Starring:
Summary:
In a bizarre twist, Cass approaches Lachlan about her recent debauchery in Club DnA's. It's a difficult discussion, but they manage to get through it without breaking up.
Date It Happened: July 6th, 2007
Just a Kiss
Lachlan's Apartment, Brooklyn
So Cass went out clubbing and Lachlan, having lots of things to do around the house, opted to stay behind. It's a girls' night out thing, after all, and he's definitely not a girl. Besides, he trusts Cass! That's something he's gotten to accept now, absolutely and completely. So the Scotsman has finished his business around the house and now sits with the radio on, half-dozing on the couch with a glass of scotch and a pile of dogs (and one kitten curled up in the crook between the Scot's shoulder and neck).
Well, it was a girl's night plus Benjamin Winters. In the hallway, Cass has already taken off her heels and she digs through her purse for the keys to Lachlan's place before finally scraping them into the lock, turning it and then opening the door. Everything is starting to wear off on the subway ride home, but there's still that feeling of primal /need/ somewhere in her stomach that when she sees Lachlan cuddled up on the couch with such a pile of cute and puppies and kitten, well, she wants to pounce him. But, no. No, that's what's getting her into the trouble in the first place. Instead, she just shuts the door behind her and locks it.
The sounds roust Bonnie, who raises her head from where it lays across Lachlan's legs and wags her tail. The feedback from her coupled with the noise of the door closing causes Lachlan to open his eyes groggily and glance over, only to smile tiredly and settle back into the couch again. "Hey, baby," he mumbles pleasantly. "Di'ye have a good time?"
The question isn't answered immediately. And Cass isn't exactly smiling at the friendly greeting. "Uh." Well, there isn't really a good answer that she has for that. At the time it was good, but as soon as everything wore off, well, now it's not so good. "It was…something happened at the club. Elena…" How can she explain this when she doesn't even know what it really was? "She lost control of her ability."
Well that doesn't sound good. Of course, Lachlan doesn't know exactly what Elena does, except keep Cass alive when she's bleeding to death outside of Enlightenment Books and stuff. So his brow furrows, but he doesn't really know what that sort of thing implies. "Tha' doesna sound good," he utters, duly concerned. "She a'righ'? S'ever'one a'righ'?"
"Uh. Yeah. Physically." Mentally, however, everyone is pretty scarred. Or at least she is and is just projecting that on everyone else. But, Jack seemed pretty out of it for making out with a guy. Cass doesn't like beating around the bush, but it's /hard/ to just come out and say something. "I mean, she seemed pretty drained because of it. And everyone was…it was like…remember what Eliana can do with that gas? It was like that. Except…it was like not even being drugged. It was like just /really/ wanting…" Uh. "Yeah."
Wow, that sounds … that sounds crazy. Lachlan blinks a few times, then blows out a half-amused sigh, smirking a bit. "Tha' sounds bloody crazy." He knows what Eliana can do. Hell, if not for her, he never would've met Cass. But the ability to sort of brush it off starts to fade when realization comes knocking. His amusement turns to concern, which slowly starts to teeter on the edge of 'dread'. Because Cass isn't acting very horny, so … so why is that, if she was there and can explain what it was like to experience such things? "… an' … ye …" He trails off, not able to put it into words. The radio switches from 'More Than Words' by Extreme to 'I Think I'm Paranoid' by Garbage. Lachlan shuts it off.
Oh, Extreme. You mock everything that Cass is trying to get accomplished here. And Garbage is /not helping/. God, this is not easy and she didn't even sleep with anyone. But, there was that /want/ to that is really killing the book store owner. "I…it was just a kiss." Frowning she shakes her head. "No, I don't mean it like that. It was…everything was happening was happening so fast. I was dance bounced between Jack and Benjamin and then I was at the bar and trying to figure everything out when it was just…I didn't have time to /think/." Not that the thinking really helped. "God, Lachlan, I'm sorry."
Oh wow. Wow. Whoa. Lachlan's concern quickly teeters into dread, then faster into silent, brooding anger. This is Cass. This is the woman who said she would never, and even after the recent reinforcement of this fact, it hurts even worse. It was just a kiss, sure, but the fact that she once had a crush on Jack and Jack was somehow part of it really twists the knife. He frowns down into his glass of scotch, examining the amber liquid as though he could set it aflame with a mere gaze. There's nothing but silence from him.
Oh, this is really really bad. It may have involved Jack, but it wasn't Jack that Cass kissed. She /wouldn't/ ever cheat on Lachlan. That is something she was /so sure of/. And somehow everything got turned around. It was like her own body turning against her. She was just wrapped up in the moment. "Lachlan," her voice is pleading a little. It's easy to see that he's angry and she doesn't want to just approach him after she's done something like this. "It wasn't /me/. And it wasn't /only/ me. Jack was kissing some guy, I think Heidi kissed Elena…the whole place was crazy. It just…it was like I couldn't /stop/ it."
It was supposedly like Eliana's drugs, but it wasn't. Cass had said it was something like hormones — and Lachlan's put some pretty rough urges aside in recent months because of Cass. Why couldn't she do the same? The mention of Jack kissing a guy and Heidi kissing Elena somewhat helps this case (he had been thinking Jack was the one kissing her), but not much. Maybe Jack's gay. Maybe Heidi's gay. He doesn't know. The Scotsman sits up, using his free hand to keep George steady on his shoulder, and swings his legs out from under the puppies. He doesn't bother trying to keep them asleep telepathically, and some of them stir at the jostling. Standing, he mutters, "'M goin' ta bed." And with that, he starts for the bedroom.
Finally, Cass /does/ move forward to try and stop Lachlan from leaving like this. She imagined him being mad, but being more yelling and hitting things mad. Like he was when he found Nathan asleep on the floor. This is something worse. "Wait. /Lachlan/." Letting her heels and purse just drop by the door, she follows and even reaches out to try and put a staying hand on his elbow. "Wait." But, now that she says that, she's not sure what to do about it. What to say should he /actually/ wait.
Lachlan waits, but it's more out of necessity than anything. As soon as he feels Cass' hand on his elbow, he whips around to jerk it out of her grasp. Don't touch. But doing so means that now he is facing her, and … he just can't turn his back right now. He's listening, but he's scowling too. And then George streeeeeetches with a yawn and digs little needle-like claws into the Scotsman's neck, which causes him to flinch and snarl out, "Bloody— !" He pulls the kitten off his shoulder, scowls at him, then calmly cuddles George against his chest. Purring starts.
The jerk to stay out of her grasp doesn't so much startle Cass as hurts her. She understands why, but, well he's never acted like that with her before. Even though she's asked him to wait, she's not sure what to do with that waiting now. "Look. I'm sorry, Lachlan. I don't know what else to say. It was a kiss, nothing more." There's a startled pause at the almost swearing, but that settles itself. "Be good to George." But, the purring has already started, so it looks like George is fine. Happy even.
Sure, a kiss. A kiss could've been more. Why wasn't it more? He doesn't know. Did Cass come to her senses? Did Elena? Lachlan wasn't there, so he really doesn't know. It's more the fact that Cass was capable of 'just a kiss' that has shaken him so much. "Sure. S'just a kiss," he grunts, sounding quite bitter indeed. "Fine." He's being good to the damn cat.
"No, it's not fine," Cass replies quickly. "It's /not/. And I know you're not fine with it." Because he certainly doesn't sound like it. "Because I wouldn't be fine if you kissed some other girl. I'd be pissed. So, stop acting like you're fine." The whole idea that this could happen to her, so steadfast in her morals has shaken her, too. What else could she just 'slip up' on?
She doesn't want him to act fine? Okay. Lachlan won't act fine. "Yer right', I'm no' fine," he snaps. "'M no' bloody fine at all. Yer allus sayin' yer never gonna do somethin' like this, an' I finally start b'lievin' ye an' wha' d'ye do?" Granted, it's not exactly her fault, is it? Really? Was it too much for him to expect her to remain faithful under such incredible circumstances? Maybe he's been disillusioned with the idea that she really is absolutely loyal enough to surpass such things. Maybe. "So who was it then, eh? Jack?"
"God, Lachlan, I never thought I /would/." Cass runs a hand through her hair in an attempt to assuage the desire to reach out to hold Lachlan. That's all she really wants to do right now. "That…it wasn't /me/. I was /fine/, I was. I was going to get /out/ of there when it was…/no/. It wasn't Jack." She's trying to explain this all without implicating Nathan. Because she knows that Lachlan will just want to attack him. They're already on bad terms. "No, it was, look it was like someone opened a bottle of love potion all over the club. I thought I'd been roofied. And then, I was at the bar and Nathan just kissed me. That was /it/. That's all that happened."
Nathan? Nathan? That's not as hard to swallow as Jack, because Cass didn't have a crush on Jack — but it's still harder to swallow than a random stranger, because he did catch Nathan and Cass sleeping on the floor once. Lachlan's jaw flexes hard. Really hard. How does— ? How is he supposed to— ? "'Ve ye gotta crush on 'im /too/, then?" he asks.
"What? /No/! Nathan is just a friend! Plus he's /married/." Those are things that actually /do/ mean something to Cass. Despite the evidence to the contrary tonight. "Look, I only told you I /used/ to have a crush on Jack because I thought it'd make things easier for you because I /don't/ any more. It's long over. Lachlan, I love /you/. What happened tonight…I don't even know what it was. It was like a hijacking." She steps forward, but then hesitates. That tense jaw shows that approaching is like approaching a rabid dog. Beware. "But…I love you," she repeats.
Like a hijacking. That's how Lachlan would have liked to describe his slip-up with Eliana. And those three little words spoken twice are really, really hard to take. It was Nathan who kissed her, not the other way around. Maybe she was just overwhelmed. Maybe. Just a hijacking. The Scotsman squeezes his eyes shut and heaves a thick, heavy sigh. It's somewhat relaxing, but not entirely. He's no longer dangerously tense, at least. The scowl becomes a simple frown, and he stares at something near Cass' feet, silent again.
Finally, Cass attempts again to reach out to Lachlan. It's something small, an attempt to take his hand, but it's something. She wants this to be okay. Not some strange watershed moment that it may be. "I'm really sorry. I am." His not saying anything after laying all the cards on the table is unnerving.
This time, Lachlan doesn't attempt to jerk away. He just stares at the hand in his a moment, then shakes his head with another sigh. "S'fine," he utters. "S'no' yer fault." It doesn't sound like he really and truly believes it right now, but at least he believes it enough to acknowledge it. Now he just looks plain tired. This isn't exactly the sort of ending he'd envisioned for the evening. "C'mere." He attempts to use that hand in his to pull Cass into an embrace, which may squish George a bit, but who cares?
Just glad that there's progress on /that/ front, Cass doesn't fight the embrace. That's where she's been trying to get this whole conversation, to be honest. "No, but, I should have pushed him away. I should have /done/ something." But she didn't. It just happened. She should /really/ just shut up but she feels like she's getting off easy on this. Then, she sighs. "I just. I'm sorry I did this to you." It's not a situation she ever expected herself to end up in. Poor George, caught in the middle of all this.
"Yeah, ye should've." Well, Lachlan's not going to lie. There's nothing but honesty here. He tightens his one-armed embrace reassuringly. "But I still love ye. We'll werk it out, a'righ'?" Just like they've done before, only back then it was Lachlan who was asking for the forgiveness. And in his mind, working it out means finding Nathan Petrelli and punching him in the face. Yeah, that'd be good. With a quick peck to her head, he pulls back again. "'M goin' ta bed."
Even expecting it, the truth hurts. Cass winces instinctively at the words, but the tightened embrace helps a little. "I know," she says quietly. It's not like she was expecting him to tell her otherwise. "Alright. I love you, too." Good thing she doesn't know about what his plans are to make things better in his mind. "Am I relegated to the couch or I do I still get bed sleeping privileges?"
That gets a partial grin from Lachlan and he jerks his head toward the bedroom. "Nah, c'mon in." He won't make her sleep on the couch, really. For one thing, it's a bit difficult to fall asleep without Cass there these days. Still, it's not going to be an easy night for him anyway. Sometime during the restless dozing, he'll get up and move to the couch himself. There's still that little tiny bit eating at him.