"Will I walk with a smile on my face, knowing I live a lie..."

[just_doyle]

Who: Cordelia and Doyle
Where: Starting at Doyle's apartment, then out for dinner
When: The day after clearing out of Cordy's old apartment
What: Doyle has a secret he can't keep any longer! Cordelia learns about his demon side.
Status: Incomplete

Comments

[misschase]

Cordelia had to admit--at least to herself--that she was enjoying staying with Doyle. Not because he had some glamorous apartment or lifestyle, but because all of his attention was so entirely focused on her and making sure she was happy. It was a nice change, especially after being locked in a prison cell with only the lovely company of Lilah and Lindsey. Blech.

"Sure, we can go out," she said, already having been through his fridge and cabinets while he had stepped out earlier. She would have been satisfied with whatever he had, but if he wanted to dote, she was more than willing to let him. Plus, it seemed like Angel was busy with Sunnydale's drama queen and company, so she had no desire to deal with that soap opera.

She took the stack of what she assumed were all menus and rifled through them, until she came to a very interesting piece of paper. "Uh, Doyle," she said, arching a brow very far upward, "I didn't realize that 'Notice of Divorce' was a restaurant. What do they serve there? Like, Court dates?"

[just_doyle]

Doyle had gone out and bought new soft sheets for Cordelia to sleep on as well as new pillows the very same first morning after she'd slept. For the first time in as long as he could remember all his clothes were laundered. Or, at least, in their proper baskets and set aside for washing. Though he hardly expected her staying to become permanent he still wanted Cordelia to feel a little more girlish and human than his bachelor mess allowed for.

"Actually, they serve subpoenas," Doyle said, making a really lame joke in an attempt to distract her. When the effort didn't work, he laughed weakly. "Right yeah. No, 's not a restaurant, clearly. They were from my ex wife."

With those words hanging in the air, the Irish man shrunk back a little. He was sure Cordelia would give him an ear full or, worse, start asking a million questions.

[misschase]

Cordelia stared at him for a long moment. Doyle didn't seem old to enough to have been married and divorced. Of course, the whole being married in the first place was throwing her. It just wasn't like him. Or maybe it was. She had no idea and she wasn't making much effort to find out.

"Ex wife?" she repeated, brows knitting together. "How--I mean, you were married and now you're not obviously. But, is this divorce thing, like, recent? I mean, if you're just now getting paperwork for it."

She felt a strange tightening in her stomach. As lame as it seemed, she had been looking forward to just having a stress-free dinner. But, of course, she had to go and ruin it. Something always has to ruin it. Not that going out to dinner with Doyle was the most amazing evening plans she could ever conjure... Or maybe it was. And she had been okay with that.

[just_doyle]

So it was going to be a barrage of questions then. Doyle sighed to himself, feeling what hopes he'd had for a semblance of a chance with Cordelia crater to the floor. Secrets were probably a bad idea when you were trying to get someone to like you but he was pretty sure Cordy wouldn't even stand him if she knew the man he really was.

"Well you could say that. The paperwork is recent. The separation has been for the last couple of years."

Doyle wasn't eager to get into the gritty details of his former marriage and was content to leave his answer at that. Unless Cordelia pried, which he mostly expected her to do.