The Heart Break
Dex's sudden burst of confidence when he was around you was, suprised you to say the least.
You couldn't help but wonder why he seemed to be much more comfortable getting close to you now. You had never expected him to close the distance between you like THAT, especially not while you were both on duty.
The way he eventually told you the answer to your question still playing over and over again in your mind.
It felt like he had turned the tables on you, you used to tease him and watch him get nervous and flustered. This time he managed to get you overwhelmed. And he looked like he had enjoyed every damn second of it, from the moment he had messed up your hair to the moment he made you shiver just by whispering to you.
He decide to play your game, as if he had learned it from you.
You could have pushed yourself away from him, or even made a joke to lighten the situation. You had done neither of those things. You were curious. And he was as curious about you as you were about him.
Dex was working on the computer while you searched for a file. You glanced at him sometimes while he wasn't looking, he appeared at ease. Or so you thought at first, but you noticed he was fumbling with things a lot and even though he was working on the computer it looked like he was miss clicking a lot of things and he had to correct it everytime. You said nothing but a grin grew on your face. Yep, it's still the Dex you know.
You bit your tongue until he miss clicked again, closing the file he was working on before saving.
He glanced at you quickly as if he were trying to check if you saw him mess up, before he opened the file again.
At this point you were quietly snickering. He didn't look at you but you were certain he heard you anyway.
“Am I distracting you ?” you kept your voice casual, as if you were asking what time it was.
No response as he kept his eyes on the screen.
He was ticking his pen on the table.
You put the file you had found next to him and stood up “Guess i'll work on this stack of papers in another room.”
Dex's eyes immediately focused on you as you grabbed the papers.
“Did I scare you ?” he blurted out and you heard his voice shook as he spoke.
He didn't look at you, you stopped dead in your tracks when you heard his question.
You turned around to look at him and he rubbed his neck. Did he really think he scared you?
You put the stack of papers back down and sat back in the chair next to him.
“Dex, why do you think you scared me?” your voice was soft.
His eyes didn't meet yours “I just..” he rubbed a hand over his face before he finally looked at you “I am not good with these things. I'm sorry, (y/n). ”
You looked at your hands, a smile tugging at your lips “You mean flirting?”.
“I believe so..” he fumbled with a pen a red color rising to his face.
“Could have fooled me.” you said and let out a chuckle. It seemed Dex relaxed a bit with that. “Don't worry, Poindexter. You won't get rid of me that easy. I'll stick to you like gum under a school bench.”
He shook his head at that “Thanks for putting that image in my head” he scoffed and rubbed his head.
You snorted at his reaction “Snob.”
He raised a brow at that “Rookie.”
You scoffed and crossed your arms.
“So we're good, right?” he quickly asked.
“Not yet.” you said and you saw panic in his eyes. “So you are admitting that you were trying to flirt with me then, Poindexter ? ” you said as you coyly smiled at him.
It took him a moment to realise where this was going. He rolled his eyes when he figured out you were going to start teasing him about it. He grabbed the stack of finished papers “I'll go bring these to Hattley.” he sighed annoyed.
You waited until he was in front of the door to speak “Would you have kissed me if Lim hadn't interrupted?”
He stopped and straightened his back, it was a question he was not expecting. You had to know that it wasn't just playful banter between friends. Your heart had been badly broken once before, and you were not going to let it get that far anymore.
He stood with his back to you as you waited, hoped he would answer your question.
His silence was strangling your heart.
“Would you have let me?” he countered the question not looking at you.
You could hear his voice was uncertain, he had no idea how much you had grown to care about him.
Shouting could be heard outside the room, someone knocked on the door hard and Dex opened it.
“There's a problem. You and you” Nadeem points at you and Dex “With me, now.”
Dex shot you a look before nodding to Nadeem.
“What's going on?!” you asked Nadeem.
“Now, (y/n)!” he commanded and you jumped up to follow him.
This had to be serious. You pretty much ran to follow Nadeem until you all reached the elevator.
Nadeem appeared to have only asked you and Dex to come with him. You wondered if you were in some kind of trouble until Nadeem spoke.
“We got notified of a possible jumper in the hotel. She's in a room on the floor above us.” Nadeem explained. “The door to her room is locked. Dex?”
“I got it covered.” Dex replied.
“Do we have any other information ? Her name? Has she said anything?” this is one of the other things in your job that you had trouble with. Calls like these never got easier.
Nadeem shook his head “No. We'll have to try and talk her down. That's why I asked you two to come with me.”
You were confused for a moment before Dex spoke.
“I worked for a suicide hotline once.” he said as he noticed your confused expression.
Your eyes widened, you were not expecting that. “Oh.”
The elevator doors opened and Nadeem guided the way. Other agents were standing by the door. They moved aside so Dex could work on lockpicking the door.
It only took him a minute to get the door unlocked.
“Alright, let's move slowly. We don't want her to panic when she sees us.” Nadeem tells you and he goes inside first. You looked around the place for the woman, she was not in the living room. You figured the most likely place would be the bedroom and you motioned in it's direction to Nadeem and Dex.
When you arrived at the door to the bedroom, Nadeem knocked on the door.
“Miss? My name is Ray Nadeem. I'm an FBI agent. I have two others here with me. We have come to talk to you.”
The woman did not reply and you listened against the door, you heard her crying.
“She's crying.” you whispered quietly.
Nadeem nods to you and he slowly opens the door as you look inside you see the woman standing in the open window frame. Nadeem tells you not to move closer “Miss.” the woman looked over her shoulder to Nadeem. “We are here to help. You are not in any trouble.” he said as he raised his hands up.
She sobbed, she looked like she had been crying for days and your heart broke at the sight.
“You're married?” she directed the question to Nadeem.
She must have seen the wedding ring on his hand.
“Yeah, yeah I am. Are you?” Nadeem asked and you could sense that was a bad question right now.
Her crying got worse, Nadeem wanted to speak again but you shook your head having a feeling she wanted to say something.
“I was supposed to be..” she said through her tears.
“What happened ?” your voice was soft and calm.
She looked over at you as she grasped the window frame “I didn't know he loved her..”she put her head against the frame and you could see the pain she was in. You recognized her pain, because you had felt the same pain too.
“My name is (y/n). Can you tell me your name ?” you had to try to get her to talk to you more.
“Anna.” she said, her voice shaking.
You looked at Dex and Nadeem for a moment, motioning to them to stay where they were.
“I'm sorry, Anna.” you take a step closer to her but make sure not to scare her “It is different for all of us but I think I understand what you must be going through. And I know that it feels like your screaming, but no one can hear.”
She seemed to focus on you more “He made me feel special. Like I was worth something. I did everything for him. I work out for hours each day, so I could make him proud.”
Your heart broke as she spoke, you decided to use your experience to help her.
“Anna? I want to tell you something I have never told anyone before, may I ?” you carefully asked as you took another step closer. You decided to sit on the bed so she might feel more comfortable.
She nodded at you and you could see that she was becoming calmer.
“Not so long ago, I was in love with someone whom I considered my heaven on earth.” you saw Dex look at you confused, you ignored his look as you continued “I looked up to him, and everyday I thought, how could a guy like that fall for a woman like me.”
Anna looked at you as she listened to your story.
“I didn't feel like I was worthy enough to be with him. But when he told me he loved me, I believed him. And I'm sure he believed that too when he said it, or perhaps he wanted to believe it.”
She was still listening to you and her crying had stopped.
“One day, the woman he once loved came back in his life. And for a moment I thought our relationship would be strong enough. Until I heard him say to her that there is only one thing that makes him feel more alive, her.”
Anna nodded at you, there was an understanding between you and her.
“Hearing that hurt far more than if he would have just cheated. He loved her and I didn't see it. But Anna, there is one thing that I have learned from this.”
Anna looked up at you as she wiped away her tears “What was it?” her voice barely a whisper and you stood up from the bed.
“I had spend all that time trying to be the perfect woman because I was so afraid of losing him. But after we broke up I realised that he wasn't that perfect after all. Because if he had been, he would have never betrayed me like that, he would have been honest with me. I spend so much time trying to be someone I was never going to be.” you walked closer to her and Dex and Nadeem tensed.
“Anna, do you want to be with someone who will only accept people if they are perfect in his image, even if he himself is far from it ?”
She shook her head “no.”
You stretched out your hand to her and she looked at it.
“Do you want to come with me, Anna?” you looked her in the eyes.
She put her hand in yours and you carefully helped her off the window frame. Putting a hand on her back as she was shaking. Nadeem took one of the blankets from the bed and put it over her shoulders.
You rubbed her shoulders as you guided her out of the room to the medics downstairs.
“I am proud of you Anna.” you whispered to her.
“Thank you.” was all she said as a small smile appeared on her face.
She stopped for a moment and turned to look at you one last time before she went with the medics.
You breathed out in relief, knowing she was safe now. Tears welled up in your eyes and you put your hands on your hips. You felt Nadeem put a hand on your shoulder. “You did well, (y/n). Don't worry, i'll make sure she gets the help she wants and needs.”
You only managed to nod as you were trying to control your emotions. You never thought you would tell anyone your story about your break-up with Matt. But it had helped Anna, and that was worth ripping at the wound.
You felt someone stand close to you, you knew who it was without looking.
“You didn't make that story up, huh?” his voice was carefull.
You nodded as another tear fell down your cheek and you quickly wiped it away “No. I told her the truth.”
Dex put a hand on your back as he guided you out of the room.
“Do you need to talk to the doc, I can take you to his office?” he asked you after looking at you.
“I'd rather not.” you scoffed “Once in a while, to get cleared after a mission, is enough for me.”
You knew Dex would have questions about your story, and you hoped you would be able to answer them without exposing Matt.