I like this quote. It doesn't really go with the story but goes well with Red/Liz:

"I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naïve or innocent, who has the courage to treat me like a woman."
― Anais Nin

Putting Up A Strong Front/ Needing You

Dembe drove Liz back to the small hotel; it had a homey feel that drew her to it. She got one of the inexpensive rooms, not wanting to spend more than she had too. Her room had a king sized bed which was way more than she needed, and a little window seat that after work she would sit under and have a glass of wine. It also had a huge tub that after long day, mostly from dealing with Ressler and his line of never ending questions or like today she would fill to the rim with bubbles and soak in.

Liz filled up the tub with lavender scented bubble bath and scolding hot water, hoping she could burn the feel of him off of her. She poured herself a glass of her favorite wine before Red bought her expensive wines and showed to his favorites, a Vega Sindoa 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon. Not only was it decent and cheap but Tom had hated it and it wasn't up to Red's standards? It didn't link her to either awful men.

The water was getting cold and she was out of wine, and it was time to get out but she didn't want to go to bed alone again, like every other day for the past month.

Liz dragged herself out of the tub and wrapped herself in a puffy white towel. The fabric felt nice against her skin and brought forth the memory of her and Red in a cabin in the woods where exactly she wasn't sure. But it was winter and the heat went out and the only way to keep warm was to have sex, and lots of it. They did it everywhere that weekend, the couch, the bed, the dining room table, and on top of the bear skin carpet. The fur was so soft, and the sex was so good that they did it on the floor more than the bed. And okay maybe in hindsight it wasn't the only option but it kept them warm and entertained.

Liz rummaged through the dresser and found a light blue long sleeve button up, it was Red's. She pulled the shirt on and slid a pair of black panties. She started at the bottom buttons and stopped once her breasts were mostly covered.

Liz crawled into bed and covered herself under the heavy comforter, then adjusted the pillows in a body-like shape. She curled her body into the pillows like she would if it was Red.

Liz balled. Her life was once again crumbling around her and she didn't know how much longer she could do this for. She wanted Red back so badly, but she would look like a fool if she went back to him after what he did to her. Liz felt like she did when she found the box underneath the floorboards and the picture of Gina and Tom. Like it was all a lie and that things could get better, but as she learned with Tom things like that only happen in the movies.

After an hour of crying she got up and grabbed her bottle of sleeping pills she got a few days before. Liz originally didn't really want them but her doctor prescribed them to her in case she desired to actually sleep, and not be alcohol induced.

She needed to go to sleep and just pretend she didn't need him.

She dreamt of him all night.

-

Red angrily told everyone to go home. He wasn't mad at Liz, not at all. He was strangely proud of her. She was standing up to him and wasn't going to cave in no matter how much he knew she wanted to. He figured that she wanted when she came and when he whispered into her ear she leaned into him. Where was this Liz when everything happened with Tom.
Once everyone left he removed his shielding- the suit coat, vest and tie. He unbuttoned three of the top buttons on his white button down shirt, and untucked it from his pants.

Red went down into their wine cellar and searched for her favorite wine. He couldn't remember the name and she always went down and grabbed it. He knew the label and it was white wine not red which always surprised him. When they went out she ordered red, and when she was with Tom she always had red. But when it was just the two of them she always had a glass of white. Just one of her little quirks he loves about her.

Finding the wine took a little while, they had a pretty large collection of different wines. Once he found it he notice there was only two bottles left, he had Dembe order a bunch when she told him it was her favorite. He made a mental note to buy more, and to learn the name of it.

He carried the bottle upstairs and brought it into her favorite room, the library. He grabbed the book they were reading together before she left, every night he would read out loud a chapter before they either ended up sleeping on the couch or running into the bedroom to, well, you know what.

He pulled the cork out and saw a pink smudge on the rim. She must have drunk it right from the bottle; Lizzie must have been fun that night. He took the lead from and took a swig from the bottle.

That little more of her he found on the bottle, was almost enough to make him run into her hotel room to ravish her.

He relished in the wine and the taste because it tasted like she so often did. He wanted her lips on his and her body against his. Wanted the taste of her on his lips and her eyes moving over his body and his over hers. He wanted Lizzie in the worst possible way.

Red spend all night awake thinking of ways to get her back, finished the wine and the book. If she ever did come back he wouldn't tell her about him finishing the book, it would be just another reason for her to get mad.

He decided he would go to the post office either tomorrow or the next day with another name. She would have to talk to him, or at least yell at him. He would at the very least get to see her.

But does he want to do that to her? Does he want to make her work with him when she doesn't even want to look at him? Normally Red would answer no to these questions but he was becoming desperate. He needed her back more than ever.

Just what did he do when he saw her again? The man who knew what to do in every situation had no clue what to do with her.