Wow, it's been 5 mfing years, hope y'all have had a good time!

The hotel room was small, stuffy, it smelled like cats. There were stains on the carpet, the bathroom was dirty, and the price of the room was exorbitant.

Despite this Edward felt calm.

They had parked a few minutes away rather then in the hotel's parking lot, they'd also booked in under different names and told the front desk not to tell anyone they were staying there.

It was a relatively nice place if you overlooked the obvious flaws, there was a little wooden breakfast table and a bed, a tv up on the wall.

Lola was already making herself at home, curling up on one of the pillows on the bed. Edward pulled her favourite toy from his backpack and tossed it over to her.

His attention moved to Harvey, the man was kneeling at the end of the bed, suitcase open in front of him.

"You ok, Harv..?" Edward asked softly.

Harvey nodded, "Yeah, but I think I forgot-" he cut himself off, a soft huff leaving him, "never mind, I've got it."

"I've got your phone charger in my bag too," Edward said, thinking somehow that might comfort him, "I-I made sure we've got everything we need for at least two days away."

Harvey nodded, he offered Edward a performative smile, "Thankyou." He looked around the room, "We'll be ok here."

The statement sounded more like a question, "Yeah, we will be," Edward said sternly. He turned to his own suitcase and opened it. He debated unpacking, he knew what was in there, and they were only going to be here a few days, was there a point in it?

He didn't know what they were going to be doing for 2 days, but he was hopeful, it'd be good, it'd go well, they'd get a call from Bobby or one of his other co-workers telling him that they'd arrested those fuckers…

Maybe they'd put up a fight during the arrest and end being shot.

Perhaps that was a little too hopeful.

Edward turned away from his suitcase with pyjamas in hand, sliding down to sit on the floor, watching Harvey filing through his things, his OCD showing a little in his stressed state.

"We should do something nice tonight," Edward offered, "We-" he struggled for a moment to think of something, "We could get take out delivered here and eat in bed. Thai food, I know you love Thai."

Harvey let out a small huff, "I don't think anywhere will deliver out here this late, it's…" he looked at his watch, "4am, Jesus Christ..."

Edward bit his lip, he knew Harvey didn't mean to be snappy, he was upset and tired. He nodded, glancing down at the floor and feeling himself deflate.

"Just… Sleep then?" he asked weakly.

Harvey nodded, "Yeah." He looked up at Edward, maybe he knew he was upset, "We can get take out tomorrow, eat till we can't even walk."

Edward let out a soft hum and nodded, smiling. That sounded like the perfect way to spend their time in hiding.

His smile widened, "Hey, this is he first time we've been hiding out and the cops have actually been on our side."

Harvey chuckled weakly and nodded, pulling out a pair of pyjamas from his suitcase and beginning to change into them. "It feels different doesn't it."

Edward shrugged, "I don't feel as self-assured as I used to, a lot more worried and unsure."

"Not as in control," Harvey added.

"We've got to keep thinking positive."

"I know you're having trouble too."

Edward frowned, "No, I'm doing fine, sure it's scary but it's ok, thing's will be fine."

Harvey shook his head, "You're tugging your goatee," he observed, "You only do that when you're worried."

Edward removed his hand from his face, he hadn't realised he'd been doing it until Harvey had pointed it out, maybe he was more worried than he was letting himself believe.

He paused to reassure himself. "Things will be ok," he said softly to himself before pulling off his shirt, changing into his pyjamas. His favourite green ones they were super soft and had purple buttons on the cuffs that he always fiddled with or nibbled on when he was nervous. Harvey had a similar white and black pair but that wasn't what he'd chosen to wear here, maybe he felt they were too nice to use in a shitty hotel.

Instead Harvey was wearing a t-shirt so old that the design had peeled off and some joggers which were covered in stains, as comfy as they probably were they didn't look very attractive.

Edward watched as his partner climbed into bed, pulling Lola to him for a hug.

"You sleeping with daddy tonight, cutie?" Edward said with a small smile as he got to his feet and climbed into bed next to Harvey, the Puggle squished between them.

They settled into bed together, Edward keeping his eyes on Harvey the whole time. After a few moments Lola wiggled out from her spot between them and jumped off the bed, presumably to curl up on Harvey's suitcase.

Edward quickly closed the gap between them, pressing himself into Harvey and inhaling deeply, hoping it would drown out the foreign feel of the hotel room.

"You're going to find it hard to sleep tonight?" Harvey asked, wrapping an arm around him.

"I'll be ok, I'm with you."

Harvey nodded, "Sure, don't get too frisky though, I'm too tired for that."

Edward chuckled, giving Harvey a soft shove, "Harvey, I am not in the mood." He turned slightly in Harvey's arms, getting himself comfortable, one thing he liked about his life now: he never had trouble falling asleep.

Harvey woke alone in the bed, he jolted up at the realisation that there was no one else there. He looked around the room, sighing at the sight of Edward at the breakfast table, staring at the tv.

"Good morning," Edward said cheerily.

"Good morning," Harvey replied. "What time is it," he mumbled as he reached for his phone.

"About 8:20," Edward answered, "I got up about half an hour ago, Lola was asking to go out."

"…And you stayed up after?"

Edward nodded, gesturing to the food on the table, "I went to the store across the road and got us some breakfast, I got you a butterscotch and pecan doughnut."

Harvey let out a small hum, "Those are the fucking best."

He wasn't as hungry as he usually was, probably from the stress, but those were his favourite and he wasn't about to worry Edward over it. He shifted on the bed and held out his hand for the doughnut, Edward handed it to him and he began to eat it.

"You're not getting out of bed?" Edward asked, a soft smirk on his face.

Harvey shook his head, "Didn't you say you wanted to sit in bed and eat food?"

Edward's face glowed with a smile as he remembered what he'd said the night before. "Oh yeah!" he chuckled, getting to his feet, food in hand, and climbing back into bed.

"How about we empty the mini bar and watch shitty films all day?"

"And get Thai food," Edward added, leaning to rest his head on Harvey's shoulder, "If we can get reception to accept it for us we might not have to leave the bed."

Harvey nodded, wrapping his free arm around Edward and pulling him close, he pressed into his hair to give him a soft kiss. Edward felt a little stiff in his arms, he wasn't sure why he was acting so happy.

He kept looking at his phone, probably waiting for his co-worker to text or call. Harvey squeezed his hand, hoping the pressure of it might comfort him.

"He's not even texted me yet," Edward said quietly.

"He will. A watched pot never boils, Ed."

Edward pouted and wiggled his head mockingly. "No, Harvey, he's not even texted me that they've searched the place or anything."

Harvey frowned, "I'm sure they've searched the apartment, Ed."

Edward let out a small grunt, Harvey could feel him pulling away a little, his eyes moving from the tv again.

"…I just hate not knowing," he said quietly.

Harvey looked him up and down. Edward would often talk under his breath like that, he verbalised his thoughts and still acted like no one would hear them.

"Give me his number," Harvey ordered, picking his phone off the bedside table.

Edward looked up at him surprised, his mouth agape, without thinking he handed over his phone.

Quickly Harvey added the number into his phone, tossing Edward's phone back to him when he was done. He slipped out of bed, not bothering to straighten out his askewed clothing, and he dialled Bobby's number.

As the phone rang he began pacing, Bobby was the sort of person to answer an unknown number, he knew he'd pick up.

"Hello…" Bobby's sleep filled voice mumbled down the line.

"It's Harvey, Edward's fiancé," Harvey stated, "Did you search our place?"

There was a few seconds of silence from Bobby, assumedly the man was getting up.

"Edward's Fiancé?" he grumbled.

"Yes," Harvey said sternly, "Did you search our apartment?" he asked again.

"Oh…" Bobby grumbled again.

Harvey rolled his eyes, gritting his teeth, "Tell me."

"W-Well I didn't," he admitted, "But it's been searched. Uh, they said they found some fingerprints, they're checking them now."

Harvey growled softly, "If you didn't search it who did?"

Across the room he saw Edward's eyes widen a little, upset that Bobby hadn't been there during the search.

"Uh…" there were another few seconds of silence from Bobby. "Jakob, Rick, their usual team."

Harvey turned to Edward, "Jakob and Rick?"

The man's face went pale, his eyes bulging a little. The look on his face made Harvey's stomach twitch with discomfort.

"They're testing prints," Harvey said, both to clarify and inform Edward.

"Yes," Bobby confirmed.

"Ok, thankyou," Harvey let out a huff, "Keep us updated."

As he hung up he looked over at Edward. "Who're Rick and Jakob?"

"They're fucking rookies and they hate me," Edward immediately began to spill, "They're all upset because they went through school and everything and they think I just got handed the job, they don't know what I went through, they don't care enough to fucking ask. "

His face was turning red as he talked, getting more and more distressed. Harvey crossed the room in a couple of steps and sat on the bed, taking Edward's hand.

"Ed," he said as softly as he could, "Whether they like you or not they'll still do their job."

Edward pulled his hand away, "Fuck off…" he shook his head and wiped his eyes as if he'd been crying. "Harvey, they won't do a thorough job."

"They will, or I'll make them."

Although Harvey didn't mean to he could feel a hot tone to his voice, true anger at the thought of the system failing them again.

Edward stilled, his breathing short. Tears were coming to his eyes now, he was starting to panic but Harvey couldn't think of a way to fix it, part of him didn't really want to.

"Maybe we should move," Edward said quietly, his voice jittery.

"What?"

"Maybe we should move house, that would fix the problem."

Harvey shook his head, "How are we meant to afford that?"

Edward shrugged, his eyes wide and filled with tears and anguish. "I don't know, you're friends with Bruce Wayne maybe he could help us? Be a guarantor or something."

Harvey shook his head again, firmer this time, "I'm not getting Bruce in on this, he thinks I've got the flu right now. You know what he's like he'd go harder on these people than even I want to."

"We-we could tell him… that…" Edward shook his head desperately, like he was searching for answers in his mind and then dismissing them. "Shit," he swore loudly, "I hate this!"

Harvey felt his stomach twist, he hated hearing Edward sounding so upset. They'd tried so hard to get here, to make a nice life for themselves. He couldn't deal with this.

"Calm down, Ed, please…" he let out a slow breath, running his hand through his hair.

"I can't live like this, I can't." Edward wiped his eyes again, sniffling. "It brings back…" he shook his head, "I'm sorry," he said quietly, "I've tried, I really tried, I thought I could get through this. I've tried to be positive, but I… I just want to get away, I want to leave."

"Maybe we could go on holiday, take a month out and go abroad, Lola could stay with Bruce, he's got that Doberman puppy, I bet they'd love each other."

Edward let out a sigh, "No, I'd just be anxious the whole time about coming back." He let out a weak chuckle, "Stuck between a rock and a hard place…"

Harvey nodded listlessly, "I'll look into moving, but it'll take time. We're going to have to go home at some point."

"As long as I can see a way out I'll be fine. But I know the cops won't do anything, Bobby's the only one on my side and he's not even trying to help."

Harvey moved his hand to rub Edward's knee, "We've gotten through shit before, Edward."

Edward shook his head, "This is different. But I'll be ok if we move."

"What if there are shitty people the next place we move to?" Harvey asked, "How many times are we going to go through this?"

"This is the first time in 4 years that that's happened, it'll be another 4 years before it happens again maybe more."

"So we'll just be on the run for the rest of our lives? Worried every time someone new moves in next door?"

Edward raised an eyebrow, pulling Lola to him and hugging her, "You mean you're not scared when that happens now? How are you not scared all the time? Every time there's a knock at the door… Why do you think I wanted to become a cop? Give me back a tiny bit of control." He grit his teeth, "Fucking load of good that did me…"

"That's a bad reason to become a cop," Harvey said, he forced a smile, hoping to reassure his partner. "We'll fix this, ok? We'll get rid of those fuckers, we'll start the moving process, and we'll fix this."

They sat in silence for a few moments, Harvey letting Edward calm himself, he could see the subtle change in Edward's breathing as he did that exercise their therapists had given them.

"It's going to be ok," he said soothingly.

"…How are you not worried?" Edward asked softly, genuinely curious.

"I worry about you," Harvey started, his voice equally calm and quiet. "I don't worry about myself, no one's ever done anything to make me worry about myself."

Edward let out a small sigh, "We live totally different lives don't we."

Harvey chewed his lip, he'd never really considered it, but he was right.

"It's because I'm smaller than you, more obviously gay, that's my whole life in a nut shell."

Another moment of silence passed.

Harvey wasn't really sure what to say, he knew Edward had a more nervous disposition, but he hadn't considered how bad it was.

He turned to Edward, signing out slowly 'I love you'.

Edward smiled, leaning forward to give Harvey a kiss, "I love you too."

"I'll fix this, I'll fix everything," Harvey said, turning again to kiss him back.

Edward shook his head, chuckling weakly, "You're a moron."

"You're perfect."

"Yeah, I am."

Harvey chuckled weakly. "We should have some coffee."