【𝙰𝙰𝚁𝙾𝙽'𝚂 𝙿𝙾𝚅】𝚂𝙴𝙿𝚃𝙴𝙼𝙱𝙴𝚁 𝟸𝟺, 𝟷𝟷:𝟹𝟻 𝚙𝚖. 𝙰𝙰𝚁𝙾𝙽'𝚂 𝙰𝙿𝙰𝚁𝚃𝙼𝙴𝙽𝚃
I'm awoken by the sound of someone entering my apartment, a key dropping into the small ceramic bowl I have by the door and the sound of soft footsteps clueing me into who it is. I smile tiredly as Blaire knocks lightly on my door and pokes their head into my bedroom, seeing that I'm awake and stepping in fully, closing the door behind them.
"Hey Bug," I smile up at them as they take their pyjamas pants and hoodie off, leaving them in just their sleep shirt, and grab the small moth plush they keep at my place from the top of the dresser. I frown when they don't say anything and climb into the bed next to me so I roll onto my side to face them, pushing curls from their face, "What's wrong?"
"Not feeling good," Blaire mumbles, snuggling into me and burying their face in my chest. I roll onto my back again and shift them onto my chest, running my fingers through their hair to soothe them.
"Can I ask why?" I say quietly as they get comfy on top of me, clutching the plush toy in one hand and their other hooked under my arm to grab my shoulder, their face moving to rest in the crook of my neck.
"Missed you," They mumble again, yawning against my neck. I chuckle and pull them closer, always loving how cute and clingy they get when they're tired. We decided to give each other some space over the weekend but I knew Blaire would be clinging to me after work today, they always do after a weekend break, but it's never bothered me.
"Aww, baby," I smile, rubbing their back lightly, "I missed you too." I squeeze their side but they wince and groan a little, concerning me. "Did I hurt you?" I ask and they lift their head, shaking it.
"Uh-uh. I knocked into the corner of the counter earlier and so my side is a bit sore," Blaire explains, sitting up and lifting their shirt a little to show me a small bruise forming on their side, making me sit up, "You know I bruise easily."
"I see." I gently rub my thumb over the purple skin, hating the sight of a mark on my partner's body that my mouth didn't put there, "Did you put ice on it and take some aspirin?"
"Mhmm," Blaire nods, letting their shirt fall as I kiss their forehead.
"Good. Do you want me to kiss it better?" I joke, not expecting them to shyly nod. A smile forms on my face as I lift them to kneel so I can reach their side, pulling their shirt up just enough to see the bruise. Using my free hand to rub their thigh, I pepper a few light kisses over the bruise making Blaire giggle before I drop the fabric and move my hand to smooth over their messy hair. They sit back down on top of me and scoot closer, kissing me gently and smiling a little at me.
"Thank you." I return their smile and my hand wanders to their cheek, then their jawline and finally booping their nose, eliciting a soft giggle from my partner.
"Let's go to sleep, yeah?" I lay back down as Blaire yawns again, tugging them down with me and feeling them nod against my neck. I resume rubbing their back and running my fingers through their curls, making me chuckle as they lean into my touch.
Though Blaire and I haven't been together long, they've confessed to me that they've always felt safe around me. They had said that it was just something about me that made them feel as though everything would be okay if I was there. Since Haley died, I've been known to be cold and - I admit it, a hardass - so at first, I didn't know how to feel about the fact someone like them could feel so safe around me.
But as we got to know each other, it became clear to me how much I actually cared for them and how happy just their presence or the sound of their voice could make me. And when I inquired further into why Blaire felt that way around me they elaborated.
"You have a hard exterior, yes... but that doesn't mean that's who you are on the inside," Blaire's hand raises to sit over my heart, looking up at me with a smile. "I think that you donned this standoffish facade to protect yourself from getting hurt again. I've heard people say that you have an ice-cold heart but that simply isn't true, you're just scared to let someone in again and that's understandable. But I want you to know that if you ever want to let that down for a bit and take a break, I'll be there if you need anything. Grieving a loved one can be really hard, but you don't need to do it alone." Their smile turned a bit sad, clearly talking from experience, my heart aching for them.
Blaire was right, I did need to let that facade down sometimes and they stayed with me the entire time, just as they said they would. But I haven't been the only one to get more comfortable being myself. Blaire has slowly opened themself up and started showing more of their 'childish' traits, though, I've never seen those traits as a bad or weird thing.
They lost their childhood to abuse and I'm glad that I can provide an environment where they feel safe enough to release their inner child. I love watching Blaire get to experience playing with toys and watching cartoons, being a kid again. It makes my heart swell and puts a smile on my face each and every time. I adore watching them play with Jack because while others would see an adult playing with their son, I see two kids. One that's always been one and another that's learning to be a kid again. Learning to be happy within themself again.
~~~
【 𝙱𝙻𝙰𝙸𝚁𝙴'𝚂 𝙿𝙾𝚅 】𝚂𝙴𝙿𝚃𝙴𝙼𝙱𝙴𝚁 𝟸𝟻, 𝟽:𝟶𝟺 𝚊𝚖.
"Blaire~" I hear my name being called in a sing-song manner as lips come in contact with mine, a large hand pushing my hair back from my face. "Time to wake up, Bug." I smile at Aaron's name for me and hum as he moves to kiss my cheek, then littering light kisses across my jaw and down my neck, my fingers weaving into his hair.
"Do I have to?" I ask, moving my head so that he has more access to my neck as he chuckles against my skin, his hot breath making it tingle.
"Unfortunately, yes," Aaron says and I open my eyes as footsteps can be heard in the hallway, both of us looking over at the bedroom door as Jack comes barreling into the room with a wide smile on his face.
"Mama!" The boy jumps up onto the bed to see me, making all of us laugh.
"Good morning, conejito," I smile as Jack hugs me, Aaron moving off of me to sit by my feet and rubbing my legs through the covers, "How did you sleep?"
"Good, I missed you," Jack looks up at me and I run my fingers through his hair.
"I missed you too, buddy," I kiss his forehead and he sits up.
"Why can't you just live here with me? Then I can see you every day," Jack pouts and I glance at Aaron.
"Well, buddy, I'd have to talk about it with your dad later. Now, though, we need to get you ready for school," I smile and the little boy nods, running back out of the room. Aaron crawls forward a bit and leans over me again.
"Where was I?" He smirks and I reach up to grab the back of his neck, pulling him down for a gentle but deep kiss, "Good morning, Blaire."
"Good morning, Aaron," I sigh contently as he pulls back with a smile that I return, staring at each other for a few moments before he grabs my hands and helps me sit up.
"You feeling better?" He asks as I get out of bed and walk over to the bathroom, him following after me.
"Definitely," I smile and move to brush my teeth as he stands behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist.
"Good."
~~~
𝟾:𝟻𝟸 𝚊𝚖. 𝙱𝙰𝚄
"Jack asked me something earlier while you were in the shower," Aaron suddenly says as we get into the elevator to go up to the office, hands entwined.
"Yeah?" I look up from the book in my other hand at my boyfriend and he meets my curious gaze.
"He asked me to speak to his class about being a profiler for career day. I'm not sure if I should though," He elaborates and I smile, temporarily slipping my hand out of his.
"I think that's a great idea, the kids will love it," I reply, moving some stray strands of hair from his face as the elevator begins to move.
"I don't know..." Aaron huffs, closing his eyes and leaning his forehead against mine.
"Just think it over, amor. Whatever decision you come to, I'll be right there with you."
"Thank you." Within a few minutes, we're walking toward the kitchenette to make coffee.
~~~
𝟷𝟷:𝟸𝟼 𝚊𝚖
I take a deep breath and knock on Penelope's office door, scanning my ID to enter it and poking my head in as she turns around.
"Well hello there, mi amigo," She beams at me while I step into the room, closing the door behind me, "What can I do for you, lovely?"
"I need to ask a favour," I say quietly, walking over to her and standing before her, handing Penny the folded sticky note I've been fidgeting with for the past 10 minutes while I was standing outside of her office, debating whether or not to go in.
Her mood quickly changes from one of joy to one of concern, nodding, "Of course."
"I need you to look up these names and get me everything you can on them. And please don't tell Aaron, I'm... I'm not ready to tell him yet," I explain, looking down at the sticky note as she opens it.
"Yeah, I can do that. Who are they?"
"They're important to me."
"Are you okay?"
"Sí. I just... I just need to confirm some things," I nod, "I'll leave you to it. Can you just send me a message when you have everything? I'll come and pick it up."
"Alright."
"Thank you so much, Penny. To pay you back, the next round of drinks we get is on me," I smile at her and she grins.
"Oh, I'm definitely gonna take you up on that," Penny beams and I exit her office, walking back to my desk to resume my work. Throughout the day, my mind keeps going back to what I know about my parents and what Penelope could uncover about them. Not that I think there will be anything bad... but there might be things I don't know about them. More specifically, there could be more information about why they were killed. Information I don't know or wasn't told because of my age.
"Hey," Aaron's voice makes me jump, the pen in my hand flinging across the table as my heart rate skyrockets, his sudden presence making me fall from my chair, hitting my head against my desk, "Fuck, baby, are you okay?" He quickly kneels beside me, one hand on the back of my head and his other grasping mine, concern covering his face.
"Uh, um... yeah," I nod a little, still stunned and my heart beating rapidly, trying to catch my breath.
"Let me see your head," He instructs and I mindlessly lean forward, my forehead against his chest.
"Blaire?" Spencer's voice registers and I look up at my best friend, also having a concerned look on his face as he squats next to us, "You okay?" I just sit there looking at him, mouth open to say something but unable to.
"I accidentally startled them and they hit their head. It's bleeding, can you grab the med kit from the kitchen?" Aaron explains and Spence nods, getting up and rushing over to it, speeding back over to us. Spencer works on gluing up the small cut on the back of my head while Aaron takes my face in his hands, staring into my eyes, worried, "Bug, can you hear me?"
"Sí," I mutter, nodding again and aimlessly trying to grab his shirt.
"I'm so sorry for scaring you," He rubs over my cheeks with his thumbs, pressing a few kisses to my forehead, "How much does it hurt?"
"It's a dull... almost pulsing, I think. I don't know," I try to make a coherent sentence, my brain working very slowly.
"Sounds like they're experiencing brain fog as a result of the injury. It's likely they have a mild concussion, especially with how hard they hit their head. I'd suggest taking them to the ER to get properly checked out, but the cut is glued for now," Spencer explains.
"Alright, come on babe, let's get you up," Aaron helps me slowly to my feet, an arm wrapped around my waist for support, "Can you gather their things, please?"
"Yeah."
"Wait, I um... I need a file that, uh," I do my best to speak, "Penny is getting for me."
"We can grab it another time, okay?" Aaron starts to lead me away but I stop.
"No, no I, um... Fuck," I put a hand to my head, angry at myself for not being able to make a simple damn sentence.
"You need it now?" He asks understandingly and I nod, "Okay."
~~~
【𝙰𝙰𝚁𝙾𝙽'𝚂 𝙿𝙾𝚅】
"Thank you for taking a look at them," I offer Savannah a small smile, my hand rubbing over Blaire's lower back.
"It's my pleasure. Dr Reid was correct about the brain fog and disorientation, Dr Thorne should be back to normal by the morning. If it persists past then, come back and see me. Other than that, just keep a close eye on them, make sure they get plenty of sleep and try to avoid caffeine," She explains to me and I chuckle at the last part, looking at my partner next to me who's looking out the window.
"That last one's going to be hard, they live off the stuff."
"Just try your best," Savannah laughs softly, "Now. They can go to sleep, but you have to either wake them up every couple of hours to ask them some basic questions and make sure nothing has gotten worse. Or you can just stay awake and watch over them while they sleep. If they start acting unnatural while sleeping, then wake them up and do the same thing."
"Alright."
"You have my number if you need anything."
"Thanks again," I stand and shake her hand, helping Blaire up and walking them through the hospital towards the parking lot, both of us getting into my car. Before I start driving, I place my hand over theirs, prompting them to look at me, "Do you mind if we make a couple of stops before heading home?" Blaire shakes their head, bringing my hand up to their lips to kiss it, smiling up at me. I quickly drive to Target near my apartment, leading them through the store to the toys section, "Pick out what you want and don't worry about the prices."
"Why?" Blaire's brows pull together and I take their soft face in my hands, my thumb rubbing over the scar under their left eye, kissing them gently.
"As an apology for scaring you earlier and getting you hurt," I explain, looking into their beautiful eyes.
"You don't need to, amor. I know that it was an accident," They shake their head, hands moving to sit atop mine.
"Then can I just spoil you because I love you?" I ask, smiling at them and making them giggle, nodding.
"Okay." I watch as Blaire peruses the aisles, eventually picking out a few LEGO sets of some flowers and cars, some puzzles to keep in my office too for when they're overstimulated or even just finished with work.
How did I get so lucky?