This chapter continues 1x09 (to be concluded in the next chapter) :)
It was a cloudy day as they drove up to the Mcllroy Bank & Trust and parked up on the side of the road. The team watched for a minute as 1930s civilians went about their daily routines. Even after so many trips out, it still amazed Lucy simply to see ordinary life of the past right before her very eyes.
Lucy sighed heavily from the passenger seat. 'We've stolen, what, half a dozen cars on these trips? We're like hardened car thieves by now.'
'Hey, if they don't want us to borrow 'em, they shouldn't leave the keys in 'em,' Wyatt pointed out, turning around in the drivers' seat to grin at Lucy.
'Oh,' Lucy said slowly, amused, and then Wyatt gestured with a click of his tongue for Rufus to turn off the audio recorder.
'Recorder's off,' Rufus confirmed from the back seat.
'We should tell Agent Christopher what we know about Rittenhouse,' Wyatt said, turning to Lucy for confirmation, and she nodded in agreement.
The two of them had in fact discussed this possibility about a week ago. They felt that they could trust Agent Christopher more than anyone else in Mason Industries.
'Or…not at all. No,' Rufus protested, panicked.
'She's piecing it together, Rufus. It's only a matter of time,' Lucy said gently.
'Then let her figure it out on her own,' Rufus said, and Lucy sighed. 'Or we stall her.'
'Look, I don't know what's worse – Flynn or Rittenhouse,' Wyatt said patiently, 'but if it's Rittenhouse, we're gonna need all the help we can get. Someone we can trust.'
Rufus hesitated, looking deep in thought. 'I trust Jiya,' he said hopefully.
'Yeah, I bet you do,' Wyatt said playfully, and he smirked at the incredulous look on Rufus's face. 'I got eyes, you sly dog.'
Lucy's eyes widened excitedly as she took in Rufus's embarrassed expression. 'Are you and Jiya happening? Is it happening?' she said eagerly, and she slapped Wyatt's arm triumphantly. 'Told you it was gonna happen.'
'Okay, can we just concentrate on the mission?' Rufus said, mortified, as Lucy and Wyatt continued to grin. 'Please? You guys check out the bank. Okay? I'll keep watch out here.'
Lucy smirked in a self-satisfied way. 'It happened.'
Lucy couldn't help envying Rufus, as she and Wyatt left him to keep an eye out for Flynn while they went to look for the Rittenhouse key in the bank. He had been pining after Jiya for so long, and now he'd finally got what he wanted. She could see from the humble smile and the giddy look in his eyes just how happy he was. She very much doubted she would experience that feeling anytime soon. Not with Wyatt, anyway.
Their plan was simple: Lucy was to go and distract the staff member at the bank with her 'womanly wiles', as Wyatt called it, while Wyatt was to sneak around the building in search of the Rittenhouse key Agent Christopher had shown them a photograph of. Lucy had only just begun her mission to open a new bank account, however, when the gunshot echoed threateningly around the room. Wyatt immediately turned to rush to Lucy's side, but the pistol pointed at his head made him halt in his tracks.
He was shocked to hear a woman's voice say, 'I wouldn't if I were you, handsome,' as she got her finger ready to pull the trigger.
Lucy had frozen over at the other end of the room, and was staring wide-eyed at the young man who was holding out two rifles at the banks' staff members and customers who were all whimpering and holding their hands up in surrender.
'Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. This here is a stickup and we're the Barrow Gang. I'm Clyde Barrow. This here is Bonnie Parker. At your service,' the man with the rifles announced in a strong Southern accent that matched his female partners', and Wyatt glared incredulously over at Lucy; what were the chances?!
'Bonnie…and Clyde?!' Lucy murmured, amazed.
Clyde wiggled his eyebrows at her. 'What are you lookin' at? You heard of us?' he asked sceptically, and despite their life-threatening predicament, Lucy couldn't stop herself from smiling as she held up her hands.
While Clyde raided the safes in the back, Bonnie held the remaining staff and customers hostage in one corner of the main room; Wyatt was relieved to be back at Lucy's side, where he could shield her from harm – he didn't like the way Bonnie was holding both guns out so precariously, and he was glad to be shortly rid of the two gangsters. When Lucy pointed out that Bonnie happened to be wearing the Rittenhouse key they had been searching for as a necklace, however, Wyatt realised with dread that they wouldn't be able to let Bonnie and Clyde out of their sight after all.
The moment the two robbers strolled casually out of the bank with the stolen money, Wyatt took hold of Lucy's arm. 'We gotta get that key. Come on,' he urged.
All seemed calm when they stepped outside…until they heard Rufus shout from the other side of the road, 'Guys, look out!'
Immediately alert, Wyatt looked around just in time to see the guns pointed in their direction; he grabbed Lucy and dived down, shielding them both from the gunfire behind a parked car. Bonnie and Clyde were being shot at too, and they were shooting back from behind their own car. Wyatt peered over at the shooters.
'It's Flynn,' he said to Lucy, who was breathing heavily and trying to remain calm as the bullets flew all around them.
'What?!'
'He's with the cops!' Wyatt said, as he began to shoot back at their attackers.
'Flynn must be using the cops to get the key from Bonnie,' Lucy realised with dread.
As the shooting continued, Lucy then heard Bonnie shout to her over from their car, which had been badly damaged from the gunfire.
'Who are you?'
'The cops are after us too!' Lucy replied, struck by sudden inspiration.
'Why are they after you?'
'Well, we can sit here and chat about it, or we can get the hell outta here!' Wyatt yelled back, cottoning on with Lucy's idea.
'Our bucket's all shot up,' Clyde said.
'We got a car across the street. Wanna make a run for it?' Lucy asked hopefully; this could be their chance to somehow get that key from Bonnie.
'If you got our backs, we got yours!' Wyatt shouted, and Bonnie and Clyde nodded in reluctant agreement; he turned back to Lucy. 'You ready?'
'What about Rufus? Rufus!' Lucy called anxiously towards the other side of the street where Rufus was hiding from the cops, but Wyatt interrupted her.
'Rufus knows the drill – if we get separated, we meet back at the Lifeboat. Besides, he's in a lot better shape than we are,' Wyatt pointed out, and he grabbed her hand. 'Let's go!'
Wyatt covered Lucy as she ran across the street towards the car they had stolen earlier; somehow, mainly thanks to Bonnie and Clyde's incredible aim, all four of them managed to escape in the car. The cops, along with Flynn and his henchmen, followed them in their own cars; the sun had set by the time they had finally lost track of the shooters.
'Looks like we lost 'em,' Wyatt said, once they had pulled up along a driveway of a cabin near some woods that Clyde had directed them towards.
'Let's go back and start, shall we?' Clyde said haughtily, as he and Bonnie eyed them suspiciously from the backseat. 'This is Bonnie. I'm Clyde. Who are you two?'
Lucy hesitated and exchanged a sideways glance with Wyatt before answering. 'I'm Lucy. This here's Wyatt.'
'What were y'all doing pulling heat back there?' Clyde muttered.
'We were casing that bank until you and Bonnie showed up dragging a bunch of cops with you,' Lucy replied coolly.
Wyatt gazed at her, impressed by the casual, confident manner in which she said it; the words seemed to roll off her tongue so naturally without a second thought. She ought to have been an actress rather than a teacher.
'Really? What, just by coincidence we show up and hit the exact same bank at the exact same time?' Clyde said sceptically.
Wyatt raised his eyebrows, realising he too would have to play along if they were going to have a chance at convincing the legendary Bonnie and Clyde. 'Well, I guess so. Thanks for screwing it up for us.'
Clyde scowled. 'We screwed it up for you?'
Lucy sat round in the passenger seat to face them both, looking surprised. 'You never heard of Lucy and Wyatt?' she asked, smiling.
'No,' Clyde replied shortly, unimpressed.
Lucy turned to smile at Wyatt, only it wasn't her usual smile – there was a different look in her eyes, a look that plainly told him they needed to act like Bonnie and Clyde if they were ever going to win their trust and have a chance of getting that Rittenhouse key from around Bonnie's neck. This was role play. Wyatt smirked back at her, hoping his expression matched that of Clyde's whenever he looked admiringly at Bonnie.
'You heard of the Kansas City Depot job? Or the Union bank job in Atchison back in March?' Lucy asked Bonnie and Clyde, trying to match their Southern accent.
'Yeah, I heard of 'em,' Bonnie replied, watching Lucy suspiciously as she fiddled with her hair. 'The reporters figured us for 'em, but…we were never there.'
'Well, we were. Scored 25,000 smackers. Got away scot-free 'cause the cops were going after you instead of us,' Lucy said, smirking at Wyatt; she decided to ignore the wary look in his eyes and turned back to Bonnie and Clyde. 'I guess we owe you one.'
'Oh, if that's true, you owe us more than one,' Clyde said, as he and Bonnie smiled. 'How 'bout cuttin' us in?'
Lucy opened her mouth to speak but hesitated, completely at a loss with what to say. She turned desperately to Wyatt, who put on a forced smile.
'Oh, no, we…we spent that,' he said, laughing, and Clyde's smile faded at once. 'On hooch.'
Bonnie raised her eyebrows at them. 'Oh.'
'Yeah,' Lucy agreed reluctantly, terrified that Wyatt had blown their cover.
With a sigh, Clyde then opened the car door and got out; as Bonnie followed, Wyatt and Lucy exchanged a dark look. This was dangerous territory.
'Park this in the barn here,' Clyde instructed, indicating the way and opening the front gate of the drive, and he walked over to leer at Lucy from her open window in the passenger seat. 'Y'all meet us inside when you're done. I'll show you what real hooch is.'
Wyatt nodded, smiling at him. 'All right.'
'Okay,' Clyde muttered, and with that he turned around and wrapped his arm around Bonnie, who was looking giddy as she beamed back at the car.
Lucy was baffled; she'd thought their public display of affection during the bank robbery had just been for show, but they really did seem to be completely enamoured with each other. She could feel the tension coming off Wyatt beside her.
'So we just grab that key around her neck and we run, right?' he said to her urgently, the moment Bonnie and Clyde were out of earshot.
'I think we need to talk to 'em first,' Lucy replied heavily.
'Why? These are two killers, what are we waitin' for?' Wyatt asked incredulously.
'Agent Christopher said that we…we need to figure out what the key is for, but we don't know where they got it, who they got it from, or what the key opens. If it's this important to Flynn and Rittenhouse, shouldn't we find out? Don't you think?' Lucy murmured.
Wyatt rolled his eyes. 'Fine. But I am not putting on a stage play for these two,' he said firmly. 'First sign of trouble, we run.'
'Okay,' Lucy replied, trying to keep her voice casual as Wyatt turned back to the steering wheel. 'We just have to grab the key before 9am.'
Wyatt closed his eyes; of course, there had to be something, didn't there? 'What's 9am?' he whispered, flashing her a cynical smile.
'That's when one of Clyde's crew members, Henry Methvin, sells them out,' Lucy explained. 'He turns them over to this legendary Ranger, Frank Hamer – that's the man that was back there a-at the bank with Flynn – Hamer and his men pump over 130 bullets into Bonnie and Clyde's car…at 9am.'
Wyatt stared at her. 'Great. This just keeps getting better and better,' he said sarcastically, and he restarted the engine and drove up the drive, where he parked the car into the barn as instructed.
'C'mon, we've been in worse spots than this,' Lucy said bracingly as they got out of the car. 'We're just pretending to be a crime mobster pair or whatever, at least we're not parading around as the next Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.'
Wyatt groaned. 'Not yet. Hell knows where these missions are gonna take us next.'
'You make a fair point,' Lucy murmured, sighing heavily.
They walked in silence out of the barn into the quiet, moonlit yard. The small cabin where Bonnie and Clyde had disappeared into awaited them, the lights lit and the distant sound of a crackly radio playing jazz music could be heard from the open window. Bonnie and Clyde's laughter seemed to ring out across the field, and Lucy felt her heart sink. Those two were going to die tomorrow.
'So what's the deal here then, are we a couple or what?' Wyatt asked, trying to play it cool.
Lucy raised an eyebrow at him. 'W-well I'd have hoped to have had at least one date before we put a label on it,' she said, hoping a bit of humour would lighten the mood.
Wyatt stopped walking and tilted his head at her. He wanted so very much to roll his eyes at her but the twitch of her lips was hard to resist, and so he smirked back.
'I mean, now,' he said exasperatedly, as they carried on walking. 'Our act for Bonnie and Clyde, y'know, our new best pals.'
Lucy laughed nervously. 'I know what you meant, I-I was just…yeah, I mean, I guess, I don't know…no. We don't have to be?' Lucy said unsurely. 'We're just 'Lucy and Wyatt', not all mixed-gender crime gangs have to involve romance, do they?'
Posing as lovers-slash-bank-robbers seemed far too cliché for even Lucy to handle.
'I couldn't agree more,' Wyatt said firmly, his shoulders tensing up again as they neared the front door.
'Good. Great,' Lucy said, trying not to sound too stung at his response. 'Then let's…get this over with.'
She held out her hand to knock on the door when Wyatt then reached out and held her wrist to stop her.
'Actually, uh…we're trying to empathise with them, right? Be relatable?' Wyatt said, and Lucy nodded warily; he sighed. 'Maybe we are better off selling ourselves as a couple on the run from the law, like them, rather than just…friends.'
'It might work to gain their trust quicker if we seem more like them, yeah,' Lucy agreed at once, swallowing. 'Let's just hope they quit it with the PDA's.'
'Don't worry, we don't have to hold hands or anything,' Wyatt reassured her, and he flashed her a sly smirk before knocking on the door.
Bonnie flung the door open within seconds, already giggling away – she and Clyde had clearly already started on the alcohol – and she welcomed them into their secret home. The cabin was warm and cosy, which was surprising considering that they were using it as a hideout to avoid the cops, and the two hosts quickly began filling up some glasses with gin as Lucy and Wyatt nervously got settled in the kitchen. Wyatt felt his stomach turn as he watched Bonnie and Clyde waltz around the table along to the jazz music, unable to keep their hands off each other; seeing them being so obviously and deeply in love with each other wasn't easy for him, not when he could so vividly remember being that way with Jessica as if it had been merely weeks rather than years ago. It haunted him.
Wyatt sank into a chair at the table as Bessie Smith's 'Yellow Dog Blues' began playing through the crackly radio, and watched uneasily as Bonnie sidled over to the table and raised her glass.
'A toast,' she said, beaming away, 'to close calls.'
She giggled as their glasses clinked; Lucy and Wyatt forced a smile before taking a sip of their drink, trying not to focus on the suspicious glare in Clyde's eyes as he watched them both. Disgusted by the taste of the much stronger gin than Lucy was used to, she let out a spluttering cough. Wyatt looked up at her, half-concerned, half-irritated; if they were really going to try and pull off this stupid act, then they had to play their roles accordingly, and not being able to cope with the alcohol wasn't going to help Lucy's cause in the slightest. He glanced back to Bonnie and Clyde but luckily they hadn't noticed; Clyde had his arms around Bonnie's waist and was tickling her playfully.
'Stop,' Bonnie protested, giggling. 'Stop it.'
Lucy sat on the chair next to Wyatt and they exchanged an exasperated look. This was going to be a long evening.
'Sit down,' Bonnie said playfully, shoving Clyde into a chair.
He grinned up at her. 'I'm sitting down.'
Lucy's eyes fell to the golden Rittenhouse key dangling from the long necklace on Bonnie's chest. It was just like the one in the photograph Agent Christopher had shown them at Mason Industries. They needed it.
Bonnie had noticed where Lucy was staring. 'Oh, you like it, huh?' she said, grinning, her Southern accent particularly prominent.
'I've just never seen anything like it,' Lucy said after a slight hesitation, smiling back. 'Where'd you get it?'
'Clyde got it for me when we got engaged,' Bonnie replied fondly.
Lucy gave Wyatt a sideways glance. 'You're engaged?' Lucy prompted, and Bonnie turned back to Clyde with a hopeful look in her eyes.
'Go on, tell it, you know you want to,' Clyde said wearily with a roll of his eyes, amused.
'Oh, hell,' Bonnie said excitedly, clearly bursting to tell the story, and Lucy smiled across at Wyatt. 'Oh, he woke me up in the middle of the night – "Bonnie, Bonnie, look, I got something for you." And then there he was, down on one knee, holding this pretty little thing. And I stopped him right there, I said, "You know damn well I can't, you son of a bitch."'
'Tell 'em why,' Clyde interjected.
Bonnie grimaced. ''Cause I'm already married,' she admitted.
'And that's exactly why I didn't steal you an engagement ring,' Clyde said, pulling her by the waist onto his lap. 'I was trying to be considerate.'
'Wait, you're…already married to someone else?' Wyatt asked, trying not to sound too judgemental.
'Oh, yeah. She still got Roy's name tattooed on her thigh – look here, I'll show you,' Clyde said, his hand already under Bonnie's skirt, but she slapped his hand away.
'Stop it,' she said with pursed lips.
Lucy changed a sideways glance at Wyatt and caught his eye; they both smirked at each other, and then looked away. The sly twitch in Wyatt's lips made Lucy feel even more nervous; they were under the scrutinising gaze of none other than Bonnie and Clyde…if they failed to convince them that they were a fellow criminal couple, then they were doomed.
'How do you think that makes a man feel?' Clyde went on to Bonnie.
'Yeah, but you know I only have eyes for you, baby,' Bonnie murmured seductively, her face close to his.
'Oh, yeah?' Clyde whispered, and their lips parted as they kissed right there, without caring one bit that Lucy and Wyatt were watching.
Bonnie rested her forehead against Clyde's when they broke apart noisily, and Wyatt took another urgent sip of his gin. This was torturous.
'God, I remember when we first met,' Bonnie said longingly, resting her head against Clyde's as they intertwined their fingers together. 'This was back when people could barely afford a sack of rice. You should have seen him – eighteen, three-piece suit, gold money clip filled with dough and driving a brand-new Fleetwood he had hot-wired that morning.'
As Bonnie laughed, Lucy leaned forward and rested her head on her hand, fascinated. These two were genuine. They were real. And it was scary but also wonderful. Wyatt looked over at Lucy, and took in her doe-eyed expression, her awed smile, her envious eyes. She wanted what Bonnie and Clyde had together, and she deserved it, and more. Perhaps Wyatt had been harsh to persuade her against trying things out with her fiancé. Or perhaps he just wished that he could be the one to give her what she wanted, when he knew he never would be. Not while every thought in his mind was plagued by the guilt and memory of Jessica's death.
'Well, I looked at her, I knew it was meant to be,' Clyde was saying, gazing in wonder at the woman in his arms.
Bonnie grinned. 'He said, "Girl, you about the prettiest little thing I ever seen,"' she said, giggling.
Wyatt just wanted to yell at them to stop talking. This was unbearable – not just because it was cringe-worthy and over-the-top and smug, but also because it was painful. It was bringing back all those vivid mental images of his first wonderful year with Jessica that he had been trying so hard to lock away…He looked down as they carried on with their story.
'And then I said-'
'"My mama don't like me talking to no strange boys",' Clyde interrupted, imitating his fiancé's voice perfectly, and Bonnie and Lucy laughed.
'And then he said, "Well, that's too bad, 'cause-"'
'"I'm never gonna leave your side",' Clyde finished for her, planting a fierce kiss on Bonnie's cheek.
'And that I'll be his…forever,' Bonnie said softly, gazing up at Clyde like he were an angel, and he winked and kissed her cheek again.
Lucy couldn't believe it. The way they were embracing, the way they looked at each other, the sheer infectiousness of the lovestruck smile on Bonnie's face…it was too good to be true.
'That's even better than I read about,' Lucy whispered enviously without thinking, gazing at the table.
Wyatt slowly turned to face her in disbelief. How could Lucy be stupid enough to be so caught up in some soppy romantic tale that she would forget the simple matter that they were pretending to be from 1934?
Clyde frowned at her. 'Like in the papers?' he asked.
'Yeah. In the papers,' Lucy said simply, and Wyatt forced a smile.
'Oh, well, stop the presses!' Bonnie said, looking flustered. 'Here, I'm going on and on…how'd he do it with you?'
Lucy paused for a minute, unsure what Bonnie had meant when she'd glanced from Wyatt to Lucy like that. 'Do what?'
'Propose, silly. I mean…look at that ring,' Bonnie said, staring jealously at Lucy's finger.
Lucy removed her hand from her face to see that Noah's engagement ring was still sparkling on her finger; she had failed to remove it before they'd left for their mission. Wyatt's lips parted, horrified, as he stared at the ring.
'I forgot,' Lucy whispered, trying to convey how sorry and mortified she was for Wyatt that this was happening. 'I'm-'
'You telling me you don't remember something like that?' Clyde asked, and Lucy's embarrassed smile faded as she looked at the suspicious frowns on both his and Bonnie's faces.
''Course I remember,' Lucy said slowly, and she began to flounder as she tried desperately to come up with some convincing story on the spot while Wyatt downed the rest of his drink beside her. 'I…it was, uh-'
But Wyatt then cut over her stutters. 'I took her up to the top of this hill in West Texas – view of the Valley, sun getting ready to set,' he said, and Lucy looked round at him, shocked. 'There's…a tree on top…a great big oak. I, uh…kissed her for the first time under that tree.'
'Oh, God. That must have been something,' Bonnie said eagerly, her grin clearly urging Wyatt to continue.
Lucy forced a smile back at her then glanced uneasily at Wyatt. She had seen that look in his eyes before – in the prison cell at the Hindenburg, in the tent of the Shawnee tribe. This was no fictive story he was telling.
'Well, I got down on a knee, I pulled the ring box out. Only thing was, I opened it up upside down…so the ring falls out onto the damn grass,' Wyatt went on gently, and he was smiling, full of nostalgia, almost unaware of the three people watching him intently. 'Couldn't find the thing anywhere. I was so nervous. Finally, she gets down on a knee there with me…puts her hand on my cheek…a-and just says, "Yes." And she gives me a kiss that I will never forget.'
Lucy couldn't take her eyes off him. She was suddenly overwhelmed by how much she wished his story was true, that it had actually happened between them. She could picture it now; her being giddy with excitement, shaking with nerves as Wyatt got down on one knee in front of her, her desperate desire to just forget about the ring and tell him she would be his forever. But of course, it wasn't her that Wyatt was thinking of as he recounted that story. It was his beloved Jessica. And the tears welling in his eyes only made it more painful, for now Lucy knew that no matter how deeply she was beginning to feel for Wyatt…she had never been more devastated about the tragic fact that Wyatt's wife had died. It was too unfair, too wrong. He had been so in love with Jessica, that alone was evident from the dazed look on his face right now. Maybe he still was, even after all this time.
Pulling himself together, Wyatt then forced a smile and looked up at Bonnie and Clyde, remembering his audience. 'And then we look for the ring together and we find it,' he finished, and he turned pointedly to Lucy, surprised to see that she also had tears in her eyes. 'You remember that, honey?'
Lucy gazed at him, stunned and deeply moved, and nodded rather shakily. 'Y-yeah,' she replied, forcing an embarrassed sort of laugh, and she turned back to Bonnie and Clyde.
Bonnie leant back into Clyde's arms as the two watched Lucy closely. Wyatt's tale had been raw and beautiful and touched a nerve…and Lucy's dazed expression didn't do much to help counter Clyde's suspicion that this was her first time hearing the story, let alone living it. Wyatt turned hopefully to Bonnie and Clyde, and saw the expectant look in Bonnie's eyes, the curiosity as to why her guests were being so distant and hadn't even touched…and then he took in Clyde's expression. He was still sceptical, that alone was obvious. Wyatt's smile faded – he couldn't believe he had put himself through reliving that heart-breaking memory, and it hadn't even worked – and without thinking he turned and moved in towards Lucy.
She barely had time to glance up at him as he cupped her face and drew her towards him…and then he planted a firm but tender kiss on her lips. Lucy moved her hand to Wyatt's cheek as she kissed him back earnestly. When their lips parted, there was a moment that seemed to last an eternity as Lucy simply looked at him, stunned, and Wyatt's eyes lingered on her rosy lips before meeting her gaze. Lucy stroked his cheek gently, completely lost in the beauty of him and the moment, while Wyatt frowned, confused. The kiss had lasted much longer than he had intended in his moment of madness; he had not expected that much of a response from her, just a peck on the lips to convince their hosts. But she had kissed him back and enjoyed it, that much was clear – and worst of all, though he hated to admit it, so had he – and it was hard to ascertain which out of the two was the most surprised by what had just happened.
The two of them didn't notice Bonnie's adoring beam or Clyde's exasperated roll of his eyes, finally convinced by their act. That didn't seem to even matter anymore. Wyatt heard his own words ringing in his ears as he gazed at the beautiful woman with her face inches from his, their hands still on each other's cheeks…'And she gives me a kiss that I will never forget.' Lucy couldn't tear her eyes off him, so shocked she was by the spark that had just ignited between them, and her lips parted wordlessly as she tried to find the right words to say to him.
Meanwhile Bonnie and Clyde were smiling knowingly, approving of their guests' unexpected gesture of affection for each other. They didn't seem to register the look of tender confusion on Lucy and Wyatt's faces, nor the way their eyes had lit up in surprise as they gazed only at each other, lost in their tiny intimate bubble.
'Hot damn,' Clyde then said, chuckling, as he cradled Bonnie on his lap.
Suddenly remembering that they had company, Lucy and Wyatt slowly lowered their hands and leaned away, both of them shaken almost more so by the look that had just passed between them rather than the actual act of the kiss itself.
Clyde then held out his glass. 'To true love, huh?' he said, as Bonnie copied him.
Wyatt smiled back at them as he too raised his glass, trying to seem cool and casual while praying internally that he wasn't blushing. Lucy could barely remember where they were or what they were doing here. Something had happened just now, something new and terrifying and exciting and wonderful, something that would alter their dynamic permanently. And both their hearts were racing like lovestruck teenagers because of it. Lucy downed the rest of her drink in one, too dazed to even care about the repulsively strong taste of the gin anymore, and she glanced nervously at Wyatt as he turned to face her, his expression hard to read, before her eyes darted back to the table, flustered.
There was no way Lucy would ever forget the way Wyatt Logan had looked at her right after she had kissed him back. It was a look that told her that maybe, just maybe, there was a chance after all.
