Thank you Terry and snow for all your help in editing and improving this chapter. I couldn't have done it without you.
Like almost all of my series, this one will only be understood if you have read the chapters before it. Thank you to my readers for going along this journey with me.
Chapter 17
Indigo wakes up alone in Liz's bed. She can hear Liz out in the kitchen. It's disappointing because she hoped to wake up with her. As she gets up and pulls on a t-shirt and panties, she notices that the room doesn't have a lot of personal touches. There is mostly gear around, kind of messy. The only personal things are a couple of pictures, both with Rikki. One is from high school and the other more recent. She goes out and Liz has coffee made with some boxes of cereal on the table. Indigo doesn't feel comfortable and rather than hugging her, she sits down at the table. They eat, not talking a lot. When Indigo leaves, they kiss but the embrace isn't very strong. It feels like coming here was a mistake but it's still more than Liz ever gave her. Her conviction that things can't happen with Liz is shaken. Maybe there is a future.
Marika and Winnie have to work at the office to make sure that their new relationship isn't discovered. It's mostly okay, but a couple of times they can't help but touch. Winnie hopes that they can go to dinner but Marika decides that she needs to just go home. They have a discrete moment of holding hands at Marika's car. Logan calls her in the car and wants to know if she would like to get a drink. Winnie says no to his surprise. Makes him more interested in her.
Yamile comes over to Marika's and they talk about Winnie. It starts more talking about how surprised Marika is that it happened. They talk about "Rikki" when she was younger and wilder, and how she came close to being with women but it never happened. Yamile asks about Liz. Marika says never. It would be like having sex with her sister. It slowly degenerates into Marika telling Yamile about what happened. Yamile finds herself getting excited. Later at home, she masturbates thinking about it.
Chapter 17
For the first few moments as Indigo started out of a deep sleep, she was unsure of where she was. It was only after raising her head and looking around that her fuzzy synapses fired enough to remember.
"I'm at Liz's apartment," she mused as what happened the night before came back to her. The spot next to her was empty, with the covers pushed over so that they bunched up against her. Through the door, she could hear noises from what must be the kitchen. She reached out her hand and touched the sheet. It retained a hint of body warmth. Liz couldn't have gotten up too long before. She sighed. Her last conscious thought before falling asleep in Liz's arms was that it would be so nice to wake up with them still around her.
"We must have rolled apart at some point. I didn't even notice her getting up."
She considered waiting to see if Liz came back, but knowing her, it didn't seem likely. With another sigh, Indigo got up and opened up her duffel bag. Poking through it, she found a t-shirt from Saturday and sniffed it. "At least it doesn't smell," she thought. Fortunately, she had an extra pair of panties so she didn't have to recycle those as well. She pulled both of them on.
While she was doing that, she glanced around. Even though Liz lived in this apartment since before they met a few years ago, she couldn't tell that from the way it looked. There were no pictures on the wall and no furniture aside from the sturdy bed and a single nightstand. Other than a pile of gear in a corner, there was just a small stack of rafting books on the floor in one corner next to a cardboard box that looked like it had been sitting there since she moved in. With no dresser, Indigo guessed that the two baskets of unfolded clothes were where Liz kept them. Maybe there was something more behind the closet door, but Indigo didn't want to pry.
The only personal touches were two pictures of her with Rikki. From the hair in one, she guessed it was taken back in high school. The other was recent and had Kieran between them. Indigo stared at them for a few moments before she stood up and headed towards the kitchen.
It too was small and shared space with the dining area/living room. Liz stood by the table, dressed in a t-shirt and sweats. She had a bowl in her hand but put it down and held up a pot of coffee. "Morning. You want some?"
For a second, Indigo didn't know what to say. "Fuck, last night was a big deal for me and she's acting like we're almost strangers," she thought, "but then what'd I expect?"
All she said however was, "Sure, thanks." Taking the pot from Liz, she poured it into the extra cup on the table. Lifting it up to sip, she caught a whiff of something before tasting it. It had a faint cinnamon smell. Looking over at the counter, she saw a small tin of generic ground cinnamon. It too looked as if Liz had brought it with her from her last apartment.
The shock of the heat of the piping hot liquid helped her to mask her surprise. Cinnamon in coffee was her thing, not Liz's. They'd stopped to get coffee together before rafting enough for Indigo to know how Liz liked it. "She made this special for me," she thought. As far as she could remember, this was the first time Liz ever did something just to please her outside of bed. She didn't know how to react so she just kept sipping it.
"There's cereal if you want it." Liz nodded at the table where there were two boxes of sugared cereal. She picked back up her half-eaten bowl and shoveled another bite into her mouth.
Even though she hadn't really eaten stuff like that since middle school, Indigo nodded. Hunting through the drawers and cabinets, she found a bowl and spoon. Liz just watched as she looked, offering no guidance and continuing to eat. After putting in a little bit of cereal and a splash of milk, Indigo sat down and began to eat.
Liz didn't join her at the table, continuing to eat standing up. Neither one of them said anything and the silence grew increasingly uncomfortable. The longer it stretched out, the more Indigo was convinced that this had been a big mistake. "I should just leave and I'll confess to Alex tonight. Hopefully she'll forgive me," she thought as she finished her cereal. Yet when she took another sip of her coffee, the hint of cinnamon confused her. It was an unexpected thoughtful gesture.
"The coffee's good," she said hesitantly.
Liz smiled in an uncharacteristically shy way and said "I knew you liked it that way."
Indigo took a sharp intake of breath at Liz acknowledging it. Her confusion grew, amplified by the lapse back into silence. She had no idea where they stood. "And I don't know how to ask," she realized.
