Drew walks out of Scout's nursery and quietly closes the door. He begins to text Sam.
"Sam, sorry, I don't see the doll in Scout's room. I hope it turns up soon, I know that's her favorite. Give my baby girl and extra kiss from me tonight. Talk to you later."
Just as Drew pushed send on the text he heard Jo reach the top of the stairs.
"JJ, hey, I'm glad your back. We need to talk." Drew quietly implored.
"Drew, I'm really beat and I just want to go to bed." Jo sighed exasperated.
Drew took a couple of steps towards her and reached out to grab her hand. Jo quickly tucked her hand behind her back and shot Drew an annoyed look.
"J, come on. We've never not been able to talk things out. I don't think we should start now." Drew lowered his head and darted his eyes around until he made contact with Jo's. He cocked his head lightly to the side to signal for her to follow him. They strolled down the hallway to Drew's room.
"Drew, I don't think this is a good idea, I don't think we should be in your room alone." Jo turned around to go.
"JJ, hey don't go. It'll be fine. Look I'll stay ALL the way over here on this side of the room if you want and you can stay over there and we don't even have to touch. C'mon, what do you say?" Drew walked over to the far side of the room next to the window.
Jo, trying not to show she was amused, pursed her lips back and forth and shifted her weight to try and show annoyance. She was no match for Drew's charm though, because two seconds later she cracked and let out a small giggle.
"Get over here you goof. You don't need to stand over in Siberia, I think we can sit next to each other on the bed."
"Oh good, I'm glad you said that, I didn't really WANT to be in Siberia." Drew smiles and swaggers over toward Jo. He reaches up and helps her off with her coat, placing it on the chair next to the door. He holds out his arm escorting Jo over to his bed where they sit.
They both try to talk at the same time and it makes them snicker at each other, lightening the mood.
"You go first." Drew offers to Jo. He shifts himself back onto the bed a bit further and clasps his hands in his lap. She had a small bit of hair that kept falling down and hitting her in the eye. Drew so badly wanted to reach over and brush it out of the way, but he didn't want to give Jo any reason to leave without talking first. Clasping his hands together was a way for him to keep from touching her.
"Drew, today in your office, that was…" Jo pauses trying to find the words.
"Intense?" Drew chimes in.
"Yes, intense that's a good word for it. And you and I we, we just found each other again and it's been so many years. I mean you have a wife and a baby."
"Ex," Drew interrupts. Jo looks over at him puzzled. "I have an ex-wife and a baby. Sam and I are divorced."
"Okay, so she's your ex-wife, but you still have history with her and you obviously still have 'something,' going on with her." Jo began to raise her voice. She was getting frustrated and upset remembering what she had witnessed at Kelly's earlier and hopped up off the bed, not wanting to sit next to Drew. She started pacing back and forth across from him.
Drew jumped up off the bed, stepped over toward Jo and started to pull her into a hug. Jo jerked her shoulder away from Drew's embrace and stepped back away from him.
"Drew," Jo scolded him and shot him an annoyed look.
"Okay, okay, sorry, you are just so upset, I hate seeing you like this."
"I am upset! I don't like feeling like this either, especially because you are the reason!" Jo exclaimed and plopped down in the chair next to her.
Drew had a perplexed look on his face and couldn't quite figure out what the problem was. Sure, they had almost kissed but, that was both of them, not just him. He couldn't figure out what he had done to make her so upset. Drew walked over and crouched down beside the chair. He nodded his head back and forth trying to get Jo to look at him in the eyes. She refused to look up at him.
"JJ, please, just look at me." Jo slowly raised her head and fixed her soft green eyes to meet Drew's. "Look, I'm sorry that I let it get that far in the office today, I shouldn't have let nostalgia take over like that."
Drew's apology enraged Jo even more.
"That's what you think this is about? Us almost kissing?" Jo sprung up out of the chair and grabbed her coat. "And, us almost kissing, that was just nostalgia for you? Oh, my god, you are SUCH an ass. Good to see some things never change!" Jo grabbed her purse from the bed and turned to leave the room.
Drew stepped in front of her blocking her exit.
"Drew, just get out of the way, please." Jo pleads, exasperated, not looking him in the eye.
"No, I'm not going to let you leave when you are this upset. There is obviously something really bothering you and I am too big of an ass to figure it out. Please, we tell each other everything, please tell me what it is." Drew crooked his thumb under Jo's chin to raise her head up and look at him. He stares back at her with his puppy dog face. She lets out a big sigh and rolls her eyes up to the ceiling. She never could say no to him. Pulling off her coat and throwing her bag into the chair she sits back down on the bed and takes a deep breath.
"I saw you." Jo states plainly. "I saw you with Sam at Kelly's today. You two looked pretty," Jo paused for a moment. "Intense."
Drew's heart sank. He couldn't believe he had hurt Jo so badly. What an idiot he was to not figure it out. He let out a loud groan and hid his face in his hands. How was he going to explain this one?
"JJ," Drew begins. Jo jumps up off the bed and walks over to the window, holding up her hand.
"Just don't Drew, it's fine. It's kind of the story with us isn't it. The timing has never been right."
"Jo, I want to explain. I hope you can try and understand. First of all, I want you to know that Sam and I, we did not kiss."
Jo, still with her back to Drew, cracked a half smile. She was happy he hadn't shared a kiss with Sam, after he had pulled back from her earlier.
"I can't explain this draw I have toward Sam. I don't even really know her, yet, when I'm around her there is like this, electricity."
Jo, turned around to face Drew and put her hand up motioning for him to stop.
"Yeah, Drew, I kind of got the 'we're connected' speech from you earlier. I don't really need to hear it again."
"I'm sorry, boy, I'm saying that a lot tonight. This is not going at all how I thought it would." Drew crossed one arm across his chest and raised the other one to the side of his face. "JJ, you and I we have, something very special and I cherish it, very much. I wouldn't ever want to do something to ruin it. If I lost you, I couldn't deal with that, we've been through way too much."
Jo softened her anger to Drew quickly, remembering their history and everything they had endured together.
Drew put out his hand for Jo to grab on to it. She took it and they walked back over to the bed together and sat down.
"The bottom line is, Sam and I, we're not together right now. She's still figuring out what she wants and I realized today that I need to figure out what I want too." Drew reached over and brushed the hair out of Jo's face. "I don't know what's going to happen, but I know that you are here now and I'm so happy and grateful to see you. Please, can you forgive me for being an ass?" Drew flashed her his sly smile and batted his puppy dog eyes at her, trying to be funny.
Jo, shook her head and let out a big sigh. She pushed Drew's shoulder almost knocking him off the bed.
"When have I not forgiven you for being an ass. If I couldn't do that, we would have stopped being friends years ago." Jo giggled and swatted at Drew's arm.
He laughed and grabbed her around the shoulders, giving her a side hug.
"So, what now?" Jo asked quietly.
"I would love to talk some more, about old times." Drew suggested.
"I don't know, do you think that's a good idea, given what happened last time?"
"JJ, it'll be fine. I promise." Drew took her hand and held it in between his.
Jo rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes for a second. At the same time, they both fell back and laid on the bed. Amused that they were still so in sync, they began laughing hysterically. Jo looked over toward the window, she could see the night sky perfectly from her position on the bed.
"Wow, it's a beautiful night tonight," Jo declared, raising her head up onto one hand and shifting her body to lay on her side.
Drew turned his head and looked out the window. The sky was clear and you could see a million stars.
"Remember the nights in Afghanistan? They were always so clear, you could see so many stars over there." Drew recalls quietly.
"I always thought it was so weird, all the explosions and gunfire during the day to pollute the air with smoke, but at night, nothing but clear sky. It was always Deke's favorite part too." Jo suddenly got a sad tone to her voice.
Drew looked over at Jo and wiped a tear from her eyes. He sat back up and rubbed his hands through his hair. Jo moved herself to sit beside him and caress his face. They both tilted their heads to lean on each other and grabbed hands and interlocked fingers.
"I still dream about him." Drew sighed. "Well, it's more like a nightmare." Drew jolts up and walks over to the window to look out.
"Drew, it wasn't your fault, you have to know that, right?" Jo comes up behind him and rubs the back of his shoulders. "It was your mission, you were doing your job."
"My job was to protect him! I was supposed to protect him and I failed!" Drew crossed his arms over his chest.
"Drew, you can't blame yourself, my brother was a soldier, he loved serving his country, that's what he wanted to do."
Drew looked down and shook his head. He was fighting back tears. Jo pulled at his shoulders and he turned around to face her. She grabbed his face and held it up with her hands staring into his eyes. Seeing how much guilt he still felt, she pulled him into a warm embrace and rubbed her hands over the back of his head.
Drew grabbed onto her and held on tightly. He had so much guilt for letting Jo down and not being able to save her brother.
"JJ I tried, I really tried to save him. I was headed out to grab him out of the line of fire when they shot that rocket at our Humvee and we all had to scatter for cover. Once I found cover behind a rock, I looked out to see what was happening with the Deke." Drew's voice was heavy with emotion and his eyes were welling with tears. "I was just in time to see that Taliban soldier pull his gun out and shoot him in the head. I had to fight every instinct in me, to not run out from behind that rock and beat that man to death." Drew recounted, making him enraged all over again. He pulled out of the hug with Jo and pounded his fist against the wall.
"He just shouldn't have been there. I should have found a way to get him off that mission." Drew implored.
"Drew, there was nothing you could have done, Dekhen was eager to prove himself. He wanted to show his worth. You know that, it's practically ingrained in all Navy SEALs DNA, I swear." Jo chuckled a bit at her comment. She reached her hand out and grabbed Drew's face and turned it to look at her. "Please listen to me Drew, please hear me, my brother's death was not your fault. I don't blame you, you shouldn't blame yourself."
Drew finally broke down and began sobbing. His knees went a bit weak and Jo reached out to help hold him up. She grabbed him around the waist and again pulled him into a tight hug. They stood, holding each other for a few more minutes until Drew had regained his composure.
Drew and Jo released from the hug at the same time and as they did their cheeks grazed against each other. Drew reached up touched her cheek giving it a gentle rub. Jo gingerly rubbed her fingers against Drew's cheek. As they did this their eyes met and they held a deep gaze. Drew brushed a bit of hair behind Jo's ear and Jo straightened a few pieces of Drew's tousled hair. Never breaking their gaze, they each inched closer and closer to each other until their foreheads were touching.
Drew gently grabbed Jo at the back of her neck and pulled her into his body. They both let out a quiet moan when their lips finally touched. Drew reached around and gripped Jo at the small of her back, pulling her in even closer to him. They both released and pressed their lips together over and over kissing furiously. Jo wrapped her hand around the back of Drew's neck and ran her fingers through his hair. She rubbed her hands up and down his shoulders and chest.
Jo began fumbling to undo the buttons on Drew's shirt. Drew made quick work of the buttons on Jo's shirt. He gently rubbed her shoulders and pushed the shirt off onto the floor. Jo finally got the buttons undone on Drew's shirt and she pushed the shirt to halfway down his back. Drew released his grip on Jo to pull the shirt off the rest of the way, tossing it forcefully to the floor. He began pushing her back toward the bed and she sat down on the edge. She pushed her hands down to lift herself back into the middle of the bed and laid down. Drew towered over the top of her and then gently rested himself down next to her holding himself up with one arm.
"Are you sure about this?" He quietly whispers.
Jo answers him by grabbing his face and crashing into his lips again. Drew moans into the kiss and caresses Jo's face.
Suddenly Drew was overwhelmed with a piercing pain through his skull.
"Aaagghhh!" He cries out as his head falls down into the bed next to Jo.
Jo, squirms out from underneath Drew's body and rubs his head and shoulders.
"Drew! What, what is it? Are you okay?"
Drew rolls over onto his back and pushes his fingers into his forehead. He starts to breath slow and easy trying to calm his excitement.
"I'll be fine. This happens sometimes."
"What do you mean? You've had these before?"
Drew winces his eyes closed through the pain and scoots himself up the bed to prop up against the headboard.
"Yeah, a few times."
"A few times? Have you been checked out?" Jo asks in a panic, moving herself to sit next to Drew.
"Look, I'll talk to you about this, I promise, but can we not do it right now?" Drew took a loud breath out and rubbed his temples with his fingers.
"Of course, yes, I'm sorry. Do you need anything? What can I do?" Jo caressed his arm.
"Just give me a minute, it will pass." Drew still with his eyes closed patted Jo on her thigh. He slightly opened one eye and looks over at her. "I'm sorry, I think I kind of killed the mood," he chuckles.
"Oh Drew, I don't care about that, you big goof." She snickered and slugged him in the stomach.
"Oooff, hey, injured person here, go easy," he joked.
"Ya, ya, it's your head that's hurting not those cut abs."
"Ooh, you think I have cut abs?"
"Drew!" Jo exclaims exasperated at his inability to take the situation seriously.
"Okay, okay, sorry. I honestly just need a minute they usually don't last very long."
"Well, you may be fine with this, but I'm not. I'm staying with you tonight." Jo declared. "I need to make sure you are really ok."
"JJ, that's not necessary they really…..oohhhh, ah!" Drew winces as another sharp pain flares up.
"Uh-huh, ya, you're ok." Jo scolds him, rolling her eyes.
Drew raises up and swings his feet over off the edge of the bed, bending over holding his head down.
"Yeah, this one is kind of bad. This is probably the worst one yet."
"Good, then it's settled, I'm staying." Jo folds her arms, satisfied with herself. "I'll go get myself ready for bed and I'll be right back. Do you need me to get you anything, maybe an aspirin?"
"Just some water would be good." Drew points her toward the direction of his bathroom.
Jo steps into the bathroom and pours a glass of water. She walks over and sets it on the night table next to Drew.
"Here you go." She bends down next to Drew's face. She brushes her fingers through his hair and kisses him on the cheek. "I'll be back, okay? Don't die while I'm gone," she giggles at him. Drew snickers back at her.
"Okay, I'll try."
Jo, crosses the room and exits into the hallway. After she gently closes the door, she leans up against it and sighs out deeply. She closes her eye's and recounts what just almost happened. She wasn't sure what this meant for their relationship but she had a feeling things were about to get complicated.