I awkwardly stand on Aurora's porch with my duffel bag, hoping my parents don't drive down this street and see my car parked outside her house in the next sixteen hours. But they have no reason to, and they don't walk Fry the same route as I do, so I suppose that realistically, I have no reason to worry.
"Callie, you're here!" Aurora exclaims as she opens the door. She greets me with a close hug and lets me drop off my things in her room. Her cats are already approaching me, nuzzling against my legs, even though I just saw recently. I kneel down and give them a few chin scratches before Aurora asks if we want to start making dinner.
We decide to make our own homemade pizza, and as we cut up vegetables and slices of mozzarella cheese, we put a movie on in the background. It feels strange not having her parents in the house with us, but I enjoy the privacy. Here, we can act like ourselves. Even though we're more confident in public, I'd never kiss her cheek this much or hug her from behind while she cooks.
"Stop distracting me. I could cut my finger off, you know," Aurora says. My arms are wrapped around her stomach, and my head is shoved into her back. She, meanwhile, is busy cutting up tomato slices.
"But you're so cute in an apron," I murmur behind her.
We cuddle on the couch while the pizza bakes, though it devolves into more of a kissing session about ten minutes in. I squirm underneath Aurora on the couch as she nibbles and sucks on my neck. My hand is grasped tightly onto her shirt, and I can feel the sweat already starting to form, but then the oven goes off, and whatever moment we were lost in dissipates.
"Ah, sorry, might have gotten carried away," Aurora admits as I reach up to feel the stinging bite she left on my neck.
"You're lucky I brought make-up with me," I grumble.
My stomach growls, and we leave the couch and movie behind to happily eat. We chat about our classes, how finals are going, and end up eating about half of the pizza. I expect some time to digest, but Aurora is already grabbing her car keys, suggesting we go out and look at lights now before people turn them off for the night.
I crawl into the front seat, smiling warmly at her as we begin our drive. She has already scouted out the neighborhoods with the most impressive light displays already, so I sit back and watch the multiple gleaming lights and glowing animatronics on people's lawns as we drive around on a cold December night. It's when we're on our way to our next house that I start a conversation finally.
"It was around this time last year I realized I was falling for you," I admit. "During the tree lighting."
"For real?"
I nod. "When did you realize you liked me?"
"Probably a little bit later. January? Definitely by February," Aurora recalls. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have kissed you on Valentine's Day."
"Fair," I say. "I was so upset last December, but I think it helped me finally acknowledge who I was, so...in a way, you helped me with that."
"Well, same to you! I didn't even know I liked girls before I met you," she admits to me. "I'm glad you're here tonight."
"Me too." There's a pause. "Do you want to stop for some hot chocolate so we can drink it as we drive around?"
Aurora nods. Two peppermint hot chocolates from the local coffee shop later, and we're driving around once more. The peaceful sound of Christmas music on the radio, the glowing lights, and Aurora's gleaming smile all create a calming atmosphere for me, and for a moment, I forget I'm right in the middle of finals season. I realize this truly was the break I needed.
My eyes are already drooping with exhaustion by the time we make it back home. Aurora puts on a Christmas movie, but we decide on a forty-five minute short, because I'm already slouching against her shoulder and am afraid I'll fall asleep if we choose anything longer.
When the movie ends, we decide to get ready for bed. I'm nervous as I throw on my pajamas and brush my teeth. I brought a sleeping bag just in case I'm getting the wrong idea, but I haven't rolled it out yet. I take a deep breath in the bathroom and then step back into Aurora's room, finding her seated with her legs drawn close to her on her bed.
I go to roll out the sleeping bag, but she calls out to me and stops me.
"Dumbass. You can sleep up here, you know," she says. As I climb onto her bed, she adds, "I know I kicked you out last time. Sorry about that."
"It was understandable," I admit.
I sit on my knees, and we both just stare at each other. I'm not sure what exactly to do, so I lean back onto my heels and decide I should probably just get some sleep.
"So, uh, good night, then—"
Her hands grasp onto my face as she pulls me close. Our kisses start slow at first, light and gentle, before I want to be closer to her, and I crawl up into her lap, running my fingers through her hair as the kisses change in intensity. This time, my tongue makes its way into Aurora's mouth, and she lets out a small moan as she grasps tightly onto my pajama shirt and uses her other hand to squeeze me closer to her body.
We pull away to catch our breath before she leans forward to capture my lips again.She gently traces kisses around my entire face, around my jaw, down to my neck, which causes me to shudder. I am trembling, far more so than any time we have ever kissed before. I think of how, when we were in the car that evening, there was distance between us that we couldn't get around, but right now, Aurora's body is flush against mine. I can feel the heat radiating off her this time. I can hug her body close to mine as she bites and licks. Her hand is starting to crawl under my shirt, and she pauses.
"Is this okay?" Aurora asks.
I nod. "I wasn't sure what to expect when you told me you'd be home alone. I thought I was overthinking it," I tell her. I lean forward this time to suck on her own neck, and she hugs me close to her body, pressing her fingers roughly against my back.
"Do you want this, then?" she asks as a hand slides further up my shirt, coming into contact with my hot, sweating skin.
I nod. "For a while now. Do you?"
She nods and pushes me back onto her bed. We're gone from there. As Aurora holds me close, kissing, sucking, touching, feeling, I think of how far I've come from a year ago, when I barely acknowledged my sexuality, to being here now, feeling the girl I love closer to me than ever before, and I think of how happy that makes me. How happy I am to reciprocate, and how happy I am to comfortably collapse on top of Aurora later, feeling her warm skin press against mine, as we fall asleep tangled in each other's arms.
Someone's fingers are stroking through my hair when I wake in the morning. I open my eyes slowly, noticing immediately the soreness of my body. My eyes and cheeks feel crusty, and I realize it's from the tears I shed the night before, when Aurora, in her ever-loving gentleness, worriedly asked me if she had hurt me, but I had assured her that I was merely crying over how happy I was.
As the sunlight floods into the room and makes my vision clearer, I realize how closely my body is pressed against another. I can her breathing against me, while her fingers continue to nimbly move through my hair.
"Morning, my love," Aurora murmurs quietly when my eyes fall to her sparkling green ones. She's wearing her glasses, which makes me think she's been awake for a while already.
I let out a tiny groan.
"Hey, I let you sleep a really long time," she argues, that gentle nature in her voice immediately gone. Her hand traces in circles over my bare back. I shut my eyes, curling close against her in an effort to fall back asleep. Her kisses on my face are what keep me from doing so.
I painstakingly open my eyes once more and stare up at her.
"Shit. Did I really leave that many?" I ask as I gently press a few fingers to Aurora's neck.
"It's, um, actually not that bad compared to you," she says with embarrassment. She stretches her body and, turning onto her stomach, slowly lifts herself up, causing the covers to fall away. Now it is suddenly even more clear to me that Aurora isn't wearing any clothes.
"What do you want for breakfast? French toast? Pancakes? Or just some cereal, though I'm pretty hungry I have to admit—hey, Callie, my eyes are up here," she says, snapping her fingers.
"Ah, sorry, sorry!" I exclaim and avert my gaze.
She laughs. "You can look, you know," she teases, leaning back down to kiss me. "It's not like you didn't see last night."
"Ah, yeah, but I feel so embarrassed," I state, pulling the covers close to my face.
"Do you regret it?"
"No! Definitely not," I argue. My stomach is rumbling as I hear her talk about food, but I'm not quite ready to leave the comfort of her warm bed just yet. "Can I cuddle with you a few moments more?"
"Okay, but I have to set a timer for ten minutes. My parents really will be back in the early afternoon, so we can't linger," she says as she lets her body sink back down.
We wrap our arms around each other, finding comfort in the warmth of our bodies. We kiss every once in a while, and I shut my eyes as I lay my head against her chest, not wanting to let go of my grip around her arm.
"I love you," I murmur to Aurora.
"I love you, too," she says, tracing her thumb against my cheek. The timer on her phone goes off, and she shifts in bed to turn it off. I place a hand against her back, feeling saddened at the loss of warmth, even if I spent the entire night pressed against Aurora.
"We don't have time for another round," Aurora warns when I press a kiss against her back.
"That wasn't what I was suggesting!" I exclaim.
She giggles. "You can shower first, if you want. I can start on the pancake batter," Aurora suggests.
I agree, and ten minutes later, I'm in the shower, annoyingly inspecting all the love bites Aurora has left on my body. I don't even remember her administering half of them, but I am at least thankful the December cold will let me cover up most of them. The warm water feels good on my sore limbs, and the events of the evening slowly play back in my mind. I once again feel flustered just thinking about it.
I throw on some actual clothes and head downstairs to find the smell of pancakes invading the kitchen. Aurora is happily cooking in an old t-shirt, humming to herself, while her cats are nestled quietly on the couch.
The sight is comforting. It makes me think we are living together. It's a sight I want to continue to see, I realize.
"I'm just working on the last ones," she says as she empties out the bowl of batter. I sneak by her to grab a piece of bacon, but she slaps my hand away.
"Hey, no fair. I'm hungry," I complain.
"Don't you think I am, too?" she asks.
I grasp onto her shoulder and stand on her tiptoes, beginning to just trace my lips against her neck, but she pushes me away.
"No, no, no, you don't get to leave another mark," she warns.
"You left double the number on me!" I complain.
"There, that's the last of it," she says as she places the last of the pancakes on a plate. We gather at the table and eat away. Aurora smiles at me from across the table, though I continue to grow flustered as we eat.
"Why are you acting all embarrassed?" Aurora complains.
"I-I'm not!"
"Yes, you are. Is it about last night?" she asks.
"I just feel so naughty," I admit, covering my face with my hands. "I lied to my parents and everything."
Aurora laughs. "So honest." She steps away from her seat and walks over to me, wrapping her arms over my shoulders. "Should we tell them, then?"
"No, no!" I exclaim, which causes her to laugh harder.
"You're cute," Aurora teases, kissing my cheek before she goes and sits back down to finish up her breakfast. She hides her embarrassment well, I think, because even if she acts cool and collected, her cheeks are as red as mine must be.
I help her clean up breakfast and spend a little bit of time playing with the cats as she showers, but it's already nearing noon, and her parents must be coming home soon. When Aurora's done with the shower, I gather my things, wishing I could just fall asleep back in her bed, but I know I have studying to do. I linger on her doorstep with my things, not wanting to start taking the steps to my car.
"Thanks for coming over. I hope that was a good study break?"
"Uh, yes! A-a very good one!" I exclaim.
Aurora smiles. "Let's do this again sometime."
I nod my head, then quickly grasp ahold of her shirt and kiss her. "See you later. Love you," I say when I pull away.
Aurora blinks in shock for a second before she nods. "Love you, too. Good luck on finals."
I smile warmly at her and wave as I descend the porch steps down to my car. Our relationship is continuing to change and evolve in ways that not even I can decipher, but I don't worry too much about it, because, I know no matter what happens, she'll be by my side.