Heartlines

Fandom: Emmerdale

Pairing: Charity & Vanessa

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: Not mine, just playing games with them.

Summary: Vanessa has had a hell of a day at work so texts Charity to cancel their plans, so she can go to bed early. Charity has other ideas.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Chapter 3

It had taken a little while and two of his favourite stories for Johnny to finally go to sleep. So, by the time Vanessa came back downstairs the dishes were done and the kitchen looked cleaner than it had when she'd left for work in the morning. The TV was on, two fresh glasses of wine and two plates of cake were waiting on the coffee table, and all she could see of Charity was her sock covered feet propped up on the arm of the sofa.

The other woman had made herself comfortable and her focus was rapt on whatever documentary she was watching. It had been a revelation one night in bed, curled up in post coital bliss and chatting, that Charity rarely got to watch any TV other than kids programmes with Moses…but when she did it tended to be documentaries. All sorts of diverse types of documentaries; historical, criminal, geographical, political. It was no wonder she was so good at crosswords.

Vanessa crept over to the back of the sofa and climbed over, catching the other woman totally by surprise when she straddled her hips. Charity let out a high pitch giggle as Vanessa dipped down towards her and softly kissed her on her lips. The giggle turned into a breathless moan at they slowly brushed their lips over each other's, enjoying the affectionate contact without escalating it into anything more passionate.

When Vanessa broke the kiss, she propped herself up using her forearms against the sofa's armrest, on either side of Charity's head.

"Hi" Charity said softly, reaching up to brush a stray strand of hair back behind Vanessa's ear.

The hand came to rest on Vanessa's cheek and Charity affectionately stroked across her cheekbone with the pad of her thumb. The taller woman's other hand rested lightly on her hip.

"Hi" Vanessa repeated.

They held eye contact and the gentle affection that sparkled in Charity's green eyes made Vanessa feel breathless. Since the girlfriend conversation, every interaction between them, no matter how small, had felt more open and unguarded.

"There is cheesecake" Charity hummed.

Vanessa tilted her head to the side to look at the cake, still close enough to her girlfriend to feel Charity's breath against her cheek. It was Marlon's baked vanilla cheesecake, something Vanessa occasionally treated herself to at the Woolpack. Apparently, Charity had spotted it was a favourite of hers whilst busily pretending not to be attentive.

"Looks good" Vanessa chuckled.

She sat up, still straddling Charity, and reached for one portion of the cake and a spoon. Charity rested both hands on Vanessa's hips and drew small circles against her hip bones with the tips of her thumbs through the thin material of her stripped pyjama bottoms.

Vanessa dipped the spoon into the tip of the cake and reached down, offering it to her girlfriend. The two women kept eye contact as Charity diligently opened her mouth and took the piece of cheesecake. The taller woman slowly chewed the cheesecake whilst Vanessa spooned up a piece for herself and popped it into her own mouth. The next piece she gave to her girlfriend. The other woman had a happy smile plastered on her face as she gazed up at Vanessa. It was a broad smile with a slightly glazed expression, but her eyes held so much warmth and affection that it made Vanessa swoon.

Vanessa had noticed that Charity had started to direct this particular smile at her a lot more since admitting she cared about Vanessa that night she'd chased after her down the street from the pub to Vanessa's house. It had crept in from time to time before, usually when they were curled up together in bed after spending some 'adult alone' time together. They would chat about work, the kids, things they liked…anything really; always keeping some sort of affectionate physical contact. They had been fleeting looks, before Charity had schooled her features back to something a little more 'safe'. Recently, the looks had been more and more frequent, they occurred during normal conversations (even in public) and lingered longer.

"What?" Charity asked.

Vanessa realised that she had been sat, unmoving and gazing down at her girlfriend for quite a while. The taller blonde had finished chewing on her mouthful of cake and was watching her with interest.

"You look happy" Vanessa explained. She was careful to make it a simple statement rather than risking making the other woman feel self-conscious or defensive.

"It's good cheesecake" Charity quipped.

It was typical Charity Dingle behaviour; to use humour to deflect away any conversation about emotions. Vanessa usually let her get away with it as she knew full well what she'd signed up with the Woolpack's feisty landlady. Sometimes if she didn't push and kept quiet Charity would relent of her own accord and engage in the conversation. Luckily this was one of those occasions.

"I am happy" Charity smiled, "I'm being spoon fed desert by a beautiful woman…why wouldn't I be happy?!"

Vanessa felt heat rise in her cheeks and she was sure she was blushing. It wasn't that Charity never complimented her…in fact she said some very complimentary things in the heat of the moment…and made some very complimentary sounds. Common ones had been that she was 'hot' or 'sexy', that she was 'amazing' or 'really good' and that Charity really wanted her. She couldn't recall Charity ever describing her as beautiful before. Considering how the word had made her heart hammer in her chest she was sure she'd have remembered.

"Ohhh smooth!" Vanessa giggled.

Charity looked thoroughly smug and threw in what Vanessa considered the other woman's trademark wink. Charity managed to adapt it to many different conversations…humour, teasing, flirting…to name just a couple of examples. Vanessa usually found it quite endearing and sexy and this evening was no exception.

The vet reached out and placed the half-eaten piece of cake back on the coffee table, before shuffling down so she was lying on top of her girlfriend, propped up her upper body using her forearms again. It left them nose to nose, Charity's warm breath playing across Vanessa's lips as the taller woman's eyes darted from her eyes to her mouth and then back up again.

Vanessa nuzzled the tip of the other woman's nose with her own, keeping eye contact. Charity smiled affectionately at her and reached up, cupping the vet's cheeks in the palms of her hands. Vanessa closed her eyes as the taller blonde brushed her thumbs tenderly over the vet's cheek bones. It felt wonderful and loving. When she had woken up on a chair in the Woolpack cellar, curled around Charity Dingle after some very (good) drunken kissing…well she hadn't pictured it leading to this. She'd thought it was a bit of a disaster (albeit an enjoyable one) and gone to the Woolpack to tell Charity as much, only to end up in bed with the irresistible woman.

There had been something that night; something in the way that Charity had been careful to make sure she had Vanessa's consent, something in the way that the taller blonde had kissed her and touched her, something in the way that Charity had held her afterwards, even something in the way that Charity had made her tea the next morning; that had suggested a greater depth in Charity that she usually allowed others to see. It had scared Vanessa. The night had felt amazing…better than anything she had felt before and she'd felt something for Charity. It had made her bolt; not just literally when she awoke but she had tried to run to the nearest willing male and block it all out. It wasn't just 'gay panic' it was 'Charity panic'. It was ironic that just a few months later the only direction Vanessa wanted to run to was wherever Charity Dingle was.

"Ness?" the other woman said softly.

Vanessa opened her eyes and gazed down at her girlfriend again. She'd zoned out, lost in thought and lulled by the physical contact. Charity's eyes seemed to sparkle and Vanessa's heart raced in response. God, she had it so bad for this woman, it made her chest ache.

"Just kiss me" Vanessa replied.

The taller woman was quick to oblige, pushing upwards to meet her, whilst gently tugging the vet down towards her. Their lips met softly, brushing against each other's again and again. Vanessa deepened the kiss, slowly tracing the edge of Charity's tongue with the flat of her own. It drew a needy, high pitch moan from her girlfriend.

They broke apart briefly, only far enough apart so that their lips were no longer touching but within a hair's breadth. The vet was so exhausted, too exhausted for anything too athletic. She wanted to be close to Charity though….as close as she could get.

"I just want you to keep kissing me" Vanessa pleaded.

Charity pulled her down again, tangling one hand in her hair and wrapping the other around Vanessa's shoulders. The vet melted into her arms and let the stresses of the day wash away.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They had languidly kissed for over an hour before Vanessa had curled up against her side, tangled their legs together and tucked her head into the crook of Charity's neck. She had one arm wrapped around the smaller woman's waist and Vanessa held her other hand with the arm flung across Charity's midriff. The vet's breathing was slow and even, but she could tell that the smaller woman was not asleep, just relaxed. Charity felt relaxed too, despite the fact they were both squished on the sofa.

Her lips ached and were a little swollen after all the kissing, but it was a pleasant ache. Charity had never done that before…just kissed for the sake of kissing without any other desired outcome. The closest she had come previously was in the night in the cellar with Vanessa but the only reason she hadn't expected an 'outcome' was because Vanessa was drunk, and Charity didn't want to push her any further than kissing. That night had left her so turned on that it had been hard to get to sleep. Tonight she felt thoroughly satisfied…just in a deeper more spiritual way. She felt happy, like she'd never felt before. Charity was content not to question those feelings too much for now and just enjoy them.

Ness shifted slightly and yawned into the crook of Charity's neck. It was only just gone nine, but the smaller woman was clearly exhausted. It was no surprise considering the day she'd had. Charity had noticed that Vanessa seemed to do the bulk of the call outs and it sometimes felt that Rhona and Paddy took advantage of her good nature. That time they had left her dealing with the horrible stud woman before Christmas was a prime example. It had brought out Charity's defensive side then and she felt defensive of her now. Vanessa yawned again so Charity decided it was time to cosy up elsewhere.

"Babe we should go to bed" she said softly.

Ness burrowed into her a bit more and mumbled in protest. Apparently, the smaller woman was perfectly comfortable where they were. Charity was three inches taller though and a little too long to spend a night on the sofa, not unless she wanted to wake up in the morning with a bad back.

"You can still wrap yourself around me upstairs" she promised the other woman, "I will just be able to stretch my legs out."

Vanessa shifted again and stretched her limbs out. Charity untangled their legs and swung hers own over the sofa so she could sit up, the other woman following her lead so they were sat next to each other. Vanessa reached out for her glass of untouched wine and drank half of it in one go before putting the glass down. They had barely touched desert having got too lost in one another. Charity didn't mind though...in a choice between the vet's kisses and cheesecake there was only one winner.

"Thank you for tonight…with Johnny and the food" Vanessa said, angling her body in Charity's direction.

She glanced towards the smaller woman, making eye contact with her briefly before looking down. She wasn't used to having someone appreciate her actions, wasn't used to wanting to do something simple and kind for someone that they would appreciate.

"It meant a lot" Vanessa added.

Charity dared to look at Vanessa again and found that the smaller blonde was smiling at her adoringly. The vet stretched out a hand towards her and Charity took it. She wanted to tell Vanessa that she meant a lot. That there was no need to thank her for something that had given her pleasure. That she'd missed her and wanted to spend more nights like this…maybe every night. The words didn't seem to want to come though so she settled for safer ground.

"Come on you sap" Charity chuckled, "it's an early night for me and you."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx