Borrowed Time

Chapter Seventy

They'd been sitting outside the entrance to the police station for fifteen minutes and honestly, Juliette felt like she could've already been in and out if Esme wasn't so worried about her... She was gonna be fine, she didn't need anyone to come with her, this was how she wanted to do it.

"Are you 100% sure that you don't want me to wait in there with you?" Esme asked, and Juliette nodded... She could see how nervous Esme was even in the parking lot, and she couldn't blame her for that. Their cops were notoriously bad, rarely ever helpful... But she still had to try, right?

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'll be fine, it's no big deal." Juliette insisted, earning her a look from Esme as she shook her head. Okay, well, that wasn't really for her to decide, now was it?

"Honey, this is the definition of a big deal... Talking about what happened isn't going to be easy, it still scares you sometimes... I just don't want you getting hurt. I love you too much for that." Cute. Juliette leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to Esme's lips, holding her there for a beat longer than normal... She loved her too, and that was part of why she wasn't making her go in there.

"You're sweet." One more kiss, a softer, quicker one before she pulled back completely. "I love you too, and I promise I'll be fine." Juliette insisted, but this wasn't convincing enough for Esme, who looked somehow more concerned than she'd seemed a few minutes ago... Okay...

"Juliette-." No, she was gonna be just fine. Everything was gonna be fine, she didn't need to worry about her right now.

"Hey. It's alright." One last kiss. Esme always deserved one last kiss. "Pick me up after?" She asked, and Esme nodded, placing a hand on her cheek as she looked at her softly... So fucking softly.

"You've got it... I'll be waiting for your call." Esme said, and Juliette nodded. Hopefully she'd go and do something while she was waiting, Juliette didn't want her to loiter in the lot, she wanted her to go do something to take her mind off of it.

"Okay." Juliette's knees were jelly as she walked toward the police station, trying to ignore the mounting nerves in her stomach... She understood why some things just never got reported, this felt terrifying. "This isn't that bad, it's gonna be just fine." She whispered to herself, taking a few deep breaths before she pulled open the door and walked to the desk, clearing her throat... was this right? Was she doing this right?

"Ms. Smith, can I help you?" Juliette glanced down at the man behind the desk... He was the father of one of the girls on her squad, Katherine... But she must only take after her mother, because she was tall, gorgeous, model perfect... and this man looked like could be a human inspiration for Mr. Potatohead... Either way.

"Um, yes... I'd like to report a crime?" Juliette grimaced, hating that it came out as a question. Officer Underwood looked almost concerned as he nodded... Oh. Okay.

"Okay..." He stood up, clearing his throat... Wasn't he needed out here? "Come with me, sweetheart." Okay... She didn't love being called 'sweetheart', but... Whatever. She just wanted to get this over with.

"Thank you." They went back into a room, a quiet one with a locked door where Juliette sat opposite of him, feeling more like she was moments away from being interrogated instead of feeling like she was filing a report... It was weird, she felt like she was the one in trouble.

"So, what happened?" God, what hadn't happened... How did she even phrase this? There was only one real way...

"I need to report someone for physical assault and child abuse." She said, and she watched him blink, clearly surprised as he sat forward in his chair a bit... Good. Maybe something would actually happen.