Waiting
The days seemed to be getting longer. Lately she was heading into the office at the break of dawn and wasn't getting out until late. Depending on the case, late could be anywhere from causing dinner to be late to finding half of it scraped in the garbage and her husband already asleep. She had promised him that this job wouldn't come between them and the family they wanted, but the deeper Liz sank, the more she found that it was doing just that. Hell, it had caused her to question her husband and to think he was some kind of monster. The only man that had ever made her feel safe. She hated it.
Liz fumbled with the keys with only the dim porch light to help. Exhaustion made her fingers clumsy. All she wanted was to get in, take a shower, and climb into bed with Tom. The kids in his class were in the middle of a big book report project, so he was probably in bed already. He would have to be at the school early and that usually meant an early evening.
Hudson wasn't immediately at the door to greet her, but he wondered in from the living room, yawning widely and he sat down in front of her, tail thumping expectantly. Liz smirked and reached down to scratch him between his scruffy ears. "You need a light on, buddy?" she teased quietly, seeing the lamp had been left on in the room the had come from.
The dog trotted back into the living room and Liz followed, stopping at the entrance and she couldn't help the small smile that tilted her lips. Tom was stretched out on the couch, one long leg bent at the knee and falling off, the other propped on the couch with one sock covered foot on the armrest. He was resting at an angle that would leave him with a crick in his neck if he slept that way all night, his glasses half slipped down his nose, and a book on his chest like he had fallen asleep reading. Liz circled around the sofa to stand behind him, the smile never leaving her lips as she bent over and pressed a kiss to his forehead. Blue eyes slipped sluggishly open and blinked up at her. "Hey, babe," he greeted tiredly.
"Hey, babe," she answered. "Good book?"
He smiled, picking it up and setting it on the coffee table. Liz spotted The Count of Monte Cristo on the front and he sat up slowly. "Every time," he answered as he sat up, wincing and cracking his neck. "What time is it? I was trying to wait up for you."
"Just after eleven. You ate, right?"
He nodded. "Yeah. I left the leftovers in the fridge for you. You want me to hear them up?"
Liz shook her head, moving around the armrest of the couch to sit next to him. Suddenly she just wanted to be close.
"You okay?" he asked as he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close so that she was leaned up against him.
"Just tired," Liz murmured. "I haven't seen much of you this week. I miss you."
She could almost feel him smile as he shifted and pressed a kiss against her dark hair. "Missed you too, but you're home and it's almost the weekend. One more day." He paused briefly. "Unless you're working this weekend."
"Unless we wrap this case up tomorrow," she answered reluctantly. "Maybe we will."
"Wish you would," he teased, though there was a little sadness under it. This was weighing on him. She knew that he bit his tongue most of the time, but he hadn't signed up for this. When they had gotten married she had had a demanding job, but nothing like this.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"Not your fault."
"Still... You know I don't want to be away from you, right? If I could, I'd take a whole week off. We could just lay around and watch movies and -" she looked up at him, her fingers lacing through his and her gaze a little mischievous- "other things."
A soft laugh left him and he closed his hand, holding onto hers. "Other things? I don't think I know what you're referring to, Mrs Keen."
Liz rolled her eyes and reached up, pulling him down at a little bit of an awkward angle and he met her halfway in a kiss. She turned in his arms, the kiss not breaking, and she found herself in his lap and facing him by the time they broke, both breathless. "I think you've got a pretty good idea, Mr Keen," she teased, pressing a much quicker kiss to his lips.
"Hmm?" he managed, blinking slowly, still looking to be a little lost in the first kiss. There was something about that expression - the one that he wore that looked like his entire world revolved around her - that warmed her. He loved her so deeply and she wondered how she could have ever questioned that. That look couldn't be faked, no matter what.
"I love you," she whispered, reaching to pluck his glasses from his nose. Her hand lingered on the side of his face and she leaned in until their foreheads touched. "You know that right?"
"I love you too," he breathed, closing his eyes. "We're going to get through this, Lizzy. I promise."
"You're not... I don't know, thinking about leaving or anything are you?"
Her husband looked genuinely startled. "Nothing could make me," he swore, reaching up and tangling his fingers in her hair. "I love you more than anything, Liz. Anything. Nothing can change that."
The smile pulled her lips again and she leaned into another kiss. Her job was relentless and it pulled at her sanity sometimes, but as long as she had Tom to come home to, she thought she could make it. They could make it, because she certainly didn't want to face this without the man she loved.
Notes: The image of Liz finding Tom sleeping on the couch with a book on his chest and leaning over to kiss him on the forehead sticks with me. I just really love the mental image, so this little piece was born. I've been working on several prompts that were sent in, including one that takes place between when Jacob passes out after Liz shoots him and her getting him into the car (that one's finished and was actually going to be the one that went up today, but then I couldn't resist this little ball of fluff here), and I've started one that was also sent in as a prompt asking about why Liz was making so much noise when Jacob found her on his boat. I'm still bouncing around a little on a prompt about Tom and Liz and the payphone from their early days, but that one's on my radar as well. Anyone else want to see anything from this little series?