“I love you too.”

You remembered the cases you shared, the late nights of working, the deep talks… You missed those. You loved Tegan. You did. But… it was difficult to have a conversation with her. She was smart, but she was naive and ignorant on a lot and preferred to keep it that way. Aubrey challenged you emotionally, intellectually, and sexually; that was something you craved.

“I love you too, Aubrey.” You missed this. You missed her. After you finished your internship, you moved away and lived with Tegan. The first time you and Aubrey were reunited was at your wedding and she didn’t seem to hold any special feelings for you there. But to know she’d been holding a candle for you this whole time… Things were about to change and you weren’t even sure how.

“So… what now?” You asked.

She danced her fingers on your chest, “I’m not letting you go… Not again. I’m keeping you.” You smiled at Aubrey’s almost girlish response. But this was no crush. “I don’t want to share you either. Not with her… she stole you from me.” You looked down and noticed her lip in a small pout.

“I don’t know if I can promise that,” you replied.

“Please? It’s not like she gives you good sex anyways. You wouldn’t have done this if she was…” She continued her pout. She was right. Your sexlife wasn’t great, but was that reason enough to upend your life? But it wasn’t just that… You had a deep connection with Aubrey.

“I can try. That’s all I can promise right now. This is… a lot. It’s going to take some time to really sort all of this out.” You brushed her hair back and gave her a reassuring smile.

“Okay. I can deal with that for now.” She snuggled even closer to you, holding onto you tightly.