All right, I'm aware I'm supposed to be writing L&C fic, as I've promised a lot of you by now. But you see, I do have homework here in London while I study... and of the assignments was to write a story. Now, as no one here knows just what exactly I usually write, I decided on an original story. You'll probably find a lot of similarities, though.
Anyway, I just thought I'd share it with you all.
The language probably sounds different from what you're used to with me, but I'm being converted to British English.
Many, many thanks and lots of kuddos to Sara Kraft for Beta Reading this for me and giving me a great laugh with her comments. Also lots of thanks to Tracey (my wonderful teacher) who read this as well and got rid of most of my silly mistakes.
Hope you like it, and any comments - good and bad - are much appreciated.
Together We're Stronger Than Apart By Saskia
Rated: PG
The entire apartment was covered in darkness. The only light that could be seen was the moonlight that flickered in through the window when the curtains wavered in the wind. On the comfortable, pink coach in the middle of the living room sat a young woman. She had a pillow hugged to her chest, knees pulled up and her head rested on her knees. Her long, blond hair fell all around her face as her body shook uncontrollably from her sobbing.
Michelle had had a terrible evening. What she had thought would be the best day in her life, had turned out to be a complete disaster.
She'd been going out with Cristian for months, and their relationship had only grown stronger. She was totally in love with him, and she thought he loved her as well. He'd said it often enough. So when he'd asked her out to an expensive restaurant which was known for its romantic setting, she'd thought he was going to propose. What else could he want to do there?
In her best dress - a pretty sexy one - she'd opened the door for him. The instant she saw him, she knew something was wrong, but Michelle had just dismissed the idea because she was more excited about what was going to happen. He'd looked so handsome and his eyes had sparkled when he saw what she was wearing. The evening had gone by in a haze. They'd just talked and laughed like normal. Towards the end of the evening, Cris had turned very serious, so she'd thought that was it; he'd be on his knees in a minute and she was all ready to accept his proposal.
But that hadn't been the direction Cristian had taken.
Michelle tried to suppress the hot tears burning in her eyes as she remembered his exact words. The jerk wasn't worth crying over. Not after what he'd just done. She'd cried enough already. Still, her heart was broken, and the tears flowed down her cheeks once more.
A sudden burst of anger welt up and she threw the pillow across the room, not even caring what it hit or broke.
*****
~Earlier that evening~ The restaurant was beautiful; there were candles everywhere, and all around her, Michelle saw happy couples. Soft music played in the background and it would take a fool not to notice all the love in the air. Even the food was perfect, just the stuff she loved. Cristian kept complimenting her, making her feel very special. Any minute now it would happen, she was sure of it.
"Michelle, there's something I need to tell you," he suddenly said, causing her to focus back on their conversation.
This was it. Now it came.
She raised her head and looked into his chocolate brown eyes - eyes she could easily drown in. A smile formed on her face and she nodded in reassurance.
"Honey, you know I love you, right?" he asked softly.
The only answer she gave was another nod. The big question was sure to come now!
"That's why I have to break up with you."
"I d-" Michelle started. His words slowly sank in. She raised her hands to her mouth and stared at him in shock. "You WHAT?" She couldn't help but yell. "I don't understand. Why? I thought we got along great. You love me, I love you... what's the problem, Cris? Talk to me!" Desperation started to creep into her voice.
"I'm sorry, sweetie..."
"Don't you dare call me that if you're going to break up with me, jerk!"
"All right, all right! I'm really sorry, though, but I don't see any other way."
"A way for what?" She really didn't understand what was going on.
"A way for us to... ARGH! This is just so complicated. There are things about me you don't know, and right now, that’s forcing me to break up with you now. I wish there was some other way... but it's really not fair for you to keep seeing me with this thing hanging over me,” he rattled while gesturing wildly with his hands.
"Cris, you know you can talk to me, right? I love you, for Christ's sake! I just don't understand," Michelle tried again.
"I'm sorry, Michelle, I really can't say. It's too dangerous!"
"What's dangerous? This honestly can't be so serious... I just need to understand, don't you see that?" She tried to keep her voice down. The last thing she needed right now was the attention of the other customers in the restaurant. Unfortunately, she wasn’t doing a very good job of it.
"I'm sorry, there really is no other way,” Cristian repeated. “Please, don't force me to tell you. I'm in enough trouble as it is, and I don't want to pull you down with me."
"You say you love me, yet you don't let me help you,” she tried again. “Cris, whatever it is, let me help you! Together we're stronger than apart,” she pleaded.
"Michelle, I'm really sorry, but it's for the best." With that comment, he threw a few twenty-pound notes on the table, stood up and walked away.
"Cris!" she wailed after him. Tears welled up in her eyes and soon all she could see of him was a blur through her misty eyes.
This just couldn't be happening. Not to her! They'd been so happy, where could it have possibly gone wrong? Was there someone else? Had she done something? His change in behaviour had come so suddenly, there had to be something! She had to do something, anything... but what was there she could do to make him see she cared enough to help him even though he clearly didn't even want her to help?
Fear started to settle in. What would she do without him in her life? He was her Prince Charming on his White Horse. Sharp pain stabbed her in the chest as she imagined her future without him. She pinched her arm, but no, she was definitely not dreaming.
Finally, she regained some of her senses and she fled after Cristian in the hope to talk some sense into him. In a blind haze, she managed to get past the other tables with the still smiling couples, and ran out the door. On the street, she looked to all sides, but she couldn't find a trace of her boyfriend... ex-boyfriend, she reminded herself sternly.
*****
So here she was right now - alone, completely lost and heart-broken - back at her apartment. She had no idea how she'd managed to get home, but clearly, she'd made it.
His words kept replaying in her head.
<Sorry.>
<Breaking up.>
<Trouble.>
<Can’t tell you.>
<Dangerous.>
She'd been thinking over it for hours already, but she still wasn't any closer to understanding or accepting it. All she knew was that she still loved him very much and that she wasn't ready to give him up.
Feeling very tired all of a sudden, she dragged herself to bed, determined to get to the bottom of it in the morning.
*****
Michelle woke up a few hours later. Her alarm was ringing annoyingly, and the sound only grew louder with each second. Reaching out without looking, she managed to silence it. She glanced at the time, and groaned as she felt tired and turned around to get some more sleep.
Just before she was asleep again, the memory of the previous evening returned, along with her resolution and the realisation she also had to go to work. She briefly considered calling in sick, but dismissed the idea just as fast as it had come. Cris also had to work, so there was nothing she could do at the moment. Besides, work might be the distraction she needed and it gave her a chance to think through everything rationally and maybe even come up with a plan.
Yeah, that was the right thing to do, she sternly told herself, and with that, she got up and prepared for the day.
*****
After work, Michelle rushed home. She got a meal out of the fridge, put it in the microwave and changed into a pair of black jeans, a warm black sweater and black trainers. She was still putting her hair into a ponytail when the microwave gave its ding to tell her the dinner was ready. She ate as fast as she could, and left within minutes.
She had other places to be, and real food could wait. The rest of her life depended on tonight.
While at work, she'd thought Cris's words over and over, but they still didn't make any sense at all. She did know that he hadn't been talking about another woman, or that she herself was the problem. After all, how many times had he apologised? And above all, his first words had been "I love you," which was the reason he'd broken up with her. To protect her. The only conclusion she made out of that was that he was in some serious trouble.
Well, that was why she was on her way to him now. To help him. To solve the mess. To win him back.
By spying.
She figured that if she followed him without being noticed, she'd be able to find out what was going on. Then she'd talk to him and everything would return to the way it had been. They just had to. Michelle was sure their love was stronger than Cristian's problems.
What seemed like no time at all, but must have taken at least half an hour in the rush hour, she parked her car across the street from his place. His car was in front of the house, there were lights on in the living room and bathroom, and if she wasn't mistaken, she saw Cris sitting in front of the TV. In other words, he had to be home and she had arrived in time.
There was still the possibility nothing would actually happen tonight, but Michelle refused to think about that option.
Her patience and determination paid off 45 minutes later. Cris left the house, dressed in ragged, old jeans, an even older jacket and a dark baseball cap that hid most of his face. Michelle could hardly read his expression, but if she had to give it a name, she’d go for anxious determination mixed with fear.
Fear of what? That was what she wanted to know.
He stepped into his car and headed to the East, the poorer part of town. Michelle followed him from a safe distance and always made sure there were at least three cars between them. At one point, she thought she’d lost him when she had to wait for a traffic light, but she’d luckily turned into the right street and spotted him again.
After what seemed like an eternity, Cris finally parked his car in front of an old warehouse. Michelle parked a few blocks away, then ducked hastily as Cris got out of his car and looked around him curiously. Even from this distance, he shouldn’t be able to spot her, but she didn’t even want to take the risk. Peeking over the dashboard, she saw her ex-boyfriend entering the warehouse, so she quickly got out of the car and ran as fast as she could to the building without being noticed.
From the outside, there were no indications what the warehouse was used for, or what it had been used for. To Michelle, it looked more like one of those old abandoned factories where the good guys got murdered in the movies.
Well, whatever it was, if she wanted to find out what was up with Cristian, she just had to go inside. Carefully, she pushed the door open and winced at every little sound it made. She crept inside without alerting anyone to her presence, but then the problem began. Where to go now? There were a few doors… she just had to try them all and see where she ended up.
She walked up to each door, put her ear against it and tried to see if she could hear any voices or any noise at all. The door straight ahead of the door she’d come in seemed to be her best option. She actually thought she heard voices coming from there.
*****
Half an hour later, Michelle was back at her car, panting from the escape she’d made and everything she’d just found out. She knew that if anyone found out she’d been inside, she wouldn’t live to tell the tale. So without thinking – her body had switched to automatic pilot a while ago – she got in her car, and drove away as fast as possible. Where to she didn’t know, anywhere was fine right now.
Anywhere safe.
By the time she finally started to pay attention to her surroundings, she found out to her surprise she was near Cris’s place. Well, she needed to talk to him anyway, so she could just as well wait inside. She still had the key, after all. What harm could that be? Inside she’d be safe, warm and it gave her a place to think through the night and consider her options.
She made a cup of tea and then crashed down on the sofa. She closed her eyes and replayed the scene in her head.
*****
As Michelle entered the room, it was completely dark. It took her a while to adjust her eyes; slowly, she noticed a lot of crates and another door. Light shone from underneath it, she noticed upon investigating. She could even clearly hear voices now. Concentrating on the voices, she was able to follow the conversation. It didn’t make much sense to her, all she knew was that the voices sounded angry. Suddenly, she heard a new voice, one she recognised…
Cristian!
Her intuition had taken her to the right room!
He didn’t sound like the confident man she knew him to be. In fact, she thought he sounded quite scared.
Well, if she wanted to find out more, all she had to do was listen in. Michelle hid behind some crates in case someone entered the room, and resumed her eavesdropping.
“If you’re sure about stepping out, than we just have to take some actions. You can’t mess around with us!”
"Yeah," a second, more gruff voice chimed in, "how wouldya feel if we take that pretty gal of yours? Mess with her a little...hurt her?"
What? NO! Michelle shuddered at the thought of that. She hated pain, and even imagining what those crooks might do to her scared her stiff. But why would they want to hurt her? Where did she fit into all of this? Or was that what Cris had been talking about last night?
“No! Don’t hurt her!” That was clearly Cris.
He sounded so afraid, as if he still cared a great deal about her... well, maybe he still did. He had never said he didn’t love her anymore. It was because he loved her that he had broken up with her, right?
"See, boss, he's not gonna stray from the plan. He's a smart guy, he knows what's good for 'im," the second voice taunted.
“I so am! Just for your information, Michelle and I broke up. So it’s no use to use her against me.”
For what? What was so important here? What was going on?
<And excuse me, buster, it was you who broke up with me, remember?> she wanted to yell at him.
“Really? To me it seems like you’re still protecting her. And just a few seconds ago you betrayed yourself. Together or not, you still care about her.” The first voice was back, and he sounded like a maniac. A dangerous maniac, for that matter.
A deadly silence followed and Michelle could swear the guys could hear her heart hammering in her throat, so loud and fast did it beat.
“You got ‘im there, boss.” That was the second guy again.
“So if you know what’s good for you and that Blondie of yours, you’ll just carry on with the plan.”
Plan? What plan? Michelle was getting more confused by the minute. Her coming here should have enlightened her on what’s going on, not the other way around!
“No!” Cris yelled.
“No what? No don’t hurt her? Or no I won’t do the plan? What’s it gonna be, smart *** ? I don’t have all day and there’s a shipment coming in soon.”
A what? What the heck did that have to do with all this? Plans, actions, torture, shipments… What on Earth was going on?
Wait a minute... didn’t shipments often have to do with smuggling? At least, that was what the movies made you believe.
“Fine, I’ll help you. But this is the last time, you hear me! I won’t allow this to continue.”
“Think about the consequences, Black!”
Uhoh... more problems, and she didn’t like the sound of them one bit. She didn’t understand what Cris’s role in all this was yet, though. A police officer dealing in crime? One thing was for sure, something was very wrong and obviously, she didn’t know Cristian as well as she thought she did.
“The debt has been repaid long ago. After this week, I’m out.”
See, more new information. Now where did that fit in? And since when did Cris have debts? If he needed money, she’d have been happy to help him out.
“And then what? Did you ever think about that?”
“What do you mean?”
“You know too much about us, the shipments and the organisation. We can’t allow you to walk away. You’re a threat to us, so when you signed the contract, it was for life.”
WHAT??
“What!?!?” She heard Cris echo her thoughts.
“I don’t mind murder, but it’s so messy, you know. It’s so much easier if you just cooperate.”
M-m-m-murder? Michelle swallowed loudly, scared to death by now. What had Cris got into? And what was she even doing here? She’d better get out of here soon! But her legs refused to follow her orders, so she was forced to listen in to the conversation for some more time.
“Fine. But leave Michelle out of this!”
“No tricks from you, and she’ll be fine. So?”
<Please, don’t do it, Cris! It’s not worth it,> she pleaded silently.
“I’ll make new arrangements tomorrow. Your drug smuggling activities are safe for the next month.”
Drugs? Had she heard that correctly?
“Good. I’ll send someone with the new schedules tomorrow. It’s been nice to talk to you again, Black. Till next time!”
“Yeah, whatever.”
"And don't forget, I got an eye on you, Black!” the second voice threatened.
Michelle took that as her cue and fled away from the voices and the building.
*****
So here she was now, in his living room, drinking tea, waiting for him to come back to explain it all. She refused to think about the meaning of it all, too afraid that she’d come to conclusions that weren’t true; conclusions that seemed to far out of the realm of possibilities. Surely it couldn’t be as bad as it seemed to be.
Before too long, she heard a car stopping and then footsteps heading to the door. The light in the hallway switched on, a jacket was thrown on the stairs, and the door to the living room swung wide open. A hand reached out to the light switch, and suddenly the room was full of light.
Cristian was home.
And he looked horrible.
“Michelle?” he whispered hoarsely. He coughed. “What are you doing here, Michelle?” he asked, this time more clear.
“I’m here for the truth. The whole story, Cris.”
“I already told you that last night.”
“No, you didn’t. I want to know what’s going on, Cris, and I’m not going anywhere until I do know it all.”
“But...” he protested again.
“No buts! Come on!” Michelle was just not taking no for an answer anymore.
“I... I just can’t!”
She just raised her eyebrows at him.
“It’s too dangerous!” he objected.
“Right. Any more dangerous than you being a cop and making deals with drug smugglers?” She just couldn’t help but sound angry.
If Michelle thought Cris looked terrible when he’d entered the room, she was wrong. He looked completely appalled, shocked and his face went from red, to white and grey.
“How... What... I... How do you know that?” he stammered.
“Quite simple. I followed you tonight and heard you talk to some guys in that warehouse. I heard enough, Cris. Tell me what’s going on, please,” she insisted.
“I...” Cris tried to intervene.
“I thought you were the last decent guy on this planet, the last person I could trust. You’re a cop, for crying out loud! I just want to know what’s going on. Especially since obviously I am involved,” she continued in an ice-cold voice.
“Oh My God! Do you have any idea what you just did? Of the dangers you put *both* of us in?”
“I think I do, actually.”
“Oh, God,” he muttered again.
Cris sank down in the chair next to her, with his hands in his hair, looking completely lost. Michelle reached out for him, softly touching his arm.
“Cris, whatever it is, we can work it out. Just tell me the truth, please,” she whispered.
After what seemed like hours, he looked up at her with a bleak face and tears at the corners of his eyes.
“I guess I owe you that much now. I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to cause this much trouble.”
“It’s okay, we’ll work it out.”
“All right, let me start from the beginning then.”
“Okay,” Michelle agreed.
“About a month before we met, my father died, as you know. Everything seemed normal at first, I grieved for some time, but slowly I got my life back on track. Then I met you, and we fell in love. You really helped me for the first weeks, probably without even realising it,” he started. His voice grew a bit stronger by the second.
“But then those guys came along. They claimed my father had been gambling, a lot. Apparently, he owed them a huge amount of money and they wanted me to pay his debt, since I’m his only living relative.” He rolled his eyes at that. “Of course I refused at first, I didn’t believe them at all, but they had papers, Michelle, it was all real.” At that point, he got up and started to pace around the room.
“How could I pay them? I didn’t have half a million quid!” He threw his hands in the air in desperation. “So they forced me to do stuff for them. Pretty innocent at first, but they quickly started to take advantage of me and my role in the police force. They had control over me, because they kept threatening to hurt you. Or worse, to kill you.” He stopped in front of her, drew his hands through his hair and stared at her in shock. “I just couldn’t let that happen!
“First of all, because I care too much about you to ever get you involved. This was my business. Second of all,” he continued after a brief pause, “I did not want to be involved in a murder. I’m sure they’d even blame me for it.”
He went to sit down next to her again. “So now I’m clearing the docks at times their shipments come in. It’s my responsibility anyway to control the docks, so it was pretty easy. They smuggle drugs most of the time, but I know they also handle in illegal weapons. I think that everything I helped them get into the country is worth at least a few million pounds. So my debt has been repaid long ago. So I want to get out of this, I’ve really lost all my ethics and I regret ever having agreed to help them!” At some point, he’d grabbed her hands for reassurance. Michelle could still see tears shimmering in his eyes.
“But it’s dangerous to get out of that organisation, as you’ve doubtlessly heard. I’m sure they’d hurt you,” he continued after a while. “So I broke up with you. If you aren’t involved with me anymore, there was no danger for you, I thought. I thought I could get out and only my life would be at risk. But obviously, I was wrong. They’re still willing to hurt you. So I have to continue with the scheme, even though I resent it very much.” He averted his eyes from her at that; obviously ashamed of what he’d done.
“I don’t know what to do otherwise. It already broke my heart to dump you, I don’t know what I’d do if they killed you, Michelle. I still love you with all my heart...” Cris trailed off with a broken voice, having got the story of his chest, finally.
Michelle looked at him, in total shock. Drugs... Weapons... he’d surely managed to get himself into an enormous amount of trouble. She could understand his reasons; she’d probably do the same for him.
And, the most important part was that he still loved her. This was just something crossing their path of happiness and they’d just have to deal with it. Surely they were stronger and smarter than those guys? As they’d always said, together they were stronger than either of them alone.
A plan started to form in her mind. Yes, they would defeat those drug dealers and live happily ever after. Her plan just *had* to work!
“Cris, I love you too. I wish you’d told me all that sooner. But I’m glad you finally did.”
“I must admit that it feels pretty good to finally be able to talk to someone about it.”
“I guess the one thing left to do is fix your mess.”
“That would be perfect, but I don’t see how, sweetheart.”
“That’s where I come in, silly! Listen up...”
*****
~Several weeks later~“I told you it would work!” Michelle told Cris enthusiastically.
“I know, and I’m glad you were right, again.” Cris gave her a huge smile.
“Good, I like being right.” She giggled as Cris gave her a thwap on the arm.
Ever since they had that conversation a couple of weeks ago, their world had turned upside down. But it was all worth it now. The guys who’d used Cris were in jail, the entire organisation had been rolled up and Cris had been totally cleared of all blame and responsibility.
“I still don’t know how you ever came up with that plan,” Cris told her.
“It’s simple, really. Remember those desperate women often are geniuses, especially when it comes to their beloved.”
“Uhhu... and I’m supposed to believe that?” Cris asked incredulous.
“Sure! I just thought that since you’re a cop, you could have gone undercover. You found out about it all and just needed the proof for your boss. You thought it was safer to do it on your own. Sure, you did some illegal stuff, but catching that organisation had to be more important. And in the mean time, you had a chance to get your contract and all other information leading back to you or your father. Pretty simple, right?”
“Sure, honey, whatever you say. I’m just glad to have you as my girl. My own, beautiful, smart, wonderful, witty, gorgeous woman.”
Michelle blushed at his sweet words. “You’re not so bad yourself, handsome.”
“Why, thank you.” And with that, he pulled Michelle closer to him as he lowered his head to hers. Several kisses later, they finally pulled apart for some much needed air.
Suddenly, Cris released her and dropped onto one knee.
“Sweetheart, I think we both proved lately how much we love each other and how much we need one another. After all, together we’re stronger than apart. So I thought...” he trailed of as he grabbed a small black box from his pocket and opened it. “Do you want to marry me and become my wife?”
Michelle stared at the ring in disbelief and gasped. It was the most simple yet gorgeous ring she’d ever seen.
“I thought you’d never ask! Yes, I’d love nothing better than to become your wife, Cristian Black!” she exclaimed.
Cris pulled her down to his eye level and slipped the ring on her finger before kissing her again.
The End 
