Who: Tessa and JD What: Aggravating a soldier When: 10.19.11 - Wednesday Evening Where: Their apartment building Warnings: Semi-NSFW due to almost nudity and sexual content
Tessa had given the cute soldier almost two whole days to call her and he hadn't. The ass. So she took matters into her own hands and cooked up a nice dinner of homemade stuffed shells and made sure there was enough food for the both of them. Once that was done, she put the food in a tupperware dish, a six pack of beer under her arm, she carefully took the stairs to his place. If he wouldn't call her, she'd have to make him talk to her some other way and the way to a man's heart was through his stomach. She doubted JD was any different. Realizing she didn't have hands to really knock on the door, she used the toe of her shoe to thump against the door so he'd come open it. Hopefully he did so before the food got cold or the beer got warm.
JD had just gotten himself out of the shower, back into sweats and a tshirt, when he heard the thumping at the door. Likely Vince, so he lifted himself into the chair, tucking the empty legs of his sweats out of the way as he wheeled himself to the door. He couldn’t reach the peephole. Great. Of course he couldn’t. Sighing, he rested his head against the door with a soft ‘thunk’. “Who is it?” He called out, reaching up towards the chain and lock on the door.
"A wetdream," she replied because she couldn't help herself. "Tessa, the girl you couldn't call," she added, arching a brow as she waited patiently. "Are you going to open the door or not?" He better open the damn door or she'd have to thwap him one.
“Uh...” JD looked down at himself, then cursed. “Gimme a couple of minutes!” He called out, wheeling himself backwards along the hall and into his bedroom. He shoved his pants up, trying to fit his prostheses as quickly as he could, grabbing his crutches and struggling to his feet. No way he was gonna let her see him in a wheelchair, not if he could help it. He made it to the door, opening it a little awkwardly, shuffling back to let her in. “Hey,” he said, nodding in greeting. “What can I do for you?”
She sighed but stood there anyway. What other option did she have? When he finally returned, awkwardly opening the door and letting her in, she smiled and lifted the tupperware dish a little with one hand and pulling the sixpack from beneath her arm with the other. "I come bearing gifts," she told him. "Even though I'm still kind of pissed you didn't call me. I figured you could use some food that didn't go into the microwave beforehand," she murmured. "Hungry?"
“Always,” JD admitted. He wasn’t sorry that he hadn’t called - Tess had been stubborn and interfering, and way too good for him. But hell, her stubbornness apparently meant that she was going to bring him food even if he didn’t call. He wasn’t complaining. “G’head,” he nodded down the hall, trying to remember how much of a mess his living room was in. “I’ll be there in a sec.” He shut the door, taking a minute to manouvre himself around on his crutches, managing to get into the living room without too many bumps against the walls.
She was indeed stubborn. And interfering. She wasn't going to change either. She went in the direction that he indicated, finding his living room fairly easily and then finding his kitchen. She sat the food down on the counter top and then the beer beside that. "Lemme guess," she commented. "I'm a busybody and all I did was piss you off the other day?" she smiled.
“Pretty much,” JD muttered, clomping into the kitchen. He leant against the counter, grabbing plates off the drainer and cutlery from the drawer, at least making some effort at setting the table. She clearly wasn’t going to leave, even if he yelled at her. He might as well eat, and drink her beer. “You want a glass for your beer?” He asked, quirking an eyebrow at her.
"What the hell do you think I am? A lady?" she laughed, picking up the tupperware dish, she used the plates and cutlery he pulled out to dish them both out a plate and then put the rest of the food in the dish into the fridge because he was a man and would eat leftovers for days. "The bottle is fine," she assured him, pulling out two of the bottles and putting the other four in the fridge with the leftover food before plopping herself down in one of the chairs, eyes flicking up to him. "Not going to bitch at me for being pushy?" she asked him, smirking a little.
“Is it gonna make you leave?” JD grumped. “Probably not,” he continued, answering his own question. He opened the bottle of beer she placed in front of him, taking a long swallow. And yeah, he probably shouldn’t be drinking, with his meds. He didn’t care. He ate a mouthful of the food, eyebrows quirking up appreciatively. “Wow,” he mumbled, mouth stuffed with pasta. “This is good.”
"No," she told him. "I'm very persistent, you'll figure that out sooner or later," she smiled. Tessa wasn't going to give up that easily, darn it. She was pleased when he said the pasta was good, cutting a bit of her own stuffed shells with her fork and popping it into her mouth. Once she'd swallowed, she grinned at him. "See, you're going to want to be nice to me," she told him. "I'm a good cook, and Italian so I cook too much. You'll get lots of leftovers if you learn to call a girl," she teased.
“You came over even though I didn’t call,” JD pointed out, a little sourly. “That’s not exactly incentive to call you.” He stabbed the plate almost angrily, as if resenting the fact that the food was good, that he had no excuse not to just push the plate away and tell her to leave.
Tessa rolled her eyes and took another bite of her food. "I came over because you're only excuse for not calling is that I'm a stubborn busybody," she told him. "So is every other woman in the world." He could be kind of an ass. He'd gone from complimenting her food to angrily stabbing his plate. "With those people skills I'm not sure how you're here by yourself."
He snorted. “Gee, I wonder,” he replied snidely. He wasn’t exactly the life and soul of the party, considering he was on a cocktail of drugs, had anger issues, and was usually in pain, tired, or just cranky as hell because his life sucked. It didn’t exactly make for a happy mix. He continued to eat though, enjoying the food too much to let it go to waste just because Tessa was stubborn and irritating.
She didn't say anything else for a few moments, focusing instead on eating the food before her, eyes flicking to him every once in awhile. In between sips of her beer and bites of her food. She wondered what he'd been through, what had caused him to be so damned angry at everything and everyone. She pondered over if it was just women that he hated, but she doubted it. She figured he was probably an ass to everyone. Setting her fork down, she sighed and folded her hands together on the table. "I'm sorry if I stuck my nose in your business," she told him. "And I'm sorry if I piss you off, but it's not good for you to be alone here anyways. Do you really hate my company that much?"
“What makes you think I’m stuck here alone all the time?” He asked, quirking an eyebrow. “I could have hot blondes in my bedroom right now, waiting for you to leave.” Yeah, he was being snarky and stupid. He didn’t care. She was prying into his life, his shitty little life in his shitty little apartment, and he hated it.
"I don't peg you for a guy that likes blondes," she shrugged. "Maybe a redhead or two. With nice knockers and legs. And an ass. You're an ass man. And an asshole, but you knew that already," she told him, flashing a little smile at him. "Maybe you're not stuck here alone all the time, but you are angry all the time. For probably plenty of good reasons, but that's no excuse to be an ass all the time."
“You know nothing about me,” JD snapped. “So fuck you.” Because yeah, he didn’t need her telling him whether he had any right to be an asshole. Pushing away his plate, he picked up his beer, draining it in three long pulls, almost slamming the empty bottle down on the table.
Damn him for being a dick. She wasn't giving up that easily, however. That was what he wanted and she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction. Instead she decided to kill him with kindness. Or at least make him surprised as fuck. Getting up from the table, making as if she were about to leave, she pulled her hair over one shoulder and bent down, catching his chin with one hand and pulling his face upwards so she could kiss him. It was one way to shut up a know-it-all male who wanted to bitch and groan and snap. It'd likely just piss him off more, but she really didn't care.
JD’s eyes widened with surprise as she kissed him, and he put his hands on her shoulders, meaning to push her away. And then realised that there was a hot girl kissing him, and pushing her away was a monumentally stupid idea. He slid his hands up, cupping her face as he kissed back, nipping at her lower lip. After a moment he pulled back, frowning as he looked up at her. “What the hell was that?”
Tessa smirked a little at him when he finally pulled back, not liking the frown, but hey, he had kissed her back. "You said I didn't know anything about you," she told him with a soft shrug of one of her shoulders. "Now I do. You're a really good kisser." It was the purest and simplest thing she could have learned about him. And now she wanted to kiss him again. Great.
JD snorted, pulling his hands away from her shoulders. “Thanks,” he muttered, almost grudgingly. “Are we done now?” Because yeah, thinking about how good that kiss had been, how much he wanted to do it again? Bad idea. It could never work, could never go anywhere. Twisting a little awkwardly in his chair, he grabbed another of the beers she’d brought, popping the cap off with a twist of his hand, dropping it onto the table and taking another generous swig.
She frowned a little at him. "No," she told him. "Other people might give up when you pull the 'I'm going to treat you like an asshole til you go away' routine, but I'm not buying it. Especially not now that I know you're a good kisser," Tessa muttered, rolling her eyes a little. "Tell me you don't want to kiss me again."
“Doesn’t matter,” he snapped, glaring at her. “It’s not gonna happen.” Regardless of how much he wanted to kiss her, he knew it couldn’t happen. Knew there wasn’t any point. He hadn’t had a hard-on since the accident, and it wasn’t like he could do anything, be a normal boyfriend, considering he didn’t have any goddamn legs.
"Why not?" she asked him, her voice calm and not rising even when he'd snapped at her. "If you want to kiss me, I don't understand why you wouldn't want it to happen again." It was obvious he wanted to kiss her or he wouldn't have answered that way. She was a girl, that didn't mean she was stupid. If anything it meant she paid more attention because she wasn't so easily distracted as most men.
“Because,” he snapped, pushing the chair back from the table, grabbing his crutches. He didn’t want to be looking up at her, not for this kind of conversation. He struggled to his feet, glaring at her still, jaw tight. “I’m not boyfriend material, okay?” He couldn’t even believe he needed to have this conversation with her. Like it wasn’t obvious why he didn’t want a relationship. “And I don’t need some fucking Florence Nightingale taking me on as a charity fuck.”
"I didn't say I wanted a relationship," she told him. "Or a boyfriend. And I don't think that you're a charity fuck either, just so you know. You don't need any charity. You're pretty fucking capable of doing things on your own whether you believe it or not." Tessa sighed and glanced away from him briefly, trying to think of what she could say to calm him down a little. She softened her features, looking up at him and lifted her hand cautiously to brush over his cheek. "I don't think you're a charity case no matter what you think I think." He needed to know that more than anything. "I didn't kiss you because I feel sorry for you. I kissed you because you're attractive and I thought you'd be a good kisser. I was right."
JD jerked his face away from her hand, muscles in his cheek twitching as he clenched his teeth, looking away from her. “You know,” he said bitterly. “Six months ago? I’d have fucked you by now.” His words were intentionally harsh, coarse. He was trying to drive her away, after all. “And then I’d have avoided you until you took the hint and stopped trying to talk to me.” Because yeah, JD was always the love ‘em and leave ‘em kind of guy.
"Sounds like you used to be a douchebag," she commented. "So what's changed?" she questioned. "Why are you just mostly a douchebag now instead of entirely one?" Yeah, he'd have to work harder than that to drive her away. She wasn't going anywhere. Tessa could be extremely stubborn.
JD laughed humorlessly. “I’m still a douchebag,” he muttered. “I just don’t get the fun part first anymore. That’s what happens when you get blown up by a freaking IED.” He hobbled away from her, out of the kitchen towards his bedroom. “You know where the front door is,” he snapped over his shoulder at her.
Tessa realized then that there were more problems inside of him that she originally thought. It wasn't just physically, but perhaps mentally, that he'd been hurt. She couldn't imagine how painful life must have been with just the physical issues, but to think that he was going to become a hermit because he couldn't get a hard-on? Sex wasn't everything. Jesus. She let him hobble out of the kitchen, not caring about his snappy words. She cleaned up the dishes, washing them out in the sink and drying them, putting away the leftovers and the last of his beer in the fridge. Then she wiped off the counters and table and made her way to the living room, plopping herself down on the sofa and waiting. Yeah, she wasn't leaving without a fight. "Do you really think that it matters if you've got issues with sex?" she questioned. "I have fingers, you know. I'm capable of pleasing myself. Did you ever think that maybe I just want to get to know you? Besides, for the record, your mouth works perfectly fine. Not like I couldn't make use of that. If sex was that big a deal."
JD lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling, arms folded over his chest. He listened to Tessa clattering around in the kitchen, tidying up. Like she owned the freaking place. He tried not to listen, but it was kind of hard considering his walls were like tissue paper, and he’d left the door open. And then she was talking. Great. Like he needed the mental image of her touching herself. Of the sounds she’d make if he went down on her. “Yeah, well, maybe it’s that big a deal to me,” he yelled through to her, tossing a pillow at the door, pushing it closed. Fine, she was trying to outstubborn him? Two could play at that game. Sitting up, he yanked his prosthetics off, biting back a curse as the rough treatment send sparks of pain through his stumps. He was being stupid, and he knew it, but that didn’t change a thing. Pulling his sweatpants down over the stumps, he levered himself into his wheelchair, making his way through to the living room. Crutches hadn’t put her off - maybe seeing Stumpy McWheelchair would.
Tessa didn't so much as flinch when he entered the room in his wheelchair. She hadn't been aware that his legs were prosthetic, having figured he'd likely just been wounded badly in his legs, but it didn't really bother her. So he didn't have legs. What was the problem exactly? No wonder he was a grumpy asshole all the time. If he was just getting used to the prosthetic limbs, he was likely in a lot of pain. "Do you feel better now that you're not putting your legs through hell?" she asked him, folding her arms over her chest and looking at him expectantly.
“...a little.” JD muttered, looking down at the floor. And yeah, that sucked to admit. But he did. “So yeah. You see now why I’m not interested?” Which was a flat-out lie, and they both knew it. Kissing her had been incredible. It had been the first good thing that had happened to him since the explosion. Didn’t mean he had to admit that. Or pursue anything with her.
"No," she told him honestly. "I mean, I can see why you think that you shouldn't be interested. I just don't understand why you can't just go with it. I'm not asking you to hop into bed with me. I just want you to know that just because what happened to you did what it did doesn't mean that your life is over," she murmured, leaning back against his sofa and unfolding her arms, sliding her feet out of her slipons and up underneath her on the sofa.
“Really? Because I have no job, no friends, and no place else to go.” He snapped, wheeling himself into the kitchen and grabbing his unfinished beer out of the fridge. “Pretty sure my life is over.” And yeah, he wasn’t suicidal - didn’t mean he thought his life was sunshine and kittens, either.
"So you don't have a job, who cares? You could get one. No friends is a lie because I saw the guy you walked up here with the other day and obviously you have somewhere to go because you leave and go to therapy or whatever at the hospital right? And if you want friends, I'd suggest you not push them away before they get the chance to be friends," she pointed out. "I want to be your friend. And you could have somewhere to go then. The park. The movies. Somewhere."
“No, you want to kiss me.” He took a gulp of his beer, setting the bottle between his thighs as he wheeled himself towards the couch. “Which, ok, I don’t blame you for.” He smirked a little, and there was a flash of the old, cocky JD. The guy he used to be. But it was gone, as quickly as it was there. “You’ll forgive me if I don’t wanna go out in public like this.” He gestured to his stumps, safely hidden under his sweatpants.
She liked that smirk. "You're right," she told him. "I do want to kiss you. I have eyes. You know you're fucking gorgeous. But see I also know that I am gorgeous," she smiled, tilting her head a little. "And you know you want to kiss me even if you're fighting it." She let her eyes flick to his legs and shrugged a little. "What's wrong with your legs, huh? All that says to me is 'here's a guy who went to war to fight for our country and he's still out and about even though war sucks'," she said. "Just makes you a hero."
JD thought of himself as many things. Fucking gorgeous was not one of them. Cocky, and brash, and fantastic in bed? Yeah. He had a great body, especially his arms. He’d been told that enough. But his face was nothing special - it was the attitude that demanded attention. An attitude that he’d lost, along with his knees. “I’m not a goddamn hero,” he snarled, what little good mood her compliment had created evaporating. “I was in the wrong place, at the wrong time. And my best friend paid for it worse than me.” Because yeah, he’d lost his closest friend. He didn’t have family. And Vince? He was just a painful reminder of what JD used to be. Of what he could have been, if things had been different.
"Well then you're not a hero," she sighed. "Doesn't mean you should be kept inside all the time," she told him. "Either way, you're still gorgeous, you're still cocky because I saw that little smirk you had on your face a minute ago. Just because everything might not be in top notch condition doesn't mean it won't be. Do you really want to shut out the world just because of what you think it's going to be like?" she asked. She doubted that he'd always have issues with his little soldier, but even if he did, he could have a life. He didn't have to be stuck in his apartment for the rest of eternity.
JD rubbed his face with his hand, sighing tiredly. “You really don’t fucking give up, do you?” He asked, the fight draining out of him. She wasn’t going to leave if he yelled at her, if he hid in his room...he seemed to be pretty much stuck with her. But hell, at least he had a nice view. Giving in, he shifted his wheelchair, using his arms to lift himself out of the chair and dropping heavily onto the couch. He grabbed the remote, switching the tv on, taking another long pull on his beer. Maybe if he just ignored her, then she’d leave.
"Nope," she told him honestly. She could tell he was tired of arguing. She didn't blame him. She was tired of arguing too. She watched him as he got himself settled on the sofa beside her, flipping on the television in hopes of ignoring her most likely. Tessa gently brushed her fingers over his shoulder and back to the nape of his neck, teasing the bit of hair there. "Sucks to be you," she said. "You got stuck with the persistent neighbor. At least I'm hot right?"
JD flinched when she touched him, shying away from the affection. “Whatever,” he muttered, staring at the tv. He didn’t want to give in, didn’t want to admit that infuriating as she was, he was kind of enjoying having someone else around. “Oooh, Supernanny.” He’d developed a weakness for reality tv while stuck in the hospital - Tessa might have to look forward to many, many hours of shows like that, if she was going to try and be his friend.
She rolled her eyes a little at his one simple word. "Well I guess it won't matter if I get naked then will it since I'm just whatever?" she teased, pulling her hand back and undoing the top button of her little buttondown shirt. She was teasing, of course, but she wanted to get a rise out of him. At least until he paused the flipping channels on Supernanny and made her laugh. "What have they been letting you watch in the hospital?"
JD looked over at her, eyebrows raised. “What’s wrong with Supernanny?” He asked, mock-offended. And yes, his eyes slipped down to her cleavage for a moment. He didn’t think he could be blamed, considering she’d just started unfastening it.
"Nothing's wrong with Supernanny," she told him. "I didn't mean to offend your holy grail." She noticed him looking at her cleavage and it amused her, making her lift her hand to unbutton another button. "Nice to know you've still got some blood flow in you," she murmured, smirking a little as she let her eyes come to rest on his. "Going to admit that you think I'm hot yet?"
JD rolled his eyes. “You know you’re hot,” he muttered. “But yes, fine, you’ve got a great body. It’s just a shame about the personality.” He was smirking, though, just a little. Enough that it would take the sting out of his words. His eyes slipped down to her cleavage again, watching her fingers on the buttons. Like he was going to say no to his own private stripshow...
"Personality isn't everything," she teased, flashing him a smile. The smirk was back and she was glad. At least she'd made some progress. And his eyes were on her tits again which meant he certainly wasn't dead. Sliding her fingers down to another button, she popped it open, revealing the lacy black bra underneath.
“True,” he murmured, his eyes still on her hands. Seriously? She was going to strip off for him? Okay, maybe tonight wasn’t so terrible after all. “You planning on stopping at any point?” He drawled, arching an eyebrow as he glanced up at her. “Or should I go grab some bills from my wallet to tuck into your underwear?”
She shrugged a little. "Do you want me to stop?" she questioned, undoing one more button and letting her hand fall into her lap. She kept her eyes on his, searching for little clues in his features for what he did and didn't want her to do. At least teasing him had gotten him to open up a little bit.
JD turned to face her a little more, muting the tv. He had one arm along the back of the couch, the other still holding the remote, resting loosely in his lap. He shrugged, looking at her. “Honestly? I’m not gonna say no if you want to get naked in my apartment. But I’m also not gonna kiss you again.” He looked down, then back up. “So, up to you.”
She didn't undo another button, nor did she do them up again. "Why don't you want to kiss me again?" she asked. She couldn't help but be curious about his reasonings. "It can't all be because you're not boyfriend material. Like I said, I'm not exactly looking for a boyfriend." She wasn't quite sure what she was looking for really.
“You’re not looking for a boyfriend, but you want to kiss me. You want to kiss me, but you don’t care if we never fuck.” JD arched an eyebrow. “What exactly do you want from me, Tess?” She was confusing as hell, and she wasn’t making things any easier for him to understand.
"I like kissing you?" she shrugged. "And I like you, even if you are an asshole," she went on. "I guess I feel like there's more to you than you're willing to let out. Is it really so bad that I want to kiss you?" she questioned. As for his question, she wasn't sure how to reply. "I want to be your friend," she told him. "And maybe boost your morale with a striptease every now and then." Was that really so bad? She didn't think so. She wasn't exactly asking for anything in return. "And maybe I just like being naked," she added, smiling slightly. "I want to kiss you because you're hot and because you're good at it. And it doesn't really matter if we ever have sex because honestly I can please myself just fine without having to have a guy stick anything in me," she reminded him.
JD wasn’t used to people doing things for him without wanting something in return. Girls, in his experience, wanted attention, money, and sex. Not necessarily in that order. Tess’ claim that she just wanted to boost his morale, just wanted kisses for the sake of kisses...yeah, that didn’t make sense to him. He frowned, chewing his lip. Damnit, why did women have to be so fucking confusing?
She watched as he chewed on his lower lip. Laying her head against the back of the sofa, she curled into it and just kept her eyes on his face. She never claimed not to be confusing. "I think you've been with too many whores," she commented. "If all they ever cared about was getting laid. I prefer kisses. Not that I'll say no to a guy going down on me," she smirked. Maybe she'd just had too many bad lovers. Ah well.
JD snorted. “I was a total player,” he admitted. “Pretty much all the girls I was with just wanted to get laid.” He hadn’t minded, then. And to be honest, he was glad he hadn’t had a serious girlfriend when the explosion happened. He couldn’t imagine trying to deal with a relationship, on top of everything else he was going through.
"Whores," Tessa said again, nodding decidedly. She smiled though and shifted her legs out from under her, scooching closer to JD and draping her legs over his lap. "Do you really miss being a douchebag?" she questioned. She was curious and couldn't help herself. She wanted to know what was going through his head.
JD tensed when Tessa draped her legs over his lap, but she’d judged it well, the crook of her knees keeping most of the weight off his legs. “My life was a hell of a lot simpler back then,” he murmured, tilting his head back against the cushions, the top of his head nearly brushing the wall behind the couch. He sighed, shrugging. “I dunno.”
She didn't doubt his life was simpler back then. She could only imagine how hard it must have been to go from the life he'd had before to the life he had now. Letting her head come to rest against his shoulder, she sighed a bit. "Simpler doesn't mean it was better," she told him softly.
He didn’t tense so much, this time. There wasn’t any point, really - she wasn’t going to go away, leave him alone. “True,” he said softly. “But it was easier.” He hadn’t had to remember a dozen different medications, didn’t have to worry about distances to walk, or whether places were wheelchair accessible. And he didn’t have to worry about whether he’d ever have sex again. Because yeah, as much as Tess said it didn’t matter? It really did, to him. He didn’t feel like a man, anymore.
She was glad his tensing wasn't as prominent this time when she laid her head against him. He was right to think that she wasn't going anywhere because she wasn't. She was too stubborn to do so. "Things'll get easier," she told him, her voice soft and understanding. "I'd tell you I know how you feel, but I'd be lying because I don't. I can't even imagine how difficult it must be, but for the record, I believe in you. You're too stubborn to give up. Probably why I like you. You remind me of me and I'm kind of vain," she teased.
JD snorted. “Yeah, sure. Things’ll get easier. The nightmares won’t be so bad. I’ll get used to walking with prosthetics, dealing with phantom pain, spending 3 hours in the bathroom because my meds gave me the shits.” JD’s voice was bitter, angry. “People staring won’t bother me. It’ll be all fucking fluffy kittens and roses. Spare me the pep talk, honey, I’ve heard it before.”
Tessa sighed. "I didn't say all of that," she told him. "I said things will get easier, not that they'll be easy. They'll be hard. I'm not going to bullshit you and tell you that your life is going to be way more awesome than it was because it might not be. It'll be different. There'll be no comparison because your life isn't the same anymore. But you don't have to crawl into a hole and die because of it. That's all I'm saying." She shrugged a little, tilting her head enough to kiss his neck. "People staring are probably just looking at those guns you're carrying," she smirked.
Wow, her pep talks sucked. But hell, at least they were more realistic than the crap the doctors had been trying to sell. He stiffened a little when Tessa kissed his neck, turning his head away from her. Seriously, he had no idea why she was even interested in him. Why she was bothering. He was fucked up, and likely would be for a really long time. “Ok, you’re either a masochist,” he muttered, arching an eyebrow at her, “or you have some kind of fetish for cranky guys with crutches.”
"Maybe a little of both," she shrugged, laying her head against his shoulder again. "Definitely a masochist I suppose. Not that it much matters." She didn't say anything else, instead focusing on the sound of his breathing as he stubbornly sat there. The bastard. "So do you just intend to be a hermit for the rest of your life?" she asked him. "Never kiss anyone again because you think you're broken?"
Well, at least she was honest about it. JD shrugged, looking at the tv rather than at her. “Maybe,” he said, stubbornly. “What does it matter?” He was fine by himself. Always had been. Always would be. Just because she thought of herself as some kind of florence nightingale, didn’t mean he had to let her. Even if she had been a really good kisser. And it had been a really long time since he’d seen a girl naked.
"Because it would be a shame," she told him honestly. "Keeping all those glorious kisses holed up because you want to be a hermit. It's not fair really," she said, sighing teasingly as she laid back on the sofa, her legs still arched lightly over his. She undid another button just to see what he'd do, but was fairly certain that she wasn't going to get him to admit that he wanted anything from her. Damn stubborn ass.
JD looked over as she laid back against the arm of the sofa, his eyes following her hands, watching as she undid another button. “Now you’re just trying to torture me,” he murmured, forcing himself to look away. He didn’t know what she was doing, why she kept trying to strip. To make him admit that he was attracted to her? Anyone with eyes would be. He didn’t feel like it needed saying.
She sighed and redid the buttons on her shirt, closing her eyes and trying to decide what she wanted to do next. "I'm not trying to torture you. I'm trying to get you to understand that just because you got hurt doesn't mean that people can't still be attracted to you. That you shouldn't push people away just because you think your life is over." She wasn't sure how to convince him of that now, but there wasn't really anything she could do about it.
She wasn’t going to convince him. Not today, at least. He was in a crappy mood, and his stumps hurt. There was nothing good about his life right now. “Maybe I always pushed them away,” he argued. “Maybe this isn’t any different to how I used to be. You don’t know that.” It was a weak argument, but it was true to an extent - other than his buddies in his unit, he hadn’t made any effort at building relationships. Certainly not with women. “Like I said, I’m a douche.”
"You might be right," she agreed. "Maybe you're not any different than how you used to be. I don't know. But I'd like to get to know you. Even if it's just in a friendly, got-all-my-clothes-on, sort of way. I just don't want to know that you're here by yourself all the time feeling shitty. So if you're not interested in kissing me, fine, but can you at least agree to try to be my friend?" she asked. It wasn't much to ask, she didn't think. And she was worried about him being cooped up in his house all the time feeling bad for himself.
“It’s not that I’m not interested, trust me,” he muttered, covering his face with his hands for a moment and sighing. “Fine. Friends. I’ll try.” Because yeah, she really wasn’t going to leave. She’d worn him down, a little at least. And he was just going to have to try and forget the lacy bra against her gorgeous skin, the wicked smile on her face as she’d unbuttoned her shirt, teasing him. God. He was in hell. This was some new and inventive hell designed to punish him for being a player.
She couldn't help but smile when he agreed to try, opening her eyes to look up at him. A breakthrough. A very small one, but a breakthrough nonetheless. Finally they were moving in the right direction. "Good," she murmured softly. "You'll get used to my annoyingly stubborn tendencies," she teased.
“Sounds like I’m gonna have to,” he pointed out ruefully. There wasn’t any getting away from her, after all. “And you’re gonna have to get used to being cursed out every time you come over,” he pointed out. It wasn’t like he was the only one who was gonna suffer with this friendship. If that’s what it even was. “And watch a shit ton of reality tv with me.” He grinned, just a little.
She couldn't help but smile at that last bit. "I suppose I'll just have to suffer through it," she murmured. "And you'll have to suffer through me wearing less clothes each time. Though I'm pretty sure that won't be much suffering," she grinned.
“Oh no,” he drawled in a monotone. “An attractive woman getting naked around me. Whatever will I do.” He arched an eyebrow at her, smirking just a little. Well, he couldn’t stay mad at her forever, could he. Not even if he wanted to. There wasn’t any point, when it wasn’t going to get rid of her.
"Ooooh," she whispered softly. "You admitted you think I'm attractive." She was teasing, but she couldn't help it. It was funny. And he was smirking and she was glad they'd made the progress. She unbuttoned the top button of her shirt again. "Keep grinning at me like that and I'm going to have to undo another button."
“Nothing wrong with my eyes,” JD pointed out. “And you know damn well you’re attractive.” She’d said so herself. Damnit, she was infuriating. He sighed as she started to unbutton her shirt, shaking his head and forcing himself to look at the tv. “Go ahead. Seems like you’re pretty determined to get naked, with or without me watching you...”
"It's more fun when you're looking at me," she told him, not undoing another button yet because he wasn't paying attention and where was the point in that? And he'd been doing so good, darn it. "Yes, I know I'm attractive, but me knowing it and you saying it are two different things."
“If I watch you strip this time,” he said at last. “Will you stop trying to get naked every time you see me?” It was worth the bargain, for some peace and quiet. He muted the tv again, turning his head to look at her, one eyebrow arched.
She narrowed her eyes a bit, brows going up. They were bargaining now? Interesting. "Hmm," she said, tapping the tip of her finger against her lips as she thought about that deal. "Possibly. But what if you decide that you want me naked again?" she questioned. "Am I allowed to strip again or are you doomed to never see me naked but this one time?"
“I reserve the right to request further nakedness, for the sake of my continued rehabilitation into society,” he said solemnly, holding up a hand, the other resting on his chest, as if he was about to launch into a rousing chorus of the star-spangled banner. He shifted around a little, resting his back against the corner of the couch, one arm along the back of the couch as he looked at her, one eyebrow quirked as if to say, “well?”
Well, that was more than she thought she'd get. So she carefully slid her legs out of his lap and tucked them beneath herself, kneeling on the sofa. She watched him, eyes on his face as she undid each button of her shirt slowly until they were all opened, her skin visible through the small part between the two sides of the shirt. She wondered what was going through his mind, what he was thinking as she slid her hands up to the collar of her shirt and slowly drew it off her shoulders, removing it and laying it on the coffee table.
JD watched, unconsciously sucking his lip into his mouth, chewing on it distractedly as she stripped off her shirt, laying it down on the coffee table. God, she was hot. Not that he hadn’t noticed before, of course. But now he’d really noticed. And yet...nothing. Not even a twitch. He did his best not to think about that, instead focusing on Tessa, his eyes slowly moving down, the curve of her breasts in her lacy bra, the smooth skin of her stomach.
The fact that he pulled his lip into his mouth had her skin feeling hot all over. He was still watching, eagerly it seemed. His eyes on her skin, moving over every inch of exposed flesh. She stood up from the sofa, fingers moving to the button on her jeans, undoing it and then the zipper and pushing them down a little, revealing her matching panties. She stepped out of the jeans and lay them on the coffee table with her shirt before sitting beside him again, watching for each and every reaction.
He groaned a little as she stripped off her jeans, frustrated and turned on all at once. Turned on for fairly obvious reasons; frustrated because there still wasn’t anything happening, physically. Yeah, he felt aroused. But his cock hadn’t gotten with the program. Closing his eyes, he tipped his head back against the couch, sighing heavily. “Fuck,” he breathed, face twisting a little, misery clouding his features for a moment before he covered it up, tried to act like nothing was wrong.
She didn't move to take off any more of her clothes, staying at least partially covered. It was no worse than wearing a bathing suit after all. "What's wrong?" she asked him, not buying his cover up for a second.
“Nothing,” JD snapped. He was wearing sweatpants - it would be painfully obvious if he were hard. And equally, it was obvious that he wasn’t. Not even a little. There was a mostly-naked woman sitting right beside him, and not even a flicker. He rubbed his face with his hand again, blowing out a breath. “Look, I’m tired. I’m gonna go to bed.” He muttered. “You can put your clothes back on.”
She frowned a little, picking her clothes up off the table and slipping them back on. She found her shoes and put them on as well, feeling more than a little stupid for the way she'd acted. Throwing herself at a guy who obviously wasn't as interested in her as she was in him. She needed to get out more, stop working so damn much. Stop playing matchmaker with other people and work on herself. "I'm sorry," she managed to mutter as she stepped past him and headed for the door.
Great. Now JD felt like an asshole. He waited for a second - maybe she’d leave him the fuck alone - before guilt made him move. “Hey, wait,” he called after her, struggling into the chair, turning round and wheeling himself down the hall after her. He sighed, bowing his head. “It’s not your fault, ok?” He muttered, cheeks flushing bright red. “It’s just...” He looked up at her, then sideways, then down at the floor. “It’s not you, it’s me.” He looked meaningfully down at his lap, then up at her. “Normally I’d be...uh...pitching a tent by now.” He rubbed the back of his neck, unable to quite believe that he was admitting, to a smoking hot chick, that he couldn’t get it up. “Guess it’s just more proof of how fucked up I am, huh?”
Tessa fully intended to leave him alone, not bother him when he wasn't interested. Not push him when he didn't want to be pushed. She always did things like this. Got overly invested in other people's business and ended up burning herself in the process. By the time she reached the door, he had called out to her to stop and when she turned, he was wheeling down the hall. She listened to what he had to say and felt even worse about the way she was acting. The things she'd done. Everything she'd said. "You're not fucked up," she told him. "I'm the one stripping for a guy who doesn't want it," she reminded him. "I'm acting like a fucking whore and for what? To make you feel worse? I wanted to make you feel better and all I did was make it worse."
“I liked it,” JD answered honestly. “You didn’t make things worse.” He shrugged, a little awkwardly. “I already knew I can’t get it up. Doc said it was a side effect of the meds.” Yeah, he’d hoped...had thought that things might be different with a real live girl...but it was better to know, right? Better to have confirmation. He reached up, tugging at the end of her hair. “C’mere,” he murmured, smirking just a little. If she didn’t believe him, he’d just have to prove that he enjoyed himself, watching her strip. Cupping her face in his hands, he kissed her slowly, lazily exploring her mouth, nipping and sucking at her lower lip.
She wasn't sure what to say to him, wasn't sure how to take away the sting of realization. But then he was telling her to come back and when she did, he caught her face in his hands and kissed her and for a moment it didn't matter how silly she'd been acting. She returned the kiss, a soft and approving sound slipping out against his mouth. "I thought you said you weren't going to kiss me again," she breathed out as their lips parted. "You're so full of it."
“Yeah, well,” he murmured, brushing his lips against hers again, his voice a little breathy. “Thought you’d realised I was full of shit by now.” He grinned just a little, nipping at her lower lip, thoroughly enjoying the kiss. Realising she was probably bent over uncomfortably though, he released her, sitting back in his chair. “I wasn’t lying though,” he murmured. “I really am tired.” He’d had PT that morning, and had originally planned to go straight to bed after his shower.
She nodded a little and gently brushed her fingers over his hair, pressing her lips against his forehead. "Come on then," she told him. "Lemme at least help you get back to bed. Having you moving around as much as I have tonight likely hasn't helped any. The least I can do is tuck you in."
“And read me a bedtime story?” JD joked, or tried to. In reality, the thought of falling asleep with someone there to keep him company? Kind of reassuring. It had been a long time since he’d had anything like that. Longer still since he’d wanted it. But right now, he could really do with the reassurance.
She grinned at him, letting her fingers slide over his hair again. "Maybe, if you're really lucky, I'll tell you one about this really grumpy old hermit that just didn't want to play with a princess," she teased. "Go on, scoot."
Rolling his eyes, JD span the wheelchair around and headed for his room. His prosthetic legs were still on the floor where he’d left them, and he had to carefully skirt round them to get to the bed. He didn’t normally wear anything to bed, but there was no way in hell that he was going to bare his stumps in front of Tessa. She might know that he had no legs, but the reality of seeing them was pretty fucking different. He still wasn’t used to it himself. Levering himself onto the bed, he stripped off his tshirt, with just a bit of a smirk. Yeah, he had a good body - from the waist up, at least. He knew that. And hey, turnabout was fair play.
There was that smirk again. She was really starting to like the way his lips curled when he did it. The way that he was teasing her and perhaps even punishing her a little for stripping down to her underwear in front of him. "Yeah, yeah," she told him. "Like I didn't already know you had a great body," she muttered, rolling her eyes and folding her arms across her chest as if she was mad. She couldn't keep the stern look on her face for long though before she laughed and shook her head. "I guess I kind of deserve that."
“Yeah,” he said, tilting his head as he leant back on his forearms, smirking. “You kinda do. That’s all your getting, though.” He quirked an eyebrow at her, wondering if she was gonna come and sit - or hell, lie - down beside him. He wouldn’t complain. Especially if it meant her mouth was in reach again. Because really, tucking him in and telling him a story was all well and good, but he could think of a lot of things he’d much rather be doing with her tongue.
"Darn," she teased. She slipped her shoes off again and moved to the edge of his bed, sitting beside him at first but then giving up on trying to figure out what was the correct move. So she lay down beside him, rolling onto her side to face him and propped her head up on one hand, elbow against the bed. "You still wanna hear that story?" she asked him.
JD lay on his back, fingers folded together, resting on his stomach. He turns his head to look at her, smirking still. “The story of the grumpy old hermit and the princess?” He murmurs, smile softening, just a little. “Yeah. Why not.”
Reaching over, Tessa let her fingertips dance over the upper part of his chest. "Once upon a time there was a princess," she murmured. "She was super hot and had these really amazing legs. But that really doesn't matter all that much to the story," Tessa grinned. "One day she was on her way to her tower when she came across this hermit sitting on a hill. She could tell right away that he was a hermit because she'd never seen him before and he just sort of looked like a hermit. Kind of smelled like one too," she teased.
JD settled in to listen, looking a little surprised as she reached over, touched him. There were a few scars, from the explosion and for the operations which had come since. He wasn’t ashamed of them, though - had gotten far too used to looking at them. And hell, his legs were far worse. ”Hey!” He grumbled when she talked about the hermit smelling, looking offended. “Maybe the hermit had just been working out, and hadn’t had time for a shower,” he pointed out.
She grinned, glad that he was at least enjoying her made up story enough to respond, even if he was a little offended. "Maybe you're right. He was also very grumpy and complaining. He didn't like the princess at all. He thought she was bossy and nosy. Maybe because she was, but that's not pertinent to the story either," she smirked. "So the hermit had been in a terrible accident and had lost his legs and just recently received brand new ones from a local wizard. They weren't quite the same as his old ones, however, so it was taking some getting used to to get up the hill without help. He was discouraged, so the princess, even though the hermit had been very rude to her, decided to help him get up the hill."
“I didn’t need your help,” he pointed out, mood souring. So far? He wasn’t loving this story. It was too close to home. He didn’t want to think about not having legs, or being rude to Tessa. He wanted to think about some stupid fairytale, with princes and wishes coming true. Or something. Pretty much anything but the shithole his life was right now.
"I didn't say he needed help," she told him. "I just said that the princess decided to try to help him anyway. But, you must know this story because the hermit didn't need any help. Just a little... encouragement. The princess made her way up the hill first, urging him on with her feminine wiles," she smirked. "And before you knew it, he was up the hill. Still smelling pretty bad, but at the top." She danced her fingertips upwards from his chest to his neck and smiled a little at him. "The princess was pretty taken with the hermit. She liked the way he argued and tried to push her away."
JD snorted, softly. Feminine wiles, was that what she was calling it now? Rather than having a really nice ass, and being too stubborn to leave him in peace. He couldn’t help but shiver a little as her fingers moved slowly up his chest, tilting his chin up a little as he looked at her. He reached out, brushing the backs of his knuckles against her knee, up the outside of her thigh. “Well I guess her ‘feminine wiles’ were pretty convincing, hunh?” He said softly. “Even though the hermit didn’t think he was worth the princess’ time. And thought that she should be out...uh,” he wracked his brain, trying to think of what princesses did in stories. “trying on glass slippers, and riding in pumpkin coaches.”