Piece It Together - Gavin Reed

13

"You know, you're gonna make that jacket stink of whatever fuckin' crap you bathe in."

"Oh, don't act like you don't love my signature scent!"

"I loved not having to smell it for 18 years, that's for sure."

"I don't know what you're spraying on my jacket but you better quit it." The brunette groaned, lying down on the girl's bed while looking up at the ceiling. He could hear the spritzing sound of perfume being sprayed in the room, assuming it was contaminating his coat.

"I'm just trying to make it smell nice instead of like whiskey and cigarettes."

"You know you love it."

"I really don't." She groaned, "Cigarettes smell gross and whiskey makes me wanna throw up."

"Have you ever even tried whiskey before?"

"Yeah; it was gross."

"I thought you were Mrs 'Top of the English Class', come up with a more creative word to insult God's gift to earth."

"Well, you plebian, whiskey tastes grotesque and you reak of it."

"I was being sarcastic."

"And I was being serious." She sits beside him on the edge of the bed, "This stuff could kill you."

"That's the point."

"Gavin," She turned to look at him, resting her hand atop his, "Drinking and smoking your problems away is the worst way to go about this. Come on, is there nothing you want to live for? Nothing you love?"

"I love... fucking you." The girl rolled her eyes, moving to stand up when he grabbed her wrist, "I was joking, Priss. I don't know, I love my mom."

"Then, why can't you live on for her?"

"Because I'm a disappointment. I'm turning out exactly like my deadbeat dad."

"Look, I don't know anything about your dad, but I've seen your work. You're smart and, with the right motivation, you could be really ambitious. What about becoming a detective? You were right about that problem-solving stuff."

"You think I could actually be successful?" The girl nodded, smiling, "You're barkin' up the wrong fuckin' tree, Priss. I'm a lost cause."

"You are not a lost cause, Gavin. I care about you. A lot. You can do great things with the right motivation."

"Are you 18 or 70?" Sighing, the girl threw the coat at him.

"You need to go; my uncle will be here soon."

"Y/n-"

"Seriously, Gavin, I can't have him knowing you were over. Just... go home." He groaned, watching the girl stand up before he got off the bed, storming out of the room. He slipped his shoes on before leaving the house, slamming the door shut.

The noise shook through the house, making her flop on the bed.

The boy sat in his car, bringing the jacket up for him to smell. It smelt of fruit and something sweet... vanilla, maybe? The smell made his stomach flip in the best way. He groaned at the feeling, throwing the coat into his passenger seat before driving off.

Arriving at the precinct, Y/n took the keys out of the car and grabbed her bag before leaving the car with Gavin. The brunette walked at his usual pace, his coffee in his good hand and his injured hand chilling in his pocket. She, however, had Gavin's jacket covering her head as she ran up to the building to get out of the snow. "You do know that you could've just parked closer, right?"

"Yeah, but I'm not gonna park in the disabled spots like a complete asshole. Now, hurry, it's fucking freezing out here!"

"Then go in!"

"No, we have to go in together!" Rolling his eyes, he turned his walk into a brisk jog as he got to her in a matter of seconds. "Thank you."

Walking in together had become part of their routine and she didn't like straying from it. She could handle herself, obviously, but walking in with someone made her feel warmer, especially when it was Gavin. Even after their rocky past he seemed to be warming up to her and living together made getting along a little easier since they were always talking.

Making sure she had her bag slung over her shoulder properly, she scanned her ID and speed-walked to her desk with shaky movements. Her hands clung to her reusable coffee cup that she was sipping the hot beverage from to warm herself up, plopping herself down across from Hank. "You're here early."

"Yeah, I'm stuck arranging a fuckin' meeting with whoever Elijah Kamski is."

"Elijah? Didn't he create Cyberlife?"

"Yes, he created the first android prototype to pass the Turing Test-" Yelping at the sudden scare, she spun to face the anonymous voice and swung her fist straight into their stomach. Connor fell to the ground, holding his stomach while Y/n covered her mouth.

"Connor, shit, I'm so so sorry- Hank, stop laughing!" An embarrassed blush covered her cheeks as she held her hand out to help the android up who took it, standing up and brushing himself off.

"There's no need to apologise, Detective L/n. I'll make sure my presence is known next time."

"Thanks. I'm sorry again, are you okay?"

"Of course. Androids don't feel pain."

"Right, yeah..." Hank let his laughter cease when he heard an obnoxious laugh coming from across the office. All three of them looked over at Gavin who was in hysterics over the entire ordeal. "Hey, do you think I could play of punching him with the same excuse?"

"I'm sure Fowler wouldn't mind. Might shut him up for a bit." Hank smirked.

"I'm not sure violence in the workplace is the best course of action. Perhaps some tape should do?" Y/n burst into laughter at Connor's comment, Hank letting a laugh escape his throat as well.

Later that day, she kept her eyes trained on the book she decided to take with her to work. Immersed in the world inside the book that she could picture every word of, she didn't notice Hank's call to Elijah nor Connor scanning the things on her desk to try and find more conversation with her. Gavin tapped his fingers against his desk, his fingers working to scroll through social media while Chris rolled his chair over. "Hey, Gavin!"

"'Sup, Chris?" He asked, taking a sip of his coffee without looking up from his phone. He was well acquainted with Chris as he was his partner before Chris was reassigned and Gavin was assigned Y/n. The two would sometimes go out for drinks but now the two would just talk in work due to Chris having a newborn now.

"I was wonderin' if you and Y/n were interested in going on a double date with me and Skyla-" Gavin began choking on his coffee, placing his phone on the desk and taking his feet off the tabletop as he coughed, turning away from Chris, "Woah, you okay, dude?"

"Yeah, no, I'm *cough* fucking wonderful." Composing himself, he rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Y/n and I aren't in that kinda relationship. We're just roommates."

Chris gave a knowing look before shrugging, "Hm, okay. Your loss."