11.06pm. Still no sign. Leena threw her book down on the floor by the bed and turned off the light, rolling over on the mattress until she was at least a tad bit more comfortable. Leena wasn't a violent person at all, but right now if she so much as glanced at one Claudia Donovan, she'd have her hands around the caretaker's throat in an instant.
Dozing in and out of a fitful sleep, the usually good natured innkeeper bolted upright in bed when she heard the front door slam shut downstairs. She waited, hands clenching. When Claudia shuffled into the room, kicking off her Doc Martins, and letting them thud to the ground, Leena merely stared. "Is your phone off?" she asked abruptly.
"No?" Claudia frowned, pulling off her clothes all the way down to her panties.
"You ever hear of this thing called texting back?" Leena crossed her arms, watching the redhead's eyes shift around the room. If only she could read the woman's aura. The innkeeper had lost her ability to read her girlfriend a year into the relationship. They had soon figured out that if Leena ever got her One, the ability would be stripped from her. Of course, she could still read everybody else's and still annoyed Artie with jabs at how awful his aura looked when he got a little tired.
"Sorry," Claudia shrugged, slipping into bed. "Must have lost track of time," she cleared her throat and shuffled forward, aiming for a hug. But Leena still knew when her partner was lying. And she didn't need Steve's ability for this particular lie to hurt. It did, in her chest… Like someone was squeezing at her heart, whispering to her that maybe this wasn't worth it.
It had been happening for months. Claudia would be late home, act shifty until they had sex and the whole cycle started again.
Claudia's arm snaked around Leena's waist and she pulled her close, open mouthed kisses being pressed to Leena's naked shoulder. She gently slipped the strap of Leena's nightdress down but the innkeeper merely shuffled to the other end of the bed. "Hey," Claudia whispered, rocking herself gently over the curve of Leena's backside. Her hand slipped under the covers and curled over the innkeeper's inner thigh, moving upwards until she found her goal. What she wasn't exactly expecting was the slap to her hand and the hard push back against the bed.
"I can't." Leena sniffed, using the back of her hand to wipe away tears uninvited on her cheeks. "Not tonight, Claud." She kept her face buried in the pillow so her girlfriend couldn't see.
Claudia pulled back as if she'd been stung by Leena's very hand and frowned. "Okay," she hushed. "Another time."
"Yeah." Leena murmured, pinching the bridge of her nose.
And with that, silence fell upon the couple and they gave in to a somewhat unsettled sleep.
When Leena opened her sleep and tear crusted eyes, she noticed the cold patch where Claudia was usually still resting, often snoring her head off. She rolled over, and pressed her hand against the caretaker's pillow, almost as if to check that her lover was actually gone. When a hard object filled the space of her palm, she blinked a few more times and blearily looked over to Claudia's pillow to find a box in her hand. A ring box.
Immediately, Leena's face scrunched up and guilt overwhelmed her. She rubbed at her eyes and snapped open the box, finding a perfectly dainty diamond ring, twinned with an emerald. "Oh, Claudia…" She sniffed once, then twice and before she knew it, she was crying into her hands. With her girlfriend gone, god only knows what the status of their relationship was, but it was obvious Claudia had left the ring to make a statement of some kind. Twist the knife in a little more.
Claudia ascended towards the top of the stairs, balancing the tray on her forearms. She froze at the sound of crying and when she realized it was coming from their bedroom… Oh no, no, no, no, no. No.
Dashing in, she found Leena in bed crouched over the ring. "Leen."
The innkeeper looked up sadly. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry, I… I thought I wasn't good enough anymore, I thought—" Her voice caught. "I thought you were sleeping with someone else and I—"
"Wait," Claudia held up her hand. "You thought I was cheating?" Her mouth opened. "Really?"
"I…" Leena's face scrunched up and she began to cry harder, shoving her face into her hands. This was it. The end, over a damn ring and a stupid lapse of judgement.
"Oh god, Leena no." Claudia placed the tray by her girlfriend's side. "God, no… no. I didn't think you were going to wake up, I was only bringing you breakfast." She hushed.
Leena looked up so fast, she nearly hit Claudia's chin with the top of her head. "What?"
"I was getting you breakfast, I—" Claudia's voice tightened and she looked down at the ring, taking the box in her own hands. "The ring is for you… I thought, well…"
"Claudia," Leena whimpered, rubbing furiously at her face. "Please tell me what the hell is going on."
Claudia shrugged modestly and crouched down beside the bed on one knee. "It's where I've been for the past few nights… trying to find the right one and transferring mone— and stuff, so… yeah."
"Oh, Claud…" Leena's lip quivered. "I'm sorry."
Claudia waved it off and placed the open ring box on Leena's thigh. "D'you wanna?"
Leena's eyes twinkled, wanting the caretaker to spell it out for her. "Do I what?"
Claudia rolled her eyes, taking the ring out from its little bed and pushing it on to the woman's finger. Her nose immediately wrinkled. "Hey, look. It fits!" She exclaimed happily. Leena merely rolled her eyes, trying to quell the tears. "Leena, will you marry me?" The younger woman said in a rush, eyes closed tight, unable to look Leena in the face.
She waited for a reaction, or an answer or something… but it never came. Only when she opened her eyes did Claudia catch the look on Leena's face. The woman was smiling in amusement. Claudia felt the eyes stare even more and she rolled back her head, sighing. She looked at the ceiling and let out a huff. "Okay, maybe this was a bad idea," she mumbled and placed the tray of breakfast closer to the woman. "I'm gonna… just…" she flustered. "I'll see you in a bit." She mumbled.
"Claudia," Leena rolled her eyes, sniffing as another wave of guilt overwhelmed her. "Of course I'll marry you, you goof!"
"You…" Claudia's words died on her tongue. "You… will?"
"Yeah, I will." Leena began to laugh. "God damn it I thought you were having an affair… I'm sorry I just—"
"I would never do that." Claudia rolled her shoulders sniffily and tightened her jaw.
"I know," Leena's voice softened. "That's why I was so damn confused." She held out her arms. "Come here, I need a kiss."
Claudia finally grinned and hopped up on the bed, snuggling next to the innkeeper. She smiled as her face was cradled by gentle hands and a soft kiss was pressed to her lips. "I love you," she murmured as Leena pulled away.
"I love you too," Leena's thumb traced around Claudia's left eye. "So much." She sighed in pleasure, "Now… help me with my breakfast." She smiled and pulled up the tray, holding out a slice of toast for Claudia to nibble.
"Crumbs…" Claudia protested half-heartedly.
"Fuck the crumbs," Leena wrinkled her nose. "Bite."
Claudia rolled her eyes, keeping a smirk at bay. She leaned forward and clamped her teeth down on the piece of toast before pulling away and chewing. "You like it?" She looked down to where Leena's finger was now twinkling with its new decoration.
Leena stared at it for a long while, eyes misting. "It is perfect." she hushed. Claudia snorted and Leena shook her head, peering into her eyes. "It really is." she insisted.
And the sincerity in the innkeeper's eyes told Claudia that she'd done a good job, even though the proposal was a little messy and totally embarrassing and if Leena let slip that it happened this way, she would be a widow before they even did the deed.
She smiled as another kiss was given to her cheek and settled down under the covers. Leena still seemed a little shaky, having thoroughly convinced herself that their relationship was over. And after breakfast they did make love, and unlike the last few months it wasn't one sided, wasn't just sex. The two shared a connection many didn't understand and it was emphasised this morning as quiet moans were sounded around the room and beams of sun shone through the window onto their naked backs. Claudia hadn't been having an affair, she had been planning her life… and Leena seemed to think it was one of the best ideas the great inventor had ever thought up.