Author=s note: a little something, for those who can=t understand why Jim just doesn=t come right out and say thank you to Blair for all that he=s put up with. I couldn=t understand it either, so I made up a solution!

Disclaimer: They=re ours now, thank you very much.

Still

by Meggplant

Jim stared down at the last piece on the pad of legal yellow recycled paper. He glanced at the waste paper basket beside his desk, which was overflowing with the rest of the pad, crumpled up, with no more than two or three lines written down. How was he supposed to say this? He could never get his words to come out right in regular conversation, let alone paper... He looked up as Connor came over.

AHey Jim, what=re you doing here so late?@ She looked down curiously at one of the crumpled balls of paper that had missed the basket. AWhat are you writing?@

And before he could say anything, she had uncrumpled it, and read the lines there.

Dear Blair,

Thank you, for everything you=ve done, I

That was as far as he=d gotten on that one before he had thrown it away in disgust. What were you supposed to say to a man who had DIED for you, for Christ=s sake? Connor looked pensive, then placed the paper in the trash for Jim.

AHow about writing him a poem, instead of a letter?@ her words startled him, and he was about to make a wise crack, when he thought about it. That might be the answer, if he was able to get what he was feeling out on paper at all. Maybe...

AThanks.@

She looked pleased, and walked away smiling. He chewed on the end of his pen for a few seconds, then began to write.

Still

Still with me, through it all

Still listening to me, even when I could not speak

Still believing in me, when I could not believe in myself

Still doing for me what I am too afraid to do for myself

Still there with me, through it all

Still

Thanks Chief, for all you=ve done for me

Jim

He folded the piece of paper in two, and stuck it in his pocket. He would put it on Blair=s bed when he got home. This expressed a little of the gratitude he felt for the whirlwind that was Blair Sandburg which had entered his life, and made it worthwhile again.

With that, he stood up, grabbed his jacket, and walked out of the bullpen, humming.

FIN

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