When Felicia had sent her a telegram early in the summer, inviting her to stay a few weeks at her father's vacation home in Riva del Garda, Louise had known she would go the minute she saw the address on the envelope. Although Felicia was strong-willed, excitable, and unrepentantly silly most of the time, Louise considered her a good friend, one that it seemed she could never say no to, no matter the circumstance. Besides, a vacation from her studies did sound nice, and it would cease Julchen's complaints of, Louise, you never have any fun!, and the like.

Thoughts of sailing, dining, visiting the local art galleries, and most importantly, spending time with Felicia, filled Louise's head for the time leading up to the trip. A quiet, peaceful vacation in sunny Italy was exactly what she needed, and as eager to laze around as Felicia was, Louise assumed that her friend would have many relaxing suggestions for activities.

So on the fourth night of her stay, when she found herself sneaking out of the house with Felicia in the midst of a small group of raucous older Italian boys at an ungodly hour of the night, she knew her assumptions had been severely misguided.

Really, she should have expected something like this from Felicia. They had been drinking outside of a restaurant, relaxing and talking on the patio, when a few Italian boys came up to them. Felicia seemed to recognize them, and began talking and flirting animatedly in Italian with them for a while before turning to Louise and proclaiming, "we're going skinny-dipping." Louise, of course, balked at first, but felt strange refusing the offer, especially when Felicia was smiling so brightly and hanging off her arm and saying, "come on, come on, it'll be fun!"

And now the group was on the bank of Lake Garda, and Louise was very much regretting her decision to come with them. She told herself that the only reason she even came to begin with was so that the boys wouldn't try anything strange with Felicia, and not because she was looking forward to seeing Felicia naked and soaking wet. No, certainly not.

Then again, maybe Felicia's plan all along was to get into bed with these boys. Louise wouldn't put it past her.

Still, she did not understand how an activity like skinny-dipping with local boys was something Felicia had not only agreed to voluntarily, but apparently found great pleasure in.

Skinny-dipping, with boys or without, Louise thought in exasperation, was not an activity she herself was in any way disposed.

When she told Felicia exactly that, Felicia had laughed loudly, elbowed her in the ribs, and told her to loosen up or she would never find a boyfriend. Then she had pulled her light sundress over her head and tossed it at Louise, along with her undergarments, before skipping down into the water, leaving Louise standing in shock on the shore and wondering if her friend had any self-respect to be flagrantly displaying herself in front of so many boys.

Felicia was a notorious flirt, at least in Louise's eyes, so for her to do something like this was, she supposed, not that outrageous. But for Felicia to expect her to bare all in front of strange boys she had hardly met- now that was something Louise would not stand for, no matter how much Felicia begged her to go for a swim. Even if she felt tremendously awkward standing by herself on the bank of Lake Garda, clutching her friend's panties to her chest, she wagered that her modesty was much more important than this small inconvenience.

In the end, she opted to stay right where she was.

She sat on the shore, crossing her legs, trying to look as bored as possible, as if that would deter Felicia from waving and shouting her name from the water, trying to persuade her to take her clothes off.

"I'm fine where I am!" she shouted back, as adamantly as possible, in the hope that maybe Felicia would come out of the water and get away from those leering boys, for God's sake.

But Felicia, strong-willed as she was, was determined to get Louise in the water. She swam away from the boys, wading up the shore.

Louise saw her coming in her direction and stood, feeling a familiar twinge of heat in the vicinity of her stomach as Felicia emerged, dripping from the water.

She tried not to stare as Felicia made her way towards her, her full, shining breasts bouncing, water running off her tan skin in rivulets, collecting in her dark pubic hair and dripping off her nipples.

Louise shook herself, embarrassed.

For not the first time since she had met Felicia, Louise wondered what in the world was wrong with her, to be having such improper thoughts about a girl she considered to be her friend.

She knew. She knew what was wrong with her, but she would never admit it to herself, because Felicia liked boys—

Felicia stepped up to her, crossing her arms below her ample chest. Although Felicia was a full head shorter than her, Louise found it difficult to meet her playfully demanding gaze.

"Turn around, I'll undo your buttons," Felicia prompted, gesturing with her finger.

Surrendering, with her heart in her throat, Louise did as she instructed, and tried not to focus on the strong, wet pressure of Felicia's fingers pressing into her back as she pulled each button loose and pushed the garment off her shoulders and down her arms.

The sundress fell, pooling around her ankles, and Louise fought the urge to pick it up and fold it before it got wrinkled and dirty. Wet fingertips tickled her skin again as Felicia went as far as to unhook her brassiere, letting it snap open and join her dress on the ground.

Louise let out a startled gasp as Felicia's hardened nipples suddenly poked her in the back as the smaller girl fumbled for the edges of her panties, presumably to pull them off as well. The mere thought of the action made Louise's vulva tighten in unwelcome excitement, sending a ripple of heat through her. Embarrassed, she swatted Felicia away just as Felicia pushed a finger past the waistband. She threw-what she hoped- was a withering glare over her shoulder at Felicia, who only giggled and raised an eyebrow as Louise quickly yanked the undergarment off herself, tossing it aside.

Before Louise had time to protest her nudity, Felicia's nudity, or the whole ridiculous situation in general, Felicia had clamped her cool hand over her wrist and was dragging her towards the lake.

Amidst the whoops and whistles and crooning Italian from the boys as she and Felicia entered the water with a cacophony of splashes, Louise reminded herself that I'm doing this for Felicia, this is for Felicia.

Only for her.

The grit from the dusty, red stone road crunched under their sandals as they hurried back, hours later, to Felicia's home on the mainland. Louise did not want to hazard a guess at how late—or, more likely, how early it was.

Raucous laughter rang from a nearby house, echoing through the alleyway, making Louise start and hurry along a little faster. Felicia laughed behind her, the bright, sunny sound only making Louise more nervous.

The wooden back porch of Felicia's home squeaked loudly as they tiptoed over it, setting Louise's nerves on edge. The backdoor to the house was unlocked, as Felicia's father never locked it, and they crept inside. Louise held her breath, following Felicia though a short hallway, past the darkened kitchen and into Felicia's room.

Felicia immediately fell backwards onto her bed and started giggling hysterically, clapping her hands over her mouth to muffle the sound. Too anxious to scold her, Louise stood in the center of the room, listening for any indication that their late-night hijinks had been discovered.

The telltale sound of snoring resonated from the master bedroom, across the house. Louise released the breath she had been holding. Felicia's father was still asleep.

"Why are you standing there? What's the matter?" Felicia whispered.

"What do you think!?" Louise whispered back harshly, angry now in the wake of her anxiety, angry that she had let Felicia lead her along on another wild adventure, angry with herself because she couldn't- no, wouldn't say no to her beautiful friend because she lo-

"What? Didn't you have a good time?" was the half-serious response. Felicia's voice wavered as if she really had no idea what she had done wrong.

And she hadn't done anything wrong, Louise told herself. Felicia was a lovely, exciting, outgoing girl who thought nothing of doing foolish things and getting swept up in flings with boys that never lasted.

With Felicia, romances never lasted long.

For reasons she would not admit, that saddened Louise beyond belief, not that Felicia's romances were any of her business. So then why did she try so hard to impress her, and to- to worship her- was that too strong of a word? Was she worthy of Felicia? Was tonight all a waste? Should she have just gone back home and left Felicia with those boys to…

To do the things I wanted to do to her, was the terrible, terrible thought left hanging in Louise's mind.

"Of course not! I'm not like you!" Louise burst out instead, trying to keep her voice down and failing miserably. "You know I don't do those types of things with boys, and you didn't even consider how I felt! I don't flirt, I don't b-brazenly display myself like you do! You're the worst!"

"...You don't like me?" Felicia asked tearfully.

Of all the things- "Of course I like you, it's just, you're-" Louise trailed off. "You're too much, I think."

There was a rustling of bedsheets, and she felt Felicia's arms slide around her waist from behind. She stiffened.

"Louise?" Felicia said expectantly.

"…What?"

"You're telling me you didn't even like seeing me naked?"

"What-!" Louise whipped around, nearly elbowing Felicia in the face. "I— what!?"

"You do, don't you?" Felicia's eyes were wide and dark, staring earnestly up at Louise. "You were staring at my breasts all night. You think I didn't notice?"

Through the shock and humiliation that Felicia had discovered that she lusted after her, Louise found herself mute. What was she supposed to say to that? She could just say "no" and they could forget the whole conversation had ever happened, but at the same time, she really wanted Felicia. But then there was the whole issue of them both being women—women weren't supposed to do such things with each other. Only a man could be with a woman, and do to Felicia the things Louise dreamed about. And didn't Felicia like men?

The only answer she got was Felicia pushing her onto the bed and plopping down in her lap, fixing her with an unreadable look. An inexplicable feeling of panic pooled in Louise's stomach, and she knew she should push her off. As Louise shifted to do just that, her thigh brushed between Felicia's legs and she froze, immediately realizing that Felicia had left her underwear back at the lake. She could feel the coarse hair; the warmth of the lower lips, and a wetness—

She swallowed, feeling an uncomfortable dampness to match Felicia's soaking her panties as she looked up to meet Felicia's eyes.

Felicia was staring at her intensely. She rubbed her middle parts insistently against Louise's thigh, prompting her: touch me, touch me.

So Louise did.

Throwing her uncertainties to the wind, Louise took the hem of Felicia's sundress with shaking hands. Felicia understood, raising her arms so that Louise could gently tug it up over her head. With Felicia now naked on her lap, Louise wasn't sure how to continue, other than to toss the garment out of the way.

Luckily, Felicia seemed to know exactly what she wanted, sliding her arms around Louise's neck and kissing her full on the mouth.

Louise melted into the kiss, letting Felicia's hands wander, slipping down her neck to squeeze her breasts before flitting underneath the hem of her skirt.

This time, Louise let Felicia pull her panties off without question.

She moaned into the kiss as the panties were peeled from her body, soaked and sticky from her pre-ejaculate, the cool air hitting her aching clit.

The fabric was rolled down her knees, and Felicia's fingers were immediately where the panties had been seconds before, prodding and teasing Louise's clit with two fingers before slipping them between the lips of her cunt.

Louise mewled against her friend's neck, biting her lip as Felicia buried her middle and index fingers as far as they would go inside her, before withdrawing them with a squelch, repeating the motion over and over, faster and faster until Louise was panting, vaguely embarrassed by the slick, wet noises her juices were making as Felicia thrust her fingers in and out of her. It wasn't long before Louise's orgasm washed over her, hard and electrifying, and she shuddered against Felicia's chest, her breath catching in her throat.

She recovered slowly, hot tremors running through her body as Felicia's fingers slowed their pace, and eventually withdrew altogether. Distractedly, Louise ran her hands over Felicia's breasts, cupping them, squeezing them, admiring the way the moonlight shone off her bronze nipples. She lay Felicia back on the bed, straddling her, so she could give those soft, heavy breasts more attention.

"Do you like my tits, Louise?" Felicia asked with a breathless giggle. Her breathing got heavier, hotter against Louise's cheek as her nipples were lightly pinched and rolled between eager fingers. She moaned when Louise took her breasts in both hands and squeezed, flicking her tongue lightly over the tips of her nipples.

Felicia eventually grew tired of the teasing, and she slung a leg over Louise's hip and thrust her own hips up again and again expectantly. When Louise didn't respond, except to continue kneading her breasts, Felicia spoke:

"Louiiiiise…" she whined. "I don't want to have to touch myself."

Louise lifted her head from Felicia's breast with a final suck of a pert nipple. "Oh," she said, understanding; leaning back and drawing her fingers down Felicia's flat stomach, running them through the curls at the V of her thighs. Felicia watched the fingers intently as they parted the hair, pushing between her folds and against her clit.

Louise bore down on the hardened nub with her thumb, massaging the area in quick circles, sinking her index finger into the wet, silky warmth of Felicia's cunt and rubbing her relentlessly. Felicia keened, lifting her hips so she could ride Louise's fingers as they were thrust inside her. When she came, it was with a soft whine and a final, desperate grind of her hips, impaling herself on Louise's fingers.

Louise was not certain how many times they pleasured each other that morning. All she knew was that Felicia was insatiable, clinging to her neck, rubbing herself against Louise's thigh until Louise gave in and buried her face in Felicia's cunt, fervently eating her out until she came, whimpering Louise's name every time. Then, in return, Felicia would climb on top of her, reach down and finger her until Louise did the same, Felicia's name spilling from her lips as the pleasure became too intense to bear.

Sometime later, Felicia finally tired herself out and fell asleep, entwining their limbs, her deep, rhythmic breaths tickling Louise's neck. Louise found that, even after all the excitement of the night and early morning, she couldn't sleep. There was a tightness in her chest, a hot, welling twinge of something that was keeping her awake. When dawn finally broke, the orange rays spilling onto the surface of the lake and into Felicia's room, Louise understood what she was feeling:

Love, yes, she would admit that now. However, she felt she had known long ago that she loved Felicia. For the moment, the strongest emotion Louise felt was triumph; an overwhelming sense of pride, that, for at least a few blissful, passionate hours, boys were the absolute last thing on Felicia's mind.