I was momentarily confused when I first woke up. The bed was familiar but the room and the girlfriend weren't.

It took a moment to realize I was in Susan's old queen-sized bed which was familiar, but we put this bed in the guest room at the end of the hall which I'd never slept in before. And instead of Sue or Melissa, I had Amber cuddled up asleep in my arms.

After a few more seconds of confusion, the events from last night finally came back to me.

Melissa was out on business so me and Sue had another date night. After dinner we came home and opted to skip the movie and went straight to bed. It was another hour or two before we were ready to sleep though.

Next thing I knew I was in Lily's apartment and she was explaining that Amber was in the guest room and needed some attention. She didn't say it, but I realized something must have happened so Lily took over then brought Amber back here.

As for what happened, I had no idea. Lily didn't elaborate last night and I wasn't going to wake Amber up and ask. However, it wasn't too hard to guess Jim or one of those other guys was involved. Probably Jim, I didn't think broken-arm-guy or broken-leg-guy would be looking for trouble again so soon, considering it wasn't that long ago that they ended up in casts.

The daylight coming in through the window suggested it was morning, but it didn't feel very late. Or very early for that matter. I didn't want to bother Amber so I just stayed put, I figured I'd wait till she woke up on her own.

I was just letting myself relax and enjoy the quiet time with my cuddle-succubus girlfriend when the peace and quiet was broken by the sound of someone's ring-tone.

"Wha?!" Amber woke with a start. She seemed confused, half-asleep and half-panicked as she looked around.

Fortunately she quickly got her bearings and scrambled out of bed to find her phone as she anxiously rambled, "Sorry Mara good morning thanks for keeping me company I'm sorry for waking you!"

She pulled her phone from a small purse that was buried among her clothes on the chair, then swiped the screen and answered "Hello?"

She ended up sitting crosslegged on the floor next to the chair as she held the phone to her ear. I wasn't sure but I had a feeling the woman's voice I could just hear talking angrily through the phone belonged to Amber's mom. That was confirmed a few moments later.

"I'm sorry mom," she sighed. "I'm at Susan's place ok? I'm fine. Something came up and I spent the night here instead. I know, normally I'd have called but it was late and it was all last-minute and stuff."

Amber gave me an apologetic look then sighed at her phone, "I know. I have to go ok? Yes, I'll be home to shower and change then I have to go back to work. I have to go. Bye."

She tapped the screen then sighed again, "Sorry Mara. I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's ok Amber," I grinned. "You didn't wake me, I woke a little while ago? I was just enjoying the cuddle-time with you."

My expression quickly became more serious as I asked, "How are you doing this morning? Are you going to be ok going to work today?"

She frowned, then got a sort of distant look on her face for a few moments. It crossed my mind that maybe she'd forgotten about last night, she was distracted by the call from her mom and everything, then I just reminded her that there was a reason she spent the night here.

After a few quiet moments she nodded slowly "I think I'll be ok..."

"You don't sound so sure," I said as I got out of bed.

I moved to kneel beside her on the floor and wrapped an arm around her. I said softly, "I don't know what happened last night, but if you need to talk about it I'm all ears. And if you don't want to talk about it that's fine too, I'm available for hugs and cuddling and moral support. If you want I'll even come with you back to the store, so you don't have to go alone."

Amber let her head slump against my shoulder as she leaned against me. She sighed, "I'm ok. He didn't even touch me. It was scary and I'm positive he wanted to hurt me. But Lily showed up before he could do anything. She made sure I was ok then told me to go home, or come here. Then... I'm pretty sure she was going to kill him. Or eat him I guess."

That last part was the one thing I already guessed. The rest was mostly good news too.

"I'm glad you weren't hurt, I'm glad he didn't lay a hand on you," I said as I continued to hold her. "But it still sounds like a really scary tense situation. I don't think anyone will blame you if you want to take some time to sort yourself out. And you're welcome to stay here as long as you want, if you don't want to deal with family stuff just yet."

"Thanks Mara," she said with another sigh. "Maybe I'll stay here a bit. I don't know if I need to miss work, but if I skip showering I can hang around here for an hour and see how I feel?"

I gave her a warm smile, "Whatever feels best for you, cutie."

That got a blushy grin out of her which was nice to see. The two of us got to our feet then we emerged from the guest room. We were both just wearing night-shirts, and she visited the washroom while I went down to the kitchen and put the coffee machine on then got myself some juice.

Amber joined me a few minutes later and pulled a can of root beer out of the fridge, and we both ended up together on the love-seat in the living-room.

At first we just sat quietly, sipping our drinks. She was cuddled up against my right side, and I had my arm around her. As far as I could tell she wasn't too tense or upset, but I figured she was probably still processing whatever happened to her the night before.

And I was glad that Lily intervened before Amber was hurt or anything like that, but I knew whatever it was, it had to be serious for Lily to get involved in the first place.

"He was waiting for me just before I got home," Amber said suddenly. Her voice was quiet and she had that distant look in her eyes again as she was thinking about last night. "He blocked my path, he wouldn't let me past. He smelled like booze, I'm sure he was drunk. I think he wanted to pick up where they left off the first time, when you saved me in the stairwell?"

I held her a little tighter and said quietly, "I'm sorry Amber. I thought they'd leave us both alone after my run-in with them last week. I didn't even think they'd be in a condition to threaten anyone..."

She leaned her head against my shoulder and sighed, "He deadnamed me, misgendered me, called me a coward. He called you a slur and said you weren't going to come to my rescue this time."

"I'm sorry. I'm glad you're safe though, glad he didn't hurt you." I sighed softly, then asked "Which was it? Jim? Or the religious guy?"

"Rahul," she replied quietly.

That surprised me, I was sure he was too scared to do anything. Then I felt a pang of guilt and fear as I realized, he was too scared to try anything against me. But he knew Amber, he'd known her for a year or something like that before she transitioned. And worse, I remembered what I said to him last time. The guilt turned into a heavier feeling in my gut as I realized my taunts might have been what spurred him to try attacking Amber.

"I'm sorry Amber," I whispered again. "This might be my fault. I taunted him. I called him a coward him for just watching while the other guys did all the work and took all the lumps."

She didn't respond, but she stayed cuddled up close against my side.

Then I felt Lily's presence. She sounded sleepy but satisfied, which was typical for her after a meal.

"Your goading was unwise Mara, but you're not to blame. It was Jim who urged Rahul to act last night."

"Thanks Lily," I replied softly. "But how can you be sure?"

She replied, "I saw it in Rahul's mind of course. Jim is still recovering from his latest encounter with you, but he urged his friend to take action, and it was he who suggested Rahul confront Amber while she was alone and seemingly unprotected."

I sighed and asked, "So what did you do? Or what are you going to do?"

"I am handling things my way," she replied. "Please don't involve yourself any further Mara. Stay away from all of them."

"Ok Lily," I nodded slowly. "Thanks again."

After that brief exchange I relayed what she said to Amber. My cute brunette girlfriend asked me to thank Lily again, but otherwise she stayed quiet for now, and the two of us just cuddled together sipping our drinks.

Another five or ten minutes later Susan was up. She emerged naked from the master bedroom and after a quick visit to the washroom she came down the stairs, lured by the smell of coffee. She was surprised to see Amber was here and mumbled a quiet greeting, then continued on her way to the kitchen to get herself a coffee.

Sue finally sat down across from us on the sectional and watched me and Amber for a bit as she sipped her coffee. Eventually she asked, "What's going on? Did something happen last night?"

Amber finished her root beer and set the can down on the end table next to the love-seat, then she quietly filled Susan in. She didn't go into any more details than she told me, but got the point across about Rahul ambushing her and trying to attack her just outside her home. And of course she said how Lily arrived to save her, and suggested she spend the night here. She finished up with how she and I spent the night cuddling.

Susan was quiet through the whole story, but her various expressions revealed how she felt about the whole thing. Worry, surprise, uneasy, glad, relaxed.

When Amber was finished talking Sue stayed quiet for another minute or so, then finally suggested "Maybe you should get a car or something? Especially if you're working late. A small vulnerable-looking woman walking around alone late at night might be seen as a target by dangerous types as well."

"I can't really afford a car," Amber replied with a shrug. "And I don't have anywhere to put it, we don't have enough room at home for a third car."

"Lily can get you a car," Susan stated. "I don't think money is a problem. Or I was thinking of getting one in a few months, or before next winter anyways, so I won't have to deal with busses and snow getting to uni next winter. I could get one for the two of us to share, we can leave it in the driveway here so you don't need to fight with your parents about crowding their driveway."

"In the meantime," I suggested, "We could maybe arrange to drive you to and from work? I mean, other than nights where Melissa's working. So we don't have to worry about you travelling alone late at night."

Amber went quiet again, and I could feel she was a little overwhelmed by all these ideas and suggestions and offers.

Eventually Susan got herself more coffee and Amber got another root beer, and I had some more juice. The three of us just got settled down again with our drinks when Melissa came home. She probably wanted a shower but after one look at the rest of us she got a coffee then sat with Susan and we went through the whole story again.

After hearing about the events last night Melissa sighed, "Crap. I'm glad you're ok Amber. If you do want to go to work today I'll give you a lift, and I can pick you up again afterwards and bring you home."

"Thanks Melissa," the quiet brunette responded with a small smile. "I really appreciate all of you looking out for me."

I pulled her into another hug and told her, "We're the DLP. We stick together and look out for each other."

PurpleCatGirl

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