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It was supposed to be a quiet late night for Cady. The moonlight was illuminating the better part of her loft apartment in blue shimmers while the ginger laid in her bed surrounded by textbooks and loose papers.
A little after midnight, there was loud banging on her door. Three hard knocks, the pattern fast enough to show the person on the other side of the wall was desperate.
A terrifying sound for a woman in her mid-twenties, living alone. Well, she had her cat, but the little guy was deep asleep on his tree by the window, completely unbothered by the sound. That could be a good sign, Cady considered.
In flimsy pyjama shorts and an old t-shirt from high school, Cady moved to the door on her tiptoes. It was best to make it seem no one was home until she was sure who it was.
Knock– Knock– Knock–
The ginger barely opened the door, the chain lock not allowing it to go further. Her sight met cold and familiar blue eyes.
“If you don’t want your cold bloody corpse to be found floating on the Chicago River open this fucking door, Cady”
Certainly, not much of a choice was given other than unlatching the chain. Flashes of blonde hair, black clothes and something undefinable yet red entered her home, forcing the door closed and resting their back on against it, panting heavily.
“Regina?!” Cady, who had taken a few steps back to fully take in the other woman, gasps as loudly as the knocks had been.
Her face was covered by her hair and bangs, so Cady couldn’t assess any of her emotions, besides her previously established anger, but she did have access to her body and how rough she was presenting herself. The first thing Cady acknowledged was that Regina, whom she hadn’t seen in over two years, was covered in blood. Her leather jacket and black dress under it were full of rips, stained with red liquid, likely a mix of Regina’s and someone else’s based on her battered fists and scraped knees.
The blonde took a few deep breaths before lifting her head and pushing the locks curtaining her face behind her ears. She smoothly reaches behind her and locks the door again.
“Sorry for threatening your life” She gave the shorter girl a lopsided smirk. Even dripping blood from her forehead and nose, with a cut on her cheekbone and lip she was still incredibly charismatic. “I hope you’re still in med school.”
“What the hell happened to you!” Cady hushered the woman to her kitchen area while she momentarily disappeared to fetch her first aid kit. Due to the small size of her home, she could easily hear Regina limping around and talking.
“Look, I’m sorry to drop by unannounced but I needed a safe space to crash and you were the only person I could think of.” The blonde explained. When Cady returned to the kitchen, Regina had propped herself on her table. The thrashed girl stretched her arm inside her jacket and pulled out a gun - that Cady recognized from movies as a glock- and set it next to her on the table.
“I thought you were done with all this crap when you stopped coming to me to bandage you up.” Cady commented bitterly. The normalcy of Regina’s legs dangling on each side of Cady’s body as she prepared an assortment of bandages and disinfectant was uncanny.
“Cady you know I can’t just stop being part of the literal mafia.” Regina pointed one annoyed finger out as if it would help her prove her point. These constant fights had been a major contributor for Regina’s disappearance, but what Cady didn’t know was that Regina had started avoiding her for her own protection. Even if it pained her more than her busted lip.
The ginger started to clean out all the drying blood off of Regina, like she had done numerous times in the past. Regina appreciated how, despite her irritation, she was extremely gentle. Perhaps more than when Regina had first stumbled into her after a deal had gone terribly wrong.
The blonde found herself near unconsciousness making her way to the bathroom of the club her family owned as a cover up for their even more illegal ventures.
“Oh my gosh, are you okay?” Her head was pounding too hard for her eyes to focus, but she acknowledged the voice belonged to a girl, perhaps a little younger than herself.
“Peachy.” Regina somehow managed to reply through gritted teeth, doubling over the sink and splashing her face with cold water. She hummed in satisfaction with the sensation of the freezing water against her bruised skin. She couldn’t remember if she had gotten punched or just slapped but it was memorable enough that she learned to keep her bratty personality out of the business deals.
When she opened her eyes again, she saw big blue ones staring at her through the mirror. The girl was dressed way more casual than Regina herself, even though she assumed this ginger had come to party while she had come to work.
“Is there anything I can do? Should I drive you to the hospital?” The girl bit down on her lower lip nervously. The anxiety in her voice made Regina’s head hurt more, but her concern was endearing.
“No hospitals.” Regina mumbled, shaking her head. “You have a band aid or something?” She pointed vaguely to the gash on her cheek.
“Oh! Yeah!” She rummaged inside her purse. “What kind of med student would I be if I weren’t prepared for situations like these!” She commented, mostly to herself but it made Regina’s eyebrow rise.
When she finally found the bandage, she looked between Regina and the rest of the bathroom. Without saying anything, she reached for a clean hand towel and damped it in the sink. Regina was left to lean against the counter and watch with an amused smile.
At last, the girl settled in front of Regina, eyes darting from her wound, to her eyes, to her lips.
“Uhm, can I– Touch your face and uh– Clean your wound?” She stutters and stumbles through her words before taking a deep breath. “You wouldn’t want it to get infected.” She ends with more confidence. Regina couldn’t help the chuckle that came out of her mouth. She must be concussed.
“Please just get it over with.” She rolled her eyes and held on to the girl’s wrist, guiding it to the cut on her cheek. With a gulp, the ginger started to dab the damp towel on her cheek.
Regina winced, though it didn’t actually hurt that much. Something in her wanted to see how the other girl would react.
“Sorry!!” She pulled away and blew lightly on the wound. It was Regina’s turn to look at the lips, puckered perfectly into an ‘O’.
“That helps.” Regina thought it and said it out loud before she could stop herself. Yeah, she must be concussed. The ginger smiled at her with relief.
“Who did this to you?” She asked with genuine concern.
“Dealer from down the block thought he could scam me because I’m taking over the family business and I’m a woman so I must be incompetent and naive and let people walk over me and rip me off” All her anguish came back hastily, making her huff and roll her eyes.
The ginger in front of her blinked her eyes repeatedly. Her face, already rather fair, turned even paler. She stayed silent, maybe waiting for Regina to say she was just joking but when she didn’t, she took a deep breath and proceeded to unpack the band aid.
“Well.” Her voice came out strangely confident. “I hope you got a good punch in, too.”
Regina smirked. Maybe this girl would be of use to her still.
“What’s your name?” Regina asked and didn’t fail to notice the way the ginger’s chest deflated deeply, like she had been holding a breath in.
“Cady.” She replied simply, glueing the band aid perfectly over her cut and running her finger over it a few times to make sure it stuck properly, inevitably making Regina dramatically wince again. “Sorry!”
“Well Cady” Regina straightened herself, fixing her hair over her shoulders. “The George family thanks you for your services.” The blonde turns around to check how terrible she probably still looked when she noticed the motif of her band aid.
“Is this a fucking Lion King band aid?” Her eyebrows furrowed, looking at Cady who was smiling proudly.
“It’s only the Lion Guard, which isn’t as cool, but it’s all the store had.” She explains. “Goddamn remakes.” She shakes her head like this is a matter that deeply troubles her.
Then, they were still rookies in their career choices. Now, experience had honed Cady’s skills, yet Regina was still the one showing up bloody and bruised.
“How did you find where I live?” Cady wondered, proceeding to disinfect every gash on Regina’s face.
“Well– Ouch, Cady!” Regina flinches, whatever liquid on that damn cotton pad burns terribly. The shorter girl clicked her tongue and held Regina’s face in place with one hand, while the other dabbed away at her injuries.
It was no longer clear if adrenaline was the only thing making Regina’s heart race this much.
“You were saying?” Cady stops briefly to look into the other girl’s eyes, as she had stopped speaking and was frozen in place with parted lips.
“Oh– Uhm–” Regina cleared her throat, a sound that seemed to be the last straw for Cady’s pet, who complained with a loud meow and a big stretch. “What the fuck is that?” Regina felt the furry tail of the animal graze her leg. She refused to look down and check for herself, so Cady bent her knees and picked up the orange cat, who comfortably settled in her arms.
“This is Simba!” Cady introduced them with a big smile, scratching a spot on his cheek, to which he purred happily.
“Simba? Good god, Cady you are still such a child” Regina rolled her eyes, and though she had meant it as a light hearted joke, Cady was deeply offended, furrowing her brows with a grunt and walking towards the door of her apartment.
“Get out.” She nodded her head towards the door, unable to open it herself as she was still holding onto her child who was ready to fall asleep in her arms.
“No– Cady, c’mon” Regina hopped off the kitchen table, walking to the other girl with enough confidence that you could hardly tell she was still limping. “I was just joking, I’m sorry. Your cat is really cute and if it wasn’t an animal I would say you look alike.” Regina tried, with a genuine apologetic look.
“Hmph.” Cady let the grunt out which disturbed poor Simba so much he jumped off her arms, into her bed. “I guess we are both sensitive to annoying noises” She gave Regina a pointed look and scattered to her dresser, where she grabbed Regina some clean clothes for her to change into. If she was going to stay in her home, she was going to be a good enough host and not let her sleep in dirty, bloody clothes.
“Bathroom is over there, you can get changed and I’ll finish dressing your wounds” Cady threw the clothes on her bed for Regina to grab and went over to the table where Regina had left her gun, putting it away in a drawer where she was sure Simba wouldn’t get to.
“Uh.. Cady?” Regina yelled out from the bathroom.
The ginger grumbled under her breath. This was really not what she had planned for her evening, looking over the abandoned textbooks in her bed as she made her way to the bathroom. There, Regina had changed into the gym shorts Cady had provided her with but was yet to put the shirt on, instead, facing the entryway and hoping Cady would react somewhat better than how her brain was reacting right now.
“Regina, did you get shot?” Cady hurries to the taller girl, pushing blonde hair away from the wound on her shoulder. It was a superficial wound, but beastly nonetheless.
“I guess I did?” Regina chuckled awkwardly. Cady’s reaction concurred with the one her brain was having so either the ginger gives her some reassuring words or she is about to start manically laughing, because she has absolutely no idea what to do about the situation.
“How aren’t you screaming in pain?” Now that she mentions it, her shoulder was starting to ache so much she felt like she couldn’t move her arm. Cady rushed the girl back to the kitchen, holding onto the shirt she wished she had just put on instead of being in her apartment in her bra, one strap away from seeing too much. “Regina you need to go to the hospital, I am not equipped to deal with–”
“Hey” Regina stopped Cady from dragging her around the loft, pulling her into her body and this time, it was her own hand that met Cady’s cheeks, reassuringly making her pay attention to her words. “No hospitals.”
“Gi, this isn’t some cut or bruise I can take care of with iodine and bandages! This is a gunshot wound and you need to be seen by a doctor!” Cady insisted, her foot begging to stomp in protest.
“You are gonna shut your pretty little mouth and do the best you can do, because you” She made sure to squish her cheeks a little harder to assert how serious she was. “Are a doctor. Or you are gonna be one, someday. So, fix it to your best ability and don’t give me a hard time about it, got it?” She raises one final eyebrow and Cady can only nod, though it was clear she was still reluctant.
Luckily for Regina, Cady always had a hard time saying no to her.
They returned to their positions on the kitchen table, Regina’s legs now more comfortably spread for Cady to be between them and tend to her shoulder. A lot of things were starting to dawn on her. Firstly, Cady looks beautiful in the moonlight. This was the time of night they had always seen each other most, but only in this state of delirium was Regina able to fully appreciate it. Secondly, Cady smells like home. It doesn’t remind her of her home specifically, more like the scent that has always surrounded Cady that makes the blonde at ease, like everything will be okay. Thirdly– The thought is interrupted by a stinging and burning pain on her wound.
“Motherfucker!” She curses, leaning her head against Cady’s shoulder so she wouldn’t see the tears that were threatening to fall. A comforting hand met her naked back, circling random patterns. She could also feel a cold breeze coming from Cady’s lips easing the burning on her shoulder.
“Is that better?” She asks with a wince and her voice is as genuine as always. Cady never met her with faux sympathy, which Regina, in a business world where everyone reveals to be a double sided cunt, appreciates. Despite most of their meetings being prompted by Regina needing her care, Cady had never liked to watch her actually be in pain.
“You always make it better.” Regina wanted to meet her with the same sincerity, even if coming from herself it sounded rather flirty and it never failed to make Cady blush a pretty shade of pink.
After giving Regina a few moments to recover, Cady went back to minding the wound, applying things the blonde had no idea what the purpose of them were but they still burnt like a bitch.
“How bad is it, really?” Regina gazed outside into the night, begging Cady to not tell her while still being curious enough to know.
“If you had let an actual doctor treat you, it would be a lot better, probably” Cady answered, shrugging off the daggers Regina sends at her with her eyes. She had just required to not be given a hard time about this.
“Well, can future Doctor Heron give me her best diagnosis?” She replies bitterly, stressing that she wants to know Cady’s opinion specifically, as she has been the one to always treat her and so far she had a very small amount of scars to remind her of her failures. The look Cady gives her is pleasantly annoyed, to say the least.
“I think it will be best to bandage the wound for now, if it hasn’t been infected already it will be our best chance of keeping it that way, and we will keep replacing the bandages for three days.”
It was always intriguing to watch Cady go into professional mode. Her eyes became sharper and she spoke with much earned confidence. Regina knew, from the many hours of hanging out with the ginger as she stitched her up or paid her dedication and work with expensive dinners, that Cady was a small genius. She absorbed information like no one she had ever seen and could probably recite you the entirety of the Lion King movie, herself playing all the characters and singing all the songs with ad libs if needed. These were the little things that made Regina so assured that Cady was her go to person when she was hurt.
“It doesn’t look like the bullet left any shards, and you can move your arm, right?” Cady encouraged Regina to manoeuvre her arm in various ways, squeezing along the rest of her arm to make sure the impact hadn’t affected any muscles or nerves.
“It hurts but I don’t think anything is broken” Regina agreed, to which Cady gave her a satisfied nod and a lighter, affirming squeeze. If being a good patient was a competition, the little gestures Cady did to show Regina she was doing well made her feel like she was winning.
“You got any booze? My head is killing me.” Regina groaned, the more her adrenaline wore off the more her body was starting to ache, the beating she took making itself known all across her body.
“I cannot believe you just asked me that” Cady scoffed in outrage, reaching for a skinny little flashlight in her med kit and flashing it on Regina’s eyes, making her follow the light and ask silly questions like what year they were in and who the president was. “Your stupidity had me convinced there was something wrong with your head.” She finished her assessment reaching for a thick roll of bandages.
Regina, at this point, was letting herself be moved and taken care of as much as Cady required, without much fighting. She was growing more exhausted by the second, so much so she couldn’t come up with any witty remarks.
“Hey.”
Her eyes had closed without her noticing.
“I’m gonna wrap a few bandages around your shoulder and arm now, okay?”
Regina nodded and hummed, stretching her arm out like Cady needed her to. With her eyes now open with the intention of observing her friend, Regina scans the apartment.
“You don’t have a couch?” She asks, but it is more of a statement.
“Uh.. No? You know how expensive couches are? I just sit on my bed with my computer.” Cady explains and nods over to where Simba is cuddled into a perfect little orange donut.
“Where am I gonna sleep?” She wanted her voice to sound concerned, because she was, but it was nothing but a monotone question.
Cady took a step back to look between Regina and her bed, lips parted and brows furrowed in the concern Regina didn't have the energy to show.
“With Simba and me, I suppose.” Cady decided with a shrug, turning back to the finishing touches of her bandages. They were tight enough to not grow loose during the night, but not so tight that she wouldn’t be able to have full range of her arm.
“Is your boyfriend gonna be okay with that?” Perhaps a completely awake Regina wouldn’t have asked that. She was aware that before her departure Cady had been seeing a boy and that was all she had wanted to know about the matter. Whenever she would pry Cady off her room to do some not iodine and band-aids involved hanging out, she could tell when she had been with him. Her eyes were always a little sad and her perfume was mixed with a musk that screamed mediocre male.
“Aaron and I broke up soon after you left.” Cady provided the information with a sigh. Luckily for Regina, the ginger had her back turned to her, now putting away all the books and notes spread on her bed to make space for Regina, or else she would have seen the massive grin the blonde’s lips were displaying.
Despite her exhaustion, Regina’s eyes were wide open, eyes boring into Cady’s ceiling. The ginger was curled into a ball, uncannily similar to how Simba had been sleeping before they had joined him in bed and had her back facing her. There was a polite distance between them, and while maybe for Cady sleeping on the edge of her bed with her cat in her arms wasn’t an unfamiliar occurrence, Regina found that she hated not feeling the ginger closer to her like she usually did when Cady tended to her wounds.
She decided to check her phone, hissing in pain as her bandaged arm reached for the device and checked it was a little past one in the morning. The sound made Cady stir softly awake.
“You okay?” A groggy voice asked. Messy ginger wisps of hair sprawled on her pillow in the most beautiful way made Regina forget to reply for a second.
“Fine. Just can’t fall asleep” Regina explained with a sigh. She put her phone back and turned to Cady, moving her body slowly due to her soreness.
“You know I always take care of your physical wounds but never your emotional ones.” Cady observed with a displeased hum. “How are you really doing?”
Regina chose to get lost in the sleepy blue eyes that addressed her with worry. She understood that those same eyes were studying hers, reading and acknowledging all the emotions she had never been taught to share. A pale hand moved to her face, placing a stray blonde piece of her hair behind her ear and making her breathing stop for the few seconds the action durated.
“Today must have been really scary.” Cady analyses. Her hand never went back to her, just kept rearranging Regina’s hair in the softest of manners, sometimes running into tangles and smoothly passing her fingers through them.
“Being with you makes it less scary”
Regina wanted to regret opening her mouth but the way Cady’s expression softened, from the worried scowl to a relieved small smile told her that it had been the right thing to say.
“I’m happy you came back.” Cady offers, gentle fingers massaging the back of Regina’s scalp, being extra careful to not put any weight on her hurt shoulder. Though, she wanted nothing more than to run her fingers all over where Regina ached, hoping that her touch was as healing as her practices.
The quiet confessions and the soothing feeling of Cady’s fingertips on her hair lulled Regina into a peaceful breathing pattern.
Cady woke up for the second time that night with Simba pawing at her chest. With a quick glance towards the clock in her kitchen, she checked hardly an hour had passed since they had fallen asleep. The cat’s increasing distress awoke her even further and when he was satisfied with her level of awareness he made his way across the bed where Regina was, bringing Cady’s attention to her.
There were beads of sweat making themselves known on her forehead and above her upper lip. Her brows were closely knit together in anguish, her hands and feet twitching with every grunt the sleeping girl let out. It was clear she was having a nightmare.
Cady placed an unsure hand on her arm. She didn’t know if waking Regina up would annoy her, since it had been so hard for her to fall asleep but her body itched to end her suffering in any way she could.
Before she decided on what to do, however, Regina’s phone rang loudly, making Cady’s hand retract as the blonde jumped awake and picked the phone up, actively having to ignore the way her body screamed at her.
“What?” Her voice was clearly upset, whether from the dream she was having or from being woken up in the middle of the night was yet to be decided.
Cady couldn’t make out what the person on the other side of the line was saying, but it appeared to be a woman’s voice.
“But did they follow you?” Regina asked, more disquietingly than before, running a hand through her hair and wiping it with disgust on her leg, as if she hadn’t known her dream had physically affected her this much.
After the other person finished talking, Regina was silent for several moments.
“Did they follow me?” She almost sounded unsure if she wanted to know the answer to the question.
Cady’s eyes bulge out of her skull when Regina gets up from bed with curses falling from her lips, hurrying to the kitchen table, and cursing some more.
“Where is my gun?!” She half whispered half screamed with urgency which made Cady get up and locate the gun for the blonde, handing it to her with shaky hands.
“No I’m not gonna tell you where I am, Janis! I’ve put enough people in danger tonight!” Regina’s tone revealed her hurt ran deeper than the wounds in her body. Cady had heard this name before, learning by context that Janis must be some sort of right hand to Regina, as she would often call whenever things went haywire in their business.
She could vaguely hear the other woman yell at Regina, who decidedly hung up the phone without saying goodbye or letting her finish her sentence.
“What’s going on?” Cady asked, herself afraid of what the answer may be.
Regina made her way across the apartment holding her gun against her thigh, checking outside every window thoroughly, and even unlocking the front door, poking her head out and locking it again.
“Regina, you're freaking me out.” With no response, Cady returned to her bed and sat with her legs criss crossed, Simba coming to cuddle on her lap to comfort his agitated owner.
The blonde returns to the bed, plopping unceremoniously down on her back only to cling to her shoulder in pain.
“Fuck” She sighed with tears prickling her eyes. Cady, holding onto Simba, allowed herself to reach for Regina’s shirt and move the collar to the side so she could check the bandages were still in place. They were stained with dried blood but nothing out of the ordinary, which indicated that Regina’s tears weren’t prompted solely from pain.
“Would you like a cup of tea and a painkiller?” Cady offers, nonetheless. She knew it was hard for Regina to talk about her feelings so she opted to provide comfort in other ways.
“I guess an old fashioned isn’t on the menu today?” Regina jokes after taking a heart beat too long to reply, gathering her emotions enough that Cady wouldn’t notice she was holding in a massive breakdown.
“You shouldn’t mix alcohol and pills, Regina” Cady scolded, handing the girl Simba as she got up to get started on the tea.
“I was obviously going to mix it with the tea.” Regina rolled her eyes, carrying the feline awkwardly and leaning on the kitchen table. Cady gave her a light bump on her good shoulder as punishment for the bad joke.
“Do you remember what you were dreaming about before your phone woke you?” Cady asks tentatively, minding how Regina’s body freezes. The sound of the kettle makes up for the quiet that fills the loft.
“I was staring down the barrel of the gun.” Regina starts, her voice no louder than a whisper. She doesn’t have to look up from Simba, who she is petting comfortingly, to know that Cady is staring at her, with those eyes that always paid so much attention whenever she spoke. In any other time it would fill her stomach with butterflies, but in this particular moment, she wishes the silly cat would be the only one to hear about her troubles.
“I remember being tied up, or restrained with something that was cutting into my wrists and ankles.” Regina stares into the green orbs of the cat’s eyes like they were replaying her dream for her. “It was like a game of russian roulette. The sound of the gun would go off, but nothing would shoot.” Both their heart rates pick up at the description, Cady’s ever so active imagination being able to picture the situation clearly. “I could hear my–” Her voice cracked as she held back tears. “The voices of my friends, well, my friends in the mafia, screaming from whatever torture they were going through, and I just knew it was all my fault.” She takes a deep breath to get back in control of her emotions but instead, a single tear rolls down her cheek. Of course, Cady jumps right into action.
“Hey…” The shorter girl cups her cheeks gently, wiping the tear with her thumb. “It was just a bad dream. You’re okay now. You’re safe.”
Her words were comforting, even if she was blissfully unaware of Regina’s situation. She didn’t know Regina had rushed to find Cady, guided by pure instinct and, therefore, abandoning those in charge of protecting her. Gretchen, Karen, Janis, the three women she had recruited and were more her family than those who had raised her, left to fend for themselves. Luckily, they were okay, and despite Regina’s decision to flee the scene, their first concern was to know where she was so they could protect her in the face of imminent danger. It would be better, if anything were to happen, to give herself up to whatever terrible fate their rival family had prepared for her, and hopefully spare Cady, than to get all four of them killed and never have seen Cady again. Perhaps it was selfish, but if she were to die, she secretly hoped Cady would be the last person she would see.
Her thoughts are interrupted by the absence of Cady’s warmth, as the ginger moves to pour the boiled water onto two mugs with tea bags already waiting in them. Simba, as if he understood his cue, jumped off Regina’s arms and returned to his tree, with full intention to give the girls some privacy.
She watches as Cady props open a big window just to the side of the space where her bed was, and nodded Regina to follow her with her mug. There was a big ledge, big enough that Cady sat on it, feet dangling off the five stories drop. Regina could only sit next to her, the cold breeze of the night making her aware of every little cut and scrape scattered across her body.
The silence of the city in the wee hours of the night allowed them time to marinate in everything that has happened that day.
“Why did you leave?” Cady’s question makes Regina jump, scrambling to not drop her mug.
“Do you really want to know?” Regina sighed, taking a big sip of the drink to avoid having to speak for a while.
“Do you not think I deserve an explanation?” Cady tilts her head menacingly. “Regina you can’t expect to change someone’s life and not think you owe them an apology and explanation when you disappear without warning.”
“You’re right.” Regina nodded her head, leaving it hanging in shame and regret.
“Oh–” Cady blinked. “I didn’t expect you to agree so easily.” Her own eyes focused on her tea instead of facing Regina.
“There was a letter.” Regina started, her tone was quiet, unsure of who could hear them despite being so high up in the building. She briefly glances at Cady, who, though not looking at her, was still paying close attention.
“It was sitting on my desk one time when I got to my house, after we had been together.” Regina closed her eyes, the anxiety of reading the words on that letter settling in her chest like she was seeing it for the first time.
‘Regina George. Your young age makes you believe you are unstoppable so this will be your first and only warning. Be happy with the legacy your family has passed down to you, and keep the real business to the big boys. If you try to meddle in our affairs again, we will start taking out the people who matter to you most, one by one. You do not want to test us.”
“Needless to say, there aren’t even a handful of people in my life I would consider that important, so my first thought went to you.”
Cady unexpectedly returned inside her apartment, Regina tailing behind her, confused.
“Why didn’t you just tell me that?” Cady huffed, taking Regina’s mug and placing it on her sink, along with her own. Before Regina could explain any further, the ginger was returning to her bed, pulling the covers tightly over her body and nodding to the spot next to her, silently inviting the blonde to sit next to her.
“Cady I couldn’t put you in any more danger than what I already had by seeing you like every week.” Regina did go back to bed, the warmth instantly helping her body relax, though the matter of discussion kept her chest tense.
“When do I have a say in this? Uh? When will you start considering my feelings?” Cady’s words come out faster than she can control, begging that Regina doesn’t pick up on the double meaning behind her sentence.
If she does, she doesn’t say anything, only scoots closer to Cady.
“Your life is something I choose not to gamble with, Cady. I would rather we both live in the agony of not seeing each other, than risk having you killed by being associated with me.” The blonde reached for the clasped hands on Cady’s lap.
‘’I didn’t realise I mattered that much to you’’ And she was being honest. Regina’s feelings were harder to figure out than some of her classes. Still, she allowed her to hold her hands, if not openly talking about it, at least letting their physical affection do the talking.
‘’Seeing you again is what keeps me from making dumb decisions’’ Regina chuckled at the irony of her confession, seeing as she is currently in her bed because she got once again hurt and was in need of a hideout.
“I always hated getting to see you because you got hurt. I hate seeing you in pain.” Cady, perhaps unknowingly, also scooted closer to Regina, their eyes meeting and holding an intense gaze, both their chests raising and falling rapidly.
“I know, sweet girl. And I’m sorry.” Regina lets the pet name slip out unconsciously. It was so easy to let go around Cady. To let herself be taken care of and leave her big mafia boss personality at the door. Maybe it was the reason she found herself in search of her presence on this particular night.
“You have said sorry plenty of times before. What’s gonna change now?” Cady found herself impatient. She was tired of the push and pull, of the tension that grew between them when she touched her skin, she was tired of only staring at Regina’s lips and not kissing them.
“Cady…” Regina sighed, the warm breath hitting Cady’s face, making both of them realise how close they had gotten. “I can’t let you be involved in this life.” She shook her head. Deep down, Regina hoped Cady knew exactly what she felt for her, and that was the precise reason why she had to keep Cady out of her life.
“I’m afraid I have been involved since you first accepted my Lion Guard band aid.” Cady commented, her gaze falling on Regina’s lips, like they had a million times in the past, only this time they were so painfully close she could smell the chamomile in Regina’s breath.
“It’s too dangerous.” The distance that they both desperately desire to be closed wouldn’t be done by Regina. Cady was pure, she had a bright future ahead of her, one that hardly threatened her own life.
“What if I’m willing to risk it?” Cady’s tone had dropped, sending shivers down Regina’s spine. She couldn’t understand why the other girl wouldn’t just let it go. Their dynamic was easy, safe.
“Why would you do that?” Yet, she couldn’t force herself to move away, in fact, her uninjured arm found its way around Cady’s hip, bringing her body flush against her own.
“It’s the only way I know how to protect you”
They were breathing each other’s air, heart beats thumping in sync. Cady’s hand cupped Regina’s face, so gently.
She had always been so gentle.
“Cady…”
One sign that this wasn’t a good idea was all she asked for, one flicker of Cady’s eyes to let her know she was scared, one tremble in her body.
“Regina… Please.”
Her willpower crumbled.
Their lips finally meet.
It isn’t sweet and shy like Regina had expected from Cady. No, it was fervent and desperate, like she had been praying for years for this to happen. Which Cady had.
Their lips move in sync as if this isn’t their first kiss with each other. So many hours Cady spent studying every crevice, every indent in Regina’s lips, she couldn’t help but feel experienced and knowledgeable when it came to the subject.
They pull away to breathe, a single string of saliva connecting them, until Cady licks her lips, and dives in for another kiss. Now that she had a taste, she couldn’t possibly let Regina go.
—
The next morning, they wake up late, uncharacteristically so for either woman.
They don’t know where blonde hair starts and ginger locks end, so completely entangled in each other’s bodies they could morph into a single being.
Regina’s shoulder ached badly. In fact, her whole body did, she realised the more she woke up. But the pressure of Cady’s head on her chest eases any fears the previous night had let creeping in.
It wasn’t the first time either of them had woken up in the arms of a woman. But it was the first time they did it and felt love.
The gun sitting on Cady’s bedside table and the way Regina grimaced with every movement was a painful reminder of the blonde’s reality outside of the safe haven that Cady’s bed had become. So, Cady stops her from getting up a million times, with excuses of how sleeping more would help her recover faster, and promises of more kisses, but ultimately they both had to use the bathroom and Simba was growing impatient after they had skipped his usual feeding time.
“What’s gonna happen now?”
“I don’t know, Cady. But I will kill half this fucking world if anyone dares mess with you.”
“And I will be there to clean up your bruises.”