Diamond in the Rough

He wraps his arms tighter around her and nuzzles into the back of her neck as her fingers softly trace the tattoos on his arm. For the first time she had seen the scars over his body, mostly received during his prison time and a few from childhood where he had fallen out of a tree or skidded off his bike. Last night was the first time they had slept together with the lights on.

"Jem?" She asks.

"Mhmm?" He replies, drifting off to sleep. He had never gotten as close to someone as he is to Fiona now.

When Jem slept with someone it was usually when they were wasted and either he would leave or she would leave. It meant nothing, just sex. But with Fiona it's totally different.

"How come you never told Doug about what happened in Walpole?"

She feels his body stiffen behind her. It's an uncomfortable topic of conversation that he always avoided, even when it stared him in the face.

"No reason to" he replies."You were great"

It's his way of trying to change the subject.

"I know it's hard for you to talk about it. But I'm here if you want to talk about it" Fiona says.

Jem gets up and sits on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands.

"I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry" she says and pulls the cover up to her chin. She can see that his past is haunting him. When he had come over last night he had been drunk, actually quite funny and told her stories of his childhood.

"It's cool" he looks over his shoulder and notices how guilty she looks.

How bad she feels for bringing up a touchy subject.

"Thanks" he says "For everything"

Fiona nods and watches him as he climbs over the bed to kiss her on the lips. She wraps her arms around his neck and pulls him closer, deepening the kiss.

"Coffee?" Fiona asks.

"Naw. I'm happy right here"

***

"I'm having a good time" Doug says as he wipes his mouth on the napkin. He gestures to the cafe, the weather and Claire.

"Good. Then you'll miss me when I'm gone" Claire says as she pushes her chair back and goes off in search of the ladies.

Doug looks up to the sky and watches a jet trail, soaking up the relaxed atmosphere like a sponge.
Something jabs him in the back of the neck.

A voice he doesn't recognise speaks to him.

"Money bitch!"

Doug tense's and realises that the other diners are calmly eating their meals. He turns to see Jem standing behind him.

"I froze you" the smaller man says.
Doug glances over at the door into the cafe and prays that Claire doesn't come out.

"What you doin' here?" Jem asks. He steps over the knee high white fence and slides into Claire's seat, his back to the door.

"What?" Doug answers.
"Fuck is this? Who you here with?"

Jem picks up a slice of the pizza and takes a bite.

"No one"

"No one?" Jem pushes further. He picks up Claire's glass and sucks down some juice.

"What is this?" Jem asks again.

Doug slaps two twenties on the table and goes to make a stand. It hasn't escaped Jem that one pizza is plain cheese, the other ham and pineapple. He knows Doug hates pineapple on his pizza, so he has to be here with someone.

"Wanna get out of here?" Doug stands up.

"Naw. I'm cool. Let me grab a beer" Jem waves at him to sit down.

Doug feels his heart stop as Claire emerges from the cafe and starts walking over to the table and it's new occupant.

"Hi" she says awkwardly as Jem automatically rises to his seat.

"I'm claire"

"Jem" he says with a small smile.

"Jim?"

"Jem" he corrects her. "Just Jem"

Claire turns to Doug for help, but notices he looks just as awkward as she feels. She sits down in her seat and takes a drink, not knowing that Jem had helped himself.

"I'm a friend of this loser right here. He lives with me. Not with me, domestic partners. On the third floor of my house" Jem laughs.

Claire looks over at Doug who is suddenly silent.

"I saw the avalanche parked round the corner" Jem states, then to Doug "I told you that thing stands out"

Doug realises that Jem's been following him.

"The avalanche?" Claire asks.

"Dougy's work truck. He's quite the worker"

"You two been friend's long?" She asks Jem, the man sitting next to her who appears to be so full of life.

"Like brothers. Since we were six. Funny, he never mentioned you though. The secrets with this one" Jem replies, his tone partly menacing. His look at Doug is hard and stony.

"Did you say your name was Jim or Gem?"

"Both actually. Teachers always said this boy, he's a real Jem and it kinda stuck" Jem laughs. The story is partly true.

Claire smiles.

"So, what do you do for yourself?"

"I'm a bank manager" Claire replies.

"Yeah? Which one?" He asks.

Knowing fine exactly where she works.

"Kenmore square"

"Ain't that the one that got robbed?" Jem asks, fake mock his tool. "I read about that. How'd you two meet?"

"At the laundry place." Claire says and takes another drink. She doesn't notice that Doug is drawing his friend complete daggers.

"Love amongst the bleach, huh. Happens more than you think". Jem laughs "Don't trust a word he says, Claire"

"So he isn't really an astronaut?"

They both laugh and exchange a few sentences before Jem decides to make his point.

"Don't get used to your life of luxury here. Our Dougy, he's a real workaholic..." Jem gives Doug a serious look. "Always taking his work home with him"

Jem rises to leave and Doug claps his hand over the back of his neck, a brotherly embrace that looks completely innocent. Of course Doug doesn't want her to see the tattoo on the back of Jem's neck, the one she told him she had seen during the robbery.

"I'll see you back at the house"