Sorry for the delay :s One more chapter and an epilogue to come.
Thank you for the reviews! I love you guys :)
I hope you'll enjoy it.
The bed was empty and the sheets were cold when Liz woke up the next morning. Fear and dread coiled in her guts when she realized she was alone. He had asked her not to leave him and she was the one waking up in an empty bed. What if he didn't want her anymore? What if Tom had spoiled her for any other man? What if he had realized she wasn't good enough for him? Those 'what ifs' again. She was about to leave the bed and perform the traditional walk of shame when she saw it. On the nightstand a single red rose stood in a crystal vase, a note folded against it.
I'm sorry not to be with you when you wake up, my love. The office called and I didn't want to wake you. I'll be in the kitchen waiting for you. Please don't make me wait too long. I love you. Red.
She smiled and curled back under the blankets, hugging his pillow in her arms, breathing his scent deeply. He didn't regret what happened between them last night. After a few minutes, she finally decided to leave the bed and headed to the adjacent bathroom, buttoning the wrinkled shirt that was still hanging from her shoulders. It was definitively a man's bathroom. She let her fingers run on the grey marble counter around the faucet, smiling at the martial precision his things were aligned with. She frowned at the sight of a razor blade and shaving brush, he was so old fashioned sometimes. She opened his aftershave bottle and felt shivers run up her spine at the smell. It wasn't exactly the perfume she loved so much and she realized why almost immediately why, it wasn't mixed with his own scent. It was the mix of the two scents that calmed and reassured her so much.
She decided to use the toilets before cleaning herself. He had left a new toothbrush on a pile of towels on the right side of the counter for her. Looking in the mirror while brushing her teeth, she winced at her reflection. Going to bed with damp hair hadn't been a good idea. And Red's hands in it hadn't helped. She spotted a hairbrush on the left side – his side – and tried to discipline her mane, wondering why a man almost bald would have such an item in his bathroom. Her eyes finally fell on the red marks on her neck and she blushed. Nobody would misinterpret those marks for something they weren't. Opening the collar of the shirt, she saw those marks draw a path to her breasts. Shaking her head at his boyish need to mark her as his, she left the bathroom and went to find him.
As he had said in his note, she found him in the kitchen, on the phone. She leaned against the doorframe and watched him walk back and forth, his free hand moving in rhythm with his speech, frowning. She took in his appearance, noting his sock-cladded feet, his dark grey dress pants, hugging his buttocks snugly, and the white dress shirt opened at the neck, letting her see sparse chest hair. He was really handsome. He hadn't seen her yet; she decided to walk silently to him while he had his back to her and startled him by closing her arms around his waist, her head between his shoulders, she kissed his back through the shirt.
"I'll call you back," he said on the phone before hanging up.
She kissed his neck, when he linked their fingers on his belly and smiled against his skin when he took in a sharp breath.
"You left me all alone in this big bed," she almost scolded, playing with his belt.
He turned around in her arms, and closed his hands on her face, his thumbs caressing her cheeks tenderly. He kissed her lovingly on the forehead.
"I'm here now," he breathed against her skin, his hands slipping on her back to settle on her buttocks, chuckling when he realized she was still naked under his shirt. "I love your style, sweetheart," he smiled.
She kissed him on the lips before evading his arms, she knew him well enough and if she didn't put some space between them, he would bend her on the kitchen table and have his wicked way. Not that she would mind, but she had to be at work in a hour and didn't really know how far from the J. Edgar Hoover building she was. And she didn't have anything to wear.
Seeing her frown and bit her lower lip, Red walked to her and traced a finger on her forehead, worry in his eyes.
"What's wrong, Lizzie?" he asked when he finally caught her eyes.
"I have to go home to get some clothes and then head to the office. They must have seen the pictures now, and with those marks on my neck…"
She had loved those marks when she had seen them earlier, now they were an inconvenience and she hated herself to think of them like that. She had left some marks on him too, but with his tanned skin it was easier for him to hide them. And he was the great Admiral Reddington nobody would poke at him because of them.
"You don't have to worry, sweetheart. I called Howard when you went to bed yesterday, he dispatched you to my office and I give you a week off. See, everything has been taken care of…"
"You did what?" she cut him off, taking a step back.
"I called…"
"Yes I heard you the first time. But why? Why did you do that? Who gave you the right to do this?" she asked, feeling anger rise in her voice.
"I thought…"
"Yes you thought! And that's the problem Red. You didn't ask me. You took the decision and we weren't back together when you made that call," she cut him off again.
"We're back together?" he asked in an awestricken voice.
"For God's sake, Red! Focus! I'm yelling at you because you took a decision about me on your own and the only thing that get into your brain is that we're back together," she replied shaking her head.
He looked at her stricken. They were back together for a few hours and they already were fighting. Not knowing what to say, he poured a cup of coffee and gave it to her, hoping it would calm her.
"Sorry," she said when he gave her the cup. "I have problems with people taking decisions for me," she explained curling her hand behind his head and pulling him to her.
She kissed him on the lips before siting at the table, crossing her legs. His eyes on the outrageous amount of skin she was displaying, he went to sit beside her, his own cup in hand.
"I shouldn't have called your boss," he conceded, running a finger on her hand. "I'm sorry," he added, a small smile on his lips, eyes pleading.
She shook her head at that, not believing he dared to use such a trick on her. But it worked. She couldn't help but kiss him again when she caught his puppy eyes on her.
"Since I don't have to worry about work and how to hide those marks you left on every inch of my body," she said sternly when she saw his smug smile, "I still have to go back home to get some clothes. As much as I love your shirt I can't run around the house half naked."
"I wouldn't mind," he mumbled ogling her thigh, his hands itching to caress her skin.
"Don't even think about it!" she batted his hands when he tried to sneak it under the hem of the shirt. "We'll have time for that later, now I need to find some clean clothes, and we'll have to talk about Jen too," she added sipping at her coffee.
Red nodded silently, he knew they had to talk about their relation to Jen and even if his daughter had been willing to help them, he was a little bit stressed about her reaction.
"Jenny will be back tonight, we'll talk to her then," he said, squeezing her hand. "And for the clothes… Please don't look at me like a creepy old man but… I still have the old clothes you left behind in Virginia," he blurred out, his eyes on everything except her.
"Do you? Please, I don't wanna know what you did over the years with those clothes," she laughed, picturing him trying on her underwear or crying, curled up in bed hugging her hoodie after they broke up.
"What I did… Oh God Lizzie!" he laughed too. "I'm going to take them out and don't even try to think about what you meant," he said kissing her forehead before leaving the room.
She looked at him walking away, a tender smile on her lips and went to pour another cup of coffee, thinking about what would come next. She looked at the clock hung on the wall; at least, Tom would be at work when she would come back home. She had to think about how to proceed with him. She could leave him a note of course but it would be the coward way and she wasn't a coward, but facing him after what happened wasn't a good idea either.
Shaking her head, she finally decided to follow Red's steps and went back to the bedroom. He was waiting for her, sitting on the bed surrounded by neat piles of clothes and she realized how much of her possessions she had left in his bedroom during their previous affair.
"I think most of it would still fit, but…" he didn't finished his sentence; he just took out a hoodie at least twice as big as his shirt and cringed.
She laughed at his face and went to go through the piles, finding light blue jeans torn at the knees, a black sweater and some underwear that might be a little too small but would do anyway. Red had spent the whole inventory playing with flimsy blue panties, smiling dreamily. He was so caught in his thought that he didn't even see her go to the bathroom to change and come back a few minutes later.
She stroked a hand on his cheek, startling him back to the present.
"I'm ready to go. Will Agent Zuma drive me?" she asked smiling tenderly when his eyes focused on her.
"I gave Dembe a day off, I'll drive you and stay with you as long as you'll be there," he said quite seriously.
"Tom won't be here, Red. You don't have to come if you have more imp…"
"I'll come," he cut her off, bringing her hand to his lips.
She nodded and pulled him up, noting he had put on his shoes while she was in the kitchen. He grabbed a dark grey fedora matching his waistcoat before leaving the room behind her. On the hook by the door he retrieved his navy blue jacket and slipped it on before leading her to the black Mercedes waiting for them in front of the house. Obviously he had planned to come with her the whole time.
They rode in silence, each mile increasing the anxiety Liz felt rising in her guts. She was positive Tom wouldn't be there but still couldn't calm her heart. She startled when Red's hand closed around hers and unknotted her fingers, his eyes never leaving the road.
"It will be alright, Lizzie," he said kissing their joined hands.
She didn't reply but squeezed his fingers lightly.
He killed the engine too soon for her liking and rounded the car to open her door, waiting for her to take his hand. She was positive he wouldn't leave her alone even if she asked so she took his hand and walked with him to the front door. He stopped her when she was about to open the door and reached in his jacket taking out her engagement ring.
"I found it on the floor of the bedroom this morning, I thought you might like to leave it here," he said. He had actually walked on it on his way out when his phone had rang early that morning and would have hexed it to the mountain of Mordor if it weren't for the sleeping Lizzie in the bed behind him.
"Thank you," she smiled taking the ring and turning it to the timid sun shining on them. It wasn't a big rock but for a fourth grade teacher it had been pretty big.
"Ready?"
She nodded and opened the door to let them in. Neither of them was prepared for what was waiting for them inside.
Let me know what you think about it :)