“Are you crying?”

“No.” Erika replied as she tried to stop the prickling heat in the corner of her eyes turning into tears.

“You are too. That ending was sooooo passé” Jo threw a cushion, catching Erika straight in the face. She threw the cushion straight back at Jo.

“Just because I’m sensitive and you have a cold heart”

“Do not.”

“Do too. You are so emotionally stilted you laugh at children when they fall over.”

“I love slapstick” Jo grinned

Erika threw a new cushion at Jo but Jo was too quick. She pulled up the duvet to act as a shield. Erika threw another as Jo emerged, the second one caught her by surprise. Erika burst out laughing.

“Who has a cold heart now.”

“Oh please.” Erika rolled her eyes.

Jo dived under the duvet and started to burrow her way over, as she reached Erika’s leg she started to scrabble away at it. Erika was exquisitely ticklish, which Jo knew of course, quickly any pretence that this was anything other than a tickle attack evaporated as Jo started to assault Erika’s sides and arm pits.

“No… no.. no. nonononononono” Erika was growing in hysteria, which only spurred Jo on, she knew she just had to breathe deeply and maintain control. She breathed deeply, held it, let it out and breathed again.

“You can’t control this.” Jo increased the ferocity of her attack.

Erika realised she was right. She grabbed the edges of the duvet and started to apply tension across it, restricting Jo’s movements. The fierceness of the tickling started to decrease, Erika applied more and more pressure, until Jo was completely constricted in duvet.

“I win, you lose”

“Can’t… breathe…” Jo struggled feebly

“Stop being silly of course you can.”

“Can’t…” Erika heard Jo’s faint gasp through the duvet

“You can’t trick me Joanna”

Jo didn’t reply, instead she lay there motionlessly. Erika knew she was messing around, she would quit the joke in a minute. Erika prodded Jo’s head, it moved limply. She was a good actor.

Jo’s head was resting on Erika’s leg, so she started to bounce it up and down, there was no reaction.

“Jo? Stop messing.” There was no reply. Panicked Erika pulled the cover back

Jo blew a raspberry. “I win!”

Erika threw the duvet back over Jo’s face. “errgh”

Jo pulled it off her face again. “I love you Erika”

“Your hair looks stupid.” It did, it was a mess. Jo blew another raspberry. “let’s have children”

Shock covered Jo’s face. “What?”

“nothing” Erika was also taken aback by what she had said.

Jo was now out of the covers, crossed leg bolt upright. “You said ‘let’s have children’”

Erika blushed “Sorry, I… I dunno… the moment seemed right, I just had a moment of total love and…”

“OK. 2” Jo pounced on Erika

“5”

“5? No 2”

“4?”

“3”

“5”

“Fine 4. 2 each. Let’s do this.”