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Jackson is getting into bed when Stiles comes out of the bathroom, having just brushed his teeth.
“Are you going to sleep?” Stiles asks, running a hand through his hair.
Jackson snorts as he lies down, resting his head on the pillow. “Yeah, that’s the idea.”
“Wait," Stiles lifts his right arm, "You can’t.”
“I can’t?” Jackson shakes his head, amused.
“No, the thing is that I have to tell you… I mean, ask you—I have to ask you something,” Stiles says, taking off his watch and leaving it on the night table.
Jackson closes his eyes for a moment but then sits up to be able to look better at Stiles. The fact is that if Stiles waited until now to mention it, it should be interesting. “Ask me? Right, okay, what is it?”
“So, I had an unexpected visit today. Erica came to the police station around lunchtime,” Stiles says, sitting cross-legged on the right side of the bed, facing Jackson.
“Really?” Jackson raises his eyebrows. He sounds surprised, but that’s all he says.
Stiles nods, “I had to leave soon after she arrived, so it wasn’t the longest conversation, but still, if you want a summary—”
“Yeah, I think I’ll take it,” Jackson says. He’s too tired to hear the long version of what sounds like Erica’s problems right now.
“Okay, basically she told me that she’s starting her own YouTube podcast and that she wants us to be a part of it… part of her team of experts… or whatever…”
“What?” Jackson frowns, “A podcast?”
“Yeah, a YouTube channel ‘cause apparently, she’s been collaborating in different LawTube channels and I guess she realized that if other people are making money with it, she could do it as well… or maybe it’s not about the money and she just wants to do her own thing ‘cause she likes to be in charge of things as you know… so to be honest, I’m not surprised—”
“Wait,” Jackson lifts both hands, “slow down, okay? I’m fucking tired, and this is the first thing I hear about this shit… She never told me she’s on YouTube channels—”
“Me neither, okay? I don’t think it’s been going on for too long… but now… I guess she likes it and decided to get her pack involved—”
“Her pack?” Jackson raises his eyebrows as he tries to follow Stiles’ theory.
“Well. Yeah. She explained what they usually talk about in this show—podcasts—whatever… and I got the impression that she already convinced my dad and Zach, then she insisted that she needs both of us, and I’m pretty sure she’s not ending with us…”
“She’s talked to your father?—What?” Jackson repeats, waving his arms.
“Confirmed,” Stiles nods. “I called him this evening, and he’s totally on board. And so is Zach, by the way. It turns out, this is something he enjoys watching, and he already knew everything about it.”
“Your dad is just bored since he came back and has no idea what to do with his free time…” Jackson says. The truth is that since he retired five years ago, he has travelled a lot, but he’s not done much since he came back from his last trip across Australia five months ago.
“Yeah, you’re probably right, and he's a bit lonely too without the kids here, but you know that he misses his job, so this is an opportunity to at least put his years of experience to use, you know? That’s what he said… And I think… You know, I think he’s right. I feel like… Maybe, right now, this is something that may be good for him…”
“So, I’m guessing you mean that you’ve done your research…“ Jackson knows how Stiles thinks and operates, and this is clear, but it’s like he knows he has to say it anyway.
“I’m a detective, remember? I was not gonna talk to you about this without having an idea of what we’re getting into, and yeah, she sent me a couple of links to some of the shows where she participated—”
“Right—So, basically she went to see you first, so that she didn’t have to tell me because she thought there was no way I was doing this, but if it was you who asked me, maybe I might agree… am I right?”
“Pretty much… Yeah… Only, in her brain, there’s no ‘maybe’,” Stiles snorts. “She thinks you can’t say ‘no’ to me because you love me…”
“Really?” Jackson snorts a laugh, shaking his head.
“Yeah, I know,” Stiles shrugs, “She’s fucking delusional, and she got the whole mates thing wrong but—”
“She is…” Jackson is not even sure how to define her friend at this point.
“I know,” Stiles nods. “That’s what I told her. She said you had two kids for me, so now she thinks you’ll do whatever if I ask you nicely... I mean…” Stiles is also at a loss for words to describe her mindset. The reality is that Erica is a romantic at heart. She’s always supported their relationship from the start, just like Lydia did, so hearing that from her is not really that strange and while the second statement is not true, the first one is actually more accurate, but it’s also not something they’ve really talked about that much since Stiles came out of the coma all those years ago.
Jackson smiles. “Yeah? And what did you say?”
“What do you think? I said she’s wrong, and I told her I’d talk to you about it, but I didn’t promise anything. I think this could be… interesting, I guess… I don’t think I’m gonna do it unless you wanna do it, and it’s not like she only wants me anyway, you know? She wants you and I, like a pack, if that’s even a thing… because she thinks we could be great experts and that we have this great chemistry and that we are married, we’re parents, plus she also seems to think that we don’t agree about a lot of shit, which I wasn’t upposed to tell you but she isn’t totally wrong because we do argue sometimes about all kinds of shit, right? So… you know… she said a lot of shit, and I did too, but then I had to leave—”
“Okay, I get it,” Jackson nods. “Look…” Jackson licks his lips. “She doesn’t… I’m not saying I’m one hundred percent interested in doing this… and she’s definitely wrong about me doing whatever you want me to…”
“Obviously,” Stiles nods.
“But the part about me being knocked up the first time because of you is not wrong, you know?”
(To be continued.. Hopefully...)