Like Father, Like Son ✔

Chapter 23 - Five Days Gone

As she was putting the bag back in its place, she heard a retching sound coming from the bathroom and without even thinking she made her way over and pushed open the door. Nick was crouched over the toilet in nothing but his boxer-briefs. He looked—really, really bad. His skin was clammy and pale, and he hadn't shaved at all since she last saw him, she knew that much from the unruly scruff that'd accumulated on his face.

"Hi," she whispered.

He let his shoulders sag and his forehead hit the edge of the porcelain bowl. "I'm sorry—I heard you, I tried... going to the door... but..." he heaved a couple times, and Cat turned her head to the side when she thought he might throw up again. He didn't. She wondered if he even had anything in his system to throw up anymore. "My stomach had other ideas," he muttered, spitting up some leftover bile and wiping his mouth with the back of his shaky hand.

Cat only stood there for a moment longer before jumping into action. She pulled open the shower curtain and turned the tap until the water was lukewarm against her fingertips. She reached down and touched a tentative hand to Nick's shoulder. He was covered in icy sweat.

"Come on," she said, giving a little tug underneath his arm. "You're like, a foot taller than me, you've got to help yourself up," she whispered.

"Luke isn't here, is he?" Nick asked, looking worried.

"Of course he's not. I'm not letting him see you like this," Cat huffed.

Once he was standing in front of her, she pulled down his underwear and tossed them to the side where he'd discarded some other articles of clothing from days previous. "Get in," she commanded.

Nick did as he was told, but he wasn't helping himself much more than that. He just stood there in the shower as the water poured over him. He had one hand gripping the wall so that he wouldn't go falling down into the tub.

Cat sighed. This was so pointless. She climbed into the shower with him, fully clothed. In any other circumstance, this could've turned into something really hot and sexy, but right now she was way too beyond pissed at him to even think about the fact that he was right there, very wet and very naked.

She started rubbing him down with his soap and shampooed his tangled hair.

"You didn't have to come here," he murmured, his voice barely audible over the sound of the running water pelting down on both their heads.

"Like hell I didn't, Nick you're a fucking mess! Had I not come here, you would've probably drowned in your own puke... or... I don't know... Just, let me help," she told him stubbornly.

His fingers reached up to touch her cheek and Cat let her eyes drift shut. Despite every negative emotion running through her right now, including the strong desire to slap him, Nick still had a way of making her feel weak in the knees with just a single fingertip.

"I'm sorry for running off the other day," he whispered.

She made him duck his head underneath the water and started running her fingers through his hair, washing all of the shampoo away.

"You needed to figure stuff out, I get it," Cat told him tonelessly.

"You're mad," Nick breathed.

"Of course I am! I'm fucking pissed at you right now, you asshole!" Cat cried out in exasperation, her voice shriller than usual.

Nick didn't stop her from speaking, so she went on. When the words started to flow, they just couldn't stop.

"Nick, do you have any idea how scared I was?! You didn't answer any of my calls or texts for days! I had to call your mother to try and track you down because you weren't here! She's worried sick about you too! Your sisters are worried! Luke has been crying himself to sleep every night because you're not there to do the voices for story time! He thinks he did something to make you run off! He thinks it's his fault both his dads ran off! Nick—" she trailed off, her tears mixing with the water from the shower. She took his face in her hands and stared into his gray eyes, a pair of eyes that could never look back at her. "You have to understand... It's not just you you're hurting right now by doing this whole drunken self-pity thing. You're hurting me, and you're hurting a little boy that absolutely loves you."

Nick nodded.

"So you're going to fix your shit and come home to us?" Cat asked in a softer, gentler voice, stroking his beard.

"Do you still want me there?" Nick asked miserably.

"Yes, I do, baby we're not giving up on you so easily, so don't you dare give up on us... you got it? We're in this together now, we're a team, and a damn good one at that," she told him. "I love you, so much," she added in a faint whisper.

"I love you too," he replied.

"Good, now that we've got that sorted... I'm gonna borrow some of your clothes... You're going to shave, because you look like shit... and brush your teeth while you're at it, if you ever want me to kiss you again. Then we'll talk about coffee and food," she ordered him, turning the tap off and struggling to get out of the shower wearing wet jeans.

"I like it when you take control like that," Nick said dryly, although when Cat turned around to make sure he could get out of the shower alright, she found that he looked a little more like his usual self, a sly grin struggling to peek through the days' worth of wear and tear on his face. "There might be some Irene Adler in you yet," he added.

"No shit, Sherlock," Cat smiled, wrapping him up in a clean towel. He opened his arms up to her and she sighed, meeting him for a long embrace. He wrapped the towel around the both of them and rubbed it against her wet clothes, the friction warming her up. She let her cheek rest against his bare chest, feeling like she might just fall asleep then and there.

It'd been a long five days.