“I’ll see you later, Bren,”she sighed, giving her another long hug. Wrapping her arms around her waist, she pressed a quick kiss to her neck.

“And?”she reminded her when she pulled away.

“And I love you. Now I have to go,”she told her, escaping another embrace she knew would go on too long. Still, she grabbed her girlfriend's hand as she left, reaching her arm out until she couldn't.

Teresa was always a safe driver when she went home.

But the same couldn't be said for everyone else.

Sitting by the hospital bedside, Brenda refused to let go of her hand. Her eyes were bright red from lack of sleep. Every time she closed them, all she could see was their last moments together.

She said she would see her later. That was always the deal. She never died, and she always came back.

Surrounded by cold air and the beeping of machines, she kept waiting for those familiar blue eyes to gaze back. She would trade her soul for just one more moment of certainty. Maybe if she hadn't held her back for a hug or had ordered the cheesecake her girlfriend wanted or just didn't waste time with four words, everything would be okay.

She had though, and this time she didn't have Teresa to fix it.

@themazewomen

Lips locked together, Harriet separated them in a heaved gasp. She looked down at Sonya, her light hair splayed across the silk pillow, and she whispered, “Do you want to go further?” Looking her in her eyes, Harriet’s hand pet Sonya’s arm, sliding it across her smooth skin, peppering her fingers across the sunkissed freckles as she did so.

“I don’t want to, not really,” she whispered, gently repositioning herself on Harriet’s sheets. Her eyes seemed to gloss over, a face of distance—like she had pulled blankets over her head to hide from the monster under the bed. “But we can if you really want to.” 

Letting her hand move from Sonya’s skin and onto the bed, Harriet gave Sonya time to retract from her. She didn’t. Harriet touched Sonya’s face softly, dragging the pool of her blonde hair behind her ear. “Then we won’t,” she smiled softly, letting her other hand kindly rub up and down Sonya’s clothed hip.

Brows knitted, Sonya looked up at Harriet with confusion. “But you want to?” she pondered out loud—but quietly, nonetheless. She still spoke in the same distant manner, but her eyes were coming back to life—if only just a smidge. 

“Not if you don’t want to,” Harriet stated, tapping her fingers across Sonya’s hip. 

Sonya seemed to have short-circuited, because her chest stopped rising and falling as she looked at Harriet. After a painstakingly slow moment, Sonya breathed in, letting the air out in a mumble, “I’m confused,”

Harriet felt guilty, of course. She didn’t mean to make Sonya uncomfortable, and she certainly didn’t mean to make Sonya feel like she should be coerced. “I don’t want anything if you don’t want anything,” Harriet assured, turning and rolling off of Sonya so they both could stare at the ceiling, on their backs. 

Sending a wave of surprise through Harriet, Sonya intertwined locked her fingers in between Harriet’s, not looking away from the ceiling. “I don’t really…” She paused, and Harriet could hear her sigh. “Understand why, though.” 

Harriet turned her head to Sonya with a soft, sorrowful smile on her glossed lips. “I may have wanted it,” she explained, “but if you don’t, it isn’t appealing. I won’t like it if you aren’t liking it,”

She knew she shouldn’t have been surprised, but, somehow, she was when Sonya turned her head toward her. A tear was rolling down her cheek, but Harriet thought it better not to touch Sonya unless she initiated it. 

“What if I don’t ever want it,” Sonya whispered, softly and sadly. “Would you be upset, then?”

“What you don’t want, I don’t want.” Harriet spoke, her eyebrows drifting due to relaxation. Her eyes drifted down to Sonya’s lips, pink and clearly loved. 

Sonya’s face stayed unreadable for just a moment. “You don’t want to know why I don’t want it?” she questioned, her brows somewhat furrowing.

Taking in a large breath before responding, Harriet’s eyes dripped closed. “Unless you want to tell me, I don’t need to know.” 

A comfort swallowed Sonya, nestling and resting around where her heart sat. Part of her—a small, minuscule part of her—felt like it was a dream. No one could be so kind without asking for a reason to understand, but Harriet did. Harriet didn’t pressure her, Harriet didn’t try to convince her that she could make Sonya ‘change her mind’. Harriet just let her exist alongside her, a companion rather than a tenant. 

“I guess I can’t really tell you, I don’t really understand it myself—”

“You don’t need to,” Harriet interrupted, giving Sonya’s hand a small, reassuring squeeze. “You feel it,”

“I feel it,” Sonya repeated back to herself in a soft murmur, almost as if she didn’t mean to say it out loud. She squeezed Harriet’s hand, rolling herself over and wrapping an arm around her, her head in the crevice of Harriet’s neck. “I feel it.”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.◯ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

First work in eleven days! That is a new record for not posting any of my writing. 'Long' break is over, thank goodness. Thank you for reading, lovelies :}