The Bite That Binds [Kaylor] ON HOLD

[ transfer my tragedy ]

Okay yeah, so maybe I lied about not updating as frequently.  This is actually a couple of short chapters combined, and things are going to be pretty exciting starting from this point.  Thank you so much for all of the feedback!!  You all are angels I swear.  I never expected that this fic would be so popular when I first started writing it, and it's been an absolutely wonderful and lovely suprise.

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Taylor awoke to Meredith's paws on her face, trying to coerce her into making breakfast.  There was no real way to resist the cat, mainly because she knew that while the claws were sheathed now, they wouldn't necessarily stay that way.  She sighed, shifted her weight so she could sit up some. 

Karlie was still curled up next to her on the couch, breathing deeply, sleeping with her lips relaxed and her muscles calm.  Taylor smiled gently, wanting to spend all day just looking at her lover and her adorable, beautiful features.  But Meredith mewed and batted at her hair, so Taylor disentangled herself and padded quietly into the kitchen.

She fed the cats then started up breakfast, cooking Karlie's favorite vegan pancake mix and setting some bacon to fry for herself.  Cooking was a sort of relaxation exercise for her.  There was a calming fluidity in the way she could take a lot of separate ingredients and combine them into one delicious final product.  But today she couldn't find the serenity in it.  Her brain decided to whirl instead.

She couldn't help but think of the way Karlie had acted the night before.  At dinner, she'd been silent, her eyes far off.  It had been like talking to a wall of fog.  Of course there'd been the kisses in the car and on the kitchen counter afterwards, but even so, Taylor was still worried.  Karlie went through strange periods of distance often.  Frequently, she carried herself with the sort of tenseness of someone just itching to tell a secret, but she never broke and said whatever it was.  On the bad days, Taylor composed awful theories like music.

Maybe Karlie was cheating on her.

Maybe Karlie regretted dating her.

Maybe Karlie didn't love Taylor nearly as much as Taylor loved her.

There were so many horrible possibilities, and though the rational side of Taylor tried to remind her that there were many more not-so-horrible, possibilities, it was so hard to focus on those.  She hated the doubt.  She hated the random shards of distance.  She hated that she was afraid to ask Karlie exactly what was going through her head at those points in time.

But how could she ask when she was so damn afraid of the answers?

Taylor was in the middle of flipping pancakes when she felt a warm body press against her back.  At the feeling of Karlie kissing her shoulders, all of her worries dissipated into water vapor.  How could she ever doubt this girl who was so tenderly pressed against her?  Of course it could be a lie...a ploy...

Taylor bit back the thoughts, instead tilting her head back so she could nuzzle her nose against Karlie's cheek, "Morning.  How did you sleep after we moved to the couch?"

"Much better.  Thank you, by the way.  You could have stayed in your cozy bed," Karlie replied.  She was smiling, and Taylor smiled too.

Gently, she shimmied free of the model's grip so she could start putting the food on plates, "Anything for you, m'lady.  Now, go get forks and knives and put them on the table."

Karlie gave a dorky, exaggerated salute, and Taylor laughed, grabbing the dishtowel from the kitchen counter and slapping Karlie on the ass with it.  The younger girl yelped, and her hand shot out, snatching a piece of bacon from Taylor's plate.  She winked, popped it in her mouth, and scurried to set the table as Taylor had asked.