The Second Day Off

Tegan and Sara take advantage of their last day off before getting back to recording

Tegan woke up when it was still dark out. She looked at the clock and saw that it was barely after five. She turned to admire Sara's sleeping form. The way she was curled up, hands as a pillow, was the perfect level of innocence. It made Tegan think about what Sara would have been like if Jessie were still alive. Maybe she would have been happier, but Tegan probably would never have met her, at least not under the same circumstances. She brushed Sara's hair behind her ear.

"I'm so sorry you lost your best friend." Tears were starting to form, "I hope I never know what that feels like. At least when my mamma died she went to a happier place, away from her living hell. But Jessie was in a happy place. I'm so, so sorry Sara." She cried silently, "I don't know how you survived that kind of pain. But I promise it won't happen again. I won't let it happen again." She planted a kiss on Sara's cheek and got out of bed.

She walked quietly to her door. The hallway was silent; no one was up yet, at least not on their floor. Tegan tiptoed over to Ted's room and knocked quietly. After waiting for a couple minutes she turned to walk back to her room. Then the door opened.

"Tegan?" Ted squinted sleepily into the hall, "What are you doing up so early?"

"We went to bed early and I didn't want to go back to sleep."

"Do you want to talk?" She nodded and he let her in his room. It looked the same as her and Sara's, only mirrored.

She sat down in a small armchair near the bed, "I just want to thank you for hiring Sara."

Ted smiled faintly, too tired to give a full effort, "No problem."

"Why did you hire her?"

"She came with a good resume."

"But I mean you get tons of applicants on a monthly basis."

"Yes," Ted was a little confused, "And I hired her because she really fit what I needed."

"Ted, I know you," Tegan tried to be as serious as possible, "There was a reason beyond her resume."

He let out a short sigh, "Yes, I suppose there was."

"What was it Ted?" She knew Ted well enough to know when he had hired someone for sentimental reasons. The way he interacted with Sara showed that he really cared about her more than his other employees.

"Honestly," Ted gulped in the morning air, "One of her references was a childhood friend of mine. Well, he's a few years older than I am, but he was my neighbor growing up and we always got along well. Anyway," He got back to the point, "I called him up and as soon as he realized who it was, he told me a bit of Sara's story. As soon as I heard that she had left to try to escape her family and the death of a close friend, I knew I had to at least interview her." Tegan nodded, her eyes begging him to continue, "Apparently she had been calling him every day since her friend's death. He was an intern at a hospital at the time, it was his first night working the emergency room, and he connected with her immediately. He let me know that he was afraid for her. She had started acting erratic again. After she left she hadn't called him. So when he heard that she was looking for a job he begged me to hire her." Tegan could see a few tears in Ted's eyes, "He had been afraid that she would do something…drastic. He asked me to keep an eye on her, so I hired her. And she just so happens to be the best worker at the bar."

"Thank you Ted," Tegan felt a few tears on her cheeks, "I don't know what I would be doing right now without her. You saved two lives by hiring her." Ted pulled her onto his bed, embracing her, comforting her with every ounce of his big brother abilities.

"I'm so glad of that, Tegan." He rocked her back and forth, calming her down by a good amount.

She just curled up in his arms, letting her emotions out. Ever since she heard about her dad she had a lot of emotional buildup. Ted sat there and held her tight.

"Now go back to her." He kissed the top of her head, "Let her know that there is someone who loves her more than anything in the world. She needs it as much as you do."

She nodded and mouthed a thank you, too emotional to speak.

"Anytime you need me," Ted smiled, "I will take all the time it needs to do whatever it is that you need."

She returned the smile and walked back to her room. She reentered the room as silently as possible and crawled back in bed.

She pulled Sara into a hug and she felt Sara stirring, but she was still asleep. Tegan knew she would never be able to thank Ted enough for what he had done. If he had never hired Sara, Tegan would still be just playing at the bar on weekends with no hope of a career. Sara was her saving grace in so many ways. She was flawless in her ability to constantly comfort Tegan. Perfect even when she was the broken one and Tegan comforted her. In Tegan's eyes, she could do nothing less than perfection. Sara stirred again, this time slowly opening one eye.

"Is it morning?" She asked before letting a small yawn escape.

"It's too early to get up angel." Tegan kissed her forehead, "Go back to sleep."

"But if I go back to sleep I can't look at you." Sara pouted.

"I'll be in your dreams," Tegan kissed her cute button nose, "I promise."

"Okay." Sara mumbled and placed her head under Tegan's chin, "Goodnight then."

"Sweet dreams angel." Tegan allowed herself to fall back asleep; taking comfort in Sara's arms, and silently thanking whatever deity it was that had put them together. She chuckled softly, imagining that Ted was really a god of some sort.

Next thing she knew she was waking up in the late morning, and Sara was sitting up in bed reading a book. She smiled to herself, watching Sara's brow furrow in concentration at whatever it was she was reading.

"Hi angel." Sara jumped at the sound of Tegan's voice.

"You're awake." She smiled at Tegan, "Did you sleep well?"

"I slept very well." They sat in silence, both smiling at the thought of just being there together, "Whatcha reading?"

"Um…" Sara looked a little embarrassed, "It's a kid's book. It's called 'The Phantom Tollbooth'."

"Really?" Tegan chuckled, "A kid's book Sara? I was definitely expecting some sort of deep and meaningful book."

"But it's a quirky kid's book." Sara pulled the corners of her lips down, "It's really enjoyable."

"Whatever you say." Tegan flashed her gummy smile.

"Don't judge me." Sara smiled back at her.

"I won't." Tegan leaned up to kiss her, "Angels are perfect, so how could I judge perfection?"

Sara blushed and quickly hid her face, "Thanks, that was really sweet."

"I love you Sara." Tegan pulled her into another kiss, "Don't ever forget that."

"How can I when you keep reminding me?" Sara laughed, "I love you too."

Tegan smiled and leaned back into the kiss, deepening it with every second. When she finally pulled away she stared dreamily at Sara, "I love waking up like this."

"Then you'll really love what comes next." Sara grinned mischievously and straddled Tegan's lap. She leaned down and bit softly on Tegan's bottom lip, tugging as Tegan tried to kiss her. Tegan moaned as Sara gave her labret a playful lick.

"Fuck." Tegan breathed as Sara bunched her shirt up, pulling it off with one smooth motion, "You're so damn hot."

"You're hotter." She leaned back down and kissed Tegan passionately.

She grinned after she pulled away. Before Tegan knew it, her boxers were being pulled down. She surrendered herself to it and leaned her head back.

There was a knock on the door.

"Goddammit!" Sara quickly jumped up and walked over to the door and opened it hurriedly, "What Ted?"

"Um…" Ted was confused by her angry tone, "I was just letting you know that I need to go back to Vancouver. Some business needs to be attended to, so I was just letting you know that I am off to the airport."

"Oh." Sara looked behind her nervously, "Are you going to come back down?"

"I don't know when I'll be able to." Ted's spirits seemed to be low, "I'd hate to miss out on the whole recording. So I'll try and find some more time off."

"Well hopefully you can." She smiled at him, "See you in…well…probably like a month."

"Yeah," Ted knew he had interrupted something intimate, "Tell Tegan bye for me. And get back to whatever it is that you were doing before I interrupted." He winked and laughed.

"God Ted," She shook her head, "Do you enjoy tormenting me?"

He grinned, "Yes!" She shut the door in his face and walked back to the bed.

"What was that about?" Tegan asked as Sara sat down.

"Ted's going to Vancouver." Tegan looked disappointed, "Work stuff. He said he'll try and come back before recording is done though."

"That's good." Tegan let a small smile cross her lips, "I kinda like having him around."

"Yeah," Sara smiled shyly, "He kind of ruined our moment though. So good riddance."

Tegan chuckled and pulled Sara in for a hug, "We'll have plenty of time to make up for that moment."

"Is that a promise?" Sara grinned.

"Yes," Tegan kissed her cheek, "I think we should go out for dinner tonight, and then we can come back here for dessert."

"Oh god." Sara gasped, "That sounds good."

"I was hoping you'd think so." Tegan grinned and kissed Sara, "Let's go find something to do downtown."

"Okay," Sara agreed, getting out of the hotel would be nice, and as long as Tegan was there she didn't care where they went, "Get dressed."

"If you say so." Tegan rolled out of bed and grabbed a fresh pair of jeans and a v neck.

"So, where do you want to go?" Sara asked as Tegan put her clothes on.

"They have a music museum." Tegan pulled her v neck over her head, "It would be cool to seem some of the local artist's stories; like Hendrix and Cobain."

"Then let's go there." Sara smiled.

Tegan had a huge grin on her face. She was looking forward to it; the museum, downtown, and especially spending the day with Sara, her perfect angel.