"Jean!" Lucien called as he came through the front door
Jean appeared from the kitchen door "Is it true? Is Terry gone?"
There was a catch in her voice that Lucien had heard too much of already today and it mad his heart ache. He walked towards her and enveloped her in his arms. "I'm sorry my darling"
She sniffled into his shoulder "Danny told me, and I didn't want to believe it"
"Ah, I should have known. I'm sorry. I wanted you to hear it from me" he gently rubbed her back as silent tears fell down Jean's cheeks.
They stood like this in the hallway for a while, as for the second time that day, Jeans tears soaked into Lucien's shoulder. Finally Jean took a deep breath and pulled away, rubbing her eyes. She hiccupped.
"Cuppa?" Lucien asked as he wiped the tears from her cheeks.
"Don't you need to be at the morgue with Alice?"
"There's no need to do an autopsy, it's just paperwork. Matthew is going through it with her."
"Well then, a cup of tea sounds lovely" Jean said as she pulled out her handkerchief and blew her nose "I just baked some Anzac biscuits. I had to do something"
Lucien followed her into the kitchen and immediately went to the kettle. Sweeping it up in his hand he pointed at the table and looked at Jean "You, sit" He went to the sink and began to fill the kettle with water.
Jean watched him as he worked and a gentle smile appeared on her face. Though Lucien could be stubborn and pigheaded sometimes, His heart was kind.
"Matthew won't be here for tea" Lucien offered
"Oh?" Jean was immediately curious. Matthew wasn't an overly social person and he loved Jeans cooking.
"Alice and he have some secret squirrel hens/bucks night planning apparently"
Jean rolled her eyes at the comment but didn't say anything.
"Where's Mattie?"
"Oh she and Rose went out, I haven't seen them this afternoon." She paused as Lucien placed a hot cup of tea in front of her. She wrapped her hands around the mug and blew on it softly. "They seem to be getting along much better today. Charlie's home though. Danny dropped him here, and then went back to the station. Danny said Terry's death knocked him for a six"
Lucien put a place of biscuits on the table and sat in the chair opposite Jean. Picking up a still warm biscuit he bit into it. It was soft and chewy, just the way he liked them. "Yes, It did rather, Not sure why"
Jean sipped her tea "He's such a sensitive boy."
Upstairs, Charlie was having a hot shower. He stood under the running water allowing the heat to seep into his bones and wash away the dirt that had accumulated on him during the busy day. As he stood in the steam feeling the warm water run down his back, his mind wandered to this afternoon with Danny. What would have happened if Jean hadn't arrived when she had? Did Danny want Charlie to kiss him? Did Charlie want to kiss him or was he just feeling emotional and alone? As he turned he lifted his chin and let the water run across his face, wiping his sore eyes and running his hands through his hair. After everything that had happened over the last day, it was no wonder Charlie was feeling a little fragile. As he lathered the shampoo in his hands Charlie wondered about Rose. Did he ever love her? Or did he just love the idea of having someone? They had not been friends long when they first tumbled into bed together, and while the companionship was great, Charlie began to realise that their relationship had really only consisted of talking about police business and sex. Charlie sighed and turned the water off. Maybe an apology was necessary. He stepped out of the shower began to dry himself, grabbing his robe from the back of the door.
Once back in his room he began to towel dry his hair. As he did his eyes fell on the bag of men's skincare that Rose had given him for his birthday. It had sat on the top of the chest of drawers, collecting dust as Charlie walked past it every day, not knowing how to use them. But today he felt like he could do with something a little special. Tipping the bag out onto his bed he picked up a tub. And then another. Hair conditioning cream and face moisturiser. He frowned at the foreign items in his hand. Maybe today was the day to open them and give them a go. Twisting open the tub of face moisturiser he glanced in the small mirror that was attached to the cupboard door, as he ignored the voice at the back of his mind, wondering if Danny would notice.
Danny walked out of the station having returned the police car and the keys and stuck his hands in his pockets. The walk home… he corrected himself, the walk back to the Blake house, would be a good chance to mull things over in his mind. Things had gotten confusing very quickly with Charlie and he needed to clear his head. Charlie was a great guy. He'd only known him for less than a day, and he already knew they were going to be great friends. But would it go further than that? Was it just his imagination that thought that Charlie had meant to kiss him this afternoon? The slight lean towards him could just have been an innocent loss of balance. But Danny had felt Charlie's heart pounding in his chest during the intense hug, which had matched his own, he'd seen Charlie lick his lips, and noticed the way his hand had lingered on his chest. However Charlie had just broken up with a girlfriend, and at no time when they were talking had he indicated to Danny he was anything but straight. Perhaps Danny would have to bite the bullet and ask him. It wouldn't be the first time he would have had to have that difficult conversation with someone. But not today. Charlie had been through enough today. Danny kicked a stone and whistled a tune, just happy to be back in Ballarat, among these people who cared.
Matthew sat on the edge of Alice's desk and put his hand over the paperwork Alice was trying to fill out
"Matthew!" Alice chided
"Oh excuse me miss 'I can't lie to save my life' but you just told some great big porky pies to Lucien this afternoon!"
Alice's eyes shone with mischief "I know! It felt wonderful! She grinned up at him
Matthew smiled at her "Why on earth did you do it? I could have handled it"
Her face fell "Was I not convincing enough?"
"No, you were plenty convincing. I just wondered where it came from since you were pretty sure this morning that you couldn't lie, especially not to Lucien"
Alice looked up at him and paused
"Alice?"
She bit her lip "I just didn't want Lucien to give you a hard time. Not when you're hurting"
Matthews eyes filled with tears
Alice saw his wet eyes "I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you upset"
"Sweetheart I'm not upset"
Alice looked away embarrassed. She'd only gone and ruined everything "Yes you are, you're crying, I'm sorry, I just…
Matthew interrupted her by taking her hands gently "Alice, I'm not crying because I'm upset, I'm crying because, well because that's the loveliest thing someone has done for me in ages"
There was silence as Alice processed this thought. "So you're crying because… you're so happy?" she frowned in confusion.
"Yes" Matthew brought her hands to his lips and kissed them
Her furrowed brow looked away thoughtfully. "I never knew you could cry from happiness. I guess I've just never been that happy"
Matthew felt his heart lurch again as Alice revealed yet another devastating fact about herself "It's like, well you know how people cry at weddings?"
Alice nodded
"Well It's like that. You are so happy that the emotion comes spilling out of your eyes"
Alice's face brightened "That's a lovely way of putting it! I've never really understood the whole 'crying at weddings' thing." She raised her eyebrows "Or weddings in general to be honest. Though I must admit I'm somewhat looking forward to Lucien and Jean's" The mischievous look returned to her face "On the subject of the wedding, I have a confession to make"
Matthew looked at her with surprise and noted her cheeky grin "What's that?"
"I may have told Lucien you wouldn't be home for dinner, that we were trading ideas for the big party" she bit her thumb as she tried, and failed, to hide her smile
"More lies Miss Harvey?" Matthew tapped her nose playfully "What have I created?"
"You wanted me to massage your leg didn't you?" she retorted playfully "Anyway, someone once told me 'It's not lying. It's just selective truth'" she quoted his words from earlier back to him as her eyes sparkled.
"That someone sounds very intelligent" Matthew murmured as he leant into her intending to kiss her cheek
Alice shrugged nonchalantly "He has his moments" then a devilish grin appeared on her face.
Matthew pulled back pretending to be hurt, but truthfully he loved seeing this playful side to the usually serious Alice, come out. He chuckled "You've got a wicked sense of humour, how come I never knew this about you?"
Alice gave a one shouldered shrug "It only appears when I'm really comfortable around people. I must really like you superintendent"
"I hope so" Matthew leant back in and this time succeeded in pecking a kiss to her cheek.
Alice's cheeks coloured as Matthew leant back and looked at her.
"So, what are you cooking me for dinner?"
Alice's face paled "Oh, Um… I…"
This time it was Matthew's turn to sport a cheeky smile "I'm just kidding sweetheart" he hopped off her desk "How about I pick up fish and chips after work on my way to yours?" he began to walk to the door
"Sounds great, Make sure you ask for extra chicken salt… Wait, you're not leaving me to do this paperwork all by myself are you? Matthew Lawson! I have no idea what I'm doing!" she called to his retreating back "Now I know why Lucien just does whatever he wants" she muttered to herself as she resigned herself to the form that lay on the table in front of her.
Charlie stepped out of his room and closing the door behind him wondered what he would do with this free time he now had. He heard music coming from the lounge, a soft jazz record and headed towards it. Upon entering the room he found Lucien on the couch reading a book, with his arm around Jean who was asleep on his shoulder. Lucien smiled at him "Alright Charlie?" he said softly, so as not to wake Jean
"Sorry Doc" Charlie indicated the sleeping form "Is Mrs Beazley ok?"
"Right as rain, just tired. It was a big night for her last night. And you?"
"Yeah, I'm… alright." He rubbed his neck, now was as good a time as any "Uh, you may as well know. Rose and I. We uhh…" he cleared his throat "We broke up"
Lucien's smile fell "Charlie" he began
"It's alright doc. I think I'm good with it. I wasn't. But, I dunno, I think maybe Terry's death brought things into perspective a bit"
"That really knocked you didn't it?"
"Yeah, life was already feeling a bit, well, unstable I guess, and Terry, well, he was the first person I spoke to here in Ballarat. Sorry. I lost the plot for a bit there"
"Perfectly understandable Charlie. It's been quite an eventful 24 hours for most of us I think"
There was a brief moment as they both thought through some of the happenings of the past day
"Do you know if Mrs Beazley had anything planned for dinner?"
Lucien looked at the still sleeping Jean "I'm not sure Charlie"
"I just thought… I might cook something. It might help take my mind off things. Do you… Do you think Mrs Beazley would mind?"
Lucien smiled fondly at Charlie "I'm sure she'd appreciate the night off."
Charlie nodded and turned to leave
"Oh Charlie? There's no Matthew for dinner tonight. He and Alice are party planning"
"What about Danny? And uh, Rose? Are they expected?"
Lucien shrugged his free shoulder "Not sure, But I haven't heard that they're not. Danny probably still hasn't booked into the hotel yet. I'd say he'll probably end up on the couch again tonight" he grinned.
Just then Jean stirred and he kissed her forehead
"I'll leave you to it" Charlie nodded as he left the room.
Jean blinked blearily at Lucien as she rubbed her face "Lucien?" she asked confused "How long have I been asleep for?"
Lucien rubbed her arm "Oh about 45 minutes"
Jean groaned
Lucien hugged her tight to his side "Let's just stay here a while longer. It really has been a crazy few days. And I'm enjoying the chance to snuggle on the couch with my future wife"
Jean pressed a kiss to his cheek and then patted it gently "Your future wife has washing to do, and dinner to cook"
"No she doesn't"
Jean snorted "I've got to rewash everything that I rescued from the line last night, they won't wash themselves Lucien, and contrary to what some may think" she stared at him pointedly "dinner doesn't just appear, cooked, on the table every night" She made to get up but Lucien pulled her back down to the couch.
"The washing can wait" he said as he traced a finger down her back. Goosebumps formed on Jeans arms as she felt herself giving in
"But the dinner" she made a feeble attempt to get up
"Charlie's cooking dinner tonight"
Jean looked surprised "Oh! Well then" She relaxed back into his arms "I think I might just be able to stay here a little longer" Taking his hand in her own she intertwined her fingers with her own. She brought the hand to her mouth and kissed it softly "Did Charlie tell you what was bothering him?"
Lucien nodded slowly "He did. You're not gonna like it though"
Jean turned her sharp eyes to him
"He and Rose broke up"
Jeans face fell "Oh"
"Plus Terry was the first person he spoke to here in Ballarat"
Jean lay her head back on Lucien's shoulder "Lucien, why does everything have to change?"
He kissed the top of her head "Darling, lots of things in life aren't permanent. Life is fluid and things will always change." He lay his head on top of hers "I'll tell you one thing that will never change though."
"What's that?"
"My love for you."
"You big softy" Jean smiled and closed her eyes once more.
"Correct" Lucien answered "but don't tell anyone" His eyes fell shut as a satisfied smirk crossed his face.
