*A/N: I am very sorry that this took so long to post, everyone. I have had a hectic month. The good news, however is that I am now a college graduate. I also finished this mini-fiction. I hope that you guys have enjoyed it. Feel free to tell me your thoughts, they are welcome.

Skyline

Chapter 4: Making It Better

A sharp glint of light caused a sleeping Lauren to squeeze her eyes shut tighter than a peaceful sleep would allow. Groaning against the offending light, she forced herself to peek through slightly open lids to find the sun breaking through the cracks in the vertical dangling blinds of her bedroom. Having spent far too many hours inside a florescent-lit lab, Lauren usually felt herself craving the natural energy that the sun provided. Today, however, all she wanted to do was to curl back into her bed and sleep off the throbbing headache that usually accompanied a panic attack. Growling out her discontent with the day, Lauren rolled over in an attempt to snuggle closer to Bo's sleeping form.

"Bo?" Lauren's voice questioned when she was met with something far too bulky and squishy to be the succubus.

Opening her eyes, Lauren found herself wrapped around a pillow. Sitting up in a fully awake state, Lauren looked around for any sign of Bo. She saw the pajamas from the night before stacked in a pile on the dresser, but there wasn't a trace of the brunette anywhere within the eye's view.

"Bo?" Lauren shouted in hopes that she was simply in the kitchen making breakfast.

She tried her best to fight the impending fear that she had indeed woke up alone. She had thought that progress had been made last night, but could it have all been for show? While she didn't expect Bo to leave her in a panicked state, she didn't consider that Bo would lie in order to calm the situation either. Now, Lauren contemplated just how well she really knew the woman who had shared her bed the previous night.

As thoughts and insecurities raced through her brain making it hard to comprehend anything, Lauren forced herself to get out of bed and make her way to the bathroom. She needed to be productive; sitting around waiting and contemplating would only make her feel worse. Lauren knew from past experiences that sitting dormant would only cause more thoughts and insecurities to fill her already pounding head.

As the hot water cascaded over her body, Lauren attempted to balance herself. She focused on her breathing at first, noted the inhalation and exhalation as they came naturally. Allowing herself to place both hands on the tiled shower wall in front of her, she closed her eyes and continued to follow her breathing pattern. As she leaned more weight onto her hands, she could feel the water massage her neck and scalp. Her hair came around her face and she could feel soaking wet strands begin to stick to her cheeks. Droplets of lukewarm water slowly traced a path down her spine until met with the curve of her butt and proceeded to quickly slide to the shower floor.

"Lauren?" A barely audible whisper questioned.

For a moment Lauren was positive that she had imagined the voice until a louder, more certain echo met her ears. Lauren could feel her feet threaten to slip out from beneath her as she was startled into the upright position. Facing the entrance to the shower, Lauren could make out the blurry figure of a slim brunette. She noted that the clothing choice was off, but there were other indicators to suggest that Bo was standing outside of her shower. Taking the initiative, like the researcher she prided herself in being, Lauren slid open the glass door to her shower.

"Bo." Lauren all but screamed when she found Bo dressed in a pair of her own slacks and button down.

As the brunette stood before her stood motionless and without any sign of words, Lauren became concerned.

"Bo, are you alright?" She questioned.

A few blinks and stutters escaped Bo's lips before she forced herself to turn away.

"Yeah, I'm fine. You may want to turn off the shower. You know, maybe put some clothes on too." A very shaky voice begged.

Before she had even reached to turn off the shower, Lauren could feel the blush creep up her cheeks. Perhaps a more qualified researcher would have thought to hide behind the sliding glass door rather than stand in the opening bare for all to see. Stepping out of the shower, Lauren reached for the towel.

"Just let me dry off and I will put this towel on." Lauren fumbled as she rushed to dry off her dripping form.

Bo, for her part, found great interest in the molding surrounding the doorway to the bathroom. She traced her fingers over the folds of the molding as she busied herself with anything other than turning to stare at Lauren's body. She could already feel the temperature rising within her body and she knew that maintaining full control of the situation would involve a lot of restraint on her part.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't here when you woke up. I had to feed." She explained more to the wall than anything else.

"I thought that you had changed your mind," Lauren forced herself to speak, "about forgiving me, I mean."

Noting the release of the tension in Bo's back, Lauren waited.

"Nope, I'm not going to be changing my mind on that and quite honestly, I don't want to talk about what happened either." The determination was evident in Bo's voice.

"Okay? May I ask why?" Lauren questioned as she ran the towel down her legs.

"You always go into a long detailed explanation of something when I don't understand. If I don't know what disease you are talking about, it could take two hours. If I don't know what type of Fae you are talking about, it could take two years. I don't need you to explain to me what happened this time, Lauren. I was there and I know that you were not thinking about the Ash when you were with me. You may have come over with that in mind, but you wanted to be with me as much as I wanted to be with you. I understand that you did it because you thought you were protecting me. All that is left to say is that I want to get close to you again. Not just in the sexual sense either." Bo smirked at her very own detailed explanation.

"I'm ready." Lauren stuttered.

"Now?" Bo couldn't stop the shock from escaping.

"I mean, I'm ready for you to turn around, Bo." Lauren explained despite Bo's assumption being true as well.

Turning around, Bo found Lauren standing before her wrapped in a towel with her hair dripping down her body.

"Your-your-um-hair is still wet." She giggled lightly.

"I didn't have a second towel" Lauren explained despite the embarrassment she felt.

Taking a guess, Bo opened small cabinet below the sink to find a few towels stacked neatly in a pile. Taking the top towel, she stepped forward to begin the task of gently drying the wet strands of blonde hair before her. She smiled widely when she looked down to find Lauren staring back at her with a content smile on her lips.

"Better?" She questioned.

When Lauren leaned forward to press a soft, but firm kiss to her lips, Bo felt the pull at her own resolve.

"Now it's better." She whispered before pulling Bo in for another kiss.