Sasha woke up before August that morning. She rolled onto her back and rubbed her eyes in the muted light of the attic. She had no idea what time it was, and she hadn't heard from Fiona in a while. She shrugged it off and rolled back over to face August, whose back was to her.

There was something peaceful about watching someone sleep. It was why Sasha never lived alone. In their waking hours, people were always who the world told them to be, but sleep took them away from judgement. Fiona always talked in her sleep, and it was something Sasha teased her about relentlessly. It rarely made sense, but it was still fun to recite her psycho-babble back to her in the morning. She'd sleepily roll over on her cot and Sasha would be waiting with breakfast and a smug look on her face. Sasha smiled, thinking about Fiona's concerned expression when she asked her who the 'alien head man' was and why he wanted to ride her 'skag boat'. Felix rarely slept, and when he did it was usually upright. He had this hideous chair that he would collapse in after a long day of tinkering with any number of gadgets. Sasha would try to offer him her cot, but he politely declined every time. She needed her beauty rest, or something. Felix was a man made of excuses. She stifled a giggle as she pictured the look he'd have on his face when she would tell him about her gun training. Dangerous my ass. She thought to herself. It wasn't like I was going to shoot myself or anything.

That was one thing she liked about August, he didn't hold her back from anything. There was being protective and then there was just being goddamn insufferable. Training her how to protect herself was going to be millions of times more effective than sheltering her. There were a lot of things to like about August when she really thought about it. He was complex. He calculated. He looked really good holding a gun.

Her eyes swept over his noticeably unmarked back. If it weren't for a few sunspots on his shoulders, she would have said it was damn near perfect. She felt a chill and inched herself closer to him, breathing in his comforting musk. A mixture of desert sand and gunpowder floated through her nostrils and she sighed pleasantly against his skin. Her brain worked in mysterious ways with scents. She thought she had lived in Hollow Point for so long that her nose had become blind to how terrible a city in a cave could smell, but that was of course until she began regularly leaving. Upon returning, it would take her at least a few hours to adjust to the stale earth, smoke, and whatever else was floating through the air. That was why she liked returning to Felix's when she would come back from trips with Fiona. Their hideaway smelled like old books and stale coffee tinged like counterfeit bill paper and fried eggs. It was a scent that made her think she was protected, and that she could let her guard down and be herself. Home smelled 'safe', if she were to make the comparison. Strangely enough, new smells had been making her feel the same way. Home started to smell like the desert sun and cheap hair products.

She was glad August had taught her how to clean her gun. The damn thing would always jam up on her at the worst times, but it never crossed her mind that it was because of maintenance. Everyone Pandoran was always so eager to talk about how awesome this scope was or how to modify this barrel, but no one ever mentioned cleaning the damn things. She would always curse the 'stupid piece of garbage' and jam it into her holster, opting to either run away or "borrow" someone else's firearm. Her mind wandered to the afternoon before. She wondered if she remembered to clean her gun after shooting practice with August. Between her frenzied mind and frayed nerves, she figured it was better safe than sorry to double check.

She stepped onto the floor of the attic carefully, her footfalls deliberate to prevent the floorboards from creaking. August's gun bag was sitting next to a crate on the other side of the privacy curtain. She unzipped it and rifled through its contents carefully. After she found what she needed, she crossed the room quietly to begin working at the table.

August must have been up here while she was still sleeping, because he moved her gun to the other side of the table. Her holster was hanging off of a chair behind the table. A small leather-bound book was now in its place. The cover was worn and its clasp had broken. Assuming it was some kind of ledger, she peeled back the front cover curiously. It turned out to be his sketchbook. Many pages were missing, as they were presumably the ones that decorated the wall beside her. Part of her felt a little guilty for snooping like this, but she rationalized that a book of drawings wasn't exactly comparable to a diary. She sat down at the table and thumbed through different drawings of skags and several quick notes that made little sense out of context. It wasn't until she neared the end of the book that the sketches looked newer. Her thumb flicked across the top of a page and she froze. Her hand flew up to her mouth and she felt her stomach turn over.

It was the first person Sasha had seen in his entire sketchbook.

And that person was her.

When August rolled over and mumbled in his sleep, Sasha dropped the book. She heard him sit up.

"Sasha?"

She bent down and fumbled around under the table, "Yeah, babe?" Her cheeks were hot, she was embarrassed he'd caught her going through his things.

"What are you doing up?" He leaned out from behind the curtain, and his eyes were barely open. His hair was splayed against one side of his head in stark contrast to how he usually kept it. She actually really liked his hair down, it did something to make him seem 'softer'. He leaned out further and Sasha spun her head back around to look under the table. Sure his hair was cute, a word she cursed herself for even associating with him, but when she caught a glimpse of him sitting there in the dull light of the attic she felt a peculiar pull towards him. She couldn't place it. It was a longing to go join him back in bed, and a longing just to be held by him. There was nothing primal about her desire as there had been in the past, she just wanted to be with him. His scars, his body, his fucking stupid hair, how he treated her, everything about him crossed her mind too often lately. She sighed audibly, disappointed in herself. She needed time to process what she had just found. She needed time to rationalize that she hadn't been happy seeing her likeness staring at her from that soft white page.

"Just moving some stuff, hon. I'm sorry!"

"Okay. Are you coming back to bed?" Sasha dropped her head between her shoulders and shook her head. It was such a simple question, but it meant so much to her, then.

"I'm looking for something…" She said distractedly. Truthfully, the journal hadn't fallen under the table that far. Her hands would paw at it occasionally, acting like it was just out of her reach every time. She was embarrassed that she had to use the table and chairs to hide from him.

"Found it!" She rose, a forced smile on her face.

"Hmmm…good," August mumbled, and rubbed a hand across his eyes, "are you going somewhere?"

"Noooo..." She placed the journal back on the table. Her feet moved her back to where August was sitting and he laid back down. She fell next to him and he pulled her back close to his chest.

"Sorry if I keep a weird schedule, Sash."

"It's okay, babe. You can go back to sleep now." She placed one of her hands over his and he squeezed her arm. He mumbled something incoherently into her neck and kissed her shoulder. She let herself be pulled tighter into his arms. Her heart felt heavy.

Seeing herself from his eyes had been interesting to say the least. She was smiling in his sketch, but with no teeth. Despite all of that, her grin still seemed to reach her eyes, which he had even taken the time to color in green. She couldn't help but feel flattered, but she thought that wasn't the right word. 'Flattered' was how she felt when her other targets had brought her flowers or complimented her looks. Keeping them at a safe distance turned every sweet word into flattery, easily devalued by a downward glance or shy smile.

With August, she felt adored. It was the kind of adoration that could silence every question in her addled brain. The way he held her and cared for her, it was too much. He was too good. She hated to think about it, but this was the first serious relationship she'd been able to have. That's not to say she hadn't tried to maintain relationships, but there was too much at stake when she got involved with someone. Her line of work left her avoiding any kind of romantic investment. Beyond that, she knew that Fiona would always be the most important person in her life. She had to be. No one man could understand her obligation to the only real family she had left. She thought to call Fiona and check on the progress of the key they needed, but that brought her head and heart sinking down into reality again.

August was completely clueless. It was only Sasha who was left floundering in her own emotions, grasping for opportunities to come to her senses. Her happiness came with an expiration date, one that she would decide on with Felix and Fiona.

She needed to make this last as long as possible.

A/N: This is the last of the pre-made chapters I have, so I'm going to start posting every other day. I hope that doesn't make any of you lose interest! I really appreciate every one of you! Thank you for tuning in and for all of the wonderful reviews!