Easter egg note: wiki/Charlotte_Richards
Get your shit together, Dan.
Dan had a bad habit of talking to himself in the third person when he was nervous.
This was just a nice, normal evening after a nice, normal date. Nothing weird. No Lucifer. No God-knew-what-else, just nice and normal.
Encouraged by his daughter, apparently.
What the hell was a 'Step-Dan' anyway? Why did his mind always wonder if Lucifer had something to do with whatever was going on right then?
Charlotte waited for him, patiently. For now. She stood on her front steps, smiling, her viper expression she wore at work tucked away. This had been their third date. He tried not to think about his preference for blonde, blue-eyed bombshells with legs that went to the sky. Or about his luck in finding them.
He hoped this would turn out better, not that Dan would trade Trixie for the world.
For some reason, Charlotte liked him. Trixie even seemed to like Charlotte.
Dan's self-imposed rule about avoiding new relationships with those you worked with took a hard nose-dive after Charlotte became a co-worker. At least after the sudden start and stop that left with a confused heart and brain from a few months ago, and now this. He didn't do one-night stands, he told himself. He didn't think he was an impulsive man. He'd been wrong before.
Or he thought he didn't do one-night stands. He didn't fight her off too hard either. At all, really. He didn't know what she saw in him, but he stopped questioning his renewed good luck a few weeks ago, even if it was hard to let go of swirling doubts. A small part of his brain even pinged him on her name starting like Chloe's.
They weren't the same at all, it was just the surface similarities that were making him wig out a little. Like dating someone with the same name as your sister-in-law. If this worked out, he needed to figure out a good nickname. Lottie? No.
She stood in her doorway, and an eternity in his brain passed in a few seconds. His heart raced.
He felt like a teenager, dropping his senior sweetheart off at her parents' place, hoping for a kiss at the end of the night to carry him back home. His pulse rushed in his head, and a smile tugged at his lips, uncertain. She couldn't get a sitter for the whole night, so they went back to her house, where her kids waited inside. They'd met him before, but not...like this.
Her lips quirked adorably, and she had a hand on the door latch.
Dan squeezed her free hand, leaning in to kiss her softly. Her tender warmth met his for a moment stopped in time. She touched his ribs through his dress shirt, letting go of the door and sliding both her hands up to his shoulders, behind them, drawing him in. "Hi, hot stuff."
Dan cupped her face, stroking her cheeks. "Hey, pretty lady." He kissed her soundly this time, lingering on the front porch under the dull lamplight. He was pleased she still wanted him, all his early dating insecurities creeping up the back of his skull. The date had been nice. A dinner and a movie - boring maybe, but what they both needed and wanted. An escape, with each other.
The door behind her flew open, a small boy looking up and immediately breaking into a groan. "Moooooooooooom."
It was so much like Trixie, Dan had to chuckle against her lips. Charlotte sighed, taking a step back, but she still smiled. She nodded up the stairs behind her. "Why don't you make yourself at home while I put the kids to bed?"
He froze. "You sure?" If one of them was staying over, it was Charlotte in his small apartment. Date nights aside, they'd fooled around a few times already, in between work and life - something that started as a hot meetup turning into lingering glances. She brought over a change of clothes - just in case - then he bought her brand of soap for the shower and a few extra guest towels, then he officially asked her out. They both wanted a dating life along with the fooling around.
He'd forgotten about sharing showers. How nice it was.
And she liked him.
Her kids were starting to like him, sure, but him as a boyfriend and him as 'replacement-dad' were entirely different things. He wanted to trust her judgment on allowing him into her place overnight, but he knew various parts of his body were biased in that regard.
"Go upstairs and wait for me." Her blue eyes promised things she wouldn't say out loud right that second.
Dan swallowed hard and resisted the urge to leap up the stairs at a flat run. He stored the electric high school excitement away for a few more minutes, putting it carefully away in a box, knowing it would still be there in twenty. "I could help you? I don't get to do that with Trix all that much; she usually stays with her mom."
Charlotte paused, looking for something in his eyes, then smiled. She took Micah's hand. "Honey, Dan is going to read your bedtime story to you, alright? I'll go see the babysitter out and check on your sister, okay?"
Micah squinted threateningly at Dan, then relented with a sharp nod. "'Kay."
The story reading went smoothly, and it was one of Trixie's old favorites too. Micah didn't fall asleep by the time his mom came in to kiss him goodnight, but Dan didn't expect otherwise. He was still new in their lives. Micah gave him one last look of that's my mom so don't screw this up, before Charlotte flipped the lights off, blowing her son a last kiss.
You and me both, kid.
Micah groaned, rolling his eyes and turned over, pulling the covers up. Dan pulled the door closed quietly behind them.
It had been a long time since he had to think about keeping things 'quiet' because of a kid in the house. He felt far more self-conscious than he had a need or right to, following her into her bedroom a short way down the hall, turning the lights off as they went, very domestic.
He closed her door with care, and she reached past him to lock it. They grinned at each other in the semi-darkness by the bed that had too many pillows on it. A single short lamp by her side of the bed enhanced the secretive feeling of it all. He waggled his eyebrows, whispering, "So, you come here often?"
She giggled, one hand over her mouth and the other smacking him on the shoulder. He pretended injury, so she kissed it better. Then she kissed other things better.
At one point in their activities, the headboard smacked into the wall, and they both froze, like teenagers scared of someone's parents catching them in the act. Dan could tell Charlotte had the same thought, and they giggled into each other's lips, a little insanely. It was wonderful. She was wonderful. She held her naked body against his, and they went slower, keeping the traitorous bed frame from waking the house.
It was kind of the best they'd been together so far, secret and whispering to each other, her hands threaded into his hair and biting her lip hard at the end.
That was the first night he slept in her bed.
She told him she might have nightmares but not to worry about it. She didn't that night, curled up in his arms.
It was the first morning he woke up in her arms in her bed.
It was the first time he found her battered, decade-old waffle iron and made breakfast for all of them. She didn't usually bother, since pancakes were easier, so he insisted on Iron-Chef'ing up some blueberry waffles, using some bacon grease on the hot iron instead of oil. He didn't do everything right in life, but he was a master at waffles.
Micah gave his creation grudging approval while Charlotte closed her eyes in bliss with the first steaming hot bite.
It was another early Saturday morning when he woke in the pre-dawn hours, in her bed again. She kicked him hard in the shin.
Dan sat bolt upright, ready to be angry but she lay there whimpering, sweaty and twisted up in the blankets. She was having a nightmare, lashing out at something or someone not there and fighting it. It was the first time she did more than mumble in her sleep.
Gently, he lay a hand on her bare shoulder, just nudging. "Hey," he whispered.
Charlotte started awake with a cry, breathing hard. "No!" She threw herself out of bed, looking around wildly and standing naked in the near-dark. The barely lighter than black sky cast her in shadows from the blinds, throwing narrow bars wide across her body and face. She looked like someone else, something else. She abruptly hugged herself and found him again, her shining blue eyes tracking to him in bed. "Dan?"
He gave her time to come back to herself, to shake off whatever she saw in her restless sleep. He held out a hand, inviting her back.
She unwound from whatever the night showed her, looking at him like a lifeline. Like something unreal, but safe. Her port in a raging storm. Reality reasserted itself. She smiled. "Hey."
Dan lay on his side, offering the length of his body as a big spoon. She took it, resting her back into his warm chest - hot even, pressing skin to skin. She loved sleeping naked with him. A strong arm rested around her tiny waist, scooping up against her ribs between her body and the bed. She almost fell asleep again, right on the cusp of letting go, then jerked like she'd been shocked by lightning, her body flexing hard, involuntary and waking her fully again. "God."
He rubbed her foot with his. "Hey, it's okay." Stroking her hair back behind her ear, Dan kissed her neck. "You want to talk about it?"
"I don't know."
"Okay."
Her neck tightened. "I wish…"
"Yeah?"
"Nothing. I've had these nightmares off and on. I don't know why. They didn't start until after…"
"It's okay; you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."
She lay in his arms silently, his hand squeezing her body tight to his. She closed her eyes again, resting but not sleeping. She didn't want to talk about it, and she didn't want to tell him she didn't want to talk about it. That was okay too.
They lay still together as the sun crept in.
The alarm went off.
When the nightmares got worse, he suggested Dr. Martin, but Charlotte mentioned Lucifer had sent her that way already. Linda seemed to be utterly terrified of her, and she wasn't sure why. Once again, Lucifer would have to be dragged in to find out what the hell was up with this therapist.
Shortly after, Linda went to Charlotte herself, and everything was fine again.
Except for the nightmares that woke her from time to time, but not always. It was too early to say if therapy helped or not.
Charlotte suggested that he didn't have to stay if it meant waking him up and disturbing his sleep. Dan discarded it without consideration, wrapping her up against him in a burrito of blankets and sheets, his arms around her waist and hers resting on his. She liked touching him.
She snuggled into him, their bodies warming to the point of being uncomfortable together under the covers, yet neither wanting to separate again. Dan smelled her clean, post-shower hair, curling it around his fingers next to her face.
"I only get a few nights with you, between work and whatever crazy thing is happening. Losing a little sleep here and there is worth it."
"I know it's more than a little sometimes. I'm sorry."
"Hey, don't apologize, it's not your fault. You had an experience."
"I still don't know why or how. But I'm sort of glad it did, even if everything is different now. Maybe because everything is different now." She pressed her lips into his neck before ducking her head down. "I'm glad you're here."
Charlotte breathed against his chest, her eyelashes fluttering against his sternum. "How about you bring some stuff over here then? I can't have my man doing a walk of shame everytime he leaves my place."
"Are you sure?"
"It's the least I can do. You stay on Friday nights, make us breakfast. You might as well make it a little easier during the week, so you don't have to stop back at your apartment to change. Maybe you can stay longer so we can have a real morning together."
"Do you want to bring some stuff over to my place too? I'd be happy to make a drawer or two open for you."
Charlotte let out a long, happy breath and it curled around his heart. "Yes, I'd like that."
Charlotte became his peace at work, even when they remained professional at the station. He worked with this wife, then ex-wife for years, all the way up to now. Chloe had been the longest relationship he'd been in, obviously, and he thanked his lucky stars they still could work together, and well. But he didn't expect that kind of luck to hold out.
Dan asked Charlotte to keep work at work and home at home. She understood - they might be 'together,' but right now, he wanted this for themselves, and so did she. Once in a while, they had lunch together, or touched hands in passing, but it was working. They passed the evidence room a few times, making eyes at each other, but they never crossed that line.
The second Lucifer got wind they were getting serious, he'd certainly shove his so-called-winged-ass where it didn't belong. He would start certainly start showing up to torment him or Charlotte, deciding it had something to do with his own damn life, his mistakes or other problems and find a way to make it reflect on himself. So Dan tried not to let him know about it.
Dan had had enough of Lucifer's personal issues.
He complained so much about Lucifer over dinner, Charlotte kissed him to shut him up.
As a plan, it worked quite well.
The predictable nightmares still cropped up. Some nights, she slept normally, her demons leaving her be. Some nights, she only tossed and turned, leaving him unsure if he should wake her or not. He usually erred on the side of 'not.'
Charlotte tried Ambien, but it did no good. She resisted the urge to drink a second glass of wine before bed, already knowing it wouldn't work either.
Tonight she awoke with a short shriek, and Dan was getting used to it. Not that he accepted feeling powerless against what happened several nights a week. But at least he was there for her when she needed someone to hold onto like an anchor.
He was grateful for that much, to be of some use to her. His own nightmares lay long behind him.
She would wake up suddenly, mumbling about criminals, how she needed to fix things. The nightmares seemed to have a lot to do with her previous life as a defense attorney, and her guilt over defending some clients who she knew shouldn't get off.
Over the weeks, he finally pieced together enough to ask her over a lunch. It seemed like a safe time, and she could shut him down again if she wanted to. "Your nightmares? They're about your former career, right?"
She sipped her water but nodded slowly. "I'm sorry. I should have told you more by now, but you can't do anything about them."
Dan took her hand under the patio table. "Has Linda been any help?"
"Here and there. I feel like she's holding something back, but that's probably part of her job. She listens to me, but it hasn't made a difference."
"Is it the same nightmare every time?"
"It's...variations on a theme. Criminals that I helped go free. They come back and try to hurt me."
Dan nodded. It wouldn't be a nightmare unless something bad happened. "Do they in the dream? Are they people you've heard from since that time?"
"They do - it's usually violent, sometimes they come back and shoot me, sometimes they crowd in and...hurt me slower. The few previous clients that I've been contacted by, I've turned down their new cases. A few of them weren't happy about it, but honestly, it felt good to refuse to take more blood money from them."
He waited for her to continue.
She did. "I've started working on a project."
"Yeah?"
"I'm going to try and undo some of the bad things I've done."
He squeezed her hand. "Hey, you were just doing your job. Not all lawyers are going to hell, I'm sure." He said it with a smile, but she went pale.
"I didn't just do my job. I sought out hard cases. I made a reputation for defending the indefensible. Clients aren't supposed to tell me if they're guilty or not; I can't actually be a good defense attorney if they confess. I can't know those things. Later, some new clients would brag about how guilty they were, and I would take their case anyway because I knew I could win it."
Dan stayed quiet for a moment. "The system, it's flawed. We all know that-"
"There are flaws, and there's abuse, Dan. I don't deserve anything other than Hell, but maybe I can earn some points in my favor before I die."
"Hey, don't say that. Heck, even Lucifer says not everyone belongs in hell."
She looked away. "I know. But that doesn't change the fact that I have a lot to make up for. I want to be a better person. Maybe it's too late, but maybe not. And if it is too late, maybe I can do some real good before-"
"Charlotte, knock it off. You aren't going to Hell."
Quietly, "You don't know that."
"Lucifer doesn't either."
"I think my nightmares…" Her mouth went dry. "Nevermind."
"Okay, just tell me when you're ready, okay?"
"Sure, I will."
Dan met her at her place again the following Friday, Micah now treating him like he was expected to show up.
They went to bed without being intimate, he just held her until they both passed out, emotionally spent from a rough week. The nightmares stayed around the same frequency, and he hoped tonight was a night off from them.
Neither of them were so lucky. Dan maybe even less so. She shouted, and her cry ended in '-ucifer!'
Dan flashed angry, his gore rising. "Babe?"
Charlotte focused on his eyes. "I'm not crazy!"
He touched her face. "Of course you aren't. Did Lucifer do something to you?"
She took his hand, breathing hard and gripping it until his bones rubbed against each other. "I'm not crazy."
He spent more nights now, with her than at his little place. Dan sat up in bed, squeezing her shoulder. He winced but didn't pull back his hand. "Hey, I know. What's wrong? Tell me what happened. What did Lucifer do?"
She pulled her long hair back, looking away into the shadows of the bedroom, looking for something. Her whole body shook.
She abruptly sat up and threw her arms around him, shaking. "I'm not crazy."
Concerned, he pulled her face up to his. "Hey, look at me."
Charlotte pulled away, making enough room to meet his eyes. They were full of both fear and relief. "Why am I still having nightmares? I'm not going back there. I know that now."
"Back where?" Dan took her hand and held it, kissing it. "Where are you not going?"
"I'm not...I'm not...I know where I was and now-"
She finally realized where she was and who she was with. Her eyes focused and she withdrew with a sad sigh. "It's nothing."
Fuck.
Dan felt his taped-together heart break, shattering. His voice came out very soft, rough. "It's never 'nothing.'"
"Oh, baby, I'm… I shouldn't have-"
Fucking Lucifer. Even this he had to go and ruin. "Should I go now? I can pack up my stuff-"
Panic crept into her face, and she gripped the sheet in her fist until her knuckles went white. "What? Why?"
"I'm not stupid. You don't yell another man's name in your sleep for no reason." He started to get up. "I know he thinks he has to charm the pants off everyone he encounters, but-"
Charlotte snatched his wrist. "No! It's not that. Lucifer made it quite clear who I...was to him. I'm with you. I...want you. Please don't leave. Please don't leave...me."
Dan was neither young nor stupid. But he had known her now for weeks, and he thought they had something good. He didn't want to go back to a cold bed. He tried again, swallowing his fear and unease, at least for the moment. "What was that then?"
She looked away. "I shouldn't have said anything at all. Lucifer is...a friend, nothing more. I'll tell you what he sh-what he said to me when the time is right. When you need to know."
Like he'd never heard anything like that before if worded a little differently. Dan flopped backward into bed, pulled the pillow over his head and screamed into it. She startled, pulling away, alarmed. When he was done, he threw the pillow on the floor and looked up at her, worm and tight. With resolution, he stated, "He can't have this."
Charlotte raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"My life. Your life. Our...life. Just tell me whatever it is has nothing to do with his stupid Devil shtick."
She sat silently, broken.
"Oh, my God."
"Dan-"
"What?"
"I'm sorry. I need you to believe me when I say I love you. And only you."
He stopped, looking at her. "You do?"
She nodded. "Yes. I know it's not the best timing, but-"
"I love you too." He sat up again, a smile coming up to his face. "I'm sorry for giving you crap. I know he interferes with everyone. I'm sorry he's messing with you too. It's bad enough Trixie seems to take him at his word."
Charlotte tilted her head. "She does?"
"Yeah. I don't think she ever doubted for a second that he's 'The Devil.' Not the way she talks about him."
Her eyes flicked away. "Hmmm."
"What?"
She bit her lip. "I wasn't going to tell you since it doesn't matter now but I kissed him, once."
Sigh, from Lucifer that's hardly the worst thing that could have happened. "A kiss is nothing. Was it today? I'll stomp him into the ground if you want me to."
She chuckled, stroking his shoulder. "No, it was right after-right after I started to get my life back together. Not recently. That was when he made sure I knew that we weren't. More than friends that is."
"Lucifer refused you?" He found that difficult to believe.
"It was confusing for me too, honestly. Come to think of it, he reacted a lot like Linda, where she froze, only he actually pushed me away."
Dan rested his hand in his chin. He didn't want to ask, but he also had to know. "So you were trying for more than a kiss?"
"I thought wrong. I was wrong about what I assumed had happened between us. I just, I didn't know him before the thing where I lost my memory, and I just assumed he hung around me so much because because we had been lovers. That turned out to be very incorrect."
Dan laughed in spite of himself. "He was overly protective of you, sure. He was really upset when he found out we'd slept together."
"So, it turns out it wasn't jealousy." She bit her lip again, holding something back.
He let it go, mistaking her statement for a question. "No, I don't think so either." he rubbed her arm, running his hand down to her wrist. "Do your nightmares have something to do with Lucifer too? Not just the clients?"
She paused. "Yes."
"Why?"
"It's nothing." She licked her lips when he frowned. "Okay, it's not nothing. It's just that I believe more now than I used to. In a...a higher power. I haven't sorted all of out yet, but I'm not afraid of things I used to be afraid of."
"Like what?"
"I don't think I'm going to Hell after all, but I believe it's real." She paused, tasting the words in her mouth. "Heaven and Hell are real."
Dan chewed his tongue. Torn. On the one hand, at least she wasn't hung up on possibly going to hell when she died decades from now. On the other…"I haven't been in a long time, but I could go with you to a service? Even this weekend if you want?" His lips turned up on one side. "No Satan worshipping though."
She jumped a little but smiled. "No. Not that." She sat close to him, sliding her hand along his side. "Right now, I could be up for a little Dan worshipping." Her smile turned sly, looking down his body. "On my knees."
Dan forgot to breathe. "Only if I get to return the favor."
She kissed him again, long and deep. "I love you."
It felt good. Lucifer be damned. "I love you too."
They got easier with each other at work. Dan resisted the urge to give Lucifer stink-eye because it would only encourage him to find out why. Dan wasn't as dumb as he looked. Most of the time.
Whatever happened, Charlotte smiled more at work, her manner became easier, and Dan had an unpleasant suspicion it had more to do with her newfound faith than it did with him, but he would take it, especially when she started letting her guard down a little, at work and out in public.
Speaking of public.
Stripping in the closet may not have been the smartest thing he'd ever done - as it got him banned for life from the restaurant, but it totally got him points in the boyfriend department. Massive points.
Charlotte pulled him into her walk-in closet at home for a little do-over that night, no Ill-timed waiters required.
Despite her new outlook on life, she still had nightmares. They started stepping up in violence and frequency. She assured him that she still had several nights a week when she didn't have any nightmares, but part of him didn't believe her. Still, she needed to work it out in her own way.
He told her he loved her, and she told him she loved him. He whispered it at work, and she whispered it back when no one was looking.
Chloe only looked at Pierce these days. Lucifer only looked at Chloe. Ella consoled Lucifer or something, and they all did their jobs.
The 'Angel of San Bernardino' drove everyone crazy, especially Lucifer, who naturally assumed the case had something to do with him.
Again.
He came in looking the worst put-together Dan had ever seen him, and he left again.
The less Dan had to deal with him the better. With the Chloe/Pierce mess going on, he expected to see a lot more of Lucifer, coming by to drown his pining woes, but the Devil Man left him more or less alone. He thought Lucifer had maybe found someone else to bother, maybe even Pierce. After the fake marriage sting, they had spent more time together.
Dan did not want to know if Lucifer and Pierce had a fling because of it and stayed away from them both.
Charlotte hadn't volunteered whatever Lucifer told her, and Dan nearly forgot about it in the intervening weeks. They attended a few boring services together, which Charlotte paid more attention to than he did, to the point of talking to pastors afterward.
He rolled his eyes and went along, and it seemed to make her feel better.
Until a particular sermon about temptation and Satan, however, left her shaking with internal rage. It was one of those 'Let Jesus in your heart, and you go to heaven' lectures. She hissed under her breath the whole time about doing good works and not just speaking words.
Dan side-eyed her as they stalked out. He steered her away from confronting the poor guy - who he pointed out, was just doing his job as best he could - and out the door before she yelled at him. At either him or the pastor.
She continued hissing under her breath, "We're never going back."
"Works for me."
"They don't know anything."
"Okay, now you're scaring me a little."
"Lucifer isn't what they say he is."
"Honey, sweetheart-"
"He's not some horrible-"
"Hey!"
She stopped, turning to him and breathing hard while everyone around them gave them dirty looks and space. Some busybodies weren't giving them enough space.
Dan walked her out, quiet until they got further down the block, walking together in church clothes. "Hey, what was that all about?"
Waves of anger radiated off Charlotte. She blew out a hard breath, touching her hair bun. "I can't stand it when people are so wrong."
Bemused, Dan had to ask. "What? About Lucifer? You know the pastor wasn't talking about Morningstar, right?"
Charlotte nodded, processing. Her steps slowly became less stompy the further they walked away from the church. "You know, you're right. He wasn't talking about Lucifer. He was talking about a figure from an old dusty book that should be updated."
They walked in silence a little longer. He hesitantly asked, "Does this have anything to do with what Lucifer told you?"
She missed a step. "What he- oh. It wasn't so much as what he said as- well, yes."
"You know, if you're talking about his trick to make suspects talk, I've seen it. It's not that impressive." Okay, he knew he was lying a little about that, but still, it was just a trick. Some method actor bullshit Lucifer had picked up along the way. He didn't want that little thing to convince her Lucifer was actually the Devil.
Though, if she was convinced, why was she defending him?
Charlotte bit her tongue. "No, it's not that. This was something entirely different."
"How different?"
"Things have happened since then. I'm not sure about anything anymore."
"Hey, I'm sure about you."
She didn't rise to the bait. "That pastor is an idiot."
He sighed. "Just because we stormed out of a church doesn't mean you're back to going to Hell, you know that right?"
"Oh, no, I know that. But I don't think my afterlife is so sure anymore. I thought that because I knew Lucifer - Well, don't worry about it. Either way, it doesn't matter."
He stopped. She took several steps ahead of him, then turned around. "What?"
"Of course it matters. Your well-being matters to me."
Charlotte came back, her tall heels making her even taller. He liked looking up into her eyes. "You mean that?"
"Of course I do. I love you."
She hugged him, holding him tight. "Thank you. I love you. I'm a mess."
"We're all shambling messes. It's okay."
They held each other for a moment.
She touched his face. "I'll tell you, I promise, okay? Just not today."
"It must have been a pretty big deal, huh?"
"Yeah."
Dan Espinoza was positively giddy. That said, he was almost happy he had no one at work to talk to about it. Charlotte was his. He had a beautiful girlfriend. Someone more than that, maybe.
Having someone to vent to after work, about work, meant more to him than he expected.
He made waffles before work that morning with extra whip cream. Even Micah accepted 'weekend waffles' before school without comment. Charlotte made eyes at him when he left for work before her, crunching on a stray piece of waffle.
She was the one. The new one. The only one.
Dan started looking into the windows of jewelry stores when he passed them. He hadn't planned anything big, but one store, in particular, carried pretty, high-end gold and silver charm bracelets. He made a mental note to go back for a small gift, at least. Matching gifts, maybe. Something small and something bigger.
Another work week came and went. Dan didn't ask about Pierce, Chloe didn't volunteer anything new, but they were driving or riding his bike together now, to work and from. Dan kept his nose out of it. He was the last person to lecture her about dating co-workers, and she looked happy.
Lucifer wasn't.
When Dan saw Trixie next, she wasn't thrilled. All she could do was talk about Lucifer. The Devil followed him from work to family until he finally got another long date night with Charlotte on Friday. Lucifer still didn't approve of what he did know about them, so Dan didn't talk to him about it.
Their odd, distracted co-worker became more and more separated, shunted away from Chloe and more or less avoiding Dan, probably on purpose.
Until Lucifer got a hair up his ass again and decided to 'Be More Douche.' That made for a fun week. Except not. At least Lucifer got something out of it, apparently, bounding off again, satisfied with whatever answer he thought he was looking for, at least for another week or two.
Dan had to agree it was a little weird now. He was hoping to be done with weird in his life.
Unfortunately, everything was nuts. Chloe was suddenly engaged to the Lieutenant, and Charlotte got called to drop everything and help out with the apparently has to happen right now bachelorette party. Dan winced to himself as he heard about the plans she and Ella were making, some of them loudly in the middle of work.
He never wanted to hear the words 'penis pinata' again in his life. Under any circumstance. This was somehow worse than when Ella hired Chloe a stripper for her birthday.
The week wound down with the party ending in disaster and Chloe and Pierce separated.
Dan breathed a sigh of relief at the bad decision that didn't happen and tried to move on with this life, hoping that was the end of the insanity.
Of course it wasn't
The timing, as seemed befitting their relationship, was terrible, given the Chloe/Pierce fiasco.
The nightmares took a turn for the worse.
Charlotte held her pillow in a death grip. He didn't feel her tossing or turning, but he woke up to find her sitting upright, clutching the pillow to her chest and breathing harshly. Tears ran down her face.
Dan sat up, still. He waited for her to look at her, then he touched her face, wiping away the wet tracks under her eyes. "Hey."
She took in a shaky, short breath and clutched his hand. "Hey."
He didn't ask. She started to hate it when he asked, so he didn't. The question sat in his throat like a lump of molten lead and he choked on it.
She sighed softly, crawling back to him. She sniffed back more tears, trying to look okay. "I'm okay. Go ahead, you can say it."
"Are you sure, love?"
She pressed her palms against her eyes and cheeks, clearing her sinuses and fighting back the headaches she woke up with now. "I'll be okay. I promise."
He held her and stroked her back.
"I don't know why you're still here."
"I love you."
She smiled, frazzled. "But why do you put up with this?"
Dan kissed her forehead. "Because I want to. How are you?"
She sniffed again. "I wake up, and you're still here, and it's a little better. I don't want that to be the reason you're still here. That you make me feel better."
He grinned, trying a quip. "The mind-blowing sex is nice too."
She laughed against him. "Ditto."
They sat quietly for another moment in time.
He ran his fingers through her hair, gently pulling out soft tangles in her curls. "I could stay."
"What do you mean?"
"Every night. I could move in."
She didn't say anything for minute. "Every night-"
"It's okay. I can lose some sleep. You're worth it. Maybe if I was here, you'll get better."
She swallowed, crying again.
"Hey, if you don't want me to-"
She hugged him hard, squeezing the breath out of him. "That would be wonderful. I don't deserve you."
"Ditto."
"Don't give up your apartment though, yet. You need your own space, especially with Trixie." Tears still ran down her face, new, fresh, cleansing ones.
"No problem." He squeezed her back, a little hug war, then pulled back and wiped her face again. The just sat together in her bed, breathing into each other's space. "Actually. There's something else I want to ask."
She looked into his eyes, and her breath caught. "Yes."
"I didn't even ask-"
"Yes."
His throat nearly closed up entirely. "It's not even romantic, and Chloe and Pierce just - and how do you even know what-"
She put her fingers on his lips. "Dan Espinoza, will you marry me?"
He laughed. "Yes."
Dan felt like a dork, but just this once, he had to share some of his happiness with someone else. He presented Chloe with the gifts he had picked up for Charlotte. Just not all the gifts. He picked up something else from the jewelry store too.
Naturally, Lucifer didn't care for 'cheap' gifts, teasing him. He didn't know the whole story. He wouldn't know part three of the plan until long after he could protest. 'Step-Dan' indeed. Chloe wouldn't know either until Charlotte showed up at work in a few days or maybe weeks with the ring on her finger. They both wanted to sort out things with HR before making an announcement.
Dan didn't have to give Chloe and Pierce space, but it seemed wiser to do so. And there was no rush.
They had plenty of time.
Dan had a ring in a box, but Charlotte insisted she didn't want to see it until she could wear it. They both wanted to say 'to hell with it,' but Dan wanted everything to go right, to be perfect. If that's what she wanted, he would sit on it. And after that, who knew? Maybe it would just be a few weeks, maybe a few days. It didn't matter; it was happening. He made a standing reservation at their favorite restaurant, planning the official, public proposal.
He carried the ring box around with him anyway. Just in case.
Charlotte met him for lunch, insisting on at least a quick bite as she had plans later after work. She didn't think she'd be able to meet up that night, but they would see each other at her place later at the minimum. He had a box of clothes in his car, hangers, a few other small things to put in her bedroom.
He played with the box during lunch, excited. He missed what she said. "What was that?"
"I'm going to tell you, tonight, or soon."
"Oh, okay, What?"
"What Lucifer said. If it all works out, he can show you too, himself."
"Show me what?"
She stuck her tongue between her teeth, in a flick. "Why I'm not crazy. Or maybe not why, but how."
"I'd say again that I know you're not crazy, yet you said 'yes'."
"So did you, so I guess we're both crazy."
Dan blinked, and the perfect song popped into his head. He'd ask Lucifer to play Crazy Love at their wedding unless she didn't want a big one. She might not. And Lucifer might flat out refuse, but he liked exchanging favors. And- "What?"
Charlotte giggled. "Your head is up in the clouds again. Where have you been all lunch?"
"With you. For the rest of my life."
Her blue eyes found his paler ones, and they smiled. He stood, taking her hand. She took his other, and in that moment he knew he'd be looking into them forever.