#im thinkiing of actually just posting these up on my ao3 in a multichapter or smth bc i feel like itll reach more ppl????

[nadiineross]

requested by @csquirrel27

27. “If we get caught I’m blaming you”

Chloe breathes a sigh of relief when Nate comes sulking back to their table, pouting at a disgruntled Elena. 

“Okay, fine,” he says when he slumps into his chair between Chloe and Elena. “If you get the candlestick, you win.”

Chloe dips her head and smiles, then, through her curled lashes, she looks up at Nadine. She’s sitting next to Elena, one arm extended over the top of an empty chair, a leg carefully crossed over the other. 

“Partner?”

Nadine’s eyes flit to meet hers and her balled up napkin is discarded on the table. She finally flashes a devilish smirk and, Christ, Chloe is infatuated. 

“Watch and learn,” Nadine says to Nate, standing in a swift motion. It’s the first thing she’s said to him all night and judging by Nate’s scowl, he knows this too. 

“Be back soon,” Chloe sings, patting Nate’s gelled hair. Behind her, she hears Elena snort and an amused “let it go, honey.”

They’re at the wedding of a rich man notorious for hoarding things and doing absolutely nothing with them. Simon Irving had plenty of antiquities that could lead to bigger finds, but he refused to use them, preferring to use them as decor.

An atrocity, honestly. Tonight, they have their sights set on a century old candlestick that the groom-to-be had been boasting about earlier. Apparently, a good addition to his collection of paperweights. 

Completely by chance, Nate had been invited to the excessively extravagant wedding and, after months of needling, Chloe had managed to rope him into asking for two more invites. 

(He’d told Irving that they were interested in selling a priceless tusk from India, which, for the record, is sitting comfortably in the hands of the Ministry of Culture and has been for the last two years.) 

Of course, a bit of friendly competition didn’t hurt anyone, so after being seated, Chloe injured Nate’s ego enough to make him insist on doing the work for her. 

Now, Elena’s poking at his wounded ego, looking fantastic as she does, and Nadine’s leading her by the arm to the dance floor. 

Chloe’s in a bright red dress, a slit up one leg, and a scooping back. Nadine, stunning as usual, is dressed in a crisp dress shirt tucked tidily into her pants. 

“Hm, you look dashing, love,” Chloe says, putting a hand on Nadine’s shoulder. 

There’s a crack of a smile, but otherwise, Nadine only squints over her shoulder. 

Chloe keeps her eyes on Irving as Nadine leads them through the crowd, weaving through and taking large arcs around the crowded spaces. 

The door that leads to the study is located near the stage at the front of the hall, half hidden behind sweeping red curtains draped across the walls. 

There’s a staircase that’ll lead to the upper floor and thanks to Irving’s lack of filter, Chloe knows the door to his study is adorned in what must be clear evidence of cultural appropriation. 

A guard slips through the door, closing it with a whirring and a click. 

“No go,” Chloe murmurs, thumb idly smoothing at the fabric of Nadine’s shirt. 

Nadine curses, and like that, they’re off again, making circles around the room. 

Only one hallway other than the entrance is open to guests which leads to the bathrooms. They have no choice but to go through there. Nadine lets Chloe hold onto her arm, escorting her, and oh, that’s a bicep, all right.

Inside, a lady is washing her hands, so Chloe lets go of Nadine’s arm and makes for one of the stalls. It’s an awkward moment where Chloe’s hiding out with a toilet and Nadine’s loitering, waiting for the lady to leave, but it dissipates with the lock of a door behind the sound of clicking heels. 

“Game plan?” Nadine asks as Chloe comes back out the stall. 

“Don’t have one.” 

“Didn’t think so,” she says, voice filled with mirth, letting Chloe brush by her to grab onto the sink. 

Chloe takes her heels off, leaning sideways, and raises her eyebrows. “Isn’t the study right upstairs?” 

She knows the answer, so Nadine doesn’t answer, just takes Chloe’s shoes and rolls her head around on its socket. She hooks the points of the heels into her belt loops and tightens the belt by one hole. 

There’s a window at the end of the bathroom, probably popped open because one of the other guests wanted a smoke. Chloe lets her go first, bowing with a twirl of her hand. 

“Chivalry at its finest,” Nadine says dryly, peering out the window and, once deemed safe, hoisting herself over the sill. 

There’s a row of windows above, too high to grab from where they’re hanging, toes on the thinnest of ledges. 

At the edge of the building, before it turns the corner to the front, there’s a gargoyle that they can use as a step up. 

Chloe, having climbed out second, is closer, so Nadine cants her head towards the gargoyle. “After you.” 

“Chivalry at its finest,” Chloe replies, teasing. She grabs the edge, legs dangling briefly, before heaving herself up. She uses one hand and pinches her dress between her fingers, giving it a little flutter. “Well, if the boys bothered to enjoy the view, it’s right here.”

A couple guards below them share a cigarette, guns slung behind them. 

Nadine rolls her eyes, joining Chloe’s height with more grace. 

“Show off.” Chloe scoots along the wall, peeking through windows every now and then. 

“Out of shape,” Nadine replies, airily. 

“Oh, you love my shape.” Chloe tries a window and grunts in annoyance when it doesn’t budge. They shuffle along, prying at one more before a dusty window finally creaks open. “Third times the charm, as they say.” 

“All things come in three,” Nadine intones. 

Chloe can’t help but smile, pleased.

The room they climb into must be a guest room, guessing by the lack of personal effects. Still, Chloe noses around curiously while Nadine wipes her now-grimy fingers clean with tissues from the fancy tissue box on a nearby desk. 

Unhooking them from Nadine’s pants, Chloe helps herself back into her heels. 

When they’re both done, Nadine takes the lead. The hallway is empty, but they stick close to the sides, ready to duck into a room if anyone turns the corner. 

“Wait,” Chloe says, stopping Nadine with a hand on her elbow. “That look right to you?”

There’s a door decorated by phrases written in a logographic script. Irving is white as they come and, well, that’s certainly not the Starbucks logo. 

Nadine closes the door behind her and flips the lights on. 

Again, Chloe slinks around the room, like a cat. 

Nadine fixes her sleeves, unrolling them so she can refold them up to her elbows. There’s a bunch of candlesticks on the fake fireplace, and she lets Chloe examine them while she takes a blazer off the back of the leather desk chair. 

“Why hello, Lumière,” Chloe says, twisting off the bottom part of a candlestick. 

Nadine takes the candlestick from Chloe who lets out a huffy “hey!” and uses duct tape from the desk to stick it to the inside of her new blazer. 

“Come on, Frazer,” Nadine says, “If we get caught I’m blaming you.”

Chloe wants to protest. Instead, she bites her tongue and helps Nadine into the blazer, brushing the shoulders and arms down. 

“Completes the look,” she says, appreciatively. 

“You think?” Nadine asks, opening the door. She promptly closes it and plunges them into darkness. “Fuck. Two guards in coming.” 

Chloe tugs them into the corner between a shelf and the wall, pressing her front flush against Nadine’s. They can hear each other’s breathing, feel the rise and fall of chests. Chloe could trace a rough outline of the candlestick if she wanted to. 

“Heard the bridezilla was thinking of leaving boss,” came the gruff voice of guard number one, muffled by the door. 

A thin band of light swept across the room when one of them opens the door. 

“No way,” says the other one, into the room, “he’s loaded. If he asked me, I’d marry him too, and just for a cut of his money.” 

The lights come on. 

Chloe’s pulse jumps. However, she relaxes when a warm hand cups the small of her back, and they somehow sink deeper into the wall. 

“True.” It goes dark again, and the door shuts. “Wouldn’t spend any of it on all this dead people shit, though.” 

They wait in silence until Chloe can’t hear the sounds of their boots on the hardwood floor. Then, she sighs and pulls back far enough to get a better look at Nadine’s face in the dark. 

“That was close,” she whispers. 

“Too close,” Nadine agrees. 

No one moves. To be fair, Chloe’s practically glued to Nadine, hands on her waist, so Nadine can’t exactly go anywhere. 

It’s rare that they’re dolled up like this. It’s not their first time, but when the opportunity arises, Chloe embraces it readily. Part of it is because she likes the fancy dress, but mostly so she can see what Nadine will whip out of her closet next. 

In all honesty, she prefers Nadine in dresses, but there’s something to be said about the crisp suits and shiny dress shoes. 

Chloe had done Nadine’s eyeliner—which is flawless, thank you very much—and picked the lipstick color, but the application was all on Nadine who is surprisingly adept at the art of makeup. 

And this is when Chloe realizes she’s been staring at Nadine’s mouth for the last minute. Nadine’s eyes are dilated. The ticking of Irving’s grandfather clock has her tensing up. The intensity between them only worsens. 

Chloe juts her chin out ever so slightly, edging closer. 

In the time it takes Chloe to blink, Nadine’s twitching her head to the side and clenching her jaw. 

“Let’s go.” 

“Oh.” Chloe clears her throat, drawing back jerkily. “Yes. Yeah.” 

Nadine smiles blandly in acknowledgment. 

This time, they follow the sound of the party, navigating the hallways, and take the stairs down to the first floor. There’s the door at the end that’ll lead to the side of the stage. 

Nadine stops short. “We need a keycard to get out.”

“We’re too close to the ground to climb out,” Chloe says. They’d get caught with one leg out the window. The only way is going back down to the bathroom. 

The sound of the same two guards making their rounds filters through the chatter from the wedding, causing Nadine to tense up in alarm. 

“Nate’s going to enjoy this,” Chloe says, resigned. 

“Or,” Nadine says. 

“Or?” she prompts.  Nadine sounds unsure, but Chloe’s all ears for pretty much anything that’ll get them out of this.

She clasps Chloe’s wrists in her hands, backing them into the wall by the door, and very deliberately placed Chloe’s palms onto her chest. “Or kiss me.” 

It’s a shock to her system, like being dunked in cold water minus the actual dunking or the water. Maybe she’s been knocked over the head and is experiencing some kind of hallucination. 

Chloe gathers her wits and manages to nod hastily, neck arching forward to meet Nadine halfway. 

They’re kissing just as the guards to round the corner. 

A second goes by, maybe two, but it’s enough time for Nadine to weave her fingers into Chloe’s hair and suck at her lip. Chloe can’t really unbutton the blazer and risk exposing the candlestick; all she can do is splay her fingers out to cup Nadine’s breasts. 

“Whoa, hey—Hey!” 

Chloe follows after Nadine when she pulls back before she remembers what’s happening. Then, she’s staring wide-eyed at the guards storming down the stairs and letting out her most convincing damsel-in-distress shriek. 

Nadine winces. Whoops. 

“You’re not supposed to be here,” says guard number one. He’s grimacing too. “Neither of you.”

“We—“ Nadine tries to say, but Chloe’s prodding at her front. “What?”

“Zip me up,” she demands, much too loud for a whisper, but too hushed to be anything else. “Come on. I’m so embarrassed. Oh my god.” 

The guards are both glaring now, and one of them has his hand on their radio. 

Chloe turns and lets Nadine pretend to zip her up. “If Irving sees us, we’re screwed six ways to Sunday.” 

“Cry or something,” Nadine hisses. 

“You think I can cry on command?” Chloe huffs. 

“Fix this. I said I’d blame you and—“

Chloe turns abruptly, crumpling her face into the look of someone on the verge of a breakdown. They should be familiar with it, what with all the talk of the bridezilla. “I’m so, so sorry. I just... We just... We—We really—“

The guards share a glance. “Uh.”

Nadine looks physically pained by where this is going, but she sucks it up and turns with an apologetic look. “So sorry, gentlemen.” 

Thankfully, the second guard cuts them off before Chloe can go off on a spiel about their fake yearlong secret romance. “Okay, okay. Stop. Just stay out of here. If you two cause any more trouble for us, we’re going to have to notify Mr. Irving.” 

“We won’t make a peep,” Chloe promises, shakily stepping away from Nadine. “It’s because, well...”

The first guard groans softly. “Look, ladies, just get out of here.” 

Nadine takes Chloe by the arm and gives the guards a strained smile as they swipe a card across the keypad, holding the door open. 

“Again, we’re really sorry,” Nadine says when they’re on the dance floor, turning to the annoyed guards. A closed door is all the response she gets, which is to be expected, but sheesh.

Chloe straightens up immediately and blows a breath out, fixing her hair. 

“Whew,” she says, skirting around the dance floor to the bathroom. Everyone’s seated now, but they blend in on the sides with the servers. “That could’ve gone better.” 

“Tell me about it,” Nadine mutters, wiping her lipstick off with the back of her hand. 

Checking her makeup in the mirror, Chloe wipes at the edges of her lips and adjusts the stray hairs over her face. She studies Nadine from the mirror. “Think you can ditch the blazer?” 

“Best not.” 

Nadine lets Chloe pry her hands from her face and clean the lipstick off for her. They’re awfully close. Fingers trail along Nadine’s chin, and she swipes a tongue across her bottom lip. 

Chloe inhales, sharply. “Nadine, love,” she murmurs. “You better not kiss me right now.” 

Eyebrows raised, she meets Chloe’s eyes. “Why not?” 

“I just fixed my bloody lipstick, for one,” Chloe says. 

The live band from the party is muffled by the door, adding that something to the atmosphere, and Nadine’s looking endlessly amused. Really, it would be a disservice not to kiss her, so Chloe does. 

Nadine’s mouth is warm and compliant under her’s, and this time Nadine takes care not to mess up her hair. It’s softer than the one in the hallway, more delicate. This is something more suited for a first kiss.

They part for a fleeting moment so Chloe can nudge Nadine into the wall by the sinks, and then they’re kissing again. She has no qualms with undoing Nadine’s blazer, slipping her hands over Nadine’s midriff with the candlestick resting on the back of her hand. 

“Someone’s keen,” she whispers into the space between their mouths after she pulls back a bit to grin. “Is that a candlestick in your pocket or—“ 

Nadine cuts her off with a scoff pressed to her mouth, scraping at Chloe’s lower lip with her teeth. 

She’s cupping Chloe’s cheeks, pressing in more, when there’s a slam and— “Oh, Christ!” 

Both of their heads snap to the door, to a gobsmacked Elena Fisher. 

“Come on, Elena,” Chloe says, miffed. “Close the door.” 

Elena does her one better by twisting the lock, too. Nadine only blinks and looks away, once again wiping her face. 

“We saw you guys come in here after getting caught and, well,” Elena stops there and ends up gesturing vaguely. 

Now, Nadine smirks. “Tell your husband that we win.” 

Chloe narrows her eyes at Elena’s purse. “Hey, can we fit a candlestick in that?”

“Sure.” Elena shrugs, letting Chloe have at it. It was expensive, but she’s never been too touchy about getting nice things dirty. “I’ve also got lipstick in there. Just saying. You know, if you needed.” 

There’s a pointed look along with that, and Chloe huffs out a laugh. 

Elena patiently waits for them to wrap up; it’s not much, just reapplication and stuffing the blazer into the bin. 

They leave the wedding before the ceremony even begins, barely eight in the evening. Chloe doesn’t think the bride will follow through and, honestly, good for her. 

With a butthurt Nate acting as a body pillow for Elena in the backseat, and Nadine riding shotgun as per usual, they hit the road back home. It’s an hour drive to Nate’s and thirty from there to the hotel they’re staying at, so they drop Nate and Elena off along the way. 

“That was fun,” Chloe says after they’ve parked. The candlestick sits in the cup holder between them. 

She nods. “It was.” 

Chloe turns to face Nadine. “We...” She bites her lip, frowns a little, and weighs the candlestick in her hand. “This’ll probably take us to Europe somewhere.” 

Nadine hums, not really caring, as long as there’s a payoff and they’re both alive to receive it. 

Neither of them says anything for a while. They’re secluded, and it only worsens the prickly sensation of another shoe about to drop.

It feels strange, even though they’ve been alone in many different cars in many different situations before. 

“Switch to a suite,” Nadine finally says. 

It’s out of nowhere and not exactly something that would woo Chloe’s socks off, but she grins anyway. Nadine notices and her eyes twinkle under the blue-ish parking lot lights, lips curving. “What?” 

“Oh, nothing,” Chloe says. “Don’t worry a thing, china.” 

Nadine clasps a hand to the back of Chloe’s neck and twists over the dashboard to kiss her.

Picture this: them, kissing in a parked car underneath a Marriott, hands against hot skin. The scene is something neither of them will forget.