Anya froze, shocked and paralyzed in place as she stared at a woman she knew to be dead. Six months dead to be exact.

But there on the concrete patio stood Raven Reyes with that goofy grin, looking as beautiful as ever with handfuls of what looked like grocery bags.

"You gonna give me a hand or stand there gawking all day?"

Anya remained dumbfounded and unmoving, she couldn't react, couldn't speak at all. Disbelief kept her anchored in place.

She had to be dreaming. There was no other explanation. Either that or Anya had finally cracked.

How could her dead girlfriend be standing just two feet away? How could her voice sound as smooth and lively as ever?

Raven rolled her eyes before pushing past Anya in the doorway and shoving a bag of food into the blonde's arms. Anya clutched the items to her chest as she watched Raven walk through the hall and toward the kitchen as if it were a day like any other.

Anya couldn't help her gaze fall to the perfect curvature of Raven's ass as she rounded the corner. It took her several blinks before she snapped back to reality, closed the door, and hurried to the kitchen.

After setting the bags on the counter, she watched as Raven unloaded them and placed food around the kitchen with ease. The brunette definitely knew her way around. Why was she acting like nothing had happened? What was going on?

Groceries away, Raven picked up the stack of overdue bills on the counter and tsk-tsk'd as she flipped through them.

"Looks like I arrived just in time. We better get you back on track. You need that book deal."

Anya's brows furrowed as her mouth hung open. How could Raven possibly know about her deadline?

"Raven?" Anya croaked, not recognizing her own voice.

Beautiful chocolate swirls connected with honeyed-hazels, and suddenly, the unfamiliar sensation of warmth and safety and life flooded Anya's entire being. When she looked in those dark eyes of verve, she finally remembered what home felt like.

"Heeeeey," Raven cried happily. "How do you know my name?"

Anya cocked her head at the other girl. Of course, Anya knew Raven's name! She'd been in love with the woman for years. The blonde's heart sped impossibly faster as a thought occurred to her. Did Raven remember nothing of their time together?

Anya opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She stiffened when Raven circled the island and stopped just a few inches away, leaning back against the counter on her elbows.

"You okay, blondie? You look like you've seen a ghost. It's Anya, right?"

Anya nodded, still at a loss for words. Still skeptical over the whole situation of Raven standing in her kitchen right then and only half convinced she hadn't, in fact, gone crazy.

"I should probably introduce myself since I barged into your house. Sorry by the way. I'm still new at this. You're my first client." Raven grabbed the back of her head with both hands and groaned as she smiled that goofy smile Anya had missed. "Let me start over. I'm Raven Reyes, your muse! I'm going to help you write that book that's been eluding you."

"My… muse?" Anya was incredibly confused.

"Yep. And in addition to my muse duties, I'm here to take care of everything so you can focus on your project. I'll take care of the housework, the cooking, you name it. You won't have to worry about a thing.

A smile tugged the corners of Anya's lips at the mention of cooking and housework. Anya's Raven could barely boil water despite having a degree in space engineering. Anything Raven had tried to make in the past had resulted in complete disaster, and the girls would always opt for take-out afterward. And don't even get her started on the toxicity of Raven and housework.

"I'll fix you a snack right now!" Raven said excitedly. "You're going to need energy so we can make love."

Anya's mouth fell open again as she gawked at the brunette. Raven clearly didn't remember Anya, so why were they about to make love?

"How about toast? I'm great at toast!" Raven laughed at Anya's still shocked expression as she turned toward the toaster. Raven spun back around just as quickly before leaning in close and lowering her tone. "Okay, look, Here's the thing. Like I said before, you're my first client so I might be new to this whole cooking thing too."

Anya smiled, suppressing a laugh as a single tear of joy escaped her eye. "I'm sure you'll do fine. Toast is simple enough."

"Exactly!" Raven said clasping her hands together. "And I got your favorite jam, strawberry!"

Anya watched as Raven pulled plates from cupboards and grabbed the ingredients needed. As she watched the brunette work, her mind began to wander.

What was that about making love? Anya's brain went into overload. Within seconds, her life had turned upside down (again) with the appearance of her dead girlfriend showing up on her doorstep.

Not that she was ungrateful, but the possibility of having sex again with Raven so soon made Anya uncharacteristically nervous. For months, she had yearned to be near the cute, lovable, witty engineer again.

And now was her chance; to be with the one and only, Raven Reyes, the woman Anya was still madly in love with and whom she wanted to spend the rest of her life. And although she'd been given a second chance, it would be different.

Raven didn't remember Anya. So surely the sex would be different would it not? How could they make love if love only came from one party?

"We don't have to make love of course," Raven said suddenly, breaking Anya's line of thought. "We could just fuck if that makes you more comfortable. Either way, your creative needs to get laid."