A couple of hours later, Holt was having a really lovely dream about the woman of his life when the sound of a loud crack in the fire awoke him. He continued to show a happy smile on his face at the realization that Lucy was indeed cuddled up near him, her head resting of the satin pillow, the soft silk sheet barely covering her spectacular naked body from the now dim fire. He made sure the noise had not woken her. But she was so peacefully asleep that not much could disrupt her little nap. She looked so calm and serene that he did not want to disturb her despite his will to be with her again so he got up and stood by the bed examining her with his eyes.

He could not believe that he ever thought of her as the devil at times whereas tonight she seemed like a perfect cute little angle, his goddess. A little bit later, he unwillingly noticed the scar on her tummy which hurt him to a large extent. He felt a great deal of remorse towards her and a mixture of responsibility and devastation that she had to go through all of this on her own when nothing had happened to him. But tonight, he only thought of her, he could not feel any more sympathy for his ex. She had kept them apart long enough.

He went to take a glance outside the window. As he looked back at her for a moment, he started to remember the first conversation they had once she recovered from her injury and was out of the hospital…

XXXXX

-6 months ago; Lucy's house-

Holt was sitting on a chair on her patio, waiting for Lucy to come home after her first day back at D/N. He knew she would not be early but he could not sit around at home any longer. He had to see her, he had to make sure she was really alright; he had to see it for himself with his own eyes.

Lucy got home, she dropped her jacket and purse on the chair in the living room and headed straight to her bedroom. She went in the bathroom to remove her top and jeans. She grabbed her satin robe to put on but did not tie it. As she was returning to her bedroom, she jumps back at the sight of Holt looking at her outside her window.

She walked up there to let him in.

- "I've told you before never to scare the shit outta me like this!"

- "I'm so sorry Lucy. Are you OK?"

- "What are you doing here Holt?"

- "I needed to see you, see how you are doing."

- "I'm OK and you shouldn't be here. It's crazy."

- "I don't care. I couldn't help it. I had to make sure you were really OK."

- "Well, I'm still alive and in good recovery mode so there you go. Now you can go."

- "Oh, come on. Really? Do you have any idea how insane the last couple of weeks have been for me? They wouldn't let me see you. I had no real news, only what was in the press and the few details Don was reluctant to share. Did Don tell you I tried to visit?"

- "No. And you went to see Don?"

- "I was so worried, you have no idea. I've missed you Lucy. I wanna pick up where we left off."

- "This isn't a good idea Holt. We can't do this. It was dicey before but now, given everything that's happened, people's interest is on us. This whole story has risen their curiosity. You don't even have the first clue at the mess this will trigger if anything comes out about us. We can't take that kind of chances nowadays."

- "But the last time we saw each other when we were in your car, you kissed me back. You may say otherwise but you want this, I know you do."

- "It doesn't matter anymore. It's too risky, we both have too much to loose. Now please leave!"

As she turned away to go back to the bathroom, Holt grabbed her wrist firmly not to let her go.

- "Goddamn it Lucy!" He objected.

This violent move made Lucy bent weakly while she pressed her hand on her stomach, letting out a small uncontainable growl. He hadn't realized until now that she was not as well as she stated. But then, he beated himself for ever believing she would admit any weakness. She probably did not even concede it to herself.

- "What is it Lucy? Are you OK?"

- "No it hurts!" She confessed before sitting on her bed. Holt kneed in front of her noticing something on the dressing of her wound.

- "Jesus Lucy, you're bleeding." He said panicking. "Why are you bleeding?"

- "It's OK. My wound is not scared yet. I popped a staple this afternoon."

- "Doing what?"

- "Car chasing Sharlee Cates so that Don could take her picture..." She admitted, the tone of her voice emphasizing how ridiculous this sounded.

- "That does sound like you." He noted amused.

- "Can you please leave me alone now?"

- "Let me help you. Do you need to go back to the hospital?"

- "No they said this might happen. I just need to clean it up, put on some cream and refresh the gauze. But before that, I have to cover it up so I can take a shower."

- "Go ahead, I'll wait."

- "No you should go."

- "No way, I'm not leaving until you're fine. No need to argue with me."

Lucy was astounded to find an unyielding Holt with her tonight. He was usually so easy to mold. This left her no words to protest and since he was already there.

She took time to relax in the shower, as she was back home for the first night, washing her hair and scrubbing her body as well as her face with her own fine products. She was careful not to wet the wound area on her tummy but the plastic wrap and tape they had given her at the hospital did the trick. It felt so nice to take care of herself after being stuck on bed rest for almost 3 weeks. She could almost forget about the consequences of her absence that left DIRT/Now in trouble, forget that neither her mom or her brother had even bother to visit her –not that she was eager to see them considering their history past and recent-, forget that Don was her only true friend, forget that Holt was there for her tonight.

She came out of the bathroom wearing a black cami & knicker set beneath her open silk robe. Her hair was almost dry.

She was heading outside her bedroom when Holt stopped her.

- "Where are you going?"

- "To get the stuff from the pharmacy for my bandage. My assistant dropped it off this morning in a hurry with my things after he came to the hospital to bring me clothes so I could get out and get back to work."

- "Why don't you just lie down and let me get it for you."

He went to the kitchen and found the paper bag on the counter. On the floor was Lucy's small unopened piece of luggage of her things. He went back to her. He helped her clean up her wound and arrange a new dressing. He felt so bad at the look of her scar. Whatever wrong they had done, she did not deserve this especially when nothing had happened to him. This was unfair he thought. She had done so much for him this past year; he had been a selfish asshole with her too many times. She had almost died before he could give anything back and have a chance to start up something real with her.

They had exchanged a few awkward glances during the process and despite Lucy's brave face; Holt could sense that she was in pain. He was glad to be a part of her recovery, as little as she would allow him to be, and that she was not alone on her first night back home.

- "Are you all set?" He asked concerned sitting on the side of the bed after he helped her under the sheets.

- "Yes, I'm good." She replied grinning a bit.

Holt looked grim and pensive.

- "What are you thinking?"

- "Look, I'm so sorry Lucy. I really am…None of this should have happened. I messed up."

- "No, we messed up." By the look on his face, she knew her disguised cheer up tentative had failed so she gave it another try. "I'm alright now, I'm fine. It'll take more time that I want to be back to normal but I'm alive. It's OK."

- "Are you sure?"

- "Yes!

They were silent for a moment before Lucy spoke again with no enthusiasm.

- "You should really leave now Holt. I need to sleep. I'm gonna need all my strengths to fight this ICON fake-copycat-magazine and bring back DIRT/Now at the top. And the doctors said I need to sleep well to heal."

- "OK, but I want you to call me if you need anything. I'm here for you."

- "Look, Holt, you've been really nice but we probably shouldn't be speaking anymore, let alone see each other. I'm sorry." She said very decisively, without any emotions cautiously trying to be as convincing as possible. Holt played along.

- "I understand. You have good night." He started to walk out when she interrupted him.

- "Hey Holt!" He looked at her. "Thank you!" She said sincerely.

- "No problem."

Holt let himself out and got in his car. He didn't start the engine right away. He was lost in his thoughts. 'I'm not done with you Lucy. You need to get better and you're in no condition for me to win you back, for now. But in a few weeks, I'll come back for you and you won't have any other choice than to be with me.'

- "This is not over!" He said out loud, not giving up.

He was relieved to have seen her and left.

Lucy had turned on the TV but she was now sound asleep in her bed, at home.

XXXXX

Well, guys, I hoped you've liked this chapter.

In my idea, it's what has been missing at the beginning of season 2. I was so hoping for their reunion but they made us wait.

So I have created this conversation that could have been between them without impairing the actual events of the season. It's plausible but just out of my imagination.

Also, I've tried to make it hard but nicer than the way they use to speak in season 1 as their relationship had already started to evolve.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks for reading.

Cheers!