(no subject)

( Marriage Age? )

5 Kisses

            The first time he kissed her was after he got back from visiting Chase at the hospital. He walked into his office, keeping the lights turned off and heading straight for his desk. He sat down in his chair, slowly lowering his head into his hands. He took deep breaths, trying to steady himself, but his emotions fought back, eventually overwhelming him. Hot tears coursed down his cheeks and his shoulders began to shake.

            He nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard the door slowly open. Looking up, he watched as Chloe crept into his office, a stack of files under her arm. She looked around nervously, but the shadows hid him from her sight. Reassured that the room was empty, she strode purposefully toward the desk. As she reached out to set the files down, he shifted slightly, causing the chair to creak. The sound caught her completely by surprise, and she dropped the files with a startled yelp.

            “Jack?” she asked, her voice shaky.

            “What the hell do you think you’re doing Chloe?” he growled.

            His angry tone immediately put her on the defensive. “I was just dropping off the files you wanted. I didn’t want you getting all pissy when you came in tomorrow if they weren’t here.”

            “Then leave them and go.”

            “Fine,” Chloe snapped back. She picked the fallen files off the floor and slammed them onto his desk, turning to leave. She stopped at the door as a sudden thought struck her. Turning back around, she walked toward his desk again, nervously wringing her hands. “Jack…are you crying?”

            He tried to snap at her, tried to yell something at her that would make her go away. But the words caught in his throat, forming a huge lump there. His mouth moved as he continued to try and force something – anything – out, but the only sound he could make was a strangled sob.

            Caught off-guard by this display of emotion, Chloe was surprised to find herself walking around his desk and awkwardly wrapping her arms around Jack’s shoulders. At first he tried to pull away, but she continued to hold on to him, and he eventually turned into her, nuzzling his face into her neck. As the tears came fell, Jack wrapped his arms around Chloe’s waist, dragging her unceremoniously into his lap. His shoulders shook harder and his grip tightened. Chloe rubbed comforting circles on his on his back and held him close, letting him take the strength he needed from her.

            Finally he pulled back slowly until their noses were touching. He stared at her, seemingly searching her eyes for something. Leaning in slowly, he touched his lips to hers. When she didn’t pull back, he grew bolder, tilting his head to deepen the kiss. He explored her mouth with his tongue slowly, drinking in the taste of her. Her fingers threaded through his short hair, tightening their hold and pulling him even closer. Their kisses grew more urgent as Chloe shifted so that she straddling him, her thighs clenching his. Jack moaned at their closeness, his hands inching up underneath her shirt.

            And then she was pulling away and scrambling off of his lap. Her hand was on her mouth and she looked at him in shock. Both were breathing heavily.

            “We can’t do this, Jack,” she said, shaking her head.

            “Why not?” he asked her, longing in his voice.

            Chloe continued backing away until she was at the door. Opening it, she turned to look at him again. “Because you don’t want me, Jack,” she whispered.

            Two weeks later, Jack accepted a job in Washington D.C.