When Sondra pulled into the apartment complex, she was wondering if she was at the right place. It didn't look like somewhere that the blonde would live. She checked the directions again and… yes, it was the same. Eyeing it hesitantly, she got out of the car and looked for the right number.

She paused outside the door when she reached it, checking the address again, and for a moment she debated on turning around and going back to her car, and never coming back. If Loraine had changed into someone else that she didn't like, she would rather remember the one she had once known.

After a moment she set her doubts aside, though, and lifted her hand to knock. She heard a latch, and then the door unlocked and the door opened.

Loraine had changed, but not too much. She was still the same height, she still had the same hair, and her eyes were still that lovely sky blue that Sondra always had loved. Her hair was shorter –a little past her shoulders, now-, but the same color. She was in a pair of jeans and tank top, and she seemed to have matured more. She still had the same knockout figure, but her face was more mature, her eyes a little narrower.

She raised an eyebrow at Sondra. "May I help you?" she asked.

The redhead smiled, finding it hilarious that the woman didn't remember her. "Hey, Loraine," she greeted with a shy little wave.

For a second, the blonde watched her, and her brow furrowed. "I don't…"

She didn't finish her sentence as her eyes met the grey ones. For a moment she just stared, and then her eyes widened and her grip on the door handle relaxed. "Sondra?" she asked softly, not believing her eyes.

The younger girl smiled. "Long time no see," she murmured back.

For a long, long moment, the blonde just stared at her, at a loss for how to react. Her eyes never left the redhead's, and she finally breathed, "Oh my God, that is you." She received a little nod in return.

She was still for another moment, and then she threw her arms around the redhead's neck, buried her face in the crook of her neck, and hugged her as tightly as she possibly could.

Over the three years, Sondra had also become more used to hugs, and she had expected a response something like this. She wrapped her arms around the blonde –now shorter than her-, and hugged her right back.

When Loraine finally pulled away, she backed up and crossed her arms, a hurt expression in her eyes. "Why didn't you call me?" she asked.

Sondra blinked. "My mom threw your number out the window, and we didn't bring any phone books with us, and they wouldn't let me buy one…" She gave the woman an apologetic smile.

Blue eyes watched her cautiously. "So it wasn't that you just… forgot me?" she asked haltingly.

Sondra's lips curved into a smile, and she pulled Loraine back into a hug. "I didn't forget you," she murmured. "I told you I wouldn't, didn't I?"

Had she been able to see Loraine's eyes, they were closed. "I've missed you," she whispered. "I didn't know anything about how you were… I thought you might have been d…" She still couldn't say the word.

Sondra pulled back just enough to look her in the eye. "You thought I was dead?" she asked, surprised, and then she eyed the woman. "How often have you been worrying about me?"

Loraine gave her a weak smile. "Every day," she murmured, sighing. After a second, she backed away again and held the door open. "C'mon in."

Sondra had been wrong. The apartment looked shabby on the outside, but on the inside, it was definitely very… Loraine. She blinked when she saw two cats curled up in the living room, and laughed. "Oh, that's funny. You got two cats, and I got two dogs." She smiled. "How've you been?"

The blonde raised an eyebrow at her as they headed toward what Sondra assumed was the kitchen. "Do you want the truth?" she asked.

The redhead was instantly worried. "That bad?"

The older one had turned away from her to make coffee, and she shrugged. "Yeah," she mumbled. Glancing over her shoulder, though, she smiled. "I'm glad you're okay. What's up with you? You look good – you're not living with your parents any more… right?"

She shook her head. "No. I moved away a year after we ended up in Arizona."

The other nodded absently. "Where are you living?"

"West LA," Sondra replied automatically. And once she started talking about that, she couldn't quit. "Me and my dogs are in an apartment kind of like this one. I'm working at a music store, now. Um… oh yeah, I have a car."

That surprised the blonde. "Where'd you get that?" she asked, blinking. "I know your parents didn't buy it for you."

She shook her head. "My girlfriend gave it to me last year."

The older girl paused, and then resumed what she was doing without speaking. After a few minutes, Sondra asked, "Loraine?"

The blonde instantly turned her head and smiled. "I'm fine," she said, knowing that Sondra had been about to ask just that.

Sondra eyed her skeptically. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Loraine just shook her head. "So who is she?" she countered, turning around and crossing her arms, leaning against the counter and watching the younger one. She had asked who Sondra's girlfriend was – what she really wanted to know was if she treated the redhead well, if she was kind, if she actually loved her and respected her. Because if she didn't, Loraine was going to hunt her down and turn into the equivalent of a wolf protecting her pack.

The younger girl smiled. "Her name's Lynn, she's a couple years older than me, and she works at the music shop with me. She's been there for me since I left my parents, so…" she shrugged.

Before her mind could process her words, Loraine was asking, "She's not abusive or anything, right? Does she treat you well?"

For a moment, Sondra only stared at her, and then she smiled. "You're still this protective of me?" she asked, touched and amused at the same time.

The blonde shifted uncomfortably. "Well… yeah. I mean, when I knew you, you were beaten down to almost nothing. I don't want to see that again." Lifting her eyes to the redhead, she took a good look at her for the first time since she had arrived. "You've changed a lot," she finally said.

The other eyed her in mock-wariness. "Is that a compliment or an insult?"

Loraine rolled her eyes. "Seriously, though. She's not abusive or anything… right?"

She shook her head. "Nope. She feels about the same about my parents as you do. She wants to pummel them flat into the ground." She grinned. "I think I'm well protected, considering that my dog has also joined the Guard-Sondra club."

The woman hesitated for a moment, and then nodded. "I still want to meet her," she muttered under her breath. Sondra may have changed, but she was still, inside, the same person, and that person, no matter how wary, was also too trusting once someone got close to her. Loraine didn't want to see her hurt… emotionally, mentally, or physically.

After a moment, she held up a cup. "Coffee?"

"Sure. Cream and three scoops sugar."

Loraine's eyebrows rose. "I'm impressed. You don't shy away from offers now."

The girl laughed and shook her head. "Nah. I'm still conscious of how polite I am, but not to the point of refusing everything if someone offers." She shrugged. "So, what's going on with you? Any relationships, new friends, whatever?"

The blonde laughed as she sat down at the table, pushing Sondra's coffee over to her. "Nope, still single, for now. As for friends…" she shrugged. "I still have the same ones. Looks like my life is more boring than yours is."

"Not really. It's nice to be back here… I missed it, actually." She grinned, and glanced up at the older of them. "Your brother's gotten less shy."

The blonde blinked. "You went to visit my family?"

Sondra shrugged. "I found your mom's MySpace profile. So I came here in the hopes that she could direct me to where you are, since you don't have a MySpace."

Loraine blinked. "So when did you get here, exactly?"

"Last night. Your mother let me stay at your old house."

"Where?"

"Your room." Sondra shrugged. "Oh, by the way, your bed is awesome."

Loraine laughed. "Thanks, I guess," she said, sliding Sondra's cup of coffee over to her and sitting down across the table from the redhead. "I love my bed, too. But there's no way that I could still live there." She grinned. "I love my mom and my brother, really I do, but we'd kill each other now. Especially since my mom still thinks that I should be her little girl." There was a mischievous twinkle in her eye, and she smirked. "She doesn't like it when I drink, even if it's just a little."

Grey eyes blinked at her from over the rim of a coffee cup, which Sondra promptly lowered to the table, eyeing the older one warily. "You drink?" she asked, suspicion in her voice.

"Ha! Pinned ya!" Loraine exclaimed, crossing her arms and grinning triumphantly. "You're still worried about me, too." She narrowed her eyes playfully.

It was the younger girl's turn to be uncomfortable. "… You're still my friend, even if I haven't seen you for three years," she reasoned. "And…" There was a small hesitation as she watched Loraine. "… You don't drink heavily, right?"

She was almost afraid to hear the answer. Luckily, it was a relieving one.

The blonde giggled and shook her head. "Nope. Are you kidding me? I've got a bottle of whiskey in the cupboard and a five-pack of beers in the fridge, and both have lasted me well over three months." She smiled. "But I appreciate the concern."

Nodding and satisfied by this answer, she took a sip of her coffee. "So, any news about my ex best friend?"

She received a blue-eyed blink. "Why d'you want to know?" she asked. After how Tina had trashed her reputation, a person would think that Sondra would never want to hear her name again.

Instead, the younger one just shrugged. "I dunno. I'm curious."

The blonde blinked, and then shrugged. "Last I heard, she's on her second marriage."

Sondra nearly choked. "Second marriage?"

"Mhm. She got married as soon as she graduated, and had a little girl that she named Rhea." She smiled. "She's actually adorable." Again Loraine shrugged. "From what I hear, Tina's actually gotten nicer. And, actually, she's become timid and a little scared of the world." Staring down at her coffee, she sighed. "I think her new guy abuses her. Rhea, too." She bit her lip and released it, glancing up at Sondra.

The redhead looked like she was about to bolt for the door and go find her ex best friend. The blonde shook her head. "It's not worth it. Believe me; I tried to get her to move in with me. She refused." She shrugged. "I feel bad for Rhea, though. A three-year-old shouldn't be abused like that."

The younger girl fell silent, but nodded, and Loraine could tell that she was thinking of her own childhood. And then it all faded away, as though it didn't bother her any more, and she smiled grimly at Loraine. "No. A three-year-old shouldn't have to go through that."

For a long moment, the other woman watched her carefully, questions rolling through her mind. Finally she asked, "So what happened?"

Grey eyes watched her from above the rim of Sondra's cup as she took a sip of coffee. "What do you mean?" she asked when she put it down.

"After you left for Arizona." The blonde sighed, and leaned back in the chair. "I'm basically asking for a summary of the past three years."

The redhead didn't answer, staring down at the coffee cup, and for a moment, Loraine was reminded of the sixteen-year-old girl she used to know, the shy and timid one that she had become the equivalent of a bodyguard for in high school.

"I already told you."

It saddened Loraine to see that her friend was still as wary of the world as she had been three years previous, but even more so to see that, beneath the 'recovered' Sondra, she had grown even more cautious than she had been before. And that was how she could tell that the younger one hadn't had it as easy as she made it seem.

"Sondra…" She sighed, reached across the table and took the redhead's hand in her own. "I can tell when you're avoiding telling me something. Three years hasn't changed that." There wasn't any response again, but Sondra was watching her. She leaned back. "You don't trust me anymore."

The younger girl drew her hand away. "It's not that. I still trust you. I always have. It's just…" she faded off, and her gaze flickered away before returning to Loraine. "It's painful to remember, much less talk about."

As much as she was itching to know what had happened, Loraine knew when to stop pushing, and it was time to stop pushing. "Okay." She eyed the girl. "Will you tell me? Ever?"

The other girl hesitated for a long moment, and then cautiously nodded. "Yeah." She chewed on her lip for a second, and released it. "Just know that it might take a while."

Loraine shrugged. "I don't mind," she assured the redhead. "I'm patient."

She received an almost-smile for that quip.

"Sondra, where are you?"

The redhead had to hold the phone a little ways away from her ear as her girlfriend demanded to know exactly where she was. "Relax, Lynn. I took a trip a little east of LA, to visit an old friend."

There was a pause, and then in a tone tinged with suspicion, the other asked, "Is this friend male or female?"

Sondra rolled her eyes. "Female, but no, there's no interest. Not like that." She blinked. "I told you about Loraine, didn't I?"

There was another pause. "I vaguely recall the name. Why? Tracked her down and went to visit?"

"Mhm."

There was silence on the other end. "Is she straight?"

Sondra blinked, and then rolled her eyes. "I don't know, I think so. Quit being paranoid."

"Not paranoid, protective," Lynn corrected.

"Whatever it is, quit. C'mon, I'm not a cheater." She smiled briefly, and leaned back in the armchair in Loraine's apartment, one of the blonde's cats snuggled up to her. "Lynn, she was basically my bodyguard in high school. That's got to earn her a few points, right?"

There was a heavy sigh on the other end. "Yeah, I guess. Just… when are you coming back?"

Sondra smiled. "Are you actually missing me?" she teased.

"No! Well, yeah, of course, but you're going to lose a lot of work, and… Never mind, forget it."

The redhead laughed. "I'm just teasing you, you know that. Anyway, I should be back around midday tomorrow. Soon enough for you?"

There was a pause. "Sure, but it should be sooner." Another pause. "Hey, bring your friend with you. I wanna meet her."

Sondra could hear the tone in her girlfriend's voice, and she didn't like it. "Why?" she asked cautiously.

"Because if she's not everything you say she is, I'm going to pummel her. Fair enough?"

Sondra literally busted up laughing, earning a strange look from Loraine, who had just sat down on the sofa.

"I think she shares that sentiment about you. I'll ask her about it." She smiled. "Love you."

The other woman grumbled, "Love you too," and hung up.

"Was that your girlfriend?" Loraine asked curiously, crossing her legs and resting her cheek on her arm.

"Mhm." Sondra pet the cat absentmindedly. "She wants to meet you."

The blonde perked up. "Really? Why?"

The younger woman grinned. "She wants to know if you're going to hurt me. She said, and I quote, 'if she's not everything you say she is, I'm going to pummel her'." She smirked. "Reminds me of a certain blonde that I know."

Loraine shrugged. "Hey, I'm game. Sounds like we'd get along." She grinned at Sondra, and then snapped her fingers and drew out her cell phone.

"Hey, Sharon… do you have Kathy there, too? And Simmer? Okay, good. Guess who's back? No, seriously, guess. No… no… okay, fine, I'll tell you. Sondra just showed up today. I know, I was surprised- you guys want to come over?" She glanced at Sondra, and the girl shrugged. "I guess it's okay. Yeah, sure, c'mon over. Tell Simmer not to kill her, though."

She clicked the cell phone shut. "They'll be here in a couple of minutes."

It was true. Fifteen minutes later, three girls piled into the apartment without even knocking. Of course, it wasn't really a problem – Loraine had invited them over. Simmer was the only one who was silent; Kathy and Sharon were chatting away.

Sharon was the first to notice Sondra sitting in Loraine's recliner in the living room. She literally squealed and bounded over to drag her to her feet and tackle her in a hug. "Oh my God, that is you! Hi Sondra!" she squealed happily.

Sondra blinked for just a second and then hesitantly hugged her back, eyeing her with a strange look. "Um, hi Sharon," she greeted.

When the other girl pulled out of the hug, she held Sondra at arm's length and scanned her. "Woah. You grew," she said, eyes just barely wide. The last time she had seen Sondra, the girl was two inches shorter than she was. Now she was… well, she looked like she had gotten tall, probably just an inch or two shy of Simmer's height. Sharon raised an eyebrow. "So, did you, like, take steroids or something?" she joked.

The redhead smiled. "Nah, just had a growth spurt."

The other girl stared for a second. "Did you dye your hair?" she asked, eyes wide. Sondra grinned.

"Yep. Had it the same way for almost a year now." She glanced over the other's shoulder to smile at Kathy, who looked minutely stunned at the drastic change. "Hey Kathy," she grinned.

"Yeah, hi. Man, you've changed." Kathy smiled. "Looks like you're not anywhere near as shy as you were."

Nobody else noticed it, but there was just a flicker of pain that went through Sondra's eyes at the mention of her old self. Then she shrugged. "Nope. Getting away from an abusive family tends to help." She glanced all the way back at the wall near the door where Simmer still stood, and met a pair of furious smoky-grey eyes. Any greeting she had died on her tongue. The woman did not look happy with her at all. She looked more like she wanted to choke the redhead with her bare hands. It was probably only Loraine's warning glares that kept her from doing just that.

"Hey Sondra, you know whose mutt tried to go through the glass to kill us? Looked kinda like a Shepherd."

The redhead snapped out of her thoughts. "Oh, her? That's Logan."

Simmer arched an eyebrow at her. "Better keep that thing on a tight leash," she said. There was a telltale gleam in her eye, a tilt of her chin, that assured Sondra that she was trying to pick a fight. She tensed.

"Simmer…" Loraine warned in a low voice as the other two girls went dead silent and melted back.

The oldest of them in the room turned her head toward her friend, but didn't take her eyes off of Sondra. "What?" she asked, playing oblivious before her eyes sharpened. "I did tell her that if she ever hurt you there would be trouble. Right, Sondra?"

The redhead bristled visibly. "Look, it's not my goddamn fault that I was born to a pair of parents who could have cared less about me, and it's not my fault that I had to move. You don't know what my life's been like, so don't you dare pin judgments on me."

Three pairs of eyes turned toward Sondra at how confidently she spoke, and even Simmer arched an eyebrow.

"Loraine's gone through hell and back worrying about your sorry ass," the older one said. "And you? You didn't bother to contact when you ran away from home?"

That flash of pain showed up in her eyes again, and then those eyes sharpened into a furious glare. "I was scared, I was on my own, and my priorities were to find shelter before I even thought of coming back here to visit!" she snapped. For a second she paused, and then scoffed. "If you thought that I wanted to leave, then you're a fucking idiot."

She tried to stalk past Simmer to get out the door, but the woman caught her by the arm. One lighter grey eye peered at her from its corner. "Let me go," she murmured in a low voice.

"You don't have any-"

Sondra cut her off by twisting out of the hold and, in the same move, pinning both of Simmer's arms behind her back, the other woman's back to her front. "I was trapped in a corner for the majority of my life, and I really didn't like it," she said. "I'm not the helpless little girl that I was three years ago. You want to fight? We'll fight. But it's going to be after you pass an accurate judgment. Not an impulsive brawl from some pent-up anger." She let go of the other woman, spun, and headed for the door. On the way back, she caught Loraine's expression – scared that she would disappear again. She smiled softly, no trace left of the anger that had been present before. "I'll be back," she assured the blonde. "I'm just going for a walk to cool off before I do something really stupid."

She gave the other a brief half-hug and walked out.

Loraine closed her eyes. "Simmer, damn it, why'd you have to do that?" she asked softly. When there was no response, she opened her eyes to find that the older one wasn't paying attention to what she said – she was staring after Sondra through the window.

Kathy sighed. "Well, that was… interesting," she muttered.

Sharon nodded. "Yeah. When did she learn to fight?" she wondered, slanting a glance at Simmer. "She sure put you in your place," she teased.