JoBeth & Amy #2: The Start of Something New

JoBeth & Amy: Story 02 – The Start of Something New - CHAPTER 4

*Note: This story got a little longer on me than I expected - it is not completely edited, so if you see any little errors in there... that\'s why!*



*WARNINGS: This story IS FOR 18+ ONLY! If you don\'t like adult situations, don\'t read any further!! This story will eventually contain BONDAGE, a sexual situation, and will involve a suggestive bit of girl/girl fun...*



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The sound of Amy’s key sliding into the lock of their apartment’s front door echoed into the living room, signaling to Lauren that her best friend and apartment-mate had finally returned home. As the key turned the deadbolt, Lauren realized just how late the cool, September night had gotten.



She’d muted the local newscast a half-hour ago, letting the silent pictures flicker away on the television on the far side of the living room while she’d been sketching out a few designs that had leaped to mind, but all of that was far less interesting than what had taken Amy so long to get home. Preparing to sit the blonde down for a long talk, the dark-haired girl closed her sketchpad and tossed it onto the coffee table, grabbing her empty cup. Heading into the kitchen, she got both a refill for herself and something for Amy.



“I’m back!” Amy called out cheerfully, turning to close and lock the door behind her. She slipped out of her shoes and tossed them lazily to the side of the door, too distracted to bother putting them away property. A quick glance around the room left her wondering where her roommate might have gotten off to before she heard a few noises from the kitchen. “Lauren? Where are you?”



“In here,” Lauren sang, betraying the anticipation she felt from wondering what had kept Amy at the session so long and how talking with JoBeth went. The tone of Amy’s voice said almost everything that she wanted to know, but there was no way she would let the blonde off that easily. Gently kicking the refrigerator door closed, Lauren grabbed the two filled glasses and walked out from behind the kitchen wall and into the living room.



“Hey,” Amy said with a small wave, walking over towards her raven-haired companion. “What’ve you got there?”



“Something for your throat,” Lauren replied playfully, walking around the couch and setting the glasses down on the coffee table. “Now sit.”



“My throat?” Amy asked, furrowing her browns curiously, following Lauren around to the other side of the couch.



“You don’t think I’m just letting you go to bed without you telling me how it went, do you?” Lauren asked, reclining against her corner of the couch with an amused smirk dancing across her lips.



“Oh, that,” Amy chuckled, her features pulling into a shy smile.



“Yes,” Lauren confirmed, taking a deliberately slow sip from her glass. “That.”



Amy put on one of her best pouting faces and fixed Lauren with a gaze that never failed her. “Can it wait until I get into my PJs?” she asked sweetly, causing Lauren to burst out into a laugh.



“Again with the look!” Lauren protested. “Unfair!”



“That’s because it always works,” Amy giggled, walking over to her desk tucked in the corner of the room. She let her messenger bag slide off her shoulder and onto the floor, tossing her keys on the desk itself. “I’ll be quick, I promise,” the blonde added, crossing the room quickly to enter her bedroom.



“You’d better be! You know how grumpy I get when you withhold information about your love life from me,” Lauren chided from the other room, her voice echoing out of the glass as she took another sip of her drink.



Peeling her top off, Amy snagged a tank top and her favorite pair of yoga pants from earlier that afternoon to change into. On her way past the couch, she’d noticed Lauren’s closed sketchpad, and knew full well what it meant. “Anything interesting happen while I was gone?” she called out, sitting on her bed to slide out of her pants without falling over.



“Not a thing,” Lauren replied, flipping idly though a magazine as she waited for Amy’s return.



Over the years they’d known each other, Amy had learned the slight difference between Lauren’s dismissive answers and the ones that truly were bothering her. “Still having trouble coming up with anything you like?” the blonde asked, cutting straight to the heart of the matter.



“Not a thing,” Lauren echoed through a long sigh, letting the magazine fall into her lap. She let her head hang limply back, her eyes her black tresses dangling gently behind her and her eyes drifting closed. “Everything that I get onto paper is total crap,” she elaborated. “I can’t come up with anything new or interesting to save my life. It’s all just the same old, boring stuff…”



“Still not feeling the creative juices?” Amy asked, pulling the yoga pants back up over her thighs. She settled it comfortably around her waist and after straightening her tank top, Amy headed over to the bathroom to wash up, stealing a glance over at her best friend.



Seeing even the faintest of looks of defeat on Lauren’s face made her heart cry out with sympathy and want to wrap her up in a reassuring hug. She darted quickly into the bathroom, determined to not keep the girl waiting long. Lauren had always made it known that she found prodding tales of Amy’s romantic exploits out of her to be such a pleasant diversion that it bordered on a pastime.



“It’s just…” Lauren trailed off, the frustration evident in her voice. “Like it’s just out of reach. I know I can do it, but it just won’t come out of the tip of the pencil. You know what I mean?”



Pulling her shoulder length blond hair back into a small ponytail, Amy grabbed one of the cleansers from their counter. “I might,” she answered over the sound of rushing water. With a yawn, she hastily started washing off the makeup she’d put on for JoBeth, already longing for her soft, pillow-laden bed that lay waiting on the other end of the story that Lauren wanted to hear. “And it sucks…”



A small, exasperated smirk tugged at the corners of Lauren’s lips. “Just a little bit,” the brunette agreed, letting her mind drift off for a moment. “Good thing I had your lateness to wonder about, Aims,” she added a few moments later. “You should’ve been back half an hour ago.”



Amy chuckled softly, turning the water off and grabbing her hand towel. “Can’t slip anything past you, can I?”



“Nope,” Lauren replied with a brighter grin. “I’m guessing you took the scenic route home?”



The scenic route was a euphemism Lauren used for the times that Amy would end up driving aimlessly around campus when she tried to sort out whatever was on her mind. While it was usually a test, exam or some professional stressor that left her figuring out what she wanted to do next, this time, Lauren had hit the nail on the head. It was about not just any girl; it was about the girl.



Once her face was dry, Amy hung the towel back on the rack and turned out the bathroom light. “Maybe,” she said with a smirk, heading back across the living room to where Lauren still resignedly lay draped over the edge of the couch.



“But before we get to that…” Amy trailed off, walking up behind her unaware roommate. Leaning down, she gave Lauren a soft and reassuring kiss on her forehead.



“Aah, hey…” Lauren laughed softly, reopening her eyes to be met by Amy’s warm and caring smile. No matter what had ever gone wrong in her life, Amy had a way of snapping her out of any funk with that smile of hers. It filled her with a glow that let her know that Amy genuinely cared, and more often than not, it was more than enough to make her feel better.



“You’ll be alright,” Amy stated. “You’ve gotten through worse to come out better.”



“Thanks,” Lauren said, offering a smile in return. “For caring. And I know it’ll come back to me when it’s supposed to… ”



“That’a girl.”



“But enough about me,” Lauren continued, her smile morphing into a curious one. “You. Sit,” she commanded, reaching over to pick up the glass that she’d brought out for her roommate.



“Yes Ma’am,” Amy said, walking around to the other, unoccupied end of the couch without protest. Curling one of her legs up beneath her, Amy plopped down onto the couch and settled in, pulling one of the throw pillows into her lap before taking the proffered drink from Lauren. “Story time?” she asked, taking a sip of the water.



“Story time,” Lauren confirmed. “So, what happened? Was she there? Did you talk to her?”



“Whoa, whoa now,” Amy laughed, snagging a coaster off the pile on the coffee table to set her glass down within reach. “I can only answer one thing at a time here.”



Lauren nestled back into her corner of the couch patiently. “You’re the one that has a class to help teach in the morning. I’ve got all night.”



“Well if you put it that way, maybe I’ll just go to bed,” Amy teased, fixing her best friend with a gently arched eyebrow.



“Hey!” Lauren exclaimed. “Come on… please?”



Amy smiled brightly. “I have to make you work for it somehow,” she reasoned, taking a preparatory breath. “Starting with the easiest answer, yes, she was there.”



Seeing Amy look away and the faintest of blushes caused Lauren to let loose with a beaming grin of her own. “And?” she asked excitedly. “You’d better have talked to her…”



“I did,” Amy answered. “We definitely talked…” she trailed off, looking down to her hands resting in her lap. Her mind was still dizzy from the simple high of holding JoBeth’s hand in her own.



Lauren fixed Amy with an anticipatory stare. “Well? Are you going to make me ask every little detail now?” she asked, poking Amy’s knee lightly. “What’d she say? What’d you say?”



Her cheeks lit up a brighter shade of pink and Amy met her best friend’s gaze. “Well, we kind of flirted a little…” she confessed with a shy smile.



“Yeah?” Lauren squeaked happily, breaking off into a giggle. “I want everything, Aims. Spill!”



“Demanding little thing,” Amy chided, prompting Lauren to bob her head in agreement. “Well, I was waiting for JoBeth in the hall before the review session started. I was going to try and talk to her then, but she…” the blonde trailed off, feeling that familiar warmth that always seemed to accompany thoughts of the freshman girl.



“She what?” Lauren prodded.



“She, uh…” Amy started, losing out to a quiet laugh. “It’s a little embarrassing, I guess…”



“And you think saying that’ll make me less interested?” the dark-haired girl asked.



Needing something to busy her hands with, Amy picked her drink back up off the coffee table. “Well, she said my name…” the blonde started to explain.



Lauren’s features knotted up into a look of confusion. “She said your name? How is that embarrassing?”



“It wasn’t so much that she said my name…” Amy continued. “But how she kind of moaned it.”



“Moaned like, she wasn’t feeling well?” Lauren asked.



Amy’s blush lit up another shade of red and her lips curled into another smile. “It was more like she was feeling really, really ‘well.’”



“Really?” Lauren exclaimed, her face lighting up with both relief and happiness for her best friend. Reaching out and with little regard for the glass, she grabbed one of Amy’s hands in her own, clasping it tightly. “That’s it then! That’s all the proof you need!”



Amy set the glass back down as Lauren’s enthusiasm shook her gently. “It was… It sounded like she almost came right there…” Amy elaborated, giving an almost incredulous chuckle at it. “She sounded even cuter than she did the other night, Lauren. I can’t even describe what it was like…”



Her best friend’s face was a strange mix between joy and worry, and all the elation Lauren had felt melted away into concern. “What’s wrong, Aims?” Lauren asked, squeezing the blonde girl’s hand gently. “She likes you! What more do you need to know?”



Amy merely shook her head, unable to offer more than an exasperated sigh. “I don’t know, Lauren…” she whispered under her breath.



“You’re not happy about it?” Lauren cocked her head to the side, her dark tresses falling gracefully behind her shoulder.



“I am,” Amy implored. “Really, really happy, but… it’s just so…”



“…complicated?” Lauren asked, finishing Amy’s thought.



“Yeah,” Amy agreed. “Just a little.”



Lauren sensed Amy drifting off into her own headspace to worry endlessly about whether or not she could even be with JoBeth and that was the last thing she wanted Amy thinking about. “Screw the rules, Amy,” she said simply. “And don’t you go worrying about that stuff, right now, okay? Right now, just tell me what else happened tonight.”



“Alright,” Amy said, conceding a small smile. She banished the worries about things that could go wrong off into the furthest reaches of her mind and dove back into the warmth that JoBeth had wrapped around her earlier that evening. “That moan was really just the beginning, too…”



“Go on,” Lauren purred, the cheshire grin returning to her features.



“After that, she kind of suggested that she’d…” Amy trailed off just for a moment to look Lauren in her eyes. “That she’d figured out about Friday night and that I might have been the one that ‘kidnapped’ her…



Unable to stifle a giggle, Lauren felt her own hopes rising. “I don’t hear any squad cars outside, so I’m guessing that…”



“She, uh… Didn’t seem to mind that much,” Amy confirmed with a small, almost disbelieving laugh of her own. It still gave Amy goose bumps as she thought back on just how thrilling it had been to hear what JoBeth had said next.



“She also might have suggested that she wouldn’t mind trying it again with me…” Amy finally got out through a delighted and blushing smile. She was even more elated now than she was the first time she’d heard it. The girl that she’d been dreaming of really was the closest thing to a perfect match she could have ever hoped for.



“Ahh!” Lauren exclaimed, taking Amy’s hand with both of her own. It had been more than a year since the last time her best friend had found someone that she’d been even remotely interested in and seeing Amy looking so shy but happy filled her with joy. After what Amy had just told her, Lauren knew that Amy thought there was a chance JoBeth liked her in return.



“Then what’s there to worry about, Aims?” Lauren asked, swinging Amy’s hand back and forth slightly. “She’s cute as a button, you say she’s got a brain to match, and she was teasing you about being tied up again? It sounds like the two of you are compatible in pretty much every way...”



“But…” Amy sighed, her unsure feelings still looming large in her mind.



“Ah, ah, ah,” Lauren interrupted, lightly swatting Amy’s knee. She’d drawn a squeak of protest from the other girl, but it went entirely unheeded. “No buts, Aims.”



“But JoBeth has a really cute butt…” Amy said playfully, trying to divert Lauren’s attention.



“And no jokes either, I mean it,” the dark-haired girl added, brushing past Amy’s quip without missing a beat. “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. On Friday night, I saw you two. She let you tie her up, and not only gag her, but kiss her too! Try as hard as you want Amy, but you can’t deny that she was getting just as into it as you were.”



“I know, I know…” Amy replied, a sheepish smile returning to her lips.



“Good,” Lauren stated, letting go of Amy’s hand. “Now, what else happened? I can’t believe that just a little flirting before the session would have kept you out so late…”



Amy shifted a little, sinking a bit lower into the couch. Tucking a few strands of hair back behind her ear, she pressed on. “Well, until we were interrupted, we did kind of… hold hands.”



“Cute,” Lauren laughed. “Maybe a little ‘middle school’ of you two, but that’s still cute,” she added with a smile.



“Oh, what do you want from me?” Amy inquired jokingly. “We were in the middle of a hallway outside of a classroom full of people… It’s not like I could just push her up against the wall or throw her down onto some desk and just take her…”



The dark-haired girl’s eyebrow arched slightly over a suggestive smile. “If not for fifty kids that would have wondered why their TA hadn’t showed up to the review session, it sounds like JoBeth would’ve liked that, Aims.”



“You don’t think I wanted to?” Amy asked, looking up at Lauren with a sulking, frustrated pout.



“I think that you both wanted to,” Lauren replied, grinning impishly.



“One of the other girls in class, JoBeth’s friend Tara, showed up just after that though. After that, it was time to get started,” Amy explained. “But the whole time during the review session, she kept smiling at me, and…”



“And what?” Lauren asked.



A moment of silence hung between the girls as the blonde tried to gather her thoughts. “I just know that there’s something there, Lauren…” Amy finally said after a sigh. “She was so open and affectionate… Almost like she wanted me to know that she liked me too...”



Lauren watched Amy trail off, shaking her head slightly. Her best friend’s frustration spread visibly across her features and Lauren knew that it took a lot to get Amy this riled. “Can I ask a silly question then?” she said quietly, deciding to go for the direct approach.



Amy’s deep blue eyes flicked back up to meet Lauren’s. “Hmm?”



“After holding hands and all of that flirting tonight… Why are you still alone here with me?” she asked, hoping that her message would finally get through. In all the years they’d known each other, Lauren knew that once her mind was made up, Amy could be pretty stubborn, but being too scared to go after the girl of her dreams because of some silly rule was something that Lauren refused to accept.



Running her hand through her hair, Amy resignedly shook her head. “Lauren…” she said plaintively, struggling to avoid the familiar sense of dejection she felt every time she reminded herself that no matter how much she liked JoBeth, it simply wasn’t something she could pursue.



Throwing her hands up in mock surrender, Lauren huffed at Amy. “I know, I know,” she replied, fixing Amy with a dubious look. “You can’t go talk to her now. You’ve told me many, many times about the ‘rules.’”



Amy understood Lauren’s frustration. It was a feeling they shared about the subject, but it didn’t make the situation any less complicated. “Lauren, I want to go over there and just tell her everything!”



“Amy…”



“I mean, four hours ago, I didn’t even know if she was into girls,” Amy continued. “Let alone what she thought about getting tied up at all…” she trailed off for a moment when a memory of how JoBeth looked wrapped in the soft white straightjacket a few nights before resurfaced suddenly.



Lauren smiled at how her best friend shivered slightly at the mere mention of tying up the plucky, young girl. “She did take to it pretty well,” Lauren mused, watching Amy’s cheeks light up in a blush.

While it wasn’t the only thing that mattered to her, if she couldn’t share that ultimate trust, care and love between herself and her partner, Amy wasn’t interested. The fact that it had sparked between them from the start was part of what had made JoBeth so unique. “I…” she trailed off, trying to find a way to explain herself.



She’d spent weeks hoping and in one night, Amy had found out that JoBeth had felt the spark was there between them too. The connection had been immediate and she’d known right then and there that this was the girl she wanted in her life more than anything else.



A frustrated sigh slipped out and Amy shook her head again. No matter how much she wanted to, there was no getting around the fact that she was her teacher.



“You what?” Lauren asked, her hand resting Amy’s knee as she tried to offer what reassurance she could give.



“It’s so stupid that I can’t just talk to her about it,” Amy pouted, letting her body go limp against the comfortable back of the sofa. “And despite all these stupid ‘rules,’ I wish I could have, Lauren. I wish I knew what would happen, and I wish I could just talk to her already...”



A sweet smile washed over Lauren’s face and the dark-haired girl took Amy’s hand back in her own. “Aims…” Lauren sighed, rubbing her thumb over Amy’s. It pained her to see her best friend so clearly frustrated, but she was glad to see started to move in the right direction. “I can’t even imagine what you’re feeling, but you seriously need to forget those silly ‘rules’ you’re so worried about.”



Amy looked up plaintively at Lauren, brushing some of her blonde locks off her face. “I want to… Why can’t it be easier to just talk to her?” she asked.



“Because nothing worth having is easy, Aims. It’s a cliché for a reason,” Lauren replied with a small smile and a pat to Amy’s hand. “And you should talk to her…” she added sweetly.



The tension that had built up over the past few minutes started to dissipate and a smile tugged at the corners of Amy’s soft, pink lips. “I know,” Amy said through a small laugh.



“After everything you’ve told me about her, you better,” Lauren chided. “I’m not letting you walk away from someone you actually like.”



“Well, I am going to be seeing her again,” Amy teased, offering a sly smile to her instantly intrigued roommate.



Her heart leapt in excitement, and Lauren swatted Amy’s hand lightly. “You evil wench! You went melodramatic when all that time you were holding out on me?”



“Hey!” Amy laughed, pushing Lauren’s hand away playfully. “I can’t tell you everything at once you know. Besides, just because I have good news doesn’t mean that I’m not terrified of every stupid scenario that I keep dreaming up.”



Pulling her legs up underneath her, Lauren faced Amy straight on at full attention. “I know, Aims. But tonight, you and I are going to focus on the positive here! Deal?”



“Deal,” Amy nodded.



“Now...” Lauren said, focusing back in on what had piqued her interest. “You said you’re going to see JoBeth again?”



With a coy smirk, Amy picked her drink back up off the table and brought it to her lips. “I would have seen her normally, during class,” she said, her voice echoing into the glass. “Far as I can remember, JoBeth hasn’t missed a single class yet.”



“That’s ‘cause she wants you,” Lauren teased, poking Amy’s knee.



The blunt statement caused Amy to sputter. She tried not to choke on the liquid through a slightly flustered laugh. “Lauren!” she protested, wiping a stray drop off her lower lip with the back of her hand.



“What?” the dark-haired girl scoffed defensively, suppressing an amused chuckle. “Like that’s some kind of bad thing?”



Amy paused, thinking for a moment as a faint blush returned to her cheeks. “Well, no, it wouldn’t be…” she allowed, kicking out at Lauren with one of her legs playfully. “But still!” The blonde felt a thrill at the idea that JoBeth would be doing anything just for her, and she was sure that Lauren had picked up on that fact as well.



“Blushing again, eh?” Lauren cooed, poking at Amy as her best friend tried to swat her hand away. “That’s a good sign to me!”



“You’re a goof, you know that?” Amy retorted.



“Yeah, but that’s why you love me,” Lauren said, a smug look crossing her tanned features. Amy stuck her tongue out at her in retaliation, sending them both into a small fit of laughter. “So anyway,” she began, finding her way back to her train of thought after another drink. “You’re seeing JoBeth again, but this time, somewhere other than class?”



With a shy smile on her lips, Amy’s gaze flicked away. “Yeah,” she said quietly, a little afraid of just how much she was looking forward to it. She figured that Lauren could already see the anticipation and excitement that was spreading across her features. Having her best friend’s support was a welcome comfort.



“Oh, come on, Aims. You’ve got to give me more than that,” Lauren prodded. The fact that Amy had found a girl that got her this giddy and flustered was something that she had to know about. “What happened, already?”



Amy shifted on the couch a little, clutching the throw pillow to her chest. “After the review session was done, JoBeth told her friend that she’d catch up with her at the front doors, right?”



“Right,” Lauren laughed, playing along. “And?”



“Well, once most of the other students left, she came over to me,” Amy continued, her heart starting to race nearly as fast as it had when it happened. “I wanted to throw her down on the desk, Lauren,” she added, grinning widely.



The dark haired girl chuckled, downing the rest of her drink before settling back into her corner of the couch. “I’ll bet you did. And you so should have,” she teased in a sing-song voice.



Amy shot Lauren a short, playful scowl before the fleeting thoughts she’d had of what she’d do to JoBeth in that empty classroom put a dreamy smile back on her lips. “I wish,” she sighed. “But something still kind of good happened. She asked if I had office hours, or some time to look at her essay this week…”



“But you don’t have any office hours or anything, do you?” Lauren asked, furrowing her eyebrows curiously.



“Not really,” Amy confirmed with a smirk.



Seeing Amy’s reaction, caused an enthusiastic grin to spread back across Lauren’s face. “So what’d you tell her? You better have told her you would…”



“I did,” Amy said with a bright smile. “I told her to meet me before class tomorrow, and that I’d be happy to try and help her out.”



“That’a girl,” Lauren said, holding her hand out for Amy to slap her five.



“Thanks,” the blonde girl laughed, reaching to slap Lauren’s hand. The prospect of spending time with JoBeth on her own made her feel like a kid on Christmas Eve. Every night before a class, Amy found herself wishing that the next morning would come as soon as possible. It was a kind of excitement that she hadn’t felt in a long time and it was one she hoped to find a way to keep on having with the adorable freshman.



Lauren yawned, stretching out for a moment before her attention refocused on her blushing best friend. “Figured out where you two are going to meet up tomorrow, then?” she asked, resting her head against the back of the couch and smiling warmly over at Amy.



The blonde girl’s contentment was infectious, and Lauren was happy to set aside her own frustrations to let the general calm wash over her. It was one of Amy’s strange abilities that seemed to draw people to her; when she was happy, in short time, everyone else seemed to be too. That special kind of calm had been absent from their lives recently as Amy had been frustrated by her inability to talk to the girl she liked, but the events of the last two days had given her the push that Lauren wasn’t going to let her concede.



Amy spent a few moments gathering her racing thoughts before she finally looked over to meet Lauren’s gaze. As a slightly embarrassed laugh broke the silence, she swatted her throw pillow at Lauren’s knees. “I never said that we were going to meet tomorrow,” Amy said, her exasperated claim drawing a laugh from her dark-haired companion.



“Sure you won’t,” Lauren retorted, arching an eyebrow and giving a playful nudge to Amy’s knee. “You both want each other bad. Of course it’ll be tomorrow,” she explained, a mischievous glint shining in her eye.



Both girls burst out in a laugh and Amy’s cheeks burned bright red. Tucking a few loose strands of hair behind her ear, Amy couldn’t help but nod, acknowledging Lauren’s point. “Alright, alright…” she sighed, waving her hands before flopping them down into her lap. “Maybe I kind of want to meet her tomorrow…”



“Kind of?” Lauren pressed, emphasizing the first word skeptically.



Amy squirmed a little; grinning back at her best friend and wishing that she didn’t have to wait to find out. “Alright, I do want to meet her tomorrow… If that’s what she wants to do.”



A warm and reassuring smile crossed Lauren’s features. There was no way that she was going to let Amy’s doubts get the best of her in the face of a one-in-a-lifetime relationship. “I can guarantee you she does,” she said softy, locking in to Amy’s gaze. “I know these things!”



“Oh, do you now…” Amy asked wryly, chuckling a little at the comment.



With a nod of her head, Lauren confirmed her assertion. “Oh, I do, Amy…” the dark haired girl drawled, trailing off into a giggle. “And if you don’t go after her yourself, I’m going to drag you over to her dorm room and I’ll make you tell her!”



Amy scoffed at the statement, launching another playful strike with her throw pillow. “I’d like to see you try,” she challenged, spurring Lauren to block her attack and laugh. “I’m still bigger and stronger than you, little missy.”



“Yeah, but I’m feisty and very determined,” Lauren replied, snatching the pillow and yanking it away from Amy.



“Hey…”



“Nope! That’s what you get,” Lauren teased, guarding the throw pillow against her chest. Amy was pouting at Lauren, but she refused to give in. “Uh uh, there’s no way that’s working this time, Aims,” she said sternly, looking away from her best friend’s nearly irresistible face.



Amy leaned back against the couch, crossing her arms over her chest and accepting the temporary defeat. Even while she was still refusing to look at her, it helped to have Lauren around to talk to when things were bothering her. She was always able to bring her back down out of her frustration better than anyone else and having her in the bedroom next door was a godsend in terms of company.



“Thanks, though…” the blonde girl finally said a few moments later.



Lauren looked back over at Amy to find that her pout had turned into a look of tender appreciation. “For what?” she asked, her lips pulling back into a smile.



“For listening,” Amy replied.



“Aww, Aims…” Lauren cooed, reaching out to take Amy’s hand in hers again, giving it a quick squeeze. “You know I care about you,” she said, hugging the throw pillow again. “And besides, you do the same for me all the time.”



Both girls curled tiredly in to the large, comfortable couch. The late hour was starting to take its toll and a warm glow settled over the two long time friends. “Hey, we’ve got each other’s backs,” Amy said with a bright smile for her roommate.



“You better believe it,” Lauren cheered. Perking back up, she took a quick glance over at the small clock next to the television. The little red numbers signaled that it was nearly midnight, prompting her to slide off of the couch to start shutting everything down for the night. “But, for now,” the dark haired girl added with a small grunt, stretching out to the tips of her toes before reaching for the television’s remote. “Our number one priority is getting you to tomorrow.”



Amy’s eyebrows arched curiously and her eyes followed Lauren around the living room. “Hmm…” she sighed quietly, already feeling the gentle tug of her bed’s siren call. Her sleepiness combined with the thought of seeing JoBeth again, giving the blonde girl a dreamy smile. “I’m looking forward to tomorrow…” she purred.



The flickering light of the television stopped and Lauren looked back at Amy with a smirk. “I know you are,” she said, watching the other girl try to fend off a yawn. “And tomorrow is going to become today if you don’t get off to bed soon. You need your beauty sleep so you can seduce that little JoBeth of yours…”



Turning over on the couch, Amy propped her hands on each side of her legs, slowly standing up off the couch. “She’s not mine yet, you know,” she chuckled, collecting their two glasses and walking them into the kitchen. Another one of the lamps in the living room clicked off as she opened the dishwasher and set the glasses inside.



“That’s what you think,” Lauren replied, following Amy into the kitchen. Leaning against the divider between the two rooms, she watched Amy load the soap into the dishwasher and turn it on. When Amy finally turned back in her direction, she met her inquisitive gaze with a wide, cheshire smile.



“What do you mean?” Amy asked, cocking her head off to the side slightly.



The soft sound of water rushing into the dishwasher filled the kitchen and Lauren offered a very pleased grin. “Because something tells me that she already is,” she explained, sending another blush to Amy’s cheeks.



“Lauren…” Amy groaned, shaking her head. “We don’t know anything for sure.”



Lauren waved her hand, ushering the blonde girl past her and towards her bedroom. “You stop thinking that junk right now,” she said, grabbing Amy’s shoulders and massaging them with her thumbs. “I want you thinking positive when you see JoBeth tomorrow!”



Amy laughed, rolling her neck lazily as Lauren continued the impromptu massage. The girl was damned good at them when she tried and the warm tingle they brought her always helped to melt at least a little of her stress and tension away. “I know, I know,” Amy said though a small laugh, casting aside her doubts in favor of the memory of holding the brunette’s hand.



“You’ll figure out something, Aims,” Lauren said, her certain tone as reassuring as ever.



Happy to take any help she was offered, Amy tried to absorb as much of Lauren’s confidence as she could. “She was the one that took my hand tonight…” she trailed off, smiling contentedly.



“Exactly,” Lauren quipped, following Amy over to her bedroom doorway. She let her hands fall from Amy’s shoulders as the other girl turned back around. She’d been making her case for three days straight and it seemed to her that she was finally starting to put cracks in Amy’s resistance.



She knew Amy better than anyone, and Lauren didn’t think that there was any way that she’d read JoBeth wrong. Seeing Amy so frustrated about it was maddening but with just the gentlest nudges in the right direction, the two girls could finally talk about what they should have said to each other weeks ago. “She likes you, Amy,” Lauren said softly. “You can keep hiding behind every silly rule or doubt that you dream up if you want, but you know it just as well as I do. Just talk to her tomorrow.”



“I know…” Amy trailed off, smiling warmly at her best friend. Lauren looked back at her with a blend of empathizing frustration, compassion and genuine hope for her. Amy reached out and pulled her best friend into a warm embrace.



“I’ve been saying it a lot these last few days, but thanks, Lauren…” the blonde said, giving the dark haired girl a tight squeeze. “You help.”



A smile spread across Lauren’s lips and she gently patted Amy’s back for a moment before their embrace finally broke. “No doubts, Aims. You know there’s no way I’d let you just walk away from a girl that already meant this much to you.”



“And that’s why you rule,” Amy quipped, flashing a bright but tired grin.



The girls laughed and Lauren puffed her chest out proudly. “You got that right,” she affirmed. “But for now, you need to get in bed!”



Amy took the few steps over to her bed and flopped down on the soft, queen-sized mattress. Letting out a long, luxurious sigh, she watched Lauren lean against the doorframe. A quick glance at the clock told her that it was long since time to crawl under the sheets and hopefully dream about a certain sexy pony-tailed brunette. “Those TA meetings we have are way too early…” she lamented, reaching over to grab the clock off her nightstand to set the alarm.



“I keep telling you to skip them, but no… You seem to like being employed,” Lauren said, rolling the words around teasingly.



With a laugh, Amy set the clock back down to look back over at her roommate. “I guess I’m just weird like that,” she mused, looking back over at her roommate. “But anyway, are you hungry for anything in particular for breakfast?”



The meetings meant that Amy had to wake up early three days a week, and those mornings typically found her baking something simple to help them start the day. More often than not, Lauren would crawl right back into bed immediately after Amy left to enjoy a few more hours of sleep, but she was always happy to emerge and share breakfast with her favorite chef.



In their entire time sharing the apartment, Amy had yet to cook something that she hadn’t liked. The sweet smells in the morning were the best alarm that’d she’d ever had. “Anything you feel like having to start your big day,” Lauren said with a wink.



Shaking her head, Amy suppressed a laugh. “You always show up at the first whiff of food, no matter what it is.”



“That’s because it’s good,” Lauren explained cheerfully.



Amy flashed a smile, knowing just how much the other girl enjoyed their morning ritual. “I’ll see how I feel in the morning, and your sleep-addled butt will be the first to know!” Amy decided, eliciting a chirp of agreement from the girl standing in the doorway.



“Sounds like a plan to me,” Lauren said, a beaming smile dancing across her lips. Reaching over, she grabbed the doorknob and started to pull it closed. “Sweet dreams, Aims!” she added with one last wave good night.



“Night, Lauren…” Amy yawned, waving in return as the door clicked quietly shut.



She let out another tired sigh and glanced around the room. The soft light from her nightstand lamp lit everything in a warm, pink glow. She heard the muted sound of water rushing in the bathroom sink as Lauren was getting ready for bed herself. It was never enough to bother her and at the moment, all that Amy could think about was curling up and falling asleep.



Slipping out of her yoga pants, Amy draped them over her bed’s footboard and pulled the blankets back off her bed. She nearly collapsed onto the mattress, sliding beneath the covers before getting settled enough to pull them back up over her chest. Her head fell lightly onto her pillow and the gentle pull of sleep was already starting to claim her while she reached over to turn out the light.



“Aaah…” Amy sighed, rolling into the center of the bed, finally able to fully relax. The events of the day still spun through her mind at a breakneck speed. Her thoughts flickered from the frustration that she’d felt for days and weeks on end to the events of Friday night. She felt her cheeks starting to glow and a delightful tingle wash over her as she recalled just how amazing it had been to simply hold JoBeth’s hand for the first time.



It had been more than just some empty gesture. When she’d held JoBeth’s hand in hers, there was something there that had the potential to become so much more. For the first time in weeks, the possibility that she could actually have a relationship with the freshman girl was holding its ground against the raging torrent of doubts that had routinely swept it aside.



A small smile curled the corners of her lips and Amy started to think about what she could say to JoBeth when she saw her after class. Dozens of scenarios played themselves out in her head. After everything that had happened before the review session, Amy held on to the new hope inside her that the girl she’d had a crush on from the moment they’d met just might return her feelings.



The faint sound of Lauren’s singing in the bathroom made Amy chuckle softly. The girl had a good voice as it was, but more than that, Amy counted herself lucky to have a friend like her. With everything she’d been going through for the past few days, Lauren was, as always, her constant rock of support. She would do the same for Lauren in a heartbeat, but having her best friend’s support and encouragement right now made the taking to JoBeth seem actually possible. Knowing that she had someone that she could come home and talk to no matter what was a tremendous comfort.



With another, wider yawn, Amy cuddled into her soft, cool pillow. The water in the bathroom turned off and she heard the quiet click of Lauren’s bedroom door closing. The night was drawing to a close and her thoughts drifted agreeably back to JoBeth.



“Hnnn…” Amy sighed dreamily, starting to nod off while she imagined having her crush there curled up with her in bed. “Tomorrow…” she trailed off, her grip on the pillow tightening a tiny bit as the fantasy of holding JoBeth in her arms took over. Pleasant thoughts of what the future might hold for them carried the smiling, exhausted blonde off to sleep.



*End Chapter 4*