Truth or Dare

[Morrison Whelan]

“Oh Lexi,” Morrison sighed, pulling her closer as her arms moved around him. He could feel the tears that were finally at her eyes soaking into his shirt, and he wished that he could do so much more to help her through this. But all he could think to do now was the hold her and make her feel safe. Maybe that would be enough for her though, maybe all she needed was him to be there and comfort her. It still made him feel like he wasn’t doing enough for her and he couldn’t help the bit of guilt that was building up in him. He should have left work as soon as he’d left Pearce’s office, he should have known that the other wolf would try to make his point very clear in some cruel way.

"Why would anyone do this?"

“I don’t know, love,” he said quietly. His head tilted slightly so that he could kiss her forehead and then he took a deep breath, readying himself to tell her about his alpha’s plan. He opened his mouth to speak, but was stopped when the kettle on the stove screamed, indicating the water in it was boiling. The wolf lifted his head away from Lexi then let her go to get to his feet. He pulled the kettle off of the burner then filled two cups with hot water before placing a tea bag in each one. Back in the living room, he set the cups on the coffee table, though he doubted either of them would even be touched.

He turned back to the woman and wrapped her hands in his, his fingers rubbing the backs of her hands a bit nervously. “I have to tell you Lex,” he said, glancing down at his lap, “you’re in danger, because of what happened to your family.” He looked back up to her, looking her in the eyes, unable to hide the worry in his own eyes. “I’m going to do everything I can to keep you safe,” he told her, “but I need to exactly why your family was killed.” He let go of one of her hands to gently caress the side of her face. “I hate to push this on you after losing Bert,” he said, “but we don’t have a lot of time.”

There was no way though that he was going Lexi about his boss’s involvement in all of this, or that he had been asked to take her out himself. He was also going to keep her cancer a secret until this could all be resolved; it would not be good to load too much on her at the moment, even he was having a hard time with it all. The worse thing was that she had only him left, and they hadn’t been together for too long. She had no one who was incredibly close to her, no one that was like family. He was in the same position, yet he knew that was inevitable for him, eventually, since he was no going to die because of old age. For Lexi though, she should still be able to live with her parents and be looking after her younger sister, to only be concerned with school and work and relationships. To be marked for death was unfair.

[Lexine Sullivan]

Lexi hated that Morrison had to pull away from her to go to the kettle and she watched as he moved into the kitchen, staring at the door until he reappeared again holding two cups of what looked to be tea which he placed onto the coffee table before coming back to sit next to her. She immediately moved back into him athough he wasn't having much of it as he took her hands and as he rubbed them with his thumb she couldn't help but wonder why he looked so dreadfully guilty. Had she not loved him so much (and been in such a stupor) she might have jumped to the wrong conclusions, thinking that he was guilty because he was a part of what had happened today...but that wasn't possible...He would never do this to here. He couldn't.

However when he mentioned her family she froze, her mind shutting down slightly as every defence she had ever put up snapped into place. Her family. She didn't want to think about that, especially not now. One tradegy was enough...she didn't want to think about another.

“I’m going to do everything I can to keep you safe, but I need to exactly why your family was killed. I hate to push this on you after losing Bert but we don’t have a lot of time.”

Why did he need to know? What bearing could her family possibily have? Every time she had even thought about telling him about what had happened in her family life she had clammed up, losing her nerve before she could even get to him. She didn't want to remember. She squeezed her eyes shut and pulled back slightly although she didn't do it consciously as she tried to protect herself. Though it didn't work. She had always known that she would have to tell her story at some point or other but she had always hoped that it would be on her terms...not after something like this. Why did he need to know? Couldn't he tell how much it hurt to even think about it? How much it pained her to remember that day?

She swallowed and opened her eyes so she could look at him once more. "Why?" Her voice cracked and she licked her lips slightly as if that would help, although it wasn't a physical problem that prevented her from talking properly. It was the fact that she was meant to talk about it and she wasn't sure she could. She took a deep breath, trying to prepare herself for what was to come....whatever it may be.

How was she going to tell him that her brother had been abusive? That he had spent most of his life making hers a living hell? To tell how she had been labelled as the dangerous one simply because she had cut herself off from the world, not willing to let it hurt her more than her brother already had? To tell him of how she had come home that day to find her father -her daddy- in the doorway...her mother and sister...It was too much to bear. She couldn't do it.

She shook her head violently as she pulled away completely. "No!" She retreated back into herself, pulling herself into a ball and effectively distancing herself from the man she loved with all her heart. "I can't."

[Morrison Whelan]

If ever one of the two of them was upset, then they both were. It wasn’t necessarily healthy or the best way to make either of them feel better, but it was inevitable when they were around each other so often and with them both being so sympathetic. And so, Morrison was finding it hard to not let himself fall to the depression that was consuming Lexi and to just give up and curl into a ball, allowing everything that was bothering him to overwhelm him. The only thing that kept his head straight was to think about how he had neglected Meadhbh when he’d known her life would be in danger and what had happened as a result as that.

The way Lexine looked at him when he asked about her family though... He so wished he didn’t have to drag this out of her, it was so unfair of him to make her remember a past tragedy when another tragedy was so close now. There was even more he needed to tell her and ask of her, but he couldn’t force himself to cause the expression on her face to grow even more upset and desperate.

"No! I can’t."

Morrison reached out toward his human, feeling helpless to do a thing for her and feeling even guiltier for bringing up such a painful subject for her. Life had gotten so messy since Meadhbh had left him and he couldn’t help but think that the world was telling him that it was his time to leave as well, that he was only going to make things worse for everyone around him. Yet, he would be hard pressed to give up so easily, not when he had so many people that needed him, most importantly the woman who was sitting right in front of him.

“It’s alright Lex,” he said quietly, “we need to talk soon, but not right now; I don’t want to force you to think of such things.”

Slowly and gently, he coaxed the woman out of her curled up position so that he could pull her back into his arms. “I love you,” he whispered, pressing the side of his cheek to hers, “I love you so much.” He turned his head slightly to kiss her tear drenched cheek before pressing her back into his neck, a hand moving to the back of her head to gently stroke her hair. For a while, he held her there silently, letting her grief run its course and hoping that just being there would help her. Eventually, he realized that tears were welling up in his own eyes and he pressed her face briefly into Lex’s hair to dry his eyes and return his focus back on her. He knew his mind had started to drift and he was thinking of the grief that still plagued him. He felt selfish for it. There would be time later for him when he could let all of that pent up emotion out, but now he knew he needed to be strong.

A few minutes later, Morrison slowly pulled away from her, ignoring the wet spot on the collar of his shirt that Lex had created, and leaned over to grab one of the still warm cups of tea from the table. “Here,” he said, softly pressing the cup into her hand, “it’ll help.” He picked up the other cup for himself then moved so that he could hold her around the shoulders with one arm, pulling her close against him, but in a way that would allow them both to drink.

[Lexine Sullivan]

She needed to calm down. She needed to get herself into a calmer frame of mind so she wasn't freaking out but it was easier said than done. Just thinking about her family was enough to set her back off into hysterics but it was through sheer will power that she didn't burst into yet another round of fresh tears. Taking a deep breath she forced herself to calm down, although it helped that he pulled her back into his arms. “I love you so much.”. Ok, so it helped a lot knowing he was there for her and that he wasn't going to just force the truth from her. Closing her eyes she pressed herself against him a little more, revelling in his warmth for a little while longer, not wanting to escape from the safety he provided her at the same time. She could quite happily stay here but there had to come a point when she would need to put what had happened behind her.

Or get stoned. That sounded like a good idea...although there was no way in hell he was going to allow her to do any such thing. She wondered vaguely if he had ever gotten rid of the meow she had given him before their shopping trip. It seemed like such an age ago that it wasn't very likely at all but who knew? Maybe he had forgotten all about it? If there were no drugs perhaps she had left some cigarettes here? Again, that would help knock the edge off all this. The problem was having a relapse right now was not a good idea and it would only make her worse. But she wanted the numbness that came with the high...she wanted to just forget about everything.

Her trail of thought was broken once again by Morrison moving. Lifting her head she watched as he grabbed one of the cups he had placed on the table earlier. “Here, it’ll help.” Was it even still warm? How long had they been sitting here anyway? As he pressed it into her hand her fingers wrapped around the mug automatically and although it wasn't hot it was still warm and a sudden thirst seemed to take over her and she raised it to her lips taking a long if slightly shaky sip from it. He was right though, it did help...not by much but it made a difference and she took another mouthful before she leant forward and placed it back down.

She turned to him and sniffed slightly, raising her hands to swipe at the tears on her cheeks and in her eyes although it was rather futile- her face was already red and somewhat blotchy but it didn't matter in front of him, he wasn't about to judge her for it. "I'm sorry," She murmured although she wasn't quite sure what she was sorry for. She didn't know if it was because of missing his call earlier or going into such a state of shock or even if it was because she had been sobbing her heart out all over another of his suits. She really needed to stop doing that. "I cause so much trouble for you," She mumbled, feeling rather sorry for herself all of a sudden. She did cause him trouble, and he always seemed to be there for her but she never seemed to do anything for him. It was turning into a very unfair relationship and she felt guilty for being the one to always be in trouble.