Chapter Text
CHARLOTTE
She had told him. About her missing time and therefor the fact she had absolutely no idea who he was, how they had met, ecetera.
If there was anything more to like about Dan Espinoza it was that he was the most gentle, attentive and understanding man she had ever met. And there had been a lot. From clients to boyfriends, hell, even her husband.
Hell.
That had been the keyword to her spilling the tea. Spilling everything from beginning to end, including Lucifer and Amenadiel who had turned into her confidantes – funny how she claimed the devil and an angel to be two of her most trusted allies now.
Now there were three men in her life she knew she could trust. And now that he knew it, everything, and didn’t put her into a mental hospital or ran away from her.
He was different.
With a smile she remembered the conversation after their first night together …
She was on her back, eyes to the ceiling, feeling the aftermaths of their “get together” still tingling all over her. He was on his side, propped up on his arm, looking at her. And then she caught him smile.
“What?”, she asked with a raised eyebrow.
The smile became a grin. “Nothing.”
She sat up. “Dan?”
“It’s just that … you are so much more … soft and attentive and YOU.”
She felt her cheeks turn beat read since she knew exactly what he was referring to.
“What was it like? With the other me?”
“She wasn’t the other you, Charlotte.” He pulled her close by her waist. “She wasn’t YOU. She did only inhabit your body, so there is nothing you should blame yourself for.”
She signed. “Still I do. There is so much I need to fix, and … I need to know as much as possible.”
She gave him her most penetrating stare and she knew it worked. Cop or not, she had that superpower on men, and he wasn’t immune to that.
“Well she was … quite forth going. Passionate, almost a little …”
“Too much?”, she decided to help him out.
“There is nothing wrong with passion, though, not when it comes to you”, he whispered lowly and turned her on her back. Charlotte giggled as his lips met hers for a kiss, his body warming her.
“You think we would have met if it weren’t for her?”
A deep exhale but he didn’t sound tense. “I don’t know, to be true.” The expression in his eyes was warm and his smile gentle. “But it doesn’t matter. Past is past. This is us, and there’s nothing better to that.”
Now that things were set right with the man she loved, she had to take the next step.
It was a “I’m so sorry for threatening and almost killing you, can I buy you a drink?” for Linda. A “Sorry for being a bitch and ruining that case, I’m glad you brought justice after all” to Chloe. And a “I’m trying to get my light back” to Ella.
They spend a lot of their free time at the beach, now that it was warm enough for her to swim. Dan went surfing and she watched him, and every time he jogged back to her, eyes sparkling, smile wide, she knew she was falling for him a little more.
Day by day, baby steps. But they were firm baby steps. For the first time in a very, very long one, she was truly happy. Everything was perfect.
Until one evening, everything changed.