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Stopped at a traffic light, Chloe waits for it to turn green so she can finally head home. A yawn rips through her, and she covers her mouth with one hand before putting it back on the steering wheel. A couple of seconds later, when the light flashes green, she presses the accelerator and proceeds on her drive.
Thank God today is over. It has been a very strange, stressful day to say the least.
She’s so exhausted. Not only has she had to deal with Lucifer’s outlandish, possessive behavior the whole day, but she’s then also been gassed and knocked out while on a sting-operation-slash-date-with-her-boss. She could blame her tiredness on the lingering effects of the gas, but a part of her knows it most likely is due to all the strain caused by her overthinking brain.
Things have been complicated, to say the least. Chloe has been feeling torn for a while now, two sides of her battling constantly over the right thing to do. Sometimes she wishes she could simply be more impulsive, follow what her heart desires without second guessing every miniscule decision, but this is not the way she is built. Besides, this isn’t just about right and wrong; it’s about what she should want for herself, what makes sense, and what she wishes she could have instead.
Marcus Pierce is a good man. This case helped her see that—see him in a different light—and made her realize just how similar they are, how many values they share. He isn’t just the handsome man she already knew him to be. There’s so much more to him under the surface, and the realization only made her want to get to know him better. This thing between them could evolve into something beautiful, the kind of companionship she has been trying to find for a while now.
But there are aspects of him that make her hesitate to give him—give them—a chance. He’s evidently guarded. Pierce doesn’t let people in easily. And although maybe he is trying to be more open with her, Chloe isn’t sure if it’s enough. And they’re colleagues, most importantly. He’s her boss. If things between them don’t work out in the end, they’ll be stuck working together afterwards. She’s been there before, and she should know better than anyone how awful it is having to see the person who broke your heart every day after the fallout.
In her mental list of pros and cons, the cons outnumber the pros greatly.
And if that wasn’t enough to swear her off dating him completely, knowing he thinks that he isn’t relationship material should do the trick. Sure, he might have told her that he is willing to try with her tonight, but why should she believe him? Hasn’t she dealt with enough emotionally unavailable men to last her a lifetime?
The most obvious example is Lucifer. At some point, as their relationship evolved, Chloe had fooled herself into believing that maybe, just maybe, he would be different with her. Sure, he had commitment issues and slept his way through over half of L.A., but she genuinely thought he could change his ways if she was involved. That hadn’t happened. It’s becoming clear that it’s never going to happen.
She’s given him a chance—several, if she’s being honest—and all giving him repeated chances did was break her heart when it became more and more obvious that Lucifer would simply never reciprocate her feelings. Why should she want to be involved with someone who has trouble opening up and committing like her partner?
It is a battle she’ll never win, no matter how hard she keeps fighting.
But Marcus isn’t Lucifer. And it should be a good enough reason to want to give him a shot, but it’s also why she can’t see herself fully embracing the possibility of this relationship.
He is not Lucifer.
A part of her that is far bigger than she’d ever like to admit doesn’t seem able to fathom being with someone that isn’t him.
She hates that she keeps hoping he’ll eventually come around and want to be with her. More than anything, Chloe hates that, if he did suddenly wake up to realize he had feelings for her too, she’d instantly discard any other relationship to be with him. If he showed up at her house, if he asked her to be with him, she wouldn’t think twice about what she has going on with Pierce before saying yes.
It’s scary.
It’s insane.
And it’s exactly why she should probably take a leap and start dating Pierce.
This thing between her and Lucifer isn’t healthy. It shouldn’t jeopardize her chances at a good relationship, or any relationship outside of hers with Lucifer, for the matter.
Chloe sighs as she pulls in the driveway of her apartment complex. Everything is still so up in the air, and it doesn’t look like she’ll be making up her mind tonight. Judging by the telltale signs of a forming headache, she’s far too exhausted to make a decision anyway.
After fishing out the keys to her house from her purse, she exits the vehicle and locks it, then walks the short distance to her apartment. Once at her front door, she opens it to let herself in, putting her belongings down before scanning her surroundings in search of Maze, who’s supposed to be babysitting Trixie tonight. As her eyes fall to the couch, though, it’s not her roommate she finds there.
“Olga?” Chloe calls out, confused. “I thought that Maze was gonna be here watching Trixie.”
The woman shrugs as she gets up, putting away her knitting equipment. “No Maze,” she informs Chloe in her thick eastern European accent. “She said mean thing to me and then she go.”
Chloe frowns, cocking her head slightly to one side. “What do you mean, ‘she go’?”
Olga starts walking towards the door, her shoulders slumped forward. “She take her knives and she move out,” she says matter-of-factly, as if any of it made actual sense.
“Oh,” Chloe finds herself mumbling, opening the door to let the woman out. “Thank you, Olga,” she adds then, to which Olga simply replies with something unintelligible that sounds a lot like a grunt. “I know. Thank you, though.”
Well, that was weird, Chloe thinks, closing the door behind herself.
She’s used to Olga’s less-than-cheery personality, but this behavior seems strange even for her. Whatever Maze said, it must really have bothered her.
And what does it even mean that she moved out? Sure, Maze has been acting off lately, she and Chloe have had quite a few disagreements over the past weeks, but leaving without a single warning, not even a heads-up? That seems out of character even for Maze.
Chloe doesn’t have the time to dwell on it much before she gets distracted by the sound of knocking at her front door.
She opens without even checking who it is. “Olga, did you forget something?”
“Well, that’s a new one,” a male voice says, amusement in his tone. It takes Chloe’s brain a second to associate the sound with the man standing just outside her house, his tall figure coming into focus as she catches on. “Never been mistaken for an Olga before,” Lucifer continues through a soft laugh, stepping inside without waiting for her to let him in.
“What are you doing here?” she questions, voicing her thoughts while shutting the door behind him.
He turns around to look at her slowly, his expression suddenly serious. “I, um… I wanted to explain.” A sigh tumbles past his lips. “Look, I know that I’ve been acting—”
“Insecure?” Chloe interrupts him, shooting him a pointed look. She crosses her arms over her chest. “Childish? Possessive?”
Just to name a few.
“Well, I was going to say strangely, but…” He heaves out again. “Never mind. The truth is that perhaps I was slightly insecure about Pierce moving in on our partnership.”
That’s the understatement of the century, she finds herself thinking, but the admission on his part does take her by surprise. Lucifer isn’t usually one for heart-to-heart conversations. He doesn’t open up easily about his vulnerabilities, about the things that make him insecure. More often than not, he hides the things that make him uncomfortable behind his eccentric personality and a slew of cocky remarks that make her eyes roll.
But she likes this softer side of him. She likes it a lot. It feels much more real than the imperturbable, self-centered nightclub owner that he displays for everyone else.
“Oh, Lucifer, that’s not what’s happening,” she’s quick to tell him, shaking her head, feeling the sudden need to reassure him.
Perhaps she should be mad at him. She at least should want to be mad at him for the way he acted around her the whole day, but she simply can’t, not when he decided to come all the way here to apologize.
Not many people have the kind of power he wields over her, to be able to irritate her and then make her forget about it all in the blink of an eye.
Actually, no one other than him has ever this effect on her.
“No, I know,” Lucifer concurrs, “because I’ve realized that there’s room in your life for all sorts of relationships, even if one of them is with… with him.”
It seems to take him a lot of effort to admit that. She can see in his eyes just how much the thought of her having a relationship—a romantic relationship—with Pierce hurts him, but he’s trying to be understanding for her sake.
It’s strangely heartwarming.
But, at the same time, it feels wrong.
If knowing that she might want to be with someone—someone who isn’t him—pains him, then why does he not make an attempt to be that someone for her? Why does he even care? Is it all just out of a selfish need to have her all for himself? And why would he even want her at all, if he doesn’t have feelings for her?
This is exactly why she should make the conscious decision to stop waiting around for him to finally realize what’s right in front of him and move on. She can’t keep letting him get her hopes up just to crush them. It hurts too much.
“I know…” Chloe begins to say, but he doesn’t let her finish.
“Just…” Lucifer regards her cautiously, a look of genuine affection in his eyes, “Please, be careful.”
She has to purse her lips together in order to hide a smile as heat spreads in her chest. He can be so frustrating and yet so sweet. Of course she has feelings for him. No one has ever made her feel this way before.
Unable to find the right words to reply, Chloe simply nods her head in agreement.
“Okay,” he concludes, seeming to put an end to the conversation.
But Chloe doesn’t want him to leave just yet.
Things between them have been more complicated than ever. Lucifer has been growing somewhat distant with her, and she finds herself missing him—missing her friend—more and more with each passing day. They used to be so comfortable around each other. It used to be easy, effortless, being in his presence, basking in the warmth of his affection and bright personality. Now, their relationship just seems off. She can’t quite put a finger on the reason why, but she knows that it isn’t only his fault. Chloe has been distancing herself as well, hoping to protect her own fragile heart, but she seems to always end up hurting herself in the process.
They can still salvage their friendship, though, can’t they?
If they put some effort into it. The connection is still there. She can feel it, and he must feel it too. He wouldn’t be here otherwise, would he?
So she attempts to rekindle their spark. “Do you want to stay? I can make some coffee and we can—”
“Ah, I can’t, unfortunately,” he says, cutting her proposal short. “There’s a bachelorette party at Lux and… Well.”
Of course. A bachelorette party. She should have seen it coming.
She should be used to him choosing scantily clad women ready to throw themselves at him over spending time with boring old Chloe Decker, but that notion doesn’t soften the blow of his rejection in the slightest.
Her heart sinks to the pit of her stomach, but she tries her mightiest not to let her face fall as well. “Okay, another time,” is all she manages to reply.
“Yes.”
He doesn’t wait any longer before walking past her to reach the door.
She follows him, even though every fiber of her being is screaming at her not to, but she makes no attempt at stopping him. “Okay, well… Have fun,” she murmurs just as he quickly exits, closing the door right in her face.
Wow. He didn’t even say goodbye. This is more like the Lucifer she knows, the one that drives her absolutely insane and not in a good way.
It was foolish of her to think he actually cared. Hasn’t he demonstrated time and time again just how inconsiderate he can be? She should know better by now. She shouldn’t let it faze her.
Once again, Chloe let herself believe that this time might be different. But it never is. It’s time for her to accept the truth, and the truth is that he’ll never want her the same way she wants him. He’ll never want more.
But there is someone out there who does want her, who wants to actually spend time with her, to get to know her better, to be there for her.
She should probably call Marcus and accept his invite for dinner. She should finally take the first step in the direction of putting this stupid crush on her partner behind her back. Maybe tonight is the wake-up call she needed.
As she reaches for her phone inside her purse, Chloe’s hands tremble slightly. She unlocks the screen, then begins searching for Pierce’s number, trying not to give herself an excuse not to call. But her pulse speeds up, her breathing quickens, and nothing about this situation feels right.
She likes Marcus. He’s a nice guy, and he’d probably treat her right and make her content, but it would be unfair of her to use him as a rebound. She should be sorting out her feelings towards Lucifer first before diving into another relationship.
Calling Pierce right now would only be a way to get back at Lucifer for ditching her. She wouldn’t be exactly starting this relationship on the right foot.
She also can’t keep letting Lucifer string her along.
Chloe used to think he didn’t do it on purpose. She used to give him the benefit of the doubt, thinking that he simply didn’t know any better, but now she isn’t quite so sure of it anymore. Perhaps he knows exactly what he’s doing by giving her just enough of his attention to keep her around without ever truly making his intentions clear. And she falls for his gimmick every single fucking time.
Some time ago, when she still believed things between them could evolve into something beyond being partners or friends, she would have avoided confronting him, fearing her honesty might scare him away.
Not tonight. She’s done keeping her mouth shut to protect a relationship only she cares about.
Putting the phone down on the counter, she practically flings the door open, hastily shutting it behind her as she runs to catch up with Lucifer. She finds him next to his Corvette, about to settle into the driver’s seat and head to Lux.
“Why are you doing this?” Chloe all but shouts at him, forcing him to lift his gaze and meet her. His brows furrow in a deep frown upon seeing her, evident confusion etched on his face. She comes to a halt near his car, slightly out of breath. “Why?” she repeats, this time in a whisper.
“I have no clue what you’re talking about, Detective,” he replies earnestly, rounding the front of his car to erase the distance between them.
Instinctively, she takes a step back. “Why do you keep stringing me along?” she finally asks, unable to hold the question in any longer.
Lucifer’s eyes widen, taken aback. “I am doing nothing of the sort,” he rebuts, evidently appalled at the mere suggestion.
She can’t contain a scoff. “Really? Then what would you call the way you’ve been acting all of today? Or during our entire partnership, for the matter. Anytime someone gets even the tiniest bit close to me, you go all possessive and clingy. You make me believe you might actually have feelings for me, that maybe you’d want us to be something more, but then you turn around and push me away. And I stupidly fall for it.” She draws closer. So close, in fact, that she has to tilt her head back to look him in the eye. “Every. Single. Fucking. Time.” She punctuates every word with a jab of her index finger in the middle of his chest, spitting them out through gritted teeth. “You have to stop doing that. It messes with my head.”
The confession comes out almost involuntarily, and it isn’t as liberating as she thought it would be. On the contrary, it’s shame that overcomes her, because, all in all, she’s just as much a part of the problem as Lucifer is.
Sure, the way he acts, the things he says and does, make her second-guess everything. They make her care about him even when she knows it best not to, but she is the one who continues to enable him. She has let him off the hook for years when should have set boundaries instead. She should have told him to stop playing with her feelings a long time ago. Yet she hasn’t, because deep down Chloe always wished his attentions were real, that he wasn’t just a selfish, narcissistic asshole who didn’t mind hurting her if it meant getting his next emotional validation fix.
She’s set a precedent, by sticking around even after he toyed with her feelings, making her believe they were real—that the two of them were real—only to leave her in a hospital bed, after she barely survived a poisoning attempt, and then return married to someone he’d just met with absolutely no explanation. She had never told him how much it hurt when he claimed they were just friends after everything they’d been through together. After she’d kissed him, after she’d opened up to him in ways she never had with anyone else. He’d made it a mission to prove to her that he was worthy of her—whatever that meant—yet he’d pushed her away when she actually let him in.
Maybe it was all just a game for him. Maybe it still is a game to him. But to Chloe it is real.
“I’m tired, Lucifer,” she continues when he doesn’t dare utter a word. “Can’t you see that you’re losing me? I can’t be the only one fighting for this. For us. It’s hurting me.”
“Detective, it was never—”
“No,” she interrupts him. “It doesn’t matter that it wasn’t your intention. I’m telling you right now," she grits out, still pointing at his chest angrily, “that I hate the way it makes me feel, so stop doing this. Stop making me question everything. Stop stringing me along. Allow me to move on.”
Lucifer takes it all in. He lets her lash out at him, not even attempting to move away or stop her from assaulting his chest over and over. “If it is what you want…” he tries to say, but Chloe silences him again.
“What I want is for you to be honest with me. I want you to tell me the truth. Admit that you’ll never feel the same way about me that I feel about you. That you’ll never l—” She pauses, swallowing the word that was about to leave her mouth in the heat of the moment, before even she had ever fully acknowledged it. Taking a deep breath, Chloe tries again. “That you’ll never like me the way I like you. That you don’t want to be with me like I want to be with you.”
His features soften. He forces her index finger to stop attacking his chest by placing his hand on top of hers, effectively plastering her palm against the fabric of his suit.
His heart is beating fast. She can feel it thrum against his ribcage just beneath her hand, almost matching the staccato rhythm of her own heart. Warmth spreads from deep inside her chest, and for a second, seeing him quite so affected by her, Chloe forgets why she was so aggravated in the first place.
Lucifer shakes his head ‘no’ slowly, his eyes never leaving hers. “I can’t,” is all that he says in a barely audible whisper.
Her eyes begin to sting, threatening to expose the vulnerability she was so desperately trying to hide behind pretended bravado. “Why?” she questions him for what feels like the millionth time, just as softly as he’d spoken to her a moment ago.
“Because, Detective, as you know, I do not lie. And if I told you that I don’t want to be with you, it would be a lie.”
She sucks in a shuddering breath.
How long has she been waiting for Lucifer to finally admit to his feelings for her? How many times has she pictured this exact moment, seen it happen in her head, knowing it would most likely never happen in real life? Months. Years, even. So why, now that it’s finally happening, does it not feel like a victory at all? Why does she sense that there’s a ‘but’ somewhere in the unsaid?
“I don’t want you to be with anyone else. It kills me to know that you wish to date Pierce, a man who is simply undeserving of your kindness, of your grace, who will never, ever treat you the way you deserve. He’s not worthy of you. You deserve someone far better than our lieutenant, and I know it with unbridled certainty.” His hand presses harder on hers before setting it free, moving up to cup one of her cheeks. “But I’m just as sure that you deserve someone far better than me as well, Chloe.”
One single tear escapes the corner of her eye and tumbles down the side of her face, where Lucifer catches it with his thumb before it can reach her cheek.
He firmly believes what he just said. He even used her name—her actual name—to make the point all the more clear.
A part of her hates that he made the sound of her own name coming out of his lips such a rarity, because it feels just so perfect when he actually does say it. Chloe wishes he would just ditch the use of ‘Detective’ and simply call her by her name all the time, that she could feel the rush she’s experiencing right now everyday, to sense her heart skip a beat and heat blossom inside of her by just knowing that he sees her—all of her—and not just the person she is at work.
And yet, in this context, the use of her name also feels wrong.
He’s using it against her. Maybe not consciously, but he’s doing so nevertheless.
He’s giving this moment some kind of significance, just not in the way she wishes he would.
“It’s unfair of me to ask you not to be with someone I don’t deem worthy of you, though,” Lucifer continues when she doesn’t dare say a word. “So, if what you desire is to date Pierce, I won’t interfere. I would never take your choice away from you.”
A bitter laugh escapes her.
Does he honestly not see the irony of his own words?
“And yet, you are taking my choice away from me.”
There’s accusation in her tone, more than she intended for it to be. Chloe can’t help it. She’s tired. Tired of trying to convince him that she can make her own choices. Tired of giving him chances only to be disappointed. Tired of being the only one on the front line, fighting for what they have.
There’s beauty in what they are. They have so much potential. She sees it. She saw it even when she didn’t want to, even when she was trying to convince herself that it wasn’t worth the risk, so how can he not see it? What does she have to do to open his eyes?
“Detective, I know you don’t understand…”
Shaking her head, Chloe pulls his hand down and away from her face. “No. You don’t understand, Lucifer. Don’t you see? I only ever entertained the idea of dating Pierce because you keep pushing me away! I don’t want to be with him. I don’t want to be with anyone else. All I’ve ever wanted was to be with you.”
For the first time since this whole Pierce ordeal started, Chloe can finally admit the truth, not only just to Lucifer, but to herself. It’s just what she needed.
She has been doing all of this because of Lucifer, to get over him, to show him and herself that she could move on if she wanted to. But she can’t. She doesn’t want to. Pierce may be a good man, someone she might have liked and even ended up falling for, if she’d never met Lucifer.
Of course she was so on the fence about dating Pierce. Of course she kept finding reasons why it was a bad idea. Deep down, Chloe always had a feeling it would never work because every fiber of her being would keep wishing for Lucifer instead.
She loves him. She’s been in love with him for so long, even longer than she probably realizes.
No one else compares. No one will ever compare.
If she ever found herself another lover, they would simply be a pale imitation of him, a surrogate able to give her the love she has always wanted to receive from him.
“So, if you truly want me to have a choice, you have to accept the fact that I would choose you. I will always choose you, Lucifer.”
He stares at her for long seconds, letting her words sink in. He opens his mouth once, wanting to say something, but then purses his lips into a straight line, his jaw locked tight.
Chloe isn’t sure she’s ever seen him quite so conflicted before, and she thinks she knows why.
Lucifer wants her too. He might not be fully able to express it, but he wants to be with her, to be what he thinks she deserves, although he doesn’t believe that he is that person for her. He thinks that, by keeping her at arm’s length, he’s doing her a favor, allowing her to find someone better.
If he only saw himself the way she sees him, Chloe is sure he would understand that she doesn’t care about his flaws, about his less-than-positive qualities, about whatever he thinks is wrong with him. And she doesn’t love him despite all of it; she loves him because those characteristics make him who he is, the good and the bad, the light and the dark inside him, and all of him is simply incredible.
“I don’t understand,” Lucifer ultimately confesses. “Why would you ever choose me? You’ve said it yourself, I’m hurting you, and that is all I would ever be able to do.”
Because I love you, you idiot, is what she’d like to shout at him right now, but Chloe knows it simply isn’t the right time. It would scare him away more.
Instead, she says, “Because what is hurting me is not being able to be with you. You make me the happiest I’ve ever been. You drive me insane, you challenge me every single day, but I wouldn’t trade what we have for anything else in the whole world. You can be so stubborn and careless, but I also know how thoughtful, how compassionate and kind you can be. Because I just like you, Lucifer, all of you, and it’s as simple as that.”
Chloe can almost feel it, the moment the tension between them shifts. The storm raging behind his dark eyes begins to subside just as a fine mist of unshed tears coats them, and the faintest hint of a smile forms on his lips. She knows she’s winning when what he’s thinking becomes clear in his expression.
He’s allowing himself to believe that what they have might be real, and maybe she can let herself begin to hope once again.
“You’ve asked me before, and I know that your mind tricks don’t work on me for whatever reason,” she tells him through a soft chuckle, some of the tension finally leaving her body, “but I want you to ask me again. Ask me what I desire. I promise I will tell you the truth.”
Lucifer hesitates, frowning. “Why would you…” he attempts to say, but stops when he sees Chloe shake her head slowly.
“Just do it. Please.”
He doesn’t question her request any further. When he speaks again, his voice low and trembling with emotion, all he asks is, “What do you desire?”
The answer is simple, straightforward, one she should have given him a long time ago. “You. You’re what I desire.”
Air leaves Lucifer’s mouth in a rush, as if he’d been holding his breath for too long and is now finally able to make his lungs work properly again. The smile on his face grows just slightly, and his eyes glisten with unshed tears, the same Chloe has been trying to hold in this whole time.
Still, he doesn’t say anything.
It occurs to her that maybe he doesn’t have a reply, that it might take him a while to process everything she just told him. The last thing she’d want is to push him to do or say something he isn’t fully ready to admit.
Besides, Chloe too might need some time to sort out everything that just happened. Tonight—most of her actions and pretty much all of her admissions—were anything but planned. Her head spins fast trying to catch up with the events still unfolding. She can only imagine Lucifer must feel the same way.
“You don’t have to say anything right now,” she reassures him, taking a step back to give him some space. “Take some time to think. I know this must be a sh—”
She doesn’t get to finish the sentence. So caught up with everything she was trying to say, Chloe barely has the time to register his hands cupping her face before his lips come crashing down on hers. She stills for a moment, eyes widening in surprise, but the second she realizes what is happening there’s not a single shred of hesitation in her before she’s kissing him back.
It doesn’t matter that he interrupted her as she was trying to say something, because all the words in her brain seem meaningless now. She’d gladly accept this kind of rude interruption anytime.
Circling his neck with both her arms, she pulls him closer, plastering the front of her body to his as their mouths mold together.
It’s only the second time she’s ever kissed him, but Chloe can already tell the difference.
That first time, over a year ago, she initiated the kiss. It was tentative, both on hers and Lucifer’s part, but it was sweet and tender unlike any kiss she’d ever experienced before.
There’s passion in the way he’s kissing her now. It speaks of so many things he’s kept hidden for far too long, and it feels exactly the same for her. It’s like they possibly can’t get enough, and soon their tongues meet halfway, wanting, needing, to deepen the connection as much as possible.
Time seems to stretch indefinitely as they kiss, and yet far too soon Lucifer leans away, coming up for air.
She had all but forgotten about breathing in the moment but, now that their mouths have parted, Chloe can most definitely sense her lungs screaming for oxygen. Her face feels entirely too hot, and it must not be a pretty look paired with the way she’s gulping in air, yet Lucifer regards her with nothing but pure adoration in his eyes.
Perhaps he does really like her, if he can look at her that way even as she’s evidently flushed and gasping.
“I don’t need time,” he whispers, bending his head to place the softest peck on her mouth. “Being with you is all I’ve ever desired.”
Her chest constricts just as more tears brim inside her eyes. “Okay,” she replies, winded, and it might just be the most anticlimactic response ever, but she doesn’t seem able to get her brain to fully function at the moment.
They simply hold each other after that, not wanting to move and put an end to their connection, although they both know it will inevitably happen sooner or later.
Chloe should probably say something. She should let him go, tell him to enjoy the rest of his night because she knows he has obligations waiting for him at Lux—namely a horde of women wearing very minimal clothing and far too much makeup—but she doesn’t want to. More than anything, she wishes he would stay.
But what would they even do if he stayed? Sure, they have finally faced their feelings, but where do they even stand now? Are they going to start dating? They should probably have a conversation about it. Would it freak him out, if she flat out asked him what it is that the two of them are after tonight?
Sliding her arms from around his neck, Chloe lowers her gaze.
One step at a time. There’s no need to figure everything out tonight. They’ve been through a lot already.
“Is it too late to accept your offer for coffee?”
Taken by surprise, her eyes fly back to his face, her eyebrows arching dramatically.
Oh. She definitely hadn’t expected Lucifer to ditch a night of wild partying to stay with her.
Her heartbeat skyrockets once again. “Are you sure? I thought you had a bachelorette party to attend,” she reminds him, because—who knows—maybe he simply forgot.
He smiles at her, causing her stomach to do a little backflip. Reaching for her left hand, he intertwines their fingers before lifting it up to leave a soft kiss on the back of her hand.
“I’m sure they will find a way to entertain themselves without me. What I want now is to stay with you and talk, if that’s what you want as well, Detective,” he says earnestly.
While still taken aback by the sudden turn of events, Chloe finds herself mirroring his smile, genuinely happy. “Of course. Let’s go inside,” she replies, guiding him back towards her house.
Maybe things will still remain uncertain between them even after tonight. They have a lot to discuss, so many things to define, and Chloe isn’t sure that all of it will be easy. But, for the first time, they seem to finally be on the same page. Maybe they can give themselves a chance.
One thing is certain. What they have is worth fighting for, and now that Lucifer is on their side as well, they can win.