Chapter 6

'Cause baby you look happier, you do

Lucifer was in awe. Surely, the note Chloe left just meant that she couldn't stay, that's all. He tried not to worry too much about it. Deep down in his little devil heart, he knew that she didn't just leave. There must have been a reason, surely.

Padding across the penthouse floor, Lucifer made his way to the bathroom to take a quick shower. He turned the faucet and let the water run down the drain for a moment. He unwrapped the black silk robe that was tied around his waist, watching it fall to the Italian marble floor. Turning back to face the mirror, he noticed the fresh marks that graced his chest. Lucifer's mind wandered back to the events of last night as he stepped into the shower.

She was incredible. They were incredible together. He never felt anything as soft as her. She was softer than any silk he had touched. Sure, he had brief flings with women of interest, but Chloe was. . . well Chloe was different. Lucifer knew why she was different. It took him a while before he was able to move past the idea that Chloe was his father's doing, that she was sent here as some sort of pawn, a tactic of manipulation put in his path to cause him insurmountable suffering. If Lucifer was honest with himself, he knew he wasn't one hundred percent over his father playing into his life like this. At the same time, Lucifer hopes that maybe Chloe was a peace offering, an olive branch extended out from his father. She didn't deserve to be used like that. Chloe wasn't an object, at least not to Lucifer. He hoped he showed her that last night. Maybe, that was why she left this morning?

With that on his mind, he rushed through the remainder of his shower. Once he was out, he made his way to the closet to retrieve his best three-piece suit. Lucifer couldn't show up to the precinct looking like he had just rolled out of bed. Although Chloe seemed to like his hair tussled last night. After making sure, he was his proper devil self he made his way to the elevator. The door closed behind him, and he made his way to the bottom floor.

The elevator doors opened to the main floor of LUX to reveal a hoard of drunken bodies laid out on the floor. Carefully stepping over them, he finally reached the bar. He half expected to see Maze in the pile of drunk half-naked bodies, but she probably just found a side room to have her fun. Pulling a bar stool from one of the nearby tables, he positioned himself at the bar. Before sitting down, Lucifer reached over the glass bar top and grabbed a bottle. He needed a drink before he went to the precinct. The courage that one glass of alcohol brought most people didn't influence him, he just simply liked the taste. To Lucifer, alcohol was water or soda. Filling the glass, a quarter of the way with the amber liquid he sat the container back down. At first, he took a sip, nursing the drink. The note was still in his pocket, he reached in and grabbed it. His eyes zoned in on the penmanship on the paper. For a moment his eyes disassociated and all he could see were the lines of ink. The lines were thick and full not rushed and thin. If he really focused, he would see the tiniest indention of water on the bottom right of the paper. She took her time. Hopefulness arose in Lucifer's mind. So, if she wasn't running out the door to work when she wrote this. . . then what was going through her mind? Lucifer had enough of the guessing games going on inside his mind. He chugged the remainder of his beverage and got up from the bar. Making a b-line for the door, Lucifer quickly made it to the valet.

His mind was racing on the drive over to the precinct. The devil was never anxious. Chloe had a habit of making him do things he had never done before. What ifs and why kept running through Lucifer's mind. It was futile to think like that, but he couldn't stop. His mind was driving him insane, so he pressed his foot to the floor. The drive went by in a breeze, almost as if he had blinked and he was in the parking lot. He couldn't remember ever stopping at a light or even registering being on the roadway. Clutched in his hand was the note. He didn't let go of it even as he gripped the steering wheel. Get a grip. This is the Detective; she wouldn't just leave. She has to have a good reason. He took a deep breath and reached for the inside door handle.

Lucifer walked inside the station, briefly greeting the officers at the front. When he made his way down the steps, he could hear her laughing at something, or maybe someone? His eyes didn't believe what they had seen at first. Pierce was leaning over the side of Chloe's desk and his face was close to hers. Outside looking in, it seemed like two colleagues just having a chat. Lucifer knew better. His feet traveled closer to her desk, and he heard it again. The infectious laughter that was owned by Chloe Decker enveloped the room. Her face was now down and focusing on some file in front of her. There was a grin across her face, surely caused by whatever immature ancient joke Pierce had recycled. She looked happy, and the tiniest thought crept into his brain. Lucifer wondered, only for a moment, what if she was happier with him? The voice grew a bit more. You have been kidding yourself Lucifer, she was only pretending with you. She could never be that happy with you. It was a tiny voice, outweighed by many much more confident ones in his mind but Dad was the voice loud.

Lucifer tried to swallow the anger he felt rising and luckily for the precinct's sake he was able to, but not for long. The trance between Pierce and her didn't cease until Lucifer cleared his throat.

Chloe's eyes snapped up from the file, "Lucifer, what - what are you doing here?" She was scrambling and he could tell. Scanning her eyes between Lucifer and Pierce she could sense there was a bit of tension. Pierce was next to question him, "That's a good question. What are you doing here? Chloe tells me the investigation is done. The father confessed. So why exactly are you here Lucifer?"

Lucifer scoffed, "Well, I actually came to ask the Detective something." He was staring directly at her now. The note was still in his right hand and before he could slip it into his pant pocket; her eyes found it. There was an audible gulp that came from Chloe. Pierce looked at her curiously, the exchange between her and Lucifer not going unnoticed.

"And . . ." Pierce prompted. "Well, out with it." Silence. Lucifer just ignored the Lieutenant. Chloe's eyes were still fixated on the right pocket of his pressed pants. Lucifer searched her face for her eyes until he found them; following the trail of her pupils he realized where she was focused. Pulling his hand out of his pocket to reveal an empty hand, Chloe looked up at his face. Finally, eye to eye. He fumbled through her eyes, hoping to find a sense of her thoughts instead he found a tornado of confusion. Chloe and Lucifer were having a silent conversation with their eyes. His own confusion and hers mixed in a pathway between their eyes. Thousands of words went unsaid, yet they understood every word.

"Detective, can I speak with you privately" Lucifer asked. His tone indicated that whether she wanted to have this conversation or not, they were going to have it. She knew exactly why he was here, and she was dreading seeing him again. She hoped she would be able to put it off for maybe a few days at most, not a few hours. Chloe barely had time to go home, let alone shower. She had to avoid getting too close to Pierce today to avoid him smelling the remainder of Lucifer's cologne and scotch.

Slowly nodding her head, "Um, sure Lucifer." She avoided looking at Pierce and walked around him. Lucifer navigated through the crowded precinct with ease. Everything moved around Lucifer, Chloe noticed. It was almost as if the world was set up to completely encompass him. All movement around him was perfectly timed to go and be exactly as it was needed to. He reached the evidence room door, stopped, and opened the door for her to enter. Chloe walked in and looked down the aisles to make sure they were alone. Honestly, she hoped someone else was inside so she could have some sort of a buffer, but apparently, she wasn't rewarded that luxury.

Once they were both inside, she heard a click. Chloe whipped her head around and saw Lucifer locking the door. "There," he huffed, "had to make sure you wouldn't run out on me this time." His body has turned and is now facing hers. He pauses for a moment to take in her appearance. Her long brown hair is pulled into a tight ponytail, like she always has it. With her hair out of her face, he gazes at her jaw and remember the kisses he left there just twelve short hours ago.

Chloe re-centers his mind quickly. "What did you want to talk about Lucifer?" Her arms are now folded over her small frame, in an effort to guard herself. Why she asked him she wasn't sure. Chloe knew exactly why he pulled her into the evidence room, she may be partially blonde, but she wasn't stupid.

He took a step forward out of the dimly lit entry way and invaded her space. Lucifer was dressed to the nines per usual. An all-black three-piece suit wrapped his body with a perfectly arraigned red pocket square. As if her brain had a file system, all coded and organized with her memories of last night, the next thing playing in her mind was a similar three-piece suit lying on the ground of his penthouse bedroom floor. She swallowed a small moan.

"Detective, I think you know why I'm here" Lucifer stated so plainly as he took another step. There was little space between them anymore. He was close enough where he could she the lines on her bottom lip and how her mouth opened slightly when she noticed where he was focused.

Gradually Lucifer slipped his hand into his right pocket and retrieved the paper that was laying on his piano keys this morning. He held it up in her direct eyesight so she couldn't avoid the confrontation. Chloe's face fell from initial curiosity and anxiety to now showing fear. He became puzzled about her sudden change in emotion. "Care to tell me what happened this morning? Why did you leave? More importantly, why did you leave this" he posed?

There was an audible gulp that came from the detective. "I – um, well" she couldn't get out any words, no sentences in her mind made sense. Everything she felt earlier this morning came rushing back to the surface. The guilt, anger, and fear rose from the emotional grave she had buried them in inside her mind.

Fear was the most prevalent emotion in her relationship with Lucifer. In the back of her mind there was a nudging feeling that he was going to leave her; that their partnership meant nothing. No matter how much they told each other that what they had was real, that it just, wasn't. After what happened last night between them, that rear spot fear took in her brain got thrown to the front and now it was all she could see. There was fear of losing Pierce. He wasn't the relationship she wanted but it was the relationship she had. She enjoyed spending time with Pierce but there were always doubts there. Having sex with Lucifer last night didn't help ease any of those fears or doubts.

Anger was an emotion that came as she was leaving his penthouse. How could Lucifer put me in that position? He knew I couldn't walk away! He knows that and he just took advantage of the situation. If Chloe really looked at what had transpired between the two, was she more mad at herself or him? She willingly went to his penthouse and didn't stop his advances. At first, she went there with good intentions but with Lucifer it was always easy for her to fall into old feelings. But were they truly old feelings, or was what she was feeling so familiar that she could timestamp them?

Guilt: that was the emotion that took Chloe by surprise. The sole feeling of guilt should have been enough, but she also felt shame. Wrapping her head around the fact that she slept with him was unfathomable to her this morning. It was as if she had two voices in her head, doubt and clarity. Doubt was telling her that he didn't feel the same way she did, that it wasn't real. What they had; their partnership was just that a partnership and nothing more. Chloe didn't want to think about when he protected her and had her back that he only did it because it was the 'right thing to do' and not of something more. When the doubt got to be too much, she heard the clarity telling her to look at their history. Lucifer proved time and time again that the reason he acted the way he did was because there was a deeper meaning behind them and not just out of obligation, yet Chloe doubted him still. Knowing she shouldn't doubt him caused her to feel shame over what happened, and she never wanted to feel that way with him. She wasn't ashamed of him; she never could be. She could never be embarrassed but she was. And the guilt she felt over leaving because of that was crippling.

"Lucifer", she breathed, "last night was. . ." Before she could finish her thought, he closed the gap between them. She couldn't think with him this close. Chloe had been standing there in front of him for about two minutes and didn't speak so he couldn't take it anymore. He has to be closer to her, to feel her.

The two inches between them soon became none as his lips met hers. She wanted to push him away to tell him to stop, tell him this was wrong. They shouldn't be doing this here in the evidence room but yet here they are, and she wasn't in any hurry to push him away. Their mouths collided like they were fighting through their kisses. Each kiss was saying something their brain was too afraid to say.

Finally coming up for air, Lucifer broke the kiss and began traveling down her jaw. Leaving a trail of open mouth kisses down her neck. His hands were revisiting every body part he had access to last night. Chloe ran one hand through his gelled hair and the other grabbed his back. Lucifer kissing her was intoxicating. She would do anything when he was kissing her. Its cliché but he had her under a spell. He pulled back and looked at her. Eye contact broke the spell. Chloe took a step back needing some distance. They were both breathing heavily.

"So, tell me. Why?" He panted before straightening his jacket. She cocked an eyebrow as if she was confused on the subject-matter of the question. "Why did you leave me for him?"

"Lucifer, please don't," she said. How long could she play this off? If she kept kissing him, she could probably make him forget why he came here, but that wasn't her. Chloe didn't use people.

Lucifer looked down at his shoes, trying to refocus his thoughts. He couldn't accomplish his task with her looking like that. Her cheeks were flushed, her lips red from his fresh kisses. He chuckled. "I can still smell myself on you," he said as he took a step towards her.

He lowered his head to her neck and felt her tense. Chloe closed her eyes and took in a breath. "Lucifer," she sighed. He took in the scent. "I'm still there," Lucifer took a step back. He looked into her eyes as he took a few steps back, finally reaching the door. She could see the pain and agony in his eyes.

She took a step further, "Lucifer, wait." Her hands suddenly became intertwined. Why she always played with her hands when she needed to have a major conversation, she would never know. Lucifer looked up from the doorknob that was now unlocked.

"Detective," he paused, "I know what I want, but it seems you need some clarification. Find me when you figure out what, or rather who, you want." Lucifer opened the door and walked into the precinct leaving Chloe in the room.