Mirror, Mirror

Chapter 3

Author's Note: Here's a little fluff.

Chapter 3

I cracked one eye open slightly, then slowly blinked once or twice to find my bearings before smiling into the warm muscular chest I was spooned against. He had stayed, I sighed, completely content in the moment... before it was smashed with a sledge hammer and my head felt like it had a bolt pounding through it.
"Oh God," I groaned into his chest.
He kissed the top of my head and mumbled, "Regret already? At least let me get dressed before we call it a one night stand."
I swiftly gave his shin a soft kick between our entwined legs and squirmed to sit up, kissing a path up his chest to his mouth where I lingered before whispering, "Regret? Never!" I grinned against his lips, but soon winced as the sledge hammer hit again; the sickening feeling of what goes in must come out – somehow.
"Oh God Nick," I choked and dived into my bathroom before I threw up. I groaned as I turned around – still on the floor – and leaned against the toilet, hugging my knees to my chest.
Nick put on his boxers, shook his head and smiled before tugging my hand to cradle me to his bare chest. He gently rubbed my back and said, "Let's renovate you."
I nodded against him and muffled, "Sam wouldn't be impressed."
He laughed lightly and said, "Sam is a drinker by master and experience – would probably take a couple of bottles to knock him out." He squeezed my shoulder and kissed me on the temple before disappearing into the kitchen.

Pulling on his shirt – it's ridiculously cheesy, I know, but to have his smell around me is like having him around me – I climbed back into bed and held my forehead. I overdid it last night, obviously, but I needed to be numbed. I'm the one whose always telling everyone that if you want to abandon your problems for a while it's best to keep working, but what happens if work is where your problems are? Suddenly a vision of me all cut up and dead on that table hit me in the face, except my eyes were open and blinking. I kicked back the sheet and sprinted to the bathroom, gagging.

Nick walked in carrying bottles of water.
"Aw Cath." He looked amused.
"Uh huh, uh huh, uh huh," I shook my head to indicate I didn't want to eat or drink anything, not knowing if I could keep it down.
"Cath," he said patiently, "You've got to take something that's going to help rescue your poor stomach."
I huffed and pulled a face.
"Nice attire by the way," he said gesturing to his shirt.
I rolled my eyes and then smiled shyly snatching a bottle of water while trying to compose myself before the next wave of nausea hit.
"You need to drink as much water as you can," he ordered gently.
"Can't we just stick to coffee?" I protested.
He shook his head and explained, "We need to keep you hydrated. Alcohol and caffeine both dehydrate your system."
"Ugh, fine," I said grudgingly.
I went back to bed, hoping that this was the last time I'd need to throw up, until I heard the clang of pans coming from the kitchen. I held my breath as I felt the nausea surge and then disappear.
Sipping water I looked around and saw rumpled sheets, clothes scattered as though catapulted from a dryer, felt my tousled hair and kissed-swollen lips. I smiled to myself. I'm not one to get mushy – anybody who knows me knows I have a reputation that preceded it, but Nick... Nick has been there for me through everything. He was there when I got married and divorced – dealt with Eddie's shit too (which is still current). He was there when I was pregnant and Lindsey was born. He's been there through all the life threatening cases I've worked where the suspects – and then later perps – were caught, but putting them behind bars isn't total isolation for them. I've been witness and victim to that all the while Nick has been there, quietly sturdy in the background. We've known each other for so long; I've never been as comfortable with someone as I am with Nick. It's such a safe and secure feeling – a feeling I've known, but have never felt until now.
"Easy Catherine." I caught myself. I'm falling for him – have been for a long time, but fear of the heart can do just as much damage as love. I don't know how he feels; if he feels the same. He's here now - again, surely that should mean something? I've never been good at this emotional stuff because I've been fucked over so many times. The guys I've been with have no faces because they all look – and act - the same. Nick isn't like that, he isn't faceless.

"Okay, phase two Miss Catherine," he drawled in that sexy Texan accent and handed me two bottles of Gatorade.
"More?" I said with a look of disgust as I lifted the bottle.
"Yup," he nodded, "Electrolytes will help stabilize hydration."
I sighed in defeat, popped open the bottle and held it up in the form of an exhausted 'cheers' gesture.
He sat down in front of me with a lopsided smile. "So how you feelin'?"
Taking a sip I swallowed, closed my eyes and hummed out a breath before saying, "Better – much better; at least the nausea has passed." I smiled back.
We sat in silence for a minute or two before...
"Listen, Nick..."
"Cath, I just wanted to say..."
I laughed softly and he shook his head and chuckled.
I took a deep breath and decided to take the plunge first.
"Listen, Nick." He looked up at me so intensely that I felt my heart start to hammer almost as loudly as my head.
"This isn't a one night stand – you aren't a one night stand. You can't be. I don't know what this is or where it's going, exactly, but I do know that for the first time in a really long time it was... " I struggled trying to find just the right wording, emphasizing how terrible I am at this sharing your heart stuff.
"...it was such a comfort to wake up next to you." I swallowed hard (and it wasn't the nausea).
"Cath..."
"I'm not finished." I reached forward and caressed his cheek – rough and unshaved. "It was a comfort in the sense I had someone to wake up to and not just an imprint of a body and a dent in the pillow with the shitty feeling of regret." I looked down, ashamed of the regret.
He leaned forward and took my hand, brushing a kiss across my knuckles.
"Cath..." he paused, "You're worth more than that – way more. You're a beautiful woman – gorgeous, actually – and there are assholes out there who only see that as your worth when there's so much more to you. If they knew you like I know you, they'd know how incredible you really are. They didn't care about your heart, so I understand why you guard it as fiercely as you do." I looked up, my eyes wide in surprise, while a small smile of amusement tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"And you opening up to me... I consider that to be an honour and a privilege; a place I know that not many people are allowed to be. You right, we don't know what this is or where it's going, but let's not label it." He kissed my hand. "Whatever happens, we'll handle the future together." He looked me in the eye and blushed shyly before looking away. He cleared his throat before he said, "I didn't mean for that to come out sounding like wedding vows." He coughed nervously and his cheeks burned. "It sounded better in my head."
"Nicky," I whispered as my heart swelled. He lifted his head slightly and glanced at me. I leaned forward, Gatorade now forgotten, and kissed him tenderly.
He smiled against my lips and said, "You need someone whose going to treat you the way you deserve to be treated and I'd like to show you how, if you'll let me."
I kissed him again and he deepened the kiss, entangling his hands through my already tousled hair.
I moaned and put my hands on his shoulders to give him a faint push, leaning back a little out of breath.
"Wait, wait, wait," I panted, "We can't – we have work soon."
He planted a butterfly kiss before murmuring, "We're on the swing shift Cath – that's only at three."
I nodded and smiled hesitantly, "I know... but... I want to look into the case of my look-a-like."
"Cath," he frowned, agitated, "look at how it rattled you when it came in; that's why I was trying to protect you."
"I know Nick, but there's a connection to this case. I know there is – you know my instincts are rarely wrong when it comes to work." I looked at him pointedly.
He nodded reluctantly. I had him with that reasoning.
"Okay," he said quietly, "but be careful Cath. There a lot of dangerous people out there and we don't know if she might have been one of them. We don't know anything about her or if she even has a connection to you. It might be a complete coincidence."
I pursed my lips and he held up his hands in surrender, "Okay I'm not arguing with you. I'm just saying..."
I reached for the waist of his boxers and pulled him towards me – that got his attention. I kissed him hard on the lips and said with a smirk, "How about you make breakfast while I get ready." It wasn't a request.
He laughed into the kiss, "How do you know I was going to make breakfast?"
"I have a hangover Nicky, I'm not deaf."
He smiled sheepishly, "Yeah okay, but now you've ruined the surprise and hey, why do I have to cook while you get ready?"
I stood up and whispered, "Surprise me anyway." I winked and sashayed to the bathroom.