A/N: Quick thank you to all of you who reviewed! Your excitement about the fic gets me excited about sharing more of it. I hope y'all continue to enjoy the story as it continues :)

Formatting on this website is an annoyance, so periods separate stanzas in the poetry included in this chapter.

4.

Sharon awoke at a leisurely pace Saturday morning. She yawned into a cupped hand and then stretched her arm out in search of something solid and warm to cling to. Her brain was still fuzzy from sleep, so it took her a long moment to realize that when she scooted over and burrowed into something comfortable and plush that it was Andrea her body had gravitated towards. At that realization, Sharon snuggled closer and wrapped her arm around Andrea's middle. She could feel the even beats of a heart beneath her ear, and for a while she listened to it and the soft sounds Andrea made in her sleep while allowing herself to slowly reach full wakefulness.

Sharon was a woman of habit. Regardless of the time she'd gone to sleep the night before, her internal clock woke her around 6:15 most mornings; she stretched for five minutes after using the bathroom and washing her face; she ran the same trail for a few miles on her mornings off, and went through the same routine of getting ready for work all the other days. Normally there was no lingering in bed; once she was awake, she was up. However, she had never willingly left Andrea alone in bed as soon as she awoke when there was nothing that needed her immediate attention. With Andrea, Sharon lingered.

For the first time in a long while, Sharon woke up feeling well-rested. There was a pleasant lightness to her body as she moved from Andrea's chest and propped herself up, cradling her head with her fingers slipped into her unruly hair. She had simultaneously hoped for this feeling and wished her sleep would be no better than it had been recently. Sleeping well with Andrea by her side would only mean knowing for sure what was wrong with her when she went back to sleeping on her own every night.

When she asked Andrea if she could spend the night, a small part of Sharon had thought her request would be denied. It was impossible not to notice the last time they'd shared a bed had also been the night Sharon told Andrea about Andy asking her out on a date. Andrea had stayed late into the night a few times recently, but she always insisted on driving home afterwards. It was because of that that Sharon had gone back and forth on her decision to ask about staying last night. Sharon was certain Andrea was making a conscious decision not to sleep with her and would turn her down.

So she almost hadn't asked. But not only had she believed she would finally have a good night's sleep if Andrea allowed her to stay, she'd missed their closeness and wanted a sense of normalcy after everything had been feeling a little off lately. Even with part of her expecting to be rejected, Sharon had a strong feeling that Andrea also missed the way things were before.

Laying on her back beside Sharon, Andrea continued to sleep, undisturbed by the woman watching her. She snored lightly, and Sharon found that it was something she had actually missed. It wasn't loud enough to keep her awake when she was trying to fall asleep, but it was enough to remind Sharon of Andrea's presence in the middle of the night. Now, it made the corner of her mouth lift as Andrea expelled the low rumbling sound. She closed her eyes and laid her head down next to Andrea's, slowly synchronizing their breathing. She didn't know when the next time she would feel so wonderfully at peace like she had been these past hours she'd spent at Andrea's house, so she would relish it while it lasted.

Before she left later in the morning, Sharon wanted to talk to Andrea about the two of them. She had originally thought that last night would be a good time to bring up how she felt about the changes in their friendship, but her thoughts of Andy had gotten in the way of that. She'd been deeply bothered the night before by a few things, and she had known no good would come from any conversation they would have had. Sharon had needed to sort through her conflicting emotions before she could talk to Andrea. She wanted to make sense of how she felt, especially after the conversation that took place in her office with Andy, so that she and Andrea could have an honest, open discussion.

Andrea had given her time to think last night, allowed her silence and didn't push anymore to get her to speak once they were in bed. Sharon appreciated that. Andrea's calming presence and soothing touch had helped clear her mind, and Sharon hadn't given Andy too much thought after Andrea started massaging her scalp. She didn't think of Andy much at all when she was with Andrea, Sharon realized. (The same could not be said about Andrea when she was with Andy, she knew, and for constantly thinking about her while with him Sharon often felt bad.)

After clearing her head, Andy only crossed her mind when Sharon was working through decisions she knew she needed to make about where their relationship was heading. The way she saw it, there were two main roads they could go down. Either Andy accepted the role Andrea played in her life and they continued seeing each other romantically, or they put an end to things and salvaged their friendship before they ruined it.

Sharon knew they would need to talk about her relationship with Andrea. It was obviously creating friction between her and Andy, and the only way to put an end to it would be to discuss the issue. There was a lot to take in, she knew that, but it was certainly what needed to be done. She wanted to know how Andy felt, and she wanted him to see that what he had to say mattered to her. But at the same time, Sharon needed Andy to understand how much Andrea meant to her and what that really meant. If he could not accept that there were certain things she had grown accustomed to and would not give up, then she could not hold that against him. She would simply make the only other decision there was to be made. She and Andy would stop dating.

She had developed feelings for this man, enough to give a relationship with him a chance despite having doubts about doing so. They enjoyed each other's company and Sharon thought that Andy could possibly be someone she could grow to love. He'd found his way into her heart without her noticing it, through friendly dinners and outings together, and there was definitely something there. Sharon was careful when it came to relationships and opening herself up, but she had been doing so with Andy. And while she did not regret any of it, Sharon knew if it came down to it, making the decision between a possibility with Andy and a love and connection that already existed with Andrea, there would be no hesitation when she chose Andrea.

Losing Andrea was not an option, but going back to just being Andy's friend, or even less than that, was.

...

Andrea clung to whatever small amount of sleep still remained within her reach. Her eyes stayed shut to block out the sunlight she knew had already started to fill the bedroom, not yet ready to join the rest of the world. She knew it was too early to be awake, no matter what the actual time was. She rolled over in the large bed and reached her arm out, blindly searching for Sharon's body to pull the other woman closer. Her lavender scent was in the air, in the bed sheets, and Andrea had missed waking up to it. She wanted to emerge herself in it. With her brain not yet properly functioning, and her body still not fully awake, it took her a few moments to understand why, when she swept her hand back and forth across the opposite side of the bed, her fingertips glided against cool sheets and not smooth flesh.

Deep lines grooved Andrea's face. She forced one eyelid open and roughly pushed aside the pillow that kept her from being able to see. Just as she thought, Andrea found that she was alone in the bed, no Sharon with her sleep-tousled brown hair spread out, no warm body to hold tight. That displeased the blonde greatly, and alone in the bedroom, she did not muffle her groan as she kicked at the bedding until it was no longer covering her. If there was anything Andrea hated more than waking up early on a Saturday morning, and a quick check of the time showed it wasn't even seven, it was waking up and not being able to bury her face in the crook of Sharon's neck and breathe in the scent of her sleep warm skin after spending the night with her. She'd gone so long without having it, without waking up with Sharon, that it honestly saddened her not having Sharon beside her when she knew she had been there not too long ago.

Her feet dropped heavily onto the floor when she sat up, one of her hands rubbing at her eyes as the other straightened out the tank top that had ridden up while she slept. She stretched, shoulders rolling back and forth, spine curving, and then arms reaching heavenward just before she grumpily stood, a slight pout on her lips.

The pout didn't stay on Andrea's lips long. She'd walked out towards the front of the house and ended up at the kitchen bar that overlooked the open living room with its wide windows that let the sun spill into the house. Sharon had pulled back the curtains and was now in the kitchen, her back to Andrea as she leaned against the counter in front of the coffee machine. She was still wearing the midnight blue camisole and shorts pajama set she'd slept in, and although she had brushed her hair, Sharon's thick mane was a far cry from the perfection it usually was. Sharon still looked as though she belonged in bed – in bed with me, the blonde mused as she leaned against the bar and weaved her fingers through her own hair to at least guide it back so it all lay in the same direction.

Andrea hadn't been spotted yet, so she silently watched Sharon. It had been a while since she'd seen Sharon in her kitchen in the morning. She didn't know how she had forgotten how much pleasure she got from little things like seeing Sharon in her nightwear around the house. Sharon rubbed her foot over the rounded curve of her calf muscle and then stretched her arms out in a wide 'Y', her top riding up a couple of inches and exposing skin. In the grand scheme of things, there was nothing of real significance happening at that moment, nothing that warranted the attention and focus Andrea was exhibiting as her eyes followed each movement Sharon made. But she felt compelled to take it all in. She had found something satisfying about Sharon being comfortable in her house from the first time she noticed Sharon moving around as though she was at home at Andrea's place. She also liked moments like these, where Sharon was natural and unguarded.

"When I'm finished in here, I expect to find you in bed where I left you. I can't bring you coffee in bed if you're out here sneaking glimpses of me," Sharon said. Her voice was soft and amused, taking on that airy quality that Andrea knew meant she was in good spirits. She hadn't turned around to look at Andrea, so Sharon must have seen her when she first came in and decided to continue on with her tasks.

It was nearly impossible to be grumpy when Sharon was in a good mood and there was a promise for coffee in the very near future. So Andrea let a small smile appear on her full lips as she lingered for a second or two longer, and then she made her way back to the bedroom. Before getting back in bed, she went into the bathroom to freshen up a little.

When she returned to her bed, it was with her hair tied up in a loose ponytail and her face feeling clean. She leaned her back against the upholstered headboard and pillows and grabbed the book on her nightstand. For as long as she could remember, Andrea had kept a book near her bed. Growing up her mother used to come in at night after getting home from work and would pull the old armchair that had belonged to Andrea's grandmother over to her bed. When she was really young, her mom had read while in bed with her, and when Andrea was learning to read, she'd read out loud to her mother. They continued this until her mother had passed away when Andrea was in her early teens, but her mother's love for literature had been passed on to Andrea, and Andrea still tried to read a little every day.

Today was a poetry day. She'd been rereading a lot of her favorite poets lately, rediscovering poems that she loved. With the smell of coffee floating in from the kitchen, and the subtle scent of lavender that Sharon left behind, Andrea's body relaxed into the pillows piled up behind her. The morning sun peeked through the small opening between the curtains and a golden glow sliced through the soft-gray shadowy room. Flipping through the pages of poetry, Andrea smiled and thought that it was a good morning. And then she heard Sharon's footsteps on the wood floor and felt her smile grow. No, this is a perfect morning, she thought.

Sharon placed one mug down on her side of the bed and then walked around to put the other one down on Andrea's, the rich scent of coffee billowing out along with the steam. "Neruda?" Sharon questioned as she climbed into bed next to Andrea, over Andrea, taking the spot Andrea made for the woman against her side when she raised her arm.

Andrea nodded with a small smile, displaying the front cover of '100 Love Sonnets' to Sharon. When Sharon was settled comfortably beside her, her head leaning against Andrea's shoulder as she curled into her side, she turned her head and smiled against the top of Sharon's head while breathing in. She'd warned herself about letting herself fall into this easy coziness. She knew that it would only make it more difficult to continue putting space between them when this moment ended and Sharon's relationship with Andy once again became something Andrea needed to consider more than she currently was. But warning oneself and actually stopping were not the same thing, and Sharon had given no signs that she wanted Andrea to give her space. If anything, Sharon appeared to be just as hungry for the affection they gave each other as Andrea was – and Andrea felt starved.

Sharon hummed in her throat and turned to press a quick kiss to Andrea's jaw. "Did you sleep well?"

Andrea hummed as well, "Mhmm," placing her book on her lap and carefully reaching over for her coffee. "Exceptionally well." She held the large mug close to her lips and let the steam warm her skin as the strong aroma filled her nose, her taste buds already buzzing excitedly. She took a careful sip at first, wary of the temperature, and then a deeper one. "Oh, that's good," she sighed as her eyelids fell shut and the delicious taste coated her tongue and slid down her throat. She drank some more and hummed against the rim of the large mug. "Now that is definitely worth being up this early for."

Sharon laughed quietly. "It's a good thing I was already aware coffee is better appreciated than my company in the morning, or I just might be offended."

Andrea took another long drink from her mug and then placed it back on the nightstand, licking her lips. "You shouldn't be. Yours is the only company I would gladly accept when I rather be sleeping."

"That's because I know to bring you coffee," Sharon said with an audible smile. "So it's really the coffee that you want, not me."

Andrea chuckled and squeezed Sharon's hip. "Yes, definitely the coffee."

Sharon tilted her head and nipped Andrea's jaw, enough to create a small sting but hardly enough for it to actually hurt. Andrea felt a warm rush travel up her spine as she licked her lips. Sharon was always a little playful in the morning if she woke up in a good mood, and Andrea's body seemed to recognize how good of mood Sharon appeared to be in instantly.

"You're not supposed to agree with me."

"I only agreed because what you said is obviously not true. I got out of bed to look for you this morning," she said with a pointed finger poking Sharon, her tone suggesting the importance of the act.

"Ah, yes. You got out of bed and watched me make you coffee," Sharon said. "You're doing a wonderful job at proving your point, sweetheart. Keep it up."

Andrea rolled her eyes. "I got out of bed because I wanted to be near you and you weren't there," she said with a slight frown, reaching for her coffee.

Sharon lifted her head and looked at Andrea, her eyes soft as they studied Andrea's face. Sharon looked as though she was about to say something. There was a slight smile twitching at the corner of her mouth, and she was focused completely on Andrea. But then she pulled away to get her own coffee and left Andrea wondering what was going on in her head.

They let a few minutes of silence sit between them as they drank their coffees. Sharon once again looked deep in thought, but this time she stared into the light brown liquid in her mug like it held answers to all the questions Andrea could see on her friend's face but could not interpret.

Andrea put her mug down and brought her hand to Sharon's hair. She tucked it behind her ear and let her thumb trace Sharon's earlobe. When that did not gain the woman's immediate attention, Andrea twisted her lips together and breathed out quietly through her nose, dropping her hand. She leaned her head back against the headboard and continued to sit in silence, watching Sharon. She wasn't sure what exactly had caused the sudden change in Sharon's mood, but she was hoping it wasn't irreversible.

Another minute or two went by before Sharon put her mug on the nightstand and repositioned herself so she was laying with her head on Andrea's lap, looking towards her stomach. "I wanted to talk to you about something before I left," she said after taking and letting out a deep breath.

"Am I going to need more coffee for this?" she asked with a smile, hoping to make Sharon's pursed lips relax and form a smile of their own. She managed half of what she wished to accomplish; there was no smile, but Sharon did visibly relax. "What's on your mind?"

Sharon flicked her eyes up as she answered. "Us."

It was as vague as Sharon could have been, but Andrea had a feeling she was watching her for a reaction to see how to best continue. Andrea only hummed in her throat. She wasn't worried. With Sharon there were always signs that at least hinted at what to expect. Andrea knew that Sharon wouldn't have laid her head down on her lap if Sharon was about to say something she thought Andrea wouldn't want to hear. Sharon tended to guard herself – even with Andrea, although she didn't think it was a conscious decision most of the time – when she knew conversations weren't going to go well.

Andrea urged Sharon to continue with a small head nod. She took one of Sharon's hands into her own when she noticed her picking at the bottom of her camisole and ran her thumb over the woman's knuckles. Her other hand went to Sharon's hair and began stroking the silky strands, weaving through them and rolling the pads of her fingers over Sharon's scalp.

Sharon's eyelids drooped and a low throaty sound pushed passed Sharon's lips before she started to speak. "I've been doing a lot of thinking about us – you – and I thought it best to talk to you about these things instead of continuing to keep my feelings on the matter to myself."

"Okay," Andrea responded slowly, not sure where this was going but giving Sharon her full attention. "Talk to me."

Sharon licked her lips and pursed them again, but this time there was a thoughtful expression on her face. "Hmm. Well, I wanted to make sure we were on the same page with a few things. For instance, I've noticed you've been less..." Sharon paused; her brow furrowed. "Last night I told you that I missed having you touch me," she said as a small but noticeable flush of color splashed her cheeks, "and, I know you said it didn't, but I felt like what I said made you uncomfortable."

Andrea slid her fingers over Sharon's hairline and down to her temple, stroking in circles as she spoke. "I didn't freeze up on you because I was uncomfortable," Andrea said, her own eyes falling shut as her fingers worked across Sharon's skin and through her hair, alternating between the two. "I meant what I said about it being unexpected. Yeah, we've both been open about things of that nature in the past, especially me, but with recent changes in our lives–"

"Andy," Sharon stated.

Andrea nodded, although it was not a question and she had a feeling Sharon wasn't looking at her anyway. "Even if you were to miss it, I didn't expect that you would tell me. You know?"

Sharon hummed a long hmmm. "Would you have rather I hadn't said anything? In the future, I can–"

"No, no, no," Andrea interrupted hastily. "I don't want you to start censoring yourself with me, Sharon. Not expecting wasn't meant to be synonymous with not wanting."

"All right," Sharon responded, squeezing Andrea's hand. "So can we talk about that?"

"About me touching you?" Andrea asked, pretending to be scandalized by the very idea of the subject.

When Sharon laughed slightly, Andrea smiled and opened her eyes. Sharon was already looking at her. "I would have worded it differently, but yes."

"Of course you would have," Andrea said while rolling her eyes and grinning affectionately at the woman whose cheeks were still tinted with a light flush. The slight blush looked good on her, and Andrea considered a few things she could say to make it linger longer. But instead, Andrea chose to answer the question she hadn't responded to. "What about it would you like to talk about?"

Sharon's brow lifted, and then her eyes narrowed. "Well. Uh."

"I haven't been less physical with you because it's not something I also want, if you were worried about that," Andrea shared when Sharon continued to look at her like she wasn't sure where to start.

Sharon gave her a tiny smile. "No, I think I know why you've put this distance between us. I just don't think you know that it's not something I wanted to happen. Correct me if I'm wrong," Sharon said, sitting up so she could look directly at Andrea, removing her head from her lap but leaving her hand in Andrea's. "You want to give me space to see where my relationship with Andy is going. You, being you, always considering how I'm affected by your actions, thought that it would be best if you weren't complicating things for me and Andy."

"You know, one day it's going to become really annoying that you know me so well." Andrea chuckled as she leaned her head back against the headboard and looked toward the ceiling.

Sharon hummed. Andrea shut her eyes and took a measured breath, uncertain about whether she truly wanted to say what she knew was about to come out of her mouth. She swallowed the hurt that suddenly flooded her system.

"Andy's the first person that you've wanted to date for as long as I've known you, Sharon," Andrea said slowly, her voice softer than it had been. She forced herself not to go back to the night when Sharon had told her about Andy asking her out for dinner, refused to remember all the questions that she had wanted to ask but kept to herself because she was worried the answers would hurt her too much. She refused to question 'why him?', and more importantly, 'why not me?'. "He must have done something right in order to get the privilege," she continued with a laugh that was a little more bitter than she intended. "So I don't want to get in the way of that. If there's a chance that this could be something meaningful for you, you deserve to be able to explore that.

"And Andy's not my biggest fan lately, as I'm sure you've noticed. Not that I blame him. When he sees us together, I think he's reminded of what he doesn't have with you – what he wants to have with you and doesn't. I understand what it's like to be in that position. The easy fix to the problem was me giving you a little space to see where things could go."

Sharon quietly took in Andrea's words, looking down at their joint hands. Andrea's stomach felt heavy; her mouth and throat were dry, and her heart thumped harshly in her chest. Sharon's free hand trembled and she clenched her fist. When she went to hide it beneath her thigh, Andrea reached forward and took it instead, soothingly rolling her thumb in circles over the back of Sharon's hand until it relaxed and the brunette sighed.

"What is it?"

Sharon took a careful breath and lifted her gaze, a sad look in her eyes. "What about you?"

"Hmm? What about me?"

"Is this something you need as well? I understand what you've said about doing this so that Andy and I have a better chance, and I appreciate you wanting to do that for me. It truly does mean a lot to me that you always try to do what's best for me. But, Andrea, I want to know if this is something you need as well. Because if it's not–"

"It is," Andrea interrupted, no longer able to look at Sharon because she wasn't being completely honest. She wasn't being honest and Sharon's eyes were glassy, and everything suddenly felt like too much. It was true that she needed this, but not for herself. She needed it for Sharon.

She could tell where the conversation was heading, and her heart was racing as her brain finished what Sharon was going to say. Sharon was going to tell her she didn't need to worry about getting in the way of her relationship with Andy, but Andrea knew that wasn't true. She knew that it wasn't true because she knew better than anyone how Andy felt. Andy had something Andrea wanted as well, something she'd been fine with not having until someone else did. Andrea knew that while Sharon may be all right with certain things, Andy wasn't, and Andrea didn't want to be the reason Sharon's relationship with him failed. Sharon was happy with Andy, and Andrea wanted that happiness for her. If a decrease in their physical interactions was the price she had to pay for putting Sharon's feelings before her own, she was okay with doing that.

"All right," Sharon whispered and pulled her hands from Andrea's.

"Sharon–"

Sharon shook her head and gave Andrea's thigh a double pat. "Let's table this conversation for now, please."

Andrea's chest tightened as she nodded and turned her head to look at Sharon, who was avoiding her eyes as she took slow breaths. "Whatever you want." Sharon snorted and laughed mirthlessly. Andrea hated the sound, hated herself because she knew she'd upset Sharon when all she wanted to do was make things easier for her.

"The only thing I want right now is to enjoy the rest of the time I have here before I need to leave to meet Rusty," Sharon said, blowing out a long breath and nodding as if she'd just made a decision. "This has been a really good morning, and I enjoyed spending last night with you. So I don't want the rest of our time together to be ruined."

Andrea nodded, reaching forward to pull Sharon's arm from around her waist. "Look at me."

"Andrea, I'm fine," Sharon said with a halfhearted smile when she lifted her head up.

She wasn't fine, Andrea knew, but she didn't comment on that.

"I want you to be happy, Sharon. More than anything, I want to know that you have things and people in your life that bring a smile to your face. That's all I want."

Sharon moved back into the side of Andrea's body like she had been before, not leaning all the way until Andrea pulled her closer. Sharon sank into Andrea's body once she seemed to be sure that it was okay. Her head leaned against Andrea's shoulder as she breathed out contently. "You're wrong, you know?"

"What about?" Andrea asked as she picked up her poetry book.

"About Andy being the first person I've wanted to date." Sharon lowered her voice, as if she wasn't sure if she should continue but wanted to anyway. "Andy was just the only person to ask me out on a date after I felt like I was in a place where dating was something I was ready for. But he definitely wasn't the only person I've thought about dating. I thought you should know that."

Andrea closed her eyes for a brief moment and pulled in a much-needed mouthful of air after feeling like all the air in her body had just been knocked out. What Sharon said reminded her of something she had said the night she'd told her about Andy's dinner invitation. "I'm considering, but I'm not sure if I'll say yes. It's not out of a lack of interest in a romantic relationship, because I do believe I'm in a place in my life where that's something I want. I just don't want to say yes to Andy when there's another option on the table that I'm more interested in. It wouldn't be fair to him, and if I'm right about there being another option, I would want to go out on a date with the other person."

Andrea wondered if maybe Sharon had been giving her a sign that she was interested in having more than a friendship with her. Could she have been? She'd been nervous that night, but Andrea had thought it was because it had been a long time since she'd been in the position where someone was asking her out. But maybe that wasn't what had her nervous...

Sharon gave Andrea's thigh a squeeze. "Are you okay?"

Andrea offered Sharon a small smile as she nodded and focused on the book in her hands, slackening her grip when she noticed she was squeezing it. "Yes," she whispered. She cleared her throat. "I think so."

"Too much honest conversation before 8 o'clock and your second coffee?"

Andrea chuckled, glad Sharon knew how to lighten the mood when she needed it most. "Just a little."

Sharon hummed. "Will you read a poem to me, then?" Sharon asked softly.

"Of course. Anything in particular?" she asked opening the book up to a random page.

"I'll let you decide. Surprise me."

Andrea flipped through the pages until she found the one she was looking for, and then she cleared her throat and began:

"I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,

or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.

I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,

in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

.

I love you as the plant that never blooms

but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;

thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,

risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.

I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;

so I love you because I know no other way

.

than this: where I does not exist, nor you,

so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,

so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep."

Andrea let the last two stanzas of the poem float out from somewhere deep inside her chest, the words seeming to spill from her own heart instead of the page before her. She felt them as though they were a part of her, tasted them like a familiar wine, breathed out the emotions that intertwined with the lines as though it was the air from her very lungs. I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. It was not Pablo Neruda whose love was filling the serene, private bubble they laid together in but Andrea's, Andrea's unremitting love for Sharon.

The poem as a whole was one Andrea loved dearly, but the last three lines in particular resonated with her. She repeated them in her head as she shifted her eyes to look at Sharon. Sharon had closed her eyes and a small smile was on her lips, her face relaxing, all signs of the sadness that had been etched into her face gone.

"Another one," she requested softly, and Andrea searched for another.

"I crave your mouth, your voice, your hair.

Silent and starving, I prowl through the streets.

Bread does not nourish me, dawn disrupts me, all day

I hunt for the liquid measure of your steps.

.

I hunger for your sleek laugh..."

to be continued...