You've been lying on your bed for a while, staring at the ceiling, when you heard a soft knock on the door. You only know one person who knocks like that, so without moving you say: "Come in." You hear Kate slowly entering the room and closing the door behind her. Then she stands still near the door. You wonder what she's doing so you slightly sit up to look at her. When you catch her eye she moves to the bed and lies down next to you. You roll over to your side so you can see her, she does the same. You don't remember the last time you were so close. Her knees are slightly touching yours and you can feel her breath.

"Ivan won't see me. He says I'm no good." You catch a glimpse of desperation in her eyes. You try your best to put on a reassuring face, though you feel like you're failing. "He'll come along", you tell her. "Why should he? He's right, I am a liar", Kate says softly. You can't help but to hold her arm and look straight into her eyes. "You didn't kill your dad. It was an accident", you say self-assured. Though part of you feels glad to hear those words, like you needed the reassurance yourself, too.

Desperation now takes over her entire face and it hurts you to see her like that. She's your best friend. You just want her to be ok. "They're after us hard Betty. And there is no way to play this where we come out looking good", Kate continues. You are painfully aware of this fact. You've tried to replay everything that happened in your head, played all possible outcomes, anything you might do or say, but nothing seems to result in a happy ending for the both of you. A feeling of guilt rises back up inside of you. "I should never have asked you to stay. You wanted to leave, when he died, and I wouldn't let you. I'm sorry".

You wait for her to agree, but instead her face seems to soften. "Growing up in that awful caravan, I never thought that I'd have a future", Kate starts. Then you see a small smile form on her lips. "But in the last year, I've lived more than I ever dreamed." You can't help but to smile back at her while she's talking to you. "I found a real home". She is grabbing your hand with both of hers when she says it. "I met a man, he was good to me, and I found a friend, Betty. A real friend." She's not looking at you anymore. You follow her gaze down at your hand wrapped in hers and you don't know what to say. Then Kate looks back up into your eyes. "Who loved me...", Kate finishes as her smile widens and so does yours.

So this is how you lie for a moment. Kate holding your hand, both looking at each other, not knowing what else to say. You feel sometime rise in yourself. Feelings you thought, you hoped you'd left behind. But who were you fooling, really. It's been Kate and nothing but Kate all this time. You know it and, judging by her speech, so does she.

Then, after a moment, you see her brow furrowing just a little bit, like she is thinking about something really hard. You look at her questioning and then you hear her whisper: "I think I love you, too". Your eyes open in shock but before you can process what just happened or how to respond, she's captured your lips with hers, just ever so short. She pulls away, you can see a soft blush on her cheeks and you feel your lips tingling. "Kate...", you start, but before you can finish a sentence that you didn't even knew how to start, you feel her gripping your hand tightly and her lips are back on yours. This time they stay there longer and you kiss her back tenderly. In that moment, it feels like the weight of the world was lifted from your shoulders and all you feel is her. You've never felt so safe.

When you break apart, you are glancing shy, happy smiles at each other. Then Kate rolls over to her other side and settles herself against you, draping your arm she was so carefully holding on to over her body so you're holding her. "I'm sorry", she says. "Don't", you tell her sternly, while you hold her closer against you, smelling the scent of her auburn hair. She's still holding your hand in hers and you wish she never lets go.

Now this is how you lie, fitting perfectly against each other until you hear noises coming from the hallway. Kate slowly lets go of your hand and gets up. "That must be my mother, I think she can't open the lock on my door. I better go see her." You get up too and grab her hand as she walks past the bed towards the door. She turns around and you rest your forehead against hers. "Hey. We'll be ok", you promise her. You cup her cheek with your hand and give her one more kiss. She strokes some stray, blonde hairs out of your face and says: "I know". When she walks through the door she turns around and gives you one of her best smiles, which you happily return. You don't know how yet, you think while lying back down on the bed, but maybe there's a happy ending for the two of you after all. There must be.