Author's Note: Welcome back for Chapter 3! Enjoy!
Around 6 AM, Jamie wakes with a start as an idea dawns on him. Eddie groans at the movement, but rolls over and doesn't wake up. He slowly gets out of bed, making sure not to disturb her any more, and searches the dark floor for his boxers. He watches her sleep for a moment with a content smile on his face, before silently making his way out of the room.
In the living room, Jamie finds Eddie's copy of the patrol guide where they left it the last time they were studying for the Sergeant's Exam. Picking it up, he walks to the couch and begins his research.
More than an hour later, Eddie wakes up shivering in a cold bed and immediately fears that she was right: Jamie woke up and felt like they had made a mistake, so he quietly left to avoid the fallout of having to face her. Pulling herself up and out of bed, she reaches to the floor for her shorts and t-shirt before making her way to the bathroom with a sense of dread in the pit of her stomach.
Upon turning on the light switch in the bathroom, Eddie catches her reflection and realizes the shirt she's put on is not hers. It's the shirt Jamie was wearing the night before. Confused, she turns back to her room and turns on the lamp beside her bed. There on the floor, beside the t-shirt she was meant to sleep in, are Jamie's jeans from the previous night.
"No way he left without those," Eddie mutters to herself, starting to feel relieved, and makes her way to the living room to see if she can find Jamie.
As soon as she opens the bedroom door, she smells coffee and a smile creeps on her face. Entering her kitchen, she finds Jamie pulling two mugs from her cupboard like he's lived there for years.
"Good morning," she says quietly, trepidatious.
"Good morning, beautiful," he answers, turning around to find her approaching him slowly. As he smiles warmly at her, he opens his arms to her. Without hesitation, she steps closer to wrap her arms around his waist and bury her head in his chest. "I hope you don't mind. I made a pot of coffee."
"When have I ever turned down coffee," she asks into his chest, but she doesn't wait for a reply. "How long have you been awake?"
"Um." Jamie looks to the clock on the stove. "Almost two hours, I think. I'm not really sure." He shrugs and hands her a mug of piping hot coffee, prepared just the way she likes it.
"What have you been doing for two hours?" They walk together to her couch and sit down, with her settling into his side automatically as if they've always done it. He sets his coffee mug on the table in front of them and reaches for the patrol guide that's left open there.
"Research," he says, handing her the book.
"The patrol guide? What are you researching in the patrol guide so early in the morning?" Her eyebrows knit together in confusion, but she's really curious about what he's up to.
"Us," is his simple answer.
"Ok, Boy Scout, explain yourself because I'm lost." She sits up to look at him and places her own mug next to his on the table.
He gives her a smile, then answers with an air of pride, "There is nothing in there forbidding romantic relationships between partners."
"Yeah, right!" Eddie picks up her coffee mug and takes a sip while she waits for the punchline. "Oh. You're serious?"
"As a gunshot wound." Tilting his head a little and quirking his eyebrows, Jamie gives her a smirk.
Eddie returns his smirk wistfully before responding. "So…you're saying we don't have to be split up as partners?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying. I just assumed, all this time, that it was a hard and fast rule that partners couldn't be romantically involved. I guess for some partners, it makes sense, like Kelsey and Paul. They obviously couldn't separate personal life from professional life. But I think you and I have been doing a pretty good job, don't you? I mean, I've never worked as well with anyone else as I do with you." Jamie finishes his little speech with a shrug and picks up his coffee while giving her time to process.
"Yeah, you've got a point there," she says with a smile. "Most people in the precinct say that we can practically read each other's minds. And everyone already thinks we've been doing it for…probably years now. Surely if the idea was that widespread in the precinct, we would have been split up a long time ago, right? A sergeant or other higher up must have heard it by now, and no one has ever said anything to either one of us. Ok, well, you convinced me."
Jamie replaces his coffee back on the table with a smile as she finishes her own speech, and not a second too soon, because the moment the last word leaves her mouth, she throws her arms around his neck with a girlish giggle. She kisses him hard, and his hands immediately lock around her waist, pulling her close.
"Actually," Jamie starts when she finally removes her lips from his, "that's not exactly true."
"What do you mean?" The look of confusion on Eddie's face is back.
"Well…do you remember that domestic call a few years back? Right before your probationary period ended? Guy was yelling at his girlfriend when we got there; I took her, you took him. And then he—"
"Pushed me to the ground, yeah, I remember that. You went after him, and Sarge had to pull you off."
"Yeah, well…he called me into his office for a chat later. Asked if I had…a 'thing' for you." He lets out a soft chuckle between thoughts. "I told him I didn't, but I guess he didn't believe me because he said I needed to take some time to think about how I felt about you. Made it clear that if I thought I might have feelings for you, he would separate us."
"Really? So what did you tell him after that?" Eddie is beyond surprised to hear about this years-old conversation.
"I went home and thought about it," he answers with a one-shoulder shrug. "I even talked to Erin. Very cryptic advice giver, by the way. I don't recommend going to her for romantic advice. Then I told Renzulli I had no intentions of getting involved with you and I wanted to remain work partners."
"Was that the truth? At the time?" Eddie can't stop herself from asking. "That you didn't have feelings for me?"
"I wanted it to be. But you did not make it easy for me." She gives him a knowing smirk and waits for him to continue. "The way you were always busting into the locker room after shift, with your hair in waves, looking like you were ready for a night on the town or something. Every time you smiled at me, it made it that much more difficult to maintain my conviction. And don't get me started on all the times you'd grab my arm or brush against me while we were out for drinks after tour. God, Eddie, you have no idea how torturous that was, all those years. Having you right there, but just out of reach, all because I told the boss that I wanted us to stay partners."
"You never told me about any of this. I mean, some of it, I get. But why didn't you tell me about the Renzulli thing?"
"And make it that much harder on myself? We had already kissed after that super weird double date, and then I just told you to get inside." Ashamed, he drops his head to his hand with a snort at the memory. "And the next day, you were the first one to say that it was a mistake."
"I did not say it was a mistake," Eddie jumps in. "I said I shouldn't have done it." She points a finger at him to prove her point, with a smile on her face.
"Ok, well, it felt like you were saying it was a mistake." Jamie lets himself laugh a little. The last thing he wants is to start an argument. "I just thought that if I told you what Renzulli said, one of three things could happen. One, you would just laugh and go on another tangent about how 'not your type' I was. I hadn't admitted to myself yet how much that hurt. Two, it would get super awkward and screw up our dynamic, maybe temporarily, maybe permanently. You had already proven yourself to be a pretty great partner, and I didn't want to risk that. Or three, you'd get mad at me for making it look like you couldn't take care of yourself, and I've always hated when you were mad at me, not matter how much I deserved it."
Eddie just leans into him and cuddles against his chest. Jamie manages to pull the blanket they had used the night before around them and settles back comfortably.
"Well, I can't tell you what I would have said if you had told me then. But I'm glad you told me now. Thank you for trusting me." She looks up to place a quick kiss on his cheek.
"I've trusted you since the first night we rode together, Janko. The way you handled yourself, seeing a fellow cop shot literally your first night on the job. Lots of rookies would have been terrified out of their minds, but you took it all in stride. And after you had my back against Salazar, instead of standing down and letting me be the bad guy all by myself against a fellow cop."
She sighs at the memories and snuggles in close again.
"I think I started to fall for you that first week we were partners. Maybe even the first night, when you introduced yourself outside the precinct. It started real slow. I was never jealous, at first. More like…disappointed, when you had dates or talked about guys. Disappointed at the thought that I might have to share you with someone else. But I fell in love with your smile. And your eyes. The way they lit up when you laughed. It was just something I had absolutely no control over, but I knew I never wanted to see you hurting. I always wanted to spend more time with you, as if riding eight inches away from you in an RMP all day wasn't enough."
His voice catches on the last word, and he moves her so that she's sitting up, looking at him. Then he places a hand on her cheek and her eyes drift shut for a moment. When they open, he speaks again.
"Eddie, it's not enough anymore. Not if you feel about me the same way I feel about you."
She sighs again, and whispers, "Jamie," before leaning in to kiss him deeply. He turns his body so that he can lay down on the couch and drags her on top of him. Similar to the night before, they take things somewhat slow, letting themselves explore and learn their best friend in new ways, relishing the idea of finally giving in to years worth of temptation.
Sometime later, they are laying side by side on the couch, with Eddie resting mostly on Jamie's chest and the blanket pulled tightly around themselves in her chilly apartment. Suddenly, Eddie's stomach growls and they both laugh at the sound.
"So what are you going to feed me, Reagan?" The smile on her face lights up the room, and he still can't believe she's smiling for him.
Author's Note: Well...what do you think so far?! Got a couple more chapters to go!