Nancy POV


Pulling into my driveway, I see a form sitting in the light of the setting sun on the steps of my porch. At least Sara had enough reason in her stubborn head to take me seriously and show up at my house as I requested.

Checking in with my sister during her shift today, I was extremely disturbed to hear that Sara was acting distant, barely even looking at Catherine all night and refusing to speak to her unless she was spoken to first.

Sara was downright cold to my sister, essentially treating her like crap all shift. Despite the apologetic letter she left my sister, she didn't give any inclination that she felt remotely sorry at all.

Catherine didn't come out directly and say it, but I could tell that she was quite hurt by Sara's indifference towards her. I think the last day or so had given her hope that she and Sara were finally moving forward and developing a friendship of sorts.

But today, Sara's behavior ripped that hope away from her.

Catherine is now spending her time raking her brain for what she may have done to turn Sara against her all of a sudden. And adding to my frustration, I could tell my sister hadn't gotten any sleep. Again.

Locking my car, I stop in front of Sara.

"Been waiting long?"

She can probably tell from my tone that I could really care less if she had been sitting out here all day.

"No."

Judging from the number of cigarette butts I see smothered in the dirt around my porch she has indeed been waiting here awhile, but I know she is too proud to admit that I had inconvenienced her in any way.

Playing along, I reply with an empty, "Good."

Unlocking my front door, I step inside, leaving the door open behind me. That's all the invitation I can manage to offer Sara in my current state of mind.

Taking the hint, Sara silently follows me in and shuts the door behind her. She crosses her arms and refuses to step any further into my house than the doorway.

Fine.

Tossing my keys none too gently onto my counter, I turn to Sara.

"What the hell were you thinking?"

Silence.

"That wasn't a rhetorical question, Sara."

"I don't know what you want me to say, Nancy." Her expression is blank, giving nothing away.

"I want you to say what it is that made you think it was okay to do that to my sister. Hell, what made you think you could use me in that way. Do you know she stayed up all night worrying about you? Hoping you were safe at home like you promised?"

I can see her resolve break a bit. I'm sure she didn't mean to cause my sister any harm, but I'm not letting her off the hook just yet.

I had originally planned on giving her an earful about the harm she could have caused herself, pushing herself much too hard for an injury as serious as hers. But right now, I want to understand what has her personality doing a complete switch on my sister.

"It was stupid Sara, it was stupid and incredibly selfish. You could have waited until next shift or had someone else bring the evidence, I'm sure. Instead, you left my already exhausted sister to worry about you all night. Was it worth it?"

Finally, she looks away from me.

"Sara, was it fucking worth it?"

My voice is hard, diluted with anger.

She looks up again.

"Was it fucking worth it, Sara?"

"Yes."

Her face is unreadable, her expression cold. I am not close enough to her to see her eyes. I need to see her eyes.

Stepping closer, she backs away from me until she hits my closed door with her back.

Her face is still cold as stone when I finally get close enough to look into her eyes.

She's not lying.

In her mind, it was worth it. I thought I knew Sara better than this, I thought she would never consider putting timely evidence retrieval before the wellbeing of my sister. Before the wellbeing of herself, yes, but I didn't expect her to have left Catherine like that.

I don't get it.

"Are you purposely trying to push everyone away, Sara?"

She's thrown for a second with my seemingly off base question. But I have a hunch, and I am going to follow it.

"You think you can treat my sister like shit now, ignore her all shift, use me in your little ploys, shut everyone out? So maybe you'll make us so pissed at you that we don't bother to find out what is really going on?"

I have no clue what is really going on, I'll have you know, but there is no way I'm letting Sara onto that little fact.

Her eyes narrow, she is trying to read me, figure out what I know and what my angle is.

It's enough to let me know that this situation isn't as straightforward as it seems, it isn't simply about some ill-planned decision to retrieve some evidence.

She remains silent, likely figuring her best shot in this situation is to participate as least as possible.

Time for tactic number two.

"Fuck you, Sara. I guess you really are the cold hearted bitch you are trying so hard to portray yourself to be."

She doesn't even flinch under my harsh words.

"Yes, Nancy, I am."

And with that, she reaches for the door handle.

I am much quicker, however, and I slam my foot into the door, successfully keeping it shut. What's more, I use Sara's aversion to human contact against her. I reach out towards her, and as predicted, she jerks away from my reach, effectively reversing our positions.

I hate that I used her fear of contact against her, but at this point I am desperate for answers as to her behavior towards Catherine. And I refuse to let her leave until I get some.

"So what is it, Sara? My sister mistreated you for years, and now you finally decided it's time for a little payback?"

She is silent, and has turned away from me, staring into the abyss of my dark home.

"Figure you would lead her on with all this fake 'I want to work on our friendship' crap so the hurt would be all the better when you twist in the knife?"

She still has her back to me, but she angles her head in my direction. "What is all this about, Nancy? You really can't be this upset about me taking off to get some evidence."

My goal of trying to piss her off so much that she breaks really does not seem to be working out quite so well. Sara is remarkably stoic, I'll give her that.

"Do you care about my sister?"

She angles her head away from me again.

"Yes."

"Then why did you really take off last night? And don't give me any of this bullshit about the evidence. We both know that's not what this was about."

She is still silent, and I have only one card left to play. The one card that I would never under any normal circumstances use.

"Sara, you owe me."

She whirls around, and I can tell she feels instantly betrayed. She quickly clamps down on her emotions, however, and her face contorts to an expression of indifference.

I would never, ever, use my assistance to Sara when she was hurt to gain something from her. But at this point, it's the only thing I can think of left to use. I can't explain it, but I feel like there is something very important under the surface of Sara's harsh behavior as of late.

Her eyes become distant, and I can tell that I just burned any sort of bridge of trust I had gained with Sara. I am regretting my decision when she finally speaks.

"She told me she loved me."

I am silent, even my thoughts are without a voice.

"Last night, right before she fell asleep on the couch. She told me she loved me. She was too out of it to realize what she said, let alone remember it when she woke up."

I am still silent. I'm sure at this point my mouth is hanging open as well.

"You know how Catherine is, she says random shit right before she falls asleep. But, what she says is always true. Something about a case we just had, something about Lindsey, something about herself. Whatever it is, it's always something that really happened or something that she really felt."

She shifts her weight to her left side, but does not take her eyes off mine.

"I knew she meant it. So I left. And I'm only admitting this to you because I know she already told you. I would never betray her in this way if you didn't already know."

I can tell that she is being completely honest, that this isn't some attempt to get me to admit to something that she isn't sure about.

"How did you know?"

"After she told me, I thought back to when you were taking care of me that night. You were watching me like someone watches a prospective lover of someone they care about. Trying to figure out whether I was good enough for your sister. I realized then that she already told you."

I nod. She read the situation for exactly what it was.

"And the reason I left is because the answer to your question is no."

I am confused.

"What?"

"As to whether I am good enough for your sister, the answer is no."

She is serious, her dark eyes show her honesty clearly.

I am unsure of where to go with this. Sara, however, takes the situation out of my hands.

"You saw me that night, Nancy. You saw what I did to that man. Is that really the type of person you want with your sister?"

I step towards her, finally realizing the situation for what it is. Sara left Catherine last night out of a feeling of obligation to protect my sister. To protect my sister from Sara herself.

Sara instantly mimics each step I take forward with her own step back. I sigh. I take it as confirmation that I lost all of the tentative trust I had gained with the guarded brunette.

I still have to know, though.

"Do you love her, Sara?"

She doesn't even hesitate.

"Yes."

After a moment, she bows her head. "I have for years."

Looking back up through her dark hair, her eyes become cold again. "And that is why I have been ignoring your sister. It's better for her to hate me than to love me. I've tried to do it in a way that was as gentle as possible, but her pain from my indifference pales in comparison to the pain she would commit herself to from my love."

Her voice is almost haunting in its emptiness.

"What you saw the other night, Nancy, that was only the surface of what I am capable of."

She slowly takes a single step closer to me.

"Nancy, do you love Catherine?"

I am thrown, but I quickly reply, "Of course I do."

"Then your job, if you truly love her, is to keep her as far away from me as possible."

Her voice is low, and it sends an involuntary chill through my tense frame.

Without another word, she limps in a wide circle around me and walks out my front door.

It is then, staring blankly into my empty house, that I see a small drop of blood smeared on my wooden floor where Sara was standing only moments ago.