Go hug your loved ones, guys. I apologize for the long disappearance. Everything worked out in the end, thankfully.

Note:
There will be one more chapter to this story, but I am marking the FFnet version as complete and will not be updating it any further. As of now, I'm starting the process to leave FFnet behind and shift to AO3 permanently. Every ongoing fic I have will have at least one more update here - an actual chapter, when I have one - with a similar note. That's the best I can think of to make sure everyone reading knows.

If you want the fifth chapter of this fic when I finish it, you'll have to find it on AO3. At least on my own computer, googling 'jpeterson ao3' lists my profile there as the first result. If you don't, this one should still resolve the story.

It's been a helluva ride on this site, and yeah, it feels kinda weird to be leaving after being here for 15 and a half years. To the day, actually.

Thanks for sticking with me.

Hesitance


The fourth time wasn't going to happen. Piper decided that much before they'd finished straightening themselves up from the third, and actually managed to stick to her proverbial guns this time, too. Blue had a point, after all; even if her reasons for the point in question were worlds apart from Piper's own.

Not that she knew what Blue's reasons actually were, since they hadn't really... talked; at least not about anything relating to those three times. Piper could guess, though, and figured that she was pretty on the money with how they'd managed to slide right back into simple – if deep – friendship; easy and familiar, at least as long as there weren't any more flukes.

She wasn't going to let them have the option of any more flukes. She didn't avoid Blue, but she did avoid certain circumstances with her; times where they would be alone a little too long, a little too physically affectionate, or maintain a little too much eye contact. Essentially, she did her level best to remove temptation for both of them, and by the time two months had passed, she decided that she seemed to be succeeding. They still spent plenty of time together – just not together – and while part of Piper enjoyed the far less confusing way in which their friendship now worked, part of her also dearly missed the light, lingering touches even as she kept herself from moving close enough to give or receive them.

This was better for her, though; mentally and emotionally. She knew that.

She did get more work done, too, when she wasn't out and about with Blue and trying to keep either of them from getting killed. Hell, if Blue was off gallivanting around somewhere with Cait or Preston or – urgh – Danse, it meant that Piper had time to do her own thing; to slip off on leads that she wouldn't dream of asking Blue along for, because Blue would say yes and Piper wanted to move on; not fall harder.

So that was exactly what she did; setting off for Salem one clear, mid-spring morning, spending an ungodly amount of time tracking down and charming the local militia into interviews, and definitely making damn sure to avoid the old Museum of Witchcraft. That place gave off worse juju than even she was going to mess with without backup.

Interviews secured without getting shot, poisoned or nigh-ritualistically executed, Piper started back towards Diamond City; one eye (and ear) kept out for potential enemies even her mind worked over both the potential articles and what - perhaps – it would be like to hang around Salem for a while and explore it with Blue. That wasn't an option at the moment for obvious reasons, but a creative mind meant a talent for daydreaming without falling fully into it, and so she picked her way out of the town ruins and back into the relative familiarity of the wasteland.

"How the hell do you get articles out of stuff like that?" Blue would ask, and send her a look that would be a fairly even mix of curious and confused. "I mean, I feel for those guys, but really?"

"It's a gift," Piper would then reply; turning up her nose and restricting her grin for all the time that it would take for Blue to roll her eyes. "And a whole lot of practice."

She kept herself entertained that way as she walked; mid-afternoon passing into early evening and the slowly sinking sun setting her shadow to stretching sideways across the soil. Her direction was anything but aimless, and she veered somewhat from her previous aim for Diamond City when the peak of the sky started to darken because while she wasn't going to make it to the Green Jewel by nightfall, the lay of the land was familiar enough for her to know that she had a second option close by that she could make it to.

An old, pre-war bunker, in fact; one that should be relatively clean and stocked with enough necessities to last at least a few days, provided that no one had yet managed to break the sturdy lock she'd painstakingly constructed. A secure stopover when it was needed and – if push came to shove – a place for her and Nat to go if McDonough actually did kick them out.

While the bunker was a lot closer than Diamond City, it was still far enough from Salem that it was dark before Piper was even near it; far more shadow than light meaning that she had to pick her way cautiously across the uneven terrain to keep from ending up with her face in the dirt. Decent night vision at least meant that she managed that much; moving steadily towards the bunker – as far as she could tell in the deepening darkness, anyway – without tripping over anything. It honestly surprised her a little, since the darkness meant that she was focusing a lot on her heading and therefore less on where she was actually putting her feet, and even had so little focus left over for her hearing that she almost heard the footsteps too late.

Piper froze and – after barely keeping herself from sucking in a sharp breath - spotted the massive, hulking shadow moving in what was now solely the light of a waning moon.

Deathclaw.

Shit. Very slowly, she dropped to a crouch behind the crumbling ruin she'd been picking her way around; setting one hand flat against a rotting wall and breathing in slow, quiet measures as she strained her eyes. Her other hand could have gone for the pistol at her side, but even a 50 caliber bullet would be lucky to make a dent in a beast like this, and Piper was well aware that her 10 millimeter was currently nothing more than a very loud, very shiny paperweight. So no, she decided; better to leave that holstered and not able to glint in the moonlight.

Instead, she reached for the ground without ever taking her eyes off the monster; fingertips searching over the soil until she could close her hand around a rock. That, at least, she could throw somewhere else, and hopefully give herself a few very essential seconds if the wind changed and the need arose.

At the moment, though, the cool breeze hit her face and the deathclaw lumbered peacefully – or relatively so, anyway – along the cracked and sinking road a few dozen feet away; snuffling at the air but blissfully unaware of its audience and, Piper noted with relief, heading away from the old bunker rather than towards it. She still stayed where she was until well after the beast was out of sight; measuring her breathing and counting the seconds in her head until she passed 500, and only then straightening. Slowly. Her legs didn't appreciate her staying crouched for as long as she had, and she bit her lip to hold back a groan as she carefully stretched them out and pocketed the rock. Just in case.

Another few minutes – and a couple hundred, very quiet feet – had passed when a yell pierced the silence of the night, and Piper forgot all about stealth or bunkers or uneven ground as she spun on her heel and took off. She'd have done the same for a scream, but this yell had her heart leaping to her throat between one breath and the next.

The resuming silence was what scared her the most; settling around her like radiant fog and making her heart pound until spots danced at the edges of her vision. Piper ran faster, and had no idea how. She dodged rocks and ruins and fallen trees; she caught herself on something whenever she stumbled and just kept going because anything else was simply not an option.

She saw the pistol glinting in the moonlight at the edge of a dead forest and only then slowed; picking it up with shaking hands and needing to try three times before she could swallow. Passing thirty steps beyond the treeline saw a thick strip of fabric fluttering faintly on the ground; wet and warm and only visible thanks to the single, pale 1 printed on it.

Her fingers came away dark, and her breathing stuttered in her chest. Her lungs burned and her vision blurred and her throat ached, but she clenched her hand until her nails bit into her palm and forced it down.

The 1 was big enough that the strip could only have come from the back of the vault suit, which hopefully meant that Blue was at least able to run. The lack of blood on the pistol probably meant that she'd dropped that first, which in turn meant that she'd been smart enough to run into the forest, which offered significantly more cover and opportunities to get away than open land. Blue was smart – experienced – enough to know that, and so Piper took a breath and forced herself to settle. The panic receded until she could again hear something other than the continuous roar of her own heartbeat, and she focused on the clatter of dry branches and the slow rush of the wind as she slowly made her way deeper into the forest.

The far-off caw of a radraven. The faint glint of moonlight on rusting paint from the remains of a car. The slow wave of the leaves on a wild mutfruit bush. And then, at last, the sound of heavy, lumbering steps and – as she carefully crept closer – the hard sniffs and low growls of a predator.

It was little more than luck that made her spot the way a passing bit of light reflected off an eye, and the bands around her chest only loosened when her focus narrowed and she watched the eye blink; forced her vision to sharpen until she could barely make out the familiar frame stretched out on its back behind the meager shelter of a fallen tree. Between her and the deathclaw.

Okay.

Piper prayed that Blue had spotted her, and placed a finger to her lips. Her other hand found the rock in her pocket and she gripped it, pulled her arm back, and threw as hard she could.

One. Two. Three. Fo- THUNK. The deathclaw snarled and charged away from Blue, and Piper breathed for what felt like the first time in years and moved closer; ducking low and staying that way until she, too, was hidden behind the ancient trunk.

"Shh." A bare exhalation as branches cracked and snapped somewhere in the distance, but Blue nodded and seemed to slump from her head to her toes the instant Piper touched her. Her skin was damp with sweat and felt feverishly hot, and when Piper gently guided her to move, her entire body clenched without a sound.

She could feel the rips in the vault suit when she placed her hand on Blue's back and cautiously peeked over the very edge of their cover; could feel, too, the hot stickiness of blood and soil against skin. Three tears, Piper counted as she carefully moved her hand; needing to rely on touch more than sight in the shadows. Three; all as long as her hand from wrist to fingertip and then some, and all clotted with dirt which was, at least right now, preferable to them being clean and spreading the scent of fresh blood with all the subtlety of a blaring siren.

Slowly, with every second seeming to last a decade, she helped Blue to her feet. Silently, she slipped off her coat and maneuvered it over her best friend's shoulders since covering the wound would at least help mask the scent of it. Muffling Blue's scent with Piper's own wouldn't hurt, either.

Then, they moved; carefully picking a path further away from the angry roar that made Blue's fingers tighten around Piper's elbow. They stuck to the forest and the darkest possible shadows, didn't speak, and purposely walked through every trash heap and abandoned campsite they came across. Along the way, Piper secured another rock, and when they could no longer hear the deathclaw even roaring, she tied the bloodied strip she'd found around the rock and threw that as far out of their way as she could manage.

They only paused when the forest ended, and even that was only long enough for Piper to get her bearings in the dark. They didn't speak until the bunker door – thankfully still locked when they arrived – closed behind them.

"Come on." Piper loosened the hand around her elbow and instead held it in her own. "We need to clean those before I can give you a stimpak."

Blue blinked, and Piper didn't think she'd ever seen her look so completely wrung out. "Running water?"

"Slow to build up, but clean." A light tug was enough, and Piper guided them through the quiet space; reaching out to flick a switch that made old lights blink to life around them.

She was a single breath from breaking down in hysterics and well aware of it. The thing was that Blue probably wasn't doing much better, and they couldn't both go to pieces at the same time with one of them injured. So Piper tamped it down far enough that she could control it, and instead focused on getting Blue stripped down to her waist; on getting her somewhat comfortable on her front in an old bed, and on moving around to collect things like a bowl of clean water, a soft cloth and medical supplies.

Blue had curled her arms under her head by the time Piper set down her findings and knelt beside the bed, and had even managed to reach her discarded Pip-boy and click DCR to life, too.

Distantly, as she set about cleaning the dirt away, Piper appreciated that. Even if she'd heard every note a thousand times or more, silence would have made thinking far too easy. Instead, she listened to the familiar songs and the rhythm of Blue's breathing, replaced the water when needed and slowly cleared the grunge from her best friend's back until the water ran pink and she could examine the raw wounds properly.

"I think you got lucky," she noted as she tugged gently at the inflamed skin, and winced when Blue did. "Torn muscle from what I can see, but nothing actually went deep enough to rip anything completely apart."

Blue, who had her forehead resting on her folded arms and her eyes closed near as Piper could see, snorted. "Luck, nothin'," she muttered. "I woulda been deathclaw snack if you hadn't turned up." A single eye popped open to regard Piper when she settled back on her haunches; bloodshot and tired and grateful. "Thank you."

Piper turned to the makeshift medkit and shrugged, because it wasn't like she could have done anything else. "Don't go adventuring again on your own, okay?"

The wan chuckle made her smile. "'Kay." Blue winced at the first touch of the disinfectant, but slowly settled again as Piper worked. "Sorry."

She didn't need to ask what for; Blue always hated putting others in danger. "Don't be."

"Mph."

Silence settled again as Piper finished disinfecting and started dressing the wounds, but it was a less loaded, more comfortable silence this time; as if the brief words they'd exchanged were all either of them needed to processes the terror from a bare hour ago.

Maybe it was.

Piper secured a stimpak and checked it over. "Gonna poke you," she then warned; prodding at the skin below Blue's neck and waiting for the low grunt of acknowledgment before making the injection.

It was probably for the best that she used the stimpak where she did, Piper mused as she carefully removed it again. Blue hated needles with a passion, and the only thing worse to her than being poked with one was being poked and having to watch. Thankfully, though, Blue had enough self control that the only visible sign of her discomfort was the tension in her shoulders and the tightening of her fingers; both of which eased visibly when Piper gave her hair a gentle ruffle.

"All done."

There was another soft chuckle; more muffled than the last one since Blue's face was halfway buried in the worn pillow. "Thanks, nurse Wright." Oh, the places she could go with that, but Blue was looking at her now and Piper firmly told herself to get a grip. "I'll try my hardest to not require your services again any time soon."

"Uh huh." Fat chance of that, Piper guessed, since Blue did tend to throw herself headfirst into the darnedest situations. "I'll be happy if you can just avoid doing lasting damage to yourself."

Wide, innocent eyes blinked at her. "Permission to remind you that whatever damage is done to me is usually done by others?"

Somehow, she resisted the urge to smile. "Permission denied." She guessed from the stuck-out tongue that her eyes were probably betraying her, and smoothed down a corner of the bandage with a fingertip. "That's semantics, anyway."

"Huh." Blue shifted, and now rested her chin resting on her folded arms, rather than her temple. "I figured a reporter would have a larger appreciation for linguistics."

Sarcasm seemed to be Blue's default setting more often than not, and since Piper was thus well beyond simply used to it, she rolled her eyes. "The only linguistics I'd appreciate right now are the ones that include an explanation of what on earth made you decide to go wandering around in the dark." Pause. "Alone."

"Ah." Blue found something desperately interesting to look at somewhere over Piper's shoulder, and proceeded to blush all the way down to the center of her back.

Fascinating. Piper pursed her lips. "Should I have called you Red?"

"Shut up." The answer was little more than a low groan as Blue pressed her face into the pillow. She promptly sneezed and then groaned again, but at least turned her head until her face was visible. "I'm only red when you remind me that I'm an idiot."

"Didn't know you needed reminding." Piper focused on tidying up her supplies, and hid a smile at the low growl. "Seriously though, Blue; why?"

A long sigh stirred the air, and somewhere in the background, Travis introduced another song. "Cait."

Her head snapped up. "Excuse me?"

"Not like that." It was a testament to the depth of their friendship that Blue could apparently read Piper's mind from a simple glance. "We didn't argue or... anything," she muttered; the color slowly fading from her back but – at least from what Piper could tell – remaining in her cheeks. "She just-" A hard exhale; as if she was uncertain but determined to go ahead all the same. "- said some things, and I figured I'd run them by you."

"At oh-dark-hundred somewhere near the ass end of the Commonwealth?" Piper waited for Blue to grunt and pick at the pillow, and groaned. "What the hell was so imp-"

For possibly the first time ever, Blue spoke over her. "She said you look at me like it hurts."

Aware as Piper was of resting on her knees, it still felt weirdly like tripping over her own feet. Her insides seemed to freeze and condense into a tiny ball that settled somewhere low in her gut, and everything from her mouth to her vocal chords went so dry that she had to swallow several times before she could speak.

When she did so, it was with a scoff that sounded weak even to her own ears. "I think maybe Cait's been hitting the jet a little too h-"

The gentle touch stopped her. "She also said I look at you like the entire world broke and you put it back together."

For somewhere between a second and a lifetime, the entire world froze. Piper's heart stopped and jumped and then started again as the world bled back in, except now with a weird sort of limited focus that painted Blue in vivid color and everything else in gray-scale.

"You said it was a fluke," she pointed out haltingly; voice raspy and tight around the lump that kept creeping up her throat.

"No." Blue's expression was at least seven kinds of exhausted and embarrassed and warm all at once, and while the angle was a little odd with their respective positions, Piper didn't think that was the cause for the tremble in those fingers as they slowly stroked her face. "You said that." Her voice was low and careful and not-entirely-even, and Piper stared at her and wondered hazily how this whole 'breathing' thing could be perfectly instinctive for over two decades and then suddenly require concentrated effort. "And I should've corrected you the first time."

Piper was vaguely aware of feeling nothing other than the hesitant trace of those fingers over her cheek or the erratic pounding of her own heart. Even her vision tunneled; eliminating everything other than Blue's face and eyes and that uncertain little twist at the corner of her mouth, and she theorized somewhere that maybe she was hallucinating but she really, really hoped not.

"I was going to." Soft, and with more than just a tinge of shame as Blue dropped her gaze. "But you were so adamant on blaming everything on booze and I-" A sigh. "I got scared. I'm sorry."

And what on earth, Piper wondered as the world turned on its axis in a whirling, wonderful upending of everything she believed possible, did she have to be sorry for?

"What-" Her voice cracked, and she had to clear her throat twice before she could try again. "What were you going to say back then? Before-" Her teeth caught on her lower lip, but she didn't move a single muscle otherwise because it felt like she might wake up if she did. "- before I pretty much barreled over you?"

"Jesus, Piper; I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

For a long moment - one where Piper could not look away, just like the night in Goodneighbor – Blue simply watched her. "That I didn't mean to move so fast," she admitted; her voice barely audible over the sound of the radio. "That I didn't want that first time I got to kiss you or-" Another bright, abrupt flush, and Piper caught the hand as it left her face and kept it from retreating fully. "- touch you to be that public, but..." A pause; one long enough for either three regular heartbeats or about fifteen of Piper's. "... that I wanted to try again and get it right." A swallow. "If you'd give me some time and... y'know, let me."

Oh.

Oh.

"Do you still need time?" she wondered; for one, honestly curious as to where Blue was at, and for another, dearly wanting to know for far more selfish reasons.

"No." Blue dropped her gaze to their clasped hands, and twined their fingers before looking back up with eyes so open and bared that it stole the breath from her lungs. "I just need you."

Damn it, she was not going to cry. Yeah, so she'd wanted a chance at something deeper with Blue for what felt like ages; that wasn't exactly a new thing.

Actually getting it, though?

"Ow." She rubbed at the spot on her arm, because yeah; she'd definitely felt that.

Blue's gaze jerked back up from where it had apparently been focusing on Piper's hand, and her face scrunched in something that looked about halfway between astonishment and barely-restrained laughter. "Did you seriously just pinch yourself?"

Piper shrugged and found a smile, and somehow managed to keep that smile from turning into the biggest, goofiest, most embarrassing oh-gosh-aren't-you-cute grin that probably would have split her face in half.

How could she explain, though? How was she supposed to make Blue understand that while she could use her words and her writings to bring about justice in ways big and small, she had long since resigned herself to that fact that she would never really get what she wanted for herself? How could she tell Blue that she would probably have surprised Piper less had she flapped her arms and taken flight?

Embarrassingly, she couldn't find the words for it when those eyes were watching her as fondly as they were, but Blue – if Piper knew her and she liked to think that she did – was more for actions than words anyway. The finest evidence of that was how that smile was coming closer; the worn mattress dipping what little it could under Blue's elbow while the hand that Piper wasn't holding instead slipped over her cheek, into her hair and curled so, so gently around the back of her neck until Piper was leaning in as well; until she could feel the gentle warmth of Blue's breathing and her own respiration hitched in response.

But a bare breath away, Blue paused.

"May I?"

Okay, maybe she gave a tiny sob at that - low and choked and barely even there – but Blue's voice was soft and warm and tender, and sounded mostly as though Piper might just be the most dearly cherished part of her life. So she didn't speak, and instead gave her answer by pressing forward; by catching those soft lips with her own, and by feeling in exquisite detail how Blue's slow, contented exhale warmed her right down to the very tips of her toes.

God. Try though she could, Piper doubted that she would ever find out just how Blue managed to even smell as good as she did even now; like fresh air and warm fires and sleepy, late mornings. By all rights she should have smelled like blood, mud and sweat, but every time Piper inhaled she just wanted more; more of the soft caress of Blue's breathing across her face, more of the light touch that slid from her neck over her shoulder and to the small of her back, and more of the faint tickle of fine hairs against her skin when her hand came up to cradle Blue's cheek.

Deeper, now. Piper had no earthly clue which one of them initiated that, and honestly couldn't be bothered to think about it, either. All she could focus on was the sound that started from one of them and was then echoed by the other, and how they were now pressing so closely together that she was vividly and distractingly reminded of the fact that Blue was naked from the waist up.

That moan was hers; so low and rough that her throat ached from it, and Blue just gasped and pulled her in tighter until there was nothing but smooth, warm skin under her hands.

Piper's mouth found a patch of that skin, and she felt Blue arch into her until her head swam from it. She was being pulled forward even further, now; close and yes and perfect with Blue's breath hitching against her cheek and those fingers slipping under her collar until her skin tingled. Further still; until she had to set an elbow on the bed to support herself and the taste of Blue's skin touched her tongue; until long, familiar arms were winding tightly around her as Blue made a low sound right by her ear, and until there were erratically moving ribs shifting under her palms when Blue shivered and rolled onto her back-

- and yelped.

"Shit." Piper snapped back and hastily helped Blue onto her side; one hand slipping over the exposed back to check that the bandage was still in place. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Blue breathed several times – increasingly slow and deep as her fingers clenched around a fold of pillow – and then finally relaxed enough for the tension to ease from her face. "Yeah. I'm fine." There was another long breath before her eyes opened, and when they did, the absolute glow in them when they focused was enough to make Piper's heart hiccup against the inside of her ribs. "Hi."

"Hi." Everything she felt was probably written on her face in bold and double-underlined, capital letters; from the smile that made her cheeks ache to the almost-painful swell in her chest that threatened to make the stinging at the corners of her eyes spill over. So she didn't use words that felt too intense and big anyway; instead sliding her fingers into Blue's hair and scratching gently at her scalp until those eyes slipped shut in an expression of such complete, contented peace that she had to swallow hard. "Probably shouldn't sleep on your back tonight, huh?"

A soft puff of laughter tickled her face. "Probably not." Blue released the pillow and caught Piper's hand instead; bringing it to her lips without ever looking away. "Will you be my pillow?"

"Every night, if you want." That... absolutely wasn't what she was planning to say, but the idea was out and there was little Piper could do to pull it back. Instead, she was left to wait and curse in the privacy of her own head because dammit, there was such a thing as timing and even if Blue wanted more too there was still something like too much too soon and she really needed to learn how to filter herself around this woman before she spoke, if only to spare herself from the hot, burning mortification of watching Blue's expression change from curiosity to surprise, then to doubt and consideration and...

… perfect, blissful joy. "I want."

Oh. Piper blinked and felt something akin to mental lag as her brain struggled to catch up, because she was starting to realize that no matter how high she managed to raise her expectations, Blue was dead-set on overreaching them.

That was going to take some getting used to.

"Hey." A gentle tug at her hand pulled her from her thoughts, and it was to the sight of Blue having scooted back enough to make room on the mattress, which she now patted. "Pillow duty."

"Brat." Piper chuckled because it was either that or cry from sheer, overwhelming exhilaration. "At least let me find a blanket."

Blue actually pouted at that, and while that small show of playfulness was a clear carry-over from their friendship, Piper struggled to figure out how to respond to it in this new context; teetering as she was on knowing what she wanted to do and wondering if it would be welcomed. Still, she hadn't filled the role of the Commonwealth's intrepid reporter this long for nothing, and that was enough to make her lean in and nudge the protruding lower lip back into place with her own.

She stayed like that for a long, peaceful moment; feeling Blue's steady breathing and the gentle heat that radiated from her skin, as well as the slow touch that traveled up her arm until there were familiar fingers curling in her hair. Another light touch brushed the side of her face, and when it lazily trailed higher, there was the low plop of her press cap hitting the floor.

Piper puffed a laugh, and smiled wide enough that she had to break the kiss. "Jeez, Blue; first my coat and now my hat." She waited for one of those eyes to pop open and regard her curiously. "Leave a girl some clothes, wouldya?"

There wasn't an actual, verbal answer to that, but the slow arch of Blue's eyebrow spoke volumes all the same. The crooked, almost devious grin that followed only added emphasis, and Piper felt the flush crawl up her neck even as she narrowed her eyes.

"I swear; you're the only person I know who can be smartass without even speaking."

Blue shrugged the shoulder she wasn't resting on. "It's a gift."

"I'm sure it is." Piper kissed her again, though - just because she could – and then sighed as she pulled back. "Blankets."

"Blankets." Blue's fingers played idly with the tiny hairs at the nape of her neck. "Want a hand?"

Piper pushed herself to her feet, and gave her best friend a look that was half fondness, half wry exasperation. "I think I can carry a couple of blankets on my own, thanks." She bent over enough to tuck an errant lock of hair into place behind Blue's ear. "So how about you let the stimpak do its thing, and just lay there and look pretty?"

That netted her the sharp lift of both eyebrows while Blue blinked. Five times.

So, Piper thought as she ambled off, maybe she wasn't the only one kind of tripping over herself right now. Maybe she wasn't the only one wondering if she was dreaming rather than wide awake – if bordering on collapsing from exhaustion – or the only one feeling so unusually optimistic about the future that getting used to it would take serious effort.

She was here, though. They were here – her and Blue – both of them honest and willing and wanting to take a chance on each other, and while Piper held no illusions that it would be easy to navigate a fledgling relationship while dealing with details like the Institute and the Brotherhood, that want was enough.

It was more than enough, actually; a fact that was only cemented by the pleasant lurch in her chest when she trekked back along the cold floor with the blankets under her arm, and Blue's reaction to setting eyes on her was a smile so easy and instant that it was clearly an instinctive response. Even if the slow flutter of her lashes made it obvious that she was struggling to keep her eyes open.

"Sleep." Piper told her quietly; shutting off the overhead lights, shaking the blankets out and settling on the narrow mattress before making sure they were both sufficiently covered. "You've earned it, Blue. Eventful night and all that."

"True." Blue nestled into her with a low hum. "Not every day I get dragged into a bunker and kissed to within an inch of my life."

Piper rolled her eyes at the dusty ceiling. "That is not what I meant, and you know it," she grumbled; fingers painting gentle lines over the unbandaged sections of Blue's back. "Impalement by death claw better not happen again. Ever."

"Hmm." The familiar voice was dipping into slower, deeper tones. "Might be worth it if it gets me this treatment."

Brat. Piper held her a little tighter, and elected to give Blue's lower back a slow scratch in lieu of an actual reply since it was clear that her best friend was fading fast.

However. "For the record," came the sleepy mumble. "I am totally in favor of the kissed to within an inch of my life thing happening on the regular."

"Sleep, Blue."

"I'm just sayi-"

"Sleep."

A soft chuckle, and then a kiss to her sternum. "Yes, dear."