"I never thought I'd ever see you again," Crystal said, gripping the phone tighter. "I can't believe I'm really talking to you." She turned her mouth from the phone to address Laura. "It's really her."
"There's so much to talk about," Patty said, drawing Crystal back to the miraculous meeting on the phone. "Where did you go when you ran away? I tried to find you for years."
"I tried to find you too," Crystal replied, smiling at Laura when a tissue box was set before her on the table. "There's so much for us to talk about." "Well now that we've found each other we have all the time in the world. I have so much to tell you."
"Let's start at the beginning," Crystal said, leaning her elbows on the table and visibly relaxing. "All right, so you got out on the bus" Despite her attention being given to her long lost sister, Crystal was nonetheless fully aware of Laura leaving the room. A quick glance into the living room showed channels rapidly flicking before the writer settled on a football game. The next two hours were more emotionally draining than her most intense therapy sessions, an emotional roller coaster as the two sisters learned of each other's life since their tragic separation.
Laura looked up as she heard the phone being set on its base. Crystal's red rimmed eyes were puffy, a crumpled up tissue wiping the fresh tears that had fallen from them.
"Come here," the writer said softly, shutting off the television and shifting sideways on the couch. When Crystal sat down, Laura moved closer, putting her left arm around the younger woman's shoulders and pulling her close. "How are you feeling?" She felt Crystal shrug before answering.
"I dunno," Crystal said. "So much happened just after I left. If I had stuck around, things would have been so different."
"You can't go back and change things," Laura said, her fingers gently stroking Crystal's upper arm.
"My father had a heart attack about two months after I left," Crystal said, leaning her head against Laura's upper chest. "And Patty came home four months after that. If I had just stuck around for six more months I wouldn't have had to run away at all."
Laura took a deep breath, thinking of what she knew of Crystal's life as a runaway.
"She came home pregnant," the woman in her arms continued. "Patty could have really used me then and I wasn't there. Mom stopped drinking and found a job. Patty says Mom's so different from when we were kids. She watches Jessica and Thomas when Patty's at work." Crystal shook her head. "I can't believe it. Mom stopped drinking, Patty came home, I have a niece and nephew and I've missed it all!"
"Hon, you couldn't have known what was going on," Laura said. "You said your folks didn't have a telephone back then." "I just never thought Patty would come home much less that the bastard would die so soon," Crystal said. "I should have toughed it out. I should have been stronger."
"Hey." Cupping Crystal's chin with her fingers, Laura looked into sad eyes. "You can't beat yourself up for what you should or shouldn't have done a lifetime ago. You had no way of knowing what would happen. You did what you had to do to get away from that monster. When the people that are supposed to protect you are the ones hurting you, what else could you have done?"
"But"
"No buts," Laura said firmly, relaxing her hold on Crystal's chin and letting her fingertips trace the throat before withdrawing. "You had to get away from your father." She waited for the reluctant nod before continuing. "The important thing now is that you have Patty back. When are you going to visit her?"
"Saturday," Crystal said, resting her head against Laura's willing shoulder. "It's easier for me to go see her than it is for her to pack the kids up in the car and make the trip out here." She paused for a moment before asking "Are you going to come with me to meet her?" Laura, who had been momentarily distracted by the scent of golden hair beneath her nose, tilted her head to look at her companion. "Do you want me to?"
Crystal nodded. "Yeah."
"If you want me there," Laura said quietly, "I'll be there." Without thought, she let her fingers gently brush back and forth over the younger woman's shoulder, a gentle smile crossing her lips. "It should be interesting introducing me."
Crystal smiled back. "I'll just tell them you're a lesbian mystery writer and we live together. I'm sure that'll go over well."
"You have a wicked streak in you, hon," Laura said. "You'll make them think we're lovers."
To her surprise, Crystal merely shrugged nonchalantly. "So what?" the blonde said. "Patty wouldn't care, I'm sure of it." She sat up and looked at Laura. "Would it bother you?" she asked in all seriousness. "If people thought we were lovers?"
Laura took a deep breath, hoping the feelings she usually kept so guarded weren't evident on her face. "No, it wouldn't bother me at all. You're a beautiful woman and beneath that tough act you like to show everyone else, I know inside you're a loving and caring person. Any woman would be lucky to have that chance with you. Beside, half our friends think we're lovers anyway."
"More than half, I bet," Crystal said, relaxing against Laura's body again. "Of course I suppose the fact we do things like this " she gestured at their intimate position. " doesn't help."
"Yes but we don't hold each other like this in front of other people," the writer pointed out. "They don't see this side of our relationship." "I dunno," Crystal said quietly, her eyes focused on the dark television. "I guess it's just because we live together."
"Must be," Laura said, knowing in her heart that it was not the truth.
"Then again maybe they see something we don't."
Laura's first thought was to deny it, to fight the reality within Crystal's words but her heart refused to let her. Nodding reluctantly, the writer dared to dive into the dangerous waters. "Maybe," she said in a voice so low that at first she was not sure Crystal had even heard her but when the young woman shifted, sitting up to look deep into Laura's eyes, the writer knew her words had carried.
"Laura?"
Laura heard the unspoken questions, the fear and perhaps even anticipation in Crystal's voice. Feeling her own heart pounding within her chest, she brought her right hand up to rest against Crystal's cheek. "Sometimes I see you hurting and all I want to do is hold you in my arms and never let go." Leaning forward slightly, she kept her eyes locked with Crystal's. "Other times you're so self-destructive that I want to just shake some sense into you but I have to hold back and just hope that you'll come to me when you're ready." Laura drew her hand back, the fingertips barely grazing Crystal's lower lip. "But most of all I'm just happy to be part of your life as long as you let me because behind those thorns I'm certain there's a rose just waiting to bloom and be loved." Feeling somewhat confident that she would not be rebuked, Laura closed the remaining distance and felt the softness of Crystal's lips against hers. It was a brief, fleeting kiss but to Laura, it was perfect. "You affect me," she whispered as she pulled back, her lips tingling from the abbreviated contact.
Crystal lowered her head, looking down at her hands. "When I first moved in here, I was sure it wouldn't work out. What the hell does a drunk stripper who didn't even graduate high school have in common with a lesbian writer with a degree?" She looked up at Laura. "Not to mention you're the ultimate neat freak."
"And you're the proverbial Oscar Madison," Laura said softly, answering Crystal's smile with one of her own.
"And I'm a slob," Crystal agreed. "But somehow we managed to work it out." She lowered her head again. "I don't know when it happened. It sure as hell isn't something I'd ever think about with anyone else. At first I thought it was because I hung around with just you and your friends but it doesn't rub off like a contagious disease." She shrugged her shoulders. "I guess I stopped thinking of you as a lesbian and started thinking of you as a friend then as something more than a friend." Tilting her head up, she looked at Laura's mouth, seemingly unable to make eye contact. "You you affect me too."