Present

The blackness of her cell surrounding her was stifling, overwhelming suffocating.

Bo was afraid that it might swallow her whole.

But it was the questions-the unknown that was unbearable.

Bo had spent most of her time sitting next to the wall-the wall that connected her to Lauren. Maybe it was irrational but she couldn't leave that spot for long-she couldn't leave Lauren, it was her only relief from the endless seconds within the darkness.

She pressed her cheek against the cold surface of the solid concrete.

She hated that she couldn't reach out and comfort Lauren. Her love. Her life. Her everything.

She closed her eyes tightly focusing on Lauren's face-it helped-a little.

She'd thought they would make it, that nothing bad would ever happen to them. Foolish.

She was wrong, so wrong.

It turned out to be nothing but childish fantasy on her part. Nothing more than a foolish daydream, to think that they had a chance to live happily ever after.

XXXX

It was the first day back to school, and Bo was walking with her friends. Although Bo was Fae, she attended human school, "Fae must live among humans, it's important we know how to blend in," her grandfather always lectured.

Bo didn't mind she liked humans. The Fae Bo knew were traditional and boring, stuck in the old ways, very rigid.

They walked by Lauren's house. Lauren was sitting on the porch arms wrapped around her knees. She appeared to be waiting for someone.

"Hey, that's Lauren, she's starting our school this year, let's see if she wants to walk with us," Bo said excitedly. She enjoyed Lauren's company, but she hadn't seen much of her over the last few months.

Dyson grunted then said, "Oh come on. She looks weird. Also, isn't she the sister of that creepy scientist that works in the Light Fae lab?" He wrinkled his nose, "She's human, right?"

Bo punched Dyson's arm. "So? She's smart and nice. I'm asking her." Bo hurried off in Lauren's direction.

Kenzi turned to glare at Dyson, "What's wrong with humans? Hello?"

"You're different," Dyson gave her his most charming smile, "It's…I don't know. It's that Bo shouldn't make too many attachments to humans, it's not…"

Now Kenzi punched his arm, "Seriously?"

He winked at her, "Don't take it so personally, Kenz, it's just Fae business. Bo will become a powerful and important Fae, and no human will be able to keep up with her, that's all."

Kenzi rolled her eyes and started playing with her phone, while they waited for Bo.

XXXX

Lauren peeked her head up as she heard Bo approaching, "Good morning," she grinned slightly, "Are you excited for the first day of school?"

Bo shrugged, "Not really. I came over to see if you'd like to walk with my friends and I?"

Lauren quickly glanced over to the pair, Dyson scowled and waved sarcastically while Kenzi seemed to not be paying attention.

"I don't think my brother would let me. I'm supposed to go with him, today, he wants to talk with the principal about something."

As if waiting for his cue, Nick stepped out of the door. "Lo, you ready?" His expression fell briefly upon seeing Bo, then as if realizing his misstep replaced it with a toothy grin. "Hello, Bo. Nice to see you again."

"And you. I was just asking Lauren if she wanted to walk with us to school."

Nick studied Kenzi and Dyson, briefly, "That's very kind of you to include Lauren but I must insist on taking her today."

Bo tried not to let her disappoint show on her face, "Ok. See you at school then."

"Bye, Bo," Lauren said, she didn't smile directly at Bo, not in front of Nick. Instead she smiled at the ground.

Bo returned to her friends, she must have looked upset because Kenzi wrapped her arms around Bo's shoulder, and said, "Hey don't worry BoBo, I'm sure you'll see her at school."

XXXX

The day was half over, and Bo hadn't seen Lauren anywhere. It was frustrating, she'd hoped she would be able to see Lauren throughout the day, but figured it was improbable as Lauren was a year younger and they most likely wouldn't have the same classes. But she still hoped and looked all day.

Bo was exhausted, the day had been long and tedious, but lucky for her, study period was next, and maybe she could get in a little nap.

She walked into the room, and was momentarily frozen, when she saw Lauren sitting in the first row, reading. It was the first good thing to happen to her all day.

She smirked and walked over taking the seat next to her. "Hey."

Lauren looked up and saw Bo smiling at her; she glanced down self-consciously, "Bo, how has your first day going?"

Bo began pulling her books out of her bag, "Ok, I guess." Bo didn't hate school, but she preferred to hang out with her friends instead of being stuck in class all day.

"Oh god, that bitch from chemistry class is in here." Bo heard a boy from the back of the class shout. Bo turned to Lauren, who just rolled her eyes and continued reading her book.

"Who is that jerk?" Bo asked angrily.

Lauren shrugged, "I couldn't tell you."

"She's the fucking worst! She thinks she knows everything. She's so annoying!" somebody else shouted behind them.

About the same time, tiny pieces of balled up paper started landing on Lauren's desk, a few hitting the back of her head, followed by loud laughter from the back of the room.

Bo felt her whole body stiffen, "That's it," Bo muttered, as she started to get up, but Lauren reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Bo, what are you doing?" Lauren whispered giving Bo a pleading look.

"I'm going to tell those morons, to shut up and leave you alone, is what!" she glared at the boys behind them.

"Please don't. Just ignore them." Lauren whispered and Bo temporarily forgot her anger, looking at Lauren's earnest expression. "You'll just make it worse. I'm used to it."

Bo slumped back in her seat and crossed her arms over her chest. "It's not right. They shouldn't talk about you, they don't even know you." Bo quickly turned back and stared at the group behind them, "But if one more piece of paper hits you, I'm going back there."

Lauren squeezed Bo's arm, trying to calm her, "Really it's fine." Lauren regarded Bo carefully. "If you ignore it, people like that will get bored and move on to something else."

Bo slumped further down into her seat and turned away from the group. Maybe Lauren was right, but she thought somebody needed to teach them a lesson-somebody like her. Bo's entire body went tense with anger at the thought of anyone laughing at or disrespecting Lauren, but she would respect Lauren's wishes-for now.

XXXX

At dinner that night, Bo found her ability to drown out her family's discussion about Fae politics impossible. So she sat there listening, internally rolling her eyes at the same stories she'd heard hundreds of times, the same petty disagreements, over and over.

"Did the Light have something to do with Lauren's father's death?" Bo blurted out. The question had been nagging Bo for months, and she figured if she had to listen to them talk she might as well try and get some answers. She knew that Fae problems had a way of just going away sometimes.

"You're too young to understand such matters." Trick answered dryly.

"So that's a yes."

"I didn't say that."

Bo was not content to accept Trick's non-answer.

"What happened then?"

"Be careful, Bo. That's between the Light Fae and Lewis family." Aife interrupted in a tone that signaled to her to drop the conversation.

Kenzi gave Bo a knowing look, and Bo decided to drop the subject.

XXXX

After dinner, Kenzi and Bo sat together outside.

Kenzi watched Bo carefully and narrowed her eyes, "Bo, do you really think your family would admit to you that the Fae killed Lauren's father?"

Bo sighed and turning to her friend. "No. But I was hoping for some honesty for a change."

"Maybe there are some things that are better not to know," Kenzi whispered. "If the Fae did have something to do with his death, that information is a huge burden to carry around."

Bo didn't respond, she only ran her finger through her hair and took a deep breath.

XXXX

Lauren listened in the dark to her mother's unsteady movements around the house, then she heard the bedroom door open and close again, indicating that finally she'd gone to bed.

When she was sure her mother was asleep, she crept into her room to check on her. She had grown accustomed this nightly routine; she listened to her breathing and covered her with a blanket, kissed her cheek.

She spent a few moments staring at her mother, lost in thought, then headed downstairs to get a glass of water, stopping at her brother's study.

Lauren stopped in the doorway and eyed her brother, who was bent intently over something on his desk.

A memory hit Lauren while watching her brother. It was the last Christmas they shared as a family, before her father's death.

"Lo, wake up," her brother whispered. Lauren opened her eyes sleepily to find her brother's smiling face looking back at her.

"What?" she asked through yawns.

"I want to give you your Christmas present. Come on. Come on." He said quiet but excitedly, shaking her into wakefulness.

He took her downstairs, told her to keep her eyes closed. He was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet with anticipation.

"Ok. Open your eyes."

She did, and her heart soared. Her very own microscope with a giant red bow tied around it, it was perfect.

She pulled him into a tight hug, "Thank you so much, Nick."

He squeezed her back, "You're welcome, Lo. Only the best for my little sis."

That felt like a lifetime ago to Lauren, looking at her brother now he might as well be a stranger. There was something between them now-something that was left unclear to Lauren.

She knocked lightly on the door. He glanced up briefly then back down, "Mother's asleep," she said.

He said nothing.

It was useless, her efforts of that subject would go nowhere, "I think I'm going enjoy my new school," unable to control the smile that snuck onto her face as she thought instantly of Bo.

"That's great Lauren, hope you do," he said, absentmindedly, his tone was off.

"Bo's really nice, don't you think?"

His head sprang up at that. He stared at her, his eyes blazing intensely. Lauren was taken back by his reaction. "You don't think so?" she asked.

"No," he said flatly, "Don't forget our place here, Lo. Don't be fooled by the nice house they gave us. We're prisoners and nothing more. Everything they give us comes with a price."

"Don't you think it's more complicated than that? I mean…"

"Sometimes you're so juvenile it makes me want to vomit," he said, acidly. "How can someone so smart truly be that fucking naïve about the world?" At this point, he was almost shouting.

She stood there, stunned and confused, feeling trapped by his harsh response and not sure what to say next.

Once, when she was eleven, some kid was teasing her about her experiments and Nick had pointed a finger squarely in his chest, threatening him. That didn't stop them, of course, but that's how Nick used to be with Lauren, very protective. This was the first time, in her life, he'd spoken to her like that.

After a few minutes of awkward quiet, Nick spoke again, "I'm sorry, Lo." He got up from his desk. "All these changes are very stressful." He placed his hands on her shoulders and squeezed. "We've been through a lot lately. Just don't get too close to these Fae, ok? We are not like them. Remember that all we have is each other."

Lauren nodded uneasily, "Goodnight, Nick."

He eyed her suspiciously as she walked away. He called out, "Bo is not different than the rest of them. Remember."

Lauren went to her room and flopped down on the bed, placing her arm over her eyes. An odd mixture of confusing thoughts and emotions crept through her.

She couldn't stop thinking about her brother's words and the harshness of his tone. It was the same speech he had given her when they first arrived, to trust him and only him that he would keep her safe now that their father was gone.

But Lauren was conflicted about Bo. She felt deep down within her that Bo was trustworthy, that she was different.

XXXX

Over the next few weeks, Bo tried several more times to get Lauren to walk with them to school but she declined every time. So Bo being stubborn Bo continued to ask, hoping one day she would say yes.

Dyson would roll his eyes every time Bo decided to ask, "Bo, let it go she's never going to walk with us."

"Can't hurt to ask." Bo would respond smiling, sometimes she wondered if she wanted an excuse to talk to Lauren.

Lauren would always thank Bo and decline her offer. She didn't mind Bo asking, even if she couldn't say yes because her brother, the fact that she continued to ask made her happy.

Bo anxiously watched the clock, daily, waiting for study period, so she could see Lauren. It was the only time throughout the day Bo ever saw her, it was like Lauren just disappear the rest of the day, but Bo continued to look for her-always.

Bo noticed Lauren was reading over her assignments. At first she thought she imagined it. She would always feel like she was watching her, but whenever she looked at her, her face would be down. She finally realized that she was staring at her work-she could see her eyes moving rapidly over her assignments.

Bo felt like she should say something about it. But then again, Bo always wanted to say something to Lauren-to talk to her-she was always looking for an excuse to chat with her. But Bo didn't say anything about it.

XXXXX

The next day, when Bo walked into the cafeteria, Dyson and Kenzi were already sitting down. Dyson was sporting his most self-satisfied expression.

Bo's eyes wandered back and forth between them, "What?" Bo asked taking a seat. For some reason, she got the feeling that they were talking about her.

Kenzi pushed Dyson, "Do it." She whispered.

Dyson's smug smile grew wider by the second.

Bo cocked her head to the side and gave him a look that told him to spit it out already.

"I want to take you to the Homecoming Dance, Bo." He looked her right in the eye. She thought maybe he had been practicing this in the mirror before asking her.

Bo desperately wished she hadn't joined them. She suddenly felt very uncomfortable.

Her family always wanted this, Dyson and her dating. She lost count of the amount of times Trick would refer to Dyson as that strapping young Fae. He'll do great things for the Light. Good genes, noble family. She would just roll her eyes at his lack of subtly.

The bell rang, and Bo was grateful for the excuse, "Guess we'll have to talk about this later." She was very relieved to be let off the hook for the moment.

"Sure," Dyson said winking at Bo.

XXXX

Bo was having a shitty day and was more than happy for it to be over, she decided to walk alone. She didn't want to have that conversation with Dyson, so avoided him for the rest of the day.

When she walked around the corner, she caught a glimpse of Lauren heading into to the library.

She decided to follow her.

She stood there, watching Lauren. Her head was down as she was reading over a large book, with dozens more books and papers spread around her.

Lauren was only distantly conscious of someone watching her as she studied the book in front of her.

Bo, after a moment, decided to go up to Lauren and say something. She hesitated, not wanting to disturb her, before blurting out an awkward "Oh yay, Lauren."

Lauren looked wide-eyed as if she was being pulled out of her own little world, "Bo. What are you doing here?" she gasped out, startled.

"Ha! Surprised to see me in a library, huh?"

Lauren's cheeks redden slightly, "Of course not. It's just that I've been coming here after school for awhile, and I've never seen you here before."

"Lauren, I was joking."

Lauren was visibly relieved, and that seemed to give her the courage to ask Bo to sit down.

"You come here every day?" Bo asked.

"Yes. I like to challenge myself, and since I'm ahead in all my classes I come here to further my studies."

There was a pause; then Bo emitted a soft laugh, "Boredom? Is that why you're always reading over my assignments?"

Lauren looked embarrassed again. "Sorry about that." She paused briefly. "You're very smart Bo."

"Really?"

Lauren nodded.

"Thanks, Lauren."

There was something really stimulating about knowing that someone-someone like Lauren, who was incredibly intelligent, thought she was smart. There was something kind of brave and inspiring about the way Lauren seemed to embrace her intelligence.

XXXX

The next day, Bo knew she couldn't put off talking to Dyson any longer.

Dyson strolled up to Bo looking as if he'd just won the lottery.

She took a breath before concentrating on her feet, "What?"

"So, have you thought about the dance at all?"

Bo looked up into at his confident and hopeful face.

She smiled back at him, she'd known him her whole life, it was almost as if their families had matched them together at birth. On paper they were perfect for each other. But…

"Things are crazy, right now. I don't think I have time to go to Homecoming this year."

It wasn't a lie. Things in Bo's life were crazy at the moment.

He looked disappointed.

"It's cool. But I'm not going to stop asking until you say yes."

He probably thinks that's romantic, Bo thought.

XXXX

Later that day, Bo walked into the library, casually searching for Lauren, who immediately lifted her head to find Bo walking up. They both couldn't help it, they grinned at each other.

As soon as she sat down, she began pulling her books out of her bag. "What are you working on today, Lauren?"

"Just some biological chemistry," Lauren said, lifting the largest book Bo had ever seen.

Bo's eyes got wide. "Sounds exciting."

Lauren bit her lip and grinned.

Every afternoon when Bo walked into the library, she worried that Lauren wouldn't be there, that she would suddenly stop coming. So far, it hadn't happened.

They would sit next to each other, every day, sometimes doing separate work, and sometimes Lauren would help Bo with a subject she was having a hard time with. Lauren had a way of making even the most boring subjects sound interesting. Lauren's eyes would get so bright whenever Bo would finally understand a difficult subject and Bo loved getting that reaction from her. Lauren enjoyed absorbing information, so much, and being around her Bo found it contagious.

But some days, they sat talking about nothing important, movies, music, anything really.

Bo enjoyed discussing things with Lauren. Lauren was smart, her mind worked differently than other people and she would always pick up on things that Bo had missed, she would challenge Bo to look deeper into everything. Lauren was a big picture kind of thinker, and it fascinated Bo how she was able to connect so many things.

As a succubus, Bo felt that people were drawn to her for her natural charisma and perfectly sculpted features, but Lauren always seemed genuinely interested in her beyond all that.

They tended to agree about most of the important things and quarreled over the small stuff. Bo loved it when they would argue over trivial things, and Lauren would get very serious and frown Bo couldn't help but tease her more.

Bo's favorite thing to tease Lauren about was Star Trek; Lauren was a big fan, and Bo would call it boring and campy. Lauren would get very incredulous, "It's classic" she'd gasp, then go into a detailed discussion about how great it was and she even made Bo promise to watch one of the movies with her sometime.

Bo hated Star Trek, but she loved hearing Lauren talk about Star Trek.

XXXX

Bo sat on her bed finishing up her homework when she heard a light tapping on her window.

She got up cautiously. She had no idea who would be at her house at this hour. She peeked through the curtains and saw Lauren.

She opened the window. "Lauren, what are you doing here?"

"Sorry about coming over so late, can I come in?"

Bo opened the window more, and Lauren crawled in. Bo got a good look at her for the first time; her eyes were puffy and her cheeks were red.

Bo frowned and was about to ask what was wrong when Lauren spoke first. "I remembered you where reading, Jane Eyre, in your English class and thought maybe it would be fun if we read it together."

For some reason, Bo knew Lauren didn't want to talk about why she was crying, so she decided not to push the subject. "Sure, that would be great." She smiled.

Lauren's face lit up like a billboard. "Really? Great. Is now a good time?"

Bo nodded.

They climbed into Bo's bed, and Lauren began reading. Bo just sat there watching Lauren as she read. Lauren had a habit of frowning whenever she was concentrating, and Bo found it very adorable.

After about 2 hours of reading they both had fallen asleep. Bo woke to find Lauren sleeping beside her. "Lauren." She whispered. "Lauren it's late I think you need to get home." Bo knew that if her mother caught Lauren sleeping over, she would never hear to end of it.

"Ok," Lauren answered sleepily. "Sorry about falling asleep," she said through a yawn.

She got up, walked to the window, "Thanks, Bo. This was fun," she said as she crawled out the window.

Bo watched her go. She felt regretful for sending Lauren back home, her mind drifted back to how uncomfortable she felt meeting Lauren's mother and how upset Lauren looked earlier. But Bo knew she didn't have a choice, her mother would freak if she found Lauren sleeping in her room.

After that night, Lauren would often show up at Bo's window. Sometimes looking upset, other times not. Bo would pull out a book and they would read together. They didn't need to talk about it. If this was a safe place for Lauren, Bo would give that to her without questions or discussions.

XXXX

Bo walked into the kitchen grinning from ear to ear; Lauren had just left after one of their reading sessions and Bo felt energized and content.

Aife entered shortly after, she leaned against the wall, arms crossed over her chest, "What are you so happy about?"

Bo and Aife had come to an agreement about Lauren, as long as Bo continued her lessons with her grandfather without complaint, Lauren could come over whenever she wanted. Aife knew that she had to pick her battles with Bo carefully as her daughter was very strong-willed. But Aife was uneasy about how Bo seemed to form such an attachment to this human so quickly.

Bo shrugged. She didn't want to mention that Lauren had just left; she was not in the mood for that particular battle tonight.

"Mhm," she stared at Bo very seriously. "Why does Ms. Lewis feel the need to come over here so often?"

Bo rolled her eyes, of course her mother knew Lauren was here, she always knew.

"She doesn't talk about it much."

"Don't you find that strange?" Aife said, obviously not satisfied with Bo's answer.

Bo turned to her mother; she face flushed with anger, "We all have things we can't or won't talk about." Bo was getting increasing annoyed that this conversation. "I think you know that better than most."

Aife gave Bo an intense stare. "It's important to learn about humans, for now, but don't get too close to this girl," she said, "Never forget that you're Fae, and she's human. You don't belong in each others worlds."

"So, what," Bo said angrily; she was tired of how her family spoke about humans, especially Lauren.

"We know very little about this girl, about her family. Henry made a lot of enemies during his time on the run."

Bo sighed, ignoring her mother's comment.

"You have an important role in our world, Bo, don't jeopardize that for this human." The way her mother said 'human' sent a shiver down Bo's spine.

Without saying another word, Bo walked from the kitchen, away from her mother. She couldn't stand there for another second and get lectured about Lauren and their friendship.

Bo didn't understand why her mother was so against her friendship with Lauren; the Lewis family was under the protection of the Light Fae, why couldn't they be friends?

XXXX

After dinner, Lauren usually disappeared into her room to read or look over her research. Her brother was home early tonight. He looked tired, more tired than usual like he was collapsing from the inside out.

He lost him temper over something stupid-their mother had stumbled and broken a glass. He had screamed at Lauren to take her upstairs and put her to bed.

Lauren put her mother to bed and walked downstairs to find Nick cleaning up their mother's mess.

"What's wrong with you?" Lauren asked, not that she thought he'd tell her, he was always in a bad mood these days.

He let out a long drawn out sigh. "Work stuff."

Lauren was silent and turned to leave.

"Don't think I don't know about how much time you spend with Bo."

He didn't look at her.

"We just study together."

She felt guilty reducing her relationship with Bo to that, but she knew that he would never accept their friendship. The truth was Bo had become very important to Lauren.

"Right. Because a succubus is really capable of just studying and being friends with anyone."

Lauren felt her anger rising. "What does that mean?"

"Don't act stupid, you know what it means. Don't forget what she is. That's all. You know what a succubus is."

"I do, and I also know who Bo is, she's kind, smart, funny, stubborn, brave…"

"Yes. I'm sure she's a helpless little kitten, like the rest of them."

For the first time in Lauren's life, she felt like punching someone but instead she walked away.

What could she say to her brother about Bo that would change his mind? He hated the Fae, and he seemed to particularly dislike Bo.

XXXX

Bo and Lauren laid in Bo's bed reading, 'Crime and Punishment'.

Bo let out a long sigh, "Lauren I need a break, this is too depressing and long."

"Mark of a classic, I guess."

"Do you want to do something else? Lets watch a movie or listen to music."

"Sounds great."

Bo turned on her music and climbed back into bed with Lauren.

They were shoulder-to-shoulder, eyes closed, listening, not talking and Bo felt Lauren's hand next to hers. Acting on pure instinct, without thinking, she slid her fingers into Lauren's open palm. Bo held Lauren's hand gently as if it were something precious and elusive, like a frost flower.

As soon as Bo touched her, she wondered why she'd gone this long without doing it. She rubbed her thumb over Lauren's fingers. Her hand was soft and warm, wonderful. They remained holding hands, listening to music until Lauren had to leave.

Neither said a word about it, there seemed to be a growing list of unnamed emotions and moments between them. Like they were building a secret relationship, slowly brick by brick.