A/N: I cant believe its been almost a month since the last update here! Between work and some technical difficulties, its been a wild few weeks but finally we're back - and what better day to post a new chapter than on Rhea's 26th birthday? Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone over on AO3 and Tumblr who have been so sweet and have given such lovely feedback on the last chapter. I really was blown away by how much people seemed to be enjoying it and, honestly, I just hope you guys enjoy this chapter as much as you did the last one!
As always, please read and review but, most importantly, enjoy x
Chapter 7 - Nice
She wasn't sure how long they sat in silence for, Liv's warm body curled into the side of her's, but Rhea was aware of how the sky changed, no longer tinged lilac, but darker, inkier. Running a hand down Liv's arm, fingers tracing over the dappled skin, Rhea smiled when the other woman shivered. "I think they're gonna know you've not been in the bath this whole time…" she said, her voice barely above a whisper. There was something so soft about Liv, something breakable, and Rhea was certain that if she spoke too loud, she would shatter her.
The blonde turned, angling her face away from Rhea's chest and sighed, though she made no attempt to get up. "I know I have to go back," she said eventually, staring out at the twinkling lights in the town below them. Rhea, from the position in which they were sat, could see the moonlight reflect on Liv's glasses, smell the faint, fruity scent of her shampoo, and under any other circumstances, she might have found this endearing, intoxicating even, but she couldn't lose focus. Not now. "But it's just been so…" Liv trailed off and Rhea could have sworn she was going to say 'nice'. That simple little word that girls like Liv strive for. They want to be 'nice', to do 'nice' things and to live a 'nice' life. But Rhea needed more than nice. "I'm sorry - I haven't been very good company," Liv sniffed, distracting her. Her hand had stalled on the smaller woman's arm and she gave it a gentle squeeze. "You go to all this effort and I just cry on you all night…"
With a gentle hush, Rhea manoeuvred Liv's body, thumb and forefinger cupping her chin and forcing her to make eye contact as gently as she could. "You don't have to apologise," she said, her voice still hushed. "I went to all this effort because I wanted to see you… Because you sounded like you needed someone and because–" She faltered then, her thumb gently caressing Liv's lower lip. "Because I haven't stopped thinking about you since you walked into Cosmic." Liv's eyes widened slightly and Rhea felt the sharp intake of breath on her hand. "If those old cunts hadn't been there…" Rhea laughed silently, though she knew Liv could see it. "I'd have probably lost my job trying to get you to notice me.."
"Really?" Her voice seemed to break then, and Rhea found herself having to look away, just for a second. The disbelief, the insecurity…. It was all too much to bear while looking someone in the eye.
Taking a deep breath, she nodded, locking eyes with Liv once more. "Really." There was no denying that Liv was stunning in a petite, doll-like way, and truthfully she couldn't work out what on earth the blonde had to be so shocked by. "You're beautiful," she said, lips tugging into a small smile when Liv's cheeks flushed. "Even when you cry."
For half a beat, they sat in silence, Liv staring deep into her eyes until eventually, she responded, "We should go though, right?"
"Probably…" Rhea's hand dropped from Liv's face, watching as the other woman tried to scramble to her feet, frowning when Rhea got up in one swift motion. Holding out one hand, just as she had done before to aid Liv over the fence, Rhea smiled, "Are you coming, then?" Liv swallowed, nodded, and finally took her hand, Rhea's thumb instantly drawing lazy circles on the skin it connected with. "Time to get Princess back to her castle."
The car ride was almost silent, the radio station struggling to get any signal now, and between the static bursts, all Rhea could hear was Liv's soft, even breathing from the passenger seat. She couldn't miss the quick, fleeting glances being sent her way, though, the way the blonde looked up through her lashes as though she couldn't quite figure out what or who she was seeing… Rhea thought that was a compliment, though she couldn't be sure. She knew she'd have to do something drastic, though, and as she pulled over to the spot in the road where she'd picked Liv up, a plan began to form. "Are you okay going back on your own?" she said, unclipping her seat belt and turning to face Liv who was busying herself with her own belt.
"Why? Are you going to walk me up to the front door and kiss me goodnight while a sniper takes aim at your forehead…?" She was trying to make it sound like a joke, but Rhea knew a threat when she heard one.
"Is that what you want?"
"Huh?" Liv's brow knit in confusion.
"Do you want me to kiss you goodnight?" Those words were enough to fluster Liv and Rhea watched as she stumbled over her words, stuttering and stammering as she tried to backtrack. "Because all you had to do was ask…" And, quick as a flash, Rhea leaned across to the other woman's seat, closing the distance between them and pressing her lips to Liv's. There was no denying Liv's shock, the blonde stiffening as Rhea's hand found her neck, and there was a small pause, just long enough that Rhea began to question her plan, before she reciprocated. As her lips parted, Rhea struggled not to sigh in relief, fingers tangling in Liv's hair. It had been a bold move, and she was thankful it had paid off, her heart tracing a painful pattern against her chest. Liv reached across, her hand fisting in Rhea's shirt once more and the younger woman smiled against her lips, pulling back slightly before grabbing one final, chaste kiss. "You need to go…"
"I –" Rhea fixed her with a stare, eyes lingering on the blonde's kiss-swollen lips. "You're right, you're right." Liv shook her head and tried to compose herself, wiping down her shirt, smoothing out imaginary creases and looking around the car. "I got carried away."
With a snort of laughter, Rhea pressed the button by the wheel, unlocking the door. "That wasn't the problem. Believe me. I just…remembered that sniper you mentioned earlier." She stretched, then, ensuring Liv had the perfect view of her, before settling back in her seat to enjoy the show. As expected, the blonde only looked more flustered, just like she had at the supermarket, and Rhea bit her lower lip in an attempt to keep herself from laughing.
"I'm gonna…" Liv jabbed a finger towards the door before opening it, all but tumbling out of the beat-up car. "Thank you. For everything. Tonight. And before. And… yeah." She closed the door with a bang and almost ran up the small path, Rhea catching one last glimpse of her reaching towards her lips before she disappeared into the shadows.
This was going to be easier than she thought.
Though she hadn't seen Liv since their little escape plan, Rhea had stayed in near constant contact with her, texting late into the night that very evening and through most of her shift the next day. Understandably, the staff at her parent's safe house had been furious with Liv, though they had agreed to keep details from her mother in an attempt to keep their job. This meant that, while Rhea was mixing up oat and soy milk for a regular customer, Liv was in her 'prison' watching some dreadful baking show on Netflix. While Sonya was berating Rhea over the dangers of allergen warnings on cakes, Liv was walking Bruce and wondering what to have for dinner. Rhea knew all of this thanks to the near minutely updates she received.
The next day was much of the same, though Sonya gave up trying to make her newest recruit pay attention almost instantly, demanding that she hand out coupons in the street instead. "So, they really sent the scary looking goth chick to advertise an over-60s promotion, huh?" Liv chuckled, her laugh tinkling down the phone as Rhea lounged against a bench just five minutes from her work.
"Scary looking? Excuse me?"
"Are you wearing black lipstick? Are there more than three visible piercings in your face? If you can answer yes to either of those questions, I can guarantee that Barbara and Cathy from Bible Study are taking your coupons and they're praying for your salvation."
"Oh, I'm way past salvation," Rhea grinned, phone pressed tight to her ear as she scanned the street for Sonya. She half expected Liv to question her but when a gentle 'hm' was her only response, she pressed on. "Did your dad agree to your offer?"
"Yeah, he says I need to go with him to the hospital today. You know, be seen by the cameras as the doting daughter… And then I should be good to come home tonight, so long as Raquel and Braun aren't needed elsewhere." Rhea's heart gave an excited thump - there was only so much work she could do over the phone, after all, and given Liv's clingy response to a simple kiss, she knew that it would be much easier in person. "I was thinking… If you're not busy…"
"You just can't get enough of me, can you, McMahon?"
"Liv." The clipped syllable caught Rhea off guard and she winced. "I'll even take Blondie over my last name. But… I was going to suggest that you could come over some time. I've been watching that cooking show again and I want to try this chicken dish I saw and… You're not vegetarian are you?"
"Definitely not," Rhea replied instantly, keen not to focus too much on the faux pas she had made. "I'd love that. I.. how about tonight? I'll bring wine and you can tell Raquel how I'm not as scary as I look."
"Actually, tonight would be perfect. Raquel doesn't usually work Tuesdays so it'll be Braun if we come home tonight and… a few dauphinoise potatoes and he's just a big old teddy bear," Rhea could practically hear the grin on Liv's face as she babbled. "But I should go… My parents will have arranged someone to turn me into the perfect daughter before we go to the hospital and… And you have some geriatrics to terrify, I'm sure. I'll text you once I'm free and I can send you my address later, okay?"
"Okay, sounds great. Look forward to it. Bye." Rhea rushed her from the call, mind already going into overdrive. She had to convince Sonya to let her leave early. And somehow also convince her to tell her which bottle of wine she was supposed to take to a girl's apartment…
Liv's hands shook as she leaned across Rhea to put the plate in front of her. It was later than she'd hoped, her mother having delayed her journey home and thus knocking her entire schedule off by well over an hour. As a result, her face was still painted in delicate pinks and peaches, her lashes longer than they had any need to be and the faux freckles painted on her face to make her look younger still very visible across her cheeks. It was always the look they went for when it came to photo-ops, young, wide eyed, innocent, wholesome….Entirely un-Liv. "Braun's already eaten," she said, answering a question Rhea hadn't asked. In the background, Liv could hear Braun, television on low in the other room, no doubt listening in for anything to be concerned by. "If you want anything else… I can get you water or more sauce or…"
"I want," Rhea began, motioning with her eyes to the seat across from her. "You to sit down and relax. This is… this is perfect." Liv hovered for a second before nodding, placing her own plate down. She wrung her hands together, toying with going to get a jug of water, though she quickly thought twice when Rhea uncorked the wine and picked up one of the glasses from the table to pour. "You're okay with rosé right? I'm not much of a wine drinker but I figured right down the middle…" Since Rhea had arrived, they'd made small talk, Liv using the cooking as a distraction but now…
She smoothed down her skirt for the thousandth time that evening and took her seat. "Rosé is great. My favourite," she replied, nodding. It wasn't an expensive bottle, and she cursed herself for even noticing. Rhea worked in a coffee shop, she would hardly be spending half her pay cheque on a bottle of wine, and Liv was suddenly very aware of the expensive gadgets and trinkets scattered around the apartment. Gifts from her parents, money thrown her way in an attempt to get her to bend to their will… Reaching for one of the glasses Rhea had filled, she clinked it against the other, a soft 'cheers' leaving her lips before she took a sip. The liquid was tart and aggressive and Liv's lips puckered as she swallowed. "It's… it's lovely."
Rhea snorted as she took a sip of her own, grimacing as she swallowed. "Liv, mate, it tastes like shit," she laughed, picking up the bottle and turning it over in her hand. "I…Sonya recommended it, but I'm starting to think she was trying to cock block me for the whole nut fiasco…"
Liv's eyes widened at the other woman's words. "Nut - Nut fiasco?" she repeated, choosing to focus on the second part of the sentence. She couldn't think about the cock-blocking. Not with Braun in the other room. Turning her attention to the food, she listened as Rhea told her of the woman who'd had to use her epi-pen after she ate a slice of mocha and hazelnut cake thanks to Rhea's 'negligence'. "The clue is in the name - if she chose to eat it, she chose to eat it. It literally says 'nut'. I'm not fucking telling someone what they can and can't eat…" Rhea concluded. Her story had taken much longer to tell than Liv felt it needed, what with every second sentence including some sort of praise for the food. It was almost overkill, though Liv couldn't say she minded. It was nice to be complimented by attractive women, after all.
"But… you said she asked you if there was nuts in it?"
"She did," Rhea replied with a shrug.
"And you didn't tell her because…"
"I was preoccupied," Rhea looked up from her food, shooting Liv a smile. "I had a pretty girl texting me about her dog's latest 'trick'." Liv tried to look serious, to admonish Rhea for her carelessness, but once again, she struggled to keep down her smile. Pretty, she repeated in her mind. She thinks I'm pretty. Normally, she hated that word, but from Rhea… her heart fluttered at the way it sounded in her thick, Aussie accent.
As they ate, they continued to chat, Liv asking Rhea a thousand questions about Australia, her friends, her job. She wanted to know everything about her and Rhea, it seemed, was only too happy to oblige. Liv found herself caught up in the other woman's life, all the minute details about the beach in Adelaide, the way Bianca - Rhea's neighbour, she now knew - had basically adopted Rhea into her group, forcing her to hang out with them when she'd first moved. She knew all about Rhea's favourite coffees to make, saw the burns that lined her arms from learning to use the steamer… And she devoured every detail she could. When food was finished - and the resultant argument over who would wash the dishes had ensued - Liv pushed to her feet. "Do you…do you want to come through to the front room? We can get comfy, have a drink…"
"I would love to, honest… But –"
"It's fine. You don't have to. It's okay I just –"
"Liv, chill. I would love to. But it's already late and… I have the early shift tomorrow." Liv stared at the rug beneath her feet. "For what it's worth, I would much rather stay here and 'get comfy' with you but, uh, I'm already on thin ice in that place and I can't go back to bartending again." As the taller woman grabbed her jacket and her wallet, Liv watched her, nodding, doing her best not to feel like she had just been rejected. But when Rhea closed the space between them, her hand coming to cup Liv's cheek, the blonde could only blink. She looked up slightly, startled by how blue Rhea's eyes looked in that moment. Though she had been staring at the kohl-lined eyes all evening, up close they were even more striking and all her doubts disappeared. "Now, am I getting a good night kiss or…"
Liv smiled, pushing up onto her tip-toes and closing the gap between their lips. Rhea was just as gentle as the last time, her lips soft and warm and still tasting faintly of cinnamon, and Liv all but melted, her arms wrapping around the other woman's neck in an attempt to pull her closer. She could feel the warmth spread over her, the contentment, the idea that she would be happy to waste the rest of her life simply kissing Rhea Ripley, and she let out the softest of groans when Rhea finally pulled away. "Next time, Blondie," she smiled, shooting Liv a wink and heading for the door.
Rhea made quick work of the stairs from Liv's apartment, pulling her black leather jacket tight to her body to shield from the cold when the night air hit her. It had grown dark long ago and she cast glances down both sides of the street before starting her journey home. She should call an Uber, really, but she knew how to handle herself… Or at least, that's what she told herself, forcing thoughts of Hunter, Dave and all their lackeys from her mind. Her thoughts were tested, however, when a deep voice called her name, causing her to start, head whipping one way and then the next, until she spotted him appear under a street light a hundred metres or so behind her. She narrowed her eyes, stopping in her tracks in order to let him catch up. "Did I forget something?" she called, the man she'd come to know as Braun drawing nearer.
"Not quite," he said, coming to a stop. "Though you should probably tell Miss Olivia that I returned your keys." Rhea frowned. Her keys were in her hand, each one peaking through her knuckles in an attempt at a weapon. "I thought it best to tell you that we have been doing some research, Miss Ripley. Research on you."
She swallowed, an eyebrow raised. "I thought as much," she replied, hoping to keep her voice neutral. "What with Liv's father being… who he is."
"Of course," Braun said, sounding mildly irritated that she had interrupted him, though she watched him fight to maintain his professionalism. "However… you seem very difficult to find."
"Maybe you're looking in the wrong places," she said with a shrug, feigning nonchalance. Adam had known this would happen, had taken care of it all for her. But it still set the short hairs at the nape of her neck on edge to know that the government - the American Government - had been doing some sort of deep dive on her. "I don't use social media but, uh, you have a word with your friends over at immigration. I'm sure they'll have all my papers. Not quite a pedigree, but I've had all my vaccines. I require basic grooming twice a month, a little more for special occasions. I'm not averse to collars and leashes, but only if you ask nice, and if you buy me a treat, I'll roll over. Does that cover it?"
Braun looked at her, tight lipped. "That'll be all, thank you. But do keep in mind - we'll be watching you, Miss Ripley."