Author: Sara Dupras
Title: Not Yet Conquered
Email: starlit_kit@hotmail.com
Rating: 18
Warnings:homosexuality, swearing, violence, and references to rape
Spoilers:general NW, SM
Part: 1/1
Disclaimers: The Night World belongs to L.J. Smith; as does it's concepts and characters(including Thierry).
Summary: A sequel to "Love Wins Over All". Lauren is still having a hard time dealing with her relationship with Sharmin. And Sharmin wonders how long she is willing to wait in order to gain Lauren's acceptance. Or if she's even willing to wait at all.
Author's Note: There is no sex in this story; however, I feel that the themes in this story should only be read by a mature, and open-minded reader.
Submission:
Sharmin watched as Lauren sat at the desk writing. Sharmin could feel the pulse beating in her girlfriend's veins. She was leaning down over her notebook leaving her neck exposed to Sharmin's electric blue eyes.
The corner of her mouth turned up as she stalked over to the desk.
Lauren frowned slightly. What was the word she was looking for? /Inquisitive./ She smiled as her hand continued to flow over the lined paper. /Perfect./ She jumped as she felt something brush against the back of her neck. "Sharmin," she said warningly.
"What?" Sharmin asked innocently.
"I want to finish this story tonight."
Sharmin straightened and ran a hand through Lauren's red-gold curls. "And I would like to kiss my girlfriend before I have to leave. Mind?"
Lauren hid a smile and let Sharmin drag her out of the chair. Lauren stood up and gave her best friend a fake glare. "Well I hope you're happy, Shar. Now my story is interrupted and God's knows when I'll finish it."
Sharmin ignored the little speech and tilted Lauren's head up, so their eyes could meet. Sharmin looked into her eyes for a few seconds. "Are you quite finished?" she asked quietly.
Lauren's breath caught. "Yes." Sharmin smiled smugly for a moment and then leaned forward and pressed her lips against Lauren's. The kiss deepened for awhile, but then Sharmin felt Lauren tense and break away from the embrace.
She took a step back and stared down at the floor embarrassed. "I'm sorry."
Sharmin hid her hurt and gave a reassuring smile. "That's all right. I know how hard this is for you." She reached out to touch Lauren's shoulder, but the other girl flinched, so Sharmin let her arm drop.
"Okay," she said. "I'll go."
Lauren still didn't look up. "I think that would be best."
Sharmin bit down on her lip but grabbed her coat and headed out the door. She got in her red jaguar and looked into the rearview mirror. She glanced away as she saw the tears pooled in her eyes. Angrily, she rubbed them away and started up the car.
She ran three red lights in her rush to get to her friends' house. She screeched into their driveway and slammed the door as she run up to the house. The door opened underneath her upraised hand. She looked at Xyler in surprise. "Hi."
His eyes narrowed as he took in her disheveled appearance. "What the hell happened to you? Come in." He grabbed her arm and walked her into the house.
Xyler ushered her into the parlor and told her to wait a couple of minutes. Then he disappeared. He came back a few minutes later with Alex in tow. Alex took one look at her and said, "Let me guess... Lauren? Am I right?"
Sharmin nodded sheepishly. "I'm sorry, Alex, I shouldn't have come. I'll go." She stood up only to have Alex push her back down onto the couch.
He sat down next to her. "What happened this time?"
She shook her head. "It's the usual thing."
Alex leaned back against the armrest. "I've told you before, Sharmin, and I'm telling you again; you two need to talk about this. You have to make her confront these things, not allow her to keep running from them."
Sharmin sighed. "It's just so difficult. It's hard to talk to someone when you don't even know where you stand with them."
Xyler cleared his throat. "She loves you. What better position to be in?"
Sharmin was silent a moment. "What-" Her cell phone rang, interrupting her. She growled in her throat but answered the phone. "Yes? Lauren, what? Yeah, we'll be right there." She hung up and turned back to the others. "That was Lauren. She said the guy we've been watching is heading over to the spot."
Alex already had his coat on. "Then we'd better get going. We don't want to lose him."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lauren sat dejectedly in T.C.'s car as they waited for the others to show up. What the hell was wrong with her? Why couldn't she just be normal and kiss her girlfriend? She rolled her eyes. She knew what the problem was and it wasn't the kissing. It was the "next level", if you wanted to use a euphemism. She had to be realistic. Sharmin was a very understanding woman. But even she had her limits.
Lauren just wasn't sure that she could ever go through with it again. After Tamstra...well, she still had the nightmares every night. If you could call anything so hideous a nightmare. "Nightmare" was too tame a word for the nauseating images that Lauren saw every night.
She wasn't even sure if you could call them nightmares since they were actually memories. However, most of the time they warped and made even more grotesque. She sighed and rubbed her wrists remembering the feel of the rope that bound her. The feel of pure pain as nails perfectly manicured dug into her flesh. The sickening moisture on her skin from a tongue...it didn't bear remembering.
But all she could do was remember. The haunting sound of a melodious voice turned into a screech by sheer anger, saying the most painful things. "You know you like this..."
Lauren slammed her hand into the door, trying to block out the past. She looked over at T.C. who was staring at her. "Sorry," she mumbled. She sucked her bruised knuckles and sighed with relief as Sharmin, Alex, and Xyler piled into the backseat.
"Has he done it yet?" Xyler asked.
"No," T.C. said. "He just got here a few minutes ago. I think he's preparing."
"Shh," Lauren said, "look."
Everyone in the car held their breath in anticipation. The young man led the horse over the small hill. He stopped and looked up at the full moon. Then he mounted his horse and leaned down against the animal. For a moment nothing happened. Then a bright light flashed and when it faded away, in the place of the man and the horse, stood an entirely new creature.
"A minotaur," Lauren breathed. The man-horse pranced for a couple of seconds and then cantered off.
"Jesus Christ!" Alex exclaimed. "What the hell was that?"
"Never mind that," Sharmin said. "The question is: how the hell did he do that?"
T.C. shook his head. "Well, at least Thierry won't be disappointed."
Lauren snorted. "I guess not."
"Do you think he's going home?" Xyler asked anxiously. "Maybe we should follow him."
T.C. shook his head. "He'll be back home by the morning. Did you notice how he was looking at the moon?"
Lauren glanced at him. "You think that's the source of his power?"
He shrugged. "I can't be sure but that's what it seemed like to me."
Sharmin yawned and glanced at her watch. "Well, if we're not going to do anything then we might as well go home and get some sleep."
T.C. nodded. "'Night".
Lauren got out of the car as Sharmin did. "Can we talk?" she asked.
Sharmin looked at Xyler and Alex. "I'll be right there." She waited until they were out of earshot. "I'm really tired, Lauren, so make it quick."
Lauren swallowed at the tone of voice but said, "I'm sorry about tonight. I didn't mean to hurt you."
"I know that. But it's still difficult when you pull away from me like that. I don't mean just physically either. You do it all the time. One moment we're talking about things, important stuff. Serious issues that we need to deal with and then all of a sudden you change the subject. I'm getting tired of it, Lauren. I love you but I'm sick of getting the cold shoulder. I'm *not* Tamstra."
Lauren felt anger bubbling in her blood. She pushed back her anger. The last thing she needed was to get in a fight with her girlfriend. It would only create more complications. "I do know that."
Sharmin tilted her head. "But?"
Lauren stared at her, a thousand words that needed to be said. "Nothing. Look, I'll talk to you later." She got back into the car without glancing back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lauren screamed and sat up straight in her bed. She looked around the room wildly for a moment and then relaxed as she realized it was just another nightmare. She wiped the sweat off her forehead. "Ugh, I have to get out of these clothes".
Her voice sounded eerie in the silence. Shaking herself, she stood up and headed towards the bathroom. Stopping short of the doorway she turned and stared at the phone. The urge to call Sharmin was overwhelming. Just to talk about the memories would lift some of the burden she was carrying. But she knew even as she thought it that she wouldn't be able to lift up the phone and dial the number. Disgusted with herself she slammed the bathroom door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sharmin sat behind the wheel of her car in front of James Anderson's house. The guy who apparently could turn himself into a minotaur. She always hated this part of the mission. Telling someone about the night world never went well. And she never knew how she was always the one who got roped into doing the deed.
She sighed and looked down at her watch for the fifth time. Granted this guy had no life but even the losers of the world had to go out and get their mail. Her breath hissed out as she saw the door open and her target slip out to the mailbox.
She quickly got out of the car. He looked at her and started to run back to his house. Sharmin made the decision in less than a second and sent a burst of psychic energy at James. He collapsed in the middle of his yard. Using her vampire speed, she whisked James into the passenger seat and she took off.
Let someone else tell him about the night world.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thierry glared at Sharmin. "That wasn't exactly the best way of handling it, Shar."
She smiled. "Come on, Thierry, it worked didn't it?"
His glare morphed into a scowl. "It depends on your definition of 'worked'."
She sat down on his desk. "It got him here didn't it?"
He didn't bother answering. Instead he said, "I suppose I'll have to deal with him when he wakes up."
Sharmin smiled cheerfully. "Guess so. Sucks doesn't it?" Seeing the look on his face she strode out of the room. No need to push her luck. She made her way down the hallway but stopped as voices attracted her attention.
They seemed to be coming from Lauren's room. She stopped in front of the door and listened.
"Oh come on, Lauren, we want to hear all about it." Definitely a man's voice.
Lauren's voice dripped ice as she said, "Go to hell."
Another male voice said, "Oh yeah, tell us all about your hot, lesbian sex. Is it good?"
The first man said, "Who leads, hmm? Is Sharmin the Butch? Does she wear the pants in the family?"
"Fuck off."
The second male replied, "Careful, Lauren, or we just might take you up on your offer...flaming faggot or not, you still got a hot body. A body that shouldn't be wasted on a woman."
Sharmin threw open the door, a thunderous expression of rage on her face. The two guys backed up. They didn't look familiar to her. "Who the fuck do you think you're talking to?"
"No one," the blond guy said fearfully.
"Yeah," piped up the other man, "we were just leaving."
Sharmin tilted her head. "Oh really? Because it just sounded like to me that you two were threatening to rape my girlfriend. My soul mate. Do you know what I'd do to you if you ever touched her? Do you know what I did to the last person who hurt her?" They remained absolutely silent. Sharmin gave a laugh totally devoid of humor. "You could ask her yourself but she's buried six feet under." She walked up to them and said in their faces, "If you so much as look at Lauren ever again, I'll drain you of every last drop of blood in your body. You got me?" They nodded frantically. "Then get the fuck out of here."
Both guys raced out of the room at full speed. Lauren stared at Sharmin. "How much did you hear?"
"Enough." She said grimly. Crossing her arms over her chest, she asked, "How long has this been going on?"
"A few weeks. They're new Daybreakers."
"Why the hell didn't you tell me about this, Lauren?"
"I didn't want you to know." She blushed a deep red. "I didn't want to tell you what they were saying."
"Well that's great, isn't, Lauren? Hmm? Because now you have even more lies to believe about yourself."
With steel in her eyes she stared into Sharmin's eyes. "I don't believe anything they said."
"Oh no? You believed Tamstra...you still do. So what's the difference here?"
Lauren bit down on her lip and looked away. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."
"Well, too fucking bad!" Sharmin exploded. Lauren jumped and gazed at her soul mate with surprise and a touch of fear. "We're talking about it because I'm sick to death of you taking everyone's shit. Your guilt level is higher than your cholesterol for Christ's sake!"
Lauren closed her eyes and tried to tune Sharmin out. But Sharmin grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Just say it, Lauren! What ever it is you want to say, fucking say it!"
Something inside Lauren burst suddenly. And she pushed Sharmin onto the floor. "FINE!" she screamed. "I'M NOT A WHORE, I'M NOT A DYKE, I'M NOT A FLAMING FAGGOT, AND I DON'T LIKE TO BE RAPED!!!"
Tears started to cascade from her eyes. "I'm not evil," she sobbed brokenly, "I'm not, I'm not, I'm not...." She fell to the floor.
Sharmin took her soul mate into her arms and rocked her until the crying had stopped. "Jesus, Lauren," she said in quiet wonder, "I didn't think you had it in you."
"Neither did I," she admitted. She sat up shakily. "I didn't mean to push you that hard."
Sharmin grinned. "And I didn't mean to push *you* that hard." Lauren gave a watery smile.
"So, are we better now?" Lauren asked weakly.
Sharmin's grin disappeared. "You tell me."
Lauren sighed and leaned back against her girlfriend. "This isn't going to fix everything" she said honestly, "but I think that it's a place to start from."
Sharmin helped Lauren up. She searched her face. "Okay," she said slowly," but no more of this." She made a broad sweeping gesture, indicating everything that had happened. "No more running away, no more keeping things from me, okay?"
Lauren nodded happily. "I think that's doable."
They faced each other for a moment with uncertainty. Then Lauren leaned forward and gave Sharmin a deep kiss fill with newfound promise.
The End.
Title: Not Yet Conquered
Email: starlit_kit@hotmail.com
Rating: 18
Warnings:homosexuality, swearing, violence, and references to rape
Spoilers:general NW, SM
Part: 1/1
Disclaimers: The Night World belongs to L.J. Smith; as does it's concepts and characters(including Thierry).
Summary: A sequel to "Love Wins Over All". Lauren is still having a hard time dealing with her relationship with Sharmin. And Sharmin wonders how long she is willing to wait in order to gain Lauren's acceptance. Or if she's even willing to wait at all.
Author's Note: There is no sex in this story; however, I feel that the themes in this story should only be read by a mature, and open-minded reader.
Submission:
Sharmin watched as Lauren sat at the desk writing. Sharmin could feel the pulse beating in her girlfriend's veins. She was leaning down over her notebook leaving her neck exposed to Sharmin's electric blue eyes.
The corner of her mouth turned up as she stalked over to the desk.
Lauren frowned slightly. What was the word she was looking for? /Inquisitive./ She smiled as her hand continued to flow over the lined paper. /Perfect./ She jumped as she felt something brush against the back of her neck. "Sharmin," she said warningly.
"What?" Sharmin asked innocently.
"I want to finish this story tonight."
Sharmin straightened and ran a hand through Lauren's red-gold curls. "And I would like to kiss my girlfriend before I have to leave. Mind?"
Lauren hid a smile and let Sharmin drag her out of the chair. Lauren stood up and gave her best friend a fake glare. "Well I hope you're happy, Shar. Now my story is interrupted and God's knows when I'll finish it."
Sharmin ignored the little speech and tilted Lauren's head up, so their eyes could meet. Sharmin looked into her eyes for a few seconds. "Are you quite finished?" she asked quietly.
Lauren's breath caught. "Yes." Sharmin smiled smugly for a moment and then leaned forward and pressed her lips against Lauren's. The kiss deepened for awhile, but then Sharmin felt Lauren tense and break away from the embrace.
She took a step back and stared down at the floor embarrassed. "I'm sorry."
Sharmin hid her hurt and gave a reassuring smile. "That's all right. I know how hard this is for you." She reached out to touch Lauren's shoulder, but the other girl flinched, so Sharmin let her arm drop.
"Okay," she said. "I'll go."
Lauren still didn't look up. "I think that would be best."
Sharmin bit down on her lip but grabbed her coat and headed out the door. She got in her red jaguar and looked into the rearview mirror. She glanced away as she saw the tears pooled in her eyes. Angrily, she rubbed them away and started up the car.
She ran three red lights in her rush to get to her friends' house. She screeched into their driveway and slammed the door as she run up to the house. The door opened underneath her upraised hand. She looked at Xyler in surprise. "Hi."
His eyes narrowed as he took in her disheveled appearance. "What the hell happened to you? Come in." He grabbed her arm and walked her into the house.
Xyler ushered her into the parlor and told her to wait a couple of minutes. Then he disappeared. He came back a few minutes later with Alex in tow. Alex took one look at her and said, "Let me guess... Lauren? Am I right?"
Sharmin nodded sheepishly. "I'm sorry, Alex, I shouldn't have come. I'll go." She stood up only to have Alex push her back down onto the couch.
He sat down next to her. "What happened this time?"
She shook her head. "It's the usual thing."
Alex leaned back against the armrest. "I've told you before, Sharmin, and I'm telling you again; you two need to talk about this. You have to make her confront these things, not allow her to keep running from them."
Sharmin sighed. "It's just so difficult. It's hard to talk to someone when you don't even know where you stand with them."
Xyler cleared his throat. "She loves you. What better position to be in?"
Sharmin was silent a moment. "What-" Her cell phone rang, interrupting her. She growled in her throat but answered the phone. "Yes? Lauren, what? Yeah, we'll be right there." She hung up and turned back to the others. "That was Lauren. She said the guy we've been watching is heading over to the spot."
Alex already had his coat on. "Then we'd better get going. We don't want to lose him."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lauren sat dejectedly in T.C.'s car as they waited for the others to show up. What the hell was wrong with her? Why couldn't she just be normal and kiss her girlfriend? She rolled her eyes. She knew what the problem was and it wasn't the kissing. It was the "next level", if you wanted to use a euphemism. She had to be realistic. Sharmin was a very understanding woman. But even she had her limits.
Lauren just wasn't sure that she could ever go through with it again. After Tamstra...well, she still had the nightmares every night. If you could call anything so hideous a nightmare. "Nightmare" was too tame a word for the nauseating images that Lauren saw every night.
She wasn't even sure if you could call them nightmares since they were actually memories. However, most of the time they warped and made even more grotesque. She sighed and rubbed her wrists remembering the feel of the rope that bound her. The feel of pure pain as nails perfectly manicured dug into her flesh. The sickening moisture on her skin from a tongue...it didn't bear remembering.
But all she could do was remember. The haunting sound of a melodious voice turned into a screech by sheer anger, saying the most painful things. "You know you like this..."
Lauren slammed her hand into the door, trying to block out the past. She looked over at T.C. who was staring at her. "Sorry," she mumbled. She sucked her bruised knuckles and sighed with relief as Sharmin, Alex, and Xyler piled into the backseat.
"Has he done it yet?" Xyler asked.
"No," T.C. said. "He just got here a few minutes ago. I think he's preparing."
"Shh," Lauren said, "look."
Everyone in the car held their breath in anticipation. The young man led the horse over the small hill. He stopped and looked up at the full moon. Then he mounted his horse and leaned down against the animal. For a moment nothing happened. Then a bright light flashed and when it faded away, in the place of the man and the horse, stood an entirely new creature.
"A minotaur," Lauren breathed. The man-horse pranced for a couple of seconds and then cantered off.
"Jesus Christ!" Alex exclaimed. "What the hell was that?"
"Never mind that," Sharmin said. "The question is: how the hell did he do that?"
T.C. shook his head. "Well, at least Thierry won't be disappointed."
Lauren snorted. "I guess not."
"Do you think he's going home?" Xyler asked anxiously. "Maybe we should follow him."
T.C. shook his head. "He'll be back home by the morning. Did you notice how he was looking at the moon?"
Lauren glanced at him. "You think that's the source of his power?"
He shrugged. "I can't be sure but that's what it seemed like to me."
Sharmin yawned and glanced at her watch. "Well, if we're not going to do anything then we might as well go home and get some sleep."
T.C. nodded. "'Night".
Lauren got out of the car as Sharmin did. "Can we talk?" she asked.
Sharmin looked at Xyler and Alex. "I'll be right there." She waited until they were out of earshot. "I'm really tired, Lauren, so make it quick."
Lauren swallowed at the tone of voice but said, "I'm sorry about tonight. I didn't mean to hurt you."
"I know that. But it's still difficult when you pull away from me like that. I don't mean just physically either. You do it all the time. One moment we're talking about things, important stuff. Serious issues that we need to deal with and then all of a sudden you change the subject. I'm getting tired of it, Lauren. I love you but I'm sick of getting the cold shoulder. I'm *not* Tamstra."
Lauren felt anger bubbling in her blood. She pushed back her anger. The last thing she needed was to get in a fight with her girlfriend. It would only create more complications. "I do know that."
Sharmin tilted her head. "But?"
Lauren stared at her, a thousand words that needed to be said. "Nothing. Look, I'll talk to you later." She got back into the car without glancing back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lauren screamed and sat up straight in her bed. She looked around the room wildly for a moment and then relaxed as she realized it was just another nightmare. She wiped the sweat off her forehead. "Ugh, I have to get out of these clothes".
Her voice sounded eerie in the silence. Shaking herself, she stood up and headed towards the bathroom. Stopping short of the doorway she turned and stared at the phone. The urge to call Sharmin was overwhelming. Just to talk about the memories would lift some of the burden she was carrying. But she knew even as she thought it that she wouldn't be able to lift up the phone and dial the number. Disgusted with herself she slammed the bathroom door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sharmin sat behind the wheel of her car in front of James Anderson's house. The guy who apparently could turn himself into a minotaur. She always hated this part of the mission. Telling someone about the night world never went well. And she never knew how she was always the one who got roped into doing the deed.
She sighed and looked down at her watch for the fifth time. Granted this guy had no life but even the losers of the world had to go out and get their mail. Her breath hissed out as she saw the door open and her target slip out to the mailbox.
She quickly got out of the car. He looked at her and started to run back to his house. Sharmin made the decision in less than a second and sent a burst of psychic energy at James. He collapsed in the middle of his yard. Using her vampire speed, she whisked James into the passenger seat and she took off.
Let someone else tell him about the night world.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thierry glared at Sharmin. "That wasn't exactly the best way of handling it, Shar."
She smiled. "Come on, Thierry, it worked didn't it?"
His glare morphed into a scowl. "It depends on your definition of 'worked'."
She sat down on his desk. "It got him here didn't it?"
He didn't bother answering. Instead he said, "I suppose I'll have to deal with him when he wakes up."
Sharmin smiled cheerfully. "Guess so. Sucks doesn't it?" Seeing the look on his face she strode out of the room. No need to push her luck. She made her way down the hallway but stopped as voices attracted her attention.
They seemed to be coming from Lauren's room. She stopped in front of the door and listened.
"Oh come on, Lauren, we want to hear all about it." Definitely a man's voice.
Lauren's voice dripped ice as she said, "Go to hell."
Another male voice said, "Oh yeah, tell us all about your hot, lesbian sex. Is it good?"
The first man said, "Who leads, hmm? Is Sharmin the Butch? Does she wear the pants in the family?"
"Fuck off."
The second male replied, "Careful, Lauren, or we just might take you up on your offer...flaming faggot or not, you still got a hot body. A body that shouldn't be wasted on a woman."
Sharmin threw open the door, a thunderous expression of rage on her face. The two guys backed up. They didn't look familiar to her. "Who the fuck do you think you're talking to?"
"No one," the blond guy said fearfully.
"Yeah," piped up the other man, "we were just leaving."
Sharmin tilted her head. "Oh really? Because it just sounded like to me that you two were threatening to rape my girlfriend. My soul mate. Do you know what I'd do to you if you ever touched her? Do you know what I did to the last person who hurt her?" They remained absolutely silent. Sharmin gave a laugh totally devoid of humor. "You could ask her yourself but she's buried six feet under." She walked up to them and said in their faces, "If you so much as look at Lauren ever again, I'll drain you of every last drop of blood in your body. You got me?" They nodded frantically. "Then get the fuck out of here."
Both guys raced out of the room at full speed. Lauren stared at Sharmin. "How much did you hear?"
"Enough." She said grimly. Crossing her arms over her chest, she asked, "How long has this been going on?"
"A few weeks. They're new Daybreakers."
"Why the hell didn't you tell me about this, Lauren?"
"I didn't want you to know." She blushed a deep red. "I didn't want to tell you what they were saying."
"Well that's great, isn't, Lauren? Hmm? Because now you have even more lies to believe about yourself."
With steel in her eyes she stared into Sharmin's eyes. "I don't believe anything they said."
"Oh no? You believed Tamstra...you still do. So what's the difference here?"
Lauren bit down on her lip and looked away. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."
"Well, too fucking bad!" Sharmin exploded. Lauren jumped and gazed at her soul mate with surprise and a touch of fear. "We're talking about it because I'm sick to death of you taking everyone's shit. Your guilt level is higher than your cholesterol for Christ's sake!"
Lauren closed her eyes and tried to tune Sharmin out. But Sharmin grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Just say it, Lauren! What ever it is you want to say, fucking say it!"
Something inside Lauren burst suddenly. And she pushed Sharmin onto the floor. "FINE!" she screamed. "I'M NOT A WHORE, I'M NOT A DYKE, I'M NOT A FLAMING FAGGOT, AND I DON'T LIKE TO BE RAPED!!!"
Tears started to cascade from her eyes. "I'm not evil," she sobbed brokenly, "I'm not, I'm not, I'm not...." She fell to the floor.
Sharmin took her soul mate into her arms and rocked her until the crying had stopped. "Jesus, Lauren," she said in quiet wonder, "I didn't think you had it in you."
"Neither did I," she admitted. She sat up shakily. "I didn't mean to push you that hard."
Sharmin grinned. "And I didn't mean to push *you* that hard." Lauren gave a watery smile.
"So, are we better now?" Lauren asked weakly.
Sharmin's grin disappeared. "You tell me."
Lauren sighed and leaned back against her girlfriend. "This isn't going to fix everything" she said honestly, "but I think that it's a place to start from."
Sharmin helped Lauren up. She searched her face. "Okay," she said slowly," but no more of this." She made a broad sweeping gesture, indicating everything that had happened. "No more running away, no more keeping things from me, okay?"
Lauren nodded happily. "I think that's doable."
They faced each other for a moment with uncertainty. Then Lauren leaned forward and gave Sharmin a deep kiss fill with newfound promise.
The End.