Title: Stay

Author: hbomba

Rating: M

Summary: At some point in their relationship… Lauren asks Bo to "Stay."

A/N: Just a little quickie. I mean, it's a one-shot that exists in its own universe. Enjoy!

"But, here was a curious thing. The more I tried to give up thinking of her, the more I said to myself, 'She's nothing to you', the harder I tried to pluck the idea of her out of my heart, the more she stayed there." | Sarah Waters

"Stay," she said so quietly that she wasn't sure if Bo had heard her so she doubled down. "Stay with me."

Bo had one arm in her jacket and she stopped and turned slightly. "Yeah," she said breathlessly.

Peeling the jacket off again she took the two steps back to Lauren who smiled shyly. Moments earlier, Lauren had asked her to leave. She didn't know why she kept pushing Bo away, why it was so hard to love Bo and let Bo love her back. There were plenty of reasons, but she had really come to terms with most of them and yet she still clung to the idea that it wouldn't work.

But watching Bo walk away again was unbearable. There was an ache with Bo's name on it burning in her chest. It had been there since the day they met. It was an inconsolable kind of affection. She threw her arms around Bo's neck and kissed her. She kissed her like ice cream melts, slow, syrupy and smooth. She kissed her like she meant it. Like, if life or death could be decided by a kiss, Lauren could raise the dead.

Tearing her mouth away, she put a finger to Bo's lips, and turned away, walking up the stairs. Bo must've stood in place for ten seconds before she moved to join her, taking the stairs two at a time. At the top, her bedroom cast a warm and inviting glow onto the landing. Lauren was inside, sitting at the end of the bed, unbuttoning her shirt. She sat beside her, pulled her hair to the side and kissed her neck softly.

"Bo," Lauren whispered.

"Hmm?"

"Bo," she said more insistently.

She lifted her head from Lauren's shoulder. "You're not going to tell me to leave again, are you?"

She put her hand on Bo's thigh. "I think we need some boundaries."

"Boundaries." Bo nodded and dipped her head again.

"Bo." Her voice was stronger still her hand flexing on Bo's thigh.

Bo straightened abruptly. "Why do you keep pushing me away?"

"I-" She frowned in thought. "I don't."

"Yeah, you do. You're doing it right now."

Lauren looked away. "I mean, I don't know why I do it."

"Lauren, I'm here because I want to be with you, don't put boundaries on that."

"You're just- You're bigger than life, Bo, and when I'm with you I just melt into you."

Bo smiled. "That doesn't sound so bad."

"I need to learn moderation, I guess." Lauren sighed and moved her hand over Bo's knee.

"Can't help you with that, I'm afraid." Bo sat back, stretching her legs, waiting for Lauren's next move.

"What am I doing?" She stood and paced in front of Bo. "Everything says we can't be together but the way I feel…It's confusing." She closed her shirt.

Bo's head fell back. "We've been here before," she groaned and sat up. "I'm gonna go."

"No," she stepped toward Bo, halting her exit. "Stay." She nodded more for her own benefit than Bo's.

"Lauren," she sighed. Bo stood, leaning into her space she ran a hand up the seam of Lauren's shirt. And when she moved a strand of blonde hair from her forehead, Lauren sighed. "I want you really bad," she whispered. "But I don't want you to regret this."

Lauren's mouth opened but instead of speaking, she leaned forward and kissed Bo with all of her need. Her hands were at the hem of Bo's top, thumb smoothing over the expanse of her bare stomach before pulling it up. Fed by the simple power of her kiss, Bo pulled away and helped her pull it over her head. Lauren shrugged her shirt off and then the camisole underneath. Bo was unbuttoning her pants and shimmying out of them as she tried to keep up with Lauren.

When their lips met again it was frantic. As they stripped each other bare, Lauren pulled her onto her bed. Pushing back the duvet, they climbed into the immaculate heaven that was Lauren's bed. Sheets whose thread count challenged her and changed her. This wasn't just some hook up for Bo, and she was pretty certain that it wasn't for Lauren either.

Lauren held her face in infamy as their bodies moved together, their eyes locked in a struggle to stay present. Bo moved above her, pressed hard against her and that delicious pressure fed the fire in her belly and the ember in her heart. It was always there, smoldering for Bo. On again, off again-it didn't matter, she burned for her. And tonight the ember was doused with jet fuel. She was overwhelmed by the succubus but she felt anything but helpless or anonymous. Her hips moved in counterpoint to Bo's and she let her eyes drift shut, getting lost to the pleasure.

Bo's eyes flashed, she bit her lip and kept her hips moving in time with Lauren's. A dance they had perfected years ago, but it wasn't stale or out of style. What was remarkable was that it felt new again. They felt new again. There were no words, just the strains of their voices as pleasure came for them together. The sweat beaded on Bo's back, Lauren's fingers trying to gain traction as she held on through the little earthquakes wracking their bodies.

Bo crumpled next to her, propping her head up on her hand. A smile-that smile-and Lauren was hers again. She covered her face with her a hand and laughed. Her joy was effusive and Bo scooted closer. "Should I go? I mean, did you want me to stay-stay?"

Lauren exhaled. "No." She shook her head. "Stay." Opening her eyes, Lauren smiled at Bo. "Would you really have left?"

"If you wanted me to."

Lauren turned on her side to face Bo. "When I'm with you I never want to say goodbye. That's the problem."

"Clingy? Yes. A problem? Not so much."

"I want to be with you, I just don't know how to stay focused on me."

"Maybe you're not disappearing into me so much as you're blending." Lauren laughed and pushed her shoulder. "No, I'm serious. What if being in a relationship is bringing the best of ourselves and coming together as this beautiful thing. So you're not disappearing, just adapting."

Lauren hid her smile in Bo's shoulder. "How do you do that?"

"I read a lot of self-help books. It's a real problem," Bo said with a straight face.

She laughed. "Thank you."

"Look at me giving relationship advice." Bo grinned, all too pleased with herself.

Silence settled comfortably between them as their bodies cooled and sleep began to overtake them. But Bo resisted the urge to drift off. Instead, she watched Lauren sleep for hours, entranced by her beauty and baffled by her brains. She was perfectly imperfect and Bo, of all people, could understand that. In fact, those were the only people she associated with. But Lauren, she was special. Bo had gone around and around with her-that was true-but there was a reason they kept ending up together.

It wasn't because one made the other a better person or anything like that. No, it was love. And love didn't discriminate and it certainly didn't care if two perfectly imperfect people were ready to be together or not, it would always propel them into each other's arms. And tonight, when Bo finally let herself taste slumber, she did so with Lauren in her arms, and love in her heart.

Fin.