A/N: This chapter has been revised and re-uploaded as of 12/28/18 to accommodate a change in plot.

"Honey, what's got your panties in a bunch?" Sharon asked, patting her daughter's hand.

"What? Nothing," Stef said curtly as she wiped the counter.

"Oh please, Stefanie. You're more jittery than a mouse in a pit full of rattlesnakes," her mom said. "Besides, you've wiped down that counter about twenty times."

Stef stiffened, stopped mid-wipe, and folded the towel before pushing it aside on the countertop.

"I probably just had too much coffee this morning," she shrugged, leaning one hip against the counter, forcing herself to look casual.

"You're not worried I'm going to embarrass you, are you?" There was a hint of indignation in her mother's voice as she stood in the center of the kitchen with her hands on her hips.

"No, Mom. Although, now that you mention it…" Stef was teasing but it wasn't too far from the truth. She wasn't worried her mom would embarrass her. She was sure she would. But that was to be expected of her mom and Stef had grown used to it years ago. Stef was far more concerned about the impression her mom would have on Lena. Lena was quiet and reserved and her mom was anything but. It was very important to Stef that Lena be completely comfortable and she was afraid her mom was going overwhelm her.

"I promise to be on my best behavior," Sharon said, patting Stef's cheek.

Stef shook her head, trying to ignore the anxious flutter in her stomach.

"That's what I'm worried about." She flashed her mom a teasing smile as Sharon took plates out to the dining room table. With a weary laugh, she turned back to the stove to check the time. It was ten to six which meant Lena, who was always prompt, would arrive any minute. While she waited, Stef walked around the small house, perfecting everything. She straightened the silverware on the table, fluffed and rearranged the pillows on the couch, fidgeted with picture frames on the mantle. Her nerves were so out of hand that when the doorbell finally rang she almost jumped out of her skin.

"I've got it!" her mom called but Stef intercepted as she rushed to the door.

"No, Mom. I'll get it. You go wait in the kitchen." Her mom opened her mouth to argue but closed it when Stef shot her a death glare.

"Fine, bossy pants." Sharon stood with her hands on her hips, her lips pursed and eyes narrowed. "You weren't even this worked up when you brought Mike over for the first time. And you were hiding your pregnancy then. I don't know what's gotten into you." Throwing her hands in the air, she turned on her heel with a huff and sauntered back to the kitchen. Stef tried to shake off her nerves but her mom's comments only compounded them. Taking a deep breath in an effort to steady herself, she finally opened the door.

"Hi."

Stef's mouth hung open as she stared at the woman in front of her. Lena glowed, standing in the doorway with the late afternoon sun shining behind her. She wore a dress of sapphire blue that was simple but exquisite. It hugged her body, accentuating her long, slender waist and the gentle slope of her hips. Its plunging neckline revealed the small space between the curves of her breasts. She stood at least four inches taller than Stef in a pair of heels that perfectly matched her skin and made her bare, lean legs look even longer than usual. Her face, beautifully painted with just a touch more makeup than usual, was surrounded by a halo of curls. Stef had only ever seen Lena with her hair straightened or in loose waves and she hadn't ever considered that it probably curled naturally. She couldn't take her eyes off of it. The curls, and everything else, were breathtaking.

"Can I come in?" Lena finally asked. Stef cleared her throat, dragging her brain through the fog in her head.

"Yeah… Sorry. Hi," she said, stepping back and shutting the door behind Lena. "You look… incredible. I feel underdressed." She'd worn slacks and one of her nice blouses but next to Lena she felt like she was wearing dirty sweats.

"No! You look great," Lena insisted, a bashful smile spreading across her face. Stef cleared her throat again.

"Thanks." She could feel the blood run to her face and she dropped her eyes to the ground. "The kitchen is this way," she said, forcing the words out through her constricted throat. The air between them was thick and unmoving; she felt like she was suffocating. With a conscious effort to make her feet move, Stef chuckled before leading Lena toward the kitchen.

"Oh, hello dear!" Sharon greeted Lena by sweeping her into an embrace as if they were old friends. "Aren't you a beauty?" she said, giving Lena a long glance and a warm smile.

"Thank you." Lena smiled graciously.

"Lena, this is my mom, Sharon Elkin. Mom, Lena." Stef stood slightly away from the two other women with her hands clasped together in front of her. She could still feel the heat in her cheeks and found herself avoiding eye contact.

"It's nice to meet you."

"Oh you, too, honey. Stef has told me so much about you."

Stef's eyes whipped over to her mom, wide and glaring. Clearing her throat, she caught her mom's eye and stared her down over Lena's shoulder.

"Oh, apparently I shouldn't have said that," Sharon said to Lena, pulling her face in mocking guilt, making Lena laugh. "Stefanie, I don't know why you're so wound up. It's the truth," she said with a tsk.

"Mom, can you at least let her get in the door before you start… being you?" Stef shifted on her feet. She was already wishing a hole would open up under her and it hadn't even been five minutes.

"Oh hush." Her mom waved her comment away. "You're fine, aren't you, love?" she asked Lena, squeezing her arm.

"Yes," Lena chuckled, her eyes shining with amusement as she looked first at Sharon and then Stef.

"What's this?" Sharon asked, taking a small square glass dish from Lena's hands and setting it on the counter. Stef hadn't even noticed she had been carrying it.

"It's a carrot casserole. I hope it's okay. I wasn't sure what to bring when Stef said anything." She looked at Stef with another bashful smile. Stef returned it with a nod of encouragement.

"It's perfect, dear," Sharon assured her. "Should I just pop it in the oven to heat up?"

"Oh, I can do that," Lena said.

"Here, let me." Stef nearly bowled her mother over darting to the counter. She and Lena reached for the dish at the same time and when her hand landed squarely on top of Lena's, Stef snatched hers back like it had been scalded. "Sorry, I'm– Sorry." She balled up her hand while her cheeks flamed and her heart was up in her throat as she stared down at the counter. Lena gazed at Stef, her lips pressed together.

"Well, if neither of you are gonna do it, I guess I will." Sharon interrupted the palpable silence that filled the small kitchen.

Lena dragged her eyes away with a quiet laugh.

"Sorry. Here." She pulled the tinfoil off the top and turned to hand the dish to Sharon. Stef glanced up at her as she turned away. Her fingers were still closed around her burning palm, as if she could keep the feeling there as long as she didn't let go.

"Doesn't that just look wonderful?" Sharon gushed before sliding the dish into the oven.

"I hope it tastes as good."

"Oh, hush." Sharon waved away Lena's doubt. "Don't even say such a thing! I'm sure it's delicious!"

"Well, if it's good, I have my teacher to thank." Lena smiled and squeezed Stef's arm.

A tight smile pulled at the corners of Stef's mouth.

"You've been a great student," she said quietly, her still-red face flushing deeper at the compliment while the tingling burn in her palm spread up to her arm.

"Stef has been teaching me how to cook," Lena explained when Sharon looked back and forth at each of them. "I've actually developed a bit of a passion for it, though I'm still learning." She pressed her lips into a self-conscious grin and shrugged a shoulder.

"Well, isn't that sweet of you?" Sharon said, turning to Stef. She closed the few steps between them and gripped her shoulders in a side hug. "My girl has always had a talent in the kitchen, even if she always hated it." She kissed her cheek, making Stef grimace. "I don't know where she gets it from. Certainly not from me," she laughed.

Stef snorted. "It was an act of survival. I'll still probably be preserved forever from all the TV dinners I ate as a kid."

"You… You hate cooking?" Lena looked at her with wide eyes.

"Yeah… Kinda," Stef admitted with a small shrug.

"Oh." The corners of Lena's mouth turned down. "I assumed you enjoyed it since you do it so much."

"Only out of necessity." Her voice was quiet, almost apologetic.

"Well, I appreciate you taking the time to teach me. You don't… You don't have to," Lena offered, pressing her lips together again.

"No! No, it's fine. I don't mind. Really." The words tumbled out as she rushed to reassure her.

"You're sure?" Lena asked, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth. Stef nodded.

"I like cooking with you." It felt more like admitting a deep secret than a simple reassurance. Her nerves were getting the better of her. She was breathing in shallow gasps and her eyes were locked on Lena's gaze. Blood burned in her cheeks again.

"Well alright," Sharon said when another silence stretched between them. Stef's eyes flew to the ground while Lena cleared her throat. "Lena, honey, how about a little tour?" Sharon dropped her arm from around her daughter and moved over to their guest. Lena pulled her attention away from Stef and back to Sharon, offering a warm smile. When she nodded her head, the halo of curls around her face bounced and Stef, who had dragged her eyes up from the floor, was hypnotized by them.

"That sounds lovely. Thank you."

Stef watched as her mom linked her arm through Lena's and led her out through the dining room; she was already chattering away without so much as a pause for breath.

Stef walked behind them while her mother took Lena through her small house. The sight of them would have been funny, had Stef been feeling at all like laughing. With her heels, Lena stood almost a foot taller than Sharon who was short to begin with. It was like some kind of comical juxtaposition. But as she followed them, Stef couldn't find the humor in anything, too distracted by her own discomfort. She was stricken with a shyness she didn't recognize. She was overly aware of every word she said and every movement of her body. She noticed everything, down to the way she locked her knees whenever they stopped and how loud her breathing sounded. Constantly fidgeting, she wasn't sure where to put her hands or elbows; she struggled to look casual while feeling foreign in her own skin. In an ironic turn of events, Stef was grateful for her mom's overt familiarity because she was occupying Lena while Stef tried to think about anything other than how long Lena's legs looked and the way her dress hugged her waist and how she'd never seen anyone so beautiful.

Their last stop was in the living room. It wasn't until they arrived that Sharon finally released Lena from her grasp when she took an interest in the picture frames scattered on the mantle. As she perused them, Sharon came to stand by her daughter who stood back, watching.

"She's just lovely, dear," Sharon said quietly, wrapping her arm around Stef's waist. Stef smiled, not sure how else to respond. "And my god, she's like an ancient goddess, isn't she? She's the kind of beautiful that makes regular women like us look like hairy toads."

"Gee, thanks, Mom."

"You know what I mean, Stefanie." Her mom patted her hip. Stef laughed through her nose and chewed on the inside of her bottom lip.

"Yeah. I know what you mean," she said with the smallest nod, her eyes still on Lena.

"Is this you graduating from the Police Academy?" Lena pointed to one of the photos, turning to look at Stef. Stef wriggled out of her mother's grasp.

"Mhmm." As she came to stand beside her, their shoulders brushed. She could smell Lena's perfume. The warm fragrance was as distracting as her dark eyes glittering at Stef from beneath her sweeping lashes.

"You look good in uniform."

A blush bloomed in Stef's cheeks at the compliment.

"Thank you," she murmured. Lena held her with that gaze, intense and unrelenting, that she never could get used to. It was like a string pulling her to her, all the time. Her ears were burning and it felt like there wasn't enough air in the room for her to breathe. Her eyes slipped down to Lena's lips and her heart pounded in her throat as she felt it, still; pulling and pulling.

"I don't know about you two, but I could use a glass of wine."

Her mom's voice cut through it and Stef's eyes flew to the ground. She cleared her throat and shoved her hands in her pockets.

"I'll get it," she volunteered. "I need one, too." Tilting her head up in Lena's direction, her eyes stayed glued to the floor. "Lena?"

"Yes, thank you."

Stef gave a curt nod and rushed out of the room.

In the kitchen, she grabbed one of the open bottles of wine off the top of the fridge, not bothering to check what it was. She grabbed a glass from the cabinet and poured half a glass, chugging it as she tried to ignore her shaking hands.

"Stef?"

Lena's voice made her jump.

"Yeah," she said, setting down the empty glass and wiping at her mouth with the back of her hand. She didn't look up.

"Are you okay?" Lena took a few tentative steps into the room.

"Yep. Perfectly fine! Just thirsty." She tried to laugh, to sound casual, but it came out strained and awkward. Turning away, she grabbed another bottle off the top of the fridge. "Would you like, uh, white or… or red?" She busied herself getting two more glasses down.

"Stef? Can we talk?"

"Sure." She started pouring more wine into her glass as Lena came up beside her. "Let's talk about which wine you want. I've got a Riesling here– Oh but you're more into reds, aren't you? There's–"

"Stef." Lena caught her arm and urged her to face her. "I need to talk to you."

"Okay, yes. What is it?" Stef rolled her eyes and huffed out an exhale, her gaze settling on the doorframe behind Lena. Her wrist tingled where Lena still held it.

"Will you look at me?"

Stef clenched her jaw, her face aflame while Lena waited. Finally, her eyes met Lena's. She swallowed.

"I have something that I need to tell you," Lena said, her voice quiet. There was a hint of a tremor in it. "This isn't the right time and I should have told you sooner but…"

Her voice trailed off and her gaze fell away. Stef watched the corners of her lips twitch with a tension that settled around her mouth. She didn't know what Lena needed to say. It didn't matter. She couldn't have heard her over the deafening pulse rushing in her ears anyway. There was that pull again, stronger this time. She couldn't stop feeling Lena's hand on her wrist and she couldn't drag her eyes away from her lips. She couldn't ignore that relentless pull. At the same time that Lena drew breath to speak, Stef took her face in her hands and kissed her.

Lena's lips were parted and soft and, after a moment, they were kissing her back. Stef could feel her heart racing as heat spread through her. Lena's hand slid up from her wrist until it was clasped over hers on her cheek and Stef couldn't tell which one of them was shaking. Her other hand came to rest on Stef's hip, pulling her closer instead of pushing her away. Stef felt the kiss in her bones, in every inch of her body, burning her up from the inside out. It only lasted a few seconds before Lena pulled away, dropping her hands and stepping back, but even then, she could still feel it burning.

"I– I'm sorry, I…" Stef's face was hot and once again, she couldn't meet Lena's eye. "I don't…" She covered her mouth with her hand when she couldn't figure out what to say.

"I'm sorry, Stef. I–" Lena swallowed, her chin tucked low against her chest, lips pressed so thin they almost disappeared. "This was a mistake. I shouldn't have come. I–" She wrapped her arms under her chest. "I have to go."

"Lena–" Stef reached out but didn't chase her. What would she even say? What could she do when she couldn't even think? She let her go and stood alone in the kitchen, reeling. It scared her how Lena's presence lingered, how she could still feel her everywhere. She was still there on her lips, still holding onto her wrist. Stef could feel her face in her shaking hands and could feel Lena's fingers gripping her hip. She could feel the way her body burned with Lena's pressed against it. But more than any of it, she could feel her in her heart and that was what scared her most of all.