Bound
by
JJS4 and A.K. Hunter
Chapter Three
Finally, Alexis was home. She could take off her uniform, take a warm shower, and get something to eat before getting the relax she so badly needed and wanted.
The precinct had actually been pretty quiet the last few days, but the stress of everything going through her mind on a daily basis was weighing her down, so she felt beat to the ground as she walked through the front door.
She was calculating what her first order of business would be when she heard Kevin's voice coming from their bedroom. She frowned and dropped her purse on the couch before taking off her jacket and laying it next to her purse. Who was Kevin talking to?
"Kev?" She called out as she walked into the bedroom. Kevin was stretched out on the bed, laptop on his lap and his phone to his ear. When he noticed Alexis he gave her a smile, but held his finger to his lips.
Maybe it was a work call, Alexis thought. She nodded and walked through the room, grabbing pajamas so she could take a shower. As she was going through the dresser trying to find a specific pair, she couldn't help but hear his conversation.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure we could find a place within that range."
She finally found the pair she was looking for and carefully closed the dresser drawer.
"Yeah, uh possibly. You sure you want a place around here?"
Alexis gave him a questioning look, but he waved her off.
"The rent isn't too unreasonable, but it's more than the prices we already talked about."
Alexis wanted to know who he was talking to, who might be moving closer to them, but she didn't push it. She was feeling gross from work, so she decided to take a shower and question him afterward.
The shower was just as relaxing as she imagined it would be. Her headache was slowly fading, and she was finding it hard to stay awake, so she decided not to overindulge and cut her shower short.
She dried off and dressed quickly, hoping she would get to eat before passing out. She brushed her hair, pulled it back into a ponytail, and came out of the bathroom expecting to find Kevin, but he seemed to still be in their room.
She thought he might have fallen asleep, but she quickly disregarded that when she heard his voice.
He was still on the phone? Who was he talking to? A name stuck out in her head, but she didn't want to think about that, so she distracted herself with making a quick meal.
Kevin came into the kitchen when Alexis was washing the dishes she had messed. She was feeling clean and full, but she still felt terrible and it wasn't because of work.
She had been trying to ignore it, but she kept thinking that things were only going to get worse with Kevin if she didn't open her mouth, but she also knew talking about it would lead to a fight.
If she needed to fight to keep him in her life, she'd do that, but she didn't know how to even begin.
"Sounds good, I'll text you tomorrow when I get off work." Alexis looked up to see Kevin smiling. "You got it. Goodnight." Kevin hung up his phone and turned to Alexis, finally giving her his undivided attention. "How was your day?"
"Nothing special. Yours?"
"About the same."
"That smile says otherwise. Who were you talking to?"
"Oh, that was Jenny. She asked me to help her find a new apartment." Alexis' stomach plummeted as her worst suspicions were confirmed. She barely felt Kevin come up behind her and wrap his arms around her waist.
Any other night, having Kevin's arms wrapped around her would have made her feel worry-free, but it wasn't working this time. She turned to face him, and he leaned in for a kiss, a kiss she didn't want. She pushed him back.
His eyebrows pulled together. "What's wrong? You're acting kind of weird."
She closed her eyes, shaking her head. Was he being serious? Was he really accusing her of strange behavior?
"I'm acting weird?" she asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, what's wrong?"
She didn't know how to let it go and just pretend everything was okay. She was tired of biting her tongue. If Kevin wanted to know what was wrong, she was going to let him know.
"Let's see, after a mind-numbing day at work, I come home to find you on the phone, which would be perfectly fine if it was with your sister, Javi, or even work, but no, you were on the phone with Jenny, your ex. Your ex who has probably talked to you more than me in the past couple weeks. What on earth would be wrong about that?" The sarcasm was probably uncalled for, but she couldn't find it in her to care at that point.
He blinked. "You're mad that I was talking to a friend?"
"A friend? That's what she is? Are you sure, because I don't really know what to think."
"Okay, I really don't understand what the problem is. You aren't making any sense."
"Well let me try to explain it in another way. I don't like you spending time with Jenny. I don't like that she texts you all the time. I don't like that you meet up with her so often."
Kevin rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. "Seriously? You're jealous of Jenny?"
"Tell me why I shouldn't be."
"There's nothing going on with her. She's just a friend, I promise you."
"Okay, you keep saying that, but I don't remember her being your friend before she got divorced. I don't remember you saying anything about her at all, really. All of a sudden she shows up, she's newly divorced, an ex, and you can't seem to go a day without talking to her. Where did this friendship come from?"
"She needs a friend right now. She's going through a hard time. You know that."
"She really has nobody else to talk to? I mean obviously things ended badly between you two, otherwise you wouldn't be so secretive about your past with her, but now, all of a sudden you're her best friend. You seriously don't see a problem with this situation?"
"No, I don't. I see you being jealous for no reason at all."
She pushed herself from the kitchen sink and laughed. Anger was coursing through her and she couldn't believe what he was saying. Did he honestly think that or was he just lying to her and himself?
"How would you feel if I was spending all of my free time talking to Ashley because he had been dumped and needed a shoulder to cry on? Would you be okay if I ignored you, if I stopped having sex with you, and talked about him all the time?"
"What are you talking about? I don't talk about her all the time."
"Yes, you do. I get that she's going through something, but it's not your responsibility to help her piece her life back together. I mean up until it fell apart you had nothing to do with her. What changed Kevin?"
"Nothing changed, like I said, I am just helping her out, I don't see where the problem is with that."
The words came out of her mouth before she could stop them. "Are you in love with her?"
"What?"
"Are you in love with her? Did you ever stop loving her?"
Kevin shook his head and walked closer to her. "I am not doing this. I am going to let her get in between us. Nothing is going on with her. I'm just helping her."
"Then just stop."
"Stop?"
"Yes, stop helping her. She must have friends and a family, why would she need your help and yours alone?"
"Alexis—"
"I'm serious, Kevin. Stop seeing her." Part of her hated the way she sounded, but she couldn't help it. She hated that she sounded demanding and controlling, but she didn't know what else she could do. Calmly talking about it wasn't going to help, so she didn't have another option.
"Is this like an ultimatum? You or her?"
"It shouldn't be. This should be a very easy decision for you to make."
"Okay." Kevin nodded. "I'll stop seeing her."
"Just like that?"
"Yes. If you're this bothered by it, I'll stop seeing her. I don't want you to think that I care more about her than you, because I don't. I love you and only you."
Alexis watched him carefully. "You're not mad at me?"
"You're upset, and I can't be mad that you have feelings, so no, I'm not mad at you. You made a good point. If you were spending time with an ex, I wouldn't like it." Alexis felt a lump growing in her throat. "This isn't worth a fight, I love you and I want to be with you, only you."
Alexis took a deep breath and exhaled, letting a few tears fall from her face. She moved forward, wrapping her arms around Kevin. "Thank you."
"You don't need to thank me." He rubbed her back and kissed the top of her head. "I should be apologizing to you for so many things."
"Like what?"
"You said I've been ignoring you and that we stopped having sex."
She shook her head, against his chest. "I was just mad, Kevin. You don't need to worry about it."
"Yes, I do. I obviously made you feel like I didn't want you and that definitely isn't the case."
"Okay, but you don't need to apologize, as long as things will get better. They will, right?"
"Definitely." He grabbed the bottom of her chin with his thumb and pulled her lips to his. She allowed herself to sink into the kiss. He hadn't kissed her that way in what felt like a long time. He wrapped his arms around her and suddenly the stress of everything that had been weighing on her wasn't there anymore.
Lunch with Lanie had gone well, not that Javi expected anything less. Coffee dates had turned into lunch dates, which had lead to dinners, and then things escalated and sleeping at each other's places had also became a regular thing. Things were looking up for Javi, and he couldn't believe it, especially when he considered how his life had gone up until that point.
Getting shot and having to be held up in the hospital had taken its toll on Javi. Being stuck in a hospital after being shot and having to be taken care of had weighed on him. He was used to taking care of himself, and having people look at him with pity was almost physically painful for him. Having to be treated like an infant wasn't helpful when it came to his self esteem. He put on a brave face, but underneath it all, Javi had felt like he'd never be his true self ever again.
But things were better now. His job was going well and his partnership with Alexis was thriving, his relationship with Lanie only got better and better, and his friendship with Kevin was as good as ever.
Or so he thought.
Honesty was a big deal to Javi. He tried to his best to be honest with everyone he came in contact with, and all he wanted in return was for people to respect him enough to give him the same kind of honesty. He thought he had that kind of relationship with everyone close to him.
Apparently he was wrong.
After having lunch with Lanie, Javi had some time to himself before he had to be back at the precinct. His plan was to get some errands done so he wouldn't have to deal with them later. Seeing as how his refrigerator was bare and his cabinets only contained stale potato chips, his first order of business was going grocery shopping.
Halfway through Javi's quest he'd been sidetracked when he saw a petite blonde woman standing only a few feet from him. Normally seeing a woman in the grocery store wouldn't even catch his attention, but when he heard her voice, he knew it wasn't just any woman.
"Kevin," the woman called out in an almost demanding tone.
Javi hadn't talked to Jenny since she ended things with Kevin, and he wasn't in a hurry to change that. Kevin might have been able to talk and put the history to the side, but Javi couldn't, not after he'd been the person to put Kevin back together after Jenny left him broken. Hearing her say Kevin's name was more than aggravating and Javi couldn't see himself just walking away.
Kevin came along not long after she called on him, walking over to her, his hands filled with different items and a smile on his face. That smile may have made Jenny smile in return, but it only managed to make Javi roll his eyes and for his blood to boil.
He didn't like this, not even a little.
Part of him knew that Kevin's personal life wasn't any of his business and that getting involved, like he had before would only lead to disaster, but in that moment Javi didn't care. Saving his friend from his ex was more important than Kevin getting upset. Kevin was with Alexis and Javi didn't want him to lose someone like her for someone like Jenny, someone who had already hurt him in so many ways.
When Alexis had mentioned Kevin spending time with Jenny, Javi hadn't wanted to freak out Alexis and give her reason to worry, but deep down Javi was worried. He didn't want to think that Kevin was weak and that he would actually be spending so much time with Jenny, but he knew better. Kevin and Jenny had a complicated past and Javi knew that Kevin still had a soft spot for the blonde.
Apparently he was right seeing as how Kevin was spending his lunch break with Jenny instead of Alexis, the woman he was living with, the woman he was supposed to be in love with.
Javi straightened his jacket out and took a deep breath before approaching Kevin. This was sure to be intense and awkward, but Javi was up to the challenge. It was for a good cause, after all.
Jenny and Kevin were in the middle of a discussion when Javi interrupted them by placing his hand on Kevin's shoulder.
When Kevin turned and saw who had tapped him, his eyes widened. If Javi didn't know any better he would describe Kevin as a deer caught in the headlights. He watched a number of emotion flicker over Kevin's face, before he went back to how he looked when he was talking to Jenny. All smiles.
"Javi, what are you doing here, man?"
"What, I can't buy food, now?"
"Of course. I just didn't expect to see you here is all." Kevin threw out a nervous laugh.
"Yeah, I could say the same." Javi said, his eyes moving to Jenny's before they moved back to Kevin's.
"Hey, Javi. It's good to see you," Jenny said, in a steady, but nervous tone. Javi nodded in return, but only looked at her for a second before looking away.
"Kev, can I talk to you privately?" he asked, keeping his eyes locked on Kevin's. Kevin swallowed thickly, clearly having an inner struggle.
Kevin looked down to Jenny almost as if to ask for permission, which only made Javi's temper flare even more. Kevin nodded in Javi's direction. They walked more than a few feet away from Jenny. Javi's back was turned to Jenny, but he could feel her eyes on them as they began to talk.
"What's up, Javi?"
"I was just about to ask you the same thing." Javi's stance loosened now that he was no longer around Jenny. "Grocery stopping in the middle of the day with your ex? What the hell, man?"
"It's not like that, come on, you know me better than that. I'm just helping her out, you know, being a friend. She's going through a hard time right now."
"Hard time?"
"Her marriage is over."
"And she decided to come running back to her ex and you didn't sense something strange about that?"
"You think that she's trying to get back together with me?"
"I don't know, but what I do know is that spending time with Jenny is making Alexis uneasy, so maybe you might want to take a step back."
Kevin sighed and looked down at his shoes. "I know."
"Wait, you know that Alexis isn't okay with this and you're still seeing Jenny."
"Come on, you're making it sound like I'm cheating on her. I'm not a cheater, Javi."
Javi sighed, knowing that Kevin was making excuses, and that meant that he was lying about something, Javi just couldn't figure out what it was. He wasn't ready to brand Kevin a cheater at that point. He wouldn't do that unless he saw it with his own two eyes.
"I'm not saying you're a cheater, but if your current girlfriend is mad about you spending time with your ex, then you should probably listen instead of going behind her back. It makes you look suspicious."
"I'm just trying to help Jenny."
"Why? It's isn't like you owe her anything. I mean, it's not like she helped you any."
"That's in the past."
"So what, it's forgotten?"
"No, I'll never forget, but that doesn't mean I have to be an asshole to her. I don't have to hold grudges. If I did that, you and I probably wouldn't be friends anymore," Kevin reminded him.
Javi fought back the urge to engage. He wouldn't let Kevin distract him. "Do Alexis' feelings mean anything to you, Kev?"
"Of course."
"Then why are you hiding this from her?" Kevin put his head down and Javi sighed. "You need to get your priorities together Kev. You need to think real hard. What's more important to you, Alexis' feelings or you being a nice guy to the woman who ripped your heart out and didn't show any remorse about it?"
"Your advice is a little biased, don't you think?"
"Yes, it is. Alexis is amazing and you're a lucky bastard to have her, I just wish you could see that."
"I do!"
"Then do the right thing, man. Don't lose her over this." Hope sparked when Javi could tell Kevin's mind was going hundred miles an hour; he knew that meant Kevin was considering his words. "I don't want to sound like a dick, I just don't want you falling into old patterns."
"I know, Javi. I know."
"Good." He patted Kevin's arm and looked around. "I need to get back to the precinct."
"Could you maybe not tell Alexis you saw me with Jenny?"
"Only if you promise me that you'll tell her yourself."
Kevin nodded, but Javi wasn't reassured. "See you later, man."
"Yeah, see you," Kevin said before walking back over to Jenny.
Javi wanted to hit him, but he wouldn't do that. He couldn't. If Javi actually saw Kevin cheating, that would be a different story. Javi cared about Alexis. She was his partner now, and that meant that he had her back, but right now, he couldn't prove anything except that Kevin was more than a little confused.
Kevin was going to push Alexis away, and he didn't seem to realize it. What more could Javi do? It wasn't like he could watch him fall down the rabbit hole, but he also didn't want to run interference when it came to Kevin and Alexis. He couldn't get stuck in the middle. That wouldn't help anyone.
He just had to hope that Kevin would figure things out before it was too late.
"What's wrong?" Jenny asked later that night. She asked him to stop by after work to help fix her clogged sink. Apparently her toddler son had been stuffing marbles down the garbage disposal. "You're acting weird."
Kevin was stretched out on his back underneath her kitchen sink, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. "Weird how?" he asked, avoiding the question. Javi's words had followed him through the rest of his day. He'd promised Javi he'd tell Alexis that he was still hanging out with Jenny, but the thought made him more than a little sick. As did the judgment and protective anger in his former partner's eyes when he caught Kevin and Jenny together at the grocery store earlier.
He'd told Javi he would be honest with Alexis, but he didn't know how to do that. He felt like he was being pulled in two directions. Before Jenny texted him that day, he'd been determined to come clean to Alexis, to tell her that for the last two months, he'd been spending time with Jenny behind her back. Kevin hadn't wanted to tell her, but he didn't want Alexis to find out from Javi either. And then Jenny had reached out and Kevin found himself going straight to her place from the precinct, sending Alexis yet another "working late" text on the way. He'd felt a little guilty doing it, he'd felt guilty around Alexis almost constantly in the last few months, but he couldn't say no to Jenny. He just couldn't.
"Something on your mind?" Jenny pressed. "Maybe about Javier running into us at the store today?"
Busted. Kevin came out from under the sink with a sigh. " Javi thinks there's something going on between us."
"So?"
"He said he'd talk to Alexis about it if I didn't."
The blonde cocked her head at him. "Alexis knows we're friends. Why is he making a big deal about this?"
"I told her months ago that I'd stop seeing you." The words tasted bitter in his mouth.
"You're lying to your girlfriend about that? Why?"
Kevin sighed. "I don't know."
"Kev…" She trailed off. "And you're afraid that if Javier tells her, you'll lose her?"
Kevin bit his lip. "I just… Everything seems fine right now. I get to be your friend without it affecting mine and Alexis' relationship.""
"Do you love her?" Jenny asked, looking down at the floor.
"Of course I do."
"So why don't you tell her about us?"
"I don't want to cause a fight. I don't want her to worry when there's nothing going on. Plus… I care about you, too." He stood up at took her hand, hating the vulnerable expression on her face. "You're my friend. I don't want to cut you out."
For a moment, Jenny didn't say anything. Then her arms wrapped around him and her lips ghosted over his cheek, then grazed his ear, sending chills down his spine.
"Thanks for being my friend," she whispered.
A smile tugged at his lips and something warm unfurled across his chest, erasing any lingering guilt. "Anytime."
Jenny pulled back just the slightest bit, her arms still wrapped around him. "Alexis doesn't know how lucky she is, having a guy like you." Her eyes landed on his mouth briefly, and Kevin felt his face heat up.
He stepped back. "Umm, thanks." He cleared his throat. "Well, this sink isn't gonna fix itself so…"
"Of course," she answered. Was that disappointment in her eyes? "I'd better go pick up David from his dad. Will you be here when I get back?"
He shook his head. "Probably not. It's getting late."
"Thanks for the help, Kev. You're my hero." She hugged him one last time before grabbing her keys and leaving the apartment.
Kevin took a deep breath and rubbed his face, trying to focus on everything he knew about plumbing, rather than the intoxicating sensation of his ex's lips on his cheek.