Reassure (Jay Halstead x OC.)

22

The same night

The walk home from the Wake spot had been a tedious process of small hand touches and longing glances.

Jay grew more frustrated with every brush of her ringed fingers against his own. He glanced every few seconds across her from the inside part of the pavement that she walked along. The warm emerald-green of her dress' fabric seemed to illuminate her features more under street and car lights. Her hair was straightened and framed around her face while her lips were painted a warm brown shade and her eyes were darkened with black smeared around her lashes. Looking at her now felt like waking up. He'd kissed her. He'd actually done it.

The tenth time her hand wafted over his own he caught it and intertwined their fingers feeling the cool metal of her rings rubbing against his warmed skin. She squeezed his hand back in retaliation while she looked across and sent him a small, coy smile.

He was done for.

Reign had always had a charm to her. When they were children she was the only girl he didn't fear catching cooties from if he went near her. Then when they were teens she was his best friend. At 15 he realised he had a crush.

At 18 she was a life line. At 25 she was a memory. And at 27 she was....

His?

Reign felt like she was walking on air. She had kissed him back.

Granted it had been at his dad's Wake and the guilt of that was eating her alive but she could finally say she knew what kissing Jay Halstead felt like. Her 18 year old self would be screaming.

She couldn't help but drag her eyes across his stubbled face. Over each freckle and his cedar eyes. How dark lashes covered them slightly and how his hair was slightly longer than usual. Thinking about Jay in such a differently light then she had previously allowed herslef. She was now hyper aware of every detail of how good he looked in the casual blue button-up shirt and his tight jeans. His hand felt warm and strong around hers and she could feel his arm muscles constrict as he squeezed her fingers with his own.  Their wrists were bound together for a moment. While her free arm came up and she caught herself wrapping it around his bicep, pulling herself closer.

When they reached their street the two of them unconsciously picked up the pace. Their footfalls falling into a matching rhythm as they mounted their porch steps and then they stopped.

Reign leaned back with a sigh on the side of the house by the door while Jay fished for the keys in his pocket. Detached. He produced them swiftly and undid the lock. He pushed open the door and as any gentleman would, he gestured her inside first.

It was dark inside, on account of it being well past midnight and Debbie being sound asleep upstairs. They tiptoed inside, Reign kicking off her wedge heels and Jay his worn boots, and slowly they made their way through to the kitchen. She reached over the bench and clicked on a small lamp so as not to completely flood the whole room with the big light.

He stepped in after her and watched as the warm amber glow of the lamp marked out shadows across her features. She reached into the fridge for something producing the forgotten punnet of strawberries from a few days before and slipping one into her mouth as she brought the rest of them towards the counter that she jumped up onto. Her snack comfortably beside her.

"They're almost out of date." He was the first to speak. "I'll live." She mumbled with a smile. "Glad to see the strawberry obsession hasn't changed." He smiled as he came towards her now with a certain warmth in his eye that she hadn't seen in days.

"They're delicious.....How're you feeling?" She asked gently reaching to rub his shoulder as he snatched a strawberry for himself and he sighed looking up into her concerned doe eyes.