Dilettante (GirlxGirl)

Chapter 9. Less Alone

Of deepest hue the roses were

Wilting in the sun's embrace

Yet that light saw no love or trust

Saw not at all, dimensions lost.

Fern did not sleep a wink that night and every creak of a floorboard and rustle of the trees outside had her paranoid. She laid in bed clutching her blanket, eyes closed, but she can already tell she will not be able to sleep. It was like she could not stop thinking about Tari and if she does not see her right now, she will never fall asleep. 

She counted sheep, numbers, and repeated the ABC's in her head that she learned when she was five. None of them worked because she was still there two hours later wide awake. She wondered if Tari was awake. She wondered what the girl would be doing if she was.

Fern tossed the covers off and walked to the door, opened it, and took a big step over to Tari's door. The girl had left it open a little because a thin ray of the bedroom light escaped through the gap. Fern quietly pushed open the door and looked inside. Tari was planted at her desk analyzing her notes. She looked so focused that Fern fought the urge to barge in and disturb her. A small grin spread across Fern's face as she felt a sense of relief and walks back to bed. What a cute nerd, she thought, and slowly fell into a deep sleep.  

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A sudden shift of her blanket accompanied with a light bounce of the bed as someone crawled under the warm covers startled Fern awake. She rolled her head over to see Tari lying right beside her with her eyes closed. The hairs on Fern's arms began to stand up when she felt the heat of Tari's breath tingle her skin.

The girl looked peaceful like a delicate red ribbon tied loosely over a Christmas present and stunningly possessed an unusual calm and collected nature for coming into a gay girl's room at 4:00 a.m. to sleep in bed with her. This was way too close for it to be legal. Tari was wearing a pink lace bra and the tiniest pair of panties she has ever seen in her life and was groping Fern's arms now.

"W-what are you doing?" Fern stammered, and she watched as her eyes open halfway, staring sleepily at her arm.

"Sleeping," she murmured softly.

"Go to sleep in your own room," Fern whimpered.

"I do not want to." Her eyes closed again. 

Fern whispered for her to not fall asleep here and blushed a deep shade of red because part of her wanted Tari to stay, but the urge to fuck her right now was unbearable that she had to shuffle to the other side of the bed.

All that was running through Fern's head was that this was not good. She cannot share a bed with a girl. Especially not with a girl with that hot of a body. And especially not with a girl with all that ivory skin. She looked away from Tari.

"Why did you call me that?" Fern heard Tari whisper.

She jumped and turned her head, "What?" But Tari's eyes were not staring at hers. They were in space. Her hair was now wrapped around her neck and tangled all over the pillow.

"Dolly." Tari said.

Fern pulled at one of the blankets on the bed and scooted over to Tari. She leaned over and carefully draped the blanket over Tari's body, taking care to tuck the edges up under the girl's feet. Her knuckles brushed soft skin and it was cool to the touch like she expected. When Fern pulled back, she was startled to see that Tari's eyes were now fully open and locked onto hers.

Fern looked at her and thought about it for a while. "Do you not like it?" Fern finally asked.

Even with the lights off, Fern caught Tari's bright coral lips curl into a tiny smile, and although it was flawless, there was something wrong about it. It was stale. Like a loaf of bread left on the table for too long. It was dry, and hard, and cracked.

"I wish I didn't," Tari rasped as her eyelids started to droop.

"You like it better?"

"On your lips, yes," Tari whispered.

"Wait," Fern hissed. She grabbed a pillow and shoved it between them. 

Tari narrowed her eyes. "What is that for?" 

Fern rolled over to face Tari amused expression. 

"That is a boundary. You are not to come any further than that pillow!" Fern demanded.

"What will you do if I move it?" She said picking up the pillow and throwing it over the edge of the bed.  

Fern glared at her and sighed loudly, "I am going to drag you back to your room and lock your door if you do not stop talking." 

Tari smiled again. That was rich coming from her because Tari had hidden the keys where it would be hard to find and the thought of Fern searching for them made her giggle. 

Fern rolled onto her side to face away from her, but Tari remained on her back. She was stiff at first but slowly relaxes, and though they don't touch or scoot any closer to one another, Tari was comforted by Fern's presence.

"Fern," Tari whispered, and Fern heard the unspoken question in her name.

"It's just nice to not be alone," Tari murmured, closing her eyes as sleep began to seep rapidly in on her. "Isn't it?"

The world has nearly slipped entirely away when Tari heard Fern's quiet answer of, "It is."