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“Look, if nothing else, I hope that we can still try and be friends,” Edrisa was not without regrets. You couldn’t make it past 30 without some regrets. In 8th grade, she got too enthusiastic in her chemistry class, and set her hair on fire. In 10th grade, she helped Nate Miller cheat on his SATs.
“Of course we can still be friends,” he responded. But she didn’t regret what she had with JT.
Between dates always being interrupted with work and the incessant needling of HR, the two of them were pressed to end their relationship, before it even really began. It had been a little awkward at first. They took a week before they could manage to say hi to each other again, and another month before they could hold a conversation.
Eventually the comfort came back, bit by bit. A comforting hand on his shoulder when his overseas performer died. A joke during a halloween stabbing. A laugh in response during the scanning of a junkyard. By the new year the two of them had found themselves right back to where they were before they went to the next level, flirting included. Between Malcolm and JT, she felt like she spent half of her police consultations coming up with new double entendres for mortuary terminology. Malcolm appreciated it, JT seemed to prefer other means of flirting.
If there was one thing she learned about JT during their short stint together, it’s that he finds her beautiful. He seemed to have a compliment for every inch of her body. From her warm porcelain skin, to the dimples in the small of her back. It took her time, but she learned to reciprocate. It wasn’t that she didn’t think he was beautiful, but she wasn’t eloquent. It was mostly pointing out how muscular and well built he was, at least at first. But she found her way into describing how safe his strong arms made her feel and how soft and warm his chest felt.
As a result a lot of their flirting seemed to be inside jokes about these compliments. Dani rolled her eyes and Malcolm looked puzzled. Despite being a profiler, he seemed rather oblivious to the behavior of the two of them. Edrisa wondered if he had actively forced himself to stop profiling them at some point. The others did seem discomforted by it. Edrisa respected that, boundaries were important. She imagined Malcolm must feel the same.
She often found herself trying to dissect Malcolm. In a non-literal way, she wasn’t the surgeon. She was never great at reading people, and it cost her a few friendships. But she was determined to stop that after her college years. But Malcolm was… inconsistent. Sometimes she’d flirt with him and he’d seem to love every second of it, and even bounce it back. Other days, she felt like he was about to crawl out of his skin. She tried to ask him about it, but he just looked upset and apologized.
Despite the upsets in the relationships between them, and JT taking a bit to like Malcolm. They were friends. So when Edrisa helped put a necrophiliac murderer away, they celebrated at her house. And if it helped Malcolm get his mind off of his serial killer father just coming out of a coma, all the better.
“So what is this?” Malcolm asked, swirling around the amber liquid in the clear glass.
“It’s moonshine, my friends a distiller,” Edrisa said. JT finished his first sip,
“Tastes like cinnamon,” he responded. Malcolm still looked hesitant. JT put an arm around him. “Come on rich boy, it won’t kill you to try something less that costs less than two hundred dollars,” he said. Malcolm closed his eyes and took a drink. He cringed as it went down.
“You don’t have to do it if it makes you uncomfortable,” Edrisa said.
“I’m fine,” Malcolm said.
“You don’t look fine,” Edrisa said
“Yeah, but that’s not a you thing, it’s just how I look sometimes,” Malcolm said.
“Well that’s good to hear,” Edrisa said,
“Why?” Malcolm asked,
“Well I worry that I’m making you uncomfortable sometimes,” Edrisa said.
“Why would you make me uncomfortable?” Malcolm asked.
“Well because we flirt a lot and-” Edrisa started,
“Wait, when were we flirting?” Malcolm asked, JT put down his glass and looked at him baffled.
“You’re kidding, right?” JT asked,
“No, when were we flirting?” Malcolm reiterated.
“Pretty much every other conversation we have,” Edrisa said.
“Wow that’s crazy, I didn’t think you even really liked me,” Malcolm said, taking another sip. Concern washed over Edrisa and JT.
“Why would you think I don’t like you?” Edrisa asked,
“Well you’ve talked to me more than once about how people need to feel comfortable voicing discomfort. I thought you were talking about me,” Malcolm said.
“I was, but I meant you need to feel comfortable voicing discomfort with me,” Edrisa said.
“But I feel more comfortable with you than anyone else,” Malcolm said, Edrisa’s face went red and she was left speechless. JT rolled his eyes and chuckled.
“You two are something else, I’ll tell you that, I got myself a pair of lunatics don’t I?” JT said, Malcolm laughed,
“I guess you do, although I have to admit I’m surprised to hear that you consider me a friend,” Malcolm said. JT finished his drink and stared at him,
“Man why is it so hard for you to accept people like you?” JT asked.
“Well… it’s just… historically speaking… it’s difficult for people to trust the son of a serial killer,” Malcolm answered, Edrisa got up and went to get something from the back counter. JT tried to ignore that and put an arm around Malcolm.
“Come on man, we trust you,” JT said and Edrisa grabbed Malcolm’s hand. She led him to the edge of the table and stood a few feet across from him. She tossed an apple up and caught it before putting it on her head. Malcolm looked into his hand to see what she left there. There was a dart.
“Are you serious,” JT asked, Edrisa nodded. JT looked at the soft tipped dart in Malcolm’s hand.
“No, not happening,” Malcolm said, “come on JT back me up here.”
“I mean if she wants to do it,” JT said, handing Edrisa a pair of sunglasses.
“This is insanity, what if I miss,” Malcolm said,
“I’ve seen you catch axes in mid air, and you got a solid 9/10,” JT said. Edrisa put on the glasses and gave him a thumbs up.
“I don’t know about this,” Malcolm said, Edrisa looked him dead in the eye,
“I do, and I know I trust you,” she responded. Malcolm pulled back and let go. The apple hit the ground and Malcolm released a breath he didn’t realize he was holding.
“See I told you, you could do it,” she said as she stumbled across the room and collapsed onto her bed. JT chuckled. Malcolm followed her, possibly to pick her up, but he ended up collapsed as well.
“You guys are lightweights,” JT chuckled. He grabbed water bottles from the fridge and put them next to the bed before making himself comfortable next to them.
When Edrisa woke up, the sun was tinted red by the rising sun. She felt warm with Malcolm’s head on her chest and JT’s arm wrapped around them both. She felt bad slipping herself out of their arms. But she did. After taking an ibuprofen and downing two of the water bottles, she went to the restroom to wash off her makeup and change into some sweats. When she came back, her boys were still asleep. So she maneuvered herself into the space between them.
She rested her head onto JT’s soft chest, and Malcolm’s ended up on his shoulder. His delicate chin snuggly fit into the crook of her neck. Malcolm’s hands went through her hair, while JT’s strong arms engulfed them both. She could feel both their hearts beating, and she was sure they could feel hers. She didn’t know exactly what any of them were to each other. But they were friends at the very least. And together they found safety and warmth.