At first, Kara had no clue what to do with the situation. It wasn't that she'd never kissed Lee before. In fact, she had kissed him quite a lot – comparatively speaking – over the years. She'd given or received a peck on the cheek, a brotherly kiss on the forehead, or an excited kiss on the mouth when something had gone very, very well.
Those were kisses she was used to. This one most definitely was not. Oh, it wasn't an aggressive kiss, the way some had been when she'd had to teach the givers a lesson. Nor was it a tentative, questioning kiss, as though he was unsure of what he was doing or why. And it wasn't a kiss to prove something – that he could awe or entrance the elusive Kara Thrace. No, it wasn't a kiss like she'd felt before. Not from friends, or acquaintances, or family… not even from Zak.
This kiss was… emotion. Pure, simple, straightforward, and honest. A lot like Lee, if it came to that. His lips were firm but not rough, he was holding her without restraining, and his intent was… hell, she had no idea.
And therein lay the problem. She had no clue what to think of the kiss, and because of that she didn't know how to react. Should she kiss him back? Was that what he wanted? Should she back things up, question, and try to make sense of the matter? Hell, should she just slap the living crap out of him for pulling such a stunt?
As she thought, and wondered, and ran various scenarios through that small part of her mind that was thinking rather than feeling, she realized that the kiss hadn't really changed. It hadn't intensified, or lessened, or stopped. He had continued to kiss her with a singular emotion that she finally recognized after wracking her brain in every direction.
Relief.
Now, that brought on a whole new line of questions. What was he relieved about? That she was okay, or that she hadn't smacked the daylights out of him? That they were both alive, or that he was out of jail and she had been the bearer of good news? The questions were enough to make her mind swim with confusion, so she finally just turned off the thinking and let Lee do the rest. It was a lot easier when she did.
As though he'd sensed the change, Lee deepened the kiss slightly, although it was still gentler than most kisses she'd experienced. Not that she had a wealth of experience to draw from, but neither was she a total novice. She could recognize gentle persuasion as opposed to forced seduction.
And at the moment, as she had no clue where this was coming from or where he planned to go with it, she decided to just enjoy it. She hadn't been kissed – really kissed – in years, and even then the efforts had been more fumbling and clumsy than sensual. Lee had no such inadequacies. He knew what he was doing, and yet somehow didn't make her feel as though were clueless.
So they kissed. His hands remained at her waist, at once supporting and holding her, and she let her hands thread through his short hair and enjoy the varied textures between her fingers. He didn't seem to mind the attention, but neither did it rush him. In fact, after what seemed an eternity, she felt him begin to pull back. She didn't want to let him. She was enjoying the sensation of being… treasured, for lack of a better word. But neither did she want to pressure him. She had no clue what in hell she wanted, so she couldn't very well impress her wishes upon someone else.
With a reluctance that he seemed to echo, Kara leaned back to look at him. His blue eyes were closed to her, and he was looking more than a little dazed. She knew the feeling. She watched as he slowly ran his tongue over his lips, as though remembering – or savoring. Then his eyes opened and she saw as much confusion there as she had felt herself.
"I'm sorry," he said, and she could have sworn there was a blush on his face. "That really wasn't fair, was it?"
"Depends," she answered. "Why did you do it?"
He seemed to think about that for a moment. "Because… I wondered if there was more."
She cocked her head sideways to look at him, silently asking him to explain the cryptic comment. In the tiny part of her mind that was still functioning rationally, she noted the distinctive change in the lap she was seated on, but it didn't really register consciously. Later she would regret that she'd forced this conversation while he was so uncomfortable. At the moment, she just wanted to understand why her best friend had kissed her like a long-lost lover.
"I… don't have a clue," he admitted. "Except that I spent more hours than I can remember with you in my arms, and after a while it felt right. And when I thought you wouldn't be there any more, it scared the living shit out of me. And now… I can't put all the pieces back into the right order. I know we're friends, and Lords I hope we always are, but…"
"But?" she asked softly.
"But I don't want to screw it up," he admitted. "And I think I just did."
She shook her head emphatically, placing one hand on each of his cheeks. "You're my best friend," she told him firmly, holding his blue gaze with the power of her will alone. "I don't think there's anything you could do to change that. It doesn't mean I'll always agree with you, but hell, that's half the fun of having a real friend. I know I can be a pain in the ass, and you'll still be there when I get myself together. I hope you feel the same way."
He gave her a slight grin. "Apparently I do, because you normally are."
"Hey," she complained, popping each of those cheeks with her palms. He grinned at her then, dimples at full strength, and a piece of her melted.
And then she was the one who was scared.
Standing quickly, Kara moved a few paces away, her arms wrapping around herself protectively. "So, no risk to the friendship," she announced imperiously. "We're just right back where we started. Right?"
He stood then, looking at her with an intensity she couldn't place. She felt as though he was measuring every nuance of her features, every thought she couldn't even fully form on her own. She felt like he knew her better than she knew herself, and Lords she hoped so because she didn't know anything right now. She could barely remember her own name.
"No risk?" he asked, hands coming to her shoulders and resting there, solid and warm and strong.
Unable to speak, she shook her head. She'd essentially given him permission to do whatever the hell he wanted. She didn't know what she wanted, so it seemed sensible in a strange way to let him take the lead. Sensible, but odd – she was used to controlling her own destiny.
His hands moved up, from her shoulders to her neck, still warm and solid, and then higher to cradle her face in his hands. All she could do was stare at him and wonder what he wanted, what he was planning.
After an eternity of looking at her, he leaned forward and kissed her again. There was a little less questioning in this kiss, and a lot more confidence. Once relieved of the burden of damaging their friendship, it seemed that Lee had a lot more on his mind than just being friends.
He never got rough; Kara had to give him that. But the kiss was definitely aggressive, sucking her into a wave of sensation and uncertainty that she'd never felt before. For the moment she chose to follow, granting him entrance to her mouth when he demanded it, and giving a soft moan as he made use of her apparent invitation.
Good Lords, the man could kiss! As meticulous with her mouth as he was in a preflight check, with no area untouched and no system unchecked. For the first time in her life, Kara didn't care a damned thing about what was going on around her. She didn't worry about being in control, or protecting herself, or even what was happening in her own body. She just… felt. And what she felt was incredible.
While his hands never left her face, all sorts of places on her body were reacting to Lee's kiss. Kara could feel a flutter that started in the pit of her stomach and radiated outwards, making her fingers and toes tingle. She could feel the temperature of her body rise, and her breathing get short. She could almost feel a tangible connection between herself and Lee that went beyond where they were touching. No, she couldn't read his mind. She didn't have a clue what he was thinking. But she knew just what he was feeling.
The pressure against the back of her legs took a moment to register, and then a moment more to make sense. The desk. At some point, Lee must have turned her around and backed her towards his desk. She was now pinned there, between his body and the hard metal surface, and yet she still couldn't find it in her to care. She let go of him just long enough to reach for the desktop and boost herself up onto it so that she wouldn't get squished between the desk and Lee's legs. Then she just held on to the edge of the desk for dear life, letting Lee's mouth take her places she had never seen, and wouldn't have believed existed if she hadn't gone there herself.
Once she'd wiggled herself back onto the desk, her hands went to Lee's shoulders, more to let him know she was still with him than for any other reason. He had released her face, and she was afraid he was interpreting her backup as a lack of approval. She was relieved when those warm hands came around her back, one high and one low, and hard arms pulled her close up against his body. Her legs separated instinctively, and Lee's hand at the base of her spine pulled her tight up against his body
Reality registered in a hurry. The kiss was amazing – more than that if she was honest – but what she was pressed up against was more than a simple kiss, and if she continued with that damned honesty it was more than she was prepared to deal with at the moment. No, it wouldn't destroy their friendship – she hadn't lied to Lee about that – but there were lines that even the best of friends couldn't cross without changing things.
As though sensing her reluctance, Lee's hands moved to rest in the middle of her upper back, and gradually he eased them out of the kiss. She was grateful for both his restraint and his reluctance; she wasn't alone in how she was feeling.
And she supposed that was why she wasn't embarrassed – or at least more embarrassed – by what she had felt. Given the way she had been feeling, it was no surprise that the kiss had affected Lee the same way in which it had her. It followed that his body would be as changed as hers was. It was nothing to be shy about. Really.
After he'd ended the kiss, Lee tucked his face into the curve of her neck and gave a couple of nibbling kisses there. His breathing was finally slowing down, as was hers. She wouldn't have believed that simply connecting two mouths could wreak such havoc in two human bodies. So that was what all the fuss was about.
"Friends?" he whispered, a word so soft that she barely heard the question. It made her smile.
"Always," she told him, and felt him release a breath. It irritated her that he hadn't believed it when she'd said it the first time, but she didn't comment.
With a sigh, Lee rested his head on her shoulder and pulled her body up against his, albeit not so closely as before. She liked the sheltered feeling of sitting there with his arms around her body, and she eased her own arms beneath his to hug him back, her head resting on his shoulder in the same manner. That was the nice thing about the height of his desk; it put them on exactly equal levels, aligned head to head, chest to chest, and… she wasn't going to think about what else was lined up just now. There wasn't usually a lot of difference in their height, but in this position there was none, and she couldn't complain about being eye to eye on this.
But aside from placing her in the direct line of a brilliant blue gaze, she was completely unsure of where this really put them. Kissing was nice. Their friendship was solid. But now what?
Lee had no clue what to do next. What on earth was a man supposed to do when he'd just changed every rule in his own personal universe, and that of his best friend? It wasn't that Kara seemed to mind. In fact, she was making no effort to move out of his embrace, and her arms were even holding him back which was a reassurance that he needed more desperately than he had known.
But it was a step he didn't even know if he wanted to take. It was a complication that he wasn't sure he wanted to have. And all of the hindsight was less than useless as he stood there with his arms around Kara and his mind flying off the walls.
"What now?"
He couldn't help but smile at that. It was his own thought, given voice by Kara. "No idea," he told her.
"Well, one way or another I need sleep," she said softly as she tucked her face into the curve of his neck. I've been going back and forth since I got out of Life Station. I'm about ready to drop."
"You want to stay here?" he asked.
She did pull back then, giving him a quizzical look. Only then did he realize how the invitation might come across given the last few minutes. "I wasn't necessarily inviting myself," he clarified. "But if they're going to hassle you in quarters. You might sleep better here. I can either get some work done, or take your bunk out there; it's your choice. I just didn't want a repeat of what got me stuck in the brig in the first place."
"Then keep your hands to yourself," she advised with a grin.
"Here or there?" he asked wryly.
"Your choice," she allowed. "And if you wouldn't mind… Well, it is pretty noisy in quarters."
"I wouldn't have offered if I hadn't meant it," he said pointedly, adding a small kiss to her forehead in order to reinforce his point. "Tell you what. Get some sleep, and I'll go find some food. You have to be hungry."
"Not really."
"Well, you should be," he said, releasing her with a wink. "You haven't had anything except juice and broth. I'll find you something solid."
"Thanks," she said softly. But even as he moved away from her, she didn't change position.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
She took a breath, nodded, and slid down onto her own feet. It was then that he realized how deep the kiss had gone, because she was still out of breath.
"You sure?" he asked again. She didn't look okay. She looked pale and shaky, and frankly worse than she had when he'd first brought her back to quarters. He took a step closer, because he wasn't honestly sure she was going to stay on her feet.
If he'd had his way, he would have picked her up and gallantly carried her to the bed. But truthfully he didn't feel all that much better than she did, so he settled for putting an arm around her and escorting her, tugging covers back and making sure she was sitting before he backed away. "Your blood sugar's probably low," he reasoned. "If you'll be okay, I'll find something to take care of that."
Kara nodded, the dazed look fading slightly as she reached down and began to unbutton her uniform pants. It was nothing he hadn't seen a hundred times; co-ed quarters were a matter of course in the military. He knew she probably wouldn't take off more than the pants, and he'd seen her in far less in both the gym and the pool. But something about the last few minutes had changed things, and like it or not he couldn't go back. He gave her a sheepish smile, opened his door, and ducked through it with an undeniable feeling of relief. They both needed food, yes, but more than that he needed a moment to process what the hell he'd just started. He hadn't even meant to do it, which only made the situation more confusing.
Kara watched the door close with a sigh. She was in way over her head, and she knew it. What she didn't know was what to do about it. She liked Lee… had aways liked him if it came to that. He was a good friend, a good listener, and he was turning out to be a fine boss as well. Truthfully, therein laid most of the problem. One did not get involved with one's boss. Period.
The second problem, as she saw it, was that the boss in question was the commander's son. She respected William Ada,ma far too much to casually move from one of his sons to the other. She didn't think he'd see it that way, but a lot of people would and it would make things hard on him. It was the last thing she wanted to do. She would have to check with Bill to find out his feelings on the matter. That brought a smile to her face as she dropped her uniform pants and started working on her shirt. "Hey Sir, do you mind if I jump your oldest son?" No, she supposed that wasn't the best way to put it. There was enough talk flying without adding her own sarcasm to the mix.
And that was another issue. The talk. Kara had been ignoring insinuations and backward glances since long before she and Lee had been much more than recently reunited friends. Hell, she'd put up with it at the academy when he'd been across the quad and Zak had been dating her. There was something about herself and Lee that just led to speculation. Maybe it was because they thought alike, or that they were willing to back one another when life got a little questionable. More likely, it had to do with his looks and a protective nature that he'd inherited from his father, whether he'd admit it or not.
There was a lot of his father in Lee. It wasn't just the dark hair and blue eyes with a get-it-done attitude behind it, but there was something more indefinable. Yes, to be honest it drew her, even though she couldn't really place it. Zak had had part of it, but those two had it spilling over. She wished she could figure it out, because she would have loved the ability to develop some kind of defense against it. It wasn't that she minded having them around, but lately she felt almost like they were necessary and she wasn't a woman used to depending on others for anything, be it her job, her safety, or her sanity. The simple fact that she looked for either Lee or his father when she heard a deep voice or a quiet laugh… well, it told her that she was not as objective as she might want to be.
But oh, it was nice to be able to lean on someone just for a while. She would never admit it, but there had been a certain satisfaction in Lee punching out Aames. She really hadn't felt up to it, and it had been reassuring to know that someone was willing to do what she wasn't able to. She might not have liked the results – Lee in the brig – but the action itself had been priceless.
Kara settled herself beneath his covers and grabbed his pillow. She found herself surrounded with him, or at least his scent. It was pretty nice, actually. She had promised him that she'd lay down as soon as he was settled in the brig, but truthfully she hadn't felt all that comfortable coming into his room without him. She'd spent a few minutes on her own bunk, for what good it did, but very little more than that and she never had accomplished true sleep. Now, in the soft nest of blankets and sheets, she found her eyelids drooping and her body relaxing. Lords, she was tired.
Just as she was slipping into sleep, a panicked sensation woke her. It wasn't anything concrete, just… fear. It was damned annoying. She looked around the room, peeked out the door, and then went back to bed more confused than when she'd jerked fully awake. It took her longer to settle this time, the echo of that feeling still haunting her slightly, but gradually she managed to find her way back to the lazy line between waking and sleeping, and she almost thought she might fall asleep this time. Again, right on the edge of waking and sleeping, she jerked awake in a mild panic.
This time, she wasn't just irritated, but downright angered. What was wrong with her? Here she was, finally in a warm, safe place, and she couldn't fall asleep to save her life. She was exhausted, physically and mentally, and there was nothing wrong, but still she wasn't able to rest. It was going to make her nuts. Finally, she just quit trying. She stayed in the soft bed, kept her head on Lee's pillow, but she didn't even try to sleep. Instead, she let her mind run through battle scenarios, walked herself through the repair of a Viper's high gimbal, and began mentally disassembling her sidearm. This kind of mental exercise usually put her right out, but each one seemed to make matters worse, She was more alert if anything; not less.
Persistently, she tried again, this time going over the schematics of the Galactica room-by-room from the CiC to the bowels of the tylium storage space at the tail of the ship. She was only as far as the gymnasium when the door eased open. From the smell of food, and the deliberate quietness of the person carrying it, she knew it had to be Lee. Opening one eye to make sure, she got the amusing view of him trying to close the hatch with one hand and balance the food tray with the other. He finally maneuvered it into place, but it had been a fun show to watch, and far more interesting than ship schematics. She waited until he'd put the tray on his desk – there was no reason to risk her dinner – before she spoke. "What took you so long?"
As she'd expected, he jumped about two feet before turning around to give her a smile. At least he wasn't taking himself too seriously. "Food's not easy to come by," he admitted. "At least not between meals. And getting dishes out of the dining hall required two calls to my father. I hope you appreciate this!"
She couldn't help but smile, fluttering her eyebrows in mock admiration. "My hero!" she said in a singsong voice. He laughed outright at that, coming over to sit on the edge of his bed and straightening the covers which were over her. "You're supposed to be asleep," he said seriously.
She shrugged at that. "It's not lack of effort," she admitted. "I'm having a little trouble going out."
He nodded, although at what she wasn't sure. He gave her leg a gentle squeeze and went over to grab the tray he'd carried in. She soon saw what had taken him so long. This wasn't just any food, she realized. There was fresh fruit – a valuable commodity, at the least on the Galactica – and a couple of slices of bread. There was even some meat and gravy, a few slices of vegetable that looked slightly overcooked, and a glass of what she thought just might be milk. "Maybe you're just hungry," he offered. "Try eating something."
Normally, eating was a chore, but then they didn't get treats like this very often. She sat up in the bed, reaching for the slices of plump fruit first and giving a sigh when she bit into one. If there was one thing she really missed, it was having something fresh to eat. Most of what they managed was manufactured at worst, or at best preserved. "Did you eat?" she asked after swallowing a few mouthfulls.
He nodded. "Yeah. This is all yours."
She smiled up at him and took him at his word, devouring the plate with more hunger than grace. When she finally made it to the glass, she had to smile. It was milk. How long had it been since she'd had that? "I don't even want to know what you did to get this," she told him with a broad smile and a last sweep of her mouth with the napkin he'd had tucked under the edge of the plate.
"Good, because some secrets I don't share," he informed her as he put the tray back on his desk. When he came back, he took his place back on the edge of the bed, down near her feet, and just watched her as she lay back against his pillow. "Think you can sleep now?" he asked gently.
She thought about it. Truthfully, she was exhausted, but every time she'd neared sleep she had awoken in a panic. She didn't like the feeling of being afraid, however stupid it might be. "It's harder to fall asleep than I'd thought it would be," she admitted, giving him the only part of the truth that she wanted to admit.
He nodded, standing up, and then walked to the head of the bed. "Scoot up," he ordered. Unsure of what he had planned, she did so. He grabbed the pillow and stuck it against the headboard, moving up to sit against it. Then he reached for her, tugging her up between his legs so that her back rested against his chest and his arms were around her, as they had sat in the ship. Finally, he grabbed the blankets and moved them into place with a flip of his wrist, pulling them closer around their bodies to make a warm nest. "Better?" he asked, when he'd finished his rearranging.
She thought about taking offense. After all, it was pretty presumptuous to just climb into bed with her after saying that he wouldn't. But it was his bed, and he was warm, and felt a hell of a lot better than just a pillow and a few blankets. She'd been jerking awake rather than sleeping, and if his presence made it easier for her to get some badly needed rest, then she decided she'd just deal with the consequences later. She knew he wouldn't try anything – at lest, not anything she didn't want. And he wasn't likely to do that while she was sleeping.
In the time she'd taken to think it over, Lee had already relaxed. His arms had tightened slightly around her, keeping her close and warm, and his breathing was slow and regular. Unlike the last time she'd lain in this position, she was warm and there was no reason for her to fear sleep. There was plenty of air, Lee was wrapped around her out of friendship rather than necessity, and there was no reason for her to be afraid. At some point, her body must have figured out what her mind had known, because she slipped into a deep sleep that held dreams and images that she couldn't remember when she awoke hours later.
The first moments of waking were disorienting. She tended to sleep on her side, curled up around herself to stay warm. Waking on her back, half reclining, with Lee holding her… well, it wasn't the usual order of things. But it did feel pretty good, and it beat the hell out of waking in the life stations with tubes stuck in places they should not be. She pressed back against her living pillow, liking the way his arms tightened and his lips nuzzled against her neck where his head was resting on her shoulder.
She would have liked nothing more than to stay there, tight in his arms and feeling comfortably well cared for, but the facilities were going to be a necessity. She pulled away with a little more force, only to find him holding her more snugly. Escape wasn't going to be as easy as she had hoped. "Lee," she said quietly, not really wanting to wake him. "Lee," a little louder, "C'mon, I need up for a minute."
He gave a sleepy protest, snuggling himself more deeply into her neck and pulling her body more closely against this so that she cold feel… Lords, she really needed to get up. "Lee, I need to use the head," she said with more conviction.
Somehow, the words must have penetrated, because she was able to slip out of his arms and make a quick escape. She gratefully used his small bathroom, glad that she didn't have to leave his room half-dressed and explain why she was there in the middle of the night. Or, as she looked at the clock, early this morning. Frak, the two of them had been in here alone all night, and while all that had gone on was some reassurance and comfort, that kind of explanation wasn't going to fly in quarters. As much as she hated being the center of the gossip mill, the fact that she'd given them something concrete to use not just against her, but against Lee, was making her want to kick herself.
Kara splashed some water on her face and dried it with Lee's towel, hoping that she didn't look as bad as she felt. At the moment, her feelings were twisted into such a complicated mess that even she didn't know what to do with them. Did she love Lee? Absolutely. Was she in love with him? Who knew? Had she enjoyed spending the night with him? Lords, yes! Would she be willing to do it again? She just wasn't sure. Did she feel better about life in general after a good night's sleep? Yes. Was she ready to tackle the world? Not likely. Did she just want to go back in there and go back to sleep in Lee's arms? Oh, yes. Would she do it?
She didn't have an answer, for a couple of reasons. First of all, she didn't want Lee to take it the wrong way. When she'd left, he'd been… well, she was pretty sure he'd been uncomfortable. She didn't want to add to that. In addition, while falling asleep in his arms last night had seemed the reasonable thing to do, it had been initiated by him. It seemed presumptuous to just go in there and crawl between his legs. She didn't want to wake him if he'd managed to get back to sleep, after all.
"Kara?" The knock at the closed hatch startled her. She finished patting her face dry, annoyed with herself that she hadn't taken a look in the mirror to see what he'd be facing.
"Here," she told him.
"You okay?" he asked. "You've been in there a while."
She supposed that she had. "I'm fine. Give me a second."
"Okay."
Closing her eyes for some much needed strength, she pushed the hatch open carefully, not wanting to slam Lee with it. "Sorry for hogging it," she said with an attempt at a smile. It fell pretty flat.
"As long as you're okay, I don't mind how long you stay in there," he said with a crooked grin. Lords, she wished this situation was as casual for her as it seemed to be for him. She just wasn't used to waking up in beds that weren't her own. She wasn't sure what proper etiquette was.
Lee slipped into the tiny room behind her, and she wandered a bit around his room. Both office and bedroom, it was a cluttered space that had very little of the organization she saw in Lee's actions. Granted, he hadn't been around much lately. She hadn't thought to ask who had taken over for them when they'd been lost, or while they'd been recovering. She wondered vaguely if that was the reason for the room's disorder; it just didn't seem like Lee.
"Kara?"
She jumped at the voice behind her, turning around and facing him with an awkward smile. "You startled me," she said unnecessarily.
He looked at her a moment more, then reached out to take her hand. "Come sit down," he coaxed. "We need to talk about this."
"About what?"
He gave her a look that told her clearly that he knew she was hedging. She didn't bother arguing, but instead took a seat next to him on the bed, her hand still in his. He continued to hold it, tracing the fine veins with one finger, turning it over occasionally to run his fingers over her wrist, down her thumb, around her wrist. "I didn't plan last night," he finally said.
"I didn't think you had," she told him.
He shook his head at that. "I don't mean the sleeping," he said evasively. "I mean the kiss. You were there, and it just felt… right. It felt good, Kara."
Her throat was too tight to speak, so she just nodded. It had felt damned good.
"But if I'd known how awkward this was going to make us, I don't know if I would have done it," Lee admitted. "One thing I've always loved about being around you is that I could just be myself. I didn't have to think first, or worry about your impressions, or wonder what you were really thinking. But it feels like that kiss opened up some door that… It isn't that I want to take it back, but I want us back again. I need my best friend."
At some point during the speech, Kara's hand had flipped her hand over in his. "You have her," she said softly. "I just… I guess I'm over-thinking it too. I like being close to you, and you're about the only guy on board that I really feel comfortable with. I don't mind if that moves forward a little, but I don't want to lose ground."
He smiled at her. "We had this discussion yesterday," he reminded her. "The friendship stays, solid as titanium, whatever else we do or don't do."
"Got it," she replied.
"And Kara?" He waited until her eyes met his before he continued. "We didn't do anything wrong last night," he said gently. "Not the kiss, and not what came after. And even if we'd… done more, we don't have anything to be ashamed of."
Kara nodded, although she wasn't sure she believed it. "Lee?"
"Hmm?"
She took a deep breath, looking at the floor, then shifted her gaze to him. "Do you mind if we…" She stopped. The words sounded stupid in her own mind, and she didn't want him to think she'd turned into a typical female idiot.
"If we…" he encouraged. "What do you want?" He asked.
She closed her eyes tightly, unable to look at him to answer. "Can you hold me for a while longer," she said very quickly, hoping he could pick out the words because she didn't want to have to say it again.
When he stayed silent, she thought she had her answer, but then he reached over with his hand – the one that wasn't holding hers – and brushed a thumb over her cheek. "Anytime," he told her softly. "That's what friends are for."