A/N- This is a cute fic I wrote that takes place during those few months between TCS and TEG. It was supposed to be short but the story ran away with me XD
It had been an extremely difficult case.
It started off as a simple case so Lucy and Lockwood had decided to go for it alone. The client’s descriptions had given hints of nothing more than a Type One so it hadn’t made sense for Holly and George (and by extension, Kipps) to come along. About midway through they realised that there were two ghosts (a demure Type One and an angry Type Two), one of them being a murdered girl and the other the murderer, her jilted lover who in a fit of sadness had committed suicide after slitting the girl’s throat. They had had to rely thoroughly on Lucy’s Listening ability and Lockwood’s fencing capabilities to be able to locate and contain the source (a bloodstained embroidered handkerchief) and were heavily emotionally and physically exhausted. Lucy just wanted to forget that the stupid night had happened and collapse onto her bed and fall into dreamless sleep.
“How are you, Lucy?” Lockwood’s quiet voice broke her out of the drowsy trance she was falling into. They had staggered in through the house, trying to stay quiet for George’s sake, and flung themselves onto chairs in the kitchen, and were now nursing individual cups of hot tea before bed. Lockwood had turned the radio on-claiming it would help get their minds off the case-and a popular upbeat pop song from a few years ago was playing softly in the background.
“I’m fine,” she said, giving him a small smile.
“Luce," he murmured, reaching over the table to clasp her hand, with both of his. "It was quite an awful case as it is and we were grossly unprepared, and that girl getting in your head wouldn’t have helped one bit, so I need to know if you’re okay.” He finished his speech, by looking deeply into her eyes and definitely not causing little butterflies to flutter around in her stomach.
It had taken a toll on her. But Lucy had become better at handling intense cases and somehow it just seemed easier with him beside her. Her grogginess earlier was already dissipating and she had a sneaking suspicion it was because her body was trying every trick in the book to stay with him for as long as possible.
"I'm okay." She whispered, gently, covering their joined hands with her own. "Seriously."
"That's good to know," he said, flashing her his special smile, the one he reserved just for her. Out of his entire repertoire of smiles, this one was by far her favourite. Apart from the obvious fact that it was chartered for her, it was her favourite because it was free of pretence. Gentle, hesitant and completely unguarded.
The pop melodies on the radio switched to the lilting opening bars of a decades old soft rock song. It was one of Lucy’s favourite songs when she was growing up in the north. It was one of the few happy memories she had of her home, of spinning around in their poky little sitting room with her sister, Mary. As the vocals began, her entire being filled up with nostalgia, and perhaps it was this emotion that made her get up from the table and stick her hand out, palm facing upwards, in front of Lockwood.
Lockwood raised his eyebrows and flashed a surprised grin at her. “Lucy Joan Carlyle, are you asking me to dance?”
“Why yes, Anthony J Lockwood,” she said, mockingly putting her hand over her chest. “Was that not obvious?”
“I don’t know if I can accept,” he replied, tapping his fingers against his chin, pretending to be deep in thought. “Traditionally, isn't the gentleman supposed to ask the lady to dance?”
“It’s the twenty-first century,” she said, grabbing his hand and hauling him to his feet. “Traditions be damned.”
In an almost coy manner, he placed his hand on her waist and she on his shoulder. He clasped her other hand and began to lead them in a simple waltz.
Of course the posh prat can dance, she thought as she followed his lead. He was probably born with a silver spoon in his mouth and tap dancing shoes on his feet! It wasn’t surprising really, considering Lockwood was as lithe and graceful as a panther while fencing, so it would be natural he'd be a wonderful dancer as well.
As if reading her mind, Lockwood smiled and said quietly:-“My mother taught me to dance, in this very kitchen actually. I haven’t really danced since her death and I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed it.” he continued, wistfully.
“Well,” said Lucy, after a moment’s pause, “I’m sure she’d be very happy with your dancing progress. You dance beautifully, Lockwood.”
“Thanks, Luce.” He smiled gratefully.
“My sister and I used to love this song,” she said unexpectedly. He’d shared a snippet about his mother, it felt right to offer something in return. “We used to dance around the house to this song. It’s one of the um…” she trailed off.
“Go on, Luce.” he nodded encouragingly at her.
“It’s one of the few times that I was actually happy at home.” she finished. She’d never really opened up about how sad she really was in her mother’s house. She’d never acknowledged to herself how screwed up her childhood actually was.
Lockwood was watching her intently, his gaze concerned. “Well,” he said, with a tone of finality to it. “I hope that you've associated one more happy memory with it.” he added, grinning at her meaningfully.
“The happiest,” she beamed at him, flushing a little when she saw his eyes twinkling in response. It felt good to open herself up to him. With him by her side, she felt she could be herself completely and start to heal. He would support her and she would support him, together they would build each other up.
She placed her cheek against his chest and felt him hum in response. They continued to sway, holding each other close, long after the song had ended, two broken teenagers finding solace in each other and knowing they would be just fine.
A/N- I always thought that something along these lines would’ve happened during those four months between TCS and TEG. I don't think Lucy was letting us in on the full situation and there was definitely more to it than met the eye. I mean, c’mon the two literally walked through the Other Side together, I think that besides having moments of obvious heart eyes for one another (mostly on Lockwood’s part) they would’ve probably had moments of emotional connection as well. The song that they dance to is entirely up to your imagination and what you think would best suit them. For me, I always imagined this scene with More Than Words by Extreme playing.
Anyway I got a little carried away. XD Hope you liked it! Like, reblog all that jazz if you did:)
