The room is unusually cold when Tiffany steps in, four grocery bags fisted by the handles in one hand, and her key in the other. It’s unusually cold, or it’s just her, because she’s drenched from head to toe in the sudden rain that had caught her in the midst of running her errands. It was just her luck to be without an umbrella when she usually had one on hand everyday. Now she is freezing, and her apartment is not helping.

Dropping the soggy plastic bags to the floor, the dark haired girl strides into the living room, peeling off her soaked jacket with each step starting with the arms, which she personally thought was the most difficult part in taking the damn thing off. Once it is off, she holds the dripping cloth by its collar and shakes it, glaring as droplets of water spray from the fabric as it swoops down and thumps against her leg in a grand movement. “Babe,” she finally thinks to call, once her pale, freezing feet are padding down her carpeted hallway and into her bedroom. “Babe, I’m back. It’s raining.”

A pair of curious brown eyes meet Tiffany in the doorway. From her place in bed, propped upright against the headboard, the brunette’s eyebrows arch at the damp mess in front of her. “Hi,” Tiffany murmurs, suddenly stopped and self-conscious of the roving gaze. The other girl does not say anything back, still intently studying the flimsy clothing that is sticking to Tiffany’s shivering form. “I-“ A smirk starts playing at the corners of her lips, riding the subway line down the sharp cut of her jaw from her amusement to as she looks, wanting to laugh, but pursing her lips instead. And from her place at the door Tiffany can tell that Jessica wants her.

“I forgot my umbrella,” she finally manages to say, inching forward into the room cautiously as she regards the other girl. is curiously dry. There is a churning in her stomach. Jessica’s whole presence – from her alabaster skin to her stilt pose – seems so thin and ephemeral, so prone to vanish. Tiffany goes to her gingerly as if walking on egg shells, though all she really wants is to rush to Jessica and feel herself being held within the older girl’s bony arms. Her knees meet the side of the bed, and her lean legs eagerly bend, cracking at the joint, as the mattress sags and groans underneath her slow, crawling weight. 

Jessica blinks, lips still pursed, back still leaning against the headboard. She waits until Tiffany’s clammy hands are at her neck, brushing her tangled wisps of hair away as she settles next to her. When the dark haired girl stills, Jessica lets herself lean, tipping like a cut tree, into Tiffany’s shoulder.

“I heard sirens five minutes ago,” she murmurs. “There’s always sirens in this city,” Tiffany replies. Jessica nods in agreement, one of her hands rising to rub at her forehead out of habit.

“I still can’t tell whether it was a police or ambulance siren, though.”
“Does it really matter? Either way, too much happens in this city.”
“Too much stupid .”
“Stupid people.”
“Doing stupid things.”

The smile has finally arrived at Jessica’s lips, and she is amused as Tiffany’s grin is soon at her neck, with a turn of her head. Lips pressing against the burning skin, Tiffany helps Jessica lay down on her back. As she climbs over her, she looks at the slim pile of joints and curves beneath her and swallows. Foolishly, Tiffany still fears that Jessica will somehow evaporate into a mist and slip away. But logically, she has the older girl pinned and she soon leans towards Jessica’s lips, letting her body fall into the brunette’s as Jessica’s hands grab at her and frantically claw at her clothing, ready to slide away the slimy, protective outer layers in pursuit of ripe warmth.

Tiffany is acquiescent. She is cold, wet, and afraid of getting pneumonia among many other things. And, she is eager to feel the feeling returning to her body via Jessica’s fingernails on her back.

There is a sharp exhale of breath, gasped out of habit. And from outside the window, mixing with the rain still pelting the rest of the world, there is a faint repetitive wail of several sirens.

The End.