Christian & Lissa

(Third Person POV)

Christian and Lissa leaned against Dimitri's truck. Lissa had refused to sit down in the car until she knew Rose was all right. Christian couldn't separate whether it was more from guilt or Lissa caring about Rose.

He held on to her tightly not wanting to let go but she wouldn't even look at him.

He couldn't blame her.

It was his fault.

She even told him so. After a while of standing in the cold she spoke to him directly for the first time in a while.

"It's your fault."

"I know," was all he said. He couldn't deny it.

"It's my fault to," she whispered.

"I should have been watching after you better. I let my feelings get in the way and look what happened."

"That's true," she said unemotionally. First she couldn't stop crying now she spoke with even the slightest emotion in her tone. The stood for a while still waiting. After a few moments she spoke again.

"I want to forgive you."

Now Christian was confused. He knew it was his fault, Lissa thought it was her fault too and blamed Christian but she still cared about him enough to want to forgive him.

These are the reason I try to avoid relationships, he laughing to himself.

He ran his hand over as chin feeling the stubble there. He hadn't shaven in a while.

That night with Lissa threw him off sending him mixed funny emotions Christian thought he'd never feel for a girl.

"Maybe eventually I will."

"Maybe you can even forgive your self."

She nodded resting her head against the truck again.

"Rose thinks it's her fault." She sighed. "Fault. Fault. Fault. We should be blaming…them," croaked, pointing her head at the patrol car that Mikhail sat in and the other patrol car that pulled up after all of the fighting was over and Ambrose sat in.

Christian had to keep him self focused on Lissa to resist going over there and dealing with Ambrose him self.

Dimitri could handle Mikhail.

"They'll pay for it in the end," he muttered.

"I doubt it," Lissa sighed. "What happens now?"

Jesse came from behind the truck where he'd been talking on his phone.

"We process them, get them to talk and take it from there."

"What makes you think they'll talk to you? I don't think your usually charm and charisma will have an affect on them," Christian joked with a lopsided smile.

"I'll get them to talk. Trust me," Jesse said staring at the patrol car Mikhail was in. Christian guessed Mikhail was staring directly back at him.

What was that about?

"We don't," he and Lissa said in unison. Jesse only shook his head and looked at his phone again.

"I meant what happens to Rose and me?" Lissa asked.

"You two will come back with us, tell us what happened verbatim, and then…" his voice trailed off.

"And then what? Child services take us away?"

"Aren't you already eighteen?" Jesse asked not really caring.

Christian wanted to tear his eyes from their sockets and make him look Lissa in the eye while they were talking instead of at that phone.

"Yeah? So?"

Christian caught on to what Jesse was getting at.

"You only qualify for child services if you're under eighteen."

Liss didn't seem bothered by this.

"That's fine. I have hidden money that can keep my safe for a while but what about Rose?"

"She's seventeen so child services will take her away and put her in a foster home until her birthday," Jesse said still dialing on his phone.

Christians earlier idea about tearing his eyes was getting better and better.

"What! Rose will never stay in a foster home! What about after she turns eighteen and then what?"

"She can come stay with you I don't know. Neither of you is my problem once this case is settled," Jesse admitted carelessly.

"Could you be more insensitive," Christian said clenching his fist.

"I can't take care of Rose. That money would only be enough for me," Lissa admitted sounding sheepish.

"Well then maybe she'll get into prostitution then she'll be arrested and she'll have shelter, friends, and three meals a day," Jesse said unsmiling.

Lissa slapped him across the face his phone falling to the ground. He bent to pick it up and touched his cheek.

"That might have hurt more if it had been an actual hit. That was as hard as a leaf hitting my cheek," he smiled going back to his phone. Christian raised his brows at Lissa impressed glad she did it instead of him. That wouldn't be a good career move.

Lissa looked down thinking about ways to help Rose but Christian could tell she couldn't think of any ways.

"Dimitri will take care of her," he said reassuringly.

"I hope so."

"He won't let child services take her to a foster home."

"Dimitri is the one who dropped her off here tonight and look what happened. Of course that was after I asked her over."

Back to square one, playing the blame game.

"Tonight was just a bad, chaotic night made up of mistakes mostly on our part. He'll take her home tonight and look after her. He cares about her," Christian said trying to convince Liss not wanting her to dwell on guilt too long. He wanted to make her feel better. He wanted to them to have fun again like they did on the night that started this all.

"The same way I care about you," he added only for her ears to hear. Jesse had gone to talk to the patrol officers to tell them to escort Mikhail and Ambrose back to the FBI building.

Lissa looked up with a forced slight smile.

"And will I be going home with you tonight?"

"Definitely."

She smiled, a real one and leaned into him for the first time tonight.

They pulled only a part away when Dimitri and Rose came out.

Christian volunteered to drive with Jesse riding shotgun and Lissa, Dimitri and Rose in back.

Rose was between the two of them lying across them awkwardly.

The two of them spoke in hushed whispers all the way back to the building, Rose even making Lissa laugh a few times. Christian wished making Lissa happy came as easily to him as it did Rose.

Starting tonight things were different.

He'd already did something he never done before: he admitted his feelings.

Now he just had to see how things would go on for here.

Feelings, he sighed with a mental scoff. These damn feelings.