A/N: Again, thank you all so much! I'm so sorry it has taken me so long to update, again. This little fic of mine is—finally—coming to a close! I hope this chapter finds you well. Thank you for your constant support. It is extremely valued and appreciated.

In Midnight's Light

Chapter 3

kateandharvey

His mouth was hot and heavy on hers. His arms snaked around her fiercely, clutching her to him as if he was afraid if he didn't hold tight enough, she would disappear. CC was surprised to feel his tongue invading her open lips quickly, and surprised by the kiss she was, but it didn't stop her from giving as good as she got. Their tongues battled for what seemed like hours, and even though CC knew it was only mere minutes - of them pulling apart and coming back together, one kiss ending and another beginning so quickly she wondered if the first had really ever ended at all—she knew that no matter how long she kissed this man, this insufferable, difficult, old man—it would never be enough.

The Bitch of Broadway could not get her tongue far enough down his throat—could not feel his arms tight enough around her… She could not get close enough, and to Niles of all people. Niles. His name filtered through her head and she nearly laughed out loud at the thought. Who would have thought Niles would be the answer? She asked herself. Only a mere seconds passed before she answered her own question. Please, Niles has always been the answer.

She felt his hands on her arms a moment before she felt herself pushed back from his body. Her lips felt damp and chilled at the sudden air, and her own body felt empty at the loss of contact. "Babcock," He whispered, his eyes finding her own, shaking his head in dismay, "this isn't the way to do things." Before she could so much as comprehend the words from his mouth—why had he let go of her—he continued. "I think it's best now." He swallowed so thickly she could hear it, "For you to go."

Immediately, all at once, it crashed into her. Suddenly, everything made sense and the fog lifted and she had to explain to him had to get him to understand that she no longer wanted to leave. The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them, and she cursed her sudden inability to speak eloquently. "How long have you known?"

He hadn't moved since he had pulled his lips from hers, and he was still staring into her eyes when he heard her question. She saw the reaction his face instinctively made, and then he answered. There was no mistaking what she wanted to know. He shrugged. "To be honest with you, I'm not completely sure." She nodded her head as if to accept this as the truth, and he continued. His smirk seemed misplaced, but she found herself enjoying this new, transparent version of Niles. "Somewhere between my lust and my love."

CC, who had been nervously glancing around the room, met his eyes. She found a soft smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "Lust, eh?"

Niles' left eyebrow lifted. "You never had a lust phase?"

She shook her head, her smile taking over her face, now, without her permission. "I didn't say that." The eyebrow lifted further, and he wiggled them suggestively at her. She laughed out loud, then.

Slowly, her laughter drew quieter until it eventually came to a close, and they were left staring at each other. She saw his jaw move the way it did right before he was to speak, and she beat him to the punch. "I told you…you were correct, on the stairs." He nodded, understanding her unspoken request that he stay and listen to her. She glanced nervously to his left, to his right. A breath. "You've been right about a lot of things, tonight." When her eyes finally met his, he noticed immediately that they were glossy.

She looked only to his right, now. "I…" she shrugged, "I don't know when, exactly… it snuck up on me."

"I know what that's like." He smiled comfortingly at her.

She chuckled lightly, "Scared the shit out of me when I realized."

Niles couldn't help himself from asking, "That you were in love with a butler?" He sounded resigned.

CC's eyes met his face, then. "That I was in love with someone so unattainable." His brow furrowed. She sighed, "We're always teetering, Niles." He remained silent. "Always… murder or…"

"Sex." He supplied. To his credit, she smiled.

"Yes." She glanced down at her shoes for only a moment, her eyelids fluttering closed when she raised her chin. "It would be too risky… so easily, we could fall the wrong way."

Niles saw a tear make its way from her lashes, landing on her left cheek, and sliding down. Finally, he knew. He understood, completely, why CC Babcock had come to the mansion. Why she had tried so desperately to convince him it wouldn't work, it couldn't work... Why she had rejected him so harshly, why she was so terrified… She was right. CC Babcock, The Bitch of Broadway, was in love with him. He'd suspected, but never thought she would admit it. She was in love with him, he was in love with her… They both wanted the same thing, but he wasn't as jaded as the socialite was. His parents, his siblings… they'd raised him, they'd loved him. Unconditional love was something that CC Babcock had yet to experience.

She couldn't lose it.

Slowly, Niles raised his hand to graze her cheek. She leaned into the touch, only slightly, and her eyes fluttered open. "Miss Babcock…" He whispered into the dimly lit kitchen, "CC…" he ventured, "You are correct, we could fall the wrong way." She sighed, ready for the obvious—that which she had thought she wanted only moments ago. "But don't you see?" He pulled his hand away, his gestures becoming more and more animated as he spoke. "If things continue the way they are, we will fall, and your prediction will be true—we will destroy each other." The butler shook his head, "If we attempt this, CC, if we really, truly, attempt this—we could both get everything we want, everything we need." He paused, his hand returning to her face, "We could fall the right way."

The water was coming fast now, hitting her cheeks and staining them with the tracks they left behind. Quietly, so quietly he wasn't sure if he heard her correctly, she whispered, "I can't lose you."

"Oh darling," He was adamant in his tone, "I could never leave you."

She shrugged, "What about tonight?" She thought she had him, there. He was leaving the mansion, leaving the Sheffield's, leaving her.

He smiled softly, and gestured to the kitchen counter by the door.

There, on the tile, sat a set of keys. Keys that she recognized as emergency keys to her penthouse that she'd given to Maxwell years ago. When she turned back to him, her eyebrows furrowed, he explained, "A few more glasses of scotch, and I would've used it." He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her to him. She allowed it. "I cannot fathom this world without you in it, Babcock."

Slowly, her arms came up around his neck and she held him close. "I'm sorry, Niles," she was sobbing now, into his shoulder, "God, I'm so sorry I ruined us."

"You haven't ruined anything," he whispered, "Even if you had, I'd be half to blame."

As her tears dried, she shrugged in his arms, "Three-fourths."

He pulled back, finding her face with his arms still wrapped around her middle. "Oh Babcock, you witch!"

She laughed out loud, then, her smile too insistent to disappear. "Are we really doing this, Niles?"

His eyes grew wide, "I certainly hope so, or the way we are touching right now you are soon to find is very inappropriate for a nemesis."

She chuckled again, her deep and throaty chuckle, and she felt movement. "Niles…" She smirked, "I didn't know the size of your feather duster, but I think I'm getting a pretty good idea… Should I be worried?"

He winked, "It's all in what you do with it, baby." Her laughter spilled from her further as he scooped her into his arms.

"You cow!" He stumbled toward the steps, "How can I carry you around like this if you don't lay off the alcohol?"

It took her a moment of silence before she responded, and he feared that he'd crossed a line too far back into "normal" territory. When he examined her face, however, it seemed she was smiling at him in distraction. He smiled back at her.

CC pointed her finger up the stairs, "Mush, servant!"

The butler obliged.

There were still many things the blondes needed to work on and work out, but for tonight, they were only working on one thing…

Each other.