First I just want to thank you all so much for your reviews! I'm so happy you like the story, I'm working hard, writing as much as I can, so I can update as often as possible! Enjoy the chapter! /mliess

Chapter 10

Bo woke as the first rays of sunlight entered the room. Opening her eyes she began to panic, not recognizing the room. She turned her head carefully, looking around, the movement causing her to feel the soreness in her body and she flinched at the sting of pain shooting through the left side of her head. The only sound in the room was an insistent beeping. She finally looked down and what she saw there made her heart soar. The pain she had just felt faded away.

Beautiful blond tresses framed Lauren's face. Fast asleep with her head lying on the edge of Bo's bed. She was holding on to Bo's left hand and the brunette could feel the warmth radiating from their connection. Bo could see the steady rise and fall of Lauren's breathing, and so she lay perfectly still, trying not to waken the blonde. She wanted to stay in this moment, save it and keep it with her forever.

She knew that once the doctor woke up, she would storm out of the room and Bo would probably never get the chance to be this close to her again. A tear rolled down her cheek and she didn't bother to wipe it away. For the first time in a very long time, she was happy. She knew that she didn't deserve it, but right now she couldn't think about that; she just wanted to bask in the glow of the sleeping form of Lauren Lewis.

Flashback - Boston, February 2003, Bo's POV.

"Lauren, are you home?" Bo's voice echoed in the large apartment. They had been living there for a little over five months now and the brunette had just gotten home from her job at the bar. The clock had just passed 11 pm and she walked across the living room and stopped outside of Lauren's room. She knocked lightly, assuming that the blonde was deep inside one of her medical books.

Lauren was well into her studies at Harvard and Bo had never seen her so confident, so enthusiastic. She was, probably for the first time, in her right element. High school must have been such a struggle for the younger woman, Bo thought. Never being appreciated for the genius she actually was, only getting picked on by idiots that didn't understand her. 'Envious assholes…'

When there was no answer she knocked again, grabbing the handle she slowly opened the door. The room was dimly lit, the source of the light coming from the lamp sitting on the desk in the corner.

Bo stopped and smiled at the sight.

Lauren had fallen asleep, face down into one of her thick books. Her glasses were slightly bent beneath her head. This wasn't the first time Bo had found the younger woman like this, passed out on her desk. Bo walked over and softly laid her hand on the blonde's back.

"Lauren, sweetie, wake up…" Bo tried to lightly shake her. 'She must really be exhausted…' She glanced over the desk. It was covered in handwritten notes, calculations, drawings of what she thought was lungs.

"Lauren, let's get you to bed, ok?" The blonde began to stir and Bo retracted her hand, confused by the feeling of loss she instantly felt.

Lauren slowly came to, lifting her head up from the book and turning to find Bo hovering over her.

"Bo? I'm sorry… I must have fallen asleep…" Lauren looked a bit disorientated with her glassed all crocked, sitting on her nose. Bo couldn't help but to lean down closer to her, and with their faces at the same level, she reached out with both hands and carefully adjusted them for the blonde, whispering "Yeah, I guess you must have… There you go…" in the process. She stood back up again and took a few steps back, swearing that she heard a small gasp from the blonde but thought nothing more of it.

"You know, one of these days you're going to suffocate in those musty books, falling asleep like that!" Lauren, who had stood up and was rubbing her tired eyes, laughed at that. "Yeah, well, I have you to save me, right?" The blonde joked but Bo thought she caught something else in the blonde's expression but it quickly disappeared.

"What time is it?" Lauren had walked over to the window, wrapping her arms around herself, seemingly chilled by the draft. She closed it and turned to Bo who still hovered by the desk.

"It's like 11.30… I just got home. Jack got offered to deliver a few kegs and bartend at a party in the city so he said he'd probably crash at Nathan's and come back in the morning. So I guess it's just you and me, Doc…"

Bo tried to sound chipper but the confusing feelings she had been experiencing whenever she was around the blonde woman had grown over the last few months. Living together had made it that much worse. Before moving to Boston, when she had only seen her one or two times a week, she had been able to ignore it. But constantly being this close to Lauren; sitting beside her at breakfast, accidently walking in her taking a shower… it was seriously beginning to mess with Bo's head.

Bo felt a strong, unexplainable pull towards the younger woman. She was ferociously protective of her and when she was at work she had noticed that her thought's always seemed to end up at something concerning Lauren. She just liked being near her.

It had gotten so bad that Bo had withdrawn herself from Jack, distancing herself physically and emotionally. She felt uncomfortable whenever he kissed her in front of Lauren or nuzzled up to her when all three of them were watching a movie.

Bo was confused. She didn't want to feel this way, she loved Jack but something just felt wrong. And just standing here, looking at the back of Lauren's slight form in front of the window… felt so right.

Bo sighed deeply, feeling both content and frustrated at the same time.

Lauren turned around, smiling warmly. "Ok… do you wanna watch a movie or something? It's Friday and I don't really want to go to sleep just yet… and seeing that I've already slept for a while I don't think I can sleep just yet anyway… you get to pick to movie?" Bo could never say no to Lauren so she agreed and they headed out into the living room. Lauren went to make some microwave popcorn and a few minutes later they were both seated on the dark-grey sofa, watching some Bruce Willis action movie the brunette had chosen.

Bo had taken the seat closest to the window, perching herself up to the armrest, trying to create as much space between Lauren and her as possible. She didn't trust herself being close to the blonde right now. Seemingly unaware, Lauren had spread herself up on the right side, pulling her legs up underneath her, covering them with a grey blanket. Bo placed the popcorn bowl in the empty seat between them, focusing almost solely on not reaching into the bowl at the same time as the blonde, accidently touching her hand.

"Are you ok, Bo? You look like you're cold… do you want a blanket or something?" Bo turned her head and found Lauren looking at her with concern in her eyes, indicating for the blanket in covering her own lap.

"Hmm, yeah, sure… I'll go get one, I think I have one in the bedroom…" Bo went to stand up when Lauren answered.

"No, no, I already warmed this one up, and it's big enough for the both of us. Just scoot over here…"

Lauren patted on the seat next to her, grabbing the bowl of popcorn and placing it in her lap. Bo swallowed the thickness that had formed in her throat. She was glad that the dark room hid her growing blush. She couldn't very well say no to the invitation, the blonde would think she was 'repelled' by her…. Remembering that endearing ramble Lauren had thrown at her in the car, almost a year ago…

She moved over to the middle seat, so close that her legs were in contact with Lauren's. She almost felt dizzy and had to close her eyes. The blonde didn't seem to notice as she placed the blanket over the both of them, accidently brushing her arm against Bo's chest. "Oh, sorry…" Lauren sounded strangely nervous, Bo thought to herself. The heat emitting from the legs of the woman next to her made it very hard to concentrate on the movie; Bo was thankful she had seen it ten times so when Lauren wanted to analyze it afterwards she'd actually be able to say something about it…. because so far, she hadn't heard a word of it.

Sometime during the movie Bo had finally relaxed a little, and had started to enjoy the film… and the closeness of the blonde next to her.

When it was over and the end credits were rolling, she felt an emptiness spread through her body as Lauren suddenly got up and announced that she was tired and was going to go to bed. Bo got up as well and they said their good nights.

Once Bo had climbed under the covers of Jack and her bed, her brain just wouldn't shut up.

'What am I doing? She's my boyfriend's little sister… I can't… she makes me feel things I shouldn't, and she's so sweet and kind… and beautiful… and when her arm touched my breast I almost died… oh god…'

Bo's inner monologue was suddenly interrupted by a small knock on her bedroom door. She shot up into a sitting position.

"Bo? Are you awake?" Lauren's small voice was barely heard though the door.

"Yes, come in…" Bo said hesitantly, her heart was beating like crazy in her chest.

The door opened and revealed the small form of the younger woman. "I'm sorry; I hope I didn't wake you…" Lauren looked a bit embarrassed and lost.

"No, it's totally fine, I was wide awake in fact…" Bo hoped that the blonde wouldn't ask why.

"Oh, ok… I think the window in my room kind of broke before when I tried to close it… and now there's a draft and I'm freezing to death in my room… I was just wondering if maybe… if you're ok with it….if I can sleep in here tonight?"

Bo almost died on the spot. 'This is not happening…' She began to panic, knowing that she couldn't say no, but desperately needing this to be some kind of dream that she would soon wake up from. She really didn't think she could handle sleeping in the same bed as the blonde. She was trying to be strong and ignore the growing feelings she had for Lauren, but someone up there had it in for her.

She realized that she still hadn't answered Lauren who spoke again, rousing her from her inner monologue.

"Ok, I understand, maybe it would be a little weird… I'll sleep on the couch… Jack can fix the window tomorrow…. Good night, Bo…" She turned around and went to close the door behind her when Bo finally found her vocal chords again.

"Lauren! Stop, please come back… I'm sorry; of course you can stay in here tonight." Bo reached and turned her bedside lamp on, casting a soft shimmer over the room. "Maybe I was sleeping before…" She tried a small laugh and motioned for the blonde to get over there, reaching for the covers on Jack's side and held them up for her.

Once Lauren got in she lay on her back, pulling the covers all the way up around her. She turned her head to face Bo, who didn't really know where to look.

"Thank you… I guess you saved me again…" The blonde said softly. Bo turned to look at her and her breath got caught in her throat by the sight of Lauren this close to her… and in her bed no less. Bo could smell the natural scent that was all Lauren, and it was intoxicating. She took a deep breath and answered.

"Yeah… I… no worries…" She quickly turned around to shut the light off, desperately needing a diversion. If the blonde kept staring at her like that Bo could not be held responsible for her actions.

"Are you starting to warm up yet…?" Bo said into the darkness. She could hear Lauren shift beside her, and suddenly she felt a warm breath grazing her neck. It seemed that the blonde had turned and ended up much closer to Bo. Bo was now having a hard time breathing, her breath suddenly shallow and fast.

She could feel the words against her skin as they were spoken.

"Yeah, I'm getting warmer…" the words had been more like a whisper but they set Bo's whole world on fire. She couldn't stand it much longer, every cell in her body screamed for release, urging her to turn and pounce on the gorgeous woman next to her.

She almost did, but just then she felt the softest lips she'd ever experienced, brushing feather-lightly across her cheek, followed by a soft "Good night, Bo, sweet dreams…"

Bo's eyes swelled with tears as she felt the bed shift again as Lauren turned away from her, getting comfortable under the covers.

She couldn't breathe as the first tear fell, paving the way for the rest to follow. She cried in silence until she passed out from sheer exhaustion.

End of Flashback

Present time…

Bo didn't know for how long she'd just laid there, gazing at the blonde doctor, remembering that bittersweet night. Movement outside the glass door caught her eye and she could see Kenzi waving at her. She was happy to see her friend but she knew that as soon as Kenzi would open the door the now sleeping woman would wake up. She held up her right hand with all five fingers spread out, trying to communicate to the woman outside that she needed five more minutes.

Kenzi had stood there for a while, observing Bo as she watched the Doc sleep. The sight had confirmed all her suspicions about how her best friend felt about the good Doctor Lewis.

When Bo held up her hand, asking for a few more minutes creeping on the doc, Kenzi nodded and sat down on the chair outside the door, guarding it if anyone else would want to go in and ruin the moment between the two clueless, wannabe lovers.

Bo knew that she would have to wake Lauren up, it was morning and their 'moment' had passed. She hoped that the memory of this, waking up to the sweet vision of Lauren's face, would stay with her for a long time. Sighing deeply with regret for what she was about to do, she carefully withdrew her hand from Lauren's tight grip. The blonde stirred somewhat but did not yet wake. Bo reached out and touched the side of Lauren's cheek, lightly caressing it with the tips of her fingers. The skin was so soft that Bo momentarily forgot that she needed to wake the woman up. She kept stroking her cheek.

"Lauren, sweetie, you need to wake up…" Repeating the words she'd spoken so long ago felt bittersweet but Bo didn't stop.

Lauren stirred, her tired eyes opened and connected with Bo's. For a fragment of a second Bo saw something, the same something she'd seen all those years ago but had been too messed up and scared to even dare to read more into. The brunette hadn't stopped caressing her cheek and she gave the blonde a crooked smile, and she could see that Lauren began to mirror it. But then the moment Bo had dreaded, came.

Lauren seemed to suddenly remember where she was and abruptly sat up and Bo's quickly retracted her hand.

Lauren's POV…

"Bo, I'm so sorry…" Lauren was frazzled, her eyes darting around the room, still sleepy. She reached up and rubbed her eyes then she slowly turned to look at the woman lying in the hospital bed, smiling for some reason.

'Oh god, this is so embarrassing… have I been sleeping here the whole night? And I was holding her hand… I really hope she didn't see that… She's gonna think I'm a creepy… doctor… something… this is not ok…'

Bo's voice brought her back from her internal panic attack.

"It's ok, Lauren, really, it's actually nice to see you this relaxed, well, at least you were relaxed before you woke up…" However sweet the words coming out of Bo's mouth was, it didn't do anything to calm Lauren down. Then she remembered why the brunette ended up in this bed in the first place. She looked up at Bo. Seeing the now rather alert woman, she did in fact relax; it meant that she was healing nicely and would probably make a quick recovery.

"Bo, how are you feeling? Do you remembering anything from yesterday?" Lauren tried to go into doctor mode but the turbulence of yesterday had left her emotions on her sleeve, and she didn't know how to stuff them back in again.

Bo reached up and touched the area where the patch was on the left side of her forehead.

"I'm feeling fine… really. I just got a nasty headache and I seem to have a band-aid up here… and the fact that I'm in your bed…. mmm, your hospital bed, I mean… " Lauren swallowed as she saw the smirk on Bo's lips as she slipped up in her description. Bo continued.

"…I'd say something happened yesterday… and it didn't end with me falling asleep in my own bed… because that would be sorta creepy… didn't think kidnapping was on your repertoire, Doctor Lewis?" The smirk on the brunette's face grew; she was looking fairly pleased with herself.

"Well, it's good to know you haven't lost your sense of humor, Bo." Lauren shook her head but couldn't help but chuckle at the other woman.

"First, I want you to know that you will be perfectly fine, ok?" Bo nodded at this.

"You were in an accident, you and Sam were out surfing and you fell… your surfboard hit you in the head and knocked you unconscious. Sam rushed you in here and I examined you, only finding a gash in your forehead, which you've already noticed. We also did a head-CT, I just needed to be sure… that there was no bleeding or… I mean, I… I needed to know you were fine… " Lauren heard her voice break and had to pause, feeling herself getting more emotional with every word.

The fear she had felt yesterday came rushing back along with the vivid images of Bo, bleeding and unconscious. She needed to snap out of it, this was not how a professional spoke to her patient. Bo was still looking at her with her big beautiful eyes, she even looked concerned. 'Is she concerned about herself or me? I need to shut up and get out of here…'

She forced a smile, but she was sure that Bo had caught on the distraught tone in her voice.

"I'm sorry; I guess I haven't really woken up yet…." Lauren looked away as the first tear threatened to spill. 'I can't cry in front of her…. Please don't….' She was forced out of her head when she suddenly felt Bo's hand cover hers. She felt bursts of electricity travelling all the way up her arm. She turned back to Bo.

"Thank you Lauren, I'm sorry I put you through that…" Bo said, honesty shining in her eyes. She felt Bo squeeze her hand and felt ashamed that the brunette was apologizing to her.

"It's my job, Bo. Don't apologize… I'm glad you are ok…" She let the words hang in the air for a second, while looking intently at Bo. She felt herself calming down, finding comfort in her own words.

"…anyway; you have a mild concussion which will get better in a couple of days. But I'm recommending at least one week of rest. And I don't want you surfing for at least two." Bo went to object but Lauren continued "I'm serious, Bo. You were lucky, a blow to the head like that… we were lucky… "She breathed out the last words. If Bo noticed the slip up, 'we', she didn't show it.

"And the cut on your forehead, I sutured it up, and I expect there to be next-to no scarring…" She motioned for the patch on Bo's head.

"… I'm that good…" Lauren tried to lighten up the mood and as this earned a wide smile from the brunette she'd say she succeeded. The tears that had threatened to spill before had disappeared and Lauren felt relieved.

"I always knew you'd be that good, Lauren…" Leave it to Bo to turn that into something dirty. The brunette had raised a perfect eyebrow and the blonde just laughed, trying to ignore the feeling that Bo was in fact flirting with her. This was somewhat new territory for the both of them and it scared Lauren how easy it would be to flirt back.

Lauren knew she should be angry at the brunette, but she just couldn't find the strength to do it today, maybe tomorrow. The revelation she'd had yesterday had made some things more clear, and all the more messed up. But she knew that she could never hate this woman, however much she needed and wanted to.

Lauren stood up; releasing the soft hand that had held on to hers for the duration of their conversation. She instantly missed it.

"So, I just need to run some simple tests, and check your stats, and when Kenzi comes I think she can take you home, does that sound ok?" She was happy that she had succeeded in sounding more like a doctor this time.

"Yeah, well, I think Kenzi is actually right outside, I just saw her…" Lauren's eyes shot up, panic rising in her once more. 'Did Kenzi see me sleeping in here?! I'll never live that one down…'

"Oh… Ok, I'll go see if I can find her then…" Lauren walked over to the door and opened it; finding the petit woman right outside the door.

"Kenzi, I see you made the flight, it was good of you to come so quickly." She smiled at the shorter woman, indicating for her to step into the room. "Come on in, Bo's awake and she's recovered nicely since yesterday." Lauren tried to calm her nerves, holding up the door for Kenzi to walk through.

"Hello Doc! Thanks for saving my Bestie; I owe you a big one!" She walked closer to Bo. "And you, missy, scared the bejeezzus outa me, don't friggin' do that again! No more surfing for you, young lady!" She leaned over and hugged Bo. Lauren secretly loved the way Kenzi and Bo interacted.

"It's nice to see you too, Kenz…" Bo laughed.

"I'll leave you two alone for a while, I'll be back to do some tests in a little while, Bo." With that Lauren walked out of the room, a sense of relief washing over her, as she was sure that the younger woman would have most definitely commented on Lauren's sleeping arrangements last night, had she seen it. She had just set her foot outside the room when she heard Kenzi calling after her.

"Great Doc, and thanks again for taking care of Bo, all night long…." The last three words were sort of sung out.

Lauren flinched and closed her eyes, but she didn't stop walking; she took what was left of her dignity and professionalism and walked out.

This was the longest chapter I've posted so far, hope you liked it! I have the next chapter all written up and I will post it this week… reviews may help speed it up… ;) Take care/mliess