Disclaimer: Not mine.
Meeting Lizzie 3
When the morning came, Red almost managed to convince himself that it had been only a dream and that it would exceptionally stupid idea to initiate anything remotely resembling a kiss with Lizzie. He was not going to mention it and he was never going to think about repeating it. She was young enough to be his daughter and Red was unworthy of even sharing the same air as her.
Groaning, he buried himself under the covers, wishing for the comfort of his blankets. He felt like shit and thinking in circles about kissing a girl who he had no business to desire was making him sick. God help him, though; Red was unable to stop himself from replaying the scene in his mind again and again and again. She had felt and tasted so good.
Around eleven he rolled from the bed and made his way into the bathroom where he promptly threw up. Wanting Lizzie was wrong and even though that he had done so many bad things in his life, he would not do this, he could not ruin Lizzie.
Someone knocked at the door and he flinched when he heard her voice, "Ray?"
"Yeah?" Red closed his eyes tiredly and refused to look at his reflection in the mirror. He splashed water at his face, brushed his teeth, and flattened his hair. Only after that he turned to the door.
Lizzie was leaning against the doorframe and watched him, clad only in a loose t-shirt. Very provocative, he mused and dragged his eyes back to her face. He smiled pleasantly.
"I'm sorry, I don't remember meeting you, but you must be Lizzie."
"So," her face fell a little, "You, you don't remember the hot monkey sex we had in the garage when I dragged you here?"
"What?! You dropped me right there, Lizzie!" Red spluttered, his face turning an interesting shade of purple and he motioned wildly to the guest bedroom.
"A-ha!" Liz pointed a finger at him and grinned.
He sighed and covered his face. "Why couldn't you just play along, girl? I tried to save us an embarrassing conversation."
"Why embarrassing?" Liz huffed and crossed her arms. "Why would you be embarrassed? I liked you, you liked me and we kissed and felt up each other a little bit. Is that so wrong?"
"Yes! Yes, it is definitely wrong, my dear." Red exclaimed loudly. How could she just stand there in front of him, looking like she is ready for a repeated performance? Which was not going to happen, never mind how tempting it was.
"Ok, and what's so wrong?"
"What about the fact that your father will kill me if he ever finds out?" Red asked, annoyed. What that girl wanted, anyway?
"I don't plan on telling my Dad that I was going at it with his friend. That's a little gross… not that I think you are gross or anything, but the thought is… so, it's actually me who should be embarrassed about yesterday… and see? I'm not."
Red gazed at her, completely perplexed.
"What exactly are you trying to say, Lizzie? Please, be precise, I don't think I follow you."
For the first time during their entire conversation, Lizzie looked a little uncomfortable as she shifted weight and shrugged her shoulders.
"Guess I was just trying to make a point. I don't like when people lie to me, you know. Who are you, anyway?"
"Duly noted." Red nodded and stepped towards her. For a moment, he considered pinning her against the nearest wall and by the look in her eyes, she wouldn't have minded, but then he brushed past her into the hall.
"I'm Ray, and I'm going to babysit you for a few days."
"I know that, but I thought I knew all of Dad's friends. You recognized me yesterday, but I'm sure as hell that I never saw you before…"
Red briefly stopped before he resumed his walk downstairs. Lizzie was following him with light steps and he resolutely refused to turn and watch her descend the stairs. He needed coffee and he started to look for it in the kitchen. Lizzie perched herself at the worktop and watched him idly while Red marveled at the shape of her legs.
His perception of her had changed and drastically so; he had replaced the image of a child with a vivid image of a passionate young woman and he was sure that it was a bad perception change. Her presence proved to be absolutely distracting and Red snapped, "Don't you have clothes you could put on?"
"I have, but don't want to dress. Are you bothered or what?"
"Humph."
Red busied himself with munching on his feeble breakfast consisting of a dry toast and mug of hot black coffee. He would eat something later, but right now he had still a little queasy stomach. To his utter dismay, Lizzie still hadn't moved an inch and observed him with bright, mischievous eyes.
"You're one of those less police friendly kinds of friends." She proclaimed finally when he looked at her.
"What?" Red raised his eyebrows at her and sipped his coffee. "How do you figure?"
"Come on, I'm not stupid, Ray. I know all about Dad's little adventures. Guess he doesn't go around telling people that I help him, sometimes."
"You what?" Now Red almost spilled his coffee when he abruptly slammed it on the table and clenched his hands. Sam certainly hadn't shared that little detail. Red had wanted him to protect the girl, not to put her in danger and Sam's past and obviously present thieving adventures certainly put Lizzie at risk. Sam should have told him that they needed money.
"Wow, calm down." Lizzie hopped down and patted his shoulder. "Just kidding. But you look like a criminal, sorry."
"Yes, and you are an expert on it, aren't you?" Red sneered slightly taken aback by the fact that Lizzie could see what he didn't want her to see. It was the hangover probably, and it was the lack of clothing on her part which had caused his mask slipping. One thing was certain, though – he had never expected her to be so… so… He didn't even have words for it. She was just something special.
"You can say that, yeah." They watched each other for a few seconds and Red was slowly getting uncomfortable; her piercing blue eyes were disconcertingly bright and way too knowing. Did he really look like a criminal?
"It's all in the way you move, really." With that, she disappeared from the kitchen and he could hear her moving up the stairs. When she came back, she was dressed in shorts and a tank top, her bright red bra clearly visible under the thin white fabric, and Red almost choked on the reminder of his coffee.
"I'm going to the shop. Do you need something?"
"I'm going with you. There is just no fucking way I'll leave you unsupervised, not even for a second." He didn't give her time to react and shushed her with his forefinger on her mouth, his most dangerous mask firmly in place. "I promised your Dad that I will look after you, and that's exactly what I am going to do for the next few days. Deal with it – and if you try to pull that window stunt again, I'm gonna hunt you down and drag you back home by your pretty hair. Do you understand me?"
For a fleeting second, Red thought that she would bite his finger – the fire in her eyes was reminding him of yesterday's passion –, but then she nodded and stepped away, looking properly chastised. "Yes."
"Good."
He moved away and ignored the look she gave him. She was just a mouthy teenager, a girl who liked to think that she was all grown up – but she wasn't, not yet and Red needed to remember that. Maybe one day he would look at her and see…
He stopped himself from finishing that thought and shook off the feeling which very much resembled a yearning. It was pointless to wish for something that could never happen. She was his ray of light, a rather impertinent ray of light, and he would not think about her in any degrading fashion. After Sam would get back, Red would disappear in the shadows, once again the silent benefactor and protector, and he would be content with the knowledge that Lizzie was safe. He would keep his distance, content with the knowledge that she was safe. It was his life's goal.
Humming, he smiled softly. He knew just the perfect way of protecting the girl from afar; the Major had excellently trained operatives and it looked like Lizzie would need someone to watch her back constantly.
Sighing, Red shook his head. He felt a migraine coming and his heart ached at the thought that he would not see Lizzie turn from a sassy teenager into a fierce, delightful woman.
Then again, Red didn't deserve to be near her anyway.
Wow. Well. I don't know what to say now; Lizzie didn't want to be eighteen for much longer and this story just wants to be divided in parts of three. The next little trilogy is titled Tom Keen, so stay tuned for another part of Fate! :)
