I'll Find You

Let's Hurt Tonight - Part 1

I know you're feeling insane
Tell me something that I can explain
I'll hit the lights and you lock the doors
Tell me all of the things you couldn't before
Don't walk away, don't roll your eyes
They say love is pain, well darling, let's hurt tonight
——Let's Hurt Tonight, One Republic

March 30, 2018

Grayson arrived in Dublin in the early morning, although it felt like the middle of the night to him. He hadn't slept much on the flight. He didn't care. He had things to take care of. Sleep could wait.

*****

Brian O'Donnell was damn sick and tired of this. He wanted his quiet farm back. Between Cait crying at all hours of the night and mucking up things in his stables during the day, he was grouchy. Now Jack had dispatched him back to that damn airport to fetch another interloper.

It wasn't tough to recognize the man he'd come to find. First of all, he climbed off a Gulfstream in the private aircraft area. Second, he stood a head taller than him or anyone else in the private terminal. And third, he looked angry as hell. After only a couple of days with her, Brian could understand how Caitlin could drive a man to that expression.

He approached Grayson and held out a hand. "Brian O'Donnell," he said simply.

"Grayson Allen," was the abrupt response. The handshake was brief.

"The lorry's around here," Brian pointed. Grayson wondered what the hell a lorry was, but Brian led him to a truck. Grayson stowed his bag and went to get in, before he realized he needed to go to the other side. He cursed quietly, causing Brian to laugh.

"Yanks always make that mistake." Brian got behind the wheel of the right hand drive.

Grayson climbed in and tried to acclimate himself to being a passenger in the left front seat. It was quiet for a few minutes as Brian got out of the airport and on the road.  Finally, Grayson spoke. "Is she okay?" he asked quietly.

"No," Brian responded. "She's a bloody mess. Cries all night. Terrorizes my stable hands all day. Please tell me you've come to take her off my hands."

Grayson ran a hand over his face. "I hope so.  Either that or you're gonna have another stable hand because I'm not leaving without her."

Brian didn't respond right away. "I'd appreciate you getting her out of my hair, but are you sure you want that headache?"

Grayson smiled slightly. "The pain she causes is usually about three feet below the back of my head.  But I love her."

"Can I ask why?" Brian smirked a bit.

Grayson sighed. "Because we're alike. And when she's in her right mind, she gets me. Not many people do. That's the short version."

Brian left it alone. If this Yank had flown all the way here, he clearly cared about her.

*****
Cait was wielding a pitchfork, mucking out stables. She heard footsteps and turned to see Brian. "About time you showed up," she grumbled. He'd woken her very early that morning, before dawn, and told her that he had to go somewhere and she would have to take care of things for awhile.