Disclaimer: Don't own Lucifer.

AN: Lines of dialogue have been lifted from various episodes in the series - plus there's one line of dialogue from Buffy. See if you can spot it. Title inspired by the Ariana Grande song of the same name, which I've been listening to a lot lately.

The last thing Chloe Decker wanted was to walk in on her roommate having sex, but it happened.

She should've seen it coming. The moment Mazikeen "Maze" Smith walked into the dorm room, wearing nothing but tight leather and a sexy smirk, Chloe knew she was gonna be trouble. Her blunt honesty that yes, she was gonna be bringing guys and girls back to their dorm for sex, just reinforced it.

At least she was courteous enough to agree to a time frame. She could have anyone back between ten and twelve while Chloe did some late-night studying in the library, but the guy or girl in question had to be gone before Chloe got back. If Maze wanted to have some "fun" any time afterwards, then she had to go to her partner's place instead of theirs. The agreement was not without complaint, though.

No, Chloe shouldn't have been surprised in the slightest to find Maze still having sex with a partner, on the first night, at 12:05.

What was more, Maze showed absolutely no shame about it. She only grinned at Chloe before "finishing" (Chloe shut her eyes and attempted to cover her ears, because she did not want to listen to that nor witness it), and then just acted casual as if nothing happened. As if Chloe hadn't just walked in on her having sex. "Hey, Decker. Good study?"

Well, two could play at the "act like nothing just happened" game. "Yeah. Great study. Maybe you should consider it?"

Maze rolled her eyes. "It's our first night. Classes haven't even started yet. But you're already studying? I can tell you're gonna be a dead bore."

Years of being friendless in high school flashed before Chloe's eyes. Was that gonna happen again? Did she really study too hard? "I just wanna get ahead of the game."

"Lame." Maze rolled her eyes. "You see what I have to put up with?"

The girl moved over and reached for her shirt, while her bed-mate rose from where he'd been lying beneath her. He was… Well, Chloe couldn't deny it, her bed-mate was stunning. Black hair that had been reduced to curls, chocolate brown eyes, a chest that was lean but well-defined… It was like Maze had cut him out of a magazine and animated him.

Not fair.

The guy looked her over and raised an eyebrow. "I don't know about that, Maze. She has potential." And he had a British accent, as well. He would've been the whole package if he didn't sound so cocky and arrogant. And the way he was looking at her, like she was a three-course meal he was desperate to devour, really didn't do him any favours.

Chloe stood her ground and gave them both an irritated look. "He needs to leave."

"He needs to introduce himself." And then the guy climbed out of the bed and stood before her, completely naked.

Like Maze, he had no shame. They were a match made in…not Heaven, maybe. A match made in Hell fit them better.

With a yelp, Chloe snapped her eyes shut and held her new textbook in front of the guy's private parts. "Oh God! Seriously?!"

"Well, there's no need to bring my dad into this!"

"Put some friggin' clothes on!" Then his words registered, and she blinked before staring at him. She kept her gaze level with his own. "Wait, what? Your dad?"

"Yes, my dad." He grinned, and acted like his grin was supposed to be charming, but really it was over the top and made him look even more insane than he was already acting. "I'm Lucifer. Morningstar."

Having lived in LA for most of her life, Chloe had met some strange people, especially since her mother was an actress. And those strange people had strange names. But Lucifer Morningstar? Naming himself after the Devil? That was pushing it. "What kind of name is that?"

"A symbolic one," said Lucifer. He was still grinning, like he expected her to fall under his spell and swoon. "I changed it. Thought it was nice symbolism after my dad kicked me out of the house."

"Right." She hoped that Maze's implication of many one-night-stands was true, and that the guy in front of her was one of them. That meant she'd never have to see him again. It wasn't soon enough. "Clothes. Now." When he didn't move and instead only widened his grin, Chloe picked up the black jeans that had been discarded from the floor and threw them at him. "Now means now."

Lucifer (she was almost tempted to go and look up his real name, because that couldn't be it) frowned at her with clear confusion. "Darling, are you well? Why do you not want a piece of this?"

He seriously expected her to be attracted to him when she'd walked in on him having sex with her roommate? Well, he was good-looking, but his attitude was completely unattractive.

"She's a lost cause," said Maze, moving past him towards the mini fridge. She opened it, and Chloe's eyes widened at the alcohol that had been piled onto the top shelf. "Trust me, I've already tried."

"Well, I've never been one to turn down a challenge." She really wanted to wipe that grin off his face via punch, but at least he was putting his jeans on. "Tell me, Decker, do you have a first name that comes with that?"

"Chloe." She hoped he didn't recognize it.

"Chloe Decker." He looked thoughtful. "That name sounds familiar." Like a distracted kid, he picked up the calculator she'd left on the set of draws next to the door and began to fiddle with the buttons.

With a roll of her eyes, she walked forwards and snatched it from him. "Stop playing with that."

"But I just love to play in general," he said in what she could only imagine was his flirty tone. "What about you?"

Since he had no intention of grabbing it himself, Chloe picked up his t-shirt and threw it at his chest. "Just get out of here. I need sleep."

"What did I tell you?" said Maze from where she was leaning against her bedside table with a bottle of beer in her hand. "She's a buzzkill."

When Lucifer was pulling on the shirt, Chloe realized with a start that he hadn't put on any underwear before his jeans. And looking around the floor, she couldn't see any sign of them. Dreading the answer, she asked, "Where's your underwear?"

"Oh, I wasn't wearing any."

Yep. That was the answer she was dreading. She closed her eyes, sighed, and repeated to herself that her career was worth it all. "Just go."

But Lucifer was staring at her again. "You know, your name still sounds familiar. Have we had sex?"

He was infuriating. Like, he was taking the meaning of 'infuriating' to whole new levels. "You've got some balls on you."

"Thank you very much, but they're really quite average." He smirked again as he gestured to his crotch.

"OK." Despite her better judgement, she grabbed him by the shirt and dragged him over to the door that was still open. "It's time for you to go." She pushed him out of it.

He turned and leaned towards her. "Come now, Chloe. The night's still young, and like Maze said, classes haven't even started yet. Let loose for once!"

She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. "And do what?"

There was that grin again. "Well, I could come back inside and we could indulge ourselves in a fantastic threesome."

Chloe took great satisfaction in slamming the door in his face – and judging by the yelp she heard on the other side, it had hit him right in the nose. She smiled to herself.

Maze's sudden laughter surprised her. "You may not be so bad after all, Decker."

"And I said to myself, I have to get to LA, you know?"

Chloe nodded along, managing to multi-task in listening to Ella's story and reading over her class notes at the same time. It was nice to have a friend. Great, even. And Ella was not only extremely friendly, but she planned on being a forensic scientist for the LAPD, which would put them on similar career paths.

She was also the polar opposite of Maze, which was a bonus.

The pair were sat outside on one of the campus's many picnic tables, and it was a nice, sunny day. Chloe couldn't think of anything that could ruin it.

Until she heard a familiar obnoxious British accent.

"Well, isn't this a surprise?"

The pen in her hand nearly snapped in two, she squeezed it so hard. "Lucifer."

He stood above them and his gaze was entirely on her – and that annoying, totally unsexy (it was, she insisted) grin was plastered on his face. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend, Chloe? It'll be rather rude of you if you don't."

Before Chloe could say anything in reply, Ella leapt to her feet. "Hi! I'm Ella!" And then she attacked Lucifer in a hug, and fine, it was pretty satisfying to see Lucifer's cocky attitude pulled apart. He had no idea how to react to Ella's friendly hug, and just stood dead still with his arms at awkward angles.

"What's the matter, Lucifer?" Chloe said innocently. "Not used to girls throwing themselves at you?"

In the two weeks since college had started, Lucifer had somehow managed to build a pretty damn big reputation for himself – a reputation in the bedroom. Maze too, for that matter, as her roommate had started making a habit of going elsewhere for sex instead of inviting the night's partner back to their dorm.

It had actually gotten to the point where, apart from Ella, Chloe hadn't met anyone who hadn't slept with either one of them. Some had slept with both of them, including Ella's roommate, Linda.

She'd even met a couple of people who had slept with Lucifer and Maze at the same time.

But two weeks? That had to be some kind of campus record.

When Ella pulled away, Lucifer composed himself and returned the grin to his face. "Oh Chloe. I'm still waiting for the inevitable day that you throw yourself at me."

She glared. Dammit, he could rile her up in a few simple words, and she had no idea how he did it.

Meanwhile Ella was frowning. "Wait, your name is Lucifer?"

"Yes. Lucifer Morningstar." His gaze averted below eye level, and Chloe thought he was staring at the other girl's breasts until he said, "Seeing your choice of bling, I'm thinking my name might be a problem for you."

He was referring to the silver cross that Ella wore around her neck. The other girl had already told Chloe about her family and faith, and had even invited her to attend a service at the campus chapel on Sunday. Chloe had declined on the grounds of not believing. She hadn't, ever since her father, the greatest man she ever knew, was shot dead for no good reason.

Ella shook her head. "Dude, it's fine. I once knew a guy named Adolf. I didn't hold it against him. And I think the Devil gets a bad rep, anyway. I mean, what did he do that was so terrible? Rebel against his Dad? Ask a naked lady if she wanted an apple?"

"Thank you! Finally someone who understands!" Lucifer's grin widened.

Chloe just rolled her eyes. "If you're done saying 'Hi', can you leave? Ella and I are trying to study."

"Actually, I've got class." Ella grabbed her books from the table and began to slip them into her bag.

"Your class is at two." It was half one. She had plenty of time.

"I know, but I wanna get a good seat at the back," Ella explained. "The professor spits a lot when he talks. It's like being at Sea World: the first five rows will get wet. See you later!"

And then she hurried away, leaving Chloe with the most annoying guy she'd ever met in her life. Considering all the jocks she'd had to deal with back in high school, that was saying something.

With that stupidly wide grin still stretching his face, Lucifer took Ella's seat. "Looks like it's just you and me now, Chloe."

"What is your deal?" she couldn't help but ask. What was more, she couldn't understand how pretty much everyone on campus loved him and thought he was awesome, when she only saw him as an annoying asshole.

"No deal, but I do have a plan." His grin widened, if that was possible.

Again, Chloe was afraid to ask, but she had to. "And what plan is that?"

"Well, to have sex with you, of course."

Yep. She should've seen that one coming. Her chuckle was forced and determined to prove a point, though the absurdity of it was a little funny. "The last time I saw you, I slammed a door in your face."

"You were seething with righteous anger. Very arousing. Sexy." He wiggled his eyebrows. "I think we'd make a fantastic couple, you and I. The two of us in bed, bringing down the entire dormitory with our performance."

It took every ounce of her self-control not to punch him in his stupidly smug face. "There is no we. There is no us. There is no you and I."

His head tilted. "You're quite adorable when you're flustered."

She could feel the affect he was starting to have on her, and she pushed it down quickly. "I…" The sudden high pitch in her voice came out of nowhere, and she shook her head to get rid of it. "I'm not flustered. I'm nauseous."

"And now you're blushing. I say I'm making headway!"

"OK." She slammed her textbook shut and turned, pointing her pen in his direction. "Let me make myself perfectly clear: I will never, ever, ever, sleep with you. Never. OK. Got it?"

But, instead of complying, he stole her pen and said, "Playing hard to get? I like it."

She snatched the pen back and packed up her books, shoving them hurriedly into her bag. "When Hell freezes over, Lucifer," she told him as she leapt from her seat.

Only when she was walking away did she realize her poor choice of words, for he called out to her from behind, "I can arrange that, actually!"

"We agreed on planned family time, Dan! I thought you wanted to work things out!"

"I know, but this is important!" her ex protested. "I don't have a choice!"

"Yeah, I've never heard that one before." Chloe was disappointed, but honestly not surprised. Dan was blowing her off once again, and the amount of times he'd done that to her could rival Lucifer's bed-mate count.

Speak of the Devil…

"Chloe!"

She shut her eyes as the one person who could make the situation worse strode over to her. "Lucifer, this is not a good time…"

"Oh, so this is the famous Lucifer." Dan sized the taller guy up, and while it was surprising that one other person wasn't immediately taken by his charms, Lucifer meeting her ex-boyfriend was the last thing Chloe needed.

It was bad enough that Lucifer was following her around campus; showing up wherever she was, waiting for her outside of her classes, sleeping with Maze for the sole purpose of seeing her afterwards… Honestly, she was on the verge of filing a restraining order against him.

"Yes, that's me." Lucifer sized up Dan in turn, and for once didn't turn on the charm. He actually looked like he was on the defensive. "And who might you be?"

"He's a jerk who was just leaving." Chloe looked pointedly at Dan. After blowing her off, there was nothing left to say to each other.

Dan rolled his eyes, but he did as asked and left. Lucifer watched him go with a raised eyebrow before turning to Chloe and saying, "Judging by the tension between you two, I'd say he's your ex. Honestly, I'm rather disappointed in you, Chloe. You can do much better than that douche."

"Now is really not a good time, Lucifer. Dan's just blown me off."

"Ooh. Juicy. Do tell."

The urge to tell him to piss off was strong, but then a thought occurred to her: if she told him everything, he'd leave her alone. Her life was a mess, a mess that no one wanted to deal with, not even her ex. She doubted that Lucifer was the kind of guy to like a girl with baggage, so after finding out everything, he'd leave her alone. It was perfect.

So, with a sigh, she began with, "Dan's the father of my child."

Lucifer's smirk dropped in an instant, which he replaced with a frown of both surprise and confusion. "Oh."

"Yeah, not fun. He was supposed to come and spend time with us this weekend, but he blew us off for something he claims is "important". Trixie isn't even a year old yet, so she wouldn't understand, but…" Another sigh. "OK, you wanted to know everything about me, so here it is: I had a pretty difficult childhood on account of my mother being Penelope Decker."

"Wait, your mother's Penelope Decker?" The smile returned to his face. "The Queen of eighties cheese-ball sci-fi? Oh, I knew I recognized your name from somewhere! You'll have to introduce me!"

"I don't, and I won't. And seriously, having her for a mom was a nightmare. She was always dressing me up and dragging me to auditions, and I had to be the adult half the time. I couldn't even make friends because everyone just wanted to use me to get to her fame. No one wanted to get to know the real me – which, if Maze is right, was because I was a buzzkill."

"You just need to loosen up a tad, is all."

She rolled her eyes – even though she thought that maybe he was right. "I had acquaintances, but not many. I can count them all on one hand, and Dan was at the top of that list. He was…nice, and he didn't care about who my mom was, which was a nice change. Things were OK between us. Until senior year, when my father died."

"Your father…" He frowned again. "Your father died and you were…upset about that?"

Chloe gaped at him. "Of course I was upset! He was my father, and he was shot by a corrupt prison guard just for doing his job!" He just silently stared at her, unable to say anything for once, so she shook her head and continued. "I tried to stay strong through it all – the funeral, the court case – but one night I just broke down crying. Dan comforted me and took me out for drinks, thinking it'll make me feel better. We both got drunk, one thing led to another, and two months later I found out I was pregnant."

"And let me guess: Dan the Douche didn't want to take the responsibility."

"Sort of," she said with a nod. "Dan's parents are really old-fashioned, and the thought of us even conceiving a baby out of wedlock was like a crime to them. And thanks to a little something called sexism, they entirely blamed me for it and pasted Dan as the victim. I…I thought Dan would stand up to them for me, but he cares more about what they think of him instead of me and Trixie. I mean, he stops by to see her once in a while, but it's not nearly enough. I'm just glad that my mom is letting Trixie stay at her house while I attended college."

She took in a deep breath, trying not to cry. It was hard, being away from Trixie, but her mother's house was too far away from the campus in order to commute every day. And while she always went home on weekends and stopped by on days she only had one class, it wasn't nearly enough. The only way she managed to get through the day was telling herself that she was doing it for Trixie; doing it so she could have a career and a good income to support her daughter.

Lucifer was staring at her with an odd expression on his face. If she didn't know any better, she would say it was sympathy. "So, if I'm hearing this right: Your ex-maggot is a deadbeat dad who doesn't make any time for his offspring because he cares more about what other people think of him?"

I nod. "Pretty much."

"Well then. Something has to be done." He turned, and Chloe noticed that he started walking in the direction of Dan, who had stopped to talk to a few of his friends.

Fearing what he could do, she grabbed his arm. "What are you doing?"

"What's it look like I'm doing? I'm going over there to teach that wanker a lesson. There's no excuse for his behaviour."

She was struck with surprise by his words. No one had ever stood up for her before. Even so, she said, "I can handle Dan. I don't need you to stand up for me." Because she was her own woman, who fought her own battles, even if it was strangely sweet of Lucifer to be angry on her behalf.

And that was strange. Because Lucifer was just the asshole who kept following her around and only wanted to have sex with her.

"Understood," he told her, but then he pulled his arm from her grip and kept walking over to Dan. Chloe stared after him for a few seconds before hurrying to catch up.

"Lucifer, wait!"

But he had already tapped Dan on the shoulder and was paying her no mind. "Excuse me, Dan the Douche?" Dan turned to face him. "Hello."

Dan glared at him. "What do you want?"

"Well, firstly, let me state that I am in no way standing up for your ex, Chloe Decker." He nodded at her as she came up to stand by him. "But on behalf of myself and only myself: I think you're a complete sack of arse."

And then he punched Dan in the face.

Dan fell backwards and was steadied by his friends. Before things could get out of hand, Chloe put herself between them. "Lucifer!"

"What?" He just looked so sinfully innocent. "Don't tell me seeing that wasn't satisfying for you to witness."

OK, it was, but she wasn't about to admit that to him. "That's so not the point." She dragged him away before Dan could retaliate.

Chloe knew she'd been too nice to Lucifer in getting him off the hook with the whole "punching Dan in the face" incident. She knew it when she opened the door of her mother's house and found him waiting on the doorstep, grinning like he always seemed to do around her.

"Do you really live here? I thought I must've gotten the wrong address!" He walked right past her without even waiting to be invited inside.

Chloe slammed the door shut, turned to him and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Before he could answer, small thuds could be heard coming from the living room. Trixie was crawling along the floor making her usual baby noises, and when she caught sight of Lucifer, she grinned and crawled faster. Lucifer watched with growing horror as Trixie reached him and attempted to climb up his leg, giggling.

The look on his face was priceless. He flinched, tensing up as if Trixie were something unpleasant instead of an adorable baby. It was actually pretty funny, and Chloe couldn't help but grin at the sight of her daughter taking revenge on the constant thorn in her side.

"Hello there, small human," Lucifer greeted the child with uncertainty. His eyes darted around the room before he found a soft rattle on the table. He snatched it up and showed it to Chloe. "This is hers, yes?"

Chloe frowned. "Yeah?"

"Well," He looked back down at Trixie and rattled it in front of her face, "on you go, then. Go on, fetch away!" With that, he threw the rattle across the room, and Chloe suddenly realized that he was treating her daughter like a dog. And not as some kind of joke; he was acting completely serious. When Trixie just sat down and stared at the toy that had landed across the room, Lucifer gestured to it. "Well, go on, then!" She still didn't move, and he looked back at Chloe. "Is this too advanced for her?"

She gave him her best 'really?' look. "You didn't answer my question."

"Oh, well, since your douche of an ex wouldn't be making an appearance, I thought I'd show up, instead," Lucifer explained. "I know what it's like, having a piss-poor dad. Poor child." He glanced down at Trixie with a sympathetic gaze – until she hugged his leg, and he tensed again. "What's the little spawn's name again?"

"Trixie."

He rolled his eyes. "That's a hooker's name."

Chloe glared in return. "It's short for Beatrice."

"Then that's what I'll call her." He glanced down at her again, and looked like he was on the verge of shaking her off his leg. "So, what is it I have to do with her? Does she have her own cage?"

"Why do I get the feeling you have some kind of agenda here?" Chloe asked. Because as strangely sweet as his actions were before – getting angry on her behalf and standing up for her, even though she asked him not to – she had the feeling that he was only doing it out of some personal gain. He clearly didn't like children, for starters. She didn't buy that he was doing it out of "the goodness of his heart".

"Well… Alright, you caught me." He grinned. "I was hoping to meet your mother."

"She's not home," Chloe explained. "She's not even the one who looks after Trixie during the week. She hired a nanny." Which was honestly for the best, in Chloe's opinion. She didn't want her mother dressing Trixie up like a doll and taking her to audition to use like a prop. "But I don't think that's the only reason."

He shrugged casually. "Well, I may have been hoping that when your offspring is asleep, we can indulge ourselves in some casual sex-"

"Right." She wasn't surprised. Not even in the slightest. After picking up Trixie and moving her back into the living room, Chloe returned to Lucifer and gestured to the door. "You need to leave, now."

"Not quite yet, darling. How did you rebel?"

There he went again, acting weird and saying random things without pattern. Chloe was surprised that she could even keep up half the time. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you mentioned that your mother was constantly "dragging" you to auditions, so she clearly meant for you to follow in her footsteps and become an actress," he explained. "Deciding to become a police officer instead is one way of rebelling, I suppose, but you must have done something else."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "My dad was a police officer, and when he was shot I decided that I wanted to be just like him. It had nothing to do with rebelling against my mother."

"So, you rebelled some other way? Oh, please, do tell?" He grinned, and when she didn't reply (choosing instead to narrow her eyes at him) he leaned in closer. "Come on, you're not the goody two-shoes everyone thinks you are, are you? You must have done something salacious in your youth. What was it? Did you kiss a girl and like it? Two girls? An Eiffel Tower?"

Yet again she was in the position of curiosity about what he was saying, but suspecting that she really didn't want to know the answer. In the end, despite her better judgement, she asked, "What's an Eiffel Tower?"

"Oh, it's marvellous. It's when two chaps high-five at the top, then the young lady-"

Yep, she hadn't wanted to know that. She hadn't wanted to know that at all. "OK!" She grabbed his sleeve and began to drag him to the door. "There is a baby in the room who doesn't need to know about an "Eiffel Tower"."

She reached for the door and opened it – and found Dan on the other side, fist raised ready to knock.

Damn.

Her ex looked between the two of them before narrowing a glare at Lucifer and asking, "What in God's name are you doing here?"

"Nothing in his name. Here on my own, actually," Lucifer replied, returning Dan's glare.

Chloe resisted the urge to roll her eyes (again) at their silent pissing contest. "Lucifer was just leaving."

Dan turned his glare to her. "Are you sleeping with this idiot?"

"She hasn't had the pleasure unfortunately, no," Lucifer replied for her. Well, at least he was honest, if not anything else.

Chloe waited until Dan squeezed past them into the house before she shoved Lucifer out the door. "Go."

Lucifer sent her an irritated look. "Fine, fine, fine!" He turned and walked down the front path. "Of course this is what I get as thanks for helping her out…"

After shutting the door behind her departing pain-in-the-ass, Chloe turned to address Dan. "What are you doing here? I thought you had something important to do."

He shrugged. "Turns out, it wasn't as important as seeing my daughter."

"Uh huh." She was pleased that he'd changed his mind, she really was. She wanted him to be more involved in Trixie's life. But she couldn't help feeling suspicious. "What changed your mind?"

"My roommate, actually. He said some things that got me thinking." At that moment, Trixie chose to crawl out from the living room again, cooing. Dan smiled before crossing the room to her. "Hey there, munchkin."

While she wondered what Dan's roommate could've said to him to get him to change his mind, she noticed that Trixie didn't seem nearly as excited to see Dan, her own father, compared to when she'd seen Lucifer.

She wrote it off as Lucifer being new, and nothing more.

The dorm showers weren't as scary as people had made them out to be. The only trouble Chloe had wasn't with the showers themselves, but the fact that she had to tell Maze to wear a towel or robe when walking down the hall to them. Because walking down the hall naked? Not acceptable.

Walking back down the hall with wet hair and wearing nothing but a towel, Chloe paused when she heard a noise coming from her room. Maze was in class, so unless she came back to get something…

Armed with nothing but her wash bag, Chloe took a risk. She burst into the room – and found Lucifer standing in the middle of it.

"Lucifer!" In her shock she dropped her towel, and there she was, standing naked in front of the guy who wanted nothing more than to sleep with her.

He grinned and didn't hide the gaze that swept over her body. "Well. Good morning, Chloe."

She hurriedly picked the towel up and wrapped it around herself, seething with rage. First, he followed her around, then he showed up at her house, and now he was breaking into her dorm room? "What the Hell are you doing here?! You broke into my dorm room?!" she said through clenched teeth as she slammed the door shut behind her.

"Yes," he said, and Chloe was once again startled by his blunt honesty. "I hope you don't mind, but I brought you a little breakkie." He held up take-out bags from the campus coffee shop, and they smelled an awful lot like omelettes. "You were taking forever in the shower." His grin widened. "What do you do in there?"

Chloe could do nothing but stare at him. "You are unbelievable!"

"Oh, thank you!" he said. "But it's you who should take the compliment." His gaze swept over her body once more, and he did nothing to hide the arousal in his eyes. "Ding dong."

Clenching her fists and promising herself that she was absolutely going to file for a restraining order, she said, "Lucifer, get out of my dorm room. Now."

He frowned and held up the take-out bags once more. "We haven't eaten yet."

"Out." She hoped he left her take-out bag behind, because she was hungry, and a small part of her appreciated that he'd thought of her and gotten her food. But she couldn't tell him that, because breaking into her room was unacceptable behaviour, and she really needed to stop this now before things went too far. "And you're gonna stay out, and stay away from me, OK?" She turned to put her washbag back in the draw, turning her back to him. "No more following me around and trying to sleep with me! I am not interested, and you…" She turned back to him, "…are naked."

There he was, stood there in all his…nakedness, yet again. How he'd gotten his clothes off so fast, she didn't know, and she really didn't want to know. With a gasp, she turned her back on him again, because seeing him naked was embarrassing, not to mention he was hot and she didn't want him to see her blushing…

"Turnabout's fair play, I think," he told her. "Tit for tat, that sort of thing."

She decided not to mention that she'd seen him naked before, so they weren't exactly even (with her seeing him naked twice and him seeing her only once). She reckoned mentioning that would only encourage him. "This is beyond inappropriate." And perhaps borderline sexual harassment, but again, she didn't voice this thought.

Somehow, she could hear his grin. "And brave, wouldn't you say? It's called taking a risk."

Keeping her back turned to him, Chloe reached for her spare towel and tossed it behind her in his general direction. "Just put some friggin' clothes on!" There was a pause, and then she heard the towel being unfolded. Hopefully he was wrapping it around him.

"Alright. But, seriously darling, are you well?" That was the second time Lucifer had asked her that question. It occurred to her that she was probably the first girl to ever turn him down when it came to sex – and in his book, that meant there was something wrong with her. "The berries are ripe and ready to be harvested! I mean, look at me!"

Deducing that he was most likely decent, Chloe turned back around to face him, but hesitantly so. The towel was wrapped around his waist, and Lucifer's arms were open wide as he presented himself to her, turning in a circle. Chloe rolled her eyes at his self-absorbed behaviour…

…but those same eyes widened when she saw two massive, vertical scars on his back.

"What…"

"Now, you can't argue with that, can you?" Lucifer hadn't noticed her change in demeanour, and was instead grinning at her as if he expected her to leap into his arms and have sex with him.

It was none of her business. But she couldn't help it and asked, "What happened to your back?" Because the scars looked painful, and she hated the thought of anyone in pain, even Lucifer. They were horrific, and she couldn't imagine the amount of pain he must have been in from whatever was done to him.

The grin left his face, and for the first time he looked…well, actually afraid. "It was…well…it was…" He couldn't answer her.

Chloe found herself moving forwards. "Seriously…what…?" When she was before him he didn't stop her from touching his arm. She attempted to turn him around in order to get a better look, not even considering what kind of trauma could be related to them. In her defence, she was just trying to get a better look and understand what could have caused such horrific scars…

Moments before she touched them, Lucifer spun around in a flash and took hold of her wrist in a tight grip. His entire body was shaking, and there was something in his eyes that actually made her want to cry. "Don't…please."

He really was afraid, and looked like he was on the verge of a major freak-out. Something had happened to him, something in his childhood most likely. Whatever it was, it was something he clearly didn't want to talk about. Chloe could see the walls coming up around him as he protected himself from the outside world, and so she decided not to push. She nodded, and removing her hand from his grip, she told him, "OK."

The fear in his eyes slowly turned into confusion as he beheld her, almost as if he didn't understand her attempt at sympathy, and in that moment Chloe realized that there was something psychological going on with Lucifer. It was all there, right in front of her; his behaviour, the things he said… It was like he had absolutely no idea how to relate to people outside of sex.

And for some reason, she wanted to help. Lucifer wasn't some cocky asshole who acted the way he did because he wanted to; his actions, she realized, came from pain. He was broken inside, and she wanted to help him put back together the pieces of himself. True to the profession she wanted to get into, she had read all of that from a few expressions on his face and from the way he was acting.

Wanting to become a Detective had never felt righter.

"I should get dressed." He passed her quickly and picked his clothes up off the floor, and Chloe kept her back to him as he dressed himself.

Then he left without another word.

Of course, as was the way of fate, when Chloe resolved to figure out what made Lucifer tick, he stopped pestering her. She figured he was maybe shaken and needed some time away from her, but after two days she decided to seek him out herself.

Thankfully he had told her repeatedly where his dorm room was (along with invitations that the door was always open for her, and she could pop in at any time), so she knew where to find him. But when she knocked, the person who answered it wasn't Lucifer.

His roommate, most likely. He was tall, black and bald, with a friendly face and a slight beard growing on his chin. Chloe wondered what being roommates with Lucifer was like. Probably what being roommates with Maze felt like, if she was honest.

"Hi, is Lucifer here?" she asked.

"He's out," said the guy. "Not sure when he'll be back."

"Oh."

Chloe didn't know what else to say, and just when she was about to turn away, the guy spoke again. "If you're one of his, uh, bed-mates, then take my advice and don't hold out for anything more than just…what you've been doing."

"Oh, I'm not… I haven't slept with him," Chloe explained. "I'm his…" She was about to say 'friend', but she wasn't entirely sure that was accurate. At least, not yet. (Maybe.) "I'm not really sure what I am to him, actually."

The guy gave her a once over, and the beginnings of a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "You're Chloe, aren't you?"

She blinked in surprise. "He mentioned me?"

The guy chuckled. "You're all he ever talks about these days."

"Really?" She wasn't sure why that made her happy.

He nodded. "I haven't seen him like this since… Well, I've never seen him like this, and I've known him for years." Chloe gave him a questioning glance, and he elaborated with, "I'm Amenadiel. I'm his brother."

"His…brother?"

"Adoption."

Oh. She knew that existed. She hoped she hadn't come across as stupid. But if this was his brother… "Actually, can I ask you something about Lucifer?"

"Depends what it is."

OK then. "He… Well, I saw him shirtless, and he has these…scars…" She gestured to her back. "They look really painful, and when I nearly touched them he freaked out, and… I just wanna know if he's OK."

Amenadiel (and was Lucifer's entire family extremely religious, or something?) sighed. "You wanna know how he got them."

"I just wanna know more about him," she admitted. "There's something going on with him, and…I wanna help."

"I believe that," said Amenadiel, and the smile had grown. "But it's not my place to tell you what happened. Only he can, if he chooses to. What you need to understand is that my brother and I had a very difficult childhood, and a lot of his actions stemmed from him trying to deal with it all. He built a wall to protect himself. Chipping away at that is gonna be tough work for anyone."

He was giving her an out if she wanted it. Whatever had happened was big, and it could take a long time to get Lucifer to open up enough in order to talk about it. Potentially abandoning Lucifer in the middle of such a process, if she couldn't deal with it, would be hard on him and could make things worse.

Fortunately for Lucifer, Chloe Jane Decker wasn't a quitter.

"Tell him I stopped by," she told him. "And tell him that if he ever wants to just…talk, I'm here."

Amenadiel smiled again.

Girls Night had been Ella's idea. She'd been planning one with Linda, and invited Chloe along with subtle hints that she should loosen up and enjoy herself. So, for once, Chloe decided to do just that, and even invited Maze along on the night out.

The surprise of the night was when, upon seeing Linda, Maze gave the other girl an actual, genuine smile before hugging her in greeting. They explained that after sleeping together, they got talking and became friends. Linda was an aspiring therapist who was using Maze as a "test subject", which Maze didn't mind in the slightest.

"So, you want to help people?" said Chloe.

Linda nodded. "From what I hear, so do you. I want to help people on a more personal level, though."

"And she's good," Maze said with a grin. She raised her bottle of beer in cheers before gulping half of it down.

Chloe had an idea, but she didn't know how to bring it up. Opting with just coming out and saying it, she said, "I don't mean to ask a personal question, but…after you slept with Lucifer, did you…talk to him at all? Like you talked to Maze?"

Her roommate sent her a suspicious look while Linda appeared surprised by her question. "Actually, I did. But his entire attitude changed; he closed off and sent me away. I haven't spoken to him since."

"And isn't that a big red sign telling you that something's up with him?" Chloe asked.

"Yes, but pushing someone too hard to open up about things they don't want to talk about can sometimes be worse than them not talking about it at all," Linda explained. "The person needs to want to talk about their problems and not feel like they're being forced, especially if it's about some kind of trauma. We can't make Lucifer talk about what's bothering him; he needs to come to us."

That made sense, but it had been a week since Chloe had stopped by his dorm room and spoken to Amenadiel. Lucifer was making no moves to come and see her. Maybe he needed more time, but Chloe was worried that he'd never come to her.

"You saw them, didn't you?"

Chloe blinked at Maze. Her roommate had known that without even asking her. Then again, she probably knew Lucifer better than anyone else other than his brother, so it shouldn't have been surprising. "How long have you known Lucifer?" She wanted to ask about the scars, but she agreed with Amenadiel that Lucifer needed to tell her about those on his own terms.

"Since we were fourteen, and his ass of a dad kicked him out of the house," she replied.

He'd mentioned that before; being kicked out by his father, and suddenly his confusion as to why she was upset over her own father's death made much more sense. If his father was terrible, then he wouldn't be upset by a hypothetical death. He probably didn't even know what a good father was supposed to be like. "So he stayed at your place?"

Maze shook her head. "I never had a place. I was bumped around foster homes pretty much for as long as I could remember, and Lucifer got put in the same one as me after he was kicked out. Saying that the foster system was like Hell is an understatement. We were there for barely a year before we ran away."

Chloe didn't know what to say. As much as her childhood was hard thanks to her mother, it was nothing compared to what Lucifer and Maze had obviously gone through. And she knew that what Maze had told her was just the tip of the iceberg – but she also knew that if she wanted to know the rest of it, Lucifer would have to tell her.

"Hey, speak of the Devil," said Ella, and she nodded towards the entrance of the club.

Sure enough, Lucifer had walked through the door with Amenadiel close behind him. It was strange, how a single moment of seeing beneath the cocky exterior helped her to see him, the true him, even when he was hiding himself like a true master of disguise. He strode into the club like he owned it, and grinned when he caught sight of her and friends. But somehow she could see that, underneath his bravado, he seemed nervous.

"Ladies! How lovely to see you all!" he greeted them and gestured to Amenadiel. "This is my brother, Amenadiel." When both Linda and Ella frowned, he added, "Yes, I know what you're thinking. He's much less handsome than I am." Amenadiel rolled his eyes. "Right then! What's happening here?"

"We're having a Girls Night," Maze told him. "No boys allowed."

Lucifer met her challenge with a grin. "But Maze, you're forgetting the best part of Girls Night Out – when the boys come and crash it!"

Ella once again glanced at the door. "Did you invite Chloe's ex to come and crash it, too?"

Chloe followed her gaze and there he was, walking through the door with his roommate behind him.

"Bloody hell…" Lucifer huffed. "Dan the Douche, just what we need."

"Oh, and he brought Frank with him!" Ella waved them over enthusiastically.

A few weeks ago, Dan's appearance would've been a damper on Chloe's night and her reaction would've been similar to Lucifer's. But since he'd cancelled his plans and made time for her and Trixie that weekend, things had been going…OK. Something had changed, and it really felt like he was making an effort.

So, when he and his roommate (Frank?) arrived at their table, she gave him a warm smile. She noticed Lucifer looking between them with his eyes narrowed, almost like he was jealous.

"Hey guys," said Dan as he looked over everyone before his gaze returned to Chloe.

"Ella." Frank nodded in greeting with a smile.

"Frank and I go to church together," Ella explained, answered the unspoken question. "You know, we should all go someday as a group. It'll be enlightening."

Maze scoffed. "Hard pass."

"I'm with Maze on that one." Lucifer moved around the table towards Chloe, and she noticed him slide in the way of Dan, who had been intending to take a seat next to her. He removed the drink from her hand and set it on the table. "Come on, Chloe. Let's dance."

"What?" But he'd already taken her hand and pulled her to her feet, and she attempted to dig her heels in to stop him. "No, I don't wanna dance-"

"Come on!" He managed to drag her onto the dance floor, just as a fast song began to play, and Chloe felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment.

She'd never been a good dancer. Never. School dances she'd avoided like the plague, and the few times she did go, she spent them sat to the side with a drink, watching everyone else have a good time. The one time she'd danced had been with Dan, and she'd ended up stepping on his toes.

Lucifer began dancing with an enthusiasm that she admired. Chloe kept her feet still and bounced a little, but her movements felt awkward and no matter how hard she tried she just couldn't get into it. She was close to stopping and heading back to the table, but then Lucifer grabbed her and pulled her into him. One arm wrapped itself around her waist while the other held her hand, and Chloe's free hand went to his shoulder and he began to spin in a circle with her while bouncing them both along to the beat.

Chloe couldn't help the smile that lit up her face. It wasn't a romantic dance or even a sexual dance. It was just…happy.

She laughed. She couldn't remember the last time she'd really laughed.

He pulled away, twirled her under his arm and let her swing back, before pulling her in again even closer than before. Chloe's chin rested on his shoulder as she felt his breath tickling her ear.

"Are you OK?" she asked. "You know, after what happened?"

"I'm fine!" he replied. It was too bad that she couldn't see his face; couldn't tell if he was lying or not, though his voice did sound overly enthusiastic. "Why wouldn't I be?"

They were having a good time, so she decided not to press the issue. "If you ever wanna talk, I'm here. OK?"

"Sure thing, Chloe!"

They continued to turn, and as they did Chloe caught sight of Dan watching them. He didn't look happy.

"I get it. I really do," Ella told her as they walked through the evening towards the campus chapel. "There were times when I was close to losing my faith. Why does He let bad things happen to us if He really loves us? Why do bad things happen to good people?"

"Exactly," said Chloe. "My dad was a good man. And if there really is a God up there… Why would He let someone like my dad die? It was just…senseless, what happened to him."

Ella nodded, and in her eyes Chloe could see that she truly understood. "It sucks. But here's the thing: God gave us free will, so we could make our own choices. And in making our own decisions, that means we make mistakes. We have to in order to learn. I mean, you have a kid, right? Would you rather control everything she does as she grows up, or would you rather she learn how to live on her own and all the mistakes that came with it?"

The other girl had a point. As much as it hurt to admit, Trixie needed to make her own choices when it came to her life. Some of them wouldn't work out and would hurt her, but then she would've learnt something and would grow wiser. Chloe herself had made some mistakes in her life, but had come away from then having learned her lesson. She supposed it was the same with God and humanity.

"But there's still bad people," she said.

"True, but that's what Hell exists for: to punish the bad people who abuse their free will," said Ella. "Speaking of, how's Lucifer doing?"

Chloe couldn't help but smile at the mention of her new friend. "Well, now that he's not actively pressing me for sex, things are good. I mean, he teases me about still wanting to, but… Things are good. He hasn't opened up to me, or anything, but that's gonna take some time. I even saw him hanging out with Frank the other day. He flat out denied it, but he's not a very good liar."

"The Prince of Lies can't even lie. That's irony." As they neared the chapel, a piano could be heard from inside, and Ella smiled. "That's Frank, but there must be someone playing with him. Guess he found someone for his duet."

The upbeat music grew louder the closer they got, and after opening the main door and stepping inside, Chloe stopped and stared at the sight in front of her.

Lucifer was sat on the piano stool next to Frank, and the two were performing the duet with smiles on their faces.

"Looks like the altar boy has got some soul in him," Lucifer said to Frank with an impressed grin. He hadn't noticed Chloe and Ella's arrival, and neither had Frank.

The altar boy gave him a smile in return. "You ain't seen nothing yet."

"Oh, would you like to take the top?"

"Yeah, why not? Excuse me."

Frank dragged his fingers along the keys as he slid along the stool, and Lucifer leapt up to give him room before moving around behind and taking a seat where Frank had sat before. Both picked up the tune without missing a beat, and Chloe was both impressed…while also finding the entire scenario completely adorable.

She and Ella moved closer, and Lucifer was the first one to spot them. He halted his playing, and so did Frank when he saw the girls, as well.

"Hi," Lucifer greeted them. He was trying his best to act casual and not look utterly embarrassed.

"Hi," Chloe said in reply.

"Dudes, that was awesome!" said Ella. "You should play together at the next service."

Lucifer winced. "Hard pass, I'm afraid…but I suppose that wasn't completely terrible."

Frank chuckled. "Not completely."

Straightening his leather jacket, Lucifer rose from the stool. "Right, I best be off. Nice playing with you, Frank." He hurried past the two girls, and seeing his usual façade descending over his face like a security blanket, Chloe feared that he was going to brush off what had happened.

Which would just be sad. He needed another friend, especially a guy friend who wasn't his brother.

"I have to go, too," Chloe told Ella before she hurried after him out the door. "Lucifer!"

He at least stopped and waited for her to catch up. "I'm…sorry you had to see that, Chloe."

"Sorry? What are you sorry for? You never told me you could play the piano," she said with an encouraging smile.

It worked, for he smiled in return. "Well, it never came up. But there's this piano bar off-campus where I've started to perform. If you want, you can come and watch?"

Her smile widened. The thought of Lucifer performing – doing something he obviously enjoyed – set her heart alight in a way it never had before. "I'd like that. Maybe you can invite Frank, too?"

He scoffed. "Well, I think he's got service that day."

She saw right through him. "Don't you want to invite your new friend?"

"What?" He looked close to mortified. "Please! The Devil friends with an altar boy? It's absurd!"

"It's absurdly adorable."

The half-hearted glare he sent her just proved her point.

The piano bar was pretty classy, and walking in Chloe understood why Lucifer bought her a dress to wear. She didn't own anything that would be remotely suitable.

Which reminded her: she needed to pay him back despite his insistence that she didn't need to. Her first instinct had been to return it – until she tried it on, and found that the red halter-neck looked gorgeous on her. She was definitely keeping it – but still paying him back.

Lucifer himself was wearing a black suit which she could've sworn was Armani (but that was impossible, because there was no way in Hell that a college student could afford an Armani suit) with a white shirt underneath. And, much to her amusement, the soles of his shoes were red.

After they entered the bar and ordered some soft drinks (the bar welcomed under twenty-ones, and just didn't serve them alcohol), Lucifer sat her down at a table close to the performance area in the centre of the bar, where a large grand piano was ready and waiting. After talking with the owner, Lucifer sat himself down at the piano and adjusted the microphone that was hanging down from the ceiling.

Wait, he was going to sing, too?

He cleared his throat before his fingers began to dance across the keys perfectly. The entire bar fell silent.

And then he started to sing.

It was a rendition of Sinnerman, a song Chloe had heard a few times before. But she was more entranced by his voice, which could singlehandedly convince her that he really was a fallen angel from Heaven. It was beautiful.

What she was seeing was an entirely new side of him; a side completely different compared to the playboy asshole front that he showed everyone else. And the fact that he was showing it to her… It was a privilege.

After the first song was done, he performed a rendition of All Along the Watchtower which she enjoyed (hey, she was a fan of Battlestar Galactica), and after the applause for that song died down he took hold of the microphone and rose to his feet.

"Thank you. Now, this next song is for a…special someone, who's here with me tonight." Chloe tensed up, but thankfully there was no spotlight that settled on her, and while Lucifer's gaze did land on her briefly he was looking at everyone else around her, too. She was relieved that he wasn't going to single her out. "And since she loves a good nineties jam, that's what I'm going to play for her."

He readjusted the microphone and sat back down, and the familiar keys that followed caused her heart to beat a little bit faster. She had no idea how he knew Eternal Flame was one of her favourites. Maybe Maze had plundered her iPod and ratted her out.

As he sang he kept glancing her way and smiling. The overwhelming warmth was almost too much, and she brought her hands to her face as she smiled.

That was the first time she thought that maybe, just maybe, she could see him more as just a friend.

After Lucifer's performance, they didn't leave right away. They remained until the bar closed – and even beyond that.

"The owner lets me practise for a bit sometimes," Lucifer explained when the place was empty. Even the bar tenders had gone home.

He took a seat on the piano stool, and Chloe sat next to him so that their shoulders were touching. The night was… Well, it had been amazing, even after the performance. They'd talked and laughed, and she didn't want it to end. She didn't have a class in the morning, so staying up late wasn't a problem.

"Who else has heard you play?" she asked.

"Amenadiel and Maze, obviously," he admitted, and Chloe could see the hesitancy starting to creep into his expression.

She didn't want that, not after the performance he'd just given her. And he was already making small steps; he'd invited her to watch him play, something he hadn't done with any of his bed-mates. With encouragement, he could invite other friends, too.

"You should invite some more people next time," she told him. "Frank, Ella, maybe Linda. I'm sure they'd all love to hear you play, especially Frank."

"Right. I'm sure they would." But he didn't sound like he believed that.

Chloe reached out and took his hand in hers. He tensed immediately, and she gave it a reassuring squeeze. It was sad that he was afraid of any touch that wasn't sexual; hugs and even innocent hand-holding were completely foreign to him. "They're your friends, Lucifer. Of course they'd love to come."

He appeared almost startled by her words. "Is that what we are, Chloe?"

"Yes," she replied with a smile. "We're friends, Lucifer."

Yep, there was that startled look again; like he couldn't believe what she was saying was true. He turned away and swallowed, before seemingly pulling himself together and clapping his hands once. "Do you play?"

An obvious change of subject, but she went with it. She had to remember what Linda had said and not push him too far. "No," she replied. "No, I don't-"

"Come on, you must know something." He bumped his shoulder against hers playfully.

"Well, let me see…" Her mother had wanted her to play an instrument, since it would be an extra career boost when it came to acting. And since Penelope had played the piano, that had been the instrument of choice. "I had three years of lessons, and this is all I can remember."

She played the familiar notes of Heart and Soul.

Lucifer chuckled and folded his arms across his chest. "Surely you must be joking?" When Chloe shook her head with a wide smile, he shrugged. "Alright." When she played the notes again, he joined her with his own accompaniment.

They shared a smile as they played.

It was nice, having Lucifer round her house when she'd actually invited him instead of him showing up unexpectedly out of the blue.

Trixie was sleeping, it was early evening, and the pair were surrounded by textbooks as they studied together. Yes, Lucifer Morningstar actually studied every now and again. Mainly when Chloe was around to keep him focussed, though she had to admit that he could easily distract her these days.

Their toasties were cooking under the grill in the kitchen, and Chloe tried not to forget about them as Lucifer, well, distracted her. "You're insane."

"The LAPD hire consultants all the time. And I'd make a good one!" he insisted.

"You told me you want to open a nightclub."

"I need to have a day job to keep me occupied." He grinned. "And once you become a detective, I can be your partner and we could solve crimes together! We'd be the best crime-fighting team this city has ever seen. The Devil and his Detective: crime-fighters by day, party animals by night. Ooh, we could sell that idea to a studio! They'd kill for an idea like that!"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Nope. You're still insane."

"Keep telling yourself that, darling. You know I'm truly brilliant."

Wondering how she hadn't pulled some kind of eye muscle with the amount of times she rolled them around him, Chloe got to her feet and went to check on their toasties. He followed her (like a puppy, a comparison he hated which she continued to use just to annoy him), and seeing that the food was done, she transferred them to their plates.

Lucifer immediately snatched his up and took a generous bite. Chloe's eyebrow rose. "Savour it. You're not an animal."

"Yummy," he complimented her.

"Thanks. My dad taught me how to make them."

He looked down at the toastie in his hand and then back at her. "You and your father were close, from what I can understand. Which is why you're following in his footsteps, I suppose."

"Mm." She wasn't sure what he was trying to say, but she was going to be patient.

"What I'm trying to say is… I'm sorry for what I said before, about not understanding why you were upset that he…died," he continued. "You loved him, and…well, when someone you love dies, you're…upset. And he most likely loved you too, so… I think he would be proud of you."

His words tugged at her heart. He sounded so sincere and what he was saying was just… It was really sweet. She could be forgiven for the tears that formed in her eyes. "Lucifer…"

"Oh… No, no, no, no, my apologies, Chloe. I didn't mean to hurt you." How out of touch with human emotions was he truly, that he didn't understand her reaction? That they were tears of happiness instead of tears of sadness?

"No, no, it's…" She tried to explain, but she couldn't. She was too emotional, too overwhelmed.

He frowned, looking utterly confused as he placed his toastie back on the plate. "But…then why are you…crying?" His head tilted, and the baffled look on his face was completely adorable. He had no idea just how much his words meant to her.

"Just shut up." She stepped towards him and buried her face into his chest as her arms circled around him. Beneath her he tensed, like he always did when someone hugged him, but then after a few seconds he…relaxed.

He hadn't relaxed into a hug before.

Chloe let out a sigh and relaxed as well, her eyes sliding closed as his scent washed over her. Something about the smell of him made her feel safe, something she never expected to happen, but it had. In her arms, she felt protected from the big bad world, and she hoped he felt the same; felt safe with her, because despite everything, she would never hurt him.

She only hoped that one day, he would feel safe enough to open up about his past.

"Sorry, I'm a bit speechless… Penelope Decker?"

"Well…"

"As I live and breathe? The Vampire Queen? Wow, are you a real vampire? Because you certainly don't look old enough to have a daughter this age."

"Honey, your new friend is just delicious."

"Oh stop."

Chloe kept telling herself that it wasn't a disaster; that Lucifer meeting her mother was actually a good thing, because her friend had obviously been starved of parental affection and needed the attention desperately. And while her mother wasn't always the easiest, she was an expert when it came to doting on people she liked.

Sure, it was annoying that Penelope had come to meet her right outside that day's class (and she was hoping beyond hope that no one in the hall recognized her mother and asked for an autograph, or worse, a picture), but things could be worse. There was absolutely nothing wrong with Lucifer and her mother getting along.

"…family dinner tonight."

Wait, what? "Family dinner?"

Penelope smiled at her. "That's right! It's been ages!"

"Ages?" And there her mother went again. "We never have-"

"Invite Daniel over, and we can all sit down together. And Lucifer, you have to come!"

What?! That was not a good idea, not after all the hints from Dan that she should push Lucifer out of her life, because he was apparently a bad influence for her and Trixie…

"I'd love to!"

"Oh, great! Then I'll see you both tonight!"

As Penelope strode away, Chloe could just imagine it. Family dinner with her mother. With Lucifer and Dan in the same room.

This was going to suck.

Chloe paced the living room anxiously. This wasn't happening to her. This simply wasn't happening to her…

"Chloe?"

She halted and spun quickly to see Lucifer by the front door. He was in the process of shutting it behind him as he sent her a concerned look. "You have to stop doing that."

"I knocked, but you weren't answering. I could hear you pacing and I didn't want to wake the child."

He'd knocked? Oh. She hadn't noticed, being too distracted by her worrying… "Sorry. It's just…"

"What's wrong?" He crossed the room and stopped before her. His hand rested on her upper arm and he gave her a gentle squeeze, and the fact that he was initiating touch was a big deal, something which made her smile a little despite the situation at hand.

Speaking of… "Mom was in a car wreck."

"Penelope?" The worry in his eyes rivalled her own, which made her feel a little better about everything. He and her mother had bonded during family dinner much to her relief (though Dan had clearly not enjoyed himself, which he had made obvious to her while Lucifer and Penelope had remained oblivious), and she suddenly felt for him. Her mother had the potential to become the closest thing he had to a mother, and if he lost her… "What happened?"

"It was no one's fault," Chloe explained, recalling the story she'd been told over the phone. "A stray dog ran into the road in front of a car, and when the driver swerved to avoid it he crashed into Mom. She's stabilized at the hospital, but I need to go to her. Which brings me to my problem."

"Problem?"

"I can't take Trixie with me, and Dan's not answering his phone. He promised that he'd help me out no matter what…" She sighed.

Lucifer looked contemplative all of two seconds before he said, "Why don't you leave me here with the child?"

Her eyebrow rose. "You? You're borderline afraid of her."

"I'm not afraid of her, she's just…a tad too grabby for me." He gave a hesitant shrug. "But she's sleeping right now, is she not? How hard can it be, looking after a sleeping child?"

Chloe weighed her options. Trixie's nanny was out of town for the weekend, Ella and Frank were at a service, Linda was attending a late-night class, and Amenadiel was on a date with Maze of all people (though if there was anyone as unqualified for this than Lucifer, that person would be Maze). There was really no one else she could call on.

And like he said, Trixie was asleep. She was fed hours ago and her diaper had been changed since then. There was no reason for her to wake up.

Lucifer was her only option.

"OK, fine," she told him. "You've been round enough times to know where everything is; food, diapers…"

"Yes, yes." He looked a little mortified at the mention of 'diapers', but he remained resolved to stay for her. It was sweet, really, that he was facing a potentially unpleasant situation for her sake. "No go on. Your mother's waiting."

"Thanks, Lucifer." She slipped on her jacket and grabbed her car keys from the hook. "I owe you one."

He grinned. "You could give me a kiss as compensation."

She rolled her eyes. "In your dreams."

"Oh, you have no idea how true that is, Chloe."

Her response to that was to poke her tongue out at him before she slipped out the front door.

Having spent most of her evening talking to doctors and signing paperwork, Chloe was anxious to get hope. She hoped that Lucifer hadn't managed to burn the house down, but then she told herself that she needed to trust him; have faith in him. He hadn't let her down during the time they'd known each other, and he wouldn't let her down now.

The first thing she noticed as she let herself in was that the house was quiet. She couldn't even hear the TV, though perhaps Lucifer had chosen to study instead (hah!). But then he would've risen to greet her. Maybe he'd fallen asleep? She didn't want to call out for him if he was…

That was when she noticed the second thing: the diaper bag had spilled all over the kitchen counter, with a bottle of surface cleaner sat in the middle of it, half-full (she was certain it had been full that morning). An empty kitchen roll was close to rolling off the side, and Chloe soon discovered where it had all gone when she saw the bin overflowing.

It was a mess, but not even remotely close to the levels she'd half-expected to find upon her return.

Further investigation led her to the washer, where a pile of clothes had been tossed before it. She recognized Trixie's little dinosaur onesie and the t-shirt that Lucifer had been wearing earlier, along with Lucifer's socks and a number of kitchen cloths. There was something rather disgusting marking all of them, and Chloe decided not to find out what it was at that moment. She could ask Lucifer.

If she could find him.

The search didn't take very long. She saw his dark, curly hair from behind the couch, and walked further into the living room to get a closer look. What she saw clutched at her heart in the best way.

Lucifer was laying flat on his back on the couch in what she realized was one of her longer, baggier blouses, which only just fit him. Of course he made it work, because he could make anything work (she suspected he could wear a potato sack and make it work), and only a couple of buttons were done up in the middle. The sleeves of the blouse were rolled up and he was barefoot; one foot was propped on the armrest while the other was bent and touched the floor. He was fast asleep.

Trixie was curled up on his chest with her bottom sticking in the air, looking like an adorable little snail. She wore nothing but a diaper and was snoring softly, with her dark hair looking just as messy as Lucifer's did. Her friend's hands were curled around her daughter protectively, one hand on her back while the other rested on her legs.

It was utterly adorable.

Chloe quickly whipped out her phone and snapped a few pictures. The sight was sure to cheer up her mom tomorrow morning, plus there was the potential blackmail material, because Lucifer was definitely going to be embarrassed when he woke up (even though she didn't think there was a reason to be).

She considered grabbing a blanket for them and leaving them there to sleep, because she really didn't want to disturb the adorable scene, but then Lucifer began to stir and gradually opened his tired eyes. He beheld her silently for a few moments, and the lazy smile on his face was so unlike his usual grins that it was beautiful, and she really couldn't be held accountable for the way her heart fluttered a little in her chest.

After a few moments, the memories of what had happened seemed to come back to him, and Lucifer looked almost panicked when his gaze turned to Trixie, who was still sleeping soundly on his chest. Lucifer looked back at Chloe and his expression pretty much screamed 'help me'.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Big baby…" But she took pity on him – because he'd obviously gone through Hell that evening, judging by the state of the kitchen – and removed Trixie from his chest. Her child didn't even stir as Chloe settled her in her arms, head resting against her shoulder. "Do I even want to know what happened?"

Lucifer gave a hesitant shrug as he rose to his feet. "She woke up crying. I picked her up and tried to soothe her with my amazing singing, but then she was sick all over me. I hope that's not a baby's way of saying I'm rubbish."

She giggled. "No, it's not. Babies can be sick a lot. It shouldn't be anything to worry about if she's not sick again."

"Good. And please remind me to never babysit again. Because as adorable as you say babies are, that was just disgusting."

Recalling all the diapers she'd changed since Trixie's birth, Chloe couldn't help but agree with him on that. She decided that there was no use in dressing Trixie in another onesie; that would just wake her up, and there was a chance that she could be sick again. Plus, it was a warm night, so it didn't really matter. Chloe carried her daughter into her bedroom and set her down in the cot, before placing a gentle kiss to her forehead. Out of corner of her eye she noticed Lucifer watching her every movement with a soft look in his eyes.

She gently pulled the bedroom door to as she walked out, before turning to her friend with a grateful expression. "Thank you. You have no idea what this means to me…"

"Happy to help." His smile told her that, despite the obvious mishap, he didn't regret it. "How's your mum?"

"Nothing life-threatening or serious, but they're keeping her overnight for observation. She's been moved into a private room and security is posted outside her door in order to keep the paparazzi away," Chloe explained. "If she's all good tomorrow, then I can bring her home."

His relief was telling.

"And he was like, 'I don't want you seeing him anymore because I don't like him', and I was like, 'you don't have a say in my life because we're not even dating', and he said, 'I thought we were gonna get back together because I'm making an effort', which is totally out of line, that he thinks I'll just jump back into a relationship with him after what he did. But Lucifer's around more often than he is, and what does that say about him?"

The homeless man sat next to her looked uncertain, but he nodded. "He sounds like a first-class dick."

Chloe nodded. The alcohol was making her brain buzz in a funny way, but it was fantastic. Her life made so much more sense; she'd never had this level of clarity. The bottle in her hand was empty, and when she realized that a whine escaped her throat. "I need more." She turned to the homeless man. "Do you have more?"

"No…and I have to go." He leapt to his feet and walked away at a fast pace.

"Wait!" Chloe pushed herself up and stumbled. The world around her spun. "Oh no, the world's been blown off its axis! My mom needs to save the world again!"

She walked along the path with purpose but kept stumbling. When it happened a third time, she felt hands grip her from behind. "Whoa there, sweet thing." The guy behind her kept her steady.

Turning, Chloe saw that the guy holding her was…older. Much older. His clothes looked dirty and he clearly hadn't washed himself in a while, nor shaved. And the way he was looking her over… Despite the buzz in her brain, Chloe knew that this man was trouble, and unless she got away from him her body was going to be found in a ditch somewhere outside the city the following morning.

"I…need to go." She attempted to pull away, but her head was still spinning and she wasn't strong enough.

The guy chuckled. "Don't you worry about a thing, hot stuff. I'll take good care of you." His hand went to her hair, and Chloe tried to pull away again, squirming.

"You have one chance. Let her go."

Over the guy's shoulder, Chloe saw a familiar face. "Lucifer…"

"Seriously?" When the guy turned and saw her friend, he nearly laughed. "What're you gonna do to me? Leave us alone and find your own bitch."

Chloe blinked, and in that moment Lucifer moved like a bullet. He grabbed the guy's hand and twisted it at just the right angle, snapping it out of place. The guy screamed in pain and Lucifer tossed him aside to the ground.

"Call her that again," said Lucifer, as he gently removed the bottle from Chloe's hand, "and the emergency room will be surgically removing glass from up your arse."

If the guy heard him, he didn't reply; he was too busy rolling around on the ground, whimpering, while clutching his wrist to his chest. Chloe pulled a face at him before turning to her friend with a wide grin. "My hero…" She gave him a big hug and buried her face into his shirt.

She felt Lucifer awkwardly pat her on the back before he began to lead her away. "Chloe? You're…you're drunk."

"Yep!" She giggled.

For a moment, he was silent. "Not for the first time, from what I hear. Maze claims that you're a lot more tolerable when you're drunk. I'm uncertain whether or not I agree with her, because while I see the potential for a fun time, I actually find this rather unsettling."

Chloe felt her knees give way, and she clung to Lucifer like her life depended on it. "My legs don't work. Why don't my legs work?"

"That would be the alcohol kicking in." She felt his arm slide under the crook of her legs before he picked her up bridal style. Chloe giggled again before snuggling in for the ride.

It didn't take long for them to reach her dorm room, and when they walked in the door and Lucifer switched on the light, Chloe yelled loudly, "Maze, we're back!"

"She isn't here," Lucifer said. "She's currently out with Amenadiel. They've been spending a lot of time together recently…" He shut the door with his foot before carrying her over to her bed. "Now, why don't you have a seat over here and tell me what happened, hmm? I'm guessing, by the looks of it, with…Dan, perhaps? You were supposed to be meeting up with him tonight…"

The mention of her ex soured her mood once more. "You mean Dan the Douche?"

Lucifer's eyebrows rose. "Yes, well, of course that's what I mean. But the bigger question is why do you mean-?"

"He told me to stop seeing you!" Chloe proclaimed. "He said…that he didn't want me seeing you anymore, because you're apparently a "bald influence". But you're my friend and I didn't want to stop seeing you, and plus, this is my life, and he has no right to decide who my friends are, because we're not even dating anymore. And then he said that he thought we were gonna get back together, because he was making an effort, which was really out of line for him to assume that, and it makes it look like he's only making an effort to try and get in my pants… And, and! And then he said that unless I stopped seeing you, he wasn't gonna make an effort anymore, and I told him fine, because I don't need him! I have you, and you'll make a way better daddy for Trixie than he would, because you actually show up and make more of an effort than he does!"

Lucifer stared at her with wide eyes. "You…you really think that?"

"Duh!" She looked at his lips. They were really nice lips. "I just feel like an idiot! I thought Dan could be my friend and that we could make things work, but he's just being an asshole like he was before. I can't believe that I would let myself care for him again. I mean, why? So I get hurt?"

"No, because you're a prime person who puts the needs of others before your own," Lucifer told her. "It's a horrible irony, if you ask me."

His lips really were nice. And his eyes. And his entire face. And his abs. "But you don't do that. You just take what you want. Which is nice." She grinned, decision made. Lucifer was good-looking, he cared about her, he would make a good daddy for Trixie, and he wanted to have sex with her. It was perfect. She leaned forwards, determined to seal the deal with a kiss…but instead of kissing her back, Lucifer leaned away from her and pressed his finger to her chin. When she finally took the hint and stopped, she was lying entirely on him and was entirely confused. Didn't he want her? "What's happening?"

Lucifer looked sort of confused, as well. "It would seem that I'm…saying 'no'."

No? That didn't make any sense! "But you've been trying to get me into bed since day one! Why're you saying no?" Why did he have to tell her 'no' when she'd finally changed her mind?

He gently sat upright again and brought her with him. "Well, frankly, my dear, I'm as baffled as you are! I mean, usually I'd leap at the chance to fulfil my carnal desire, but…for some reason I can't."

Chloe realized with a start that he was refusing to take advantage of her drunken state. And with that realization came another one: she wasn't thinking straight due to the alcohol in her system. She was drunk. The haze in her mind began to disappear, and she felt nothing but embarrassment. There she was, moping over her ex who had already hurt her once before, who didn't deserve her tears, and almost threw herself at the friend who had tried to sleep with her before. The friend who, in a bizarre turn-around, was being the responsible one.

"What am I doing?" she asked both him and herself. "Why am I here, drunk, throwing myself at you? This is so sad…"

"Well, it happens to the best, I promise," he assured her.

"But not to me! I don't do this!" She felt the tears forming in her eyes. She'd already had a good cry before hitting the drinks, though the thought of crying in front of Lucifer wasn't as scary nor embarrassing as it had once been.

"Come here." Lucifer wrapped an arm around her and gently pulled her into him. Chloe rested her head against him as he started talking again, but she couldn't make out what he was saying. Darkness was enveloping her, and after a few moments, she let it take her completely.

"Triple espresso, or hair of the dog?"

When Chloe woke up with a pounding headache and a dry throat, the first thing she saw was Lucifer sat by her bedside table, holding a coffee take-out cup and a silver flask. He was grinning, and why was he in her room first thing in the morning?

Flashes from the night before came back to her. Drinking away her sorrows, Lucifer saving her and helping her back to her dorm room, her leaning in to kiss him…

The covers against her skin told her she was naked. She usually didn't sleep naked unless…

Oh no.

"No!"

"Ooh, right. Both." Lucifer began to pour whatever was in the flask into the coffee, though his gaze never left her. "I can see what you're assuming by the growing horror in your eyes, and while I would love to tease you, darling, I never lie. We didn't do the nasty."

She stared at him and the horror left her, and only then did she realize that he was still fully clothed. "We didn't?"

"Nope! I turned you down. Cold."

More memories returned to her. Him stopping her as she leaned in, being just as confused as she was that he was turning her down… "You, the guy who's been trying to get me into the sack since day one, had a chance to sleep with me…and you didn't…" It was confusing, but at the same time it warmed her heart. Lucifer hadn't taken advantage of her vulnerability. He'd done the right thing.

"It felt wrong," he said with a nod of his head. "Even though you gave me a case of blue balls. Congratulations. You're the first girl to do so."

She rolled her eyes before moving onto the next matter that puzzled her. "Why am I naked?"

His eyebrows rose, and the amusement in his expression told her everything she needed to know about what else had happened. "What, you mean you don't remember the part when you passed out, woke up again, shouted at me, "IT'S TOO HOT IN THIS FIVE-STAR HELLHOLE!" I believe it was, then tore your clothes off and proceeded to hog the bed?"

"Hog the bed my ass. You obviously slept in Maze's." She nodded over to her roommate's bed, which looked slightly messy. "And I do that…sometimes…when I'm upset. But you'd be upset too if your ex tried to force you to stop seeing your best friend, before trying to force an ultimatum on you. I mean, who does that? He's really willing to stop seeing his kid just because he doesn't like you?"

"If he's just going to be nothing but a douche to you, then he's not worth your time, darling," said Lucifer. He wasn't saying 'I told you so' or trying to use the situation to his advantage, which already put him leagues above Dan.

"Thanks." She smiled. "Could you turn around while I get changed?"

"Alright." He rose to his feet and stepped away from the bed. He went to turn around, but before he did he sent her a smirk. "You snore, by the way. Like an Albanian Field Wench."

She threw a pillow at his head.

"I know you don't wanna talk to me-"

"That's an understatement." Chloe narrowed her eyes at her ex. "You told me to stay away from Lucifer, but you don't have any say in my life."

"I'm Trixie's dad. I have a say in hers."

She walked past him and continued across the campus towards her dorm. He kept following. "Maybe, if you're around her more often than you are now. But Lucifer is around more than you are. And the ultimatum you gave me? Just hurts you, along with Trixie. The fact that you're willing to hurt her because you don't like one of my friends-"

"You know next to nothing about your so-called "friend", which is why I'm here." He stepped in front of her, making her stop, and only then did she notice that he was holding some files in his hands. He held them out to her. "You need to see this."

Chloe wanted nothing more than to brush past him and be on her way, but curiosity could be a flaw, and the official-looking files in Dan's hands were calling out to her. But if those files were about Lucifer, could she really do that to him? Peek into his life behind his back and violate his trust?

The answer was simple: No, she couldn't.

"You had no right to do this; to invade his privacy," she told Dan through clenched teeth.

"As a concerned father worried about his daughter? Yeah, I had a right," said Dan in response. "Especially since according to these files, Lucifer killed someone."

The world continued to turn around her, but Chloe didn't notice. She didn't see anything, didn't hear anything.

Lucifer killed someone.

Was he a murderer?

She pushed down her sudden jump of conclusion. No, Lucifer couldn't be a murderer. It wasn't in his nature. Lucifer would never kill anyone…unless, maybe, he had no choice.

Her father had told her plenty of times that life was precious and should never be taken by anyone. But, if she had no other choice, and either her life or the life of someone she cared about was threatened, she shouldn't hesitate. She had to value her life or her loved one's life above the life of the one threatening them. It was something she agreed on; if someone tried to hurt Trixie she'd fill them with bullets.

That must have happened. Lucifer's life must've been threatened, or someone else's, and he killed in self-defence. And Dan, unsurprisingly, was telling her the facts completely out of context.

"I'd like to hear it from Lucifer himself," she said.

"Yes." She was overcome with worry at the familiar voice, and didn't turn to see him, but she heard Lucifer approach them. Judging by his tone of voice, he'd heard most of what they'd said. "I think it would be best she heard it from me instead of the Douche-written abridged version."

Dan glared at him. "I've seen what's in these files. I don't want you near my daughter, or her mother. So help me, if I have to file for a restraining order-"

Chloe snapped. Without realizing she was doing it, her fist flew out and she punched Dan in the face, sending him to the ground. He dropped the files, and she swooped in to snatch them up before he could grab them again. Other students around them had paused to watch, but Chloe didn't care.

She glared at her ex in disgust. "I don't even know you. The Dan I used to know would never do something so selfish. Maybe instead of trying to tell me how "bad" Lucifer is, take a look in the mirror at yourself, because right now, Lucifer is a much better person than you are. You say you love Trixie and disagree with your parents, but you didn't stand up for me when they blamed only me for what happened, and you barely stop by to see Trixie even after saying that was going to change. You say that he's a bad influence for her, yet he actually shows up to see her. Instead of trying to tear him down, build yourself up and get your act together. Focus on your own flaws instead of making ones up for him."

Not waiting for an answer, Chloe turned on her heel and stormed away, and after a beat Lucifer followed behind her.

"My room or yours?" she asked over her shoulder.

"Mine. Amenadiel's out."

Chloe nodded and changed directions, making for Lucifer's dormitory building. They didn't speak for the remainder of the short journey, and Chloe only started talking when they were in Lucifer's dorm room and the door was firmly shut.

"I am so, so sorry about this," she said, holding out the files towards him. "He was out of line. I have no idea where he got these from, but they belong to you. It's your life, your privacy."

He looked down at the files then back at her, before taking them with a sigh. "He was in the wrong, yes. But as much as I hate to admit it, your ex-douche was right about something: as my friend, you have the right to know about my life. Even if it's ugly."

She shook her head. "Lucifer, if you're not ready to tell me-"

"But I want to."

It sounded more like he was trying to convince himself rather than her. She didn't think he was ready – but at the same time, she knew that if he set his mind to something, it would take something truly big to stop him from getting what he wanted. He was stubborn, and if he wanted to tell her then he was going to tell her.

Plus, it was what she'd been waiting for. She wanted to help him, and she couldn't completely unless she knew what had happened to him.

"OK." She nodded and gave him a reassuring smile.

He nodded, too. "Right. Just…remember that no matter what I tell you, Chloe, nothing's changed. I'm still the charmingly sexy Lucifer you can't resist."

She chuckled a little at his teasing. "We all have our demons, Lucifer. I know you're a good person. Nothing's going to change."

"Don't speak too soon."

He sounded so uncertain and scared. Chloe wanted to assure him again, but figured that it would be useless to keep going back a forth, so decided to wait until after the story. Saying that nothing had changed after he'd explained would make all the difference. She took a seat on his bed, and he sat down beside her. "Go ahead."

Lucifer began with a sigh. "Right. Well, first thing's first, I wasn't born as 'Lucifer Morningstar'. I legally changed it when I turned eighteen. My real name is…well…" He opened up the first page of the file and pointed to the name at the top.

Chloe read aloud, "Samuel Johnson?"

"Not 'Samuel', Samael. It's an Angel's name. Saying that my family was religious would be a massive understatement."

That explained his aversion to churches and chapels and anything connecting to Christianity. It was a miracle that he'd even made friends with Frank and Ella. "So you were all named after Angels?"

"Me and my siblings, yes." He nodded. "Of course there was Amenadiel. We had four other brothers; Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel. And we had a sister, Azrael."

"Azrael? Isn't that Angel a guy?"

"Most Angels are male in the Bible. Rather sexist, if you ask me," he said. "We were all roughly the same age and all adopted at birth. I have no idea who my birth parents are. I've tried looking, but…" He sighed. "That doesn't matter."

"What happened?"

Another sigh. "My parents met in a church. Both avid believers and took the entire thing a little too far. Their real names were Osbourne Johnson and Charlotte Richards, but they legally changed them to God and Asherah Johnson."

"Asherah?"

"God's wife. She's not mentioned in most versions of the Bible. Again, sexism." He looked distant as memories no doubt resurfaced. "Mum was rather lovely at first, but Dad was always the same. He let his new name get to his head; lorded over everyone. He just wasn't as…violent about it at first."

Chloe's thoughts immediately went to the scars. "On your back…"

"He did that," said Lucifer, and her heart went out to him; that his own father had inflicted that amount of pain on his own child was horrible. "Parents refer to their children as Angels, no? Well, he really believed that we were Angels, and wanted to leave…scars to prove it to the world. They look like the remnants of wings that have been cut off. He went in order of age; Amenadiel was first, I was after." He was silent for a long moment, and Chloe patiently waited for him to continue. "Until that point, I…I followed Dad. I believed in what he said; believed that everything he did was for us. But that day…when he inflicted so much pain on us all… I saw him for who he truly was."

"And you rebelled."

Lucifer nodded. "He beat me. He and my brothers. Azrael was locked away in her room, and Mum… She just stood there and did nothing. After the beating was done, Dad disowned me and tossed me out of the house."

"Maze, uh, explained what happened after that," said Chloe. "She said that she met you in a foster home when you were fourteen, and left about a year later."

"Maze was my first friend," Lucifer explained. "I'd never been to school before; my siblings and I were home-schooled. I'd only ever been around my family, and Maze was the first friend I had outside it. The foster system was Hell, so we ran away together. Lived on the streets for about a year until Amenadiel found us."

"He came looking for you?" Her anger at Amenadiel for taking part in the beating began to ease. The fact that he and Lucifer were roommates meant that they'd obviously patched things up.

"He wanted me to come home; claimed that Dad sent him to bring me back into the fold." Lucifer scoffed. "I refused to go back, of course. He kept coming back for weeks, but as time went on it was less about bringing me back and more about taking care of me. Making sure I had enough to eat, a roof over my head, and so on. And over that time, he came to the same realization about Dad that I had – but it didn't truly sink in until he discovered what was going to happen to Azrael."

"Azrael?" Their sister, and the only girl. Chloe had a sick feeling in her stomach.

Until then, Lucifer's eyes had been filled with sadness and pain. But in that moment, something else pushed the sadness aside and took over: rage. "Dad changed her name to Mary and planned to impregnate her with his son, "Jesus"."

The sick feeling intensified. "That's… Please tell me he didn't."

Lucifer didn't answer her and continued, "We tried to report him. And while people listened thanks to the scars on our backs, the investigation was delayed by certain officials who Dad was paying to cover up his tracks. When we realized that help wouldn't make it in time, we decided to take matters into our own hands. Only…"

"Only what?" Chloe felt like crying.

"Azzie had already escaped – by killing herself."

She let out a gasp and covered her mouth. "No."

Her friend looked as though he was on the verge of crying. "Dad tossed her body out onto the street. Like she was nothing. But in killing herself, Azrael managed to accomplish one thing: Mike, Gabe and Raph realized that Dad was crazy and turned against him. Dad came close to killing them, but Amenadiel shot him first. He had…no other choice."

"Good." Chloe didn't feel bad about the father's death in the slightest.

Lucifer sucked in a breath. "Mum when catatonic and we were forced to leave her behind. But Uriel… Dad had driven him insane. He called us all traitors, and Maze fought him in order to give us a chance to get out. But when I went back for her, I saw Uriel standing above her, about to kill her, so I grabbed the gun Dad had dropped, and…and…"

His eyes filled with tears and turned bloodshot almost instantly. Chloe guessed what had happened next, and she cried, too. Cried for him. Cried for the boy who'd been forced to become a man in taking a life. A life he had clearly still loved, despite everything that had happened.

All the pain he'd gone through… She hadn't even imagined such levels of pain when she first saw his scars. His physical scars were on display and no longer hurt, but his mental ones… They still hurt.

When he began to tremble uncontrollably, Chloe quickly surged forwards and brought him into her embrace. His sobs came out in harsh, sharp exhales, and the sound broke her heart. "I'm here…I'm here, I got you…"

"I killed Uriel," he cried into her. "I killed my brother. Chloe, I'm a monster. I'm a monster who deserves to be punished."

The remaining broken pieces of her heart shattered at his statement. "Lucifer, that's not true-"

"I don't deserve you."

She pulled back and cupped his face. "No. What happened was not your fault. Everything that happened was the fault of your father, you understand? You are not to blame. And no one can fault you for saving your friend's life."

His breathing was heavy, and while his hand was trembling he managed to bring it up to cover one of hers. "That's what they said. It was self-defence. Justified. Same for Amenadiel. But…I still killed him. He…he still died in my arms…"

Chloe couldn't think of anything else to say. What could she say? There were really no words that could ease the pain. So she offered him silent comfort in pulling him into another embrace, and her hand automatically buried itself in the curls at the back of his head. He clung to her like she was his lifeline. "What happened to the others?"

"Mum made a case for herself, saying she was as much of a victim as the rest of us," Lucifer explained. "How much of that was true I don't know, but it's possible. She's a lawyer now under her maiden name. She's tried contacting me, but… After what happened, I'm not sure I can forgive her."

It was Lucifer's choice whether or not he forgave her, so Chloe didn't comment. "What about your brothers?"

"Michael joined the army and was deployed overseas last year," Lucifer replied. "Raphael went to med school somewhere in New York. And Gabriel is training to become a teacher. We don't talk. Amenadiel talks to them, but not often. They're all guilty about what happened."

"Could you forgive them?" she asked.

He was silent for a few minutes. "I don't know."

She nodded. "I'm here for you, OK?"

His only response was to clutch her tighter.

"Get over here, Decker. He needs you."

Chloe didn't need any more than that. She left her textbooks on her desk and walked right out the door again, her pace quickening.

She hadn't left Lucifer's side the day before until Amenadiel had arrived. Leaving Lucifer had felt wrong, but she'd had no choice; she had an early class the following day, and needed to get some sleep. Amenadiel had assured her that he'd take care of his brother.

After her morning class Chloe had called to check on Lucifer, only for Maze to pick up his phone and assure her that things were under control. She had a few hours until her next class, but decided to go to the library and study instead; she knew that if she went to Lucifer, she wouldn't be able to leave again, and she couldn't afford to miss her lesson.

The text from Maze made her wonder if she should've just skipped the class, anyway.

It didn't take her long to reach the boys' dormitory, and as she hurried down the hallway she could hear shouting coming from Lucifer's room. It sounded a lot like him…

She hurried through the door without knocking, just as Lucifer was yelling, "Where's my Chloe?! Where is she?!"

What?

"I'm here." She stood awkwardly in the doorway, wondering what the hell she'd just walked in on.

Lucifer was lying on his bed, sideways instead of longways, and was surrounded by empty bottles of beer. His head was upside-down, and when he saw her he broke into a huge grin. "Chloe! Come and join the party! Woo!"

Chloe literally had no words.

Maze and Amenadiel were sat on the latter's bed. The brother looked concerned, while her roommate just looked annoyed. "Chloe, meet the new record holder for most beers consumed in ten minutes."

"Ten minutes?" Chloe frowned.

"We went into the bathroom to… Well, you don't wanna know. And when we got back, he was passed out with the empty bottles around him," Maze explained. "He was out for another ten minutes before he woke up and started acting like this."

While they were talking, Lucifer struggled to turn until he rolled off the bed and landed on the floor with a thump. But he laughed it off and sat up, before throwing his upper half back onto the bed and using it to push himself to his feet. Once he was standing, he stumbled over to Chloe with a big grin on his face. "Want some whisky, darling?"

"I'll pass, thanks," she told him, wincing a little at the smell of his breath.

Lucifer just grinned at her some more – big and goofy and so unlike his usual grins – before he opened his arms and embraced her, pulling her close to him. "You…are my favourite person." He buried his nose into her hair and nuzzled her.

Chloe couldn't help the giggle that escaped her. "OK, he's never allowed to get this drunk ever again. Drinking like this isn't a healthy way to deal with pain."

Maze's eyebrow rose. "Says the girl who got drunk off her ass when her ex was a dick to her."

She should've seen that one coming. "A moment of weakness. A mistake. It won't happen again."

"You should've hit him instead of hitting the bottles."

"I did yesterday." Chloe grinned.

"Speaking of your ex," said Amenadiel, "Maze and I are gonna go find him and have…words with him."

Maze's grin was deadly. "You may find pieces of him scattered across the campus tomorrow."

"Just hide the evidence, OK?" she joked. Then added, "That was a joke. Please don't kill the father of my child."

Her roommate rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Your call."

"Can you stay with Lucifer until he sobers up?" Amenadiel asked.

"You didn't need to ask," said Chloe with a smile. She was trying and failing to push Lucifer away from her, although she liked the way he was starting to nibble her ear…

Amenadiel and Maze left, and when the door shut behind them Chloe managed to move Lucifer back over to the bed and sit them both down. His legs were starting to give out, and she really wasn't strong enough to keep him upright.

Lucifer rested his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes. "I missed you." He took in a deep breath of contentment and exhaled, as if her scent was a comfort.

While she wanted Lucifer to be sober and talk about his pain in a healthier manner, she had to admit that he was pretty adorable when he was drunk. "What am I gonna do with you?"

His head fell from her shoulder and landed on her lap. And when his eyes opened, the way he looked up at her took the meaning of 'adorable' to whole new levels. "Hmm… You could marry me."

Wait…what?

Her eyes widened as she stared down at him, and she couldn't stop the, "Huh?" that left her mouth.

Lucifer didn't seem to notice her reaction. He just kept grinning at her. "I have a plan. An amazing plan. You and I will solve crimes together. I told you that part already. But I want to marry you, too. Because you're wonderful, and amazing, and… You're beautiful on the outside and the inside, but I'm just beautiful on the outside…"

His words washed over her and she almost couldn't speak, but she was able to tell him, "You're beautiful on the inside too, Lucifer."

"Hmm." He reached up and gently cupped her cheek. "And I can be Beatrice's daddy like you said, and if it's what you want, I wouldn't mind having more offspring with you. And I'll…I'll be a better daddy…than mine was…" His gaze was distant as he looked past her head, like the memories of his life were breaking through the haze of the alcohol and bringing the pain back.

Chloe mirrored his touch and cupped his cheek. "Of course you'll be a good daddy, Lucifer. You'll be amazing at it."

He returned his gaze to her, and the smile he gave her was beautiful. "Will I?"

She nodded. "Yes." The emotions building inside her were overwhelming, but in the best way. Lucifer wanted to marry her. Have kids with her. Make a family with her. Build a future with her.

It all sounded…wonderful.

And Lucifer topped it all off by caressing her cheek and telling her, "I love you."

Lucifer was passed out with his head in her lap, and Chloe's hand was playing with the curls in his hair as she processed the revelation.

He loved her.

Friends loved each other, but Lucifer had said he wanted to marry her and have children with her, which suggested a far different kind of love. She didn't know what he was going to say when he woke up, but she clung to his words, and in doing so she realized that she actually wanted them to be true…

Because she loved him, too.

Chloe Decker had fallen in love with Lucifer Morningstar.

If she could go back in time a few months and tell herself that, then her younger self – the one who had only just met Lucifer – would have laughed in her face. And yet, she couldn't imagine it any other way. Half-hearted fantasies about getting back together with Dan and depressing visions of single-parenthood were long gone. Those thoughts wouldn't be missed.

Lucifer wanted to marry her. And when he asked the question at some point in the future, she was going to say 'yes'.

She felt giddy at just the very thought of it.

Her phone buzzed and she jumped a little at the noise, before pulling it out of her pocket and looking at the screen. Dan. She was tempted to reject the call and ignore all the subsequent calls that followed, but then Maze and Amenadiel had gone to have words with him, so maybe she needed to do some damage control.

If he was calling from an abandoned road in the middle of the desert, wearing nothing but his underwear, she was gonna leave him there as payback. (For at least a couple of hours before calling on Frank to go and get him.)

"What?" she answered, making it very clear that she was still angry with him.

"Chloe, I'm sorry."

It was a good start, but didn't warrant immediate forgiveness. "What are you sorry for?"

"I shouldn't have invaded Lucifer's privacy," he explained. "I was out of line."

"Yes, you were," she told him. "How'd you come to that conclusion?"

"Maze and Amenadiel stopped by. They filled in the blanks and gave me the whole story. I…I didn't know…"

"That's right. You didn't know. You just jumped to conclusions about him. Though I'm pretty sure the files stated that Lucifer acted in self-defence, which you would've seen." It was a good thing that Dan was on the phone instead of in person, else she would've been far too tempted to punch him again. "You purposely told me what he did completely out of context-"

"I know, and I'm sorry." She heard him sigh. "You were right, OK? I know I wasn't being a good father to Trixie, and I know I was letting you down. In trying to be a good son to my parents, I was being a terrible parent to my daughter. And I knew that on some level, but I didn't want to admit it. So when Lucifer showed up, and he started hanging around you both, I…"

"You wanted to make him look bad so you'd look good in comparison," Chloe finished for him. "So you'd feel better about yourself."

He sighed again. "Yeah."

"Well, at least you're admitting it," she said.

"I'd understand if you never want to see me again."

It was tempting, to kick him out of her life when she'd let him in constantly before, only for him to disappoint her. But she had to think about Trixie, and her daughter would want her father in her life – even though she had Lucifer, too.

"Look, you're still Trixie's dad, and you have a right to see her," Chloe told him. "But I swear, if you ever let us down again-"

"I know, I know. But I'm really gonna try this time."

"Good."

He sighed once more. "I'm not Lucifer's biggest fan, but… If he makes you happy, then it's not my place to stop you from seeing him."

"I don't need your approval, but thanks." On her lap, Lucifer began to stir. "Look, I have to go. We'll talk about this later, OK?"

"Sure. Bye."

"Bye." She hung up and placed her phone on the bedside table, and moments later Lucifer's eyes fluttered open. He frowned up at her, before he grinned seductively when he realized exactly where he was. "Well, this is a nice place to be."

She playfully yanked a strand of hair. "Not so nice when you remember how you got here."

"I don't recall." He frowned again. "I don't remember anything…"

"You were drunk," Chloe supplied helpfully. "Please don't get that drunk again. Talk to Linda instead. She can help."

He sighed. "I'm sorry. I, uh, I hope I didn't say anything embarrassing."

"Hmm." She pretended to think. "Well, you recapped your plans for the future. You told me about solving crimes together before, but all the other stuff was new."

His eyes widened comically and he shot upright. "Right. I, uh… I mean… What I meant by that… That is to say…"

She couldn't leave him to squirm for long. With a smirk, she leaned forwards and pressed a kiss to his lips. It only lasted for a few seconds, and she pulled away again before he could respond. The bewildered look on his face was completely adorable.

"How about," she said with a smile, "I say 'I love you, too', 'yes', and we wait until after graduation?"

Lucifer stared at her for a moment, and then she laughed out loud when he tackled her to the bed before kissing the life out of her.

When they broke apart, he was grinning at her – a grin which she could finally admit was sexy as hell. "You're a miracle, Chloe Jane Decker."