21 Jump Street Shorts

Safe

Summary: Tom/Judy oneshot

Characters: Judy, Tom
Possible pairing: Tom/Judy
Genre: Hurt/Comfort with hints of Friendship/Romance

Judy Hoffs wasn't a person who often cried. As a matter of fact she had a tough persona and all of her friends could confirm that in a heartbeat. Sure from time to time she'd get emotional over some exceptionally tough case, but she would rarely cry. It was a strange quality for a girl yet she was happy and kind of proud about it.

After what happened that evening though and sitting now in the cold bathtub, feeling the hot drops of water rolling down her hair and her bare skin, she couldn't help but let the tears fall.

She'd had a lot of similar cases through her short career and had seen a lot of girls that had suffered through the same thing, but she never thought it would happen to her. After all she was a police officer. She represented the law. How could she even think about the possibility of something so cruel happening to her?! But it did and she knew she'd be scarred for life. Not physically, no. If there were any physical wounds they would heal within mere days. But her psychic wouldn't be the same anymore.

She didn't know how she'd ever move on, but she would at least try.

After crying her eyes out under the shower for an hour that felt like eternity Judy finally turned the water off and curling a tower around her body she walked out of Tom's bathroom and into the living room. She went to the couch reaching for the small bag she brought with herself and pulled out clean clothes from inside. After she put them on, she fixed the couch with the sheets and pillow Tom had given her and sat down with a sigh.

Why do bad things always seem to happen to good people?!

Leaning her head against the back of the couch she checked the time and realized it was past one in the morning but she didn't feel like she could get any sleep at all. Her eyes scanned Tom's living room and found the small framed photograph on the coffee table in front of the sofa. She reached and took it in her hands, new portion of tears filling her eyes.

It felt like the photograph was made ages ago. Judy felt sorry for the smiling girl. She was glowing, standing next to the five people (Dennis was also in the picture) who she was proud to call her 'Jump Street' family and had no idea what was coming for her. She remembered how safe she felt back then. Not because they were around, but because she thought she could handle anything and nothing bad would ever happen to her.

She was so terribly happy. And so terribly wrong.

She was naive. Stupid. Careless.

She had it coming.

Putting the photo back on the table she lied down and closed her eyes, silent tears rolling down her cheeks. Her life had suddenly become a living hell and she had no idea what to do and how to fix it.

If there was even a chance for it to be fixed, that is.

Judy didn't know how or when she fell asleep but apparently she did, because when she opened her eyes again the bright daylight blinded her. She blinked adjusting her eyes to it and the smell of coffee and breakfast hit her noistrils. She began to sit up when she looked down and saw she was covered with a blanket. A pink blanket, the same one that was wrapped around Tom's body last night when he had answered the door to let her in. She realized Tom had probably covered her with it when he woke up.

She stood up and looked towards where she knew the kitchen was. Tom was sitting on a chair with a coffee mug in one hand and a newspaper in the other, eyes fixed on an article he was reading. In front of him on the table there was another coffee mug plus a plate of fresh breakfast. A small smile crept up to her lips but faded away too soon. She walked over to him and hearing her steps he lifted his eyes off the newspaper to look at her.

"Hey, you're awake!"

He put down his coffee mug and reached for the other one stretching his hand to her.

"Here, I made some coffee."

She took it with a smile of gratitude, taking a tired sip and sat on the opposite chair.

"You should eat your breakfast because it's starting to get cold."

She really didn't want to eat, but took a few bites anyway.

"It's nice, did you cook it?"

"A special treat for a special detective." He teased her, winking playfully.

Her heart fell at his words.

He thought she was special but she wasn't. She was damaged and sooner or later everybody would find out and so would Tom. And then he wouldn't think she was special anymore. Nobody would think she was special. She'd only be a broken girl with broken dreams and everyone would look pitifully at her. And she dreaded it even though she knew it was just bound to happen. She dreaded what Tom would think of her then and what his reaction would be. She dreaded how he'd look at her or speak to her. She dreaded even the very thought of it.

"Earth to Detective Hoffs."

She blinked realizing he had snapped his fingers in front of her face to bring her out of her thoughts. Her eyes found Tom's and she saw the deep care and worry written in their depths.

"Everything ok?!"

"Yeah, sorry I just got lost in my thoughts."

"Listen I don't know what happened last night, but I'm sure you didn't come all the way here just because you thought you heard noises. I know you, Judy, and I know something else happened that really scared the hell out of you. I can see it in your eyes. And I won't pressure you into telling me, I promise. But I do hope that if, no, when you feel you're ready you'll talk to me."

He gave her a smile of reassurance, one that said 'I'm always here to listen' and she couldn't help but give him a small smile in return.

Tom really knew her. He knew her better than Doug or Harry or Fuller ever would. He could see right through her. It was kinda scary yet comforting in a weird way and she didn't mind. She didn't know why but she felt him closer than anyone else from their small team. She knew she could trust him with anything and she could always rely on him to be there when she needed him to be. He was the only one who could always make her feel better even at hardest times and could always make her smile whenever she felt she only wanted to cry.

She realized Tom was her anchor. He was the one person she could always cling onto for support.

He reached and placed his fingers over hers realizing she had dozed off again and looked at her with concern.

The feeling of his touch caused the memories of last night to rush through her brain along with a great amount of panic and she held her breath in her throat. She was on the verge of a panic attack but the warmth of Tom's hand pulled her back to reality and she finally began to get back her focus again. The fear she felt a couple of seconds ago slowly drifted away replaced by a feeling of security.

It was Tom's hand, not Evan's.

She wasn't in Evan's dormitory anymore, she was in Tom's kitchen.

Her fingers finally relaxed under his and she found herself allowing him to curl his hand around hers to give her comfort.

A barely audible sigh of relief escaped her lips.

She was safe.