Fic: On The Couch, Chapter 3/3 (Numb3rs, Charlie Eppes / Colby Granger, Don Eppes / Martin)
Title: On the Couch 3/3
Fandom: Numb3rs
Pair: Don Eppes / Martin Fridegord
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine, etc.
Feedback: Always Welcome
NUMB3RS Main List
On the Couch 1/3
On the Couch 2/3
“Knock, knock.” Martin pushed the door open and walked in. “Anybody home?”
“Over here.” Charlie bounced down the stairs. “I just put Helen down for her nap.”
“Guess what day it is?”
“Friday?”
“That too. What else?”
“Meatloaf day?”
“Nope.” Martin waved his left hand. “I finally got rid of my cast. I don’t need a driver anymore.”
“Are you staying for dinner?”
“Meatloaf?”
“Yep.”
“Why not…. I don’t have anything better to do, Don’s not coming back until tomorrow.”
“Back from where?”
“Didn’t he tell you?”
“I didn’t even know he was going somewhere.”
“Apparently, it was a last minute decision, he left this morning. His therapist suggested he should visit Coopers grave. For closure.”
“Where is he buried?”
“No idea. I didn’t wanna let him go alone, but I didn’t want to start a fight either.”
“You think it will help him?”
“Honestly…. I don’t know. Do that kind of things go away?”
“Don’t ask me, I’m still holding a grudge about my prom date.” Charlie paused to shut down his cell phone. The red light was blinking to signal a new message. “And I apparently can’t say no very convincingly.”
“Work stuff?”
“Yeah. It’s about a project I was involved in years and years ago. Things are different now, I can’t just leave everything and go away for a month or two.”
“Didn’t you tell them that?”
“I did! And they keep calling, and saying they need me.”
“World is full of mathematicians, no offence. I’m sure they’ll find somebody else.”
“None taken. It’s just that top level on my field is pretty narrow, and really few can work on classified projects. And I already know the project.”
“And you can’t do it, so don’t look so nostalgic.”
“I’m not nostalgic, but it was a really interesting project. Not that I could actually go anywhere for longer than few days, my babysitter would go crazy.”
“You babysitter?”
“Colby. Did I tell you about that three day gig I did last week?”
“Yeah.”
“He burst into the conference room in a middle of a meeting carrying a picnic basket, because he was sure I don’t remember to eat regularly.”
-----------------------------------------
Martin snapped out of his sleep, when a soft sound of footsteps echoed from outside the bedroom. Before he had time to get up, a body leaped on top of him, pressing him to the mattress. Familiar lips caught his yelp and his entire body relaxed.
Don pulled back and chuckled.
“I scared you, didn’t I?”
“No, you didn’t give me time to get scared. Take your time next time. Why are you here?”
“I live here.”
“I mean why are you here now? It’s….” Martin turned to look at the clock on the nightstand. “Two thirty.”
“I didn’t want to spend a nigh in a motel, so I drove straight back.” Don leaned down to place tiny kisses on the other man’s neck. “Besides I missed you.”
“Have I ever told you I’ve had a very good impact on you?”
“No, but I agree.” Don thought about it.” “Wait a minute, what kinda impact are we talking about here?”
“That was probably the third time in over two ears that you said you had missed me.”
“No, it’s not.”
“It is. Anyway, how was your trip?”
“Well…” Don rolled over to his back. “It was weird. I really wanted to just go there and spit on his grave. That’s such an old cliché….”
“So what did you do?”
“What doctor Hendren told me to do. Sit down and tell him everything you want to say. Every little thing.”
“Did it help?”
“Not then, but….. When I left the cemetery and I went to this diner, I kinda….” He paused and snapped the nightlight on. “I was there drinking my coffee and eating apple-pie and I just noticed that I was…. I was feeling good. Relieved. Like I just got rid of this burden…. I don’t know how to describe it.”
“Sounds like it was worth it. Are you coming or going?”
“Where?”
“Bed. Are going to get some sleep or stay awake, because you’re in bed with your shoes on.”
“Sorry. I drove for hours, I’m kinda groggy.”
“I can smell it.” Martin leaned closer to sniff at Don clothes. “Didn’t you take a shower or change your clothes?”
“No, I just went there and then I drove back. You want to come and scrub my back?”
“Not yet.” Martin pulled the cover back on both of them and nuzzled closer. “You were away for almost twenty hours. If I had slept couple hours more I would be tearing your pants off right now.”
“You want me to go away for few hours and then come back so I can get laid?”
“You’re not going anywhere.” Martin’s hand snaked under the other man’s shirt, resting on the warm skin. “Not before Monday morning.”
“Mmmm….” Don arched his body against the other man. Suddenly his eyes snapped open. “Wait, wait, wait. One. Two. Two hands. They took off the cast.”
“Yep, and you know how good I am with my hands.”