, he slipped into some blue jeans and a long sleeved shirt, feeling alittle chilly in the house air after his hot shower, then made his way downstairs and started up the only thing he could cook... Beans. He was feeling in the mood for eggs and bacon too but knew diddly-squat about how to make it so he took some out and put it on the counter, knowing Ennis would take the hint and make it once he came down.

He plopped down in the chair as the beans cooked on the stove and almost immediatly fell back into his thoughts, his blue eyes staring dazedly at the growing sunlight outside. Their friends had invited them over for dinner that night as it was and Jack was somewhat hoping that maybe Ennis would think about what they'd talked about last night and show him some sort of affection while they were there. He wasn't getting his hopes up but... It would be nice. Maybe, he thought, he could just take the initiative and kiss Ennis randomly during the visit? No... That would most likely make his mate mad, something he really didn't want to do. But if he didn't do something, he doubted Ennis would... Not around others... He sighed softly again and opened his eyes as he heard heavy footsteps coming down the stairs.

"Hey cowboy, I'm in here..." He called when he heard the footsteps hit the bottom and turned his head alittle to face his lover.

"Did'ya have a nice sleep af'er tha' nigh'mare Ennis?" He asked and Ennis nodded alittle, glancing at the eggs and bacon on the counter.

"Ya want me ta make these up for ya?" He muttered and Jack stood up to go check on the beans.

"If ya don' mind. Figured we'd both be wantin' somethin' other then beans."

Ennis nodded again and got out a skillet, his hands quickly setting to work at getting breakfast cooked up. He knew they had accepted the invite to go to to their friends for dinner a couple days ago... Well, rather Jack mostly had accepted it and told Ennis about it the next day but... Hell, they were good friends of theirs and he did enjoy going over there but on the other hand, it also meant he and Jack couldn't comfortably be together the way they were when they were alone.

Course Jack didn't see it that way. He had told Ennis again and again that their friends were fine with it... That it wouldn't bother them for the two of them to share a simple kiss while they were there but he just... Couldn't... It was too strange for him still... Even after all this time. He had never thought of himself that way before meeting Jack.. Hell, he'd been terrified of the feeling when he felt himself attracted to Jack the first time but he'd gotten over that and now they were together; They had been for a couple years now. And still it was so hard to show any affection towards his mate whenever they weren't home. Even when they were outside on their own property he kept the show down to a minimum. He knew it hurt Jack, though the other usually didn't say anything, but it almost seemed like something inside him was pulling him back in harder then Jack was trying to pull him out. He sighed through his nose quietly as he finished up the eggs and bacon, causing Jack to turn his face and look at him curiously.

"Ya'll right cowboy? Ya seem distracted..."

"Jus' thinkin' is all..." He muttered as he spooned the food onto their plates and set them on the table before taking his place and watching Jack take his.

"S'it bout tanight? We c'n call'n cancel if ya want..."

Ennis shook his head and moved his food around to cool it alittle. "Nah, don' worry bout it. I know ya wanna go and I do too i's jus'... I dunno. Jus' me I'm guessin'."

"A'right... If'n you're sure..."

"I'm sure..." Ennis said, finality in his voice as he started eating his food and Jack started in on his. Afterwards the dishes were placed in the sink to be done later and Ennis stretched as he stared out at the backyard.

"Gonna go fix up some o'the fence round the property tha' was blown down, wanna come help me?" He asked and Jack nodded alittle.

"Sure cowboy, lemme git my hat an' I'll be out there in a jiffy." He said and went off up to their room where his hat was. Ennis grabbed his hat from where it sat on the porch and went off towards the barn for his tools to mend up the rest of the fence. He was joined shortly by Jack who came running down the grass towards him and took some tools from him right away as he stared down at the fence.

"Looks like a tornado passed through this here part o'the yard, don't it?" He asked, motioning towards the destroyed fence that had been blown over and damaged by the surrounding trees and bushes.

"Sure does... Gotta git it fixed up 'fore coyotes and such start gettin' in here." With that, the two started working on mending the shattered fence, Jack checking his watch every so often to make sure they had time to get cleaned up so they could leave to be to their friends by 5. Around 4, after working for about 8 hours on the fence that surrounded their whole property, Jack stood up and wiped his brow slowly.

"We better go git cleaned up cowboy... We gotta be there in an hour."

Ennis responded by standing up as well and looking up and down the fence for a moment before nodding his head. "A'right, I guess tha'll hold fer now. Least it'll keep out any scavengers."

Jack nodded his approval before reaching out and taking Ennis hand, which tensed for a moment then relaxed slowly as it's owner looked around and saw that no one was around.

"Le's go then. Lord knows we both need a good scrubbin' 'fore we go down there..." He said and Ennis laughed softly before the two of them walked back up to the ranch, the latter with a feeling in his stomach that it somehow was going to be a very long night.

-- Okay I know this chapter is weird but I thought I should put some of their thoughts in here since the rest of it was just action, or the lack hereof sometimes. Anyway, please review and tell me what you think, as always. --