Hey, guys, how are we all doing today?
So, a few chapters ago someone noted that they enjoyed that the story was progressing with every chapter. To whoever that was - you may have curse me, because I feel like since then we've just been having hang-out chapters. I hope people are alright with this - there will be forward progress again, but lately I seem to be doing more of these sort of everyday chapters that aren't really revolutionary in any way, and are more just "hey, here's a day in their relationship" kind of things. If anyone is getting annoyed with this, I'm sorry, and I promise we'll have more forward progress at some point.
Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing, I can't tell you how much it means to me to see that other people are enjoying this story. It's always great to hear from everyone.
Hope you guys are having a good Monday. Enjoy!
Lauren woke up feeling confused as Bo kissed her temple. She dragged her eyes open, groggily. She felt a dull ache at the base of her skull and groaned when the morning light hit her eyes.
"Hey, baby," Bo said, kneeling down beside the bed next to her head.
The smell of coffee wafted to Lauren's senses, and she glanced over and saw her mug on the nightstand, steam rising from the top. "What time is it?" she asked.
"Early. Time to get up for work."
Lauren rubbed a hand across her face, trying to shake off the fog of sleep, and looked fully at Bo, noting that she was already dressed. "You're leaving already?"
Bo smiled softly and brushed the hair off Lauren's face, keeping her voice mercifully low. "I need to be at work early today."
Lauren sighed. She liked having time with Bo in the morning – getting ready in tandem, drinking their coffee together, watching the news, making the bed – all the stupid domestic things she had gotten used to over the last months. The throbbing at the base of her skull continued, and she already felt the start of a bad mood coming on. "Why are you going in so early?"
"I got an e-mail about a new case. I got up a few hours ago, and I've been doing some work on it here, but I need to go in and meet with my investigators."
Lauren sighed, feeling irritated. Yes, she knew she was acting petulant, alright? But her head hurt, and she didn't want to get up, and Bo wasn't even going to be around this morning, and she just felt like being crabby. Why couldn't people just obey the law, at least until after she and Bo had finished their coffee together?
Bo leaned in and gave her a gentle kiss, her hand softly cradling the back of Lauren's head, and for a moment the headache weakened and her heart sped up and her mood improved. Then Bo pulled back, and the throbbing returned, and Lauren was grumpy again.
"I'll see you tonight," Bo said, running her thumb over Lauren's cheek. "Sorry I'm leaving so early."
"You can't go in just a little bit later?" Lauren asked. God, she sounded pathetic – but, honestly, she was lacking the desire to care that much.
Bo smiled at her, her eyes turning warm in the way that captivated Lauren. It was a look Lauren had never seen Bo give anyone else – it was a smile just for her, a smile no one else could get from her. Lauren felt possessive over it, loving that it was just hers, something that only she could get from Bo.
"I love you," Bo said, her fingers skimming Lauren's jawline. "Have a good day."
Lauren sighed. It wasn't going to be a good day. A day that started with Bo leaving wasn't going to be a good day.
Bo gave her another affectionate grin, as if she could read Lauren's thoughts. "Come on, Doctor Lewis. You have lives to save."
Lauren hesitated a moment. "Can it be Wednesday?" she asked.
Bo leaned in and gave her another kiss. "I'll do my best to make it Wednesday," she answered.
Lauren's day didn't improve after Bo left.
To start with, she scaled her tongue on the coffee, overestimating how long it had been waiting for her on the nightstand, a friendly little reminder for the rest of the day that Bo had left before they had their morning together.
This was followed by the realization that the dry cleaner had forgotten to put one of her shirts, the shirt she was planning to wear today, in with her and Bo's clean clothes. Perfect. Just fucking perfect.
She made it to the hospital dangerously close to being late, and was immediately greeted with what felt like hundreds of people needing her attention, stat, and of course the ever incompetent Dr. Myers fucking up everything he touched.
By 11:30a, Lauren was back in her office. She dug through her desk drawer until she found an old bottle of Tylenol, popping three in her mouth, hoping to ease the headache. She hated waking up with headaches – those were the worst. She knew it was because Fall was almost here, and her allergies were preparing to torment her. The bright side was that all she really needed to do was go to the pharmacy and pick up some allergy pills and soon this would fade away, but that didn't help her right now, did it, so her mood stayed sour.
She grabbed her phone and checked her messages.
Bo: Don't hate me.
Lauren groaned. She just couldn't catch a fucking break today.
Lauren: Seriously?
Bo: This case is more involved than I expected. I promise I'll make it up to you.
Lauren: I miss you. Needy? Yes. True? Also yes.
Bo: I promise I'll get out of here by 5, 5:30 at the latest. I'll bring dinner home. What do you want to eat?
Lauren: I don't care.
Bo: Sucky day?
Lauren: Yeah.
Bo: I'm sorry.
Lauren sighed. This wasn't Bo's fault, not really. She was just in a bad mood. She knew she needed to get over it, snap herself out of it and act like a damn professional and adult, but really, Universe? All she wanted was to see her girlfriend. Was that too much to ask?
Lauren: It's fine. Sorry I'm in a bad mood.
Bo: Don't apologize for that. You don't have to be in a good mood for me.
Lauren smiled in spite of herself.
Lauren: I really, really love you. Do you know that?
Bo: I caught that. I really, really love you, too.
At 2:30p Lauren was back in her office. She had been running around the hospital all day, and she had finally found a few free minutes to eat a mushy vending machine sandwich. The perfect lunch for this day, she thought, grumpily. She sat her desk and started to open it when she heard a light knock on her door.
She sighed. Great. What now?
She got up and opened the door and felt her heart skip when she saw Bo standing outside of it, holding two lattes.
"Hi," Bo said with a smile, extending a cup toward her.
"What are you doing here?" Lauren asked, accepting the cup and letting Bo walk in, closing the office door behind her.
"The front desk let me come up. I thought you might need some coffee. I have a meeting in," Bo looked at her watch, "about fifteen minutes, so I thought I would come by for a second."
Lauren sat her coffee cup down on her desk, and then reached over and took Bo's from her, sitting it on the desk as well. Bo looked her, momentarily confused, but before she had time to question the action Lauren pulled her in to a deep kiss.
Bo pulled her in closer when Lauren tangled her tongue against Bo's, and Lauren sighed into the kiss, feeling herself sinking. Bo's left arm was snaked around Lauren, her hand resting on Lauren's ass, and her right arm was angled upwards, pressing between Lauren's shoulder blades, keeping them pressed tightly together. For her part, Lauren's hands were on the sides of Bo's face, her fingers curling to the back of Bo's head, and God, this woman was perfection.
And Lauren wanted more.
Just as the thought went through Lauren's mind, however, she heard her pager going off on the desk behind her.
She groaned. "Shit, what now," she muttered, grudgingly untangling herself from Bo as she went to check who was trying to contact her.
Bo cleared her throat and gathered herself, trying to shake off the fog Lauren had cast over her. She crossed to the desk and grabbed her coffee, and then stepped over to Lauren and gave her one last quick kiss. "It's okay, I have to go, too," she said.
Lauren sighed. "Okay," she said, her tone communicating exactly how not okay she felt this situation was. "I'll see you at home."
Bo curled a finger and put it under Lauren's chin, giving her a soft kiss goodbye. "I hope your day gets better. I love you."
Lauren smiled. "I love you, too. Thank you for the coffee."
"Anytime," Bo said. "Text me what you want for dinner."
Lauren nodded and watched as Bo walked out the door, sighing when she heard her pager give another shout. She grabbed a sip of her latte…fuck, that was hot…grabbed her lab coat, and went back out into the hospital.
At 6:00p Lauren walked into her apartment and found it empty. She glanced at the time – wasn't Bo supposed to be home by now?
She sighed. Of course Bo was running late. If there was one thing to be said out this day, it was consistent. She flopped onto the couch, turning on the TV, looking for something mindless to watch. The headache was creeping up behind her again, and her mood was trending ever more bitchward, and fuck it, where was Bo?
At 6:30p the door opened and a tired looking Bo walked in, carry sushi. "Hey," she said, carrying the food to the counter. "Sorry I'm late."
She walked over to the couch and sat down beside a grumpy Lauren. Lauren shrugged. She wanted to be mad. She was in a bad mood, and she just wanted to be mad for a few minutes. Yes, it wasn't Bo's fault, and yes, Bo had probably had a long day, too, but for a minute – Lauren just wanted to be mad.
Bo looked at her for a second, studying her face, while Lauren continued to look at the TV screen. After a moment, Lauren saw Bo in her periphery turn to look at the TV as well. For a second, this irritated Lauren further. She was about to say something when she felt Bo's hand come up and pull her slightly, angling Lauren away from Bo. Before Lauren could say anything, she felt Bo's thumbs pressing into her neck, moving in circles, releasing the tension and the knots that had formed there.
Lauren sighed in relief as she felt her headache start fading away. Bo continued not to say anything, her fingers working at the muscles in her neck before drifting out to rub her shoulders and upper back. Lauren's eyes sagged closed, feeling the tension in her body drift away as her muscles melted under Bo's hands.
She wasn't sure how long the impromptu massage lasted, but at some point she became dimly aware that Bo had scooted closer behind her and that she was sagging back against Bo's chest.
"I'm sorry you've had a shitty day," Bo whispered into Lauren's ear, before kissing her lightly behind the ear, making Lauren shiver. "Tell me what happened."
"I didn't get to have my morning with you," Lauren answered. And the fact was, that was it – that was really what her issue was. Yeah, she had a headache, and yeah, people at work had been annoying, but she had the distinct feeling that if she had just managed to have her morning with Bo, her normal morning with her normal routine, that things would have seemed different.
Bo kissed Lauren again, again behind the ear, and Lauren's eyes dropped closed as her head tilted slightly of its own volition to give Bo easier access.
Bo didn't say anything, continuing to rub Lauren's shoulders a bit longer. A few minutes later, Bo gently turned Lauren to lay her head down on her breasts, wrapping her arms around Lauren and rubbing a finger gently over the shell of Lauren's ear soothingly. Lauren relaxed into Bo, listening to Bo's heartbeat reassuringly sounding in her chest.
"You need to eat. You've had a long day, too," Lauren said, but she didn't make an effort to move away, enjoying feeling Bo's chest rising and falling slightly as she breathed.
"We can eat later," Bo said. "For now, I'm good right here."
Lauren smiled and turned her face to press it into Bo's chest, breathing deeply. A few minutes later she lifted her head again, and gave Bo a long kiss. It wasn't intense, it wasn't urgent, it was slow and gentle and it made Lauren feel like her day was being repaired somehow, taken apart and refitted back together in the right order.
When Lauren pulled back she looked into Bo's eyes, and Bo smiled back at her, running the pad of her thumb over Lauren's lips. "Come on," Bo said. "Let's eat dinner."
She and Lauren got up and walked to the kitchen, Bo pulling out plates, and Lauren opening the bag to reveal the food.
"So, tell me about this case," Lauren said, retrieving chopsticks from the bottom of the bag.
Bo shook her head. "Trust me, you've already had a shitty day, you don't want to hear about it."
Lauren glanced at her, regarding her quietly for a moment. "You've had a shitty day, too, haven't you?"
Bo shrugged. "I didn't get to have my morning with you," she said with a smile.
Lauren laughed. "Are we pathetic?"
"Yes, we are."
Lauren nodded. "Do we care?"
"No," Bo answered.
They ate quietly for a few minutes.
"So where do we want to live?" Bo said in between bites.
Lauren smiled. "I don't know. Somewhere between both of our works would be good."
Bo nodded. "Definitely. Somewhere with a lot of windows," she added.
"Maybe a balcony?"
"That sounds nice. We need big closets, because your wardrobe is out of control."
"Really? My wardrobe is out of control?" Lauren said with a laugh.
"Absolutely."
"You have way more clothes than I do," Lauren noted.
"Yes, but as I have said before, you don't need clothes," Bo said with a grin.
Lauren laughed and rolled her eyes. "Yes, I'm sure my patients would feel like they were getting great care if I showed up every day nude."
"I would literally break my leg four times a week if you would take care of me nude," Bo said, solemnly.
Lauren just laughed and shook her head.
After cleaning up dinner, Bo and Lauren watched TV for a while, talking and joking about nothing in particular. When they started yawning, they headed to bed.
When they had crawled beneath the sheets, Bo molded herself to Lauren's back and wrapped her arms around Lauren. A few moments passed, and Lauren felt Bo's hand move, reaching to Lauren's underwear and pressing against her. Lauren inhaled a quick breath, feeling a tingling run through her at the contact.
Bo continued for a few moments until Lauren could feel the wetness pooling around Bo's fingers. She tried to turn over, tried to reach for Bo, but Bo gently pushed her back, continuing her ministrations. "Not tonight," Bo said into Lauren's ear. "Tonight is just about you."
Bo continued on, stroking Lauren, pushing her fingers in and out, rubbing her clit delicately, and then firmly, and then softly again, until Lauren felt like she was going to die if she didn't soon have release. Bo sensed her desperation, noting the strangled noises she made and how her hips were moving, trying to push herself over the edge.
Bo leaned in, and just as she pushed her fingers against Lauren's clit, circling her, and making her come, she huskily whispered "God, I fucking love you," into Lauren's ear.
Lauren felt like she was breaking apart. She was fairly certain she was having an out of body experience. Everything seemed far away, like a distant echo; all that she knew for sure was that her body was lost in a sea of pleasure as her muscles convulsed and pulsed against Bo's hand. When she came back to herself, she was out of breath and felt boneless. She turned her head and caught Bo's lips, kissing her.
They settled back against each other, drowsiness coming over them, and they both began to sink into sleep. As her eyes drifted shut, Lauren smiled.
All in all, not a bad day she thought as sleep washed over her.
As always, I love hearing what you think of this chapter and the story generally. Let me know.