I woke up warm and comfortable. With the clock reading five fifty-three I decided to go back to sleep. I snuggled deeper into the duvet and my hand touched something warm and soft. I pulled back quickly and rolled over.

Laura's sleeping face greeted me, her soft black hair falling across it. Her eyes were closed, she looked peaceful and absolutely beautiful.

I felt confusion nudge at the back of my brain. What was she doing in my bed?

My mind went back to the night before and I vaguely remembered her coming into my room saying something about a nightmare. I must have let her sleep here.

My heart raced as I looked at her, I couldn't help it, she was too gorgeous! My gaze fell upon her slightly open mouth. Her breathing was soft and light and her lips plump and a light pink colour. They looked soft and I found myself wondering what they tasted like.

I even moved closer to her and tilted my head to gain better access. Then I caught myself and pulled back, my thoughts spinning.

I had wanted to kiss her... I had wanted to kiss her!

That was normal, wasn't it? Everyone felt attracted to beautiful women... didn't they?

The crystal had chosen her so this was to be expected, I was supposed to want to kiss her, hell, I was supposed to fall in love with her!

Apprehension sat in the bottom of my stomach, mixing with the darts of happiness and the warmth of safety. Love was a long way off yet, nothing to worry about for a while. That though settled me and I turned away from Laura and closed my eyes.

I was drifting off when a hand touched my hip. I was instantly awake as the fingers rubbed gently against my skin, creating goosebumps. The warmth penetrated me, filling me with happiness and content. I tensed as Laura slid her other arm under me and pulled my body against hers.

I stiffened even further then slowly relaxed as I realized her breathing was still deep and even, she was fast asleep.

Her body moulded against mine, fitting so perfectly against my own it felt as though we'd been made for each other.

I lay perfectly still, just enjoying the feeling of her chest rising and falling against my back and the slight tickling of her breath against my neck. It acted like a lullaby and I slowly sank back into the depths of sleep.

***

The next time I woke the deep, evenly spaced breathing had been replaced with soft, light breaths which indicated she was awake. Another clue was the way her heart was racing, I could feel it pounding like a drum against my back. Her arm was still under me but the hand that had held my hip was gone.

I lay perfectly still, trying to control my breathing so it sounded as though I was still asleep and not savouring the warmth of her body and the softness of her skin.

I must have given some sign that I wasn't still deep in my sleep as she pulled her arm out from under me and whispered:

"I know you're awake, and I'm sorry about that, I don't know what happened. I swear I didn't mean it, I just woke up and we were like that, and I tried to pull away from you but you were asleep and I didn't want to-" I breathed in deeply, gathering my courage. Then I rolled over and pressed a finger to her lips. She stopped mid-babble and I smiled.

"Don't be sorry... I-" My face burned red and I wanted nothing more than to run away, but I wanted to get it out. "I- I didn't mind, I- liked it..." I trailed off and hid my face in my pillow, wishing the ground would open and swallow me.

"You liked it?" She whispered then I felt her cool hand on my face. Her other hand joined it and they cupped my face, pulling my head out of it's safety blanket. "Do you mean that?"

I nodded and turned my eyes away from her.

"Look at me." She whispered and with supreme effort I met her gaze. Her eyes dropped to my lips and her thumb gently rubbed one. I breathed in sharply and my heart fluttered uncontrollably.

She came closer, her almost brown eyes soothing any of my qualms. Her head tilted a little and I wondered if I should close my eyes.

Then she bit her lip and pulled back.

"Sorry." She said and climbed out the bed.

I watched her go with a racing heart and a tangle of disappointment. Why hadn't she kissed me? Had I done something to put her off me? Or was I just imagining it?

I sighed and lay back, what was wrong with me? Obsessing over her, imagining she was going to kiss me when clearly she wasn't. I groaned and hit myself on the head, over and over, saying:

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" With each smack.

"Are you okay?" Laura asked and I jumped, I hadn't heard her come in. My face flared bright red and I wanted to hide again.

"Yeah."

"Uh, good... I was wondering if I could use your shower."

"Sure." I said, pulling myself up. "It's three doors down on the left, towels are in there and you can use any shampoo you find."

She left and I groaned and buried my head in the pillow.

When I emerged from my room, dressed and over my earlier embarrassment, Laura was drying her hair with her towel. Thankfully she was dressed or I might have fainted as even the sight of her normally made me giddy.

"You can use a hairdryer if you want." I told her and she nodded without meeting my eyes. I sighed and went to get some food.

The kitchen was empty and I ate toast alone with a heavy heart. As I was cleaning my plate Laura appeared in the doorway and asked if she could have bacon.

The smell of it frying brought Tara, Jarrod and Anne down from their bedrooms. Anne took one look at Laura and sneered.

"When did she get here?" She demanded.

"Last night." I said and Anne snorted.

"Can't get peace in my own home, figures!" She snapped and Laura looked very uncomfortable. I stood behind her placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't pay any attention to her," I whispered and she nodded.

"Oh yes, ignore the crazy woman in the corner, mum's been telling everyone to do that lately. Maybe I just see your true colours and you don't like it!" Anne said.

"Leave her alone." Laura said coldly.

"Oh-ho-ho." Anne chuckled, "annoying your girlfriend am I?" Laura gritted her teeth but didn't answer. "So what are you doing here? Scared of the dark?"

"Stop it Anne." I said, "I know you're hurting but there's no need to take it out on us."

"I'm not hurting!" She spat and stormed out the room. The four of us sat, and stood, in silence for a minute then I went to my seat.

"Sorry about that." I said to Laura, "she's not in a good place right now."

Laura stared at her hands and didn't answer. I didn't bother her. I could tell she wanted to think, I got like that sometimes.

"Can we go out somewhere?" Tara asked and I said we could.

When everyone had eaten we, Tara, Laura and I, got into Laura's car and drove. None of us knew where to go so we just kept going until we reached the coast.

It was clear but there was a strong wind so there was no one on the beach, apart from us. The three of us walked along it slowly, Tara holding my hand at first then ditching me because Laura had funnier stories.

I walked a little behind them, smiling as I saw Tara laugh happily and hug Laura. No one had been able to do that since Harry and it made me happy to see that Tara liked her.

We walked a little way further, until a small coffee shop came into view. Tara bounced back to me, pulling Laura by the hand, and asked if we could get ice cream.

I said that it was probably too cold but Laura fought on Tara's side and how could I resist both of them?

We went in and a small silver bell tinkled bringing out a small, plump woman who had a wild mop of curly black hair.

"Hi there." She said, "what can I get you?"

"Can we get an ice-cream, a black coffee and- what do you want babe?" Laura asked turning to me. I stared into her eyes, my heart welling because of what she'd just said. "What do you want?" She repeated and I smiled at her sweetly, not hearing a word she was saying.

She'd used a form of endearment! That meant she was fond of me, or at least comfortable with me.

"Lilly!" Laura said sharply and I jolted back to reality.

"A cappuccino please." I smiled at the woman and she nodded, smiled back, and spun around to the kitchen. We sat at a small table next to the window so we could watch the waves.

The café was small but cozy with circular, wooden table and worn wooden chairs which had small but plump cushions on them. The floor was completely hidden beneath rugs of all shapes and colours. The walls, in comparison, were fitted with shelves which had next to nothing on them, apart from the occasional huge shell or beautiful trinket.

The view would be great on a nice day but the clouds were moving in now and it had started to rain. The sea was being rained on and it was an odd sight, one that hypnotized me for a while. Every drop caused a ripple over the water which would hit another ripple and create a whirlpool which would do nothing.

I was distracted by the woman bustling over with an ice-cream tub and two mugs of coffee. I thanked her and informed her that we didn't want anything else, sending her over to the till, where she picked up a magazine and proceeded to read it.

Tara sat silently, picking at the skin around her nail not even looking at her ice-cream. I watched her anxiously, hoping she was all right. I'd completely forgotten she was in the room when Anne and I were arguing so I hadn't noticed how quiet she'd gotten then. I remembered now however, and took her hand in mine, hoping that wasn't the reason for her silence.

"What's wrong honey?"

"Nothing." Tara said and pulled her hand from mine. I exchanged and anxious glance with Laura and she tried.

"You know you can tell us anything." She said and Tara looked up at her with tear filled eyes.

"Really?"

"Of course honey." I said, rubbing her back gently, "what is it?"

"It's Anne." Tara voiced my worst fear. "She used to be so nice and kind to everyone but now she's so nasty! She pushed me into a wall this morning when we were going to breakfast because I got in the way." She started to cry. "She hates me."

"Oh no baby," I wrapped my arms around her, "she doesn't hate you."

"Yes she does!" Tara wailed and pushed me away.

"She's just upset about losing the baby." I said.

"She isn't upset! When you're upset you cry, you don't- go crazy!" Tara yelled leaping out her seat.

"Everyone shows that they're upset in different ways." I explained patiently and reached for her, but she leaped out of my reach.

"You don't understand!" She screamed and ran out the shop.

"Tara!" I shouted after her but the door slammed closed and she was gone. "Tara!" I yelled again and ran after her. Laura was right behind me and we raced out the shop.

"You need to pay for that you know!" The woman bellowed after us but we didn't stop.

Tara was out of sight behind a large cliff and we raced after her, legs pumping. Laura quickly overtook me, her karate training making her much more in shape than me. Soon she too had disappeared, weaving through the rocks.

I kept running, at my own pace and eventually rounded a sand dune to almost fall over Tara and Laura who were huddled together. Tara smiled up at me, all traces of her earlier sadness gone. I sent a questioning look in Laura's direction as we walked back, Tara bouncing ahead.

"I'm good with kids." She shrugged, her wet hair was sticking to her face, some of it sticking up in tufts, making her look like a half drowned cat.

"Come here." I said and reached out to try and dry it with my sleeve, "why didn't you bring a jacket?"

"It's still on my chair in the café." She said, her voice oddly strained. I glanced at her and saw her eyes fixed on my breasts. They were practically in her face as she was taller than me and I had to stretch to reach the top of her head.

"Sorry." I immediately stepped back but she captured her face in my hands and leaned in. My breath caught in my throat, would she pull away this time?

She came so close that her face became blurred and I could feel her breath on my skin. I moved closer, so close I could feel the heat from her skin, our lips only millimeters away from touching.

"Lilly! Laura!" Tara shouted, "what's taking you guy's so long?"

She sighed and pulled away, brushing my cheek gently before walking away.

"Fuck!" I muttered, hating the world in that moment.

***

The drive home was quiet, Tara slept soundly in the back, worn out from all the running.

Laura drove in silence and I sat beside her staring out the window, not wanting to say anything in case my voice woke Tara up.

I felt something touch my thigh and my heart began to slam. The fingers rubbed circles in my jeans the heat feeling as though it burned through the fabric and into my skin. Her fingers crept higher and I had to force my breathing to remain even.

After five long, torturous minutes I pushed her hand off me and put it onto the wheel.

"Keep both hands on the wheel." I whispered and she chuckled softly.

"What if I don't want to."

"I don't care what you want, I don't want you to crash this car so you are going to drive responsibly or I'll kick you out the car and drive myself."

"You'd kick me out of my own car?" She asked and I nodded, laughing at the pout that followed.

"I'd get the police on you."

"I'd tell them you were driving irresponsibly with a minor in the car." I countered and she sat silently searching for something to retort with but apparently coming up empty.

"I can't think of anything." She admitted and I laughed. "Shut up." She said and hit me on the shoulder.

"Hey!" I moaned and pushed her.

"I'm driving here!" She said, "do you want to crash?"

"You're such a bitch!"

"Don't curse at a teacher, I'll give you detention!"

"Oh, I'm scared." I said mockingly.

"You should be, there's no knowing what I'll do."

"I think I can write a few lines."

"Who said anything about lines." She asked, winking at me. My heart sped up and I felt a jolt of arousal. She was slowly killing me.

Thankfully we parked outside the house and Tara woke so she couldn't tease me any further. We went into the house and found everyone in the kitchen, eating curry.

We'd stopped at a restaurant on the way back and didn't need any food so Laura and I went to my room and Tara to hers.

That night she didn't even make an excuse, just climbed under the sheets beside me and fell asleep with her arms around me.