And You Will Come Around
Lynette knew it was a case of opposites attract with her and Bree. She was eternally frazzled, tettering on the edge of completely loosing it, flying off the handle, chasing after her hellion childern, yelling, begging, chastizing, screaming. Whenever she had the chance to stop for a minute and actually look, she would always see Bree the same, smooth, calm, controlled. Never a hair out of place, never for a moment a betraying emotion on her face.
Yet there was something that each woman saw in the other, something they recognized in the other as familiar. The longer Lynette knew Bree the more she learned about the very subtle changes and sighs of distress in her friend's expression and demeanor, saw that as controlled and inward as Bree was, a slight break of eye contact, the tightening of her mouth for a moment, all these things betrayed strain, stress, worry. This is what Lynette saw of herself in Bree, that she was as scattered as she was, but had simply developed an amazing way of masking it.
To this day, however, Lynette still had no idea what Bree saw in her. Maybe it was that Lynette didnt have the extra stress of trying to hide her turmoil from the outside world. Maybe that Lynette had less expectations placed on her because of how externally flawed she already was. Maybe all these things combined made Bree wish, even just a little bit, for her freedom. Lynette didn't know this for sure, though, and often thought she made up these ideas as a way to make herself feel better for the days that she showed up at playgroup with pablum caked in her hair and all the other mothers tried, unsuccessfully, to hide their laughter behind their hands.
It was the aforementioned subtle signs that Lynette knew so well that gave Bree away that afternoon, whether she knew it or not. The lack of steady eye contact, the distracted fiddling with Rex's shirt, the smooth and convient change of subject to Lynette's problem, all designed to deflect, to hide. Lynette knew something bigger was going on, something Bree would never even think of revealing, not even to her closest friend. She didnt take this as an insult, she knew Bree knew that she wasn't a gossip like the other women on Wisteria, and that anything Bree told her would stay between the two of them. The real root of her need to conceal what she was going through had nothing to do with Lynette, and everything to do with Bree. She was the one too scared to show anyone the strain.
So when Bree showed up at her door that night, with a flimsy excuse about wanting to return a ladel Lynette had left at her house ages ago, she knew something big was going on. It was still a subtle sign, but to Lynette's well honed eye, it was like she was waving a big white flag, begging for help. She knew that this was something that Bree had to be walked through, coherseced into gently.
She asked Bree to come in and have a cup of tea with her, saying Tom was gone for the night and she was lonely for some company. Bree agreed readily and installed herself at Lynette's kitchen table, hands clenched tightly, eyes darting, lips white with tension.
Lynette moved slowly, and quietly, not wanting to startle her, and wanting a sense of the safety of her enviroment to ease Bree some. But by the time the tea was brewed and Lynette was pouring, she noticed that Bree's hands were trembling ever so slightly. She put down the tea pot, pulled the kitchen chair up towards the end of the table where her neighbour sat, and gently laid one of her own hands on Bree's tightly clenched ones.
"Bree, honey, I know that something's upsetting you right now. In fact, I think it may be alot of things that are upsetting you right now." She smiled gently, trying to get her to make eye contact, but not succeeding. "You know I won't say anything, you know I'm not that type."
Bree was still staring down at the table, her hands now trembling more violent under Lynette's. She shook her head, her expression hidden by the swinging red hair.
"I wouldn't even know where to start." she said in a voice so harsh and full of emotion that Lynette scarcely recognized it.
"Maybe telling me one thing will make you feel better, sweetie. Tell me just one thing, and I won't press you for anything more."
There was one beat, two beats, of silence and then a quick inhaling sob from Bree that totally took Lynette off guard. She clutched the hands under her own tighter, and gently reached out to push back some of the obscuring red hair with the other hand. Tears trickled down pale cheeks that she brushed away with her thumb on pure instinct.
"Oh baby," she crooned, her own heart breaking to see her usually tacturn friend so distraut. The hand that had been drying Bree's tears now cupped her cheek, feeling it soft and hot from emotion under her palm. Bree's face turned up to look at her still held in this carress, and she finally locked watery green eyes with Lynette's.
As cliche as it was, Lynette felt her breath catch at the sight of those deep determinded eyes, turned into a marshy emerald green with tears. Her emotions revealed, her face flushed with tears, Bree had never looked more beautiful.
And she knew the moment of truth was here.
"Rex is having an affair." Her voice cracked with emotion when she said it, but she kept the eye contact with Lynette, desperate to see the outside world's judgement of her marriage now that it knew the truth.
But the face that looked back at her never had even a fleeting moment of judgement in it. All she could read on Lynette's always honest face was concern and empathy. She wasn't being condemned, she wasn't being blamed, she wasn't being mocked. Her pain was validated, her emotions confirmed. And that was all Lynette asked of her. Bree knew she wouldnt be pressed for all the dirty details, that it was enough to say just that. Yet because of this non-judging, this openness, the fact that she had already revealed the big secret, Bree felt safe to say even more.
"He said all this bullshit about how being seperated was all about options. And about how he had the right to do this sort of thing. And all I could think about was how much of my own happiness and fulliment I have sacrificed to him, given up to honour the vows we took to one another. That's what made me really angry, was that he went out there and looked for his own fulifullment while I sat at home, frustrated and unsatisfied, raising his childern, cleaning his home, cooking his meals."
She said it all like she was spitting venom, hot angry tears dripping freely down her face now. Lynette still caught them with her thumb and brushed them away, not saying anything. Bree felt her whole body trembling now, shaking to release it all, all the things she'd trampled down and hid for years and years.
"I have repressed and ignored so much of my own pain, my own regret, my own disappointment, because of the image, the exterior, the need to keep up with appearances, meanwhile he's galivanting around doing God-knows-what...."
A sob strangled her throat and she couldn't say any more, couldn't form the words. She took a few shuddering breaths, trying to not become hysterical with her tears. She was on the edge of it right now, felt like she could fly apart into a thousand pieces at any moment, when she looked up and saw Lynette looking at her.
Bree had always been fasinated with Lynette. Every thought, feeling that Lynette had showed on her face, in her eyes, in the slight quirk of her mouth or raise of an eyebrow. She was completely honest with herself and with everyone around her. In a place filled with secrets, Lynette was like a revolution. That's why Bree had always been so drawn to her, she had always been attracted to the freshness of Lynette's way of being. She knew that everything her neighbour said was her honest opinion, and that with her own life open and mystery-free, Lynette didnt feel the need to gossip and spread everyone else's secrets like alot of the people on Wisteria.
Looking at her now brought Bree back down again. Bree studied the other woman, mediated on all the aspects that came together to compose Lynette. The rumpled button down shirt, the form fitting camisole underneath, the mussed blond curls, the open and honest eyes. As she did this, Bree's breathing eased, her sobs dimished and she felt her rapid beating heart start to beat reguliarily again.
No one else could ever reach Bree like this, calm her, center her. Lynette eased the pain out of her and then soothed her back to safety again, and after all of it, Bree felt lighter, better, knowing that she wasnt carrying the secret anymore. She was so tired of carrying so many things inside her, ignoring the stings of disappointment, or being unsatisified and alone. She had carried this all with her for years and now all she wanted was to be touched again, inside, to be stirred, passionate, open.
Right at this moment, she wanted nothing more than to kiss her pretty blonde neighbour, the one person who was kinder and better to her than anyone ever had been.
Bree leaned forward to bridge the gap between her and Lynette before she could give the impulse any serious thought, and decided to act on it for the first time in years and years. She pressed her lips chastely yet fully to Lynette's and held them there for a handful of moments.
The world froze in those moments, and stretched out, and Bree thought about a thousand things at the same time. How wrong it was that she was doing this, how right it felt, how she wished she could kiss Lynette forever, how Lynette wasn't moving under her touch at all. The lack of response was finally the thing that got through all the conflicting messages and Bree pulled away quickly.
"Oh God." she said to herself, horrified at the thought of what she had just done. She refused to look at Lynette's reaction as she stumbled out of her chair and fled.
"Bree!" she heard Lynette's plea, but still didnt look up as she made a beeline for the door, cheeks burning with shame now instead of anger. She had to get out of here was all she could think, so when she felt Lynette's hand close around her wrist right before she made it to the front door , she was so startled she tried, and failed, to snap her hand away. Lynette used her strong grip to make Bree turn around, and still she refused to look up and see exactly how embarrassing this how situation had become. It wasnt until she felt fingers under her chin, gently forcing her to look up that she finally made eye contact.
Lynette was smiling that little smirk at her, her cheeks flushed too, though Bree suspected it wasn't from shame or anger. The fingers around her wrist twisted again to pull Bree's hand behind her, and she felt Lynette pushing her back very gently till her back was against the front door, with Lynette, still smirking, advancing on her. Bree had a brief moment where she felt like prey under Lynette's gaze, and it made her skin burn hotly with a thrill of desire more intense than she had felt in years.
The space between them narrowed as Lynette approached her. As she leaned in, she did it very slowly, with her eyes still on Bree's face to make sure this was exactly what she wanted. Bree had another thousand thoughts as Lynette's eyes locked with hers and she leaned towards her, and at the last moment, her body thrumming with the long lost passion she missed so much, she closed her eyes and took a shaky breath in, waiting.
Lynette kissed her softly at first, just letting her feel her lips against her, letting the sensations wash over her before subtly moving her lips over Bree's. And even then, it was gentle, slow, letting the feeling build, and overcome her, letting her get used to the feel of these lips, kissing her like this. Bree's trembling returned, slight and all over, and she reached out to clutch at side of Lynette's shirt, then to flatten out her hand again her waist, and grip that instead, liking the warmth, the curve there. It was like Lynette's lips, innately feminie, soft, warm, new and different yet absolutely perfect in its texture. This was what she had been without for so long, and to feel it, to experience it, was like everything that had been always wrong being right, like everything that had been out of order falling into place. Lynette was leading her through all these new lands, these places she'd not even allowed herself to think about in years because she thought she would never feel this way.
She felt her bottom lip being pulled in now, still gently, nibbled and lightly sucked on, and another even more intense rush of desire over came her. Lynette's teeth brushing over her lip made her stance unsteady and somewhere in the back of her brain she registered amusement that she was swooning in this kiss. Uncontrollable noises were coming out of her now too, little mewls and gasps of pleasure that she scarcely recognized as her own.
Somehow her hands had found their way up to Lynette's face and she cradled it, her own thumbs now running up and down soft, hot cheeks. It felt natural to hold Lynette like this, like a treasure, like something precious. She used the leverage of this hold to take control of this kiss, to pull Lynette's bottom lip in, to lightly nip it as she had done to hers.
Lynette reacted immediately to this, wrapped her arms around Bree's middle and pulling her close, causing their bodies to make contact for the first time. The feel of all that warm, soft, curved flesh pressed up to one another made both of them gasp and pull away from the kiss. Each taking deep, shuddering breaths, they regarded one another for a long moment. It was Lynette who was able finally to pull away.
"You better get back home, honey." She said, with a slightly sad smile. Bree knew what she was saying, knew it was true, but still couldnt help the ache she felt as she nodded and silently turned, opening the door to leave.
Just as she was stepping outside onto the front stoop, Lynette's arm wrapped around her waist, and pulled her back against her for a moment. The rush of contact ran over her body again, and she breathed in quickly, eyes closing in bliss. The lips on her neck made gooseflesh run all over her, and then she was released just as quickly. She had to have one more look at Lynette before she left, so she glanced over her shoulder at her.
When she looked over her shoulder, Lynette Scavo got a glimpse of Bree Van De Kamp no one had ever seen before. She was dishevelled, hair mussed, lips swollen plump and red with kisses, makeup slightly smeared, eyes black with desire. She was smiling at her like a vixen, coquettish and sly at the same time and Lynette could swear she was glowing.
It had been along time since Lynette felt this self-satisfied, not just from making Bree mussed and kittenish like that, but from finally knowing what it was Bree saw in her all this time. And she had to admit, it was partially what she had seen in Bree herself, even though the idea seemed so preponderous that she'd not allowed herself to think it out.
She knew that the first moment she saw Bree in all her pink cashmere and perfectly applied lipliner that she wanted to make her just as passionate and free as she was just then.