Being as tired as she was, Vinyl was nearly asleep only a few minutes after collapsing on her bed, but something being tossed onto her back made her roll over and sit up. Octavia was standing in the doorway to her bedroom, glaring at her.

“What was that for?”

Octavia didn't answer, so Vinyl reached to pick up whatever had landed on her... it was her phone. When she touched the screen and it lit up, Vinyl's eyes widened. She looked nothing short of mortified.

There were enough pictures here to fill a photo album, and all of them were of Sara and her. Vinyl didn't need to scroll through many of them to get the gist, they were all taken the night before, detailing what had really happened between them. It was a public place, they hadn't had sex, but making out and partial nudity was completely acceptable there.

She couldn't remember giving out her number, but she had been drunk, and not all of the night was crystal clear in her memory.

“What did I see?”

Vinyl wasn't sure what Octavia meant, until she continued.

“It had looked like you told her to get lost, but obviously that didn't happen.”

That was something Vinyl didn't want to explain. She and Sara had been arguing about their musical tastes, and it might have looked hostile from a distance, but it had been playful. And then Sara left to get more drinks... that's the only situation she could remember that might have been misinterpreted like that.

Without any answer, or even a response of any kind, Octavia just shook her head and started to walk away. Vinyl hopped off of the bed and ran after her, though she didn't know what she was going to do or say just yet.

“Tavi, look-”

She had caught up to her in the living room and grabbed her arm, but Octavia turned on Vinyl, and she found herself backing away. For every step she took back, Octavia took one forward, and Vinyl couldn't think to do anything else.

“Did you just forget about me for a few hours? Or am I just not that important to you?”

“No, it was the opposite...”

It was a quiet, nervous answer, and it didn't make any sense to Octavia.

“What...the opposite?”

Vinyl bit her lip. Since Octavia had stopped advancing she had stopped retreating, but she was being pressed for an answer and all she wanted to do was hide. She needed to say something though, Octavia wasn't going to stand here forever.

When she finally spoke, her words were rushed, and practically said all in one breath.

“I think about you all the time. Before last night, I couldn't remember the last time I wasn't thinking about you, or thinking about when I was going to see you next, or how much I... it's bordering obsessed, Tavi. I don't think you get it, and I sure as hell don't, it freaks me out. You freak me out, I can't control any of this, I mean..."

Octavia looked surprised by how sudden it was, but then again, so did Vinyl.

“What happened with Sara was exactly what happened with that party, a while ago... I realized how not in control I was, and it scared me. It scared the shit out of me, I can't explain it any better than that. I just wanted to get away from you... I mean, not physically, get my mind away from you. And I tried, but it didn't work, and if... if you leave now...”

Vinyl was sobbing again, as she only seemed capable of doing around Octavia. This had taken a very different turn than Octavia had expected, and she didn't know how to respond. It did seem a lot like the party she had. Vinyl had screwed her over, and Octavia couldn't do anything but forgive her. This was too much though, she couldn't just forgive and forget this sort of thing. Octavia needed to take get herself out of this situation, for her own good.

Instead, she hugged her. Vinyl crying pathetically into her shoulder, holding on to Octavia like she was the only thing keeping her from floating off into space... it was a familiar feeling.

“Please don't leave...”

Vinyl's request was muffled, but Octavia heard it, though she didn't know how to answer. Luckily it seemed like her company was all Vinyl really needed.

Vinyl never got to sleep, at least not until Octavia went to bed as well. She was noticeably worn out for the rest of the day, but she couldn't seem to bring herself to leave Octavia's side. The pictures on her phone were deleted, but nothing of it had been brought up again. Octavia wanted to discuss what had happened more seriously, but Vinyl was beat, so she decided to wait until she was rested.

That night they just slept, and in the morning Vinyl was back to normal, as far as Octavia could tell. Things were as she thought they should be, and even though she wanted to address what had happened, Octavia couldn't bring it up. Later on in the day, she knew she had to, but not right now.

In the afternoon Vinyl got a call, and it set Octavia slightly on edge. Vinyl was sitting right next to her, and wasn't at all secretive, but she still listened.

“Hey... I don't care, just whenever.”

Vinyl glanced at Octavia, pointed to her phone and rolled her eyes. “It doesn't matter... seriously. I'll be ready whenever you come by.”

When Vinyl hung up she spoke to Octavia. “Some kid who's making a big deal about his birthday... he's had this party planned for months.”

“You're going to play somewhere tonight?”

“Yeah, at this guy's parents' mansion. Funny thing is they live kinda close to Laureate.”

Octavia looked at her in disbelief, and Vinyl raised an eyebrow at her.

“You're going out again... after what happened?”

“It's a house party... in some brat's mansion.” Octavia didn't look the slightest bit comforted by that. “You should come with me.”

“Or you could cancel.”

Vinyl sighed. “It's not that easy... he booked me five months ago. I can't bail six hours before...”

Octavia could hardly believe this was coming up, it seemed like common sense to her that Vinyl shouldn't go. Was there a nicer way to put it?

“I think you should lay off the clubs and parties for a while.”

Vinyl seemed to be getting annoyed. “It's kind of my job to be there. It's my source of income.”

“Right, and you're really living paycheck to paycheck, aren't you?” Vinyl stood, shaking her head and walking away, but Octavia followed. “Why are you suddenly being an ass? What happened to 'bordering obsessed' and 'please don't leave me'?”

“... Would you leave me over this?”

Vinyl had stopped, looking more serious now, but that wasn't what Octavia had been going for.

“That's not the point!” Octavia groaned, “Just, please don't go tonight? Tell him you're sick. Or anything... Vinyl, I just don't trust you right now.”

Once she realized Octavia wasn't threatening anything, Vinyl looked perturbed again.

“Fine, okay mom... whatever you say.”

Suddenly, not going wasn't the issue anymore. Vinyl going from an emotional wreck to an asshole, that was the issue now.

“Are you serious?” Octavia had become too frustrated to just stand there, so she took a few steps away from Vinyl. “I'm not anything like your mother! I care too much, and she didn't care at all. I'm starting to see why, you're impossible!”

Realizing what she had just said, the regret was almost instant. When she turned back, Vinyl looked like she had just received an unexpected slap to the face.

“Vinyl, I didn't mean it like that...”

Vinyl didn't answer, and instead walked away again, down the hall that led to her sound room. This time she didn't stop when Octavia followed after her.

“I just got mad, you know I don't think that. We really need to talk, so just-”

Vinyl had entered the room, and the now magically glowing door slammed behind her, nearly in Octavia's face. Music started to play right after, loud enough to shake the door in front of her.

“Oh come on!" Octavia didn't think she could be heard, which was probably the point of the blaring music. She stood there for a moment, and decided it would be best if she went home. She was angry, Vinyl was angry, and nothing good could come out of any more conversation right now.

"Hey... I didn't go. I told that brat to go fuck himself... he said I was gonna hear from his lawyer, but I'm pretty sure that's bullshit."

Whoever created voicemail, they needed to be given more credit. It was a genius idea, and Octavia had never been more grateful it existed.

"I'm sorry, I'm really... really hard to deal with. I'm a mess, and an ass, and you don't deserve to be treated like you aren't the best thing that's happened to me. You wouldn't know it by the way I've acted, right? You're... an eye opener, and a great reason for me to try and be, you know... not hard to deal with. You said we need to talk, and we do, so call me back?"

Octavia hadn't gone home, she was at a bar, oddly enough. Not because she was drinking, but because bars were some of the only places open this late. There was even live music here, which was actually really cringe worthy, but it was something to watch at least. Even over the sound of the depressingly bad vocals, Octavia had heard her phone ring, but she hadn't picked up. She wasn't sure if she wanted to talk with Vinyl, but the voicemail she left helped her make up her mind.

Octavia wanted to talk, though she decided it shouldn't be over the phone. The bar she had camped out at actually wasn't far from Vinyl's apartment, so having a serious, face-to-face talk seemed like the best option.

And a few blocks away, Vinyl shared that idea. She wanted to invite her over in the voicemail she had just left, but instead asked her to call. She wasn't sure how Octavia felt, it had been hours since Vinyl locked herself in a room that was shaking with the force of the bass filled song she had turned on. Octavia had every right to not speak to her again, but she really hoped she would speak to her anyway.

Still holding her phone, she sat down on her couch, but at the sudden knock on the door she stood right back up again. Vinyl had never answered a door that fast in her life, she was sure... but once it was open, she wished she hadn't answered it at all.

"You... aren't who I thought you were."

Sarabandes was standing there, and in a panic, Vinyl tried to slam the door on her. Sara stuck her foot in the door though, then pushed it back open.

"Not quite the greeting I had hoped for..."

Vinyl stammered out the first question she could think to ask. "How the hell did you find my apartment?"

"Vertigo said-"

"Nevermind!" Vinyl was flustered, and Sara seemed to find that funny. She tried to make her take this seriously. "You can't be here... please leave. Like, now."

That smile, that look she had, it was all unpleasantly familiar. Despite that, Vinyl hoped that she would cooperate with her and actually leave.

"I was expecting you to call, but you did not... even after I sent you a friendly reminder."

"A friendly... those pictures?" Sara nodded, and Vinyl snapped, "Yeah, I didn't call because that really fucked me over."

"Let me guess... you are in a relationship, and me being here would cause trouble for you?"

"Yes, exactly."

Rather than being understanding or respectfully leaving, Sara pushed her way passed Vinyl and entered the apartment.

"You see, I love trouble."

She was wearing what was probably an extremely expensive leather jacket, though she had just shrugged it off and dropped it on the floor.

"No, jacket goes back on... you really need to leave!" Vinyl had darted after her, and tried to pick up the jacket, but Sara kicked it out of her reach. "Why are you even here? If you want to have sex, the guy next door blasts your music all the time, I'm pretty sure he'd be way more into this."

"I have never made love to a woman, and I find you attractive. I thought you would be a good place to start. Besides... I am still here." Vinyl looked puzzled by that statement, so Sara calmly clarified. "You are very 'in to this.' If not, you would have thrown me out."

Vinyl look taken aback by that, and was about to retort, but Sara shushed her, and she stopped.

She stopped. She didn't have to listen to this woman, it was her home, but she stopped.

"Please, relax." Sara walked around her, back to the front door, but all she did was close and lock it. "I get what I want, Vinyl Scratch. I am never denied, and you have no reason to deny me... does she have a key?"

"No..."

"Then what is the problem? You are not home..."

Vinyl was, in fact, a woman who wouldn't know self control if it hit her in the face. She offered no more objections, but still looked uncomfortable as Sara walked back over to her.

She shoved Vinyl up against the nearest wall, which was right across from the front door, and Vinyl turned away to nervously glance at it. Sara turned her head back, and kissed her roughly, adamantly.

Somewhere along the way Vinyl had stopped fighting it. Sara knew how to ease a guilty conscious, and Vinyl knew how to give in. The knock at the door instantly brought it all back, but Sara put a hand over her mouth. That was a good call, since she nearly gasped.

The two of them were naked from the waist up, and still against the wall, so Vinyl had a clear view of the door. Sara quietly laughed again at how flustered Vinyl had become. She still had her hand over her mouth, but her other was still free. Vinyl didn't know she could use magic, but quickly found out as Sara had stretched out her hand. The door glowed a bright pink, the lock turned, and it flew open.

Sara simply waved to Octavia. Vinyl couldn't have expected that any less, she looked from Octavia to Sara in shock. And when she looked back to the door, Octavia wasn't there anymore.

"Oh, she's pretty."

Vinyl looked back to Sara, who simply shrugged.

"Why the hell did you do that?!"

Sara stepped back, her smirk returning to her as she did. "I believe I told you... I love trouble."

Using her magic again she closed the door, but Vinyl dove for it anyway, picking up a shirt from the floor as she left the apartment.

Really, the rest is history.

Author's Note

This took 5ever to update, but only one more chapter to go, huzzah