Author's Notes: I wasn't planning on updating yet but I finished a work deadline early and I think I did pretty well so as a reward, I made time for this. But don't get used to it; I make no promises about future updates except that I will finish this.

Btw, this is a character-driven fic so if you're looking for significant plot points, this may not be for you. I'd still appreciate your insights tho!

Chapter 2: that the love i have for you will see no ending

"I understand you're at a bit of a disadvantage here. I know about you, you know nothing about me, and all that. So why don't we head out to the porch to talk? It's a beautiful day out. I'll just get the twins ready for a swim and I'll be right with you." He disappears through the double doors but not even five seconds pass before his head pokes back in. "I've prepared sandwiches, by the way. And Lou knows where the drinks are; pick your poison."

Debbie chews on the inside of her cheek as she surveys the options laid out in front of her. "So when he said 'pick your poison', was he just trying to be a cool dad to a bunch of underage drinkers or does he have an aversion to alcohol?" She watches Lou quietly sipping on her sparkling water, waiting for her to answer when a splash resounds from outside the house followed by squeals of laughter. "Right, he is a dad."

She's about to settle for her own sparkling water when Lou reaches past her to press a hidden button. Not a second later, the display case of non-alcoholic drinks slides open up to reveal the good stuff.

"There's a wine cellar if you'd prefer a bottle."

"Fancy."

Lou nods, "Custom-made."

"Smart too, hiding all this from the kids."

Lou shifts uncomfortably before clearing her throat and meeting Debbie's eyes. "Not from the kids."

"Hmm?" Debbie tilts her head, brows slightly furrowed.

"He doesn't know I know about this." Lou pauses, swallows the sudden lump in her throat. "I should be annoyed that he went to such great lengths but given the circumstances, it's sort of…sweet."

"What circumstances?" Debbie asks and Lou desperately wants to avoid this conversation but she knows she can't avoid it forever. "Lou? What are you saying?"

Lou keeps her gaze on Debbie even as it veers towards desperation, silently pleading that Debbie understand her without having to hear her say the words out loud. When Debbie merely blinks at her, eyes wide with concern, she opens her mouth but the words won't come out. So she reaches for her back pocket instead, flipping the coin along her fingers before tossing it over to Debbie who catches it easily and drags her eyes from Lou's to look at it. Debbie feels her chest constrict at the sight of the bronze coin and runs her thumb along the Roman numeral IV embossed right at the center.

"I got it a few months before you got out," she finally speaks.

"Lou, I… I didn't know."

"No one did. Except for him and his wife. And Tammy-"

Debbie frowns. "Tammy?"

Lou got along well enough with Tammy back when they were still a trio, short-lived as that time might've been, but they were never what you would consider close, just the two of them. And there was no indication of a changed relationship throughout the course of the heist, except maybe Lou's hesitation at dragging Tammy back into their world. She had initially thought it was because she was aloof about their friend and her abrupt retirement (not) from the world of crime despite her clearly being the best at what she does. Perhaps Debbie had been wrong. And this definitely calls for a discussion and a close observation of their interactions from now on.

"She checked up on me. Regularly whether I wanted her to or not, breezed back into my life just like that. It's how I met her kids, actually. She made sure I was doing alright in your...absence." Lou answered but she wouldn't meet Debbie's eyes while talking about Tammy, choosing instead to hop onto the counter a foot or two away. There has to be more to the story there but just before Debbie could ask, Lou suddenly adds, "Oh, and Constance knows too."

"Constance?!" Debbie's disbelief was unmistakable.

"That—" Lou cringes a little. "That was an accident, and the reason I found her easily despite the turnover in pickpockets. Anyway, a story for another time."

Two stories for another time, Debbie mentally notes.

"Is that why you got that new tattoo?" At Lou's surprise, she explains, "I committed it to memory the first time I saw it so I could figure out what it meant."

"And?" Lou asks, a ghost of a smile playing at her lips because that was such a Debbie thing to do.

"Ethanol, the only kind safe to drink."

Safe, Lou thinks, is relative. But she nods slowly. "And this," she pauses, pointing at her tattoo. "Is the only one that will ever touch me again."

"Lou…" Debbie starts but trails off, unsure how to proceed. "What about all the celebratory drinks we've had with the girls?"

"I was always the one opening bottles and pouring drinks; apart from Tammy, no one really paid attention to whether I was actually drinking or not. Cons too, even if she tried to be stealthy about it." Lou huffs but there was no hint of ire. "Tammy's just… That woman can multitask like crazy, even when she's toeing the line between tipsy and drunk."

"Is that even safe? Being around people who are drinking? Or are drunk? Or being around alcohol in general?" She doesn't even realize she's moved to put herself between Lou and the alcohol cabinet.

"I know it's not. But oddly enough, I don't get triggered."

"Oh, no. Baby," Debbie starts, pausing because— "You own a club."

With a shrug, Lou dismisses the point. "I don't have to buy a drink to get in."

"Or drink the ones you buy. Oh wait, they're always bought for you." Debbie smirks, trying to lighten the mood. She had the uncanny ability to turn it on and off for marks. But with nearly two decades of Lou under her belt, she's been made witness to how Lou's appeal knows no bounds, even to men who couldn't take a hint.

"Believe it or not, I don't do that anymore." Debbie simply raises an eyebrow. "I don't."

"Since when?"

"I don't know, couple of years?"

Debbie studies her, unsure what to make of this revelation. Her partner, a reformed player? "Guess a lot really did change while I was gone."

"Not the things that matter."

Like what? The question was at the tip of Debbie's tongue but she wasn't sure she was ready for the answer. Instead, she asks, "Do you miss it?"

"I did, for a long time. Especially whenever I itched for a glass or a bottle." Her brows furrow momentarily before she smiles at Debbie. "But not in the last few months."

Debbie smiles, proud of and moved by her partner's determination, and presses the button to close the hidden compartment of alcohol. She walks over to the counter where Lou was seated. Bumping her hip against Lou's right knee, Debbie raises a hand towards her partner's bicep and tilts her head in silent question. Lou swallows a sip of water, gaze never leaving Debbie's, before nodding and watching Debbie begin to lightly trace her tattoo with a fingertip.

"It looks like an H."

"Hmm?" She tilts her head one way and then another. "I never thought of that."

"Oh, really? I just thought you needed some ink to remind you whose mistress you were."

"Well, if I needed to remember him," Lou pauses, slowly pulling off the biggest of all the rings on her fingers and raises her hand for Debbie to see a grayish mark. "I wouldn't need a new one," she finishes, because the somewhat faded mark on the now-naked finger is undeniably an H.

Debbie blinks, twice, before taking the raised hand in one of hers and letting her gaze shift back to Lou's. "Tell me who he is."

"He's—"

"There you are! I thought for a second you two drowned while getting drinks."

"We could've, considering the amount of booze you've got hidden under there," Debbie lets Lou's hand drop on her own lap as she gestures to the case behind her with a thumb over her shoulder.

When Harry sputters, clearly caught off guard, Lou twists her torso enough to look at him, her shoulder gently bumping Debbie's. "Before you ask, I found out during my first visit after you had it installed over three years ago. You can't con a con, King."

He pouts, "I'm an actor, I'm practically a con artist."

"Keep telling yourself that."

He watches as Lou slides down from the countertop and gives him a pointed look that makes him fidget, rubbing the back of his neck. "Uh… I didn't hide it because I didn't trust you, you know? I just-"

"Hey, stop that." Lou's voice was sharp, cutting, but her face was the opposite and Debbie couldn't help feeling like she was becoming witness to something private. She's seen this Lou before, but she's never seen it come out for anyone other than herself. "I didn't even think of that when I found out."

"I just didn't want to parade them around when you were...struggling." He drops heavily onto the nearest chair.

"I know, darling. It was a sweet sentiment but I'm fine. I haven't had a drop since that night. Now, enough of that, you big lug." Lou walks over to him and raises his chin to get him to look at her. "I'll go check on your boys, make sure they're in two pieces when Sally gets back."

She ruffles his hair like one would a child's and laughs when, as usual, he leans into her touch like a needy puppy instead of pulling away.

That very image jars Debbie enough to leave her mind blank for a few seconds after Lou disappears, so much so that the first thought that comes to mind is, "Really? His wife's name is Sally?"

"She hates that name, and that When I Met Her reference."

"Shit. Did I—"

"Ask that out loud? Yes, you did." He gives her a kind smile that oddly reminds her of Lulu, tongue out and enjoying the wind from the backseat. "Lou's the only one who gets away with calling her that, not even me. Otherwise, it's just Sal."

"Right," Debbie absently replies. All of these revelations have gotten her more than a little off-kilter.

Harry watches her pull at the label on the bottle of sparkling water in her hands and notices her gaze locked on the counter beside it. Upon standing up, he sees Lou's coin and turns his wide eyes back to the woman in front of him. He knows who she is, what she is to Lou, probably even better than Lou does. But he also knows, even without Lou saying, that she was part of the reason Lou fell into the hole she'd long crawled out of. So regardless of whatever comes out of the friendship between these two women, his top priority will always be Lou.

"Now that you know, do you look at her differently?" The cross between offense and sheer panic that greets him seconds before her features are schooled into near indifference makes him think that maybe Lou wasn't in this alone. But he needs to be sure.

"It's funny, I was locked up for nearly six years with nothing much to do but plan my next move and think about how to adjust to the changing world but it never crossed my mind that Lou would...change along with it. But I would gladly start over, learn Lou all over again."

She didn't want to be talking about this to a stranger but this man means something to Lou and it seems if there is a person in this world who will put Lou first, it's him.

And me, Debbie decides right then and there.

"I didn't plan about Lou because every single plan I came up with had her standing right beside me. The one constant. My one constant. And maybe this time, I could be hers."

"You were," he said, just above a whisper. "But then you left."

She shakes her head, swallowing the lump in her throat. "I'm not the same person I used to be. I'm not going anywhere, not when I'm finally home."

The meaning behind her words is not lost on him, even if he's unsure she's fully aware of it herself. He's happy to hear this, but he'll always look after Lou now that he can. Just like she did for him all those years ago and every year since.

"I'll hold you to that," he nods and offers his hand for her to shake. And when she does, his mood lightens up almost instantly. "So... Sun, sandwiches, and swimming pools?"

"Sure," she answers with the corner of her lip curling up. He's already by the door when she stops him. "Just, uh… Just one more thing" she laughs awkwardly before her expression turns serious. "Who are you?" He simply blinks. "To Lou. Who are you to Lou?"

He grins, "I'm her brother."

A/N: For people expecting more of Harry, be patient. And also keep in mind that while he's a character I'd like to explore, this is still primarily a Loubbie fic.