Author's Note: This is a song fic inspired by Mary J. Blige's "Seven Days". If you are not familiar with the song, I urge you to Google it and give it a listen. I hope you enjoy my interpretation of the song as it relates to our favorite couple. Happy reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own Person of Interest. This fic is for entertainment purposes, only.

This was a mistake.

That's all Joss could think over and over as she stepped out of the shower. Wrapping a large towel around her body, she walked over to the sink and wiped away the steam from the foggy mirror to take a good look at herself. Her hair was a tangled mess swept up into sloppy bun so it wouldn't get wet in the shower. Her lips were no longer swollen, but she still felt the tingle of his kisses. There were small love marks around her collarbone and on her shoulder from where John nipped her during the throes of passion. Her skin was positively glowing and she looked like a woman who had been well fucked.

This was a mistake.

She should be happy, hell giddy even. But she didn't feel that way. What she felt was anxiety and regret. What in the hell were you thinking? There's no way this ends well and you know that, she admonished to her reflection. She turned on the water and began to brush her teeth with the spare new toothbrush she found stored away under his sink.

This was a mistake.

Hadn't this been what she wanted? For him to open up to her? To finally open up to him? In the heat of the moment, everything felt so right. She rinsed out her mouth and turned off the water, frantically turning the faucet as if she could just as easily turn off her thoughts. She took her hair out of the bun and finger combed her hair to look somewhat presentable. Lord knows the man ran his own fingers through it enough last night. She gave her reflection a final onceover before she walked out of the bathroom and towards his bed to find her clothes.

She smelled the welcoming aroma of coffee brewing and bacon frying. Instead of grumbling, her stomach flip-flopped at the mere thought of facing him and having breakfast together. She hoped he would still be sleeping, but no such luck. She plucked her bra and panties from the floor to put them on, leaving the towel lying across the foot of the bed. She searched around and finally found her sundress, sitting in a heap of coral fabric on the floor next to the floor to ceiling windows of his loft. She shivered at the memory of the cool glass against the heated skin of her bare back the night before.

She shook those memories away and slipped the dress over her head, thankful that it wasn't too wrinkled. Where did I leave my shoes? She remembered kicking them off last night when they talked on the couch. She walked across his intentionally sparse loft to the living room area to find her wedge sandals and saw them strewn on the floor next to her purse. She dug inside her purse and inwardly cheered when she found a travel sized bottle of lotion inside. She quickly rubbed lotion over her arms and legs and tossed the bottle back inside her purse, reaching for one of her shoes. As she slipped on the first sandal, she heard him call out to her from the kitchen.

"You don't have to rush out of here, Joss."

Joss kept her back turned to the kitchen and released an awkward chuckle as her face flushed in embarrassment. That was exactly what she had intended to do. She wanted to leave as quickly as possible, needing space to think, but she had a feeling that he wouldn't let her leave that easily. She slipped on the other sandal and reluctantly made her way towards the kitchen. Sitting on one of the stools around the island, she eyed him as he moved around the kitchen.

John was shirtless and wore a pair of pajama bottoms as he walked around with bare feet. Joss watched the sinewy muscles of his back flex and contract as he reached up to remove plates and coffee mugs from a shelf in the cabinet. She noticed faint red scratches on his back. She wasn't the only one with marks. She felt her body heat up knowing they were there because of her.

She continued to watch John as he plated the bacon, eggs, and toast and poured a generous amount of coffee into two mugs. He grabbed the flatware from the drawer and placed a plate and mug in front of her, nodding his head at her as a nonverbal cue to dig in.

Problem was... she didn't really have an appetite and John taking a seat right next to her didn't help matters. She picked around the eggs and nibbled on her bacon, trying to come up with an excuse to leave. She didn't have one. Taylor was spending the summer with Paul and they were gone to see Paul's family in Connecticut for the week. She didn't have to go to work until later this afternoon. She really needed space right now to think─

"Something wrong with the food?" John asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"No."

He sighed in frustration and put his fork down as it landed with a loud clank against his plate. He turned to her and asked, "Do you want to talk about it, Joss?"

She continued to look down at her plate, pushing the scrambled eggs around. "Talk about what, John?"

He reached out to place his hand over hers, stopping her movements with the fork. He took the fork out of her hand and placed it on her plate, and turned the seat of her stool so that her body was facing him. She continued to look down, not quite ready to look at him.

"Joss, look at me." She finally looked up at him and saw the concern and confusion in his eyes. "We need to talk about it. About us."

"I know we do. It's just... Where do we go from here, John?"

Author's Note: Sorry this chapter is so short. I had all intentions on keeping this a one shot, but as I continued to write, I realized that wasn't going to be an option. I'll try to update this weekly.

Special thanks to Bug Evans and SWWoman, my super duper betas and sisters from another mister. :)