Date #89

There's a saying among villains that he knew by heart: Whatever may come, whatever it is and whoever it affects – never, ever, give in to emotions. Emotions are for victims. Be an empty shell. Take and never give, without a hint of shame. Kill and take live without a trail of empathy. Be cruel and despicable without shedding a single tear.
A single tear…

Gru woke up with a horrified yelp. Sweat ran over his head and his body and his throat was dry, and his eyes burned – and his heart was pounding so loud and heavily inside his chest, he thought he was going to suffocate. Heavy breathing didn't help to regulate his breathing.
Looking right and left, he realized – he was back in reality again. He was lying, alone, in his bed, in his big house, next to him, the room with his girls sleeping in. the curtains were covering the windows, letting in the light of the moonshine inside, just barely. The watch, blinking; it writes says '4:53'.
With saucer eyes, he stared back into the emptiness, cracks of memories swirling before his inner eye, as he recollected the events he just witnessed.
He and Lucy – A villain, and the hero.
It came back, all so quickly, his entire dream set before his eyes.
In his dreams, he had tortured her, hurt her, he had taken and given none without shame, been cruel and despicable and – he killed her.
The single memory clenched his chest so hard he took in a strangled breath like he was about to drown in the sea of fears…
He had killed her.
He had send her straight into the active volcano, didn't cut her loose, didn't jump with her off the rocket, didn't bring her to the shore and did anything to keep her alive, to keep her happy – keep her with him.
He left her for dead…
Sickness took over his stomach and his hand threw to his mouth to prevent him from giving in to nausea. No…

"Lucy…" he whispered as if he still couldn't realize what he just did in his very dream. It was a dream, after all – but the mere thought, the mere knowledge that just a few years ago, he was more than willing to make this sacrifice, just so he would get to the moon and to suppress the world, to be the greatest villain of all time.
The words spun in his head like a record with a crack in it: He was willing to make this sacrifice.
He was willing to make this sacrifice.
He was willing to make this -

"NO!" he suddenly yelled, hands flying up to his head, holding it in pure panic and clenching his jaw together.
"No…Nonononono!" he whined, shaking his head, pressing his eyelids close. His voice repeated the word until he transmitted over to a silent sobbing and pleading his head to let him go. To let go of the images, this dream, this memory.
As in this moment, he felt his eyes moistening, and without a forewarning, tears rolled down his cheeks. His head jerked up.
He…he cried…?

How many years has it been since he had cried the last time…?
He was a man of science and semi-evilness – people like him never cried…or did they?
Hastily, he brushed the wetness away from beneath his eyes and hurried to jump out of the bed, grabbing the curtains on the window as if he had to make sure this was real. His fingers brushing over the soft material of the fabric, his eyes roaming outside the window to see the houses of his neighborhood, all neatly standing in a row. Yes, he was home, he was safe – he wasn't the villain he was once. He was living here in his house, as a normal man, with his three daughters…he wasn't a villain anymore…
Time passed like hours and Gru was still staring outside, breathing in and out to sooth his nerves,
Closing his eyes and trying to regulate his heart sequence. Calm down, old boy, calm down…
It was just a dream. You're awake now, none of this was real. You never killed somebody, you never returned to your old self. It's okay…
It's okay…

...

Gru moved downstairs to the kitchen, his head was killing him. And his mind was still stirring thoughts around and brought back those horrible memories.
It had been the sixth time now in a row this dream came back to haunt him. Six times – becoming worse and worse. While brewing up a cup of black coffee, he sat at the kitchen counter and buried his face in his hands, groaning in frustration. It never happened to be a big problem to him that people once feared him and since he had a lot of things in his very house that reminded him of who he was once, his head never seemed to even have the idea of snapping and waking up in the middle of the night, close to a mental breakdown.

It all started quite harmlessly – he dreamed about him, having the moon in his grasp and eventually gaining the well-deserved title of the greatest villain of all time – the moment he woke up was when his mind played tricks on him with how terrible he seemed to treat mankind. That was nothing to worry about, back then, it hadn't been necessarily a nightmare, yet a wishful thinking. But each night it came back, growing more and more horrible – images of him abandoning his daughters, of Miss Hattie taking them back to that ferocious place they had to live since they were just little infants, and him…he didn't even feel a bit of shame, of pity.
The lump in his throat grew and even if he swallowed, it didn't help him to forget about this.
Once his coffee was done, he gulped the first cup down in one go, not hesitating to make himself a second one.
The next few dreams increased even more with Gru waking up continually, covered in sweat and with his heart beating fast in horror. But then came the period where he dreamt about Lucy. About her, how terrible he treated her, how he left her for dead – or murdered her.
The second cup was empty within seconds. Gru held his head in one hand, the other clasping shakily around the mug. He was stressed. Terribly stressed.
He figured that once he started biting on his lip until he could taste blood drawing to the surface.
His jaw quivered. Curses, not now…!

Involuntarily, his eyes seemed to twitch around, seemed to be looking for something that would be his salvation from the tension. Gru grasped for the drawer, opened it. Several items he never really used, flashlights, broken keys, scissors and so on, were stocked inside and once his fingers grasped the hard material of the little cardboard box, he pulled it to his chest, opened it and put one of the small, long cork-tipped sticks to his lips, grabbing for a lighter.
He drew a deep breath. Smoke filled his lungs and his mind and his body and his eyes rolled back into his skull as he exhaled, the steam tumbling through the air and vanishing.
Curse you, Felonious…he rebuked himself. But he needed this right now.
When was the last time he needed to have a smoke? He hadn't counted the years, he never was a permanent smoker, but even his daughters knew – if Daddy was having a cigarette, something was up with him.
Good though that his girls were asleep though.

The tobacco bemused his senses for a short amount of time, while his mind started to collect itself again. Important to start with was – how come these nightmares happen to grow so intense each time? Why always about his past life as a villain…? Why now, after all, Lucy and he were literally on cloud nine. It was funny how this woman had changed him. These long calls at nighttime, the uncharming giggles they shared when they were together, the hand-holding, the arms-wrapping-around-each-others-waist, the exchange of affection in public and in front of the girls, those strange yet sugar sweet nicknames they gave each other, the way they played with each other's clothes, or when he was wrapping one of her loose bright-red locks around his finger to swirl them into a corkscrew curl, or her tiny fingers running over his head like she was desperately looking for hair to pull on. Or the times when they spend the nights together, and been waking up from each other trailing their fingers over their faces to map these freckles or scars or soft skin of each other and admiring them while sleeping…

Then why was his mind making up such gruesome pictures in his sleep.
The third cup of coffee stood untouched in front of him, he just thoughtfully nipped on it sometimes before sinking back into pondering, not noticing hos his cigarette burned down without him drawing another sip.
He would never ever do such a thing to her, or the girls. Never…or would he?
Once, he was a criminal – people like Lucy were his nemesis. He wouldn't have stopped to…
Kill her…

The sudden sting in his heart left him nearly breathless. He dropped the cigarette without even noticing, the cup in his hand started shuddering again in his grip and Gru had trouble with swallowing. Sickness came back to him, overwhelming him. The mere thought that he, Felonious Gru, ex-villain and former cruel man who wouldn't hesitate to kill a single man, would have murdered Lucy if she dared to be in his way…
Would she ever trust him again once he would tell her what he would do to her if he was still a villain? Would she ever trust him to have changed? It hadn't been such a long time ago when Lucy was clearly stating that in her opinion, Gru hasn't changed at all – his old patterns would come back and eventually take him over again. She would leave him again.
For real. For life…
The odd moisture in his eyes came back…
He couldn't live without her, how often has he told her this? How often did he promise her that he would never let her go, never would cause her pain anymore, how often did he promise he wouldn't ever fall back to who he once was – she always said she would be there for him, never would leave him again – but he knew she would eventually. She would leave him once she knew which somebody he was and could be again any would leave just…just like his father. Just like his mother. They knew what kind of specimen he was, what a cruel person he could be, what a disappointment he is…

The shallow sound of water dripping woke him up from his bedazzled state. Looking down, he figured the surface of his coffee seemed to be stirred. And then suddenly a drop of water or…rain or…whatever it may be – it fell down from his cheeks and into the cup beneath his face.
Tears…
His throat tightened, his eyes burned. He was crying…again…
Tears ran down his face, and this time, Gru didn't do anything from stopping them to fall. They rolled down his cheeks, dropping into his coffee and on the kitchen counter and Gru desperately tried to make it stop, to repress his emotions, but as he exhaled the held air in his lungs, he couldn't do anything but sob. He sat there, crying silently, sniffing from time to time and rubbing his eyes. But the tears came falling. He was exhausted, sleep avoided him and whenever he tried to, these dreams came to haunt him and he was probably close about to have a complete breakdown. And there comes the crybaby again. He had cried so much when he was a boy and ever since then, he never shed a single tear. Never. Until this evening, that is. After a while, he figured that the suppressed urge to have somebody close to him to comfort him right now grew too much to handle, and storming into his girls room would be just a terrible idea – it would just cause an unnecessary mess. Nefario? Nope! He was his co-worker, not some person he could vent to. The minions? Ugh, certainly not. And Kyle? Kyle was a dog and at the end of the conversation, he probably would try to eat his hand or foot. So, he had really nearly nobody to talk to right now…except -

Somewhat mechanically, his hand reached for his phone.

...

A loud, shrill tone echoed through the house. Long, and repeating itself with a gap of three seconds.
Riiiiing, Riiiiing.
Lucy groaned. Opening her eyes, she looked first at the watch, then to her phone vibrating and blinking on the small nightstand.
Ugh, that's not happening, right? Who was seriously calling her right now, in the middle of the night? With some effort, she scrambled out of the warmth and comfort of her bed to sit up and grab her phone. To her mild surprise, it was Gru. Oh, what now? Did Margo have her period again and locked herself in the bathroom, like last time? Did Agnes become sick and wished for motherly care? Or wanted Edith to go on a spontaneous trainings-trip to the dojo at five in the morning? Well, she wouldn't know until she answered her phone, but inside, she was preparing herself for anything.
"Gru…?"

"L-Lucy…hey…"
Lucy blinked. Oh…
He sounded awful. His voice was husky and broke in between like he was struggling to speak at all.
"Gru? Sweetie, what's wrong? You sound like something bad happened."
A longer pause. No sound was heard on the other side, but Lucy knew he was still there. The silent sound of the coffee-machine in the background told her so.
"Honey…?"
"U-Uhm…" he muttered. "I—I had a nightmare."
"Oh…" Lucy said dumbfounded. Well – for a grown man, this was certainly a reason to call their girlfriend to ask for comfort; like a little child – but this was Gru! That was even more shocking!
"Wow, who are you and what have you done to my boyfriend?" she joked, and he laughed weakly from the other side of the phone, but not long enough for Lucy to feel still worried about him. "Hon, now tell me – what really happened? You wouldn't wake me up at five in the morning to tell me you had a nightmare, right?"
Again, silence. "Did Margo get her period again and need some female advice?"
"Uh – no."
"Is Agnes sick?" – "…No."
"Does Edith bug you to go and train with me?"
"I'm…pretty sure she doesn't." he replied slowly. "Well, what is it then…?"
Silence.
"Well…it's not jus' dis…but…" his voice broke again. "I-It's jus, dat…I have been thinkin' a lot and…Well, I haven't slept very good dhe last couple of days, to be fully honest, and…"
"Gru…?"

"I—I call, because…Because I vanted…to say…"
Lucy stiffened when he suddenly heart him sniffling.
"Gru…? Gru, are you crying?"
"N-No-No! No, I-I'm not cryin'…!" he defended himself, brushing away his tears. "I-I'm jus' a bit…a bit exhausted dat's all…"
"Gru, shall I come over, perhaps…?" - "U-Uh...vhat?" - "Do you want me to be with you right now...?"
"N-No, y-yu d-dun't have to…"
"But I want to…you really seem to be down in the mouth."
Gru nodded, although he was fully aware she was not seeing it.
"I'll get dressed, hang in there, buttercup."
And no ten minutes later, Lucy was sitting, half-sleeping in her car. She figured that Gru wouldn't mind if she showed up in her pyjamas, half of her clothes were at his place. As well as half of her cosmetics. She left it there for…hinting him something. It was always hard making him realize the easiest things – when it was the appropriate time to kiss, to hug, to cuddle, to make out or have some 'fun', she always pushed things along just slightly and it always helped without him complaining. But now that she had heard how desperate and…broken he seemed, she was honestly worried if it has something to do with her. Or their relationship. Gru was so much more careful since their temporary breakup. It was almost like all his confidence was blown away, replaced by a constant fear to do or say something wrong and lose her. Maybe…maybe he was having a nightmare about them breaking up? She knew how much he loved her and the relationship they had, and so did Lucy. She loved him more than anything in her life, and seeing him talking to her, looking at her, holding and touching and loving her, she knew, he did the same.

At his house, she took out the extra pair of keys that she received from him to open the door. It was dark inside, just the light in the kitchen was burning.
"Gru, honey…?"
She heard some noises inside the lit up room and quickly moved inside, to see a very pale, restless Gru pacing through the kitchen, a cup of coffee and a half-emptied kettle of coffee, and two cigarettes on the table – causing Lucy to gasp.
"G-Gru…?"
Gru seemed to be just terribly busy with his own thoughts – no doubt, the coffee even did its wonder on him. Muttering something in Russian, he looked at the ground, biting on his lower lip, almost like he didn't notice Lucy was speaking to him.
"You – how many coffees did you have?!"
He held up four fingers. "Four?!" She picked up the half-burned cigarettes. "And you have been smoking?! I thought you gave up smoking completely!"
She soon had to realize that Gru was once again having his five minutes and Lucy learned not to interrupt him while he seemed to be clearing his mind by talking gibberish. At least, his mother language sounded like this. But this was different, he didn't show her his face, didn't turn towards her, his arm was wrapped around his body, while his hand was uncontrollably digging his nails into the crook of his neck, or holding his head.

"Gru…" she scooted to him and placed a hand on his shoulder – causing him to cringe violently and back away from her, like a hot flame just touched his bare skin and burned him.
"Gru, look at me…"

Lucy came close to him again, placing her fingers gently beneath his chin to make him look into her eyes. And she could see the tears running down his face, his eyes red and his skin swollen from the saltiness. "Oh…oh, baby, what happened to you? Why did you cry?" He let out a shaky sigh – Her touch was so soothing, comforting and it settled Gru back to relax, but as soon as he closed his eyes, a fresh tear rolled down his cheek.
"Oh Honey, oh my sugar pie…" she brushed his tear away, kissing his face with tenderness. "Oh, love, what's wrong…? What happened…?"
Gru sniffled, running his hand over his face and gulped, before he drew her closer to him. "I-I…I keep dreamin' dat…" he sniffed again. "I keep dreamin' about my past life as a villain…a-and dat… dat I harm my daughters and…and give dhem back to Miss Hattie's, and…and I keep dreamin' dat…d-dat…"
His breath hitched in his throat. A loud pang went through Lucy's heart when, for the first time, she saw Gru being so close to breaking into tears once again. She never had expected that he would become so…emotional. So vulnerable.
Without even asking or thinking, she pulled him close to her, so close she was scared she would hurt him, but she didn't care.

She held him and brushed her hand over his back and his head and tried to calm him down.
"Shh…it's okay Gru…I'm here…"
Gru hesitated, but then he wrapped his around her thin frame and held her as well, burying his head in her open, curly hair and soaked in the fresh scent of her perfume and the smell of her clothes and just her in general. It was calming. Soothing. It always helped him overcoming his deepest sorrow and anxieties.
"I'm scared, Lucy…" he whispered. "I'm scared of myself…"
"But why…? Why should you?"
"Because I'm a horrible person…"
Lucy pulled away and looked back at him. A horrible person? He? Never.
"Gru – you're not a horrible person. You're a wonderful, loving father and boyfriend. You make me and the girls so happy, you're our everything…we would never, ever see you as a horrible person…"
"Even if yu know vhat I've did before…?"
For a moment, the redhead hesitated to once again pull him into her hug, looking up at her lover with worry in her eyes. She knew everything about him. Not everything maybe – but enough to be sure this would change his mind:
"I would, pumpkin…I would always."
"But…I have done so many, terrible things…and vhat if I ever –"

"Felonious Alexej Gru…"
Gru stiffened as Lucy was suddenly addressing to him in his full name. For the first time today, he was looking directly into her eyes. And she looked deep back into hers.
"Ever since I met you, you have done nothing, absolutely nothing that comes close to what you did back in your younger days. Well…you did some things that weren't that great, but after all, you have apologized and you learned from it.
You had a horrible past – but now look at you: You have everything you can dream of. You have three wonderful daughters. You have a family that finally loves you for who you are. You have a girlfriend and thousands of munchkins who look up to you…and I don't care what you did, or who you used to be – because all I see in you is that wonderful, incredible man I fell in love with."
Her hand reached up to touch his face.
"I love you for who you are today – and not who you were. It's in the past – now is the present."
Gru's own hand touched hers, and with a deep sigh, he tilted his head against her palm, closing his eyes and letting her words sink in.
This helped him, so much. It helped him accept that his dreams would just be a sick idea in the back of his mind and that now, he was loved and cared about and that he had her and the girls – he had a family. Fresh tears rolled down his cheek, but Lucy caught them with her thumb to brush them off.

"There, there, Gru…" she purred and leaned in to kiss him, first little pecks, before he finally responded. Arms around each other's bodies, they kissed and held each other close to them.
What did he do to deserve such a beautiful woman in his life? Outside and inside.
"I love yu, Lucy…"
"I love you too, Gru…" leaning out, she glanced up at him with a smile. "Are you feeling better…?"
He gave a weak nod.
"Hey now, you know what we'll do now?" she let go of him and turned around, looking inside his kitchen. Gru watched her with slight skeptic, but he trusted her to do something that would probably cheer him up again.
Lucy roamed around, knowing this kitchen form her previous times, but it was still so big and messy – she would have to motivate him to help her clean this place once in a while, for the minions seemed already busy with other stuff to tidy up in this big house. From time to time, she imagined what it would be if she would live here…
Well, granted, she had a whole lot of stuff here already – her second pj, some other clothes, her favorite shoes, some of her make-up and whatnot else, yet she couldn't stop imagining what it would be like to…actually live with him.
Gru was still waiting for Lucy to find what she was looking for, and watched with a frown. Why exactly was she roaming through the fridge?

"Uh…Lucy…?"
"Where is it? Ugh, you have three kids and no-ah, look!" she suddenly raised a box ben and jerry's up in the air like it was a trophy.
"Ugh…" Gru stuck out his tongue. "If yu're intendin' to make me eat dis –"
"Why, yes! Icecream always helps when you're restless and have nightmares."
Gru shook his head violently. Anything, anything but this sticky, sugary, gross stuff!
Nevertheless, Lucy picked up a spoon and walked straight to the living room. By now she had learned that arguing with him about things he would refuse to try was useless, so she had to be a bit pushy.
"Coming, Love?" she called and Gru rolled his eyes.
"Dis woman's gonna be my death…" he muttered, but then he followed her, making his way into the huge hall with the long, red curtains, the crocodile couch, the two big chairs in front of the fireplace, the vast TV – he loved this house more than any house he had lived in. He had spent most of his childhood moving around, starting from the day he was born. From Russia to Germany, from Germany to Mexico and eventually, when he was about four years old, his family started wandering through America. The cold, dry east, the way-too-hot south, and finally the chilly yet satisfyingly calm west, at the coast of California, to this very mansion, where his old uncle lived. This house was older than both his and Lucy's age together – and many of his ancestors lived here before. He wondered if someday his own kids would run with the family-tradition and live their lives in these walls.
Absently minded, his hand traveled over the cold wall, remembering what kind of memories he had while staying in this house, his childhood and young adulthood to the day he became a villain – and a father.

"Gru…?"
Gru was pulled out of his trance and looked back at Lucy with an open mouth to say something, but quickly he decided to close it again, putting his hands on his back to move to her side.
"What were you thinking?"
"Uh – huh?"
"You seemed absent for a minute – is everything okay?"
Gru sat down next to her on the couch and watched as she opened the can with chocolate icecream.
"I'm—fine, I guess…" he shook his head softly and sighed. "Jus' nostalgia…"
"Ohh…" Lucy said in a sing-song. "My lovey-dovey is thinking about his childhood?"
Gru was a bit startled that she could apparently look through him like a windowpane.
"N-N-No…I-I vas jus'—"
"Hey now, big guy – I know that glance." She put the spoon inside the box to put some icecream on her spoon. "You should have seen my Father, he was always indulged in reminiscences, always running through these houses and running his hand over the walls and remembering his childhood in this house we lived in – I never knew why he did that or why he was so caught in his memories about his past self, but…he always seemed to be a bit melancholic after this…"
Gru listened and saw that certain glint of sadness in her eyes. Her father and mother died both, right after she left her home. She never really told him what exactly happened to them, just how much she seemed to enjoy the times when she was still living with them, how much she admired her father and her mother and every time she was revealing him a new story of her childhood, he envied her for such strength. It was not the kind of childhood he had had. But nothing worse or better either. She knew, unlike her, he always had struggles when speaking about his past times, and she accepted it silently. She never asked, never triggered anything – he was glad for that.
"I can't remember what his childhood was like, he once told me about it, but…" she paused. "I forgot about it, I guess…"
She smiled. She didn't weep or cry – she smiled. A weak smile…
"Lucy…"

He was interrupted by her raising her spoon towards his mouth. Usually, he would never ever eat this stuff, but for her…
Carefully nibbling on the cold, sweet treat, he tasted the unfamiliar and relatively hated taste of chocolate and smiled back at her.
"But I know that he always was smiling as a kid. And he told me to do the same. He told he whenever times would be good or bad, at its worst or at its peak – it should smile…"
She silenced again.
"So, at the day of his funeral, I have been smiling as well for his sake. I knew he wanted me to smile forever, so…"
She looked back at him. "My relatives told me I was a rude example of a daughter to smile at my own father's funeral. I guess…I guess they were right about it."
"It vasn't rude at all…" he answered in a soft voice, and Lucy laughed before she paused for a while…
"That's good to hear…"

...

Lucy and Gru didn't know how long they were sitting there, feeding each other with ice cream, pondering over said words…
Gru gulped down the last chip of chocolate before he finally had the courage to look back at her.
"Lucy…?"
"Yes…?"
"I…uhm…" he stammered, avoiding eye contact with her once again. "I'm…I'm sorry for…for yur loss."
"Gru, that's…that's nice of you, but – it's fine…" her hand reached for his hand and squeezed it gently. "I don't know what you have experienced when you were a kid, but – I think you had a harder time than me."
Looking back at her, something in his eyes seemed to sparkle, but she couldn't make out what it would be. Until Gru suddenly rose up from the couch and headed to one of the shelves to look over the books which stood there, neatly in a row. Lucy didn't question him, apparently he was looking for something she was longing to see and hear – his childhood. She never learned anything about his former live except him being a villain, but never how he was raised, how his parents were – well judging by how his mother treated him today, she could imagine why he always said he had a hard childhood. Finally Gru grabbed a large book and returned to her, sitting down to hand it to her.
"Dis is my…uhm…"
"Diary?" she asked with an eager smile. "Well, yeah, vith photos and so on…"
"Gru…are you sure you…that you wanna show me this…?"
"I-I…I am! Yu deserve to know…"

They both nodded in unison, and then, very carefully, Lucy opened the book.
A bright smile appeared on her face when the first photo showed a little thing, wrapped in blankets, sleeping peacefully in a small bed in apparently a hospital.
"Is that…?" she asked and looked back at him and he gave a soft shrug. "I have alvays been a hideous kid."
"Oh, Gru, no you're not hideous…" she soothed him, looking back at the photos. She browsed through the book, seeing all these cute photos of Gru as a baby, a young child – even those which he rather would burn than show her – until she stopped. The picture of a tall man with short, ruffled hair, blue clear eyes and dark, black stubbles all over his chin, holding his little sleeping boy in his arms.
"Gru, this is…"
"My dad…" he nodded.
"You—you look just like him." Her hand flew to her mouth as she seemed to repress her tears. She seemed to be so touched by this picture…
A harsh sting zinged through Gru's heart, a dull pain followed. He looked away. He couldn't stand staring at this man. Not what happened after all of this…
"Gru…?" Lucy asked once she saw him looking away with a bitter glance. "Gru, what is wrong?"
"I…I wish I wuldn't be like him."
"Why…?"

Without a word, he gently jumped to the next page. A photo of a small boy, blue eyes, black, ruffled hair and…a deep sad glance looked into the camera, his eyes swollen like he had been crying. It must probably have been an unlucky shot, yet – something seemed fishy about this. For on the next page, she saw him, sitting on a bench, clutching to a blue flower, she saw it again – that sorrowful look in his clear blue, young eyes.
"Gru…what…what happened?" she asked, looking back at him.
"My dad, he…" he took a deep breath. "He left dhe family vithout a word. He jus' – vasn't dhere anymore. I asked my modher, but she jus' told me dat Dad never wuld come back. I…I assume dat is dhe reason she grew so cold tovards me."
A pause.
"Well, uh…but it's fine, I dun't care – he probably is dead by now anyvay –"
A hand rose up to his face and stroke his cheek gently.
"Oh Gru…" she whispered. "I'm…I'm so sorry…"
"It's…fine…I guess…"
Lucy put the book on the cushions to close the space between the two of them and hugged him tightly; her arms around his neck and her body flush against his own. Gru was taken aback by this action – hugs have been always a strange thing to do, in his daughter's case, it was natural, but – he never had been receiving hugs by anybody else.
So, carefully, he wrapped his own arms around her and held her close to him.

Once the temporary astonishment faded, the feeling of warmth filled his chest and he started to caress her back softly, almost like he was comforting her instead the other way round.
But this was nice. It was nice and warm and cozy and the missing piece inside him was filled once again. They were like two puzzle pieces which didn't seem to be fitting, but once they were together, it was like they were simply meant for each other. It was probably the moment Gru realized something. He needed her. He needed her more than anything. He needed her here, with him, needed to feel her, needed to smell her, needed to wake up with her being the first thing to look at, needed her to sit with him here on this very couch and hug and cuddle until they would fall asleep.
"Lucy…?"
"Hm…?"
"…I-I…Uhm…w-will yu…uh…"
Lucy suddenly drew back as if she literally knew what he wanted to ask.
"I-I mean, uhm…I-I really like havin' yu here, vith me, dhe gurls and…I was thinkin' – du yu perhaps wanna…move in here…?"
There, he said it!
Lucy blinked, for a few seconds none of them said a thing, then suddenly, the redhead smiled so wide, he barely had seen her smiling like this.
And then she gave a soft laughter.
"Well, Gru – I thought you would never ask. Although…" she looked at the table, where the second keys for his house were, looked down at her slippers standing neatly at the side of the couch, saw her coat hanging over Agnes' big teddybear chair…
And she laughed again.
"Don't you think we are actually literally living together already?"
Gru frowned and blinked. "Uhm – can't say we actually du yet, Lucy."
"No?" she teased. "Well, what about the cosmetic-bag in your bathroom. I assume neither you or the girls need mascara or lipstick, hm?"
Gru shrugged. "Yu left it dhere because yu were in a hurry."
"Yeah, so right…and what about my bunny-slippers? I left them there on purpose too? Or my Victoria Secret underwear you love so much on me?" she winked at him and Gru blushed. "We-Well, uh…"
"And what about the second keys you gave me? Yu would never hand them to just somebody, would you?"
He seemed to be thinking. But then he raised his glance at her and a weak laughter escaped him.
"Oh my god, we ARE livin' togedher already."
Both chuckled, and hugged each other once again.
"Well, except that I have to bring much more of my stuff to yours and you needing to make sure your bed has space for me in future."
"My bed has alvays space for yu, leetle lady."
She blushed at that nickname – little lady. She wasn't that small compared to him, but whenever she wasn't wearing her high-heels, he called her exactly this name. It was cheesy, but she loved it anyway.
"You think – you think the girls would be okay with me moving in?"
"I'm sure dhey will…" he nodded. "Agnes anyvay."
Another laughter was shared, and the rest until morning both were browsing through his childhood-photo-albums and ate terrible tasting ice cream.