I Love You/I Hate You

❤️Chapter 24❤️

          Connor watched outside the car window, on patrol once again with Hank. He watched a couple walking down the sidewalk, holding hands. He looked at his hand, watching the skin disappear and reveal the white layer underneath. Hank looked at him. "What are you doing?" He looked at Connor's hand. "Nothing, Lieutenant." Connor hid his hand as the skin slowly reappeared. He watched out the window again. Hank looked away, shrugging it off. He sighed, getting tired. "We should head back to the precinct." He suggested. "If you want to." Connor looked at Hank. Hank started to drive towards the police department, Connor peeking at his hand. He didn't know why, but he kinda wanted to hold someone's hand or just love someone in that way. He looked forward, watching the road. "Hank?" He spoke. "What?" Hank kept his eyes on the road, still listening to Connor. "I'm sorry if this is a touchy subject. You don't have to respond, but, what was it like to have a partner around? Your wife, to be more specific." Connor asked, still watching the road too. Hank went silent for a bit before speaking again. "It was nice. I don't want to talk about all that right now." He gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. "That's understandable." Connor looked at the sky. "Why are you asking?" Hank asked as he pulled up to the PD. "No reason. I was just wondering." Connor lied, looking down at his lap before getting out of the car. "Whatever you say." Hank responded getting out of the car too. "I'm going to talk to Nines about something. I'll be at the desk afterward, okay?" Connor walked beside Hank. "Okay." Hank entered, Connor holding the door open for him. Once they entered the precinct, Connor went looking for Nines. He found him leaning against Gavin's desk, looking through already completed cases, curious about everything that happened before he was sent to work for them. Meanwhile, Gavin scrolled on his phone, not really working as usual. "Nines, can I talk to you real quick?" He asked. Nines looked over at him. "Yeah, of course." He responded, putting away the files. Connor led him to the breakroom, standing by their table. "Is everything okay, Connor?" Nines asked, worried. "Everything's fine, I just wanted to ask you something." Connor responded. Nines listened. "What is it like to have a partner like Gavin? I don't mean work partner, I mean a romantic partner. What is that like?" Connor asked, leaning on the table. Nines scoffed. "An adventure no matter what kind of partner, why?" He held his own hands behind his back. "I saw a couple walking down the sidewalk while out on patrol, and it just looked nice seeing something like that. I kind of want to feel something like that." Connor answered, feeling a little embarrassed about it. "You want a girlfriend?" Nines smirked. "Or boyfriend...or both." He continued. "Yes, I think I do." Connor looked down at his hands. "Need a wingman?" Gavin asked, walking over to them. They both jolted around, looking at him. "Did you both really not notice me?" Gavin looked at them, stifling a laugh. "We were focused on each other." Nines responded. "Still." Gavin chuckled. "A wingman?" Connor asked. "Y'know, someone who can help you get a girlfriend or boyfriend, whatever you prefer. Help you talk to someone you might like." Gavin leaned against the table too. "Uh, sure." Connor shrugged, accepting Gavin's help. "Fucking bet." Gavin smirked, walking off to the coffee machine. Nines watched Gavin, then looked at Connor. "I can't tell if you're going to regret that or not." He spoke. "I heard that." Gavin looked at Nines, who was looking back at him. "Good." He smirked. Connor rolled his eyes.

Katrina laid in the treehouse, her head resting on Clara's lap. "I still can't believe you cut your hair and it looks so nice!" Clara smiled. "Thank you! I don't know why I did it. I guess I just wanted to!" Katrina responded. "Can you cut mine?" Clara asked. "No! I like your long hair." Katrina whined. "I know! I like it too." Clara giggled. "Then no, I'm not cutting your hair." Katrina crossed her arms, pouting. Clara giggled again. She grabbed Katrina's cat plush and dropped it onto her face. Katrina flinched at first, trying to catch it, but failed. She let her hands drop, the cat plush slowly flopping onto the ground beside her. "Rude." She joked. "I know." Clara joked too. Jesse watched them, peeking over Clayton's switch that he was playing on. He rolled his eyes, going back to his game. Katrina and Clara noticed. They started whispering to each other. "Hey, Jesse!" Katrina spoke. "What?" Jesse looked at her again. "Put down the game for a second, please?" She asked. Jesse put down the game, confused. Katrina and Clara threw their plushes at him. "Hey!" He complained. The girls giggled. They heard sirens, which caused Jesse to duck under the window he was sitting in front of. Clara ducked a little too, not expecting to hear sirens. Jesse peeked out the window, curious if he could see the cops and what was going on. He couldn't see anything, so he ignored it. "Hm, a criminal has failed at their job, I guess." He joked. Katrina sat up, leaning against the wall. "Or someone got injured. We'll know how bad it is if we hear an EMS." She responded. Jesse shrugged, continuing his game. "What are you playing?" Clara asked. The girls got curious, crawling over to him to watch him play. The cops had been called to a house where the neighbors suspected some drugs were being dealt. Red Ice, to be specific. After they dealt with that, which the neighbor was right about. Gavin sat at his desk, dealing with the new case. "Red ice, red ice. Blah blah." He sounded annoyed. "Tired of seeing those words?" Nines asked, helping him with the file. "Very much, yes." Gavin sighed, typing on his computer. Nines ruffled Gavin's hair. "You'll survive." He looked at him. Gavin looked up at Nines then back at his computer. "sadly." He pouted. Nines rolled his eyes. "It's good, not sad." He responded. "For you. For me? It's just sad." Gavin joked.