"What is it? Who is calling you?" Kiara asked with a worried expression.

"I don't actually know." I replied, putting the phone on the bed between us and sitting down.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"There's this number and they've been messaging me weird things. I blocked them today and now they are calling with a new number," I said, looking down.

"What kind of weird things?" She asked, reaching out and taking my hand in hers.

"Just creepy stuff, very stalkerish. I'm not sure what to do," I replied, looking down at her finger running along the back of my hand.

"Is it bad enough that we can call the police?" She asked.

"I don't think so, they haven't actually threatened me. I wish I knew who it was," I sighed. My phone stopped ringing and I saw it light up with a new text message.

Unknown: That was not very nice to block me Leilani.

Kiara read the message and said, "They know your name?"

I looked into her eyes and nodded. I could feel tears starting to form, so I turned and looked at Biscuit lounging on the carpet. Kiara put her hand on my shoulder and pulled me to her. I hugged her back and we sat like that for a few moments.

"I'll stay with you tonight," she said.

"Thank you," I said. I picked up my phone and turned it off, "Better safe than sorry."

We sprawled out onto my bed and talked for hours that night. Kiara played with Biscuit a lot, to both their delight. I felt myself liking Kiara even more and I said so a few times. We kissed a lot too, getting to know each other personally and intimately.

Around 2am we were laying in bed together cuddling. I had changed into pajamas and Kiara had borrowed some of my clothes. She looked so good in my college tshirt and I told her so. She asked me questions about my family and I told her about my older sister who joined the army after she got her medical degree and was the successful one of the siblings. She pushed to know more about my younger brother who was still in college in the midwest studying theatre and wanted to know if he was interested in dance. I told her about his love of Shakespeare and his clear dislike of singing and dancing.

We talked about my parents, my mother who was a typical soccer mom for me, showing up to all the games with seventeen chairs and a million orange slices. My dad was always there too, but usually late working on his latest work project at his engineering job. She opened up about her family too telling me about growing up as an only child with her two dogs that were treated as siblings.

After we talked about our families, the conversation shifted to talking about some of our past relationship history. I could feel it coming as we talked and I was slightly nervous knowing I'd have to reveal some not so great things.

"So what was your most impactful relationship?" Kiara asked me, my head on her chest. Biscuit curled up against my side trying to be close to us.

"In college, I dated this guy Carter. We were together for nearly two years. He made me happy, but as time went on we just stopped spending time together. He got involved with this fraternity, made new friends, and we began to grow apart. I then met someone else through classes, her name was Michelle. I found myself attracted to her and ended up leaving Carter to be with her," I replied.

"What was so impactful about her?" Kiara asking, prompting the story further.

"She was fire and ice, everything I loved and everything I hated. Our relationship was short-lived, but it taught me so much about what I wanted in a partner. And it definitely taught me what I didn't want. She knew how to push my buttons, but she made things feel so real and deep when we were together. She was devastated when I eventually broke it off and threatened to kill herself. I remember calling the police and she was put on 72 hour suicide watch. I never heard from her after that and she never returned to school," I finished.

"Intense," Kiara responded, "thanks for telling me all that."

I turned over and put my chin on her chest. She looked at me with her eyebrows raised. I asked her, "So same question to you my dear, what was your most impactful relationship?"

"Her name was Izzy. We met three years ago through mutual friends. We were still in school and she was fiercely independent, which was a huge turn-on at first. But then I wouldn't hear from her for days at a time. We eventually moved in together after graduation and I found out she was telling people how unhappy she was with me moving in with her. But she never told me, so I confronted her. We ended things pretty quickly after that and I moved into the house with my friends. There was also a lot of drama and taking sides among our friends after we broke up." Kiara finished.

"Wow, that's rough." I replied.

"One of things I value now in a relationship is talking out issues, rather than bottling them up." She said.

"Makes sense," I replied, a yawn escaping and turning my comment into a weird noise.

"Maybe we should get some sleep." Kiara laughed, cuddling closer into me.

"Maybe." I teased, reaching up and running my fingers along her jawline. She smiled at me, then leaned closer and kissed me.

Her tongue slipped into my mouth and I moaned softly, repositioning myself so I was straddling her. Her left hand encircled my waist, her right hand behind my neck. Our kiss deepened and I moved my hand down her stomach. I slipped it under the t-shirt she was wearing and grazed her skin with my fingertips.

She ended our kiss and said out of breath, "That's not exactly what I meant when I said we should get some sleep."

I laughed softly and rolled onto my side of the bed, "You're right. Goodnight." She pecked my lips with hers and said goodnight too.

After a few minutes I heard her breath even even out. I stared up at the ceiling and thought about a future with her. Everything seemed easy and natural, life really handed me a gift with her.