Chapter Text
Lucy shuffled back into her sister’s hotel suite, not remembering how she managed to get back, everything being a blur of images of Marcella flaunting her new found wealth mixed with the look of Kate in her new suit, the memories of Cara opening the apartment door, Kate hiding their relationship. The images floated through her mind each time she closed her eyes and her sister’s voice ‘She didn’t say no.., she didn’t say no.’’ seemed to be on repeat in her ears. Without saying anything to her sister, she shuffled to the guest room and hid under the blanket, silent tears making a river down her cheeks. She was so consumed in her thoughts she didn’t hear her sister enter the room. “Luce, what happened?” Natalie asked, running a soothing hand up and down her sister’s back hoping to calm her down. “Did you and Kate have a fight? I know it’s hard to get a word in when you are on one of your rage rants, you did let her speak, didn’t you?’ Not getting an answer, she knew that Lucy needed time to herself to let her emotions run. “I’m going to leave this here for you OK?” she said, sliding the envelope on to the bed “You should read it Luce, once you are ready.” With those words, Natalie left and quietly closed the door. Lucy tossed and turned all night, not being able to stop her mind wandering down the deep dark paths which she had thought she had long abandoned. As the sunlight started to glisten through the window she rolled over, her arm scrapping across the envelope that she had not registered her sister had placed on the bed for her. She ran her fingers across the edges not sure if she should read it or just tear it up and throw it away. Her curiosity won over, and she slowly opened the seal, as the confusion on why her sister gave her what looked like a legal contract prompted her to read what it was that Kate had given to her family. Taking the papers out, the title of the document made her eyes grow wide. [Katherine Marie Whistler and Tara Family Financial Agreement]
Lucy scanned the pages of the document, noting how Kate in every sentence gave away any claim she could have to any of Lucy’s property and money back to the Tara family. Lucy took in a deep breath as she kept reading. Kate promising to not take any of the Tara money under any circumstance. She even agreed, if there was a time (no chance Lucy muttered to herself) that they broke up, Lucy had every right to take anything she wanted, the lease to the apartment, the furniture, even any gifts that Lucy had given her during their time together. “What the hell Kate!” Lucy exclaimed, as she read the paragraph on if Lucy died before Kate, the Tara family had the right to take anything they thought belonged to Lucy or even if it was bought jointly, even if they were married they would be able to claim it back. Her eyes misted over as she read how Kate promised that if they were to have children, everything would go to the “Tara” children and she would take nothing. Lucy let out a sigh of regret. She had got it all wrong, so wrong and she had treated Kate in such a terrible way. Guilt washed over her as she remembered the look of pain in Kate’s eyes as she had walked away. Burying her head in her hands Lucy realised that she had done it again, like she always did. She attacked Kate with her words without any thought and her girlfriend, every time would just take it, as if she deserved it all and Lucy knew that Kate didn’t earn any of the attacks she had thrown at her.
“Hey,” Natalie said, as Lucy stomped into the lounge room, “You finally get yourself together again?” Lucy gave her sister a death stare and waved the contract in front of her. “What is this?” Lucy asked, still not certain what was happening. “Well, I was going to tell you before you stormed out last night,” her sister started to explain, taking a sip of the warm coffee in her cup, “You know, you really need to learn to control your impulsive behaviour. I assume from the way you acted when you returned last night that you, Lucy Tara did something very stupid.” Lucy hung her head in shame and slunk herself down to the couch, knowing that her sister was right. Natalie moved closer to her sister and laid a comforting hand on her knee, “So as I wanted to say yesterday. Kate didn’t say no to the money, instead she came back the next day with this contract. Apparently anyone in the family could sign it and it would then be legally binding.” Lucy absent-mindedly flipped through the pages of the contract in her hands, settling on the last page noting Kate’s clear signature. “She didn’t want any of the money, did she?” Lucy asked her sister, tears again forming in her eyes at the knowledge of how much Kate loved her. “Not a single cent. I sent this over to George, you remember how he looks over all of the family private legal matters? Just so you know, he was so impressed with the document, apparently no loopholes, nothing that Kate could use to back out of the agreement. He wants to hire her!” Lucy instantly smiled, pride growing in her heart, “Well my girlfriend is a top lawyer.” Natalie have Lucy’s hand a quick squeeze, “Did she shout back at you when you stormed over there? You know now that she had every right to be mad at you right?” Lucy hung her head down in shame and clutched the paper more tightly, her knuckles going white. “She didn’t fight back at all. She never does. She never thinks that she has the right to be upset with me, even when I am hurting her so much.” “Oh Luce,” Natalie signed, giving her sister’s hand a soft squeeze again, “As I said, anyone in the family can sign it, so I’m going to leave it with you Luce. Your choice.” Natalie slowly pushed the document back to her sister and gave her a smile. “She loves you so much, you have a great one there. If I was you, I wouldn’t let her go” Lucy moved to give her sister a large hug, “Yes, yes she is. She is the most amazing person in the world.” Lucy whispered, the love for Kate sparkling in her eyes. “I won’t let her go.” Lucy knew that she had screwed up and she had to quickly make it right again. She ran to grab her phone, picking it up she noticed that Kate had sent her a message last night that she had missed.
Hi babe, hope you are having a great time with your sister. I’ve been called in, we might be able to arrest the group tonight. Hopefully will see you tomorrow after work. Love you.
The suit! It all started to make sense, the reason why Kate was dressed in the flashy new suit and her leaving in the evening – for work, not to meet up with an ex like she had horribly accused her of. Guilt washed over her as memories of the words that she spat out at Kate last night come flooding back. Lucy quickly dialled Kate’s number but the call went straight to voicemail. Lucy tapped her fingers on her phone, trying to think of the correct things to write in a text to explain that she was an idiot, an awful girlfriend and was so so sorry.
Kate, I’m sorry. I love you. Please forgive me.
After waiting for a few minutes and not receiving an answer, Lucy knew she had to do something to show Kate how sorry she was. Deciding to cook Kate some of her favourite things to show her how much she loved her, she spent the rest of the day driving Natalie around the island to the different shops and markets to pick up the ingredients, only the best for her girl. “You know Luce, when you said you would spend today showing me the sights, this wasn’t quite what I was expecting.” Natalie mentioned, as she savoured the taste of the bubble tea, “But not a bad thing. This is sooo good!” Lucy gave her sister a smile, thankful that she was willing to help her. “Sooo…what are you going to do with the contract Luce?” “Burn it” Lucy responded immediately without hesitation. “Anything that is mine is hers Nat. She is my everything and I don’t want her to ever think that she owes our family or me anything. She’s the type who would list everything down in one of her painfully accurate excel spreadsheets with colour coding and notes. AND I don’t want to spend any of my time distracted from Love is Blind looking at it, as she would want me to review and check and I do enough paper work at work.” Lucy said, already imagining the number of excel files that Kate would have on everything she thought her family would want to know about, regardless how small the item. Natalie gave a little chuckle at her sister’s response, “Well, you better get me back to the hotel so you can zoom back home to make up with your girl” “Do you want the details about it tomorrow?” Lucy asked, giving her sister a sly smile and a wink. Natalie shook her head quickly, “Nope. Don’t want to think about it. Just tell me if you are coming to dinner for us to say goodbye before I leave. And on that note – let’s go!”
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As Lucy made her way up the elevator to the apartment she kept taking deep breaths, getting herself ready for Kate’s anger. She kept playing scenarios in her mind, Kate ignoring her, tight sentences if any words are spoken, looks of anger, looks that would make her know she was wrong. These were all things that Lucy knew she deserved and she was willing to take it. But at the front of her mind she knew, it would be the look of hurt in Kate’s eyes that will break her heart. Lucy hated to see Kate upset and it pained her to know that she was the one causing it again. Sometimes she wished Kate would respond like she so often did, hiding the pain and lash out in anger. Lucy could bear the anger, she would be able to stand against the fury that Kate would fling at her, but the hurt and looks of disappointment, that she knew she could not forgive herself for and would do everything that she could to take the pain away.
Lucy opened the door, taking her shoes off and headed to the kitchen ready to cook up a storm. Suddenly she stopped, seeing Kate standing by the kitchen bench scribbling something on a piece of paper. Lucy took a deep breath, preparing herself to start her apology when her eyes caught sight of the overnight bag resting on the bench. Her eyes grew wide with horror, her mind racing back to last night remembering that she had told Kate to go and never come back. She didn’t think she would take it literally, and she mentally kicked herself realising that Kate always took things literally. Without thinking she rushed over, dropping the shopping and leapt to grab the overnight bag, giving Kate a shock at the sudden movement. “What??” Kate shouted, sliding slightly to the side, pausing when she saw her frantic girlfriend jumping next to her. “You’re not going anywhere Kate. No, it’s not happening.” Lucy said in panic, clutching on to the bag and moving slightly towards the door, ready to block Kate if she tried to make an escape.
“Kate, I’m so sorry. I know, I overreacted, and I said so many things that were hurtful and unfair. I love you, I love you so much and I promise I’ll make it up to you. I promise. I didn’t mean it when I told you to leave, I don’t want you to leave. You can’t leave, please Kate, don’t go I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” Lucy rambled, tears filling her eyes and fear building in her mind that she had ruined it all and the love of her life was going to walk away. Lucy started to think of ways to block the door to prevent Kate from going, her eyes darting across the room thinking of what she could use as a barrier. Kate’s brown eyes shifted from shock of the outburst, to tinges of pain and understanding. “Luce, it’s ok. Calm down, ok?” Kate said, slowly, trying to stop Lucy who she could see was spiralling as she jumped from one foot to the other. “I get it. This was about the money that your sister offered right? I don’t know what she said, but I know what you thought wasn’t right. I need you to know Luce, I’m not here for the money, I’m in this relationship, because of you. I don’t want anything else, but you in my life” Lucy’s eyes started to build with tears as she heard the words, and she shuffled closer to Kate as she spoke. “I don’t want any of the money from you or from your family. All I ever wanted was you.” “But you’re leaving me, because I was awful to you.” Lucy mumbled, the guilt painted across her face. “I’m not leaving you. I’ll be here. Always.” Kate whispered, reaching out a hand to Lucy’s face and bringing her close for a quick kiss on the lips. “I promise – for as long as you will have me. And I know that I hurt you before and trust is something that you will always deep down have doubts because I made a bad mistake. I promised you Luce, I will do it right this time and I will do everything for you one day to know that you can trust me.” Kate gently wiped the tears from Lucy’s cheeks, and pressed their foreheads together. “I trust you, so much.” Lucy whispered, throwing her arms around her girlfriend and dropping the bag to the floor. As she pulled Kate in for a tighter hug she felt Kate flinch and take a slight intake of breath that made Lucy immediately step back to take a look at her. “What’s wrong?” Kate clenched her jaw and gave a slight smile as she shook her head. “Nothing.” Lucy cast her eyes over Kate properly and noticed that her weight was balanced to her right and her left arm was hanging to her side. “Kaaate..” Lucy exclaimed, pointing to her arm, “What happened?” Kate let out a sigh, as she placed her right arm on the table for balance. “So, the stakeout last night might have resulted in a bit more action with the suspect than expected.” Kate explained, looking a bit away from Lucy, “Perhaps, Curtis told me that I had to make my way to Tripler for a check up.” “KATE!” Lucy yelled, knowing that Kate wasn’t listening to what she was told to do, “You were supposed to go to the hospital! What did you hurt? Who’s waiting outside to drive you there?” Kate placed her hand on Lucy’s arm to calm her down, “I’m fine Luce. Maybe a slight twist to the ankle and I might have knocked my shoulder a bit…again.” Kate said, giving Lucy what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “What else?” Lucy asked, knowing there had to be more if Curtis wanted Kate to be checked out. “Ummm, maybe I was hit a bit in the ribs,” Kate continued taking a pause before she rushed the last sentence, “And maybe a small hit on the head” Lucy’s eyes grew wider and wider as Kate listed out her injuries. “What the??” Lucy immediately reached out and softly ran her hand across the back of Kate’s head and felt the dried blood mattered in her hair. “ Kate, we have got to get you to the hospital now. Call whoever is waiting for you downstairs that I’ll take you,” Lucy said, rushing to grab the shopping, throwing it madly into the fridge and running to pick up Kate’s bag again and heading to get her shoes. “Lucy, calm down. I’m fine. Look, you bought all this food and you look tired. I bet you didn’t sleep well last night, right? Why don’t you make yourself something to eat and have an earlier night. I was going to call an uber anyway and will be back later today, latest tomorrow.” Kate suggested, knowing that Lucy hated hospitals and she didn’t want to put her through the stress. “You were going to do what Kate? You do not take an uber when you are injured! What are you thinking?” Lucy exclaimed, realising that Kate was doing what she always did, putting herself down the bottom of the list of things, making herself and what she needed the last thing and always putting everyone else on top. “Forget the food and what world are you living in that you would think I could sleep when you are in hospital?” Kate hobbled over to Lucy and took one of her hands. “Hey, you don’t need to worry. I was just writing you a note to let you know that I’m fine. You need to look after yourself, you’re tired and don’t you need to catch up with Natalie tomorrow before she goes?” Lucy squeezed Kate’s hand and closed her eyes to try and calm herself down. She looked into Kate’s eyes and noticed the sincerity which made the frustration in her mind continue to grow. Why Kate didn’t ever think she deserved to be looked after still surprised her every time. She let out a sigh, and wrapped her arm around the blonde to give her support, leading her to the door. “There is nothing fine with this. I’m taking you to the hospital, and as we drive there and wait for the doctors to examine you, we are going to have a long talk about how you need to stop thinking you aren’t worth anything.” Lucy said, as she guided Kate to the door. “First, you need to know that I want to look after you, you are worth it. So next time you are injured on the job, you let one of your team take you straight to the hospital, you don’t tell them that you are fine and then get yourself an uber and then you call me!” Kate gave Lucy a smile and a slight nod of the head, “Got it. I’ll try to remember.” Lucy turned to look Kate in the eye to make she she was listening, “Not try Kate. You need to do better than that, OK.” Lucy waited for Kate to nod her head in agreement, before she started to help her again to the elevator. “Next, we will discuss this contract that you sent to my family, what is that about? Kate, no one is signing it?” Kate looked sharply at Lucy on that and she immediately questioned “Why? Was there anything wrong with the terms that I wrote? I know I rushed it a bit, but I thought I had all the right rules ticked and written to ensure no loopholes were there.” Lucy let out a small little laugh, “Babe, the contract was perfect. George, our family lawyer was so impressed he said that he would offer you any job if you wanted one.” “Really?” Kate asked, her eyes glowing with the compliment. “But no, no one is signing it, because you need to know, everything that is mine is yours. I know you are not in this relationship for the money, and again, I am so sorry for the way I behaved yesterday. I need you to know that I trust you, completely and I’m not going to have you give up the house we were living in if I die to cover this contract. It’s ours, it will always be ours, got it?” Kate’s eyes started to brim with tears as she realised what Lucy was meaning in the words, how much love and faith she had in their relationship. “Got it.” Kate whispered back, smile brightening her face. Lucy leaned in to give Kate a soft kiss on the lips. “Thirdly Kate, you need to stop forgiving me for everything and taking all the blame. This time it was all me. I was horrible, I made the mistake and I need to grovel and beg for your forgiveness. You can’t always blame yourself for the one mistake you made, and I have already forgiven you for. When I treat you badly, you need to tell me that I’m being irrational and irresponsible and I deserve to be in the dog house.” Kate leaned over and gave Lucy a soft kiss on the cheek, “I’ll forgive you for anything. As you are the most amazing woman I’ve ever met.” Lucy’s heart swelled with the love, “I know, but it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t make me admit when I have been the most awful girlfriend in the world.” Kate smiled and shook her head, “Never Luce. I’m lucky to have you love me. I don’t deserve you.” Lucy shook her head again, knowing that it would be her mission in life to get Kate to realise that she was important and worth everything.
As Lucy led Kate down the elevator and to the car, the love she felt for her kept growing and she knew, in her the deepest part of her heart and soul that Kate’s love for her was true and she needed to make sure that Kate knew that she felt the same way too.