Lena squealed as Stef chased her up the stairs, the echoes of her giggles bouncing off the walls. But on the landing, when she turned and took her wife's hand, pulling her into their bedroom, the mood shifted. The playfulness fell away and when she turned to face Stef after locking the door behind them, her heart was pounding in her throat. She could feel the tension between them and the weight of the moment, and as she drew Stef closer, Lena flashed back to the first time they'd had sex after losing Frankie.
For the better part of a year she had been repulsed, even just by the thought of sex. It started out as regular grief. But after a while, it had become more physical than emotional. Her body had felt like a burial ground, like she was imprisoned in a place that no longer belonged to her. The thought of sex—of touch and pleasure and eroticism—had felt like a desecration; it was unimaginable. And Stef had been so supportive through it. Never once did she pressure Lena. She just allowed her the space she needed, offering comfort in whatever way she could.
Then, one afternoon when Lena had gone to take a shower, Stef asked if she could join her. It was the casual kind of shower they often took together; just a few moments to be alone with no expectation for it to be anything else. As Stef washed Lena's body, something she'd done a hundred times, her skin started to feel like her own again. Before Lena had even picked up on it, Stef seemed to notice a change. In response, she had slowed her movements, lingering a little longer on sensitive areas, tracing her fingers along behind the cloth through the soapy water running down her skin. It had been a delicate dance as she peeled back the remaining layers of grief and pain with care, washing them away until Lena was ready. By the time they got out of the shower, they hadn't shared more than a few languid kisses. But the pathway had been found, buried and overgrown. Stef cleared the rest of the way with slow tenderness and as they made love that afternoon, Lena was reminded that Stef's arms had always been home.
Now, as Lena pulled her wife in close, she hoped that she had given Stef the same care and consideration through this process. She didn't know how similar their experiences were but it was the only frame of reference she had to go on. The way Stef talked about her body lately, and her feelings towards it, echoed the way Lena had felt about her own. And she was certain that downstairs just now she had noticed the same shift in her that Stef had picked up on that day in the shower. The one that meant she was ready to forgive her body for its betrayal.
Lena moved her fingers from their home in Stef's hair, though she knew they'd be back there again soon. She kissed her with soft, parted lips, relieved when Stef fell into rhythm without hesitation. Her hands slid down Stef's back so she could tug her gray plaid shirt from the waist of her jeans. While Stef's hands gripped her waist, Lena danced her long fingers beneath the fabric across the small of her back, around her ribs and over her hips, careful to keep her hands in neutral territory.
Stef was so relieved that Lena didn't hate her hair this short. She would have done it anyway because she needed to. Since the first inconclusive mammogram, everything had been happening to her. Being held captive to life's terrifying whims, being forced to face her own mortality and take her survival into her own hands in such a drastic way had put something as trivial as a hair cut into perspective. She would survive if she didn't like it herself. Or if people thought she looked like a dyke. Or even if Lena hated it. It was her body, her decision, and cutting it had given her back a sense of power that she had lost in this process. But she was still self-conscious about her body and despite Lena's reassurances, Stef couldn't shake the fear that she wouldn't find her attractive anymore. So, when Lena couldn't keep her hands out of her hair and Stef saw the spark of desire in her eyes, so familiar and undeniable, it brought a sense of relief that was about more than just her hair.
The delicate way Lena kissed her was like a beacon through the fog after being lost at sea. For the first time in months, she started to feel like she knew who she was. Not a patient but a person. A woman. Like the body she walked around in was more than a vessel. It belonged to her again. Now, as Lena's fingers traipsed beneath her shirt, it was like her skin remembered her. As though Lena was waking her after a long, restless sleep and the more she touched, the more Stef's body opened to her and welcomed her back home.
Lena's hands left her skin and Stef broke their kiss to look down when she felt the fabric of her shirt flutter against her stomach. Her wife undid the lowest button of her shirt. Stef watched as Lena's fingers moved up to the next button while Lena's eyes were on Stef. She took her time, not to tease as she might have another time, but to gauge. With each button she moved slower, waiting for even a flicker of discomfort to cross Stef's face. But her wife just observed, her face engaged but relaxed, so Lena continued until her shirt hung open to reveal an enticing streak of skin.
When she finished, Stef smiled at her perfect wife and cupped her face in her hand, caressing her thumb over her cheek.
"I'm fine, love." Her words were hushed with appreciation for Lena's caution and tenderness as she gave Stef the space to feel vulnerable. It was so nurturing, so full of love, and so Lena. But what Stef needed was not to feel fragile anymore. She'd already felt that way for too long. "You're not going to break me into a million pieces."
A tight, self-conscious smile pulled at Lena's closed lips, worry creasing her brow. "I'm sorry. I just don't want you to feel pressured to do anything you don't want to."
"I know," Stef's head tilted to one side, a knowing smile making lines around the corners of her eyes. "But it's okay. I'm ready." Taking Lena's face in both her hands, Stef brought her in for another kiss, pouring her gratitude into it so that Lena was sure to feel it.
It was Lena who broke their kiss this time, pulling back so she could look Stef in the eye.
"If you're uncomfortable or if you want to stop… I want you to tell me, okay?" Lena held her wife's gaze steady. She needed Stef to know, to really know, that her comfort was the only thing that mattered. Even if she thought she was ready now, there was no point at which she couldn't change her mind.
"Okay." The word was quiet but sure. It was acknowledgement and understanding. It was permission. With one single word, Stef tore down the last wall she'd put up to protect herself, allowing Lena behind the final barrier between them.
A smile crept across Lena's face and, reassured, she ran her hands up the length of Stef's arms. She pushed her shirt from her shoulders, letting it fall to the floor as her own doubts fell away, replaced with the desire she'd been trying to temper. One hand found its way back into her hair as she drew Stef into her and kissed her again, the other hand gliding down to rest over her heart.
The familiarity of Lena's touch and the way Stef's body reacted to her was comforting in a way she hadn't realized she would need. Their kiss was still slow and soft but as tongues joined lips, an undercurrent of heat made her skin tingle. As much as she had feared Lena would no longer find her attractive, she hadn't realized she was just as afraid that her insecurities about the changes to her body would leave her incapable of desire. Arousal had been so rare and fleeting since her surgery that she was starting to feel broken. But as Lena's body leaned into her and her fingernails scraped against her scalp, Stef felt the pulse begin between her thighs that assured her everything was working just fine.
Lena's fingertips began a slow trail down to the upper edge of Stef's surgical bra. Though the muscles in her neck stiffened, Stef just focused on the way Lena made her feel.
Lena's fingers inched further along the top edge of the bra until she reached the zipper.
"Is it alright if I take it off?" She looked at Stef, her face soft and free of expectations. "It's okay if you want to leave it on."
Stef hesitated for a moment then shook her head.
"It's okay." As she watched Lena drag the zipper down the center, she realized that she was desperate to get this part over with.
Lena pushed the garment open and slid it from Stef's shoulders. She could see the tension in Stef's rigid back and could feel the anxiety coming from her.
"Can I touch them?" she asked.
"If you want to."
"I do."
Stef nodded and Lena raised a tentative hand to the fresh purple scar of one breast. She ran her fingertips, featherlight, over the length of it then repeated the motion on the other side. Glancing up at her, Stef's face was unreadable. She added a little more pressure and broadened her touch out to the surface of Stef's breasts, exploring with delicate fingers. The expanders were harder than she expected them to be and still small with only one filling of several that would occur over the coming weeks.
"It doesn't hurt, does it?" she asked.
"No," Stef said, her tone deliberately neutral. "But I also can't feel it."
Lena's hands froze. She worried about how to respond, afraid a wrong reaction would make Stef pull away. After a moment of hesitation, against her initial instinct to remove her hands, she cupped Stef's breasts and kneaded them, adding more pressure while being careful not to overdo it and hurt her.
"Can you feel this?" Lena asked, letting the smallest sultry note thread into her voice.
The corners of Stef's closed lips turned up, her face finally softening. "I can."
As she continued the gentle massage, Lena pressed a few kisses to Stef's lips.
"Does it bother you that you don't have a lot of feeling?" Lena asked, one hand sliding down around to the small of Stef's back while the other grew still between their bodies.
"Not really," Stef answered with a shrug. "It's a little weird, I guess, and it would be nice if I got some more back. But I just like that I can still feel you. Even if it's different." Stef paused for a moment. "Does it bother you?"
Lena's eyes turned up to meet Stef's. A smile pulled at the corners of her mouth as a familiar glint came to her eyes. Stef had seen that look a thousand times. Mischievous and full of desire, that look meant only one thing and seeing it told Stef everything she needed to know.
"Not at all." Lena confirmed what Stef already knew before bringing her lips down to join her hand.
She kissed Stef's scars before venturing out over the rest of her skin. Lena was keenly aware of the amount of vulnerability Stef was showing her by allowing her to touch her body purely for her own pleasure and she didn't take that for granted. Even in this in-between state, she worshipped these breasts. She didn't care that they were different. She didn't care that she would have to learn them and love them in a way that was new. They were Stef's and she would love them just as she loved every single part of her.
As she explored, every so often Stef would react to her touch and she would linger there, sucking gently, scraping her teeth over it. Giving Stef as much as she could and savoring every second.
Stef watched her and felt a wave of adoration wash over her. She didn't feel much of what she did. It was almost like feeling it through someone else's skin, though she felt the firmer kisses in the muscles beneath and the way her fingers pressed harder than normal. But her wife's arousal was radiating off of her. It was clear she was lost in it as she became acquainted with this new part of Stef's body and knowing that Lena was getting pleasure out of it made the experience more erotic than Stef ever imagined it could be. She had prepared for her breasts to be something that was just ignored during sex. An awkward afterthought at most. She hadn't expected this and it filled her with a burning need for her wife. Her love. Her Lena.
Stef drew Lena back up into a deep kiss. She pushed her sweater from her shoulders and Lena finished shrugging out of it. After pulling away just long enough to get her out of her shirt, she then sank back into the embrace, urging it deeper while her cool hands roamed the silky skin of her wife's warm back.
Lena's hands dragged down Stef's body, her fingertips leaving a burning trail in their wake. She tugged at Stef's belt and shoved her jeans and underwear down her hips before breaking away to slip off her own.
With one arm around her waist, Stef pulled Lena in against her. She kissed her neck; the smell of her so warm and familiar, like home. As she swept her tongue along the peak of her collarbone, Lena's hands sank back into her hair. Her head tipped back and she sighed through parted lips. Stef kissed and nipped at her neck and shoulders and Lena's obvious desire made her feel powerful. She had let so much come between them that she had forgotten how good it felt to have Lena so undone by her.
She wanted to lift her and carry her to the bed the way she did whenever she needed to feel strong and in control. She loved the way it made her feel and she knew that Lena loved it, too. But she still wasn't allowed to lift much weight so she settled for what she could do, urging her wife backwards until the back of her knees hit the bed, forcing her to sit. Standing between her legs, Stef used Lena's thighs to pull her flush against her. Their lips met again and heat burned between them as they melted into each other.
When Stef plunged her hand into her hair, the tug of her fingers wrapping around the curls at the nape of her neck made Lena's heart pound harder. This fire was unexpected but she reveled in the flames, soaking up their heat. She gasped when Stef pushed her onto the bed and shivered at the lust in her eyes as she stripped her of her bra and took in the sight of her naked body. It had been far too long since her wife had looked at her like that.
At Stef's urging, Lena moved back further into the center of the bed. Her pulse raced as her wife spread her legs apart and came to kneel between them. Stef dragged her way up Lena's body, using her mouth to travel from the top of her dark curls, kissing her belly and hips and ribs, leaving warm, wet trails along her breasts, sucking one of her dark nipples until she drew out a moan. She continued up her chest and neck to nip at the soft underside of her chin, all the way to her lips where she was received with an untamed hunger.
Every inch of Lena's body smoldered so hot she expected flames to burst from her skin at any moment. No one made her feel the way Stef did. When her attention was on her, it was like Lena was the only woman who existed and she craved that feeling every waking moment. But now, as much as she wanted to bask in it and let Stef take her, a warning bell was sounding. It was too soon. Stef was still healing and Lena knew, just by the intensity of their embrace, that she would overdo it.
She wrapped a leg around Stef's back, pulling her down against her but when she tried to roll them, Stef resisted. Even after surgery and weeks of inactivity, Lena was no match for her wife's strength. Her attempt to take control just spurred Stef on. She bit at Lena's lips and rocked her body against hers, the feeling of her hips moving against the dripping heat between her legs making Lena wonder why she was resisting at all. But Stef's health took priority, even over the aching want of her own body. Determined, Lena scraped her fingernails through the hair at the back of Stef's head while pushing her other hand down between them and into Stef's wet curls. Her wife growled against her lips before pulling back and catching Lena's wrist.
"Nice try, sweetheart," Stef muttered, tugging Lena's hand out from between them. She kissed her wet fingertips before pinning her hand against the mattress above her head. As she lowered her lips to Lena's jawline, she captured her other hand and pinned it beside the first.
"Stef."
"Yes, my love?" Stef looked down at her with amusement dancing in her eyes.
"You're still healing."
"I'm fine."
"I don't want you to hurt yourself."
"I won't," she promised and as she dragged her open mouth along the length of her wife's neck, her hot breath washing over her skin, up to capture her lips again, Lena's resolve faded. She arched up against her and, against her better judgment, returned her kiss with equal passion.
Stef widened her legs, pushing her pelvis down harder until Lena's feet came off the mattress. When Lena wrapped her legs around her hips, desire streaked through Stef and she realized what she desperately needed.
"Lena."
"Yes?" she breathed.
"I want to fuck you."
Lena's stomach tightened and she moaned against Stef's lips. "You mean—"
"Yes." She kissed Lena again, bruising her lips with the force of it.
"You have to promise that you won't hurt yourself. That you'll stop if it's too much." Lena pulled away to look at her wife, sobering enough to make her point clear.
"Cross my heart," Stef muttered, grinning back down at her.
Lena pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth, searching for an ounce of rationality or self-control and coming up empty. "Okay."
"I'll be right back," Stef said, desire already pooling in her stomach as she sat up.
"Stef?" Lena caught Stef's arm so she looked back at her, eyebrows raised in question. "I want the pink one."
"Yes, my love." A crooked smile tilted Stef's lips as she leaned down to kiss Lena again before sauntering to the bathroom.
When she returned, she donned a black harness fitted with Lena's requested toy. Lena had moved and was leaning against the pillows in the center of the bed, waiting for Stef with one leg out straight, her other leg bent to reveal the enticing skin of her inner thigh.
Stef couldn't resist it. Distracted from her original destination by Lena's long, lean legs, Stef climbed onto the bed and slid her hand up the length of soft brown skin, pushing Lena's knee to open her hip so she could follow her hand with her mouth.
As Stef devoured her thigh, Lena bent her other leg to make room for her wife between them. She didn't even know how they'd gotten here. She hadn't had anything like this in mind when she had made her suggestion downstairs. She had thought they would lie together, maybe make out while Stef got used to letting Lena see and touch her body again. But Stef obviously knew what she needed and that was exactly what she would get.
Electricity coursed through her when Stef moved on to her other leg. Her lips were up at the very top of her thigh, just inches away from the source of the pulsing ache that Lena felt in every inch of her body. Stef's fingertips grazed over the length of her, so light she would have sworn she imagined it if not for her breath hitching and her back arching as her body searched for more. She pushed her fingers into the hair at the top of Stef's head and urged her to look at her, lips parted and her eyes heavy with want.
"I thought you wanted to fuck me."
"I do, sweetheart," Stef purred.
"Then come here and fuck me."
Stef raised her eyebrows but didn't resist as Lena tugged her up to her. She wore a devilish grin as their faces came level, hovering over her desperate lover, just out of reach. She ran her thumb over her lips at the same time as she pushed her knees beneath Lena's thighs, urging her legs wider.
Lena's fingers played with the hair at the nape of her neck.
"I'm so glad you like it."
She dragged her fingernails over her scalp.
"I love it."
"You're not going to miss pulling it?" Stef asked, a teasing smile on her lips.
"Not at all," Lena said, her voice down in her chest as she gripped a handful of blonde hair at the crown of Stef's head and pulled her down to her.
Their mouths came together. Urgent lips were parted by eager tongues. Warm breath mingled with moans as their hearts beat faster together. Stef anchored her weight on her left arm and brought the other hand down between them. There was no need for more foreplay. Lena was hot and wet, more than ready, so she guided the toy as she pressed her hips down and slid into her.
A shuddered sigh rushed against Stef's lips as Lena stretched to accommodate her. One hand was still in Stef's hair, the other arm wrapped around her back, gripping her shoulder. Stef kissed her again as she pulled almost all the way out and pressed back into her, drawing out a throaty moan. She set a steady rhythm, rocking her pelvis up to rub her clit with each stroke.
Lena's inner muscles worked in time with Stef and every thrust sent an ache of pleasure through her body. She wrapped her legs around Stef's thighs, urging her deeper. Her head fell to the side, eyes closed, teeth clamped down on her lip. Stef kissed her jaw, beneath her ear, down her neck. She quickened her pace. Their sweat-slick bodies slid against one another, their labored breathing growing louder as Lena's body began to shake. Her fingernails dug into Stef's shoulder and just when she was sure it was all too much, she cried out as every muscle in her body tensed with wave after wave of pleasure.
As Lena came down, her body heaving with every breath and her limbs still wrapped around her, Stef relaxed her weight down onto her. It seemed her wife's concerns hadn't been unfounded. There was a dull ache in the muscles of her chest but Stef didn't care. It was well worth it. It wasn't a terrible pain, anyway. Just soreness from having her weight on her forearms for so long. And she wouldn't trade it for anything. Not while she was, quite literally, wrapped in Lena's love.
Stef nuzzled her neck until Lena turned her head and kissed her. A quiet, satisfied hum spilled onto Stef's lips, making her smile. The fingers of one hand were stroking the hair at the nape of her neck again. It sent a shiver down Stef's spine. Lena really loved her hair and, somehow, knowing that and knowing how much it turned her on and how much she wanted her was overwhelming. No one had ever wanted her the way Lena wanted her. The way she always had, from the very beginning. Stef realized in that moment, as Lena clung to her, already trying to deepen their embrace again, that she had played as much a part in their recent problems as Lena had. All Lena wanted was for Stef to be present and to see her for all she was.
She saw her now. Everything she had fallen in love with was still there, right in front of her. The way Lena loved with a quiet ferocity. Her devotion to their family and her willingness to sacrifice anything for them. Her tender heart and gentle hands. The passion and fire beneath her calm exterior, hidden by poise and grace but always burning. That fire was what she loved the most. It had drawn her in from the very first moment—bright and glowing in her eyes—and Stef had never been able to look away. In that moment, looking down into that still-burning fire, she vowed to never take her love for granted again.
Lena's hands gripped Stef's waist and she kissed her with intent. As much as Stef wanted to continue, the pain in her chest was more persistent than the need pulsing between her thighs. She lightened the kiss before pressing one final, tender kiss to Lena's lips.
"I think I should probably take it easy, love. But I'll take a raincheck." She winked at Lena before pulling out and sitting up. She tugged off the harness and dropped it over the edge of the bed.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes." Stef reached for the blanket folded at the bottom of the bed, wincing as she did.
"Honey, are you okay?" Lena sat up, worry on her face as she reached for her wife.
"I'm fine. I just overdid it a little."
Lena let out a frustrated sigh, shaking her head.
"Lay down," she commanded and Stef knew better than to argue. She laid back as Lena pulled the blanket up over them and then laid down beside her. "I shouldn't have let you. I knew it was too soon."
"Honey, I'm fine." She tilted Lena a look that told her she was overreacting. "I would have stopped before I hurt myself. I'm just a little sore, that's all."
"We still should have waited. We—"
"No, don't." Stef cut her off. "Don't regret anything. I'm glad that it happened. I needed it to happen. I needed…" she trailed off, not quite sure of her own feelings. "I needed the proof that my body being… Being different wasn't going to change anything, that— That we weren't going to lose us in all of this and that you…" she let the thought hang unspoken.
"That I would still want you," Lena finished, her words hushed.
Stef dropped her gaze and shrugged one shoulder up to her ear, guilty that she had ever doubted Lena's love. Lena regarded her with sympathy and understanding, her eyes bright with tenderness.
"Honey, you have nothing to worry about. I love your body. I love your breasts. I loved them before, I love them now, and I will continue to love every form and iteration of them from here on out because they are a part of you."
"Even with all the scars and the fake nipples and—"
"Yes." Lena interrupted. "No matter what," she promised. When Stef didn't speak, Lena sought out her hand, lacing their fingers together. "Do you remember, after you were shot, how I avoided looking at your scar? And how I had to learn to accept it and to be okay with it?"
Stef nodded, her eyes searching Lena's as she listened.
"That's because what it meant scared me. The risk of losing you was still there and the scar was a constant reminder. But these scars—" Lena ran her free hand over the fresh, thick scars of one of Stef's breasts, "I've loved from the very beginning because these are a reminder that you will do anything, sacrifice anything to stay with me." She brought Stef's hand to her lips and pressed a kiss to the back, her eyes closed against a sudden wave of emotion. When she looked back up at her wife, her eyes glistened with unshed tears. "Thank you." The sentiment, whispered through her clogged throat, felt inconsequential compared to her overwhelming gratitude but words didn't exist to express how she felt. Stef was the absolute love of her life and she never wanted to know what losing her would feel like. Just facing the possibility, both times, had almost broken her. If it ever happened… Surely, she would die of a broken heart.
A few tears trickled over the bridge of Lena's nose and down her cheek, falling onto the pillow. A small, sweet smile pulled at Stef's lips as she wiped them away.
"I'm not going anywhere, love." Stef whispered the promise then kissed Lena's forehead. "If you want to get rid of me, you'll have to take me out yourself," she teased, making Lena laugh. "That's better." She drew her fingertips down over Lena's temple to cup her cheek. "I don't want anymore tears shed for me, got it?" She raised her eyebrows in warning as a grin tugged at her mouth.
Lena nodded and wiped away the remaining tears from her eyes.
"Good." Stef kissed her and pushed a stray curl away from her face. "Because I'm the one who should be thanking you."
"For what?"
"For this afternoon. For… for your constant support, through all of this. I know it wasn't always easy—" Stef's eyes darted away and she wet her lips, a faint pink coloring her cheeks. "That I wasn't always easy," she corrected and looked back at her wife. "But you were right by my side the whole time and I'm so… so grateful. For everything. For you loving me. Even when I'm bullheaded and stubborn. For everything you do for our family. And most of all, for you accepting me exactly as I am, even when I struggle to accept myself."
Lena's lips turned up in a tender smile. "I just want you to see yourself as the incredible woman I see every day instead of focusing on the things you think are flaws. Because I love all of those things, too." Lena held Stef's gaze, not letting her escape the honest praise, even as her ears burned red. "You have always been everything I want. And you always will be."
Stef's chest tightened and the itch of tears pricked at the back of her eyes. Lena's love was everything and sometimes, especially when life got tough, she needed the reminder that she loved her, flaws and all. But after the intensity and vulnerability of the afternoon, it was too much. With no more words to express her love, she tilted Lena's chin up with the fingers of one hand, and kissed her. Whether or not it was enough, it was all she had left to give.
They laid together in silence with their foreheads resting together, legs entwined, wrapped in each other's arms. She was just on the edge of sleep when Lena untangling herself from her grip pulled her back awake. She grunted her dissatisfaction and held on tighter.
"I'm sorry, babe," Lena said as she let Stef tug her back, dropping her face down into the crook of her neck. "I'd love to stay but someone's got to feed the kids."
"Can't they fend for themselves?" Stef whined. "They're old enough."
"Their idea of fending for themselves is ordering pizza with our debit card." Lena dusted a few lazy kisses along Stef's neck and shoulder. "Do you remember how much pizza Jesús can eat?"
Stef groaned and flopped onto her back, her mouth pursed in a pout that could rival Mariana's best. "Damn those kids."
Lena chuckled as she stood and gathered their clothes from the floor. She tossed Stef's onto the bed beside her then began pulling her own back on.
"Do you need help getting dressed?"
Stef shook her head. "I'm fine, love. There's no need to fuss."
Lena looked unconvinced as she shrugged back into her sweater and crossed over to her wife, who winced again as she maneuvered back into her bra. Picking Stef's shirt up from the bed, she helped guide it on, ignoring the way Stef rolled her eyes.
"I want you to try to sleep until dinner's ready. Are your pain meds up here or downstairs?"
"I don't need pain meds and I don't need to stay in bed," Stef said as Lena began buttoning her shirt.
"Stef—"
"Lena." Stef took hold of her wife's hands, pulling them away from her shirt and holding them down by their hips. When Lena looked up at her, the stubbornness in her eyes turned Stef's annoyance into endearment and a smile crinkled the corners of her eyes. "I know you're worried and I love that you want to take care of me but I'm fine. I'm just a little sore, that's it. Nothing a couple of Advil can't fix. So, please, stop worrying. If I need something, you'll be the first to know. Promise."
Lena pursed her lips but sighed and shook her head. "Okay. I'm sorry. But I still want you to lay down and rest for a bit before dinner."
Stef looked poised to argue but closed her mouth when Lena raised her eyebrows. "Fine," she conceded. "But after that, no more fussing."
Lena nodded. "No more fussing."
Stef took Lena's face in her hands and kissed her with a smile on her lips. "Now, go feed the hungry masses before they revolt."
Lena rolled her eyes. "I love you."
"I love you, too. Now, go," Stef insisted, giving Lena's hips a gentle push backwards and pointing toward the door.
"Alright, alright!" Lena stepped back as Stef sat down on the edge of the bed, finishing the buttons on her shirt. "But I don't want to see you downstairs until dinner is ready."
"Lena." Stef shot her a deadly look that only just covered her amusement.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, I'm going!" With her hands up in surrender, Lena backed up around the bed. When she reached the door she looked back over her shoulder at her wife who was smiling as she laid back down, and her mind drifted back to her earlier thoughts. Maybe this hadn't been as much like that afternoon in the shower as she'd thought it would be. Maybe they hadn't needed the same things. But Stef had gotten what she needed and that was all that mattered. What did feel the same was Lena's sureness in knowing that no matter what darkness they faced, as long as they kept chasing the sun, there would always be light on the horizon. Even if sometimes they had to carry each other along the way.