Xena was certain she had lost her mind. That was it, she had completely lost her mind. There was no other explanation for it.

Venus had all but kicked her out from her apartment the night before. But yet, here she was, early the following morning, buying the woman groceries.

Xena had so many questions, there was so much she wanted to know about the smaller woman. She worried about her. She was unable to get any sleep at night, instead; she was up thinking of her.

Seeing Venus the day before, Xena noticed that she wasn't the rude confident woman that she had appeared to be on the night they had first met. However, she was cold and extremely closed off. Maybe even a little shy.

It was clear that Venus had her walls up, and she had them up pretty high. Xena wanted to know why, she wanted Venus to let her in; she wanted to hear her speak to her, to tell her everything about herself.

Then Xena found herself worrying about the numerous bottles of alcohol and lack of food Venus had at her house. It was no surprise the woman was so small.

As hard as Xena had tried to stop meddling, to just stay away, give the woman her space, she couldn't help it. Yes, she worried about her, but knowing herself, Xena knew she'd just keep on fretting till she actually got up and did something about it.

Xena moved down the aisle, placing different food stuffs in her grocery bag. She already had two whole baskets overflowing with groceries, yet she continued to add to the bag.

When Xena was finally satisfied, she paid for the groceries at the checkout and now walked out of the store in the direction of Venus' apartment.

Xena was overjoyed to know that the woman did not live too far from her, it was within walking distance. Xena usually drove past her apartment building on her way to work without even realizing it.

Her arms ached from the load of the groceries in her bag, but Xena didn't mind. There was a slight smile that was growing on her face. Excitement was bubbling within her. This wasn't a feeling she experienced often. Yet, it wasn't one that she hated.

It was still rather early in the morning, so not a lot of people were out and about. Xena walked, admiring the pale blue sky. Her mind was clear. She felt assured of herself at that moment.

Xena arrived at the apartment building and wondered how she would get in. Luckily for her, at that moment someone came out of the building. Catching the door before it shut closed, she helped herself inside.

She took the elevator up to Venus' floor just like she had done the previous day. It wasn't long before she stood outside the woman's apartment.

Xena rang the doorbell. It was at that moment that her senses seemed to come back to her. What was she doing? Here she was with bags of groceries for a woman that had explicitly made it clear to her that she couldn't stand her guts. Yet, here she was, going grocery shopping for said woman.

How was she even sure Venus was home? What if she was busy? It was pretty early; she was probably still asleep.

A slight shyness snuck up on Xena, and she made up her mind to just leave. She'd turn around and walk out, she'd take the groceries home, it'd be like she was never even there in the first place. That was what she would do.

Xena turned on her heel and was about to leave when the door opened before her.

The previous thoughts that had gone through Xena's mind instantly disappeared the second she stared at the small woman blinking at her in confusion. Venus looked like she had just woken up, dressed in oversized pajamas with her locs hidden beneath a bonnet.

It took everything in Xena not to reach out and cradle her face. The grocery bags in her hands definitely helped as well.

Venus still had not said anything. She was still staring at Xena, blinking in confusion.

"Hey." Xena now said, her voice sounding very bright, given the hour of the morning. "I thought I'd help you get some groceries. You know, because of your injured leg."

There were a few moments of inactivity in which both women just stared at each other. Venus still looked like she was in a trance, but she stepped aside, letting Xena enter the house.

It had not escaped Xena how the woman hadn't spoken a word to her. That wasn't unusual, Venus had gathered that it seemed she didn't talk much.

Xena now made her way over to the kitchen, remembering the lay-out of the apartment from the day before. She glanced behind her to see that Venus had now closed the front door and was following her in silence. The smaller woman looked confused and Xena felt herself thinking of just how cute and innocent she appeared in that moment.

Arriving at the kitchen, Xena began unloading the bag of groceries. Venus didn't say anything, just stood there, awkwardly watching her.

"I didn't know what type of milk you drink." Xena said, "so I bought a couple different types.."

Xena's voice trailed off. She had expected Venus to reply by telling her the type of dairy she drank but the smaller woman didn't say anything, she just nodded. Xena ended up just putting all the bottles of milk in the fridge.

There were a few moments of silence in which Xena unpacked the food stuff, placing them in different areas of the kitchen as Venus watched her.

"What's your name?"

Xena was thrown off-guard by this question. Then the realization hit her. Venus didn't know her name, she hadn't known it this whole time.

"Xena, with an 'X'," Xena replied.

"Why couldn't it just be a 'Z', why do you have to make things complicated for everyone?"

Xena found herself smiling from Venus' response. It was clear to her that Venus was now fully awake and getting back into her usual snarky self.

"Well, I didn't name myself." Xena responded. "But if that's something you feel strongly about, I'd try to find out who my birth parents are and relay the message to them."

There was a moment of silence and Xena continued putting the groceries away.

"You don't know who your birth parents are?" Venus abruptly asked, breaking the silence.

Xena was a bit taken aback by all the questions. This must have been the most time that the two women had ever held a conversation between themselves.

"I don't. I was adopted when I was pretty young." She responded.

Venus looked at her curiously.

"Do you like them?"

"Do I like who?"

"Your adoptive parents."

Xena glanced down at the smaller woman. "I was adopted by a single mother. But yeah, she's pretty amazing."

Xena found herself thinking of how she should probably call her mom. She hadn't spoken to her in quite sometime and she knew her mom in her usual manner was probably worrying about her.

"I bought a variety of cereals because I don't know which you prefer."

Venus didn't respond. It seemed she was back to her silent treatment, so Xena just accepted this and put all the cereals away. She wanted to learn stuff about the woman, even if it was something as trivial as what type of cereal she ate. However, she seemed to be playing her cards close, not saying anything.

Xena finished putting away the groceries, much to her dismay. She didn't want to leave, but now she no longer had an excuse to stay. For some reason, Xena was really enjoying being in Venus' silent company, but she knew she would probably send her out of her house just like she had done the night before.

An idea immediately popped up in Xena's mind.

"Hey. Can I make you some breakfast? Think of it as an apology for me waking you up so early." Xena asked as she turned to face the smaller woman.

It did not go to her unnoticed the way Venus' face lit up at the mention of breakfast. In her usual manner, Venus concealed this, replacing it with a bored expression.

Xena fought back the smile that threatened to appear on her face.

After a few moments, Venus nodded her head and Xena immediately got to cooking.

Venus was no longer standing, she had taken a seat at the counter and now watched Xena intensely as she cooked.

Xena could feel the woman's light eyes steadily watching her every move and she felt a chill run down her spine as she cooked.

In no time, the apartment was filled with the intoxicating smell of bacon and eggs as Xena cooked the woman before her a full English breakfast.

"How do you like your eggs?" Xena asked, glancing back at Venus, staring at her expectantly.

Venus shrugged so Xena just scrambled them.

For the rest of the time she cooked, a silence hung over the two of them. Xena didn't mind it as much, she was slowly growing accustomed to the quiet that surrounded the smaller woman. She was even beginning to find a strange sense of comfort in it.

"Breakfast is served." Xena said as she placed a plate packed with food in front of Venus.

The smaller woman murmured a quiet 'thank you' and began gobbling it all up. Xena poured a glance of orange juice for her and watched from the corner of her eyes as the woman gobbled it up as she cleaned up the kitchen area she had cooked.

She appeared to be really enjoying the food, which instantly brought a smile to Xena's face.

Xena now shuffled on her feet awkwardly. She felt like she had overstayed her welcome, and there was nothing else she could say to stall for any longer.

"I'm going to head out now." Xena announced.

She desperately wished Venus would stop her, to tell her to hang around for a bit.

None of that happened. Instead, Venus just nodded her head, not even sparing a glance in her direction.