More Than That - Chapter 13: Relationship Reasons (Gwen/Luis)
 by Jamie Witter
 
 

Chapter 13: Relationship Reasons

The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing.
-- Blaise Pascal

I am so crazy, Gwen chided herself as she shifted some clothes in her closet to make some space for the clothes Luis had brought from his home the next morning. I'm going to kill Jacob for putting stupid ideas into my head about my relationship with Luis. It's hardly even a relationship! Just sex…we proved that last night.

She wasn't really complaining about the sex part, it was wonderful and definitely the best sex she had ever had but it was ridiculous for her to think that they could be heading towards something more. Hell, they couldn't even keep a conversation going without bringing in sex or kissing and they certainly found it difficult to keep their hands or lips off of each other. That constitutes nothing but sex. They turned each other on, the wanted each other, they did the deed and that was that. There were no proclamations of love or tender moments during their night of passion. She bet that the two of them probably could not have a real, serious conversation without ending up in bed when it was done.

Well you did have the great conversation with him in Boston, her conscious reminded her. She shook her head as she dumped her clothes into a drawer to accommodate Luis' shirts. So what? We were lonely. We understood each other because we knew what it was like to be lonely.

Closing her eyes, she rested her forehead against the closet door and let out a sigh. She hated thinking like this. She hated being confused and jumbled up inside. It was all Jacob's fault and she was going to make sure he paid. "Hey,"

She jumped when she heard Luis's voice behind her and whirled to face him. He was standing there, dripping wet from his shower and a white towel knotted firmly at his waist. Through the haze of lust that attacked her sense, she managed to put her hand on her heart and make a coherent sentence. "Luis, you frightened me."

"Sorry," he answered with an amused smile. Then the smile became a grin. "You look tired. Did I wear you out?"

She smirked and returned to moving her clothes. "You wish, Luis. I was just taking a breather from moving my clothes to make you some space for your stuff."

He looked walked behind her, so close that she could feel him and peered over her shoulder. "Gwen, are you making room for a circus in there? I have one small duffel bag and I intend to keep all my clothes in there and then take them home to wash them."

"Nonsense," Gwen answered over her shoulder but started to frown. "I have plenty of space and it wouldn't make sense for you to keep running back to your house to clean clothes. You can keep them with mine and I'll take them down and wash them with mine. Or have the maid who comes here do it."

She turned to face Luis who started to study her intently. Then he just shrugged and smiled. "Okay, thank you. You don't have to always do the washing - we'll take turns."

She beamed at him. "Now that that is settled. Hey you smell different. That is not the smell of the soap I have in my bathroom. What is it?"

He grinned. "I was smelling like a flower bush all day yesterday and Hank was teasing me about using Mama's body wash. I lied and told him that we were out of soap. So last night, I bought a new bar of manly soap. I got a toothbrush, aftershave and some razors too."

"Oh," Gwen answered with a small smile. "I didn't realize. Well I am glad you did."

"Okay, now so where are all my clothes?" he asked, reaching over her shoulder ad grabbing at something in her closet. She pointed to the duffel bag on the floor and wordlessly headed to the bathroom.

Closing the door behind her, she headed for the sink, her eyes flying to the new items scattered over her counter. Luis's toothbrush no occupied the second hole in her pink porcelain toothbrush holder, his razor was neatly placed on the side of the sink, a bottle of Old Spice stood lined up against the wall and the toothpaste tube was neatly rolled up from the bottom so that the last drop of paste could be used - something she never did. Her eyes wandered over to the rack behind the door and sure enough she saw a jungle green terrycloth robe hanging next to her silky blue one. On the towel rack, two towels were hanging neatly. They might as well have HIS and HERS embroidered on it, her conscious returned.

She stood in the bathroom for a minute, dazed. Then, she turned around and stepped back into her bedroom because she was starting to feel claustrophobic in the bathroom. When she stepped out, Luis had changed into his uniform and was almost done putting all his clothes away. He turned around and sent her a killer smile that made her knees weak even through her confused haze. “Are you in a rush? I’m starving so I thought I’d whip us up some breakfast. You in the mood for my famous Eggs Benedict?”

“I heard your eggs were terrible,” Gwen muttered without realizing.

Something flashed through his eyes and she knew that he knew that Sheridan had been the one to let her on that bit of information. He cleared his throat and then just grinned easily as if nothing awkward had passed. “Okay, you got me. But I do make great flapjacks…”

Gwen felt awful. She had reminded him about something that had obviously hurt him very deeply. But it proved her point. Luis was still pining for Sheridan. She figured he would always be until they were somehow reunited. So what is it he’s doing with you? He conscious echoed her brother’s question. When does this all end and where does that leave you when he goes back to Sheridan?

She knew the answer to that one. It resounded in her head loud and clear. It left her alone and miserable. And it made her the other woman. She swore to herself she would never allow herself to be the other woman again. But looking at Luis, standing in her bedroom, sharing her closet space and her bathroom – standing there like he somehow fit in her life and her home, she knew that it was only a matter of time before she became the other woman again.

She looked at Luis who was studying her face intently, waiting for an answer. She shook her head and grabbed her briefcase from the foot of her bed. “I’m sorry Luis, I just remembered that I have a meeting I have to get to. I’ll have Lisa get me breakfast.”

“Gwen - ” Luis said trying to cut her off from running out of the room.

“It’s really okay,” she said over her shoulder as she flew through her apartment and rushed out the door. Nothing was okay but she would hold on as long as she could. She just needed time to settle her feelings.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Luis let his hands rest on the cool metal doorknob of Hotchkiss Enterprises, contemplating whether or not to go in. It was almost midnight and when he had called Gwen at home, no one answered. Throughout the day he had tried to get her office but she was either too busy to answer or he had to leave a message. Finally, he went over to her apartment to learn that she had never returned from work. Closing his eyes, he pulled the glass door open and walked into the dim lobby of the building. He spotted a security guard sitting at the desk almost dozing off and he smirked. Shaking his head, he walked towards the front desk and cleared his throat loudly. The guard jerked his head and smiled wearily. “What can I do for you, Officer?”

“Is there anyone in the building?” he asked glancing at the nametag that read Bob. “Perhaps Gwendolyn Hotchkiss, Bob?”

“Ms. Hotchkiss is still in her office,” Bob nodded and then leaned forward. ‘Has been here all day. Running from one meeting to another. Hardly stopping for lunch or dinner. I’ve seen herself run herself ragged. She’ll end up sick again, I’m afraid.”

“Hmm,” Luis said as his brows drew together in worry. “Which floor is she on?”

“The fifth floor, first door on your right” Bob said indicating the elevator with a hitch of his chin. “Are you here for business or personal business, sir?”

“Does it matter?”

“I just want to write it down here,” he answered. “For the record.”

“Bob,” Luis said relaxing his face and smiling. “It’s late, almost midnight. I’ll get Ms. Hotchkiss to leave her office and then you can go home too. Let’s just pretend I was never here, okay?”

Bob looked wary at first but then just yawned. “Make sure she leaves, Officer. Off the record, she’s a stubborn woman.”

“I know,” Luis muttered and then walked to the elevator. When he got to the fifth floor, he quickly located her office and peeped through the open door, watching her work under the harsh light of her desk lamp. Her head was cocked to one side as she read a piece of paper and her hair was knotted in a delicate but sloppy bun. He had seen her in various states of dress – and undress, but it was a pleasant surprised to see her looking professional. In control. Proper. Deathly pale. “Gwen,”

She looked up startled and then blinked twice, her mouth hanging open. “Luis, what are you doing here?”

“I was just about to ask you the same thing,” Luis said crossing the distance between the door and her desk. “So who should answer first?”

“Well since I asked first…” she answered with a lopsided smile. When he looked at her with steady, cool eyes she sighed loudly and leaned back against her swivel chair. “I was avoiding.”

“Me?” Luis asked surprised that she answered the question.

“Yes,” Gwen answered with a nod. “Partly. Life mostly.”

He grinned at her vague answer. “That seems like a smart thing to do. Just avoid it hoping that it will go away. Funny thing is, when I come back it’s always there.”

“Okay funny boy,” she scoffed and got off her desk and came around to stand by him. “I know it’s not the smartest thing to do. But I had a lot of work and I needed to get my mind of off a few things.”

Luis knew what exactly she needed to get her mind off of. He had seen the fear flash through her eyes in the morning before she ran off. He wasn’t sure what the fear had stemmed from but he knew that it was there. He replayed what he had said to her a thousand times in his head and finally realized what was going. She thought that things were changing between them. She thought that him moving his stuff into her closet and bathroom – into her personal space, was taking their relationship to a different level.

He had admitted to himself that when he found her moving his stuff, however unconscious it was on her part, something in him wanted to bolt. He wanted to run just like she had a break off everything that they had. Everything they had, he thought wryly. Well just sex, then. But a part of him had kept him grounded and ultimately that what scared him even more. He looked at her blue eyes and smiled softly. “Did it work?”

“For a while.”

“You know you can’t thro yourself into work everything something is stressful for you,” he said taking her small hand in his. She did jerk it away but moved closer to him and he leaned against her desk. “That’s how you end up in the hospital.”

“I know.”

“If something is wrong, if something is bothering you – you have to let me know,” he said softly. “Otherwise how will I be able to help? I’m not a mind reader.”

“Why?”

“Why am I not a mind reader?”

“No,” she said slapping him lightly on the chest. “Why do you want me to talk to you? Why does it concern you?”

“Because,” he stuttered caught off guard. When she raised and eyebrow he took in a deep breath and looked her in the eyes. “Because you’re you. You’re someone I care about.”

Her eyes studied his and then warmed. “I care about you, too. That’s why I ran this morning. I wasn’t sure what that means. No strings attached, remember? Don’t things change for us?”

He closed his eyes for a minuet and felt her lean against the desk next to him, hands still joined. “I don’t know why it should. The only difference is now you know that I care about you. I mean I’m not someone who has sex with a woman on a regular basis and then just pretends that I don’t know them.”

“I know you’re not that type of a guy,” Gwen answered with a sigh. “I guess I just freaked out there for a minute.”

“But it’s all fine now,” Luis said and then prodded her chin up gently with his finger. “And you look tired as hell. Why don’t I take you home, make you something to eat and then tuck you in for a night of dreamy slumber?”

She smiled brightly and something surged in his heart for which he had no reason. “Just let me get my purse.”