Christmas Lights

Chapter 11

Winter had to cancel last minute.

Turns out she was paged because there was a freak chain-reaction accident on the freeway. Dozens of injuries; the hospital needed all hands on deck. Karina had seen the accident on the news and was disappointed, but knew this was part of Winter's life. It was why she became a doctor, to help people. Karina found that it was hard to be upset with Winter when she was living her dream.

It also gave her time to think about the kiss. The kisses. Which she hadn't stopped thinking about. Even during her defense, she found her mind wandering and had to regroup a couple times. Fortunately, she had it under control. She's pretty sure it went well. And honestly, after what happened, she had enough confidence to go in there and wing it. She was refueled; invincible. She could've ran around the world.

Karina had never had a kiss that good before. It was a cliché – every kiss from Winter made her see stars, it made her heart pound, and while part of her hated that she was being so disgustingly saccharine, another part of her, a newer part, didn't care. She was in love. And the woman she was in love with had feelings for her too.

(Friends? Seriously, what was she thinking? She could never be just friends with her.)

She hated that she would have to wait another day, maybe even more, before she got to see her friend again.

When she finally was able to sleep, much later that night and after watching a handful of Doctor Who episodes (yeah, Karina still for the life of her couldn't get into it), she didn't get much rest. Her phone rang; she knew it was Winter, because Winter set her ringtone to the sound of an ambulance.

(It scared the shit out of Karina first time Winter called her; she told her as much.

"What? I thought it'd be cute. You're so sensitive, Karina," Winter teased. Her sense of humor was surprisingly tacky sometimes.)

"Everything okay, Cupcake?" She asked, groggily.

"I just got off work." Winter sounded exhausted. "I can't be alone right now, can I come over?"

Karina yawned and looked at the clock. 2:00 am. "Uh, yeah."

"I'll be there in ten," Winter said before hanging up.

Karina got out of bed and unlocked her front door. She went to kitchen to turn on her kettle (when Winter inevitably asked for hot cocoa). She went to the washroom to brush her teeth and comb her hair, wiping the sleep up from her eyes.

This wasn't the first time Winter had ever done this; it certainly wouldn't be the last. Winter hated being alone after working difficult shifts. And every time Winter showed up to her house late at night, looking a little frazzled, a little exhausted, but entirely adorable, Karina felt pride that she was Winter's 'person'. She made Winter feel safe and secure and comfortable again. She was the person who helped pull her out of her bad mood or hard day.

Having been told her entire life being told that she was nothing but doom and gloom, nothing but a stressor, a cause for concern, being this person for someone made her feel worthy. Of what, she didn't know. She hoped it meant she was worthy of her.

One more quick, evaluating look in the mirror, she deemed herself presentable enough. It was the first time she was going to see Winter since their kiss, just hours ago; she wanted to look good for her. But she also knew that Winter wasn't really going to care about that; she probably just needed a distraction, like a movie marathon or something, like she always did after a hard day of work.

When Karina left her washroom, she almost let out a gasp.

Winter stood in the middle of her bedroom, with her shy smile. She was out of her work clothes, in a pair of jeans and a shirt Karina recognized as her own that had gone missing.