Heather and I ended up falling asleep all cuddled up together, so by the time the sun had risen the next day, she was still with me. Everything felt peaceful with her around, though, and I could relax into the moment, for the first time in a long time. I felt as though I had finally stopped overthinking everything and that I could simply be happy. The two of us had become so incredibly close. That was one of the reasons that I found myself so incredibly lucky that Heather had stayed with me. The light of the sun brought out the definition of her cheekbones and cast small shadows under her eyes from her thick eyelashes.

Heather stirred a little but ultimately curled up closer to me. It was so comfortable to be there with her but I knew that the two of us were soon going to have to leave the solace that my room provided and make our way to school. That being said, I knew that I didn't mind one bit. I would be able to go to band practice with Heather and help her out with anything that she needed help with during our classes together.

I watched her for a moment and just thought about how beautiful she looked. It was always so effortless, too. Heather's eyes soon fluttered open and she turned her attention to me.

"Good morning, Zoe," she said.

"Morning, Heather. How did you sleep?" I asked her.

"You know, sometimes I struggle with insomnia but last night I slept surprisingly well. How did you sleep?" she asked me, as a caring expression appeared upon her face.

"Really well. I had my best friend here, didn't I?" I reminded her.

"Your best girl," Heather said.

"Always," I replied, as I felt the corner of my lips twitch up instinctively. There was something so perfectly serene about being there with her, in the glow of the morning sun. It made me not ever want to leave her. However, I knew that the two of us couldn't stay together all day long. We had school that we needed to get to.

Once we had finished getting ready (Heather had fortunately brought a change of clothes with her in her bag), the two of us made our way downstairs and out of the front door.

"Crap. What excuse are we going to come up with for Drew?" she asked me.

"That is a very good question, my friend," I replied.

"Let's just say that we had a sleepover. Nothing happened. We cuddled, that's all," Heather said.

It sort of hurt that she was being so dismissive about what had happened the previous evening but I did understand. She didn't want to broadcast her sexuality to the world and that was fair enough. I knew that Heather hadn't told anyone about this before, not even her own father for fear of how he would react. That was why it was important for me to always be there for her. I cared about her and I wanted to help her out.

The two of us made our way towards Drew's car and entered it, so he could drive us to school.

"Are you two okay?" he asked us.

"Peachy," Heather and I replied simultaneously. It turned out that the two of us were much closer in sync than we had originally thought, especially when it came to our feelings for each other.

I wondered if I should tell Drew.

Of course, if I told him I would have to be careful not to bring up the whole Heather thing. She deserved to come out at her own pace and in her own time.

I, on the other hand, had always had a much more open mind. I supposed that had come with the really supportive friends that I had always had.

I knew that Abbie was asexual, so I had been around LGBT+ people to that degree, but it hadn't ever dawned on me that I was part of the community, too. However, now that I knew, I felt all the better for it. I felt as though I could finally embrace this new part of myself and it was bright and beautiful.

I knew it was bright and beautiful because that was exactly the way that Heather made me feel whenever I looked at her.

"Alright, we're here!" Drew said, as the three of us got out of the car and followed behind Drew, who walked with confidence towards the front entrance of the school.

As we walked on, Heather turned to me with an expression of concern upon her face.

"You won't tell Drew about me, will you, Zoe?" she asked me.

"I won't. I wish that you weren't ashamed of yourself though, Heather. I wish that you could see yourself in the way that I did," I said. Maybe I had been foolish to believe that this was going to be easy. I may have meant something to Heather but she would always want the two of us to keep ourselves hidden away from anyone else. I didn't know how long I could live like that but I knew that ultimately, I would do anything for her.

"If anyone asks, we're both friends. We're both single," she said, "You're an understanding person, right, Zoe? Please understand me here."

I stopped walking.

"I'm going to go to the library," I said. I felt a sudden wave of sadness come over me and I wished that it would go away.

Of course, I understood Heather and I understood why she wanted to keep the two of us a secret but I also couldn't help but wish that things were different. I really liked her and I wished that I didn't feel as though the two of us had to kept hidden away.

"You have to believe me when I say I have my reasons behind all of this, Zoe. If my father was to ever know about me, then I would get into serious trouble."

The bell rang, before I could blurt out a response that I may have lived to regret. I knew that it wasn't that simple. Heather had her reasons for keeping her secrets and I had promised her that I would keep hers. I trusted that she would keep mine, too, though I didn't mind my family finding out as much as I knew that she did.

I gave an understanding nod and the two of us didn't speak about it again, as the two of us made our way down the hallway towards our next class, so we could sit a practice exam for English.

I was glad that it provided me with something to do but as soon as we all left the classroom, I couldn't help but think about my worries again.