14: Mattresses and hobbitsses

Sydney gave Maggie a key a few weeks later, trying not to make a big deal about it but blushing.

"Just in case," she said, "Our schedules don't exactly line up, and if you wanted to… you could…"

"I could indeed," Maggie said, trying not to smirk. "Or you could come back to mine once in a while."

Sydney wrinkled her nose at the suggestion, but Maggie understood. Sydney's place was modern and established, and Maggie's was the same place she'd moved into after she'd broken up with Gavin; in a bad neighbourhood, with decades old mould in the bathroom and cracks in the ceiling. The windows of her bedroom looked directly into the bedroom of the apartment on the block next door, and the kitchen looked straight onto an unfinished brick wall. When she'd been single – and looking back now, a little depressed, a little unmotivated, just coming home to microwave some dinner and nap on the couch – the place had been fine, and cheap and Maggie could whittle away her student loans faster without the inconvenience of a roommate. It wasn't like Maggie had anyone to bring home since Sydney anyway, or before Sydney this time. Just that one time, and they'd gone back to Janice's place which was not much better than Maggie's anyway.

But Sydney's house presented its own difficulties; the size of Sydney's bed was inadequate for one full-grown woman, let alone two.

It was sweet, how uncertain Sydney was about how the key would be received. And it was amazing and brand new but comfortable and familiar, and while Maggie typically didn't mind spooning, doing it every night was making her feel a little cramped. It was difficult to sleep with Sydney's body pressed against her smelling so good and being pressed against her so, so naked body in her temperature controlled apartment.

In the last few weeks, Maggie figured out that she was in trouble. She figured out that she'd been in trouble for a while, looking back. Every moment she spent with Sydney just confirmed how much she'd started to fall such a long time ago, and how far she had already fallen. When they caught the streetcar home together at night it was how she'd pictured it so long ago, Sydney ramped up from waiting all day, Maggie meeting Sydney's need with her own.

And when they woke, Sydney was soft and warm and so terribly difficult to leave when Maggie's shift started first.

It was wonderful, for the most part. But there was still a lingering uncertainty, beneath. They'd not been here before but they'd been close; they had always been close but they had never talked about it. And they still hadn't really talked about it, and Maggie made sure she went back to her place a few times a week so she felt independent, so it wouldn't feel so bad when Sydney eventually abandoned her again.

The most Sydney had said about it was that she wasn't going anywhere without Maggie, and at least this time they were at least 'something' rather than a 'perhaps'. But Sydney had a tendency to pack up and leave without warning, and things were too good – Maggie was bracing herself for the next blow.

And it's ridiculous, because although neither of them had said it, it was obvious that they were both in love. And there was trust too now, as well as love. Maggie felt overflowing with the love Sydney provided. Her days had meaning again the way they did before Sydney strode into her life then slunk away. She felt complete. She felt like she was where she was supposed to be. She felt like she had arrived.

Sydney, for her part, finally felt at ease. There had been a lot of changes in her life, and she'd expected to be devastated by her family's lack of approval but it was easier to bear with Maggie on her side, by her side.

Rebecca was on her side, recovering well and out of hospital, giving her support and standing against her parents with Sydney. And Sydney's parents, desperately wanting to be allowed to be involved with their grandchild, had stopped their tirade against Sydney. They were still cold, but they were respectful now instead of constantly demeaning.

Then Sydney got the call from London, the job offer she'd really wanted when she was ready to leave Canada perhaps forever.

Maggie came in and was so happy, so pleased to see her after barely an hour apart, verbally and physically, and Sydney's heart sank. She couldn't leave, couldn't leave Maggie behind again. But she couldn't turn the job down, it was such an honour to have even been considered and it was a stellar, state of the art hospital with the technology she'd been itching to use.

Then the day went to hell, a gay Muslim and a lesbian Jew working together to save both a woman and her unborn child, and it cinched it for Sydney. This was why she got into obstetrics.

Then Maggie came in while she was thinking, exuding false confidence, showing Sydney that she could see a future with them.

"I'm serious about us. Sue me," She said shortly when Sydney asked if she was trying to move in, and that was the last piece in the puzzle for Sydney. Maggie didn't make a lot of the moves, and this was the sign Sydney had been waiting for, to make sure she wouldn't be rejected.

She sat up and started telling Maggie about her ambitions, her plans for the future… and that Maggie was very much in those. She was still nervous when she asked, but Maggie didn't even hesitate for a moment, delighted that she was wrong about being left behind again. Sydney peppered Maggie with kisses, a little overwhelmed, exuberant and joyful. Everything was perfect.

"You're not just running away from your family again, are you?" Maggie asked that night.

"I'd love to stay here, be here for my sister's baby's birth, and Alex's baby, and I hate to take you away from your life here, but Turbin General… it's one of the highest ranked hospitals in the world, and I can't turn that down. I'll patch things up with my parents, or I won't, but I don't need to put continents between us to run away."

"And you're sure you want me to go with you? We haven't been together that long, we haven't even moved in together." Maggie asked uncertainly, wondering if she'd put too much pressure on Sydney, if her asking for a bigger bed was the sign of commitment Sydney had been waiting for to ask her.

"Yes, I'm sure. I'm not going anywhere without you." Sydney said assuredly.

Maggie took a deep breath.

"Well, in that case I need to call my mum. She's going to want to meet my…girlfriend?" Maggie finished the sentence with a question, satisfied with the smile that spread across Sydney's face at the word. "Before she whisks me halfway across the world."

"I would love to meet your mother. And be your girlfriend. And… whatever else you want. Just come with me, please?"

"Oh, I will, later. But first I'm calling mum."

It's testament to Maggie's prowess that Sydney still blushes at the euphemism.

"Of course. But… do you think it can wait half an hour?"

"What did you have in mind that would last… half an hour?" Maggie asked suggestively.

"I've got something in mind, something that will let you know just how happy I am that you want to go with me, that you want… me."

"I've always wanted you, and I'm just as happy you asked me to go to England with you rather than just taking off again."

"I'm sorry," Sydney started, realizing that she'd never fully apologized, realizing that Maggie's initial reaction was very warranted, but she was cut off with Maggie's mouth on hers.

Notes:

Daily Torontean life with Maggie and Sydney.
There might be more than one chapter left - working it out now.
Thanks for all the reviews along the way - I'm not always super confident in my work and it does compel me to keep going, especially with my crazy schedule. You've all been so kind, and I'm sorry about the earlier confusion with the chapters - I'm not typically linear - I develop an idea when it comes and having two seasons to work on made it... random. But it's worked out well, with season 5 coming so much later.
Anyway, thank you for reading/reviewing/Lintzing.