A/N: like it says in the summary, this is the sequel of "What If", so you kind of need to read it to understand what's going on here (you can go, I'll wait!)
I'm going to start with one small chapter and this is probably gonna end up being somewhere around 10 chapters, but those who read my other stories know I'm not really good at predicting these kind of things. Also, this story it's not for the Cophine soft hearts, so consider yourself warned. Also, also there will be smut and I will not separate it like I did in What If, so plot will be mixed with explicit sexy times.
She wakes up even before her alarm goes off and if it's true that usually she would take that chance to stay lazily in bed, stealing some precious extra minutes from the morning, today Delphine can't do it. In fact she hardly got any sleep at all, her brain pulling at her conscious every other hour, keeping her awake, her mind rumbling in a state of half awareness. She can't say still and has to get up, moving for the kitchen and getting the coffee machine going.
She's already sipping her coffee, absently looking out the window of her twentieth floor apartment, right in the city center, when she feels soft arms snaking around her waist, followed by gentle lips kissing her bare shoulder.
"You're up early." The familiar voice brings her back to reality. It was probably one of the first things that got Delphine's attention, all those years ago, the smooth, light voice, never demanding and yet always able to captivate her attention.
"The American clones are visiting our facility today." Delphine explains, her eyes still focused outside, but stretches her neck for her lover to continue the teasing. "I don't want to be late."
"You mean, Cosima's visiting." The arms moving from her waist and the comfortable warmth moving away from her back.
Delphine turns and watches Claire filling a cup of coffee for herself, not knowing how to answer her girlfriend's implication without sounding too defensive. So instead she just moves to their bedroom and gets the things for her shower. When she returns Claire's there, casually laid on their bed, moving her eyes from her phone to meet Delphine's.
"Is this something we need to talk about?" She asks.
"No, it is not." Delphine answers, taking out of her closet one of her many perfectly tailored skirts, choosing the light gray and a white button up shirt.
"Good." Claire says, moving on the bed until she's on her knees right in front of the blonde, pulling her closer by the hips until Delphine lowers her head for a quick kiss.
"I'm going to be late." Delphine says against the other woman's lips, when she notices Claire's not about to let her go that easily.
"I think we have time..." It doesn't take much for Delphine to surrender to her request. It never did.
She's running late or maybe not as early as she wanted, even if it only takes a fifteen minutes ride in the metro, from her place to the DYAD Institute in Paris, but Delphine had planned to get done everything she had to today before she has to deal with the clones' arrival and all the confusion it would inevitably create. With the second coffee of the day steady on her hand, she walks to her office and tries to concentrate on what she has to do.
But Delphine finds herself unable to do so and she knows damn well why. Cosima. It doesn't matter what she told Claire, Delphine knows she allowed the endearing clone to cut much deeper than she initially intended. That is the one thing her girlfriend doesn't know, nor will she ever, if it's up to her. It's a breach in the thrust they built their relationship on, but the blonde considers it relatively benign: it's not like she sees Cosima every day. They are in different continents, a big ocean between them and even if they are to cross paths again, it will never be for long periods of time or regularly. It doesn't matter, in the end it won't make any difference.
The first week after she returned, however, was difficult. She never thought about hiding what happened from Claire, but if she had, Delphine wouldn't get away with it, the mark on her neck, left by Cosima, would've given her away. It persisted for almost a week and when it was gone the doctor experienced a mixture of relief and sudden lost. The last trace of the night spent with the clone gone. No longer did she need to hide the evidence of the daring set of lips from the outside world with a scarf in the warm weather of the early autumn. But she also lost the constant remainder of Cosima's lips every time she looked at herself in the mirror.
Claire had complained about it, more in a joking way than anything else and didn't make an attempt to cover Cosima's brand with her own. "That's what you get for fooling around with college kids." She had said, while kissing down Delphine's bare torso, shortly after she arrived from the airport. The blonde had told her girlfriend about Cosima after the examination in the clone's hotel room. It was not that she needed permission, but they had agreed to inform one another if something like that was likely to hapen and the other wasn't present.
That was not the first time it happened with Delphine and it wasn't the last either. Sometimes they could go months without being with someone else, sometimes weeks. It made no difference, but apart from the information clause they have two more rules: protection and always come back (both physically and emotionally).
They had been dating for nearly six months when they decided to make those rules, until then they tried to be exclusive, but the nature of the two women was contrary to such restrictions and it was tearing them apart. However, there was love and desire for each other, it never faded and neither of them really wanted to end. One day, when Delphine and Claire had returned from a night out, more drunk than they would've ever admit they finally talked about it. The first few times were weird, to say the least, finding themselves unable to look the other in the eye, but as time passed by they got comfortable with the new situation. It is better this way, if Delphine or Claire want someone else, they let each other know and make their move. It works out well for them, it prevents them to fall into the bitterness, which would eventually poison their relation.
In the beginning Delphine thought that removing the illicit aspect of the thing would make it less exciting, but she was proven wrong, it didn't make it less exciting, although it did make it more comfortable, knowing that at the end of the day she can return home to someone who loves her and understands the way she is. It is not unusual for her to wake up in the morning and, looking at the bright green eyes peeking open as well, considers herself lucky to have beaten the odds, to have found someone who thinks like her about the connection between sex and love.
It's not that one is absolutely disconnected from the other, but she's not naive to the point of believing one needs to be in love to feel desire or to want to be desired. No, if she thinks that love cannot exist without sex, the contrary premise fails to be realistic. Delphine did not love everyone she had sex with, maybe when she was young, yes, but even then... She is not sure, specially since the notion of love changes during the course of life.
She was still a teen when she discovered that relationships were really not her thing. She started by dating men, but no matter how hard she tried to ignore it, there was always a part of her that was curious about how it would be like to feel the softer, less demanding touch of a woman. Eventually she came to terms with it and started to casually date both, not settling for one or another, even today. If it's true that women hold a especial charm, sometimes she just wants something simple and straightforward.
She was 25 and convinced she was sentenced not to have a long term relationship for the time being when she met Claire, with her soft voice and even softer hands. Claire took her by surprise, charming her with her fast mind and easy going spirit. Out one night the tall, lean figure caught Delphine's eye and they ended the night and better part of the morning getting familiar with each other's bodies. They decided to give it a shot, Delphine completely smitten by the girl and her glowing, black, long hair and tanned completion.
Their relationship is not a simple one, but it saves them from the heartache of finding out about one of them cheating. And it would hapen, if it had not been Claire to pull the trigger first than would have been Delphine, for sure.
The phone on Delphine's desk rings. "They're here!"
A/N: (yes, I'm gonna be that person who puts two AN's) I did left some clues in the other...