A/N: Sorry guys, posted the wrong chap. Now it's fixed :)

Chapter 14 - Invitation

After Kenzi had finally finished telling her stories, the three of them went to set up their camp outside the house. Tamsin cleared the dry grass out of the front yard so they could have a place to set up the fire safely. While she was doing that, Bo and Kenzi gathered firewood from nearby.

They started the fire first, and warmed themselves up a little before they went to set up a simple alarm system - ropes tied on the trees to enclose their little camp are in the middle. They hung some empty cans on the ropes; each can contained a few pieces of pebbles and they'd rattle along if anyone run into the ropes.

They shared some food beside the roaring flames afterwards, and Kenzi started yawning. She eventually told them good night and got into her sleeping bag.

She fell asleep in seconds, letting out quiet, frequent snores. Bo chuckled at her best friend and leaned in to give Kenzi a kiss on her hair. Then, she turned to look at Tamsin who was sitting beside her.

Tamsin uncomfortable licked her lips while dodging Bo's stare unconsciously. She wasn't sure what she should be looking at right now. Those soft lips? Those warm, smiling eyes? Or Bo's beautiful face in general? The orange glow from the fire rendered Bo so softly. She looked magical, too breathtaking to be true.

"So..." Bo started, sitting down beside Tamsin while looking at her.

"So…?" Tamsin repeated that simple word and raised her eyebrows. A simple glimpse of the brunette enchanted her. The flames in those brown eyes. Those bright, bright sparkles, they drew her in, in, in.

The air she had sucked in suddenly became heated, too hot for her lungs and her throat. Looking at Bo, looking at that subtle smile in the corner of her lips, looking at the shadow of her long eyelashes, Tamsin tried to understand how her longings for Bo could cause actual, physical pain inside her chest.

Breathe. She told herself when she gently feathered Bo's cheek with the back of her index finger. Just breathe.

Slowly sliding her fingers into Bo's silky hair, she drew her near and pressed her lips on Bo's.

She did not linger. She wasn't brave enough. She wasn't trying to claim anything as hers, or take anything away from Bo. She just wanted to make sure that the brunette was alive and real.

She pulled back, letting out a nervous sigh while gazing into Bo's eyes.

The rapture of having Bo back was too intense. It made her quiver a little. She had thought she had lost her forever, the only person that she'd hold dear to her heart, but they reunited. Bo was here now. She was right here, right in front of her, smiling.

Tamsin couldn't help but kiss Bo again. Her heart thumped painfully when those sweet, sweet lips opened and invited her in.

She moaned into the kiss as she teased Bo's tongue and gave her a soft nibble. Bo teasingly bit her bottom lip as revenge and smiled against her lips.

Tamsin pulled back a little, and inhaled some air. Then, she cupped Bo's face, as if she was holding the most precious treasure of the entire world. She pressed a trail of kisses along Bo's jawline, on her nose, on her forehead, along her eyebrows, on her eyelids, and on her temples.

She took Bo into her arms afterwards, hugging her tightly while burying her face into the brunette's shoulder.

"I missed you," she whispered softly, inhaling Bo. A part of her still couldn't believe that the woman who had haunted her dreams since the earthquake now was really with her. "God I missed you, Bo…."

She knew how weak she sounded right now. She knew her voice was nothing but a low whimper, but she couldn't care less. She needed to get it out from her chest. She needed to embrace this weakness she had, because Bo was such a sweet weakness, a weakness she couldn't resist to have in her life.

"I know," Bo replied softly. "I missed you too, Tamsin, but if you hold me any tighter, I won't be breathing for much longer…."

Tamsin loosened her arms a little, and grunted something vague. Bo chuckled and cupped her face.

Their lips touched again, and again, until a sudden, loud snore coming from Kenzi startled them.

Both turned to look at Kenzi, and when they realized that Kenzi was still fast asleep, they turned to look at each other. Soft giggles bubbled out through their lips.

"Come here you," Tamsin invited as she scooted back to press her back against a tree. She let Bo sit between her legs and held her from behind.

Resting her chin on Bo's shoulder, she closed her eyes. The soft crackles from the fire, the chilly night wind and the river murmuring afar soothed her. Having Bo in her arms made her feel safe. She rubbed her cheek against Bo's, before she pressed a soft kiss on the side of Bo's jawline. A quiet, soft sigh was all she had to say right now.

Bo traced her thumb along Tamsin's fingers. She circled her fingertip on the back of her hand and on the side of her wrist. She placed her hand on Tamsin's afterwards, pressing their palms together and locking their fingers.

Nesting in Tamsin's embrace, she lazily looked at everything around her. There were the blazing flames, then there was this endless darkness. Everything else in her sight was either dead, crumbled or destroyed, except the sleeping Kenzi.

She found it funny that she'd feel such peace inside her right now. She had no roof above her head. She had no solid idea about the future. There could be a million zombies heading this way. There could be another deadly earthquake or something else that could instantly kill them. They could all die tomorrow, but at least she had Tamsin and Kenzi with her right now. The two people she cared the most were with her right now, safe and sound. Nothing, and no one, could ever take this moment away from her.

She turned back and searched for Tamsin's lips again. They kissed each other softly, pecking, nibbling, teasing. Then, they smiled into each other's lips and snuggled closer.

Nuzzling Bo's cheek, Tamsin murmured, "you haven't talked much about what happened to you."

"No, I haven't," Bo admitted in a hesitant stutter. "Umm, do you...do you want to hear my story right now?"

"Sure, of course," Tamsin shrugged.

"Okay," Bo said, "but umm...there's something that…."

"Okay?" Tamsin guided her to sit down on her lap face to face with each other. She used the tip of her thumb to rub some dirt off Bo's creamy skin while looking into those warm eyes.

"I..." Bo hesitantly started. "I guess it's probably better for me to start from when I woke up in the government settlement hospital."

"Or, you can start from the earthquake," Tamsin agreed as she put her arms around Bo's waist and pulled her closer. She paused briefly, before she said in a low voice, "I saw everything collapse while you were down in the canyon. I thought-I mean, how did you even get out?"

"I have no idea," Bo said. "I have no recollection of what happened after the earthquake. I was in the cave when it happened, and everything started to fall on me. I think I ran out? Or maybe I didn't...I mean, I don't remember, but I guess I might have fallen into the river or something cuz I remember being in water...anyway, the hunting team from a government settlement nearby found me by a creek. The doctor who treated me there, told me that-hey, I think you know her too. Dr. Lauren Lewis, that's her name. She said that you and Kenzi were-"

"I know her," Tamsin nodded. "She treated me too, and Kenzi. What did she tell you?"

"She said that I might have been carried out from under the canyon by one of the underground rivers or something. And...she also said that when they found me, they thought that I was dead at first."

"Oh, passed out?"

"No," Bo shook her head. "When they found me, I was barely breathing, and I had a very, very weak pulse."

Tamsin frowned, then she noticed that Bo was looking at Kenzi. "You mean...like when we found her?"

"Yep," Bo nodded again. "At least it sounded that way to me. They thought I was dead."

Tamsin shrugged. "Probably you are just...it could be a type of dor-"

"-dormancy," Bo spoke the word out at the same time Tamsin did. "Yeah, I know, that was Lauren's conclusion, some sort of dormancy."

"Well, who cares what that really was," Tamsin said, shrugging. She looked into Bo's eyes and took a deep breath. "You are alive, and you are right here."

She reached her hand out and placed it on Bo's chest. There, she felt her heartbeat, strong and steady. She leaned in and nuzzled that spot, before she pressed her lips on it. To her, that flutter under Bo's warm skin was the best thing in the world.

"You are alive, Bo, and you are right here," she repeated in a whisper as she buried her face in Bo's chest. "That's all that matters, to me."

Bo smiled while trying to contain the warm rush in her chest. She put her arms around Tamsin's head and gave the blonde a kiss on top of her head. "Yeah, I am alive," she murmured, feeling the blissful warmth squeezing her heart now. How lucky and grateful she was for not being dead.

"So...this is the big thing you wanted to tell me?" Tamsin pulled back a little and narrowed her eyes at Bo.

"No, not just this," Bo replied as she nervously bit her bottom lip. "There's something else that...well, when I heard that she had treated you and Kenzi and that you two left before I got admitted, I figured that I'd come down here looking for Kenzi, cuz I know that Kenzi would-"

"-come here," Tamsin said as she pinched Bo's nose playfully, and Bo nodded in a smile.

"I guess it's lucky that we met here," Tamsin said. "Had we missed you, I don't think either of us would have left you a message or anything here. We thought you were...dead."

With Bo in her arms right now, she could finally say that word out loud. She could finally convince herself that all those sleepless nights were just a bad dream.

"Well, I don't think that would be such a big deal, because even if I couldn't find you guys here, I'd at least find you in Brazenwood anyway."

"You-" Tamsin stuttered, a rush of heat dancing in her chest. "You'd come to Brazenwood looking for me?"

"It's not like I have more important things to do, is it?" Bo grinned.

Tamsin cleared her throat, and shook her head slightly in a smile. She held Bo tightly in her arms, like she was afraid Bo would be gone if she wasn't hugging her tight enough.

Bo twirled a lock of Tamsin's hair on her index finger and played with it for a while, before she hesitantly started again, "ummm...after I recovered, I left the settlement. Some of the hunters offered me a ride along the way. Then…."

Her took a long pause, and that made Tamsin frown.

"What?" Tamsin asked, concerned.

"I don't know how to-I noticed that, for the past few days when I was travelling on my own, sometimes I would just...not remember things.

"What do you mean?"

"Like, my mind would just blank out for a while and...I just don't remember anything that happened during then," Bo explained.

Tamsin raised her eyebrows and pondered for a while. "Maybe you are just too tired, or you just tuned things out, you know, like how you tune things out while going home everyday? The whole process is too boring, and we are too familiar with it, so we tune it out."

"I don't think it was like that. For me it was like...I don't even remember walking or doing anything. It was like...one minute I was walking on the road, and the next I was resting beside the river in the woods. The things happened in between just...got lost. I mean, before I found myself inside the house, the last thing I remembered was resting outside a gas station, but that was a couple of miles away from here.

"I think you are just too exhausted," Tamsin said as she kissed Bo's forehead. She rubbed her thumb on the darkened skin under Bo's eyes. "You've just recovered from...whatever that condition was. You were travelling on your own. You probably weren't getting enough sleep or food. It happens."

"You think so?" Bo asked, less worried now.

Tamsin nodded firmly. "Or..." she teased while tucking her fingers into Bo's hair. She fumbled with Bo's scalp playfully like she was searching for a bump, "...maybe you got hit by a rock during the earthquake, and that caused some permanent brain damage?"

Bo slapped her hand away in chuckles. "No, I've had all kinds of exams and check ups. Lauren said I was perfectly healthy, quote unquote, too perfect for an earthquake survivor."

Tamsin chuckled. "Well, as long as you don't wake up in the middle of the woods with fresh blood all over you and dead bodies lying around…."

Bo laughed quietly. Puffs of white fog came through her lips and danced in the air. "No, no dead bodies or fresh blood or anything," she said. Then, she frowned a little and added, "although, it was kinda weird that I haven't really encountered any zombies for the past few days."

"Really? Damn, you were so lucky," Tamsin growled. "You know how many fucking zombies Kenzi and I killed on our way here?"

Bo smiled as she caressed Tamsin's hand. She noticed a new scar on the side of the hand. "Maybe I was right ahead of them or something," she murmured while tracing her finger along the scar.

"Maybe you were."

"So...that was my story," Bo concluded, and Tamsin nodded along. Both of them went quiet for a short while, before Bo asked, "what's our plan now?"

Tamsin's heart skipped a beat at the word "our". "Well," she started. "Kenzi and I planned to head west to Brazenwood after visiting your old house, but we weren't expecting to see you here at all, so...I don't know. I'll probably just head back to Brazenwood tomorrow and-are you gonna go back to that settlement you were at? Or do you…."

The idea of inviting Bo to join her journey back to Brazenwood was enticing, and it almost slipped out from her mouth. However, it was also intimidating, because it sounded like she was asking Bo to move in with her or something.

Lowering her head, she rubbed her thumb against Bo's palm gently. "Anyway...what-what are you planning?"

"I'm not in a rush to return to the settlement," Bo murmured. "I...I guess I could ask Kenzi when she wakes up but...I don't think she has a place to go either."

She pondered, and stared at Tamsin's ticklish thumb absentmindedly. Then, she realized that she really didn't have a place on her mind that she'd want to be. Before today, the only purpose of her life was looking for Kenzi, and now she had finally found her. She suddenly had no idea of what she should do or where she should go next.

"I don't know..." she murmured. "What do you think?"

Tamsin shrugged. "I'm probably gonna be heading back to Brazenwood, but-I mean, if you want to check out how Brazenwood is like, I guess you could ummm…both of you could join me"

Amused, Bo raised her eyebrows at Tamsin. "Tamsin," she said as she looked into those light eyes. "I think the proper way of inviting me to join you would be: come to Brazenwood with me, Bo."

"I-I wasn't inviting you," Tamsin protested. "I was just giving you a suggestion. That's all. You don't have to go, and...and it's not like you can fit in anyway."

"I can't fit in anyway?" Bo folded her arms in front of her chest. "What I'm not good enough for Brazenwood?"

"It's just very different from the government settlements, okay?" Tamsin replied. "There is no handout in Brazenwood. You have to figure out how to get things on your own."

"I can hunt. I'm actually pretty good at it."

"No, I'm not just talking about just getting game meat. I'm talking about everything in general, like grains, dairy, clothing, or other stuff. I know everyone gets their monthly or quarterly ration in the settlements, but you are not gonna get that in Brazenwood."

"Oh," Bo nodded, a little surprised. "Then...?"

"Well, I guess you could probably get a job in the ranch like shoveling cow shit everyday. Then you could-"

Bo punched Tamsin's shoulder gently while letting out a few chuckles. "There's a ranch? Hey, I grew up on a farm. I actually do know a lot about raising farm animals and stuff," she said.

"So...are you really considering?" Tamsin asked.

"I don't know," Bo drawled. "You haven't invited me yet."

Tamsin sighed. "I..." she murmured, squeezing Bo's hand gently. "If-if you want to go check out Brazenwood, that's-" She stopped abruptly when she realized that it was exactly what she had said to Bo a minute ago.

She cleared her throat for a few times and stuck there. She had no idea why it was so hard for her to say "Bo, come to Brazenwood with me" out loud. It was such a simple sentence, but with so much anticipation and so much intimacy. She was too scared to even try.

Bo shook her head and sighed, before she gave Tamsin a loud kiss on her lips. Instead of grilling Tamsin further, she asked, "so, can I at least hear more details about this Brazenwood before I even consider?"

"Sure," Tamsin nodded, "but I thought you've heard of a bunch of things about it already."

"Not really," Bo murmured, frowning, "I mean, yeah I've heard of a lot things about it, but...people were saying that it was a place full of outlaws and criminals and-you know, the living hell, too dangerous for anyone to go, no one should ever consider going there, blah blah blah."

"It can get dangerous sometimes, but for most of the time, it's alright," Tamsin pulled her lips into a rather proud smile.

"Then tell me. What is it really like?" Bo asked honestly.

Tamsin pondered for a long time, before she gently patted Bo's butt to tell her to get off her lap.

Bo sat down beside her, and Tamsin picked up a long, thin stick.

"The entire community is pretty much inside this community college," she explained to Bo as she doodled a simple map of Brazenwood on the ground.

She drew some rectangles as the buildings clusters, an irregular shaped contour as the lake in the back, and a few lines as the hills and forests behind the community.

"So the dorms are the dorms," she said as she pointed at a row of buildings. "Some people live inside, others prefer camping near the lake."

"There's the library, in case you ever get bored. Lots of books are still intact," she continued, moving to another group of rectangles, "then you got the student center, the only solar powered building. There's electricity there if you...want it. Some are thinking to expand the solar system to the dorms too, but I don't know if they'll ever find enough panels to install it. The diner on the first floor has been turned into a bar...you can drink, order food and stuff and-"

"Wait, there's a bar there?" Bo exclaimed, and immediately covered her mouth so she wouldn't wake up Kenzi. "Like...a real bar, with alcohol?"

"Well, it wouldn't be called a bar if there was no alcohol, would it?" Tamsin shrugged.

"The settlements don't allow the use of alcohol, tobacco and other substances," Bo said. "Where do you even get the booze?"

"You can make booze from scratch, okay?" Tamsin said. "There's a brewery near Brazenwood. They make pretty good stuff."

"I ummm...I only had beer a couple of times before...you know, before this apocalypse," Bo admitted. "They told us that food is limited and making liquor would waste too much of it, so it's not allowed in the government settlements. And they also say that alcohol causes violence, so...I know people smuggling it in sometimes, but if they catch you, you are going to jail."

"Well, Brazenwood isn't a government property. You can have whatever you want as long as you don't cause any trouble," Tamsin told her.

Bo nodded while looking at the map. "What is that?" She pointed at a large square in the corner.

"That's the farm. Crops are grown there. Corn, potatoes, soy, wheat, squash, you name it," Tamsin introduced, "and the ranch. There are cows, goats too, and pigs…."

"No poultry?"

"Not a lot. Most people would keep a chicken coop or something like that in their own backyard."

"Backyard? I thought you said you live in the dorm buildings. And...do you own a chicken coop?" Bo asked, her eyebrows raised.

"Backyard as in the land behind the dorm. You can go grab a piece as yours and grow whatever you like. Some people grow flowers. Others grow veggies, or herbs or even weed."

After pausing for a bit, Tamsin rolled her eyes and admitted what seemed to be a little embarrassing. "Yes, I do own a chicken coop, because there's nothing wrong to include some fresh eggs in my diet."

Bo chuckled again. "What do you do to contribute to the community then?"

"Night shift zombie watch out, that's mandatory," Tamsin said. "People take turns on that. There are some volunteer work that opens from time to time, like building something new for the community and stuff. You get some reward for doing those...that's about it. Oh, all the public facility maintenance aren't free. You either join the team, or you pay your tax."

"How do you pay tax? I thought money stopped circulating a long time ago."

"There are things that can be used as money. You can get it by working on the farms or other places, then you can pay for things you need. You can trade things with others too."

"That's...not allowed in the settlement either," Bo said. "We can't own possessions, other than the ration we get. Everything is owned by the government. We aren't supposed to trade things either, although people sometimes do that. But, you don't really get a lot of supply anyway, so…."

Tamsin snorted. "You can trade stuff in Brazenwood. I scavenger hunt things and trade for things that I don't make or produce."

"What if you don't have things to trade? Like no one likes what you offer?"

"Then, either you come up with something that the others want, or you end up leaving," Tamsin said. "Some people don't like it there. They think life in Brazenwood is too harsh."

Bo nodded and pondered for a while, before she asked, "what about the crime and stuff? Do you even have law enforcement units?"

"We do have a group of bikers taking care of violent crimes and stuff. There are a list of rules you need to follow if you want to stay, like no stealing, no littering in the public area, not violence against the others, stuff like that," Tamsin explained. "So far, I haven't heard of anything awful yet, but I always lock my doors and windows, and keep my gun close."

"Will Kenzi and I be accepted?"

"There won't be anyone who decides whether you are qualified or not," Tamsin said. "It's not a closed community. People comes and goes all the time. If you like it, and you can get along with the others, no one's gonna say shit about you staying."

Bo nodded and went quiet again.

"So are you going to Brazenwood or not?" Tamsin asked.

"I don't know, Tamsin. Are you inviting me?" Bo teased, and earned a cold stare from the blonde. She glanced at Kenzi, before she asked, "can we even find an empty room to sleep there?"

"Oh there are plenty of empty rooms," Tamsin said. "Just grab one and it's yours. I live in a 3 bed dorm, and the other two rooms are empty."

"Is that your way of inviting me and Kenzi to move in with you?"

Tamsin choked. "I'm just giving an example of how many empty rooms there are!"

"Tamsin," Bo said softly while cupping Tamsin's face.

"Okay, okay, fine," Tamsin finally gave up. "Do you and Kenzi want to stay in those two empty rooms and share the living room with me?"

"Can't answer that question for Kenz, but yes, I do," Bo said in a wide grin.

She rested her head on Tamsin's shoulder, and the blonde put her arm around hers. They watched the night sky in silence for a long time.

Bo stared at the three bright stars that formed the belt of the Orion. They looked down at her coldly, like what they had been doing for millions of years. She couldn't recall how many times she had seen them before. They still looked exactly the same, but the earth had been completely changed. Everything down here had been turned upside down.

"Is this really gonna be how the world is like for the rest of our lives?" She asked in a whisper, hoping that some supreme being would answer her question.

"You'll be fine," Tamsin said, holding Bo's hand in hers. "We'll be fine." After pausing briefly, she added, "when we get to Brazenwood, we'll go see the doctor there and make sure everything's okay with you, okay?"

Bo nodded and ran her thumb along the other woman's finger. "I'm glad that I found you, Tamsin," she whispered sincerely.

Tamsin barely managed a nod and a squeeze on Bo's hand. She wanted to say something but her throat seemed to be too tight right now. She wondered if by finding her Bo meant finding her at the old house, or finding her in general, but either way, it warmed her.

The heat that made her heart clenched had travelled all over her body, giving her a sudden, dizzy rush.

She pulled Bo close and hugged her again, with a light kiss pressing on the brunette's temple. Inhaling hard, she closed her eyes and buried her face into Bo's shoulder.

There must be a million butterflies inside her right now. They danced frantically as if they were bathing in the sun in the spring where everything was vibrant and full of life.

A/N: My condolences to Clexa shippers and Lexa fans.