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Nick helps Trubel through the door, his arm wrapped around her waist, keeping her up. Any bit of weight put on her left leg makes her hiss in pain. When she finally makes it to the sofa, she practically falls onto it, punching the cushion as she tries to bear the pain.
“What’s going on?” Rosalee yells as walks into the back of the shop. “Nick? Trubel? What’re you -- oh my god!” Rosalee sees the gash in Trubel’s thigh through the rip in her jeans. “What happened?” She kneels down and starts inspecting the wound. “Monroe,” she yells over her shoulder, “I need you back here!” She turns to Nick. “Go get the scissors.”
Nick does as he’s told and when he hands the scissors to Rosalee, she starts cutting Trubel’s pant leg, starting at the ankle, until just below the hip, giving her better access to the gash. She wants to chide both of them for how reckless they’ve been lately, but she knows now isn’t the time.
Monroe walks into the room, and as soon as he sees what’s going on, he’s crossing the room to poke and prod at Nick. “Are you okay? What happened?”
“I’m fine. They just…” His voice trails off as he watches Rosalee start to clean the wound on Trubel’s thigh, making the young woman hiss in pain. Nick practically throws himself down at her side, grabbing her hand to ease the pain. It should be him sitting here, cut to hell; he knows it.
Monroe crouches down next to his friend. “C’mon, Nick, you’re bleeding. Rosalee’s got this. Let me fix you up.”
Nick just shakes his head, determined to see Trubel through this. Not only should he be the one sitting there, it’s also his fault. Trubel had been the one to suggest they might be walking into a trap and should go get at least Hank for back up, but Nick shook his head and insisted they keep going. He figured even if it was a trap, they didn’t know he was a grimm again so he would be able to catch them by surprise. He should have listened to Trubel.
“Nick,” Monroe says firmly as he wraps his hand around Nick’s arm. “You’re bleeding all over the place.” He yanks Nick up, and with his free hand, cups his jaw so he’s looking up at him. “I don’t know what you two were doing, but she’s gonna be fine. Rosalee can handle this; you know that. Now let someone take care of you.”
Nick nods and lets Monroe drag him into the front of the shop. This Monroe intimidates him, but he’ll never admit it. He leans against the counter for support as he watches Monroe search for something on one of the higher shelves.
“When we were doing inventory earlier,” Monroe starts, “and I found a jar of that salve you like. I put it up here to keep it out of the way, in case you needed it. Didn’t think it’d be so soon.” His voice is laced with disappointment; Rosalee wasn’t the only one worried about how reckless Nick has been acting. He steps down from the ladder and walks over to Nick. “I don’t want to get all life coach on you, Nick, but you gotta cut it out with this reckless shit. I get it; Juliette leaving was hard, but that’s no reason to keep doing all this stupid shit. There are still people here who care about you.” He sighs as he helps Nick get his shirt off and then starts cleaning the cuts on his bicep.
“I’m sorry, Monroe.” Nick winces at the pain in his arm now that his adrenaline is fading.
“What’s going on, man? You know you can talk to me.”
“I don’t know. I thought I was alright. I kept looking at the positives -- Juliette would be safe and could have a normal life. I guess maybe I’m not as okay as I thought.” He sighs as Monroe rubs the salve over the cuts on his arm. “And now…”
“‘And now’ what?”
Nick sighs as he leans over to look in the back of the shop. He can’t see what Rosalee is doing, but he’s sure she’s stitching the gash in Trubel’s thigh. Trubel’s head is resting against the back of the sofa, her eyes shut, and even though her hands are still balled into fists, Nick can tell her pain has lessened.
“Oh my god,” Monroe says quietly.
Nick looks back to Monroe. “It, uh, just kinda snuck up on me.”
“She’s a bit younger than you.”
“And Rosalee’s a bit younger than you.”
“Yeah, but --”
“I’ve seen both your file and hers; I know exactly how old both of you are. I mean, it is less than Theresa and I, but not by much.”
“How long?”
“Not very.”
“Please don’t tell me this whole recklessness thing is to impress her.”
“What?” Nick shakes his head. “No, it’s not. I think she just...distracts me.” He pauses. “You remember how you felt when Rosalee hit that guy with a brick and basically saved your life?”
“Of course.”
“I feel that every time she and I are doing grimm stuff together. She’s so tough and capable. If it weren’t for her tonight…”
“You guys had a ‘brick’ moment.”
“Oh yeah.”
“So what are you gonna do?” Monroe asks as he wipes his hands on a rag and puts the lid back on the jar of salve.
Nick shrugs. “I don’t know yet.” He pauses to pull his shirt back on with Monroe’s help. “I’m afraid I’ll push her away, or it’ll just be a rebound, or she’ll get hurt worse than this and it’ll be my fault.”
“She’s a grimm; she’s never gonna be completely safe, but that isn’t your fault. I think you guys are better together. You keep each other on your toes. Clearly, she cares about you a lot.”
“My mom isn’t fond of her.”
“Your mom doesn’t seem like she’s really fond of anyone, but why didn’t she like Trubel?”
“First she thought Trubel was the reason Juliette left, and then she got pissed that I was living with another Grimm. I mean, that’s kind of understandable, but I’d never just kick Trubel out. I ended up telling my mom to leave.”
“Whoa. I’m guessing she didn’t take that well.”
“She just stormed out. She really upset Trubel, so I didn’t care. My house is her home, too; she shouldn’t feel out of place or unwanted.” Nick sighs. “I thought Trubel and I had a moment afterwards, but I don’t know.”
Monroe smiles, watching how Nick fidgets as he talks about Trubel. It’s pretty clear to him that his best friend is smitten, but he’s gonna let Nick figure things out on his own. Where would the fun be in telling Nick that Trubel has feelings for him? Where would the fun be in telling Nick that Trubel came to shop last week, asking Monroe and Rosalee for advice? Besides, Monroe doesn’t want to stick his nose where it doesn’t belong. This is something Nick and Trubel need to do on their own terms.
While the guys chat in the front of the shop, Rosalee finishes stitching up Trubel’s thigh in the back of the shop. They don’t talk much at first; Trubel is in too much pain, and Rosalee is concentrating. But as Rosalee finishes, she finally speaks up.
Rosalee looks over her shoulder before asking, “This doesn’t have anything to do with last week, does it?”
“No,” Trubel answers a little too quickly. “I mean...not really.”
“Trubel!” Rosalee looks up at her with wide eyes. “Please tell me you didn’t do this to impress him because you could have just made him cookies.”
“That’s not why I did it… I just… I didn’t want to see him get hurt. I know it’s gonna happen; he’s a cop and a grimm. It was almost like a natural instinct; after so long of being Nick’s eyes to the grimm world, I guess it’s hard going back to being just another grimm.” Trubel shrugs.
“Listen to me, Theresa,” Rosalee’s tone becomes more serious and grabs the young woman’s attention with the use of her real name. “You’re not just another grimm. You’re not even just another person. Nick cares about you -- it’s obvious.” Rosalee pauses to places a bandage over Trubel’s stitches, but before she can say anything else, Nick and Monroe walk into the room.
Nick walks straight over to Trubel and kneels down next to her. “How’re you feeling? Is the pain any better?”
“I’m fine. Rosalee’s got me all patched up. My jeans, on the other hand,” Trubel says as she pokes at the tears and cuts in her jeans, “aren’t so lucky.”
“I’m glad you’re okay.” Nick looks up at her; his blue eyes are softer than usual.
“Let me get you some salve to take with you,” Rosalee says, disappearing into the front of the shop. When she comes back, she hands a small bag to Nick. “There’s two containers in there -- one for each of you. They’re labeled. You both should take it easy for a couple days, especially you, Trubel.” Rosalee turns her attention from Nick to Trubel. “I don’t want you ripping your stitches.”
Trubel nods. “Okay.”
“I’ll make sure she befriends the sofa for a few days,” Nick adds as he reaches out to help Trubel get up.
Nick wraps his arm around Trubel’s waist, and she wraps hers around his shoulders. He helps her out of the shop and back into his truck. As he pulls away to shut the door of the truck, his hand slides across her lower back, sending a shiver through her body. Her breath hitches.
“You okay?” Nick asks.
“Huh? Yeah. I just… guess I’m a little more sore than I thought.”
Trubel is quiet during the ride home and even as they walk inside. It’s not until they’re both sitting on the sofa and eating leftovers that she breaks the silence.
“Nick?”
“Yeah?”
“Can I talk to you about something?”