Hey! So I've had this written for months but I wasn't confident enough to post it. I have no idea where this idea came from but I hope you like it.
The moon was pale and waning. The house was dark. Two figures stood in the prism of light that the streetlight outside the kitchen window had provided.
"I've been sick for a really long time Lucifer," Chloe said looking up at him, her voice calm but her blue eyes shining. The air felt full, as though someone had tried to blow up a balloon big enough to press against everything in the room.
"What? N… No," Lucifer said shaking his head. Confusion and panic flitted across his face as he frowned ever so slightly before his eyes widened.
Chloe nodded sadly.
"Sick? How sick?" His words punctured the balloon that had been pressing into the space around them, the space between them.
"I'm dying Lucifer."
"No. No. You're not sick. You don't look sick!" There was a frantic edge to his voice as he tripped over his words. It was as though he was stumbling downstairs and thought his words alone could stop his fall. But Lucifer, more than anyone knew that when you were destined to fall, you fell, hard.
"I am and I have been for a while now." She maintained eye contact until Lucifer looked away, frightened by the intensity in her eyes that conveyed the seriousness of her words.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Lucifer asked angrily.
"I didn't tell anyone. Only Dan and my Mum," Chloe explained gently.
"Why'd Daniel get to know?" Lucifer asked, incredulous. It was practically a whine and Chloe had to suppress a smile as the Lucifer she knew revealed itself through the worry that had shrouded his being.
Chloe searched the room with her eyes as if looking for an answer.
"I… he's Trixie's dad. He's rational and supportive."
"Why wouldn't you tell me, Detective?" Lucifer whispered hurt.
"Because I knew you'd freak out and be all irrational!"
"I would have helped!" Lucifer exploded. "I have money. We're going to get you the best care, the best treatment in the world."
Chloe shook her head. "Money won't help Lucifer. It's okay I've made peace with it." She tugged at the edges of his jacket, trying to provide a comma of comfort.
Lucifer looked down at her, trying to stop the tears in his eyes from spilling down his cheeks.
"What about Beatrice?" Lucifer whispered.
"I'll have to tell her, I'll have to explain to her why Mommy got a new haircut," Chloe laughed quietly motioning to her buzz cut. "But she has her Dad and her Nanna…"
Chloe trailed off before looking up at Lucifer, "And maybe if you and Maze decide to stick around, she'll have you too?" It began as a statement but ended up as a question.
Lucifer nodded slowly.
"I want to enjoy what time we have left. And maybe I should have told you earlier… so you could make up your own choice before… this… whatever it is. But I couldn't because when you're dying, you tend to be selfish. And I didn't want to ruin the time we had. I didn't want to taint it with my sickness. And I suppose I was scared that you'd leave. You didn't know me well enough yet and I didn't know you."
Lucifer just looked at her with pained eyes.
Chloe rubbed her hands up and down the sides of Lucifer's torso before pulling him into her and laying her head on his chest. She pressed her hand against the lower half of his ribcage, feeling his bones, grounding her in the moment.
"Forgive me," she whispered.
Lucifer absently skimmed his hand down her back.
"You've done nothing wrong Detective," Lucifer said his eyes gazing upward.
Chloe pulled back, "Thank you for understanding."
"You're going to be fine," Lucifer said his voice cracking.
Chloe smiled sadly, suddenly too tired to push away the emotional pain she had been so good at detaching herself from in the daylight.
"I'm really tired. Goodnight Lucifer."
She turned and walked away slowly. Lucifer stood there in the dark living room. He was so angry. He clenched his fists. His breathing was shallow and he leaned against the kitchen bench to steady himself. He let his eyelids drop over his eyes. Lucifer tried to picture a void, devoid of light or warmth or movement. He tried to numb his mind but he couldn't stop feeling his heart pounding in his chest. He couldn't stop the cold granite of the kitchen bench from biting into his hands. He couldn't stop feeling alive. Alive. That's how Chloe made him feel. He opened his eyes, suddenly noticing the silence in the room. Taking a deep breath he wondered whether he was supposed to let himself out. But he knew he couldn't. He didn't want to leave, what if she was gone in the morning?
Lucifer decided to sleep on the couch, but he knew that despite being sick, Chloe wasn't going to go easy on him if he just invited himself to stay.
Carefully he walked down the hall, to not wake Beatrice, and knocked once on Chloe's door. He opened it and Chloe looked up startled, tears glistening on her porcelain skin.
"Hey," he whispered, closing the door behind him and going to sit next to Chloe who was hugging her knees on her bed. She had changed into a long grey t-shirt and Lucifer thought she looked so young. Too young.
"Can I stay?" he whispered.
"I don't have the energy to sleep with you," Chloe whispered laughing.
Lucifer rolled his eyes.
"I meant on the couch."
"No, stay here," she shuddered trying to catch her breath from the crying and laughing.
Lucifer nodded, trying to shove down the panic as she gasped for breath.
"Are you okay?"
Chloe nodded. She brushed the tears from her cheeks but Lucifer shook his head.
"Don't hide your pain from me," he whispered, enveloping her in a hug.
Lucifer took off his jacket, shirt, belt and shoes and crawled into the bed beside her. Chloe rolled into him so that her back was against his chest. Lucifer draped his arm across her waist, his hand resting on her belly. She covered his hand with hers. Lucifer tucked Chloe's head under his chin, using his other hand to gently run across her short hair.
"Goodnight Lucifer."
"Goodnight Chloe."
oOo
Lucifer woke up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat, his heart racing. He rolled over to see Chloe awake, watching him.
"Sorry I didn't mean to wake you," she whispered.
"You didn't. Are you… Are you okay?" Lucifer panted, still caught up in his dreams.
Lucifer propped himself up on his elbows so Chloe could roll back onto her back instead of keeping herself upright to look at him.
She reached up and trailed a finger down Lucifer's jaw.
"Who would have ever guessed, L.A.'s most notorious playboy lying in bed with a woman and not having sex."
Lucifer grinned.
"I'm not going to break Lucifer. You can kiss me," she whispered.
Lucifer tilted his head, considering. He brushed his thumb over her lip. Then trailed his hand up her knee, slowly bunching her t-shirt up under her breasts. He lazily drew patterns on her tummy.
Chloe shifted and her breathing hitched.
Lucifer kissed her lips softly, gently. He kissed her cheek and her neck. Chloe closed her eyes and felt his lips against her skin. One of her hands was thrown back against the pillow, above her head, the other was on Lucifer's jaw, coaxing him to kiss her harder. Lucifer pulled back.
"I know this is what you want but you don't have the energy," he whispered, pressing his forehead against hers.
Chloe sighed knowing that he was right. She wouldn't have listened if it wasn't for her daughter. She needed as many days as she could get with her little girl and that meant not being reckless.
Chloe settled with Lucifer's kisses and his touches all over her body.
And falling asleep in his arms.
oOo
Lucifer was completely helpless. He could do nothing but watch Chloe lie on that hospital bed attached to every machine under the stars. He cursed himself for ever lighting them, wishing that the world was plunged into darkness so he wouldn't have to see the sight in front of him. But then he regretted ever thinking that, knowing that the rise and fall of her chest was something he would never want to miss. The slow beeps that pierced the room were all that kept Lucifer from shattering the window into tiny fragments.
His father had put Chloe in his path only to tear her away from him. His father had manipulated her to cause Lucifer pain. But she had a daughter and a family. She had people her loved her. She had a life outside of him. Lucifer clenched his jaw blinking back angry tears. This was the ultimate punishment. Finally, he had found his home, his happiness…
Lucifer closed his eyes. He opened them again. No. He refused to believe that his father would be this cruel. That his father would kill an innocent and pure soul like Chloe's just to break him. He shook his head. Tears began free-falling down his face. He gasped as alarms sounded and nurses rushed into the room.
"Mr. Morningstar, you have to leave."
Lucifer shook his head. He turned to the window and clasped his hands together.
"Father, please. I beg you. Don't take her."
The nurse tugged at Lucifer's arm. Lucifer glared at her and stood his ground. He refused to believe that this was happening.
"I don't believe this. Dad wouldn't do this to me," he murmured.
He realised the alarms had stopped. He turned around but Chloe still lay there unmoving. The final nurse left the room. Lucifer sat next to Chloe and held her hand.
"I have every faith that you're going to get through this," he whispered.
He raised his eyes to the sky, "I have faith." Then he returned his attention to Chloe.
oOo
Lucifer woke up. His back cramped courtesy of the hospital chair. Her eyes flickered open.
"Hey," whispered a soft feminine voice.
Lucifer's eyes flew open.
"Detective," he breathed.
"I woke up," she said in awe.
Lucifer nodded slowly.
"That you did, Detective" he whispered, relief washing over him like a bucket of cool water. He breathed out a shaky laugh.
Chloe smiled at him, her eyes open and guileless. "I suppose it wasn't my time… either that or I have a guardian angel," she whispered.
Everything began to click in his head.
Chloe was there to teach him to have faith in his father. God gave Lucifer something so precious and then could have wrenched her away, but he didn't. He showed Lucifer the only way that Lucifer would understand that his father had forgiven him, that he loved him. And it seemed to work. Because even if it was just for that moment, and it was definitely for a lot more than that, Lucifer had regained his faith.
"I had faith," she whispered. Lucifer frowned, wondering if she could read his mind. "Faith that you would've got through life without me."
Lucifer shook his head, realising that her choice of words were just a happy coincidence.
"Well apparently my faith is stronger. Because I had faith you'd come back."