The Fighter

Chapter 24

John held on to me until I was all cried out. I felt better, but somehow worse too. "Are you okay?" He asked and pushed me away enough so he could see my face. "Yeah, I'm okay." I nodded, tears still streaming down my face. "Let me take you out. It'll make you feel better." "John, I can't, I have to go home and take care of Avery, pick up the pieces of my life, and maybe take a bath in between." "It's just for tonight. You can let lose, have some fun and get this off your mind. And, even if you don't go, I'm not leaving you until I'm sure you're going to be okay." "Okay. Where are you taking me to "let lose." Where we used to go?" I asked. "Even better." He smiled and put his truck back in drive.

We drove down to where the party was at and I did not recognize this place at all. We got there and it didn't take long before he had me drinking and doing shots. I called Kyle and asked how the Gavin things went and he said that Gavin understood and that he would watch Avery for tonight. I don't remember much, but what I do remember is dancing with John, laughing with John, and kissing John.

I woke up to a quiet room, and quiet house, something that I'm not used to at all. I had the worst headache, but I wasn't nauseous. The light coming through the grey curtains made my headache about ten times worse. I looked around the room, it was very familiar, but not at the same time. I knew the scent all too well. It smelled just like John's cologne that he sprays too much on every time. I sat up, and looked all over the room. Yes, this was John's apartment. He had changed it, since I had last been here eight months ago. I remember John, the party, the drinking, the dancing, and the kissing. I looked next to me and there he was, still sleeping. I always loved the way he looked while he slept. He was naked, I know it. That's how he always slept. Then I realized. I looked down. I was naked too, that's when I remembered. "Holy Shit!" I said out loud, but it was meant to be in my thoughts. I had sex with John.

I knew that Kyle wouldn't want to hear this, especially right now, and I wasn't going to call Jet. The only other one was John and he was right beside me. I got up and went to the bathroom. I called Kim. She didn't know about the Greg thing, so I still had to tell her about that. "Hello?" she answered sleepily. I woke her up and I knew that I did. "Hey! Are you awake?" I asked. "Yeah, I am now. What's up?" "Good! And, a lot!" "Well Spill!" "Okay..." I sighed and told her everything, starting with the call that I got yesterday morning. "And, I woke up this morning next to John and remembered that we had sex." I finished telling her and she was quiet for a minute. I checked my phone to make sure that our call was still connected, it was. I didn't hear snoring, so I know she wasn't sleeping. "Kimberly? Are you still there? Are you still alive?" I asked.

"Yeah, I am. I'm just trying to process all of this." She finally spoke. "Yeah, I know. Me too." "So, Greg left without a word, and then John took you out to a party and you went home with him?" "Yes! In that order!" "Your life is crazy Mickie." "You think?! And now I have to at some point go to the station, get my truck, and go home and do the walk of shame inside." "So, are you back with John or what?" "No! It's way too soon for me to be with anyone. This is why I never wanted a boyfriend in the first place. Guys are assholes and I hate feeling like this." "I know, go lay down relax and wake John up. You guys obviously need to talk and you to tell Kyle." "I know, I do. I really don't want to." "If you don't, John will." "True. Thanks for listening Kim! Go back to sleep and I'll call you later." "Anytime, you're my best friend and don't call me later. I will call you." She hung up.

John was sleeping until I got into the bed, then he woke up. "Hey." He smiled once he saw me. "Hi, how do you feel?" I asked. "I'm fine, how are you feeling? You don't drink." "I have a headache, but other than that I'm just ducky." I laughed. "Do you feel better?" "Yeah, a little. It was good to get out and have some fun. It got my mind off of everything. "Good, it's been a long time since you've been in my bed when I woke up." "Yeah, I know it. You've changed your room around quite a bit. It took me a minute to realize where I was." "I bet. What do you remember?" "The party, the drinking, us kissing, and us having sex." "So, everything?" "Is that everything?" "Yeah." He laughed. "Okay, at least I remember it."

"Listen Mickie, I know that you just got out of a relationship, and I respect that. I'm sorry for everything that happened last night." "John, I was part of it too. I knew what I was doing. Don't be sorry." "Okay, I just really want to know if maybe in the future you'd consider trying us out again?" he asked. "Maybe, I guess we will have to see how all of this goes." "No matter what Mickie, I'm here for you and I'm always going to be. You have a long road ahead and I know that." "Yeah, I'm nowhere near out of the woods. Just pray for a lot of calls and a lot of good days with my family and at the station." "I will for you. Because I do love you. I love you more than you know." "I know you do." The pager went off and I jumped to get dressed before I knew what it was. "Hale County to Clarksville, two car MVA unknown injuries." "My gear!" I realized that it was in my truck at the station. "I grabbed it on our way back here last night!" John yelled over to me. "Thank God for you!" I ran to his truck with him and put my gear on.