It was the damnedest thing. Since that very day, he simply couldn't think straight. He couldn't eat or sleep. There were times when it felt like he couldn't even breathe. The past week had been, at the very least, a whirlwind, head against a brick wall, love-struck fucked-up kind of week.

And now, because of all these God-damned feelings, he had gone and messed up on a mission for the Godmother. Weeks of planning and plotting, bribing and information wrangling had brought him to Detroit where, through sheer luck, he had the light haired man cornered in an alley between a butcher's and a hotel. Things weren't... quite going as he had planned, though.

"What're ya thinking, asshole?!" the large, enraged man yelled at him, taking a swing at Ronald O'Connell's face and hitting him squarely on the nose.

"AHA!" Ronnie roared in pain, dropping his M1911 where it clattered several feet away nosily against the gravel. The man's hands immediately flew to his nose, a small trickle of blood beginning to make it's way down his face and dribble onto his chin. And with narrowed dark eyes, from underneath his untidy mop of flaming red hair, he watched the blond man retreat down the alleyway without a backward glance.

Fuck.

A sinking feeling surfaced in the pit of the man's stomach as he realized that the rat, Kevin Roberts, the one that Aurora had explicitly told him to 'finish', was now on the run... again. Tracking him down the first time had been a bitch and a half, to say the least, and now he was back to square one.

All because of her. All because he had merely seen her.

Raising his eyebrows as an epiphany hit him, Ronnie knew what he had to do. He had to clear his thoughts; get her out of his system if he was able to function properly for his family. Ronald needed to talk to her, face to face. They needed to have an open, honest, candid conversation. Maybe a steamy reunion was in store? Sad girls needed sexy love, after all.

Dabbing his fingers at his nose he found that it was no longer bleeding. With a deep sigh he wiped his hands onto his soiled jacket and turned onto Adams Boulevard, heading in the direction of the Keller Theater.

...Not that he knew that she would BE at the Keller Theater. Okay, fine. Ronnie was man enough to admit that since he had first seen her, several days before, he had taken to following her and learning her daily schedule. Maybe even eavesdropping a bit to learn about her next plan of action. Whatever the case, he definitely knew, that on this Friday evening, she would be catching a movie with her... ugh, fiance.

Putting his hands into his pockets as he walked, Ronnie envisioned himself walking into the theater. Grabbing her around the waist and swinging her around for a passionate kiss. This was all, of course, a huge stretch for the non-confident man, but it was nice to think about nonetheless.

His head tilted back as he neared the theater, surveying the area, the darkening streets, the happy couples out walking to their Friday night soiree destinations. Ronald could've been one of them, if he hadn't colossally messed things up so long ago. Pushing the darkening thoughts from his mind, he grabbed the handle of the front door and opened it. He had to keep his mission in mind. Talk to her, make amends, move on.

Sweeping the lobby with his eyes, it wasn't hard to spot her. His chest contracted, his breath catching in his chest. She was the most beautiful woman in the room by far. 'Don't think like that,' he thought. Yet it was true. Standing alone, she turned to check around for whomever it was she was waiting for. Her hair caught the light. Those eyes, oh God those eyes. Ronnie, realizing he was sounding a bit poofy about this entire situation, tried to conjure up the bravado he needed to speak to her.

Striding across the lobby he stopped behind her, reaching out and tapping her on the shoulder.

"L-l-Lily," he said with much difficulty, his heart hammering in his chest and making him aware of just how alive he was at that moment. "W-we need to t-talk."

Jack was late.  Thirteen and a half minutes late, actually.  But, as Lily knew only too well, certain things just cropped up and delayed otherwise punctual people.  She just hoped he was safe wherever he was.  She rocked slightly on her heels, trying not to be too impatient but looking over her shoulder every time the door opened anyway.  And there he was.

No, not Jack.  There was no way she could even mistake this man for Jack.  The vibrant red hair and shuffling manner, as well as the strange striped cardigan, were...well, probably exactly the opposite of Jack.  But the man was striking for more than just this.  Her fifteenth summer was spent in New Orleans, visiting some relatives.  There, she had been introduced to a boy of her age who, she was told, "needed to come out of his shell." The implication, of course, was that Lily was to take him out of his shell and show him how young gentlemen and ladies interacted. 

Since she always appreciated a challenge and saw the boy as more aloof than he was shy, Lily agreed to be driven by him to picnics and movies and get-togethers of the Garden District's young debutantes and their law-school-bound beaus.  At the events, Ronnie didn't speak much, and when he did, it was usually in a half-intelligible mumble.  But when they were alone...well, when they were alone, usually in the car rides back and forth, he'd tell her about the things he saw and heard, what he learned from watching people.  After their first date, he had told her things that he had picked up about her that she didn't think anyone else knew.  The intrigue of Ronnie had drawn her closer to him that summer.  And then he'd said too much.

"W-we need to t-talk."

"I...Ronald?  Is that you?"

He'd developed a stutter since that summer.  Lily tucked her hair behind her ear and glanced backward once more.  No sign of Jack.  And she had reserved tickets already--she just was waiting to get them.

"Well, I suppose I could...I could talk for a bit.  The movie doesn't start for fifteen more minutes..."

She stepped out of line, smiling briefly to Ronnie before leading him to a pair of seats in a corner of the theater lobby, away from all the patrons.

"What do you need, Ronald?"

Now that they were face to face, Ronnie felt tongue tied. Well, more so than usual, at least. He gulped and tried to casually cross his lefts. This was definitely not the time to be pissing his pants. Not in public, and certainly not in front of Lily, his long lost love.

Gesturing to a nearby bench he slowly walked over and took a seat, placing his hands flat upon his thighs. He was so nervous- why? Usually he was bumbling and even comically silly, but never unsure of himself. This woman though... this woman had seen more of his soul than any other person on the entire Earth. Taking a deep breath he looked into those lovely eyes of hers and couldn't help but smiling.

"I-I... w-want..."

Ronnie shook his head. This was no good. The stutter had developed when he was sixteen. While all of his peers were growing out of their awkward phases and turning into young adults, he seemed to be slipping backward, falling into a trap of perpetual (and embarrassing) adolescent traits that he could not shed. And it was all because of that day. Oh God, how could he have been so stupid?

Still, looking at her beautiful, porcelain doll-like features now... none of that really seemed to matter. Like a burden had been dropped off of his shoulders, he knew he could speak freely to Lily.

"Lily," he said in a low voice, his eyes darting around quickly, looking for any sign of HIM. The arch-nemesis, as it was. "I want to talk a-about us. When I saw you the other d-day..."

His heart gave a painful twinge. How un-mobster like of him.

"Lily I..."

Did he really still love her? He stopped short of completing the sentence, looking at her helplessly. She had always been there to hold his hand, to guide him in the right direction. Would she pick up the pieces now? Guide the conversation in the direction it needed to go, so that he could just regain his life and move on?

"Us...?"

Lily breathed the word, only too uncomfortably aware of the fact that it was probably brushing against his skin as she said it.  She wanted to comfort him, lay a hand on his and encourage him along to say what he wanted to say.  But that seemed like it might make things worse.  She glanced around the lobby, then gave Ronnie a small, barely strained smile.

"Ronnie...'us' was over ten...no, eleven years ago.  I don't...I don't know what you want..."

Of course she did know.  She could see it in the way his face was drawn into worried lines that were all pointing to her, from the tenderly anxious glitter in his eyes.  And she was doing an awful job of convincing him she didn't notice.  Lily gave a soft sigh and rested her hand on the back of his.  His hands had become rougher since his adolescent years.

"Ronnie, I'm going to be married soon.  To a great guy named Jack.  You should meet him.  He'll be coming soon."

The last statement was said with a note of mingled desperation and disbelief. She sure hoped he was coming soon.

From across the streets, he watched as the lovely LilyEvans, in all her redheaded glory, nervously fidgeted back and forth as ShyRonnie mumbled and stumbled about, trying to tell her something that was obviously very important. Had he spent five more minutes in The Seven Deadly Sins, Detriots finest strip club, he would have missed this entire situation. Luckily for him, and his love of drama that didn't involve him, the strip club was located directly across the street from the theater where this incident was taking place. Leaning against a lightpole, he tried to look unaware of the incident across the street, but still maintaining his peeked curiosity in the situation.

"Oh. Oh right."

Jack. Yes, that's exactly what Ronnie wanted to do. Sit here like an ass while Lily and this man fawned over one another in the lobby of a movie theater. The red-headed man suddenly felt sick, and furthermore felt extremely stupid. Of course this isn't what he needed. An honest, candid conversation? What the hell had he been thinking? He felt worse now than he had before, in the alleyway with Roberts.

Looking at Lily's hand on top of his he merely shook his head before lifting his eyes to meet hers. With his free hand he tucked a stray strand of her bright hair behind her ear, lingering only just a moment.

"I know," he mumbled. "We've been over for years. I-it was hard to see you the other day. All those m-memories."

He paused, inwardly smiling as a memory of the young lady who had stolen his heart surfaced. That laugh of hers, musical notes dancing on the wind next to their favorite lake. The events run by the local, groomed society members never held Lily's attention much, nor had they ever held an interest for Ronnie. During the dull picnic, the first time she had ever mentioned cutting away from the group, that was the day he had fallen in love with her sense of adventure. That was the day he had fallen in love with her.

"I-i," he continued in a mumble, gulping. "We left things unresolved then, so I j-just felt it would be b-better if I said I'm sorry. I n-never meant to drive that w-wedge between us. N-never meant to... well, you know."

The doors to the lobby opened and his entire body froze momentarily. An older woman- not him. With a deep sigh Ronnie relaxed before standing from his place on the bench.

"T-that's all. Just an apology."

When he brushed her hair back, it felt--just for a tiny moment--like they were teenagers again. Like they had just finished laughing over a joke about the boring Southern belles they ditched in favor of overlooking Lake Pontchartrain on some stranger's private dock. If he'd kissed her in that moment, she may have forgotten everything about Jack, about her job, hell, her entire life past fifteen. But then the moment passed, and they were just two grownups in a crowded movie theater lobby, the warm metal of her engagement ring resting on his hand.

"Ronald...we were young. I'm...I'm over it. It was just...you know...a summer romance. I don't think either of us really knew what we were doing."

A small smile twitched up her face.

"It was fun while it lasted, though, I guess."

As Ronnie looked into her eyes, there was a dissatisfied, perhaps even hurt, light in his. He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by an usher approaching the pair. He spoke between smacks of gum, shoving a finger toward Lily.

"You Lily Evans? Phone's fer ya." With that, the usher pointed roughly toward the box office, then turned on his heel and stalked away. Lily glanced between the office door and Ronnie. She gave him an ingratiating smile as she rose to her feet.

"I'm sorry, Ronald. Don't move. I'll be right back--I promise."

She quickly strode across the lobby and entered the tiny office, where a clerk was busy selling tickets. After giving an irritable glance to her, the girl pointed Lily toward the phone resting a few feet away from her. After a murmured thanks, Lily picked up the receiver.

"Hello?"

"Lily darling! I'm really sorry--seriously, I am. I ran into a guy I met in France...We went to get drinks and I lost track of the time...I don't think I'll be able to make it to the movie on time, hon. We'll meet up for dinner later, though, kay? You can even meet Charles! He's a great guy!"

Lily released a slow, exasperated sigh. So that's where he'd been all this time. Drinking with some guy he'd met in another country.

"That's fine, Jack. I've got a bit of a headache anyway. We'll talk tomorrow. Love you."

Lily dropped the phone back without waiting for him to say goodbye. She almost immediately regretted it, but between her meeting with Ronnie and this, she was frustrated. She began striding back to Ronnie, fuming silently.

As he watched Lily disappear the room suddenly seemed to grow louder. Hotter. Everything was sharp and in focus. Ronald's heart began to race as he felt nervous. She was taking a phone call- from him no doubt. There was not a single doubt in his mind that her fiance was checking up on her. Perhaps some of his goons had seen Ronnie standing there with her, and had alerted... James? No, Jack, that was right. Perhaps some friends had alerted Jack to this conversation unfolding.

Once again the wave of stupidity hit the man and he felt, no, was compelled, to flee the premises. He couldn't stay here. Couldn't bear to see her face alight with happiness as she walked back from the box office, gushing about her love. She had moved on, obviously. And he... well, God damn it, he could too. The moment he worked up enough courage to jam his hands into his pockets, turn around and take two steps away from the bench, he heard the delicate clicking of her high heels on the floor as she approached. Whirling back around, Ronnie gave his trademark lopsided grin, faltering suddenly at the look on her face... the soft tension that laid underneath.

"E-everything alright?" he mumbled in genuine concern, his eyebrows knitting together in worry. Oh how vain he could be. All he could do was fume and moan about his feelings towards her new relationship, when obviously she had a lot on her plate. She was a newly made Captain, for the love of God. Something could have just happened to one of her men. Maybe a business deal fell through. Everything didn't always have to be about love.

Opening his mouth to speak once more, he spied two darkly dressed men enter the building over Lily's shoulder. At first he paid no attention, but the hairs on the back of his arm and neck stood straight up as he watched them slink through the lobby, searching. The way their eyes darted from side to side, only greedily focusing when they reached the back of Miss Evan's head... something just wasn't right.

"L-Lily," Ronnie spat out quickly, reaching forward for her wrist. He tried to find the words to tell her what was going on, what he was feeling... but his tongue had become tied, again. At the worst possible time. Tugging on her arm he tried to move her from out of the public eye.

"Everything's...just...fine."

Lily took a deep breath to keep from choking up.  She wanted to cry right now more from her guilt at hanging up on Jack than from what he had done.  But, being a tough cookie, she took a slightly shuddering breath and smiled to Ronnie anyway.  As she opened her mouth to tell him politely that Jack had been delayed, Lily noticed Ronnie looking distractedly over her shoulder.  He suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist with a single utterance of her name.

"What? What, Ronald?  Speak up!"

He merely responded with a desperate look and a harder tug on her arm.

"Ronald! What are you doing?"

He looked despondently between Lily and something over her shoulder.  She twisted around, scanning the crowd.  And there they were.  Her eyes widened first, then narrowed into slivers of emerald.  She knew them.  They were from a group of not-too-bright diamond thieves, and had been acting paranoid around her for the last two months, implying that their connection would rat them out.  Although she had suspected they might come after her, she hadn't thought they were capable of actually executing any kind of plan. Lily patted the side of her thigh to ensure herself of the location of her gun, then turned back to Ronnie and nodded.

"I see 'em.  Let's go."