Chapter Twenty-Three

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"Souls do not have calendars or clocks, nor do they understand the notion of time or distance. They only know it feels right to be with one another."
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Natasha felt pathetic. Like truly, genuinely pathetic.
Natara had left three days ago, this time with Natasha's knowledge. Thankfully this wasn't a repeat of her disappearances to Thailand without any heads up.
Either way, Nat felt like she physically ached at being away from her.

Worse than that, tomorrow was Christmas Eve. Tara had promised to be back by then but a part of her worried. She'd become entirely attached to her girlfriend to the point where three days away felt like torture.

Pathetic.

Worse than that: ever since the night they'd slept together it was like a switch had gone off. They could barely go through a day without needing to be touching the other.

Natasha let out a groan. Her legs were over the side of the couch and she was playing a video game on the television. God, she was good at it.

She hoped that whatever Tara was doing, she was safe. The redhead hadn't told her where she was going or for what reasons. Telling her it was a surprise.

Inhaling the green sweater that had been a part of their relationship since the beginning, the one that was technically hers now, Nat turned the screen off. She grabbed a set of papers from the stack of cold cases they'd printed out. The pile lying on their table.

Natara and her had worked through a few of them together over the past months but it was mainly her solving them. Tara got bored.
It's safe to say the police department and several families loved them.
Honestly, the fact that it had taken that long for others to figure out the cases was quite sad.

Natasha had the urge for something to drink but of course there was no alcohol in the house. Tara had a history of addiction and they didn't need anything that could possibly be tempting, even though the redhead didn't have a high chance of being tempted to begin with.

Natara had told her several times that she could drink whenever she wanted but Nat didn't feel right doing that while choosing to spend their lives together. So no alcohol was to be found in their home.

She hadn't spoken to Melina since leaving Russia with Natara and she'd only gotten one call with Yelena a few weeks back. They were all in difficult situations and the government was a pain in the ass so their communication was limited.

Nat felt a pang as she let herself sit alone long enough to think. She missed the feeling of having a family. Having people to watch over and turn to. She had an idea then, her and Tara should visit the Bartons, maybe after New Years. She'd like to spend a Christmas and New Year with just Natara but was more than happy to go spend time with her third family afterwards.

The thought made her oddly emotional. She did have a family. She had three. More than that she had a home and yes, while it may not be the smartest move to make a person your home, Natasha couldn't bring herself to do anything but. The idea of losing Natara for what felt like the hundredth time caused a pain so deep in her chest and stomach it was hard to move or breathe.

Her phone rang then. A number only a handful of people knew.
"Hello?"

"Ya Amar, shit, stop it- Natasha-"

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