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As there was a knock at the door, it took Abby more than halfway to answer it to realize she wasn’t expecting anyone, stopping in her tracks as she did. There was no way in hell that Luka had left Croatia to return home; she hadn’t ordered a pizza; and there was no need for a babysitter since she’s just finished a week of nights and Joe was down for (hopefully) the night in the next room. She started moving again, taking softer more tentative steps, and only opening it with the latch still chained, allowing only a couple inches for any potential assailant to take advantage.Chill, Lockhart, she told herself as she went to open it."For a moment there I thought I had the wrong apartment," a familiar voice laughed. Abby blinked, struggling to place it between the limited scope of vision and her general lack of sleep."Kerry!?” Abby whispered back, before opening the latch. "What are you doing here!?""I did call the ER, but you weren’t there. Morris said as far as he was aware you hadn’t moved.""Can always rely on Morris to take far too much interest in my personal life," Abby laughed, falling into Kerry’s arms, Kerry showering her in kisses on her head."To give you a fuller answer, I’m here to see you, to help you out. I know what it’s like being a single mother to an infant and it’s far from easy. I can stay a week, even longer maybe…""You don’t have to do that," Abby assured her."I know I don’t have to, but I want to," Kerry smiled. “Henry’s grandparents were more than delighted to take him for a couple days," Kerry smiled, releasing Abby from her hug. Abby welcomed her further inside, showing her the full tour, only realizing then that it barely seemed like a man had ever lived there. She began to boil her kettle, offering Kerry every type of tea she had until they settled on Jasmine, bringing two mugs and the pot to their table and near collapsing into the chair."Abby, your…" Kerry nodded to her friend’s blouse, where a nipple was poking through between the buttons. "Very inviting, but I’ll pass," Kerry chuckled.Abby blushed, checking on the monitor that Joe definitely wasn’t stirring before buttoning back up. “Courtney with you?”"Oh, she and I, we’re…we decided just to remain colleagues."Abby nodded. "The move to Miami not a little far just to maintain a friendship?" she raised an eyebrow.“Well, I moved for the job; I didn't ask Courtney to come with me. She seems happy there too, and well, I am loving the change of pace. I absolutely adore my job, and only slightly miss practising medicine…" Kerry smirked. "I miss you an awful lot more, though."Kerry thought back to the moment she confirmed her resignation; how the look Abby gave was one of somebody heartbroken; close to tears. Of course, Kerry hadn't initially considered leaving County, and they both had Abby's husband to thank for that. "...How is Luka?”"If you speak to him, let me know," Abby retorted, rolling her eyes.Kerry held back her gasp in her throat. "Wait, that bad?" she blinked."I haven’t seen him in months, Kerry. I’m not only now sole carer for our child, but also the sole earner with the same outgoings as ever. I can’t work for needing to look after Joe, but can’t look after Joe for working. The hospital daycare must be sick of the sight of me.""Abby, honey, I had no idea things were that bad," Kerry sighed, making sympathetic eyes, putting a comforting hand on Abby's thigh. "And I can imagine Luka hasn’t exactly accrued enough time or favor for PTO.""Our chief tried her best, but as you know, her hands are tied."Kerry nodded. She had no idea who this new chief of the ER was, but the mental image of a pretty lady tied to her bed by the wrists was a very inviting one. She bit her lip, trying to shake the image from her mind, only to see beautiful Abby before her and imagine her in the very same compromising position."Sorry, I shouldn’t be dumping all my issues onto you.""Nonsense, honey. That’s what I’m here for," Kerry whispered, shuffling a little closer to her friend and softly kissing her cheek. Abby grabbed Kerry's sleeve, holding the knitted fabric between her forefinger and thumb.Holding her close for a moment or two longer. "I just really need…""What, Abby? What do you need?"She turned her head to Kerry, feeling the closeness of her breath on her face. "Comfort," Abby murmured. Kerry hesitated for a mere moment, feeling the moment tangibly hanging in the air between them.She had always considered Abby a good friend, and knowing that since they had both been through so much, there was little that would get in the way of their friendship. And she had always wanted more than just friendship with Abby, even since they had first met back in 1999, but until this instant, it had never seemed like it was something Abby had wanted too.If there was ever a time to chance it, that moment was now.Kerry’s lips reached forward, expecting to be met by a soft hesitation at best; more likely was a sheer reluctance to lean into…whatever this was.Instead, Abby’s lips fit hers perfectly. It had been rare for Kerry’s first time with any woman to persevere with such unspoken direction; she knew exactly where Abby longed for her, exactly how much to give and how much to tease, as a taster for what she hoped would come later."What do you need?" Kerry had asked her again, as though sex was a given."You're the expert," Abby laughed between moans, feeling the sexual tension between them fade as Kerry's cold fingers touched against her hipbones before removing her panties by the waistband.They were interrupted briefly by a cry coming from the infant in the next room, Abby quickly wrapped a blanket around her waist before disappearing to see to it.Kerry, half expecting Abby to return with a shift in her mindset and a direction for Kerry to leave, began to gather her things back up."What are you doing?" Abby asked her with an air of disappointment, returning after putting Joe back down. Kerry raised her eyebrow suggestively, which was met again by a nod from her friend."Sorry, I wanted to make sure you wanted this."Abby responded by removing her blouse entirely, a half-open nursing bra inviting Kerry to wrap her lips around the milky teat.“How do you make that feel good,” Abby gasped, Kerry’s latch softening as she chuckled. “Good?” Kerry asked, Abby’s nod melting into an open invitation as she threw her head back. With one hand Kerry released the other breast, stroking it softly as her tongue lapped over the other nipple, changing between them when Abby’s breathing caught up.“You won’t let a girl catch a breath!?” Abby laughed, feeling Kerry’s spare hand traveling south. “What did I ever do to you!?”“Nothing at all,” Kerry whispered between soft suckles on Abby’s nipple. “Therein lies the problem.”
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Between softness of tongue, and coldness of hand, it didn't take long before Kerry had coaxed the long-awaited orgasm out of her. She moaned as Kerry continued to lap her tongue over her clit, even after her back had arched for the first time."Are we going again?" Abby laughed, lowering herself for Kerry's fingers to fit inside her perfectly, her other hand massaging her back into arousal."Doesn't seem to me that you're complaining," Kerry smiled, relishing every last moment of Abby writhing and riding on her fingers.As Abby came to, Kerry’s hand stroking the side of her breast, she tried to take a moment to fully appreciate what had happened between them before her whole life starting crashing around her, especting her head to begin to spin in panic.But it didn’t."I-I…I just cheated on my husband. And I don’t remotely feel bad about it."Kerry smirked, a soft hum escaping her nose. "Don’t…"Abby sighed. “What do you mean? Don't...what?”"It’s not the first time I've been at the centre of infidelity," Kerry sighed back. She turned to face Abby, brushing the hair from her face. "And I’m not proud of that, either.""If it was anything like that performance you should be,” Abby whispered, only half joking. "Kerry Weaver, you dark horse!" Kerry smirked again. "With who? If you don't mind my asking.""Susan Lewis," Kerry near mumbled."While she was with Chuck?"Kerry shook her head. "While I was supposed to be with Kim."
Seven years earlier
In case it wasn’t bad enough she hadn’t been invited to Mark and Elizabeth’s wedding, Kerry's conveniently-coincidental conference had been disrupted by the wind the city was so famous for. And the rain.She stared up at the departure board, a sea of red delays filling the right-hand side of the screen.“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you stare at a board in such horror, Kerry Weaver,” an unmistakably recognizable-yet-unplaceable soft-yet-deep whisper tickled her ear. She turned to see a face before her that she hadn’t for at least three years.“Susan Lewis! ...how the fuck are you?” Susan seemed a little taken aback by the vulgarity of Kerry’s question, and the redhead flushed a little either from the embarrassment or her second glass of red wine. Kerry didn't need to admit in that moment that she was a little drunk; she always had a drink or two in the lounge before the flight, whether from nerves or habit, but this time the long delayed had pushed her a little beyond what she knew she could handle."Not great," she grimaced, inhaling deeply. As they caught up, Susan herself was almost as shocked as Kerry to have spent her time in Chicago not seeing her best friend get married. "My mother passed away," Susan murmured, her voice dropping to mirror the numbness in her demeanor. "I couldn’t bring myself to celebrate anything after we buried her. Which doesn't make any sense as I didn't even like the woman."Kerry nodded. Grief; she’d been there, and while her own relationship with her adoptive mother had been very different from Susan’s turbulent one with the woman who raised her, she could completely understand how that would’ve made her withdraw from everything relating to her former life in Chicago. Especially anything where you'd have to see people from your past life and pretend everything was fine and dandy.But here she was now, sitting opposite Kerry Weaver, waiting for a rained off flight to arid Arizona to climb back onto the board.Susan’s face crumpled red as she reduced to tears."Shhh, you’re ok, I’m here," Kerry whispered, wrapping an arm around and soothing her."I can't go back, not tonight," Susan cried into Kerry's shoulder."Honey, at this rate, it doesn't look like either of us are going anywhere."
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The chances of Southwest airlines putting any stranded passengers up in a hotel for the night seemed far from probable, so Susan immediately took Kerry up on her invitation to crash at her place once there was indication there was zero chance of getting a flight back to Arizona that night."Thank-you, so much, for this Kerry," Susan said as she removed her coat and scarf upon entering Kerry's living room."Are you tired?" Kerry asked her, not sure if she should be reaching for more wine or for blankets since one of them would be crashing on the couch."I don't know..." Susan murmured. "I'd rather not...sleep alone. Not tonight? As long as you don't mind sharing.""Not at all," Kerry whispered. She took Susan through to her room, thinking how thankful she was to have tidied up the previous night after Kim had stayed over. Kim hadn't passed through Kerry's mind once that night. Well, not since Susan had shown up.Susan dumped her bags at Kerry's side of the bed, before noticing the spare crutch against the wall and moving to the other side. "Are you sure you don't mind? I do feel like I'm imposing.""Not at all, Susan," Kerry whispered.They both silently got ready for bed. It's not like it had ever been an intimate activity for them to undress in front of each other; they'd done it countless times before, between quick changes after coming into contact with puke or blood or just trying to get dressed and out the door before another critical patient dragged you back through those ER doors."How did you do it?" Susan asked Kerry, sitting down on the side of the bed."Do what?" Kerry replied, brow furrowed in confusion."Deal with losing your parents."Kerry took a deep breath before sitting beside her. "I threw myself into medicine. Although only more recently have I learned that work isn't everything.""What do you mean?"Kerry took a deep breath. "I've been seeing someone," she sighed, as though telling someone (and not just being found out) really released her from a self-determined prison of ther thoughts."That's great, Kerry. Do I know him?"Kerry shook her head. "No, she's the newest Psych Attending, only came to County in the summer."Susan's eyes widened with intrigue. "She?"Kerry nodded. "Kim.""Wow, Kerry, I'm really happy for you. As long as...you're happy?""There's the thing...I thought I was. But I didn't even think about her once from the moment I saw you tonight." Mere moments later Susan was down to her panties, helping Kerry remove the nightwear she'd only recently put on. "I've always wanted to do this."Kerry nodded, only then realizing what Susan meant. Her eyes widened. "No, Susan, let me...""Kerry..." Susan stopped struggling, watching as Kerry exposed her naked self to her. "Wow, you're beautiful.""You don't need to sound so surprised," Kerry smirked, before falling into Susan who embraced her arms around her head and lowered her to the bed."I meant I have always wanted to go down on a woman. And I can't think of anyone I would rather..." her hand began to trail down Kerry's body, sweeping over her breast before reaching the crux of her body, already wet with anticipation. “I feel like I’m vindicating our old rivalry in a way neither of us ever could have predicted.”"…As long as you're sure, I wouldn't mind..."Susan raised an eyebrow."...returning the favor afterwards.""It needn't be quid pro quo," Susan laughed. "I won't be charging you."Kerry sighed as Susan's fingers met her labia."No, but I want to..." Kerry's words were interrupted by a gasp as she melted into the pillow. "Did you?" Abby asked, eyes wide as she sipped her tea, listening intently."Well, she did a very good job taking care of me, and I was kinda spent afterwards. I vaguely remember some kissing and cuddling before I nodded off. She left early the next day for her flight, and I didn't see her again until the following year when she rocked up to meet Mark for lunch.""...and he hired her!"Kerry blinked before laughing. "Now you can understand my reluctance...""Right. Did you two ever talk it out? Frankly, I'm amazed Susan never told me.""Well, she never acted on being into women again, from what I can tell. Of course, that was much easier for me, not to end up dating one of my attendings once I became Chief. Not that dating Sandy was easy either.""Right," Abby snorted, remembering witnessing their confrontations in her workplace. "And what about dating Kim?""That was almost already over at that point. We just both had to be honest about it, which took longer than I would've liked, since there were so many factors at play...not just dating a woman, but being a lesbian in the workplace, a workplace where I was in a position of leadership..."Abby nodded, knowingly. "I can only imagine how that's going to go down.""How what is?""When I leave Luka. Maybe even leave Chicago?"Kerry frowned. "Are you sure? Abby, I love you, you know I always have...but I'm not asking that of you.""I know you're not. But this...this makes more sense to me than anything I've had before."Abby kissed her once more, lingering just long enough to make sure she was right about this.Kerry sighed as she pulled away, taking in the beauty that was Abby lying naked before her; feeling a satisfaction and joy she hadn't known since the birth of her son. "...Take a picture of Archie Morris' face when you tell him you're running away to Florida with TV Star Kerry Weaver."