BOLD AND ITALICS: Dream
Italics: Thoughts
Last chapter:
"Bernie, I'm so sorry."
"Sorry for what? You haven't done anything."
"I'm sorry for how I treated you when you came back from Ukraine. You hurt me so badly and I wanted you to know how it felt. I considered it vengeance. But, I treated you like dirt and broke your heart and I'm so sorry. I feel so guilty over how I made you feel. You tried to make things right and I threw it back in your face. I want us to return to how we were before everything got so complicated. You know, friends… What do you say?"
Bernie thought that it was time to be brave and tell Serena what she felt, "No. We can't be friends."
"What?" replied Serena, devastated.
"I said we can't be friends."
"What? Why? I thought that you wanted to fix things."
"Serena – "
"Please, Bernie?"
"No. We can't be friends because I want so much more than that. I don't just want your friendship. I want you… all of you. I want to be able to hold you and kiss you and make love to you. I don't want to share you with anyone else. I want to be yours and I want you to be mine regardless of the drama or the gossip or even the consequences. What do you say?"
"Oh, Bernie… I want to say yes so badly, but what about Caroline and Alex? We're both still committed to them."
"You're right. But look," Bernie gestured towards Alex and Caroline, who were leaning rather close to one another. "You can't tell me that they won't be okay with us leaving them. They look pretty cozy to me."
Before Serena could respond, Caroline looked over at them. Serena could see that Caroline really did like Alex, and it worked out well considering she was itching to get away with Bernie. Wordlessly, they agreed that the end of their relationship had arrived, but only because they had feelings for someone else. Both women smiled, then turned away returning to their conversations.
"Well, Bernie, I believe that I'm now a free woman which only leaves you to decide which of us you want."
Bernie smirked before walking over to where Caroline and Alex were sitting, leaning down to whisper in Alex's ear, "I really like Serena."
Alex replied, "I really like Caroline. Are we over?"
"Yes, I believe so… Is that okay?"
"Yeah… Yeah, of course. See you around, Major."
Bernie stood up to find Serena staring at her with a peculiar expression on her face (A/N: Can anyone guess why? ;D). Bernie watched as Serena's eyes slowly trailed up her body until they reached her eyes. She sashayed over to Serena, never taking her eyes off of her. When she reached the bar, she ordered two bottles of Shiraz, took Serena's hand and led her away from the bar to a table on the opposite side of the bar, away from Alex and Caroline. Bernie wanted to get to know Serena again, she wanted to try again.
A few hours (and many more bottles of shiraz) later, Serena and Bernie were completely drunk. By this time, Alex and Caroline had left and the bar was almost empty. Serena was giggling at the joke that Bernie just made, despite the fact that it wasn't funny when the bell for last orders rang.
"Oh, God. Have we really been drinking for this long?" asked Serena, slurring her words, slightly.
"I do believe so, Fraulein," replied Bernie. "I think it's time that I took you home."
"Okay. On one condition…"
"That is?"
"You stay with me."
Bernie looked at Serena with wide eyes, shocked at Serena's forwardness. She nodded anyway, following Serena out of Albies and to her car. Once there, Bernie made to unlock the car, but instead felt hands grab her waist to turn her around so she was pressed against the cool metal of the car. Bernie stared at Serena who was slowly closing the gap between them, her hands wrapping themselves around Bernie's neck, pulling their bodies together. Bernie was trembling with anticipation, waiting for Serena to make her move. Serena leaned in closer to Bernie, pausing just before their lips touched. She whispered, "Your move, Major."
Bernie looked deep into Serena's dark brown eyes, before closing the gap and kissing Serena, hard. Bernie moaned. She was so glad to finally be able to kiss Serena again. She had been wanting to familiarize herself with Serena's after all this time and she finally could. At that point, Serena made a delicious sound at the back of her throat before teasing Bernie with her tongue. Bernie deepened the kiss, allowing their tongues to battle strongly against one another.
Slowly, and reluctantly, both women pulled away, resting their foreheads against one another. "It's time to get you home Fraulein," said Bernie, leading Serena around to the passenger's door before opening it to let her in. She hurried round to her side of the car, getting in and quickly starting the car. She was glad that the pub was so close to Serena's house as it meant that there was little time to wait.
When they reached Serena's house, they had only made it to the door before Serena was all over Bernie. She found herself roughly pressed against the door, with the handle digging into the small of her back. Bernie moaned, and pulled Serena closer to her regardless of the pain she felt in her back. They only parted when the need for air became too much. "I think we should take this inside," Serena said, her voice dripping with lust. Bernie nodded, moving away from the door, while Serena hurriedly unlocked it. Bernie literally kicked the door closed after her, following Serena in anticipation over what would come next. To Bernie's surprise, Serena led her straight to her bedroom and onto the bed. She pushed Bernie onto the bed, straddling her. Serena leant down, kissing Bernie roughly.
As much as Bernie wanted her, she knew that Serena wasn't ready, regardless of the signals. She knew that everything that could happen tonight would be under the influence of alcohol. She just couldn't take advantage of Serena like this. She pushed Serena off of her to sit on the edge of the bed, eyes fixed on the floor. Serena stared at her, wondering why she had pulled away. She sat up and moved closer to Bernie, wrapping her arms around her, trying to coax her to kiss her. Bernie stood up abruptly, turning to look at Serena, feeling extremely guilty.
"Serena, we can't do this tonight. We've both had too much to drink and I feel like I would be taking advantage of you," Bernie said.
"Bernie, I want this. I want you. I am old enough to decide who I want and when, regardless of how much I've had to drink," Serena replied, slurring her words.
"I don't think you are, Serena. You've been slurring your words for the past hour and a half and you could barely walk through your house without stumbling. I'm not going to take advantage of you when you might regret it in the morning."
"But – "
"No, Serena. I won't do it. Believe me, I want you, too, but I just can't do it. I'm sorry."
Bernie looked over to Serena, who had fallen asleep on her shoulder. She smiled, before moving Serena into a lying position, covering her with the duvet. She leaned down and kissed Serena on the forehead, whispering, "Goodnight, my love." She crossed the room, turned off the light and pulled the door closed. She crossed the landing and headed to Serena's guest room, where she collapsed on the bed and fell asleep almost immediately just thinking about Serena and their future.
Bernie was standing in the middle of the battlefield. There were small fires burning all around her. Looking around her, she saw two people – Serena to her left and Alex to her right. The path to Alex was devoid of any fires, but the path to Serena was littered with small, raging fires. She looked to Alex who had a hand outstretched, beckoning Bernie to her, then she looked at Serena, who was staring at her with a fierce look in her eyes. Bernie looked back to Alex…
The path to Alex was so easy, but the way to Serena was so much more difficult. Bernie had to make the choice between what was right and what was easy. She hesitantly turned towards Alex, who smiled in response. She took 5 steps forward before stopping completely. 'This isn't what I want. I don't want Alex any longer. I made my choice… I want Serena.' Bernie thought, smiling slightly at Alex, before turning her back to her and facing Serena.
"Serena," she whispered. She approached the cobblestone path to Serena, where the first fire was. She raised her voice slightly. 'How am I going to get through this?'
"Just walk through it, darling," said Serena, in a soft, calm voice.
"What? But it'll burn me."
"Trust me. It won't."
Bernie looked deep into Serena's eyes and could see that she was telling the truth. She lifted one foot over the flames and lowered it carefully. The flames licked her foot, but she only felt a slight tingling sensation. She placed her foot firmly into the fire and stepped over the flames with her other one. Bernie looked up to see Serena smiling at her, encouraging her. Bernie hurried to the next fire and repeated the process.
She looked up once again, expecting to see Serena standing and waiting for her. Instead, Serena smirked, "You ran away from me once. Now it's my turn."
"Serena! Wait! Please?"
Serena smirked again and turned her back, beginning to walk away. She paused, and said, "I wouldn't bother trying to return the way you came. Once you pass those fires, they become deadly."
Serena turned around again, before beginning to walk away, laughing wickedly.
Bernie awoke with a start, looking around the bedroom, thanking God that she wasn't on that battlefield any longer. She sat up and ran her hands through her hair. Bernie looked to the clock, checking the time; It showed that it was only 3am. She stood up slowly, tiptoeing out of her bedroom and over the landing to where she knew Serena was sleeping. She quietly opened the door, and crossed the room crouching next to Serena's bed. She reached over and brushed the fringe off Serena's forehead. 'What did I do to deserve you, Serena Campbell,' she thought. 'God, I love you even if I'm not brave enough to say it.' Bernie stood up, and walked back out of the room. When she reached the door, she turned and looked at Serena once more, before turning around and closing the door. She returned to the quest room where she spent the rest of the night dreaming only sweet dreams.
A/N: Once again, this isn't the end of the story. There is still more to go on this story, a few more plot twists, and mention of a few more characters. If you want to, you can leave me a review on how you think the story is going so far, but if you don't want to, that's okay, too.