Burn Marks (Joe Cruz/Chicago Fire Fanfic AU)

17. Vacation

I laid on my bed, shirtless and singing along to the song on Pandora. It was my day off and I was planning on going out with my girls later that day to spend a few days at a cabin. I didn't have a care in the world.

I faintly heard a knock on the front door. I got up and grabbed an old shirt, thinking it was Gabby. I was wrong though. Joe stood at the door, his mouth open slightly and his eyes searching my face.

I glared at him, keeping the door open a crack. "What do you want?"

"To talk. Naomi, please, I'm sorry. I love you."

"If you truly did, you wouldn't have done what you did," I growled. "I don't want to deal with this. Leave me alone."

I was about to close the door when Joe caught it. He was on the verge of crying.

"Mimi, please," Joe pleaded.

"Using my nickname won't help," I snapped.

"Hey, Joe!"

I looked down the street to see Dawson. She stepped forward with purpose and authority.

"What're you doing with my girl?" Dawson demanded as she walked down the path to my apartment. "I don't want you messing with her right now, alright?"

Joe looked between us both. "I didn't mean anything by it. I just wanted to apologize."

Dawson slipped in between us. "I know. Naomi doesn't want it right though. She already asked you to leave."

Joe glanced between us and then swallowed, nodding. He bid us goodbye and walked off. His head was down, watching the sidewalk.

Gabby looked back at me. "Are you doing alright, sweetheart?"

I nodded, swallowing. "Yeah. He wanted to talk but I couldn't." My voice broke a little. "I just want to go. I'll grab my stuff."

Gabby nodded. "Yeah, of course. I'll wait for you."

I went inside and changed shirts. I saw myself in the mirror and almost started sobbing. The sight of my mark made my heart drop.

I turned away and put on a clean shirt. I went downstairs with my bag in hand and followed Gabby outside.

I put my stuff in her truck and sat in the passenger seat. I started singing along, trying to forget my worries. We picked up Sylvie and Stella before we headed for the house we rented for the weekend.

It took us a few hours but I didn't mind. Anything to take mind off of Joe. We were cracking jokes and laughing that I didn't even think about anything.

We arrived and I dumped my stuff in one of the rooms. I was sharing with Sylvie as we didn't know Stella as well as Gabby did.

Sylvie joined me and claimed one of the beds. We left the room and sat in the kitchen, waiting for Gabby and Stella. They appeared a few minutes later, laughing at some joke. Gabby was holding some beer bottles.

"Are you guys ready to party?" Gabby asked, setting the beers down.

She handed everyone one and I popped one open.

"What do you guys want to do tonight?" I asked. "There's a swimming pool nearby and we could go there."

Sylvie nodded. "I'll go with you. Anyone else?"

Stella and Gabby agreed to go and after we ate dinner, we headed to the pool. I wore a navy swimsuit with a polka dot bikini. I looked fantastic. We all dipped into the pool and we swam around. It was really relaxing and fun. We eventually moved to the hot tub and I rested my head against the rim, breathing deeply.

"Naomi?" Sylvie asked.

"Yes?" I replied.

"Did you hear me?"

I shook my head. "No, I didn't. What'd you say?"

"Are you made up with Joe?" Sylvie asked. "Or have you not even talked to him?"

I shook my head. "No. I just can't. It might seem really stupid but he hurt me a lot. We're soulmates and he cheated on me."

"You can talk to him," Sylvie said. "He's really remorseful about it and he wants to make it better."

I shrugged. "It's not my fault. I'm not going back to him."

"Naomi -"

"Sylvie," Gabby warned. "Don't push it. Naomi doesn't want to talk about."

Sylvie's gaze lingered on me for a moment before looking away. The conversation left the topic of Joe and we stayed in the hot tub for a while longer. We returned to the hotel and changed. We hung out until we all went to sleep. I laid in bed, falling asleep quite easily.