MELANIE HADN'T THOUGHT about it for years, their separation. Thinking about that day only brought on an uncomfortable ache in her chest, especially if she let herself dwell on it for too long.

It had been a painful but necessary farewell. Melanie didn't regret it because in the moment it had felt right and for the years following, she had remained adamant about that.

When things had started to go downhill between her and Gregory, she realised she'd made a horrible mistake. There were times when she and her husband had fought for hours, verbal often turning to physical, where Melanie had then longed for someone who would be there to comfort her. To remind her that it would be alright. And perhaps to threaten Greg with a ball-burning if he didn't start treating her right.

She knew Louis wouldn't have hesitated to display his pyromaniac tendencies if she'd told him about how badly Greg had treated her throughout the years.

She had missed him like hell. 

The sudden onslaught of memories left Melanie slightly disorientated. She couldn't put into words how strange it was to have that blank space in her mind suddenly full once more with those cherished memories, ones she still couldn't believe she'd forgotten. 

It felt so damn good to remember everything about her life. About her teenage years, about Louis and even the years when things had started to go downhill. Every experience had shaped her into who she was and without all of those memories, she was only half of what made up Melanie McCauley.

Cooper, a voice whispered in her mind. Melanie Cooper.

Louis squeezed her hand suddenly. "Uh, the Beyond to Melanie?"

"Huh?"

"You spaced out," he told her. "Typical Melanie - zoning out when a literal masterpiece is sitting before you. The audacity."

Melanie cocked a brow. "It's good to see that time apart hasn't deflated your ego."

Louis huffed incredulously. "Nothing could."

Melanie doubted that very much. All it took was a single mention of those residing in Heaven for Louis to cringe. Literally cringe, as though the mention of his father's name was a physical pain. Perhaps it was?

"I was just remembering that night," Melanie admitted after a moment.

Louis' hand slacked ever so slightly. "I get it if you're still mad at me. It was a stupid thing to do and I'm as sorry now as I was back then. More so, in fact. I didn't mean for things to get so out of hand ... no pun intended."

"I know," Melanie acknowledged. "I know you never wanted to hurt me, or anyone that I loved."

"Of course not," Louis said, furrowing his brow. "I did apologise profusely to Michael when he passed away."

A pang shot through Melanie's chest. 

Michael had died peacefully in his sleep at seventy-three, his lungs admitting defeat to the cancer that had corrupted them slowly throughout the years. She had been heart-broken, by his side with his children - her godchildren - and wife, Tracey, as he'd passed on. 

He had been in the hospital for only a month before he'd died but to Melanie it had felt like an eternity. 

"Did he accept your apology?" Melanie asked.

Louis grinned. "What do you think?"

So no then, Melanie thought. "He's always been a stubborn one, what can I say?"

"You're telling me," Louis muttered. "Hell, I apologised so many times that the word sorry was beginning to sound foreign. I even questioned if I were still speaking English. Yet would he accept it? Accept any of them?" Louis paused as if for dramatic effect before huffing, "No."

Melanie shrugged. "I'm not sure I entirely blame him, Louis. You did shred his face after all ... mangled it. It took well over a year for the wounds to heal - for the surgery, stitches, scarring and redness to fade down to a less ... horrific sight. Poor bloke was on meds for years after that. You really did hurt him, Lou."

Melanie watched as Louis hung his head and started picking at his nails. She wondered if the regret had him contemplating whether or not to rip the talons from their beds. Would he bleed the way Michael had?

"I... I've not suffered like that for a long time," Louis said suddenly. His eyes remained glued to his nails. It looked like he was glaring at them. "For a long time I suffered after I was banished. I thought that would be the only rock bottom I'd hit in my existence. The only shame. I was content knowing that I'd endured the worst and had to just fight on doing His dirty work down in Hell. I could manage that. I could live with that. But what I did to Michael ... what I did to you, to us ... that was it. Yeah. That's what true rock bottom felt like.

"I've never been unhappy. Not truly to that extent anyway. I think it was a lesson I needed to learn though. It was unacceptable what I did. And I'm not going to sugar coat it either - he's to blame also. I know you know that too, Melanie. But still, I shouldn't have lashed out."

Melanie shook her head once. "No, you shouldn't have."

The pair sat in silence, just looking at the other every now and then. 

Melanie was over the whole thing with Michael. She'd given both of them a hard time back when it had happened and hadn't brought it up again. Sending Louis away had taken everything out of her and she just didn't have the energy to focus on their constant fighting any longer. 

Because Louis hadn't been in the picture for years, all she had to do was focus on Michael and the comments he'd make every so often alluding to the 'monster who broke his face.'

"You know, I suffered too," Melanie said to break the silence.

Louis lifted his head and focused his full attention on her. "Do you want to tell me about it?"

Melanie thought mulled over his offer. Did she want to tell him? She'd wanted to at the time, wanted to be in his arms, to hear his voice, to feel safe in times when she had needed it most. 

Melanie had held back from telling anyone the entire truth about her husband because she knew deep down that the one person she could confide in was, well, Louis. She couldn't burden her kids with what kind of man their father had been and not after she'd built such a wonderful life for them all. She didn't want to jeopardize it. Surely it wouldn't be so bad to just grin and bear it.

How wrong she had been.

"I'd like to talk about it with you," Melanie began, "but I don't want to do it just now."

A nod. "I understand. In your own time."

Louis reached out a hand across the table. Like a magnet, Melanie's hand gravitated towards his and soon enough they were holding hands like no time had passed at all. They had done much more than hold hands over the years but there was something so intimate and endearing about the innocent touch.

At least it had been innocent until Melanie realised how badly she wanted him.

I'm literally an elder, she realised but she brushed the thought aside almost as quickly as it had popped into her head. 

Who cared how old she was? No one was as old as Louis after all. Hell, she was probably the equivalent of a youngster given the length of his existence.

"C'mon then," Louis said, breaking her out of her reverie. "Let's take a little stroll."

"We've been strolling already," she argued.

"Well, if you don't want to stroll, what would you like to do?"

Melanie thought he'd never ask. "Well, what happens next? Aren't I supposed to be in Hell as opposed to the Beyond?"

Louis closed the distance between them until they were standing flush against one another. He informed her, "We can go to Hell whenever you fancy, Melanie. I'd recommend waiting a little bit longer just to make sure all of you is-", he tapped a finger against her temple, "-in there."

"I've never been all there as it is, Satan," she joked and he chuckled with her.

Damn, she'd forgotten how good he looked. Had his jawline always been so define? His cheekbones as sharp? She wanted to grab him and rip his clothes off like the times before when she had been at the peak of her womanhood, when she had thrown caution to the wind and told herself that the Devil had, quite literally, made her do it. Of course, she had been more than willing to participate. How could she not when he looked like that?

"I believe you," Satan murmured, his head bowing ever so slightly towards her.

Then Melanie was kissing him.

It had been so long that she had almost forgotten the feel of his lips, the scratch of his stubble against her skin, the smoky smell of him. It was just as intoxicating now as it had been all those years ago. There had been times after they had separated when a certain sound or smell would remind her of him and she had to do a double-take, just to be sure he hadn't been there all along hiding in her peripheral vision.

"I've missed you," Melanie said, pulling back to look into his eyes.

He nodded, keeping her gaze. "I've missed you too. Horrifically. I wasn't sure if you'd missed me at all considering what happened. What I did."

Melanie shrugged and wrapped her arms around his neck to draw him closer. Their breaths mingled and she forgot whose air she was inhaling. She didn't give a shit, all she wanted was Louis.

"I forgive you," she muttered before kissing him again.

This kiss was hungrier, longer, desperate and before Melanie knew what was happening, the ground fell away from her feet. Louis lifted her into his arms and she wrapped her legs tight around his waist, her fingers sliding into his hair.

She never wanted to let him go and from the grip Louis had on her, she knew he felt the same.

Lucifer kissed her back with all the passion and longing he had been containing for the last half century. It was long overdue and Louis would be lying to himself if he denied the fact he'd wanted to kiss her as soon as he'd seen her land in the Beyond, just as confused and scared as the first time he'd laid eyes upon her.

She had been a girl back then, practically still a child and she had enchanted him. Now, as a woman with many years of wisdom and experience under her belt, he found himself even more attracted to her.

She looked the same as she had back then; her blonde hair hung in soft waves around her shoulders, her blue eyes wide and slightly judgey. Skeptical, he corrected. It amazed him how the extra years of life had matured her, not necessarily physically but mentally. She was tougher, and even more snarky if that was at all possible.

He loved it.

He glanced over her shoulder and moved them towards the hospital bed against the far wall. Unceremoniously, he let her fall back onto the sheets and he fell with her, pressing himself comfortably between her legs.

She let out a small huff as she took all his body weight atop her and he asked if she was OK.

A nod. "Yeah. I'm just not used to having, well, not brittle bones anymore. It's nice to not hear something crack every time I move around."

Louis chuckled and nuzzled her neck. She fingered his hair and kept him close as he left wet kisses along her throat. He inhaled her scent and it drove him crazy.

Why did you do it? he asked himself. Fool.

He'd never be able to forgive himself for what he had done to Michael. Not necessarily because he cared about Michael's opinion of him. In all honesty, he thought he was a right tosser and he had since the day he'd met him. No, it was because of how it had drawn a wedge between him and Melanie.

Melanie moaned under him as he sucked at the skin below her ear.

Suddenly it didn't matter what had happened in the past. All he cared about was the woman before him now, the Melanie he had been waiting for.

"I know you'll hate me for saying this..." Melanie began between kisses, "but I feel like I'm in Heaven right now."

Louis paused mid-kiss. He narrowed his eyes ever so slightly at her. "You're lucky I like you or that comment would require punishment."

And yet, even as he said it, he knew he was lying. Being with Melanie felt like Heaven to him too.

"Big words from one such as yourself," she chuckled before pecking the tip of his nose.

"Meaning?"

Melanie just grinned wickedly at him and he could only chuckle at the implication.

"It's funny because I've never once in my life wondered what Heaven looks like but I've always been curious about Hell."

"If you would like to find out, just say the word and I'll take you there," Louis insisted. "It's your choice."

Louis could see Melanie ponder. He wanted nothing more than to take her to his realm, to let her savor all that Hell had to offer. In his opinion, he had done a rather fine job of perfecting it to his liking and he loved seeing the reactions of those he brought there, seeing the reality of the place that mortals only pondered over, come to life before their eyes.

"I'll tell you a little secret," Louis finally said. "Hell is my realm and therefore in my control. I can manipulate it to look however I want. You've heard of the nine circles of Hell, I assume? There's some truth to that, as you'll soon find out. It all comes down to the residents, you see - depending on the level of sin committed, there's a place for everyone in Hell. I hold the power in the end but by default, everyone has their destination planned out for them."

"Am I going to end up in the most brutal circle?" Melanie asked.

"Only if you misbehave," Louis teased. "You'll be by my side the entire time if you so wish. We'll be loitering around in Limbo."

Melanie raised a brow and pushed his hair from his eyes. "I think I'm ready, Satan."

"Are you sure? There's no going back."

Melanie just snorted. "I'm bloody dead, what difference does it make?"

Unholy moley, Louis thought. This woman.

"Fair enough," Louis said and pushed himself from her. He held his hand out to her once again, smirking. They had both waited so long for this moment, to enter the gates of Hell together. Louis still meant every word he had said to her about ruling by his side and should she want it, he would gladly give it to her. "Are you ready, Melanie Cooper, to finally go to Hell?"

Melanie's gaze held his intently, blue on blue. He could see the anticipation in her eyes, the overwhelming curiosity-

She burst out laughing.

Louis scowled.

"So dramatic!" laughed Melanie. "Oh my, that was so funny!"

Louis huffed and slapped his hand into her palm. "Shut it, you little shit. Hold on tight, I'm taking your cocky arse to Hell."

Melanie soon ceased her chuckling as the world fell away from her feet and the hospital room began to swirl and fade into nothing around them.

Apologies for the long wait, my motivational periods have been sporadic and I've been super busy working full time, over-coming some personal issues and entering a new relationship, all that fun stuff! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!

Cazza