AN: I updated the last two chapters only to edit a spelling error I'd noticed in each. (Different errors, just two different typos.) I didn't update any content so don't worry about re-reading them unless you want to. :D
Getting themselves changed and dry hadn't taken much. Getting Levi dry was another matter entirely, but eventually it was done and they were all warm and cozy and about ready to head to bed.
"They seemed to like us," Sue observed as she turned down her side of the bed and worked on rebuilding the pillow wall in between.
"Well, what's not to like?" Jack asked with a smile.
"That's true," she agreed. They smiled at one another for a moment, apparently each thinking about what there was to like about the other (despite Sue's earlier claims otherwise) before they managed to both shake themselves out of it and climb into their respective sides of the bed.
"Well . . . good night," Sue said, giving him a little wave from across the bed. Somehow, this bed that seemed gigantic only the day before seemed far too small tonight. Not seeing a viable alternative—at least, not one that they would both accept without guilt—they didn't seem to have much option, so maintaining this sleeping arrangemnt was the only remaining route to take. She just hoped they wouldn't decide to share a pillow again like last night.
"Good night," he had replied with a wistful smile that told her he might be thinking similar things, though as far as she knew he didn't know about the pillow-sharing, for which she was thankful! They exchanged another small smile before each turning away to click off their lamps.
She fell asleep all too keenly aware of the movement from the other side of the bed as, in the dark, Jack had, she was nearly certain, been removing his t-shirt and joggers.
Sometime in the wee hours of the morning, Sue awoke, trying to sort out in her sleep-addled mind how she was managing to feel both trapped and safe and the same time. As she regained awareness of her surroundings, she realized that somehow, she and Jack had managed to dismantle the pillow barrier between them. She thought she felt one pillow lying across her leg, but the others were in locations not to be determined until she could see properly to do so.
Either as a result of dismantling this wall, or possibly even in the process of it, she and Jack and drawn together in their sleep, and they were snuggled together with him spooning up against her back, his arm thrown across her middle. She should be panicking. She should be terrified. Mortified. But everything about this just felt so right. Somehow, the weight of his arm resting across her felt like the safest she had ever been in her life. The feel of his chest pressed against the back of her nightgown—a powder blue cotton one tonight, which seemed like a slightly safer choice than the silk of the night before—was like a bracing support for her. A glance to the clock told her that her alarm wouldn't go off for another hour and a half, and she almost always woke minutes before her alarm, even if she didn't actually get up until Levi woke her. Today, she would, so the alarm wouldn't wake Jack and he wouldn't know how they'd been snuggled together.
After she woke up again. After she relished in this feeling just a little more. She closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep with a soft smile on her face.
Jack blinked his eyes open, trying to determine the source of a particularly loud noise. It was like a siren or—
An alarm. He realized several things all at once: Sue's alarm was going off, Levi was not waking Sue up, and . . . Sue was wrapped into his arms.
Slowly, trying not to wake her up so that she wouldn't know the compromising position they'd been in, he withdrew, threw on his sweats and t-shirt again, turned off the alarm, and seeing the doggie bed empty, went in search of Levi.
He found the fluffy culprit in the kitchen, surrounded by spilled Corn Flakes, looking up at Jack guiltily. Jack sighed. "Really, Levi?"
Levi put a paw over his eyes. "Yeah, you better feel bad," Jack said. He sighed again, then added, "Alright, let's let Sue sleep in and I'll take you out."
At the word "out," Levi jumped up and ran for the door. Jack laughed and grabbed the leash.
They didn't go for a long walk, just long enough for Levi to do his business, and then he put Levi in the living room while Jack swept up the mess in the kitchen. Once that was all taken care of, he fed and watered Levi, and then headed for the shower himself.
He was surprised to find, when he came out and got dressed, that Sue still wasn't awake. "Hey Levi," he said, "go get Sue."
Levi plodded off toward the bedroom. Jack was about to start breakfast when the doorbell rang.
"Good morning!" Betty said happily when he answered the door. "I just wanted to bring you back your salad bowl."
"Oh, thank you! That was . . . Prompt."
"Oh, I didn't come too early did I?"
"Oh, no, not at all. I was up, and Sue is regularly an early bird. She's, uh, she's in the shower now, so . . . but I'll be sure to let her know you stopped by and I'm sure she'll catch up with you later!"
"Oh, okay," Betty said. "I look forward to it. I better get going, but have a great morning!"
"Uh, yeah, you too. And thanks for the bowl. I mean, returning it. Um, we'll see you tonight."
He hoped he wasn't rude in shutting the door as quickly as he did, but seriously, 7:30 in the morning? She couldn't just bring it with her that night?
He listened for sounds of Sue getting up and still didn't hear anything, so he went upstairs to check, approaching the door cautiously in case she wasn't dressed or something. Instead, he found her still asleep . . . and Levi curled up next to her.
"Thanks a lot," he whispered to Levi, before remembering Sue wouldn't hear him anyway. Levi yawned at him. "Yeah, that's what you get for getting up early to go wreak havoc on the kitchen," he added, not bothering to whisper anymore.
Jack tentatively reached out to shake Sue's shoulder, and though he'd already remembered that she wouldn't hear him, he couldn't help but instinctually say her name softly at the same time."Sue. Sue, wake up." When she finally turned and looked up at him in confusion, he said, "It's time to get up, it's 7:30."
"Did you say 7:30?" she asked? At the confirmation of both his nod, and her own glance to the clock, she said, "Oh, I overslept. I must've been tired. When did you get up?"
"Not too long ago," he lied, not wanting her to know her alarm had woken him, and also not wanting her to know how they'd been positioned when he woke. "I had to get up to answer the door. Betty returned the salad bowl from last night."
"At 7:30 in the morning?" He shrugged. "It's possible they're surveilling us," she muttered, wiping sleep from her eyes.
"So I told her that, uh, you were in the shower and that you'd catch up with her later. In the meantime, we're expected at the office."
"I'm up," Sue said quickly.
He paused a moment before saying, "I like your hair in the morning too," and then turning to dart out of the room.
Sue was nearly done her shower when the shower door came swinging in toward her. She jumped, but thankfully it was just Levi.
Wait. "Levi! How did you get in here? Go on, I'll be out in a few minutes."
She pulled back into the shower, only to see the lights start flashing. Poking her head back out and seeing a hand hovering by the lightswitch, she called, "Jack? Is that you?"
The lights flashed again.
"You need something?"
His hand poked back in, first in a fist signing the word "yes," then open and waving "come."
"Okay, I'll be right out," she said, confused. She really hadn't been in there that long. How much could've changed in that time frame? Given the nature of their mission, and the fact that he had actually gone to such lengths to get her attention from the shower, she had to assume that it was urgent, so rather than take time to properly dry and dress, she threw on her cotton robe over her wet skin.
When she exited the bathroom, though, Jack was nowhere to be found. She went searching, tentatively calling out, "Jack?" He came darting from around the corner, waving her toward the living room.
"Tara called," he said quickly as he led her back the way he had come. "Dessa's phone made another call to the Vanderwylens, but it's scrambled. I checked, Joseph is outside pacing around while he talks on the phone, come on!" He all but shoved the spy glass into her hand.
At the window, Sue immediately focused in and started translating. "He says something like . . . he's looking forward to the meeting. Now he's turned away again. He keeps pacing back and forth so I can't see his face half the time." As Joseph wandered, Sue lifted up onto her toes, moving the spy glass to a different slot in the venetian blinds accordingly. Then again. It was no good.
"I need something to stand on," she said, turning to Jack in frustration. He sprang immediately to action, grabbing a wicker magazine crate and placing it at the window for her. She climbed up and resumed looking out, but before she could get a good look, she wobbled.
And a strong pair of hands grabbed her waist to hold her steady.
Barely her waist. Almost on her hips. She tried to steady her breathing and focus on the task at hand, just in time to catch Joseph's final words before he closed the phone.
She inhaled sharply. Had she read that right? She turned to Jack in alarm at what she had seen, which immediately reverted to alarm at the close proximity as he held her steady. A sudden burst of modesty came over her and she placed her hand at the V of her robe, even though it wasn't at all low. Jack seemed similarly concerned about their compromising position, but not more than he was concerned that he not let her fall. As she turned to step down, he kept his hands on her, guiding her carefully, only letting go and backing up to a safe distance once she was firmly on the floor again.
She was at once relieved and disappointed at the loss of his touch. But she couldn't dwell on that right now. This was far more urgent.
"He hung up and went back inside."
"What did he say?"
"The weather is perfect. The plan is in motion. We will have thousands of reasons to rejoice."
They let that hang heavily between them for a moment before Sue said, "I, uh, better go get dressed so we can get to the office."