"Well isn't this cosy?" Serena sighed. Their presentations had gone well, but the evening hadn't. Bernie's suggestion of "Dinner?" had fallen flat when the only (lovely Italian) restaurant she'd found on google maps turned out to be closed for construction work. Then they'd arrived late to the only hotel for miles to find there had been a problem with their booking.
"Suppose we could top-and-tail?"
"And I'm sure I'd have a lovely night's sleep with the cheesy aroma of your feet wafting up my nostrils!"
"Charming!"
Serena gave a cheeky smile as she slipped off her shoes and Bernie perched on the edge of the bed, fumbling with something under the jacket on her arm.
"Shiraz?"
"Where did you get that from?"
"Oh, I'm just very resourceful," Bernie grinned as she sat back and opened the bottle, "No glasses though, so we may have to slum it"
"Well as long as you don't tell anyone," Serena shuffled across to sit beside Bernie, "I don't mind an occasional drink from the bottle if you don't"
"Lead on, Campbell!" she handed over the bottle and Serena took a large mouthful, almost spitting some out when she caught Bernie's gaze and they both burst out giggling.
Bernie leant over to pick something else from under her jacket on the floor.
"Now I know it's not what we were hoping for, but I also got sandwiches, stolen from what I believe was a conference buffet…crisps…" she began handing food to Serena, "and…chocolates!" she grinned manically as she pulled a large box of chocolates from her overnight bag.
"When did you get all this?" Serena looked impressed as she took a sandwich.
"I'm serious, Serena. I pilfered from a buffet downstairs while you were telling off that man at the front desk!"
Serena almost spilt the food too, laughing again.
"You're brilliant," she said, "You do know that, don't you?"
"It's only a bit of scran," Bernie said modestly, while taking a handful of crisps and piling them rather inelegantly into her mouth.
"Hungry, are we?"
"Always,"
Their eyes met for a moment as they shared a coy smile, before Bernie took more crisps.
"Make sure you don't drop crumbs on my bit of the bed!"
Bernie responded by lifting her handful of crisps, threatening to sprinkle them on Serena's hair instead.
"Fuck off!" Serena said light-heartedly, pushing Bernie's hand away and laughing.
"Ever the polite one, Campbell,"
"I don't have to be polite, I'm the boss!" Serena retorted with a dead straight face.
Bernie cleared her throat, "Ahem, equals?"
Serena bit her bottom lip as she slowly began to smile again.
"If I admit it, can I have something sweet?" she said in a low voice.
Bernie stared blankly for a moment, her brain going somewhere else entirely.
"You're sort of hogging the chocolates over there, Major."
"Oh!" Bernie caught onto what Serena had meant, "Yeah, sorry,"
She moved the box to where they could both easily reach.
"Thanks for getting this lot, Bernie," Serena said as she took one, "I know I was saying all that stuff about how only boring people have a night in on a trip, but I've had fun with you."
"I hope you're not implying that you don't normally have fun with me?"
"Oh, no, no, of course not, I –" Serena sounded almost flustered in an instant, not wanting Bernie to get the wrong idea, "I just meant that I've enjoyed this, you know, we normally go out and I – what?" she stopped talking when she saw Bernie's grin, "What?"
"It's fine, Serena, I knew what…" Bernie tilted her head, "I was just messing with you."
"Is that the last chocolate or is there another tray underneath?"
"Hmm, I think it might be the last one," Bernie smiled playfully, "You want it?"
Serena sat up to take it from the box, but Bernie swiftly moved the box higher out of her reach with her right hand. Serena held Bernie's left wrist firmly.
"If I can't reach it, neither can you…"
"I'll fight you for it!"
Serena paused for a moment then reached across sharply to take the chocolate from Bernie, not noticing that anything else was in her way. They both gasped in surprise as the bottle tipped and splashed red wine onto Bernie's white blouse.
"Serena!"
"Oh, Bernie! I'm sorry!"
"I was going to wear this again tomorrow," Bernie muttered as she counterproductively dabbed at the stain with her sleeve for a moment, "Suppose I could wash it in the sink if I change,"
"Sorry…"
"Let's be fair, it's as much my fault as anyone's," Bernie shrugged and handed the empty chocolate box to Serena (the last one had gone flying in the process), and stood up, scooping up her bag and heading into the bathroom.
Serena knew Bernie wouldn't hold a grudge about the wine, but she did feel a little guilty. She decided that she may as well get changed too, and pulled out the t-shirt and knee-length shorts she'd brought, suddenly having a moment of relief that she hadn't picked out her scruffier ones. Not that she need look her best for simply sharing a room with a friend, she told herself. Yet in the same moment she caught herself checking her reflection in the darkened window. A few minutes later she heard some muttered words from the bathroom.
"Did you say something?" she called through the door.
"I was saying I don't know where my hairbrush is," Bernie repeated, opening the door.
"I wasn't aware you owned one," Serena replied teasingly.
"Ha!"
Serena picked up her own.
"Here, you can borrow mine," she said, leaning against the door frame as Bernie straightened out the collar of her pyjama top, pausing to pull it a little higher over the scar she had on her right side. She wasn't always conscious of it, but occasionally in the mirror it would catch her attention. She always hoped that other people didn't notice – not for any vain reason – she just didn't want to attract sympathy or questions.
"It's healed perfectly-" Serena caught herself, realising they hadn't talked about it before, and that she probably wasn't supposed to have looked, "Sorry, I didn't mean-"
"It's fine," Bernie shook her head, "really,"
Serena moved away from the door and began tidying the empty food packaging off the bed, finding the stray chocolate in the process.
Bernie emerged a couple of minutes later, her hair only marginally tidier than before. For a moment she just watched Serena housekeeping before she noticed she was standing there.
"Thanks," said Bernie, handing back the brush.
"I found the chocolate," Serena gestured to the box.
Bernie promptly picked it up, bit in in half, and proffered the other half. Serena stared at it before slowly accepting the unusual offering.
"If anyone else in the world did that, I'd be disgusted," she stated, before popping the remaining half of the chocolate into her own mouth.
"You do let me get away with quite a lot," Bernie said softly, sitting down on the end of the bed with her palms flat on her knees.
"Ditto," said Serena, sitting beside her and thinking mainly of the wine incident.
"No, I mean it," Bernie hung her head slightly, looking away, "I thought we wouldn't be friends again after I wasn't honest with you –"
"Like I said, Bernie," Serena softly brushed her knuckles across Bernie's, "It's done, we've drawn a veil. Besides, I'm not entirely faultless, myself. I'd no right to kick you when you were down. I'm sorry."
"I didn't mean to lie, I just… I suppose I couldn't bring myself to tell you because…" Bernie hesitated, "Well, it sounds stupid, because I wanted you to… like me."
"Bernie," Serena slipped her fingers underneath Bernie's and waited for her to make eye contact, "I do like you," she squeezed Bernie's hand, "a lot."
Bernie paused, her eyes now full of something Serena couldn't immediately place, her brain on the verge of short-circuit. She smiled a very slight smile, and Serena's lips returned it double. Of course Bernie had noticed Serena's lips forming that smile and for a moment her thoughts just froze. Her smile dropped slightly as her eyes flickered back to Serena's, and then without even taking a breath, she kissed her best friend firmly on her lips, gently placing a hand by the side of her neck, hovering there for a moment before daring to touch her.
Serena didn't respond immediately, but she did kiss back. At first it was slight, almost a reflexive response, but then Bernie pulled back to take a breath and Serena's lips followed her, placing a kiss in the air where she had been just an instant before. There was a moment of space between them, and Bernie worried that she might've messed everything up, but in less than a second, she was reassured. As if choreographed, they glanced at each other's eyes, then each other's lips.
This was uncertain territory for Serena but somehow it just felt right. She threw caution to the wind and pulled Bernie back towards her, this time kissing her more confidently and holding her arms tightly around her shoulders. Bernie felt relief when she realised that Serena was ok with this, and settled her own hands on Serena's jaw and on her back, leaning in closer for a deeper kiss.