Warning: PTSD, Anxiety
two idiots trying their hardest.
"Hey, I'm sorry about the-" Edward cuts off whatever Black was going to say by slapping down a revised version of the autopsy reports in a manila folder.
"What you want is in there." He says before turning to take Bear upstairs. She was fighting sleep for the first time in her life, but she was clearly losing as she drooped against his chest.
He didn't need meaningless apologies so that Black could get what he wanted. This was work-related and the faster they figure this all out, the faster he can get the man out of his house. He lays Bear down in her crib and watches as she immediately falls asleep.
He assumes the file will hold Black for a while, the man deeply enthralled in whatever new information he could get his hands on, so Edward heads to his room. As soon as he closes the door, his phone starts buzzing and he picks it up to see "EMMETT" flashing across the screen.
"Yo, Ed, this isn't a bad time is it?" He booms as soon as Edward answers.
Edward looks around the room for some excuse to hang up the phone and finds none.
"No." He sighs, sitting down on the edge of his bed.
"Oh, good. Wouldn't want to call while, y'know, you and Obi were busy." The implication is strong and Edward ignores that in favor of something less annoying.
"Obi?"
"Yeah, like Obi-wan from Star Wars, but like Officer Black, O.B..." Honestly, Edward's sure that he could ramble on forever about the dumb nickname, but Jasper juts in, snatching the phone away from him.
"You and Bear doing okay? You get home safe?" He asks as if their little scheme hadn't been blown within two seconds of this conversation. They were clearly calling to be nosy.
"Yup." He says, looking over at the dirty clothes he had yet to wash in the hamper. He gets up, needing the distraction to get him through this phone call. He tucks the phone under his ear, grabs the basket and heads downstairs. He bypasses Jacob who is still flipping through the file as slides into the laundry room that's tucked next to the kitchen.
He's so busy separating the clothes that he almost misses Emmett's voice in the background.
"See, I told you."
He's about to ask them why they really called when he's interrupted by footsteps behind him. He stops his fumbling with a couple of shirts and looks back to see Black standing at the door with the file in his hand. He makes a couple of gestures, realizes that Edward doesn't really care if he interrupts this stupid conversation, then finally uses real words.
"I don't exactly speak doctor." He says, pointing to a particular paragraph that Jasper had clearly written.
"Who was that?" Jasper asks in his ear.
He puts the phone down and turns to actually skim over the excerpt.
"The second victim was a family member. Similar DNA." He says before picking the phone back up to hear Emmett yelling. He recoils at the noise which gets a confused look from Jacob, before he retreats to continue looking over the file.
"Will you stop screaming?" Edward tries to ask over the chaos that's happening on the other end.
"He's still there, isn't he? Black?" Jasper doesn't wait for Edward to answer, "You owe me five bucks."
Edward lets out a long-suffering sigh and contemplates hanging up the phone while they work out the terms of their bet.
"Is he really still there? I thought you said this was nothing?" Jasper says in an almost mocking tone.
"It is. He wanted to see the autopsy files." Edward says tossing some of the clothes into the washing machine.
"And you couldn't give him a copy to read at his own house?" Jasper probes as if he doesn't already know the answer.
Edward says nothing. What is there to say?
He quietly fills up the washing machine before choosing a detergent from the shelf up above. He really needed to remember to get some for Bear. He pours some into the compartment of the machine meant for the liquid before turning it on.
He can hear his brothers bickering quietly about something in the background before Emmett returns to the phone.
"Y'know, if you need to talk about anything, we're here, right?"
Yes, after they'd gone absolutely feral over him being in the vicinity of a man and made their own assumptions before he could even open his mouth. They were definitely the ones he should confide in. He could hear the energy buzzing over the line from their excitement.
"Yeah", he says distractedly as he tosses the remaining clothes back into the basket and slips out of the laundry room. Black is back in his spot at the island.
Edward's thinking about hanging up the phone.
"Do you have coffee?" Jacob calls over to him before he can do so.
"Tell him you're not a big fan of boiled bean juice." Emmett's voice says into his ear.
"No, need to make a run to the store." He says instead, as if he'd ever had coffee in his house before.
"Aw, that's so cute." Emmett mutters, "You're like his little housewife."
Edward hangs up after that.
Edward heads to the store alone.
It's a refreshing change from having to clamber into Black's cop car and getting spooked looks from people every time they went anywhere. There was no expectation for him to make conversation, there was no tension. He enjoyed the quiet right up until he reached the sliding doors of the store. He makes an attempt to get groceries, getting bored and overwhelmed by the choices on the shelf. He didn't know what Black liked and he really didn't want to call him and ask, so he grabs a bunch of stuff before he makes his way over to grab coffee. He doesn't know what kind of coffee he likes either so he gets five different kinds before grabbing a gentle detergent and a small infant tub for Bear.
He doesn't get any weird women coming up to him besides the casual twenty-something-year-old blushing as they attempted to get his attention. It's the only drawback to not having some 6'7, glowering man with a badge hanging over his shoulder. He ignored them in favor of getting the hell out of there before they found the courage to approach him.
He takes the long way home and pulls up into his driveway about fifteen minutes later than a trip home from the store would require. He makes an attempt to carry all of the groceries inside at the same time and hurries towards the kitchen counter before he drops all of the bags on the hardwood floor. He's surprised initially when Jacob's no longer at the island. The man seemed like a workaholic, he hadn't expected him to take breaks.
On further inspection of the space, the man is draped across the couch, open folder spread across his face while he quietly snores. His gun, keys, and wallet are on the coffee table within reaching distance and his shoes are tucked just beneath the couch.
Edward plops the groceries down with a loud thump and watches intently as Black flies forward, file falling in his lap, gun in hand and now pointing directly at Edward's forehead.
"Sorry, did I wake you?"
Black is huffing heavily, less like he's been spooked and more like's struggling to get air into his lungs as he looks around wildly, gun still aimed at Edward.
Edward's not exactly bulletproof but it's going to take more than a Glock to kill him. What actually unsettles him is the look of sheer panic on Jacob's face that doesn't go away with the realization that it's Edward. Or maybe he doesn't realize it's Edward...The man doesn't seem fully awake as he continues to breathe like he's hyperventilating. If Black shoots him and the man doesn't drop dead in front of him, he's going to have a lot of explaining or lying to do. So, he slowly makes his way over and tries to diffuse the situation.
"Hey, it's me, Cullen, remember?" He says in a tone of voice that he would usually reserve for a scared child.
That's what Jacob looks like, hair slicked to his head with sweat as he blinks rapidly.
"Remember? Huge pain in your ass?" He says, eyes flicking towards Jacob's finger on the trigger.
The words echoed in Edward's head like it was yesterday. It was around two years ago, he was the new M.E. and Black was fed up with how late they'd arrived to the crime scene. He was ranting and raving right up until Edward was in front of him. Then, he'd looked him over with this strange look, that Edward had yet to decode, before pointing towards a decomposing body that was lying near a coffee table.
He reaches for the gun and watches as Jacob's finger becomes a bit more insistent on the trigger. Edward tries not to move too quickly as he wraps his own hands around Jacob's. He has an iron grip on the weapon, there was no way Edward was prying it out of his hands without taking at least one to the eye.
"Hey, Bear's upstairs," he says softly, "you don't want to wake her, do you?"
Something about the sentence seems to snap Black out of his trance as he looks up at Edward as if he's truly seeing him for the first time. At first he blinks a couple of times, clearly confused as to why Edward was standing over him before his eyes glance down at their hands and he recoils, dropping the gun as if it's burned him. Edward keeps a tight hold on his hand.
"It's alright, the safety was on." Edward lies, kicking the gun over towards the end table. It doesn't seem to do much to calm Jacob down as he stumbles up from the couch, looking like he's about to start running, but Edward's hold is too tight.
"Hey, you can't leave, remember? Bear needs you." He reminds him and watches as the man's face goes through about three different emotions.
"Bear?"
"Yeah, Bear. She's upstairs. She needs you to protect her."
For a couple of beats, Edward lets him catch his breath, lets him take in what just happened before he speaks again.
"Have you ever seen a therapist?"
He doesn't want to pry too much, just enough to understand what he's dealing with, just until Black's ready to tell him on his own, if he ever is.
"Yeah, two times a week and a psychiatrist," Jacob says flopping back onto the couch like he's exhausted, "had to stop going until I can find something different. Takes a while."
"Why?"
Edward's not sure why he asked. It's none of his business really. He's gotten the information and explanation he needed, but he patiently waits for an answer as Jacob looks over at him like he'd rather not.
"Apparently, doctors just have a way of ruining my life." He says with a sigh before closing his eyes again.
Oh.
Edward wished he'd walked away then, marked it away as just another rude comment from the asshole, but he stays long enough to see the blush appear on Black's cheeks and he can't help but wonder what the hell happened.
He provides Black with the distraction of helping him put away the groceries, ignoring his clear amusement as he scans over the cans and bags of coffee that take up two grocery bags. Edward was just glad his hands have stopped shaking.
By the time they're done, Bear is up and whining. Edward goes upstairs to get her. While he's out of earshot, he calls Jasper.
"Hey, do you know any therapists and psychiatrists? Asking for a friend." He says, lightheartedly and he can basically hear his brother's eyes roll through the phone.
"Yeah, I can make a couple of calls and see if anyone will see your boyfriend."
"Thanks." He says before immediately hanging up the phone.
When he comes back down, the gun, that had been left untouched on the floor, was nowhere to be seen. Jacob had a mug filled with coffee in his hands as he once again scanned over the autopsy files alongside, what Edward presumes to be, the current case file.
He and Bear don't bother him, instead entertaining one another as she attempts to make noises that aren't whines and cries while Edward makes encouraging and yet snide remarks about her "form".
"What do you mean? That's pretty good. She's like three hours old." Jacob interjects into their little one-sided conversation. The man seems to have relaxed a little, but Edward can still see the tension in his shoulders. He could feel the guilt radiating off of him despite his casual demeanor. He wanted him to understand that it was okay. He was fine.
"Excuse you? She's a solid two weeks old. When I was that age, I was speaking in full sentences." Edward, hastily, bickers back.
"What like a week and a day? Her skull hasn't even connected yet and you expect her to know words?" Jacob jabs back.
Edward's about to continue the faux-fight when his phone starts ringing again and he has to cut their conversation short.
"Yes, Em?" He sounds irritable even to himself and he doesn't miss the look that Black shoots his way as he sighs into the phone.
He mouths "brother" and that seems to answer all of the man's questions.
"Sorry, I'd thought I'd given you and Obi enough alone time. I can call back later-", The man says, clearly not giving a fuck what he and Black were up to. He's honestly not surprised about the call after the little stunt he'd pulled a couple of minutes ago with Jasper, but he was hoping this could wait until tomorrow. If they thought they were really dating, maybe Jasper would put in a little more effort to make sure Edward could get him some help. He lets out a sigh, already regretting it a little.
"Did you actually need something this time?"
As if on cue, Black is up and hovering near the couch with another question about the autopsy file. Edward doesn't bother dropping the phone to answer this time.
"Is he still there?" Emmett sounds like he's about to have a stroke, "It's eight o' clock. How long does it take to read a file?"
"He's a slow reader, Emmett." Edward gripes, ignoring the way Black looks over at him like he's insulted.
"Are you talking about me in front of me?" He says, clearly unimpressed with Edward's antics.
Edward shushes him which only annoys him more.
"Is this the brother that named our kid Boo Bear?" He says loud enough for Emmett to hear him.
There is a silence so loud on the other end that Edward thinks long and hard about hanging up in his face.
A couple minutes later, his voice comes booming through the phone.
"Not serious, my ass!"