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Liam North
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THERE WAS A KIND OF wall up between Liam and Felicity after the lunch with his family. It was his fault, and he knew it. He should never have brought her to that place, never inflicted his father on her, for starters. And then there was Rebecca, God love her. It was after her walk with Rebecca that Felicity had really seemed off, and although he'd made a couple of attempts to get her to talk about what was going on with her, she'd stayed silent. It was driving him crazy. It was driving him so crazy that he was glad when Matt called him for an unexpected meeting. After the tensions brought on by Felicity's strange silence, the loud security rooms were a welcome distraction.
“Hey, boss, sorry for the short notice,” Matt apologized, shaking Liam’s hand heartily. Liam looked at him closely and saw that the man was full of nervous energy.
“No apologies needed, brother. Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?”
“Sure, definitely. We’ve got hold of some intel on our thieves,” Matt said eagerly while he rifled through a folder of papers.
“That’s excellent news. What does that mean?”
“There’s a gallery opening tonight for some hot-shot photographer,” Matt started, his eyebrows knitting together in concentration, “don’t ask me who. I don’t know shit about that kind of thing.”
“I don’t expect you to,” Liam laughed. “I don’t know shit about that kind of thing, either.”
"Doesn't matter. That part isn't important. What is important is that the assholes you've been trying to nail are supposed to be there. If you want to draw them out, I don't think there's going to be a better time."
“Good. Done. You don’t have to tell me twice. Just tell me what I need to do and it’s done.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
"THIS IS BEAUTIFUL LIAM, but you didn't have to bring me here. And the dress! This is too much, don't you think? You keep spoiling me, and I haven't done anything to deserve it."
“Are you kidding me? I’m the lucky one. You look unbelievable, Felicity. I always forget how beautiful you are when you’re not around. It always surprises me when we’re together again.”
She glanced at him quickly, almost like she was trying to figure out if he was making fun of her or not. She'd been giving him a lot of weird looks like that tonight, and it was leaving him with decidedly jangled nerves. It was like she was grading everything he was saying like she was weighing it to see how much bullshit he was spouting. The most annoying thing about it was that she was right. He had gone back and forth all afternoon about how much, if anything, to tell her about the evening. On the one hand, Felicity knew why she was at his house in the first place. She was being well-compensated with the understanding that she was there to do a job. The job was to grab the attention of some not so nice characters. He had been entirely forthright about that part from the beginning. On the other hand, he thought they could both use a night out on the town to maybe shake off some of the funk they had both been in. She'd been a real trooper going to his father's place for lunch, and he wanted to do something nice for her. He wanted to take her somewhere she hadn't been, to show her something she might not otherwise have seen. He had been thinking a lot about things like that lately, as a matter of fact. Places he wanted to take her. Trips the two of them could go on. The closer they got to the end of their strange arrangement, the more he seemed to think about what might happen after.
Also, and this was the less savory part of things, he needed to make one last attempt at drawing the criminals out of the woodwork. It was the last time he was willing to try it, at least with Felicity. If it hadn’t been for the recognition he knew she sparked with the people he was trying to draw out, he wouldn’t have her make the trip in the damned necklace yet again. After this night, he would leave everything in the hands of the FBI, and gladly. The first thing he would do was give them the damned necklace. At this point, he never wanted to see it again.
“You know you don’t have to do that, don’t you?” she said casually, looking pointedly at the photographs instead of at him.
“I don’t have to do anything, as far as I’m concerned. I’m only telling you the truth. You look amazing. Your body in that dress...” He reached for her, resting his hands on her hips and running them suggestively down to her ass before moving up to the small of her back.
“Liam, come on. This is a fancy art gallery. We need to behave,” she said laughingly.
"Sure, I see what you're saying. Although I have to point out, we've already set a precedent for this kind of thing."
“Liam! Come on!” she squealed, her face turning that pretty shade of pink he had come to like so well. “I told you. We’re not going there again. Stop being such a jokester.”
Felicity turned towards the closest picture as if the case were closed. She probably thought he was joking, but he wasn't. Every time he touched her, he wanted more. It was why he had made a point of staying away lately. Even her scent made it hard for him to concentrate, forget the feel of her supple skin. He'd tried to ignore it, but it wasn't going anywhere. He'd tried to convince himself that his desire for Felicity was just a matter of proximity and that when their weird arrangement was over, things would go back to how they had been before. Now, he couldn't lie to himself anymore. He wanted her more now than ever, and after the show was over, he was going to have to talk to her about it.
“Oh my God! I can’t believe it. It’s you!”
The sound of that voice cut through Liam's thoughts like a knife. He knew that voice. He told himself it wasn't who he thought it was, but even as he turned around, he knew. He grabbed for Felicity's hand but either she didn't catch the gesture, or she didn't want to take him up on it. He shoved his hands into his pockets instead and took a deep breath as he turned around.
"Tori. Jesus, it's been forever. What are you doing here?" he asked, his voice measured. He hadn't seen her in years, and she was more beautiful than ever. Tori had been that girl for him, the one that made him feel short of breath every time he saw her; that was how beautiful she was. Except, that seeing her didn't have the same effect on him now as it had before. He had always secretly wondered what he would feel if he ever saw the only woman ever to break his heart again. Now that it was finally happening, he felt nothing about her. His mind riffled through their past at warp speed, playing the most uncomfortable slideshow in the world. All the things he had made excuses for, he could see them for what they were. He could see her for what she was; a bully, and never the right fit for him, not even from the start. All he wanted was to get away, take Felicity home, and tell her what was going on inside of his head.
“Okay,” Tori gushed, flipping her icy blonde hair over one shoulder and flashing a smile, “I’ll tell you, but you have to promise not to laugh.”
“I’ll do my best,” he smiled indulgently.
"So, I saw your picture on TV and on those, you know, tabloid paper things."
“Sure, okay. I heard something about that.”
"Right, so I saw your picture, and you were with some new girl and do you know what? I started to feel all crazy jealous. Like, I started thinking about all the good times we had, and I didn't like the idea of you being with somebody else."
“Are you serious?” he asked, genuinely dumbfounded by this admission. “Tori, it’s been years since we were together.”
“I know!” she gushed, moving in closer to him, “That’s what makes it so crazy! Who the hell would have thought that I would still feel anything for you after all of this time?”
“Certainly not me.”
"Right, so then I did a little digging. I just think that if there's still something there, maybe we should explore it. We're like, two different people than we were back then, and I really think we might be able to make things work. Something tells me that you've grown up loads."
“Is that so?” Liam responded dryly, “And what brought you to that conclusion?”
“Well, you’re probably going to think I’m awful, but it was partially seeing the woman you were with.”
“Why?” he asked, his jaw clenching involuntarily.
"Because, sugar, if you're with her I know that your priorities have changed. She's super pretty, but she's not exactly your type, right? So, I figured you must be so much deeper now and that'll definitely help our chances. Don't you think?"
For a minute Liam couldn't speak. It wasn't even that he couldn't find the words. It was more than that. It was that he felt physically incapable. Tori was the one he would never quite get over. Even when he realized how much he wanted Felicity, there was a part of him that couldn't let go of Tori. Now, he realized that was bullshit. What he had been holding onto was the idea of her, the idea of the one that got away. Talking to her in person after all these years, he realized something, and it was enough to set him free for maybe the first time in his life.
“What?” Tori gushed, resting her hand on his upper arm. “What’s that smile?”
“Tori? Has anyone ever told you that you are kind of awful?” he asked, his voice as politely conversational as if he was asking for the location of the bar.
“Excuse me?” she asked with surprise, although not enough surprise to move her damn hand.
"Don't worry about it. I'm not sure you can help it. I never realized it before, either, so some of it's on me."
"Is this like, because of the new girl?" Tori spat, her ugly, jealous side coming out now. Felicity was the only reason Tori was here to begin with, and Liam knew it. Tori only wanted what she couldn't have, and that was a game he was done playing.
“It’s a lot of things, actually. But yeah, Felicity is part of it. I love her. I think she loves me, too.”
“Oh yeah? Well, you could have fooled me. If she loves you so much then where the hell did she go? Looks to me like she can’t even stand up to a little bit of friendly competition.”
Liam felt like he’d been slapped across the face. He’d been so wrapped up in his unexpected war of words with Tori that when Felicity had slipped away, he hadn’t gone after her. He had let himself get sucked back into Tori’s poison instead of walking away with a woman who was better for him than Tori ever could have been. And Felicity didn’t know. He hadn’t told her why they were really at the show and so she didn’t know that just by being there, she was in danger.
“Um, hello?” Tori’s whiny voice droned on, one hand on her hip while she stamped on stupidly high stiletto on the floor. “Are you even listening to me?”
“Which way did she go?” he asked urgently, grabbing her upper arms. She shrieked and shook him off, looking around to see how much attention she was getting. That was Tori. Always the actor.
“Ugh! Did I say you could touch me? Why are you being such a prick?”
“Listen, you can call me all the names you want after you tell me which way she went, but this is fucking important. Where did she go?”
He was yelling now, which meant that people really were looking and whispering to each other conspiratorially. If they wanted a show, he was about to give them one. He was about to fully lose his shit when his phone started to ring in his pocket. He fumbled for it and almost dropped it in his desperation to see who it was. He wanted it to be Felicity. She could call him and tell him off, and he'd take his punishment, just so long as he knew she was okay.
"Shit, Matt?" he bellowed into the phone, turning in a wild circle and seeing not even a sign of Felicity. "What is it? I lost her, Matt. Fucking Tori is here, and I lost her."
“I know, boss. I think you better come outside.”
"Christ, is she okay?" he shouted, already pushing his way towards the exit. Now that he was on the move, he could see flashing lights swirling lazily outside. He felt like he was going to be sick, but he kept moving. If she was hurt, he needed to see. Whatever it was, he needed to see it for himself. When Matt caught him at the door, he yelled something incoherent and tried to push past.
“Hey!” Matt hissed, “Cool it, okay? We got them. Do you hear me? We got those bastards. They went for the bait.”
“I don’t give a shit about that! Is she okay?!”
"She's fine. They clocked her a pretty good one on the head, but she's okay. They took the necklace, though. My guess is that they went for the necklace and she fought back. They clocked her to get what they came for. Good news is, they won’t have any reason to go after her now. Bad news is that I doubt you’re going to see that necklace again."
“Screw the necklace. And if she’s okay then why is there an ambulance here?” Liam cried.
"They're just taking her to the hospital to check her out and make sure everything is okay. She did take a little bit of a fall, and they want to run some tests."
“Tests? What kind of tests?”
“Just to check on the baby. They just want to do their due diligence to make sure the baby is still okay.”
