If you read Tears in Her Popcorn, you know I like Larma (don't ask why). This isn't the same universe, but it's my fav couple enjoying the holiday together. Reviews and comments always welcome. Happy New Year!

It was fifteen minutes to midnight and Karma couldn't find her girlfriend.

And yes, that was still weird to her, even after six months and yes, she still did frequently find herself asking just how the hell this had happened and she never really had an answer.

Not that she was complaining.

Truthfully, she thought as she scanned the Raudenfeld's back yard, if someone had told her seven months ago that this is where she'd be and who she'd be with and that she'd actually be happy, she'd have told them they were insane. Utterly and completely, totes out of their mind.

She wouldn't say totes now though. Her girlfriend doesn't like it. "Totes are things you carry shit in," Lauren says, always in that same exasperated 'remind me why I'm with you' tone.

That's when Karma kisses her. Always. And reminds her exactly why she's with her.

Of course, Karma thought as she gave up on the backyard (too many people and yes, she knows it's a party but they're in her way) and heads for the kitchen, she knows it's not just the kisses. If Lauren were in this just for he kisses, they never would have lasted this long.

And yes, she knows six months isn't that long but it is when you had to deal with an (initially) disapproving best friend ("Lauren? Really? Liam wasn't available?), a (still somewhat) disapproving mother figure ("can anyone in this house not fall for Karma Ashcroft? ") and most of the school not believing she was really gay (or bi or Laurensexual or whatever it is Karma is) since, you know, she faked it once before?

Things like that make six months seem like six years.

Karma scanned the kitchen, her attention drawn to the corner when she heard a familiar deep laugh. Bruce. She thought again how nice it was that he and Farrah were getting along well enough for her to invite him (and tried not to think about how well Lauren seemed to think they were really getting along) . Karma knew it meant a lot to Lauren to have her father there, especially since she didn't see him that often now that he'd moved back to Dallas and extra especially since he'd been the only one to be happy for them right off the bat.

She made her way across the kitchen, hoping Lauren would be be there, tucked against her father's side, rolling her eyes and pretending like he drove her nuts and annoyed her. Karma knew it was pretend and knew that Lauren secretly loved her father's often bumbling attempts at being a good dad.

She also knew if she ever said that out loud Lauren wouldn't kiss for her a week. Minimum.

Karma never said a word.

Lauren kisses were just too good.

Bruce caught sight of her just before she got to him. "There she is!" he hollered, obviously already slightly tipsy. Karma had learned a lot about Bruce in the last six months, including that a few beers (or even fewer glasses of wine, which is why he usually avoided it, though clearly that wasn't the case tonight) made him even more… Bruce… than usual.

He caught her up in a hug and swung her around and Karma was very glad she hadn't had anything to drink (which had totes nothing to do with the last time she got drunk at a Raudenfeld / Cooper party) . Bruce set her back down and looked at her all serious like (or as serious as he could) . "Where's our girl?"

Karma would have been lying if she said hearing those words (our girl) didn't do a little something to her. Considering how often she'd felt like an afterthought in her own family and that her other family (Amy) wasn't even here, off with her new college-going-girlfriend Rayna (and, apparently, Amy did have a type, at least when it came to names) it was nice (more than nice) for someone to make Karma feel like she belonged.

"That's why I came over, " Karma said. "I thought she might be with you."

Bruce shook his head and then closed his eyes as the room kept shaking even after he'd stopped. "Haven't seen her," he said. "Last time was like an hour ago and she said she had to get something ready. I figured that had to do with you since pretty much everything my show pony does lately has to do with you. "

Karma blushed and hung her head until Bruce tucked a finger under her chin and lifted her eyes to his.

"I didn't mean that as a bad thing, Special K, " he said and Karma blushed again at the nickname. "I'm glad of it. Very glad. My little show...Lauren...hasn't been this happy in, well… " Bruce drifted off and his eyes focused (as best they could) on some point over Karma's shoulder. "Well, I'll be… "

Karma turned, confused (even more than usual) at Bruce's weirdness but then she saw her. Lauren. She stood on the stairs in a simple black dress. It wasn't inappropriate or scandalous in any way, but there was no way anyone who saw her could ever look away. It fit her just right, hugging every curve (the ones Karma was slowly learning to know by heart), dipping low enough to tease the tiniest hint of cleavage, and short enough that Karma could just stand there drinking in the sight of those perfect legs all night.

"it was her mom's, " Bruce whispered. "The dress, I mean. Her mother wore that dress the first time I ever took her out and… " He trailed off and if Karma could have pulled her eyes from Lauren she'd have seen the tears in his. "i may know where she got it, Karma," he whispered again, "but I'm pretty sure it's not me she's wearing it for."

Bruce gave her a gentle shove to get her moving (cause she would have stayed there staring all night) and Karma quickly made her way to the stairs. Lauren saw her and, just for a second, the smile on her face lit the room.

Karma knew that smile, the one that disappeared again so quickly, but she didn't mind that it was gone. She knew it would be back once they were alone. That smile was just for her.

"Hey, " she said when she got to the bottom of the stairs. "You look… wow." Not for the first time Karma wished she had better words or a smoother way of saying how she felt but, like she'd learned about Bruce, Lauren had spent the last six months learning Karma.

She knew what 'wow' meant and it was more than enough for her.

Lauren held out a hand and Karma took it, letting the tiny blonde lead her up the stairs (and if she enjoyed the front view in the dress, the back view was to die for) . They walked down the hall Karma had gone down so many times in her life but instead of turning right into Amy's room, they turned left into Lauren's.

It had been six months but Karma was still getting used to that.

Lauren shut the door behind them and Karma heard the lock click but she was too busy staring at the piles of stuff on the floor next to the bed and the one pink box on it. "What's going - "

Karma's words left her as lauren pressed her lips to hers and then stepped back. "This, " she said, waving at the pile on the floor, "is 2015. " Karma studied the pile. There was a football jersey, probably Tommy's. The outfit Lauren had worn in those boudoir photos Shane had helped her with. The hoodie she'd worn when she was stalking Theo and the dress she'd worn to prom. "Even with the last six months, 2015 kinda sucked," Lauren said and Karma couldn't help but agree. "So I'm letting almost all of it go '

Karma smiled cause she understood that she was the almost.

Lauren led her in and steered her to sit on the edge of the bed. "This," she said, handing Karma the pink box, "is 2016."

Karms opened it. Inside was just about the sexiest lingerie she'd ever seen. It was silky and soft with stockings and garters and a bra that would cover just enough and it was all this perfect shade of green, the kind of green that would look soooo good with her hair and…

"Wait, " she said "is this for… '

And then she looked up.

Somehow while Karma had been looking in the box, Lauren had shimmied out of the black dress and Karma was now looking at her girlfriend in the exact same outfit she'd picked for her. Only Lauren's was red and even though they'd fooled around a bit this was the most of Lauren Karma had ever seen at one time and the effect was, well...

"Wow."

Lauren smiled (that one just for her) and Karma tried to breathe.

"I thought you could go change in the bathroom and then, you know, come back in and we could um… well.. um… "

If sassy and smartass and eye rolling Lauren was the one Karma had fallen for, this one…

This was the one that made her stay.

She stood, dropping the box into the bed and pulled Lauren to her. The feel of Lauren's skin under her hands and pressing against her was almost more than Karma could stand. She cupped the blonde's cheeks and pressed a soft kiss to her lips before glancing over at the digital clock next to the bed.

11:59

"One minute, " Karma said. "Just enough time. "

"Time for what?"Lauren asked, her breathing heavy. Clearly being this almost naked and this close to Karma affected her too.

"I wanted to tell you this right before midnight," Karma said. "So at least 2015 would end well."

Lauren shivered as she felt Karma's hands roam across her back and her girlfriend leaned in, her lips next to Lauren's ear. "Tell me what? "

She watched as the clock blinked, the numbers flipping over just as Karma whispered.

"I love you."

Lauren's grip around Karma's waist tightened and she felt tears prick her eyes and the words sprang free without hesitation.

"I love you too, she said.

They stayed there like that, just holding each other, for the first three minutes of 2016.

And then Karma slipped into the bathroom and changed Into her gift and came back to find Lauren waiting for her in the bed.

And the first three hours of 2016?

Wow.