"Yuzu?"
She heard Mei call her name but remained unmoving under the blanket.
"Yuzu, are you up?" the voice came again, but she kept pretending to sleep, scared of what Mei might have to say to her this late at night.
It seemed like Himeko and Harumi had both fallen asleep a long time ago, but Yuzu's mind was reeling, painful thoughts of Mei not caring about her anymore seeming to replay themselves ever since this morning's events. The brunette calling for her this late at night did make her doubt that assumption, but she wasn't sure how to act towards her either way.
A second or two later she heard the rustling of bedding and soft footsteps on the carpet. She kept her eyes closed as she felt someone tower over her, and her covers were pulled up, covering her up until now exposed shoulders. A second or two of silence passed, and she heard a small sigh followed by footsteps moving away from her, and she opened her eyes just in time to catch Mei's frame disappearing out the hotel room door.
Sighing herself, she turned to her side, facing the door as she tried to decipher Mei's actions. She made no sense. None at all. Her head hurt every time she tried to understand what the younger girl was thinking.
Should I...? In a split second decision, she slid out of her bed and into a pair of slippers and walked out of the room in her pajamas. She didn't know what she could say or do, but what she did know was that she couldn't take any more of their incessant, mutual dancing around each other.
Once she was in the corridor she realized she had no clue where Mei could have gone, and so she took an elevator to the reception, to ask if maybe someone at the front desk had seen the girl. After the receptionist explained his shift had just started seconds ago so he wouldn't know, she walked back to the room, and after checking inside to find that Mei was still missing, she sat down on the carpeted floor outside the door, waiting for her return.

"Yuzu?" she heard in a soft tone, but it sounded too far away. She tried to answer, but only a moan came out, out of what must have been her mouth, though it didn't feel like it.
"Yuzu, wake up." she heard the voice once again, this time recognizing it was Mei's. The real Mei wouldn't wake me up, the real Mei is avoiding me, she thought sleepily, quickly deciding this was a dream.
"Mmmm... I might if you give me a kiss." she challenged, using a line she'd read in a manga without opening her eyes, her voice husky.
She heard Mei mumble something that sounded a lot like "Now you wanna kiss me?" but even so, soft hands touched her face as Mei knelt in front of the sleeping girl. "If I kiss you, will you wake up?" Mei asked, sounding closer.
"I don't want to, Mei." Yuzu answered honestly, stubbornly keeping her eyes shut. "You don't talk to me when I'm awake."
Mei halted, her hands still lingering on the half-awake girl's face. Taking a second to contemplate her answer she finally said "You don't want me to kiss you when you're awake."
"That's dumb Mei, I always want you to kiss me." Yuzu muttered, eyebrows furrowing, her waking brain finally starting to overpower her sleeping one, making her question the conversation they were having. "But..." she said struggling for the right words "I want you to want it too."
Mei couldn't help but smile, feeling soothed by the unexpected words and watching Yuzu's eyes slowly open, she felt the acute absence of all the thoughts that kept her back before. "Of course I want to, you idiot" she said, her soft voice contrasting the words it was delivering.
Yuzu blinked once, twice, finally realizing she wasn't dreaming at all, as she looked at the hotel corridor. Her mouth hung open in shock, her eyes wide as she studied Mei's soft expression.
"So," Mei said, stroking Yuzu's face with her thumb and giving her a reassuring smile. "if I kiss you, will you wake up?"
Yuzu bit her lip -partly to double check that this was real- green eyes never leaving soft violet ones, as she nodded once. Seeing Mei close in, her teeth released her lip, eyes flickering to Mei's approaching lips before closing. Mei's eyes fluttered shut as well, the smile that seemed permanently stuck to her face faltering only a little as she playfully nudged Yuzu's nose with her own before finally bringing their lips together.
It was a soft kiss at first. Lips lightly touching as if both needed confirmation of this actually happening. And then Mei crawled closer and Yuzu's hands went on her waist and before they knew it the kiss had deepened, their desperate need for one another being reflected in the movement of their tongues. One of Mei's hands found the door for support while the other took a fist full of Yuzu's hair as they struggled to find a more comfortable position, neither of them wanting to break the kiss.
Yuzu straightened one of her, until now folded to her chest, legs so that Mei could come closer, accidentally grinding her knee against the area between Mei's legs. Mei grunted, either in lust or agitation -Yuzu couldn't tell- and bit Yuzu's lip, before rearranging her body so that she was straddling her.
They were a mess of hands and lips, trying to pull each other impossibly closer, finally giving in into their pent up need for each other, not even caring about the time and place. Breaking the kiss after several minutes, they remained there with their foreheads touching, breathing hard as Mei was still kneeling in front of Yuzu, the blonde's legs trapped between her own.
Mei untangled her hand from Yuzu's hair and rested it on her shoulder, playfully teasing Yuzu's neck with her thumb as they stared into each others' eyes, trying to regain composure.
"There's no way I'll be able to sleep after this." Yuzu said earning a stern, though halfheartedly so, expression from Mei, who pulled back only a little so they could look at each other better.
"Oh, come on! Don't tell me" Yuzu went on, using one hand to poke her on the side earning a reaction from the ticklish brunette "you're unaffected."
Mei, inwardly amused by the evil manner in which Yuzu chose to deal with this grabbed her hand to avoid further tickling. "Are you gonna make me spell it out?" she said with a little frown, instantly transforming Yuzu's expression from a playful one to a serious one.
"Spell it out? You don't have to do anything you don't want to, Mei." Yuzu answered, her green eyes wide with urgency.
"You're such an idiot." Mei said, once again taken aback by the girl's answer, which proved to be more effective in making her want to make herself clear than having Yuzu demand to hear the words would have been. "I love you." she said simply as she looked into Yuzu's eyes, looking more open and sincere than Yuzu had ever seen her. "...okay?"
"Oh-okay." Yuzu answered, in shock, taking a second before she came to her senses, a bright grin lighting up her face as she looked up at Mei in adoration. "I love you too Mei." she let the words she'd been holding for so long, ignoring a part of her that duly noted how unreal it all felt.
Before she could see Mei's expression the girl fell forward, enveloping her in an unexpected hug.
"M-mei?" Yuzu stuttered, worried by the unexpected gesture.
"Just... can we stay like this a while?" she recognized the relief in Mei's muffled voice coming from her shoulder, as she felt it herself, and she wrapped her arms around her holding her close.

"I love you" called Mei after a long pause, testing the way the words felt coming out of her and simultaneously seeking confirmation for what had transpired a few minutes ago.
"I love you too" Yuzu replied tightening her arms around her, and Mei snuggled closer, that feeling inside her making her want to hide or explode or never, ever move from that spot ever again.


So... this happened, huh? I uh... I'm not exactly sure how it happened so if you're gonna blame anyone, blame Yuzu for falling asleep in the middle of a goddamn hotel corridor! Just... don't look at me, okay?

Reviews, comments, helpful criticism and butterbeer recipes are welcome :) If you wanna talk to me gently poke the amorphous blob of shame -that looks like it's sleeping but you can't really tell- directly to your right, or... you know, PMing me might work too... I don't blame you, I wouldn't wanna touch that thing either.

Have a good... umm... whatever it is you're having :D