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Ava couldn't help but grin when she saw how Sara had decorated the galley for her. No one had ever done anything like this for her before. She knew that this was just supposed to be a causal lunch, but it felt like much more than that.
It took her a few days of heavy thinking for her to come to a conclusion about what she'd do about the incident Sara. She had been very hurt from what Sara did, though she knew she had her reasons and she also knew that Sara still felt guilty for it. Over the past few days, Sara and Ava talked quite a lot. They texted each other when they woke up and talked throughout the day when they weren't busy with work. They were getting closer, despite their initial setback.
She eyed the table and the setup for several seconds before she looked up at Sara. "Sara... this is..." Ava was at a loss for words.
"Too much. It's too much, right?" Sara said nervously. "I know you only came over for a quick lunch but... I don't know. I wanted to make it special because I know you've had a long day at work." She rambled uncharacteristically.
Ava shook her head. "No. It's perfect." She smiled, a faint blush on her cheeks. "It's just... no one's ever done something like this for me before. That's why I didn't know what to say at first." She chuckled a bit nervously.
Sara looked genuinely surprised. "Really? No one?"
Ava sat down at the table. "No one," she repeated.
Sara frowned. She couldn't see why someone wouldn't try to go out of their way to make Ava's day like this. It wasn't like it took Sara that long to arrange this and it saddened her to know that no one else had done this for Ava.
"Well, I'm glad I could be the first." Sara smiled and sat down across from her. "So... how was your day?" She asked as she watched Ava start to eat.
Sara was nervous. She didn't consider herself to be much of a cook and while, yes, Gideon had helped her with this, she still did a good amount of the work herself and she was nervous that Ava wouldn't like this.
Ava sighed happily. "This is really good." She said and pointed to the food with her fork.
Sara unconsciously let out a small sigh of relief.
"And my day was okay, I guess. Long, though. Very long." Ava was happy to take a break, she'd been in the office since 5 o'clock that morning so, needless to say, she needed some time off.
"I get that. I'm so used to dealing with anachronisms all day that now it's weird to have nothing to do." Sara said, starting to eat some of her food also.
She couldn't stop looking at Ava. In this lighting, Ava's eyes seemed to have a green tint that Sara had never seen in them before. The dim lighting made Ava's eyes look like they were shining and Sara could see all the little details on her face that she wasn't able to see in normal lighting.
Ava was so beautiful. Sara had known that for awhile but seeing her so soft like this, seeing the little things like the slight bags under her eyes and the small, almost unnoticeable scar on her cheek, made Sara fall deeper for her.
"Sara?" Ava frowned when Sara seemed to not be responding. She waved her hand in front of her face and chuckled amusedly when Sara snapped out of it.
"Sorry, what?" Sara cleared her throat, hoping Ava couldn't see her blush.
Ava did, but she didn't bring it up.
"I asked how you were doing," Ava's eyes softened, "is everything okay?"
Sara melted at the look Ava was giving her. She looked so concerned with Sara's well-being, worried that something was wrong.
Sara nodded and looked down, trying to hide her blush with the stray hairs that had fallen out of her ponytail. "Yeah... yeah. Everything's fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive. I'm just really happy to see you." Sara knew for a fact that Ava could see how much she was blushing. No amount of stray hairs or dim lighting could hide that.
It was Ava's turn to blush now. "Me too... I missed you." She blushed more. "I know it hasn't been that long since we last saw each other... it's only been a day. It probably sounds weird, that I missed you so much in that little time apart. I—"
Sara interrupted Ava's ramble, "it's not weird. I missed you too, a lot actually. I... couldn't stop thinking about you." She said.
Ava seemed relieved that the feeling was mutual. She bit her lip, searching Sara's eyes for a moment.
Sara didn't know what Ava was looking for but when she found it, she let her eyes drift down to Sara's lips, then down to Sara's hands that were resting on the table in front of her.
Ava hesitated before she put down her fork and reached out, resting her hand on top of Sara's. She blushed and squeezed Sara's hand, she could've sworn her heart was about to burst with how quickly it was racing.
"I've been thinking a lot about you, too. And I was thinking about..." Ava faltered and looked away, not knowing if she should finish her thought.
Sara frowned and flipped over her hand so she could hold Ava's. "What is it?"
Ava's heart jumped when she felt Sara hold her hand. She took in a slow breath, trying to get her thoughts together. She looked back up into Sara's eyes.
"I was thinking about us." Ava finally said, her voice so quiet that Sara could barely hear her.
"U-us?"
"Yeah. I know I said I wanted to take this slow. But... I... I just can't stop thinking about..." Ava tightened her grip on Sara's hand. She knew if she finally voiced how she felt, it would change everything.
They'd been skirting around what they were for awhile now. Ever since they'd rekindled what they were, both of them seemed hesitant about expressing their feelings for the other.
For Sara, it was fear. What if I hurt Ava again? What if I don't deserve this, don't deserve to be with someone like Ava? What if I'm too damaged for something serious to actually work? What if Ava soon realizes that I have too much baggage and that I'm not worth it?
For Ava, it was insecurity. What if I'm not good enough? What if I can't handle a relationship? I'm such a workaholic, Sara deserves better than that. What if she realizes that she'd be better off with someone who's not as socially awkward and insecure as I am?
"About what?" Sara whispered, feeling the air in the room shift into something more serious. Tender. Sara was afraid that if she spoke louder, it would shatter the atmosphere and ruin the moment.
"About kissing you."
Sara's breath audibly hitched and despite the fact that she knew Ava felt this way towards her, she still was rendered speechless by the verbal confirmation of it.
"I'm sorry if that made things weird between us. God, it has, hasn't it?" Ava started rambling nervously.
This is it. I ruined things between us. I was wrong. Sara doesn't like me back. She doesn't feel the same way. I fucked everything up. Fuck—
"I want that too."
Sara's voice broke through Ava's panic and Ava wasn't sure she heard that right.
"You do?"
Sara could feel herself start to smile like an idiot.
They both knew they liked each other and knew the other felt the same way, yet they both seemed to be stunned at the prospect of their feelings being reciprocated.
"Yeah."
Ava didn't know who stood up first, but before she knew it, they were close enough for her to feel Sara's breath on her lips.
Is this really happening?
"Are you sure?" Ava had to ask, the last thing she wanted was for Sara to feel like she had to do this.
Sara answered by cupping Ava's neck and pulling her down to press her lips against hers.
Ava could've sworn the world stopped the moment she felt Sara's lips on hers. Everything drifted away, though she thought she heard someone cheering in the background. All of the stress she'd been feeling from her job, the nervousness she felt about expressing her feelings for Sara, all melting away.
Ava's senses were overwhelmed with Sara. Her lavender perfume, her hands on her neck, the way Sara felt when Ava put her hands on her hips to pull her closer, the way Sara's fingers lightly stroked the little blonde curls at the nape of her neck.
The kiss was soft, softer than Sara had expected their first kiss to be. But, it was perfect. Ava's lips were a stark contrast to her personality, pliant and yielding, and Sara found herself getting lost in the feeling of them.
When they pulled away, their breaths mingled between them, both women feeling their heads swim with adrenaline and a bit of lightheadedness.
"Wow." Ava was the first to say something, her speech laden with her heavy breaths.
Sara chuckled and grinned. "Definitely wow."
She was about to lean in for another kiss when an alarm sounded on the ship.
"Sorry to interrupt, Captain, but there appears to be a level seven anachronism in 1894 that needs to be attended to." Gideon's voice rang out and the peaceful bubble that had been surrounding them burst.
They quickly went into the main room and Sara called the rest of the team in, starting to direct them on what their next mission would be.