X Marks the Spot

25 - Day Six

The next few days passed quickly for Grayson. He wasn't sure if it was because he knew his time with Justin as his partner in the investigation was limited, or because he was enjoying it, even though he knew he shouldn't have been. It was a serious matter that he was trying to bring an end to, but he couldn't help but feel like Justin's presence lightened the situation considerably.

Grayson's encounter with Nolan had been something of a wake-up call for Justin. As modestly as he'd behaved when discussing it with Grayson, he'd saved his life, and he knew it: he'd distracted Nolan, been a (partially) successful getaway driver despite having never driven a car before and even tended to Grayson's wounds when he was unconscious, even though he had no experience in first aid. Grayson had momentarily left him - that wasn't his fault; he'd been shot, but Justin had expected to crumble under the pressure. He'd thought he wasn't good enough to handle it, but the simple fact was Grayson had given him more confidence in five days than he'd perhaps ever had.

Thus far, they had questioned sixteen suspects, playing the roles of official investigators. Justin initially had his doubts but, as always, Grayson managed to convince him that it was a good idea. Every single suspect had believed the facade, but every single suspect also had an alibi - so far, at least.

After meeting the sixteenth suspect and having a long discussion about the credibility of his alibi, Grayson and Justin returned to Grayson's flat. There was something uncomfortable lingering in the atmosphere between them: the five days had drawn to a close. There was only one suspect left from Nolan's notebook, but Grayson planned to interrogate him the next day, as the last suspect had taken so long for them to talk to that the sun had set hours ago. Justin returned to the flat with Grayson because he had left his coat there, but as soon as he had retrieved it, he had no association to Grayson whatsoever; he owed him nothing. And neither of the two were entirely sure how to handle the situation.

"So, look," Grayson said casually as soon as Justin picked up the coat, "the five days are up. You don't have to stay anymore. Do you need a ride home?"

"Seriously?" Justin's tone was completely different to how Grayson had expected; he hadn't ever heard him so... bitter.

"What?" Grayson wasn't sure what he'd said wrong. The deal had been for Justin to leave after five days with his debt paid off.

"I came this far and I don't get to see how it turns out?"

"But..." Grayson couldn't understand. "This was the deal. Five days, debt paid. Nothing more, nothing less. You don't need to be here anymore."

"I know, but... it's just one more day. I just want to know that we have the right guy."

Grayson wasn't sure what was going on, and he wouldn't claim to know Justin particularly well. But he knew something wasn't right here.

"No you don't."

"What?"

"You don't want to see how this 'turns out'. Right from the beginning, you didn't want to do this. Every single time we've done something the slightest bit risky, you've told me it was a bad idea."

"Come on, Grayson. That's not -"

"Don't tell me it's not true. You didn't want a part in any of this, you just owed me a favour. So stop making excuses and tell me truth. Why do you want to stay?"

Justin couldn't explain. He simply wasn't capable of expressing his emotions, and Grayson was struggling to understand the situation. He didn't know what Justin was trying to say to him.

"You don't have to stay. I don't need you, so just tell me what's keeping you here."

Justin finally gave up. "You're right. I don't have to be here."

And he walked out, Grayson calling his name until he was too far away to hear. Grayson hadn't wanted him to leave; he'd just wanted the truth, but he hadn't understood what he'd said wrong. Maybe he was better off working alone.

***

Grayson woke up the next day still feeling guilty about the previous day's events, but tried not to dwell on it. After all, there was only one client of Nolan's left to question, and as much as Grayson didn't want to think about Justin, he thought back to what he'd said to him after he'd been shot: they were on the right track. Grayson had seen every victim of the X Killer, and he was determined to put an end to that.

He got dressed, picked up Nolan's notebook and prepared to leave the flat before he realised he'd forgotten his phone. He found it in his bedroom.

1:12

1 new voicemail

Intrigued, he played the message and was happy but surprised to hear who it was from.

"Hey, Grayson, it's... uh, it's Justin."

Sounding awkward as ever, Grayson thought to himself.

"I'm sorry about... what happened. I know I should have just said this to your face, but I'm not really good at that kind of thing... but you know that. So here it is.

"I just... I didn't want to leave. These five days, they've been... so different, and scary, and wonderful all at the same time. And I didn't want that to end. I just wanted you to... stick around. And I'm sorry I wasn't brave enough to say this face to face, but I just - well, I've said it now. No more excuses. And I'm sorry if I wasted your time, sorry if I messed up and said the wrong thing a couple of times. And sorry I didn't admit all this sooner."

Justin didn't speak for a few moments and Grayson wasn't sure if it was the end of the message.

"I guess that's it. Maybe - maybe I'll see you soon. Or maybe not. Your call."

He finally hung up. Grayson stood there, dumbfounded for a few moments. He pocketed his phone and walked to the door of the flat, planning to pick Justin up from his home. They'd started the investigation together, and Grayson wanted it to end the same way. Justin hadn't even needed to apologise; Grayson would have accepted him back into his life in a heartbeat if he'd only asked.

Grayson opened the door and locked it behind him, but was surprised once again. Justin was barely a metre down the corridor and they met in the middle.

"Grayson -"

He was cut off as Grayson pulled him into a hug that lasted a few seconds longer than was necessary, but was completely reciprocated. As he pulled away, Justin tried to speak again.

"Grayson, I -"

"There'll be time for all that later," Grayson interrupted. He pulled the notebook from his pocket. "Right now, we have a serial killer to catch."

Justin nodded, finally seeming content without a hint of fear or doubt showing on his face. "Okay."

"Let's finish this thing."