(a/n – This is for pandorabox82, because you deserve and need it. The prompt for fluff is 'How about Bernie and Serena go to the sea on their first nice day off together, and Serena ends up getting a slight sunburn, so Bernie has to take care of that…' Let's see how this goes!)
Covering The Blushes
"So…" Bernie trailed off as she turned off the engine, parking in a space after a rather long and incredibly silent journey. Serena smiled awkwardly, the tension within the car so thick either of them could have cut it with a scalpel.
"I'll just go and check how much parking is, shall I?" The vascular surgeon opened the passenger door and got out of the car without waiting for an answer, and Bernie watched her as she made her way over to the ticket machine, her scarf blowing behind her as she read the notice beside the machine. She briskly walked back over and Bernie rolled down her window.
"All day parking, or just a couple of hours?" Serena bit her lip nervously. Bernie smiled.
"Well, the weather forecast looks good, and this is the first day off we've had together in a long time. Why not make a day of it?" Serena's eyes glittered, and Bernie felt butterflies in her stomach at the prospect of a whole day spent by the seaside with Serena.
Bernie put the ticket in place, and got out of her car, before standing nervously next to Serena. She reached her hand out to take the other woman's, but didn't want to push her luck, so instead let it drop again and hang limply by her side. She smiled again, breathing in the salty seaside air.
"Right then, where to begin?"
The day got hotter and hotter, and the two of them had a great time wandering in and out of the small seaside shops, admiring trinkets and postcards. Serena bought some local jam for Jason, and Bernie smiled as the woman next to her smiled more naturally than she had in months. After Bernie's return from Ukraine, it had taken a long time to develop a close friendship again with Serena, and they had not officially mentioned the talk before Bernie left, instead both silently agreeing to take things together slowly. When Bernie had realised they both had a day off together, and Serena had suggested that they go somewhere, the delicate smile the pair had shared had filled Bernie with a new sense of hope. And so they were by the seaside together, on an unusually warm Tuesday.
As the day rolled on, the sun got higher in the sky, and eventually Bernie and Serena wandered down to the beach, the tide going out, and few people upon it, given the fact that it was a weekday, and the local schools were not on holiday. Serena opened the tote bag she had brought, and spread out a towel. Bernie raised her eyebrows. Serena looked nonplussed.
"It is a sunny day. I am by the beach. I am going to sunbathe." She bobbed her head slightly to the side and smiled that smile which Bernie so loved to see.
"But we could get ice creams, or paddle, or go for a jog," she argued, and Serena pouted.
"You can do any of those things. I am going to sunbathe. Though if you do get an ice cream, get me one!" She placed a floppy straw hat on her head, and her sunglasses over her eyes, and stretched back on her towel. Bernie looked down at her in her vest top and white capri pants, looking ever the keen sunbather. The army medic shrugged.
"Okay, I give up. You sunbathe, I'll go for a jog, and if you're lucky, an ice cream. Don't forget sun cream!" Serena mumbled in response, and Bernie jogged down towards the receding waterline. She hadn't been on a beach in years, and the last sand she had felt had been whilst she was on tour in the desert, which she didn't want reminding of at that moment. As she gently splashed through the water along to where she could see an ice cream man, she let her mind wander. Serena had been very accommodating to give up her day off to be with Bernie, and there was no denying that they were now friends again after the original frostiness Serena had displayed upon Bernie's return from Eastern Europe. But, Bernie wondered, was there more? She thought about small moments between them, until she reached the ice cream van, and bought two ninety nine cones.
Knowing that the sun was beating down and the ice creams would melt quickly, Bernie ran faster but steadily back to Serena, silently delighting in the fact that she had not lost her physique since leaving the army due to her injuries. When she got back, she sat on the sand next to Serena, and nudged her gently.
"One ice cream for a certain Ms Campbell!" As she spoke, Serena moved her body lazily, removing her sunglasses to squint up at Bernie.
"It's melting."
"Well observed, doctor. It is rather hot around here," she grinned as the other woman took her ice cream and licked it. As they caught eyes whilst both licking their ice creams, both Bernie and Serena found themselves turning away from each other feeling a little flustered as they ate the rest of their snack. Ice creams gone, Bernie glanced back at Serena and smiled.
"So, Ms Campbell, enjoying yourself?"
"Very much, thank you, Major Wolfe." She put her sunglasses back over her eyes and sat up on her towel. "The weather worked in our favour. Nice to have something work for us for a change." Her voice softened, and Bernie ducked her head.
"Serena…" She sighed. "Serena, shall we talk? I feel that I need to tell you-Oh! Serena, you're burning!" She quickly dived for the tote bag and rummaged through, seeking the after sun cream as Serena herself looked down and gasped in pain as she noticed, and her brain finally registered the the bright red marks across her shoulders and chest.
"Ouch! Oh, stupid me! I have fair skin and burn so easily and I forgot to put sun cream on!" She gestured to the bottle lay on the sand and Bernie froze.
"You forgot? How?" Serena turned away then, and if she wasn't already so red, she would have visibly blushed.
"Yes, well, um, anyway, after sun please?" She hurriedly took the bottle from Bernie's hands and began to try and pour some out. Bernie took the bottle back.
"Serena, you're shaking. Allow me."
"No! No! I couldn't possibly…" Serena's voice trailed off. Bernie looked at her steadily.
"You helped me with my back, and now I am going to help you. Sit still, while I rub this onto your burns." Bernie sat herself closer to Serena, and began to gently rub the after sun lotion onto the brunette's shoulders. She then sat on the towel, facing her friend, and took a small tube from her pocket.
"What's that?" Serena raised her eyebrows, her breathing quickening at her proximity to Bernie.
"It's got aloe vera in it. We swore by it in the desert. I just think that this area could get very tender." She squeezed some cream onto her hands and reached over, spreading it onto Serena's upper chest awkwardly. Serena winced.
"That's freezing!" She leaned back and Bernie ended up spreading half of the substance onto the brunette's top instead. Bernie raised her eyebrows.
"Sit still." She instructed, sitting behind Serena and nestling her into her embrace. From behind, Bernie rubbed the cream onto Serena's burnt chest, whilst the brunette leaned back into Bernie's arms. Bernie told herself it was just friendly, they hadn't had the conversation yet, and she didn't want to ruin the moment. After finishing, Bernie pulled her hands back, wiping the excess cream onto her own skin. Time seemed to stand still, as both women stayed where they were, neither moving out of the embrace. If anything, the brunette leaned back into the blonde, and Bernie rested her chin on Serena's shoulder, whilst snaking her arms around her waist.
"This is nice." Serena whispered into the breeze softly.
"It is." Bernie agreed. The pair sat in companionable silence for a while, each stewing in their own thoughts, both knowing that a certain conversation needed to be had sooner rather than later. Eventually, Serena broke the silence.
"So, Major, are you ready to set up camp back her in England now? Put down some roots?" She smiled nervously towards the sea, where boats sat on the horizon. Bernie wrapped her arms even tighter around her co-lead's waist.
"I am. A…A…And you?" She stuttered, and cursed herself, why wasn't she good at displaying emotion?
"Mine were always down, soldier. I was just waiting for you to return. Even if I was angry, I realise you needed time too. And you're back now. Here." Serena smiled, and Bernie pressed her lips onto her sunburnt shoulder.
"Thank you, Serena. I will get better at the emotions thing, I promise. I just… In the field, emotion is best left out. And I'm still trying to find it. But thank you." Serena turned to face her, and brought her hand up to caress the blonde's face.
"Good, I'm glad we've sorted that then." She kissed Bernie softly on the lips, and the blonde stretched towards her at the touch, but Serena pulled back. "If Hanssen offers you any other trips abroad though, don't you dare think about taking them, or I'll have to kill the man myself. I'd at least hold a lifelong take it to the grave grudge with him, anyway." She smiled again. "Don't run this time, Major Wolfe." Bernie leaned her forehead against Serena's and smiled.
"I won't. Well, not far, anyway. Maybe to get you an ice cream."
"Oh yes, you can do that." Serena's eyes glittered. "Though make sure I put sun cream on before you set off, mmm?"
"Pardon?" Bernie raised her eyebrows, and leaned back against the sand, shielding her eyes from the bright sunlight. Serena laughed and leaned down on top of her, resting her head against her chest and absently twirling pieces of blonde hair through her fingers.
"That's why I didn't put sun cream on, you know. I got distracted by watching you run down to the seafront." Bernie looked at her in disbelief.
"No!"
"Oh yes," Serena laughed. "You've got quite a distracting physique when you go jogging in combats, Major. Especially along the water's edge. It was like a scene from a film which only I was at the viewing of." Bernie's cheeks were flushed, but she was smiling up at Serena.
"Remind me to jog more often when you're around. Now if there were ever a reason for me to carry on with the fitness, that's it right there." Bernie's eyes sparkled slightly in the sunlight, and Serena wondered if ever again in her life there would be a moment where she felt as perfect as she did then, lay on the beach in Bernie's arms without a care in the world. She kissed the other woman's collarbone tenderly.
"I'd say the smoking was probably another good reason. You'll have the most terrible lungs otherwise." Bernie placed her index finger on Serena's lips.
"Shhh. I'm not mentioning your chronic shiraz drinking habit." There was laughter in her voice, and Serena felt it through the woman's chest. She sighed contentedly, and closed her eyes, softly tracing patterns onto the army medic's arms.
It was only when they heard the soft lapping of water that both women opened their eyes lazily, realising they must have fallen asleep on the beach. Sitting up, Serena gasped.
"Bernie, the tide's coming in fast!" She began to frantically pack the towel and the sun lotions and her hat and sunglasses back into her tote bag, as Bernie got up and surveyed the situation.
"It isn't that deep, Serena, we can easily walk through it to the car park from here, and by the time we reach there it'll just about be around our ankles if we hurry on up the beach." She took Serena's hand and began to lightly jog along the sand, Serena smiling in approval. Soon though, the water was nearing, and Serena was slowing. Bernie turned.
"What's the problem, Serena?"
"I don't want to get my feet wet." The phrase sounded so out of place that Bernie laughed out loud, looking down at the brunette.
"I beg your pardon? Scared of dipping your toe in the water?"
"I did just that with you, didn't I?" Serena folded her arms, and Bernie sighed, pulling her shoes off and putting them in the tote bag.
"Come on then, Ms Campbell, up you get." She turned, crouching down and reaching back to place her hands behind Serena's legs, waiting until Serena finally gave in and jumped onto her back, clutching onto her shoulders for dear life, but also laughing her head off, as Bernie carried her the remainder of the distance to the car park, ensuring that not one drop of the sea got onto Serena. With virtually nobody around, save the ice cream man and a couple of dog walkers, Bernie felt quite safe kissing Serena gently as she placed her back on the ground. Serena stretched upwards and placed her arms around the army medic's neck, reciprocating the gesture. A seagull flew past, cawing loudly, as the two women smiled at each other. Serena shivered, and Bernie rubbed her hands up and down her arms.
"Come on, let's get you home." She placed her hand on the small of Serena's back, and the other woman's sunburn covered another blush.
"Thank you for carrying me," she whispered.
"No problem. Though you haven't half caused my back some bother," Bernie grinned.
"Oh shush. I can give that a massage for you when we get back to my place." Serena pecked Bernie's lips, and the blonde raised her eyebrows.
"And what makes you think I'm going back to your place with you?"
"Jason's not back until Thursday…"
"Massage?"
"Tonight?"
"Your place?"
"Of course."
And as Bernie reversed out of the car parking space, leaving the seaside behind them, Serena couldn't help but notice how she kept glancing her way. And she was thankful that her sunburn helped to cover yet another one of her blushes.
/finite\\
(a/n – hope this is as fluffy as you wanted a seaside Berena fic to be! I loved writing this so much, it has made me grin to give them some happiness after Bernie gets back from Ukraine. Thanks to everyone who has got me into this fandom, and also everyone who reviews and favourites etc. You guys are the best. And most of all, thank you to pandorabox82 for being so understanding and so amazing. This fic is for you.)