The excuses rushed to Karma's mind so fast, she hardly had time to stop them or even to realize that every one of them was more ridiculous than the last.

"It's not what it looks like," she said, still pressed against Lauren (and trying desperately to ignore the way Lauren turning to look out the window had arched her back and pressed the blonde's chest against her own), her fingers still sliding against the soft skin of the other girl's back.

"Karma."

"OK," Karma corrected. "It was what it looked like. But there was a totally reasonable explanation."

Of course there was. Lauren. Hot and beautiful and sexy Lauren who Karma liked (really liked) kissing.

No. Wait. Not that.

Well… yes, that, but no, not that for Reagan.

"Karma."

"You had something in your eye," Karma said, her fingers tapping along Lauren's spine as she rattled her way through the totally believable (Karma had clearly spent too much time with Lauren, she was even thinking in sarcasm now) explanation. "You had something in your eye and I was trying to help you get it out," she said. "I slipped and fell and our lips just… landed on each other."

Karma nodded for emphasis, as if a few shakes of her head was all it would take to convince Reagan.

"It happens all the time," she said. "Eyes. Lips. Landing. It's perfect."

Lauren's eyes, which had been looking out the window, rolled back in Karma's direction and even with the slight flush Lauren was still sporting (and Karma couldn't help feeling a certain sense of pride at putting that there) she could see the blonde wasn't having it.

"Karma."

Karma slipped one hand from underneath Lauren and held it up. "Wait," she said. "No eyes. Much better idea. Stress."

"Karma…"

"You were getting upset about the traffic jam," Karma said. "And Reagan knows you. She knows that an upset Lauren is not a Lauren anyone wants, am I right?"

Lauren shook her head and wondered, not for the first time, how Karma missed the obvious so frequently.

"Karma," she said, "Reagan's -"

"A smart girl," Karma said. "You're right. She'd never buy that I was kissing you to calm you down."

That much, Lauren had to admit, was probably true. Anyone with eyes could see the effect Karma's kisses had on her. And it had nothing to do with calm.

"Karma."

"What if I was drunk?" Karma asked before quickly answering her own question. "No, it's too early in the day for me to be drunk."

Yup. Too early in the day. That was the problem with that idea.

"I was high," Karma said, her excitement causing her to shift slightly, pressing her down against Lauren, who had to grip her seat in both hands to keep from arching into the contact. "I had a reaction to some medication and you found me wandering the halls and you offered to take me home."

"So you kissed me?" Lauren asked.

Of for fuck's sake… now Karma had her doing it.

"It was the drugs," Karma said, immediately realizing how bad that sounded, she tried to fix it (emphasis on 'tried'). "They confused me," she said. "And I was loopy and I thought you were Amy and I just planted one on you…"

She trailed off, her own words playing on a loop in her mind.

I thought you were Amy

Oh.

Oh… fuck.

"Karma," Lauren said, her voice soft and neutral. She nodded out the window. "Reagan wasn't talking to us."

Karma looked up just in time to see Reagan approaching Mrs. Powers in the van, her arms waving wildly and 'What the hell are you doing' suddenly made much more sense.

A hell of a lot more sense than what she'd said, that was for sure.

Lauren wasn't looking at her. In fact, Lauren was actively looking anywhere but at her. Karma had seen Lauren hurt and she'd seen her angry and she'd seen Lauren glare at someone so intently that she thought she could see that person's soul burning.

This was worse. So much worse.

"Lauren -"

The other girl shook her head and held up a hand. "It's fine," she said. "Don't worry about it."

Don't worry about it?

Who the hell did Lauren think she was talking to? Karma was the 'Don't worry about it' Queen. She'd said those words to Amy about a thousand times over the years and Karma knew the code, she knew what it meant.

Worry about it. Worry a lot.

Lauren glanced back out the window. Reagan was by the minivan's window, her back to them and that meant now was as a good a time as any.

"You should probably go," she said to Karma. "There's not much chance she's not going to see us eventually. If you slip out now…" Lauren stared at the older girl out on the street. "It's simple, really. Shane won't say anything. If anyone's noticed you being late and missing classes, they'll just assume you were with Liam."

"I don't want people to think I was with Liam," Karma said.

"Better than the alternative, right?" Lauren snapped. She squeezed her eyes shut. This… this was why she didn't do… this. Feelings or caring or falling…

Fuck.

Falling. She was falling. And there was going to be no one to catch her and, really, she had only herself to blame for that.

Can I kiss you?

Fuck. Just… fuck all.

"Just go, Karma. Go now, while you can." Lauren fidgeted, trying to scoot herself out from under Karma who seemed intent on making this as hard as possible. "This is your neighborhood. Even if Reagan sees you walking along, it won't seem… weird."

Weird. Right. Weird.

Karma was pretty sure that word fit every single moment of her life since Lauren had asked if she could kiss her. No. Not since then.

Since the moment she'd said yes.

"Karma?"

"Right," Karma said, the word shuddering out of her, and she didn't like how it sounded, not even a little. "Not weird. Not like if she found me here. With you."

Karma noticed it right then and wondered how for the life of her she hadn't seen it once in the last week. With you. It didn't sound right, not exactly (and Karma wondered how much of that was context of the moment) but it didn't sound weird. It didn't sound wrong.

She kinda liked it, actually.

With you.

With you.

Lauren nodded. "Yeah," she whispered. "And if she finds us together…"

(And Karma thought that maybe, just maybe, 'together' sounded even less weird that 'with you' and that was great except Lauren was still trying to kick her out of the car.)

"She'll tell Amy," Lauren said. "You know she will. It'll be the first thing she does."

Karma did know that. She knew that very, very well. Reagan, for all Amy's efforts to convince her differently, still thought her girlfriend was in love with Karma. This.. well this would end that, now wouldn't it? Karma didn't know exactly how Amy would react (though anger, a few choice words about betrayal, and a whole mess of 'what the fuck' seemed like pretty solid guesses) but she knew it wouldn't be good.

She looked out the window at Reagan. She watched as the older girl kept waving her hands, urging Mrs. Powers to get moving. To move it along.

To move on.

Lauren saw it all on Karma's face, or thought she did. She saw Karma realizing how close she was to losing any chance she and Amy would ever have and sodas over the head and tear soaked popcorn be damned, everyone knew there was still a chance.

Unless Reagan ruined it.

"I know how you feel about Amy," Lauren said. "I've never fooled myself about that." Karma didn't look at her and that was all the confirmation Lauren needed. "And I'm… OK… well… not OK… but if you want to… I mean…" She let her head hang. Being noble and self sacrificing wasn't a good fit for her and this… this was just fucking wrong. All of it.

This feeling was wrong. This fear, this fucking terror (and Lauren Cooper didn't do terror) that Karma was going to bolt? That was wrong. And the need… fuck all, that was the worst. Lauren didn't do terror and she sure as hell didn't do need. Not this fast, not this much.

Not with Karma.

Lauren wanted to scream. No. She didn't want that. What she wanted was to get out of the car, dragging Karma behind her, and walk right up to Reagan, right in her face. She wanted to kiss Karma then and there, Reagan and Mrs. Powers and the Miata driving douche and her step-sister be damned.

That was what she wanted but what she said was "If you want to go, Karma, I won't stop you."

She kept her head down, not even raising it when she felt Karma's lips on her forehead, when she felt the other girl press the softest of kisses against her skin. It wasn't like Karma's other kisses. It didn't feel as good.

It felt like the end.

"Motherfucker," she muttered under her breath because, really, what else was there to say while she waited for the inevitable, for Karma to scoot off her and back to her seat and then out the door and then… wherever.

Except…

Karma wasn't moving. Not at all. Unless you counted the fingers of that one hand, still softly drawing circles on the skin of Lauren's back.

(And Lauren wasn't counting those. Not yet. But the longer Karma stayed…)

Lauren raised her head, slowly, and looked into Karma's eyes. She didn't want to because then Karma would see hers and she'd see it all and Lauren didn't want Karma to know, especially if she was just going to go, how much she wanted her to stay.

"I don't know how I feel about Amy," Karma said. "But Amy isn't here." She waved her hand around them, indicating the car. "And she's not here." That same hand flicked between her Lauren. "This isn't about Amy."

"But if Reagan -"

Karma cut Lauren off with a kiss, her hands traveling along the blonde's sides again, fingertips brushing against Lauren's skin beneath the edges of her shirt.

"You can't do that," Lauren said even though every part of her (save maybe her heart) was actually pretty fine with Karma doing that whenever she wanted. "You can't just kiss me every time I say something you don't li-"

Karma kissed her again and Lauren fisted the fabric of the redhead's top, pulling her closer.

"OK," she said when they broke for air. "You can totally do that." And then she blushed because Lauren Cooper didn't do terror and she didn't say things like that, like some breathless little schoolgirl fawning over the Liam Bookers of the world. "Fuck," she muttered. "What have you done to me?"

"Not nearly enough," Karma said. Her eyes snapped wide and she clapped a hand to her mouth as she realized what she'd said and she only hoped Lauren didn't catch it, but then the blonde slid one hand behind her, onto Karma's neck and tugged her back down, letting her lips brush against the other girl's skin as she whispered into her ear.

"Karma? You've got five seconds to get out of this car."

Karma leaned back, her eyes full of fear as she looked at Lauren. "But… but, I thought -"

Lauren held a finger to Karma's lips to quiet her (and didn't once think about slipping that finger between those lips and, oh fuck all, five seconds was too fucking long). "If you're not out of this car in the next five seconds, you're not getting out," she said. "And Reagan or no fucking Reagan, I'm driving you to your house, we're going to your room, and we're going to start checking things off that 'not nearly enough list.'

About a thousand emotions played across Karma's face in the next few moments and Lauren watched them all. She knew this was it. This?

This was her closet door. This was her Amy in the hall.

This was her 'stay'.

Karma leaned in closer and there was something in her eyes that Lauren couldn't quite identify but it made her heart race and it made her hands slip to Karma's hips.

"Amy made her choice," Karma said. She brushed a hand along Lauren's cheek and let the blonde pull her close, her hips pressed flush against Lauren's. "And I'm making mine."

Lauren wasn't sure (she was so afraid to guess wrong) until Karma kissed her and ground her hips down earning a low moan from both of them.

Then she was sure. And right then and there, Lauren stopped caring if Reagan or Mrs. Powers or any-fucking-one was watching them. The only thing that mattered was Karma's lips and hips and her hands on Lauren.

And how fast they could get to the Ashcroft's house.

Karma broke the kiss and slid back into her seat, taking Lauren's hand in hers and settling them both on her lap. "You know," she said. "You're kinda hot when you're bossy."

Lauren swiveled back into her seat, her hand (so sweaty it almost slipped) on the wheel. "Yeah?" she asked. "Glad you think so," she said. "Cause I'm planning to tell you exactly what to do."