Sorry for the delay. Say Yes kinda took all my time. So I made sure to include a BIG development on the Karmy vs. Larma front...

Karma saw him before she saw her and that should have been the end of it. Amy had kissed her (which was supposed to be what she'd always wanted) and Lauren had left (and she was never supposed to have been even a thought, much less a want) and now Tommy (fucking Tommy) was there and that should have been the fucking end.

Shoulda coulda fucking woulda.

It should have been the end but Karma couldn't let it be. And she had no idea why.

If Karma'd had an ounce of the brains that God (or Goddess or who the fuck ever) had given her, if she'd had even a smidgen of pride (or the first clue what a smidgen - or pride - was), if she'd been running on anything but a cocktail if anger and lust and just a dash of 'sick of everyone getting all up in her shit' Karma would have climbed back in the truck and gotten the hell out of Dodge the moment she saw Tommy.

Tommy.

Tommy.

Fucking Tommy.

Maybe if she'd been thinking clearly or thinking of anything other than that vision of confident and cocky and smiling Amy (and crushed and betrayed and destroyed Lauren) Karma would have turned tail and run. She could've. She could have run and Amy would have, eventually, chased and sure, Amy was confident and in control and all top now.

Karma could break that in less than a week.

And maybe, a few weeks before, she might have. Maybe, before the party and before 'can I kiss you' and 'stay' and before 'my girl' she might have done exactly that. But Amy's kiss, no matter how good it was (and it was good, fuck all) wasn't a Goddamned time machine and it couldn't take her back and she was, for the most part, pretty fucking sure she wouldn't have wanted it to even if it could.

Or, she was. Until she saw him.

Fucking Tommy.

She recognized it (him) for what it (him) was, she saw right through Lauren's little charade because, let's face it, there was no one better versed in the classic 'I'm fine, so fine that I got back with my ex, the loser one and not the good one, five minutes after I left you cause it'll show everyone that I'm fine and fuck you I don't need you' strategy that only a thousand rom-com heroes and heroines had perfected over the years.

She saw right through it and knew that it (he) didn't mean a thing, not to Lauren, not anymore, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. It didn't mean that at all. "Him," she muttered, as much to herself as to Shane, still staring straight ahead and clutching the seat belt in mortal fucking terror after the way she'd Danica Patricked her way over here. "Him of all fucking people. It couldn't be Theo. No, cause he wouldn't be half as insulting."

"What?" Shane gasped. The color was (slowly) returning to his cheeks and he was blinking his way back into focus. "Theo? Insulting?"

Karma barely heard him, hell, she barely even knew he was there. "Fucking Tommy," she said and wheeled suddenly, glaring at Shane (whose heart rocketed into his throat at the thought that she might be ready to drive again.) "He called her a dude," Karma snapped. "A dude."

Shane nodded, his mind working enough to know that was the smartest - the only - plan, no matter what she said, and he remembered the conversation that night in the garage (and tried not to remember the slightly longer than appropriate looks Karma had given the dildos and yeah, that should have been a sign, lessons fucking learned.)

"Lauren is not a dude," Karma said with (maybe) a little more conviction than was absolutely necessary. "And I would know."

She said it before she could think about it and it wasn't until she saw the look on Shane's face, that mix of shock and confusion and then the way his eyes lit up and Karma was suddenly back in the moment, back with him, and she knew (so fucking knew) she'd said the absolute wrong thing to the absolute wrong person cause this was Shane 'lesbian energy' Harvey and she so didn't have time for that.

"Not like that," she said, the anger (cause Amy and smiles and fucking Tommy) momentarily overruled by the need to do damage control and head off any discussion of scissoring at the fucking pass. "I mean, sort of like that, but not really, it's not like we did… you know… but I mean… clearly she's not a dude. Anyone can see that."

"Clearly," Shane said, trying hard (but not too hard, cause even if he was still a touch afraid he was still him) not to smirk. "Anyone," he said.

Karma blushed and leaned against the truck. "We didn't," she said quietly, without needing to clarify what they didn't and then she remembered that even though they didn't it wasn't cause they hadn't wanted to or for a lack of trying.

I mean, I can, I know how and the parts are all there, but then I think of the things people say, like Tommy and 'my girlfriend's a dude' and I just… can't.

It was because of him.

OK, so maybe not just him. Maybe it hadn't been just because of Tommy or even Tommy and Theo or because of Liam or (even) because of Amy. Maybe it hadn't just been any of their baggage or exes or fake exes or wannabe exes and there'd really been a shit ton of things that neither of them had thought of before Karma had clicked the lock shut on her door but then it was too late cause then they'd been on the bed and Lauren had been under her and then…

Fuck.

So, yeah, maybe it hadn't been all Tommy's fault. But he was there. And he was obviously there for her (unless Amy's occasional forays into guys had taken a full on detour into doucheville and, given her history with men, Karma guessed that wasn't entirely out of the question) and that was enough to make Karma have to fight off the almost unbearable urge to storm across the street and let Tommy know in no uncertain terms that Lauren was all fucking girl.

And, with any luck, she'd be the girl Lauren was fucking, soon.

You know, once she got the tiny blonde to forgive her for kissing Amy (or being kissed by Amy, though Karma doubted the distinction mattered much) and for not pushing her away fast enough (like, almost not at all) and for having just a second or two's worth of doubts (if, you know, you multiplied seconds by like a thousand.)

But once that was done? Fucking. Lots and lots of fucking.

And not discussing even a second of it with Shane.

But that, Karma knew, was none of Tommy's business and, really, nothing about Lauren was his business anymore even if he was the one she called and even if he was the one in the driveway and even if Karma was pretty sure Lauren was planning on there being some of that fucking soon (or at least a lot of trying cause points to prove and hearts to break and denial to be swum in) just not with her and that terrified and pissed Karma off all at once. Almost as much as the thought that, if she was reading the signs right - and she was pretty sure she was - there wasn't much about Lauren that was her business anymore either.

At least not right in that moment and yes, Karma knew that was all her fault (well… technically… hers and Amy's, but she was probably more in the wrong what with her having been Lauren's girlfriend at the time of the kissing but there was really no good reason to dwell on that just then.)

"I can fix it," she said, more to herself than anything. "I can and I will," she said, surprising herself just a bit with how much she meant it and how now she meant it. She was determined not to let this go on, to not let it linger. She'd done that before, she'd let things (not things… problems and lies and secrets and Liam and Reagan and stupid fucking plans and just… shit… way too much shit) linger for far too long between her and Amy and look where that had gotten them.

(pressed up against kitchen table with Amy's lips and hands and heart all over her)

(that's where it had gotten them)

That and standing across the street, watching Tommy. Watching him pace back and forth in the driveway she'd once decorated with chalk monkeys and sunflowers and half assed hopscotch squares, watching him watch the house she'd once considered more of a home than her own, watching him wait for a girl…

A girl that was once hers.

"I'm getting her back," Kama said as Shane hopped down out of the truck and stood next to her, his eyes focusing on her face. He'd never seen her so… determined wasn't the right word… she just had this look about her. If he'd been afraid of her before (cause Danica) he was both terrified and impressed right then. "I'm getting her back, Shane. I so fucking am."

He believed her. He didn't know why, not exactly. But in that moment, he absolutely believed her, like it wasn't just something Karma thought. It was a fact. Like tomorrow would come and next week would have seven days and maybe that stroll across the street to face her fate would be the longest walk of her life but Shane knew, he fucking knew in that moment that it didn't matter where Lauren went or what she tried to do, Karma wouldn't be left behind.

It hit him in an instant. Like a twist ending he'd never seen coming and Shane saw everything coming. It hit him and left him stunned and (almost) speechless and he couldn't believe it but it was so fucking obvious.

"You're in love."

Karma's head snapped around and her eyes widened and she shook her head and stammered as the color drained from her face. "What… no.. what… I… what… love… I didn't… what?"

"You," he said. "Are. In. Love." He glanced back across the street towards Amy's house. "I mean, I always thought… I mean, I did encourage Amy to go after you because I thought maybe, but I… there was Liam and then that whole thing with Wade and I thought maybe I was wrong, not that I'm ever wrong… except, well, this time cause you're in love." He looked back at her. "Just not with the sister I thought."

Karma wanted to argue. She wanted to tell him he was out of his fucking mind and it had only been a few weeks and there was (still) the Amy… thing… to deal with and yeah, so maybe she'd already made a choice (which was why she was there) but choice didn't equal love (at least, she didn't think… but… maybe…) but it was still too soon and it was still too complicated and it was still too… Lauren.

She wanted to say all that. But her thoughts (as jumbled and spinning and whirling and holy fucking shitting as they were) and whatever words (like she had any of those) might have come out were interrupted by the sounds of the Raudenfeld's front door and then the sound of tiny little heels clicking across the pavement and then by the sight of the girl Karma… um… the girl she… well…

(her girl)

Crossing the driveway and leaning into Tommy's arms and kissing him on the cheek.

And then Karma's world went red (and not in the cool Tay Tay way but more like the Hulk Smash just not in green kinda way) and the next thing she knew (literally the next, like she didn't even remember crossing the street or the honking of a horn as Amy's next door neighbor almost ran her over or Shane's frantic 'Karma, what are you doing?' pleas that were more anticipation than worry) her fist was connecting with the tiny lipstick print Lauren had left on Tommy's cheek and Lauren was crying out ('What the fuck, Ashcroft?') and Shane was gasping and practically cheering in place (cause drama) and Amy was standing in the door watching the whole thing with this oh so not Amy smirk on her face as Lauren raced over to tend to Tommy on the ground.

She'd seen him before he saw her and that should have been the end of it. But Karma just couldn't let it be. And now she knew why.

She was in love with Lauren Cooper.

Well… fuck.