Liam found Fallon a good half an hour later, but that was after he'd searched the entire floor and wound up back in the lobby downstairs. She was slowly stepping her way down a long entry hall, which was lined with shelves and clear glass, behind which sat all of the books the publisher had ever released. He could tell just from looking over at her that she wasn't really paying any attention to what she was seeing.
He stepped out of the elevator and walked up to her, falling into step at her side. "You didn't come back," he started almost cautiously. He couldn't work out what would've upset her so much. Her father, maybe?
"I'm okay," she said in place of explaining.
"Sweetheart..." Liam's tone was warning enough that Fallon came to a stop, turning to face him.
"Michael called," she started, reaching out to take his hands. "Several times. He had some news and it wasn't good. But he's taking care of it."
Liam frowned, and though he didn't say anything in response, Fallon could feel the way he was pulling back from her internally. Of course he would assume she was hiding something. She was.
"Liam," she started, stepping closer to try and ward off his hurt by proximity as much as with her words. "I don't want to talk about it here. Please. Anybody could overhear it."
"...Adam?"
Fallon nodded grimly, and Liam let go of her hands to wrap his arms around her waist, drawing her in for a hug she realized she wasn't at all prepared for. But she needed it nonetheless.
He murmured into her ear, "is everyone safe?"
She nodded again, this time brushing against his shoulder as she did so. "They're flying in tonight. I called Alexis and Anders, too."
"Good."
He drew back enough to meet her gaze, and Fallon raised a hand to his cheek in appreciation. "Good meeting, too?" She asked, hopeful that she hadn't distracted him too much by disappearing.
Liam smiled, nodding. "Yeah. But we can't do anything about my work, or about things back in Atlanta right now. So all we can do is wait, and I'm pretty sure you said something about a date?"
"I did," she confirmed, her expression turning cheeky. "I'm not convinced you can handle it, though."
He laughed, turning his chin enough to kiss her palm. "Maybe you should split it up over a couple days, then."
Fallon lifted an eyebrow. "I never said I only had one day's worth of ideas."
His surprise made her grin, so she took his hand again and all but dragged him out into the busy streets of Manhattan.
When they stepped out of the subway stop near Central Park, Fallon suspected that he thought they were just going to eat nearby. But she'd changed out of her heels, which had shocked him. She was serious about going to the museum, and led him straight to those famous steps, unable to hold back her smile as the realization hit him.
"You remembered," he said as they started up the stairs.
"Of course I did. I was thinking maybe you could show me why you like it so much."
His smile told her immediately that this plan of hers would be well worth it.
The Met was, of course, incredibly large. It was possible, Fallon supposed, to go through the whole thing in one day. But it was already midday, and they'd surely head out after a while to go eat. And she had more for them to do after the museum, so they wouldn't be able to see everything. She told him as much, and he had a couple of ideas.
Liam wanted her to take it seriously, so he started with the part he thought she would enjoy the most: the renaissance paintings were absolutely stunning, and based on her family's home, the Carringtons knew a thing or two about art. He led her through the halls, taking a turn at the end of one of them, and leading her into the wing that held a wealth of American history. He pointed out his favorites as they went along, and Fallon had to stop for a moment to remind herself that the Van Kirks were actually from New York. It sounded like the Met had either been his escape, or somewhere he was dropped off when some relative or other didn't 'have the time' to watch out for him that day.
As they walked, it started sounding more and more like the first one was true. Liam loved everything about the place, and Fallon found herself hanging on his every word. Would his book feel like this? He was so proud of it that she figured it absolutely had to, otherwise he wouldn't have put his passion for the subject he'd chosen into his work.
But just as Fallon started heading down a set of stairs to follow the signs to the next area, Liam caught her hand and took her up the staircase instead. She was confused, as nobody else was headed that way.
"It's fine," he assured her, looking back and catching the look on her face. "This is my favorite part of the museum. So few even know it's here – or bother with it, at any rate."
Curiosity heightened even further, Fallon followed close behind him as he led her into a room filled with glass cases – rows and rows of them. They each held something different, from multicolored vases to armor to portraits and little trinkets. "What is this?"
"Open Storage," Liam explained. "It's all the things they don't have on display at the moment, and you can pull up anything in a database in here to learn about it."
But he wasn't stopping, instead walking through the aisle towards the back of the room. Once they were all the way in a back corner, he used the hand holding hers to swing her around and back her up against one of the cases, swooping in to kiss her fervently. When he pulled away, she was breathless but grinning.
"What was that for?"
"You listened, Fallon. Even back then, when I thought you weren't, or thought you wouldn't bother. I'm grateful."
Fallon let out a quiet hum of consideration. "You're pretty hard to ignore, Liam."
He smiled that lopsided, perfect smile of his, and started to lean in again. But Fallon's phone buzzed and they both groaned in complaint. His forehead fell to her shoulder as she pulled her cell from her pocket, reading the text.
"It's Culhane. They're in the air."
"So we can relax, now?" He asked, hopeful.
Fallon nodded. "I think so. So we should enjoy the other things I have planned for us while we're here." She ran her hands down his chest to push him back, though part of her certainly wouldn't have minded staying where they were. But they were going to be caught eventually. "Let's go."
The rest of their day was spent at dinner, and then a piano bar in southern Manhattan, where she'd managed to reserve two piano-side chairs for the pair of them. Yes, it was partly to try and impress him with her singing, but Fallon was determined to get him to do the same. And while he wasn't trained, it was exceptionally charming when he tried. And for a few hours, they were just normal. They were able to play the tourist role to some extent, and Fallon had to admit – maybe Liam had a point. Maybe they could just move away from Atlanta and be free. Then they wouldn't be a threat to Adam anymore, and both of them could start fresh.
Starting fresh was tough, though. Without connections or leverage, it was harder to operate the way that Fallon was used to. So she didn't voice any thoughts on the matter. Not yet. She needed some kind of plan before that could happen, and she wasn't going to spend their date on something like that.
The rest of their week was supposed to continue like their day had. Liam's meetings in the mornings, spending time together the rest of the day. But it could never be that easy. When they left the bar, pleasantly buzzed and feeling even more tipsy as they stood and walked out into the cooler night air, Fallon realized that she had several notifications from Kirby.
"Do these people have nobody else they can call?" She snapped, shoving her phone back out of sight.
Liam draped his arm around her shoulders, laughing. "Oh, come on, Fal. You love that they rely on you."
She sighed. "I hate when you make valid points," she told him, shooting him a look when he just laughed harder. "I may want to be needed, but I never get a break anymore. This was supposed to be like a holiday for us."
"So let it be," he told her. "Adam isn't here, everybody back home knows to watch out for him – even Blake, technically. If anything else happens, we can extend our stay here. Or go somewhere else." He stopped her, making her turn to face him. "Anywhere you want. My book tour starts in a month, but until then, I am free to go along with whatever comes up. So call Kirby back, and make sure she knows we're okay."
Michael and Kirby were sitting across from Monica and Jeff at the dinner table when Fallon's call came through. Relieved, Kirby quickly answered to try and salvage the horribly uncomfortable meal they'd been having because of the tension that remained between Michael and Jeff. Not to mention the looks Monica had been giving Kirby and Michael as they conversed amicably.
They were staying in a house just outside of the city that the Colbys owned, thinking that would be out of the way enough that it might be safer. Kirby relayed as much, suggesting that, despite everything, she figured Fallon and Liam could come stay with them if they really had to.
"Yeah, that would go well," Fallon replied sarcastically.
Kirby rolled her eyes. "Well if it's that or Adam getting you, I'd say it's pretty obvious that Michael would rather help you. Both of you."
"Sure. But Adam is back in Atlanta," Fallon said, going off of what Liam had told her before, "so it's probably fine."
The redhead's face fell at the reminder, and though Fallon couldn't see it, Kirby's friend would've been surprised. Kirby quickly ended the call, and remained reserved until she finally returned to the dining table and asked where she should be sleeping. Monica pointed her down a hall towards two guest bedrooms, and when Kirby excused herself, Michael did the same.
He waited until they were hopefully out of earshot, standing between their two rooms. "Hey. You alright?"
Kirby sighed, leaning back against her door. "Maybe. Fallon's saying everything's fine, now, but my dad's still in that house."
Michael nodded slowly, looking at the floor before lifting his gaze back to her. "I may be wrong, but from what I know about the guy, Adam hasn't gone for anybody who hasn't done something he sees as a betrayal. Or as somebody getting in his way. So maybe we can just get word to him and suggest that he be more careful."
"Dad does whatever Blake needs him to. It's weird; he raised Blake, sort of, but he raised Steven and Fallon, too. I don't get why Blake's word means more than anybody else's. More than even Blake's father did, before he died."
Culhane didn't have an explanation for that. He just shook his head and shrugged apologetically.
"Adam knows you're helping us now, doesn't he?" She asked, lifting her eyebrows. When Michael frowned, she took it as an affirmative. "Then it sounds like you're the one that needs protecting. Not me and my dad."
"...Probably, yeah."
Kirby cracked a smile, surprising him. "Well. I appreciate that you thought of me, and worked so hard to get all of us out of there. Hopefully I can return the favor someday."
"I'd rather you didn't have to," he replied, his tone a little teasing as an eyebrow lifted. He joined Kirby in a brief laugh that, for both of them, was a mix of relief and that feeling of being so overwhelmed that they just didn't know what else to do.
Michael backed up towards his door as Kirby started reaching for the handle of her own. "Night," she offered, stopping in the doorway to smile over her shoulder at him.
"Goodnight."