Bo sat up on her elbow, “Where are you going?”

“It’s been six weeks, Bo. We just keep going around and around.”

“She was my best friend–”

“And I get that, I really do, but you have to find your peace about this because we’re living in a vacuum and I love you, God help me, but I can’t watch you flog yourself anymore.”

“So you’re leaving me?” Bo asked incredulously. “Just like that?”

“No, I’m going down to the couch so you can be alone with your thoughts.” Lauren slipped into a robe and turned away quickly so Bo couldn’t see the emotions that were bubbling to the surface. Lauren’s hand was on the stairway wall when Bo’s voice tempted her to come back.

“I’m sorry,” Bo said boldly. “Please don’t go.”

Lauren turned toward the bedroom, not lifting her eyes from the floor. “I miss her too, Bo.”

“Come back to bed,” she coaxed.

Lauren shook her head. “Kenzi wouldn’t want any of this.” She leaned against the doorway. “She would never, ever want you to be this sad.”

Bo looked at her hands. “If this is an intervention, it’s working.” Walking into the bedroom, Lauren stood at the foot of the bed, hesitant once again. “Come back to bed,” Bo asked again. “I’ll keep my hands to myself. Promise.”

Lauren’s hands untied the robe before she shrugged it off an hung it up again. The bed was still warm and Bo’s frame surrounded her as soon as she pulled the covers over herself. She waited for the punch line. For what Lauren could only presume the status quo sounded like, but it never came. Instead, Bo held her long into the night, soothing her when she when Lauren would awake with a start as she so often did these days.

When morning dawned, Bo’s energy was renewed. She stood at the foot of the bed dressing in black. The air felt lighter despite Bo being suspiciously quiet. Lauren sat up. “You okay?”

Bo smiled, something Lauren had not seen over the past six weeks and she breathed a sigh of relief. “Everything’s fine,” Bo said, buckling her belt and cinching her thigh holster.

Lauren stood, wrapped in bed clothes she approached Bo. “You know I didn’t mean–” she started.