Spark in the Dark

Chapter 31

Shawn got home and went to change into more comfortable clothes. She went back down stairs and was in the door way to the kitchen when the door opened and Juice walked in. Shawn smiled a tired smile and leaned against the doorway.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Hey," he said back and approached her. He stood close to her and put his hands on her hips. "You ok?"

"Yea, I'm fine."

"You heard about Abel?"

Shawn nodded. "Gemma called. I met her at the hospital and I got to see him."

Juice waited to see if she was going to continue, but she didn't. Instead she looked at his chest and traced the edges of his patch with her index finger.

"You sure you're ok?" Juice asked.

"I'm just tired. Maybe a little sad," she admitted and looked up to meet his eyes.

"Maybe I can help with that," he whispered and leaned in to kiss her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, but it felt like something was missing. Juice knew she wasn't as into it as she normally was.

He pulled away and picked her up. He carried her to the bottom of the stairs and was about to carry her up when she stopped him.

"Remember what happened last time?" She asked with a smile.

He did remember. He had tried to carry her up the steps one night and had lost his balance. They both almost fell, but he let go of her legs and grabbed the railing in time.

"I do. Not a terrible memory," Juice replied with a smile. After they recovered, they ended up making out on her stairs before finally making it into her bedroom.

Juice put her down and Shawn took his hand to lead him to her room. They entered the room and Juice took off his cut and then his boots. He laid her down on the bed and kissed her. As they kissed, he reached for the tv remote. Shawn broke the kiss to see what he was doing.

"Seriously?" She asked, amused.

"Do you really want to have sex right now? Honestly."

"You do."

"Don't worry about me. Do you want to?"

Shawn didn't answer, but shrugged instead. Juice moved so he was no longer on top of her. He turned on the tv and pulled her to him so she was cuddled into his side. She looked at his face in disbelief as he channel surfed. After a minute, he stopped on a movie.

"This ok with you?"

Shawn finally looked away from him and looked at the tv. He had picked a comedy that Shawn had seen before and knew she liked.

"Yea, this is good."

They watched for awhile, but Shawn hadn't been lying when she said she was tired. With her head still resting on him, she began to doze off.

"Can I ask you something?" Juice's voice woke her, but just a little bit.

"Hmm?" She hummed.

"Do you," Juice hesitated. "want that one day?"

"Want what?" Shawn asked, beginning to wake up. She looked at the tv and saw the main character of the movie was with his wife and kids. She looked up at him. "Is that your way of asking me if I want kids?"

"Is it too soon for me to ask you that?"

"You can ask me anything. Yea, I think I'd want at least one."

"I don't think I could have just one. Being an only child seems boring."

"So, you want two?"

"Maybe three. Ya know, so there's a tie breaker in there."

"Yea, but then there's always someone left out."

It occured to Juice that Shawn might be speaking from experience. "We should probably figure out how to break it to your dad that we're dating before we get that far."

"Could you imagine if we told him you knocked me up before telling him that we're together?"

"He'd scatter my body parts all over Chigger Woods."

Shawn began to giggle. Juice looked down at her and smiled. He had never heard an actual giggle come out her before.

"I'm so sorry," Shawn continued to laugh. "I know that's not funny. I think I'm just tired and it's making me delirious."

"If you're tired, I can go. Let you get some sleep?"

"Stay," Shawn requested. "You never stay. Just stay this once."

"Guys might notice if I'm gone all night," Juice pointed out.

"So? Tell them you took a girl back to her place and got laid. What do you tell them if they ask any other night?"

"They've never asked actually... You really want me to?" Shawn nodded. Juice stood and took off his pants and shirt. Then he pulled back her covers and Shawn moved so she could slide beneath them. He turned off the tv before getting in bed and she curled up next to him, again.

"This ok?" Shawn asked, her voice already thick with sleep.

"Perfect."