Waverly stood outside Nicole's bedroom, scarf in hand. Nicole beside her.

Nicole took the scarf. "Let me help you put it on."

She folded it in the shape of a blindfold. Waverly watched, becoming aroused by the action. Nicole turned her round, so she was facing away. She tied it over her eyes, taking her hand. Waverly could hear the door open. She felt a hand leading her into the bedroom. They stopped.

Silence.

"You can take it off now."

Waverly was confused. Was the blindfold part of the date, or not? She removed it, slightly disappointed she wasn't going to wear it for whatever Nicole had planned. She saw the room. Nicole had decorated it with fairy lights, candles, curtains drawn to block out the afternoon. She had laid on a party, champagne chilling in a bucket of ice, borrowed from Doc. Two glasses, also borrowed from Doc. It was perfect. So simple, so romantic. Waverly could feel the tears coming.

"Surprise!"

"Nicole, it's lovely. You got all this for us? I'm impressed."

"Hey, it's the least I could do after last night. You OK? You look like you're about to cry."

"More than OK. This is..."

Waverly couldn't speak. Her emotions got the better of her.

"Hey, Waves. What? What is it?"

Nicole hugged Waverly. She thought her gesture would be well-received. She didn't want to make Waverly upset. Clearly she had.

"It's fine. I've never had anyone go out of their way to do something like this for me. It's all a little overwhelming. I mean, we've only slept together once. OK, twice. And, now this."

"Waverly. Waves, I've been planning something like this for you for months. Ever since I ended up in bed with you the first time, I wanted to show you how special you are. Would have been super weird until now, obviously. Don't you realise how amazing you are?"

"Stop. I'm emotional enough as it is. Don't make me cry my heart out on our first date."

"Sorry. But you are. Come, let's party like it's whatever year we're in right now. What year is it?"

"The best year I'm ever going to have."

"Now you're going to make me cry."

Nicole kissed Waverly. Softer than the night before. More meaningful. More connected.

Waverly sat on Nicole's bed, as Nicole opened the champagne, pouring two glasses, handing one to her.

"Here's to us."

"Here's to us. Is it OK if I wear the silk blindfold later?"

Nicole winked at Waverly. "Definitely. Happy New Year to me."

Their first date was perfect. Beyond romantic. It allowed them to be together for the first time, exploring who they were as individuals. Why they had chosen Brighton. What music they liked. What music they didn't. What their histories were before Brighton. What food they preferred. What food they didn't. What ambitions, what hopes they had for the future. They were finding out about each other, beyond their bodies. Sex becomes functional, meaningless, without the connection at a level of trust, at a level of understanding the other person. They were learning about each other's bodies. They needed to learn about each other's boundaries. It would take time to understand where each was on their life path, what each wanted from the relationship.

Too much for a first date.

Waverly spent the night in Nicole's bed. Candles extinguished. Fairy lights dimmed. Silk scarf very much in use. They woke to the sound of someone knocking on Waverly's door. Not knowing what to do, they lay giggling, holding each other. They could hear whoever it was moving away. It was probably Doc wanting a chat. He liked Waverly. He treated her as he would a daughter. For some reason he could talk to her. He could discuss things with her. She was easy to be with. Something Nicole picked up on. She was very easy to be with.

The new term started. Everyone glad to be back. Posters for events stuck to the path leading to the library. A favourite way to advertise. It meant after a few days the posters became unreadable as people walked on them, but a fun way to find out what was going on. Nicole found Waverly in the Meeting House talking with Becky. They were laughing about something as she approached. She leant over, kissing Waverly on the lips, watching Becky. Becky returned the stare.

"Becks, this is Nicole."

"Hi, lovely to meet you finally. How's your course going? Very tempted to stay on for a PhD."

"Hi, it's good. Hard. Glad I chose Sussex. So different to where I studied before."

"Listen, I'm having a bit of a bash at mine on Saturday. You're more than welcome to come. Waverly has already said yes."

Nicole paused. Waverly hadn't mentioned it. Perhaps she had only heard about it. Perhaps it was what they had been discussing when she approached. Perhaps she wanted to go alone.

"Thanks. Yes, if that's OK. Waves, it's OK if I come?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't you?"

They chatted for a while, Becky excusing herself to go to a class. Nicole took her seat.

"You do want me to come on Saturday?"

"Yes. Why do you ask? Nicole, Becks invited you. She knows we're together. It's cool."

"Only, she's your friend and I don't want to cramp you. I'm OK with you going on your own if you want."

Waverly shot Nicole a look. "Nicole, I don't do martyrs. If you don't want to mix with my friends, say so."

"Oh, God. No. Waves. I want to be everywhere you are. It's only, I want you enjoy your time here and that might mean us doing things on our own sometimes. I'm OK with that."

Waverly stood. "I'm not."

Nicole watched as Waverly marched off in a huff. What the fuck just happened? She thought, looking at her back as she exited the building. Had they just had their first row? She wanted to give Waverly space and it had been taken the wrong way. She was hurt, but sensed Waverly wasn't telling her something. No one reacts that way without a reason. Give her space. Talk to her this evening. See what was on her mind.

Nicole could see Waverly's light on under her bedroom door as she stood on the landing. She needed to clear the air. As hard as this was going to be, whatever had come between them in the Meeting House needed to be aired. She needed to know where she stood. Where they stood.

She knocked on Waverly's door.

"Can everyone stop fucking knocking on my door. Just come in for fuck's sake."

Nicole opened the door, promising herself never to knock again.

"Hi. Can we talk?"

"Oh, God. Yes. I'm sorry about earlier."

Waverly got up from her desk, taking Nicole's hands looking into her eyes.

"Look. I want you to be with me. I want you to like my friends. Becks is great. I know you want to give me space, but I want you to be a part of my life with my friends. I don't want separate parts of my life. Do you understand?"

"Perfectly. But, this is early days. We need time to get to know each other. Don't rush it. Let's take our time. I don't want to smother you. It'll be hard enough living under the same roof. We've already had our first argument and we're only just into this. Give it time. Let's find our groove. OK."

Waverly could feel her herself falling for this older woman. She loved intelligence. She loved Nicole's body. Her red hair. Her height. Most of all she loved her brains. OK, and her breasts. But, mostly her brains. She pulled her into a kiss. It lasted longer than it should have. She could feel herself wanting more. Nicole sensing where Waverly was going pulled away.

"First we eat."

"Ooh. Nicole. I thought you'd never ask."

"What? No. I meant. Eat. As in food eat. OK. Then we eat," grinning at Waverly.

They made their way downstairs.