Still Love You Most (GirlxGirl) [E-book available on MEB]

1, 2, 3 Mississippi

"Hi."

Riley waves awkwardly to Danielle who is smoking by the ED main entrance. The girl in her yellow flannel with a couple buttons leaving undone quickly sends Danielle into unfunctional mode. She has just got off her night shift and her brain refuses to process anything right now and Riley's presence doesn't help with that.

"Picking up Julia?" Danielle asks; trying to seem casual but her eyes travel down Riley's shirt; button to button. She doesn't want to seem awkward so she clears her throat a few times that they send her into a tiny coughing session.

"Yeah."

"Perfect weather for Sunday morning, isn't it? Picnic and stuff." Danielle looks at Riley leaning against the pillar next to her by the ashtray receptacle. Her baseball cap and glasses cannot hide beautiful hazel eyes that are not very sparkling but still warm and intriguing. "A bit too chilly for a picnic though."

Riley grins a bit. "We'll just have lunch with my mom."

"Perfect weather for that too." Danielle chuckles nervously. She hasn't seen Riley much but every time she is right in front of her, there is this tickling feeling happening within her and she hasn't figured out the way to manage it. "She is probably finishing some reports."

"Yeah." Riley looks at Danielle smoking her cigarette and blowing out white clouds. "Can I bum that?"

Danielle looks at Riley with suspicion. She doesn't know if she needs to say no to that request or not so she decides to be cautious about it by handing her a piece of gum from her jacket pocket. Then, she passes her the cigarette she is smoking. "Here."

"Thanks." Riley holds the gum in her hand while putting the cigarette between her lips and taking a long draw as if it is her long-lost friend. The white smoke gets between them and Riley hopes it is thick enough to cover her thoughts.

"I didn't know you smoke." Danielle knows for sure that Riley isn't a new smoker. She knows how to hold it and she doesn't cough like crazy like those teenagers who start to experience things.

"Ah. I did." Riley hands the cigarette back and unwraps the gum before throwing it in her mouth. "Thanks. Don't mention this to Julia though."

"No."

Danielle tries to wave her hands to get the smoke out of Riley. They are acting like two school girls smoking in the school toilet and it doesn't take long for the teacher to appear.

"Hey." Julia greets with a smile. She immediately wraps her arms around Riley's waist and leans in for a quick peck. "You're chewing gum?"

"Yeah." Riley opens her mouth to let Julia see it and Julia has to cover Riley's open mouth with her hand before looking over at Danielle. "I'm sorry. She gets weird sometimes."

Danielle chuckles lightly and sees how Riley's eyes get awkward like she signals her to keep whatever happened a secret. "Yeah. Hm. Have a nice morning... afternoon, you two. I'm going to head home and get some sleep now."

"Yeah. See you." Julia bids her good bye and Riley waves quietly.

"Bye." Danielle turns around and leaves. She makes sure to give an awkward wave before going off her way. She tries not to be awkward but now with Riley handed her a secret to hold, her awkwardness just goes through the roof of Empire State building.

"You don't chew gum." Julia doesn't let this slide easily. She starts her little interrogate of this unusual event.

"Someone gave it to me. I don't want to be rude." Riley places her hand on Julia's shoulder and leads her to a red Mazda CX-5 that is parking a by the sidewalk; not so far away from the ED entrance. "I've got a surprise. Surprise! Are you surprised?"