Therese came stumbling into the apartment. Her stepmother Carol looked up in alarm, she had never seen her beautiful stepdaughter in a such a state. Her blue-green eyes were wide and wild and red-rimmed, her hair dark hair disheveled. Her face was not its usual healthy pale but chalk white. Even though the day was warm, bordering on hot, she wore a long sleeved shirt.

"Therese!" Carol cried, jumping up. "What happened?"

"Richard broke up with me," Therese said hoarsely. "And I got fired from my job at the store."

She began to sob while Carol looked at her helplessly. No wonder she looked so shattered. There was more bad news she had to give her, but she didn't need to hear it right then.

"Oh honey, come sit down," she said as she guided her to the couch and sat her down. She held her while she sobbed.

After Therese had cried herself out, Carol stroked her hair and made a suggestion. "Let's get out of here for a few days. I need to get out of New York for a while. What do you think?"

Therese looked up with her beautiful eyes red rimmed and puffy. "What about Dad?"

Carol grimaced. This was the bad news she needed to tell her, but she did not need another blow.

"He isn't coming with us, he needs to work. Just the two of us, what do you think?"

Therese gave her a shaky smile. "Yes, let's go."

They packed only one suitcase each. Carol said they could buy what they needed on the road. As they sped westward, Therese began to feel a bit better.

Carol drove quietly for a while, sensing Therese need to meditate , and also trying to think of the best way to break the news she knew was going to devastate her even more.

"Why did Richard break up with you?" she asked after a while.

Therese made a face and began to cry again. Carol held her hand with one hand and the steering wheel with the other. "Never mind," Carol said in her soothing voice. "His loss."

"I don't want to talk about it," Therese whimpered, trying to stop crying.

They drove for several hours barely talking. Therese was too drained, Carol too wary of upsetting her.

"I can't drive for another minute," she announced at about seven o'clock. They were in the middle of Pennsylvania. "Let's stop here for the night." She pulled into a dingy looking motel. They wouldn't have stayed in such a place if they weren't so exhausted.

"My back is killing me," Therese announced as she hobbled into the room after Carol with her suitcase.

"Here, lie down," Carol said as she kicked the door closed. Therese obeyed and Carol began massaging her back. "You can take you shirt off if you want," she said slyly. "It would feel better."

Therese pulled her arms tighter around her chest. "That's ok. I'm going to hop in the shower and wash this horrible day off me."

"Therese….."Carol said, deciding this was a good a time as any to break the news. "Sit down. I have something to tell you." The look on her face boded no good.

"Oh Jesus, now what?" asked her shaken stepdaughter.

"Your father left me this morning. He found someone else and wants a divorce."

Therese was dumbstruck. The look of shock on her face devastated Carol.

"What?" Her beautiful teal eyes were wide as saucers. "When were you going to tell me this?"

Carol looked around, desperate to escape the shattered expression on Therese's white face.

"I was going to tell you when you got home today, but you had had enough bad news."

"Jesus Christ, Carol!" Therese sank to the bed in complete shock. "This is the worst day of my life." She rested her head in her hands. Carol rubbed her back helplessly.

"It'll be ok, honey."

Therese brushed her off and stormed into the bathroom. She came out a while later with wet hair and considerably calmer. She began to bush her hair. Carol came up, took the brush and started doing it for her without a word.

Their eyes met in the mirror. Carol toweled Therese's hair dry. Then she led her to the bed and held her, stroking her hair. "It'll be okay," she said again.

Therese stretched up and kissed her on the cheek. Carol kissed her forehead. Their lips met briefly, soft and sweet. "We shouldn't do this," Carol whispered, stroking her cheek.

"I want to, so much," Therese said hoarsely as she twisted flat on her back. "I'm in love with you. That's why Richard broke up with me. Because I told him I was in love with you."

Carol was surprised. She and Therese had enjoyed a very close, loving relationship since she had come into her life when she was fourteen, but she hadn't expected this.

"And how long have you felt that way?" she asked as she pushed Therese's dark hair out of her face.

Therese pulled Carol on top of her and kissed her on the mouth. "Since the first time you called me your angel."

Carol flattened her body against Therese's and held her head as she kissed her deeply. Therese clung to her, kissing her neck. Carol began unbuttoning her pajama top, kissing her way down as she did so. She kissed the small breasts, sucking on each nipple as Therese moaned. She kissed her stepdaughter's pale, covered her flat stomach with soft kisses as she tugged down her pajama bottoms and underwear.

She sat up, admiring the beautiful naked girl beneath her. Therese blushed slightly.

Carol tore off her own clothes and lay on top of Therese again. "You're trembling," she stated as she kissed Therese's forehead.

Therese smiled shyly and kissed Carol on the mouth. "Well, I have only been imagining us doing this for five years."

Carol kissed her hard, sliding her tongue into her angel's mouth. Therese kissed her right back, her body bucking beneath her. Carol slid down her pale body and pushed her legs apart. She smiled, then began to kiss the girl's swollen clitoris.

Therese groaned, holding the bed sheets tightly. Carol held her hands down as she began sucking on her clit. Therese practically screamed.

Carol didn't stop until Therese bucked and shook for several seconds. She crawled up to her face and kissed her, holding her head. She lay down on top of her, pushing her legs apart as she pressed her center into her stepdaughter.

Carol began to thrust hard, banging Therese's head into the pillow. She kissed her neck, dragging her bottom teeth against the porcelain skin. Therese dug her fingernails in her back, trying to do the same.

Carol moaned and came. She collapsed on top of Therese, holding her tightly. "My beautiful angel. Flung from space," she whispered into her hair.

Therese smiled up at her. "I love you," she said. She sounded more confident than she had in months.

"I love you too, angel," Carol murmured as she kissed her forehead.

Later, in the cold pink light of dawn, Carol slid out of bed to use the bathroom. She kissed her sleeping fragile angel before going. When she came back, she noticed make up staining the sheets by Therese's arm. Looking closely, she saw why. Therese had used make up to cover up red, angry pinpricks in her arms. Her beautiful angel, her beloved stepdaughter, was injecting drugs.