"Is that right, Scotty boy?" Delphine heard Cosima say as she walked into the lab.

"Shut up," Scott retorted.

"Oh, Delphine! Scott has a crush. And it's not on me, for once," Cosima giggled.

Scott turned a dark shade of red. "It's not a crush. I was just telling you about this girl I met. She's my sister's friend."

"Yeah, but you've got a daaaaate with her," Cosima teased.

"Wow, Scott, have you ever been on a date with a real girl?" Delphine interjected.

"Oh ho, look at Delphine, with the jokes," Cosima beamed.

Scott chuckled. "Good thing I like you guys, or else I would think you're being mean."

"Oh, no, we love you, isn't that right Delphine?" Cosima asked.

"Yes of course, Scott. Only teasing," Delphine answered. "This girl is lucky to go on a date with you."

Delphine got to work, getting into her lab coat and checking on their experiments from the previous week. Everything was looking good. She felt Cosima's presence next to her and turned to see the beaming brunette.

"How are you doing today?" Cosima asked, genuinely.

"I'm alright," Delphine answered. It was getting harder for Delphine to only have surface conversations with the woman. She knew Cosima could read her, and she knew Cosima wanted to know her more deeply. She felt bad about the way she had treated her last night, how she left with little explanation.

"Good," Cosima replied, cheerily.

"Cosima, will you let me make things up to you...for last night, I mean. I'm sorry, I feel like I might have been rude."

Cosima looked at her with wide eyes, a look of surprise on her face. "No, don't worry about it at all. I mean, you could come with me to this thing I'm going to later. It's an art opening for a friend of mine. Only if you want to though, no pressure." She threw her hands up in surrender.

"No, that sounds lovely. Ok," Delphine agreed.

Cosima's lips curled into a grin. "Ok."

Delphine arrived at the art opening a little after 7. It was at a warehouse and there were a lot of people there when she walked in. She walked through the crowds, searching for Cosima. She was glad she had decided to put on a dress. People were dressed nicely. It had been a long time since she had gotten dressed up, and she felt a little weird.

She spotted Cosima standing in the corner, talking to some friends. Her heart jumped when she saw her. She had never seen her look this nice, in a tight maroon dress that perfectly fell over her curves. Delphine felt anxious all of a sudden, nervous about what she was feeling, and scared about having any sort of feelings at all.

Cosima saw her, excusing herself from her friends, and coming over to greet Delphine.

Her eyes and smile were wide as she approached. "Hey," she beamed, "I'm so glad you're here." Delphine could see her eyes skim her up and down and Delphine felt herself getting warm. "You look super nice," Cosima stated.

"Thank you. So do you," Delphine responded.

"You want some wine?" Cosima asked.

"Sure," Delphine answered.

Cosima led her over to grab two glasses of wine and they browsed the art as Cosima talked her ear off about her friend's work. Delphine giggled as Cosima talked, telling her stories about her friends. She found herself feeling more and more relaxed after a few glasses of wine and she realized she was actually having a great time.

After about an hour, they walked outside to grab some air.

"Thanks for coming tonight," Cosima stated. "I'm glad you haven't run off yet," she joked.

"Cosima…" Delphine responded.

"Oh, I'm just kidding, sorry, that was rude."

"No, no, it's ok."

Cosima looked into Delphine's eyes. "But really, I'm having such a good time with you."

Delphine looked down for a moment before looking back at Cosima. She was feeling so many emotions, not sure really how to make sense of them all.

"Me, too," she whispered, weakly.

"Are you ok?" Cosima asked.

"You're always worrying about me, Cosima," Delphine answered.

"Yeah, well, I care about you...a lot, you know that?" Cosima responded.

"That's very sweet," Delphine replied, looking down at the sidewalk.

"Hey, seriously, if you don't feel comfortable, I can take you home," Cosima told her.

"No, it's just, I don't know," Delphine struggled to find the words. She kept going back and forth in her head, her emotions swirling, trying to make sense of it all. "It's... a lot."

Cosima took her hand. "Please, Delphine, let me in?" she pleaded.

Delphine sighed. Cosima had been so sweet, so kind to her. She hadn't spoken to anyone about any of it in a long time. She felt like maybe it would be a weight off her shoulders, but she was nervous about how Cosima might look at her afterwards.

"Ok," Delphine started, "Would you want to come over, and we'll just, talk?"

Cosima smiled, a look of relief on her face. "Yes, I would love that."

They took a cab to Delphine's apartment, and they walked in, both of them a little tipsy.

"Wow, this place is so cute," Cosima stated.

"Thanks, it's not bad," Delphine responded.

They ended up sitting on the couch with another glass of wine, facing each other. Cosima looked at Delphine, waiting for her to speak, searching for the connection she so desperately wanted. She wanted the blonde to trust her, to tell her about herself. Most of all, she wanted to be there for her.

"So…" Delphine began, "I am sorry I have been so on and off. There are some things you don't know...about me, about my past, and I've been afraid to tell anyone, because I really don't want a lot of people knowing. I moved to get away from it."

"Ok," Cosima nodded, "I want you to feel comfortable. But know that whatever you tell me, I would never tell anyone else."

"I know, thank you," Delphine said. "I also want to preface this by saying I hope you don't think any differently of me after I tell you, and I hope nothing changes between us."

"Of course, why would anything change?" Cosima asked.

"Most people just get weird when they know," Delphine replied.

"Well, I'm not most people, you know that," Cosima joked.

Delphine nodded, grinning weakly. She took a deep breath, looking down at her hands. "Things in my life have been...complicated for a long time." She didn't quite know how to explain everything, so she said it in the simplest way she could. "My wife...we were together for a long time, almost ten years. She got sick two years ago. Six months later, she went into a coma, and a year after that, she died. She had a rare neurological disorder. That was six months ago. I came here to get away from that life. I needed to get out of that town because I was tired of being pitied."

Delphine exhaled, her tears coming, finally looking up into Cosima's eyes. She expected to see fear, pity, concern, but what she saw was something completely different. She saw understanding. Understanding, and her own tears, threatening to spill over.

"Oh, Delphine, that's so hard. I really appreciate you telling me," Cosima swallowed as she reached out for Delphine's hand. "I know how you feel."

Delphine huffed, not expecting that response. "You know how I feel?"

"Well, not exactly how you feel, but can I tell you something?" Cosima asked.

Delphine nodded, watching as Cosima's tears started to spill over. This was about something else, not just what Delphine had just admitted.

Cosima got quiet for a moment. Delphine had never seen her like this. She was concerned all of a sudden.

She finally spoke, "I know how you feel because...so, I had this partner. We were together for six years. Three years ago, she...died, in a car crash. All of a sudden, she was gone. It's different, but I know what you mean about people pitying you."

Delphine's eyes went wide. She was not expecting that at all. She felt a hurt in her heart when Cosima told her. It was like she could feel both of their pain in her chest, and she felt the heaviness weigh on her.

"Cosima, I'm so sorry," Delphine choked through her tears. She pulled Cosima in for a hug, holding her tightly as they both let their tears fall.

They both knew they didn't need words as they held each other. There was a deep connection only they could understand, and they let their bodies do the talking. Cosima felt warm in Delphine's arms, and so comforting, as she rested her head on the brunette's shoulder.

After a while, they pulled back, looking at each other. Cosima grabbed Delphine's hands in hers. "I'm here for you. Whatever you need. You want to talk, not talk, I don't care," she assured.

"Thank you, I think right now I'd just like to sit and try to relax," Delphine answered. "Would you want to watch a movie with me? I'd like some company if you don't mind."

"That sounds nice," Cosima replied.

Delphine put on the movie and sat back down next to Cosima. They both stared at the screen as she thought. It felt good to tell someone. And she couldn't believe Cosima's confession. Maybe this would help. Having a friend who could understand what she was going through, at least a little bit.

Delphine got sleepier as the movie went on. She was tired from crying, tired from the wine, tired from the exhausting day. She put her feet up on the coffee table, shuffling herself lower on the couch. She noticed Cosima shifting a little bit closer to her. Her eyelids felt heavy as her head began to dip toward Cosima's arm. She felt her cheek press against Cosima's bicep but she didn't have the energy to pick her head up.

Cosima picked her arm up when she felt Delphine lean against her. She put it behind the blonde, letting her rest her head on her shoulder, and wrapping her arm around Delphine's neck to hold her shoulder.

Delphine felt comfortable in this embrace. She needed it. It had been so long since anyone had held her, and though she wasn't sure that she should be enjoying it so much, she was too tired to do anything else.

She didn't realize she had fallen asleep, but the next thing she knew, she was hearing Cosima's soft voice rouse her.

"Hey, Delphine," she whispered, "You should go to bed. I'm going to go home now."

Delphine opened her eyes, feeling a little confused. "Hmm?" she mumbled, reaching out to put her palm on Cosima's cheek, smiling. She was feeling fuzzy from the alcohol and having been woken up in what seemed like the middle of the night.

"Come on, let me help you get to bed. Then I'll go," Cosima said warmly, putting Delphine's arm over her shoulder and helping her up. Cosima walked Delphine into the bedroom, laying her down onto the bed.

"I'll let you sleep now," Cosima whispered.

"Mmm," Delphine whimpered, "Wait, would you stay?"

"No, I think I should go home, ok? We'll talk soon," Cosima responded.

"Ok," Delphine answered, feeling a little upset, but not knowing why she should. She hoped she didn't mess anything up, thinking back to their earlier conversation.

Cosima turned to leave and as Delphine heard the door shut behind her, she drifted into sleep, not even having the energy to change out of her clothes.