Unlikely Advisor


"Morning." Sean nodded as Thea opened the door to him.

"Did you bring me coffee?" Thea raised a brow, noticing the coffee cup and brown paper bag in his hand. She was teasing. She knew it wasn't for.

"It's for Jude. Coffee is the only thing that helps when she's hungover." Sean said.

"Well she's still asleep. They both are." Thea said, "But… come in, I guess." She shrugged, walking off through the living room back to the kitchen where she had been sitting at the back door having a cigarette.

"So you got them home in one piece?" Sean asked, sitting the coffee on the table.

"Eventually, yeah." Thea nodded, putting her cigarette out and closing the door over, "Am I supposed to feed that snake thing?" She asked him, "Does it get breakfast?" She shook her head with disgust as Sean smiled a little.

"He's a bearded dragon." Sean corrected.

"I don't care." Thea waved her hand.

"I'll feed him." Sean nodded, reaching into the cupboard where he knew their reptile friend's food was.

Thea waited in the kitchen, taking a seat at the table to finish her coffee, making sure to not use any of her sister's art projects as coasters. She'd learned the hard way from when they both still lived at their parent's house, knowing how sacred Jude's projects were to her.

"Where are the girls?" Thea asked as Sean came back into the kitchen after feeding Rex.

"They're still with Jeanie. She's a mom friend of Jude's. I had no one else to cover last night and I knew Jude was out with you and Cassie so I just dropped them with her. They like her a lot." Sean said.

"You don't have to explain yourself to me." Thea said, looking at him over her mug of coffee, taking another sip.

"I know I don't." Sean nodded.

"Sean I know you and I have never been best friends. Maybe we even dislike each other a little." She said, "But… I never thought you'd hurt my sister. That was something I just… I never thought I'd have to worry about. And believe me, I worry a lot about Jude." Thea nodded.

"I wouldn't say we dislike each other." Sean said.

"I know what you think of me." Thea assured him, "Liability. Dragged every down with me my whole life. Loose cannon-"

"That's not what I think of you." Sean shook his head, "I guess maybe… maybe I keep my distance from you because I know how much you care about Jude. And sometimes that can be… a little intimidating." He nodded.

"If you knew how much I cared about her, and you cared about my opinion of you… cheating on her probably wasn't the way forward." She shook her head.

"I know that." Sean said, "I don't think I'm ever gonna get you guys to know how sorry I am. How awful I feel. I know Jude wants to know why… part of me wants to know why too. I just… I lost my mind. I know it's cliché when people say they weren't thinking but… that's the only way I can describe it. If I was thinking, I'd be thinking how much I love my wife and how much she means to me." He shook his head as Thea looked across at him.

"I'm scared what this is going to do to her for the long term." Thea told him, "She was never really a trusting person. Growing up with her as a kid, she always had to be persuaded to do things. She worried all the time." She nodded, "And then she was raped and you were there, and you became the one person she put every ounce of trust in, because you'd stuck by her through probably the worst thing that could ever happen to a person." She nodded as Sean looked down, the shame tense in his bones, "And then thirteen years later you just… cheat on her?" Thea shook her head.

"You say all that like I don't know." Sean sighed, "I know my wife. I know who she is. I know what kind of trust she put in me and I know that she… she might never trust me again." He sighed at the thought, "I know, Thea. Alright?"

"So then what are you gonna do? Cause for six months you've done nothing-"

"Anytime I try talk to her she flips out or she gets upset." Sean said.

"Well then you need to find a better approach." Thea said, "If you're sorry like you say you are, and you want any chance of getting her back then you gotta work for it. If that means you gotta stand there and let her yell at you until she calms down, then so be it."

"You say that like it's easy. Like I wanna stand there in front of my wife watching her cry, knowing that I'm the reason she's hurting so bad-"

"Well that's something you gotta accept. You did hurt her. And she's gonna be upset for a long time." Thea said.

"Not long after she was attacked she would have these panic attacks. Sometimes in her sleep." He said, "She'd get me to sing to her. Said it was the only thing that calmed her down." He nodded, "Every time I think of her waking up in one of those panics, on her own, me not being there… it's like I'm the one who can't breathe." He shook his head, running his hand through his hair.

"She still loves you." Thea nodded. She figured she would offer him that.

"I don't know." Sean shook his head.

"She does." Thea said, "She'll always love you. But I think it's possible to love and hate someone at the same time."

"She loves me because she has to, because I'm the girl's father." Sean said, "I've ruined us."

"No, she loves you for you." Thea nodded, "But she can still hate you for just as long, especially if you don't do anything about it."

"What am I supposed to do?" Sean asked, "She won't let me talk to her-"

"Then don't give her the choice." Thea said, "Jude only confronts situations when she isn't given the choice." She nodded, "When my dad taught us how to swim he just threw us in the deep end right away, especially Jude, because he knew she would talk herself out of it."

"Well I'm not trying to teach her how to swim, I'm trying to get her to forgive me for cheating on her." Sean shook his head.

"Well perspective is a fine thing." Thea nodded, "Can I ask you something?"

"Mhm." Sean nodded.

"The woman you cheated with… do you still see her every day?" Thea asked.

"No, she was covering for a detective from a different precinct. She's gone now." Sean nodded.

"Hope she was worth it." Thea nodded coldly, "I mean she had to be something really special to ruin a thirteen year relationship."

"I can't describe it to you. I can't expect you to believe me when I say that I just wasn't thinking. It didn't matter who it was." Sean shook his head, "I kinda thought I'd get the same treatment from you that I got from your dad."

"I'm not gonna beat you up and curse you out." Thea shook her head, "When I was younger? Sure." She nodded.

"You're too old and wise now?" Sean nodded.

"Forget the old." She warned, "Always wise." She nodded.

"The last time someone hurt Jude badly you… you killed them." Sean nodded as Thea folded her arms and looked across at him, "So yeah I know how much she means to you and how much you hate me for doing this to her."

"I'm glad you know. It'd be a lot worse if you didn't realise just how much you've fucked up." Thea said, "You got work to do."


"You're late." AJ said, sitting at the kitchen table later on that night, finishing off a cookie after having dinner on her own, waiting for her husband to get home from work. Working part-time was great until she realised she didn't have anyone to hang out with on her days off.

"Sorry, babe I had to wait behind for a delivery." Punk said, leaning down and kissing her cheek.

"So you say, every night." AJ rolled her eyes.

"Not every night." Punk disagreed, looking over the stove to see what had been made.

"I don't know why you don't at least do part-time." AJ shook her head, "We could spend more time together." She looked over at him.

"You'd get fed up of me." He teased.

"Phil, I'm being serious." She said in a serious tone as he turned to her, sensing her tone was not welcoming of his teasing.

"What's up?" He shook his head.

"I guess I just feel kinda lonely." AJ shrugged, "I only work three days now, the other four are spent mostly on my own because you insist on doing full-time-"

"I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I wasn't working." Punk told her.

"I know exactly what you can do." She nodded as he looked at her curiously, "Me." She smiled as he chuckled to himself.

"I do you anyway." He shrugged, "I multi-task." He smiled.

"Come on, aren't you tired? I know your back is." AJ nodded.

"Yeah but I'm not incapable. I figured I'd retire when I couldn't do my job anymore. I still can." Punk shrugged.

"I'm not saying retire, I'm just saying… cut down a little." AJ said, "Have a little bit more us time." She shrugged, "You're going to be sixty soon."

"No I'm not." Punk said childishly as she raised a brow.

"You are." AJ smiled, "I'm gonna throw you the biggest party-"

"Stop." Punk nodded, "There will be no parties and there is no turning sixty." He assured her.

"Cutting down on your work schedule doesn't mean you're one foot in the grave, Phil." AJ assured him, "We could have so much more time together. Not just nights on the sofa." She assured him.

"I'm perfectly fine working." Punk shook his head, turning back around to the stove as AJ sighed to herself.

"I'll talk to Dean, I'll get him to convince you to cut down. He always listens to my threats." AJ smirked.

"Leave Dean out of it. You scare him." He shook his head.

"Come on, it's breaking my heart sitting here having dinner on my own some nights." She said, "Do you not want to spend time with me? Is that it?"

"Oh, stop." Punk shook his head, "I like going to work. I like keeping my mind busy and… being active-"

"I can keep your mind busy too." She smiled, "And I can keep you very active." She nodded.

"I'm serious." He nodded, "It's good for me. I like the fresh air and I like my job. I'm not gonna ease up just because you have." He shook his head as AJ looked at him sadly.

"How sweet of you." AJ stood up, her chair scraping back on the floor loudly.

"April." Punk said.

"No. Forget it." AJ shook her head, leaving the kitchen as Punk sighed to himself.