A/N: Sorry about the wait! The last few weeks have been crazy busy for me, but hopefully this chapter, which is full of light moments, makes up for the wait.
12.
"Hey, Sharon, can I get in here real quick?" Rusty asked, standing in front of the opened bathroom door with his hair tousled and his pajamas rumpled.
Sharon, who was putting on her mascara in the mirror, finished with what she was doing and then slid the wand back into place. "Of course. I was just finishing up. Let me just grab these," she told him as she quickly gathered her makeup items and the case she stored them in. She quickly swept her eyes over the white surface, and with a nod, she turned to the door that connected to her bedroom. "All yours," she said, giving him a quick smile before slipping into her room with a small click from her door. She deposited the cosmetics and their case down on one of her two dressers and then walked over to her bedroom door to close it so she could get dressed.
Sharon had awoken around 6:30 and went for a run earlier. The fresh, crisp air of the morning had felt refreshing on her skin, and once she got into her run, she had felt her mind move to a quiet place it was hard to reach when she had a lot going on. Sharon found running not only great for her body but her sanity as well – it was a foolproof way for her to clear her mind on her own, and that was something she appreciated greatly with the way she sometimes dwelled on matters for longer than most would recommend. She had started running regularly when Emily and Ricky were old enough to get themselves ready for school without her help, but it had been when Jack was still living with them that she discovered how beneficial running could be for her. The time she put into work didn't allow much free time for herself, but she tried to get in a fair amount of running during her week when she had the time to spare.
Her run this morning had been longer than usual; she'd pushed herself just a little more than she normally would. She had felt an immediate response to the extra effort, not all bad, and not all physical. When she was coming close to the end of her run, she had felt more alive than she had in a long while. She felt rejuvenated. She hadn't been pushing herself lately, and she had missed the way it felt when she did, the euphoric rush that it gave her. She had been panting when she stopped, bent over at the waist some as her hands rested on her knees – but she had felt incredible.
Sunday morning continued to be a good one for Sharon as she showered, made herself a light breakfast of fruit, and then started getting ready for her day. It was almost eight o'clock when Sharon laid out a royal blue sheath dress on her bed and then went for her cell phone. She had been wanting to call Andrea for a while now, but she knew the other woman was not awake and did not want to risk waking her up. They had stayed on the phone together last night until Sharon had fallen asleep, and while Sharon could not remember when or how that happened, she knew it had been late into the night.
Sharon sat down on her bed with her phone and rolled her shoulders a few times. She had lingered in the hot shower with the small hope that the heat would help with the tension she had been feeling in her shoulders, but it had been of no help. The headache she had been experiencing the past few days had not made an appearance this morning, she noted gratefully, so she would take whatever small victories that came her way and be happy about that.
Sharon decided to send Andrea a text message instead of a phone call, a quick one that simply told the other woman to call her if she were to wake up before nine o'clock. With that done, Sharon was about to put her phone down and finish getting her clothes out so she could change out of her robe. But as she reached over to the nightstand where her phone charger was, the device in her hand started vibrating and ringing. She was pleasantly surprised to see 'DDA Hobbs' across the top of her screen, and a smile stretched her lips in an automatic response.
"Good morning. I didn't expect to hear from you so quickly."
"I've been awake for a while. I was just about to start getting ready so I can head out when I received your text message."
Sharon's smile slowly fell from her lips as she listened to Andrea speak. "Oh. I'm sorry. Don't let me hold you up."
"You're not. I'm only driving over to drop an apple loaf at Fernando's place. I'm in no rush, and he's not there. He told me to just let myself in and leave it there after I insisted that I deliver it today. What's up?"
"I was calling to ask if you, perhaps, maybe wanted to go somewhere with me this morning..." she said, leaving it open like a question.
"Oh. Sure, yeah. What time?"
Sharon laughed softly into the phone. "You don't even know where I'm going to be going, Andrea."
"Did you hear my plans for the day?! I'm driving food over to an empty house. That is everything that's on my agenda for the day. I will gladly accompany you wherever you want to go. You know how much I hate not having anything to do."
Sharon checked her fingernail polish as she hummed, noticing one of her nails was chipped and making a mental note to clean the nail up once she got off the phone. "All right, then. Since you're available earlier than I expected you would be, I can go earlier than I had initially planned. Do you want me to pick you up?"
"No, I'll drive there so I can make my delivery."
Sharon nodded to herself. "All right. We'll leave at nine. Does that work for you?"
"Yeah. I can be there before nine, no problem. Any particular dress code I need to worry about?"
"Hmm." Sharon looked down at her dress. "What are you wearing now?"
"Definitely nothing appropriate for wherever it is you're wanting to go," Andrea said with a small chuckle. "I'm still n bed, so I'm still in what I slept in."
Sharon's brow raised, but she didn't respond right away for fear that her sudden interest in exactly what Andrea was wearing would be detectable in her tone of voice. She knew enough about Andrea's sleeping habits to know the younger woman preferred sleeping in minimal to no clothing, and the only time she slept in pants was when she was sick or sharing a bed with Sharon. Her imagination also had enough material to conjure up an image of Andrea's wonderfully-sculpted bare legs and muscled thighs, an image that made Sharon want to reach out and touch silken skin that she was only imagining being within arm's reach. She curled her fingers into the palm of her hand and squeezed her eyes shut for a second or two, tempted to mentally travel the mountainous terrain that was Andrea's body and unable to resist.
She was quite familiar with Andrea's body, well-acquainted with the delicate slopes and fine lines that combined to create her beautiful figure. She could imagine without any difficulties the light brown moles that dotted the side of Andrea's fair-skinned thigh, seven of them scattered along the tight stretch of skin. In her mind she could see the flexing of muscles in Andrea's back, shoulder blades shifting, back curving, the slight bumpy rise of her spine when she bent over. The nape of Andrea's neck was sensitive, and Sharon could feel – feel, as though Andrea were truly right there with her – the small shiver that always moved through the younger woman's body when Sharon let her lips brush the delicate skin and then her breath blew across it. Sharon had always enjoyed being able to elicit such a beautiful reaction from Andrea's body, but she loved even more the one that she provoked when she laid her head on Andrea's chest and leisurely dragged her fingers up and down Andrea's smooth abdomen.
Sharon felt a slow warmth building low in her belly and pressed her teeth down against her bottom lip to distract her mind from the road it was starting to go down. She cleared her throat, but she did not open her eyes, choosing to hold on to the image of Andrea.
"Back with me?" Andrea asked with a bit of amusement in her tone.
Sharon's skin tickled; a small flush of heat crawled up the column of her neck. "Yes, sorry."
"Don't be. Once I continued talking and realized you weren't listening to me, I figured I had managed the almost impossible and distracted you somehow. Then again, you've always found my good looks distracting. It just took you a while to admit it." Andrea hummed. "So perhaps not too unachievable after all."
Sharon laughed quietly in her throat as she shook her head from side to side. "Someone's in a good mood this morning – and fairly sure of themselves, if I may say so."
Andrea groaned into the phone softly, like she was stretching. "Must be the good night of sleep I had. By the way, I'm sorry for falling asleep on you last night. I might have exhausted myself with all the baking."
Pretty sure that she had been the one to fall asleep on Andrea, Sharon's brow furrowed a little. "I was under the impression that I had fallen asleep and left you awake. I woke up and you weren't on the phone anymore, so I assumed I'd been sleeping for a while and you hung up."
"Uh-uh. My phone died, but I was sleep when that happened."
Sharon hummed softly.
"Anyway, dress code? I should probably get out of bed if I'm going to drop by Fernando's house and still make it to you on time. What are you wearing?"
"Oh. Oh, yes. I'm wearing a dress," she shared, turning to look at the sheath beside her. "Just don't wear jeans."
"Where are we going?" she asked carefully, like it was just dawning on her that she was agreeing to go somewhere with having any clue where that somewhere was.
Sharon smiled lightly. "I thought it didn't matter where I was asking you to join me as long as it meant you had something to do."
Andrea chuckled, and Sharon could hear her starting to move around. "That was before you told me I had to wear a dress."
Sharon rolled her eyes a little. "I said don't wear jeans, not that you had to wear a dress. Would you be more comfortable in pants?"
"I don't know. Suddenly someone sounds very secretive about where she's taking me. I have no idea what to expect."
"Well, first I would like to go to Mass. I haven't been in a few weeks."
"Oh, Sharon, why didn't you keep that a secret? That just knocked off at least half of my enthusiasm."
Sharon snorted. "Did it really? It's only an hour, sweetheart. It'll be over before you know it."
"I must really love you, because I don't even go with my aunts to the synagogue when I go to visit my family and they want to take me with them for prayer. And yet I don't have enough fingers to count the amount of times I've gone with you to one of your services."
"If you truly don't want to go, Andrea–"
"I'm going," she insisted, not sounding as though she truly was against the idea. "I don't mind. I'd like to spend some time with you today, and if you want to do this, I can make an exception for you."
Sharon's fingers twirled around her robe belt as her heart fluttered a little in her chest. Sometimes the small things Andrea said and did for her made the biggest impacts. "Thank you. I appreciate that. Afterwards, I was thinking we could go somewhere for brunch. It'll be my treat."
"Okay, brunch," Andrea said very slowly, "that we'll need to discuss. Your treat usually means you plan on taking me somewhere where you can spoil me and get away with it because you've already got me to agree to letting you pay."
"I do no such thing," Sharon protested, the pitch of her voice changing slightly.
"Oh, honey, yes you do. And you do this whole denial routine each and every time. And then what do you know? We end up at some expensive place where the wine costs so much I'd need a second mortgage just to cover one glass."
"I think that is one of the most ridiculous exaggerations you've ever made." Sharon stood up from the bed and undid her robe, deciding if she was going to continue talking on the phone, she also needed to be getting ready. "I'm putting you on speaker. I need to get dressed."
"Promise me you're not taking me anywhere you know I'd disapprove of."
"I'm afraid I can't do that."
"Sharon," Andrea dragged out, tone slightly warning.
"Andrea, it's one meal," she said while removing her robe and walking over to her dresser. "I've been wanting to do something with you, for you for a while now. This past week has been hectic, and I just wanted to be able to spend some time with you."
"I want that, too. Of course I do."
Sharon leaned against the wood dresser, looking down at her phone. "What would you say to dinner, then? Rusty's going to be studying with a new friend of his, so it would just be the two of us. Perhaps we can have a night out with all three of us in the near future. Tonight, it would just be us, here at my place, and you let me do the cooking."
"Sounds like a date," Andrea mused, and Sharon closed her eyes and breathed out softly. "Is that what it is? Are we–?"
"It's dinner," Sharon answered without really answered the question at all.
"Sharon..."
"It's just dinner. I know we've got some time before, uhm..." Sharon trailed off, but Andrea started speaking before she could pick back up from where she left off.
"I'd love to have dinner with you," Andrea said with an audible smile, and Sharon's heart fluttered with excitement.
"Great," Sharon said with her excitement also clear in her voice.
She had just ended one relationship, and she knew that both she and Andrea agreed that it was best for them not to move right into one of their own. Having things go back to the way they were before she dated Andy, however, Sharon felt was more than acceptable.
"I'm already looking forward to it."
. . .
"Oh, it's you."
Andrea's smile fell from her face as Rusty opened the door for her, just as his fell when he saw her on the other side of it. "You really need to work on how you greet people."
"Sorry," he muttered under his breath as he shut the door after her, shuffling on his sock-covered feet. "I'm expecting someone."
"Yeah, I figured," Andrea said dryly, walking towards the kitchen. "Sharon, I'm here," she called out. She placed the aluminum pan down on the counter. "That's for the two of you."
"I'll be out in one moment. Make yourself comfortable."
Rusty chuckled lowly as he sat on one of the bar stools. "Like Andrea needs to be told to make herself comfortable here. She's already halfway finished getting herself coffee."
"And you offered to get it for her first, right?" Andrea peeked over her shoulder to see Rusty's face pinch guiltily. "Rusty?"
"Well, no," he answered slowly.
"Rusty," Sharon admonished, and Andrea chuckled quietly as she brought the mug of fresh, steaming coffee close to her mouth and blew on it.
"What? She's family, isn't she? Doesn't that mean she can pour herself coffee and use my mug like she doesn't have several around the kitchen that actually belong to her?"
"That's how you open the door to family?" Andrea questioned him with an incredulous tone, nodding her head to the left while she turned to face him, leaning beside the stove.
"Rusty? How did you open the door?"
He groaned and dropped his head on the bar. "I take back every time I said that I like having you both around. Like, seriously."
Andrea rolled her eyes affectionately and drank her coffee silently as she listened to Sharon move around outside of the kitchen. It didn't take long for her to appear, securing an earring that matched the string of pearls around her neck. Andrea discreetly raked her eyes over Sharon from head to toe, taking in the blue dress that accentuated the curves of her body and fell a few inches above her knees, admiring the silky waves of loose brown hair that curled a little at the ends, and then stopping at her bare feet, her toenails painted in a light shade of pink. She smiled against her mug.
Sharon's soft, floaty laugh caught Andrea's attention and made her realize that she wasn't paying attention to the other two people in the room – well, outside of appreciating Sharon's good looks. She straightened up against the counter and raised her eyebrow as Sharon walked into the kitchen and towards her, Rusty leaving them.
"You look lovely," Sharon said as a greeting when she came to stand in front of Andrea.
Andrea moved her mug away from her to put it on the counter, and was pleasantly surprised when Sharon leaned forward and pressed a small kiss to her mouth. It lasted no more than two or three seconds, but when she stepped away, Andrea's insides felt hot and like they were twisted into a heavy knot. Sharon's cheeks were flushed from the simple kiss, which Andrea noticed as the other woman bowed her head and went to the refrigerator. Andrea had to press her lips together tightly to stop herself from grinning widely.
"So do you," she said as an afterthought, far too long after Sharon had complimented her.
Sharon hummed and looked over her shoulder. "I do what?"
Andrea ran her hands through her hair and brought it back as if meaning to put it up, and then she let it fall down on her back. "You look really nice." It was a strange, yet not uncomfortable, feeling being nervous about complimenting Sharon. How many times had she done that in the last ten years? How many times had she blatantly checked the other woman out? But the back of her neck tickled as she licked her lips and cleared her throat. "Beautiful," she said softly. "You look beautiful."
"Oh," Sharon breathed, her lips curving up into the most dazzling smile Andrea had ever seen. She shut the fridge and turned around fully, and Andrea bit the inside of her cheek as Sharon came closer to her. "Thank you. I was actually hoping you might think so," she admitted with a light laugh, the slight blush still on her cheeks.
"Has there been a time that I haven't?!"
Sharon's laughter grew at that, and she hummed in her throat, lifting her brow as if to say, "Yeah, you've got a point."
"I, uhm." Andrea breathed out a breath. "Uhm." She shook her head and ran her fingers through her hair again.
"I feel the same way," Sharon said.
"Huh?"
Sharon nodded her head towards Andrea's own. "Nervous."
"Oh, yeah," Andrea muttered as she reached for her coffee. "I forget how easy I am to read."
Sharon, whose hands were gripping the countertop, smiled. "I like to think that I just know you well."
Andrea nodded. "That, too." After allowing herself a moment to drink her coffee and silently watch Sharon look back at her, she rolled her shoulders back and breathed out a long breath. "Why are you nervous?"
"I'm not sure. I wasn't until a moment ago when I kissed you. It just dawned on me that sometime soon, or at least in the near future, that I would kiss you and it would be with an entirely new purpose that would be similar to reasons we've kissed in the past but also completely different." Sharon smiled a little as she added, "I'm looking forward to that."
Andrea could still feel the pleasant warmth from Sharon's lips and nodded her head in agreement. "So am I."
"I-" The doorbell rang, and Sharon's head turned so she could look out the kitchen as she leaned back a little.
"I've got it. I've got it," Rusty called out, his sneakers making noises against the floor. "And I'm leaving."
"Already?" Sharon asked with a surprised tone. "Aren't you going to invite your friend in? Perhaps he'd like–"
"No, no, no," Rusty rushed out, jogging into the kitchen. "Maybe next time. You've got Andrea here, and we really should get going. We don't have much time."
"You're going to be gone until you come home from your classes tomorrow," Andrea said, already knowing that Rusty had plans on spending night with this new friend of his. They had a few classes together, so they were studying for upcoming exams.
"Well."
Sharon nodded her head for him to go, giving him a knowing smile, even if her eyes told that she was a bit disappointed. "Go ahead. Don't leave him waiting at the door all morning. Next time–"
"Yes, next time, promise." Rusty started to rush off again, but he stopped, turned around, and then smiled at them both. "I didn't mean what I said earlier, you know."
"We'll be going out for dinner sometime soon, all three of us. You can tell us how much you enjoy our company then," Andrea said shooing him towards the door. "Go on, we know you love us."
Rusty's smile didn't falter as he nodded and then left them.
"We should probably get going as well," Sharon said after the door clicked shut and she looked at the time.
"Right."
. . .
Sharon tied her apron behind her back and smiled over to Andrea, who was standing at the opening of the kitchen, leaning against the side of the bar. It was early in the evening, and Sharon was getting ready to start cooking dinner. After Mass, Andrea had suggested they still go somewhere for a bite to eat, and then they had walked around aimlessly for a little while before deciding to head back to the condo. After getting settled in, they watched a movie and relaxed on the sofa together, talking about nothing in particular. The busy week had kept them from being able to just sit down with each other and enjoy being together, so they made the best of the quiet day they were fortunate enough to have alone without any disruptions.
"You're supposed to be sitting in the living room, relaxing."
Andrea looked over her shoulder and then back to Sharon with her brow raising a little. "I thought, maybe, you could use some help. You know how much I hate just sitting around by myself. I'd be of more use in here."
Sharon walked over to her and patted her shoulder once before letting her hand slide down the bare arm that was no longer covered by Andrea's silk blouse, the shirt having been removed earlier, leaving Andrea in an oxblood camisole. The satin top with the lace trim that laid atop the creamy white flesh of Andrea's chest was one Sharon hadn't seen before. It revealed skin in windows and gently cupped Andrea's breasts, outlined by the strategic, artful, lacework. When Andrea had taken her shirt off earlier, Sharon had stared with her eyes a little wider than normal, her jaw slackened a bit, her breath momentarily forgotten about – being so intimately familiar with Andrea's body did not lessen the effect the shirt had on her, did not make Andrea look any less alluring.
Standing in the kitchen now, Sharon licked her lips and traced the top of the camisole with her eyes while running her fingers over Andrea's biceps, everything warm, from the skin beneath her fingers to the feeling low in her belly. She cleared her throat and licked her drying lips once more. She had not found Andrea's body any less attractive the past few months, so it was a bit surprising how much more aware of her reactions to Andrea she was now that she no longer had any reasons to feel guilty for it.
"I really like this top on you," Sharon told her as she raised her eyes to meet Andrea's. "The way the color contrasts with your complexion, and these little openings..." Sharon trailed off as Andrea twisted her body so she was properly standing in front of Sharon. Her back was to the bar; her hips pushed forward, towards Sharon. She looked completely relaxed in Sharon's kitchen, in her home, and that more than the tantalizing sight in front of her made Sharon want to keep Andrea close by. "I think you'd be more of a hindrance to my productivity than an actual help, though," Sharon said with a laugh, sliding her palm down the slope of Andrea's stomach.
"Can't keep your hands to yourself, can you?" Andrea teased her, mirth in her eyes.
Sharon didn't deny it. It was rather obvious that she was enjoying being able to touch Andrea freely once again. Andrea, too, had been less careful with where she placed her hands and how she touched Sharon than she had been recently. "If I had any reason to believe you wanted me to, I would." Sharon rubbed her lips together and let her hand slowly glide over the curve of Andrea's breast to the lace below it. "You, however, seem to enjoy having me touch you," Sharon said quietly. She didn't want it to be too much, didn't want to push them forward to something they weren't ready for.
"I do," Andrea said easily. "I don't think I've ever given you reason to believe that I don't."
Sharon shook her head. "No, I can't say that you have. And- -" Sharon smiled, feeling a flutter of something as she whispered, "I probably receive more pleasure from it than you do. To be able to feel you against me in some way has, for as long as I can remember, always made me feel connected to you in a way that I absolutely wouldn't trade for anything else."
Andrea acknowledged her admission with a pleased hum as she dropped her head down and watched Sharon's fingers run along the nearly-transparent material. "Dinner can always wait," Andrea told her in a soft voice. Her chest was rising and falling with a calm rhythm. "You can continue with what you're doing."
Sharon's fingers paused on their journey over Andrea's ribcage. She swallowed slowly and then exhaled through her nose, and then she laughed a little when Andrea's hips rolled forward, as if Andrea's body was seeking her out. "We had a deal," she reminded Andrea. She stepped in closer to the other woman and curled her hand around her waist, feeling the rush of Andrea's breath on her face. "You wouldn't let me take you out for brunch, so I get to make you dinner. Remember that?"
Andrea smiled and pulled her even closer, hands on Sharon's hips, slipping underneath the apron, beneath the shirt she had changed into when they got to the condo. "I never said when you could make me this dinner. The night's still young, and I–"
"Have been purposely making it nearly impossible for me to focus on anything other than you," Sharon said with a mirthful smile. She raised her right hand to Andrea's face and caressed her cheek with the backs of her fingers.
"In my defense, you are partially to blame as well."
"Me?" Sharon laughed.
"Yes, you," Andrea said with a grin. "I was on my best behavior until you started getting handsy."
Sharon hummed and shook her head. "I'll take the blame," Sharon said, and then extracted herself from the arms that were looped around her and trying to keep her where she stood. "But, I'm going to get to work on dinner now. And you, my dear, are going to leave the kitchen so I can do so without finding myself wanting to abandon the task in favor of getting to be wrapped up in your arms. So, off to the living room you go," Sharon insisted, gently pushing her lovable distraction out of the kitchen with her hands on Andrea's back.
"Or you can let me stay." Andrea tried. "Let me help you and we can get dinner ready a lot faster."
Sharon snorted. "I believe we just established that you staying in the kitchen is not going to make anything move at a faster pace. Besides, this is something I want to do for you. There'll be plenty of opportunities for us to cook together in the future." Andrea spun around and took Sharon's hands into her own, making Sharon's breath hitch in her throat from the unexpected quick movement as she was pulled in to Andrea's body. She smiled, though, wrapping her arms around Andrea's neck. "What is it?" she questioned softly, tilting her head slightly.
Andrea shook her head and brushed one of her hands over the side of Sharon's face. "I just can't get over how much things are going to start changing." Her tone did not suggest whether Andrea thought the changes were a good or bad thing for the two of them.
Sharon's smile faltered, her stomach tightening as her eyes closed and she let her head lean against Andrea's. "Are you ready for that?" she wondered aloud, her voice no more than a whisper. They'd spoken a little about the ending of Sharon's relationship with Andy, but not much about what it meant for them. "I'd understand if you weren't. There's no need to rush into anything different from what we already have."
"Honestly? I'm..." Andrea's hands squeezed around her hips, and then Andrea wrapped her arms around Sharon and pulled her in for a proper embrace. Andrea kissed the top of her head through her hair, and Sharon sighed and rested her chin on Andrea's shoulder. "I can honestly say that, yes, with you by my side, I am completely ready for whatever changes are to come our way," Andrea said in a light voice.
Just like that, with only a few reassuring words, Andrea settled the nerves in her belly and replaced them with hopeful fluttering that went all the way up to her chest. Sharon adjusted so her arms were comfortably around Andrea's middle; she wanted to just hold her in her arms for a few moments, feel Andrea against her body and hear the almost unnoticeable inhalation and exhalations of her calm breath in her ear.
Andrea rubbed her hand in slow circles on Sharon's back, warm and soothing, and Sharon sighed once more and felt her body melt into Andrea's. So easily she felt herself relax in Andrea's arms, felt herself fall into her without worrying about whether or not Andrea would support her. She always knew Andrea would. Sharon turned her head and pressed her lips to the side of the other woman's neck and held them there for a few seconds, feeling the warmth of her soft skin. Andrea breathed out a quiet noise, and Sharon's lips curled against her neck, smiling. She brushed a slow kiss across the adored patch of skin, and then another, just as slow, lips delicately moving.
"Mm. Let dinner wait for a few minutes," Andrea whispered, walking towards the sofa and bringing Sharon with her, the two of them reluctant to let go of the other. If anything they held each other tighter, taking the tiniest of steps to avoid bumping into furniture. "I promise to stay out of your hair, but first I want something from you."
"Whatever you want," Sharon whispered without hesitation against Andrea's neck, opening her eyes just in time to see the end table Andrea was about to guide them into. Sharon steered them away from it, being their eyes for what Andrea could not see.
"Whatever I want," Andrea repeated, and Sharon could hear the grin in her words and found herself smiling in return. "You should know those are dangerous words, Sharon Raydor."
Sharon laughed. "Are they really? You use them quite frequently with me."
They sat together on the sofa, Andrea on the middle cushion, Sharon on the one to her right, her legs crossed over Andrea's lap. Andrea draped her arm over the back of the sofa, and Sharon's was atop hers, fingers stroking the sensitive skin of Andrea's neck, close to her shoulder. She imagined they looked as though they were completely comfortable with each other – and Sharon knew that they were, that neither of them were more comfortable with another, that they found their peace when they were together.
"I was always prepared to give you whatever, though," was Andrea's response to Sharon once they were sitting down. She pulled Sharon's legs snug against her belly and settled her second arm on top of the tangled limbs, her hand's heat seeping through the material of Sharon's lounge pants as it sat on a lean thigh.
"And you don't think I would do the same for you?" Sharon questioned, lifting her eyebrow curiously.
Andrea's lashes fluttered a little as Sharon's fingers moved in tight circles. She licked her lips and hummed in her throat, momentarily distracted but quickly focusing after a long moment. "That sounds like a trick question."
"It wasn't. I'm genuinely curious about what you think."
Andrea pulled Sharon's hand from her neck and held in her own. "I can tell you how I thought it would be."
"Which is how?"
Andrea dropped her eyes to Sharon's hand and smiled, her thumb gliding over raised veins and knuckles. "The other night when you brought up the similarities between how I love you and how my father loved my mother... Well, I've always expected to love someone with all my heart, you know, give them everything I could. That's how love looked like to me growing up. To love someone meant to want nothing more than wanting to see them happy.
"I've had relationships in the past where, even though it appeared like I was giving my partner what they wanted, I didn't feel as though I was making them happy. I didn't feel happy. Quite often it felt like while I was trying to do everything I could to give them everything, they didn't reciprocate. I believed I had unrealistic hopes for a relationship when I was younger, so my view on relationships started to change. I think that, I don't know, somewhere along the way I started believing that that was the normal way of things – there would always be one person who loved more, who would do more, and that person was me."
"But that isn't how you feel with me, is it?"
"No. I know better." Andrea brought their joint hands to her lips and lifted her eyes to meet Sharon's, holding her gaze as she pressed a long kiss to the top of Sharon's hand.
"Truthfully?" Sharon asked, not wanting Andrea to have any doubt that she was loved with every fiber of Sharon's being.
Andrea smiled at her, and there was a softness to her face that Sharon knew very well – it was the same look that she gave Sharon when they laid in bed together and everything was quiet and still and they didn't speak. It was what serenity looked like. Sharon felt a familiar warmth blooming inside her chest, a smile tugging at her lips. Even without Andrea's verbal answer, Sharon knew, knew that Andrea did not feel unhappy with her, did not feel unloved.
"Look at us, Sharon. I don't think anybody would even dare to think that either of us aren't happy with the other. And, yes, I do believe that you would do whatever you could to make sure I continued to feel this way." Andrea laughed a little in her throat and then leaned her head against the arm that was across the back of the sofa. "I've never doubted that you love me, you know, ever. I will admit that I was a little surprised when I learned that you were in love with me."
"Were you really?"
Andrea smiled with her eyes closed, nodding against her arm. "I think even as it was starting to click into place for me, there was still part of me that was clinging to what I had convinced myself about you wanting to be with Andy. The possibility that you wanted..." Andrea trailed off with a heavy breath.
Sharon brought her free hand to Andrea's head and gently raked her fingers through straight blonde hair. Andrea hummed and let out a softer breath than the one she had exhaled a moment ago.
"I was convinced that you wanted nothing more from me than a friendship, and I was fine with that. Having you in my life and sharing so much with you has been tremendously rewarding these last ten years, and I came to realize a long while ago that, just like I never felt we needed to distinguish the difference between our friendship and others, I never believed we needed a particular label for what we were to make it any more meaningful.
"I was surprised because I was so certain that you didn't want anything other than the relationship we already had."
Sharon considered Andrea's words for a moment in silence before she hummed thoughtfully in her throat. "Do you want to know what it is that I wanted that separates what we were from what I hope we are heading towards?"
Andrea opened her eyes and lifted her head, giving Sharon all of her attention. "Yes, of course.
"You're right about us not needing any specific labels or titles to categorize what we are. You made me understand that years ago. And I'd like to think that we've created a sense of, hmm..." Sharon pursed her lips as she tried to find the words she was looking for to best express her thoughts. "A safe space. We're able to openly discuss our feelings and any desires we might have without feeling as though the other will judge us. I admit to letting my fear of somehow losing something I find precious – you, the relationship we share, the love we have – prevent me from speaking to you sooner. I love you too much to think about the possibility of no longer having you in my life, Andrea."
"But you told me," Andrea said with a tight squeeze to Sharon's hand. "I think we're both guilty of holding back a little, even though I agree that we absolutely have created a safe space where we have no reason to fear the other's reaction to what we have to say. I believed I was hopelessly in love with a woman who I couldn't have the way I wanted, and all of the heartache I felt because of that could have been prevented if I just spoken to you."
Sharon leaned forward and kissed Andrea on the forehead, hating that Andrea had hurt because of any of this. "I'm sorry that I didn't say anything sooner."
Andrea shook her head and brought the hand from the back of the sofa to Sharon's back so she could pull her closer and hold her there. "We made it here. That's what's important. We could have both done something that made it happen sooner, just like we could have both continued to let the other stay in the dark about what we wanted." Andrea kissed the corner of Sharon's mouth gently and whispered, "I'm just happy that everything is out in the open now."
"As am I," Sharon agreed softly, her eyes falling shut as Andrea brushed another kiss to the corner of her lips. She shifted and wrapped her left arm around Andrea's neck and untangled her right hand from Andrea's so she could cup Andrea's cheek. "I think there's a strong chance that we could have ended up right where we are right now some other way, that there were several roads we could have taken that would have led to this."
Andrea hummed while rubbing her cheek against Sharon's palm, and Sharon's eyes closed while she smiled. Andrea pressed another brief kiss to Sharon's face, just below her lips. The light touch from Andrea's gentle mouth made her heart flutter, her belly flip. Andrea trailed her hand up from between Sharon's shoulder blades and into her hair, threading her skillful fingers through the thick waves and massaging Sharon's scalp. Sharon exhaled a pleased sound and slid her hand into Andrea's hair, mimicking her slow strokes and light pulls. When Andrea breathed out, the warm breath blew against Sharon's face.
"I wanted you to know that you're all I want," Sharon whispered, remembering she hadn't told Andrea what separated their past from their future. Her lips brushed Andrea's upper lip and her nose when she spoke, as Andrea teasingly, whether purposely or accidentally, let her own lips dance across Sharon's mouth without properly kissing her. With every touch from Andrea's mouth, no matter how brief, Sharon felt a pleasant tingling sensation against her lips.
"Yeah?" Andrea whispered back, her tone amused, light.
Sharon nodded and pressed her mouth against Andrea's skin, her cheek. "I needed you to know what you mean to me." Andrea slid her hand up Sharon's thigh, and Sharon's breath rushed out past her lips. Andrea's heat warmed her body as she dragged her hand upwards, and it felt remarkable, amazing. "You're–" Sharon sucked in a breath, her lip caught between Andrea's teeth. Andrea slowly released her lower lip and then softly rolled her tongue over it, wet and warm. "Oh."
"I want to kiss you," Andrea murmured.
Sharon's body flooded with a new flood of thick, heavy heat. "You are," Sharon responded, feeling that heat flush her cheeks a little.
Andrea pulled back, and Sharon opened her eyes to see the blonde looking at her. Andrea smiled when Sharon's eyes opened, smiled at her lovingly, suddenly appearing breathless. "Well, what I meant was that's what I wanted, earlier. I wanted to come over here and kiss you for a little while."
Sharon licked her lips, feeling her heart beat like a drum in her chest. She feared that it was so quiet in the room that Andrea could hear the organ loudly pounding. It did not beat away crazily in her chest because of nerves but instead because of excitement. She wanted Andrea to keep kissing her, to put her mouth over hers properly and let Sharon return the kisses she was giving her. She'd been wanting another kiss, a much longer one, from the moment she pressed her lips to Andrea's earlier in the morning. Sharon loved kissing Andrea just as much as she loved being able to hold and touch her – Sharon loved being connected to the other woman, and it was a beautiful feeling knowing that Andrea felt just as she did.
"Come here, then," Sharon urged, sliding her hand down to Andrea's arm and pulling her. "Come here," she said again, softer, sweeter, her eyes looking into Andrea's as she started to move.
Sharon laid back against the sofa arm with a cushion behind her back, her hips shifted forward so she could recline while Andrea moved from underneath Sharon's legs. Sharon removed her glasses and Andrea took them from her and put them on the coffee table. She placed one knee between Sharon's hip and the sofa, and the foot of her other leg remained on the floor while she hovered over Sharon. Sharon could see the slight trepidation in Andrea's eyes, so she reached up with both of her hands and caressed Andrea's smooth cheeks.
"What I said, whatever you want, I meant it," Sharon told her as she tucked a lock of hair behind Andrea's ear. She trailed her hand down to her neck and let her fingers curl around it.
Andrea licked her lips and leaned down, moving closer. "What do you want? I don't want to move too fast."
She never had, had respected Sharon's boundaries from the very beginning. Sharon smiled, her heart swelling in her chest as lifted her head up. "It's been years, sweetheart. If you want to kiss me, I won't think it's too fast." Sharon's eyes dropped down to Andrea's mouth, lips reddened by lipstick that was smudged a little. Her skin was growing warmer, her body full of delicious anticipation. "And I, I would really love to be kissing you right–"
Sharon cut herself off with a gasp as Andrea's mouth quickly covered hers and one of her lips was sucked into the incredible warmth hidden behind Andrea's own lips. The moment Sharon assured Andrea that she wanted the same thing Andrea did, the younger woman's body seemed to just fall into hers as though it was controlled by a force greater than the two of them. Breasts pressed to breasts, hips colliding, thighs sliding against each other's, Andrea made herself comfortable on top of Sharon's lithe body. Sharon only pulled her closer, one hand cupping the back of Andrea's head while the other slid down her back and held her, satin clutched in her fist.
To have kissed Andrea before meant nothing in that moment. It was all so very new when their lips stroked and Andrea moaned into her mouth, not the sensation of soft lips gliding across her own and fueling the fire that grew deep inside her, but the fact that she was kissing the woman that not only held a permanent spot in her heart, who she loved with such fierceness that the very thought of it made her head spin, but also that the woman, Andrea, loving, beautiful Andrea, who sighed as they kissed and stroked Sharon's cheek tenderly, knew that Sharon loved her, that she was in love with her. The love between the two of them made all the difference when the Andrea kissed her.
It was not just a kiss, not just the sweet meeting of tongues when Andrea pried Sharon's lips apart and licked slowly into Sharon's mouth. It was not just a kiss, not just the rush she felt from her head to her toes when she tilted her head up and whispered Andrea's name and heard the quietest of moans in response. It was not just a kiss, not just muscles flexing beneath her hand nor fingers trailing across her skin to draw nonsensically over her heated flesh.
It was not just a kiss.
Sharon moved both of her hands to Andrea's back and, as their lips took their time to delicately brush over the other's mouth, she felt something warm and happy glow inside of her. It was not just a kiss, because they had kissed before, and she had no doubt that they would kiss plenty more in their time together.
It was a beginning, a marvelous, beautiful start to a long journey she would travel with the only person she wanted to spend the rest of her life giving her love to.
Sharon's lips migrated away from Andrea's, pressing small kisses along the curve of her cheek and then to her ear. She could feel Andrea's heavy breaths on the side of her face and smell the scent of her shampoo, one she recognized, something with coconut in it. She hummed and continued kissing her way downward, her nose burying itself in the crook of Andrea's neck, in her warmth. She wanted to stay there, wanted to keep Andrea close to her and just enjoy the feeling of being connected to the woman she loved.
"You would do whatever you could to see me happy," Sharon said softly after a moment or two, adjusting so she could look into Andrea's eyes, "but all I want from you, all I ever want from you, is for you to let me make you happy."
Andrea's face softened, her eyes full of adoration. "I love you," she whispered. "I love you, and I have never been happier with anyone than I am with you, Sharon."
Sharon leaned up and pressed her lips Andrea's and held them there for a long moment as her eyes closed and her heart swelled with Andrea's love. She needn't say anything, nor do anything else, for she knew that sometimes words were not necessary and they communicated just as easily in the moments of silence.
to be continued…