fire and rain // forheadedrose

9. Laundromat

D E J A

I mumbled the lyrics to a song that I was blasting as I cleaned my apartment, getting ready for Charlie to come and live with me.

I heard a knock on my door and jumped, I put my hand over my heart as I shook my head.

I sighed before walking over towards my door, "Martin, hi." I smiled because I wasn't expecting him.

"I'm taking you up on your offer." He smiled as I told him to come in.

I noticed a laundry basket full of his clothes, "Laundromat." I smirked as I closed the door.

"Wow, this apartment is nicer than my trailer." He said and I chuckled.

I walked over and turned down my music, it was my Across The Universe soundtrack.

I motioned for him to follow me, I showed him how to use the washer and dryer before I walked into my bedroom and started folding my clothing.

I heard footsteps come into my room before I looked over to see Riggs picking up one of my family photos I had.

"That's my adoptive family," I explained as I walked a few steps over towards him, "That's Jack, my dad. Belldonna was my mom, and those are my older siblings- Daniel and Harper. They're twins." I sighed as I looked at the picture of my happy parents and my twins laughing with each other, and then there was me.

Daniel and Harper we're graduating high school when I was in middle school so I wasn't even on their radar.

"So you've been raised by two black families?" He joked and I huffed, "It takes a village." I smiled before patting his shoulder.

"Have you ever met your biological parents?" He asked as he sat on my bed.

I shook my head, "My family is enough." I spoke before glancing up at him.

"You know quite a lot about my complicated family tree- but I know nothing about yours." I said as I started hanging up my dresses.

"Eh," He said scratching the back of his head, "Not much to tell." He shrugged.

"What about Miranda?" I spoke quietly, I glanced over at him to see him looking up at me.

He breathed deeply, "We were engaged," He said and I slowed down a little, "We were looking at houses together and I loved her, a lot."

"So what happened?" I asked and he sighed, "She hated when I was working late on a case or anything that was dangerous, so we drifted apart." He said.

"Sorry," I whispered because I was digging too much.

"It feels good to let someone know, you know?" He said and I slowly nodded.

"We have really bad luck with relationships." I smirked looking over at him, I put my laundry basket away before going into the living room.

--

I woke up on Martin's chest, my head rising and falling with his every breath.

I gently moved my hand since mine and his were loosely together.

He breathed deeply before he woke up, "Oh, go- what time is it?" He said rubbing his eyes.

"Almost supper time." I said comparing our hands.

His had some size on mine.

"Why? Do you have a date?" I joked.

"Yeah, gotta go see my wife before she gets suspicious." He joked and I lightly hit his chest.

I got up and walked over to check his laundry, which was mostly button up shirts.

"I have to go talk to Avery tonight--" "Tonight? About what?" Riggs asked following me into my bathroom where my washer and dryer were.

His hair was a little messy and curly with his shirt slightly unbuttoned.

"Because I stepped into the tripwire, I almost got myself killed. You just saved me, and kept me from having a panic attack. I never got the chance to tell him how everything went down." I said moving his laundry.

"He blamed you for everything that day when in reality I was the one who caused all the trouble." I explained before I sighed heavily, I faced him as I leaned on the empty washer.

"So you're willing to take the fall for me--" "I'm not taking the fall for you if I was the one who caused the problem." I smirked.

"Well, you are quite the trouble maker. So.." He breathed deeply, "How long are we going to wait to talk about your, uh, suicide attempt?" He asked with his arms folded, he looked up at me.

I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, "It was years ago, after I lost the baby and Ashton." I said sitting on top of the washer.

"I was at my lowest- I thought no one would even notice I was gone.." I scoffed, "Roger and Trish found me, fully clothed in an overflowing tub. Just sitting still underwater." I said as I slightly bit my lip, my eyes glazed as I thought about that weekend that they were all supposed to gone.

"They pulled me out, performed mouth to mouth before I spit out water and woke up. I remember them crying. A lot. They babied me for months after that. After I was better, I moved into my own apartment." I said glancing at Riggs.

"That's why they have a family dinner everyday, mostly to keep me grounded." I breathed deeply.

"I will never do that again.. I saw a therapist every day since then. I realize that people care about me, more than I'll ever know." I said as a tear ran down my cheek.

I felt Martin gently wipe it away, I softly chuckled as I closed my eyes, "Sorry, I didn't have the perfect up-bringing." I said as he stood between my legs, our faces close together.

"I had two sets of perfect parents, and my older brother and sister seemed to turn out good." I slightly shrugged, "They both have family's and good jobs over in Brooklyn."

"They don't even know," I scoffed because my siblings were close with each other but not me.

"They don't know about the baby, they know my husband left me, but they don't know about me almost dying." I sniffled, "They're the worst." I slightly shook my head.