"Monogamy—who knew?"

Lucifer Morningstar opened his eyes to brilliant sunlight and the delightful chirps of birds. Well, okay, perhaps depending on the hour those chirps weren't exactly delightful, but he'd never complain about the sun. After thousands of years in the dark expanse of Hell, Lucifer had almost forgotten what sunshine was like. Over the millennia he'd pop up to the surface now and then, but as of late his jaunts had been at night as that was when the real fun took place. When he decided to settle in Los Angeles for an extended period of time, sunlight was one of the reasons he spent his days sleeping and nights partying; it was uncomfortable and unsettling. He acclimated soon enough (after all—he was the devil, not a vampire), but now especially after his more recent trip back to Hell, sunshine was not something he wanted to easily take for granted.

Lucifer stretched his arms up over his head, pressing his palms against the headboard as he released the tension in his back. He rolled his head to the side, expecting to see his lovely partner beside him, but the bed was disappointingly vacant. He pushed himself up so that he was propped on his elbows and forearms and gazed around the room. The clock on Chloe's nightstand displayed ten to seven on a Wednesday morning, which was a positively hellish hour to be awake—and he would know. He took note that her robe hung on the back side of the bathroom door and her undergarments were no longer tossed at the end of the bed, which lead him to conclude she was up and dressed for the day. He considered lying back down, but desire to see his detective got the better of him.

His detective. Yes, she was finally his in the sense that they were together after several years of partnership. The four months since their first night together had been…well, rather incredible. It was, without question, a relationship unlike he'd ever had before. Thousands of years of existence in various forms but he'd never experienced this before. Being with Chloe was challenging and frustrating at times and he knew he didn't always do the right thing—some days, it felt like he never did the right thing, at least not the first time—but he was trying—trying harder than he had at anything ever before in his life. Knowing that the Lucifer of even two years prior probably would have given up already was what motivated him even further. He was a changed devil and he wanted to stay that way.

Tossing back the bed covers, Lucifer swung his legs over the side of the mattress, yawned and then stood to stretch again. He took two steps towards the bedroom door then stopped and turned back to retrieve his pants. The detective never liked him roaming the house in the nude in case the little urchin was around.

Half-dressed, he descended the stairs, and stopped at the entrance to the kitchen when he caught his first glimpse of her. No matter how many times he saw her, he still found himself taken aback by her beauty. His heart—the one he'd long-thought nearly dead—still stuttered every time.

It was funny, he often thought, how over the thousands of years he'd lived, he felt he'd experienced everything. How could he not have? He saw the world from lush gardens to stone tools, through the rise and fall of many dynasties, and finally to cellular phones and rockets that shot humans into outer space. The changes were mind-melting even for celestial beings such as himself. Given what he'd seen over time he felt confident more technological changes would be coming, but insofar as himself? He'd had sex with thousands, tried every drug and alcohol in existence—and then some. He'd experienced everything…except love.

Being in love was a concept he was aware of, but Lucifer had always felt it was beyond his grasp. He told himself he didn't want it, that it didn't matter because he had more than his share of fun, and that was true, but only on the surface. Deep down he felt that the devil of all people wasn't capable or worthy of love—especially not from a human. That was, after all, one of their core beliefs. Throughout time the changes in viewpoints differed so much they could make a person's head spin, but one of the most consistent beliefs was that the devil was evil.

For centuries, he felt that way about himself, but then he met her and soon he found his thoughts on someone other than himself. He spent most of his life doing favors but only if he received one in return. He lived his life in the moment, for the moment, fulfilling desires especially his own, but then suddenly he found himself completely horrified when the detective was shot. In that moment, he didn't know why he was compelled to save her. When he learned it was because she was a gift from his father, he was angry for quite some time until he finally accepted that gift or not, both he and the detective had free will and it was their choice to be together, not a manipulation.

It only took him a week into their relationship to realize what a fool he'd been to deny that fact for so long. He'd woken up with Chloe's body curled around his. Her head was on his chest and she was making that god-awful snoring sound. For the first time in his life he didn't want to roll away or request that she leave; the notion didn't even cross his mind. He merely put his arm around her back and traced lazy circles across the top of her shoulder until she sighed, and the snoring stopped. When he woke up later and finally got out of bed was when it hit him: intimacy wasn't scary or off-putting when you were in love.

If Lucifer had been forced to put into words how he felt about her, he couldn't have done it. How could he verbalize the hollowness he had when they weren't together? How could he explain the way that her smile and the gentle touch of her hand to his face made him feel like he was flying without ever using his wings? What words could ever describe the feeling of his body melting into hers?

He realized after they were officially together just how long he'd been in love with her without consciously acknowledging those feelings. Love was the reason he was vulnerable around her. The reason he let her see more of him than he'd ever let another human see before. Love was everything—even if it made him a sappy devil, as Maze had accused. But if he was sappy, so be it. It was far better to be a sappy devil than a sad miserable one living an eternity in hell without Chloe Decker by his side.

Pushing himself away from the stairs with his hand on the banister, he shuffled his way into the kitchen with the morning greeting of, "Looking lovely as always, detective."

Chloe turned to him, smiled, and set down her coffee mug. "Hey, you didn't have to get up."

"I wanted to find you."

"Oh, that's sweet." She stood up on her toes, kissed him, and then hummed happily, "Mm I'm glad you did, but I have to go. I have to meet with Trixie's teacher this morning about an extracurricular program she's interested in."

"Oh."

She smiled and gave his forearm a pat. "I was going to leave you a note—feel free to stay as long as you like—just lock up when you leave."

He sighed as the prospect of getting back in bed without Chloe seemed decidedly uninteresting. "No, it's all right. I might as well see what sort of state Maze left Lux in. Perhaps you and I can catch a nap later on?"

"Maybe. If I don't get any new cases." She leaned in, kissed him again, and then backed her way towards the purse and travel mug sitting on the end of the counter. "I'll be in touch."

Stepping off the elevator in his apartment, the tune Lucifer had been whistling died on his lips when he caught sight of the debauchery that had evidently taken place in his apartment overnight. As he had committed plenty of his own, he was hardly one to judge a night of sin but…this did seem excessive.

"Wha…bloody hell, Maze," he cursed as he stepped over the nude woman collapsed on the floor just a few feet from the elevator. Dozens of naked bodies were strewn around his apartment. In among them lay liquor bottles, empty cups and plates, and a perplexing amount of confetti.

He placed his suit jacket down on the piano—the only item in the room that seemed unscathed (thankfully) and took a step towards the bar when a blonde woman collided with his arm. She wore scraps of silver fabric that presumably once had been a dress but now only covered one breast and left very little else to the imagination. "Lucifer!" She slurred as her red-painted nails clawed on to his shoulder. "We've missed you. Are you here to join us?"

"Ah, no," he said as he pulled her hand away, flashing a small smile, "no I think not, but thank you for the invitation."

As he made his way towards the seating area of his apartment where the densest collection of bodies lay, he received several other invitations from barely conscious, but extremely naked women. For one of the first times in his life, a naked woman's slender hand grasping at his trousers didn't result in arousal, but instead annoyance and frustration—and not the sexual kind. "Maze? Maze are you here?"

When he called out for her, a grumble rose through the room, but eventually she stumbled in from the balcony still fastening her pants. "Hey," she greeted him, "s'not too late to join in."

"So, I've heard, but no thank you," he responded.

Maze crossed her arms over her chest and arched an eyebrow at him. "Chloe still doesn't want to share?"

Lucifer tugged at the cuffs of his shirt as he said, "No, she does not, and I respect that choice." It had, unsurprisingly, been a part of their first conversation about "them." Chloe said she understood his past, but she was only comfortable in a relationship if they agreed not to see other people. He knew her well enough not to be surprised by the request and care about her enough to agree without hesitation.

Maze snorted with derision. "Never thought I'd see the day when you were whipped."

Lucifer felt a twinge in his gut as he retorted, "Excuse me I am not whipped. I am…exploring the virtues of a committed, monogamous relationship."

"Booooooring!"

He scoffed. "Boring? Maze, you know me well enough to know I am never boring. I just…have different excitements now."

"Yeah like cooking shows. And board games." Maze sauntered over to the coffee table and picked up a tray still filled with white powder. "Sure you don't want to take any of this along?"

He felt a split second of longing, but then quickly shook his head and said, "Ahh. No. No I'm just going to, ah, change and then…start to clean up."

Bursting into her office with his usual carelessness, Lucifer spotted Dr. Linda seated at her desk and proclaimed, "Good, you're free. You have to help me Doctor—I'm having an emergency."

"Oh my god, what's happened? Amenadiel? Chloe?" The doctor fired questions rapidly as she stood up fast enough to almost tip her chair.

"I'm boring!" Lucifer proclaimed woefully, throwing up his hands and flopping down on the end of the sofa in Linda's office.

Linda blinked down at him before calmly saying, "I assure you that's not true; this interaction is proof."

"Oh, Doctor, I don't know—I didn't think so, but then look at my life now. No orgies, no naked women leaping about, and I haven't had cocaine in months!"

Once again Linda blinked. She was starting to get that expression she got that made her look like she'd just accidentally swallowed a fly.

"You know Lucifer, most people would view all that as a good thing."

"But I'm not most people. I'm the devil."

"Are you?"

"Uh, hello," he said with a sweeping gesture towards his impeccably tailored three-piece midnight blue suit with complimentary pocket square.

Sitting in her usual seat, Linda held up her hand placatingly. "Yes, yes, I know that you're the devil, but wasn't that Lucifer just part of a persona you were putting on because of how you felt about yourself and your life? You've grown past that."

Lucifer hesitated a moment before responding. While he did have a good bit of fun doing all the naughty things he did, he knew at his core that the reason he buried himself in booze, drugs and bodies night after night was to avoid how loud silence was when he was alone and sober. That's when his own demons came out and taunted him, reminded him of what everyone really thought of him, reminded him of all the things he'd done and all the pain he'd caused. He had accepted a large portion of that was not his fault and the demons had been silenced, so, as Linda said, did he really need those types of distractions? "I…I suppose that is true in some way, but that didn't mean I wasn't enjoying myself at the time. Who doesn't love a good orgy, right?"

"Ah, not everyone, to be honest."

"Yes…the detective seems to share that opinion…"

Linda tilted her head, now curious. "Is this about Chloe? Did something happen?"

"No, no she's grand, but…I spent the night at her place then went back to mine this morning and found…"

"Orgy," Linda concluded.

"I was going to say: my past life."

Linda tilted her head curiously. "So, it is in the past, then? Or…do you want it in the present too? Perhaps the future?"

Lucifer let out a huff of frustration. "I…I don't know. I am happy with the detective. Really. I know how much I miss her when I'm not with her, but sometimes…it's hard." As it had only been a few months, he occasionally still felt the urge to seek out Lux's unofficial drug dealer, or to take full advantage of the gorgeous women who pressed their bodies against his whenever he walked through the club after eleven p.m., but he knew he couldn't do that. He perfectly understood the rules of an exclusive relationship, he just had a bit harder time translating those to his desires—at least some of the time. Thankfully, on most days he preferred to spend his evenings with the detective, and even the urchin, on occasion.

Linda slid forward in her chair as she addressed him, "Yes, relationships are hard. Lucifer, you need to cut yourself some slack. This is the first time you've opened up to someone this way. Your first monogamous relationship, right?"

He considered for a moment. "How many days in a row does it have to be to count for monogamy?"

"Well that answers my question," Linda muttered before saying a bit louder, "Just talk to Chloe. Tell her how you feel. You two need to get through this together."

Lucifer tried to keep the doctor's advice forefront in his mind, but by the time he arrived at the detective's apartment that evening his brain was muddled with other distractions of the day. He blew into her apartment with hardly a hello and made his way directly to the scotch he'd stashed in a cabinet too high for sticky little fingers to reach. After one long drink he looked at her and said, "Do you have any idea how hard it is to scrub lube out of suede?"

Chloe choked slightly and said, "Ah…no. Maze?"

He hummed and poured more amber liquid into his glass. "Yes. She's making plenty use of my apartment now that I'm spending time here."

"You could ask her to stop."

He scoffed as he leaned against the counter. "Pst. It's Maze. Good bloody luck with that."

Chloe approached him slowly, a smile gently spreading across her face. "Well, if it helps I'm glad you're spending more time here."

Unable to stay irritated with her being so lovely and so close, he abandoned his glass, stepped forward and pressed his hands against her hips. After brushing his lips over hers he asked how her day was.

"Nothing interesting; just paperwork," she replied. "I actually got home a little early so, I already ordered us Thai food—it should be here shortly—and I thought maybe we could watch something. A movie maybe? Or one of those food competition shows you like?"

Lucifer briefly felt the noose embossed with the word "BORING" tighten around his neck. "Dinner and a show, eh?"

Chloe obviously picked up on his higher pitched tone or mildly panicked expression—or both. "What's wrong?"

Lucifer's breath hitched in his chest as he gazed at her. This was one of those moments when her adoration towards him was hitting with an alarming force. Some days—well, most days actually—he could hardly believe this incredible woman loved him as she did. It took him so long to feel worthy of her love. There were times he still didn't, but, oh, moments like this one could stop him in his tracks. She loved him, all of him, who he was for all his faults and devilish flaws. How could he ever for one moment think their relationship was anything but incredible?

He stepped forward, cradled her jaw with his hand for just a moment, then removed his suit jacket and hung it on the back of a kitchen chair. Standing there with his palms resting atop the chair back he confessed, "Maze called me boring."

Chloe laughed melodically. "Yeah right. She was probably just hung over."

"Actually, I think she just wanted me to join the orgy."

"O-orgy?" All amusement had certainly left Chloe's face when she stepped up beside him. "There was an orgy at your apartment this morning."

"Technically last night, but yes."

"I see. Did you want to join?"

"No."

"…but?"

He huffed out a breath. "I would never join one of Maze's orgies when we're together, detective. As you're aware I never break promises. But…returning to my apartment and seeing the scene in which I would have happily participated in the past makes me think back on those times and-"

"You miss it. I understand. It's natural." Though her words were understanding, her tone was noticeably clipped. If he had learned one thing over their partnership it was the tone that indicated she was on the verge of anger, which meant he needed to act quickly.

"Detective-"

"No, Lucifer it's okay. You and I have lived very different lives. I mean…clearly," she added while gesturing up and down his entire body, "but I want you to be happy."

"I am happy," he said desperately.

"Are you?"

"You know I don't lie."

She shook her head gently, "I mean: are you your happiest? You may feel happy now when we're together, but that doesn't mean you couldn't be happier someplace else, and I don't want to hold you back."

His heart aching, he stepped up to her and cradled her face with both hands. "You're not. I will admit that there are some things I miss, but there are things I have now that I never thought possible and they're…incredible." He couldn't even imagine it now—going back to the time when he had no one in his life who understood his struggles and knew about his past. How could he go back to a time where he didn't have someone to be truly open with? Or to care for? And what on earth would he do without her smile?

He leaned down, brushed his lips against hers, then lifted his head to kiss her in the center of her forehead. "I'm happy detective, I promise you."

Her hands curled around his sides and she gave his hips a soft squeeze. "Still…maybe we can find something that we can do that's more a middle ground between your old life and this one?"

"What like a threesome?"

"No! Something like…I don't know. More than just watching a movie."

"There's nothing wrong with movies, detective, and you're right I do like those cooking shows. Hell's Kitchen," he laughed delightedly. "If they only knew…"

"I know, but…okay, how about this – Dan has Trixie this weekend so let's start Friday night at Lux and see where the night takes us?"

He grinned quite devilishly. "I'd like that, detective."

"Me too," she agreed. Then, she slid her arms up his back and pulled him into a tight hug.

"Well you seem in better spirits this week, Lucifer," Dr Linda observed at the beginning of their next appointment.

Lucifer smiled as he poured himself a glass of water, "I am, doctor, I truly am."

"You spoke with Chloe?"

"I did and you were right. It was good to talk about my problem instead of coming up with an elaborate ruse to ignore it."

Linda arched a suspicious eyebrow at him. "You don't say?"

"I do indeed."

"So, what did you decide on?

"We're going to be mindful of not settling into a rut. For instance, take this past Friday night: we spent time at Lux, had far too much to drink, and then had incredible sex on-"

"Too much!" Linda interrupted loudly. "Too much detail!"

Clearing his throat, Lucifer leaned back against the couch. "Right, sorry. It's unfair of me to share about my sex life when you don't currently have one."

"Yes, well…"

He leaned forward again as he decided to share with her what he'd learned over the prior week. "You know, doctor, I did have a bit of a realization."

"Oh? Do tell!"

He held up his hands as though he was about to pitch a new, never heard of before concept. "Hugs."

She blinked. "Hugs?"

"Yes, hugs. I realized I never really hugged anyone before the detective. Not really. True, I had embraces that went along with lovemaking, or a quick slap of the back when parting ways, but a hug—a full body embrace. I never had that before and I find I rather enjoy them."

It was a rather…silly concept. A hug in of itself seemed so basic, so—as Maze might accuse—boring, but he'd really never had those in his life. After all: who wanted to hug the devil? Even if someone had the desire, he wasn't sure he would have ever been in a place to accept. In a strange way, an embrace—a true embrace—felt more intimate than even sex. It was about surrender and vulnerability, neither of which he ever had before his detective. Now, he was happy to hug her, to rest his head on her shoulder and gather her up in his arms. To lie in bed at night with their legs intertwined and her head against his chest. After all, that was what relationships were all about.

Linda smiled, obviously delighted. "Oh, Lucifer that's wonderful. Hugs are such an important part of our intimacy with others."

"Yes, I'm beginning to realize that now." Then, with an impish shrug he added, "Monogamy—who knew?"

A/N - I hope you enjoyed my Lucifer one-shot. I just binged this entire show in about 2.5 weeks and fell in love so I had to add this little ficlet. thanks for reading :)