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In a small, irrational way, Vanessa worried Gina might see the invitation to her room as something forward, which it totally was not. It just seemed like a good place to get some studying done. At least, she assumed it would be; she never went to college, so her experience with ideal studying conditions was limited to time spent with girls in college. Besides, the first night they met, they spent the night together and were able to behave. Vanessa had the willpower to be good… well, at least while Gina was studying. They would have to see where things went from there—not that Vanessa had any undisclosed intentions in mind. ”Great. Follow me, babe,” she said cheerfully, taking Gina’s hand in her free hand.

Vanessa nudged the door to her room open with her shoulder and led the way inside. Her room was neater than average because she had a small window of time to prepare for Gina. The clothes that were in small piles on the carpet were in the hamper in her closet. She also removed the two plates she had lingering on the nightstand so the surface only had her e-reader and a small remote resting on top. The outside-facing wall had large windows with the blinds and curtains drawn. Two walls had large cloth tapestries hanging: one inspired by one of her favorite artists and the other by her favorite game series. Near the bed, (but just far enough to be safe,) Vanessa had her first gift from a fanmail segment mounted on the wall: a video game-inspired battle axe. She had a very unique fanbase.

Leading Gina to the bed, Vanessa carefully placed the tray of fries down on the nightstand before pulling them both onto the mattress with a bounce. She grabbed the remote and hit three buttons which turned on the overhead lights, turned them purple, and dimmed them respectively. With the lighting out of the way, she grabbed a fry, dipped it in the garlic aioli and popped it into her mouth, savoring the flavors. ”Okay! You have your study stuff. You have your study snack!” She wrapped her arms around Gina’s waist. ”You have your study Nessa. I think we’re totally ready for some studying,” she decided with a wide grin.

Vanessa hoped what she said made sense, first and foremost. She was emotional and frazzled, so it would have been understandable if her logic was incomprehensible. More importantly, she hoped her words were enough for Booker to see, despite her mistakes, Vanessa did not lie because she could not trust him. She was not the most trusting person, but Booker was always an exception to the rule.

The one thing she was sure of was that she used the last of her words. If they did not work, she was at a loss for what to do next. All she could do was look out over the edge of the building alongside her brother, taking in the city that raised them.

When Booker finally spoke, Vanessa was still too cautious to face him. It was nice to know she was not dumb, but it was the way he teased her that caused her ears to perk up. Was he really making a joke?

Out of the corner of her eye, Vanessa caught the smirk on Booker’s lips. She craned her head slightly to get a better look at him, hoping he had not crossed over to the side of anger that prompted spontaneous laughter. Instead, she saw his eyes on the tray of tacos she brought up with her. He looked at her offerings and, sure enough, he made a joke.

She smiled, and she felt fresh tears streaming down her cheek. She knew she was not out of hot water yet; there were a thousand and one questions she owed answers to eventually. It was just nice to know Booker could still joke with her. She would have been miserable if she broke that part of their relationships.

”Not a lie. I mean, I brought the tacos up as a ‘sorry I’m a dumbass’ peace offering,” she admitted, placing extra emphasis on Booker’s previous correction. Of course, she could feel the plight of her stomach persisting, and fish tacos looked beautiful to a hungry mind. ”Then again… this has been one hell of a day…” She looked up and smirked. ”Do they revoke my veggie membership card over one fish taco?”

Vanessa watched the small plastic spice bottles fall after Gina’s tail flicked them off the rack, but she laughed it off. The caps stayed on, so it was not like she made a mess of Booker’s counters, (which would have been a true sin.) Gina dutifully put the spices back in their place as Vanessa worked to pick up fries with a spatula, transferring them onto a large plate. She made plenty to snack on throughout the evening, so there was more than enough to share with her girlfriend. She placed two ceramic ramekins on the plate, one filled with ketchup and the other with the garlic aioli. The fancy dipping cups would seem like an unnecessary purchase, but Vanessa had a love of dippable snacks, so they came in handy for holding condiments, cheese, salsa, and any other viscous liquid that tasted delicious on a solid.

Gina explained that she was avoiding the Honeycomb because two of the girls in her flat were fighting—surprise, surprise. It was not the first time Gina told her about the flatmate squabbles, and if she had to guess, it would not be the last. ”Oh no,” she said with all the sincerity of a cardboard cut-out, ”most unfortunate. I suppose… that means I’m filling the role of study buddy for the night?” she asked with a bright smile. There was a lot she wanted to do with her Gina time, but she also wanted to be the kind of girlfriend who could be mature and supportive.

Grabbing the plate of fries, Vanessa proposed, ”We can settle in, enjoy a nice study snack, and I can cheerlead you through whatever you have to do,” she said with determination. ”Let’s set up shop in the living room and knock this thing out so we can celebrate with serious cuddling time.”

Vanessa led her girlfriend from the kitchen to the living room, but she barely took two steps into the space before the gears in her head were turning. She could see just down the hall to the door of her room and suddenly, the determination she felt moments earlier was weakening. ”Actually, even better plan. We should host this study session in my room. You know, so we don’t get potentially distracted by the TV.” There was absolutely no reason for the two young women to get distracted in Nessa’s bedroom, after all.

Winnie had a point: Vanessa’s shot could have been better. She had a wealth of avian-related jokes to choose from, so it was inevitable not all of them were going to be gems. The key, she understood, was quantity over quality. A slew of bird jokes would annoy Winnie, especially if not all of them were good.

The waitress who came to take their order was attractive and a total sweetheart. As a frequent customer, Vanessa understood that it was best to treat any employee of The Bonus Level as “off limits” to prevent potential awkwardness. Nothing was about to keep Vanessa from coming back, after all, so glares from the wait staff would be an uncomfortable thing to adjust to. Now that she was with Gina, it was even more of a non-issue.

Of course, nothing said Winnie could not have her fun and the girl was all about fun. Vanessa just sat back, watching her best friend as she nearly charmed the pants off their waitress. The way she so smoothly made an impression was something to behold. Vanessa assumed watching Winnie flirt was like watching Picasso paint. The girl knew her medium.

Vanessa smirked as Winnie’s eyes lingered on the body of the retreating waitress. ”I bet it does,” she replied sarcastically. ”Have you ever heard of the term ‘predatory gay?’ Because you’re eying her like she’s your next meal.” She meant nothing serious; Winnie was not the woman to push someone into a situation they were not comfortable with. If Winnie was a predator, she was the kind who had an innate ability to lure her prey willingly into her trap. Poor prey.

Vanessa cycled through characters before settling on Gabriella, but Winnie was asking for a status update from her friend. ”It’s good to have a night where I can cut loose with my best friend, and despite all my best efforts, that’s still you,” she teased.

Of course, girl time was not the only reason for their night out, so Vanessa sighed and came clean as she grabbed one of the jalapeno poppers for herself. ”I mean, it’s been one of those long weeks. I needed a drink on Tuesday. Work has been going at double time and Booker and I…” Vanessa caught herself and reined things back in before continuing, ”We just had a really stressful conversation and I could use a night out. So who are you going to be?” It barely sounded like a new thought because she fit it so quickly at the end of her last statement in an effort to quickly change the subject.

It was promising that Gina was excited for what Vanessa considered to be top-tier snack food. Sweet potato fries were a healthy craving food, but she preferred to either make them or order them from places she already trusted. Done wrong, they were too sweet and getting through a plate was a chore. She understood the need to salt and season the fries to perfection so the salt and sweetness achieved perfect balance. Sweet potato fries were an art form, at least until they were dipped in ketchup or the garlic aioli Vanessa had prepared. (Really, was there anything not improved by garlic?

Gina took their change of scenery as an opportunity to take advantage of her surroundings. She edged her way up onto the kitchen counter, helped up by Vanessa’s arms around her lower back lifting her. With the added height, she was suddenly the one looking up at her girlfriend, enjoying the way Gina’s corkscrew curls tickled her cheek as they hung loosely, framing her face.

The new height dynamic led to more kissing. Vanessa was happy to know she was not the only one missing the touches of intimacy throughout their busy weeks. The initial kisses were the cute ones: soft, gentle, and tender. Vanessa just liked the way Gina’s lips fit between hers and vice versa. It was those moments when they peppered one another with kisses that Vanessa almost did not mind taking things slow.

She just had to ignore the warm feeling growing low in her body as they continued their kissing.

In between kisses, Gina managed to ask Vanessa a question, which Vanessa promptly answered with another kiss as soon as she was done talking. Honestly, it took a moment for the question to even process in her head. ”Hm? Oh, yeah, I’ve been alright. Work ended early today and I took a little time to actually get some drawing done. Of course, my day’s significantly better now,” she admitted with a grin, returning to Gina’s lips as her hands rested on the girls hips.

The quick sweet kisses started stringing together until they slowly became one continuous kiss, gradually deepening. It was hard to realize what was even happening when her eyes were closing and she was tasting Gina and smelling the vanilla scent that was still lingering on her, even after the flight. It was hard to focus on much else but—

bzzzzzzt!

The buzzer of the oven brought Vanessa to her senses. She pulled away from the kiss slowly and begrudgingly, but she had a dreamy smile on her face. ”Right. Snacks.” If they were not careful, they would have skipped straight to dessert.

As Vanessa opened the oven and grabbed a mitt to pull out the tray of fries, she said, ”Not that I want to question a good thing, but I’m surprised you had time to come over. I thought you might be busy with homework or studying tonight?”