familiarity

pretty darn cool

*a few weeks later*

                 Riley was sat downstairs when she saw a box on the floor in the corner of the living room, jay had left to go to the store and she was alone since it was his day off, or on call at least, usually she isn't necessarily the nosey type of kid, but she saw something really shiny and she felt the irresistible urge to take a look.  As bad as she felt for intruding on whoever's box it is' privacy, she couldn't shake off her curiosity.  So she slowly but surely made her way over to the box and knelt down in front of it.  She flicked the flaps open and revealed a box full of treasurable's.  Her eyes widened when she realised what it was, it was jays old military items.

She took out a long wooden vase which had a glass door to it, her eyes lit up as she saw the display of medals in front of her. It contained medals of bravery, active service medals, and his platoon badges, it was awesome to actually see something other than the two pictures he has hung up on the wall. He's really closed off about that part of his life.  She was so engrossed in looking through the box of items that she didn't hear the front door opening and closing. 

                 Jay kicked his shoes off and walked into the living room after setting the groceries down onto the counter.  He stopped in his tracks when he saw Riley looking through the box he was planning on putting into the attic later today, "what're you doing?" He rushed over to her and took the medal case out of her hands.  She jumped a little since he scared the living daylights out of her and looked up at him as he hurried to box everything back up again, "why would you do that?" He huffed and stood up.  She stood up too and backed away a little, "I saw something shiny..." she shook her head in confusion.

He ran his hands over his face, "so? You don't just go looking through other peoples things Riley, if it's not yours leave it alone..." he shook his head, his tone seemed quite pissed off. Riley looked down at the box then back up at her brother, "sorry, uh, I didn't know..." she looked at him with an apologetic expression on her face. Jay turned around and sighed before throwing his hands in the air, he said nothing and let out a defeated huff as he walked away whilst shaking his head. She rubbed her arm awkwardly, she didn't think it would bother him, but it clearly did. She decided it was probably best to get out of his sight and began making her way upstairs before he could look at her again.

After a few minutes of calming himself down in the kitchen, he let out a stressful sigh and shook himself off before walking back out into the living room. He expected to see Riley sat on the couch but when he saw that the room was empty he cursed himself and shook his head; she's a teenager, of course she's going to be curious, he thought to himself. He could hear her music playing upstairs so he knew she was safe, but he figured it was maybe best to leave it for now, she probably feels just as bad as he does, maybe time might cool things over.  He rubbed his hands over his face, it's not her fault that he's been through what he's been through, but he reacted out of instinct.  It's just unfortunate she received the brunt end of it.

~~~~~~~

Jay checked his watch a long while later, it had been two hours since he regretfully snapped at Riley, and it was now 6:45pm. It's his day off, he's meant to be spending it with her not avoiding her, so he shook his head at himself and stood up before walking to the bottom of the stairs, "riles! Come down here!" He called up. He didn't wait for a response, instead he wandered back over to the box and pulled a few things out.

                Riley shut her laptop down at the sound of jay calling her name then got up and slowly made her way downstairs to see him knelt down in front of the box, exactly where she was sat a few hours ago.  She slowly approached him whilst waiting for him to say something, "sit" he spoke calmly.  She obeyed and sat down right next to him as he held his medals case in his hands, "these are from my first tour" he titled them for her to see.  Her eyes lit up again at the sight of them, "what're they for?" She scooted closer.  He smiled weakly, he's never showed anything inside of this box to anyone before, well anyone other than Will. 

               "Well this is ones a standard service medal, most people get this one. This ones a bravery medal, three men from my platoon got one. And this ones a special recognition medal" he pointed them out, her eyes held the twinkle for every second he showed her, it made his heart melt.  "Only you got that one?" She smiled weakly.  He nodded and smiled back, "pretty darn cool" she smiled widely.  He smiled back and let out a small chuckle at the southern accent she used.  She carefully took them from his hands and smiled, "why hide them?" She furrowed her brows.  Jay shrugged, "I did a lot of thing's overseas champ, some were good and others not so good, I did a lot of things to earn those badges which I'm not proud of..." he trailed off before he could go into details.

               "Well I'm proud" she shrugged and ran her fingers over the glass, she didn't look at him whilst talking but she could feel his eyes staring at her every move.  He chuckled a little, "oh you're proud huh? They're not even your medals..." he nudged her arm playfully.  She let a small grin appear on her face, "no, they're not... but it's you I'm proud of" she nodded positively and stood up.  His heart completely melted at the sound of that, he hasn't heard that phrase since his mom died all those years ago, he was in complete awe of his sister as she got up.  He watched intently as she walked a few feet to the side and placed the medal case on the unit where they were sat safely on display, "don't hide them anymore" she sat back down again.  He watched as she pointed to the box, almost as if she was asking for his permission to look through it.  He smiled sincerely and nodded for her to look through it. 

                 She picked up the small metal tag on a chain and held it up, jay smiled, she looked clueless, "what's this?" She looked up at him as she leant her elbow on his thigh.  He smiled and took it from her hands to turn it over so the writing was on show, "my dog tags" he smiled.  She took it back and ran her thumb over the indentations, "what're they for?" She nodded.  He smiled at her curiosity, "it's a form of identification in case a soldier gets injured" he nodded.  She smiled weakly, "what's all the numbers for?" She furrowed her brows.  He smiled, "well that's my blood type, that's my service number, that's my surname obviously, my initials and my religion" he nodded.  She smiled, "I like it" she straightened the chain out.  He smiled as she put the necklace back into the box, her touch was so gentle with everything.

                "Badges?" She smiled and picked up a board of pinned up badges.  He smiled, "yeah, they state what rank everyone was" he nodded.  She smiled back, "thanks for showing me..." she put everything back inside carefully.  He smiled and planted a gentle kiss on her hair, he didn't exactly know what to say but he knew that his actions would get through to her, "so, what're we watching?" She jumped up and wandered over to the couch.  Jay smiled and slid the box away, "anything you want" he laughed and joined her.  As she flicked through Netflix for a good horror film, his eyes flicked up to the medal case.  Reality hit him, he should t hide his medals, they show his achievements, and Riley just helped him realise that.

~~~~~~~~

At around 12:35am, Riley was now in bed and Jay was sat on the couch with a beer catching up on the latest Motor cycle showcase program. The front door opened and closed before there was shuffling from the lobby area, a few seconds later, in walked the oldest Halstead with a bag in his hands, "got what you asked for" he handed jay the plastic bag, "thanks man" jay nodded and took the pain meds from his brother, it turns out the bullet wound still hurt from being shot for the one millionth time a few months back. Wills eyes shot up to the shiny objects on the unit, "I didn't know you'd put those on show" he nodded at the medals. Jay smiled weakly, "I didn't, until today" he sighed and looked over at them with a sense of purity. Will nodded, "Riley?" He smiled. Jay nodded, "yeah... she found them, told me to stop hiding them" he shrugged. Will nodded, "she's not wrong" he took a beer from the side and sat down with his brother. Jay smiled back, maybe they're right...