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She and Agatha locked eyes, the evening sunlight illuminating her blue eyes, sending shivers down Rio’s spine. She was once again treading uncharted waters, publicly on a date with the woman she’d fallen for. But she wrested the dregs of her grit, residing in the recesses of her chest.

“Alright, so what’s our strategy here?” Rio asked, quelling the fire rumbling in her chest.

“We should hold hands a few times during each course. Maybe share dessert? I don’t know, what would really sell it?” Agatha bit her bottom lip. “Should we play footsie?”

“Ahem,” Rio grunted. “I meant for the meal.”

“Oh.”

“But, sure, we can do all of that, if you want,” Rio said, goading her with a sly grin. For someone so reluctant to date, Agatha certainly seemed eager with ideas.

Rio scanned the menu. “One of us should get an app and one of us should get a salad. I, for one, love calamari and can’t say no to a salad with burrata in it.”

Agatha shook her head, obeying silently, her mouth open, as if she was trying to find words.

from chapter 24 of my love, mine, all mine

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“I tried to call you but…” Alice caught a breath, her hands on her knees. “...your phone kept going straight to voicemail.”

“What are you doing here? How the hell did you find me anyhow?”

Alice shook her head, waving her off.

Rio glared at her.

“Look, I’m off-duty, so I don’t know when this happened—I just heard, but the detectives paid Agatha a visit.”

“They did?”

“They took her to the station, and they’ve been questioning her for hours now. They’re holding her under suspicion.”

A volcano of nerves exploded in Rio’s stomach and mushroomed into her chest, her throat constricting and her mouth tight with dryness. The police must’ve found out Agatha was at Rusty Hill shortly after they’d parted ways at the search.

“They’re holding her under suspicion? They think she’s a suspect?”

“They at least think she’s associated,” Alice said, her sharp brown eyes prodding Rio.

“You don’t think she did this?” Rio asked, incredulously. She half-expected Alice to rationalize the detectives’ decision, based on Agatha’s reputation.

“Look, if I learned my lesson, I know that you trust her, and that I jumped to conclusions on baseless accusations.”

Rio asked Alice exactly what she had heard. What made the cops think Agatha was involved with Tommy’s disappearance?

“They went through the CCTV footage and they saw her stumbling through the alleyway seven minutes before Tommy went through that same alleyway. Apparently, everyone else takes the alleyway on the other side of Rusty Hill.”

Alice quipped, “Add that and her infamous relationship with the cops and the public, it’s no wonder they took her to the station.”

“So, what do you want to do?”

Rio only had one idea. It was rash, foolish, and utterly driven by her misguided, pounding heart.

“I’m going to be her alibi.”

from chapter 23 of my love, mine, all mine

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Rio knew in her bones that Agatha would never hurt Tommy. That was never even a consideration. “You didn’t have anything to do with it, Agatha,” she said, firmly.

“How do you know?” Agatha asked, her blue eyes truthful and unguarded.

“I know you,” Rio said. “You’re a good person, no matter how hard you try to deny it. You’d never hurt Billy or Tommy.”

Agatha blinked at her, looking diminutive under her cap.

Rio took her by the shoulders and emphasized her words.

“Agatha, you’d never hurt anyone like that.”

Her shoulders uncocked, dropping slowly, as if she was absorbing it all. She looked deeply in Rio’s eyes, blinking once, freezing time, her gaze flickered down to her lips. Last night came rushing back to Rio and the things Agatha had said, and the lecherous ways she’d used her body. Somehow, she didn’t believe those things she’d said anymore. This moment felt so different.

But she couldn’t stomach the thought of begging for her and then losing her again.

from chapter 22 of my love, mine, all mine

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“Why did you follow me?”

Agatha had eroded Rio’s dignity down to the primal ache that cooked underneath it all. She kissed Rio’s neck and inhaled her skin, fiddling with her emotions, her desire, and her sanity.

“You know why,” Rio whispered. Her cheeks flushed with a hotness that traveled down to her chest.

“Don’t chicken out now,” Agatha goaded. “Unless I’m reading this the wrong way; I wouldn’t want—”

She pulled back, her arm above Rio’s head.

“—to assume anything.”

“Is this you forgiving me?” Rio asked.

Agatha took Rio by the jaw and turned her face to the side abruptly. “Don’t. That’s not what this is.”

“Tell me why you were following me,” she pressed again.

“I followed you because…” Rio wrested her neck to face Agatha, exposing her inner thoughts. “...I want you. Is that what you want to hear? It’s the truth. I haven’t stopped thinking about you. Tonight, when I saw you, all I could think about was what it would be like to kiss you again.”

Agatha’s blue eyes glinted, and her lips curled into the subtlest smirk. She knew she’d won. She took Rio’s chin between her thumb and index finger, fixated on her lips.

from chapter 21 of my love, mine, all mine

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Suddenly, Agatha slammed the door shut, her arm shooting out next to Rio’s head.

Rio backed into the door, taken aback, her eyes widening.

“Unbelievable. You really think this is about us, don’t you? You’re really delusional enough to think our little blip in my year meant something, don’t you?”

A shaky breath escaped Rio’s lungs.

Agatha flashed a devilish, cruel smile. “It really was so easy to lie, wasn’t it? You had no qualms until you knew I’d find out. You were just going to keep it to yourself.”

“And the worst part—the most embarrassing part—is that I really fell for it. I was falling for you, Vidal,” she avowed.

from chapter 20 of my love, mine, all mine

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“Agatha,” Rio said, imploding immediately, forcing herself to break away. “Wait.” Her nose involuntarily sunk, her eyes already tearful.

She staggered back from Agatha, unhanding her, creating an ocean of distance between them. She’d run out of time.

Rio faced Agatha and confessed. “The Westview Police have opened up an unofficial investigation into what happened to Nicky. And I’m the reason why they’ve started looking.”

It’s as if the air was suddenly sucked out of the room, the sounds of the night critters flattened into the silence of the truth, the warmth of Agatha’s touch turned brittle and cold, and the delicate balance between them snapped.

Agatha’s eyes transformed from a placid blue to a glacial, penetrating blue. Her lip curled and trembled with rage and utter betrayal. “You went to the cops? You told them?”

from chapter 19 of my love, mine, all mine

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Rio couldn’t fathom that the universe had somehow handed her what she’d been looking for her entire adult life. Something that couldn’t be fixed, built, or worked around. Something that Rio didn’t think she deserved.

Agatha inhaled, and squinted out of one eye, sleepily. Rio placed a hand on her back, the tips of her fingers tingled when they danced on the surface of Agatha’s soft skin.

“Hey, you,” Agatha said, her blue eyes lucid and alert now.

“Morning,” Rio said. “How’d you sleep?”

“You tell me,” Agatha said. “I should keep you around at night to hold onto me, so I don’t sleepwalk again.”

Rio almost told her that she, in fact, sleepwalked frequently. But some things were best unsaid. She vowed never to spy on Agatha again.

“You just want to save on your gas bill,” Rio quipped, burying the thought. “But, if you’re asking, I’m accepting.”

Agatha kissed her neck, gently handling Rio’s jaw. “I could eat.” It was all so natural between them.

She confidently kicked the covers off and climbed out of bed, naked. Rio smiled at her, biting her thumb to keep her wits about her, but still completely captivated by her sensuous, lithe curves. The way her long, unkempt morning hair spilled down her pale back, the shape of her hips, the nape of her neck bruised with hickeys.

from chapter 18 of my love, mine, all mine

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Agatha reached forward, her thumb caressing Rio’s cheek as she kissed her. She kissed her with a carnal urgency, as if this would be the last time.

Rio held onto Agatha’s wrist, giving into her spell, letting the magic cascade over her skin. Rio moaned, trembling and cold, but burning in her core. She tasted the sweetness inside Agatha’s mouth, their tongues dancing.

“Rio, take me,” Agatha pleaded in her ear.

“Are you sure?” Rio asked, her forehead pressed against Agatha’s. She could burst at the seams at any second now.

“I’m sure.”

Rio kissed her neck in response.

“I want you now.” Agatha looked at Rio as she continued to undo her shirt, sliding one sleeve off at a time. The shirt plummeted to the ground, soaked. She undid her slacks, and hopped out of them.

They came together again in a fiery kiss, Rio taking Agatha by the waist with one hand and the other wandering down her lower back. Biting her bottom lip, Agatha pushed Rio’s jacket off her shoulders and lifted her tank top up and over her head.

She placed her hand on Rio’s abdomen, her eyes bespoke with desire and admiration. “I’ve wanted you for a long time,” she whispered.

from chapter 17 of my love, mine, all mine

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From the nadir of her soul, Rio uttered, “Am I a wretched person if I say that I felt liberated when she cried as I packed my things and left?”

Agatha looked at her with an earnestness, and an openness.

“Am I a bad person?” Rio asked.

Agatha kissed her then and there, passionately and genuinely, taking Rio delicately by the cheek. Rio kissed her back, spellbound, her heart skipping across her chest.

Agatha’s tongue begged for more, caressing Rio’s, deepening the kiss. She tilted her head, inhaling, her hips pushing Rio back against the doorframe. Her mouth searched for Rio’s truest passion and her left hand found her hip.

This was what Rio had waited for her entire life. This was the revelation of her rawest desires.

Rio reciprocated, burying her fingers in Agatha’s hair, her thumb brushing her cheekbone. A fire originated from her belly and lashed ablaze to the pulse between her legs. Now, Rio was hungry for her. She was ready for her.

from chapter 16 of my love, mine, all mine

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Rio’s stomach fluttered. Agatha had come to her. She was really here.

“Didn’t think I’d see you again today,” Rio murmured. “Unless, you weren’t actually there when I was on the ground. Maybe I imagined your two heads.”

Agatha wormed her way over bashfully, loitering at the foot of Rio’s bed. “You didn’t know? I’m the two-headed witch of Westview.” She was in a gray sweater and a pair of blue jeans, which was more casual than her usual wardrobe.

It was as if they were inhabiting a different timeline, as if last week had never happened.

“How’d you know I was there?” Rio asked.

“I watched you fall out of the sky.”

“You were watching me?” Rio asked, ignoring everything else.

Agatha rolled her eyes and ignored her back. “Phil and Dottie were not panicking quietly, let’s just say that.”

She got closer, lacing her fingers together, wringing her hands. “You scared us.” She stammered on, unable to make eye contact with Rio. “I mean, you scared me, and also them, because you fell and then you were just laying there, completely unresponsive.” Agatha cleared her throat. “What’d the doctor say?”

“I’ll be fine,” Rio assured her, filling in all the details from the doctor. “I just won’t ever leave my bed again,” she said. “And I’ll have to reschedule Mr. Lee, Herb, Jack, and the Bettanys. Though, Herb just needs a new bathroom fan installed. I could—”

“Rio, don’t.” Agatha insisted, her eyes soft and genuine. “That’s a threat.” She masked her tenderness with a shade of discomfort.

Rio stretched her legs and cracked her neck. “Oooh, scary. While you’re threatening me, you think you can find those disgusting little pudding cups around here?”

Agatha raised her eyebrows, unimpressed, but Rio somehow knew she’d agree to these demands.

from chapter 15 of my love, mine, all mine

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how DARE you read me like this

Might as well for AAA week!

Original, more canon-compliant bingo here (some things are just universal)

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wait this is spot-on 🤣

Guess who's been reading a lot of fanfic lately! The middle square is free actually.

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“I can’t think when you look at me,” Rio confessed, her stomach sick with desire, confusion, and desperation.

“What is there to think about?” Agatha wrapped her fingers around Rio’s hand and brought it to her mouth and kissed it. With every inch that her fingers climbed up Rio’s arm, she planted a soft kiss. And with every kiss, Rio grew weak, and she craved more. Was this really happening?

“Agatha,” Rio said, barely holding her resolve. Her spine dissolved, and her knees buckled with a dizzying weakness. “We need to talk.”

“Is that what you want right now?” Agatha’s lips curled as she found Rio’s neck, cradling her face with her warm hands. “To talk?” Her nose pressed into her neck as she nuzzled there, knowing exactly how to coax the desire from Rio.

She began to kiss her neck, and Rio reactively bit her bottom lip. When her hot breath reached her earlobe, an involuntary moan escaped her mouth.

“Goddamn it, Agatha.” She throbbed below the belt.

from chapter 14 of my love, mine, all mine

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Finally, Rio broke. “Dios. We are grown, Agatha. I can’t do this anymore. This hot-and-cold thing—the whiplash. I-I can’t do it anymore.”

Agatha didn’t answer. She blinked incredulously, as if Rio had stolen all the voice she had.

Rio continued. “You flirt with me and then you push me away. You tell me we’re not friends and it doesn’t matter to you what we are, but then you invite me to Thanksgiving dinner. And you pulled out the soft-lighting and the candles, does that scream ‘this doesn’t matter’ to you?”

“Tell me what you’re doing.” It wasn’t a question on purpose. It was a demand.

“I don’t know,” Agatha said, absently. She tilted her head but kept her elbow resting on top of the couch. “I follow my instincts.”

Rio mirrored Agatha, also opting to lean on the couch with her elbow. Inside, she found herself dazed with disbelief. She’d finally cornered Agatha’s amorphous spirit on this very couch, and there was nowhere to run. Her dark, vexed eyes coaxed Agatha to continue.

“You’re not annoying, you’re not too political, you’re pleasant-looking, you’re handy, you’ve clearly got a green thumb—and it’s the strangest thing. I can’t seem to stop inviting you into my house and my very solitary life that I used to like.”

“I started to feel. . .lonely,” Agatha said, like she’d eaten something slimy. “And you wouldn’t stop worming your way into my life, and I let you—and I don’t know why.”

“You don’t know why?” Rio asked. “Do you mean that?”

Agatha sucked her bottom lip in for a second. “I don’t know, it could be you. It could be the way you wear that shirt.”

Rio battled the butterflies in her stomach and the smile wanting to reveal itself. But was this flattery just a distraction, yet again? Did she mean it? Was Rio this easy to play?

“It could be that it’s not so bad to have you around.”

Rio tucked her hair behind her ear and locked eyes with Agatha, still sitting far from her. “So, why are you hellbent on icing me out?”

“It scares me,” Agatha confessed. She looked down at the couch cushion, meekly. “It scares me that my instincts are telling me that I want to be around you.”

from chapter 13 of my love, mine, all mine

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Last night, like ritual, Rio ruminated on Agatha for hours on end, indulging in all the memories of their interactions. It was the only way she fell asleep.

One moment, she fixated on her primal desire for Agatha, imagining what she would’ve done on that fateful night at Jen’s bar. The visions flashed through her mind in remnants, vivid and vague at the same time.

Rio would’ve buried her nose in Agatha’s brown hair, inhaling and memorizing her scent. She would’ve stripped that black shirt off, kissing her neck and working her way down to her chest, while her hand worked, wandering down her jeans. She would’ve savored the wetness and warmth between her legs, and finally tasted the exhalation of Agatha’s pleasure—

But the next moment, her fantasy was interrupted with nebulous, directionless feelings of something entirely different. She didn’t want to stop at consummating her curiosity for Agatha’s sensuality and ecstasy—but she had to stop. Some things were not meant to be.

from chapter 12 of my love, mine, all mine

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Dare I say

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“You say we’re not friends,” Rio said, “so, what are we, Agatha?”

Agatha took a breath, her lips curling, as if she were about to say something. Instead, her hand reached out, her fingers stroking Rio’s jaw and cheek. The look in her eyes was sharp and harsh, like a fortress had frozen around her heart.

“Agatha,” Rio whispered, not quite a protest. She wasn’t strong enough to resist her, not at this moment, not if she went further.

She wanted to crumple under Agatha’s touch, and to give into the connective rhizomes sprouting between them. It’d be so easy to get what she wanted now, to burn up the desire that had been building in her core.

But something in the recesses of Rio’s reptilian brain flagged her skepticism, her doubt.

It was as if Agatha was trying to distract her, to run away from answering the question. She could see Agatha’s exoskeleton hardening, as she performed a sleight-of-hand, conveniently sweeping away the truth at hand.

Still, Agatha didn’t say anything. She pulled Rio close, their foreheads touching. Her thumb brushed against Rio’s lips. She was right there, ready to receive Rio.

from chapter 11 of my love, mine, all mine