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She is losing him. She knows it, and she knows it is her turn to do something about it. After all hell broke loose – and isn’t that a funny expression now that she knows – she has been distant. He, on the other hand, kept trying. He texted her, he set Linda up to talk to her, he sent Ella to check on her during her suspension. Never once did he barge in her house demanding to talk. It took her a while, but when she returned to her job, she finally had the courage to call him. “Detective,” he said when he picked up and the diffidence in his voice broke her heart. She’d informed him of their case and he was at the precinct ten minutes later. At first, she wanted to talk to him about everything. She had too many questions and too little answers. She waited for him to make a quip, casually mention a method of torture in Hell or call Maze a demon – she wanted to ask as much as he let her in those moments but they never came… so she didn’t push it. And after a few weeks, they were already too busy pretending nothing had changed to ever acknowledge the elephant in the room.
Now, no matter what she tells herself, they are back to where they started. To being two strangers. And it hurts her, seeing that fake smile on his lips when he makes a joke and turns to her as if her acknowledgment is all he needs. He is careful to not invade her personal space and he doesn’t stay alone in the same room with her for more than two seconds. She can’t remember the last time she rolled her eyes at him with that frustrated smile she always fails to hide, nor does he ever give her any reasons to be angry. No breaking doors, no threatening suspects, not a single inappropriate remark from him. And if it was just any time, she would’ve been relieved at the lack of paperwork caused by Lucifer’s shenanigans, but instead, it is a reminder of what happened. So she decides to take the matter into her own hands. She drops Trixie off at Dan’s, texts Lucifer she’s on her way (she even tells him to hide the strippers for the sake of nostalgia, and to ease the tension) and drives straight to the penthouse.
He is uncharacteristically cooperative and doesn’t get tired of answering her questions. “Why are you here?” she asks, making him chuckle. “Better to enjoy what Earth has to offer than serve in Heaven,” he answers. They laugh, they get emotional and they drink. A lot. She’s almost drunk when he murmurs a “Thank you,” to her. Her drunk self has no filter and can’t comprehend the emotion behind it when she blurts out “For what?”. He stills, and she’s sure he’s changed his mind when he finally answers. “For staying.” All she can do is nod because she doesn’t trust her voice not break. They say their goodbyes and Chloe’s left alone with another million questions in her mind. At least we are all right now, she thinks. They talk now, not dance around the topic. Now she listens more carefully, even though what she considered to be delusions are in fact terrible details about Hell. They are moving forward, slowly but steadily. Except – except she can’t stop thinking about what could’ve been had they not been interrupted by the tragic events. When he’d finally admitted how he truly felt. The words mean a lot more now, after seeing his face, and she can’t begin to think about how he must have felt when she ran and almost confirmed his fears. She just wishes she’d had the chance to know what it would be like to date the delusional Lucifer before it all went to Hell.
But all she can do is move on. She has to work twice as hard to earn people’s trust again so thankfully, her job doesn’t leave her much time to think about the Lucifer. She works and works and works until she falls asleep from exhaustion. She and Lucifer have been starting to figüre out their new dynamic, between all the cases, and she has to admit she misses her Lucifer. Because this one – this one doesn’t make inappropriate jokes now, doesn’t break into houses, doesn’t flirt with witnesses. Alright, the last one she’s grateful for, but for a man who’s always been the life of the party, he’s so calm, always so thoughtful. She thinks it’s because of her, at first. He’s mourning the loss of what could’ve been, as well. Then, then one day Ella and Linda drag her to Lux for a girls’ night. She seeks Lucifer’s company but he is nowhere to be seen. When he finally honors the place with his presence, there’s someone on his arm. The smile on Chloe’s lips dies a quick death. Well, that’s who he is. She tries to assure herself, but something about the woman tells the detective that she’s there to stay. With her dark hair, pretty eyes and gorgeous smile, she looks like a Disney princess. She’s the kind that can slay a dragon and look graceful doing it and Chloe has to force herself to look away. By the time she shakes those thoughts off her mind, Linda has gone to flirt with one of the patrons and Ella’s excused herself for.. she doesn’t even listen as she realizes the reason is that Lucifer is coming over. She greets him with a smile and he returns it genuinely with a bit of sadness in his eyes. She shouldn’t. She shouldn’t but she can’t help it and asks him about the Disney princess. “An old friend,” he says, looking over at where she’s sitting. His eyes are wistful and she notices not all their memories are happy ones.
Much later, she learns that the brunette is Eve. The Eve. "Your would-be mother-in-law," Lucifer remarks with a forced and dry chuckle. It takes her a while to process this new information and when she does, she finds herself running to Lucifer. She fidgets and picks at her nails. He asks her what's wrong, finally, and she gives a small shrug. "What if she's here because of.. because of.." She trails off, a sheepish expression on her face. Now that she knows, she worries each time she opens her mouth to talk. She doesn't understand how these peopl- beings work and she wants to avoid sounding stupid and ignorant as much as possible. Lucifer has never laughed at her for her questions, not even once, but she senses there's something different about Eve. "It's not about Cain," he tells her with such certainty in his voice that she can't bring herself to argue.
They meet at LUX when Chloe shows up and asks Lucifer to set up a party and informs him of the details. Lucifer wanders off to make a few phone calls and Eve offers her a smile. The brunette holds her head high, her posture perfect. The appletini in her hands momentarily distracts and amuses Chloe. The silence is unnerving on the detective's end and when it becomes too much, she finally blurts out her question. "Why are you here?" The words are accusing but Eve remains unbothered by it. "I missed the fun boyfriend," comes her reply. Chloe follows her gaze to Lucifer and neither speak a word. A pang of jealousy runs through the blonde as Lucifer turns down an attractive woman and stands just a little too close to Eve's side when he returns. "It's all being taken care of, Detective," he says and Chloe gives a nod. Eve runs a hand down his side possessively and Chloe forces herself to walk out after thanking him.
They wire Lucifer up for the undercover mission as Chloe sits inside the van and listens. Over the sound of the music, she can’t hear much other than Lucifer’s answers and has to guess at who he must be talking to, but she does recognize Eve’s voice. “Lucifer,” she purrs and Chloe notices she must be leaning into him and that’s why she can hear the woman clearly. “Come play with me.” And Chloe’s sure if she wasn’t so irritated by their intimacy, even she’d have been tempted. Well, she must’ve learned from the best, she mumbles to herself. Whatever Lucifer’s reply is, she doesn’t hear it. Eve’s little protest fills her ears and they share a kiss. Boyfriend. The word echoes in her mind. Eve’s not another fling and the thought of Lucifer committing to someone that’s not her hurts more than anything. She’s battled with her low self-esteem for a while, after interviewing Lucifer’s 92 lovers but in the end, they were just people he had sex with. Nothing more. What she has with him is special and seeing him with Eve, she thinks she might’ve lost her chance. They don’t even hang out outside the work anymore and their conversations are mostly about cases, and little questions she dares to ask every now and then. It would never work anyway. She scolds herself and focuses on Lucifer’s voice.
Things escalate quickly. One second, she’s listening to Lucifer chatting up their suspect and the other there are gasps and screaming. When she enters the club, Lucifer has the (now) criminal against the wall. His hands are so tightly wrapped around the man’s neck that Chloe’s sure with little more pressure, he can break it. “Lucifer,” she says as she steps closer. The rest of the patrons are watching the scene on the other side of the club while Eve sits at the bar, sipping her appletini. She looks turned on instead of worried. “Lucifer. Let him go.” For a split second, Chloe worries this might be the time she can’t stop him but he lowers the bald man to the ground. Eve’s disappointed eye roll doesn’t go unnoticed. Lucifer only murmurs an apology and darts past her as she cuffs the man.
At first, she doesn’t think much about it. He is the Lord of Hell and anger management issues aren’t the weirdest thing about him. She’s always known Lucifer is repulsive and doesn’t play by the book but it only gets worse. He threatens the suspects more often and he’s quick to resort to violence now. He almost beats a suspect half to death and only stops when he notices he almost causes Chloe to fall, who was clinging to his arm to stop him. So, she decides to be the reasonable one. Again. She finds him outside, smoking a cigarette and leaning against her car. She almost pleads him to tell her what’s going on but he doesn’t let her get through his thick nonchalant bad boy armor this time. “I don’t like what she’s done to you,” she says, blinking away the tears of anger. He takes a step towards her, a predatory grin on his lips. “This is the real me, Detective.” His voice takes a darker tone and she realizes he’s trying to intimidate her. “Or have you forgotten what I am?” Hellfire comes to life in his eyes but Chloe manages to remain still. “I think you have.” İs all she says as she pushes past him and gets into her car.
She doesn’t call him when she’s assigned a new case and he doesn’t show up announced as he usually does. She hides her disappointment and tells everyone he needs a few days off. But turning her world upside down and dumping her seems to be a theme with men in his life. She soon learns from a sympathetic Ella that Lucifer is leaving and after managing to extract herself from her friend’s comforting hug, she drives over to the penthouse without a second thought. “Eve wants to leave,” he tells her as if it can be that simple. She cries and yells at him as he stands still like a statue and she doesn’t realize the tears in his eyes at first. “Why are you doing this to me?” he asks, as if he is not the one leaving her. He tells her he understands why it can never happen, that it is alright she cannot accept all of him, that they can never get a happy ending. “You deserve better,” he adds, “And I am grateful you let me experience true happiness, even though we were doomed from the beginning.” So, please, the look on his face says, Please let me go. And she should. She knows he’s right. She should say goodbye and leave but her heart betrays her. Chloe closes the distance between them and clashes her mouth against his as her hands try to undo the buttons of his shirt. He whimpers a protest and grabs her hands to stop her. She realizes too late that he thinks she’s only offering herself so that he stays.
The next Sunday, she’s alone in her apartment, sitting on the couch. Dan has Trixie, which means Chloe has more time to overthink Lucifer’s departure – she checks her phone – which is happening as she eats her way through a large cartoon of ice cream and waits for the pizza delivery guy. The ring on the door is the only good thing today – she’s hungry and for once the food isn’t late. Except.. except it’s not a young man in a bright orange uniform and with a box of pizza in his hand. Lucifer stands there like a timid stray dog, afraid he’ll be kicked out. She doesn’t ask any questions and thankfully the food arrives soon. They settle on the couch and she lets him steal a slice while she grabs a bottle of wine and laughs at him as he drops the slice and ruins his suit. It feels like nothing has changed and the nostalgic smile on Chloe’s lips softens his expression.
“She left,” he says. “I changed my mind. She didn’t want to stay.”
A part of her is glad Eve is gone. She’s pushed Lucifer to be something he isn’t but Chloe knows he’s disappointed. Whatever they are or were, the woman is important to him. He doesn’t have many friends so the other part of her feels angry at the brunette for abandoning him. They fall into a comfortable silence as Chloe lowers down her gaze, staring down at the glass in her hands as she speaks.
“Did you love her?”
“I thought I did,” Lucifer replies. “Then I fell in love with you.”
He makes it sound like such a simple statement that she doubts she’s heard him right at first. When she looks up at him, he only offers a sad smile. A smile that says he doesn’t expect anything, that he’s only decided he wants to be a part of her life in any way she’ll allow him.
How his eyes shine with hope when she gives him a kiss is something she’ll never forget.