Contacts

by Erin Griffin

Fandom: Grey's Anatomy/Coyote Ugly

Pairing: Erika Hahn/Lil

Disclaimer: I own nothing; I just want to give these characters some lovin'.

Note: third in the series starting with Blonde, Go Figure, and Lil's Girl. I am not sure if there will be anymore after this, since there isn't much more to do with this pairing with what little I know about Erika, but I can't say never with my muse being the way it is.

Erika woke up feeling really warm. It was a feeling she had yet to get used to. It had been so long since she had consecutive nights in bed with another person. She had gotten used to being alone, but was quickly getting used to the other woman already being there when she got home from work some nights. Erika knew she had Rachel to thank for that. She had been there when the brunette had asked Lil to take on more responsibilities of the bar. No one expected for Lil to give her the title of head manager of the bar, which put her in charge of hiring (with Lil's final nod), firing, inventory, closing up duties and advertising (not that the bar needed it). Lil had told Erika that she was married to Coyote Ugly when they first met, but the surgeon knew first hand that wasn't true. The bar was Lil's baby, as proven by the way she had forced Rachel to text her on the hour the first night she was working the bar alone. She really was like a mother sending her first born off for the first day of preschool.

Erika had known the significance of this, of the nights Lil would leave the bar for a couple of hours, of the stool she had put in next to her favorite side of the bar. Erika didn't have to hear 'I love you' from Lil because actions like these were louder than words. Erika knew that Lil herself wasn't too big on 'I love you' coming from her either, so she tried to do some of the same sort of things to show the bar owner how she feels for her, like stopping by the bar even though after a 24 hour shift it was the last place she wanted to be, getting her apple pie from Ramón's, or letting her take over the Netflix queue.

It was hard for Erika to not fall in love with Lil. Yes, she did try for a little while, but truthfully, even before she held up her copy of Oath of Honor by Radcliff, she was already a little bit gone. Maybe it was the dimpled smile she had gotten when she walked into the bar a month or so after their first meeting. Maybe it was the events of their first meeting itself and the words Lil had used to ease her sorrow. Either way, part of Erika had belonged to Lil since then, and little by little the younger blonde had her heart completely. If loving Callie had been like wearing glasses, then loving Lil was her wearing contacts. She saw who she was clearly, but people seemed to see her better as well. Erika knew there was no point in comparing the two women who held her heart: they were too different, and neither one of them would come out the winner. Callie loved her once, and Lil loved her now.

"Stop it," came a groaned voice beside her, thick with grogginess. Erika waited until Lil turned to face her before she placed the hand that had previously rested on her own hip to rest upon Lil's. The woman next to her stretched. "I can practically hear you thinkin' 'bout me," Lil said.

"Good," Erika said. She shifted and stretched as well, having not done so before as to not wake her lover.

"You got a shift today?"

"Starts at six tonight," Erika replied, "until about eight AM."

"I'll have Rachel open, then." Lil squinted at the clock that was on the side table behind Erika. "Eleven thirty," she announced in a small grunt.

"That's it? We just got to bed five hours ago."

"Yeah, so no more... whatever you been doin' and let's get some more sleep. We can fool around later."

"Love your priorities, Lil," Erika said somewhat dryly.

"Unless you wanna fool around now and sleep later. You're the one who'll regret the lack of sleep, not me."

Erika let out a laugh and leaned forward to kiss her lover. "Goodnight, idiot."

"Fine then. We won't fool around later," Lil said with a yawn. Erika knew that was a lie. They'll always fool around later.

End