Chapter 1

The morning sunlight erupted through their window and over their glistening, tangled bodies. They had barely gone to sleep three hours ago from passionate make-up sex all night and into the morning. After Dana had pushed Lara away that day at the restaurant and told her that she didn’t understand what it was like to be her, Lara had felt her heart get smashed and stepped on by Dana’s size 8’s.

Dana had run out on her yesterday, and left her standing alone and miserable. She had never felt anything even close to love before Dana, and to hear those harsh words escape the lips she loved so very much was torture. She had taken a taxi back to her apartment after a few drinks at the bar and laid in bed with a pint of Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia to erase the remnants of the alcohol and Dana’s kisses.

She turned off her phone and settled into bed, trying to stop tossing and turning for a few moments to drift off into a semi-comfortable state of sleep without the familiar body next to her. Even in just about two months, she had gotten so used to Dana being there, smelling of the shower they had just taken together or the sporty perfume she had donned for the day.

Lara had gotten used to the feel of Dana’s strong, sinewy arms wrapped around her waist and a pair of lips caressing her shoulderblades with gentle kisses after they had made love. She had gotten attached to such little details about being with Dana, and now she feared she’d never feel it again.

She had suffered through hell last night, and she was waking up with her lover at the dawn of a new morning and new chapter in their lives together. Because Dana promised her last night that she’d never fuck up like that again. She promised her that now that Subaru and her other sponsors knew she was a lesbian, she wouldn’t abandon her like that ever again.

Lara didn’t want to forgive Dana last night. She felt like shit when Dana woke her up gently from another nightmare of them being separated by mountains, bridges, burning buildings, and many other horrific metaphors for a bad breakup, and Lara had cursed herself thoroughly for not remembering to get her key back from Dana when she left.