Broken Cognitives Ch 1
Shoutout to @infiniteoddball for the title cause I suck at coming up at them. Warnings: language. Prescription drug abuse. This one’s gonna be angsty fam Mike Dodd’s x fem!reader Taglist: @emilyprentisswife @stardust-fray @ineedafinghug @billiedeannovak @stardust-galaxies @hhroadgirl @infiniteoddball @delphineecormierr
*
Mike rolled over in the bed, grumbling lightly when his arm hit empty sheets, they were at least somewhat warm still, which meant you hadn’t been gone long. His eyes cracked open, glancing toward the digital clock staring back at him, 6:23 a.m, less than ten minutes before the alarm would go off anyways. Sitting up he made sure it was shut off, checking his phone for notifications as he padded out to the main area of his apartment, not surprised to find you at the island.
“You’re up early.” He greeted, voice still rough with sleep.
“I’ve got a deadline for a column due at noon, wanted to get a head start.” You replied, happily snaking your arms around his waist while he kissed at the side of your head. Fully turning your attention to him for a proper good morning kiss, lips moving languidly against each other before you departed, Mike snuggling against your back. “Coffee should still be hot.” You murmured, nuzzling against his skin, “you want me to whip you up something for breakfast?”
“No.” He pecked your cheek before moving over to the coffee maker, fixing himself a cup, “I’ll grab something on the way to work.”
“You sure?” You cocked a concerned brow at him as he settled on the stool next to you.
“Yeah.” He smiled, kissing your cheek gently, “rather not workout on a full stomach.”
You half laughed at his reply before turning your attention back to your laptop, you really did need to get this column done, no matter how distracting your boyfriend was.
You and Mike had been together for nearly a year already, though your relationship was kept pretty quiet when you first started dating, it had begun casual, both of you had busy schedules with work and weren’t quite sure where things would go. To be completely honest, you never in your life saw yourself dating a cop, especially one who happened to be the son of the Chief, it intimidated you to say the least, but you had yet to meet Chief Dodds, or any of Mike’s family, and things were going swimmingly so far. You loved Mike, and knew that he loved you, so there shouldn’t be any problem otherwise.
The work that kept you so busy involved a lot of freelancing, you spent most of your days out in the bustling city of New York doing photography for whatever you could get your hands on. You did a lot of headshots and style shoots for up and coming actors and models, often continuing to work with them until they made their big break. You did the occasional wedding, though you absolutely hated doing them, the pressure of managing to do it all by yourself was way too heavy and you usually denied the offers unless they were really willing to pay. Otherwise you ended up doing engagement shoots, pregnancy announcements, the usual like. Occasionally you were blessed with being offered a gig photographing a Broadway show, which was always your favourite, being invited into a dress rehearsal, leaving you the freedom to move about the theatre and catch the most dazzling shots on your camera.
When you weren’t busy behind the camera, you spent basically all of your free time on your computer, obviously hoursof editing, self promotion and consulting with clients occurred. But your actual, on paper profession, involved writing a column for a local magazine, which is what you were so focussed on right now. You’d let it slip through the cracks the past couple of weeks and were anxious on being able to make the deadline with something that was actually worthy of publishing.
You’d met Mike when you’d secured a photography job with the NYPD right when he’d passed his Sergeant’s exam. You’d done a shoot with all of the new graduates and the like, spending the afternoon surrounded by various levels of decorated officers. In complete honesty, you were so wrapped up with work you’d barely noticed Mike, you’d barely noticed anyone. But Mike certainly noticed you, the simple way you flitted about the room, staying respectful but still able to command the scene in front of your lens with absolute ease.
He thought you were absolutely adorable and completely stunning in the same moment, professional but relaxed, keeping your head on straight but also laughing at jokes and making everyone who was the target of your camera feel more than comfortable infront of it. He’d spent most of the day wishing you’d had a spare moment so he could try to get a word in, wishing he’d had the balls to actually come talk to you.
It was only the next day when he walked into the precinct that he saw the fresh stack of business cards you’d left on the front desk (and honestly, scattered around the entire building). Cops may be cops, but they still have pets, they have kids who have dance recitals and fancy birthday parties, engagements, weddings, graduations and the like. You weren’t about to pass up the opportunity to get some extra work.
Mike discreetly grabbed a card, sending you a text a few hours later. You’d replied as professional as ever and when you asked about details, he insisted on talking over coffee. It was only once you were at the shop that he admitted he had ulterior motives, and hoped he wasn’t cutting into your work hours. You laughed it off, saying he was fine, you hadn’t had anything planned for the day anyways. Besides, he seemed sweet, and was hella cute, you weren’t about to turn down any flirtation from someone like him. Your coffee date did end up being cut short, though you weren’t that surprised, you knew he was a busy man. He promised to call you to set up an actual date, shooting you a dashing smile before he had to leave.
Your first official date was a week later, Mike took you to dinner at one of the finer establishments in New York, you were surprised, but he was laying it on thick. There was something about you that completely intrigued him and he didn’t want to screw things up. That night ended in a soft yet intimate kiss, and the promise of a second date. Although, it took a while before your schedules lined up to embark on that. You kept texting throughout the time, promising him that it was okay when one of you had to duck out for a rain check.
Finally, you had a last minute cancellation on a shoot and decided to shoot your shot, calling him from around the corner of his precinct when you knew he was about to clock out. Your second date involved vendor hot dogs and a walk through Central Park, but it was even better than your first as you continued to get to know each other. Over the months you spent more time at his apartment than you did your own, after all, all you mainly worked from home and all you needed to do that was wifi and a cell signal.
It was easy to fall in love with Mike, he was soft, caring, and incredibly respectful, and it didn’t take long before you loved everything about him. Part of you was still hesitant about him being a cop, but he always assured you he wore his vest when needed, and was careful as ever, knowing you were usually waiting at his place at the end of the day. He was completely enamoured with you less than a month in, you were different than the normal women he’d dated in the past, so free spirited and independent and it made him absolutely weak in the knees.
Today, Mike snuggled against you again as he drained his coffee and you fell back into his embrace, humming in satisfaction. He softly kissed at your shoulder, then up to your cheek, you turned your head to kiss him properly, knowing he was about to make his departure.
“There’s lunch prepped in the fridge.” You murmured against his lips.
“Anyone ever tell you you’re an angel?” He smirked. You laughed softly.
“Only one particularly dashing man.”
“Oh?” He jokingly cocked a brow, “should I be concerned? Is it the the shoe obsessed man from the street corner?” You barked a laugh as he caged you in for another kiss.
“No. He just tells me I’m illuminating.”
“He’s not wrong.” Mike kissed the tip of your nose gently and you felt your cheeks flush as he moved to the fridge, pulling the meal prep you’d left for him. “Are you staying here all day?”
“Probably.” You sighed. “I’ve got to finish this column and I’ve got a few shoots to edit.”
“Well then how about I pick up take out on the way home? I know how much you love that five cheese macaroni from Freemans.”
“You spoil me Mike.”
“You deserve it sweetheart.” He kissed you softly and you couldn’t help but smile at the way he cupped your cheek.
“Okay, but the next dinner’s on me.”
“Deal.” He pecked your cheek, moving back to the counter before mixing and downing his pre workout. Your nose scrunched, you never knew how he could handle that much caffeine before heading into an office job, although he did probably burn it off during his morning workout, and you weren’t going to complain about his regular gym visits. He turned back to you quickly, giving you one more kiss, “I love you.”
“I love you too. Stay safe out there baby.”
He shot you a dazzling grin as he grabbed his bag, blowing you another kiss as he pulled the door open before leaving. You had to admit, Mike Dodds had you complete and utterly smitten with him.
It was only once you’d heard the elevator ping through the door a few times that you dropped your head into your hands. You were exhausted, completely exhausted. As Mike had assumed, you’d gotten up early, probably much earlier than he’d even realized, and you’d stayed up much later than you said you did. But you had work to do, and you couldn’t let that slide, no matter how tired you thought you were, you knew you had the perfect remedy.
Swiftly moving over to your purse you dug though it for a minute until you found the bottle of Advil, not that a pain reliever would help you right now, but no one would ever question a regularly used pill vile being in your bag. You dumped out a Dexedrine into your palm, easily pulling the pill apart, letting the beads drop into your mouth, chewing on them as you dropped the pill vial back into the bottle so Mike wouldn’t find it later. A friend from college who you kept in pretty regular contact with had a prescription to help her ADHD and wasn’t about to shy away from selling it to make some extra cash.
You knew it wasn’t ideal, that it was technically illegal, and definitely not a good idea while dating a cop, but you had to do something to keep up with your work load. And the dex? It kept you going, kept you awake for days on end when you knew you should probably be sleeping. It had saved you from losing multiple gigs over the years and you weren’t about to stop now. It was much better for your body than delving into something like coke, and kept you much more alert than simply relying on coffee. You had a deadline to meet and you weren’t about to miss it because your body was demanding sleep. As long as Mike never found out about your little secret, everything was fine.