Hi everyone! As always thank you for your interest, your reviews and kind messages. I'm sorry I missed the planned update, health issues have kept me away. Anyway, here's the new chap.

Enjoy,

So ;)


Act 58: Catherine

I stir awake when I feel Sara getting out of bed and out of the bedroom. When she doesn't come back after a minute I understand that she just had a nightmare.

The good thing now though is that I have the proper tools to offer her some comfort. For instance, I now know that she needs a moment for herself afterwards, just to get her grip on reality back. It helps a lot that she has opened up to me and been more candid about her sleep troubles.

Nowadays, when she has a nightmare and I'm with her, she takes five minutes to be alone then she comes back to bed we don't talk but I'm always there with open arms and she does accept the embrace.

I sit up with a sigh. It's been ten minutes and she isn't back, that worries me because I doubt she fell back asleep. I pad to the living room and find her on the couch, I can see her trembling from where I am. Whatever happened, it was bad.

I come closer and sit next to her but keep a small distance not to upset her furthermore. She's crying silently and doesn't seem able to steady her breathing. She refuses to look at me and instead keeps staring at her phone on the coffee table.

I remember our recent conversations and every pieces of the puzzle click into place. I understand that she had a nightmare about her most traumatic night. She only told me about it once and it had chilled me to the bones then. I don't think I can fathom what it was truly like even with a good imagination.

She explained how even to this day she still had nightmares about it, that their intensity would vary but the one constant was her need to know that her Rueben was okay. It doesn't matter that the rational part of her knows that he's fine and the rest of them are fine, when she has that particular nightmare she loses all sense of reality. On a good day she'll refrain herself from calling him, on a bad one she wouldn't be able to help herself.

"You're… uh… still upset about Mufasa?" I decide to go to the left field.

She chuckles through her tears, finally sparing a glance in my direction and I feel some relief that she's responsive. I sit closer to her and slowly reach out to put a hand on the back of her neck and scratch her skin with a very light motion.

"You talked two days ago, he wanted your input about the bonus levels in his game, remember?" I ask softly giving her something concrete to latch on.

She seems to take my words in after a moment she eventually nods. The scratching on her neck appears to soothe her, I just wait until her trembling subsides then I kiss her temple. "Wait here."

I go to the kitchen pour a glass of cold milk and add a touch of cinnamon in it. She glances at me when I come back and I can see a faint grin of gratitude on her lips when she takes the glass. I sit down again, my hand back on her neck; little by little colours return to her face, tears stop falling.

When she has drained the glass I take it from her to put I on the coffee table. I grab her hand, entwining our fingers. "Come on," I stand up taking her with me.

A couple of minutes later we're lying in bed again, I'm holding her to me. I start caressing her neck once more, kissing her crown every now and then.

For some reason I start humming the no worries anthem from the Lion King in the form of a slow lullaby. Sara tightens her arms aground my waist, I only grin at her silent thank you and keep humming until I feel her going back to sleep.

I'm surprised when I wake up and Sara is still in my arms. Usually, after a night plagued with bad dreams she'd wake up before me and 'flee' the bedroom. I think it's about feeling vulnerable and not being really used to let people take care of her.

I don't even get the chance to notify that I'm awake, my stomach does it for me.

"Good morning, you two," she says softly, kissing my stomach then kissing me.

"Good morning."

She scrutinizes me for a moment obviously not comfortable, I don't say anything and just wait patiently.

"I don't… I don't know how to thank you for last night," her voice is tentative.

I cup her cheek, caressing her skin with my thumb. "Easy, you don't have to."

She looks at me with confusion. "Sar… I want to be there for you, I know it doesn't come naturally but I want you to lean on me when something is bothering you. Whatever it is you don't have to deal with it on your own. I understand that there might not be much I can do, but I'll always try."

"I'm not used to do that," she confesses.

"I know."

"It might take a while for me to learn."

"That's okay too, I have no intention to go anywhere."

I lean forward to peck her lips. She doesn't let me pull back too far though and captures my lips again for a deeper kiss.

She breaks the kiss after a moment. "Growl needs to be fed," she chortles against my lips after my stomach manifests itself again.

I am hungry, yes, but right now food is the last thing on my mind. "Let him wait," I simply say and kiss her again pulling on her shirt to get rid of it.

I slowly show her how much I love her, afterwards when I'm holding her to me, revelling in that feeling of happiness and contentment, I think to myself how amazing it is that every time feels like a first time.

Sara's laughter brings me back to the present. "Growl really needs to be fed now."

I let out and exaggerated sigh. "If we must."

Eventually we leave the bed, not that we don't enjoy lazy days every now and then but we never do when Linds is there preferring family time instead.

Family time…

I can feel the corners of my mouth touching my ears so much I'm smiling at that thought.

I convince her to take a quick shower with me before breakfast, mostly to stretch on the opportunity to feel her skin against mine. Even though it's hard, we behave and don't fool around (too much) in the bathroom.

Forty minutes later I'm sitting on Sara's lap at the kitchen table, listening to Linds as she's telling her about the fantastic dream she had.

It might sound funny but the little things are what makes me the happiest, I'm talking about the casualty of sharing a breakfast the three of us, or the simple fact that I can display affection to Sara when Linds is around. I like that not only she's okay with it but that she teases us about it. I can't say that Eddie and I were very affectionate toward one another then I never had a proper relationship to have this kind of interaction.

We spend a very good week-end which is unfortunately turned short because both Sara and I are called in to work.

Once again it feels like the city had gone mad by the cheer number of cases we have to deal with for the next few days.

Right now I know I can't wait to be in my bed and sleep for six blissful hours. Sara is so exhausted that I have to gently shake her when we arrive at her place.

She stirs but doesn't completely regain consciousness. "Thought you said we were going home…" she mumbles still half asleep. There's a beat then she seems to wake up fully and take in her surroundings. "Oh right," she stretches with a sigh. "Uh… so tired, thanks," she grins at me then leans in to kiss me. "See you tomorrow, night."

And with that she exits the car walking away.

It's only when I'm lying in bed about to fall asleep that Sara's words fully hits me.

She called my place 'home'.

Ever since we have been together she has never referred to my place as 'home', not once. As a matter of fact, I'm the one to have made that reference on that day I gave her a set of key, or at least tried to.

Maybe I shouldn't put too much stock in it seeing as it was most likely and unconscious slip, or maybe it means even more because it was a slip.

The thing is, even though our relationship is back to normal, Sara has always spent one or a couple of days at her place. The way I understand it, she needed that time away at first because she was still struggling with fits and then to take a little distance with me to adjust to our new dynamic.

I hadn't considered the whole moving in together thing since we got back together.

Now that she mentioned it however, I realise that I really want my place to be our home.

Another thing, and I don't want to sound petty but so far I've been the driving force of our relationship, taking initiatives. I don't want to make the same mistakes, rushing things and possibly missing the signs that Sara is not on the same page as me.

What if I offer her the keys again because of that not so conscious statement and she dismisses me again? I'm definitely not up for that, so…

I guess I'll wait for her to mention it when she's not half asleep from doing long shifts back to back.

I sigh and turn around grabbing the pillow Sara uses and bury my face into it. A few moments later Morpheus finally claims me to his kingdom.

Several weeks go by without Sara ever mentioning something, at this point I'm not even sure she's aware of her slip. It comforts me in the idea that had I said something I'd have been rushing yet again.

I don't mind waiting because everything is as good as can be between us. I won't lie though, if anything the longing for her to move in is more and more present, especially since lately we haven't spent as much time together as we'd like to.

"So… want to tell me what's on your mind?" Nancy's voice calls me back to the present.

"Pancakes for one," I reply with a smirk making her roll her eyes as she's serving me breakfast.

We start eating in silence, it's not long before I feel her insistent gaze on me. "What?"

"Is everything okay?"

"Yup, just taking time to enjoy my food."

"Can you stop using your stomach as your main brain for sec?"

I chortle. "Sorry. In that case, everything is fine."

"Sara's pulling a double again?"

"No, actually she's spending time with Jillian right now, and before you ask, yes I'm okay with that. They are just friends, I completely trust Sara. I know they had a 'thing' in the past but Jillian does understand and respect boundaries, case in point she even made sure to stress that fact after subtly asking me if I was comfortable with the whole thing."

Nancy bobs her head. "Okay."

"I know I can get jealous but I'm not that person to forbid my lover to see their friends."

"I said, okay," Nancy puts her hands up in surrender with a chuckle.

I give her a suspicious look before adding."They're training for the charity boxing event."

"How are things between you two?"

"They're great," I beam.

"Good to know, I haven't seen much of her lately."

"I'm surprise you want to see her in the first place," I note with amusement. "Don't give me that confused look, I have eyes and know how to use them. Plus, it's hard to ignore the slight drop of temperature when you are in the same room."

I rest a hand over hers. "I love you Nance, and I'll never have enough of a lifetime to thank you for having my back like you do. You can stop baring your teeth to Sara though, everything is great and I'm confident that it'll stay that way from now on, no matter what we have to face."

She gives me a tiny nod of acknowledgement. "You guys should come over for lunch on Saturday."

I smile knowing that Nancy will stop giving Sara a hard time and maybe get back on friendly terms with her.

"So, do I get to hear about who's putting a smile on your face?" I change topic. "And before you engage yourself in a suspicious denial, try to remember what I do for a living."

Despite her attempt to control it, her grin becomes wider. "It's… I just have a new pen pal. That's all there is to it, honestly."

I stare at her blankly for a few seconds. "Oh wow… I forgot how dorky and lame you could be sometimes," I sigh overdramatically.

"Hey!"

I laugh and avoid the rag she throws at my face.

After going back to my place I'm once more reminded that it sucks Sara doesn't have her own set of keys to my place because it means that unfortunately she won't be joining me today.

It's true when they say that time seems to go fast when you're having fun, or when you're happy. Not so much when you're aware of something slightly missing though.

I spend the next two months going back and forth with the idea of giving her the keys, I don't want to rush or scare her, but at the same time I wish we didn't have to spend time apart when she doesn't need the space. That being said during the past two months there were reasons for us not to spend much time together, her training with Jillian being one and Sidney coming around being another, add some tough shift on top of it all…

Anyway, today is the start of the first week-end off we manage to have together. Linds is away with Nancy and her cousins visiting Cooper so I have Sara and the house to myself, so I can't complain.

She's working in the garage while I'm reading in the kitchen, she said she wanted to get whatever she needed to do with the car done now so she wouldn't have to care about it later in the week-end. Even though we haven't seen one another much this week, I don't mind that we're not spending every minute together, she's there and that's all that matters to me.

I've been thinking a lot, and realized that my hesitation to offer Sara to move in came from the fact that I was still hurt by her rejection that time I presented her the set of keys I had made for her. Of course in retrospect I know my timing was terrible then, but it's safe to say that maybe unconsciously I was protecting myself.

That fear of another rejection gave me a flawed logic, because Sara is probably waiting for me to renew my offer, besides it's my place so of course I have to be the one putting the topic on the table, let her know that if she's ready then I'm ready for us to take that step.

"Someone's deep in thought."

I'm startled by Sara's closeness, I was so lost in thought I hadn't heard her coming back in. "Why the frown? Bad story?"

"Uh… no… it's alright," I stammer, having her close and in overall makes it hard for me to focus."You… are you already done?"

"Nah, just wanted to check on you and get a drink," she pecks my lips then go to the fridge to retrieve a bottle of water.

"…Cath?"

"Hmm?"

Oops…

She takes another gulp out of her water then puts the bottle on the table her eyes never leaving mine. Soon enough her lips are on mine, and my book is forgotten.

She breaks the contact and rests her forehead against mine. She looks at me with a mix of shyness and amusement, I'm about to ask what's on her mind when she puts a finger against my lips to forbid me to speak. She makes me hop down from the counter and lead us to the living room where she makes me sit on the couch.

"Whatever happens, don't move," she instructs.

"I…"

"Promise."

"Fine, I promise" I chuckle. "Sar… what are you doing?"

She doesn't answer and just keeps moving the coffee table away. When the floor is clear she goes to the stereo and a few seconds later the first chord of a catchy tune about a man believing in miracles fills up the room.

I see Sara's head bobbing a bit then her body slowly starts moving. When she turns around to face me again I finally understand what's happening.

Her moves are uncertain and hesitant at first but she soon gains momentum. She gyrates slowly, undulating her body and when she starts pulling at the collar of her overall my mouth goes dry.

We've talked about our fantasies. I confessed that one of mine was to have someone strip for me. Weird, and perhaps cliché but I don't care.

I've never been ashamed of my past and I make it a point not to lie about it so when my past lovers learnt about it, it was only a matter of time before they'd ask me to perform for them. I'd seldom relent to give in, and I definitely wouldn't do it on purpose. I have to say that stripping just doesn't have any appeal to me.

There were times during those days where I felt powerful and in control, but there were bad days too when a thousand showers couldn't wash the feeling of grime off my skin.

So in my private life, I've never found this a turn on, at least for me.

Sara has never asked me to strip for her. In fact, she has admitted that she couldn't picture me doing it.

I've never had anyone performing for me and now…

Now, I can barely breathe. Goodness heaven, I can't breathe.

I was aroused as soon as I saw Sara in her overall that's a given, but there are no words to express what I'm experiencing at this very moment.

I'm hypnotised by the suave and playful moves of Sara. The intensity of her gaze never leaving mine, that sexy smirk playing on her lips…

When she's topless wearing only her black boy shorts, she starts approaching me. I gulp and push my now clammy palms against my thigh in order to reign over my urge to touch her as she straddles me yet making sure there's no contact between our bodies.

She grabs my hands and put them on her thigh before leaning in. "No moving," she whispers and I nod automatically.

Sara teases me always being so close yet never allowing more contact, her lips graze my skin, she moves her torso and hips creating the tiniest frictions between us. My grip on her thighs tightens almost in spite of myself, all my nerve ending are on fire, my body on the edge of implosion.

She brushes her lips against mine but eludes me whenever I try to get a firmer contact. She smiles at my predicament and I groan in frustration.

"Please," I beg in a whisper.

She sneaks a hand under my shirt leaving a blazing trail behind as she slowly reaches one of my breasts and pinches my hardened nipple. I hiss, leaning for a kiss but once more she eludes the contact.

"Sar… please," this time desperation colours my voice.

I'm so focused on reminding myself to breathe that I fail to keep track of her other hand, so when I feel her cup me all the oxygen in my lungs is expelled at once. The potent smell of my arousal reaches my nose, my excitation has soaked through every layers of my clothes.

Sara's moan as she first touches me almost sends me on the edge. She bites her lower lip and smirks at the same time apparently enjoying teasing me. She leans in, connecting our forehead, our breaths mingle as she caresses me through my pants.

I whimper in protest when she stops, I don't have time to verbally protest because she doesn't waste a second slipping her fingers past the waistband of my pants and underwear.

I lose my breath again when her fingertips brushes me, as soon as the contact gets firmer I see hot flashes and convulse as pleasure ripple through me.

The hand she had under my shirt comes to rest on my cheek and my breath hitches as I feel her in me. She moves fast and hard, bringing me over the edge again.

She doesn't move and kisses me deeply, her lips then trailing on my neck giving me the chance to catch my breath.

She seals our gazes then painfully slowly her fingers take life again. I gasp, pant and hiss at the slow pleasurable torture. I'm overwhelmed, feeling every inch of flesh, my staccato breathing echoes the slow pace she's setting.

I close my eyes, as my pleasure slowly builds up in the pit of my stomach. My muscles slowly tense one after the other until I'm right on the edge. Sara feels it and stops her motion, forcing me to open my eyes.

The whole world goes still.

My senses are in overload. I'm aware of my strong heartbeat, short breath, the smell of my arousal, the feel of Sara in me, the warmth radiating from the hand she has on my cheek, the electric friction between our chests.

She starts moving slowly again, I lose myself in her eyes as long as I can. The violence of the orgasm ripping through me contrast with her soft touch. I grip her thighs so hard I'm worried I'll break her skin.

She holds me to her allowing me to ride my pleasure. I jump a bit when I feel her retreating. I watch through hooded eyelids as she brings her fingers to her lips and moan when she lick them with a sexy playful wink at my attention.

Fuck…

The sight ignite desire again and I grab her face to kiss her passionately, touching her urgently.

Hours later when we have finally reach the bed, our bodies sore from our passionate embraces, Sara is sleeping while I content myself with watching her. She snuggles up to me and my heart swells at this simple gesture. I decide here and then that my fears don't matter, I can't stand the idea of spending another night without her by my sides if I don't have to.

I quickly learn that saying that I set my fears aside and actually doing it are two very different things. Though most of our week-end is spent acting like horny teenagers who can't keep their hands off one another, I can't bring myself to touch the subject.

I know it's a simple thing, but just like the first time I don't want to make a big deal about it. So after spending an entire shift with her set of keys trying to sear me through my pocket, upon learning that she wasn't back from the field as I'm about to head out, I decide to leave a simple note and the keys in her locker.

The note says: 'Take some milk on your way home, we're out. Love you, C'. It's casual enough for it not to be a big deal, clear in its meaning and if she's not ready she'll still has the set of keys for when she is.

Okay, now the ball's in her camp. I mentally pat myself in the shoulder because I've taken that step that has been terrifying me for months.

Finally.


The song Cath hums is 'Hakuna Matata', the song Sara dances to is 'You Sexy Things' by Hot Chocolate.

The end is really near, I'm thinking 2 or 3 more chaps.

Thanks for reading.