Habit of You
by angellwings
Chapter Eleven: Voicemail
Lucy had asked Wyatt to hang around the studio once they'd discussed Noah until their brains and their conversations were running in circles. Lucy looked frazzled and Wyatt knew constant focus on the issue wasn't going to help. So, he closed that door for now. She'd revealed that Noah had tried to call her several times the morning after she ended it and that she'd blocked his number from her phone. That was a good decision, Wyatt thought. She couldn't have said anything to Noah that would have prevented this.
Once Lucy got back to work, her nerves calmed. The change in focus did her good. Celia noticed something was off, though. Wyatt could tell. She sat down next to him in the back of the studio and gave him a curious look.
"Who's hurting my friend, Wyatt? She looks like she's seen a ghost," Celia asked sternly.
"I'm taking care of it," Wyatt answered.
Celia grinned slowly at him. "Taking care of it or taking care of her?"
"Both," he said without an ounce of hesitation.
"Good answer," Celia told him with a nod. "Anything I need to know about?"
"Not yet. Just...watch her six, okay? If you're out with her at a show or something, be careful," he told her. "And call me if you need to."
Celia looked a bit startled at that but nodded. "I'm extremely curious, but I won't ask. I'll keep an eye on her. I promise."
"Thank you," Wyatt told her with a small smile. "For a lot of things."
She smirked and leaned back against the couch with a proud swagger. "You mean for setting up this dynamo pair?" She asked as she pointed between him and Lucy, as she recorded her vocals in the booth. "It was my pleasure. Just don't screw it up, okay?"
"I'll try my damndest not to," he told her honestly. He was in far too deep for that.
Lucy's phone vibrated in her pocket. She didn't dare look at it from inside the booth. But she was dying to know who it was. She'd blocked Noah. It couldn't be him. But some irrational part of her was afraid he'd get around that. It wouldn't be difficult to do. She also thought it was probably Amy. They'd only briefly texted since Sunday's brunch. She wanted to talk to her sister very badly. At least about Wyatt. Maybe not Noah. Because so much had happened since brunch on Sunday and Amy didn't know any of it. Jiya knew some of it. So did Celia. But she hadn't told Amy yet.
Once they settled on an acceptable take, Lucy was dismissed from the booth and as soon as she was her phone came out of her pocket.
She had two missed calls.
She stopped mid stride in the doorway of the booth causing Celia to bump into her as they passed each other.
"Okay, you're clumsy but you're not that clumsy," Celia said with a chuckle. The chuckle died on Celia's lips as soon as Lucy looked up at her. "Shit," Celia said with a furrowed brow. "You've got that ghost look again. What happened?"
Lucy turned her screen so Celia could see the name displayed in her missed calls.
"What the hell?" Celia asked with an angry glare. "All you get from your mom for years is a yearly guilt trip in the form of a birthday card and now she decides to call you? I'm sorry, no. Just no."
"She left a voicemail."
"Lucy Preston don't you dare play that voicemail," Celia said in a stern, nearly parental, tone. "Delete it right now."
Lucy sighed and gave her friend a tired look. "I can listen to one voicemail from my mother without falling to pieces, Cely. Besides, what if it's about Amy? I haven't heard from her since Sunday night."
"Fine, but just remember, despite the fact that she's your mother you owe her nothing. Okay? You deserve to have the power in deciding where your life goes. Only you. Not her," Celia reminded her. "Got it?"
Lucy smiled kindly at Celia and nodded. "Got it."
"By the way," Celia said as she briefly nodded her head toward Wyatt. "Master Sergeant Hunky, over there, is totally gone over you. Just so you know."
Lucy blushed and smiled bashfully. "Really? Are you sure?"
"Positive," Celia told her with a nod. "Trust me."
Celia went into the booth and Lucy headed over to the couch where Wyatt had settled and then sat down next to him.
"You okay?" He asked as she continued to stare at her phone apprehensively.
"Yeah, I think so," Lucy said with a sigh. "I don't know." She paused and took a deep breath to shore up her nerves as she stared at the voicemail. All she had to do was tap the screen and it would play. She would hear her mother's voice for the first time in years. "My mother called, she left a voicemail. I'm pretty sure it's about Noah."
She'd told Celia she thought it might be about Amy and it could have been. But really she firmly believed it was about Noah. Clearly, her mother had an interest in that relationship. There was no other reason for Carol Preston to call her estranged daughter.
Wyatt took her hand in his and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Do you want to listen to it? You don't have to. You can just delete it."
"If it is what I think it is then I'm not going to be affected by it," Lucy said with a shrug. "And my assumption is pretty much the worst thing she could say. So, it can't really hurt anything to listen and if it's not what I think it is then I'll be pleasantly surprised. If I don't listen to it then I won't know either way, and I feel like I need to know."
Wyatt nodded and squeezed her hand again. "Then okay. Do you want to step out?"
"No," Lucy told him. "Everyone here knows about my past with her. The people in this studio are all people I trust. It'll be fine."
He gave her a small grateful smile and she realized that she'd inadvertently revealed she trusted him. She knew she did but she'd yet to say those words to him. Until now. She chose not to say anything further. She didn't need to, not really. He released her hand and put his arm around her instead, drawing her closer to him on the couch.
"I'm here if you need me," he said with a warm smile that lit up his whole face, even his ridiculous blue eyes that never failed to reassure her.
She nodded and then, borrowing some strength from his presence, pressed play and brought the phone to her ear.
"Lucy, this is your mother," Carol said in a soft and patient voice. Lucy knew that tone well. It meant she was anything BUT soft and patient. She rolled her eyes at her mother but continued to listen. "You shouldn't punish Noah for merely knowing me. Do you really despise me that much? Is it such a crime that I wanted you to follow in my footsteps? That I believed you could find fulfillment in the future I envisioned for you? You enjoy history so much. I know you do. You don't read biographies at the speed you always did without a hunger for knowledge. I merely wanted you to put that to use. I wanted to work with you side by side and I'd hoped that we could change the world." Lucy sighed tiredly. She'd heard this speech before but it was usually written in a birthday card. It was old news. "Noah is the perfect partner for that, sweetheart, and he cares about you. He can motivate you and expand your ambitions. He can help you achieve great things. He's loyal and, did I mention, forgiving? Please reconsider." Carol paused and, Lucy swore, her voice took on a much darker edge when she continued with, "You'll regret it if you don't."
Lucy's grip on her phone tightened as the voicemail ended and she stared straight ahead for several moments. She had never heard her mother sound like that. She sounded frustrated, angry, dangerous. It had to be her worries about Noah filtering Carol's tone. She wasn't hearing it accurately. She couldn't be.
She turned to Wyatt and handed him her phone. "I need an objective opinion. You don't know my mother. Do you mind listening to it?"
His brow furrowed at her as he took the phone from her hands. "Of course I don't mind, but...are you sure?"
She nodded and then watched him carefully as he listened. She nearly chuckled as Wyatt rolled his eyes much as she did hers during Carol's "future I envisioned for you" speech. Not that she needed validation, but the fact that Carol's words affected him the same as they affected her was a comfort. She could tell when the voicemail got to Carol's opinion of Noah because Wyatt scoffed and shook his head as if he didn't buy a word of it. She knew too when he'd heard her mother's last words because he tensed as he sat next to her. Every muscle went rigid. It was impossible not to notice.
"Did she just...threaten you?" Wyatt asked Lucy in shock. "I know a threat when I hear one usually but this is your mother. So I normally wouldn't think I'd even have to ask."
"So, it sounded a bit frightening to you too, then? I was hoping I was imagining it," Lucy said as she bit her bottom lip thoughtfully.
He shook his head and handed her back her phone. He still looked shocked and dismayed when he answered her. "No, you didn't imagine anything. I heard it too."
"I don't know what to think about anything anymore," Lucy admitted. "I mean my mother is a piece of work, but I cannot imagine that she would actually do anything to hurt me. She probably just wants to intimidate me in the hopes she'll scare me into doing what she she wants. I could definitely see that happening. Wouldn't be the first time."
"You must be more like your father than your mother," Wyatt told her as he shook his head at her again. "Because you are nothing like that woman in that voicemail. I can't imagine you talking to anyone like that, let alone someone you supposedly care about."
"I hope I'm more like him," Lucy admitted with a fond smile. "He was all heart. Mom is too logical for that most of the time. She made me weigh the pros and cons and strategic advantages of every decision. Well, except for the ones she'd already made for me. Like Stanford. Or my major. Or, apparently, who I should date." Her tone had gone from wistful, as she talked about her father, to bitter, as she talked about her mother.
Lucy was no longer scared of her mother's vague threat. She was pissed. After all this time, what made her mother think she could waltz in and control her now? Would Carol Preston ever just let her live her life?
"It's always the same with her," Lucy said through a clenched jaw. "Nothing is ever going to change."
Her whole body was tense now. She could feel anger coursing through her like it often did when she thought about her mother for too long. Initially thoughts of her mother made her sad for the relationship they'd never have, but the grieving didn't last very long and it was quickly replaced by resentment. Carol may be her mother but that didn't mean she had the right to pass judgement on the things and people that made Lucy happy. She always acted as if such a life and such people were beneath Lucy. Carol always treated all of Lucy's friends like gum stuck on the bottom of her shoe, her whole life. And now, without even having met him, she was doing the same thing to Wyatt. Not only that, but her mother had sent Noah to her. Her mother had sent someone to date her who was turning out to be a threat to not only Lucy's safety, but Wyatt's too. Her mother did that. The whole situation made her furious. It wasn't fair to Wyatt. It wasn't fair to her. Honestly, it wasn't even fair to Noah. Her mother had clearly convinced the man that the two of them were destiny of some kind based on the things he'd said to Wyatt.
This whole crazy situation was her mother's fault. How could someone cause their own daughter this much stress and pain? She was so angry at the unfairness of it all that she could feel tears filling her eyes, threatening to spill over onto her cheeks. Just as she was about to lose it, she felt Wyatt's arm that had gone around her earlier slip lower until his hand was on her waist. He absently caressed her there and pulled her into a tight embrace. He'd turned himself toward her and brought his other arm around to hold her as well. As her angry tears hit her cheeks, she realized that he'd essentially pulled her onto his lap. Her legs were strewn across his to accommodate the way he'd turned toward her and, though she was still technically sitting on the couch, the majority of her body was touching his.
Her arms wrapped around his middle and she rested her head on his chest. She closed her eyes tightly, buried her face further into his shirt, and let herself cry for a long moment. She didn't question what he'd think of her if she did, didn't worry that he wouldn't want her afterward, and she didn't doubt that he wanted to be there for her. She knew he did. He'd told her as much just yesterday morning.
She felt more comfortable crying in his arms then she'd ever felt before. She felt safe, valued, and cared for. She felt as though she were enough. With this realization came another fresh wave of anger at not just her mother, but Noah too. They really thought she was better off without Wyatt? Yes, she'd only known him a few days but she'd received more care and concern from him than either of them. They wanted to scare him away, they wanted to frighten her enough to leave him. Well, that wasn't going to happen. She wouldn't let it.
Her arms tightened around Wyatt as a fiercely protective feeling grew with in her. She wouldn't let them hurt him and she certainly wasn't giving him up. They could intimidate her all they wanted but her feet were firmly planted on the ground and she wasn't budging.
Her anger and resentment gave way to confidence and determination. Her tears stopped, and she sat up enough to meet Wyatt's eyes. He looked upset on her behalf and she could almost feel him claiming another piece of her heart.
"You know how we talked about that this wouldn't be easy?" Lucy asked him as she referenced their conversation about his career.
He nodded and gave her a questioning glance.
"You were worried about me having to deal with the demands of your job, but it turns out your job isn't the only thing making this difficult," Lucy said with a dry chuckle. "You have to put up with my mother and my stalker ex-boyfriend. Are you sure you don't want a chance to get out now?" Her grin was deceptively teasing, but she was very serious.
He'd given her a chance to walk away, multiple chances actually, and now it was her turn to consider him first. She was ready to stand up for her own choices and her own life and while she wanted him there she didn't want him to feel as though he had to be by her side. He needed to choose that for himself.
"I'm not going anywhere," Wyatt promised as his eyes met hers with a determined glare. "Not as long as you want me here."
"That's what I was hoping you'd say," Lucy said with a contented sigh as she rested her head on his chest once again. She didn't miss the way he'd added "as long as you want me here." He still thought she might change her mind and he was still giving her an exit strategy. He didn't believe that she could want to stick with him through difficult separations and possible stretches of army mandated radio silence. He didn't believe that she really wanted to put up with his temper and his guilt. He didn't believe it because he didn't know one very important thing.
She'd fallen in love with him.
She hadn't realized it until just now, but there it was. There he was. Impossibly, it only took her three days to realize that the something she'd always known was missing in her life was him. Three days. They'd been going non stop and spending nearly every second together and she hadn't paid attention to how much of her heart was now irrevocably attached to his. All it took was the idea that someone out there thought they could separate them with fear and threats and intimidation for her to see the situation clearly.
She'd fallen in love with Wyatt Logan and she would gladly fight the entire world if it meant she could keep him.
She wanted to laugh because just three days ago she never would have believed this. She was a cynic when it came to romance and the idea of love happening in three days would have been preposterous to her. Stories like that only happened in fairy tales and films.
Or so she had mistakenly thought, but there was no doubt in her mind now that what she had with Wyatt was very real.
And the only question that remained for her was the question of just how real all of this was for him. Did he feel what she did? Was he just as determined to keep her in his life as she was to keep him? And then there was the biggest question of all, did she tell him? Did she dare utter the words out loud? Was she brave enough to admit it?
Maybe. Maybe she could be.
But for right now, she wanted to sit here in his arms and feel. She wanted to enjoy how safe and cared for he made her feel and how stalwart she already knew him to be. She wanted to feel herself loving him for just being Wyatt. Considerate, reckless, hotheaded, thoughtful Wyatt. She wanted to marvel at the idea that she could even feel this much this quickly. She wanted one fully aware moment of love and peace.
Because, honestly, that's what Wyatt Logan was for her. Love and peace.