Different but Sane (22/?) Torchwood
Chapter Twenty One
Jack
I held James close to me, breathing in the pleasant smells the clung onto his skin. Resisting the urge to kiss his neck. At the moment he was vulnerable and I didn’t want to take advantage of that. I loved him yes but it was just a ghost that drew me to him. I’d never realised how much James was really like him, to share the same stubbornness. It really started to scare me. When I had first hired him I checked to see if he was part of the family. He wasn’t but it still puzzled me. I let him go and stepped back. Tonight I wasn’t going to take advantage of him.
“Go to bed.” I told him seriously, “I’ll just be in the lounge.” I added. The truth was I was going to stay in case he suffered from the inner demons.
James didn’t reply but made his way to his bedroom. I cleaned up the cups and walked into the lounge room. Normally I didn’t sleep much unless I felt like a nap. Even after sex I never felt like sleeping. So I turned on the television with the volume down low. Ten minutes later James appeared just as the opening credits of some quiz show started.
“Sorry I’m not feeling tired.” James said when he saw my puzzled look. He sat down a little away from me and spotted what was on the TV. “Cool QI.”
“Oh so that’s what it is called.” I replied looking at the screen, “Sorry I haven’t seen it before.”
“That’s alright; would you turn it up a bit?” He asked with a smile.
Now he seemed to be a completely different James to the one I was talking to before. He didn’t seem to be vulnerable anymore but much calmer. He was happy to explain what QI was all about and how it was wasn’t like your normal quiz. I knew who the host was, Stephen Fry, a great comedic actor but not any of the guests. Still it was fun to watch and a few times I was surprised by some of the answers but not all of them. About half way through I turned to James to complain about an answer when I noticed that he had fallen asleep on the couch.
I smiled before picking him up and carried him to the bedroom. While in there I took off his shoes and socks before tucking him into bed. He seemed to be peaceful but hopefully it wasn’t the calm before the storm. I started to caress his cheek with a single finger thinking how close I had been to making a huge mistake.
Many hours later I opened my eyes to realise that I had fallen asleep on James’ couch. I sat up and looked around before making my way to the kitchen. Light streamed in from the window, suggesting that it was very early in the morning. I wasn’t sure what to do, if I should leave or make us breakfast? I was torn between those two options when I heard loud screaming coming from James’ bedroom. I quickly ran to the bedroom to see James screaming and thrashing violently in his sleep. It seemed the inner demons had started to surface. I went over to the bed.
“It’s alright James, I’m here.” I told him as I lay down on the bed and took him into my arms. He still struggled and screamed trying to release himself from me.
“Please let me go, I need to find the....who is that?” He began which suggested that he didn’t know it was me, like he was taking to someone in the dream. “It doesn’t matter? Please just tell me who it is?”
I realised that he was having a conversation with whoever was in his dream. I held on and started to stroke his hair causing him to calm down slightly. I looked over and saw a smile creep over his face. At least he wasn’t screaming much.
“Please I want to help them find the asylum.” James suddenly yelled.
I let go and stared at him. Was he talking about the asylum that was written on the walls of the rooms of the missing or a totally different one? I laid there for awhile puzzled while James seemed to calm right down to the point where he moved over, peaceful again.
Then I heard the doorbell ring.