17. Jensen

All night. All night his conscience had been screaming at him to leave Celestial, to stop watching Talia from the shadows, to let her dance with Quinn, to have his hands all over her body. If she went home with him, so what? She may have been the mother of his child, but she wasn't his property.

Jensen was glad he'd listened to his instincts.

He dragged Quinn backwards, choking off his airway, all too tempted to make the addition permanent.

"Get off me, asshole," Quinn grunted, thrashing around, the words vibrating against Jensen's forearm.

"She's drunk," Jensen released his grip and shoved Quinn away, standing as a barrier in front of Talia. "She told you to stop. That means you stop."

"Jay?" Talia's eyes rounded as she glanced up at him, tinged pink with alcohol. "Why are you here?"

In the low light, he threw Quinn a filthy look. He was here for exactly this reason. To make sure Quinn didn't try and do what he just did. "To look after you."

Quinn had the gall to roll his eyes, massaging his throat. "Mind your own business," he said hoarsely. "Come on, Talia. We're leaving."

Talia wasn't going anywhere with him. If Jensen had to drag her to his car kicking and screaming, then so be it, but he'd rather have her make the decision. He took her hand, relieved when she didn't pull away. "Let me take you home," he implored her. "Or to Warren and Kate's house, or your dad's house, or wherever. Just… where do you want me to take you?"

Her expression was a curious one. "Lessons," she whispered, a hint of a smile touching her lips.

"Lessons?" Jensen said blankly.

"You took lessons. How-to-look-after-a-baby lessons. Warren told me." Talia gave him a full smile, squeezing his hand.

Ignoring Quinn's scoff, he nodded. "I need to know how to look after Felix, don't I?"

Especially if he was ever going to be trusted to be a proper father.

Truth be told, he had felt rejected when Talia hadn't asked him to look after Felix tonight. He was Felix's father; he should be the first person she could trust to care for their son.

But the more he thought about it, the more logical it was. They'd spent a night together a year-and-a-half ago. Who in their right mind would hand their child over to a complete stranger?

Jensen certainly wouldn't. After everything that had happened to Aldous, he knew well enough that even people who were supposedly trustworthy could be anything but.

By not asking him to look after their son, she wasn't rejecting Jensen. She was protecting Felix.

Talia was doing what every good mother should do.

Her next words were so quiet he almost missed them. "Will you take me home?"

Relief swam in front of his eyes like a haze. "Always." He tucked her under his shoulder, watching as Quinn turned to walk back towards Celestial, muttering under his breath.

They were nearly at the car when an excitable screech tore across the car park. "Talia!"

Jensen turned in time to see Darcy sliding across the gravel, her heels scattering the stones beneath her. "Are you two finally sneaking off to take things—?" Her eyes blew wide when she looked at him. "Oh. You're not Quinn."

"Thankfully," he drawled.

Darcy gave his chest a sloppy pat. "Well I think she should pick you anyway. From everything she's told me I think you're sweet. Even if my dad thinks you're a cradle-snatching cunt."

He would have laughed if a movement from Talia hadn't caught his eye. She shivered as an icy wind cut through them."Here," he muttered, shouldering off his jacket and covering her with it. It dwarfed her as he zipped it up, but at least she had some protection from the elements.

He needed to get her out of the cold.

"How are you getting home, Darcy?" he frowned, concern edging into his voice. "Do you need a lift?"

Darcy shook her head, wrapping Talia in a hug. "There's my lift." She pointed to a taxi near the front of the car park, the driver tapping his fingers on the steering wheel and the guy she'd been with earlier fidgeting on the backseat. "Me and my housemate are going to bed." She lowered her voice in a drunken whisper. "But don't tell my dad."

Jensen waved her off, settling Talia in the passenger seat as he watched Darcy fall into the back of the cab, swiftly followed by a round of hacking laughter from both Darcy and her housemate.

The same housemate that Darcy had been enjoying some alone time with in the darkened booths behind the bar—alarmingly close to where he'd been sitting.

At least Jensen knew Darcy and her housemate were both as drunk as each other, and their antics had been enthusiastically consensual.

So enthusiastically consensual he'd had to move booths to stop hearing it.

Christ, he was never going to be able to look Euan in the eye again.

The drive back to Talia's flat was a long one, but he didn't mind. Thoughts of what could have happened if he hadn't been there churned in his gut. Quinn had been plastering her with drinks since they'd walked into Celestial, but Jensen had been close enough to the bar to hear that he'd only ordered soft drinks for himself.

Talia was asleep by the time they reached her flat, her cheek adorably squashed up against the passenger window. With some careful adjustments, Jensen carried her into the flat block—this time entering through the front entrance instead of the back.

Quietly, Jensen scanned his phone against the smart lock on her front door—another helpful addition from Roman's security guy, Tarik. Even if she had been awake, she was drunk enough to potentially overlook it.

The now-familiar sight of her flat greeted him as he locked the door behind them. For a moment, he simply stood, glancing down at her, finally looking at her for as long as he wanted. The last time he'd been able to do this they were in New York, and she was sleeping in his arms. So many things had happened since then. So many things had changed.

And yet… everything was the same. Jensen still felt that deep protective, possessive instinct; she was his, and his alone. Initially, he'd tried to suppress it. When he thought she was still in New York studying, he'd told himself that she was better off without him. She was too young for him. They were at completely different stages in their lives. They may share a child, but that didn't mean they needed to be together.

Even earlier this evening, he'd convinced himself he was going to look after her, to protect her. Warren had said this was her first evening out since having Felix, and Jensen wanted her to enjoy it, to let her hair down without worry.

But now there was no hiding it from himself. He went there to look after her… because she was his.

Suddenly, he'd had enough of his own excuses. That deep, protective, possessive instinct had known it all along, and he finally unleashed it. It purred at the feel of her safely in his arms; it was where she was always meant to be.

What was the alternative? She end up with someone like Quinn, who bowled over her defences in favour of his own needs?

Jensen may be older than her, but that only meant he knew how to treat her right.

Stepping around the baby walker next to the front door, Jensen made his way into Talia's bedroom. The only room in the house he hadn't seen. He wasn't quite sure what he was expecting.

Two bookcases greeted him, one on either side of the bed, full to the brim with books in every colour under the sun. Titles he'd never heard of stared back at him, but a few jumped out. Western Medicine, An Illustrated History by Irvine Loudon. Mayes' Midwifery. TheOxford Handbook of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

Ever so gently, Jensen lowered her onto the bed, brushing a stray lock of hair from her eyes. It was a losing battle, he feared. A red river of curls flowed across her pillow, and something else occurred to him.

Back in New York, they'd talked about her hair—and he distinctly remembered her saying how important it was for her to wear something at night…

But what in the ever-living fuck was it?

Jensen looked around, hoping inspiration would come to him. After a few blank moments, he found it lying on her bedside table. The only thing he could describe it as was an elasticated swimming cap made of silk. He turned it inside out, inspecting it closely. Surely this was it? Or was this some kind of purse to keep stuff in?

No, there were loose red hairs curled up in there. This was definitely a hair-related item.

He looked at the silk swimming cap to Talia and back again. How the hell was he supposed to get this on her head?

Tapping his fingers on her bedside table for a few seconds, Jensen pulled his phone out and turned to Google. The first tutorial was a video, but he'd barely clicked on it before sound blared out of his speakers. He hurriedly turned it down, sending Talia a panicked look.

Relieved to find her still asleep, he carried on watching. Lean upside down. Put the cap on. Put the curls up inside the cap. Fasten cap. Stop calling it a cap because it was apparently called a bonnet. That didn't seem too difficult.

If the woman the curls were attached to wasn't fast asleep.

Jensen sighed and got to it, carefully working through each step. Surprisingly, Talia didn't stir throughout the entire process, happily snoozing away as he poked and prodded. Every time he thought he was done, another curl seemed to have popped out.

At the end of it, he wasn't sure he'd tied the bonnet tight enough for it to stay on overnight, but it was the tightest he was willing to put it.

He chose not to take her out of her dress. It would be uncomfortable to sleep in, but he guessed she'd be even more uncomfortable to find he'd undressed her without consent.

After he'd taken her shoes off and tucked her in, Jensen put the empty bathroom bin next to her bed and put a glass of water and a packet of painkillers on her bedside table. They were the painkillers he carried around for Rhys's migraines, but he had spares.

His work finally done, Jensen turned off the light, pulled her bedroom door to, and stretched out on the couch, exhausted.