It had taken almost the entire day but Kate had taken Laurie to every place she could think of. They had walked through almost the entire town and at this point, she was sure Laurie was familiar enough with the place that she wouldn't be in danger of being lost or putting herself in a bad situation. Kate had made a point to tell Laurie about the sketchier places.
Eventually, Kate ran out of places to take Laurie that didn't involve exposing herself and they found themselves walking aimlessly through the park.
"Are you tired? Do you wanna go home?" Kate asks as Laurie stops to sit on a bench. It was late afternoon and they had been walking the entire time, with the exception of stopping for lunch. Kate was sure Laurie had developed an addiction to the milkshakes at the diner Lucas's mother managed.
"No, I'm good. It's nice out here." Laurie sighs, patting the space beside her.
Kate slid down next to her, close enough that their shoulders were touching. "It is."
"You know, if you had told me a year ago that I would be living here, so far from a city, I would've laughed in your face. But I've been here a few weeks now,"
Kate senses the shift in the mood and turns to face Laurie, moving her arm so it rests on the bench behind her. "And?"
"And I kinda love it."
Kate finds herself feeling relieved at her response. One of her fears had been that Laurie wouldn't like it here. She didn't know what she would do if Laurie decided she'd had enough and decided to leave.
"Do you miss it? California, I mean. Your job." Kate asks.
"Honestly? No." Laurie shifts slightly, moving closer to the taller woman. "I mean, I love being a doctor and saving lives, but I don't think I'm ready to go back there. I moved for my sister and I didn't have anything to stay for. I went back to work a week after the accident and I just- I couldn't do it. I still can't. At least not yet."
Neither of them spoke after that. Laurie was close enough now that Kate could wrap her arm around the smaller woman and she had taken to rubbing soothing circles on her arm.
"You know, I broke that swing once," Kate says after a while, breaking the silence pointing towards a swing set a ways in front of them. She didn't like seeing Laurie upset and was determined to change her mood.
"Did you hit it with a sledgehammer?" Laurie asks, teasing.
Kate lets out a chuckle. "I deserved that, but no. My friend Connor said I couldn't swing higher than him."
"Could you?"
"I don't know, it tipped over before we could find out," Kate says, smiling as Laurie starts laughing beside her.
"I can totally picture little you flying off that thing," Laurie says, turning to face Kate.
"It was like, eight months ago."
"Oh my god." Laurie bursts out into another round of laughter.
"They had to weld it down."
Laurie was shaking with laughter, leaning on her fully now. Her back was pressed up against Kate's side and Kate's hand had migrated down to the smaller blonde's hip.
They sat there in silence for a while before Laurie started to play with the end of Kate's shirt sleeve. She lifts the ends up a fraction and starts tracing the tattoos lining the brunette's skin. The pattern surrounding the base of her wrist resembled a cluster of trees and Laurie knew from quick glimpses that there was a detailed drawing of a full moon at the top of her forearm.
"Do you want me to tell you what they mean?" Kate asks, enjoying how Laurie was running her fingers through the lines of the tattoo.
Laurie shakes her head, pulling the sleeve of Kate's shirt back down, turning her face to look up at the older woman. "No."
"No?" Kate asks, confused.
"I mean, not no. Just, not yet."
Kate nods and Laurie can sense her confusion but she wasn't about to tell Kate that she wanted to see the entire thing. She knew Kate had more than just the ones on her left arm and she wanted to see all of them.
Asking Kate to take her shirt off in a public park probably wasn't the way to go. Of course, she wouldn't be opposed, but she'd rather it be done when they weren't in public.
Honestly, Laurie was a little surprised Kate hadn't tried to do anything but hug her or hold her hand. She had been dropping hints for a while now and the older woman remained oblivious. It wasn't as if she was being subtle. Laurie was sure Kate had caught her staring at her more than once.
"So is there anywhere else you wanna take me before we go?" Laurie asks, weaving her hand into Kate's.
Kate thought for a while before she remembered the shelter, not a block from where they were sitting. She wasn't sure how Laurie felt about animals but seeing as the blonde woman was in no rush to get home, she might as well ask. She herself wasn't a huge fan but short of going to the mall or a bar, Kate couldn't think of anything else.
"Well, that depends."
"On what?" Laurie asks, curious.
"Whether you like furry four-legged creatures. There's an animal shelter about a block from here if you wanna go." Kate watches her mate's eyes light up and had a feeling she was gonna be in that shelter for a while.
Laurie abruptly, smiling as she hears Kate grumble in light protest as she pulls away from her.
Laurie absolutely adored animals. She had always wanted a pet but her parents never got one and when she started living alone, her job didn't afford her the time to give any animal the care it needed. But now she had a lot of time on her hands and had been thinking of getting a pet since she moved.
Laurie holds her hand out for Kate to take and pulls her up as soon as she takes it.
"Let's go."
"I'm taking her home.""Please don't.""But she's adorable." Laurie whines, cradling a cream-colored puppy to her chest like one would a baby. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor, happy to let the puppies climb all over her."You said that about the last eight." Dogs. The last eight dogs. The cats were another story. Kate was sure had she not been blessed with the reflexes she had, she would have several scratch marks on her body."She's so fluffy." Laurie coos lifting the puppy at eye level."God please don't let her get a dog," Kate mutters under her breath as Laurie picks up another puppy that had been pawing at her leg, setting the one she already had on her lap.Kate was slowly regretting taking Laurie to the animal shelter. Seeing her mate with the little animals had to be the most adorable thing she had ever witnessed but th
Kate led Laurie towards a booth, hand resting on her lower back as she eyed the bar's occupants.Out of all the places they had passed, she hadn't been expecting Laurie to choose this particular establishment.It wasn't that it was bad. It was nice. Great actually. The drinks were amazing and they served decent food. Kate had been here countless times with her friends.That was the problem.The people who frequented this bar weren't exactly the most human. It wasn't glaringly obvious if you weren't looking but she knew that staying here with Laurie probably wasn't a good idea.She had tried to steer Laurie away but her mate was set on going to this particular bar and Kate couldn't refuse her without looking suspicious."What do you want? I can go get it." Kate says as Laurie settles herself on one side of the booth. Kate had picked the one in the bar's line of sight, wanting to be able to see Laurie even when she left to get them their
The drive back to Laurie's house was quiet as neither one of them said a word.Laurie sat in the passenger seat of her car still reeling from the events that transpired less than an hour ago, not quite believing what she had just witnessed.Kate had thrown someone across the bar without so much as breaking a sweat. The way she did it made it seem like it took no effort at all. Kate who she had only ever known to be calm and gentle had nearly killed someone for trying to make a move on her. Yes, she was admittedly in a bit of trouble but Laurie had not expected Kate to react the way she did.Her strength surprised Laurie. No matter how hard she had tried, she couldn't get Kate to budge. It was like trying to move a brick wall. Laurie knew Kate was strong but what happened was different. Kate should not have been able to do what she did. It just didn't make sense.There was also the fact t
Laurie walks into the bathroom and takes her time changing into the significantly softer clothes.She takes a moment to look at herself in the mirror and lets out a disgruntled sigh when she spots a bruise forming on her right arm. There was some light bruising that went around her upper arm that Laurie knew would darken come morning. She hadn't been paying attention to how hard the man, Darren, had grabbed her but now that she wasn't wearing the sweater, she could see it was apparently hard enough to bruise.She inspects herself further and groans in annoyance as she sees another on her wrist. "Great. That's just great."She had been too busy being in her own head to feel anything and now that she had the time, she was making sure she had not missed anything, stopping only when she was satisfied at having found no other injuries.She looked over the bruises she did have and deduced that the one on her wrist looked far worse than the one on he
Laurie finds herself unable to say anything. She understood what Kate was saying but she just couldn't find words to say. Everything Kate said, no matter how foreign the concept was to her, made sense.Laurie let herself think of how Kate always, always without fault, did everything she could think of to make Laurie happy. She almost never refused Laurie anything. She helped with everything she could think of, she was gentle and kind and she made Laurie laugh more than she ever had in her life; not to mention she almost killed someone trying to protect her.There was also something to be said about how Laurie felt about Kate. No matter how she tried to look at it, Kate made her feel things she had never felt before. To an extreme. Laurie was never one to let anyone get as close to her as she let Kate. But there was a sense of need to be near her and an almost longing feeling when she left. It was one of many re
Laurie leans back in shock, both eyebrows raising. Out of all the things Kate could have said, she was not expecting that. "You need to do what?""I need to bite you," Kate repeats herself, eyes trained on Laurie's face as she tries to gauge her reaction.Laurie blinks twice before asking, "Like, bite bite?"Kate nods."Why?"Kate shakes her head, "I don't really know why, but a connection is formed when it happens. I'm not quite sure how it works."Laurie takes a breath to center herself before speaking. "What if I don't want any of this? I mean, do I even have a choice? Do you?" She asks.She wasn't trying to hurt the other woman but all of this was starting to feel like a lot and she needed to know.A sad smile makes its way onto Kate's lips. "I don't have a choice, no. But you do." Kate knew
Laurie looks up, startled from her baking when she hears the doorbell ring. She drops the cookie cutter in her hand, leaving the cookie dough she had been shaping in favor of running towards the door in excitement and scrambling to get it open.As soon as she swings the door open, Laurie is sent stumbling back as she's tackled into a hug by an enthusiastic, energy-filled Lydia Summers."Laurie! Oh my god, I missed you!" The other woman mumbles into her neck, arms wrapped tight around her best friend."Hey, Lyd.""It's been almost two months and I had no one to talk to." The woman says, exaggerating as she keeps her arms around her friend."Ouch." Laurie hears the mildly offended tone and looks over Lydia's shoulder to see Casey Lane standing about a foot behind Lydia.An amused smile makes its way to Laurie's lips as she notices how 'bundled up'
Kate was tired.It had been two weeks since she had seen or even heard from her mate and she wasn't doing too well.The first few days were somewhat manageable. She snapped at almost everyone about the smallest issues and she felt constantly on edge, but it had been manageable.However, the longer she went without any form of contact with Laurie, the more she started to lash out. She was short-tempered, aggressive, and just plain exhausted. After a week, she chose to see her pack members as little as possible to avoid saying or doing anything in her current state that she would regret later.Two weeks in and Kate had not left her house in seven days. She had Iris and sometimes Isaac Or Connor take over most of the duties she had, having them report to her instead of going out. She trusted them the most and they were the ones who understood the unique situation that she was in.