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The first thing Laura is aware of is pain. A blinding pain that shoots through her head as soon as she opens her eyes. She groans, squeezing them closed again, but it does little to ease the pain now that she knows it’s there.
“What the fuck?” she mutters.
If she didn’t know any better, she’d say she was hungover. But that’s not possible.
“You’re awake,” a voice says from nearby.
Laura peeks one eye open and looks across the room at Lydia. “Guess so.”
“I’d ask how you feel, but from that look on your face, it’s easy to guess,” she says. “You look like shit.”
“Gee, thanks,” Laura mutters. “I feel like shit.”
“Well, you did almost die,” Lydia says. She frowns as she sits on the edge of the bed. “I still don’t know what you were thinking going in there alone.”
Going in where? Laura’s having trouble remembering anything right now. “What?”
“Of course you don’t remember,” Lydia says. “They must have hit you pretty hard on the head. That and all the experimental drugs they were filling you with.”
“I was drugged?” Laura asks her. “No wonder I feel hungover.”
“The hunters were trying new things,” Lydia says. “Mixing different plants and whatnot together to try and see how it affected you. It wasn’t pretty. Derek was losing his mind. Luckily, Deaton figured out what they gave you and made an antidote. But it was pretty touch and go for a while.”
“Where is Derek?” Laura asks. She’s surprised he’s not sitting moodily by her bedside.
Lydia must read her mind because she smiles slightly. “I finally convinced him to go home to sleep. He almost didn’t go, but Stiles and Scott dragged him out of here, and I promised to call with any updates.”
“I suppose you’ll be calling now,” Laura says.
“If you want,” Lydia says. “Or I could wait until you’ve eaten something and had a chance to shower and wake up more.”
“That sounds perfect,” Laura says.
“I figured,” Lydia says. “I was planning to order out soon, so why don’t you shower first while we wait for the food to get here?”
“A shower sounds great,” Laura says.
She throws the covers off and moves to stand, but Lydia stops her with wide eyes. “Wait!”
“What?”
“Is your—” she frowns and glances down at her leg. “You were hurt, Laura. I just want to make sure you’re okay to stand.”
“I’m a werewolf, Lydia,” Laura reminds her. “I heal quickly, remember?”
“I know that,” Lydia says. “But again, I don’t know what all they gave you. It could have interfered with your healing.”
She kneels down next to the bed and reaches out, brushing her fingers against Laura’s right leg. “Barely a scar,” she mumbles.
“It feels fine,” Laura says. “I promise.” Lydia gets back to her feet and steps back as Laura stands up. No pain or dizziness. “See? Fine.”
“If you say so,” Lydia says. “I’ll order the food then.”
“Thank you,” Laura says. “Really.”
Lydia waves her off and already has her phone out as she walks from the room. “Someone has to make sure you’re fed. We don’t want hangry Laura to come out.”
“Funny,” Laura mutters. She walks across the hall to the bathroom and turns on the water as she undresses. She wasn’t lying. Her leg does feel fine, mostly. Nothing except a twinge every now and then.
But what had it looked like for Lydia to react the way she had?
She steps into the shower, the warm water washing over her. She sighs and tips her head back, letting it soak into her skin and ease the pain in her head. Once her hair is damp enough, she reaches for the shampoo, popping open the cap.
Laura gasps and the shampoo bottle slips from her hands as a series of memories hit her all at once.
Walking into the preserve to stake out a group of hunters that had been hiding there. Not seeing the trap on the ground and stepping right into it, having no choice but to lay there as the hunters surrounded her, clearly at an advantage. Being injected with something and then dragged through the trees, unable to even speak to cry out for help. The brief, sharp flash of pain as the trap had been released from her leg before she finally passed out.
The rest is a blur. She thinks she remembers Derek roaring as his claws tore into one of the hunters and Lydia rushing to her side to untie the ropes, her screams filling the small building. And then, a soft pair of lips pressing against her forehead and telling her to hold on and that she was going to be okay.
“I love you. Please hold on.”
“Laura?”
Laura jolts, breathing fast as her vision clears and she takes in her surroundings. White walls, a room filled with steam smelling of strawberries.
Strawberries.
She looks down at the bottle of shampoo spilling onto the floor and sighs, bending to pick it up.
“Laura?” Lydia calls again. “Are you alright? I heard a crash.”
“I’m fine,” Laura says, surprised at how steady her voice sounds. “Just dropped the shampoo.”
“Are you sure?” Lydia asks her.
“Yes,” Laura tells her. “I’m fine.”
“Okay,” Lydia says, not sounding convinced. She always could read her too well. “The food is almost here.”
“I’ll be right out,” Laura says.
She rests her head on the cool tile wall for a moment and takes a few steadying breaths.
Lydia was right. She had almost died. She’d been sure she was going for a moment there, drugged and tied up in that warehouse with no one having any idea where she was. She probably would have if they hadn’t been able to find her.
She turns off the water and wraps her hair in a towel while quickly drying off with another. She wraps it around herself and opens the door, the steam following her out as she steps into the hall and walks to her room to get a change of clothes.
Her skin is still damp as she throws on a T-shirt and pair of shorts, but she doesn’t care. She can smell food in the kitchen and her stomach gives a loud rumble.
“Do I smell pasta?” Laura asks as she steps into the kitchen.
“Yes, from your favorite Italian restaurant,” Lydia says.
“Spaghetti?” Laura guesses.
Lydia nods and passes her a plate. “Of course.”
“You know me so well,” Laura says.
“Too well,” Lydia says as she hands her the spaghetti after filling her plate.
They mostly eat in silence— Laura so focused on the food in front of her that it’s hard to focus on anything else. She still doesn’t miss the looks Lydia sends her way throughout dinner, as if she’s afraid Laura is going to disappear.
“How did you find me?” Laura finally asks her.
“I tracked your phone,” Lydia says. “When you didn’t come home that night. We found it in the woods. And then Derek and Scott followed your scent until we found the warehouse. It wasn’t that hard, honestly. These hunters weren’t very bright. Which is even more terrifying considering their propensity for scientific experimentation on werewolves.”
“Meaning I’m lucky to be alive,” Laura says.
“Yes,” Lydia says. “But we weren’t going to let them kill you, Laura. I quite enjoy your company, and I don’t say that to many people.”
Laura smiles. “Thanks, Lydia. For that, and well, everything. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Lydia’s skin is warm against hers as she reaches across the table and takes her hand. “You won’t have to find out. And neither will I, got it?”
Laura nods. “Yeah, I got it.”
“I mean it, Laura,” Lydia says. “No more running off on your own.”
“You know I can’t promise that,” Laura says.
“Then at least humor me,” Lydia says. “And tell someone next time, or bring me with you.”
“And put you in danger?” Laura says. “Not likely.”
“I would rather be in danger fighting by your side than you get killed without me there,” Lydia says firmly. “Or I get killed trying to find you because you insisted on doing something reckless.”
“I suppose that’s fair,” Laura says.
“I thought so, too,” Lydia says.
She goes to pull her hand back, but Laura holds on. “Wait. I just— I think I remembered something from when you guys found me. I’m just not sure if it really happened.”
“What is it?”
“Did you kiss me?” Laura asks her. “On the forehead? And tell me you love me?”
Lydia’s cheeks heat up, turning a light shade of pink that Laura has always found adorable. “If I did?”
“I’d tell you that I love you too, and to kiss me again,” Laura says. “Maybe not just the forehead this time. If you wanted.”
Lydia smiles and leans across the table into Laura’s space. When Lydia drops her hand this time, Laura lets her. It’s worth missing the touch when she reaches up and takes Laura’s face in her hands. “Where should I kiss you then?” Lydia asks her. “Here?” She kisses just below each of her eyes. “Or here?” Two soft kisses pressed to her cheeks. “Or here .” She kisses her nose, and Laura growls, her eyes flashing red.”
“Lydia.”
“Yes?” Lydia asks, her face a picture of innocence. Laura knows better.
“Will you please just kiss me?”
“Wasn’t that what I was doing?” Lydia asks her.
“I think you missed a spot,” Laura says. “But I’d be happy to show you.”
Lydia grins. “I’m afraid you might have to.”
Laura tilts her chin up, her lips finally meeting Lydia’s in a slow, deep kiss that has her head spinning. Lydia sighs against her mouth and presses closer, all but crawling into her lap.
“We should slow down,” Lydia says.
“You’re the one that jumped into my lap,” Laura points out.
“I know,” Lydia mumbles between kisses. “I just— I’ve wanted this for so long.”
“Me too,” Laura murmurs, kissing her throat.
“But you’re still healing,” Lydia says.
“I’m fine, Lyds,” Laura says. “In fact, I have a renewed sense of strength.”
“Is that so?” Lydia asks her.
“It is.”
Lydia kisses her again, her hands tangling in Laura’s hair as they lose themselves in it. When she pulls back, she’s panting, her lips red and kiss swollen, her eyes wide and dark. She rests her head against Laura’s and sighs. “Then show me what you’ve got.”
Laura is more than happy to.