AN: HI! Life got busy. Sorry! But inspiration struck hard this weekend. I have two chapters with this update, and another is almost finished. Please review and let me know if you want to see more! :D

Aura had another cigarette while they were on the balcony. The sun was beginning to rise in the distance, meaning the quiet stillness of the night would soon end. Tegan was still resting in her lap, and while she didn't want to wake her, Aura's bladder was not going to allow them much more time. She ran her fingers through Tegan's hair with one hand and the other rubbed her back.

"Tegan, wake up," Aura said. "Come on, Tee. I have to go pee." A groan came from the stirring body, and Tegan lifted her head. Her eyes were still red and swollen, but Aura couldn't tell how much of it was from just being woken or all the tears that had been shed in less than a day. "You can sit back down once I'm up or go to bed, but I really have to piss." Tegan nodded and staggered off of her to the other chair, rubbing her eyes.

When Aura came out of the bathroom, Tegan had curled into herself on the balcony seat. Aura knew that Tegan probably thought going to either bedroom would have indicated making the choice that tore her heart yesterday, but Aura wasn't prepared to make that kind of judgment until she heard it from Tegan's mouth. She went to the kitchen for another cup of coffee, and Sara was already there, pouring some for herself. The moment she saw Aura, Sara jumped.

"Oh! I'm sorry," she apologized. "I can...I can go." Before she could move, Aura took the mug from her and set it on the counter. She pulled Sara into a tight embrace.

"Please don't go," Aura whispered. "I'm not mad. I don't hate you." That was all it took to break through Sara's façade as her tears started again.

"How? How are you not mad?" Sara whimpered.

"I was mad, but not for what you think. I was mad because I was...scared." Aura took a deep breath, her own eyes burning from holding back their tears. Her arms fell to her sides as she stepped back. "I...am scared. I don't want to lose Tegan."

"Oh Aura," Sara said, risking a hand on Aura's shoulder. "You...Tegan cares about you so much. The only way you'd lose her is if you don't want to be with her anymore." She bit her lip, debating on how to continue. Her hand left Aura's shoulder to cup her own elbow. "Which...she – we – would understand. If you couldn't...because we..." Sara grimaced and looked away. The words were too difficult to think, much less speak. Before Aura could respond, the balcony door opened and shut. Both women looked over as Tegan entered the kitchen.

"Oh! Sorry, uh, did I interrupt? Want me to go?" Tegan asked when she noticed them.

"Fucking twins." Aura rolled her eyes and shook her head, but a soft smile played on her lips. "No. No one needs to go anywhere on my account." She knew that would satisfy Tegan for the moment, so she focused back on Sara. Pulling her into another hug, she answered the question still hanging in the air. "I am not feeling any of the horrible words in your head or in your heart. And I wish you weren't either."

Aura squeezed Sara gently one last time before moving to get her own cup of coffee. When she turned around, the twins were sitting at opposite ends of the dining table, as far apart as possible. Tegan watched Aura's every move, but Sara just had her head down, avoiding them both. With a sigh, Aura brought Sara the mug she had abandoned on the counter. She rested her hand on Sara's shoulder a moment and softly rubbed before heading back to the counter to prepare Tegan a mug of hot tea. It didn't seem that this was going anywhere if she left it up to them, so Aura decided to give Sara a similar chat to the one she had had with Tegan while the water warmed.

"I believe consenting adults are consenting adults. Tegan assured me that there are no concerns with consent here. We're all adults. So I don't have a problem with that part. You both have assured me that I still have a girlfriend and a friend, but if you want me to believe you, then you're going to have to start believing me," she said. The water had boiled, and she poured it into a mug. She brought her own mug and Tegan's to the table, sitting at the side chair between them.

"Thanks," Tegan said softly, intending her meaning beyond the beverage. She glanced at Sara finally, who was sipping her coffee but still avoiding eye contact. Neither of them knew what to say next, as neither had ever even considered the idea that anyone would or could accept this fact about their lives. Aura was silent while they all drank their liquid breakfasts, hoping either of them would continue the conversation. As the cups grew empty, she knew she'd be waiting forever at this rate.

"So do you want to talk rules? Boundaries?" Aura started. Both twins looked at her as though she had grown a second head.

"What do you mean?" Tegan asked with hesitation dripping from her words.

"If we're doing this, we should discuss it. Figure out what we're all comfortable with," Aura explained. She still had her own hesitations and insecurities regarding Tegan's feelings for her, but she needed to keep the conversation going to help quell them. Taking her own advice, if she was going to get them to believe her, then she was going to have to show that she believed them.

"Do what?" Sara spoke for the first time since Tegan had joined them, looking at Aura. Aura simply pointed around the table at the three of them, and Sara felt her body rejecting the coffee she had just finished. She flew to the bathroom to spill it into the toilet, leaving Tegan and Aura to watch her rush away. Tegan glanced back at Aura with a pleading look in her eye.

"Go to her. I'll be here," Aura consented with a nod.

Tegan ran to the bathroom and crouched next to Sara, rubbing her back gently. Sara dry heaved a couple more times, as her coffee was already gone. The tenderness from her sister was somehow both calming her and feeding her anxiety. When her stomach seemed to give up on emptying itself, she leaned back against the tub with her face in her hands. Tegan looked around and saw a fresh glass of water had appeared on the counter by the sink, but Aura was nowhere to be found. Mentally thanking her girlfriend's foresight, she brought it to Sara's lips.

"Drink," she said quietly. Sara took a few small sips, still slightly shaking. "Do you need your puffer?" Sara shook her head, and Tegan was again thankful it was only an anxiety attack and not worse. After a few moments, Sara's breathing had begun to even out, and she started to stand. Tegan helped her to the bed in the guest room and noticed her own bedroom door was shut.

"I'm sorry," Sara rasped, still recovering.

"Don't be. You're okay. I'm okay. Aura's okay." Tegan resumed stroking her back, knowing after decades of sisterhood that it was one of the few physical acts that could calm Sara's anxiety.

"It was just...a lot. So much..." Sara started, but didn't know how to finish. She still had too many thoughts and feelings to be able to properly sort them into words just yet.

"I know, I know, I know," Tegan quietly half sung, hoping the reference would help calm them both. She had written it vague enough to be about her girlfriend at the time, but both twins knew it was about her reaction to Sara moving to Montreal and the first year or two of visits. They had already had years of secret kisses, explosive fights, and tearful discussions by that point, and the move had been an attempt to stop the cycle, but it ultimately failed. This reminder stared Tegan in the face as she looked around the room as though seeing her current circumstances painted on the walls and furniture. Bringing her attention back to Sara, she asked, "Do you want me to let you sleep? Or get Aura, or...?"

"No sleep...I don't know..." Sara answered the questions in order.

"Are you going to be okay if I get Aura?" Tegan continued. Sara paused for a moment but then nodded her head. Her anxiety attack had passed, and while she still felt the same apprehension of the entire situation, she knew that avoiding things longer wouldn't help.

Tegan patted Sara on the back and went to her own bedroom door. She knocked softly, but no response came. Gently, she opened the door and peered in. Aura was laying on her back on the bed with her knees bent toward the ceiling. She had earbuds in, and Tegan could just make out that music was playing but not enough to identify the song. Aura detected the movement to her right and brought her eyes to Tegan's. She turned off the music, removed the earbuds, and sat up with her legs crossed.

"Hey, I just wanted to give you two some space. Is Sara okay? Are you okay?" Aura asked. Tegan nodded, speechless at the genuine concern in Aura's words. All the times she had pictured this type of thing happening in her head, she had never pictured someone still caring about her, about Sara.

She walked to the bed and sat on it on her knees in front of her girlfriend with her head bowed slightly. Instinctively, Aura cupped Tegan's chin with both of her hands and brought their lips together for a sweet kiss, parting after a moment to rest their foreheads together. Tegan brought her hands up over Aura's and leaned back enough to look her in the eye.

"How are you so amazing? How are you still here?" she thought out loud. Aura blushed slightly, never having gotten past her initial reaction to compliments and affection from Tegan. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too," Aura replied. Tegan smiled and stepped back off the bed, keeping Aura's hands in her own to pull her with.

"Come on. Sara said she's better to talk now," Tegan said. When they got back to the guest room door, Sara hadn't moved from her spot on the side of the bed. "Can we, uh, can we go to the living room?" Tegan asked. While she was feeling significantly more secure about Aura not suddenly deciding to run, she still didn't want her to see them together on a bed and bring any new thoughts that still might scare her off.

Aura agreed in her own head, and reached out to take Sara's hand, leading them both back to where they were the day before. She sat in the chair still placed across from the couch to prevent either of the twins from choosing it themselves, however neither moved toward the couch. Sighing and knowing that she'd still have to direct this to some degree, she stood and took Tegan's hand again. Placing her in front of the chair, she sat Tegan down with her hands on her shoulders. Then, she did the same to Sara, but placing her next to Tegan, intentionally making them close enough that their shoulders and hips were touching. With a glance at identical faces sharing identically wide eyes, she took their hands that were next to each other and made them hold hands, before sitting back down in the chair. Keeping it to herself this time, she again thought, Fucking twins.

"I don't want either of you to be scared of me or scared to be yourselves in front of me," she explained, as the sisters both alternated their wide eyes between their hands and her face. "Like I said, I think we should talk. So let's talk."