Her skin hurts.
Every single cell in her body is aware of his presence.
It's not as if she wanted it to be like this but her entire life has changed now that he's suddenly back in it.
She doesn't have the answers she needs yet and she most definitely hasn't forgotten how much he has hurt her but he's here and even without any answers, that makes everything different.
She will get her answers now. She is sure of it. She can see the change in him clearly. He is actually expressing his feelings with words now, on top of the body language she can still read so well. He even put some of his thoughts on paper for her.
They have both changed and she wants to believe she has changed for the better. And she thinks he may have too.
But he's not alright and the depth of her concern for him has taken her by surprise.
She doesn't know what they will end up being to each other once they have worked through everything that still stands between them, but she does know she will always want him to be alright.
I was afraid … if I heard your voice, I wouldn't have been able to leave.
He had to leave. At least that's what he thought at the time. She knows that his family always comes first. Always. And she wouldn't have it any other way. Not having a family of her own had always made her root for his even more.
And now he is a widower.
Just like that.
And he went back to work literally on the same day he buried his wife.
She's put one and one together by now. He's on a quest to find the person or people responsible for Kathy's death but he isn't dealing with the emotional side of his loss or even with the fallout of witnessing the explosion that took his wife away. He is traumatized and no matter how good a detective he is, it's going to come back to haunt him. She should know. She's had years of experience with it after all and she still hasn't conquered all her demons.
She can't believe that just like that, he has become her world again. He doesn't deserve to be and yet here she is, worrying about him again. Seeing him struggle and wanting to help.
Liv, you mean the world to me.
I needed to hear you say that.
He knows he doesn't deserve her concern. He knows it and she knows it, but her heart won't listen to reason. Not when it comes to him. He can tell her to back off but they both know he is only trying to protect her, and they both know she won't back off.
Every single cell in her body is aware of his presence and that awareness continues to vibrate through her limbs long after he has exited her car.
She watches him leave, knowing she will see him again soon. No matter where they go from here, things will never be the same again.
END