You giggle and grin and I do the same - but where you are playful, still in your skirt and pretty blue tank top, I am feeling the slide of well-worn material against my bare skin.
Your robe on my body is just about the sexiest thing ever.
And I think you know this as well as I do.

We've got hours for meals and for lounging around, for conversation and all the paths that talks can go down, we've got hours upon hours to fill up...

I want to fill them all with you.

/ / /

Ashley follows the shifting of hips up the stairs, like a slow tennis match - a languid tick tock of movement. And Spencer flicks her gaze back, as if making sure that this journey is not being made alone.

And Ashley wants to grab Spencer's hand.
So she does.
And she wants to kiss Spencer's lips, right here on the third step from the top.
So she does.

Even if the intention was to be soft, it would have been lost at sea.
Ashley is an ocean of desire, barely held at bay by threads of cotton, and dams are going to burst. And Spencer breathes into her mouth, a shudder, back against the banister.

"Ash..." A red-hot hush along the cheek and Ashley's eyelids flutter shut.

And she's never been good at saying 'I love you'.
But Ashley has learned how to say 'please'.

/ / /

This is where I watched you dress, a bundle of jealousy pinned to my spine.
This is where I looked too long into your eyes as the world started to shake.
This is where I thought I would lose you, so many times, from the days where you couldn't let me fully in to the nights where I was chased away and all the way to wondering if I'd ever set foot to these floors again.

And this is where I find you, right now, pulling off that top and letting it swing on your finger before it hits the ground.

This isn't where we rewrite history. This is where we shape the future.

/ / /

Ashley smiles as she leans on the door-frame, raising one eyebrow.

"My, my, Spencer Carlin... how you've changed..."
"Are you complaining?"
"Never."

And Spencer's grin widens and becomes a smile. And Ashley trails her gaze appreciatively over the sweep of golden skin on display, lines she has learned and dips she has explored.
And 'never' seems almost too small.

Ashley will never get tired of this girl.
Ashley will never get weary of this feeling.
Ashley will never run from this love again.

'Never' is a long time.
But, for Ashley, it isn't long enough.

Bare feet silently cross the distance and she cannot wait, so her palms move ahead of the rest of her. They mold to Spencer's stomach and caress to the sides and lock along the back.
And long fingers are up and under this robe, pushing it to fall off of Ashley's shoulders.

Just a press of flesh, warm contact to set the tone - to remind them of what they had and what they almost lost - and Spencer's mouth is on Ashley's.

Kissing like there is no tomorrow.

/ / /

Where I falter, you pick up the pieces.
And where you grow faint, I give you air.

No mother's fist in my hair. No metal rungs to your window. No mistakes carrying a boy's face or the engines of a jet plane.

Where you end, I begin. And where I stop, you start.
And damn this mind of mine, getting soft but still reluctant to speak about it.
But keep note of the tip of my tongue - it will spell out all my affection for you, on this bed that made the trip with you from Ohio to L.A., it will trace every outline upon your thighs and along your chest.

I am writing endless novels - a gasp I give over, your sweat on my lips, nails that leave an imprint, a whirlpool in my gut that sends me so far out of control and your eyes as wide as the sky...

...You've written me, too.

/ / /

"I'm hungry. Are you hungry?"
"I'm starving."
"Well... I guess we did work up a bit of an appetite..."

They both chuckle, like adults - which neither of them are.
But love and sex will do that to you, make some of that teenage shyness disappear in the after-glow.

It'll turn hard girls tender and it'll turn quiet girls brave.

And Ashley tilts her head further into Spencer's neck and sighs happily. And Spencer idly drags her fingertips up and down the small of Ashley's back.

"We've got a lot of good food down there, too..."

So, Ashley lightly kisses Spencer's neck. And then her cheek. And then pecks Spencer's mouth.

"Let's go eat then."

And they both smile at each other, kicking away that tangled sheet and helping one another get dressed.
But Ashley won't return that robe, she wears it once more.
And Spencer rolls her eyes, but it is overwhelmingly kind, as she pulls on a pair of shorts and a tee shirt - inside out.

/ / /

And we've got hours, so many hours to fill up.

And I want to fill them all with you.

And so I do.

/ / /

END