Work Text:
“My Little Dove”
“Jesse..? What’s wrong?”
Jesse, the town doctor and judge, had been searching around his medical office. It hadn’t been a domestic and quiet thing, it was more of a frantic search. Michael, the town sheriff, had been watching him search desperately.
“Jesse..?” He called.
Doc was too deep into his desperate search for a pretty important file, but he couldn’t remember where he put it. This had sent Doc into a state of quick panic.
“Jesse?” Sheriff tried again, only to get silence out of the other.
Doc kept searching, finding it and scanned through the file and it was as if someone had killed the light in his beautiful blue eyes that Sheriff could get lost in.
He knew that this file was pretty important, carefully sorting it neatly into the other files he had. As he did this, Doc let out a quiet sigh. With his hands being slightly shaky, he knew this was the starting point of one of his terrible memories that plagued him.
The tall graying brunet had walked out, his glasses resting on his nose with no issue, but he knew he had to get far from Sheriff because who knew how long it would be until his mind plagued him with something he wants to forget and move on from.
Sheriff watched with worry and quietly trailed after him, which Doc had noticed.
“Michael.. please..” He whispered quietly, deciding to sit down at his desk. “I need a minute to think, I’m sorry..” Doc muttered to the other, letting out a quiet sigh.
Sheriff frowned. “But Jess, if I leave you alone, you’re going to either do something really really stupid to get yourself distracted or you’re going to silently sit there and pick yourself apart piece by piece. Love, I can’t stand to sit here and watch you tear yourself to pieces.. it’s not easy to watch you rip yourself to shreds that you know you won’t get the help you need after you do that, my love..”
Jesse took a deep breath in, quietly holding it, before letting it out and sighed. “You know how I am all too well.. I’m not going to lie to you, Michael, I’m not doing well..”
“We all can see you’re not doing too well. You barely interact with any of the town, you’re becoming more and more isolated, you’re blaming yourself for things that you cannot control. Everyone can tell. So, with that being said, do you want to talk about it, my little hawk?”
Jesse glanced towards the town sheriff and sighed, closing his eyes as he took off his glasses and neatly folded the arms of the frame together and rested it perfectly on his desk on top of the many files of paperwork he had to do. That by itself, made him stress a bit more and regret doing what he did but he loved where he was. He felt.. at home so he couldn’t leave the town and its people, he couldn’t leave who he knew would always be there for him when he needed to fall apart during his hardest points.
He knew that he couldn’t vocalize what was bothering him, so, he silently got up and sat down next to Michael, leaning over to where his head was resting against his shoulder.
“Shh, my little dragonfly, I’m here.”
That phrase pulled at some of Jesse’s heartstrings. This caused Jesse to carefully hug Michael with a hesitant embrace. Sure, Michael was shorter than him, but he had more strength than him which made it easy for Michael to lift him up and handle him like a big cat being carried around.
Michael adored how Jesse trusted him. He knew that the graying brunet was highly becoming more stressed as days went on, his job truly driving him to the point of leaving Radiator Springs. The graying ravenet held him closer, brushing his fingers against his lover’s hair, starting to brush through the other’s shoulder length hair.
“Shh, my dear, I’ve got you, you can fall apart, I’m here to catch you, I promise.”
There was silence between the two but it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, it was more of a sweet and loving silence as Jesse cuddled closer into his shoulder, letting out quiet sobs, his body wracking with the stress that he had been handling for far too long, Michael knew that his lover would definitely need a lot of reassurance and physical care once Jesse calmed down, though it broke his heart to feel how Jesse broke in his arms, feeling his torso shake with each sob he let out.
It truly was not pretty when the Doctor Jesse Hudson who was very much known as The Fabulous Hudson Hornet fell apart like this. Though, crying was really stress relieving. But, regardless, he hated moments like this, he hated falling apart in front of someone but Michael would always be there to pick up the pieces after he fell apart.
As moments passed for what felt like eternity, Jesse had finally been able to relax and get himself back together, his tone quiet and wet.
“Thank you, Michael, it- it means a lot to me that you’re still here, my love.”
“Shh, there’s no need to thank me, Jess, I’m here for you no matter what, I promise. Now, how would an afternoon nap sound to you, my darling?”
“That.. that sounds really good.” Jesse had yawned, still staying as close as he could to his lover.
Michael smiled warmly before scooping Jesse into his arms, feeling him cuddle closer into his chest, holding him closer and closer, trying his best to keep him awake as he journeyed into their shared bedroom in Jesse’s home.
No, it was their home.
Their home had seen the brightest days and the darkest days between the two. Sometimes, Jesse would hide away for a really long time, sometimes he’d be more social on some days. It would truly depend. Michael had been there when he seeked out comfort from Jesse, feeling the cold shoulder which was soon made up by goodnight cuddles. No matter what would happen in the day, by night, they’d be in each other’s arms, cuddling close as they both turned in for the night.
Michael carried Jesse to their shared bedroom, carefully placing his lover down on the bed and lovingly adored how he was really desperate and ready to do anything for Michael to lay down next to him.
“Nooo.. don’t leave me here, I need you..”
“Jess, my love, I’m not going anywhere. Are you cozy?”
“Mhm.. I’m really comfortable.. ready for you to lay down with me so I can rest beside you.”
“Aww, you’re so cute!” Michael teased lovingly.
Jesse’s cheeks went scarlet red, burrowing into Michael’s chest when he had felt the bed dip as Michael laid down next to him, adoring how his lover was relaxing and cuddling close. Within due time, he had heard the quiet rumbles of Jesse’s quiet snores which had been comparable to a cat purring.
“Sleep well, my little hawk.” He quietly cooed as he drifted off to sleep himself.