"How?" Lauren repeated with a laugh, "God, where do I even start?"
"Well, the beginning is always helpful," Lea supplied with a poorly suppressed smirk upon her lip.
"Don't be a smart ass," Lauren shot back then sighed. "There has always been an attraction between Bo and I, even from the beginning. I was Bo's doctor when she was first found. She's unaligned and grew up with human parents so for most of her life she didn't even know she was fae".
"Smart girl to not pick a side".
"She's not like you, Lea, you know how dangerous that can be for her. She draws too much interest from both sides. I'm afraid it's going to seriously harm her one of these days".
"You would prefer her to be light?"
"Of course I would but I'm not going to tell her which to choose. That needs to be her choice".
"Do you not think she would chose a side just because you asked?"
"No," Lauren replied with a brokenness Lea was not expecting.
"Why?"
"Because, while no one has ever directly asked her, it's been hinted at and spoken about by both Dyson and myself".
"And Dyson is?"
"A wolf she's in love with," Lauren said despondently.
"I feel like I'm missing a big part of the story," Lea said to which Lauren could only chuckle and nod.
"Bo cares about both Dyson and I. And I'm sure at some point soon you will meet Dyson. At first it was just sexual between them but that quickly turned to love. They didn't hide that from anyone. But he gave up his love to save her when her mother showed up".
Lea did her best to follow along but she just seemed to grow more confused the more the story unfolded. "So, the two are not together now?"
"No, Dyson is with Ciara". Lea nodded knowing whom Ciara was for they were related after all.
"How is my dear cousin by the way?"
"Good, and I'm not going to lie, I'm glad she is around".
"Mmm, I'm sure you are, love," Lea said with an amused chuckle. "So, you have not told me of you and Bo yet. She would not look at you the way she does if there was no story to tell".
"The short version; we flirted, go close, spent a night together, I screwed up, now I'm working on making it up to her, gain back what we had".
"I think you have if the way she looked at you and how she reacted is any indication to go off. But tell me, how did you screw up?"
Lauren winced at the question, that night was still a touchy subject. "Bo got herself in the middle of an conflict between the two sides, which really isn't different than any other day for her, but this time was different, it would have gotten her killed. The old Ash ordered me to keep her away from someone, by any means necessary knowing our feelings for one another".
"So you slept with her on order of the Ash," Lea stated in disappointment not even having to guess.
"No, I slept with her to protect her. I knew if she left that night she would have died. It had nothing to do with the Ash's order," Lauren defended as she pulled away from Lea, hurt she would think so little of her.
"But you were there that night because of the Ash. Whether you slept with her because of him or not doesn't change things".
"Please, Lea, just let it be. Bo and I have finally gotten past it, I don't want to think about it again".
"You really love her, don't you?" Lea asked softly. Lauren just sighed and after a moment offered a small nod.
"Well, I think the first thing that needs to happen is that you and her need to talk, about everything. Be honest with her".
"And tell her we were lovers?"
"Would you rather her hear it from someone else?"
"No, but you know it's not that easy, we were never that easy".
"You make it sound like what we had wasn't good," Lea said with a slight frown, not sure how to take the words.
"We were good, more than good. We spent 10 years together and would most likely still be together if it weren't for your mother".
"We can try again," Lea said as she moved closer to Lauren on the couch and brought a hand up to cradle her cheek.
"Lea," Lauren protested weakly but couldn't fight it as she turned into the familiar touch.
"You said it yourself, we would still be together if it wasn't for my mother. She is fine now and no longer and issue that stands between us".
"But I can't walk away from Bo that easily. And a moment ago you were encouraging me to make things work with her".
"I want you to be happy, love. If that's her I will be happy for you. But I won't pretend I don't still love you and if there is even a chance with you," Lea let her words trail off knowing they didn't need to be finished. Lauren shut her eyes tight and leaned forward, resting her forehead against Lea's as both her mind and heart raced in turmoil.
"I hate you right now, you know that?" Lauren said with no malice in her words.
"I know, love, I know," Lea said with warm affection before leaning forward the last couple of inches and capturing Lauren's lips in a deep kiss, her hands automatically weaving in Lauren's blonde locks.
AN: Sorry guys, I know this one was short but I needed to put it in there to clear some things up.
