Silence never did suit the Payne household and a specific type of silence when the whole house was fast asleep, well that is, except for a certain dark-haired woman.

Scarlet was awake and restless as she turned over on her mattress multiple times, just not finding comfort in any position. A sigh escaped her lips as she looked over at where Lauren was asleep, which was just beside Scarlet’s mattress.

Lauren looked peaceful and comfortable, unlike the dark-haired woman wo even tried to lay down without a pillow under her head.

At moments like these, when she had no distraction, her mind wandered to the nights when she held Katie in her arms and would stroke her hair just to fall asleep.

Memories of the woman with dyed blonde hair, lying in her arms and looking up at her, invaded her head and she just wanted to smash her head against something to make it stop.

When Scarlet did think about it, everything was so easy with Katie. They both liked each other, they both started dating just after meeting once, they even had sex on the third date. But the way Scarlet had fallen in love with Katie wasn’t easy. She had denied her feelings, and even tried to suppress them by working more than she should.

But in the end, her feelings were triumphant and she fell deeply in love with the woman.

Now, when Scarlet laid sleepless and restless, trying to just let the darkness consume her and put her to sleep, she went back to the day when she had found Katie and Stewart laying on the same bed – Katie and her shared – after sex.

This time her heart clenched and a certain sadness fell over her, replaced by the anger that was directed towards the two. She wondered what she had done wrong to have received such a cruel punishment.

Thinking back to the times she spent with her, she tried to find just a single flaw in her behavior, a single mistake on her part that had led to such consequences.

And when the rage died down, the insecurity surfaced and Scarlet found herself blaming herself for her broken relationship.

“Hey.” Scarlet jolted out of her thoughts as she looked beside her to see the blonde looking at her with worry filled eyes. “Are you okay?” She asked in a whisper and Scarlet gave her a small smile before nodding.

Lauren, frowning, shook her head before she repositioned herself in her make shift bed. “You’re lying.” She accused in a hushed tone and was rewarded with a small laugh from the dark-haired woman.

“Did I wake you up?” Scarlet laid on her side with her arm underneath her head, so she could gaze at the blonde without any difficulty.

The darkness was spread around the room, but they could still see each other’s eyes and the outline of their bodies.

“No, I just felt like someone was watching me.” Lauren spoke before she, too, got on her side. “I never pegged you as a creep.” Scarlet smiled before she shook her head with humor.

“I wasn’t looking at you.” She lied and Lauren nodded her head not believing a single word that she muttered. “What were you thinking about there, looking at the ceiling?”

Scarlet frowned before she sighed, “You don’t want to know.” Her voice came out quieter than before as she stared into the blonde’s eyes.

“Were you thinking about Katie?” Lauren frowned back as she asked the dark-haired woman, who went silent before speaking a low ‘yes’.

The next thing that Scarlet knew was that she was pushed on her mattress a little and then a weight was dropped beside her. Lauren grabbed Scarlet’s arm before placing it underneath her own head and then snuggling comfortably into Scarlet’s side.

Scarlet wanted to laugh and she would’ve if the next thing she heard wasn’t so heart-breaking, “Don’t go back to Katie.” Lauren’s voice was a bit cracked and silent but Scarlet immediately leveled herself with Lauren’s face and wiped away at her cheek.

“I won’t.” Scarlet whispered back to her as she placed her arm around the blonde’s waist and pulled her into her own body.

“I can’t help but wonder, that you’ll go back to Katie once you realize that you can’t love me back.” Lauren’s broken voice reached Scarlet’s ears and she wanted to ask what she meant about ‘love me back’, but instead spoke something entirely different, “I’ve never kissed Katie on a rooftop before, neither have I ever introduced her to my family.” Scarlet paused as she saw Lauren’s eyes that held confusion.

“I did that all with you, because you’re special and you were there for me when I had no one. Even if you were just trying to get me to go back to New York for an ice-cream sundae.” Scarlet’s voice held humor and Lauren sniffed.

“I didn’t even take a sip of alcohol when Katie cheated on me and yet when you lied to me, I took a swing of a whole bottle.” This time Lauren giggled and Scarlet smiled.

“You even puked in Stewart’s car.” Lauren added as she giggled a bit more. Scarlet nodded with the same smile on her face. “I’m sorry for calling you Katie back then.”

Lauren shook her head before snuggling in Scarlet’s neck and breathing in her scent. “It’s okay. I’m sorry for lying to you.”

“That’s okay. Your lie brought you here and that’s what counts.” Scarlet spoke as she pecked the blonde’s forehead before sighing in content. A yawn escaped her mouth and she brought Lauren’s body closer to her.

“Are you sleepy now?” Lauren asked as she placed a lingering kiss on the exposed skin in front of her and Scarlet nodded. “Yeah, but if you keep doing that, I might just do something else.”

Lauren’s breath hitched and her mind immediately wandered to what this ‘something else’ would be.

Looking up at the dark-haired woman, Lauren noticed the close proximity of the two and was about to comment on it when Scarlet brought her lips close to Lauren’s.

Whispering as low as she could, Scarlet spoke, “I’m sleepy.”

That was not what Lauren had expected to come out of Scarlet’s mouth and when a second later, Scarlet had her in her arms, snoring lightly, she just sighed out with a smile.

“You make my heart race.” It was a sweet declaration that was confessed in such a way that wasn’t burdening or uncomfortable. Truly, love sometimes was a burden but in this case, it was the exact opposite, since it was pushing off the baggage off of Scarlet’s shoulders that didn’t seem to budge.

It seemed as though both of them were the cure for each other’s insecurities that found themselves surfacing in the spread of darkness.

In the darkness, there was possibility of finding light. Just like in the depth of a deep green forest, there is possibility of finding life everywhere. You just have to look around.

……………………………………………………..

The next morning, Juliet and Blake woke up to find two certain women all cuddled up into each other. They just glanced at each other before they broke out into grins.

The kids were all up as well and had noticed their cousin cuddling with Lauren, but chose to ignore it.

The two cousins, Juliet and Blake, tip-toed into the bathroom with mischievous smiles on their faces. When they came out, they were sporting a bucket full of water which was carried by both of them.

With a single snicker, they dumped all of the contents in the bucket over the two cuddling women, who woke up with gasps and screams as they were drenched with water.

Juliet and Blake burst into laughter but it was quite short-lived because in the next moment, Scarlet was tackling Blake.

Lauren, who was still looking at her now wet clothes in confusion, turned to look at the two cousins that were now having a pillow fight.

“I will kill you!” Scarlet exclaimed as she kept hitting Blake with a pillow, while he laughed holding onto his sides. “Uncle, uncle! I give!” He spoke in between laughter with breathlessness as he tried to push away his cousin from over his body.

“Oh come on, let the kid go. It was just a prank.” Juliet spoke as she tried to pry Scarlet off of Blake, still laughing at her cousins.

Scarlet got off of Blake with a last assault before throwing a glare at both of her cousins. Lauren was now off of the wet mattress and was shivering slightly as she looked at the three cousins with a small smile on her face.

“You two better sleep with one eye open tonight.” Scarlet spoke in her most menacing tone as she gave them both a mean smile, which made both of them shudder with fear before they rushed out of the room.

“You didn’t have to scare them so much.” Lauren giggled before she shivered noticeably. Scarlet gave her a shake of head before she came over to her and wrapped a hand around her arm and took her to the bathroom.

“You’ll get a cold if you don’t take a warm shower right now.” Lauren knew what Scarlet had meant but a part of her mind couldn’t help but to wander to an alternative place where Scarlet was helping her take her clothes off for that mentioned warm shower.

Shaking away the thoughts, Lauren nodded before placing both of her hands around herself. “Yeah, I’ll just do that.” She spoke awkwardly as she began to push Scarlet out of the bathroom.

Scarlet, nodded her head, and walked out of the bathroom but not before pointing out something to Lauren, “I can see that you don’t like to wear a bra before sleep.”

For a moment, Lauren stared at Scarlet’s smirking face with confusion, before her own face turned a dark red and she slammed the door shut in Scarlet’s face. Looking down at her now see through shirt, she slapped her forehead before taking it off, getting ready for a shower.

Scarlet, who was now standing staring at the bathroom door with wet clothes, sighed heavily before she smiled.

“Hurry up in there, okay. I also don’t like wearing undergarments before sleep.” Smirking at the little groan that came from inside, she was satisfied with herself.

……………………………………

“Tonight, you are a free man, my brother. But tomorrow, you’re gonna be back to being Vanessa’s fiancé.” Scarlet came into the kitchen, hearing Blake’s voice as he talked to Kevin.

“If you even think of sleeping around tonight, I’m going to cut you where the sun doesn’t shine.” Scarlet joined the two men’s conversation, throwing a sickeningly sweet smile towards Kevin, who shivered in response. “I promise, I won’t.”

“Good boy.” She commented as she filled a cup of coffee before raising the cup towards him and leaving the kitchen with one last glance thrown his way.

All the while, Blake sat on the sides, laughing behind his hand that was covering his mouth.

Tonight, were the two bachelor parties that were for Vanessa and Kevin. While the men would be going to a strip club which was going to be serving lots of food. The women were going to stay at the house.

The kids were going to be sent to sleep after 10, after which the party would start.

Juliet had still yet to tell anyone about her preparations for the bachelorette party, and as Scarlet entered the living room, she saw her sister sitting beside Juliet on the sofa, trying to get information out of her about tonight.

“Come on, just whisper it in my ear.” Vanessa said as she brought her ear close to Juliet’s mouth. Juliet, noticed Scarlet entering the living room, and sent her a look of help.

“Hey, Vanessa, try tickling her. Maybe she might break.” Scarlet spoke and Juliet glared at her cousin before she tried to make a run for it. “Nuh uh, you are not running away without telling me about that party.” Vanessa laughed before she began to tickle her younger cousin, who just began laughing uncontrollably while pleading for Vanessa to stop, in between.

Satisfied of the outcome, Scarlet sat down on the recliner, placing her feet on the coffee table and drinking her cup of coffee in peace, while Vanessa tickled Juliet mercilessly.

“I will…. kill you.” Juliet gasped in between laughs as she tried to escape from Vanessa’s tickling fingers. “In your dreams.” Scarlet laughed when Juliet fell from the sofa on her back, and groaned but was back to laughing when Vanessa moved from the sofa to the carpeted floor while still continuing her torture.

Lauren, who had just come downstairs, heard the laughter from the living room. Entering the living room, her eyes went to Scarlet first and foremost before they turned to Vanessa who was assaulting Juliet with tickles.

“Laur-ren, help!” Juliet laughed as she gave Lauren a pleading look. Scarlet shook her head before she got off the recliner and went over to Lauren. “No, don’t help her. Let her suffer.”

Vanessa laughed before she stopped her torture on her young cousin and looked at her sister instead. “Why the sudden coldness towards her?” Vanessa asked and Scarlet whined. “Why’d you let her go?”

Juliet stuck her tongue out to Scarlet before sitting up on the sofa.

“I dumped water on Lauren and her. It’s not my fault they’re so sickeningly sweet.” Juliet answered Vanessa’s question and Scarlet glared at her. “Yeah, also tell her about the part where I threatened you.”

Juliet visibly shivered before awkwardly laughing, “What were they doing that was so sickeningly sweet?” Vanessa asked while chuckling, and this was the part where Scarlet and Juliet glanced at each other while Lauren stood awkwardly at the side lines, not wanting to be dragged into the current conversation.

“Just, stuff.” Juliet answered and as Vanessa turned to her to give the said girl a frown, Scarlet face-palmed herself. “What she meant to say is that we were both cuddling because… of the slight cold last night.”

Vanessa gave Scarlet a confused look before voicing out her thoughts, “Why didn’t you just get a blanket?”

Scarlet began to sweat with nervousness as she gave Juliet a look, “That’s a good question. Juliet will answer that.” Juliet panicked when Vanessa looked at her, wanting an answer.

“I…. I-I, actually, Lauren might know better.” Lauren looked at the two cousins before smiling at Vanessa. “I hear my phone ringing.” Lauren lied as she gave the two cousins a glare, before escaping the questioning gaze of Vanessa and exiting the living room.

“I hear mom calling me.” Scarlet spoke as she placed her hand behind her ear. “I should go before she comes down.”

“I hear her calling me, too.” Juliet nodded her head frantically as she lied and got off the sofa before speed-walking out of the living room. Scarlet smiled at her sister before leaving the living room as well, leaving Vanessa with a confused expression.

“What the hell just happened?” Vanessa spoke out aloud as she looked around the living room with confusion.

………………………………