hey guys, thank you for the reviews, I can't answer reviews left as guest personally like I usually like to do so let me take the time to do it here and now. Thank you!

Another chapter for you. Just because I really loved Zoie playing drunk in 'groundhog Fae' ;-)

let me know if you like it :-)

Chapter 3

Lean on me

The hard repeated knocks on her front door pulled Lauren out of her meditating state, making her jump and softly swear.

"Common Dr Lewis, it's an emergency! Open up!" A muffled female voice resounded from behind the door.

The blonde was instantly on her feet. She swore louder as she ran to the door, hoping it would be the kind of emergency she would be able to take care of with the limited supplies she kept at home.

She abruptly opened the door to find herself face to face with a brightly smiling, take out carrying, Kenzi.

"Hi Hotpants! Missed me?"

Lauren gaped at the small woman for a second; "Kenz, where's the emergency?!"

Kenzi blinked and realized her mistake as she noticed the doctor tense posture. "Hum, elsewhere?"

The doctor growled lightly; "No emergency?"

"Well, kinda." The young Russian shrugged. "It's just…I couldn't spend another minute at the shack with Succubrainwashed and her Wanderjerk."

Lauren sighed and visibly relaxed.

"Get in here." She murmured as she reached out and grabbed a handful of the Goth's black shirt to pull her inside.

Kenzi smiled at the blonde and gave her a quick, one-armed, hug before walking past her.

"WHAT are you wearing?" The dark-haired girl yelled as she took her first good look at her friend.

Lauren looked down at herself. "Hum, it's what they generally call yoga outfit."

Kenzi looked at her dumbfound. "Why?"

The doctor shrugged, "Oh, you know…" She answered, pointedly tilting her head toward the yoga mat spread on the floor a few feet from them.

"OMG!" The Russian exclaimed, "You mean you actually do that stuff?! I thought those magazines of yours were just for show!"

The blonde shook her head in disbelief; "Oh! You mean like the cooking magazines YOU had hanging around the crack shack every time I was over?"

Kenzi huffed. "Well, I'll let you know those have a purpose."

Lauren tried to hide her smile. She was really starting to enjoy the almost sisterly bickering that was developing between the two of them.

"Really? And what would that be?"

The Goth tried to look defiant and failed totally as she answered; "They were supposed to be subliminal messages to make you want to cook those so yummy looking dishes for me, ok?"

Her rushed words and sheepish look made the blond doctor chuckled. She walked to her young friend and gently kissed her cheek.

"Next time you have a craving for some yummy looking dish, just tell me and I'll make it for us."

The dark-haired girl's bright smile was all the reward Lauren needed.

"In the mean time," the blonde walked to the paper bag now resting on her coffee table. "What do you have here?"

"Chinese!" Kenzi exclaimed happily. "All of your favorites. All we need is booze. Do you have some or do I have to go out and get some?"

Lauren shook her head with a smile.

"For some reason, Evony insists on keeping my fridge stocked with her 25% alcohol Dark Belch beer, we should be set."

Kenzi's eyes got huge; "25% alcohol?! That's my kind of beer, lady!"

"I thought you didn't want to have anything to do with Evony." Lauren teased as she grabbed the bag and led the way to the open spaced kitchen.

The young Russian huffed, throwing her arms to the skies; "Lo! It's booze we're talking about here!"

Kenzi set on placing the different containers of food on the small round table as Lauren went about the kitchen, collecting plates, silverware and the most important six-pack of beer.

"You're sure you don't want any sushi?" the young Russian asked as she simultaneously held the container close to her chest, not quite ready to let any of it go anyway.

Lauren laughed as she sat across her friend. "No go ahead, knock yourself out. I like my fish cooked only."

Kenzi squinted her eyes at the blonde; "You do know it won't try and swim back upstream right? It's still dead."

The doctor's only answer was a rolled up napkin hitting the Goth squarely between the eyes.

Both women burst out laughing before picking up their utensils and starting to eat.

"So, is this a girls' night?" Lauren asked between mouthfuls.

"Of course not, Doc!" Kenzi shivered visibly. "I hate that word! No. No. Look, here we have Dr Lauren Lewis extraordinaire and… Fabulous Me! That's obviously no girls' night!"

The blonde smiled widely at the younger woman's vehemence; "Well, what is it then?"

Kenzi started waving her arms widely, obviously looking for inspiration. She played gold fish for a few minutes, making Lauren giggle, before slapping her hand on the table top. "Ok! Right! Got it! This is a no dick night!"

Lauren threw her head back and laughed loudly.

"As a gold star lesbian I have to say I love it!" she finally hiccupped. "So, can we have other ladies over then?"

"Sure!" the Russian exclaimed, happy she was able to make her, often too serious, friend laugh so heartily. "But no Evony, she gives me the creeps. And no Tam Tam, she's too young."

Lauren almost spit out the beer she just took in.

"That Valkyrie lived and created mayhem for centuries!" The blonde pointed with a smile.

"You know what I mean! She's like a teenager right now and I want grown-up fun!"

Lauren smile grew even bigger, her brown eyes shining merrily.

"Hey I might be quite younger than you, Dr Badass." Kenzi complained loudly, "But I'm all grown-up!"

The blonde laughed again. "Since when are you reading my thoughts, Kenzi?"

"Since you stopped hiding behind your cool façade and started wearing your feelings right there on your beautiful face." The Goth answered matter-of-factly.

Lauren wasn't expecting such a direct answer and she looked down to the floor in embarrassment.

The dark haired girl instantly reacted and grabbed the blonde's hand across the table. Embarrassing her new friend was the last thing she wanted; "Hey! No need for that. It suits you, Lo."

Lauren looked into the younger woman's eyes and, seeing only sincerity in the crystal blue orbs, she offered her a sweet, shy smile.

"Anyway, anyone else you can think of to invite to our no dick night?" Kenzi redirected the conversation easily.

"No, my circle of friends is pretty limited, you know." The doctor admitted. "Well, except for Bo…"

"Nope!" Kenzi jumped in right away. "Miss Dennis lost that chance when she went all ass-like with jerk Rainer."

"Ok!" Lauren exclaimed, holding up her hands in agreement. "No ladies acting like asses to our not girls' night either."

"You got that right, Hotyogapants; it's a 'No dick even if they're female night'!"

"Yep, looks like it's just you and me, then."

"Works for me, Lo." Kenzi approved, clinking her beer bottle against Lauren's.

A while later, after they cleaned up the kitchen and grabbed another six-pack from the fridge, both women were lounging on the couch.

Lauren was sitting, slightly slouched in the corner made by two cushions, her head resting on the back of the couch as Kenzi, now shoeless, was lying on her back, her dark head pillowed on the blonde's thigh and her feet resting on the opposite armrest.

Each had yet another bottle in hand and both felt pretty relaxed and happy in each other's company. They had chatted and joked for hours already and now had fallen in a comfortable, friendly silence as they both were lost in their own thoughts.

Kenzi was the one to break the silence.

"Lauren? What's going on between you and Evony?"

"Nothing." The blonde answered without a hint of hesitation. She wasn't going to get into her projects about the Morrigan with her young friend but she could say without lying that nothing was going on with the Dark Fae queen bitch.

"Yeah?" the younger woman tilted her head to briefly look into the blonde's eyes. "Because even if Bo is being an ass, she's still my sister slash BFF and you're still… well, her Lauren."

The doctor sighed and took a deep pull of her beer. "I'm not so sure about that, Kenz."

"What? Are you saying you don't love her anymore?" the Goth exclaimed looking up again.

"Of course I'm not saying that!" Lauren blurred out. "But do I have to remind you that she found her s quote destiny with Vintage Wanderer Ken Doll?"

Kenzi had to chuckle at the doctor's choice of words. 'I'm really rubbing off on her.' She thought with a smile.

"She's not herself, Lauren. He put some kind of whammy on her."

"Maybe; but the result is still the same." Lauren pointed out sadly. "She's not mine anymore. I let her down when I joined the Dark Fae. She asked me to leave with her and I turned her down."

The blond doctor finished her bottle in one gulp; she could feel the alcohol running through her system but didn't care one bit. By now she felt safe enough with Kenzi to get drunk in her presence.

"Yeah but you had your reasons, right?" Kenzi reasoned wisely. "That doesn't mean you just stopped loving her. She has to see that. It doesn't mean she had to turn into a jerk. If you ask me; she's lucky we still love her even if we're incredibly mad at her."

"Well, you can't just stop loving someone because they turned into an ass. There's no off switch for love. I wish it was that easy but it's not. Believe me; I tried." Lauren explained despondently, starting on another beer.

"No such luck, huh?" the Russian asked even if she already knew the answer.

"Nope," the blonde laughed a mirth-less laugh. "And the Goddess knows my life would be soooo much easier if I wasn't in love with her. I mean; try and be in a committed relationship with a subbucus."

"A succubus." Kenzi corrected absentmindedly, taking a long pull of her own beer.

"What?" Lauren asked, her focus slowly getting less than perfect.

"You said a subbucus," the younger woman said in a yawn. "Real word is succubus."

"Yeah. Whatever." Lauren waved her hand dismissively. "Anyway; I'm the pathetic human who went and fell in love with a subbucus."

"A suc…" Kenzi started to correct again but changed her mind. "Hey, close enough. And you're not pathetic, Bo's charms are hard to resist."

"Hey! When you're right, you're right!" the blonde called out clanging the Goth's bottle with her own in salute.

Kenzi frowned as she looked at the bottle's label. "Hey, is drinking Dark Fae beer making me dark?"

"Nope, it's making you drunk."

"Ha! Swizzlesticks ! Takes more than a few beers to get me drunk, my darling." Kenzi retorted with a flourish of her hand. "I'm Russian; I have vodka running through my veins instead of blood. Tequila on Tex-Mex night."

Lauren threw her head back and laughed drunkenly. "You liar, I did blood tests on you before, remember?"

Kenzi tilted her head to get a better look at the blonde and smiled as she noticed the heavy eyelids half covering the warm brown and overly bright eyes of her friend.

"Yeah, so?!" the younger woman taunted, loving this carefree, if more than a bit drunk, side of the doctor.

"Soooooooo." The blonde answered in a sing-song voice. "Your blood's composition is completely normal, my sweet. Except for a high level of blood in your alcohol."

Kenzi laughed as Lauren gave her a 'so there' look and took a deep pull of her beer. The Goth didn't try to correct the blonde's slip of the tongue; this Lauren was way too much fun.

Long, deft fingers slowly started running through her dark hair and Kenzi closed her eyes with a sigh, savoring the innocent show of affection. It had been a while since she had been on the receiving end of that kind of tender gesture and she guessed it had been a while for Lauren too. She also knew that the alcohol probably was taking down some of her friend's inhibitions. The two of them had become pretty close over the last few weeks but she was aware that, at times, Lauren was still somehow hesitant when she was interacting with her. Kenzi regretted the way their relationship started, when they both were a little less than reasonable and quite a bit weary of their differences. She had to admit she had been a bit jealous at the time, as she spotted right away the special connection Bo instantly developed with the beautiful doctor. And she sure wasn't ready to share her new best friend's attention at the time.

"You need to get a cat, Lo." The Goth said softly, wishing there was more love in the blonde's lonely life. "Something soft you could hold and pet, who would purr for you."

"Bo was doing that for me, and I love to pet her pu…"

Kenzi quickly put a hand on the doctor's mouth. "You're drunk, Dr Lewis!"

Lauren funnily closed one eye in introspection; "Quite possibly."

"Ah! Possibly! My so delectable in these pants ass, you mean totally drunk."

The doctor huffed; "Ah! Says you! Prove it!"

"Say succubus." Kenzi smartly taunted.

"Subbucus! See?! Easy! I can do it anytime!" Lauren gloated before her head hit the back of the couch harshly.

The young Russian laughed softly and stood up slowly. "Ok, let's go Hotpants. It's 'let's put drunk geeky doctors to bed' time."

"I'm not geeky!" the intoxicated woman exclaimed. "Oh wait, yes I am."

Kenzi chuckled and grabbed the blonde's hands to pull her to her feet, task made difficult by the laughing fit that was now overwhelming the older woman.

"Come on; tall, blonde and drunker than I thought, give me a hand here."

The dark haired girl managed to wrap an arm around Lauren's slender waist and started guiding her toward her bedroom.

The blonde frowned; "I'm not that tall."

"You are when I have to half carry you to bed, babe." Kenzi groaned.

After some effort, a quite drunk herself Russian finally managed to walk her intoxicated friend in her room and help her get in bed.
The Goth covered Lauren with the comforter and gently kissed her forehead, the blonde seemed out for the count already.

Kenzi was about to turn away and go crash in the guest bedroom that she had, more or less, claimed as her own when a soft voice made her jump.

"I miss her, Kenz."

Kenzi sighed, the sadness in Lauren's voice breaking her own crushed heart. "I know, my darling. I do to."

"Stay with me?" Lauren asked in a whisper.

Without a word, Kenzi slipped in bed and settled on her side behind Lauren. She wrapped her arms around the taller woman, hugging her to her own body as tightly as she could. The soft murmured thank you brought tears to her eyes.

"Kenz?" The blonde's sleepy voice broke the silence again.

"Mmmmmmm?"

"We need more of your 'no dick nights'."

Kenzi chuckled. "Effing Hell yes!"

The end

Real Life is kinda kicking my butt these days so I'll do my best to update, because it does a lot to keep my mind of the bad news for one thing, but I'm not sure when that'll be. If you guys have any ideas of situations you'd like to see our two favourite humans in, let me know, I'd love to try and write it for you.

Thanks again