Here’s a little snippet of the end of Trigger Happy for those who are curious: 

Jimmy rolled his eyes. Well, Sam did say get him back. He really should have asked for clarification. “And could you put that goddamn thing down please?”

Sam rolled his eyes and set the gun on the bed. Jimmy sighed, pulling himself up on his feet. His knees popped. Great. He was gonna be sore for a while. “By the way,” Jimmy said, making his way to the bathroom. He needed a hot shower to relax his muscles and take care of his fear boner, “that thing wasn’t loaded, was it?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”

I waffled so much on the “is it loaded, is it not loaded” thing. I almost had Jimmy pick it up and pull the trigger (aiming at the wall, for course) but that’s stupid and dangerous and while these guys are killers I can’t see them firing a weapon in a motel room. That’s shit that gets you caught. 

In the end, I kinda wanted it to be up to the reader. I think the doubt and the thought that yeah, that gun could’ve been loaded and Sam could’ve pulled the trigger either on purpose or on accident makes the whole thing more frightening than if I told you whether it was or wasn’t. It’s the unsettling horror of “maybe” after all is said and done. I would hope that readers would come away wondering and then come to their own conclusions. Is Sam the kind of person to pull a loaded gun on a lover or was it just a fear tactic? Was Jimmy in real danger? What are the implications of it either way? 

Ultimately, I know what I was thinking when I wrote it, but I’m not too keen on telling anyone how to read it. It’s open to interpretation. I will say, though, that the fact that Sam wasn’t going to tell Jimmy whether or not the gun was loaded probably has something to do with the downright sadistic streak he has in this AU. 

Thanks!