Cabriolet

LUCY NIELSEN
Lucy wasn't the sort who needed to be coddled, and she didn't enjoy it, in fact... but she had been through a lot in the past few days, a lot more than she'd anticipated, and maybe it was wrong to assume that Killian might appreciate that most of it had been for him... that she had gone after Rob with her lawyer because of the way he behaved with Killian... maybe it was too much to assume that he would be grateful for that, or even sorry that she'd been hurt because of it. But a part of her, a large part of her, expected better of him, and clearly that had been a mistake. She didn't think he was a murderer... not with what she knew of him, but she could see, a little, why the police liked him so much for the murders in his hotels - sociopaths had a tendency to shut everyone out, as well, and maybe he wasn't one in the traditional sense, but he certainly lacked the capacity to care...

And so for the second time that day, Lucy found herself packing. Because the fact of the matter was, it was Killian's home, but she wasn't welcome there. He reluctantly allowed it, perhaps because on some level he felt human compassion, but that was all it was, and she wasn't going to interfere anymore. Not in the case. Not in his life. Liliana could manipulate Killian all she wanted, but Lucy wasn't going to sit and take it.

Maybe it was dangerous in her apartment, but at least it was a known risk. Here? She was putting something worse than her life on the line. She'd allowed her heart to get broken far too often and she wasn't going to do it again. Killian might have thought he knew her, thought that she was still the same person he'd met all those weeks ago, but the fact of the matter was, she had allowed herself to care for someone who couldn't return those feelings... and she wouldn't put herself through that a second time.

Calling a cab from her phone, she offered the address, before bag in hand, she made her way downstairs to the kitchen again, pausing in the doorway, "Maria... It's been lovely. I'm sorry I can't stay for dinner... Would you please let Killian know that I've gone home? And congratulations again, to your son." And with a small smile, she turned and made for the foyer, sliding out the front door to wait for her ride.
 
Killian Hopper
"You're leaving?" Maria asked, though the inflection in her voice was one that didn't sound surprised by the news. She looked up, wooden spoon still in her hand. "Ah well, I should have expected it. You're just like him, no wonder you two do not get along. Run away, run away, run away…" She waved her hand. "It is all you two do. How disappointing."

"I will not," she remarked, going back to pouring dinner into serving bowls. "I will not be your messenger. Be a woman and do it yourself, or not at all, weak… how do you say? Pansy. You know, I come to this country a single mother, I do not have time to cater to weak kneed women and men." Though when she looked up again, Lucy had left and Maria snorted, shaking her head disapprovingly with a small 'tsk, tsk,' before going back to what she was doing.

It wasn't long before Killian swung into the kitchen, deciding that, while he wasn't hungry, he probably should eat something. Like it or not, he knew he wasn't particularly well, but Maria always told him meals were most important when he wanted them least. "Lucy get dinner?" he asked, reaching around Maria to grab a bowl from the cabinets, sniffling and crinkling his nose when the pressure built up and caused a sharp pain behind his eyes.
"No," Maria answered, not looking up.

"Did she come down?"

"I do not know," Maria remarked. "I do not know anything."

"Maria…"

Maria paused, whirling around and nearly catching Killian with the end of her spoon handle. "I know nothing and I am leaving early today," she explained, so matter-of-factly that Killian couldn't have argued, even if he had wanted to. He paused, bowl in his hands, staring at Maria in her worked up, maternal state, and could only nod numbly like a child who'd just been scolded for stealing cookies from the cookie jar.

"Yea, of course," he remarked.

"And go to a doctor," she muttered as she shooed him to the side.

"Uhh, uh-huh. Alright." Killian had no room to argue against the little woman who'd just turned into a tornado.

 
LUCY NIELSEN
Run away, run away, run away…

What did Maria know about anything? She was a housekeeper... not a therapist. She didn't know Lucy's history. All that Lucy had been through, and she couldn't possibly know how infuriating it was, to constantly be judged by a man who you only wanted to impress. She wasn't running. She was fleeing. She was escaping yet another disappointing relationship, that would ultimately leave her more jaded and broken than before.

It shouldn't have bothered her then, those words. But it did. And standing on the front porch, bag in hand, she felt heat creep up the back of her neck as she thought about them. It took upwards to an hour to get a cab anywhere that time of night, and Killian's house was already a climb. She had intended to wait... to sit out there and wait, until she could get in and drive away and forget the whole messy affair . But Maria's words left a feeling in her stomach she knew wouldn't fade, even as the house and Killian Hopper were left behind.

She wasn't weak. She wasn't. She had never been weak. It was part of her trouble, in fact... that she was so determined not to show weakness. She had wrapped herself up in a sense of self control that had her so twisted, so confused... and it hurt, hearing someone... a veritable stranger, insinuate that she was anything but a strong, independent creature of pure habit and spite. She was certainly nothing like Killian. He was judgmental, and stubborn, and...

"...Damn it."

Swearing softly, Lucy dropped her back on the porch, and turning around, she stormed back into the house, into the kitchen, where she bypassed Killian in the doorway, her eyes on the woman behind the stove, instead, "You're wrong. I am not weak... I have never been week, and I don't intend to start." Turning to Killian, she shook her head, "I asked Maria to tell you, but she's right. She isn't my messenger. I'm leaving. I'm going back to my apartment. You and I both know this isn't working, and at this point we're just moving in circles around it, to avoid being the bad guy. You don't want me here. You never did, but you invited me out of courtesy because of what happened. I appreciate it, but I don't need to be anyone's burden.

The fact is, we are alike. You and me. Too alike. We want to defy the world, but in opposite directions, and I don't think that will ever stop being a point of contention. Maybe that's why you resist every opportunity I've given you to bond with me. Because you know better than I do that we're just the same poles of a magnet and no matter what either of us tries to do, we'll always repel each other. And I could be okay with that, if I didn't like you so damn much. But seeing the way you look at me, like I'm dirt under your nail... it's too hard, Killian. And I would rather risk Rob's hand around my neck again than put myself through that. And I know that you probably think that makes me overdramatic, or whatever... but I don't care. It's what it is. It's who I am, and I'm done apologizing for it."
 
Killian Hopper
He didn't need to ask what had gotten under Maria's skin when he heard the slamming of the front door and shoes stomping up to the landing that poured into the kitchen. He turned his attention next to Lucy, listening thoroughly, and acknowledging her words with something of a tired smile. When she had finished, concluding her statements with a grand declaration of refusing to apologize—though no one had asked her to, he decided not to point it out—he cleared his throat.

"Alright," he agreed. "Thank you for letting me know. I'm sorry this couldn't have been a more comfortable experience for you, and I really do wish you the best with your career, Rob, all of it…" Goodness, he wished himself all the best for the same reasons. It worried him that he hadn't heard word from either the police nor Rob in the last two days, but then, he hadn't heard news from the casinos, either. It seemed everything just continued on, with or without him there, and while that should have been every businessperson's dream, it was Killian's worst nightmare.

Alas, then was not the moment to ponder those thoughts. "I have no intentions or arguing with you on your points, but I would like to reiterate that I don't hate you, and I never have. You just remind me of Liliana, is all, and somehow, I need to find her, wherever she is, and end it with her, because she agrees with you on many things, and most importantly, she agrees with you that there is something wrong with me."

He shrugged, turning to set his bowl down on the counter as Maria fled. "But there isn't anything wrong with me and it took me a long time to realize that in the face of so many people telling me there was. I'm a person like everyone else and just because I've made money and am successful doesn't mean words don't affect me. Just because I don't give you and Liliana everything you want me to give, doesn't mean I don't give with everything I have."

He gave her the same tired smile as before. "I hope you of all people could understand that, but you don't need to apologize for who you are. We're all just victims to our personality. Good bye, Lucy."
 
LUCY NIELSEN
Staring at him, her cheeks reddening, Lucy shook her head. She should have left, should have just walked away, but the preconception he had was, yet again, completely off course. And maybe that was her fault - she had, after all, said what she had after telling him off... but the fact that he somehow attributed it to something much deeper wasn't on her, it wasn't something she was willing to take the blame for - especially if it was going to drive him to ending things with Liliana.

"You're an idiot." She said, plainly, nearly affectionately, pinching the bridge of her nose, "I meant it physically, Killian. As in, you aren't well... and you should get looked at. We're all a mess, but I'm not about to tell you there's something wrong with you when I hardly have anything together, myself. I'm not gonna pretend that Liliana meant better by it... and if this is what you feel like you need to do, find her? End things? I'm not gonna try to talk you out of it. But I'm not gonna take responsibility for it when you completely misunderstood me."

Shaking her head, she sighed, "And I never asked for or even wanted everything. Don't you get that? It was never about darts... or swimming... or arcade games? I didn't want everything, Killian. I just wanted you to try a little harder not to treat me like an irritating stray cat your girlfriend forced you to take in. Me reminding you of her? That's not on me, either. If you're attributing that connection, that's on you. I'm not Liliana. If I was, I never would have come back in here to tell you I was leaving. I would have walked away, like she did. Left you to deal with things on your own.
 
Killian Hopper
Idiot. She said it affectionately enough, he supposed, but he cast his eyes to the side all the same. He wasn't in the mood to argue, and the pounding in his head prevented any whole thoughts from linking together. The longer he stood, the worse it got, though he couldn't tell if that was because he was standing and ill, or because of the conversation at hand. Perhaps both, he ultimately decided. "I don't like those words put together," he admitted. There is something wrong with you. He closed his eyes for a moment, curling his upper lip back.

A moment later, his facial expression relaxed and his eyes opened half-mast, staring again down to the tile floor of the kitchen. "You've made it quite clear nothing is on you, Lucy, but you would have left without telling me you were leaving, wouldn't you? Without Maria?" He shook his head, his eyes lifting but not to Lucy's face. Instead, he found himself staring at the fridge doors and the assorted magnets stuck to it. They were all travel magnets, naming the various places he'd visited around the globe over the years: Montana, Tuscany, Rome, Edinburgh… his gaze danced from one to the other, reading each name in his head carefully and deliberately.

"Everyone leaves, Lucy, it's the nature of human beings. When you are waiting for someone the most, is when they will fail to show, every time. You didn't leave because you had a point to prove with Maria, this had nothing to do with me. True enough, you are not Liliana, but you would have left just like her."

He didn't want it to bother him as much as he did, because he'd been trying to do the exact same thing. Yet it annoyed him worse than it did when Liliana left. Liliana he'd expected it from, but Lucy? That one came as a little bit more of a surprise, though he knew it shouldn't have. He'd put her up on some sort pedestal, he supposed, and that hadn't been fair. She was human too, just like him. "Anyways, do you at least want a ride to your apartment? I'm heading that way, anyways."
 
LUCY NIELSEN
"I told Maria I was leaving, and I asked her to let you know. I didn't want to cause a scene, and I figured that would be the best way of handling it. But it was wrong to put that on her, and that much I can admit. Which is why I came back. It wasn't about proving a point, not that you'll believe me when I say as much. It was because standing out there, thinking about what she said, I knew it wasn't right walking away without saying something."

With a sigh, she rubbed her forehead, exhaustion driving her to a seat at the island, "But what's the point, Killian? Would it have mattered? If I'd left or didn't? If I hadn't decided to come back? Would you have cared...? Because I'm having hard time gauging why you're even invested in what I do or don't do. I don't even understand why I care..." But that wasn't true. She knew it wasn't, and she'd admitted as much to herself on the porch just a few minutes before.

"When I first met you... all I wanted to do was prove that you were wrong about me and I admit that I tried too hard. It's that need to control, I guess. Not that that's an excuse. But you called me a monster, Killian, and someone who strives their whole life to help people? That wasn't something I dealt with, well. Then after you... after Kim? I don't why, it just changed... Maybe because you turned out to be someone I didn't expect you to be. I wanted... I wanted to impress you, Killian. To show you I wasn't who you thought I was, either. And maybe prove that to myself a little, too.

And there were glimmers there, for a moment or two, where it seemed... it seemed different. It seemed better. But every time I started to feel like maybe I was on the right track, you'd pull back and the last thing I wanted was... was to put more on your shoulders. So I thought maybe leaving was better... And now? I'm just lost. I don't like it... not feeling like I've got a handle on it. You throw me, Killian, and I wish I could hate you for it... because then it would be easier, but I don't. Not at all..."
 
Killian Hopper
"Well, you'd rather risk another run in with Rob than stay here any longer, right?" he reminded her with a lame, one-sided shrug. "Least I can do is give you a ride home. I had a business mentor once who told me that your first guess is always the right answer, so, if that's your gut instinct, go with it." He wasn't going to fight her because she ended up saying she cared. Maybe she did, maybe it was a lie, but it didn't change the fact that she admitted she'd rather risk death than be there. He snorted, confused as ever, but he didn't have an answer for her.

He didn't know if he would have cared. He would have liked to believe he wouldn't have, but nothing was ever that black and white. He didn't hate her, and she didn't hate him; that sounded like as good of a place as any to leave it. It seemed impossible that anything between them would improve, so better to leave it in a place of neutrality than to make it worse. Pushing off the counter, he pulled open his key drawer and found a set. "You're definitely not who I thought you were," he mentioned, jingling the keys and fishing around the kitchen for his wallet. The last thing he wanted to do was drive, especially with his headache, but he'd told Maria he'd go to the doctor, and he did genuinely want to give her a ride home, at very least.

"Your luggage still out on the front stoop?" he asked once he was confident he had everything. "We can pack it up quick and I can drive you straight home. It'll be faster, and less expensive, that way." He remembered the way, more or less. He'd only just been there this morning; it wouldn't be too hard to find again, and it wouldn't be too far from his doctor's office, which was a block off the strip.

"Unless you'd rather wait for your taxi, in which case, you don't have to wait outside. I need to leave no matter what, so, you can sit in peace. I think Maria left anyways." She had mentioned she was going to leave early, and she normally slunk back into a kitchen once he and Liliana were done fighting, so seeing that she hadn't slunk back, he assumed she'd left.
 
LUCY NIELSEN
"You don't listen, do you? It's like we talk in circles, around what the other person is actually trying to say, and we keep getting no where. I don't know how much clearer I can be. Yes, Killian. I said that. I said it because I was hurt, because no matter what I do, it seems like you keep bringing up everything I've done that's wrong. You never see anything good in me, yet you tell me you don't hate me? How does that work? How can anyone see anything more in that than what's apparent?

You think I'd really want that? To run into Rob again? You think the idea doesn't terrify me? I couldn't even get out of the car today, Killian... If you hadn't been there, I wouldn't have. It's not just what he did, it's... it's everything about it. The way he looked at me? No one has ever looked at me that way before. But being here? Feeling like a thorn in your side you're all too eager to get rid of? It's exhausting... and I reacted. I don't know how not to with you. You frustrate the hell out of me, and I just... I want to hurt you, the way you hurt me. But the thing that's so damn ironic is I hate myself for it, because I never... I never wanted someone to have the power over me that you do. Least of all someone I'm offensive to."

Frowning, rising from her seat, she shook her head, "I don't need you to drive me. You shouldn't be driving anywhere in the condition you're in. I meant what I said earlier... You don't look well, Killian. It's worse than it was this afternoon, when you woke up. And whether you believe me or not, though it's my guess you don't, I do care about you. I can wait for a cab, but you should, too. Will you please at least listen to that?"
 
Killian Hopper
Killian was good at hurting; he always had been. He was smart enough that he could pick out the little things, remember the small parts of a conversation, and turn them around back on the other. It was easy with Lucy when she said so much in the heat of the moment, and he had his choice of phrases to bring up and use against her. Hurting her was easier than facing what she had to say about him. He swiped his hand along the back of his neck, scratching the feverish sweat that collected at his hairline, dampening his hair against his body like a second skin.

He wanted to admit that he didn't think badly of her, that he only brought up things she did wrong because she was doing her damnest to hurt him, too, and it was easy to punch back a little harder when someone was else was punching, too. They were back to going around in their circles, seeing who could hurt who worst. "If you're afraid of going back and don't want to, then don't. Stay here," he said.

"I have a friend's hotel I can stay in on the strip for a while, so you won't have to feel like a thorn to anyone, if you don't want. Putting yourself in danger because you think you're a burden is just stupid choice that I think you're making because you're emotional. You can stay here with King and Maria."

He huffed a bit at her assessment of his physical health. "I told Maria I'd go to the doctor's," he said. "You should grab your stuff and bring it back to your room." Pushing his weight off the counter, he began to make his way slowly towards his bedroom. Whether or not she decided to stay, he figured it'd be a good idea for him to go to the hotel room. He needed to get in touch with Liliana because, despite any argument Lucy made, that decision had nothing to do with her, aside from the fact that she reminded him that everyone left.

This time, it was his turn to leave.

He threw a few things together in a duffel bag, taking his time because his body was hardly refusing to acknowledge the demands he was putting on it. By the time he was finished, he was exhausted, sighing and taking a seat on the edge of his bed to rest.
 
LUCY NIELSEN
Maybe it wasn't the biggest revelation... Maybe in the grand scheme of things, it had very little importance, but somehow, his insistence that she stay mattered more to Lucy in that moment than anything Killian Hopper could have said. Not just because it had been him who said it, but because it was the first time in her life, Lucy felt like someone genuinely cared...

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she grit her jaw, nodding slightly, "I'll stay." Because despite what she said about how she felt, she was afraid and didn't want to go home... But more than that, she didn't want to leave.

After Killian left, she grabbed her bag from the porch and made her way back upstairs to the guest room, but as she started back for the stairs, she paused and turning, made her way down the hall to where he had disappeared. Knocking on the doorframe, she paused, looking at him with concern laced across her features.

"Take the cab, Killian. Please. And then come back. I... I know Maria's here, and King. But... But just come back, okay?"
 
Killian Hopper
He already knew what the doctor was likely going to say: illness brought on by chronic stress. He'd heard it before, and he'd felt the symptoms before. This was no different. Between the murders, the casinos, Lucy, Liliana… it'd all become a lot to process, but he promised Maria. Rather, she told him, and he merely agreed. The knock to his door roused him from those thoughts and he glanced over to Lucy, his eyebrows rising up his forehead and forming a crinkle through the center.

She pleaded with him to take the cab, and come back when he was done. He gave a single nod. "Sure, alright." The idea of taking a cab all the way there, and all the way back was nauseating. He hated cabs. The driver either kept them too hot or too cold, or blasted terrible music. The thought alone caused his nose to subconsciously crinkle a little bit as he stood up, with a huff from the effort, leaving his duffel bag behind on the bed. The horn blew outside the house. A peak through the window, pushing back the silk curtains, confirmed the taxi had arrived and was sitting idle out front.

"I'll be back in a bit," Killian told her, stepping out the front door and swinging it shut behind him. The lock clicked into place, and the house fell starkly silent.

Giving the cabbie an address, and briefly explaining why the address changed from what was called in, Killian sat back. He closed his eyes, fighting the nausea when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He ignored it the first time, but when it went quiet only to vibrate again a few moments later, he pulled it free and answered. The voice on the other end of the line was hurried and breathless: "There's been another murder, sir. At the Cabriolet."

Killian cursed, hanging up the phone and forgetting all about his illness. He leaned forward, his hands curling over the center console and he gave another change of address. This time, to the Cabriolet, and to make it as snappy as possible.

When he arrived, throwing money at the driver unapologetically, a swarm of officers were already on the premise. He ducked below the yellow tape and briskly walked into his casino, which had been cleared out.

"I thought the hotel was shut down," Killian hissed, stepping up next to one of the Cabriolet's desk girls. She only shook her head.

"The victim was dragged in," she whispered. "The girl was found by a security patrol. The hotel is completely vacant now, and the identity they found on the woman isn't showing up as ever having checked into any of our hotels, or having her card run in our casinos."

 
LUCY NIELSEN
He left, and the house fell quiet, as Lucy returned to the guest room, opting to change into a pair of leggings and a comfortable pullover. It had been a long day, and sleep was enticing, but she knew she'd regret it if she went to be without eating.

Making her way downstairs, she found leftovers in the fridge, and popping the container in the microwave, she flicked on the television hanging across from the island. It was background noise, to keep her awake while she ate and nothing more...

Until she heard the news anchor chiming about the Cabriolet. Spinning on the stool, she flicked up the volume, and before she could process what she was hearing, she pulled out her phone, dialing the cab company again. There was a brief confusion when she offered the address, but she explained briefly that it wasn't a mistake and hanging up, she rose.

Killian could handle himself... She knew it. But he was also ill, and after the way they had left things, she was fairly certain the stress might drive him over the edge. If Rob was there and saw it, he would undoubtedly take advantage of it and that wasn't something Killian deserved to be left alone with...

Turning to the TV again, she felt her heart sink deeper as the anchor went on, her pulse pounding suddenly quicker in throat...

Dialing Killian's number, she waited until the voicemail picked up, "Killian... I just saw on the news. Call me when you get this. It was my room. Where they found her. The room I stayed in..."
 
Even when his mobile rang, he didn't answer it. Instead, he stepped off to the side and let the officers work, scanning the faces of each and every one, expecting to see Rob, but never seeing him in the sea of moving bodies. "Where was it?" He asked, looking back to his employee who stepped closer to him, looking to him with a frightened and alarmed glance. Sweat slickened her forehead, matching his, those here were raw nerves.

"Hum," she mumbled. "Just outside that room that's booked out for maintenance. I don't know... I wasn't there. The security guy just rang into the front desk and told me to call the police. I-I didn't see anything."

Killian felt his gut churn, his lip recoiling back against his teeth. He sucked in deep, cussing internally to himself, glad then more than ever that Lucy had agreed to stay at his house. It was either damn coincidence, but he doubted it. Of all the halls in all the hotels, why that room? Why that murder? "It's aright, Kelly. You're fine. You helped the police when they arrived?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. We'll do everything we can to assist them in their investigation, alright? Give them anything and everything they ask. Books, records, security access... everything."

Kelly nodded her understanding, though didn't shake that nervous gleam in her eye. How old was she, he thought. Nineteen? Maybe? She must have been terrified, then again, so was he, made all the more horrible by his voice being called out by a familiar voice.

"Lil?" He pivoted on a heel in time to watch the woman slinking through the crowd towards him. "What are you doing here?"

She was panting. Her hand threw back a lock of her glossy black hair, in loose curls. "I heard, and I knew I needed to see you. See how you're doing..." Her hand came to rest on his shoulder, but he shook his head and stepped back.

"No, not right now. I can't do this with you here right now." The conversation between them turned heated. Liliana demanding he explain himself and Killian doing what he could to dodge every and all questions she asked. Finally, it all came to a head when Liliana stomped her foot.

"What do you mean by that, Killian?"

"I can't.. I can't date you anymore. I don't want to be with you."​
 
LUCY NIELSEN
The cab company took too damn long. Decidedly, Lucy was determined to convince Killian he needed to build one closer to his home, or perhaps a runway, for a private jet... something quicker, something more efficient. When it finally arrived, she had nearly paced a hole in the foyer floor, and flying to the door at the honk, she dashed outside and into the car, giving speedy instructions to the Cabriolet.

The drive, blessedly, was quicker than waiting for the service, and within twenty minutes, they had arrived. She paid the man, then slipped out and dashing inside, she looked around the foyer, frowning. There was just too much coincidence... too much to ignore. Killian had changed her name from he room log, but he had also suggested the room be marked for maintenance. To a desperate officer, hoping to pin things on him, it looked shady, and if she needed to be his alibi again, there would be no hesitation on her part to provide it.

She caught sight of him short distance away, and a brow lifted as, upon approach, she noticed he was not alone. Liliana had come... and Lucy wasn't entirely sure it was a good thing or not... but the look on their faces didn't ring of a happy reunion, and pausing, Lucy stopped in her tracks. He'd said he was ready to end it with her... But would he do it there? With everything that was going on? Would he have the strength to?
 
Killian Hopper
"I'll come home," she argued, "you can't live without me, Kilian."

The tensions between them were bubbling over for a second time and their interaction was drawing some peculiar sideways glances from bystanders, but Killian didn't notice. All he could see was the face of the woman standing right before him. His heart hammered in his chest and it took everything in him not to reach out and wrap her up in an embrace, admitting she was right, that he couldn't. Maybe a few weeks ago, he would have agreed, but Liliana left, and with that he had proven he could live without her. He shook his head, sliding his hands along the hems of his jeans, wicking away sweat.

"No," he replied, though he knew his voice waivered. "No, you won't come home. I'll pack up your things and you can pick them up, or I'll drop them off at your condo."

Liliana hissed, recoiling with her body but reaching out to grip Killian's arm, holding it tight until her nails dug in against the fabric of his shirt. "It's Lucy, isn't it? Are you sleeping with her? What? She get you all worked up because she's young and baby faced?"

"What? No, I'm not sleeping with…" Killian shook her hand off, turning away so his shoulder was to her because he couldn't look at her. She'd win if he did. "We can't go five minutes without wanting to kill each other. This has nothing to do with Lucy and everything to do with the fact that you walked out when I needed you more than ever."

"Well, I'm sorry, Killian, but reality check, my mom needed me and it was stressful for me, too!"

Killian's lips twitched and he whirled back to her. "I know you weren't at your mom's!" His voice was louder than he expected it to be, bringing a silence around him and a few uncomfortable glances. Embarrassed, he cleared his throat and lowered his eyes. "I know you weren't at your mom's. She texted me the other day, asking how you were doing and wondering what I was getting you for your birthday."

Liliana's cheeks heated, but she fell quiet, the gears behind her eyes turning as she groped for an explanation. She glanced away from him for just a moment, in time to see Lucy. "Your bitch has arrived."
 
LUCY NIELSEN
She hadn't wanted to hear. Not really. For the second time her life since meeting Killian, Lucy was privy to another conversation she'd rather not have been, and the color that rose to her cheeks nearly matched that of her patented lipstick. In a way, she was proud of Killian - proud that he'd stood up to Liliana, proud that he didn't back down... but it was still sad, seeing the woman's desperation. Desperation that Lucy knew came from not a place of love and affection for the man, but of wanting to win... wanting to control him.

She would never have left if she genuinely care about Killian, but losing him - especially when it was his choice, not hers, it was like watching a marionette cut their own strings and walk away. He had severed his leash, and Lil was looking for a way to grab for the tiny strands that remain, to yank him back to her. But she was going about it the wrong way. If being with Killian these past few days had shown her anything it was that pushing him where he didn't want to go was the absolute wrong way to motivate the man.

And blaming Lucy? That was the other mistake. Liliana had all but pushed them together... so to pretend now like Killian was somehow at fault was not only ridiculous, but stupid. That, coupled with the fact that they had literally only just come to any sort of understanding about each other, and Lucy could just imagine what was going through Killian's mind. First Rob and not Lil... Apparently it was just the thing to do, to assume she and Killian were shacking up.

She had paused where she was when she first saw the pair, and as the argument went on, several times she tried to will herself away, but unable to move, trapped by her own embarrassment, by second hand embarrassment for the desperate woman. It was only when she heard Liliana's biting comments towards Lucy that she seemed to snap out of her trance, a brow raised as she took a small step forward, "Excuse me?...His what?"
 
Killian Hopper
It was heavy. Not just Liliana, but everything that was unfolding: the murders, the hotels, the casinos, Lucy, Rob… it was heavy, and the enormity of the weight was crushing him. Stick after stick was being placed on the camel's back and as he turned his shoulder back to Liliana, swiping a hand down his face, he wondered if it was all beginning to crack and crumble down. He could feel it all break. Like a crystal vase falling on to a marble floor, the last shred of his normalcy shattered into a million pieces. He knew Liliana hadn't been at her mothers for a few days, though that begged the question of where she had been. It was a question he ignored.

The shards of the metaphorical vase would be impossible to put together right again, so he didn't even try. He just stood there, staring at the cream wall on the opposite side of the room for a long while. If he heard Liliana and Lucy's interactions, it didn't register on his face.

Liliana looked to Lucy, raising her slender brows up and flicking the corner of her red lip. "You heard exactly what I said," she replied, going to straighten the bottom of her button up, black blazer. "You can play cute dumb with others, but not with me." She lingered a moment, and was on the verge of turning to depart when Killian sighed and caught her attention.

"I'm done," he whispered. His shaky fingers finally come to a stop after running restlessly through his messed up hair. He bit down on his lip to control some emotion, knowing it wasn't going to help or change anything, but without glancing back, he set off. There was nothing he could do at the hotel. The police were busy securing the scene and they'd come find him when they wanted a statement, of that he was sure. In the meantime, standing around wouldn't do him, or anyone else, any good. He'd only wished he'd brought his own car, and not a cab, downtown. He didn't want to call a taxi and wait for them to arrive, and instead called on his personal town car.

The emotions of the situation was like concrete in his veins, making his movements sluggish and tired. The headache swelled behind his eyes, turning the whites bloodshot. He wandered his way outside and leaned against the front of the casino as he waited, blind to the people who wandered in front of the casino, slowing down to peer in on whatever was happening.
 
LUCY NIELSEN
Shaking her head, Lucy watched the woman and every ounce of desire to argue... to fight fled at the sight. It was pitiful, really, and while the old Lucy might have taken full advantage of that, the Lucy who was trying to change, trying desperately to change felt nothing but sorry for her. She had ruined what might have been a decent relationship out of selfishness and fear, and now she was turning it on Lucy, as if she were to blame, because what other choice did she had... Admitting she was wrong? Admitting she had failed. Psychiatrists were, if nothing else, beautiful capable of pretending they had their own acts together, but the truth was, they were just as messed up.

"I'm sorry you feel that way..." She finally said, and as Killian turned away, she glanced back at him with a frown, "But right now, this isn't about either one of us." With a sigh, she twisted after him, and catching up. She'd come to discuss what had happened, to ask him if he knew about what room the woman's body had been discovered in front of, but seeing him, seeing the weariness... she couldn't bring herself to broach the subject. Putting a hand on his arm, she moved in front of him for a moment, looking up with a glimmer of concern.

"The doctor, Killian." Because she was all too aware there was no way he had gone after hearing the news about the third murder, "Is someone handling things, here? I can stay... tell the police you were with me, again." No one had questioned him yet, but she knew it was coming... it always came, and there was dread in the pit of her stomach at the idea of seeing Rob again, but she could handle it if she had to, if it meant shouldering some of the burden. He'd done enough for her, after all.
 
Killian Hopper
Killian sat outside in the hot, desert night against his own building, with his arms crossed. No one paid him any mind. The people, hundreds of them, streaming past were too busy on their phones, or talking with their friends and significant others. Those that weren't were stumbling, too drunk to notice anything but their own swirling vision. The hot air burned in his lungs and he huffed with each breath, not because he was winded, but because the deeper sighs felt good. He wasn't alone long and he didn't expect to be. Lucy rushed up to his side and he tilted his head to the side to look her direction.

"I'm not going to go to the doctor's," he admitted, "I know what he's going to say. It's all the stress and that I need to find a way to be less stressed. In all of this, I only know one way to do that." The police would come eventually, but probably not for another day. "I'm going to go home, and I'm going to change. Then, I'm going to go out to the Strip, get wasted, race sports cars, and meet loose women. I'm stressed in sin city, America. I don't know how that's possible." A break-up and a few murders was enough to do the trick, and he knew there was going to be more heat coming. They didn't have enough on him to arrest him for the murders, he was sure of that, but he knew they'd want to take him in for questioning.

There was nothing he could do about that. He couldn't stop it, or prevent it, but he could get drunk enough to not worry about it for a while. "You don't need to stay here, either," he remarked. "The staff will handle the investigation of everything for now. In fact, you should probably just distance yourself as much as possible. I know they'll question you too, since we were together, but…" Killian ended up shrugging, tapering off his comments as the town car pulled around the block and came to a rolling stop in front of the Cabriolet.

"You wanna go back to the house with me?" he asked, pushing off the wall of the casino to approach the car, pulling open the back door and stepping side to glance back at Lucy with raised eyebrows. "No point in waiting around for Rob to get here, I don't think."

 
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