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“I’m sorry, I forgot. No, I’m helping with an issue back home. I’m not dragging you into it. This is my mess, as usual.” The murmur of the caller's voice was all she could make out. “We found Alex’s body. Yeah, I know.” Her voice faded as Teddi entered the bathroom and shut the door.

With a heavy breath she peered at herself in the mirror, tying her hair into a bun to wash her face. Staying up all night did nothing to alleviate the fresh circles under her grey eyes. Turning on the shower and stepping in, she tried to wash away the last few hours. The last week. Hell, the last decade.

She didn’t know what she expected Vera to say to her admission but her lack of response was better than her saying she didn’t feel the same, she supposed.

When Ximena asked her for help with Alex’s disappearance she never imagined she would end up here. Not just in some backwater town no one had ever heard of with a Sheriff's department that was into some sketchy shit, but with Vera.

For ten years she stayed away, kept her distance, and gave her space. She turned the water hotter, letting the steam choke the room. She messed up. She made the mistake of assuming what Vera wanted all those years ago. Her. Maybe she hadn’t been in as deep or her assumption that Vera was ready to abandon all of her own dreams was just her seeing what she wanted to see. Or maybe, she wondered tentatively, maybe she was a twenty-one-year-old scared shitless about the possibility that she found the love of her life.

But here was a second chance. As if life had come full circle in the worst way possible, and brought them together again. The problem was, she had no idea how to navigate it. Vera didn’t trust her. Or at least, wouldn’t trust a word out of her mouth if she walked out of the bathroom and said she wanted to be together again. That trust wasn’t even flesh and bone now, it was a ghost. How they were supposed to get back to where they were before, or to some new place with these different versions of themselves, she didn't know.

Skin now beat red and overheated, she stepped out of the shower and peered at herself in the mirror. The smile lines at the edges of her eyes she liked were soft and still. Those lines from the joy she’d gained without Vera by her side over the last decade. Moments of memories they could’ve made together, laughter and love they could’ve shared.

Drying off, silence fell across the room. Vera’s phone call had ended.

The truth was out. At least from one of them, and she would go on as she'd begun. Take it minute by minute, making the map as she went.

Coming out, she found Vera pulling off her socks.

“Who was that?”

“My co-worker, Rodrigo. I go to his and his wife Aurora’s house for dinner every Sunday and I forgot this week.”

“That sounds nice,” she replied honestly. “I’m glad you have friends you’re that close to.”

Vera snorted. “I’m not so pathetic as to not have friends, Teddi.”

She smirked, riffling in her bag for her pajamas. “I know, but I know you aren’t always super... y'know, social, so it’s good you have them.” She shrugged. “I like knowing you have people watching out for you over there.”

Vera’s head tilted in a gentle way that reminded her of another time. “And who’s watching out for you?”

“Oh, I've got some people.”

“Anyone I know?”

“Some yes, some no. Got to keep it interesting. Keep people on their toes.” A bright burst of a laugh came out of her, the smile lines around her mouth squishing together. Teddi couldn’t tear her eyes away as Vera let out that simple joy.

“How have you not changed one iota in a decade?”

“You don’t mess with perfection.” She tossed her a wink as she went to change in the bathroom.

“No, I guess you don’t.”

Teddi didn’t know what she meant, or if she meant anything at all. But she let it go as she changed and got into bed. She would need her energy for her meet-up with J while Vera met with Sheriff Malis.

And to win her back before it was all over.

Chapter 19

Teddi

Teddi rolled over at the sound of the shower running. Yawning, she peeled her eyes open, her lids like sandpaper. She had barely fallen asleep. It took an hour to calm her thundering heart while she replayed the feeling of Vera’s lips against her own. It left her aching and empty but most of all, hungry.

The motel room was lit by soft daylight cutting through the thin curtains. The white object on the floor was easy to see against the carpet still shrouded in darkness.

Sitting up, she stared at it and then rubbed her eyes.

It was white and square, a few inches in front of the door.