Title: Not Like This 2/5

"I had a hard time last night, which I am now paying for tenfold." He rubbed his head with a careful hand. She unconsciously reached up and rubbed the pads of her fingers against his scalp as a comfort. He closed his eyes for a moment, basking in her touch.

"She said she found you talking and drinking in the Oval. A dementia of sorts." He shrugged. She reached up the other hand and gently massaged his scalp until he listed forward and his head came to rest on her shoulder. "What did you talk about" He tensed. "Jed? What did you talk about"

"You and the girls." She paused in her ministrations for a moment, but began again.

"What about us" He mumbled into her neck, giving her a momentary quiver. "Jed"

"Does it matter? I mean, really."

"Yes, it does, because hopefully, it will tell me how you ended up in bed with a friend of mine." Maybe a former friend.

"I was sick. I had a fever. I was alone and I didn't want to be. I asked her to stay with me. She agreed." He still hadn't really answered her question, but she let it pass.

"Why was she wearing your shirt? Which, by the way, was way too short for her."

"I didn't want her to sleep in her clothes." She stopped moving altogether and waited for him to further explain. Realizing how that had sounded, he rushed to clarify. "I didn't think it was practical. It wasn't practical."

"Uh huh."

"Not buying it, are you"

"Not at the moment. You have to understand my side. I came in and saw you in bed together. Her head resting next to yours, her hand on your chest, your fingers entangled. You looked so peaceful. And when I came in and you woke up, she comforted you automatically. There was no hesitation. I wasn't even a peripheral thought until you were back to sleep. And then, you woke up again and she hushed you. She hushed you. She stroked you jaw and you went right back to sleep as though she'd been doing it for years. It was a lover's touch, Jed. I'm familiar with it, because I've been yours for years. I know the sounds, the expression. I know. She's not supposed to know." His head rested still on her shoulder.

"She knew" It wasn't a real question, but Abigail felt compelled to answer nonetheless.

"She knew."

"Oh." Abbey continued to massage his head and wait to see if anything else was forthcoming. Nothing seemed to be.

"You still didn't answer my question. What about me and the girls did you and CJ talk about"

"Oh, just...stuff. We talked about Leo, too." That was of no comfort to her.

"Really" He nodded into her shoulder. "What about him"

"Just...stuff. You wouldn't be interested."

"How do you know that? If you tell me you may find that I am very interested."

"That's doubtful."

"You're really beating around the bush, sweetheart. Tell me."

"Um, no."

"Why"

"You won't understand. Besides, it's early. You should sleep. I have to go and do...work in the Oval Office. So, I'm going to go do that. And you can do the thing with the sleeping. If you want, I can have the housekeeper change the sheets." She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Why would I want that? You say nothing happened, so the sheets should be fine as is. Unless something did happen and you're just not telling me about it." Her eyes held his and he raised both of his brows at her.

"Nope. I'm going to go shower now unless you want to go first."

"No, go ahead." He got out of the bed and trudged to the bathroom. He was sore from wrestling with his clothes with CJ the night before. He rolled his shoulders slowly. Abbey watched him stretch. "You okay, gumdrop" He nodded.

"Just sore from-just sore, that's all." She knew that he was hiding something from her.

"Did you hurt yourself last night" He flinched a little. He always flinched during a lie.

"Mmm hmmm." He was already inside.

"What was that, Jed" She rose from the bed and stood at the door, watching him wash his face. "I didn't hear what you said. I asked if you hurt yourself last night." He looked at her through the mirror.

"I heard you."

"Yes, but you didn't answer me."

"Oh, yeah. I pulled some stuff while I was getting dressed for bed."

"Ahh." She nodded and crossed her arms. "You wouldn't happen to have been 'getting dressed for bed' with CJ, would you" He stopped for a moment, but resumed adjusting the water for his shower. The answer to that question couldn't go well, no matter what the reality. She'd jump to conclusions. Incorrectly, at that. "Well" She was moving behind him. He didn't turn to see her. She was right behind him as he began to undress. She traced the thin red scratch down his back just left of center. "What's this"

"What's what" She traced it more firmly.

"This scratch here. Where'd it come from" He internally reminisced and remembered that as he and CJ attempted to dress him for bed, she'd pulled the shirt over his head and scratched his back with her fingernail. She'd apologized, but he'd been mostly too out of it to notice until Abbey started messing with it. Now, it burned.

"I scratched myself up when I was getting dressed."

"Really" He nodded, still not facing her. "You somehow managed to scratch yourself on your back with your - which hand" He realized that it was on his left side and that there was no way he could've done it himself. His hands simply couldn't have reached that far. He could tell that if he told her anything other than that CJ had done it, she would know it was a lie. So, he simply kept his silence. "Don't have a good answer, do you"

"I have the truth, but that's notoriously the answer not oft believed."

"Because it's notoriously the answer not given." He sighed and stepped into the shower. She still stood watching him. He didn't mind and continued to wash up. She couldn't help but scrutinize his body. Her eyes were drawn to his ass that seemed to tighten as he stretched to scrub his legs and feet. The muscles in his arms undulated as he reached over his shoulders. She stuffed her hands in her pockets to keep herself from reaching out to touch him. She'd forgotten how good he still looked and with the weight he'd lost so recently, he looked even better. CJ seemed just as aware. "You look good." She hadn't meant to say that, but it came without her permission.

He looked back at her. "You look pretty good yourself." He went back to washing his hair.

She held the towel out to him as he stepped out, dripping wet on the tile. "Thank you." He wrapped it around himself and kept walking out to the closet to get dressed. Well, that was an arousing experience.

"You going to see CJ today" Jed talked to her from the closet.

"I don't know. I gave her the rest of the weekend off. She still might be there though."

"You going to talk to her"

"I don't know. If we run into each other, I guess."

"Won't that be awkward"

"I don't see why it has to be."

"You spent the night together."

"I know, I was there."

"That won't be awkward"

"No. Why would it be"

"You spent the night together" She was sick of this conversation going around in circles.

"I know. We slept. That's like doing what we normally do, just in the same bed."

"If you say so."

"Abigail, go take a shower." Abbey huffed for a moment and glared. She should go take a shower, but maybe, just maybe she’d stop by the Oval later. Just to see.

Next Part

Last Part