I woke up still wrapped around her.
Emily was facing me, arm tucked under her pillow, her lips slightly parted. I watched her sleep for a while, eyes soft, chest rising and falling against mine. She looked peaceful. Not embarrassed. Not distant.
I felt it too.
Peace. And something else.
Something like pride.
We didn't panic when we woke. We didn't scramble apart or pretend nothing had happened. We just… smiled at each other. Kissed once, softly. Got dressed. Brushed our teeth side by side like we'd been doing it forever.
Class was just another part of the day. We sat together as always, but now when our knees bumped under the desk, neither of us pulled away. When our hands touched as we passed a pen, we let them linger.
Between lectures, we walked slowly. No rush. The early autumn breeze tangled through Emily's hair and left strands across her face. I brushed one behind her ear and she caught my wrist for a second, fingers curling softly around it.
"I still can't believe last night happened," she whispered.
I smiled. "I can. I've thought about it all day."
Her cheeks flushed—not with embarrassment, but something gentler. Happier.
At lunch, we found a quiet table by the window. Leaves drifted past outside, brushing across the glass like lazy thoughts. We shared fries, picked at each other's sandwiches, and laughed at the awful playlist echoing through the student café.
Emily leaned her chin on her palm and looked at me, really looked.
"I thought this would be weird," she said. "But it's not."
"It's the opposite," I murmured.
She nodded. "I feel more like myself today than I have in weeks."
That hit me in a way I didn't expect. I reached across the table and took her hand, weaving our fingers together in full view of whoever might look.
I didn't care.
She didn't either.
We didn't name what we were yet. But something had settled between us—mutual, steady, real. And we both knew it wasn't going away.
Not regret.Not confusion.
Just us.Exactly as we were.
We were still holding hands across the table when someone passed by just behind Emily. I didn't pay attention at first—just another guy weaving through the crowded café—but then something in the tilt of his head, the curve of his jaw, clicked.
My grip on Emily's hand tightened.
She looked up at me."What?"
I nodded past her.
She turned—and her lips parted when she saw him.
Jason Marrow.
The guy from our seminar group chat. Always sending links, always talking over people, always laughing too loud at his own jokes. The same guy who sent that video.
The one that changed everything.
He didn't see us yet. He was halfway through a wrap, phone in the other hand, scrolling as he headed toward the exit.
I narrowed my eyes.
Emily glanced at me with a crooked little smile. She turned her body just slightly, lifting her hand in a small, casual wave.
Jason slowed.
His eyes flicked up, confused at first—then caught hers.
I watched his expression shift, that dumb smirk faltering into curiosity.
Emily didn't drop her smile.
She tilted her head a little, then crooked two fingers in a slow, deliberate motion—come here.
He blinked.
Then started walking toward us.
And I just leaned back in my chair, heart steady, fingers still laced with Emily's beneath the table.
Let's see what he wants.
Or…what we do.
Jason reached our table, still chewing the last bite of his wrap. He looked from Emily to me, eyes flicking between our expressions like he was trying to read the temperature.
Emily didn't move her hand from mine under the table.
She smiled—sweet, casual, almost innocent.
"Hey," she said lightly. "Got a second?"
Jason raised a brow. "Uh, sure."
He looked amused. Clueless.
Emily tilted her head slightly.
"So… that video you sent in the group chat yesterday."
He blinked. Then laughed—short and sheepish.
"Oh. That."
"Did you send it on purpose?" she asked, voice playful. "Or was that just your laptop catching malware and auto-posting lesbian porn?"
I smirked, biting the inside of my cheek.
Jason chuckled. "Nah, that was me. Definitely me."
He looked between us, clearly trying to gauge how much trouble he was in.
"Honestly," he added, shrugging, "I just thought it'd be funny. Group chat was dead, y'know? Thought I'd spice it up a little. No harm meant."
He held up both hands in mock surrender.
"Hope you liked it, though."
I glanced at Emily, who was still smiling. Calm. Steady.She didn't blink.
"Oh, we did," she said.
Jason froze for a beat.
I just sipped my drink.
His grin flickered, then came back a little more forced.
"So… we good? No hard feelings?"
Emily looked at me.I nodded, just once.
"We're good," I said.
Jason shifted his weight a little, hands slipping into the pockets of his jeans. He was trying to stay confident, but there was a flicker of hesitation behind his grin now—like part of him sensed there was something just under the surface, and he couldn't decide if it excited him or made him nervous.
"So… what are you two up to later?" he asked, trying to sound offhanded.
Emily glanced at me.
I shrugged slightly. "We haven't really planned anything."
"Yeah," Emily said, drawing her finger in lazy circles on the edge of her cup. "No real agenda."
Jason nodded. "Cool, cool…"
A beat passed.
Then—
"Wanna hang out? Few of us are grabbing drinks at the pub across from campus tonight. Just beers and vibes, nothing big."
He looked at Emily as he said it. Then at me. Then back at her again.
I watched him closely.
He had no idea.
The way he was standing there—shoulders relaxed, casual grin—he thought he was tossing out an innocent invite.
But I could feel the flicker in his voice. The angle forming in his mind. Maybe it was just a fantasy. Maybe it was a guess. But something about the way we looked at each other had clicked for him.
Emily didn't answer right away.
She looked at me again, lips parted slightly, as if letting me decide.
I raised an eyebrow. "You feel like going?"
She smiled. "Could be fun."
Then she turned back to Jason and said,
"Maybe. Text us later."
Jason gave a little mock salute and stepped back, clearly pleased with himself.
"Will do. See you girls around."
He walked off.
Emily watched him leave, then slowly turned her head to look at me.
"He has no idea," she whispered.
I grinned, leaned in, and murmured back,
"Let's keep it that way."
We left the café without saying much.
There was nothing we needed to say.
The sun was starting to dip, casting long shadows across the campus sidewalks. The wind had that early-autumn bite, the kind that made you want to wrap up in someone else's warmth—and I already had mine.
Emily's shoulder brushed mine with every few steps. Her hand drifted close to mine, fingers grazing now and then, and when I finally threaded them together, she gave a little squeeze.
The moment our dorm door closed behind us, we both dropped our bags and fell into bed without a word.
We lay on our sides, facing each other. Shoes still on. Coats not even off. Just... flopped down like two girls who belonged exactly here, tangled in this quiet, shared gravity.
I shifted closer. She met me halfway.
Our legs overlapped easily, like they'd done it a thousand times. My arm slipped around her waist. Hers curled around my shoulder.
She kissed the tip of my nose.
I kissed her chin.
Tiny, unhurried kisses followed—her cheekbone, the corner of my mouth, my temple. Lazy and soft, nothing urgent. Just skin and warmth and breath.
"You smell like fries," I whispered, smiling.
"You smell like trouble," she whispered back, kissing my neck.
I laughed, and she buried her face there for a moment, humming low.
That's when her phone lit up beside us with a short bleep.
Emily groaned and reached for it without lifting her head.
"Jason," she muttered.
I watched her eyes scan the message.
"He says they're heading to the pub in about an hour. Wants to know if we're coming."
She glanced at me.
"So," she said, smirking just slightly, "we going?"
I rolled onto my back and sighed up at the ceiling, letting the question hang in the air.
Did I want to go?
The idea of loud music, cold beer, and watching Jason try to figure us out from across the table suddenly felt kind of... fun.
"Yeah," I said, turning to grin at her. "Let's go."
She lit up. Then leaned down and kissed me sweet and slow.
"Shower first?"
"Together?"
"Oh God, yes!"
I grabbed her hand and tugged her off the bed.
"Then come on."
She laughed—and we headed to the bathroom, already tugging at each other's shirts like we couldn't quite wait for the water.