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“Are you sure about this ‘ren?” It was as if she had gone into a trance the second Betty took her shirt off so the teacher instantly stopped there and resisted the urge to walk closer to the woman, having already braced herself to be told Karen had changed her mind, so much so her knees were bent slightly in preparation to pick back up her shirt only stopped by Karen snapping back into action with a small nod but not even cracking the icy silence in the room so Betty just filled it herself in the hopes that would coax clarity out of Karen even if that was rejection. “Karen look it’s fine if you’ve changed your mind I mean…It’s easy for me y'know? I can just pack up and move on to yet another city, hell I always keep a bag packed in my trunk anyway. I can be out of here by morning and never have to come back to Hawkins and maybe even one day move on but you…you have a life here. A family. You’re the one who has to go home to a husband and-”
“We’re separating.” Karen's voice was so small Betty almost missed it. So uncharacteristic for the older woman but the voice stayed little as she continued “Me and Ted. Holly doesn’t know, Mike and Nancy do. I just haven't sent off the papers. So no, I haven’t got a husband to go home to.” as if saying this aloud at last had lifted the weight off her voicebox, Karen's voice regained its emotions. “No husband, just a man I don’t love on the couch and an empty house because the kids are all at sleepovers and a cold bed because Ted has his own heater in the living room so wouldn’t have thought to heat our room because that would require him thinking of me as more than a maid or at all for that matter so please Elizabeth,” Karen's strained voice finally cracked, “remind me what it feels like to be wanted.”
No further words were needed as their lips crashed together, clothes hastily being removed but not harshly. Eager but gentle. Hurried but not rushed. Onto the bed as Elizabeth mentally made it her mission to make Karen feel alive again and show her it's impossible for love and lust to coexist beautifully.
When both women had come down in a soft silence, Betty gently set her head on Karen's bare chest and hummed softly as she felt Karen's fingers toy with her hair the way they always did when the older woman's mind was elsewhere so Betty simply waited knowing her lover would speak her mind eventually and sure enough– “you keep a bag packed?” her voice was quiet but not small like earlier, just gentle and nurturing. After a small silence a sleepy “Hm?” came from the woman on her chest so Karen continued
“You said earlier you always keep a bag packed. It's sad.” It wasn't a telling off, just an observation. Said like a fact. But enough to ease Betty out of the afterglow as the young woman yawned and sat up, not bothering to be smooth about changing the subject. “What time’s Ted expecting you home?”
Karen just scoffed and rolled her eyes, “I bet he’s already passed out in his lazy-boy. He wouldn’t notice if I went completely missing until he had no bacon cooked for his breakfast in the morning.”
Now it was Betty’s turn to have her voice shrink. “Stay?” she asked timidly before continuing “Only if you want to. Only if it’s not too soon. I mean if you’re ready to leave then please do but no one's expecting you home until morning and I’m not expecting anyone here…maybe I can save you from that cold bed?...” Having once again already mentally heard the rejection, it took Betty a second to process when Karen finally answered softly saying “I’m not…Ready to leave I mean. I’m not. I’d like to stay.”
“Oh. I mean um yeah. Yes! Okay.”
Karen just giggled at the woman's recalibration and gently stroked her back “You got some pyjamas I can borrow baby?” And at that nickname the world seemingly righted itself on its axis and Betty’s brain melted back into the right shape “right side of the closet, help yourself.” she smiled softly as she moved to allow Karen to get up, slipping on Elizabeth’s t-shirt on her way past like it was instinct, barely even registering it until she caught Betty staring from the bed like a lovesick puppy. “What?” Karen giggled softly, even more so at Betty’s reaction to being caught staring and shy response of “you just look so…I dunno…cuddly…” as she followed Karen with her eyes to the closet before switching back on and adding “oh yeah uh you might struggle to find the kind of pjs you’re used to. Nothing in my closest really screams “Karen Wheeler” but there's a few tops and stuff”
Having lowered her expectations upon seeing Betty’s pyjama selection be almost entirely faded band tees and baggy pants, Karen's eyes lit up when right at the back she found a satin slip nighty, holding it up by the spaghetti straps with a glimmer of teasing in her eyes “contemplating branching out?” she giggled softly as Betty rolled her eyes and flopped back to laying down in the bed upon seeing the slip, staring at the ceiling as she provided an explanation. “A parting gift from a well meaning neighbor. She thought the reason I never had any men around was because my ‘masculinity intimidates them’ so when she found out I was moving she left a box of her daughter's old stuff on my doorstep with a note saying ‘To help you find a good man on your travels.’ Hey if it fits you, keep it.” She sighed as Karen got into the slip almost astonished by how it was almost a perfect fit and the alterations needed were well within her comfort zone so she threw the top she had previously slipped on towards the woman shaped lump under the covers to get her attention, reward with that soft look Betty only ever gets around her. “You look beautiful ‘ren, c’mere.”
The two women settled into Betty’s bed in each other's arms both feeling warmth for the first time in a long time not just externally and physically but also in their souls and in that moment Elizabeth knew she had lied earlier. She could never move on from Karen Wheeler. So she made a mental note in her head to do once Karen had left the next morning: Unpack that last bag.