Erin's POV
“So I told him he must really be trippin’ if he thought I'd let not only an open container but also about 4 kilos of weed go by for only $5,” Marty said.
I'd been laughing so hard at his stories I thought my sides would fall off. Marty's a pretty neat guy. He knows Pete really well and actually reminds me of him in many ways. I'm really glad that Mac made him my partner. He's a good teacher too.
“Wow, I can't believe he'd try that!”
“1-Adam-51, 1-Adam-51, 211 in progress, 2811 N. Dixon Dr., 1-Adam-51 respond code 2.”
“1-Adam-51, Roger,” I replied.
“1-Adam-12, we'll backup 1-Adam-51 on the 211.”
“1-Adam-12, Roger.”
“Six houses down on the right,” I told Marty once I could tell which house it was. Reed and Malloy pulled up a few seconds after.
“Go around back and cover the alley,” Marty told them. As they headed off, we got out and started sneaking up on the front door. Marty had the shotgun, I had my gun drawn. All of a sudden, the suspect bolted out of a side door, heading for the alley. Jim jumped out from behind the house and tried to tackle the man. Somehow, though, the suspect got the upper hand and had Jim face-down on the ground, gun pressing at the base of his skull. I stopped in my tracks, gun still pointed at the suspect.
“One false move and your 'brother in blue’ gets it,” the man said. I mentally shuddered at the thought of Jim being in this situation. To keep focused, though, I knew I had to put those thoughts, and my memories, out of my mind.
“Who cares?” I said. Pete was further back behind the man and I knew if I stalled, he'd be able to catch the man.
“Who cares?” The man yelled incredulously. “What do you mean? Aren't you all 'brothers’?”
“Not me. I can't stand them,” I said with hate in my voice. I wish I didn't have to say anything. Especially saying this. But this is the only way I could think of to keep him busy. “The ones I'm forced to work with are annoying little brats who think they can rule the road.”
“You're bluffing,” He replied. But I could tell he was getting confused.
“I never bluff,” I said immediately. I carefully switched my aim and pointed my gun at Jim. The man sputtered, trying to understand. He started to raise his hand, with the gun, as if to scratch his head. As soon as the barrel was not pointing at Jim, Pete jumped and grabbed the man's arm and gun. He yelled as Pete took the gun away and handcuffed him. Pete and Marty pulled him off Jim and headed to the car. I took a deep breath, afraid to see Jim's reaction. As Jim started to get up, I quickly turned away.
“Wait!” Jim said, grabbing my arm. I turned and looked at him, surprised at his smile. He looked around, making sure no one was watching and leaned over as if to whisper something in my ear. Instead, though, he kissed me on the cheek. I gasped softly in surprise.
“Jim! What-” He shushed me.
“You’re a terrible bluff,” He said smirking. We both laughed, though mine was mostly in relief. We walked back to the cars together smiling. “We'll talk later,” He said. I nodded and headed to my car. The man we arrested was sitting in the back seat watching Jim and I return, laughing and talking.
“Hey!” He said through the open window before I got in. “I thought you hated him!”
“What can I say?” I replied shrugging. “I lied!” Jim laughed from his car and we all headed back to the station.
“Good job, Blair,” Mac told me later in the locker room as we were about to leave.
“Thanks,” I replied. “I'm just glad it turned out well. Honestly, it felt terrible to say all that.”
“Well, it was a stroke of genius. Keep it up,” He replied patting me on the shoulder. As he left, Jim and Pete walked up to me.
“He's right, you know. That was a brilliant idea,” Pete said smirking. Jim nodded and agreed with him. I blushed deeply and smiled.
“Well, thanks fellas. I'm glad you're still with us,” I directed the last part to Jim who smiled back.
“Me too,” he replied chuckling. “So, I was thinking,” he started nervously. “How about you and I go out for dinner tonight to, uh, celebrate?” I giggled and nodded.
“That sounds lovely, Jim, but you were going to ask me out anyway, weren't you?” I smiled knowingly. He smiled and nodded.
“He's been wanting to ask you out for weeks,” Pete butted in. “Probably months actually.”
“Pete!” Jim exclaimed as I laughed. Those two were the perfect team.
“Jim, it's alright. How about we each head home and you pick me up in a couple of hours. Around 7?”
“Sounds wonderful,” He replied grinning from ear to ear. We all grabbed our things and headed out. Once my carpool dropped me off, I headed straight for a nice hot shower. Once I got out, I went to my room to pick out my outfit for tonight.
“I have nothing to wear!” I groaned flopping back on my bed which now had about half my closet on it. “Wait! I have that one dress I bought when I first moved here!” I dug through the rest of my clothes and found it.
By the time I finished getting ready, it was almost 7. I decided to pass the remaining time by looking at my old photo album. I flipped through the pages, looking at the pictures Mom had taken of me, Dad and Christopher, my older brother.
Flashback - Erin's POV
“Erin! I made it! They accepted me! I start at the academy next week!”
“That's wonderful, Chris! Congratulations!”
~~~
“They're assigning me a partner who's been in the force for 10 years already. He's a little weird but a great teacher!”
“That'll be good for you. He'll teach you a lot.”
~~~
“Is everything Ok, Chris?”
“Y-yeah.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I'm fine. Charlie’s been a little off since his wife died, but, uh, I'm sure it'll pass.”
~~~
“Don't come any closer!”
“Charlie, you don't have to do this! The department said they'd help you with the arrangements.”
“Ha! They've never helped me! All they've ever given me was a whiny rookie to train who they care about more than some old man who's been loyal to this crummy department. Now say goodbye to your little sister, Christopher.”
BANG!
Present - Erin's POV
Bang bang bang
“Oh!” I said coming back to reality and looking at my watch. It was 7 and Jim was knocking at my door.
“Hi!” He said when I opened up. “Are you ok?”
“Yeah,” I replied. “I was, uh, just thinking.” I grabbed a tissue and wiped away the tears I hadn't realized had escaped.
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“Maybe later. For now, let's go enjoy our supper.”
“That sounds wonderful,” He said smiling. He offered me his arm and we headed to his car. We went to a nice little Italian restaurant that Jim had mentioned to me before.
“That was some really good alfredo!” I told Jim after we'd finished eating.
“I'm glad you liked it! This is one of my favorite places to go. So, uh, do you want to go for a walk? The park next to Pete's place isn't far from here. They have a really nice lake.”
“Sounds good! Let's go!” Once we got there, we started walking towards the lake, hand in hand. “Thanks for taking me out tonight, Jim,” I said. “I'm really having a wonderful time.”
“You're welcome. I'm,” He took a deep breath. “I'm really having a wonderful time too. You've been so good to me these past few months. I honestly don't know what I'd do without you. Even Jimmy asks me about you. He really likes you.”
“Afraid of a little competition?” I joked. Jim laughed.
“Really though, you mean the world to me and Jimmy. I really want this to work.”
“Me too, Jim, me too.” We'd stopped walking once we'd gotten to the bridge. Jim turned to face me and took my hands in his.
“I think I love you,” he whispered, tucking a stray hair behind my ear and leaning in.
“I think I love you too.” When our lips finally met, the world seemed to disappear for a moment.