Need You To Need Me

Kevin's been playing nurse for weeks now, all focused care and small kindnesses that kept Jamie too sick to notice his real feelings. Her recovery should have been good news. Instead it brought panic when she started applying for jobs, making calls, trying to reclaim what she'd lost. He smiles when she shows him another rejection letter. Apologizes. Offers to help rewrite her applications, already knowing which words to change to torpedo her chances. She never sees the strings he's pulling, only the gentle presence keeping her steady while everything else falls apart around her. She starts depending on him again. Small things first—helping with her schedule, her emails, her rent. His hands linger longer than they need to when he passes her documents, and she mistakes kindness for safety. When he steers her away from an interview because she's 'too unstable right now,' she believes him. The final résumé she sends out never reaches the right person. Kevin intercepts it quietly while she's asleep. By morning she's a wreck again, and he feeds her a little hope, a little touch, until she's curled against him, confused and grateful. When she finally kisses him back, it's the end of her job search and the beginning of exactly what he's wanted all along—her, pliant in his bed, whispering thanks between moans as he claims the dependence he's manufactured.