Listen to "Cello Song - The Books ft Jose Gonzalez" and "Change of Time - Josh Ritter" while reading.
Ressler lifted the beer up to his mouth, taking a swig from it and leaning it down on the side of the chair, not letting go of it. His eyes scanned over the newspaper in front of him, reading through the headlines and thinking over his previous day of work.
Keen could have died if he hadn't got there in time. She could have stopped breathing. He could have lost his partner. Yet he reached her in time, and his bullet penetrated through the skull of the Kingmaker, sending him falling to the ground, losing his grip on Keen.
To him, it seemed like it was his fault if she got hurt. Of course, it was his job to survey houses for criminals. But it seemed like he and Keen had to stick together, like butter on bread. If he left her, she could get injured. If she left him, he could get injured.
He remembered back to only a few months ago when he was stuck inside a box with a criminal. Reddington. The criminal who had offered to kill Ressler to save Keen. It still puzzled Ressler why Red had such a connection with Keen. This was the reason he had tried harder. He'd warmed up to her.
After he got back together with Audrey, he dropped their date to talk to Keen. She'd insisted he'd go, but he knew how heartbroken she sounded when she said the simple six words. "I think he's gonna leave me," She had said.
Ressler didn't know how he would handle the hurt she'd face if he did. If Tom Keen had actually left her. He'd "rough him up" like he told Liz he would a few weeks ago.
It was only a day earlier when Liz had told him what happened. That she had a fight with Tom, and he'd left. And she had no idea where he was. He wasn't lying when he said that Tom would come back, but half of his heart hoped he wouldn't. Half of his heart hoped that it was him that could reassemble the crack so obviously left in Liz's heart.
He lifted up his beer to his lips, taking another drink. Just as he swallowed he heard a knock. Three simple knocks on the door of his apartment. Was it Liz? The woman he'd been thinking so much about? Or was it another member of the squad? Aram? Meera? He wasn't sure why either would visit him.
Ressler sat the newspaper down on the couch beside him and stood up, sitting his beer on the table beside the couch. He made his way to the front door, his boots sounding on the wooden floor.
It would have been an odd sight, seeing Ressler looking through the peek hole in his door. He had to hide his own shock.
He grasped the cold door handle and turned it, pulling it open to see a distressed Liz Keen standing outside. Ressler raised his eyebrows, concerned. He had hoped it would be Liz, but he never thought it actually would be.
Liz looked down at the ground, and quickly back up to Ressler's eyes. He could tell that she had been crying, as her eyes were still red. The red you got when you cried too much. She hesitated for a moment to speak, her eyes looking down at the ground for a split second.
"I didn't know where else to go," She said.
Her voice surprised Ressler, and he hid his smile. Her voice let in no suspicions that she had been in tears. Ressler opened up the door even more, and smiled a bit. It was a reassuring smile, to let Liz know that he understood why she was here. And he was okay with it.
Liz stepped into his apartment and he closed the door behind them. "It's a nice place you've got here," She said, taking a few steps - her heeled boots echoing off the floor.
"S'nothing special." Ressler shrugged, heading into the living room and picking up his beer. He took another swig and looked at Liz. "Did you want one?"
She shook her head and passed by him, sitting on the couch beside the open newspaper. Liz rested her elbows on her thighs and let her head fall into her hands. It was quiet for a few moments. Ressler stood by the door of the kitchen, just looking.
This time, her voice was shaky as she spoke, and was barely a whisper. "Red," She said. Ressler looked up, raising his eyebrows, even though she couldn't see. "He killed my father. He told me."
He looked down at his feet, wondering if he should make his way over to her or not. Would it be wrong?
"And Tom, he…" She took a deep breath again. "He played me. It was all a lie, all of it. He was assigned to me. He never really loved me."
Ressler's head shot up. "He what?" Ressler exclaimed, before even having a chance to control his own mouth.
"He married me for a job." She said, looking up and catching Ressler's eyes. He noticed her eyes were now full of tears.
Ressler frowned and sat down his beer on the kitchen cabinet closest to him. He walked over to her and sat down on the couch, which sunk down too close to the floor. The last time he had someone sit beside him on this couch was Audrey.
She leant over, resting her head onto his shoulder. He looked down at her, shocked. They had never been this close before, except for her near death experience with the Stewmaker. He smiled a little and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in closer.
They sat in silence for a few moments, just enjoying each others company. "Are you okay?" Liz whispered.
Ressler sighed. "I'm fine," he muttered. "I just want you to be okay."
Liz smiled, running her finger over her ring finger where her wedding ring used to sit. "I took off the ring," She said, and Ressler's eyes looked down at her hands, which were now bare.
Before thinking, he took one of her hands in his and began running his own finger over the place where her ring was. She sat up, not leaning on his shoulder anymore. He looked down at her, surprised to see her leaning in closer to his face.
He too began to lean it, but just as Liz was about to touch his lips with hers, she leant her forehead on his shoulder and chuckled a bit before going quiet again. Ressler's heart was beating so fast he thought it may just fly out of his chest. What a sight that would be.
"I'll be here, Liz." He said, rubbing his hand up and down her back. "Anything you need. I'm here for you."
She looked up at him and smiled again. "I better head home… or whatever is left of it." Liz said, and began to stand up. Ressler grabbed her hand again and pulled her back down.
"Stay," he said. "I'm here for you."
