The next morning I wake up to a soft, warm figure beside me. Confused I look around to see limbs tangled together as Tiffany and I lie cramped together on the couch, the blanket messily sprawled around and hanging off from the edge. Carefully I lift my head up, already feeling the soreness of my neck as I look around the too bright room. My eyes drift towards the clock on the table symbolizing that it’s only five thirty; I don’t even wake up that early on weekdays!

A small headache suddenly arrives as I just think of it, and slowly I massage my temples as I lie there. Out of all days it’s a sunny one, where the sunlight is basically blending my eyes and it just adds to my headache. With a groan I lie back down in the small space and try to cover my eyes from the light. My movements must’ve woken up Tiffany as I feel her stir next to me, grumbling about something until a mop of messy hair greets my vision. With one eye barely open, she opens the other until she’s repeatedly blinking while staring out in the open space. It takes her a couple of seconds to speak as I simply look at her, a small smile on my face.

Tiffany is still staring into open space, until she finally turns to look at me with a confused, but oddly cute expression. “What is it?” she asks curiously. She starts tilting her head a little to the side, messy and tangled hair covering parts of her face. I don’t say anything, but I believe I’m still smiling like the dumbest idiot and I don’t really care, I just feel like I have to smile. Then slowly I lean in to carefully give her a peck on the cheek, not really knowing what that was but still not minding. Tiffany simply looks lost before smiling herself, a set of pearly whites showing. Then she lets out a soft laugh before lying her head down again, silently asking me to join her and I do.

We simply lie here on the couch falling in or out of sleep for the next hour. If we ever are awake at the same time we silently communicate, not using any words, just enjoying each other’s company. That’s one of the many things I appreciate with Tiffany. Her personality is always so loud and cheerful, but she doesn’t always need words or unnecessary conversations to fill the silence. Sometimes, just like me, she enjoys peace just as much as me and just knows. It’s like we comprehend each other in a way that doesn’t even need words, we just need understanding.

This is something that I wish would last forever, if it could, but I know it won’t.

After another half hour of just lazing around, Tiffany parts her lips and is about to say something, but she doesn’t get far until a loud grumbling sound echoes throughout the four walls from her stomach, almost sounding like a whale. But saying that it is a loud sound is really an understatement, and it continues like that for a while as Tiffany embarrassingly looks down, a hint of red tinting her pale face.  It takes me a couple of seconds to let that sound sink in, but soon I feel myself laughing louder, and louder, until I can barely breathe.

“Hey, stop it,” Tiffany says but starts laughing herself as we still lie there, the sunlight drifting through the window and almost upon our faces. “So I suppose you’re hungry?” I ask after calming down a bit, looking over at Tiffany who nods. “Let’s eat then.”

Then we slowly stumble over towards the kitchen, deciding on what on earth to make until we simply settle on scrambled eggs and pancakes, along with a small batch of leftover ice cream. The combination seems rather unappealing, but it’s good nevertheless and it gets eaten up, so in the end it doesn’t matter.

A couple of hours are spent lazing around watching reruns of yesterday’s dramas or playing around, and we brush our teeth somewhere along the way, but we’re still in our pajamas. It’s only when the clock is about noon Tiffany suddenly wants to go outside.

“You wanna go outside?” she asks as we are bundled up in the sofa, not really paying attention to what’s going on the TV. Something about a woman and a man switching bodies or something, I never understood these types of dramas, but it seems to be very popular now. I look up to meet Tiffany’s gaze, smiling a little before slowly nodding.

“Well, I’ll tidy up while you get ready then, okay?” I say before I untangle myself from our position. “There’s a set of spare towels in the small shelf by the door, if you’re going to shower,” I say as I’m already on my way to take the dirty dishes and wrappers until a hand suddenly grabs my wrist. I turn around to look at Tiffany confused, only to earn a too adorable grin.

“Kiss, please?” she asks, still smiling, and I try not to laugh as I look at her expectant face. I pretend to be thinking of it for a while, purposely stalling to annoy Tiffany just a little before finally “giving in” and placing a short peck on her lips (although there wasn’t really much to think of, but that’s another story).

I’m just done clearing the mess and packing away the never used spare mattress when I hear Tiffany calling out from the bathroom.  “Hey Jess, how does your shower work?” she almost shouts from the tiny room, and I quickly stow the mattress away before going in. Tiffany is simply standing there in a pale pink silk robe and a pair of fluffy slippers again, her hair still a little messy but not as untangled as before at least.

Slowly I show her how to turn the shower on and off, not that it’s a really hard task, but it does act up from time to time. It will either stop working midway or suddenly the whole bathroom will be over flooded in water. Speaking of water…

“Just make sure you don’t use too much time in the shower,” I say as I’m done instructing her. “It’s not to be stingy or anything, but I’d like to shower later and there’s not a lot of warm water,” I add later just to reassure her that I don’t mean anything bad. Warm water is pretty scarce for me, so I usually shower as quickly as I can to save up and so I won’t have to wait another day before the next time. Tiffany nods in understanding, and I’m about to walk out of the room until I stop in my tracks.

“You know, we could always shower together? Save water and all that,” Tiffany says surprisingly casually, even if I can’t see her. I stand still for a while not really knowing what to say to that.  I’ve showered together with Krystal, but she was my sister so it didn’t really matter, Tiffany on the other hand is a totally different person. It’s a whole new level, even if she’s a girl and whatever I have she has as well, but it’s still so intimate and personal that it leaves me a bit unsure.

“We don’t have to if you feel uncomfortable, but it’s just a suggestion,” Tiffany says after a while and I finally turn around to look at her, albeit the small rush of heat in my face. I try to keep my stance, but that damn blood won’t stop rushing towards my cheeks; I just hope Tiffany won’t notice that too well. I clear my throat a little awkwardly, trying to think frankly and not of other… things. “You’re right though, if it’s okay with you,” I say as casually as I can, lightly ruffling my messy hair as I look at Tiffany, who’s still wearing that robe, which didn’t bother me before now to be honest.

She simply shrugs before smiling. “Get undressed then,” Tiffany says and I nearly choke on my own spit. It sounded differently than what I expected, and Tiffany must’ve noticed my reaction as she lets out a sly smile. “Not like that Jess; we’re just showering. I’m not going to you or anything… well unless you want me to do that though,” Tiffany says with a smirk and a wink, and I lightly hit her shoulder before stalking off to get another towel and a robe myself. I get back to the bathroom to hear the shower already , and I nervously enter the bathroom, fidgeting a little around as I slowly get undressed. “Relax, it’s just a shower and nothing else,” I think to myself, but it doesn’t really calm down my nerves.

Taking a deep breath as I’m finally undressed and I put my PJ’s to the side before slowly stepping into the shower. The whole process from undressing to entering only took a minute, but it felt like hours that were slowly ticking by as I thought why am I even doing this?

 The first thing I see when I open the curtains and enter the somewhat small space of the shower is Tiffany’s long, light hair and pale back. I let my gaze drift away as I get under the water as well, simply pretending like nothing and acting as if I’m not awkward at all (though I most certainly am).

From the corner of my eye I see Tiffany’s slim legs as she stands under the water, and slowly my gaze drifts upwards, studying her body as discreetly as I can. She’s gotten thinner than before, at least it seems like it, along with her pale skin, but she still looks good. Though I’ve never seen her under these conditions, but it’s not hard to see that she has a pretty nice body.

I look over to Tiffany to see a small smirk on her lips as she keeps on humming a tune to herself, probably noticing my staring. A little flustered I look away as she applies shampoo onto her hair. She acts as if she’s got nothing to hide and openly just… showers like it’s nothing, not attempting to cover up her body or anything, while I’m awkwardly trying to shield most parts of myself… it reminds me of how different we really are.

“Pass me the conditioner?” Tiffany asks casually after she rinses off most of the shampoo and I reach to get the bottle from the small stand on my side, before giving it over to her. As I do so our fingers barely brush against each other, our skin obviously wet from the warm water and I try to contain that random jolt inside of me.

Tiffany smirks again as she lifts her arms a little higher, stretching out her upper body and basically showcasing her thin figure and pale skin. I know that she’s teasing me, obviously trying to make me embarrassed again, but I won’t fall for it. I take it as a small challenge, as I quickly wash my hair and think to myself what to do.

“Tiff…?” I ask innocently enough, and Tiffany turns to look at me while she’s rinsing her hair, her arms still stretched out more than usual. I let out a coy smile, tilting my head a little before looking at her again. “Wash my back, will you?” I ask as I hand her the body wash.

It seems to work a little, as Tiffany widens her eyes in surprise and amusement, but slowly nods before I turn around and move my hair away. My back faces her as I hear her move a little closer and the bottle starts making those odd noises.

Soon enough I feel two hands on my skin, gently circling around my back as a soapy feeling surrounds me. Water and soap mingle together as it runs down my body and I stand there, as Tiffany keeps on slowly washing my back. Her hands go a little south, but not too close until she lifts them up towards my shoulders again. I can’t see her at all, but she does seem a bit uncertain and almost… clumsy with her moves. It’s a little weird at first, but it doesn’t take long for me to get used to Tiffany’s touch and I slowly feel myself relax a little as she continues. She starts to retract her hands, but planning to a little more I quickly come up with a plan.

I rinse off the soap on my back before turning towards the showerhead again, smiling slyly as the water runs down on my body. Then I look at Tiffany with that same innocent look, trying not to laugh. “You want me to wash you too?” I ask, but the same stance that I had earlier fades a little, and becomes a little shyer than intended. Well, it can only last for this long I suppose.

Tiffany nods slowly, seemingly a little shy as well before she turns around, facing her back against me. Carefully I apply the body wash on my hands, before placing them on her surprisingly cold skin, and massaging small circles on her back. I do this for a while, simply washing her small back until I’m done, going close to some specific parts of her body, but not too close of course.

“Thanks,” she simply says and turns around again, a small smile on her face and we simply look at each other. The water runs between the space we’re maintaining, the echo of the drops on the cool floor and the steam runs around the room. It’s silent for a while, until Tiffany turns to rinse her body.

We finish up about the same time, and Tiffany’s about to exit the shower, but before she can I find myself grabbing her thin wrist and pulling her towards me, instantly causing our lips to connect in a kiss. Tiffany seems surprised as first, but soon responds as she moves her lips in sync, the feel of her moist lips on mine. She tastes like mint and water, with a small hint of something so sweet and just so Tiffany that I couldn’t even explain.

We continue to kiss as the water pours upon us, and I daringly reach to touch her shoulder as my back meets the wall. Goose bumps are rising the minute I feel Tiffany’s hand on my waist, my heartbeat beating erratically and my chest nearly combusting right there and then, as I’m left breathless in the kiss, warm all over.

Tiffany’s hand on my waist slowly moves upwards, up and up with the tip of her fingers tracing lines on my upper body. I feel myself grow more and more warm the more her fingers trace my bare skin, the cold touch oddly leaving behind burning marks, but I like it, a lot. It keeps on going upwards until she suddenly stops and pulls away, but still she’s still close enough for our breaths to mingle with each other. My eyes are still closed shut, not having the energy to open them up because I know Tiffany’s eyes are on me, I can basically feel her stare on me, but I don’t say anything about it.

Slowly my eyes flutter open as I look up at her, water drops falling from her face and into her lips, or further down and down until.. I look up to her eyes again, trying to initiate another kiss, but Tiffany holds me back. Confused I look at her, not knowing what to do. Did I do something wrong?

“Tiff…? What’s wrong?” I’m about to ask more before I can she places a finger on my lips, instantly silencing me. “I just don’t want it to happen like… this,” Tiffany says after a while, still looking into my eyes with an unreadable gaze. I look at Tiffany for the longest time, not really knowing what to say as the once hot water suddenly grows colder and colder, but we don’t move. “I mean, it’s not like I don’t want to… but I’m not sure if we’re ready for that right now. Are you really sure you want to do this?” she asks with a certain tone in her voice, wanting me to answer the truth.

I blink slowly as I look at her, a million thoughts in my head again. Was I really ready for it? When I think of it like that, I’m probably not at all, no matter how much I simply wanted to be close to Tiffany in another way, but that intimacy also opened up for more than just skin contact, but also a whole new understanding of each other, another world almost.

“Maybe you’re right,” I say after a while, and I barely manage to register what just happened until I see the outline of her retreating back exiting the shower, and I’m left there in the cold water, replaying the scene over and over again.