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Chloe wrapped the sheet around her tighter. Standing on the penthouse balcony, the breeze of the night whipped around her. She stared up at the clear night sky with sadness in her eyes.
“Darling, come back to bed.” Lucifer sauntered up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.
Chloe stepped away to release her of his embrace.
“No.” She clutched the soft fabric to her naked body and kept her back to him.
She heard Lucifer sigh behind her.
“I know this is complicated, but-“
“Complicated?” Chloe swiveling to face Lucifer, standing there in all his glory. The sheet floated in the breeze around her. “A case can be complicated. A crossword puzzle can be complicated. This? This is…” She shook her head. She didn’t know what this was.
After Cain’s death and the revelation of Lucifer’s true identity came to light, Chloe had taken a step back. With so much information to digest, she didn’t have the strength to throw a relationship with Satan into the mix. She asked him to be patient and he was. For months, he stayed as professional as possible. And eventually, the heat that was between them, the constant tension, and the idea of love that loomed over their heads faded, leaving nothing. He moved on.
She had been there for Lucifer. She had helped him come to terms with a lost love. She had claimed his heart. Chloe remembers the day that she lost Lucifer to Eve. She had gone to Lucifer’s penthouse with a case to find them cuddling on his couch, laughing.
“Detective!” Lucifer had a look of shock in his eyes, embarrassment, and guilt written on his face.
Chloe couldn’t move from in front of the couch, her mind exploding with questions. The only question to make it from her brain to her mouth, “How long?”
Lucifer’s expression turned to pain. “About a month.”
Chloe nodded, turned and left. The pain and heartache she felt at that moment were paramount. Lucifer had moved on.
The awkward tension eased over time between Chloe and Lucifer. She accepted that he had found happiness with someone else and buried her own feelings deep within herself, but over time, the sexual tension increased again. She internally begged for him to brush up against her, cherished the times he opened a door for her and led her out with a hand on the small of her back, and reveled in their nights spent sitting at his piano, drinking and playing.
Last night was one of those nights. Lucifer and Eve were having a fight and he needed a friend. Just a drink too much, a graze of his skin searing at her core, his smile causing butterflies to flutter in her stomach and the dam broke.
He had gazed into her eyes and whispered the one word he used so rarely. “Chloe.” She was done for.
He hadn’t been lying, it was the single greatest sexual experience of her life. But out here on the balcony, staring at the stars with a sheet wrapped around her body, she felt cold and empty.
Chloe shifted her head down and looked at Lucifer. “Do you love her?”
Lucifer dropped his head and looked at his feet. That was answer enough for Chloe and she nodded.
“This is it, you know. The end.” Chloe shivered and swallowed hard. She was going to cry, she knew it.
Lucifer shook his head in protest. “No. It’s not. I can’t lose-. We have something special-.”
Chloe smirked. “Yea, we do. But this can’t happen. I can’t be that selfish.”
Lucifer furrowed his brows. “You are the least selfish person I know. How can this be selfish?” He motioned between the two of them.
“Love isn’t about what I want. Of course, I want you.” She felt the first tear begin to fall down her cheek. “You found someone else. The decision was made long before this happened. I can’t break that up. I can see it on your face that you love her, unconditionally. She loves you too. Why would I ever want to destroy that? The best thing for me to do now is leave. If I stay, I’m hurting myself, you, and her.”
Chloe moved to exit the balcony and Lucifer stood in her way, bracing himself against the doors, blocking her out. “But I love you!”
Chloe let a sob escape her throat. “But you love her. You made a promise to her.”
“You’re not going to fight this?” Lucifer asked, astonished.
“There’s nothing to fight over. I’m in love with a happily taken man. There’s no war and there’s no happy ending to this. Someone gets hurt in the end.” She braved it and touched her hand to his cheek. Lucifer closed his eyes and leaned into the touch. “I can’t control how I feel. But I can control the outcome.”
“What if I leave her?” Lucifer bargained.
“That’s not an option.” Chloe removed her hand and repositioned the fabric around her.
“Why?”
“Because you made a promise to her. You said you loved her, and you meant it. You said you’d be with her and I’ll make sure you keep that promise. She doesn’t deserve to be hurt in this because of me.”
“You’re taking away my free will to decide.” Lucifer looked down into Chloe’s eyes, searching.
“Yea, I am.” Chloe agreed. “But you protect the people you love, even if it’s from yourself.” Chloe ducked underneath Lucifer’s arm and padded her way to the bedroom, the giant sheet trailing behind her. She picked up her clothes and roughly shoved her legs into her pants.
“No. I refuse to believe that this is the end.” Lucifer stood at bottom of the stairs leading up to the bedroom, hands on his hips.
“Lucifer…” Chloe put her top on and shook out her hair.
“No! We finally have a chance to be together. This can’t be it.” Lucifer raised his voice in defiance.
“Don’t you get it?” Chloe yelled back. “I can’t trust you now!” She waved her hands around.
“I’ve never lied to you. I’ve never given you a reason not to trust me.”
“This. This is the reason I can’t trust you.” Chloe pointed at the bed and began to yell. “What’s going to happen six months from now, a year from now, hell ten years from now, when our relationship gets to be too hard and you turn to a friend for help. You’ll find the next best thing.”
“I would never do that to you,” Lucifer yelled back.
“I don’t know that! I’ll always be wondering. I’ll always be afraid to tell you what I think or cause a fight because it could lead to you doing this to me.” Chloe scoffed. “It can’t happen. I can’t do this to Eve and I’m not going to let you do it to me.” She pointed at Lucifer’s chest and walked toward the elevator.
Lucifer grabbed Chloe’s wrist and pulled her into him. “You and I are meant to be together. You know it. I know it.”
“What about Eve?” Chloe whispered.
Lucifer’s eyes softened and he stepped back from Chloe. She watched the emotions run across his face. Realization, pain, love, heartbreak, and finally resolution. “I love her.”
“I know.” Chloe felt the tears streaming down her face. This was it. This was the last conversation, the last interaction, the last moment she’d ever see Lucifer again. “She makes you happy. You should go be happy.”
Chloe stepped into the elevator and her eyes met Lucifer’s. A bright tear trailed down his cheek and he nodded a small, sad smile at her as the doors closed.