His offer? Which offer? Kealey’s brain was fuzzy still from sleep and the emotional strain of the dream she’d just been pulled from. To stay. Jacen had offered to stay. The way he was looking at her, the tilt of his head, the smile on his face…it felt right. Safe. Comfortable. He’d wanted her to stay, and now she wanted him to. Kealey was just getting ready to nod her head to say that she wanted to take him up on his offer when apparently Jacen changed his mind, because he said he shouldn't have brought up the offer.

Jacen’s arms completely released her and Kealey wondered for a moment if whatever else had happened in the past few minutes had all simply been a ploy to make her stay. Kealey’s brows drew together and she was about to say something when Jacen continued speaking. A shirt? He should have grabbed one…huh?

Kealey looked closer in the dark and sure enough, Jacen wasn’t wearing a shirt. Kealey had a feeling that was supposed to be awkward, but she couldn’t conjure those feelings, they just weren’t there. He had apologized, and Kealey just shook her head, ”I don't mind. It's a good look on you...” she said, voice still soft and shaking slightly from what she’d been through even if she managed a slight smile. Honesty again, definitely the best policy.

Jacen said he’d leave…if she wanted him to, and if she was ready to be alone again. The truth of the matter was…that she wasn’t. The last thing that Kealey wanted in that moment was for Jacen to leave. If Jacen left, then all the things she’d been feeling when she went to sleep would come back. It was easier now, with him there. What she wanted was his arms around her again, but he’d scooted away from her. ”Please stay… she said, eyes raising to meet his again as she closed the space he’d made and slowly raised a hand to lay it on his bare shoulder, ”Hold me? Just for a while?” she added, eyes full of the same vulnerability and need from before as she looked at Jacen in the dark.

Jacen felt himself flush even more when Kealey observed that the whole shirtless deal was a good look for him. Sure he had heard women compliment him on his physique before but there was just something different about the way Kealey said it. Something innocent yet sensual.

"Hold me? Just for a while?"

It was a dangerous request for both of them but there was no way that he could deny her the comfort she was asking for. He would just have to work extremely hard to deny himself the "sweetness" he had thought about earlier.

"If you want me to." He spoke softly as he moved closer to Kealey, wraping his arms around the woman and then slowly laying back so that they were now reclined with her head resting on his chest. Lifting his right hand somewhat tentatively, he began to gently run it through her somewhat curly hair as they lay together in the darkness.

"I dream about the army sometimes... all the friends and fellow soldiers that I lost over there." His voice remained quiet, not directly asking about Kealey's dream but instead simply talking about his own experinces. "They've gotten to be few and far between but every now and then they still happen. It's always teh same. I'm frozen in place, unable to do anything as I just watch them die on after another."

Falling silent Jacen waited, giving Kealey time to decide to talk or simply fall asleep if she wanted. His one hand continued its gentle stroking of her hair while his other hand idly trailed fingres up an down the arm that she had thrown over his stomach.

Kealey just nodded mutely when Jacen said he’d hold her if she wanted him to. That’s why she’d asked in the first place. His arms wrapped around her, and Kealey didn’t resist at all when he pulled her backwards and lay down. It occurred to Kealey that this was yet another thing that she’d never done before. She didn’t comment though, it didn’t feel right in the current situation. Instead, she simply draped her arm over Jacen’s stomach and snuggled closer.

Jacen was running a hand through her hair, and Kealey sighed deeply. It was easy to feel silly about panicking over a dream when Jacen was doing that.

He spoke, about the army again and Kealey frowned in the darkness. She had one tragic even that had shaped the course of life. Jacen had been in a situation where he’d seen those things happen countless times. Suddenly, Kealey really did feel silly, even if she knew that wasn’t Jacen’s intention at all.

She thought about the dream, did you call a flashback like that a dream? ”I’m sorry for you.” Kealey said, tilting her head up even though all she could really see when she did that was the bottom of Jacen’s chin. ”That feeling of powerlessness…I can’t imagine.”

”I think it was everything that happened today. That’s where it all started out…” she shuddered at the memory of dream where the assassin had managed to shoot her. ”…but I haven’t had…that dream in a long time.”

Kealey could feel Jacen’s fingertips running over her arm as they spoke, and again the contact made it seem far easier to talk. Idly, her own fingertips traced slowly over his ribs, ”It’s exactly the same every time…and knowing what’s going to happen and not being able to do anything is terrible.”

Kealey paused for a moment and shuddered again, ”It’s amazing how moments like that burn into your memory. I could probably tell you every detail about that man and what he was wearing when he stood up and started yelling about the IRA…and I can tell you exactly what my mother was wearing.”

Pausing again in thought, Kealey took a deep breath and let it out slowly, ”But I can’t remember what my mother’s voice sounded like anymore. “

It was a somber thought, and Kealey’s eyes welled a little. She didn’t want the crying again, and she shook her head slightly, pushing her hair out of her face before draping her arm back over Jacen. ”I think all the badness today brought it up…that and there was someone around here who was really doubtful and upset when I sent to sleep."

Sleep. What she’d pulled Jacen out of with her hysterics. Kealey pushed up slightly, her arm still over Jacen with her palm braced on the bed so she was leaning slightly over him as she spoke ”I am sorry I woke you up. “ she said, ”But I’m glad you came in. I owe you again." she said, thoughtfully, trying to puzzle out how she was going to ever pay him back for all this as she laid her head back on his chest.

"It's just a part of life Kealey." He responded quietly when she expressed her regret for what he had faced and dealt with. Sure he had the occasional nightmare but really he had gotten of easy. Many men had died and even more had come back from battle completely changed in their personality and psyche. Those were the men to feel sorry for. "There are bad people out there, both human and mutant, that have to be dealt with. I did my part and while it may have left scars it needed to be done."

Falling silent once again his eyes drifted closed as he just enjoyed the feel of Kealey's form up against his while she told her own story. The pain was obvious in her voice but at the same time she seemed to be regaining a control that had been lacking during her actual nightmare.

The hardest part about her whole story wasn't actually the story itself but instead the distraction she was providing by running her fingertips over his ribs. Did she have any idea what that felt like? He wasn't extremely ticklish but he was a little bit and what she was doing was making it hard for his body not to react. Finally he was spared the exquisite torture as Kealey moved her hand to push up on the bed so that she could get slightly above him and look down at his face.

"Quit keeping score Kealey." Jacen said with a soft chuckle as Kealey lowered herself back down and once again rested her head on his chest, "And don't worry about waking me up. I'm just glad I was hear when you needed me. Tell you what... if you're around next time I have a nightmare, you come in and cuddle with me and we'll call it even."

As far as Jacen knew he had never screamed during his own nightmares but maybe it would be enough for Kealey to feel a little better about their arrangement. Inhaling deeply, he took in the scent of her hair and then dropped his hand down to slip under the back of her shirt and trail lazy circles around the small of her back. He was careful not to trace the actual lines of her scars so that he didn't remind her of them but he also wanted it to be clear that he didn't care if she had scars.

"You smell good." He murmured quietly, allowing them both to begin to drift back toward sleep if that was what they so desired.

Kealey simply nodded when Jacen explained how he felt about what had happened when he’d been fighting in the war, and how he felt about the good and bad of both types of people in the world. Of course the bad people and mutants had to be dealt with, and she smiled slightly, ”And the scars are all manly and dashing.” she added with a yawn. There had been enough melancholy.

Jacen had done everything she needed all day long. From actively saving her life to simply holding her and listening while she vented a story she’d told fewer people than she could count on one hand. Kealey was so grateful, but Jacen told her to stop keeping score. How was she supposed to do that? He was insistent, though, and Kealey kept her mouth shut. Jacen didn’t need to know that she was keeping score, she could do it in her head. Some day…somehow , she’d figure out how to pay him back for all the kindnesses he’d shown her. A way beyond cuddling the next time he had a nightmare…somehow Kealey couldn’t see Jacen panicking the way she had.

It was quiet now, calm, and Kealey legitimately felt better about the whole situation instead of simply hiding in the comfortable silence Jacen’s close proximity provided. Somehow knowing how hard things had been for Jacen made her feel less alone in the world. Tomorrow was going to be hard, but he said he was going to be there for her and Kealey believed him. Somehow that made the prospect of facing all the hardships easier.

Jacen’s fingertips were still trailing over her arm and his other hand moved to her back. The small circles were lulling and her eyes were starting to drift. Jacen said that she smelled good and Kealey smiled, ”It’s thanks to the small Bath & Body Works store you seem to have stockpiled in your bathroom.” she said with a sleepy chuckle, draping the arm she wasn’t laying on back over his stomach and snuggling in again.

”You feel good.” she added a moment later as a sleepy murmur while her eyes drifted closed. She should have told him that he was good to go back to his own room, but he was so warm and she felt so safe. There couldn’t be any harm in staying like they were for just a while longer.

Jacen's breathing was slowing down as he drew closer to the sleeping state from which Kealey's scream had jarred him awake. The young woman was commenting about his soap and shampoo stock pile, all samples swiped from various hotels, as well as something about how he felt. He felt fine but why was she talking about how he felt? It was to much for his tired brain to put together so as Kealey snuggled into him he pulled her a little closer and just gave up on listening. There would be enough time for talk the following morning. Right now it was time for sleep.

***

"Where am I?" Was the first thought to cross his mind as his eyes slowly blinked awake. Staring up at the white ceiling which led to white walls, it was quite obviously that he wasn't in his own bedroom. The feeling of something soft and silky on his chest made him glance down to see the blond curls belonging to the attractive woman that currently slept there. Suddenly it all came crashing back into his memory and Jacen let his head fall back onto the pillow once again, a contented smile on his face. He and Kealey had slept together. Slept as in actually sleeping, but still... who woulda thought?

About fifteen or twenty minutes of waking up, Jacen moved slowly and cautiously in order to extricate himself from the dozing woman. Once he was free he covered her back up with the sheet and then walked out of the room and headed for his own bedroom. Leaving the door cracked so he would hopefully hear Kealey when she woke up, Jacen tossed his boxers into the hamper, and then pulled out fresh, clean shorts, some light khaki pants, and a tight fitting black t-shirt. Heading into the bathroom he set the clothing on the counter and then went through his morning ritual of shaving, gargling with mouth wash, and then heading for the shower. When he stepped in and felt the warm water hitting his skin he felt his muscles and body relax even more. With the busy day he knew they were going to have, it was probably a good idea to enjoy this quiet moment while it lasted.

Sleep was anything but overrated. People talked all the time about how it was dumb to sleep when a person was young and had their life to live. ”You can sleep when you’re dead.” is exactly how Kealey usually heard it phrased. It made sense, sort of, but how were you supposed to enjoy the life you were living on no sleep? Deep thoughts of this nature were the ones floating through Kealey’s head as she worked herself through the waking up process.

The thought occurred to Kealey’s sleep infused brain that there was a reason the deep sleep she was coming out of was so novel and her eyes flew open. White ceiling, white walls. Not her apartment. It took a few moments of laying in slightly uncomfortable confusion before the events of the previous day started to filter back into Kealey’s conscious mind.

It was easier to think about the fact that practically everything she owned had burned to cinders in a fire now that it was daylight again. What wasn’t as easy was figuring out exactly what had happened the night before. Slowly, Kealey sat up and ran a hand through her sleep-tousled hair, trying to figure out what had been real and what had been a dream. She was simply sure that Jacen had been there at some point, after a bad dream. He wasn’t there now, though, and that probably meant that he was sleeping.

A glance at the clock made Kealey wince slightly, she had lots she needed to get done. The problem with that was that she didn’t know where anything was in Jacen’s place. If he was sleeping, she was going to have to wake him up.

Down onto the floor Kealey slid, pleased that her feet weren’t really sore at all from the small cuts she’d gained the day before. Out of the room she padded on her bare feet and in the direction of Jacen’s room.

At the threshold, she suddenly paused, hesitating at the mostly-closed door. Chiding herself for being silly, and telling herself that going along with her today had been Jacen’s idea, she quietly pushed open the door and slipped into the room.

The covers were bunched and rumpled enough that there definitely could be someone in there and Kealey moved further into the room, trying to work out in her head exactly how she was going to wake Jacen up. Those thoughts disappeared from her head in a haze of slightly confusion when she came closer and found the bed to be completely empty.

One hand raising to scratch at the back of her head as she turned in the direction of the open doored bathroom, Kealey wondered where on earth Jacen could have gone. Then she found him. All of him. Kealey couldn’t do anything but stare for a moment as the way the scene was playing out permeated her brain. All she could think for a moment was that Jacen looked every bit as good without clothes as he did with them on.

Eyes widening as she realized what she was thinking and that she was staring, Kealey gasped in surprise and made the mistake of trying to cover her eyes with her hands and turn to run at the same time while trying to cry out some kind of apology. It failed.

Feet tangled and down she went, landing solidly on her rear end, several paces back from where she started. All the fall resulted in was further damaged pride and a string of colorful Gaelic epithets erupting from her mouth, but Kealey wasn’t concerned about either of those things in lieu of what she’d just seen. The mental picture materialized in her mind’s eye and Kealey’s face burned even brighter. This was not the sort of thing people did to potential roommates.

”I’m so sorry Jacen….” she exclaimed, from the floor, resisting the urge to cover her face with her hands like a child, and instead finding a speck to stare at in the carpet as her face continued to burn like it was on fire, ”I just didn’t know where you were…I thought you were still sleeping and with everything going on today it’s getting kind of late….and I thought I could wake you up, but you weren’t in the bed and then I turned around and…and…and….I should have knocked!” she rambled, embarrassed. Of course she should have knocked!

The shower was awesome and Jacen took special pleasure in enjoying quite a bit of the liquid that his extra large hot water heater could produce. Finally however it had to come to an end so, after a quick scrub down and shampoo, he turned off the water and climbed out of the shower to begin towling off. Moving quickly and methodically he focused on the task of getting all of the moisture off of his body before going on to pull on the clothes. There was nothing worse that going around all day with damp clothes on your body. Finally dropping the towel Jacen turned to face his stack of clothing just as a gasp came from the direction of his bedroom.

Brown eyes locked on blue ones as Jacen's snapped around to focus on Kealey as she stood there. Before he could say anything she was suddenly turning, covering her eyes, and then tumbling to the ground.

"I'm so sorry Jacen..." Kealey's first uttered words finally spurred Jacen on to action. Moving over he pushed the door mostly closed and then quickly pulled on his shorts following moments later by his khaki pants. He could feel himself flushing in embarassment probably almost as red as the blond that now lay outside his bathroom door trying to apologize for what was most certainly an accident. He hadn't planed... she hadn't meant... ah hell.

"It's OK Kealey." Jacen finally spoke up as he opened the bathroom door while pulling on his shirt. "It was an accident. A few days from now we'll probably be laughing about it." He tried to reassure her even though he could still feel the heat filling his face and neck. He knew that it was probably true but he still couldn't imagine the two of them laughing about what had just happened.

"Let's just try to forget. Your clothes should be in the dryer and once you're dressed we'll go grab some breakfast. Maybe get you some clothes before our first stop." Jacen said, never quite looking Kealey directly in the eyes as he walked around the room to grab socks and brown work boots. They needed to forget it. They HAD to forget it.

"This is not how I imagined it happening the first time either of us saw the other." Jacen thought to himself as he focused on pulling on his shoes, thus giving Kealey a chance to slip out of his bedroom. "Not how I imagined it at all."

(OOC: Continued In Viewing The Wreckage)