I am so terribly sorry for the super long, unannounced hiatus! I was in my last few weeks of school and didn't have time and had a lot of writers block. Honestly, I've still got a bit of writers block but I don't want to make you wait any longer. It's summer now, so hopefully I'll have a bit more time to write and can get back to weekly updates! In the meantime, enjoy this next installment. Thanks so much for reading, and feedback is always appreciated :)

Chapter nine: Distance

"…And finally, these are the bedrooms." Pete led Helena, with Myka trailing closely behind, down a wide hallway with doors on both sides. Claudia's and Pete's rooms had their names on the door, and he pointed out Steve, Myka, and Leena's rooms. "I think Leena already put your stuff in the room across the hall from Myka's, but feel free to pick any other unoccupied room you like."

"Across from Myka is perfectly fine with me," Helena said with a smile and a brief glance to the woman mentioned. Myka noticed this from the corner of her eye and turned her head to hide a blush creeping onto her cheeks.

"Now, if you ladies will excuse me, I'm exhausted." He waved goodbye when he entered his room.

"'Night, Pete," Myka called after him.

Pete closed his door, leaving Helena and Myka alone in the hallway.

"Well this place is simply marvelous," Helena said to break the silence between them.

"Oh, that was just the Pete tour," Myka replied. Helena looked at her questioningly. "Pete's version of the tour is just stuff he likes, which doesn't include any of my favorite places! There's a few more little gems here you might like to see." She paused. "Unless you're tired too, it can wait until tomorrow if you want to sleep."

Helena smiled. "I am very awake, and would be delighted if you wanted to show me your favorite things."

The emphasis Helena put on the word 'your' didn't go unnoticed by Myka. She blushed. "It's not much. Just two things, really, and they're not all that great."

"Myka, whatever it is, I'm sure I'll love it."

Myka grinned. "Alright," she said. "Let's go then." Without thinking, Myka grabbed Helena's hand and led her through doorways and corridors to find a pair of large oak doors. Helena stared at the doors curiously, trying to figure out what was behind them. The look of concentration on her face, Myka thought, was adorable. She shook her head at the thought and pushed it to the back of her mind before opening the doors to reveal a small but grand library.

The room was barely larger than a bedroom, but shelves made up all the walls from floor to ceiling, and there were shelves in the middle too. And every last inch of shelf space was covered in books.

"Wow." Helena was breathless. She hadn't seen a collection this large in such a long time. It made her miss her library back home (which was probably ransacked, burned, or destroyed in some other way by now). "This is incredible," she muttered in awe.

Myka nodded, gazing admirably not at the books, but at the woman before her. "Yeah," she agreed. "It's hard to find so many books in one place nowadays. This is my second favorite room here."

Helena turned around and looked at Myka, bewildered. "Second favorite? What could possibly trump this?"

Myka just smiled knowingly and took her hand again, intertwining their fingers this time. She led her around the corner, down another hallway, and through some glass doors and they were outside. Helena gasped at what she saw.

It was a small garden area in the middle of the compound and it was very much outside. They were standing in cool summer air, and they could hear crickets chirping and see the stars above their heads.

There was grass, actual grass. Not dead, brown, dried-up grass, but soft and green and still slightly damp from the last time it was watered. There was a bird bath in the middle of the lawn, and there were flowers all over: lilacs, tulips, daisies, different kinds of roses. There was even a small pond on the far end of the garden.

"This," Myka said, "is my favorite place."

"It's magnificent," Helena said after a moment, still letting the beauty of this little area sink in. Since everyone in the world was either dead or in some sort of safe house or bunker, all of the nicely kept lawns or gardens have all been overgrown or rundown or just died. And sure, there were still a lot of beautiful sights to see out in nature, but there was nothing like this that was still cared for anymore. This was obviously very well-kept and taken care of and Helena loved it.

"It was Leena's idea," Myka explained. "She thought we'd all go mad if we had to stay inside 24/7, so she started this up and she takes care of it. It's in the middle of the entire compound, so it's protected from any outside forces. Birds come down here sometimes."

Helena listened, and nodded. She looked up at the sky. Not a cloud in sight. The stars were bright and clear. She smiled.

"I like to come out here and read," Myka told her. "It's so peaceful."

"It is," Helena agreed. "I love it. Thank you for taking me here." Helena squeezed her hand in thanks, and Myka grinned and blushed, hoping that it was too dark out for Helena to see. The little squeeze made Myka realize that their hands were still tightly clasped together, but she didn't make any move to pull away, and neither did Helena. In fact, Helena squeezed a little tighter and led her over to the bench nearby so they could sit.

"Are you tired?" Myka asked.

Helena shook her head. "No. In fact, I'm afraid I'll be up for a while thanks to that nap I took on the helicopter ride."

Myka laughed. "Me too."

"Are you sure you got enough rest, Sleeping Beauty?" Helena teased. "You seemed very reluctant to wake up."

Myka rolled her eyes. "God, not you too! I already get teased enough by Pete!"

"Oh, darling, you know I don't mean any harm by it," Helena replied.

"I know," Myka agreed. The two women smiled at each other. They sat in silence for a while perfectly content in their company. Helena quickly stroked her thumb against Myka's knuckles, seeing as still neither of them had separated their hands. Myka's cheeks burned and her lips quirked up at the feeling. What are they doing? Helena shouldn't make her feel like this. She didn't want her cheeks to flush or her stomach to flutter with everything the other woman did, but she couldn't stop it.

"You are remarkable," Helena muttered after some time. Myka looked at Helena to find the other woman gazing at her with something in her eyes she couldn't quite place. Myka found herself eyeing the smaller woman's soft lips that had a small smile on them. She subconsciously flicked her tongue across her own lips. She hadn't felt this close to someone in a long time. She could just lean in, and…

Myka quickly pulled her hand away and scooted to the end of the bench as far as she could. She put as much distance between them as possible. Distance, Myka had to remind herself. Don't let anyone closer than they need to be.

"You know what," she said. "I think I am getting a kind of tired." She didn't miss the hurt look on Helena's face, and immediately regretted pulling away. But she couldn't change that now. "I'm going to bed." She stood up and tried to leave the garden.

"Wait," Helena said. Myka flinched, expecting the worst. Or best? Wow, she had a lot to think about. She turned around. "I haven't a clue how to get back to the bedrooms."

"Oh!" Myka said. "Right, uh, come on then. I'll show you the way back."

Helena followed Myka in silence. Neither of them spoke, and they didn't hold hands this time. When they reached their rooms, Myka and Helena turned to face each other.

"Goodnight, Helena." Myka lifted a hand, as if to reach out and touch Helena, but opted not to after a moment and awkwardly brought her hand back to her side.

Helena just nodded and forced a smile. "Goodnight."

Myka couldn't have escaped into her room more quickly. Once the door was closed behind her, wandering thoughts of what ifs and why nots kept her awake.