Sorry for the drama but the peace and love will pick up quickly. I love this pairing and I find it hard to believe that there wouldn't be some turmoil before they both get to where they need to be. Thanks so much for the reads and reviews. I would love more input. I hope you enjoy this even though it's a rough few chapters. Thanks again.

Nearly three hours had passed with not so much as a wellness check, let alone an actual call. Once Brett had returned from her (three-time) walk around the block, she decided she had to get to work, if only selfishly. Her mind was racing, flooded with guilt, embarrassment and residual anger (chalking it up to jealousy was not something that she could admit just yet). She had taken inventory of the ambulance twice, though no calls had come in and nothing of their stock had changed, and began to scrub down the vehicle. As long as she was focused (and not anywhere near Foster) she could pretend the afternoon's events had not occurred at all.

Brett was relieved and surprised that she hadn't come across Foster or Kidd in the hours since her outburst, unsure if she was glad to not have to face it yet or terrified that they both hated her now. Of course, they did. Foster, at least. The woman had every reason to never want to speak to her partner again, professionally or otherwise. The insulting, judgmental words that Brett had spoken had repeated in her own head enough times in the last few hours that she couldn't help but hate herself too.

She called Foster 'damaged', when she honestly thought just the opposite. That was part of Sylvie's problem, she realised: she thought Foster was better than how she acted in her romantic life. That was judgmental enough in itself though, wasn't it? Brett was never the type to judge others or become engrossed in their business when it didn't involve her. Foster's love life had nothing to do with Brett. Sylvie realised, finally, that was where her true issue stemmed. She wanted to have a say in who Foster dated, (or who she didn't date, as it were). She wanted to feel relevant and for Foster to feel worthy of real love and not just casual dates in order to protect her heart.

Brett sighed aloud, leaning back onto the bench in the back of the ambo, her presumptuousness getting the best of her. Why did she assume that Foster was damaged, or protecting herself from pain? The woman had never said anything (even privately) about fear of commitment or of getting attached. Why did Brett assume that Foster wasn't perfectly happy with her very casual dating? She certainly seemed to be. She didn't seem damaged at all, and it only bothered Brett more to realise that this might be the life, the hit and run approach, that Foster truly enjoyed.

Sylvie rested her head in her hands in sorrow as she realised that what she thought, how much she felt, didn't matter at all, especially now.

A shuffle at the back door of the ambulance caused Brett to sit up quickly, roughly brushing the tears from her eyes before she saw Foster leaning into the doorway suspiciously (wondering why the doors were open, Brett assumed- but she had done enough assuming today).

"Ah, nevermind," Foster said quietly, putting her hands up almost in defense as she backed away from the occupied vehicle.

"Foster, wait!" Brett called before she noticed that the words were out of her mouth.

"Naw, I'm good, thanks," Foster spat, walking toward the bay doors more quickly than she knew.

Kidd's words (her assumption about the situation) had gotten to Foster much more than she would have liked. She had spent the last three hours pretending to sleep in the bunk room replaying the entire scenario. No matter what Kidd may have assumed, one thing mattered most: Foster did not allow herself to be disrespected. Whether coming from a simple colleague, a friend, or a potential lover, Foster would not be spoken to in such a way. To feel that disdain, that judgment from someone that she respected and truly cared about was unacceptable, regardless of the underlying reasons. Even if Kidd was right and Brett was overthinking their friendship, it was not okay for someone to treat another person in such a way, even if they didn't fully know why at the time.

"Foster, please," Brett begged, walking fast enough to catch up with her partner just outside the truck bay. "I need to explain."

Foster could hear the tears in Sylvie's voice and tried like hell not to let it affect her.

"I think you already explained it all, hayseed. What I don't understand is why this hasn't come out sooner. You disagree with me? With my life choices? Whatever. But why wait until now to tell me? I wouldn't have let myself get so close to you if I knew how you felt," Foster admitted, more emotionally than she would have liked,

"I didn't mean what I said, Emily. I swear. I didn't even know the words were going to come out of my mouth until they already had and I wished like hell that I could take them back," Brett admitted, a lone tear running down her cheek.

"You didn't realise you were gonna say it? All that means to me is that your judgment is built in. I knew you were from bumblefuck Indiana but you never seemed like you were part of it. Today you definitely proved that you are," Foster told her, not allowing her tears to fall as Sylvie practically chased her around the perimeter, desperately wishing to be close enough to look the woman in the eyes so that she could see her sincerity.

"Emily, I didn't mean it! It's not hate and it's not judgment. I felt overwhelmed!" Brett nearly shrieked, never having felt so desperate in her life. "I would never judge you, or think badly of you. Please believe me…" she trailed off as tears streamed down her face, uncontrollable at this point.

Foster had stopped and turned to look at Brett as the blond woman's tears began to fall. Bad timing.

"It's not hate? It's not judgment?" Foster asked, all bite and anger out of her voice and replaced with true pain. "You could've fooled me, Brett," she rolled her eyes. "My partner, my friend should never speak to me like that. If you respected me at all, you wouldn't have."

Brett gulped down a few mouthfuls of tears before she had the ability to speak again.

"You're right," sniff. "I should never have spoken to you like that. But it doesn't mean that I don't respect you. That I don't care about you. I might care too much," Brett admitted as her heart beat violently in her chest and she continued to swallow her tears instead of let them fall. This was not about her. This was about Foster, her partner, her friend.

Emily nodded, blinking hard to hide her own tears. Despite anything, she couldn't stand to see Sylvie in pain, especially now that she was realizing that Stella might just have been right in her assumption. Emily Foster would not be disrespected but she wasn't a monster, either.

"Shift's almost over, Brett," Foster said, trying to ignore the tears that she sniffed back mid-sentence. "I can't talk about this anymore."

Brett nodded sadly, turning to walk away as a new wave of tears hit her. Emily reached out to barely touch her elbow before she got too far.

"But I will be able too," Foster admitted, almost angry at herself for caving. "Just not right now."

The relief on Brett's face was minimal but apparent, chancing a glance into Foster's eyes. Foster just nodded in response, dropping her hand from Brett's arm quickly.

"I hope you know how sorry I am," Brett said nearly inaudibly, looking to the ground, ashamed.

"I do."