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[Les - date night]
It isn't her dream job, but it's enough that April can get by without looking like she's pulling money out of nowhere and that's all she really needs. She's assisting a self-employed lawyer around his office, which, as jobs go, really isn't all that bad. He's relatively quiet, the work is easy, and when he looks at her in a way she doesn't like -- which he has twice already -- all April has to do is suggest to him in a soft voice that he doesn't think of her like that.
But it's a job and she needs one. The only problem is that tonight, when she's supposed to be meeting Les at her place for their date, she's been kept late. There's a client still in the lawyer's office when she glances at her phone and realizes there's no way she's going to make it to her apartment before Les, so she texts him and tells him if that's the sort of thing he can do, that he should feel free to magic her door open. She doesn't leave keys lying around under welcome mats like she knows some people do, but she also doesn't have anything in her apartment worth stealing. There's nothing she's attached to in there at all.
So she tells Les to go ahead, wait inside, she'll be there in twenty minutes. By the time she gets her things packed up and is actually outside her apartment, it's more like half an hour and she's angry with herself. She's angry with her boss for keeping her late and she's upset that she's made Les wait, all of which are new feelings.
April loves to keep people waiting. It exerts a certain level of dominance, but now, as she walks toward her building, her heels clicking on the sidewalk as she digs her keys out of her purse, she only feels bad.
But it's a job and she needs one. The only problem is that tonight, when she's supposed to be meeting Les at her place for their date, she's been kept late. There's a client still in the lawyer's office when she glances at her phone and realizes there's no way she's going to make it to her apartment before Les, so she texts him and tells him if that's the sort of thing he can do, that he should feel free to magic her door open. She doesn't leave keys lying around under welcome mats like she knows some people do, but she also doesn't have anything in her apartment worth stealing. There's nothing she's attached to in there at all.
So she tells Les to go ahead, wait inside, she'll be there in twenty minutes. By the time she gets her things packed up and is actually outside her apartment, it's more like half an hour and she's angry with herself. She's angry with her boss for keeping her late and she's upset that she's made Les wait, all of which are new feelings.
April loves to keep people waiting. It exerts a certain level of dominance, but now, as she walks toward her building, her heels clicking on the sidewalk as she digs her keys out of her purse, she only feels bad.
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Les is....antsy. That's the best word for it. Besides dinner, what would they even do or talk about on this date? Is this even really them, is what he's been asking himself all day. Maybe it is unconventional but up until now he's had no complaints about what they have going. Is this date just going to complicate and screw that up? Because Les is fully capable of messing things up by probably just being himself.
This is why Les is distracted when he enters the dark apartment. He doesn't feel the stillness in the air that isn't quite right. Maybe another day he would've sensed the room is too dark, too quiet. Smelled the bodies in the room. Something. Les, on any other day, without April on the brain, would have known it is a trap.
But that isn't what happens. Les steps through the door, heading for the kitchen to flick on the light switch, but when he does he's surrounded by three hefty men in dark clothes. All their eyes flicker into slits, their teeth, no fangs sharpening into points, and Les prepares a spell. Anything to protect himself. But it doesn't help. Someone comes and knocks him over the head with what feels like a rock and he goes down. He doesn't really scream, more than whimper, because that hurt like hell, and there is immediate wetness when he touches his face with hia fingers.
"What the fuck!" Les yells surprised he is still conscious actually as he regains his senses and uses magic to shield himself from the other men, scrambling on all fours trying to get somewhere. Anywhere. Back outside, into April's bedroom. Somewhere. He is back to his feet, crashing into something that sounds big and full of glass, the nice dress shoes he wore sliding on the ceramic tile. As he runs he feels hands on him and turns around swiftly using a fire spell directly in the face of his attacker. And it works because he's safe when the fire clears. A body is on the ground, and somehow the other three from before are down too. He has to get out of here. Call the police.
And he starts for the door, pulling out his cellphone to call April, to tell her not to come home...but Les never gets the number dialed.
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But he's already there, he's already waiting and she doesn't want to waste his time, so she's already taking her hair down as she walks into the building and presses the button for the elevator. She's combing her fingers through her waves when she approaches her apartment door and the fact that it's left open gives her pause. Les is there, but she's sure he would have closed the door.
Waiting there, she listens, but there's only silence, which is both strange and not. If something were to be wrong, she expects she'd hear something out of the ordinary. But if Les is inside, she would expect to hear something from him. The sound of his breathing or the shuffle of his foot against the floor. There's nothing.
"Les?" she calls cautiously, reaching one hand into her purse for her taser as she opens the door. It swings wide and she takes in the mess left inside her apartment. The cabinet where she keeps her dishes has been smashed and there's a heavy metal statue lying on the floor, the edge slick with blood. She keeps her taser down by her side as she enters and she pauses just long enough by the door to slip out of her heels and into a pair of trainers, shoes she rarely wears but is suddenly glad she's left so close to the door. "Les?" she calls again.
Her heart is pounding, something bad has happened here and she feels certain it has something to do with her mother's death. For years she's kept out of trouble and now it's come to her on the heels of the will and letter she'd received in the mail.
Somewhere down the hall, she hears an intake of breath and she holds the taser steady as she creeps toward it and pushes open her bedroom door.
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It had been obvious when the mastermind of this operation showed up to the party because not only does the guy kick the other three lackeys that Les had managed to escape earlier and yells at them to hold Les down and tape his mouth. The leader is the one that finally gets Les to the ground swinging a couple of punches at first and finally digging his claws into Les shoulders, leaving him in a heap on the carpet. His magic isn't any help once it's four against one and the hit he took to the head starts shooting blinding pain through his skull.
He passes out at one point because he loses a few minutes and awakens to find himself strapped to a kitchen chair in April's bedroom. The men are ransacking her apartment, flinging clothes and shoes and papers out of drawers and her closet. Les blinks back the stinging in his eyes trying to see, trying to feel a way out of here, but his hands and feet are literally tied down. Even so he realizes the men or should he say sirens, as he remembers their eyes and the claws in his shoulder, they are looking for something.
He begins to point his hands as best he can at the man to his left, preparing to do a spell, when he hears a gruff voice in his ear. "No you don't, witch. Just try it and your little girlfriend----" he shows Les a candid picture of April dressed for work, on the screen of a cellphone and then another of him and her together, on the beach maybe----"She'll have us to deal with when she gets home. And we'll make you watch." He pats Les on the cheek for emphasis and Les is seething mad then.
But the threat to April does something to him. He literally would like to rip that guy's head off or hit him with a fire spell. Something. Except he's also a little afraid by just how trapped he is, that April will be home any moment and he can't warn her to stay away. Obviously he's in danger himself, but he doesn't want April to be hurt.
All choice though is taken out of his hands when April's voice calls out his name. There's a tinge of concern in her voice he imagines because of the state of her apartment from the fight earlier. Just go back is all Les thinks, hopes that she'll just leave. One of the men even covers Les mouth grabbing his head even though they taped his mouth shut already.
Slowly, April swings open the bedroom door, and Les sees her for just a second, makes eye-contact that he hopes tells her to run now before it's too late. Then the three men surround her and Les' view is cut off. He hears the leader speaking next. "Well, well, well. We've been waiting for you, Ms. Ross," the leader says.
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There's no time for her to dwell on it now, no time for her to try and work out what she's feeling, because she only sees him for a second before she's surrounded by three large men. No, not men. Sirens. She can feel that before she even catches sight of the largest man and the way his pupils have narrowed into slits. She scans her past quickly, trying to determine if she's ever crossed any sirens before and when she comes up empty handed, she has to assume it has something to do with her father.
"I can't say the same," she answers. "You beat up my date." And it's only the fact that she's a siren that helps her keep her voice steady. She's made a life out of avoiding situations like this, but for the first time there is someone else involved and for the first time she's terrified.
"Had to make our point," he says with a shrug and she needs to wait for the right moment. They don't seem to have noticed the taser at her side and the probes can shoot a fair distance, so she just needs to wait. "Besides, he's strong. It was the only way."
"What do you want?" she asks, her voice tired. "I have no interest in your banter, let's just get this over with."
"We heard you came into some money recently," he says, turning back to look at her and he's shifted just enough that she can see Les. Her gaze is on him and she tries to keep her face blank, but she's worried and it's obvious. "Money your mother owed us."
That's enough to pull her attention away from Les and she stares at the man who's speaking just as he gestures for one of the others to go back to where Les is restrained. "My mother?" she asks.
"Yeah," he says. "She had a problem, you know that. And she owed us a lot of money. We want it and if we don't get it..." He trails off and shrugs, smiling back at where one of his men is standing beside Les, a knife in one hand.
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There are actually very few things that scare Les. Some could even argue that he craves danger, the adrenaline, the chance. But as he watches those men surround April, sees her cut off from him, Les feels the unfamiliar feeling of fear growing inside of him. He is afraid for her and for her safety, and his hands are shaking just as he triea to think, tries to come up with a way out. He is so scared something will happen to her, and it feels like if something did, he'd be devestated. Dates or maybe-dates, plans or no plans, Les has come to care about April more than he realized, definitely more than he's told her. And it would be kind of nice to be able to tell her now.
Except he can't. He hates this helpless feeling being restrained by the chair but hates even more just the thought of April being hurt by these men. They speak back and forth, telling April they know about her mom's money. Les looks up at that confused but even angry that it's her mom that's brought this trouble here. Someone April didn't even know.
He watches April closely through the room sees the steady, purposeful movements she takes. Part of him hopes she knows what she's doing because when the third man moves away from the door, Les sees the black taser she's hiding by her hip, sees that the shoes she's wearing really don't go with that skirt. But the other part of him, the part that's just realized he really likes April more than he's ever liked anyone and he'd like to tell her that once he's outta this chair, well that part doesn't want her to try to fight these assholes on her own.
So he's actually caught off-guard when the metal goes against his throat. It's a knife he realizes, looking up, straining his neck when he feels the sharp edge dig into his skin. He glares at the man holding him down, wishing again that he could hurt him. April must not respond quick enough because the leader, the one doing all the talking says, "I'm more than happy to do this the hard way. We might not even kill him. Winter's right around the corner and I may just keep him around to keep me warm," he threatens taking the knife himself this time and running the blade down the side of Les's cheek slowly.
The siren's voice goes deep, unsteady, almost unnatural next. "I want my money, sweetheart! Or you'll see that momma of yours earlier than you thought."
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"A first for what?" he asks.
"Seeing my mother," she says, flashing a smile she doesn't really feel. She can't take all three of them on, but if she can incapacitate them long enough to free Les, it's possible he'll be able to do things she can't. They're sirens and they're powerful, but she is, too. She won't try to sing, they'll catch that in a second, but she puts a gentle, soothing quality into her voice. "I haven't seen her since I was two. And I'll have her money, but not for a few months. These things take time. You'll have to wait." It's a gentle suggestion and she puts just enough of her power into her voice that the man with a knife held to Les falters. The leader is powerful, but the other two are open to her suggestion.
"How much did she owe you?" she asks, her thumb sweeping over the taser to make sure the safety is off. It doesn't matter how much. She can't expect they'll leave her alive.
"Sixty-four thousand," he answers and although April thinks she's held herself fairly steady until now, she can't help but blink at the amount. It's not a small sum and she has no idea how anyone owes that much money for a drug problem. There's something else, there has to be, but she doesn't have the time to figure it out.
"You don't want to hurt us," she says and the leader starts toward her, but the other two drop back, prone to her suggestion. The knife clatters to the floor and both siren sit down where they are. Their leader only gets two steps toward April before she raises the taser and pulls the trigger. Both probes hook into his chest and his body shakes before he goes down hard.
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It's hard to sit there, listen as the back and forth between April and the men continues, while Les is completely vulnerable and useless to her, but he senses when the conversation grows less comfortable, when April and the leader begin to test their powers against the one another. She isn't trying to convince Les to drop the knife, so he hears the sweetness, the convincing sing-song in her tone that isn't natural. And he can't help but wonder when the blade against his skin moves away whether she's ever used her powers against him. He only considers it for a moment though, because there's something stronger that answers back, a feeling of trust. He knows she could manipulate him, and he isn't naive enough to think she never has with others, not with what little he knows of her past, but he doesn't think she's using her powers against him.
You don't want to hurt us, Les hears April say next, and the knife hits the floor. Everything else happens in a flash. The other men take a seat, fully engrossed by April's power. The leader lunging for April. April using the taser and dropping him to the floor. April turns back to Les in a hurry untying the straps they'd used to tie him to the chair. First his feet. Then his arms. He flexes his muscles when they are done reaching up for his mouth to rip the tape away. And he's free, but the men are still there.
"Woah. Shit," Les says, as he stands up from the chair too fast, the world feeling topsy turvy for a moment because of the hit he took to the head. He clutches at his forehead, pressing the heel of his palm into the space above his left eye, but that doesn't stop him for reaching out for April because he just needs to touch her just for a second. Make sure she's okay. "We gotta get out of here---"
But they don't get to do that as whatever April did, giving herself time to free Les from his constraints, has worn off, and all the men are back on their feet. Les stands back to back against April, as they encircle them, reaching for her hand with his, raising his other out in front of him in a protective stance.
Now Les gets to play. "Hey, asshole, I don't think she has your money. See me and her, we were going out to dinner tonight. We were gonna have a nice time, and you've screwed that up. And I'm really, really unhappy about it," he says, glaring back at the leader at the angry slits flaring back at him. He hopes these guys really are just after the money and keeping them talking will work. Les just needs a few more seconds, needs enough time to figure out the right words to say. He doesn't even hear the string of threatening curse words the leader yells back to him, but he thinks it's something about dangling Les off the side of the roof. It doesn't matter.
"Maybe you didn't hear what I said. Don't ever come back here---" That does it, and quickly Les utters the incantation under his breath, in a flurry of latin as all three men lunge for them. The spell works, bursting into fruition with a spark and then nothing but black smoke. He has just enough time to take April to the floor, using the hand he's holding to yank her with him down to the ground. Above them a cloud of black fills the air, right into the faces and lungs of their attackers. It smells rotten, and even down on the floor, out of the way of the initial burst, it stings Les' eyes.
"Go! The door!" he yells to her, knowing they gotta get out because the apartment will soon be filled with poisonous smoke, and their attackers may not be completely out for the count.
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She's aware enough of her surroundings to grab her purse by the door, but everything else she leaves behind. She won't be able to come back to the apartment and her purse has everything in it, every piece of her life she needs in order to function, in order to move on when and if it becomes necessary.
And it looks like it's become necessary.
"We can't go to your place," she says the second they're outside. If they're followed, they'll know where Les lives and all she can think of is talking into her bedroom and seeing him there, tied to the chair, blood caking the side of his head. There aren't many things in this world she cares much for protecting, but Les is one of them. She can't let him get hurt.
"Is there anywhere we can go that they can't follow us?" she asks, winding the electrodes back into her taser as quickly as she can. It won't be of use to her again, she has to load a new gas chamber into it before she'll be able to fire it and they don't have time for that now. "Anywhere you can think of?"
She doesn't know Siren Cove like Les does and he's a witch, too. All she can do is hope he knows of some place they won't be seen, a place where they can't be followed, because even though they have a head start now, she can't imagine the situation staying the same.
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They make it outside, and Les has this really strong urge to throw his arms around April and just be grateful she made it out of their without a scratch on her. His head hurt like hell and all her stuff is likely ruined, but she is safe. That is all that matters as does keeping her safe now. Because those guys probably wouldn't give up and walk away.
When she asks where they can go, his initial thought is Corry's house. But he wouldn't dare bring danger to her doorstep again. Who knows how long they had been following him and April. Those pictures were from the beach and maybe they knew Les had been in the guesthouse. He is just thankful to know Corry isn't alone. She is with Will tonight so the house will look empty if those idiots think.to check back there.
Finally he has an idea. "Watersong. That place is a fortress. Michael would know the second any of them even come close," he tells her. Between the wards and the security cameras no one came or went without Lara's say so. She is away on business but Michael is well trained. They could go to Les office and hide out there for the night. Plus with the extra people hanging around it would help and Les could call Levi from his office, give the police a heads up about those guys in town.
And they could walk there. He tugs her hand to pull her along with him. "This is fun. You're getting every cent worth," he says, joking obviously but he is still freaked out about how those guys were just waiting there. If Les hadn't come along first what would've happened then...
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Besides, she tries to tell herself, even if she did leave town tonight, they might still hurt Les just to make a point. If he's in danger no matter what, there's no point in leaving, but of course, she has no idea how else to solve this problem.
"Watersong, okay," she agrees, letting him lead her. She's worried about him, about the blow he took to the head and she wants to check on him, but they can't stop moving yet. Once they're in the bar she can look at him and she thinks he probably needs to go to a hospital, but she's too worried to even risk that. Everything is too open. "I have no idea how to get rid of them."
She squeezes his hand and bites down hard on her lower lip. This is why she doesn't get attached to people. When she's been in bad situations before, all she's had to do is leave, but now Les is involved and she doesn't know how to fix it.
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Les takes her to the back entrance through the alley between Watersong and the building beside it. Michael's town car is parked in its normal place which is a relief actually. He knows with Michael around they are safe. Just being at Watersong would keep them protected.
But like April, Les is also not certain how to run those guys off either. All he knows is that he wants April safe. If it means paying them off maybe they'd need to do that. Maybe it's just a matter of talking to Lara. Being in town as a siren must come with some protection. From every business meeting he's ever taken with Lara she definitely doesn't want outsiders threatening sirens under her watch. It's all about territory. And those three dumbasses had crossed into hers over money. If Les told her, she probably wouldn't be happy. Only thing is he doesn't know how April even feels about Lara's help...
He buzzes the intercom attached to the back door. Michael picks up immediately with a scratch of static. "It's Les. I need to get into the office." The door buzzes and unlocks. He motions for April to go first then buzzes the intercom again. "Don't let anyone else in through this door and watch the front. Some guys attacked me and April tonight..." Michael inquires in concern whether he needs to get Lara back in town. "No no. No. This wasn't about Lara---" He looks at April for a second. This is about April. Her mom. Her money. Her debt. She needs help, and he wants to help her. But does he just get to make a decision to involve other people? Even if those people can help?
"I don't know what they wanted. We're just gonna chill out for awhile," he lies mostly just to give April a chance to decide what's next. "We probably need a first aid kit too?" Michael sighs eternally vexed because that isn't the first time Les has needed the first aid kit to be honest.
He releases the button. "Okay. We're good. Office is upstairs," he tells April pointing to the staircase just inside the back door.
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And she's worried about Les, too, which is another feeling she's not particularly used to. He's walking and talking without much problem, but he's in bad shape. She can see it. She wants to help, but her hand just twitches in the hold he has on her and she nods.
"Thank you," she says, her voice uncharacteristically soft. She's trying to thank him for a lot of things, trying to say she's sorry, trying to tell him she's worried all at once, but she's sure she's falling short. She walks up the staircase, following Les' direction to the office before she turns to look at him. "We should get you cleaned up."
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They come to the office, and April tells him he needs to get cleaned up. He automatically reaches up to touch the place above his eye that still feels like it's throbbing with pain. The blood has dried now, but it still hurts. Now that the immediate danger is gone, Les can feel every inch of the injuries he took, feel that punch, and the way his bottom lip feels swollen too.
"Do I look that bad?" Les asks with a half-smile. It feels like he probably looks that bad. Right then Michael knocks lightly on the office door and pokes his head through waving the first aid kit. The taller man walks into the room and raises an eyebrow at Les' face and gives April a glance, but Michael is very good at his job. Helpful. Slightly menacing. Discreet. That's why Les isn't worried the incident will ever be mentioned to Lara unless he does it himself.
"Thanks. I'll call if we need anything else," Les says, dismissing Michael. He hands April the kit. There's a part of him that wants to tell her that he thinks they should call Lara now, but the concern is evident on April's face and he isn't sure it is just about his injuries. Instead, he sits down on the leather couch along the wall sighing as he eases down. He is tired and worried. "This isn't how tonight was supposed to go right?" He asks, leaning his head back against the cushion.
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And Les is involved now, too. April can only hope that means she'll be safe here, that Lara might be able to help. If necessary, she has the funds to pay the men off, but she has a very distinct feeling that won't be enough. Especially after tonight.
"How do you feel?" she asks as she hunts through the first aid kit for some gauze and something with which to clean the blood off Les. He looks terrible and she's worried he might have a concussion and she's sure that worry is evident in her features. It's not an expression she wears very often and she's suddenly so tired of pretending she doesn't care for him.
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Les lifts his head up when she comes to sit next to him. He knows they are safe here, but he can't help himself from picturing April when she walked into the bedroom suddenly surrounded by those men. Considering how they dealt with him, Les didn't know what they'd do with April, and he had been truly afraid for her because he....he just doesn't want her to get hurt. He can no longer just ignore what he's been feeling anymore. Too say he and April are just hanging out wouldn't be the truth.
And now with those guys still in town Les doesn't even want to say that. He doesn't want to just hang out with her or meet up every now and then, or anything like that. He wants to make sure she's safe. He wants to help her figure this out. And after they do he still wants to go on their date. A real one.
Unlike April, Les has been on dates before with other women. Just never one he'd been looking forward to as much as this one. Which is new and different, but he had been determined to get things right tonight. He was really going to try he realizes now that he didn't get the chance. "We can do it again another time," Les offers as she digs through the kit and then looks up at him, her concern evident. He wants to reassure her. His injuries hurt but will heal.
"I'm just happy you're okay," Les says instead with a soft smile. "I didn't know what was going to happen when you got there. I kinda hoped you'd just never come home and like stand me up."
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But that's awfully close to admitting that she's been having feelings for him and April gets up to go to the bar so she can put some water in a bowl. It gives her something to do and it gives her the distance she feels like she needs. This is complicated. It's a mess. There are sirens after her for money her mother apparently owes them and she has a fairly extensive criminal record Les doesn't know about, not to mention the fact that she's never let herself get close to anyone. But he's different. He's proven that time and again.
Returning to the couch, she sinks back down beside him with a wet cloth and a bowl of water, then reaches out with her free hand to gently coax his chin to one side. "I'm... I'm glad you're okay, too. I didn't... I had no idea my mother owed anyone money." She doesn't want him to think she could have prevented this somehow or that she had known they would be there. She doesn't want Les to think she would have let him get hurt.
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When she takes the space back beside him, he lifts his head back up, tilting his neck when she takes his chin. Her fingers are gentle and warm against his skin as she cleans the blood from the side of his mouth and lip. Whatever she's doing, it stings against his cut. But it doesn't matter, he smiles at her, at what she says. More than that, Les likes to be cared for...he doesn't give people permission nearly as often as he could. He's too used to taking care of himself. But April has made him think about many things differently as of late.
"I know. I know you didn't," Les says, watching her, brow wrinkled in minor confusion. He wouldn't be here right now if he thought April set him up. He doesn't even know why she thinks he would assume that. "We'll figure this out. If you want, you know I'll ask Lara right? We don't have to tell her about your mom, but Lara is good. She will help you. And I just..." Les is searching for the best thing to say that's the truth even though it means letting down his guard some. "I want you to be ok. You're important. Uh, to me," he says. "You're important to me..."
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It's easiest to focus on what he's said about Lara and she nods. The idea of it scares her, the idea of asking the matriarch siren for help, but she's coming to realize that maybe living in a town with a whole community of sirens might actually be beneficial. She's never done anything to break the rules, but she's also still not sure what Lara thinks of her, but if Les thinks she'll be willing to help, April is fairly certain it would be stupid for her to say no. "I would appreciate that," she says. "If you'd talk to Lara."
"And I..." But she hesitates, using the excuse of a particularly stubborn bit of blood on his cheek to keep silent for a moment. "I'm okay." She isn't injured, anyway, and if it becomes necessary, she has the money to pay them off. She has the life insurance policy and while she had originally planned on doing nothing with it, now there's a use. But that isn't what's worrying her right now. What he's just said to her is important. It's something bigger than what they've been letting themselves talk about so far and her gaze lifts, catching his. "You're... you're important to me, too."
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She says Les can talk to Lara, and it's a relief. It isn't just that Les trusts Lara, after her assistance with Corry how could he not? It's more that Les is out of his league here with sirens. If it was three witches after April, maybe Les would trust himself more. Lara knows how to protect the sirens in this town. He's seen it. He saw how she cared about Corry, and he knows Lara would do the same for April now. Even if not for April herself, Lara would do it to help him.
Because April is important to him.
Her fingers wiping away the blood from his face, the cool gauze against his cheek, keeps him from letting panic takeover. Letting himself second-guess telling April the truth just now. But he wanted her to know that he cares about her. He wouldn't be here if this, them, if they were only what they were pretending to be. That's when April looks up at him, hesitating, but she still admits it back. He immediately wants to kiss her, but his lip hurts, his head too. He settles for putting his hand over the one holding his jaw and pulls it down, threading their fingers together.
"I'm not really that good at this," Les admits with a half-smile. He probably doesn't even need to say that. No one would mistake him for a catch, for boyfriend-material, right? He feels her hand in his, swallows, but continues. "Just call me. Sometimes. Anytime. I dunno." He shrugs then laughs because that's a silly request after tonight, after they nearly got much worse than a few bruises. "I always want to see you. Will you do that?" he asks suddenly hoping she agrees.
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"I can do that," she says, her voice uncharacteristically soft. It's still not putting a label on anything, which she's perfectly happy with, given the fact that she thinks she may well panic in the face of that, but it's close. "I'm not exactly very good at it either. The last time I... the last time anyone got close, he took one look at my scales and got out of there as quickly as possible." So Les has certainly already given her more reason to trust him, but it's still scary.
"I just saw you like that, tied to the chair and I... it was... I hated seeing it," she admits. "It made me furious." And she's never worried about protecting anyone but herself, not even her sister. They'd been separated, but April knows she could have tried harder, but she never bothered. It's always been about protecting herself.
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"Really?" Les asks his face brightening despite the night, despite the pain in the wound she's cleaning, despite their ruined date, and everything else. That April agrees to call him makes tonight turn out exactly how he hoped for deep down. It's why he was going to try. The reason for his nice clothes and the reservations. Because he wants this to be something more.
"Well. You did manage to save me," Les says, starting to smile. "And you tased a guy. I can't even explain how impressed I am by that." For one thing April carries a taser and she hadn't backed down an inch. "But I just didn't want anything to happen to you..."
He pauses for a second looking down, not wanting this to sound weird or freak her out. "That's why if you need a place to crash for a few days, you can stay at my place. Completely unrelated to that whole I like you thing that I, uh, just said," he says awkwardly then smirks. "But I wouldn't make you sleep on the couch if you consider it."
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Because that's nice, too. And she hasn't let herself believe anyone truly cares about her in a long time.
He's right, though, her place won't be safe to return to. There's a disaster left behind that she doesn't want to think about cleaning up and she doesn't need anything that's been left behind. She might miss her wardrobe, but there's certainly nothing in that closet she can't replace. Nothing worth getting hurt over.
"You'll let me share your bed?" she asks with a faint smile and an arched eyebrow. She's teasing him again, though there's a faint note of hope threaded in her voice, something she doesn't want to admit to.
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He's less nervous the longer his words settle in the air between them. It had seemed like such a big deal to just admit he likes April, like he would've been giving up something, or opening himself up to misery later on. But this is....better than he expects. Nice maybe. Like, there's a flutter of nerves in his belly. Not nerves. Just flutters because April's face doesn't completely shutdown at the idea of staying with him until she finds her apartment.
He's never done that. Ever. Gone through these lengths with a woman. But if April agrees he's more than happy to do it, give her one less headache to worry about in the middle of figuring out her mom's debt. It's just a place to crash, but it's more than that.
He smiles when she smiles, those flutters coming once more when she teases back at him. "I'm willing to give you some space. Yeah. Maybe a little bit," he says in a playful tone. "Just enough so you must cuddle me all night."
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She's not trying to get anything from Les, though, and although she's never told him the ways she's made her money, her heart suddenly feels heavy, like he might think she wants something from him other than just him. So she reaches up to touch his face, careful not to touch any of his injuries.
"I like you," she says, the words simple and yet so incredibly difficult to say. The last time she'd said it and meant it had been a very long time ago. "Thank you."