A/N: Hello my dear readers. Here comes the third story of my one-shot collection.

Vulnerable

For those of you who are waiting for an update on my "The sweetest taste of sin" story. I'm sorry, but this will take a little while. Somehow the last episode of Lucifer left me with disturbing feelings. I wonder why? (No, not really) Anyway. I simply had to write this little story here. And now that it's finally off my chest, I can concentrate back on the other story. I hope you like it.

It is rated K+ so nothing really happens here.

This story is beta-read by Daemon. You rock! As always, but especially on this story :D All remaining mistakes are my own. :D

Enjoy!

Somehow, he knew it all the time.

He just wasn't ready to admit it yet.

He'd told himself that he was vulnerable around her because she was a miracle, sent by his father, for some mysterious plan He had for his once favourite son. But today, after he'd saved her life, he finally saw the truth. If the reason was just her being a miracle, then he would have been mortal around her right from the start. But that wasn't the case. No, it was only since that job in the players club, where they had to find that missing woman. Then she was able to hurt him physically; then he first got to know what pain truly felt like.

And today he learned why that had happened. He knew now that he could get hurt near her because he gave her that power. Not on his free will, of course; if there was something like free will in this case, anyway. No, he was mortal around her since his feelings for her had changed. Because he, the devil himself, had been infected by that emotion called love. Something so minuscule, and yet so tremendous that it had changed everything inside him completely: How he'd seen the world, how he'd seen the people, how he'd seen her.

How was he supposed to know what was going on? He had never felt this feeling before. But today he finally figured it out when he saw her waking up in that bed, and how her first reaction when she'd seen him was a smile. It hadn't been the smile that made him realise what he felt for her, what he had felt all along ever since. It was his heart breaking when he'd looked in her eyes, knowing that he would never see her again.

He was running away now; running to the place he called home, not because of the people there, not because he'd fought for it to stay intact. But because she'd made it to his home. He had to go. He couldn't allow his father to get into his ways just once more. He wanted to escape from all these manipulations. He wanted a free will. And he could only get it when he was as far away from this city as possible. As far away from his mother, from his brother, and from her. Chloe.

His beloved Chloe.

And his heart bled at the thought to never hold her anymore, never see her smile anymore. Still, he had to leave. Because he'd allowed himself to become infatuated with her. True, you can never choose who you fall in love with, but you can choose if you stay around that person. And he chose to go, to leave her because he also knew that she was just a pawn in this big game of his father's. Someone his father could choose to sacrifice one day, just to see him suffer some more. Just like what he'd allowed happening to Hiob. And he had to prevent that. He, Lucifer, just went back to hell to get that formula to save her life. And he would do it over and over again, willingly, in an instant, to keep her safe. And that's why he had to go now. She needed to be safe and secure, even from himself. She deserved to have the life that she always wanted, and he knew she wouldn't get it as long as he was standing in her way.

He had to leave!

But why was it so difficult? Why did he feel like someone was choking his lungs from the inside right now? Why did he feel like he was dying? Was this what people called 'to be crossed in love'? He didn't know. But this feeling was one of those few he wished to never experience again.

Shaking his head out of his thoughts, Lucifer tossed the suitcase into his car, went behind the wheel, started the engine and took off, heading north-east. The sun had already begun to disappear behind the horizon when the pain inside his chest got so unbearable that he had to pull over. He clutched the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles turned white when the waves of sorrow and loss erupted inside of him. They made his whole body tremble, finally setting free the little drops of water that had already welled up in his eyes half an hour ago.

His phone started to buzz again, and this time he took it out of his pocket and looked at it. The little device already displayed three voicemails from her, and it looked like she was just leaving the fourth one.

He swung his arm and tossed the phone away as far as he could manage before he started the engine again and drove away.

Just to hit the breaks hard after a couple of yards, set the car in reverse and go back. He sprang out of his seat and went to the area he'd tossed it in. He knew, getting the phone back was a bad idea. But he simply couldn't part with her completely. At least this way, when the pain got too much, he could listen to her voice and pretend he would see her the next day.

The search for his phone had lasted already ten minutes when he heard the soft sound of its vibration. Relieved, he headed in that direction and, spotting it, grabbed it and put it back into his pocket.

Yes, at least he could hear her voice from time to time. Even if it would be torture not to see her as well, not to hold her in his arms again. But this was a torture he was willing to endure. To remind himself, that he, Lucifer Morningstar, the devil, had once fallen in love.

A/N: The end. I hope you liked it. Please leave a comment and let me know :D

Have a nice day!

:o)