Near three o'clock in the morning, they were both so tired that they had let their bodies slump against each other's. Both of them had their eyes closed, on the edge of falling asleep. Through the course of the night, their hands had found each other, and their fingers had intertwined, just like they had the beginning of the evening. Only then it had still been an accident.
"Amber..." Krystal moaned. "Let's go home..."
"Hmm." 
It took them another five minutes before one of them moved. Amber was the first one who managed to get up, and she pulled Krystal up by her hand. The brunette had trouble finding her balance on her heels, now that her body was so tired she could barely keep her eyes open. She had to hold onto Amber to not fall back again. Part of her just wanted to stay her on the roof. Now that they had shared such personal experiences here together, she actually didn't want to leave anymore. But the cold had infiltrated her body, and had made her muscles stiff and had made her heartbeat slow down. After a few hours in the cold, her body was protesting so much that she knew she wouldn't stand the cold much longer. She needed warmth.
"How far is your place?" Amber asked. 
"Eh... I usually come here by car... perhaps an hour or two walking?" she muttered, her sentence half way interrupted by a yawn. She was too tired to place her hand in front of anymore. They still held hands. 
"My place is a quarter away from here. Wanna come?" Amber asked. "Nah, I'm not even asking. You're gonna come with me because otherwise you'll freeze to death or collapse."
Krystal shrugged, and just followed her back to the door. Amber opened it, and they went back down the stairs. Half way their way down Krystal just ook off her shoes, because it was impossible to get down the steep stairs with her heels. Whilst wearing them in her hand, and her other hand still linked to Amber's, they walked down, both yawning and often pausing to catch their breaths. They were honestly so out of shape; it was almost funny.

When they reached the hall again, Krystal was already dragging her body around. Amber had woken up a little bit, and was much more alert than Krystal was, probably due to the fact that she often stayed up until times like these, and was sort of used to it. Krystal, the goody two shoes, went to bed around eleven, twelve when she felt like it, which was quite early. She was not used to these late hours and her body was screaming for sleep. 
Even before they reached the front doors, Amber turned around to her, with her hands placed in her sides. Krystal, barely able to keep her eyes open, watched her through her squinted eyes. The brat took her backpack off her back and reached it out to Krystal.
"What?" she asked. 
"Carry my backpack," Amber replied. 
"No!"Krystal protested. The older girl chuckled and rolled her eyes, then pushed her backpack into her hands. 

"If you carry my backpack, I'll carry you," she explained. Krystal frowned her eyebrows, and stared at her for a moment. Eventually, she put the backpack — which was actually quite heavy — on her back and nodded. Amber laughed, and sank down to her knees. 
"Get on! Piggyback ride for the Princess," she said. Whilst huffing out of annoyance because of the nickname, Krystal got onto Amber's back. She yelped when she stood up, and wrapped her arms quickly around her neck. Not tight enough that she'd have trouble breathing, but just tight enough to stay seated very well. Amber wrapped her arms around her thighs and  looked over her shoulder up to the brunette. 
"Nice and comfie?—" Amber asked. Krystal nodded. "Let's get going then."
Amber started walking. The rhythmatic moving of her body underneath her caused to swing slightly from the left to the right. It didn't help to stay awake, and it didn't take long before Krystal's eyes started to fall shut again. She let her head rest against Amber's, letting her carry her to her apartment. Only a few hours ago she would've rather killed herself than to go with Amber Josephine Liu to her apartment. Now, it didn't seem like such a crazy idea. It was almost as if they had been friends for ages, and Krystal didn't think about it as weird to go with her and sleep there. 

She didn't know how long it took, probably because she already had fallen asleep once on her back during the ride, but eventually they arrived at Amber's apartment complex. It was located near the convenience store; she could see the bright light shine over the houses even from here. It wasn't big, the size of a normal house in fact, and it probably housed three or four apartments, which weren't too big either. Amber pinched in her legs, to wake her up, whilst softly whispering her name. 
"Princes...? Krystal..!"
"Hmmm?" she replied. 
"I'm going to put you down now, so we can get in the house."
"Hmmm," she replied again. Amber chuckled, and slowly put her down. Krystal kept her arms around her shoulders, until she refound her balance and could stand on her own. The other girl took her keys out of her pocket and opened the door for her. 
"Entrée," she said. "My French is amazing, don't you think?"
Krystal just rolled her eyes, and stepped into the dark hall. Amber shut the door behind them, and immediately slipped her hand into the brunette's. A bit surprised, she looked up to her. 
"I don't want to wake the others, so just follow me upstairs, okay?"
Krystal nodded, but then realized that Amber probably couldn't see that. 
"Yes.." she whispered in reply. Amber pinched her hand softly, and she pinched back. The other girl started to move, and Krystal followed. Slow steps, which eventually started going upwards when they encountered the stairs. At the top of the stairs, they had to go through a small corridor, which was barely broad enough for two people to walk next to each other. They turned right, then stopped in front of a door, presumably Amber's front door. She took her keys out again, and opened it, this time getting in first and turning on the light. Krystal immediately squinted her eyes shut because of the sudden bright light, and Amber too muttered a soft curse word because of it. It took her a few seconds before she got used to the light, and even then she could only open her eyes a little bit. 
It was even smaller than she had imagined. Amber's apartment was a one room apartment, with a small exception that was the bathroom. The door to the bathroom was immediately at their right. There was a tiny kitchen, which basically was a stove, an old fridge and a tiny bit of dresser. A double bed against the wall, with a closet almost directly next to it. There was a simple wooden table, with a TV that faced the bed, near the only window, with four chairs of the same design, probably gotten from a second-hand store. The walls were white, causing the room to probably look bigger than it actually is during the day. Now that the only light came from the small lamp on the ceiling, the walls seemed yellow. 
Now that Krystal looked closely, she saw how messy it actually was. Dishes in the sink, a half-empty six pack on the table, together with a few empty bottles of alcohol. Some used clothes here, an open bottle of deodorant there. The sheets were unmade and laid in a pile on the bed. It wasn't smelling unpleasantly, but she had to get used to it. Like she hadn't opened a window for the last couple of days. 
Immediately when they got in, a small bark erupted from the room. Krystal looked for the source of the sound, but only found it when the small dog was scratching her legs. It was a tiny black chihuahua, barking with a high-pitched voice to the stranger and its owner. 
"Jack Jack, go home!" Amber said. The dog looked at her for a moment with a sad look in his tiny eyes, then returned to his tent-shaped basket. From another corner of the room sounded a small 'miauw'. A tiny blue gray kitten appeared from the shadows, taking in its owner and the stranger. 
"That's Tuna.." Amber said. "She doesn't like strangers much."
And indeed, the kitten returned immediately to its small basket underneath the table. Krystal, too tired to take in everything, just nodded, and yawned. She just wanted to sleep.
Krystal squatted down which caused Jack Jack to erupt from his tent again and run towards her. She petted him behind his ears. 
"Where will I sleep? Do you have an extra matress or something?" she asked. Amber had taken off her jacket and threw it over one of the chairs. She rubbed with the hand on the back of her neck and let out a nervous little laugh. 
"Yeah, I kinda forgot to tell you that I just have one bed..."
Krystal looked up, immediately stopping with petting of the chihuahua. Jack Jack whined and rubbed with his head against her hand, but she didn't even feel it. 
"So...-" she started. Amber cleared , rather uncomfertably. 
"Yeah.. Mind sleeping together in one bed? I can lend you sleeping clothes and such. I think they're a bit too big for you, but you'll at least able to sleep warmly.. and, you know, not in just your lingerie," Amber rambled. Krystal  was almost unable to make out what she was saying, because the words rushed out of faster than lightning. The troublemaker wouldn't catch her eye, and a strange thought popped up in her head: Was she, perhaps, nervous? Krystal snickered at the idea. 
"What? Have you never seen a woman in her undies?" she asked. For a moment, she thought to see Amber's cheeks colour. But maybe it was just the shimmering of the light, she thought, because when she moved her head, everything seemed normal again. Amber chuckled softly. 
"Believe me that I don't have experience with ladies in their underwear. I have experience with ladies without underwear!" she joked. Krystal shot her a foul glance and rolled her eyes. 
"Brat.." she mumbled. Jack Jack was still whining for attention, so she turned herself back to the little dog and started to scratch its belly. 
"Yes! Your owner is a dirty rascal that needs to clean , yes!" said Krystal, in a high-pitched voice that made Jack Jack's tail wiggle even more. She heard Amber chuckle from behind her.
"So I take that as a 'yes'? You're staying over?" she asked softly. Krystal looked up to her and nodded. 
"I don't feel like walking home anymore."
Amber smiled to her and nodded.

Whilst Krystal snuggled up with Jack Jack on the floor — although she was more a cat person, Jack Jack was fine too, because Tuna wouldn't show herself anymore — Amber started to make everything ready. She got a baggy T-shirt and shorts from Amber, which she galantly threw to her head. Amber made up her bed, even though that'd be useless since they'd get in together soon. Amber turned around when Krystal changed out of her dress and into Amber's clothes, which smelled like her sweet scent even though they had been washed. She quickly did so, and laid her dress over one of the back of the chairs, tying her hair in a ponytail afterwards. Krystal also promised not to look when Amber changed her clothes, but she couldn't help to peek a look. 
Amber's body was toned, more than the average girl, which made her think that she probably worked out a lot. Despite her obvious female features — that were more visible now that she had her clothes off — her shoulders were still broad, her biceps still toned with muscles. She only saw her back, but even without tensing her muscles, she could see the lines of them underneath her skin. There must also be abs, no doubt, she thought. Her s were hugged by a sports bra, and she wore boxers underneath. It caused her to get a tough, manly appearance even without clothes. But the more she tried to look tough, to look like she was strong enough to bear the of the world, the softer she looked in Krystal's eyes. Despite her jawbone, her features weren't hard. Her shoulders, her hips, her legs, they all had a certain softness to it that was almost adorable. It was almost cute...
Right before she turned around again, Krystal turned back to Jack Jack. The dog was now playing with her fingers in her lap, oblivious about the faster beating of her heart, or the clamminess of her hands, so suddenly. 

When they were both done, Amber sent Jack Jack to his basket again, and dimmed the lights in the room, so that the only light came from the moon that shone through the uncovered window. They brushed their teeth, drank a last glass of water and immediately went to bed. Krystal got in first, and Amber last. The sheets were cold, despite the hot temperature in the room, which immediately caused goosebumps to appear all over her body. She took the blankets and pulled them up to her chin. Despite the extra clothes she had gotten from Amber, she was still shivering badly. 
"Can you stop moving, or something?" Amber muttered. "You're disturbing my beauty sleep."
Krystal sighed and huffed. 
"I can't help it your bed feels like the North Pole," she hissed back. She heard Amber chuckle. 
"Come here then, Princess," she said. Krystal heard the sheets rustle, and a few seconds later she felt an arm slip around her waist and Amber's body pressed against hers from behind. She gulped loudly in surprise. Her fingers curled around the sheets. It felt like her skin was burning at the places it made contact with Amber's body, which was practically her whole body now. She could feel the other girl's slow, steady breathing in her neck, her relaxed muscles underneath her skin. grew dry, and she had no idea why. Whilst biting her lip, she tried to get her own body under control, hoping that the sudden uneasiness would fade if she would just try to relax. 
"Are you feeling warm yet?"
Well, her body was burning, but she couldn't say that, so Krystal just made a small 'Hmm'-sound. Even though she was physically very tired, her mind was racing. She already knew that she'd be unable to fall asleep if Amber stayed so close all night. And it was ridiculous, honestly, to be so sensitive to the punk's touches. Only a day ago she wouldn't have wanted Amber to lay a finger on her, or even look in her direction.. and now she was snuggling up with her in Amber's bed, in Amber's apartment. And not only did she like it to be close, it seemed like her complete digust for the other girl had dissapeared completely. In fact, she smelled quite nice and her hands were really soft and nice to hold. Inside that hard layer of dark clothing and a I-don't-give-a--about-anything attitude, was an emotional girl who was alone, just like she was. A thinker, someone she could find herself in not just in one aspect. It scared her how much she had came to like Amber. 
Krystal understood why so many girls had fallen for her already. It made her feel even worse knowing that she was just like one of those girls; she had fallen for Amber's charms, while she had promised herself not too. She started to wonder whether Amber showed that soft side of her to every girl she encountered, that it was all just an act to get them into her bed. Ah well, it had worked with her after all. Perhaps a little longer than normal, but it had still worked. Krystal felt like she had betrayed her own principles.
"Good night, Krystal..." 
Amber's voice was soft, and soaked with sleepiness. It was rather cute. 
"Good night, Amber," Krystal replied.

It took only a few minutes before Amber's heartbeat slowed down to the minimum. The other girl started to breath evenly in through , sometimes letting out a soft unconscious snore. Krystal's body was still quite tensed up. It took her a little longer to finally fall asleep. 
It was a quarter to four when Krystal fell asleep too. She wasn't cold for the entire night.