A/N: So sorry it has taken so long for me to update. I was in two minds whether to continue this story, but I decided that I'd do another chapter and see if people were interested!

Chapter 2

"I couldn't wait until tomorrow see you. I was hoping you would be here. I-I need to explain."

Serena's reply came harsher than she had intended.

"Then explain."

/

Serena's words were sharp to Bernie's ears and she almost had to blink twice, her mouth slightly agape from the shock of the sudden harsh response. Bernie didn't quite know what she was expecting. She certainly wasn't expecting flowers and open arms, but she also hadn't quite anticipated such an unwarm welcome. She hadn't prepared herself for the sharp, bitter words that emanated from Serena's mouth.

"Serena, I…I, uh, don't think that Albies is the best place for us to do this." Bernie stuttered through the sentence, trying and failing to talk slowly and calmly. She could tell that Serena had drunk one, maybe five, too many, but she wasn't prepared to just leave. She wasn't going to run. Not this time.

Serena stood up, placing her half empty wine glass on the bar as she leaned against it.

"Why not, Bernie? Why not here? We've done this, as you put it, in the middle of AAU…in front of all of our colleagues. So tell me, why not here?"

Once again, her voice was harsh. Surprisingly to Serena, it had come out much harsher than she had actually intended but she wasn't going to apologise. She was far too stubborn for that. Far too proud for that…and far too hurt for that.

"Serena." Bernie's voice was stern. Hard. It sounded far more serious than anything she had heard from Bernie in the past. It was low, husky and there really was no arguing with the pleading in Bernie's eyes as she spoke her name so harshly. Closing her eyes for a brief second, Serena stood up straight and nodded before following Bernie outside.

The air around them was cool, enhanced by the ice cold atmosphere circling around the pair. Serena's voice broke the silence.

"I…I brought my car." She said, almost chastising herself. How am I going to get to work in the morning? I'll have to get a cab!

Bernie nodded to herself, before holding her hand out. "I got a cab from the airport. Give me your keys, I'll drive."

Warily, Serena handed the keys over to Bernie, her fingers lingering on her palm for a second too long as their eyes met in a long, heated look before Serena broke the eye contact, looking down and smoothing out the non-existent creases in her blouse. Clearing her thought and taking a deep breath, Bernie took a second to recover from the intense moment they just shared before shaking her head, this wasn't what this was about. Well it is. Bernie thought to herself. It's rather very much what this is about.

"Where's your car parked?" Bernie asked when she saw Serena shivering. Slowly, she peeled the coat she was wearing from her body and placed it around Serena's shoulders with minimal arguments from the woman, before following in Serena's path to her car.

The drive back to Serena's house was quiet. It was tense…but somehow, it didn't feel uncomfortable; it felt natural. Pulling up outside Serena's house, they just sat there, both of them still…unmoving. Bernie was the first to speak…to break the building tension.

"I…look, Serena…I'm sorry, okay? I'm not good at this. At any of this." Bernie's eyes were focussed upon the road in front of her until her eyes sought a small scratch indented upon the dashboard on the driver's side; this something which would never usually capture her attention but right in this moment, it was the most fascinating thing she had ever seen. Her mind raced for a few seconds, wondering how that scratch had come to be on the dashboard…had it always been there? Had Jason accidentally scratched the edge of his QI book on it whilst explaining something to Serena? Had Serena grazed it with one of the rings which adorn her beautiful, long, skilled surgeon fingers? The fingers that I so desperately…Bernie's train of thought was suddenly very, very far from where it needed to be in this moment and she blinked rapidly, bringing herself back into the real world with a bang, harshly realising that Serena was speaking.

"Sorry for what, Bernie?" Serena's voice has a tinge of sadness to it, intertwined with all the anger still evidently present within her tone of voice. "Sorry for kissing me? Sorry for coming back? Sorry for making me beg for you to stay, for you to stay with me, in front of all of our friends, not to mention all of our colleagues? Or are you sorry for leaving me? Even after I had physically begged, and pleaded for you not to go? So what are you sorry for, Bernie? Breaking my heart of smashing it into pieces?" Serena's voice surprisingly wasn't harsh, nor was it actually angry now. It just resonated with hurt, and confusion and something else which Bernie couldn't decide whether it was love or longing, or, she prayed, both.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Serena…for everything. I was lost. I was so fucking lost." Bernie sounded defeated. She sounded tired, truthful. She shook her head, her emotion getting the best of her as she felt unruly tears prickling at the corners of her eyes. "I was lost. I was so lost, Serena. I was lost in lies, lost in telling myself that you could never feel the same way about me as I do about you, lost in translations of your wonderful texts, lost in a phrasebook, looking for answers…looking for ways to respond to your texts but I could never find anything sufficient. I was lost in myself, and I just…I couldn't get out. That's who I am…Its who I was, but I don't want to be like that anymore. I know what I want now, and even with Marcus, I was never this sure. I always chose the army, god, I even chose the army over my own children…but if I were to be proposed with an ultimatum of you or the army, it would be you every time, Serena. I know that now." Her voice was raw, it was full of emotion and want and something else she just couldn't put her finger on. "It would always be you." She whispered, a stray, disobedient tear rolling down her cheek and before Serena had the chance to wipe it away, Bernie swiped at it angrily with the back of her hand.

"God, Serena – I would rather love to be able to tell you that the only reason I didn't reply to all your messages was that I just couldn't understand all the French, and whilst that may be true on some level due to my French always being rather lousy, that wouldn't be the truth and you deserve the truth, Serena. You deserve to know how I feel, and god – I should have told you so long ago, I almost did on so many occasions but I didn't want to ruin what we had. I didn't want to ruin our friendship…I value our friendship way too much to mess that up, and I thought taking the secondment in France was the easiest thing to do, but God, I couldn't have been any further from the actuality of the situation. Every day, you were on my mind. Every. Single. Fucking. Day. I just prayed that for one minute, my mind could be cleared and I would stop thinking of you in ever god forsaken scenario that my brain could allow, and when I saw your messages – I wanted so badly to reply, I did. I just couldn't bring myself to do it, knowing how much I'd hurt you. I just- "suddenly she had been cut off mid-sentence by Serena who had now seemingly found her voice. Looking over at Serena, Bernie noticed that Serena's features had softened considerably since the last time she had allowed herself a glance in her direction. She could've been wrong, but she could faintly make out a tear line down her cheeks, caught red handed in her foundation. When looking up to meet Serena's eyes, her suspicions were confirmed while looking into teary eyes.

"Every single time my phone rang…or every single time I got a text message, I hoped…I wished that it was you. But it never was, Bernie…and that hurt. I just wanted to talk to you. To know that everything was okay. I just needed you." Serena's tears were freely falling now, unable to keep her tears hidden through the mix of Shiraz and emotion.

"I was lost in a question that I wanted to ask you, lost in a routine that I so easily fell back into…lost in always fucking running away like the coward I am. But I'm through with that me, Serena. I'm through with being scared. I'm through with running…I just need you to realise how much I l-"

Serena cut her off sharply, closing her eyes.

"Bernie, please don't. Please don't say it unless you mean it." Serena took a deep breath before continuing, "When I was falling for you, dear God, falling so hard…I just prayed and prayed that that you would do something wrong. Something that would make me realise that it was just a silly little crush, something that would allow me to forget about you and move on but even now, even after everything you've put me through put me through, after leaving me to cope with rumours and gossip and whispering, even after you left me, while I was begging you to stay, you still left me and yet I still find myself hopelessly in love with you, Bernie, and the scariest part is that I'm not completely sure that there is anything you could do that would make me love you any less than I do."

"Serena…" Bernie's voice was all but a whisper and she reached out to lay her hand atop of Serena's on her knee.

"No, let me finish. I just kept telling myself that it would all just ease with time…with laughter, with translation, with every-day life, but I was wrong. Dear God, I was so, so wrong."

Bernie squeezed Serena's hands in-between her own, lifting them up and placing a delicate kiss to her knuckles.

Every hair on Serena's body stood on end at the feeling of Bernie's soft lips brushing across her skin. She looked into Bernie's eyes, her eyes reflecting love and hurt, but also a tinge of forgiveness.

"I was scared, Serena…you terrified me…the things I felt for you, the things I still feel for you…they're unlike anything I have ever felt before, with anyone. So I did what I do best, I ran…but I'm done running. You are the one person I am incapable of running away from. I ran away from Alex. I ran away from Marcus. I ran away from the Army…but I cannot run from you…I am completely, wholly and hopelessly in love with you Ms. Campbell, and I will spend the rest of my life proving it if that is what it takes."

As a single tear fell from Bernie's eye, Serena reached out her hand and placed it upon Bernie's cheek.

"Where do we go from here?" Serena whispered, her eyes searching Bernie's.

"Inside? I'm bloody freezing." Bernie let out a low chuckle, and Serena couldn't contain the small smile which twitched the edges of her lips up into a small smile.

Bernie got out of the car and went around to the other side of the car, opening Serena's door for her. Once out, Serena smiled and walked up the path towards her front door. When she realised she was standing there alone, Serena turned around towards the gate to see Bernie lingering there awkwardly.

"What are you doing?" Serena asked with an amused smirk, walking up towards Bernie, stopping just in front of her.

"I…uh, I…didn't know whether I was coming in or not, I didn't want to just presume that it would be okay after- "

Bernie's baffling was cut short by Serena's lips brushing softly her own, and as it did, both their eyes flickered shut. A moment later, Serena pulled back and grinned.

"What do you think?"

They both made their way up the path nervously and inside Serena's house.

A/N 2: Thank you for reading, and please leave a review if you would like me to write another chapter! Xxx