Disclaimer: I do not own the Fosters!
A/N: Hello all, sorry I have not been present for a significant period of time. I seemed to have lost my ability to write and found myself lacking the time to commit to any new stories. Hopefully this will be the first of many continuing chapters.
The weather was horrid outside. A storm had sunken into San Diego and seemed to be pelting everything with an unusual rain. The power had been in and out and it looked as if there was no end in sight. Stef had been at work all day and was glad that Brandon was at least safe with his father. She didn't want them traveling in this weather and didn't have an overwhelming desire to drive to her apartment after work either. She and Lena had only been dating about 6 months at this point, but at least long enough to have had some overnight visits with one another. Since Lena's apartment was closer to the station and she was home due to the dangerous weather conditions, Stef decided that she would just try to spend the night there instead of making her way all the way back home.
It had been a long shift. Car accidents had been the main work of the last 12 hours due to the weather, but Stef was okay with that considering she took the whole "protect and serve" thing very seriously. What they didn't tell you in the police academy though was that you would spend days like this, 12 hours of standing in the downpours, up to your ankles in water trying to keep the population safe from themselves. Now why was it that people who didn't know how to drive in this type of weather insisted on doing just that and risking not only their own lives, but the lives of all of the other people out there. Stef had spent the better part of the last 3 hours trying to get through a particularly bad accident clean up. She was one of the first people on the scene and in an attempt to render aid, she found herself becoming a drowned rat in the process.
By the time she made it to Lena's apartment, she was cold, wet and tired. The cell towers had been down for some time so Lena wasn't expecting her. Hopefully she was at home, not that Stef could imagine her going out in this weather. She rang the doorbell and waiting. When the door finally opened, she was shocked to find Lena standing there in her pajamas with a book in her hand.
"Stef, what are you doing here? Come inside."
Lena was surprised to see her girlfriend standing at her drawer, completely drenched.
"I just got off work and though it might be okay if I stayed here instead of driving home in this weather, I hope that's alright," Stef said, hoping that she hadn't been overzealous in inviting herself over.
As she stepped inside, she was greeted with the warmth and coziness of Lena's apartment.
"Of course you are welcome to stay. You don't even have to question that. I love having you here, I was just surprised is all. Here, get out of your wet boots and come warm up."
Lena took Stef by the arm and led her over to the mat by the door and bent over to start unlacing her boots. Stef was chilled to the bone and was not a lot of help at this point. Once Lena had gotten Stef out of her boots, she took her by the arm and led her towards the bathroom.
"Here, lets get you out of these wet clothes and into a warm bath."
"Thank you my love, I am so tired and cold. That sounds wonderful."
Once they reached the bathroom, Lena grabbed a towel and wrapped it tightly around Stef's shoulders. She turned around and started the warm water and began filling the bath tub. She closed the door to keep the heat in and then led Stef over to sit on the toilet seat.
Stef looked beat so Lena took the initiative and started undressing her girlfriend. It took some time for Lena to peel each soggy wet item off of Stef, but by the time that she made it to her pants, the tub was almost full. She reached over and turned the water off and then went back to stripping Stef out of her uniform trousers, panties and socks. She then led Stef over to the hot bath and helped her in. As soon as Stef was submerged in the warm water, she released a sign of relief. One thing that she hated about getting cold and wet like that was that it seemed to just make your entire body hurt.
"Thank you for this Lena. I am so tired and it is so nice to come home to someone that takes care of me," Stef said in an appreciative tone.
"Its not a problem babe, I like being able to take care of you. Now you just relax and I will check back on you in a bit."
As Lena started to walk away, Stef reached a hand out and grabbed her arm. "Aren't you going to join me," Stef asked with her best pouting face on.
"Not right now. You need to relax and warm up, but I promise there will be plenty of things to join you in tonight."
Lena winked and then kissed the top of Stef's hand before making her way out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her.
Stef had to admit, it felt awfully nice to just sit here and take in the warmth. Although, she really thought it would have been better if Lena was here with her, but she decided to just close her eyes and let her imagination run wild about all of the "other things" that Lena had mentioned could happen later.
Lena worked quickly in the kitchen, heating up some soup and making Stef a nice hot chocolate spiked with a bit of peppermint schnapps. She hurried as she thought she had heard Stef moving around. Lena was happy that Stef had come to her and was going to make sure that they had a nice evening in.
In the bathroom, Stef had decided that it was probably time to get out once the water started getting cold. She wanted to stay in there forever, but she was also eager to get out to Lena. As she climbed out of the tub and tightly wrapped the towel that Lena had left on the sink around herself, she heard a faint knocking on the door.
"Come on in love." With that, the door slowly opened to reveal Lena standing there with a huge drink topped with copious amounts of whipped cream. Stef could only laugh.
"I thought you might want something to warm you up. Here, I also brought you these," as Lena revealed a warm pair of fuzzy pajama pants and a long sleeve t-shirt.
Stef gladly took the warm items and went to put them on, only after taking a drink of the delicious hot chocolate Lena had offered her. It was so nice to have someone who cared enough to do the little things.
After Stef exited the bathroom, she wandered out to find that the table was set and there were two bowls of steaming soup on the table. They sat down and had a wonderful dinner. Neither of them spoke much other than just simple small talk, but both simply reveled with being in the presence of the other.
Once their bellies were full, they both adjourned to the couch to watch some movies. Stef sat first, bringing Lena as close to her as she could. Lena pulled a large blanket over them.
"Lena, thank you for everything. I went from having a bit of a rotten day to finding myself so content to be here, snuggled up on the couch with you."
"Stef, you don't have to thank me. I know you would have done the exact same thing if you were in my position. Lets just enjoy the movie and be here together."
"That sounds wonderful my love."
Stef woke up all of a sudden, feeling a weight against her that was not overly familiar. She shifted a bit to realize that her back was hurting a bit, but when she looked down, she saw Lena sleeping soundly against her. She glanced at her watch to find that it was 1 am and didn't really want to wake her girlfriend up, but knew that if they didn't move soon, she wouldn't be able to move for a few more days. She gently shook Lena's shoulder and she began to stir.
"Lena, honey, wake up."
"What is it?"
"Honey, we fell asleep on the couch during the movie. I think we need to go to bed."
A large sign followed that, but Lena began to untangle herself from the body beneath her. Once Stef was able to move, she got up and led Lena effortlessly to the bedroom. She pulled the covers back and both climbed in. Lena was somewhat awake and snuggled back up against her which was a feeling that Stef was never going to be able to get tired of.
Stef reached down and kissed Lena's head. "You are always here when I need you. I hope you know how much I love you."
Lena managed to mumble an "I love you too," and then they were both dead asleep again. Yes, Stef could definitely get used to this.
AN: Thank you to everyone for reading. I am still rusty and trying to get back into the groove. I am looking forward to seeing what you all thought about it. Also, if there are any story lines that you would like to see, please send them along and I will do my best. Thank you for your continued support.