The two girls held each other in the night. There will be no sleeping tonight because if sleep approaches them, they will be separated by daybreak.

Jessica wants to relearn everything about Tiffany one last time. She needs to take in all of Tiffany’s features and every contour on her smooth canvas and have it permanently etched in her mind.

She lightly caresses Tiffany's face. She traces her fingers along Tiffany's brows, causing Tiffany to close her eyes. Jessica notices the faint creases between those eyebrows, marked from all the stress and unhappy moments in life. Would this moment in the future cause those blemishes to deepen?

Jessica moves her fingers down, delicately running her thumbs over the girl's cheekbones. She could only imagine how many tears have made a path, an invisible stain, along that beautiful face. All the layers of sorrow and occasional joy decorate her portrait in a way that Jessica could never fully understand. But what she does understand is that after tonight, a fresh coat of heartache will add another layer.

Brushing Tiffany's slightly chapped lips with her fingertip, Jessica wonders how many times Tiffany wanted to speak her mind, but was too afraid to reveal her true feelings, especially in the beginning. The countless times she has kissed those lips, tasting the unspoken words of love. Now she thinks the words would only taste of bittersweet yearning.

Jessica closes her own eyes and leans in to rest her forehead on Tiffany's, hands never leaving her face. She doesn't need to see Tiffany to know how her beloved feels. All she needs is to touch her and she knows. The way Tiffany's skin paints all the colors of her feelings to Jessica.

Jessica lays her palm over the skin of Tiffany’s . She feels the girl’s heartbeats matching her own. In her own chest, her heart hurts with a slow beat. The pulse from her girlfriend shows they must be feeling the same kind of aching. If only Jessica’s touches would erase all the pain away.

At the moment, Tiffany could cry no more. She wants to completely surrender to Jessica's gentle embrace and to savor her touches, for she might not know if she would ever feel it again. Even though she hopelessly wants to cling onto Jessica, she only holds on gently, afraid to break the fragile girl even more.

So Tiffany allows herself to soak in the soft caresses from her lover. They make her feel safe and calm, temporarily forgetting that anything else exists. She wants to be in this point in time only. Tomorrow can't come soon.

Tiffany doesn't know how to memorize Jessica. But she wants to engrave her loved one's entirety in her mind and in her heart. She needs to leave a deep impression in Jessica’s memory. So she kisses her tenderly and passionately to take in all of her. Her kisses are laced with affection, yet tinged with sadness, hoping Jessica would understand. She kisses until the need for air becomes urgent, making sure she pours out every shade of love for Jessica to have and at the same time hoping to heal her wounds.

She doesn't dare turn on the lights. The fear that Jessica will be gone, like a shadow that quickly retreats to the crevices of a newly lit room, is far too great. She doesn't need to see her anyway. Tiffany simply needs to explore all of Jessica with her body and her mind’s eye.

Clutching Jessica closer, Tiffany feels the heat emanating off of the other girl's uncovered body. She wishes her lover’s touches could burn not only the surface of her skin, but into the depths of her soul.

“Hold me close,” she whispers. And Jessica does just that.

As dawn nears and time runs short, Tiffany wants Jessica to see how she doesn’t wish for this to end. She desperately needs Jessica to know the depths of her love before it all becomes just a faded past.

"Jessica..."

"Tiffany, you don't have to tell me. I know. It's painted on you."