If you take me back
Back to your place
I'll try not to bother you I promise…
But it takes two when it used to take one
It takes two when it used to take only one

-Ryan Adams, "Two"

Sharon was awoken by the angry growling of her stomach a few short hours later. She didn't immediately move; she found she was still wrapped around Brenda, and as hungry as she was, she was loath to move. They seemed to fit, somehow, like this. Naked and tangled together. And Sharon couldn't believe this was the second time in a row she had woken to the feel of a soft body clutched next to hers.

She hadn't eaten dinner, though, and as much as she would like to fall back to sleep in the warm bundle of blankets and body parts, she knew hunger would only make her miserable. Gingerly she began to ease herself off of Brenda, and watched in amusement as a slender arm snaked out and wrapped itself around her neck.

"Where're you goin'?" Brenda slurred, eyes closed, mouth set in what could only be described as a pout. Her arm around Sharon pulled the brunette closer, refusing to let her go.

"Food," Sharon answered, leaning forward and kissing the corner of Brenda's mouth, pulling her arm down and away. "I'll be back," she said, and finding herself unable to resist the temptation, she kissed Brenda a second time. Brenda grumbled, and borrowed into the vacant space Sharon left behind her as she slipped out of bed.

She scooped a button down shirt off her dresser, pulled on over her nakedness, and started fastening the buttons as she headed for the kitchen, trying to decide what she wanted to eat, her body buzzing pleasantly with the happiness of having exactly what she'd always wanted.

She'd fallen asleep with Brenda twice now, and each time she'd woken to the Chief's beautiful face, not alone as she feared. Sharon was too used to the disappointment of waking up alone, even when she didn't fall asleep that way, and the easy familiarity she'd found with Brenda was a welcome change. She wondered briefly how long this would last, and that thought scared her so badly she shied away from it, pulling cheese out of the fridge and rummaging for crackers in the cabinet, telling herself she needed to enjoy what she had for as long as she had it.

Even if there was a man across town who was probably pacing in his living room, scared and worried and pissed all at once, because Sharon had taken his wife away from him.

It was easy for Sharon to forget about Fritz when she was kissing Brenda, holding her tight, but in the still quiet of her kitchen his specter loomed like a ghost, reminding Sharon of the promises she was breaking and the consequences of her thoughtless actions that were bound to catch up with her one of these days.

There were soft footsteps behind her, and she turned to find Brenda, wrapped in Sharon's fluffy white robe and rubbing her drowsy eyes.

"You didn't have to get up," Sharon said quietly, fixing her snack and smiling at the blonde.

"You weren't there," Brenda shrugged, "so I didn't want to stay."

Sharon stared at her, unsure of what to say. She so often found herself unsure when it came to Brenda, and that too was a welcome change, in its own way.

"Are you hungry?" Sharon asked, and Brenda shook her head. Brenda stumbled across the kitchen, still not quite awake, and draped herself across Sharon's back, her arms latching around Sharon's waist, kissing the back of her neck.

"I like your robe," she said into Sharon's hair, and Sharon laughed.

"I like it, too."

Sharon turned in her arms, her lips finding Brenda's in a gentle, middle-of-the-night kind of kiss. Sharon's stomach chose that moment to rumble, however, and they parted with a laugh. Sharon turned her attention back to the food in front of her, and Brenda leaned against the counter next to her, content for the moment.

But only for the moment, because she was finally awake enough to start thinking clearly, and a thousand horrible thoughts landed in her head all at once.

"Shit," she swore under her breath, reaching for one of the crackers Sharon had prepared and popping it into her mouth.

"What?" Sharon asked, tense now. This was the moment she had been dreading. The instant Brenda realized what a mistake all of this had been, and left forever.

"I have to go home," Brenda answered, though she made no move to leave.

Sharon nodded. Keep your chin up, Sharon, she told herself.

"I have nothing to wear tomorrow. And I didn't tell Fritz where I was going. I just sort of…left."

"You didn't tell him where you were going?" Sharon asked. She honestly didn't know why she was surprised anymore.

Brenda shook her head. "I needed to see you," she said quietly, as if that explained everything. In a way, it did.

"What are you going to tell him when you get home?" Sharon suddenly felt queasy, and she knew it wasn't from the crackers. What have I done, what have I done, what have I done…

"I'll think of something," Brenda told her, and headed off towards the bedroom, to gather up the clothes she had worn over and make herself presentable. Sharon stayed where she was, rooted to the spot.

What were you expecting? She thought angrily. This is what happens when you sleep with a married woman. You get a few stolen hours and she goes home to him at the end of the day.

It had been so long since Sharon had someone to come home to, and she fought the urge to cry. The loneliness was bearable, most days, but tonight the prospect of climbing back into her bed alone was intolerable.

Brenda reappeared, still wearing Emma's clothes. Sharon could see the struggle playing out on her lover's face; Brenda didn't want to go, but Sharon wasn't going to keep her. Sharon knew that a well-timed kiss, a few well-placed touches and some whispered words were all it would take to keep Brenda here with her, but Sharon couldn't do it. She had never liked feeling manipulated herself, and she hated the thought of doing something like that to Brenda. Brenda needed to go home, and Sharon needed to let her.

"Tell me I don't have to go, Sharon," Brenda said softly, her voice close to breaking.

"You have to go, Brenda," she said.

Brenda nodded, ran her fingers through her hair.

"Do you have time to see me tomorrow?" Sharon asked, desperately reaching for a way to keep all of this together, somehow.

"Why? Where?" Brenda's face lit up at the prospect, and Sharon knew she'd misunderstood the question.

"Maybe over lunch or something? We need to talk, Brenda. We need to figure this out. We can't have another night like tonight."

Brenda was struggling to keep the tears at bay. She knew Sharon was right. They couldn't keep doing this. They had to stop. They had to-

"I mean, you can't leave without telling Fritz," Sharon said quickly, rushing to Brenda and wrapping her arms around her. "I mean we have to think things through, we have to figure out where we're going." She kissed Brenda softly. "God, when you showed up at my door, I was so happy-"

Brenda kissed her back, stopping her words.

"I'll come by your office tomorrow. I'll call you. I'll do anything I have to," Brenda told her, and Sharon gently pushed her away, nudged her towards the door, because God if she didn't leave right now, Sharon knew she never would. Sharon would never let her.

·······

Brenda had a whole speech planned. She knew exactly what she was going to say. She was prepared for everything.

Except the look on Fritz's face when she opened the door.

"Jesus, Brenda, where the hell have you been?" he said, coming as close as Fritz ever did to shouting.

"I'm so sorry, Fritz-"

"I got up to tell you something and you were gone; God Brenda I'd only been in bed for five minutes-"

"Fritz, please-"

"You can't do that to me! I called you and you left your phone here! You left your phone! You always have your phone, Brenda," he finished lamely. Brenda knew exactly what he was trying to say, though. She always had her phone. She was always willing to answer it, no matter what she was doing. Laying in bed with Fritz, eating dinner with Fritz, talking to Fritz, fucking Fritz; it didn't matter. The phone was there and if it rang she answered it.

And she'd left it behind to go to Sharon without any distractions.

"Will you let me explain?" she asked, amazed at how calm she sounded. Inside she was a wreck, horrified that she sounded so earnest when she was about to tell him a lie. When she could still smell Sharon on her skin.

"It'd better be good," he said, crossing his arms against his chest.

"I left because I needed to take these clothes back to Shar- Captain Raydor," Brenda said, plucking at the pink shell top she still wore. "She loaned them to me because all my stuff was dirty, and I'm not going to see her tomorrow. I wanted to get them back before I forgot."

"You're still wearing those clothes, Brenda," Fritz said.

"I got all the way to Captain Raydor's house before I realized I was still wearing them. It's been a long few days, honey," she told him with a pleading look in her eyes. Please believe me, please believe me, please believe me…

"Well, fine, but what did you do for the next three hours?" he demanded, slightly confused as to whether or not he believed her.

"We got to talking, and I guess I didn't realize how late it was."

"But you hate that woman!"

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Fritz! I do not hate her! She gave me a place to stay when…" Brenda trailed off, not wanting to remind him of the two nights she had spent anywhere but in their bed.

Fritz just stared at her, defeated and confused and sleepy, and Brenda felt like she didn't recognize herself anymore. When did she become the sort of woman who would abandon her husband for the arms of another? When did she make that choice? Or had that choice already been made for her, long ago?

"You know what, Brenda? I don't care. Just come to bed, please?" he said, and she nodded.

"I'll be there in just a minute. Let me use the bathroom. I love you, honey," she said, and those words had never felt as much like a lie as they did right now.

Fritz just nodded. "Don't disappear again," he said as he walked away.

Brenda sighed in relief. She had a few moments now. She had a chance to pull herself together. She wouldn't have to explain to Fritz why she was returning from Sharon's house panty-less for the second time.

She went into the bathroom, and took of Emma's clothes, careful to fold them. She was never so careful with her own clothes, but these were a part of Sharon, and Brenda tried to be as careful with Sharon as she could.

She carefully washed her hands, her face, between her legs, trying to erase Sharon's scent from her skin, and that loss made her almost unbearably sad.

She straightened up, checking her reflection in the mirror, and it was only then that she remembered the dark bruise Sharon had left on the inside of her breast. She ran her fingers lightly over it, shivering at the slight pain and the memory of the mouth that had left it there.

She pulled an over-sized t-shirt out of the dirty clothes hamper, checking her reflection in the mirror, wondering if there were any other traces of her time with Sharon on her skin. She decided that even if she could still feel her, she couldn't see her, and she left the bathroom for the chill of her bed, and the tense body of her husband beside her.