I saw this idea on a list of things every couple should try and thought how cute it would be Berena style! There were quite a few other ideas on the list that I might try and write, but for now here's the first. It'll be two chapters, this one introducing the first idea :)
Serena sighed heavily as she shut the door to the house she shared with her girlfriend. She'd had an incredibly testing shift - filled with plenty of time wasters, minor and very boring injuries and worst of all, Bernie wasn't even in to keep her company. However she couldn't resent Bernie for having a day off - she'd worked so hard to get the trauma unit up and running, barely stopping to breathe most days and now she was paying for it, having completely crashed at the weekend. Serena had felt awful for not thinking ahead and making her rest earlier but Bernie had assured her it was her own fault for pushing herself too hard. So for the past couple of days Serena had been encouraging Bernie to stay in bed and do nothing all day, but as she had expected Bernie had not taken her advice and was instead getting up every five seconds insisting the house needed cleaning, or saying she could make a start on all the DIY she'd been itching to start.
Serena had to admit she didn't resent Bernie for doing this either, the house was practically spotless, or as Bernie liked to put it, clean enough to perform emergency surgery on, (although Serena did hope this wouldn't be necessary). So this was why Serena was somewhat surprised when she returned home that evening to find the house completely silent.
"Bernie!" Serena called out, but got no response.
"Bernie where are you?" Serena called more urgently, she could feel her palms getting clammy and her heart beating a little faster as there was still no reply. What if something terrible had happened? Serena knew that Bernie was very skilled when it came to the cleaning and DIY, but that didn't mean she couldn't have had an accident like anyone else. She almost didn't want to venture further into the house in fear of what she might find, but then she realised she'd never forgive herself if, heaven forbid, anything had happened and she was too scared to go and help.
Ever so slowly, Serena began to move down the corridor. Just as she went past the closet where they kept their coats and shoes, she heard a slight rustle.
No, it was just her imagination, she thought, now isn't the time to think about whatever's in the closet.
She took a few more steps before-
"BOO!" a voice bellowed from the closet.
Serena shrieked loudly before the door of the closet burst open and a rather flustered looking Bernie crashed out into the corridor having lost her balance slightly from laughing so much.
"Bloody hell Bernie I think my heart may have just stopped there! What in God's name are you doing in our closet?" Serena said. She had certainly not been expecting her girlfriend to be hiding in the shoe cupboard.
"Well, at first I was in here because I was looking for a hammer to fix the curtain rail which fell down this morning-"
"The curtain rail fell down? How did that happen?" Serena said, more confused by the minute.
"Oh yes, I was attempting to paint the inside of our bedroom window because I suddenly noticed it was cracking, but I was leaning on the curtain rail and I guess my weight must have been too much for the old thing, and it just fell off the wall," Bernie said sheepishly.
"And what happened to resting to get rid of your horrible cold?"
"I'm feeling much better now and sitting around doing nothing was boring me to death, so I decided to do something productive instead,"
"I think I might need to hire a babysitter to come and look after you! It's like taking care of a 5 year old sometimes," Serena smiled to herself, Bernie was a handful but she did find her need to fix everything rather endearing.
"Oh you love me really," Bernie replied with a cheeky grin on her face.
"Of course I do, now come here, if you insist you're feeling sooooo much better then I'm sure it's safe for me to kiss you," Serena smirked. She'd been looking forward to this - she hated every minute of not being able to kiss Bernie whilst she was unwell.
Bernie laughed slightly before leaning in to kiss Serena. It had been 6 months since their first kiss but the spark was still there every time their lips touched, and they both savoured every taste of each other they could get.
That was why she was a little perturbed when Serena pulled away slightly.
"What's wrong love?"
"I'm still trying to work out why you were in the closet all that time, if the curtain rail fell down this morning like you said, why were you still in there when I got home just now? Also, why would the hammer have been in there anyway?"
Bernie breathed a sigh of relief that it was only the closet/curtain rail issue and not something else, before launching in to her explanation.
"Okay, firstly, I may have left the hammer in there yesterday when I was readjusting the nail holding the kitchen calendar up, but that's a story for another time. So anyway, I went in, found it, fixed the curtain rail, then went to put it back in there as I knew I'd remember it was there the next time I needed it. But then I saw it wasn't long until you got home and couldn't resist the opportunity to make a joke about 'coming out of the closet' which of course I knew you would appreciate..."
"Oh of course," Serena chuckled slightly, Bernie's jokes did tend to be terrible but she had to admit that this one was actually quite funny.
"And then I thought, why not give you a fright just for the fun of it? It's a great hiding place in there you know, but it is rather warm between all those coats," Bernie finished.
"What a day you've had! But I must say, when I came in I did hear a slight rustle coming from the closet, but I was much more preoccupied with saving your life than dealing with a few coats out of place,"
"Saving my life?" Bernie asked, it was her turn to be confused now.
"Ah yes, I thought you'd knocked yourself out or something when I came in and the place was silent," Serena blushed slightly at the memory.
"Just as well I hadn't or who would sort out all of the damage in this house! Anyway, I'm much better at hiding than you. Remember that time you tried to pull a trick like this on me but I found you immediately because I saw your leg sticking out from behind the sofa,"
"Is that a challenge Ms Wolfe?"
Bernie smirked, knowing how competitive both of them were.
"Alright, it is! How about we have a couple of drinks first before we get involved in hide and seek?" Bernie suggested, knowing Serena couldn't say no if there was alcohol involved.
"Sounds good to me!" Serena exclaimed, locking eyes with Bernie, before Bernie made a move and practically rugby tackled Serena so she couldn't get to the drinks first, before lifting her up and carrying her bridal style into the kitchen to fetch the drinks.
More to come soon... when I say soon I mean probably in 10 years time knowing my history with updating ;) xx