Teaser: Lean on me, darling.


Say What You Need To Say

Having arrived later on and seeing how drained the two were after the ordeal they'd been through, Penelope offered to have Trixie for the night. As intuitive a woman as any, she had the distinct impression a few things needed to be said. After saying their good-byes when visiting was done and Dan needed his rest more than anything, Chloe and Lucifer headed straight home.

With the lights inside down low, Lucifer made his way to the balcony with two drinks in hand. He handed Chloe one of them and they settled into leaning on the glass rail with their elbows, shoulder to shoulder. Though obviously glad of the proximity, Chloe was unusually silent. Turning to lean on the glass sideways and moving in closer, Lucifer rested a hand on her far hip. She jerked violently away from his touch. Taken badly aback, Lucifer instantly lifted his hand away holding it a few inches away from her.

"That's... disturbingly familiar, Chloe. Are you hurt or have I–?"

"Bruises. Nothing that won't heal," Chloe said, interrupting him. She went straight back to standing there in silence.

"Then that was..."

Her voice shaky, Chloe responded, "Recoil. Yeah. As little as I like to admit it, Michael was right. You two do look a lot alike. And I just... wasn't here for a second." Lucifer didn't see it, but an angry, momentary snarl twisted one side of her lips.

"Chloe... what did he do to you? You swung for the fences at the zoo for a reason, didn't you?" Lucifer demanded, but softly.

"The short version is: in spite of my best efforts, he managed to scare me," Chloe said, her tone tinged with sadness and regret despite trying to remain strong.

"The long version being...?" Lucifer asked, wanting very much to hold her but until he knew more, hands-off was very probably the best policy.

Chloe let out a shallow breath of sadness, her expression twisting from the same. "I... uh... nnn," was all she said, literally biting her lips closed and closing her eyes, sharply shaking her head, unwilling to say it. She let her chin fall to her chest.

Lucifer's face went slack from shock and worry. Wide-eyed, he said, "I'm going to call Linda. Ask her to come over. I'll... uh... I'll go. Find somewhere else to stay for the night." He set his glass down on the concrete floor, digging in his pocket for his phone and backing away a little more.

Tearless sobs upset the rhythm of Chloe's voice as she spoke. "No. I'm... not talking to Linda right now. I will, eventually, and I think I have to ask you to let me go by myself when I do. Right now... what I need to do is talk to you, and you're not going to like it." It was all she could do to keep her voice above a whisper.

"Of course, if you're sure that's what you need," Lucifer said, his mind racing, grasping for what to do for her. Gesturing toward the couch and careful not to touch her when taking her drink from her shaking hand, he asked, "Have a seat for a minute... please?" Chloe nodded and walked inside, dropping herself onto the couch like her strings had been cut, holding up her head in her hands. The strength that had kept her going since being rescued seemed to have left her all in one breath.

Returning from the kitchen, Lucifer had his arms full. He went to the bed and set out the bottles of wine, glasses, bottles of water and snacks he was carrying on the shelf behind the headboard. Heading to a dresser drawer, he tossed a box of Kleenex back to the bed.

Chloe stood and wandered nearer as he did all this. As much from surprise as confusion, she asked, "Where's all this coming from?"

Lucifer replied, his affectionate, lighthearted wit dialled all the way up, "Libations usually pair well with any long conversation, and well, these are the plain... tasteless, rice puffs you insist on having around. Easy on the stomach. And... water. As much as it pains me to dilute fine alcohol in the veins, last thing you need tomorrow morning is to wake up with a five-alarm headache. Don't worry, I'll make a point of sleeping on the couch." He flashed her a charming smile.

Chloe's expression turned to one of complete, wide-eyed amazement. She was laughing as she asked, "Since when...?"

Finding her look amusing, Lucifer's laugh sounded at the very bottom of his natural register. Tucking his charm in his back pocket, he answered her. His tone abruptly full of potent regret, he pocketed his hands, slowly stepping down the stairs toward her. "It occurred to me recently, like a great many other things, that the time I spent in Hell listening to the damned, was only spent looking for ways to torture them or to understand why they torture themselves. I wonder if, perhaps, some of them might have managed to forgive themselves and ascend by now, if I'd tried to be more of a caretaker to the damned, rather than just another torturer." His last words came out a strained whisper with unbridled affection plain in his voice and on his face. "So, Chloe... I'm listening."

Chloe felt the barrier she'd erected around her heart to protect herself, to protect them, from Michael, crumble and fall. She couldn't describe the feeling behind it as anything other than the brightest, warmest light she would ever see. It changed her breathing, left her eyes watering and had her laughing and smiling all at once. To Lucifer, she probably looked insane. And she did. Lucifer had seen enough crazy to recognize when someone looked about to break.

"Chloe?" he said, reaching for her cautiously, very, very worried.

She laughed shakily and closed on him, wrapping her arms around his neck, holding herself as close against him as she possibly could. She was tense and shaking. In shock, Lucifer remained unmoving, one arm slightly raised, the other at his side, not wanting to move in case he did the wrong thing.

Managing to speak through clenched teeth, with a voice from deep in her chest, she tightened her grip on him even more and replied, "Every time I think it's not possible to love you more than I already do, you go and prove me wrong."

Taking that as permission to put his arms around her, he did his part to keep her close and smiled. "I love you, too."

Love and madness. Two sides of the self-same coin.

ó

"I know the pain can seem like an ocean, but I'm just a word away. [...] Don't suffer in silence."

– "Suffer in Silence", Susan Aglukark

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