Chapter Two:

A/N: First, I want to thank everyone for actually taking the time to read my little story and then reviewing/messaging and everything! Since this is my first time ever writing fanfiction, it has been incredibly helpful to get feedback of any sort.

So I have decided to make this into a three-part story. This short chapter was inspired by the brilliant John Lennon and Paul McCartney and the song "Girl" and is much more introspective / a bit more angst-driven than the first part. Lyrics to the song are shown in bold text. Any spelling/grammar mistakes are mine alone. Let me know what you think!

Is there anybody going to listen to my story? All about the girl who came to stay.

Seemingly oblivious to their earlier Houdini-like stunt, the FBI had debriefed both Red and Liz rather quickly and the pair had followed Dembe to the car. Most of the drive was spent in silence, but Red had kept his hand over Lizzie's the entire time. He had looked up at the right moment to catch Dembe giving him a knowing, but concerned look. Red quickly and pointedly shot back a warning glance back at his best friend. Red had enough of concerns of his own to wade through without adding Dembe's to the list at the moment. As they pulled up to the house, Red held on to Lizzie's hand until they got inside. He kissed her on the cheek, not wanting to overstep any tentative boundaries that had been rewritten tonight.

"Sweetheart" he began in a low tone, "as much as I want to continue tonight's discussion, I'm finding myself strangely exhausted. I'll have to excuse myself and retire for the evening. Perhaps I may even sleep for a few hours."

Lizzie smiled warmly at him, knowing how rarely he was able to indulge in any sort of relaxation. She could see that their relationship was changing, and while she would've loved to spend more time with him this evening, she agreed that taking time to collect their thoughts was the most practical option for the time being.

"Go try and relax," she said soothingly. And, as if she could read his mind, Lizzie added, "I'll still be here in the morning, don't worry."

Red felt his throat constrict a little at her words and hurriedly excused himself. As he walked into his bedroom, Red knew that his excuse to leave Lizzie after returning home was only a half-truth, as it almost always was when it came to his explanations towards her. Red sat on his bed feeling exhausted, but soon realized he was more emotionally spent than physically. While he had indulged in fantasies of him and Lizzie being able to be together, they were nothing more than a means to pass the time, a motivator in his darkest hours, or a refuge from madness when he was overwhelmed with a new, daunting task in front of him.

Now that Lizzie had not only shown that she willingly trusted him, but agreed to stay with him Red was uncharacteristically at a loss. There were very few people who allowed Red that type of trust, and even fewer that he permitted himself to trust in the same way.

She's the kind of girl you want so much it makes you sorry…

Every time he looked at Lizzie, Red wanted so badly to feel sorry for having such strong feelings towards her. The smartest option, Red surmised sadly, would be to tell Lizzie that tonight had been a mistake and demand that their relationship remained in the friendship purgatory that it had been dangling in throughout the last few weeks. While Red knew that was the best option, he couldn't imagine making Lizzie feel rejected or, he thought selfishly, not getting to see where this would lead.

He realized that their relationship was complicated before the mutual attraction had even been acknowledged. Though it wasn't by blood, Lizzie was his best friend's child. He wanted to see her and think of her as Sam's daughter and nothing more, but that had never and could never be the case. Oh yes, he saw parts of Sam in Lizzie every day, the man had raised her after all, but Red and Lizzie had been connected since before Lizzie was ever carried across Sam's threshold. Red was Lizzie's own angel and monster, her torturer and savior, punisher and pleaser. He had destroyed her life and rebuilt it when she was a child. Now history had repeated itself once again when he was reintroduced to the volatile force that Lizzie had become as a woman.

In turn, Lizzie personified the fire that Red so vividly remembered. There was pain and suffering to endure, but she was an all-consuming force, a light in the darkness that had enveloped his world for so long. He felt powerless against her at times, and often thought that he was deriving his happiness from her own.

Still you don't regret a single day.

Red rested against the headboard still trying to make sense of the evening's events. He had once told Lizzie that she only needed to tell him to go and he would disappear. Though he still would make good on his promise if she asked him to leave, he knew that this evolution in their relationship had made that possibility much harder. He couldn't fool himself into thinking that he and Lizzie were one in the same; the years apart had shaped them into different people. But here they were, two lonely people trying to make sense of this new chapter in their lives.

A girl, a girl...

Raymond Reddington had risen out of the ashes that had replaced his once near-perfect life. He had become a legend in his own right. He was responsible for helping topple governments, placing leaders into positions of power, and making a fortune in the process. So while it baffled him that it had happened, there was no point in denying the obvious; Raymond Reddington's reality was rapidly changing because of a single person. A girl, his Lizzie. He was a betting man when he could control the odds, but he thought, quietly laughing to himself, that Lizzie was as unpredictable as they come.