Things were a bit awkward after that night. It took a while for us to get back to our old routine of being- Why am I putting a label on this?

Anyway, I ended up sleeping in her bed and she didn't freak out. I remember I was lying there, afraid of feigning sleep again, afraid that she would push me away further if she knew I was intentionally avoiding whatever morning-after conversation that was needed to mend the rift between us.

"You're awake."

She shifted and rolled onto her side to face me. I cracked open my eyes and saw her own looking back at me.

"There was a hitch in your breath just now."

"Oh." I rubbed my eyes as she watched. "Good morning."

It seemed like she wanted to kiss the top of my head but she pulled herself back and simply brushed hair from my eyes. "Good morning."

"Sorry... I got cold, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to climb in."

"It's ok. I don't mind."

Awkward pause.

I cleared my throat and tried to figure out what to say next.

"You know, you don't have to force yourself to be nice to me." She shifted on her back and stared at the ceiling. "You don't have to be so kind to me since I hurt you in more ways than one."

My throat went dry as I tried searching for the words to tell her that I wasn't angry when she continued.

"Looking back now, I just feel like no good could ever come from being with someone like me. I can't offer stability, nor am I exactly the ideal sort of woman in this day and age."

"You shouldn't fit yourself into someone's ideals."

She turned her head to look at me. "You have, inadvertently, put me on a pedestal since we met and I haven't lived up to your expectations, have I?"

I was taken aback by what she said, but I knew my feelings were absolute. "You haven't failed me at all. You live the life you want, you surprise me all the time. I can't possibly have any expectations of that. You live in the moment and that is what matters the most when we're all searching for that something that will make us content with the lives we're living."

"When did you get so philosophical?" She laughed. "You're right, but I think a part of you resents me for going out with Pierre." She stared back at the ceiling again. "Without heartbreak, one cannot move on to better things in life..." Her hand moved around the bed until it found mine.

It was a silent gesture that I understood, but part of me was clouded by my doubts. "Shego, I..."

"You don't have to give me an answer or anything. I want you in my life, regardless of what happens. I don't want us to not be friends because of my foolishness and naïveté."

She knew what I was thinking: it would be too quick if we jumped into another phase of our friendship that wasn't supposed to play out until much later.

I simply squeezed her hand and we laid there until we both fell asleep again.

The next few days were strange. We still hung out every day at the bar but didn't say much. I wondered whether it was because she was embarrassed about what happened, or whether it was because she didn't want to pressure me.

She went back to work immediately, so I found myself waiting for her everyday outside the store after I got off work. By this point in time, we had each other's schedule memorized.

I think the first day, she merely asked, "Jimmy's?" and we found ourselves in the company of familiar faces at the bar.

Her cousin was, in fact, not Jimmy. He was a serious type of man, not much older than myself, who had inherited the bar after his father's death. I remember when Shego first introduced him to me.

"This ass on a stick is," she slapped him on the back, "my cousin, Will."

"Very funny," he deadpanned as he shook my hand. "William Du."

"He's like... A half cousin."

"We're still cousins, regardless of the details. My mother was Shego's aunt, but she divorced her first husband and remarried Jimmy, my father, shortly after," Will clarified as he wiped down the bar with a cloth. "So, what'll it be, ladies?"

"Gin tonic."

"I'll just have a rum and Coke."

"That's a boring drink."

"It's not like yours is any better." I remember I stuck out my tongue at her, earning a chuckle from my companion.

"Who's yer pretty friend, Shego?" An elderly man was sitting with us at the bar and he tipped his cap at me when I looked up.

"This is Kim." She slapped the man on the back. "This here is Old Man George. He's a friend of my pa's."

"Nice to meet you, George."

He grinned at me in response. "Y'know, you should call yer ma, Shego."

"Later."

I remember I gave her a sympathetic look but she returned it with a frown.

Will had leaned over the counter to mutter in my ear as Shego spoke with George. "Shego comes from a prominent business family and they want her to take over, but she refuses."

I kind of looked between the two relatives and blinked.

"Don't dump Kim with all that crap, Will. You're more or less in the same position but your old man left you this place." She gave her cousin a look that could've curdled milk, but, I guess for my sake, her expression softened when she looked at me. "Just family crap."

I didn't ask her about any of it but I was curious as to why Shego would refuse a life of comfort by inheriting the family business compared to a life of working in a video rental store.

"Kim!" Old Man George waved his beer bottle at me. "Guess you found'er, eh?"

"I guess." Shego had walked off to greet someone at another table.

"Everything ok between you two?"

I must've made a face because George laughed.

"What makes you ask that?"

"Seemed like you had a fight or something."

I shook my head.

"Oh, come now, I may be old but I can tell when a pretty young woman like you is troubled by something. I bet that something is Shego."

I shrugged.

"She's a bit stubborn, Kim. I'm sure you've noticed it by now, but she's good folk. You know I've known her since she was a child?"

I cocked my head.

"Whether she likes it or not, I made a promise to her Ma to look out for her. She's always been a handful, but we all just want what's best for her."

I shifted my gaze to the woman who was chuckling at another patron's joke. She looked up just as I looked her way and she gave me a smile.

"Regardless of what happened between the two of you, I'm sure you'll be all right." George took another swig of his beer and winked.

Will placed my usual beer in front of me. "I heard she went back home for a bit."

I nodded. He pulled out a cloth and began drying mugs.

"You ok?"

I looked at him and saw him gazing at me, as if trying to read my emotions.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You don't look it."

"Just tired."

"Give her a chance. Pierre was a jackass anyway." Before I could respond, he walked off to cater to new customers that entered the bar.

"Hey." She sidled up to me and sat down. She nodded at George, who merely raised his bottle in acknowledgement.

"How's work?"

"Same old, same old. I got a new movie you might be interested in." She dug it out of her backpack. The Memo Pad 3.

"They made another?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

We had watched the first two over at her place when we first started hanging out. I guess it did seem natural that we'd watch this next instalment.

"You want to come over and watch this?"

I must've hesitated for a noticeable second because she hastily added, "If you have the time."

"Sure."

"Ok. Cool." Nonchalance was her strength, but I knew that my response made her happy. Her cheeks coloured a bit as she put the movie back into her bag.

We took things slow.

I held onto her hand the moment we stepped outside the bar. To be honest, I had no idea what was happening, but it just felt right.

"I'm... going to try to quit smoking."

She murmured that so quietly that I barely heard it.

I didn't want to ask why but she answered me anyway.

"You were right. I do smoke when I'm stressed but I guess I'd also want to not kill myself slowly with cigarettes."

I nodded. We turned a corner.

"I settled whatever issues I had with my mom." She laughed. "My idiot brother is going to run the family business."

"How-"

"She's given up on trying to get me to help out. Something about me being rambunctious and restless."

"Oh."

"It's all cool. She gave my portion of the inheritance to my brothers. Not like they'll be getting it any time soon. Ma's still got many, many years to go."

"She... wrote you out of the will?!"

"Something like that. All 'cause I live the life I want."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Don't waste your feelings on an old hag like her."

"Are you... ok?" I meant to ask about her financial situation, but the question turned out differently than I had intended.

"I'm dandy. Peachy."

We got to her townhouse and she fished out her keys.

"I'm fine, Kim. Financially, too." She shoved the key into the lock. "My mother is a ruthless businesswoman. It's expected that she toss me aside when she realised I'm no longer an asset to the company."

I pulled on her hand. "You're not an asset. You're still her daughter."

"Maybe to you, but not to her." She tugged to signal that we should go inside. I followed.

"You're your own person, and I think she should acknowledge it."

"Oh, she does, but I'm not doing anything for the company, so think of it as letting me go from our doomed familial duties of keeping the business alive."

She led me to the living room. "Anyway, it's nothing. I was prepared to be cut off anyway." She pulled out the movie from her bag. "I could really use a smoke right now, but..." She gave me a shrug and popped the disc into the DVD player.

I watched her shuffle around the living room before joining me on the couch. She initially kept her distance but I ended up scooting over and placed my head on her shoulder.

"Hey, Kim..."

"Hmm?" The opening credits were playing.

"Why me?"

I looked at her in surprise and laughed. "Why not you?"

"I'm not exactly the best person to be around, Kim."

"That's not true. You're a great person to be around."

"Ok."

"I mean it."

She put her arm around me as the protagonist came on screen. "I know, it's just... Even after all I've done to you, you still-"

I snuggled closer to her. "Doesn't matter."

She kissed the top of my head in response. "Sorry I'm a jerk."

"You're a loveable jerk."

"Hey, I should feel insulted but I guess..." She looked down at me and smiled. "...I'm not."

We remained snuggled on the couch as the movie finished.

"Do you need to head back home?"

I sat up to smooth out the wrinkles in my dress pants. "I have work tomorrow... And I don't have a change of clothes."

"Oh. Do you need a lift home...?"

I could hear it her voice. She simply did not want to be alone, but she did not try to pressure me into staying. She could have told me that I could borrow clothes to sleep in and that I could just leave early in the morning to head back home to change, but she didn't.

I checked my watch. It was only midnight, but I lived on the other end of the city. It would take me about an hour to walk back, half an hour by transit, but only fifteen minutes by car.

"It's ok... I can take the bus."

"Let me drive you. It's late." Shego stood up and cleaned up the coffee table. "It's no trouble."

"Ok."

"Well, here we are."

The drive over was short. Too short. I guess I sat there for a bit too long because she turned to look at me.

"What's up?"

I shook my head. "Nothing."

"Ok. Well, good night."

"Yeah." I leaned in to kiss her - not on the cheek - but the mouth.

I think it took her by surprise because her arm that was resting on the steering wheel slipped and the horn scared both of us.

We laughed and I noticed that she was blushing. This time she was ready so I kissed her again.

"Kim," she said after we stopped for air. "Better if we stop here."

I nodded. "Good night, Shego."

The week flew by and every day we hung out at Jimmy's until it was late.

George stopped me one evening as I headed to the bathroom. "Guess everything's all right."

"Yeah, I guess it is."

"Good, good." He ruffled my hair a bit. "You're good folk, Kim."

"Thanks, George."

When I came back from the bathroom, Shego asked me what all of that was about.

"Oh, nothing, just had a chat with George."

"And you let him ruffle your hair?"

"Guess he treats me like one of his grandkids or something."

She gave a puzzled look as I winked back at George.

The nature of our friendship didn't really change. We hung out. We made out.

I think it took three months before either one of us took it further.

It wasn't because we wanted to abstain from sex... I think it was more for both of us to figure out whether we were on the same emotional level before taking things too far and breaking hearts that weren't meant to be broken.

What happened that night?

I remember we just finished watching a chick flick that ended with me crying and her trying to comfort me. It sounds really cliche but that was what happened.

Before I knew it, she was kissing the tears away but stopped when I realised what was going on.

If anyone else was in the room, she would've thought that we had a staring contest because I did stare at Shego for a bit... Before I kissed her.

One thing led to another and we ended up in her bedroom. That part is a bit hazy because I don't remember going up the stairs... She's strong enough to lift me... In more ways than one.

I remember being naked when she asked it was ok to go any further.

"You got me out of my clothes, isn't that a sure sign?"

"...everything might change again if-"

"So what? As long as we're together... Whatever 'this' might be... Putting a label on it would just constrict us..."

"You're ok with this?"

I remember I crawled on top of her to give her a hug. Her body radiated a heat that pulled me to her. My heart felt warm, I remember, as I whispered in her ear.

"I'm ok with it as much as you are ok with it. We're in this together, don't forget that."

She kissed me. Again and again. In places that I missed with touches that drove me to new heights.

Maybe society's construction of what relationships are supposed to be aren't what we need.

Maybe we're all just free souls meant to not be bound by unspoken rules and norms.

Maybe we're just meant to be.

To live in the present and move forward into the future without thinking too much of what has been, what is, and what will be.

Author's Note: This was a really random story. I'm a bit sorry it actually didn't have much of a point but I felt like writing it down before I forgot about what it was about.