Running her fingers through her hair, Lauren sat on the couch to wait for Harper. She could hear Harper rustling around her room. Lauren reached for her phone, remembering that she left it at her place. She sighed and walked towards Harper's room. As she walked in, Lauren saw a bright room filled with shoes and clothes everywhere. It was an organized mess and Harper stood in the center putting clothes into a bag that rested on the bed. Harper hadn't noticed Lauren yet, Lauren took a second to look around. It definitely seemed like a room that would belong to Harper. Classy, yet disorganized. Lauren stood in the doorway and knocked. Harper jumped.
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." Lauren gave a crooked grin.
"I thought you were in the living room." Harper went back to putting her clothes in the bag.
"I figured I'd see if I could help." Lauren walked to the bed.
"Actually I'm all finished now. Thank you though. We can head out." Harper grabbed her bag and turned. Accidently bumping into Lauren who stood in front of her now.
Lauren tried not wince in pain as Harper bumped into her stomach. They held each other's gaze for a second. Then Harper leaned in and raised herself up on her toes, kissing Lauren. Lauren was afraid this would happen. She took a step back.
"I'm sorry. It's not that I don't want too. I just don't know if it is the right thing to do." Lauren took Harper's hand.
Harper cleared her voice "You're right. I shouldn't have. Let's go."
Lauren knew that things would be awkward now. She didn't feel right sleeping with Harper. She knew if that happened, Harper would expect more, and Lauren couldn't give her more. Harper and Lauren left the apartment and headed back to Lauren's. On the way there, Lauren decided she would cook tonight. She wanted to show Harper how much she appreciated everything she's done so far.
When they got back to the apartment Lauren went to search through her kitchen to get ideas for dinner. She called out to Harper who was in the living room "Hey I know you said you wanted to cook, but mind if I cook something?"
"Don't trust my cooking?" Harper said lighthearted.
"I just figured I'd give you a break."
"I'm kidding. Of course you can cook." Lauren saw Harper head to the bathroom to shower.
Lauren grabbed her phone. She saw she had several missed calls and texts. Most of them were from Jennifer and Jessica. They were questioning her on where she was and if she was okay. She replied back to Jessica telling her she was fine, just taking some time to herself. She told Jennifer she had personal business. Lauren still didn't want anyone else to know what happened. She wouldn't see Jessica until her wounds were completely healed because she wanted to avoid the interrogation. But Lauren figured she would be okay to go to work tomorrow night. She would show up late and wear a hat to cover up the few cuts and bruises on her face.
Lauren heard the shower turn on as she pulled chicken out the fridge. She decided she would make her Parmesan chicken with pasta and carrots. She pulled out the rest of the ingredients and began preparing the chicken. Once it was in the oven, Lauren began making a red sauce from scratch and cooking noodles. Lauren could hear Harper getting out of the shower now. Lauren thought about the kiss earlier and how much she wanted to kiss her back. As Lauren was putting everything back in the oven to finish, she saw her phone light up. She looked at the number that just sent her a text, but she didn't recognize it. 'Hey where have you been?'
'Who is this?' Lauren replied.
"So what's for dinner Rachael Ray?" Harper chuckled as she walked out of the bathroom with a towel in her hair.
Lauren gave her crooked smile, "We are having Parmesan chicken with red sauce. I was going to make carrots but forgot. I can make them now if you want?"
Harper shook her head, "No that's okay, if we are still hungry, I can make a dessert."
"Sounds good to me." Lauren saw the unknown number had replied and picked up her phone.
'Jessie. Hadn't seen you in awhile so I got your number from Jennifer so I could check up on you.'
Lauren felt something that the only way she could explain was that it was like her heart smiled. She replied 'Yeah all good. Just needed some time off. I'll probably be back tomorrow night.' Now she was definitely ready to go back to work.
Lauren put her phone in her pocket and started to set plates. "What do you want to drink?"
Harper walked over to the fridge to look. "Hmm, beer?"
"Was it even a question?" Lauren grinned at her.
Harper gave a cheerful smile and walked to the counter with a beer for each of them. Lauren took the food out of the oven and began to plate. It turned out just as she wanted. Just like everything else she attempted to learn, Lauren was a pretty good cook. She set a plate in front of Harper and then took her place next to her.
"Damn, you might have Rachael Ray beat."
Lauren shrugged. "I like to cook. I did it when I could growing up."
Harper got quiet at the mention of Lauren's childhood and began eating. Lauren appreciated that Harper didn't try to ask her anymore about her life even after trial was over. They both ate and sipped beer in silence. Lauren finished first and started to clean up. "Want anymore?"
"No thank you. That was an amazing meal. You are definitely a good cook. Is there anything you aren't good at?" Harper stood up to help clean.
Lauren took a minute and thought about it. "I'm not good at sewing."
Harper laughed and shook her head. "Want me to make dessert?"
