May 2, 2019

Fallon pulled her suitcase down the walkway leading up to the plane, hyperaware of Liam's presence behind her. She liked to pretend that she was fine with heading back to Atlanta, but based on Adam's desire to break her at the least, and possibly 'get rid of her' (she couldn't seem to use the word kill) at the worst, she highly doubted that she was pulling this one off. She had expected to sit in business class as they had on the way to New York, but Liam had made a point to upgrade to first class.

So they were seated among the earliest of the bunch, and Liam didn't seem as shocked as Fallon expected him to when she immediately went hard on the alcohol that came along with their tickets. He didn't chide her or say anything about it at all. Instead, he just settled into his seat beside her, and reached over to drop his hand on her thigh. That seemed to calm her, as her anxious fidgeting stopped, so he began brushing his thumb back and forth as take-off approached.

Flights usually made him tired, but the flight to Atlanta wasn't that long, and even the flight attendants were looking at Fallon strangely after a while, when she just kept drinking.

Eventually, he stood up under the guise of going to the bathroom, but when he was sure Fallon wasn't looking, he asked the first class attendant to refrain from asking her if she wanted anything else, claiming that she'd just lost a family member and was taking it badly. They left the pair alone for the rest of the flight, and Fallon didn't seem to notice, thankfully.

When the flight finally ended, she was clearly still tipsy, so Liam took charge of their bags and took her hand as they made their way out and through the airport. She hung on him as they walked, her steps slowing the closer they got to the exit. Finally, he couldn't stand her silent fretting. He set their bags down without premise, and drew her into his chest, just wrapping her in his arms.

"I'm fine," she claimed, her words not having a particularly strong impact due to the slowed speech that came from the liquor she'd downed.

"You're not."

She shook her head. "We're not even to part where I have to go home," she mused. "I'll be fine, by then."

Liam rubbed her arms as he pulled back, sighing. "Hey, y'know what? We've got time. Until Jeff is ready with those documents we need, it's still vacation time for us. Okay? Adam doesn't need to know we're even back. Until everything's ready, we can keep busy."

Her brow furrowed slightly, and he wasn't sure if it was because of the drinks or because he wasn't being straightforward enough. "With what?"

"Your business plans. Ideas for the book tour. We'll keep an ear out about things Adam's doing at home – talk to Anders and Sam and even your mother. We'll do what we would any other day, but while staying ready. Okay?"

Fallon shrugged slightly, but she nodded. "Let's just go to your apartment."

Liam didn't love that they were heading somewhere that Fallon didn't feel entirely comfortable, but the manor wasn't exactly home for her anymore, in some ways. And he certainly wasn't going to take her there. Not a chance.

On the drive home, Fallon just frowned out the window at the buildings that lined the streets of Atlanta. When they drove past the police station, Liam's words came back to her and she gasped.

"What?" He asked, reaching over to her shoulder.

"We need to go see Bobbi," she told him.

Liam's eyebrows pulled together but he just shrugged and said, "Okay. We can do that. But maybe once you're more..." He glanced at the driver, but Fallon just rolled her eyes.

"Sober?"

"Yeah."

She apparently was willing to concede that point to him, but Liam was excited to see the wheels turning in her head again, and Fallon looked almost happy, too.

The next day, the police chief knocked on Liam's door, and when Fallon answered it, both women looked a little nervous. Fallon's nerves were fake, to some extent, but the fact that Bobbi looked anxious only increased Fallon's discomfort.

"Come on in," Fallon offered, stepping backwards. She had to stop short, though, because Liam had come up behind her, his hands catching her at the hips to slow her. Fallon suspected that he was hovering as a means of playing up their downtrodden mood. She squeezed his arm before turning her attention back to Bobbi. "Thanks for coming."

Bobbi looked between the two of them and then around the apartment, presumably seeing Fallon's touch her and there in the placement of objects that certainly represented the Carrington businesswoman vibe that Fallon carried. They led her over to the couch, Fallon sitting next to Bobbi and Liam taking the chair next to his girlfriend in case she wanted to reach over for him.

"So," Bobbi began, "I was actually going to reach out to you, Fallon, but it seems you did that for me."

"Oh?"

Bobbi nodded. "We had a few questions about what happened between Michael and Ada." She emphasized the name to suggest that she couldn't give the woman's real name. When Fallon waited expectantly, the police chief went on. "We have a record of various calls, but almost nothing in writing. We have Michael's claims, and of course Ada's claims. But we have nothing to corroborate either of them."

Fallon's eyebrows lifted slightly. It was like Bobbi knew why she'd asked to speak with the older woman. "Well, I'm not sure what you mean, specifically, but it does make me feel better to know that Michael wasn't involved with Ada's schemes with my... brother."

"Right... We didn't hear anything about Culhane's involvement during the audio tapes. Though the bug did raise some questions," Bobbi admitted.

"That wasn't my idea," Fallon began, only for Liam to cut in.

"It was mine."

Fallon's head whipped towards him, surprised. She'd thought it was Kirby's, but perhaps she'd rubbed off on him with her scheming ways.

Liam went on, "Fallon didn't want to do anything to upset her father, as I'm sure you can understand."

"Blake does seem... complicated," Bobbi agreed.

"He is. But Fallon told me that Adam made her extremely uncomfortable, and as her ex-husband and someone who cares deeply for her, I didn't want anything to happen to her. It wasn't the right way to go about doing it, but I'm glad we did so I could help Fallon get out of there."

Fallon sat up a little straighter, not really wanting to sound like she couldn't take care of herself. She knew that wasn't Liam's intention, but her instinct was there nevertheless. "Well, and I remember I once answered a call from Ada, which led to me thinking Michael was cheating on me. I didn't realize who she was until later on, when he said she was blackmailing him by holding blackmail material over me. Though, looking back I sort of wonder if maybe we shouldn't have just let her put it out there..."

Liam reached over to take her hand. "It would've been ugly if she had. But Fallon didn't actually do anything wrong besides pretend to do something she didn't. My uncle," he continued, jaw tight and tone darker at the mention of Max, "is the one that tried to use his own nephew's wife for something so vile."

Fallon's gaze fell to the floor but she squeezed his hand a little tighter. She had to really get to the point of why they'd wanted to talk to her: to cover their own future tracks. "Well, I'm just glad to be free of that house. I tried to warn my father but he didn't care, so, as you might've guessed, I've moved out. I really hope that Michael doesn't get in trouble because of Ada or because of me, but I'm just ready to wash my hands of it all." She looked over at Liam with an encouraging smile. "We'll be leaving in just under a month for Liam's book tour, and we've talked a little about maybe moving away from Atlanta."

He hid his surprise well at her mention of his only briefly-suggested idea. But Fallon knew it was a discussion they'd be having once Bobbi left. Instead of reacting too strongly, though, he just nodded. "It'll be nice to get some space. Have a bit of a change. That sort of thing."

Bobbi cracked a smile at that. "Can't say I blame you. But I guess I'm surprised that you two are doing all of this... together."

Fallon blushed a little, which brought out an amused smile from Liam. "Well," he said, "things were messy back then. And though it took us a while, we've sort of... found our way back to each other."

"Well, then," Bobbi pushed herself up off the couch, "I suppose that's all I have for you two. Let me know if anything else happens, okay? Hopefully nothing will."

"Of course," Fallon agreed quickly, standing to walk Bobbi out.

Once the door closed, she locked it back behind her and turned around to lean against it and eye Liam cautiously.

"So we're moving," he said, the intonation lifting at the end as a half-statement, half-question.

"Well, even if it doesn't happen, it makes her think we want out, right? Like we aren't going to wind up at the house, planting evidence against Adam? We're pretending to bow out, I had to hit every available note."

His mild amusement fell away as she spoke, and Fallon felt herself stiffen in response. "Do you want to leave Atlanta or not, Fallon?"

"... It was your idea."

"I know."

She nearly frowned at his lack of assistance. Why couldn't he just say what he wanted so she could know if they were on the same page or not? "I'm not going to ask you to give up your life here, Liam, but-"

"You'd leave without me?"

Her breath caught in her throat at the look on his face and the fact that he so obviously sounded like she'd just hurt him. She pushed away from the door, walking over to stand in front of him. She wanted to reach out, but was afraid he might pull away like he had at Sun Valley. "No. I- I mean... Liam, I don't think I can stay here. And I thought you wanted to leave, or I wouldn't have considered it this much. But I know your mom is here, and you might not be ready to move, yet. I just thought... I don't know. I guess I thought you could write anywhere."

The faster she spoke, the more he seemed to relax, absorbing her words and allowing a sense of calm to come over him. "I can. But you didn't seem interested when I mentioned it before."

"I didn't want to admit that my life here isn't going to go back to normal. I can't get it back, but maybe I don't want to, now." She shrugged one shoulder, her eyes searching his face. "You wanted to work on business plans, right? I have no doubt that you've got other stories in you, but all I know is energy. Green or otherwise. So maybe I just... need to find a city that might need me. Or at least needs a change."

Liam took her cheeks between both of his hands as he leaned in to kiss her briefly. "I can't imagine there's a place that wouldn't be better off for having you."

Fallon rolled her eyes a little, but couldn't fight the smile that grew across her face. "If that's your way of agreeing that we should move, then I'll take it."

He grinned and kissed her again, a little longer that time. "Whatever place you're going to conquer, Fal, I'll be there."