Jessie sat down slowly on her bed and looked around the room. She had spent most of her childhood here in this room, but now it just felt small to her, almost foreign in a way. She missed the attic. She missed the privacy, comfort, and independence that it had provided her. *God it's hard to believe that I am never going to sleep in that room again* she thought to herself. Even before the thought had finished forming tears were welling up in her eyes. She blinked, trying to keep them back.

"Jessie?" A soft hand rested on her shoulder. Jessie quickly reached up and wiped furiously at the tears that were trying to escape from her deep, blue eyes. When she finally looked up her gaze met the most beautiful pair of mossy green eyes that she had ever seen. The taller girl moved her right hand up to Jessie's cheek and gently cupped it, brushing the tears away with her thumb.

"Jessie," she continued softly, "It will be ok honey, it will get better, I promise, and besides..."she paused, looking for the right words to say, "I'll be here with you."

"Oh, Katie, I know that, it's just that it's all hitting me right now, and it's a lot harder than I thought it was going to be."

Only hours before Jessie had kissed her family goodbye at the airport. Her dad, Rick, has recently been offered the job of a lifetime, unfortunately it meant relocating the family to Sydney, Australia. The entire family had jumped at the opportunity to go, all except Jessie that is. *But they don't have Katie* Jessie thought to herself with a small smile. The decision to stay had been easy for her to make. She absolutely refused to leave Katie, especially not now that they had just gotten together. And besides, her mom, Karen, lived in town providing the perfect reason for her to stay, if only to cover the real reason. Still, when she had hugged her dad goodbye at the airport, and seen the tears in his eyes that he was fighting to hide, it had been almost too much for her.

"Daddy." she whispered softly as the wave of tears hit her so hard that she could not hold them back and she broke down, sobbing. Katie's arms were quick to wrap around her, and as she pulled her trembling girlfriend close to her, she soothingly whispered, "shhhhhh" into her ear. Katie nestled her head closely against Jessie's and her arms held on tightly as the moments slipped by. Katie's heart was aching to help Jessie, but she knew that she was already doing everything that she could for her.

Gradually Jessie's sobs quieted and her tears began to dry. She felt like she had been crying for years, but knew that only a few minutes had passed. She slowly raised her head and felt Katie's arms loosen from around her. Jessie looked up into Katie's eyes and saw that they were full of worry and love, compassion, and pain, and every other emotion under the sun. And they were all for her. They were all for Jessie.

"Katie, please don't leave me tonight."

"I won't. I'll never leave you Jess."

Katie smiled warmly and leaned her face close to Jessie's. Their lips brushed softly together in a sweet, tender kiss. When she pulled away, Jessie saw that Katie's eyes had become clouded. It looked like she was concentrating very deeply.

"Katie? What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing's wrong," Katie said quickly, looking away. "It's just....." she faltered.

"What" Jessie asked softly, her hand gently lifting Katie's chin so that she had to meet her eyes.

Katie took a deep breath and began again, "It's just....well....what I am trying to say here is....Jessie," she paused looking into deep blue eyes. "...I love you."

The words and the feelings behind them had always been there. But up until this point neither of them had yet said them aloud to the other. Katie's eyes frantically searched Jessie's face for some sign that she felt the same way. Her heart was pounding so hard that she swore the entire neighborhood could hear it. Jessie's eyes looked deeply into hers and a smile began to form on those perfect lips.

"I love you too, Katie," her voice low and full of emotion, "with all of my heart."

Katie's apprehension disappeared and her face broke out into a huge grin. Jessie's heart caught in her throat when she saw Katie's smile and the twinkle in her beautiful eyes.*God what that girl can do to me* she thought with a secret laugh. Jessie leaned forward and caught Katie's lips in a firm kiss. Their arms wrapped around each other, their fingers running through light and dark blonde hair.

When they finally broke apart from their kiss they were both breathless and stared with adoration at one another.

"I think, that perhaps, you need some sleep." Katie said softly as she brushed her fingers against Jessie's cheek. Jessie simply nodded. Her head felt heavy and her eyes were beginning to droop. The two girls rose from the bed and pulled back the covers. Then they slid between the warm, soft sheets and snuggled up. Katie's arms wrapped tightly around Jessie, and Jessie put her head on Katie's shoulder.

"I love you Katie."

"I love you too, Jessie."

The words were barely out of their mouths before the two young girl were fast asleep in each other's arms.