True to You

Give Me Your Hand

"So the seventies shag palace is a joke? This," Elliot extended an expansive arm, "is how you prefer to live?"

"Well I'm not sure that living is the best way to describe what we do here but I do prefer to do whatever it is I do in this room."

Elliot's mouth hung open as she took in the space that was a variation of the one she occupied. Spacious, open, colourful and instead of the drum kit being tucked away in a corner it was a huge beast of a thing placed front and centre. The piano alongside it was lacking the sparkle of the one in the shag palace but on the plus side it had a far superior sound. He'd never been able to think a good sound into the rhinestone one.

"But how? How can you do this?" If her eyes opened any wider they'd be in danger of falling out of her head.

"You can do it too but it takes practise."

Elliot rubbed at her temples like she was trying to smooth away a headache. "Wow. Again, this is all wow."

"Come on, sit, relax, process." Jimmy spun her around and pressed his palms to her shoulders directing her toward the sofa before turning back to the kitchen. When he returned he sat beside her and pressed a beer into her hands. She took a sip, looked at him, shook her head, took another sip and sighed before saying, "It's all a lot to take in James."

There she went again calling him James like old times. The break in his heart that he'd thought was permanent healed a fraction more.

Jimmy slung an arm around her shoulders and felt rewarded when she snuggled in closer. "You're doing real good Elli. I wouldn't lie to you. I might bullshit a bit and deliberately make ugly decorating choices to piss off Val but I'd never lie to you."

Their eyes locked as she searched his gaze for something, he wasn't entirely sure what. "Never?" Elliot's voice was a whisper.

"Never," he confirmed. "I never have and I never will." He refused to break their eye contact. He hadn't lied. He wasn't the one who'd broken their agreement. She may have lied but he hadn't.

"But what about..." she began and he cut her off with a finger to her lips. "I've never lied to you Elli."

The sparkle in her eyes was no longer happiness as it had been only minutes earlier, it was the glimmer of imminent tears. "Don't cry Elli. I hate to see you sad," he murmured as he leaned closer and lifted his finger from her lips to trail across her cheek.

"James." His name was a breath. He found himself leaning in closer, every part of her drew him near and he was desperate for her. Words could wait. He didn't want to hear her apology or her excuses or even possibly her accusations. The story of why she'd broken his heart could be told at another time. For now all he wanted was to feel. Elliot's eyelashes lowered as he grew ever closer.

"Shhh." He whispered across her lips. "We can talk later." He brushed his lips softly across hers. She gave a gasp. Of surprise? Dismay? Excitement? Before he could pull away to check which her fingers were threading through his hair and she was pulling him closer. She gave a little moan of pleasure when he deepened the kiss and slipped his arm around her waist, his searching hand found warm skin beneath her t-shirt.

In a flash Elliot was in his lap her fingers still tangled in his hair. Jimmy stretched one arm up the length of her spine, his palm firm between her shoulder blades his other hand splayed across the small of her back holding her close. He was painfully hard. It had been a long time for him. The little shimmy/grind Elliot was doing in his lap had him groaning and fighting not to blow his load in his jeans like a teenager. But it was Elliot and she made him feel like a teenager. He tore his lips away from hers and sucked in a couple of deep breaths.