Just the Way You Are
There is absolutely no plot line for this. It will be a series of random stories inspired by my Robbie & Laura playlist. The time lines will shift, some will be AU, some will be from her perspective or vice versa. I don't guarantee a regular update cycle, just when inspiration strikes me.
The first edition covers 2 episodes. We start with Music to Die For and then jump over to Ramblin Boy.
The knock at his door came at a good time. He was done with his dinner and beginning to brood. It was James with a last piece of the puzzle. Robbie was still astounded that one piece of mail, with an inadvertent stamp had set off this string of murders.
He was even more astounded that it had been Ann Kriel. A woman he'd found attractive. But for an interruption would have taken to bed.
Watching James change the CD, he tried to push the thoughts away. James plopped onto the sofa next to him. The hammering guitar from Thin Lizzy filled the room. "Sometimes, Hathaway, I worry about your taste in music."
"Sometimes, Inspector Lewis, I worry about your taste in women."
Robbie nodded, amazed as always by his insight, "I'll drink to that." They clinked glasses, "Prost."
James repeated the toast and they sat back to drink. An hour later, James was gone. Robbie's mind was still unsettled. He debated opening another beer, then thought briefly about going to bed. He knew neither of those was a good idea.
Realizing how noisy his thoughts were, he searched for something to calm them. When Val was alive, he'd always talked to her when he got like this. His gaze lingered on her photo placed front and center on the bookcase, if he couldn't calm his thoughts perhaps he could replace them with a feeling he was familiar with. He waited for the sadness to overtake him, surprised when it didn't engulf him.
Talking was what he needed, he reached for the phone, thinking to call Lyn. Then he remembered she was working the late shift at the hospital. Toying with his phone, he smiled. There was someone else who always calmed his mind.
Scrolling through his contacts, he found her name – Laura. He pressed the button to connect the call. It rang four times before dropping into voicemail, "Laura, it's Robbie. You already know that…anyway, I was just calling to chat. It's late and you are probably asleep or you probably have a life and are out living it. No need to call me back. I'll see you around."
He ended the call, shaking his head at his rambling message. She was going to think he was a lunatic. Deciding he'd done enough damage for one evening he headed for his bedroom. Sleep would likely be elusive but a book might keep the unrest at bay.
Just as he started to unbutton his shirt, his phone chirped. "Just finishing at a crime scene. Buy a girl a drink?"
Perhaps the book could wait, "When and where."
She'd met him at the pub. It was crowded and noisy and didn't seem to fit either of their moods. It had only taken them a moment to silently agree a walk might be more to their liking. He watched her from the corner of his eye.
Her hair was wet, she didn't appear to have on any makeup. There was no artifice to her at all. Unbidden, he compared her to Ann Kriel. He knew it was unfair. They were different people.
Before he could think about it, he blurted out a question, "What makes you so confident?"
She looked up at him, curious, "Confident?"
He shrugged, unsure how to ask the question. "Here you are, rather late in the evening. Your hair is wet, you don't have on any makeup and it doesn't bother you. That suggests a level of confidence I'm not sure most women possess."
She laughed, finally understanding his odd question. "Alternatively, it could suggest that I don't see you as a sexual partner so why bother impressing you."
His step faltered, not sure why her words, even though he knew she was joking, hurt so much. "I wasn't…"
"Or maybe I know you don't consider me as a potential sexual partner so I don't try." Seeing his discomfort she pushed a bit harder, "Or perhaps, I don't like men."
Finally catching on to her teasing, he laughed, relaxing for the first time this evening. "It's probably that first one."
She smiled, bumping his arm lightly, "You so easily discount me preferring women."
"I know you date and I know you date men, Laura." They walked in easy silence, "All joking aside…"
"I discovered a long time ago people will either like you or they won't. So I would much prefer they like me just the way I am. Sometimes that involves fixed hair and makeup and sometimes it's straight from the shower after leaving a rather disgusting crime scene."
Images of her in a shower, filled his mind. It wasn't the first time he'd thought of her in a less than professional manner. He realized she hadn't disagreed with his comment that it was the first reason she'd given. She wouldn't be interested in him, he was too old, too…
"Robbie, are you ok?"
He smiled down at her, "Sorry, lost in my own thoughts."
"Penny for them."
His thoughts of her in the shower flashed through his mind, "Just this case."
"Ann Kriel?" He looked down at her, trying to discern her meaning. She shrugged, "I know you; you have a type."
"A type?"
She nodded, "All of the women you've been interested in since you came back have been of the high maintenance type. Damsels in distress who need a big, bad police man to protect them. How are the rest of us to compete?"
He laughed, "There's not exactly been a line out the door."
"But there have been a few. And you have to admit, they've all been a bit needy." Smirking she looked up at him under her lashes, "And homicidal."
"You're not going to let me live this down are you?"
"Not anytime soon."
"What about you, any homicidal, needy men hanging around?"
He missed her quick look away, only seeing her noncommittal shrug, "Here and there. No one to write home about."
"What do you look for in a man?"
"I already told you, someone who likes me just the way I am."
"That seems very simple, you're very easy to like."
She smiled to herself, "Are you flirting with me, Inspector Lewis?"
Again, his step faltered, then he realized he didn't care if she thought he was flirting, in fact, he rather liked the idea of it. If she wasn't interested in him, what was the harm in flirting? "And if I am?"
Smiling up at him, "Who knows, I might just flirt back. What's a little harmless flirting between friends who aren't interested in each other as sexual partners?"
He made it home, later than he probably should have. But he found his mind was at ease. If he was honest, he was always at ease with Laura. She never pushed him to be someone he wasn't, simply accepted him as he was.
As he brushed his teeth, he thought about her theory on dating. There was something to it. Why go through all of the artifice, someone either liked you or they didn't. Every successful relationship in his life was proof of that. Now he just needed to find someone who liked him just the way he was.
He walked along the river, lost in his own mind, thinking back to his conversation with Louise Cornish. As painful as it had been, perhaps losing Val the way he had was better than what she was going through. Knowing the person you loved didn't love you any longer had to be worse.
Staring out at the river, his thoughts were drawn to Laura. They often were these days. He was tired of the one step forward, two steps back nature of their relationship. Turning to head back to his car, he walked past a man who waved at someone in the distance. The man seemed eager to be meeting whoever it was. He missed that feeling, knowing there was someone who accepted you, someone you were eager to be with, someone who love you just the way you were.
As he rounded the curve, he couldn't help but look back, needed to see who the man was so eager to see. It was like being kicked. The eager man was eagerly meeting Laura. He watched them, unobserved, for a moment, secretly thrilled that she didn't seem as eager as the man. Perhaps the eager man didn't accept her just the way she was.
The doctor had finally released him, he was exhausted and just wanted to get home and take a shower. Pushing through the doors, he was mentally cataloguing what there might be to eat at his house when he realized he didn't have a car.
He shook his head, turning to head to A&E. There was a better than average chance a patrol car would be there and he could get a ride home.
"Robbie."
He turned, surprised at her voice, "Laura, what are you doing here?"
"Waiting for you." She gave him an incredulous look, "You don't have a car."
He laughed, "I just realized that."
"And I bet you are hungry and don't have much at your place."
He looked down sheepishly, "Guilty on all counts. How long have you been here?"
She shrugged, "A couple of hours."
He took a step closer to her, "You didn't have to."
"I know, I wanted to." She looked down, worried she had revealed too much, "Besides, you owe me a curry."
"So it's free food, not concern for me that has you here."
She smiled, "30% free food."
Taking another step toward her, "And the other 70%?"
Tilting her head, she smiled at him sadly, of course he didn't get it. "Are you going to make me say it?"
Knowing exactly what she wasn't saying, he took her hand, "Not right now."
She squeezed his hand, linking their hands together. "Care to get out of here?"
They walked in silence to her car. Each lost thought, each realizing they'd crossed some kind of line.
Laura clicked the fob on her key ring, letting them both into the car. They each settled in, fastening safety belts and Laura started the car. Silence settled in the car as she drove.
Robbie recognized the route and turned to her, "Are you taking me to your place?"
She nodded, shyly, keeping her eyes on the road. "I picked up a few things from your place." Feeling him tense across the car, she continued, "I was worried they might keep you overnight."
"That explains getting me a bag but why are you taking me to your house. The doctors have released me."
"You don't have any food."
"We could go out."
She shook her head, "I'll cook; you can spend the night. That way if you start feeling bad, there's a doctor around."
Sitting back in his seat, he smiled, "I can't argue with that logic."
Laura turned up the radio, effectively ending conversation. Robbie closed his eyes, letting the music wash over him, relaxing him deeper into the seat. As Laura was parking in her driveway, the words to the song registered in his mind.
I don't want clever conversation
I never want to work that hard
I just want someone that I can talk to
I want you just the way you are.
As she shut off the engine, he turned to her. "Laura, it's true you know."
Not daring to look at him, she kept her hands on the steering will, "What's true?"
"The song, I do want you, just the way you are."
And that is where I leave you. The song is Billy Joel's Just the Way You Are.