Her Melting Point

All of You

After he'd laid down and she'd cajoled him into taking the painkillers she'd fetched for him, she quickly changed in the bathroom. He'd looked almost distressed when she was leaving, so she just took off the shirt and the dress, and pulled her pyjamas over the lacy bodysuit that Bernie and Pearl had convinced her to buy as part of her new 'body loving and celebrating' approach.

As soon as she was under the duvet, he scooped her and wrapped around her, as much as putting his leg onto hers, pinning her down. She let him, moulding into him. She was struck by the contrast between his usual stillness and the little twitches that kept running through his body now: she could feel him quiver from time to time; and his fingers curled and uncurled on her back.

Jackie settled her temple on his biceps and closed her eyes. She was wide awake, but she hoped it might put him to sleep if she breathed deeply and regularly.

"Dom relapsed last week."

His emotionless voice sounded oddly loud in the darkness of her bedroom.

Dom was Alexander's older brother. He was ten years Alexander's senior. Dom had left Fleckney when he'd turned twenty, leaving Alexander alone with their father and their oldest brother, Martin. Their mother had passed away two years before that.

Fleckney's grapevine had previously reported to Jackie that last year Dom had had a suicide attempt and had temporarily returned to Fleckney under Martin's care. The situation was complicated by the fact that the oldest Fergusson brother, together with their father, had been the childhood abuser of both Dom and Alexander. Oliver had told Jackie that Dom had been the reason for Alexander's eventual return to Fleckney: he'd showed up one day, sent Dom's away to a rehab, bought out Martin's failing farm, and then stayed.

"His partner called me. She said he'd stopped going to the meetings, and then he'd disappeared," Alexander continued monotonously. "He's been in the hospital since last Saturday. Hit and run."

That explained his absence at the game. Jackie shifted back to look into his face.

"How serious is it?" she asked.

"He'll be fine." His tone was just as flat as before. "A few broken ribs. It grazed him, or he just fell. It'll detox him too."

"I'm so sorry, Alexander." She stroked his cheek, and he snuggled into her palm. "I'm so very sorry," she murmured, and kissed his forehead, and then his cheek, and the corner of his mouth.

His eyes flew open.

"We can–" he started asking in a bewildered tone, and then frowned. "Nevermind."

"We can– what?" Jackie whispered.

So, she wasn't the only one who thought that something had changed in their relationship. Apparently, the kiss had felt just as zesty to him as to her.

And then a thought came.

"When you texted and called me last week," she asked softly, "did you want to talk about Dom?"

His fingers encircled her wrist, and he pulled her hand and nuzzled her palm again.

"I don't know. I'm not good at talking." He sighed. "I wanted to see you."

"You should've said!" Jackie exclaimed. "I thought you fancied to hook up. I wasn't feeling well, and I was in no shape for a kitchen table shag. But we could've talked!"

"Not good at talking," he repeated, and suddenly face was very close to hers. "Are you feeling better now?"

She needed to switch the conversation topic!

"Alexander, what happened tonight?" she asked and pressed her hand into his shoulder.

He emitted a disgruntled noise and released her.