golden blonde¹

night market

a couple of hours later, elena is cozied up on the couch, across from lia and caitlin who are cuddled together. lia is already half asleep in the australian's arms while caitlin and elena had been talking about their favorite beaches.

"still, ibiza is so... you will never catch me there," elena mumbled as caitlin rolled her eyes.

"probably because it's too close to home for you. you should try visiting gold coast," the australian replied running her hand through lia's hair.

"hm, maybe sometime. you and lia could show me around."

"yeah," caitlin glanced down at her girlfriend, "sometime."

the silence is broken when the doorbell is rung. a loud ding rings throughout the small home. both caitlin and elena look toward lia, who stirs and then to the doorbell.

"who's coming to our house this late?" caitlin asked the spaniard. elena shrugged.

"i'll get it."

elena takes her time getting over to the front door despite it not being a long walk at all. the porch light is on as elena opens the wooden door, and her mouth drops ever so slightly.

"um, hey! what are you doing here this late?" elena softly inquires.

leah shakes the phone in her hand up in the air.

"you weren't answering your phone," the defender says sheepishly.

"oh sorry," elena blinks rapidly. "lia, caitlin and i were just talking in the living room. my phone must still be in my bag."

"right, of course," leah whispers smiling.

"was it anything important?"

"there's this really cool night market a half hour drive away. it only comes around during this time of year and you know..." leah rubs the back of her neck nervously.

"i just thought maybe you'd want to come with me? we have a late recovery tomorrow and i promise we won't be out too late."

elena grins, tilting her head playfully.

"i would love to. just let me get changed, i have to tell caitlin and lia i'll be heading out tonight as well. give me ten minutes?"

"of course, don't keep me waiting superstar," leah grins as she waves elena a temporary goodbye.

she hurries back to her room to find something warmer to wear. when she steps out to tell caitlin and lia she's heading out, the swiss woman is noticeably more awake than she was previously.

"i'm going out, be back in a bit," elena tells the two as she starts heading down the hallway.

"alright," caitlin says as her girlfriend also responds at the same time:

"where are you going?"

elena stops in her tracks.

"there's a market nearby. it's like a 30 minute drive," she shrugs, attempting to be as casual as possible.

"this late? and who's driving you?"

elena would have said she was driving, but lia knows that the girl hasn't completed her driving test.

mental note to self: get your damn license elena.

unable to come up with a lie within a small margin of time to seem not as suspicious, elena tells the truth.

"leah's driving me, we're going together."

elena can't figure out what emotion lia's face is expressing, because it seems like there are multiple all at once.