Author's Note: Thanks for coming back! More fluff and a little steam. Hope you like it.
Disclaimer: Oh! And I forgot to put this on chapter 1, but I feel like it goes without saying. If I owned Blue Bloods or CBS in any way, would I really be posting on FF? Probably not. But here it is: I don't own the show, the production company, the actors, the ideas, the characters, any of it. Just a fan who needed a little more from this particular episode.
Now that they've gotten their confessions off of their chests, there is a definite sense of relief in the air. When they break apart to take a breath, they just smile at each other. Without saying a word, Eddie begins cleaning up the remains of their dinner and Jamie doesn't hesitate to assist her.
Before long, they find themselves back beside each other on her couch with almost no space between them and it's like they have to be touching in some way to keep themselves grounded. After so many years of denying their true feelings, they both almost feel like they could float away with the weight of their denials now lifted from their shoulders.
It starts slow, almost like shy teenagers in love for the first time, taking their time to get where they're going. Jamie takes her hand on the couch between them and starts rubbing circles with his thumb, while her head drops to his shoulder. Then Eddie shifts her body around so that she is turned to him and her other hand wraps around his upper arm. When he shifts slightly, her head comes off his shoulder to look at him and his free hand reaches to caress her cheek. At this, her eyes close gently. Next thing she knows, his lips are pressing softly against hers and her hand that was on his arm moves to his chest.
After a few seconds, Eddie fists his shirt where her hand rests on his chest and she pulls him into a deeper kiss. His hand on her cheek slides into her hair and he lets go of her other hand to wrap his arm around her waist. When he tugs lightly, just to have her that much closer to him, she almost knocks the wind out of him as she swings a leg across his lap and sits with her legs either side of him.
The make out session becomes heated in an instant, with hands in hair and running up and down arms and underneath shirts. His lips move to her neck and she sighs happily when she feels them whisper across her throat. Before he can reach her ear though, she pulls away with a giggle.
"Too ticklish," she tells him, her face lit up in a smile.
"Oh, really?" His eyes are laughing with her and his lips crack into a wide grin. "Ticklish, hmm? This could be fun."
He tries to pull her back to him to land his lips on her throat again, but she wriggles away and climbs off his lap. Instead, she holds her hands up, all trace of her smile gone, and levels him with a look he's only ever seen from her on the job. Definitely not after they've been kissing.
"Jamie. I love you, but I want to ask you something."
"Anything," he says, reaching for her. "Anything you want, it's yours."
She sits down beside him again and turns to face him. Her face tells him that she's worried about something.
"This might sound a little silly, so please just…just bare with me."
All Jamie can do is nod and wait for her to continue her thought.
"Like I said, this might sound silly, but…Jamie, can we try to take this slow?" When he opens his mouth, she puts her hand up to stop him. "Before you say anything, let me try to explain. I…have thought about this, hoped for this, wanted this for so, so long. I want to try to savor it a little, while I wrap my mind around the thought that this is really happening. I'm scared that, if we don't take a moment to slow down, we'll just jump right into bed and wake up tomorrow morning with regrets. And I don't want anything about you, or us, to ever be a regret."
"Eddie, if there is one thing I can promise you, with any degree of certainty, it's that I will never regret you. Or anything to do with you," Jamie tells her earnestly. "Well, except maybe wasting so much time holding you at arm's length," he finishes with a shrug.
Eddie has to laugh a little at that, but she just looks into his eyes and doesn't say anything yet.
"But if you want to take things slow," Jamie jumps back in, "that's what we'll do. I never want to pressure you into anything you don't think you're ready for. I love you, and I respect you, and I will spend every day trying to prove it to you, if you'll let me." He places his hand gently on her face again and makes sure she can see the honesty in his eyes.
She leans in to kiss him softly, then pulls him to her with her arms around his neck. His arms go around her waist instinctively, pulling her as close to him as they can get in that moment. His head falls to the crook of her neck and his breath there sends a shiver down her spine. He chuckles lightly at her shiver, then pulls away and reaches for the blanket she usually leaves on the back of her couch. While he drapes the blanket over her, she opens her mouth in a wide yawn that she quickly tries to cover with her hand.
"Sleepy?" Jamie asks with a smile. "It's been a crazy day, for both of us. I should go so you can get some rest."
"No," Eddie says, reaching for his hand as he moves to stand up. "Please stay. I want you here with me tonight. Please?" She's pleading with her words and her eyes, but it's not necessary.
"Of course," he says quietly, as he settles back into the couch again. "I wouldn't want to be anywhere else anyway. I probably wouldn't be able to sleep at home tonight if I tried."
Together, they settle back into the couch and fall into a comfortable silence once again. The tv is still muted, but they are simply enjoying the time with each other, neither one really watching the screen. Every now and then, one of them will lean in for a kiss that often becomes a little more than just a kiss and then they'll pull away from each other with a smile and fall into silence again.
Jamie's arm around her doesn't stop moving. Running up and down her arm, rubbing circles on her back, lightly massaging her neck, playing in her hair. All things he's wanted to do for such a long time, and it all feels so comforting that Eddie can't believe they've spent so much time denying the way they feel. They stay awake a while longer, cuddling and kissing, talking a little here and there.
When Jamie yawns for the third time in as many minutes, Eddie sits up and stretches a little, then she stands and drags him with her.
"Come on," she tells him. "Let's go to bed."
The look he gives her is questioning, but he can't figure out which question to voice aloud.
"We're two adults who have finally admitted that they love each other," Eddie begins. "We can sleep in the same bed together. Besides, it's not like it's never happened before." Her eyes smile before her mouth does.
Jamie tilts his head and gives her a somewhat sad smile. Of course, he remembers the night she's referring to. The night he stopped by to check on her after her first fatal shooting and she asked him to stay with her. They sat on her couch with his arms around her while she cried for a long while, until the crying stopped and she was nearly asleep on his shoulder.
Wordlessly, he shifted so he could pick her up bridal style and carry her to her bed. Placing her gently on her unmade bed, he pulled the covers over her and moved to return to the couch, but she wrapped her hand around his wrist before he could take the first step.
When he turned back to look at her, she simply repeated her earlier statement. "I need you." So, as if to reinforce his own sentiment that he wasn't going anywhere, he silently removed his jacket and climbed into bed beside her, fully clothed.
"Nothing happened that night," Eddie breaks into his memories, "and nothing has to happen tonight, if we don't want it to."
"Oh, trust me," Jamie responds automatically. "I want it to, but—" he holds up a finger when she opens her mouth to say something sarcastic, "—we agreed to take it slow. So we'll just go to bed and sleep, just like last time."
"Except, maybe you don't have to sleep in your jeans this time," Eddie responds with a hint of hope in her voice and a gleam in her eye.
"That would certainly be more comfortable for me," he replies with a shrug. "I usually just sleep in boxers at home."
"Well, if that's how you sleep at home, feel free to sleep that way here. You won't get any complaints out of me." Eddie's mischievous grin causes him to grin too as he pokes her side and earns a giggle for his efforts.
She reaches for his hands and begins to pull him toward her bedroom, but he catches up with her and starts to tickle her again. This results in a short chase that ends when she backs into her bed and falls over, laughing hysterically.
Jamie lets himself fall beside her and snakes an arm around her waist, pulling her in for a kiss. When they part, they are both breathless.
"I don't think I will ever get tired of kissing you," he tells her quietly.
"Finally getting some of those benefits, huh?" At this, they both crack up laughing again until Eddie pulls herself up off the bed.
"I need to get ready for bed. Change, brush my teeth, that sorta thing. You'll be okay here for a few minutes?"
Jamie just nods and smiles, before pulling her back down to him for one more kiss.
As Eddie walks to her bathroom, he calls back to her, "Yep. Definitely spoiled for life."
She just laughs again and closes the bathroom door behind her. A few minutes later, the door opens and she steps out in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, making her way back to the bed. Jamie has propped himself up against her headboard with his hands folded across his chest and his eyes closed.
"Jamie? Babe." She shakes him gently awake, not at all surprised at how easily the term of endearment rolls off her tongue. "I found a new toothbrush in the cabinet, if you wanna go brush your teeth."
He stretches a little and nods at the idea, muttering a sleepy "thank you" as he walks to the bathroom. When he comes back, she's already under the covers, so he removes his jeans and t-shirt and drops them on the floor before crawling in to join her.
She lays on the far side of the bed, facing him, until he pulls her closer with an arm around her waist. Her hand presses on his bare chest and sends butterflies fluttering in her stomach. He kisses her forehead and smiles into her hair.
"Thank you for saving my life today." The emotion of the day is finally catching up to him and is now quite evident in his voice.
Eddie lifts her eyes to his. "I will always have your back. No matter what. You know that, right?"
"Of course I know that. And I'll always have yours," Jamie answers.
"I made some promises to myself a long time ago, and that was one of them. I'll always have your back. I'll always do my best to respect you, and try to earn your respect. You can always count on me, Jamie."
"I know, baby. And you can count on me, to always have your back, to wait for you if you fall behind, in everything we do. Eddie, if I didn't make it clear earlier, I am all in. One hundred percent. No more hesitation. No retreat, no surrender," he finishes with a smile.
Eddie laughs quietly at the Springsteen lyrics and presses her forehead into his chest, where she sneakily places a delicate kiss. When he lets out a small moan, she does it again. Her hands begin to wander his chest and his back, and she pushes herself up so she can plant a kiss on his lips. Everywhere her hands touch, she can feel his muscles tightening under her palm and it makes her breath hitch. Slowly, she trails kisses down his jawline and to his neck, just like he had done to her earlier. Then he feels her nibble on his earlobe, and he has to speak up before he loses all his self-control.
"What happened to, 'nothing has to happen tonight', huh, Janko?"
"Oh, who are we kidding?" Her lips are trailing down to his chest as she speaks. "That was never going to be the case, and we both know it."
As tired as they both are, they do take things slow, making love and learning each other's bodies in ways they had only dreamed of before. Clothes are shed quickly, hands and lips roam over bare skin, and the room fills with quiet moans of pleasure and contented sighs. When they are finally both spent, they fall asleep together, his arm around her naked form, and smiles on their faces.
Author's Note: Review? See you in Chapter 3! ;)