CHAPTER 4

Leslie Knope sat at her desk in the office she shared with Tom, her eyes scanning over the new budget proposal on her computer screen for the hundredth time. Normally her work was all she cared about, and she could dive in and submerge herself in the local government world for hours on end with no problem, but today she just couldn't concentrate.

I have Ann-brain, she thought. That was the term she had come up with when she had first met Ann, in the public forum. Her brain had shut off when she'd seen those big brown eyes, and she had all but fallen in love with Ann's desire to fix the junky pit next to her house. She'd never met anyone so beautiful who cared about public safety before.

Well, she'd actually never met anyone in Pawnee who cared about public safety before. The beautiful-ness was just a bonus.

Needless to say, part of the reason Leslie had thrown herself into this Pit project so devoutly was so that she could have an excuse to hang around Ann more. And if she could actually manage to pull off building a park on top of it, well that was super-impressive, right? Ann would have to like her then. Although, judging by what had happened yesterday, Leslie was fairly certain Ann already had more-than-friendly feelings for her.

Go me! She thought happily.

Deciding she wasn't going to be able to concentrate at all on this new budget plan, she closed the email and shut off the computer monitor, leaning back in her favorite leather wheely-chair. It was already after hours at the office, and everyone else had left.

Leslie sighed and pulled the roll-out sleeping bag out from under her desk, laying it out on the floor. With the termite invasion and her house missing an atom bomb sized hole in the attic floor now, she couldn't very well stay there, so last night she had slept on her office floor. Tonight she would do it again.

Not that she minded. Being able to wake up and jump right into work gave her a head start on her daily schedule. It amazed her how much time she saved when she didn't have to make the bed or, you know, drive anywhere. Leslie would live at work all the time if she could.

She had just closed the blinds on the windows looking out at the main lobby and turned back to her homely bed when there was a rattling knock on the door.

Surprised, she grabbed the straw out of the empty latte cup on her desk and called out tentatively "Who's there? I have a weapon!"

"Oh my god, you have a weapon in there?" A voice called out from the other side of the door. "Like a gun? Why?"

Leslie smiled, recognizing Ann's voice immediately. She opened the door without a second thought.

"Not really a weapon. Just a straw." She said, waving it in the air uselessly. She tossed it over her shoulder after catching Ann's quizzical expression.

The two stood there awkwardly in silence. They hadn't spoken much after the attic incident; Ann had just mumbled some excuse about being late for something and sped off. Leslie had been too nervous and confused to try to follow or stop her.

The staring match continued until Ann's eyes coasted around the room, and settled on the sleeping bag in the corner.

"Oh my god, you are living here!"

"Am not."

Ann pointed to the bag. "Then what's that?"

"Art." Leslie responded without missing a beat. "I make art now. It's a hobby. That people do. People like me."

Ann narrowed her eyes. "Why are you sleeping here?"

"Because someone broke a large hole in my ceiling and I have to wait until next week to get it fixed."

Ann winced as Leslie crossed her arms and tilted her head expectantly at the brunette.

"Did that someone say she was sorry?" She asked, almost pleading. "Really, really, a thousand times over, sorry? From the bottom of her broken down, decrepit, blackened heart? Did she-"

"Okay, okay. Apology accepted." Leslie cut her off, answering with a smile and rolling her eyes a bit. Ann returned the smile and walked into the small office. She plopped down on the edge of Leslie's desk as the blonde closed the door and sat down next to her.

"So, why are you sleeping here?" Ann asked again. "I mean, instead of getting a hotel or something."

Leslie shrugged. "It's convenient. I wake up for work in the morning and I'm already here. No driving required, lots of time saved. It's actually kind of nice."

Ann kicked her legs back and forth against the desk. "What about showers and food and stuff? None of that here."

"I hadn't really planned that far ahead, Ann." The blonde said. Neither of them were meeting the others eyes, although Leslie wanted to. She was afraid looking into Ann's face would make her loose all train of thought, and she would wind up babbling incomprehensibly about something completely unrelated, like how public restrooms have really inefficient hand driers, or how once when she was little she was a smurf for Halloween and the blue skin dye didn't come off for a week.

Oh god, it's happening already, she thought, risking a glance up at the other woman.

"You could stay with me for a while, you know." Ann half muttered, picking at the end of her sleeve. Leslie thought she was deliberately not looking as well.

"What?" The blonde asked, surprised. "Really?"

"Well, yeah." Ann replied, finally looking up at the other woman. "I guess it's only fair that you should stay with me since I broke your attic. Kind of." There was an awkward pause as neither spoke. Leslie was enraptured in the big brown eyes staring at her and couldn't think of words at the moment. "And you wanted a key anyway, so..."

"I didn't really want a key," Leslie said. "I wanted you to want me to want a key, because the you wanting would mean that you cared like I cared, but I didn't really need a key because you always let me in without one anyway, I just thought that you wanting me to want a key meant you would want me and I wanted you to want that."

Ann blinked.

"What?"

Leslie sighed. Sometimes when she talked she felt like Ann didn't understand her at all. She rolled her eyes at Ann's confused expression and then leaned forward, taking the brunette's face in both her hands and kissing her softly.

"That." She said quietly when she pulled away, noticing Ann's eyes still closed. "I wanted you to want that."

"I did." Ann said as she opened her eyes. "I mean, I do. I don't get the whole key/want thing, but I get that you like kissing me. Which is good, because I like it too. I mean, I like you."

Leslie breathed a sigh of relief. "I like you too. In the way that I should like men, but I don't, I like you instead, because you're better than a man."

Ann's brow furrowed. "Thanks... I think."

"You really don't mind me staying with you for a few days?" Leslie asked, knowing what the answer was but asking out of politeness anyway.

"Of course not."Ann replied with a smile, nudging the blonde with her shoulder.

"Will you make pancakes?" She asked. Her face made it look like the answer would be a deal breaker.

"I'll do you one better: I'll make waffles."

Good answer, Leslie thought. Good, good answer.