It had been a long day, Anne’s feet and hands were icy and her gloves were soaked through. The girls had all met up in town for coffee again, all excitedly talking about Christmas this time Kelly hadn’t come, she was actually hangin out with her own friends. They had done a secret santa as they had for many years and exchanged small gifts, many of them hand made.

After the coffee shop they had visited an art gallery, something Abby had virtually had to blackmail them into. It had been surprisingly fun, in Anne’s opinion none of the art had been as good as Abby’s work. Especially the ongoing piece she was doing. It had taken a lot of courage to pose naked but the picture of her back silhouetted at the window was turning out beautifully. She still wasn't sure if she wanted anyone else to see it though.

It had taken a surprisingly long time to walk around the gallery, the place was a maze filled with paintings, textiles and sculpture and they had paused numerous times to discuss, and sometimes laugh at, the art exhibits. There were a number which Anne swore must have been done by five year olds, the price tags underneath however said otherwise!

“You should get your paintings in here.” Anne had suggested, “Look at this, two thousand! And it's awful!”

Abby had just laughed, “They don't exhibit teenagers' work here. You have to be an actual artist.” she had said, not relenting when Anne insisted she was better than most of these ‘artists’.

“Nah, the best I could do is a coffee shop wall. Perhaps I could talk to Lucia’s friend.” she paused, obviously considering the idea. “I would need to do some generic stuff, most of my recent work has been pictures of you.”

This caused Anne to blush.

On the way out Abby had stopped to buy a book, “Photography?” Anne asked her, “Are you wanting to get into that?” The book was titled, ‘Photography, beyond auto’.

“Well, dad has an old SLR camera that he says I can use and there's a whole term on photography and developing film this year in art, I want to get ahead.” she explained.

“Dad’s got an old Fuji digital SLR that he hardly uses. I'm sure he wouldn't mind me borrowing it, I think it would be cool to take some arty shots. Perhaps we could have a photography date?” Anne suggested.

“You might have to read my new book!” Abby teased.

“We could read it together, like we did with the homework. I liked that.” Anne suggested, biting her lip. Abby just smiled and led her outside.

The other girls were waiting impatiently for them outside in the thick snow, “How about we go to the park and build a snowman?” Heather had suggested. This was why Anne’s fingers now felt like they would fall off.

The snowman had grown to be about seven feet tall with four balls of decreasing size. Heather and Mae had insisted on singing ‘Do you want to build a snowman?’ constantly, even with the other girls trying to persuade them to try other songs. Jo in particular did a hauntingly beautiful verse from ‘Walking in the air’ which echoed off the surrounding hills.

“Abby, can we go home? I’m freezing.” Anne eventually asked her girlfriend, shivering and stomping her feet.

“Yeah, sure. We’ll just say goodbye.” She said, wandering over to the other girls who were carving details into the huge snowman.

The girls all tried to get them to stay, insisting they could go back to the coffee shop or somewhere else to get warm but Abby was thinking about snuggling into bed with a hot water bottle and a book so she declined.

On the bus ride home they cuddled in for warmth, eliciting smiles from a couple of old women riding the bus. Anne briefly wondered how some old people could be so accepting of gay relationships before realising they probably just didnt associate girls hugging with lesbian relationships.

They were warming up a little by the time the bus pulled into their stop. The heaters had been on full blast at their feet and Anne was getting pins and needles as the blood flow returned.

“Come on, let's run.” Abby said, dragging Annes hand. “It will warm you up.”

Anne reluctantly broke into a run, covering the short distance to Abby’s house quickly. “I really hope your dad has the fire going.” she said, blowing on her fingers as Abby fumbled the keys with gloved hands.

“Nope, they're both out.” She got the door unlocked and stomped the snow off her boots before stepping into the dark house.

“We do have loads of hot water bottles and wheat bags though.” she said, pulling off her gloves and then removing her jacket and boots. “Man, my trousers are soaked too.”

Anne shuffled in and closed the door, having kicked the snow off her own shoes. She paused in taking her jacket off as Abby started stripping her trousers off. She was captivated by how cute her girlfriend looked in just her jumper and undies.

“Come on, stop perving and get out of those wet things!” Abby said, kicking her back into gear.

She took off her outdoor clothes and paused before deciding to also remove her socks and trousers.

Abby smiled, it looked a little predatory to Anne but she just took her wet things and carried them through the kitchen to the drier.

“Come on, there's a heated floor in the kitchen, it's lovely on your feet.” Abby beckoned.

She stood uncomfortably, hands in front of her undies as Abby busied herself boiling the kettle and microwaving the wheat packs.

“What's got you all shy?” Abby asked, noticing how she was standing. “It's not like I haven't seen you in your underwear before.”

“I don't know. It just seems… different.” Anne said, unsure herself why she felt so awkward.

Abby shrugged and turned back to the microwave, pulling out and tossing a wheat bag to Anne. She caught it and juggled it hand to hand, waiting for it to cool down enough to hold.

“You can go snuggle up in my bed if you like, I’ll be up as soon as the kettle boils.” Abby suggested, wrapping her own wheat bag in a tea towel. “Want tea? There should be enough water.”

Anne said yes to the tea and then wandered up to Abby’s room. She paused before she got under the covers, worrying her lower lip, then decided to be brave and took off her jumper. Hopping into bed in just her underwear she pushed the wheat bag down to her feet and lay there in a fetal position shivering.

It seemed like forever before Abby came up carrying a tray. She set it down on her chest of drawers and handed Anne two hot water bottles before taking the book and mugs and setting them on her bedside table.

When she got into the bed she noticed Annes jumper on the floor, “Ooh, we’re doing that are we?” she said cheekily and striped her top and bra off.

Anne’s breath stuck in her throat and her eyes widened.

“Right enough they are a bit cold!” Abby said, rubbing her breasts and then hugging the wheat pack to her chest and shivering. “Budge up.”

Anne realised she was holding her breath and forced herself to breath whilst scooting back in the bed. She reached behind herself and unhooked her bra, pulling it out from the covers and discretely dropping it at the other side of the bed. She then hugged a hot water bottle to her chest, its furry cover tickling her bare skin.

Abby got in the bed, sitting upright and kicking the bottle down to her feet. “Well, sit up, you can't drink tea lying down.”

Anne scooted upwards, clutching the duvet to her chest. “Here you go, I added lemon and honey. I hope that's okay?”

Anne nodded, not trusting herself to speak, she was exceedingly nervous, in bed with her girlfriend in a house with no adults she felt something had to happen.

They sipped the tea, not saying much, it was delicious and the mug warmed their hands nicely. Once they finished Abby took the mugs and set them on the bedside table.

“How do you want to do this? The way we did it last time would leave me out of the covers and all cold!” Abby asked.

Anne didn't answer, just scooted over and put her head in the crook of Abby’s arm, resting on her shoulder. “Right, that should work.” Abby agreed, opening the book.

Anne was glad, so far she had avoided baring herself to Abby today, for some reason she just felt extremely shy.

As they read Abby hand came to rest on top of Anne’s breast, the covers the only thing separating them.

The book was short with many pictures illustrating the effects of focus and aperture and various other settings. When they were almost finished reading the book Anne noticed the page droop towards the bed. She glanced at Abby and realised her friend had fallen asleep reading. Not wanting to disturb her she nestled her head down into her girlfriends shoulder and draped her arm softly across her stomach, enjoying the unobstructed feel of her girlfriends skin. Within seconds she too fell asleep.

Anne woke to find her hand had moved in her sleep and now she had a hard nipple poking between her fingers. She lay, listening, trying to decide whether Abby’s parents had gotten home yet. As she did Abby smiled, “Mind if I move my hand to a similar place?” she asked without opening her eyes. When Anne made a little noise of acceptance she moved her hand from outside the cover to underneath, the cold skin of her arm from being outside the covers was a slight shock and Anne tensed up. Abby didn't move a muscle until she felt Anne relax.

“You okay?” she asked, nervously.

“Mmm hmm.” Anne replied meekly.

“We don't have to do anything if you don't want to.” she assured her.

“No, I...I do, just...perhaps what you said that night. You know, when I told you about Jo’s suggestion?” Anne trailed off into a whisper.

“Hmm, really? That would be pretty hot.” Abby agreed, rolling over to give her girlfriend a kiss. “You sure?”

Anne nodded and came in for a deeper kiss, her hands roaming more freely on her girlfriend's body.

They kissed and fumbled for a while, enjoying the new level of intimacy before Anne broke off. She looked at Abby and nodded, Abby returned the nod, fingers disappearing into her own underwear.

Abby was getting fairly into it when she noticed Anne was frowning, “Are you okay?” she asked.

“You look like you're enjoying it, keep going.” Anne insisted but the moment was lost.

“No, what's wrong?” Abby asked again, concerned for her friend.

“I just… it's meant to… I don't know, it just isn't doing anything.” Anne admitted, tears forming in her eyes.

“Oh Anne, come here!” Abby said, pulling her into a hug.

“There’s something wrong with me!” Anne sobbed into her girlfriend's bare shoulder.

“No! There's nothing wrong, Anne, there's nothing wrong, hear me?” Abby was rubbing circles on her back. “You like kissing right? And the touching? You like touching dont you?” Anne nodded into her shoulder, tears running freely down her face. “Well, perhaps you just don't like doing it yourself?” Anne sniffed and shrugged. “Perhaps next time we just... keep going? See what happens?” Anne sniffed again and nodded.

Abby held her until the tears stopped. “Shall we get cleaned up and go down stairs? Perhaps some chocolate will make things seem better? I've got that Terry's Chocolate Orange that mum bought me for christmas.”

Anne nodded and hugged her tightly before letting go. Abby snuck a little kiss, her lips tasted salty from the tears and then pulled her up out of the bed. “Come on, put your clothes on, you can borrow some pyjama bottoms.”