To anyone who thought that last chapter was short - you can't say that about this one.

Bo's POV again, despite the last chapter. Also, this chapter is the first time in this story where there are scenes that neither Bo or Lauren are in. For those there is no specific POV. Hopefully it isn't confusing, the structure is slightly different than other chapters - if anyone isn't clear, I'll explain it in next chapter's author's note.

Enjoy

As everyone filed out of the courtroom, Bo sat at the trial table, scanning her notes. Her scrawled handwriting spilled out before her, but she wasn't focusing on anything in particular. It didn't matter now, anyway. The case was over. She had lost.

Mostly she was trying to keep herself focused. She needed to get up. She needed to go debrief her witnesses. She needed to gather up her shit, get back to her office, and start putting this loss behind her. Tomorrow was another day, and she had plenty more cases that needed her attention.

She took a deep breath, and looked at her notes a few beats longer.

The loss wasn't a shock – in the end, the evidence had been slim. While there was no doubt in her mind that she had the right person, the jury's decision was more or less expected. That didn't do anything to make Bo's mood less sour.

She ran a hand through her hair and started gathering everything. There would be time to sulk later – for now, she needed to talk to her witnesses. Time to be an adult.

After packing up her things, she headed into the hall. Sitting on the bench waiting for her were two investigating officers and Lauren. She looked at one of the officers. "Did Greg leave?"

The officer nodded. "Yeah, he took off right after he finished testifying."

Bo nodded. She wasn't surprised – despite all of their conversations, Greg had gotten on the stand and claimed he remembered nothing. He had been their main witness – without his testimony, they hadn't had a prayer.

"Sorry, guys," Bo said to the officers.

They shrugged. "No problem, we'll get the next one." They exchanged pleasantries and left, leaving Bo alone with Lauren.

Lauren looked at her sympathetically. "For what it's worth, they were saying what a great job you did."

Bo laughed mirthlessly. "Yeah, for all the good it did us."

Lauren stood up, looking unsure of herself. "Well, that's the way it goes sometimes, right?" Bo nodded, not saying anything. Lauren cleared her throat. "Listen, why don't we go out? We can head to the Dal, take your mind off of today."

Bo smiled. "Thanks. Really, thanks – for testifying today, and for the invite. But I think I'm going to head back to my office and close a few things out. I'm not in a party mood, really."

Lauren nodded. "Okay." She hesitated a moment, before saying, "don't work too late, okay?"

Bo smiled. "I won't. Go have a good time."

An hour later, Bo was sitting in her office when her cell phone lit up. She looked at the screen and saw a text message from Lauren.

I'm outside.

What? Bo walked to the front of the building and saw Lauren outside, leaving against the railing. Bo opened the door. "What are you doing here?"

Lauren smiled and lifted both of her hands, each holding a six pack. "I didn't want to drink alone," she answered. Bo smiled and held the door open, letting Lauren in.

By 7:30 the Dal was packed. Vex weaved his way up to the bar, where his friends were rushing around making sure everyone was served. "Happy Halloween, my darlings!" he said, loudly.

"Hey, Vex, glad you're here," said Dyson, who was dressed as a werewolf. "Can you go in the back and grab us some clean glasses?"

"Nate, can you be a love and get some glasses?" Vex asked, grabbing a pretzel from the bowl. Nate, dressed as Kurt Cobain, laughed and shook his head.

Ciara, dressed as a fairy, looked at Vex. "Yes, that was spectacularly helpful, thank you,."

"I do what I can, love. Kenzi! Darling! You make a smashing Courtney Love," Vex said, as Kenzi walked out of the back. Tamsin walked out after her. "And Tamsin, you are a…off brand wonder woman?"

"I'm a Valkyrie," Tamsin answered.

"A what?"

"Crack a book, Vex," Tamsin answered as she grabbed bottles and started making drinks. "What are you supposed to be, anyway?"

"Edward Scissorhands!" Vex answered, holding up his arm.

"So you just dressed normally and bought some cheap Wolverine claws?" Nate asked.

"The holidays truly bring out the worst in you people," Vex answered.

Bo leaned back in her chair, her feet on top of her desk. Lauren sat across from her, reclined on the old couch in Bo's office. Each were on their second beer when Lauren cleared her throat. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

Bo looked up, silently giving Lauren permission.

"Why this case? I mean, what was so special about this case?" Lauren asked.

Bo looked down for a moment, thinking. The truth was this case wasn't that noteworthy; yes, there had been a stabbing, but honestly worse crimes were happening every day. This one had just resonated with her. "I don't know," Bo answered, honestly. "I guess I just…I don't like to lose. And I wanted to win for Greg."

Lauren nodded. "But…I mean, Greg, he didn't care about a win."

Bo sighed. Lauren was right, of course. Greg had tried to back out of the case multiple times. Today's testimony was not at all a shock. "I just…I know kids like him. Hell, I was a kid like him. I know he didn't care about this, and he didn't want to be involved in it, but he deserved some justice. Kids like him…they deserve that."

Lauren was quiet for a moment, clearly debating whether or not to ask the next question. "What do you mean you were a kid like him?"

Bo ran her thumbnail over the label on her beer. "You don't want to hear about that," she answered.

"No, I do," Lauren replied. Bo looked up and was caught by Lauren's eyes. "I really do." Bo could tell she meant it.

"Greg's mom was an addict, just like mine. He didn't have any adult role models, he had to raise himself, basically. No one ever looked out for him, but he survived, you know? I respect that about him. He's tough." Bo took a deep breath and other sip of her beer. "And that's sort of how we came up, too. My mom was this…weak, helpless junkie. And my dad…" she shook her head. "Suffice to say, it wasn't a healthy relationship. He was abusive, awful. But no matter how bad it got, no matter what he did to her, my mom always went back to him. She would give me reasons like she loved him, or she needed him, or he was her soul mate, or whatever. The truth was he gave her the drugs, so she couldn't leave him, right?

"Kenzi's family was basically the same way, except that for her it was a stepdad. You know what's weird about growing up like that? You don't talk about it. Ever. With anyone." Bo took another drink.

Lauren sat, not moving. After a period of silence, Bo looked up and smiled weakly. "Sorry. I know that was too much."

Lauren shook her head emphatically. "No, no it wasn't. So that's how you got to be so close to Kenzi?"

Bo nodded, now starting to peel the label. "Yeah, we didn't talk about our parents, but we didn't need to, you know? We both got it. We were in the same boat. So we just…I don't know, we raised each other, I guess.

"We started running away from home when we were nine or so. No one ever came looking for us, so I don't know why we went back, but we usually did. When we were eleven we started running away to Dyson's house.

"Dyson's mom was a single parent. She'd been in a bad marriage, and after she ended it she moved here with Dyson. And she always took us in, you know? She was really good to us."

"She sounds like an amazing woman."

"She really is. I've always kind of been in awe of her, really. I think she's probably the reason I became a lawyer, if I'm being honest." The label started to crumble and peel under Bo's fingers.

The crowd was starting to thin out now as the "trick or treaters" drifted out for the bar crawl, giving the gang the chance to clean and restock. Even Vex was behind the bar when the door swung open and Kevin Rainer, dressed as a private investigator in a trench coat, walked in the door.

"Crikey, what the hell are you doing here?" Vex asked.

Rainer sighed. "Always great to see you, too," he said, sarcastically.

"Bo isn't here," Dyson said, not bothering to pause as he spoke to Rainer.

Rainer bit back a rude reply, opting to try to be cordial. These were Bo's friends, he needed to try to be civil. "Is it alright if I wait for her?"

Ciara looked at him, surprised. "Uh, sure. Do you want a drink?"

Rainer gave her a half smile. "Sure. Whatever's on tap is fine."

"What do you mean? What about her made you want to be a lawyer?"

Bo thought for a second. "Well, maybe not a lawyer, specifically, but I just wanted to be like her, you know? I mean, she was a woman who was in a bad relationship and had a kid to worry about. So, what did she do? She packs the kid up and leaves the freaking country to get away from the guy. It's a gutsy move, you know?

"And then she gets here, and of course she has no money, but she finds some apartment in the bad part of town that she can afford and she says, 'okay, I'll make this work.' And she does.

"Then her son comes home from school one day with these two scrappy girls, and what does she do? She doesn't turn us away, like she probably should have, she doesn't call the cops, she doesn't forbid Dyson from associating with us – she lets us stay. She gets on us about our grades. She punishes us when we act up. She goes to parent conferences and finds out how we're doing. She finds out who we're spending time with. She raises us."

Lauren sat silently, clearly surprised. "Wow, that's…incredible."

"She was strong. That's what I wanted to be. Strong. Tough. Independent."

Lauren nodded, not saying anything, letting Bo continue.

"She didn't need anyone. I admired that. If my own mother taught me anything, it was that needing people was death. I mean, she 'needed' my dad, and look where that got her. But Dyson's mom…Anyway, along the way somewhere, I got the idea that law school was the way to go, and I got in, and that was that." Bo took another drink of her beer, finishing the bottle. "She died a few years ago."

Lauren visibly winced. "I'm so sorry."

Bo opened a third beer. "It's okay. I mean, it was hard, but it was okay." Lauren finished her beer and opened a third as well.

Rainer reached into his coat pocket to grab his wallet. When he pulled his hand out, a small box popped out and skittered across the floor, coming to rest near where Kenzi was straightening some tables.

As it came to a stop near her foot, Kenzi looked down. She began to reach for it, then stopped halfway and looked at Rainer, who was standing watching her, frozen.

"…what the hell is that?" Kenzi asked, trying to keep her voice even.

"What?" Dyson asked, looking over at Kenzi from behind the bar.

Rainer didn't answer. Kenzi picked up the box and opened it, revealing a ring.

Dyson, still looking over, saw the ring and froze as well.

Vex looked around and everyone standing still. "Well this is bloody awkward, what are you all star—oh shit, what the fuck is that?"

"You know, needing people isn't a sign of weakness," Lauren commented.

The alcohol was buzzing in Bo's head. She hadn't eaten all day, and she was now realizing that drinking had been a mistake. She knew she needed to stop talking, but…fuck, it was Lauren, and she just really wanted to keep talking to her.

"Needing people leads to problems," Bo commented. "So I don't. It makes things easier."

"You need Kenzi, and Dyson," Lauren pointed out.

Bo considered that point for a moment. "Yeah, maybe…"

"But you don't need Rainer."

Bingo. There was no need to affirm the comment – it hadn't been said as a question. They both knew it was true.

Rainer looked around the room and sighed. "Alright, go ahead, have a laugh. Yeah, I'm still carrying it. I know it's pathetic. Let's just get this over with." He dropped back onto the stool.

"What do you…why do…what…what?" Dyson sputtered.

"Yeah, and to build on what Dyson said, what?" Kenzi added.

"You were going to propose?" Nate asked.

Rainer looked at all of them slowly with a confused expression. Then, slowly, the truth dawned on him. "She…she never told any of you, did she?"

"Told us what?" Dyson asked.

"Holy shit," Kenzi whispered. "He already did it. You already asked her, didn't you?"

"He proposed," Bo said. She swallowed the last of the third beer.

Lauren, who had been lifting her bottle to her lips, froze.

Bo popped open a fourth, took a sip, and immediately began peeling the label, just as she had done with the other three. She kept talking, not looking at Lauren. "Needing people, needing a partner, it makes you weak. It makes you vulnerable. I don't want to be vulnerable. And Rainer…I don't need him at all." She took another drink. "I know it's despicable. But, hey, I'm a lawyer, no one ever claimed we were good people." She laughed lightly at her own joke.

Lauren tried to snap herself back. "Um…"

Bo kept talking, still not looking at Lauren. Her voice was quiet, almost introspective. "He loves me. So, it's kind of perfect, right? I know he loves me. He'll stay with me. I don't even have to ask him to – he asked me. Some part of me has always wanted that, you know? To be settled, to have some kind of Norman Rockwell life…but I never needed anyone, so I never could have that. And then here comes Rainer, and he's in love with me, and he's willing to stay with me despite all my shit, and…fuck it, I don't know. This is what I always wanted, right? It's the perfect relationship. He loves me, he won't leave me, and I feel nothing for him, and I don't need him at all." Stop talking, Bo. Shut up.

She sighed. "I said no. When he asked me, I said no. But we stayed together. I mean, I know he's going to ask again at some point. It's only logical – if he asked once, he'll ask again if we don't break up." She swallowed some more beer. She really needed to stop drinking, but the drinking was facilitating this honesty. "So, there we are. He's going to ask again at some point. So the only options left are to break up with him, or to say yes."

Lauren didn't say anything. Bo finally looked up, and found Lauren staring at her.

"Sorry," Bo said, shaking her head. "That was…uh, that was a shitload to dump on you. Sorry, seriously."

Lauren seemed to come back to herself. "No, no, don't apologize. I mean, I'm glad you shared."

Bo laughed. "No, you're not."

Lauren smiled. "No, really, I am."

Bo nodded. "Okay, then. Any brilliant insights, Doctor? I mean, other than the totally obvious observation that I'm fucked up."

Lauren looked pensive for a moment, then quietly said, "don't say yes."

The bar started filling up again with drunken trick or treaters around 10. Despite the information they had received earlier in the evening, the gang was soon too busy to dwell on anything other than serving customers. Rainer left around 11. In the midst of the chaos, however, after Rainer left, Kenzi managed to grab her phone and send a quick message to Bo.

We need to talk

Bo's phone lit up with a text message. Kenzi: We need to talk. Bo frowned at the phone, wondering what the message meant.

"Everything okay?" Lauren asked.

Bo shrugged and dropped the phone. "Just a text from Kenzi. I guess something happened at the bar. I'll catch up with her later."

Lauren looked at the time. "Oh, God, I had no idea how late it had gotten. We should probably get going, right?"

No, Bo thought. We should stay here. "Yeah," Bo answered, fighting her instincts.

They started gathering up the trash, pushing the bottles back into the cardboard holder so they could throw them away someone other than in Bo's office. Bo started sweeping the label pieces off her desk and into her hand. Lauren walked up beside her to help.

Oh, God, she smells amazing, Bo thought. Her senses were on fire. She was drunk, and Lauren was right there, and God why couldn't things just be simple for once?

They finished cleaning up the paper and stood up straight. "Thanks for coming by," Bo said, softly.

"No problem," Lauren answered.

Bo's eyes flickered to Lauren's lips. Stop it, Bo.

No.

Bo reached her hand up behind Lauren's neck and pulled her in.

I'm more drunk than I thought. That was the first though through Bo's head when her lips made contact with Lauren's. Her head was spinning, her heart was pounding…and then she felt Lauren's hands on her hips, pulling her closer.

Bo tilted her head and suddenly the kiss became much deeper, much more intense. Bo felt her tongue slide against Lauren's and felt Lauren shiver under her hands.

Bo was drowning. She placed her other hand on the side of Lauren's face, her fingers curling around Lauren's earlobe. She heard a whimper, and she wasn't sure who it came from.

They needed to breathe. Bo pulled her head back slightly and drew in a gasp of air. She heard Lauren do the same, and Bo looked up into Lauren's eyes.

"We're drunk," Bo murmured, not stepping away.

"Yes. We are," Lauren whispered. And then she pulled Bo back in for another kiss.

Bo walked into the apartment at 2:30a. She was considerably more sober now. Lauren had left her office hours ago, but she hadn't gone home. Instead, she had spent the last few hours wandering around, silently observing drunk people in costumes stumbling out of bars.

Kenzi was sitting on the couch when Bo walked in. She turned her head to Bo.

"He proposed?" Kenzi asked, flatly.

Bo was exhausted. She just nodded in response.

Kenzi sat looking at Bo expectantly. When Bo didn't say anything, Kenzi prompted her. "And?"

"I kissed Lauren." Bo turned and walked to her room, shutting the door behind her.

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