Every Time You Close Your Eyes, S5 (Queen of the South)

Part 3 - Some Other Life

James was fiddling with her hair: "I missed you so much...that it's a miracle I lasted the few minutes I did."

They were lying face-to-face in Teresa's bed. All clothing, which had been an impediment, had been done away with.

She leaned forward and bit his scruffy chin. "Some amazing minutes!" Somehow being playful held her tears at bay.

He arched his eyebrow and gave her a slow smile. "Yeah? How amazing?" She only swatted his shoulder.

He nuzzled her neck, tickling her with his beard, then reached for a strand of her hair to sift through his fingers again, while laying his head on the pillow and exhaling deeply.

"Please don't go...We can think of something else," Teresa whispered.

James stopped playing with her hair and said, "Try to get some sleep."

"Please." She repeated.

He had always trodden carefully when it came to matters of the heart. He had always tried to do the right thing; he had never just acted. But he had no choice now. If they were to have a chance at the 'other life', it was on him to get them out. That's why he had lasted with Finch all this time: to come back and to save her...and himself with her... from this damn Life!

"Don't go," she said one more time.

And he didn't just then. When they kissed again, there was this surge and then a release, a letting-go like he had never known before, a letting-go like when one was staying very still and surrendering and the heart would pound against the rib cage, the pulse would race, the toes would curl, and every part of the body would relax and happily give in.

He didn't go just then but stayed...to kiss her beautiful bare shoulder, to keep twisting her curly hair around his fingers, to share the bliss of their bodies next to each other until sleep claimed them.

===

In the morning James found Teresa having coffee in the front room where her little coffee maker was gurgling and where the smell of fresh brew permeated the air. The curtain was wide open.

She wore a terrycloth robe, and it was opened just a little, just a hint at the bounty beneath. He didn't think he had ever seen anything so damn beautiful.

She looked at his tousled hair and smiled.

"Hi," he said, scratching his cheek, a ponderous look in his eyes:" About last night..." He started saying as she interrupted him: ""No need to think of any smooth lines...You already got me in bed."

And she smiled at him, which made him smile back: "I was up all night working on a smooth line."

"Oh..." she poured him coffee as he sat next to her oh so gingerly, drank a few times and then said:

"Do you want to hear it? The smooth line I came up with!" His tone was playful but there was something hidden underneath it.

She looked him in the eyes with expectation as he took a breath and simply said: "I love you!"

"I love you too, James!" The words rolled off her tongue as she exhaled and the flirty look on her face was gone. "Please don't go! Please let's think of other options!"

He kissed her gently and caressed her cheek with his hand, then mumbled: "You know there's no other option. I need you to trust me on this, please!"

Her head leaned on his shoulder as he sipped his coffee in silence, sitting next to her, savoring the moment, knowing that all the walls had fallen down.

Teresa lifted her head and finally broke the silence. "Going back to 'About last night'..."

James cleared his throat: "I'll leave it to you."