Title: Boundaries

Author: Sparkle731
Type: Pre-Slash
Summary: When Starsky’s wife leaves him, he turns to Hutch for comfort

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Starsky and Hutch, just having fun with them for awhile.
Format: Story

Category: Nothing more graphic than a kiss

Sequel: Crossing the Line

Rating: NC-17

BOUNDARIES

By Sparkle731

Hutch had just stepped out of the shower when his phone rang. Grabbing up the receiver he said “Hello?”

For a long moment there was no answer and then a familiar voice said softly “Angie left me. She wants a divorce.” Hutch could hear the pain in his partner’s voice, pain that cut through the gentle blond like a knife through his heart. He’d had his doubts about Angie when Starsky first met her but had kept his concerns to himself. Starsky had been so happy and after Terri’s tragic death and Rosie’s betrayal, Starsky deserved some happiness in his life. When Starsky married the petite blonde a little over a year ago, Hutch had held his tongue and stood up beside his best friend during the ceremony.

In the past year, Hutch had watched as Starsky did everything he could to make his new wife happy. He’d bought a tiny house on the beach and had tried his best to give Angie anything she wanted. But it didn’t take long for the fights to begin, usually over the long hours he put in at work. She also started to resent any time the two friends spent together when they weren’t on duty. Slowly over the past few months, any love Starsky had felt for Angie slowly died until they were like two strangers living in the same house but living separate lives. Still, Starsky couldn’t bring himself to end the marriage, to watch a dream slowly crumble and die.

“I’m coming over.” Hutch said firmly, hanging up before Starsky could voice any objections. His friend needed him now and that was all that mattered. The two men had been friends since their academy days and they had been partners for the past eight years. They were closer than brothers, sharing a unique almost psychic bond with one another.

When one of them was in pain, the other one automatically did everything he could to ease their suffering. They freely admitted their feelings for each other, expressing their love in various ways, even if they had never actually come out and said the words out loud.

Twenty minutes later, Hutch pulled up in front of the tiny beach house. There was a quiet solitude to the house that Hutch had always appreciated and he knew that was one of the things that had attracted Starsky to the location when he was house hunting. There was empty feel to the house, the windows were dark and covered by heavy blinds. But Hutch knew that Starsky was there. His candy apple red Ford Torino with it’s distinctive white stripe was parked in it’s usual place. Angie’s car, a newer model silver Chevy that Starsky had bought her just after they got married was noticeably gone. Hutch squared his shoulders and took a deep breath as he climbed out of his car and walked up onto the deck at the front of the house. He knocked lightly but the door remained closed, no sounds of movement from inside.

Acting on a hunch, Hutch stepped down off of the deck and walked around to the back of the house. He let his eyes sweep over the horizon until he saw the solitary figure standing at the shoreline, staring out into the ocean. The blond’s long legs carried him across the sand towards his friend’s side. Without turning around, Starsky’s voice said “Hi, Blondie.” sensing the other man’s presence instinctively. There was a sad forlorn tone to his voice that made Hutch automatically reach out to him, slinging a comforting arm around the smaller man’s shoulders. He could feel the trembling of the other man’s body as Hutch drew him close to his side. “I knew it was just a matter of time before she left….” Starsky said, his voice trembling with tightly controlled emotions “But it still hurts…ya know?”

“I know, buddy.” Hutch said soothingly, remembering his own brief marriage to Vanessa and how badly it had ended. “Believe me, I know.” He could feel the chill in the night air in spite of the light jacket he was wearing. For the first time he noticed that Starsky was barefoot and dressed in a pair of cut off denim shorts and a red tee shirt. “Come on,” he said gently “Let’s get you inside before you catch pneumonia.” Since being shot and almost killed four years ago, Starsky was highly susceptible to respiratory infections because of the damage the bullets had done to his left lung. He had fought hard and long to regain his strength and stamina enough to return to active duty. With a little coaxing from the tall blond, the brunet turned and walked back to the house with him.

Inside the bungalow, a single lamp was burning in the living room, the light blocked out by the drapes hanging over the windows. Overturned stools at the breakfast bar and broken dishes and glass littering the kitchen floor spoke mutely of Starsky’s venting of his pain before Hutch arrived. Guiding his friend to the sofa, he settled the smaller man down onto the cushions and carefully made his way into the kitchen to make some coffee. While it was brewing, he found the broom and dustpan and cleaned up the broken china and glass. When the coffee was done, he poured two cups, fixing Starsky’s with lots of cream and sugar just the way the brunet liked it.

Walking back into the living room, he settled down onto the sofa beside the dark haired man and handed him one of the cups. “Careful. It’s hot.” He advised him quietly.

Starsky took the cup without speaking, withdrawing into himself. He wasn’t ready to share his pain, not just yet. But Hutch was a patient man. He could wait as long as it took. He knew that Starsky was teetering on the edge, ready to fall apart at any time and when he did, Hutch intended to be there to pick up the pieces just like Starsky had been there for him so many times in the past. He didn’t have long to wait. Without any warning, Starsky suddenly threw his cup of coffee across the room, hitting the opposite wall with deadly accuracy. With a strangled cry, the smaller man leaned forward and buried his face in his hands, rocking back and forth on the sofa, a soft keening sound slipping from his throat.

“Go ahead, Starsk….let it out.” Hutch said, slipping his arms around Starsky to offer what comfort he could. The keening sound turned to a ragged sob as Starsky turned and buried his face against the blond’s shoulder, finally giving way to bitter tears. Tears that were a twisted combination of pain, regret and anger. Hutch rubbed gentle comforting circles on the smaller man’s back as he sobbed in his friend’s arms. After a while, his tears quieted and he leaned heavily against Hutch, his breathing deep and ragged.

“How ya doing, buddy?” Hutch asked in a soft gentle voice that he only used with Starsky when he was hurting, physically or emotionally.

“It hurts, Hutch….it hurts so damn bad….” Starsky whispered, his voice barely audible

“I know it does. But you did all you could. It’s not your fault it didn’t work out.”

“I tried, Hutch. I tried so hard….” Starsky said, talking more to himself than to Hutch. His voice broke as he continued “Do you know what she told me when she left tonight?”

“What?” Hutch asked, not sure that he really wanted to know.

“She said that she was glad she wasn’t stupid enough to have my kid…..that she was glad she’d never have to see me again except in court.”

Hutch had to bite his tongue to hold back the bitter words that sprung to mind at Angie’s deliberate cruelness. She had known as much as Hutch did just how badly Starsky had wanted children. In one final act of cruelty, she had said the one thing she knew would hurt the brunet the most. “You’re better off without her.” Hutch said, his voice tightly controlled as he struggled to contain his rage at Angie for her thoughtless act of revenge.

Starsky pulled back and looked up into Hutch’s ice blue eyes. His own sapphire eyes were filled with doubt and unanswered questions. In a voice that was almost a whimper, he said “What did I do that was so bad, Hutch? Why does she hate me so much? All I ever tried to do was make her happy…”

“I know.” Hutch said, gently brushing his fingers through Starsky’s thick dark curls. “I don’t know what made her do the things she did or to say something like that to you. She wanted to hurt you…and she knew that was a way to do it.”

“I thought she loved me….I thought I loved her….” A hard edge crept into the brunet’s voice and a glint of anger shone in his eyes “And no matter how much it hurts to admit that it’s finally over….God help me….I’m glad that she’s gone.”

“She never deserved you, Buddy.” Hutch said tightly “Now you can get on with your life.”

“I thought I finally had what I wanted.” Starsky said, leaning his head back against the cushions on the sofa and closing his eyes but not before Hutch saw a single tear making its way down his cheek. “A wife, a home of my own….a future….kids….” he choked back a sob. “But I know now it was all just a dream…it’s never gonna happen…not for me. I lost the best chance I ever had for that when Terri died…”

“You can still have all that….someday….” Hutch said even though his own words sounded hollow to his ears.

Starsky’s sapphire eyes opened and focused on Hutch’s face. “No…I won’t.” he said firmly “You and I both know that now. It’s not worth it to try again….” A faint smile tugged at his lips as he reached out and cupped his left hand against the tall blond’s cheek. “It’s just me and thee, partner….just like always….” He took a deep shuddering breath and then exhaled slowly “As long as I have you….that’s all I really need.” A look crept into his eyes that Hutch couldn’t readily identify. The two friends stared at each other in silence for several long minutes and then Starsky said “Did you ever wonder why neither one of us has ever been able to make it work with a woman for very long? No matter how hard we tried?”

“I try not to.” Hutch said with a ghost of a smile “Cause than I might have to admit that there’s something wrong with me.”

“There’s nothing wrong with you.” Starsky said with a snort “All those women don’t know what they’re missing.”

“I could say the same for you.”

“The only thing we’ve ever had that we could really count on was each other.” Starsky said, his voice turning pensive “I’d have never made it without you, Hutch.”

He let his fingers trail down the side of Hutch’s cheek, turning into a gentle caress as his fingers gently brushed across the blond’s lips. Impulsively, Hutch grabbed his hand and pressed his lips against Starsky’s palm. Starsky’s eyes widened in surprise at the wave of emotion that swept over him at the affectionate gesture. Before either one of them realized what was going to happen, Starsky pressed both hands against Hutch’s face and leaned forward. Their lips met in a gentle, tentative kiss that shook them both to the core.

For a moment, they both surrendered to the bliss of the shared kiss and then Starsky pulled away first. “I-I-I’m sorry….” He stammered “I don’t know why I did that….”

“It’s okay, Starsk.” Hutch told him with a crooked smile “I kinda liked it.” He tired to still the frantic pounding of his heart and the flush that had crept up into his face, as other parts of his anatomy responded a little too enthusiastically to the kiss, his jeans suddenly seeming as if they had shrunk two sizes.

They both looked at each other awkwardly, then broke into grins. They were too close to read too much into a simple kiss between friends. Clearing his throat somewhat self-consciously, Starsky said “Are you spending the night?”

“If you want me to.” Hutch told him

“Yeah, I’d like that. I don’t really wanna be alone. Not tonight.”

“You don’t ever have to worry about being alone, partner.” Hutch told him “You know that….not as long as I’m here.”

“I love you, Hutch.” Starsky said softly, the words slipping easily past his lips.

“I love you too, buddy.” Hutch replied with a gentle smile “I love you too.”

THE END (FOR NOW)

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