Dearest Friends

Tegan and Sara spend much needed time with their friends

Sara woke up the next morning and was immediately filled with relief when she realized she was actually back at her own home in her own bed. It had been far too long. The small comfort it brought her was still nothing compared to the comfort she got from Tegan; but every little bit helped. She yawned and stretched out as she sat up in bed. There was a mess of sheets where Tegan had slept all night, but the right side of the bed was empty. Sara started to panic from the separation when she heard a faint singing coming from the main room. She smiled to herself and let the familiar song calm her. After sitting and listening for a few minutes more she got out of bed and walked to the main room.

"Good morning bella." She smiled sweetly as Tegan stopped singing.

"Hi angel." Tegan smiled back and resumed her singing, "Hey little girl is your daddy home/Did he go and leave you all alone."

"What time is it?" Sara rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, not bothering to check the clock on the wall behind her.

"It's almost ten." Tegan answered before handing Sara a plate with eggs and bacon on it, "I woke up early to get some food. The fridge was empty."

"Thanks." Sara smiled shyly and pulled herself up on the counter to eat her breakfast.

Tegan joined her immediately and they ate in silence, leaning on one another, both happier than they could describe. As much as they had loved recording, they were glad to be home.

Their thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Sara got off of the counter and walked to the door, pausing to look through the peephole before smiling and opening the door.

"Hey Ted." She had no clue how he knew they were here, but she was glad to see him. He had become a comfort to her. Spending over a month in a studio with someone led to one of two things; either you loathe them at the end of it or you love them more than anything. And she definitely loved Ted more than she had when she was just his bartender.

"Welcome home Sara." He smiled and pulled her into a huge hug, lifting her off the ground and spinning her once, "Tegan texted me this morning and I couldn't help but come over and see you guys."

"I'm glad you're here." She smiled back at him, "It's been so long." She joked.

"Hey Ted." Tegan walked up to the doorway.

"Hey Tegan." He gave her the same treatment her gave Sara.

"Come on in." Sara stepped out of his way, unblocking the door area, "Make yourself at home."

"I hope I didn't interrupt anything." He spoke the last word as he raised his eyebrows meaningfully.

"Just having some bacon and eggs." Tegan rolled her eyes at him.

"I'm sorry Montreal didn't go well." He gave Sara a sympathetic smile.

"It's okay." She smiled weakly, "I really needed to come back to Vancouver anyway, I missed home."

"And home missed you." She gave him a puzzled look, thinking that he was just being strange. He realized what he said and clarified, "I mean," He chuckled, "Emy and Lindsey were at the bar last night and they were asking where you guys were."

"Really?" Sara's eyes lit up, "We should go see them later today Tee."

"Sure!" Tegan smiled at the idea, she hadn't realized how much she missed her friends until Ted mentioned them.

They spent a few minutes just talking, reminiscing a few good moments from their time in Seattle. That's when Ted said something that reminded Tegan of a question she had for him.

"Yeah," Ted said after laughing at something Sara recounted, "That sounds like some people I've worked with."

"That reminds me Ted," Tegan turned all her attention to him, "What exactly do you do at you business."

Ted was taken aback. He stuttered his way through, "W-well, um…" He seemed a bit uncomfortable talking about his business, "We uh, do insurance."

That was definitely the last thing Tegan expected his secret to be, "What kind of insurance?"

"Pretty much anything," He stated, regaining his composure, "We deal exclusively with the rich and famous."

"Oh?" Tegan fought back a laugh, "You're a snob, eh?"

Ted let out a chuckle, "Kind of, yeah." He smiled and got into detail, "Our big money comes from musicians. Those guys will insure anything and everything. We actually have insured drumsticks."

"Who would ensure that?" Sara laughed as she asked her question.

"People are ridiculous when it comes to their belongings." He laughed along with her, "It's mostly guitars though. You wouldn't believe the kind of money people spend to keep their guitars insured. Basically," Ted started to open up a bit more about what he did for a living, "We fix anything that gets broken, so guitars are a big deal, and we replace them if they get lost or stolen. Plus, we help try and track down lost or stolen items. So, people throw money at us."

"That's pretty cool." Tegan stated coolly, but on the inside she was giddy, "Maybe someday we'll pay you to insure our guitars."

"Maybe." He smiled warmly, "You could even get some sort of friend and family discount."

They sat for a while, listening to Ted explain some of the details of what he does, and telling them about some of the weirder things that were insured. He didn't stay long due to a work related time crunch.

"I'll see you guys at The Hap soon." He smiled as he walked out the door.

"See you later Ted." Tegan smiled and shut the door after he left, "I'm gonna call Lindsey and see if we can come over and hang out."

"Okay." Sara smiled and turned toward her room, "I'm taking a shower and putting on clean clothes."

She walked back to her room and grabbed a black v neck and skinny jeans and set them aside on her bed before walking into the small bathroom. She stayed in the shower longer than necessary letting the warm water wash away her wariness from the plane flight. She exited the shower and looked at herself in the mirror. If she didn't know better, she would never guess that her life had ever been bad. She didn't even recognize herself. Just yesterday she was a mess. But now she could see joy in her eyes. She smiled at her own reflection.

She took her time picking out her underwear. She decided and a pair of dark boy shorts and a plain black bra. She took a look at herself in the body mirror hanging on the wall next to her bed and smiled. Pleased with how she looked she put on her clothes and walked back to the main room.

"You look good." Tegan smirked and eyed her from head to toe.

"Thanks." Sara smiled and took her time studying Tegan. She was wearing a dark button up with her black tie and dark slim fitting jeans, "You look better though."

Tegan grinned and blushed, "Agree to disagree."

Sara grabbed her leather jacket from the couch, "Are we going to Emy and Lindsey's?"

"Yeah," Tegan eyed her as she pulled the jacket on, "They said to come over any time."

"Let's go then." Sara impatiently opened the door and tapped her foot; beckoning Tegan to walk out passed her. As Tegan walked past Sara took the time to check out her backside. Tegan noticed and added a bit extra to her step.

"Like it?" She turned her head grinning.

"God yes." Sara practically drooled as she walked into the elevator.

They walked from the elevator to Sara's car and got in. Sara turned the key and the engine came to life, the radio following shortly.

"Hey little girl is your daddy home."

"Hey!" Tegan smiled widely, "I was singing this this morning."

They sung along with Bruce Springsteen as they made their way through Vancouver to Emy and Lindsey's apartment. Sara parked the car and quickly went over to Tegan's door, opening it and letting Tegan out.

"Wow," Tegan grinned at her, "I ended up with the perfect gentleman."

Sara said nothing, but she held out her hand and helped Tegan stand up. They walked up to the door of the apartment building holding hands.

Sara pressed the button for the apartment they were visiting.

"Hello?" Lindsey's always cheery voice came through the speaker.

"Hey Lindsey," Sara smiled with the excitement of getting to see her friends, "It's Tegan and Sara."

"Oh my god!" Lindsey let out a slight squeal, "Come on up!"

She buzzed them in and they too the elevator to the fourth floor.

Tegan took charge by knocking on the door to the apartment.

"It's open." They heard Lindsey call from inside.

They walked in, still holding hands, past the kitchen, and they were greeted enthusiastically from the living room.

"Come on over here!" Lindsey had the biggest smile on her face.

They both smiled in back and walked over to the couch.

"Where's Emy?" Tegan asked after exchanging hugs and hellos.

"She just finished a shower," Lindsey looked over at the bedroom door, "She should be out here in a few seconds."

As if on cue, the door opened and Emy stepped out, "I was wondering what all the noise was."

"Emy!" Tegan and Sara spoke in unison.

"Hey guys." Emy grinned widely, "I'm so glad you're back. We've missed seeing you perform at The Hap."

"Hopefully next time you see us perform it will be at someplace bigger than a bar." Tegan smiled, clearly excited at the prospect of playing at an actual venue.

"Yeah?" Emy hugged her, "I'd love that." After hugging Tegan she turned and hugged Sara.

"Oh!" Tegan exclaimed, "Did you have a chance to think up any ideas for artwork?"

"Artwork?" Lindsey spoke up, "What artwork?"

"Surprise." Emy grinned childishly, "Tegan and Sara asked me to do artwork for their album."

"What?" Lindsey didn't know whether to be happy or mad, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Tegan jumped in, "Well," Lindsey turned her attention toward her, "We actually want you to help out too."

"With what?" Lindsey raised an eyebrow, showing her interest, despite not knowing what was being offered.

"Photography," Tegan stated bluntly, "Every band needs a photographer."

"Yes." Lindsey's face lit up, "I'd love to be your photographer!"

"Awesome!" Sara beamed, pleased that they had that much less to worry about.

"I have some ideas." Emy gave her response to Tegan's earlier question, "I can show you a few pictures and sketches."

"I'd love to see them." Tegan smiled and Emy motioned for her to follow her to her room.

"Sorry it's such a mess." The apology wasn't necessary, it wasn't any messier than Tegan's own apartment, "I have it all saved on my laptop." She grabbed for the computer that was sitting on the bed.

She showed Tegan several different pictures and ideas. After ten minutes of looking through and debating, Tegan felt confident in her decision.

"Definitely the book one." Tegan gave her opinion, "Let's go show Sara. Hopefully she agrees."

They walked back out to the living room where Lindsey was laughing over something Sara had just said.

"Did he really say that?" She asked while laughing.

"Yeah!" Sara grinned and let out a chuckle, "The studio brought out a different side of Ted."

Tegan butted into the conversation, "Hey Sara," She smiled at the look on Sara's face when she had heard Tegan's voice, "I'd like your opinion on something. I've narrowed it down to a few different designs."

Sara got up from the couch and Emy showed her a few of her ideas.

"The dirt one with the book." Sara made her decision almost immediately.

"I was hoping you'd pick that." Tegan let out a sigh of relief, "I guess that's settled. You should send it me so I can forward it to Chris."

"Okay." Emy was clearly excited about them actually liking her artwork.

They spent most of the day hanging out at Emy and Lindsey's. Both of them had a lot of questions about the studio. And Tegan and Sara tried to answer all of them. Sara was able to almost forget about the pain that was brought back by Montreal. Her life had improved greatly since she moved. And for that she was grateful; especially for her friends in Vancouver. They didn't need to know about her past. They just accepted her as she was. And Tegan, oh Tegan. Tegan made her forget everything. She was her comfort zone. Her calm in the storm. She was brought out of all her thoughts when Tegan mentioned that it was probably time to go home and get some sleep. She smiled and nodded her agreement and then said goodbye to Emy and Lindsey.