Keep You Close

Summary: Lydia worries when she doesn’t hear from Jax for a while.

Lydia gets used to not hearing from Jax for a couple days at a time. She worries about him during those days, especially with the Council being in an uproar over Adrian turning Lily and an increase in unauthorized turnings. Seeing Jax’s name on her screen always makes her sigh with relief. Even when she’s busy with work and focused on other things, he’s always in the back of her mind.

It’s normal to go two, sometimes three days, without hearing a word from him. But when four days pass, and then five, without so much as a text from him, she starts to panic a little. Lydia almost asks Adrian if he knows anything, but he looks worried enough about an upcoming Council meeting and she’s still feeling guilty about asking him to turn Lily. So she just tells him she’ll see him that night at work and heads home for the day.

The sun has been up for a few hours when Lydia decides to call Jax. He doesn’t answer, and the ringing seems endless. When his phone goes to voicemail, she hesitates. She’s called and texted him before, but she’s never left him a voicemail. But then, she reminds herself, she’s never gone this long without hearing from him before.

“Jax. Hey. It’s Lydia.”

She pauses, not exactly sure what to say. What if he’s fine and this whole message ends up sounding ridiculous?

Screw it, she decides.

“I’m worried. It’s been awhile since I’ve heard from you. Just…let me know you’re okay when you can.”

Lydia hangs up, staring at her phone, wanting it to ring. She half-expects Jax to call back, laughing and telling her he’s fine. But he doesn’t. Eventually she climbs into bed and drifts into a fitful slumber. She dreams about Jax, about searching for him and thinking she’s close, only to run right into the hands of the Council.

Her phone wakes her, slowly. She’s groggy and disoriented when she finally recognizes that it’s ringing and snatches it up. The number is unfamiliar.

“Hello?”

“Hey. It’s-“

“Jax!” she exclaims, sitting upright.

Lydia hears him laugh quietly. “Yeah. I got your message. Sorry, things have been a little chaotic.”

“It’s okay,” she says. “I was just…getting concerned. Where are you?”

He rattles off some street names she vaguely recognizes. “My phone is dead, so I had to find a payphone.”

“A payphone? I’m impressed you managed to find one.”

Jax chuckles again. “I’m good at finding obsolete and hidden things.”

Lydia slides back down under the covers. “Are you okay?”

Jax sighs, a barely perceptible sound. “Yeah. I’m okay.”

There’s a commotion in the background. “Damn. Lydia, I have to go. I’ll call you when I can.”

He hangs up before she can say anything else. Lydia sets her phone down reluctantly. At least she knows he’s okay. For now.

He doesn’t call her that night, or the next, and she starts to worry again. It’s a Saturday, and she finds herself sitting on the couch and staring at some mindless show on TV. It starts raining heavily, and Lydia laughs hollowly. It’s like the weather is mimicking her mood.

When her phone pings with an incoming text, she grabs it so fast that it nearly slips from her fingers. It’s Jax, which is a relief, but the message makes her heart pound.

Safehouse was found. You home?

Yes, she fires back. Come. Where are you?

Be outside in five.

Lydia grabs her coat and shoes and flies down to the tiny entryway. She waits impatiently, pacing, trying to see through the dark and the rain. Finally, she spots a familiar figure, and rushes outside.

She’s drenched immediately, but she doesn’t care. When Jax is close enough, she nearly throws herself into him. Through the downpour, she can see the surprise on his face, but he catches her.

Lydia presses her face to his neck, securing her arms around him, reassuring herself he’s actually here. She lifts her head up after a few seconds. She’s cold, and wet, but Jax is okay and that’s the only thing she can think of in that moment.

“I’m okay,” Jax calls over the rain.

His face is just a few inches from hers, his hair dripping and falling over his forehead. It’s such a sweet relief, being able to see him and feel him. His arms are tight around her waist, his head tilted down towards hers.

Her emotions and sheer relief get the better of her, and Lydia tilts her head up, standing on her toes and pressing her lips to his. Jax freezes, making a soft noise against her mouth, and then he’s kissing her back. He’s kissing her back, and it’s even better than she’d thought it would be. He’s kissing her back, and despite the rain and the wind and the cold, she can’t imagine stopping.

She groans softly as Jax kisses her harder, one of his hands creeping up her back and holding her closer. Lydia jumps a little when thunder booms overhead and the wind suddenly gusts. Caught up in the moment, she’d almost forgotten about the storm raging around them. Jax grabs her hand, urging her towards her building.

She’s shivering hard when they get in her apartment, her teeth chattering while she takes her jacket and shoes off.

“Come on. I have towels in the bathroom,” she tells him.

He follows her through the apartment and into the tiny bathroom, taking the towel she hands him and running it over his hair. She rings her own hair out, still shivering.

“You should get out of those wet clothes,” Jax says, and Lydia grins.

Jax sees her expression and laughs. “Not like that. But you’re not gonna get warm sitting in those.”

He’s right.

“I’ll be right back,” she says, and heads for her room to change into dry clothes.

She digs out some sweats and a shirt that her brother had left when he helped her move in and brings them back to Jax. He’s stripped his wet shirt off, and Lydia knows she’s staring at him.

Her head jerks up when he clears his throat. There’s a smirk on his lips, his eyebrows raised.

“I’ll…be in the living room,” Lydia says hurriedly, feeling her face warm.

She’s buried under a blanket on the couch when he comes out and sits next to her.

“Thank you,” Jax says. “For letting me come here.”

He looks troubled as he slowly says, “I probably shouldn’t stay though. It’s not safe.”

Lydia doesn’t want him to leave. She’s spent days worried about him, and wants to delay worrying about him again for at least a little while longer.

“I’m probably already in danger anyway,” she says. “And it’s storming. Where would you go?”

“I have places,” Jax replies.

She frowns. “You should wait. The weather might get better.”

Jax studies her face, then grins, just a bare hint of a smile. “Do you want me to stay?”

Her throat swells with emotion, and she swallows hard.

“I do,” she says honestly. “I was really worried about you.”

Jax’s smile fades. “Lydia. I’m okay.”

“I know. Just…stay? For a little bit?”

He looks torn, like he thinks he should refuse, should leave, but doesn’t really want to.

“Okay,” he finally agrees.

Lydia sighs and shifts closer to him. She likes that he lifts his arm and lets her curl against him. She yawns, unable to help herself, and Jax chuckles softly.

“It’s been a long week,” Lydia protests.

Despite her best efforts, her eyes keep drifting closed, and she keeps jerking herself awake.

“You can sleep,” Jax says.

“Mmm,” she mumbles. “Wake me up if you leave?”

She lifts her head up, her heart fluttering when he brushes his mouth over hers, once, twice. His lips are soft, and his fingers tangle in her hair.

“I will,” he promises.