Questioning My Career: Judgment in error & errors in judgmen

[Matthew Cole]

It was a little after six in the morning as Matthew Cole was well on the job of getting ready for work.

He grabbed a clean outfit, putting on a pair of jeans, a t-shirt and a hooded jacket that he kept unzipped, maintaining the look everyone had come to associate him with.

He slipped his badge on around his neck as usual, and made his way into the bathroom.

He had already shaved and was leaning over the sink brushing his teeth when he heard a muffled voice or two coming from one of the apartments upstairs.

After a second it grew louder, Matt pulled the brush from his mouth and straighted up to listen.

There was definitely some kind of ruckus going on, and though he could not hear just what was being said he recognized one of the muffled voices as his neighbor Maria.

Matt quickly rinsed his mouth and put the toothbrush down.
He grabbed his leather jacket from the hook as he went out of his front door, pulling it on as he went up the stairs.

He could hear the shouting clearly as he approached Maria's apartment.

"Let go of me!" Maria said with annoyed frustration. "I know he's here!" Her husband Markus retorted angrily.

Matt gave a knock on the door with his knuckle, "Maria?"

The arguing just continued. Growing more agitated on both sides.

Matt opened the door and let himself in.
As he approached the living area he could see Markus holding Maria by the upper arms as they argued, both shouting and speaking at the same time, "I know he's here!" "I told you he's not here." "Ethan!" "I'm telling you he's not here!" "I Know he is! You can't keep him from me." "I'm not keeping him from you! Let go of me!"

"Anybody home?" Matt said, keeping his tone casual.
He knew charging in straight off the bat would only aggravate the situation.

Markus let go of Maria's arms as he looked round at Matt walking in.

"Matt!" Maria exclaimed in relief as she quickly run over to him.

"Who the h**l are you?" Markus asked crossly.
He was obviously under the influenced and had probably just gotten in after spending hours at the bar.

"I'm a friend of Maria's. I live downstairs. What's up?" He could see full well what was up, but he deliverd the question very nonchalantly to avoid provoking any further hostility.

Markus moved past Matt, looking around the room searching for something, but Matt was quick to put himself in front of Maria protectively as Markus did so.

"I'm looking for my boy."

"Where'd you leave him, Pal?" A charmingly cheeky comment Markus was too drunk to pick up on.

"He's here. Every time we have an argument she hides him from me." Markus said as he drunkenly looked about the room for his son.

"Is he here?" Matt asked, turning his head to Maria who was standing behind him, peeking over his shoulder.

"No. That's what I've been trying to tell him." She answered, obviously upset.

Markus pushed past Matt again, this time brushing against his chest, "He's here. he's hiding!"

"I think maybe you made a mistake, Pal. What do you think?"

"Screw you! Ethan! Ethan!"

"Should I call the police?" Maria asked, a mixture of nervousness and anger over the situation.

Matt shook his head 'no'. Markus was not being particularly abusive or violent, he was just drunk and upset and he could handle this one easily enough on his own.

He calmly moved towards Markus, "Hey, why don't we all just calm down for a second, huh? Let's all calm down then I can even help you look for him if you want." He said as he moved round the table to get a couple of feet ahead of Markus before stopping.

"I wanna see my boy. Ethan!" He shouted, continuing to drunkenly search for the boy.

Matt casually folded his arms over his chest and and put out his leg as Markus started to pass by. Markus tripped, sprawled out on the floor.

Matt knew this family and he knew it would be best way to defuse the situation, anything else would probably just have resulted in a confrontation.

"Oh, I'm sorry." he said with an 'aww what a shame' tone .
He bent down to help Markus, "Just relax. Calm down. There's a chair right here, Pal. I'm gonna lift you up and your gonna set your hid right into that chair, okay? One, two, three-"

Matt lifted Markus onto the chair and held his shoulder. He was considerably calmer as he sat there breathing heavily. "Okay, we're good. We're doing good. You okay, Pal? Your knee hurt a little bit? Don't worry, we'll get you some ice for the knee and some aspirin for your head."

Matt looked back at Maria, "Can we get some ice pleads? And some aspirin."

Matt looked back to Markus, keeping a very calm and friendly tone, "You're all right. Now I don't think it's a good idea for you to talk to Ethan right now, because you've been drinking, huh? And you say pretty mean things when you've been drinking, am I right?

"Yeah."

Maria handed Matt the ice and the pills, looking at him admiringly as she watched the scene.

"Thanks." Matt said, taking it and handed Markus the pills, "There you go, that should help. So what you been drinkin', huh?"

"Jack Daniels." Came his placid reply.

"Oh, Nice. You like your drink, huh? Maybe a little too much? Do you want your kid to see you like this?" He said, keeping his voice calm and friendly, not making any judgments. Life was hard sometimes and the bottle could be a good escape, it just was not a fix for anything.

"No." Markus answered with a sad frown.

"You need to set a good example for your boy, you need to teach him how to be a man. You can't be coming home like this, you know? I think you may have a little problem, and you need to sort it out, okay Pal? You have a beautiful wife and you gotta take care of her." He said softly, his tone still friendly and non-judgmental.

Matt glanced back at Maria, "I mean look at her. She's still standing there, she puts up with all your crap coz she really cares about you, Man. Now that's love, you gotta hang on to that. If someone care about me like that I'd look after her with every fiber of my being, you know?"

Maria's smile grew as she watched Matt admiringly, he was a good cop. A great cop.

"And Jack Daniels is expensive, Man. How can you afford to drink it like this? I know I can't." He added lightheartedly, the three of them smiling.

"You're good, man. You're gonna be okay." He said in a gentle, affirming tone, "Let's have some coffee, huh? I think coffee's a good idea."

Matt looked over a Maria, giving her a reassuring smile.
The situation was well and truly defused. She smiled back and mouthed 'thank you' to which Matt gave a light nod.

*****************************************

PD.

Matt arrived at the precinct.
As he walked to his desk his co-worker held out a file, "Forensics sent this over for you."

"Finally." Matt said with mild enthusiasm, taking the file as he passed, "It only took about two weeks, I swear the queue at forensics is getting longer and longer."

He took a seat at his desk and opened the results.
They had managed to get a match to someone already in the system, Matt looked it up and saw the man had been a suspect in a similar case a few years ago, but had been cleared after another arrest was made.

Matt decided to look into the old case, judging by the case notes there seemed to be too many similarities in the MO for him to ignore.

He tried to open the old case on his computer, but his shoulders slumped as it was not there.
The precinct was still in the process of updating their computer systems so he had to request the physical case file.

He picked up his desk phone and about 10 minutes later the folder arrived.
The detective bringing it already had it open in his hands reading it, he had an off frown on his face as he walked over to Matt.

He spoke to Matt and Matt stood up, taking the file and reading it.
An off frown grew on his face as well, he called over another detective and a quiet fuss began to ensue as the three of them looked over the file and checked the computer.

A few people around the office began to look and whisper as they wondered what was going on.

Matt put the folder down and made another phone call as his co-worker kept working on the PC.
Matt's expression and body language was not good as he sat perched on the corner of his desk, speaking on the phone, running a had through his hair agitatedly, and occasionally nodding to his co-worker on the PC as they all tried to work something out.

Their boss even came in and out of his office a few times, getting actively involved in whatever it was they were doing, before disappointing back into his office again. A sure indication that something serious was going on.

After about 10-15 minutes Matt put the phone down and the three of them just stopped.
The two other detectives just sat there exchanging looks.

Matt stood up, a look of uncertainty and deep concern on his face as he held a hand over his mouth.

Something was defiantly up and the whispers grew around the office.
But no one knew what was going on, "We're looking into something." was all any of the three had said to anyone who had asked what was up the whole time the quiet fuss was going on.

After a minute Matt pulled his hand away from his face.
He picked up the folder and went into his boss' office, closing the door behind himself.

That really got people talking as they waited and watched.
That door rarely closed, and it was even rarer that it closed when Matt -one of the precincts star detectives- was involved.

After about another 10 minutes or so the door opened again.
Matt walked out with an indescribable expression on his face, keeping stride as he walked past all of the desks.

"Are you alright, man?" One of the gawkers asked concernedly as Matt passed him.

But Matt didn't stop, he didn't answer. He just carried on walking past everyone, out of the room and out of the building.

Tag: @james

(Ooc: Sorry it's so long. I've been itching to get this thread going and it all built up inside me I guess lol. So when I finally started to write it, it just kept pouring out and I couldn't get it to stop!)

[Deleted]

James Reagan

tag

words

After the funeral it was a few days of planning before he along with Cal and Matt had gone on a road trip to pick up his kids, dogs and some of their things - a truck had met them there to get the rest of their things which his brother and his family had packed for him.

Then the truck, the dogs, Matt, James and the twins had made the huge trip back to Chicago and then the week or so James spent moving back in whilst settling his kids into their new school and himself into his new job.

Now it had been 3 months since Chris’ funeral and things were finally settling down for James, routine and order were finally in place.

James was up at 5am sharp, doing his usual 1hour drills before 6am wakeup call for his kids, once they were up, they all washed, dressed and ate - then it was 7am and the sitter arrived to take over. James headed for work arriving at a decent 8am.

Not bad for a single parent, but then again he’d been getting practice in, that and experience, plus his kids were good at routine they knew how it went.

As he arrived at the precinct he headed up to his desk, at the moment he was using a spare desk near Matt’s desk, it was only until his papers came through for Arson.

He saw Matt arrive and grinned giving a nod before he got to work dealing with a new case he’d been handed - typical.

"Forensics sent this over for you."

"Finally."

"It only took about two weeks, I swear the queue at forensics is getting longer and longer."

James could hear him and snorted at that, it was true - forensics was getting bad at the moment.

He noticed Matt getting busy but didn’t take much notice, everyone was busy.

It wasn’t until another detective approached and the two began looking like something was up - then another detective, then the whispers started, James’ ears perked up as he discreetly watched.

When Matt went on the phone James’ curiosity was piqued as he sat back and watch the body language spill off of him, this was interesting, then the action started to peak with even Matt’s CO coming in and out.

The three detectives (Including Matt) suddenly stopped after what seemed like a while and James watched, the whispers were now building and the response was simple and brief - but James wasn’t convinced as he watched everything, keeping out of it even the whispers - he was intrigued, especially with Matt’s body language which was speaking volumes.

Then 10 minutes of waiting Matt came out and the look on his face it told him everything yet revealed nothing - and he walked away, out of the room.

James frowned, he contemplated a moment - maybe he’d come back, he decided to wait it out and see what happened, but he did decide to go see the CO, knocking he entered

“Sir, is everything alright?” he asked cautiously, as a senior Detective himself, plus the 'experience' he had a ‘seniority card’ that allowed him to go ‘talk to the CO’ rather than keep quiet, but the CO still could tell him where to go if he wanted! Not that James would complain.

But he was worried, he still kept an eye on Matt even now after a month.

notes: Long post? Sorry - mine too! bwahahahahahahahaha 

♡

[Matthew Cole]

Matt marched unwaveringly out of the building and down the front steps, the chilled air washing over his face and filling his lungs the second it hit him. A helpful fact considering there had suddenly not been enough air inside.

Matt continued a few paces before he came to a stop outside of the precinct, taking a deep breath. 

Overwhelmed, he lent forwards, putting his hands on his knees to support himself as he rapidly took in several deep, shaky breaths. Totally dismayed at the mistake he had just learned he had made.

He stood upright again and run his hands through his hair disparagingly.
He stood there despondently with both hands on his head, the world going on around him normally as his world spun.

He let out a deep breath and swallowed hard. 

It felt like he had been hit by a wrecking ball and the worst part was that there was nothing he could do to make it right, no way to sponge out his inconceivable blunder.

Reeling he went to his car and just sat in the drivers seat for a few minutes, with his hands on the wheel as he tried to get a grip on himself and process everything that had just happened, and the implications that would follow.

"What have I done, what have I done." He whispered to himself quietly but quickly. 

Matt put his hands on his forehead, "No, no, no, no, no." He continued to himself.

He felt a crushing weight being lowered onto him as realization set deep inside of his core. Oh, how could he have made such an error? 

After a few moments Matt started the engine and began just cursing around for a while.

**************************************************************

Matt's CO was sat at his desk.

He had his eyes closed as he massaged his forehead with his thumb and fingers.  

He looked up as he James knocked on entering.

“Sir, is everything alright?”

Matt's CO had a somber expression on his face, yet he was tactful not to give anything away.

"Close the door, please." He said, being mindful to keep the conversation private.

"Some new evidence has come to light and we have had to re-open an old case." Came the standard response. Though it was obvious that it was something serious.

"The matter is confidential and it's not for me to tall you any more than that at this point in time." He said, professionally but politely.     

He and Matt both knew what had happened, they were just waiting for it to be officially confirmed in writing.

Until then he was not going to give any details about it to anyone who was not involved in the review.

This was a serious issue and he did not want it getting around the precinct until anything was 'official'.

"But it might not be a bad idea if you maybe talk to Cole." He added after a moment. Though he did not say it outright, it was his way of asking James to be there for Matt.

He had seen how James had been there for Matt, and how their friendship had been growing over the past few months. And he knew Matt would need a good friend like him, now more than ever.

Tag: @james .

[Deleted]

James Reagan

tag

words

“Sir, is everything alright?” Obediently James stepped in and closed the door, leaning back against it until it clicked before standing straight his hands in his pockets as he regarded the CO "Some new evidence has come to light and we have had to re-open an old case." "The matter is confidential and it's not for me to tall you any more than that at this point in time." James gave a simple nod of understanding, well - he wasn’t stupid, besides he hadn’t actually been asking about the case itself. "But it might not be a bad idea if you maybe talk to Cole." James gave a nod “Sir” he said before excusing himself and exiting the office, he checked his watch, it was just barely lunch time - he pulled out his cellphone and hitting speed dial he tried to call Matt as he walked back to his desk.

But after several rings it went to voice mail and James sighed “Matt, buddy, call me okay” he said before hanging up - he was about to reach for his jacket before an officer approached “Sir” “Yeah?” James asked turning to face him “Theres someone down the hall for you” “I’m busy” James replied reluctantly but the officer shook his head “I tried that, it’s Marlee, you know her? She said to tell you her name?” James snorted and sighed, dropping his jacket back on the chair “Oh believe me, I know Marlee” he said quietly before indicating the officer to lead the way.

Entering the interview room James was met by a little frame of a woman in her 70s, with thick white hair pulled back into a tight bob, and wearing very smart clothes like she was being formal. James and ‘Marlee’ sat there for 3 hours before James could finally convince her to go, then when he got back to his desk he found a huge pile of paperwork, so he had no choice but to do it, however he didn’t miss that Matt hadn’t returned since that morning, he tried to call Matt again a few times over the next few hours until his shift ended at 5pm - then he was out like a shot, first he went back to the apartment then not finding him there he reluctantly tried all the bars, diners he could think of plus other places.

It was 7pm before James found himself taking a quiet back road that led to a quiet area overlooking the city, James saw Matt’s car easily and sighed, parking up nearby he locked the car and strolled over, he looked through the window first, spotting Matt he tried the passenger side door he found it unlocked and pulling it open he slid in and sat down, quietly shutting the door after himself he sat back quietly, he wanted Matt to lead not himself.

notes

♡

[Matthew Cole]

Matt drove around for a few hours and to be honest time just blurred and melded as it passed in chunks at a time.

His phone rang more than once but he did not pull over to answer it. He was in no state to.

He found himself pulling up in a quiet spot overlooking the city.

It was known to the cops as make out point because it's tranquil, secluded location and beautiful view attracted many teenage couples to come and suck face for a while.

Matt parked up and killed the engine.

He pulled out his phone and saw the voice message alert. He hit play and put the phone to his ear.

"Matt, buddy, call me okay."

He sighed and looked at his phone. He highlighted James' number on his contact list and held his thumb over the call button. He sat there looking at the phone trying to bring himself to make the call. But what would he say? What could James say? What would James be able to do?

There was nothing he could do, there was nothing anyone could do. Matt moved his thumb away and put the phone back in his pocket.

He sat there, overlooking the city for a couple of hours and before he knew it the sun had set, though he was still unaware what time of day or night it was.

By now he had well and truly stopped near hyperventilating and was just sitting there in a somewhat lethargic state.

He did not notice James pull up in his car or notice him walking over.

It was not until James reached for the door handle that Matt realized anyone was there.

Matt looked round as the door opened, recognizing that it was James as he got into the passenger seat. 

Matt was somewhat surprised to see him and it showed a little on his tired, drained expression, "What are you doing here?"

Tag: @james

[Deleted]

James Reagan

tag: Matthew Cole,

words

"What are you doing here?" At his words James looked across at Matt “The same thing you did for me months ago, looking for you” he replied simply, he studied him for a moment, he looked tired and drained. He had brought his backpack with him which after getting into the car had placed between his feet, now leaning forward he unzipped it and reaching inside he pulled out a bottle of water and held it out to Matt “Talk to me, what’s going on man?” he asked softly, maybe he'd be able to get Matt to talk maybe he wouldn't be able to, regardless - he'd look out for his friend whether he wanted him to or not.

notes

♡

[Matthew Cole]

“The same thing you did for me months ago, looking for you”

Matt nodded very lightly, taking in and understanding exactly what James meant. 

 
Part of him was just a little surprised that James had managed to find him here, but another part was just grateful that he had.

Matt took the water he was offered and unscrewed the lid, he had hardly had anything to eat or drink all day. He took a few mouthfuls before putting the bottle down.

“Talk to me, what’s going on man?”   

Matt took a long moment before speaking, his hands back on the steering wheel as he stared straight ahead at the city before them.

He opened his mouth but nothing came out. Then he tried again, "I think I made a terrible mistake." He began.

He looked over at James, "I might have put an innocent person behind bars." He said with little strength in his voice, his eyes misting slightly as he said the words.

He swallowed before speaking again, "I thought he was the guy, but now it looks like he might not be the guy. I don't know, they're looking into it. I could be wrong you know? I hope I'm wrong about being wrong, but I don't think I am." He said, obviously fuddling a little.

"I don't know, all I can do is wait. Wait and see if he was the guy or not."

Matt tipped his head back against the headrest, letting his eyes go up to the ceiling, "...And it's gonna be a long night." 

Tag: @james .

[Deleted]

James Reagan

tag: Matthew Cole

words

James watched Matt drink the water before switching to studying him, he could tell there was more "I think I made a terrible mistake." As Matt looked at him he could tell it wasn’t good "I might have put an innocent person behind bars." James was quiet, choosing to let Matt speak, get it out of his system "I thought he was the guy, but now it looks like he might not be the guy. I don't know, they're looking into it. I could be wrong you know? I hope I'm wrong about being wrong, but I don't think I am." any genius could tell Matt was struggling "I don't know, all I can do is wait. Wait and see if he was the guy or not." "...And it's gonna be a long night." James regarded him, the information was vague, but he knew what it was like to possibly have the wrong man behind bars and to have to account for it, James hated getting it so very wrong “Matt, whether or not it was a mistake or not, don't get ahead of yourself - wait for the facts” he said quietly, until he was sure of the information he wasn't going to say more than he should, but that was the hardest part, the waiting “How long ago?” he asked - meaning how long ago did he put the guy behind bars, besides - he had to make Matt talk rather than bottle it all up.

notes

♡

[Matthew Cole]

“Matt, whether or not it was a mistake or not, don't get ahead of yourself - wait for the facts”

Matt nodded.

That was what he was trying to do, but it wasn't easy.

"I know. I know." He replied with a sigh, gently rubbing his forehead with one hand.

"I've been praying I'm wrong about this, but it's not looking good...It's really not looking good."

“How long ago?” 

"About four years. Back when I first made detective." He said, his eyes looking to James, his head and body relaxed exhaustedly into his seat.

"I must have only been a detective three months when I worked the case." Matt looked forwards again before turning his eyes back to James, "What if I was wrong?" He asked.

He was still getting a little ahead of himself, but he could not help it.

He could not get the question out of his head until he could get a definitive answer from those looking into the case.

Until then Matt was stuck in limbo.

And he was not sure what was worse knowing, or not knowing.

Tag: @james

[Deleted]

James Reagan

tag

words

"I've been praying I'm wrong about this, but it's not looking good...It's really not looking good." James shook his head "Just focus on getting your head on straight, cause whatever happens you will get through it" James replied, well - he didn't know for sure but he wanted to try and remain positive. "About four years. Back when I first made detective." James nodded, well first cases were usually the ones to come bite you later "I must have only been a detective three months when I worked the case." "What if I was wrong?" "If you were wrong, we'll deal with it then - you can't get ahead of yourself Matt. Lets get back to the apartment okay?, We'll take it one step at a time"

notes: I think now is a good time to skip to the apartment, James likely left his car behind and probably will pick it up in the morning whatever happens.

♡

[Matthew Cole]

"Just focus on getting your head on straight, cause whatever happens you will get through it"

"I know. You're right, Man." Matt sighed lightly, getting a bit of a grip on himself, "You're right."

Matt looked out of the windscreen again. In the back of his mind he knew it had gotten dark, but it was just then that it had registered properly, when he saw the glow of the skyline against the night sky.

He looked at the clock to see the time, surprised by how fast yet how slow the day had passed by.

"If you were wrong, we'll deal with it then - you can't get ahead of yourself Matt. Lets get back to the apartment okay?, We'll take it one step at a time"

"You're right. Thanks man. And I appreciate you having my back but the time is getting on, you have a family and you'd better get home to your kids."

Matt rubbed his eyes for a moment, "Could I just ask you to drop me off, I'm in no frame to be driving a car right now."

He had been driving all day and he was not in the best state right now, the last thing he needed was to cause an accident on his way back to his apartment.

Tag: @james

[Deleted]

James Reagan

tag

words

"You're right. Thanks man. And I appreciate you having my back but the time is getting on, you have a family and you'd better get home to your kids." James regarded him quietly "Could I just ask you to drop me off, I'm in no frame to be driving a car right now." James shook his head “Nor are you in any state to be on your own, let’s go to my place, kids can go to the sitters for the night, we have an agreement in place anyway so - only thing you need to worry about are the dogs” he shrugged pushing the car door open “No arguments, you did the same for me”.

Once they’d locked up and secured Matt’s car and jumped into James' car he drove back to his place, the drive had been in relative silence - but there was little room for small talk.

Arriving they were met by two screaming kids, 6 dogs and a sitter. Once inside after a few minutes talking with the sitter and a few minutes packing a bag for the kids he’d seen the twins off with the sitter for the night. Once they’d gone James turned to Matt “Now we have the place to ourselves” meanwhile James’ dogs sniffed around Matt’s feet recognising his smell.

notes

♡

[Matthew Cole]

“Nor are you in any state to be on your own, let’s go to my place, kids can go to the sitters for the night, we have an agreement in place anyway so - only thing you need to worry about are the dogs”

The dog comment brought a light smile to Matt's face, but he did not feel right shipping the kids out for the night on his account.

"Oh no, don't sent the kids with the sitter for me," He protested tiredly.

 

“No arguments, you did the same for me”.

That was true to a point, James had stayed at Matt's for a while when he first arrived in Chicago, on the other hand Matt did live alone without any children underfoot. But he was in no mood to argue over the matter.

The truth was he did not really want to go back to his apartment right now, so he accepted the offer to go back to James' house with no protest...other than that of not sending the kids off with the sitter.

Matt put himself in Jame' car and sat in relative silence, thinking to himself as James drove him to his house.

Matt smiled as James was greeted by the twins and 6 dogs, all wanting his hugs and attention.

"Hey there. Remember me? I helped your dad move a few months ago. How you guys doing?" Matt said to the twins, putting on a friendly smile. 

He had not seen them since the trip back from Canada and they had seemed to have sprouted a few inches since them.

James spoke to the sitter and then began packing a bag, "Really, you don't have to send them out on my account." He said one last time. But James nor the twins really did seem to mind. 

The kids went out of the door with the sitter and Matt took a seat on the settee. He reached out a hand and stroked a couple of the dogs as they gently sniffed around his feet.

“Now we have the place to ourselves”

"It's a nice place." Matt complemented, admiring the living room as he sat there.

Matt had admired it all on his way in and the place was very homely now that it wasn't filled with moving boxes like the first and only time he had seen the place.

"I like what you've done with it. How long have you had this place?" Yes it was small talk, but it felt like the thing to say.

Tag: @james.

[Deleted]

James Reagan

tag

words

"It's a nice place." James smirked as he sat on the single seater chair positioned next to it, there was a way James had set up the room - two single seaters sat facing each other on either side of the room diagonally whilst the long three seater sofa faced horizontally between them but below the window - it took up just a part of the large lounge, a coffee table sat between the single seaters and in front of the three seater with enough space for dogs and people to pass between the gaps. Then there was a large area of carpet, the walls on that side of the room were filled with photos, a few framed certificates and other memorbilla. On the wall opposite the window was a large mirror which reflected the entire room making it look bigger, below the mirror was a huge mantlepeice, on the shelf placed in a neat order were three flags in their respective display boxes with a photo directly in front of each one of three people  - Chris, Mya and his dad, Michael had the other flag from their mother, Ryan had origionally had both as the eldest brother but decided to let his younger brothers have both flags. Inbetween them were other photos, of his uncle, his other close family members and a family photo. On the wall on the right side of the mirror were family photos, military photos and team photos - but they only extended as far as the edge of the carpet that reached from the mantlepeice to the table legs of the coffee table leaving the wooden floor between the window and the coffee table - James liked to have a certain order and it showed. The wall on the left side of the mirror was empty, simply because it was a nice cream color and James wanted to keep it nice and neutral. One of the bigger of the six dogs strolled over to James and nudged him as he sat on his feet, James played with the dog’s ear “Thanks” James replied. "I like what you've done with it. How long have you had this place?" Small talk was okay James didnt mind “Long enough, I guess. More than five years” he shrugged “Havent lived here for two years ago, place was still in my name when I left two years ago so easily took it back when I came back” he smiled.

notes: James skirts over how long he has lived there cause personally I don't know lol, I lost track of how long he's lived in Chicago so lets leave it at just 5 years or a little more xD

♡

[Matthew Cole]

Matt just nodded lightly as James spoke, continuing to gently scratch one of the dogs on the top of it's head as he listed.

From his seat he looked around the room once again, it was a very nice, very homely place indeed.

For a brief moment it reminded Matt of his old house back in Boston when he was young, not in design, layout or decor but the warm, family feel it gave off.

  

Given what was going on it was much better surroundings for him to spend the night in anyway, over spending the night alone in his own empty apartment, located in a less than perfect neighborhood. 

Matt leaned forwards, looking at the dog and petted it's head with both of his hands. 

He smiled lightly as the thought crosses his mined, "I don't even have a house plant to try and keep alive. How do you manage 6 dogs and 2 kids on your own?"    

But he did not say it out loud because he knew the truth was that James was not supposed to be doing it alone. Mya was supposed to be there. 

No, he kept the thought to himself because he did not want bring up the sore subject. There were a couple of sore subjects he did not want to bring up right now.

He sat right back in his seat, letting out a faint sigh as his body relaxed into the settee tiredly. He sat there for a few seconds, letting the day's physical aches drain out of his body. 

Then his eyes turned towards James again, and a slightly awkward silence filled the air between them. 

Matt was lost what to say now.
In fact he had just been a little lost all day. It was so difficult being stuck in limbo, waiting for the facts to come to light to reveal if the man was innocent or not.

In a way it felt like Schrödinger's damn cat and Matt just wanted the box to be opened.

Tag: @james .