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[Jul. 9th, 2008|03:31 pm] |
Title: Back Against The Wall
Pairing: James Hart/Matt Sanders
Ancillary Pairings: Brandan Schieppati/Alex Varkatzas, Brian Haner/Zackary Baker, Jimmy Sullivan/Johnny Seward, Jacoby Shaddix/Mick Morris
Rating: NC-17
Summary: James Hart is the most successful criminal lawyer in the greater Los Angeles area. He’s worked damn hard to get there and he won’t let anyone take it away from him. Matt Sanders is, in a word, a delinquent, two years James’ junior. They had gone to the same high school, and didn’t get along, to say the least, and had the tendency to fight with each other. What will happen when Matt gets in trouble and requests the best lawyer in L.A.?
Disclaimer: All stories with relevance to real people are NOT coincidental, and are called fanfiction. I mean no ill will or harm toward the people involved in such stories and only end up using them as stencils for my creative outbursts. I mean no disrespect, and it's all in fun.
Dedication: ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) avengedbeckfold and kisskisskiss3
A/N: Yes, I do realize that this chapter is very rushed, but it fits with how the guys are feeling. I kind of did it on purpose. <3
Chapter One|Chapter Two|Chapter Three|Chapter Four|Chapter Five|Chapter Six|Chapter Seven|Chapter Eight|Chapter Nine|Chapter Ten|Chapter Eleven|Chapter Twelve|Chapter Thirteen|Chapter Fourteen|Chapter Fifteen|Chapter Sixteen|Chapter Seventeen|Chapter Eighteen|Chapter Nineteen|Chapter Twenty|Chapter Twenty-One| Chapter Twenty-Two|Chapter Twenty-Three| Chapter Twenty-Four
Mick had taken Jacoby to the rehabilitation center the day after he’d mentioned it, and the man was startled by how clean and proper the place seemed. It seemed as though the staff really cared, because of the way they’d asked him questions, such as why he’d gotten addicted in the first place. They’d shown sympathy when he’d said it was because of his children being taken away from him.
After, Mick had been nothing but supportive now that Jacoby seemed to have come to his senses about the whole thing.
“You know it’s fucked when the only person there for you is your lawyer,” Jacoby mumbled as he took a long gulp off a can of soda. Mick laughed, though it was tense, and he sighed in exasperation. “Oh, shit. I didn’t mean that to come out the way it did. I mean, you barely know me, and yet right now it feels like you’re my best friend.”
“Well, I’m glad to be here for you,” Mick offered, and Jacoby smiled slightly, finishing off the soda and throwing the can in the trash that wasn’t too far away. “Where are you staying anyway?”
“A hotel downtown,” Jacoby murmured shamefully, not looking up at Mick for a moment, chewing on the inside of his lip. He finally looked up at the lawyer, and an insane urge hit him.
Mick was staring off into the horizon, obviously thinking over this information, the California sun hitting his dark eyes perfectly, making them glimmer in the afternoon light. His hands were crossed in his lap, fingers laced perfectly together. His brows were furrowed slightly, though he had a smile on his face.
He took a deep breath and took a chance.
He leaned over and pressed his hand to Mick’s face, cupping his cheek in his palm and making him look over, seeing the way his breath caught in his throat. He shut his eyes and leaned in, sealing his lips with the lawyer’s.
Suddenly, he felt like he understood. He didn’t know what exactly he understood, but it was like an epiphany, only better.
That feeling doubled as Mick pressed back against him, threading his fingers through his hair at the base of his neck. He shivered at the contact and pressed close, sliding his lips against the lawyer’s, hungry for the intimacy that he was offering.
All Mick thought was: this is exactly what he needs. He’d be damned if he didn’t give it to him. He felt a connection to Jacoby he’d never felt with anyone, and he wasn’t going to give that up.
“Come home with me? At least until you get checked in?” he asked, his words a whisper, and Jacoby drew in a sharp breath. Mick was afraid he’d turn it down and was trying to figure out a way to back out of it when the other answered.
“Yeah.” It was barely a breath against his lips, but it was enough.
Three days later, Jacoby was officially a patient at Country Villa Rehab Center, working toward getting clean for his boys, and he had someone waiting for him on the other side, ready and willing to fight for him in every way.
***
From then until the sun went down neither James nor Matt left the bed, laying over each other and talking in low, near-reverent tones. Matt found he liked playing with James’ hair and that the other liked it just as much. It was almost like nothing was going to happen to them in the next three days. They were free.
When the sun went down, James dragged Matt into the shower, staying in there for as long as they could before the water ran cold, just touching and caressing, lips barely parting. Once the water ran out of steam, he dragged his younger lover out, commanding that he stay in a towel while he made them dinner.
“So demanding,” Matt teased as he toyed with the towel, watching James saunter into the kitchen much the same. James tossed a coy grin over his shoulder and began to pull out pots and pans. “What’re you making me? I’m not gonna die, am I?”
“Shut up, you’re not gonna die,” James quipped, rolling his eyes and sighing a bit as he pulled out a bag of pasta. Matt grinned slightly and once his lover had pulled out a pan and filled it with water, came up behind him, wrapping his arms around his waist, burying his nose in his neck.
“So whatcha makin’?” Matt asked against the skin of James’ neck, and he heard the smile in his lover’s soft, content exhale as he turned on the stove under the pan.
“Just some pasta,” he murmured, turning around so that he was in Matt’s arms completely, their torsos touching. Their eyes met, and they smiled at each other before their lips touched.
It was a simple kiss, soft and full of meaning. It lasted a moment and an eternity all at the same time. It grew deeper after a moment, and soon Matt was fisting James’ hair passionately as he pressed him against the stove, his body arching into the other’s needily.
James broke the kiss with a gasp as he heard a hiss behind him. He turned to see that the water was boiling. He smiled and pressed one more soft kiss to Matt’s lips before turning around and adding the pasta to the water.
After this was done, he turned around and re-initiated the kiss, pulling Matt closer with a soft moan as their pelvises ground together.
James was enjoying the soft affection, like Matt was trying to memorize every curve of his lips with his tongue as he slid it across, and James was doing the same, gripping tightly to his lover’s shoulders, never wanting to let go. He wanted to be able to recall every curve of his younger lover’s body during long nights when he couldn’t turn over and pull Matt closer to him.
He had to force himself to pull away twice to check on the pasta, but he always dove right back into their slow kissing. He finally broke away for good so that he could drain the pasta and serve it with butter and garlic. It was simple, sweet, and Matt ate more than James expected him to.
Afterwards, Matt grabbed James by his hips when he was washing the dishes, and he figured they could go unwashed for a little while as Matt pulled him back into the bedroom, pleading without a word.
***
One of the only moments that time paused for James and Matt was when they went out to lunch with Zacky and Brian. James was thankful that his boss cared so much about his relationship that he’d do this for them.
“I really appreciate this, Brian,” he had murmured just before the four took their seats at a booth. He’d taken them to Café Aly for more than one reason. The main reason was the fact that he had his fingers tightly linked with Zack’s.
“No problem, man,” was Brian’s casual response, paired with a grin. Matt was looking small once more; he was slightly intimidated with all of them around, but a smile from both James and Zacky helped him relax a little. James figured that Brian probably intimidated Matt most, despite the fact that he was being as friendly as he normally was on his days off.
“He’s not a hardass all the time,” James murmured in Matt’s ear, making him laugh. When Brian looked over, eyebrow cocked, Matt bit his lip and shut right up. James elbowed him softly in the side and looked up at him. “Stop it, he’s not gonna bite you.”
“I know that,” Matt snapped quietly, sitting up straight and beginning to look over the menu. James sighed and let his hand rest on Matt’s knee, but he pulled away.
James looked up, brows furrowed, but Matt wouldn’t look at him. He sighed out of sheer frustration and looked down again, fighting back the sudden urge to either scream or cry. Matt hadn’t closed up on him much in the last couple days, and the harsh reality that he still would and could was a slap to the face.
“Matt, come with me,” James murmured as he got up from the booth. Matt looked up with an insolent look in his eye, but it melted away just slightly when he saw the pleading look in the lawyer’s eyes.
“Fine,” he grunted, throwing down the menu and getting up, following James to the bathroom. Once they got in there, James turned and frowned.
“Look, I’m sorry,” he started, and Matt kind of cocked his head to the side. James sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “Whatever I did to make you close up on me again, I’m sorry.”
Matt bit his lip, debating fighting this or not, but before he could come to a conclusion, he had his arms wrapped around James, his face buried in his neck.
“I’m stupid,” he muttered against James’ skin, and his lover shook his head, fingers going through his hair like he knew he liked it.
“No, you’re not; you’re just defensive,” James murmured, and Matt sighed, burying his face further into James’ body, trying to become one with him so he didn’t have to go anywhere.
James always smelled of something sweet, like chocolate, paired with Old Spice and clean sweat, and Matt knew he’d never forget the smell. Every time he caught scent of any of the above, he’d think of James and hopefully he’d smile, because he knew how much James liked him to smile.
“You just wanna go home?” James asked in a soft voice, and Matt shook his head, hugging him tighter before taking a step back and letting go.
“No,” he replied decisively, grabbing James’ hand and leading him back out to where Brian and Zacky were talking quietly to each other.
“You guys okay?” Zacky asked before Brian could even open his mouth. Matt smiled slightly and nodded, sliding into the booth. Brian looked quizzically at James, who just shook his head and followed suit with his lover.
The lunch passed quickly after that, filled with idle conversation for the most part, because none of them wanted to think about what was going to happen in the coming days.
***
Brandan and Alex came by on Sunday to see James and Matt, and stepped in as James opened the door with a silent agreement in order. Tight smiles were exchanged.
“Hey,” Brandan greeted, and James nodded. No words needed to be exchanged on why they were there.
“Hey. Matt’s in the shower,” James explained knowingly, and Alex nodded slightly while Brandan went to raid his kitchen. Alex laughed and shook his head.
“Moose,” he called into the kitchen, and Brandan just laughed amid the sounds of shuffling in James’ pantry. James just shook his head. Brandan had always done this.
“You know it!” Brandan called back, shouting a triumphant ‘ha!’ as he came wandering into the living room with a box of Ritz crackers. Alex gave him a quizzical look, and the officer just grinned, flopping down on James’ couch, Alex following.
Matt came out of the shower in merely a towel, drying his hair as he stopped in the doorway, raising his eyebrows.
“Hey guys,” he said in a quiet voice, up until Brandan threw a cracker at him, then he laughed, the sudden tension gone for the moment.
Alex popped up from the couch and went over to hug Matt, who looked surprised but not displeased as he hugged back, shutting his eyes and soon he was clinging onto his best friend. He pulled away after a moment, clearing his throat.
“We should watch a movie,” he declared, and James laughed, reaching his arms out for Matt to come into. He did, sliding between them and letting his body rest back on James’. Alex rifled through James’ movie collection and found die Hard.
“I think we should watch this,” he said with a nod. There was a collective agreement as he slid the movie into James’ DVD player. Alex and Brandan settled on the ground while James and Matt claimed the couch. Matt had his head nestled in the crook of James’ neck, and Alex and Brandan were merely holding hands as they watched the action scenes in front of them.
Not a word was spoken of the next day, even as Alex and Brandan slipped out of the house sometime after midnight, leaving James and Matt to sleep on each other on the couch, curled up close.
***
Monday afternoon, the moment of incarceration, came too fast for James and Matt. Neither man was ready to say goodbye, even if they’d still be able to communicate. James, especially, was holding hard to Matt for as long as he possibly could.
When they reached the Pitchess Detention Center, Matt’s grip on James’ hand was bone crushing, but he didn’t care. His was just as tight. Once they reached the check-in area, James turned to Matt and pulled him into a crushing kiss.
Matt wrapped his arms around James and held him close, as their kiss grew intense. James whimpered in the back of his throat as Matt pulled away. He opened his eyes to see a guard standing behind them, looking disapproving, and he sighed.
“I love you,” he whispered against Matt’s lips, and he got another kiss in return, damn the guards.
“I love you too,” Matt responded as he pulled away. James’ eyes opened, seeing that Matt’s were closed, trying to memorize James’ taste, smell and everything else. He sighed; he’d already done that over the course of three days. He opened his eyes. “You’ll write, right?”
James let out a breath he didn’t even know he’d been holding. “Yeah, of course I’ll write,” he replied with a small smile, his eyes dancing with sadness as their lips touched again. “You’ll be all right, Matt.”
“’S long as I have you,” Matt replied in nothing more than a whisper, barely enough sound to be heard. James smiled a bit and kissed him again.
“You’ll always have me,” he replied much the same, shutting his eyes and holding him close for a moment, stroking his hair just the way he knew he liked it. “Promise.”
The guard cleared his throat, and Matt pulled away, kissing James one more time before stepping away, hurt and sadness rife in his golden eyes.
“Write me every day,” Matt suggested as he walked backward, toward the entrance to the penitentiary. James laughed as he tried to hold back his tears. He wouldn’t cry now.
“I will,” he replied with a sure nod, and Matt smiled at him. The dimples came into play, lighting up his eyes and flashing those perfect teeth at him once more. He took that into his memory and committed it.
Matt dropped the smile as he was pushed into the inspection center, and he grunted, fear paired with bravado crossing his face as he waved to his lover, trying to hide the feelings rushing through him. These two months were going to be hell, he knew already.
James waved back to him before turning and walking out of the area, shutting his eyes and letting out a shaky breath. This would be the longest two-month period of his life.
.FIN.
END OF PART ONE |
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