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Maura looked through her dresses, all already hanging neatly in her closet. Kate opted for simply upturning her suitcase full of clothes onto the floor. They were nice clothes, though. Kate poured a shot of tequila and called Maura over.

"You know how to do this?" she asked, opening the box of salt.

"I read," Maura said, licking her finger and dipping it in the salt. She sucked the salt off, raising her eyes to meet Kate's, then threw back the shot.

"Pity we don't have lime," Kate said, smiling as she poured a shot for herself. Maura tried not to think about the alcohol burning her throat. Perhaps being drunk would make it easier to talk to people...

Kate threw back her drink, knowing it would make it far easier to keep up her tough exterior. She was a master at having fun even when she was crying inside. That was a very self pitying way to look at it. When she was a bit sad inside, then. She didn't miss home. She missed New York, a bit. But LA would be fun... She told herself she was angry, angry about her mother's broken promise, angry that she'd had to do so much alone... But really, she was a sad little girl who wished her mother had more time for her. She might turn it into resentment, or behave as though it was resentment, but Kate loved and admired her mom more than anyone else in the world.

She saw Maura watching her and hurried to pour out some more drinks. She had a feeling Maura didn't feel fantastic about her family either, but she didn't want to go there. Not tonight. And Maura didn't really seem the sharing type... It was Kate's decision to see her like that really... Because Kate definitely wasn't the sharing type.

Maura chose a little black dress, deciding simple was easier. She had some beautiful black red Louboutins that would go with it, and a big red bracelet... She picked up some matching red 'going out' underwear and carried it with the dress out into the corridor and to the bathroom they shared with another four girls. The door didn't lock... In the end Maura locked herself in a toilet cubicle to get ready. It wasn't that she was self conscious about her body, she just... was used to privacy.

Kate realised she would have to find something to wear too. She had a lot of clothes, though some of them were a bit... odd. Mostly because she'd been trying to be rebellious. Though other people had seemed to believe it, seemed to 'buy' her in ripped black jeans and heavy eye make up... It had never felt like her. She'd felt like a little kid playing dress up... The real stuff, the stuff she actually liked... She wasn't even sure what that was.

She chose a black miniskirt and a low cut sleeveless blouse, navy blue, that she tucked in. She had blue heels that would match... She stripped off, getting changed while Maura was out of the room. She liked privacy too.

Maura finished getting ready and opened the cubicle, swinging against the door a little, even though her feet were still bare. She giggled. She was quite drunk. She picked up the clothes she had been wearing and wobbled back to their room. The door had been pushed to; she opened it a little and froze. Kate had her back to the door; she was getting changed, currently wearing nothing but a tiny black thong. Maura didn't think she was even breathing.

Her eyes traced Kate's beautiful figure, settling on something on her lower back. A tattoo. She had a tattoo... Maura couldn't quite work out what it was, writing, she thought, but she was too far away to read it. She wished she could go closer to look; she considered taking a step into the room but-

"Are you going to keep standing there forever?" Kate asked, reaching around behind her to pick her bra up off the bed and put it on. Maura blushed bright red, though Kate wasn't looking at her.

"Get another drink," Kate said, "and maybe relax a little? This is your room too, you can always come in."

Maura blushed even redder and stumbled over to pick up the tequila. Kate dropped her blouse over her head and turned to look at the other girl, now sloshing tequila into the shot glass. Maura poured the drink down her throat, not even bothering with salt, and finally dared to meet Kate's eye. With a rush of Dutch courage, she smiled.

"I like your tattoo," she said. Kate grinned. She wouldn't have admitted it, but she had been feeling a little awkward. Maura had said just the right thing.

"Thanks," she said. She picked up her skirt and shimmied into it.

"What does it say?"

Kate bit her lip. "It doesn't really mean anything..."

"You wouldn't have a tattoo that doesn't mean anything," Maura insisted.

"It's Latin. Amor Vincit Omnia. I kind of borrowed it from Chaucer."

Maura smiled. "Love conquers all. You believe that?"

"I want to. I did when I had it done."

"I like it," Maura said honestly.

Kate winked. "What about you? Do you have any tattoos?"

Maura shook her head. "I don't even have my ears pierced. The risk of infection is very high..."

Kate grinned. "You don't have to justify yourself to me. I got the tattoo because I wanted to be an idiot, because I knew my mother would hate it. On the way to the shop, it was still going to be a skull! I don't think it was a good idea. But then this phrase popped into my head, we'd been reading The Canterbury Tales in class, and I was thinking about... Well, about love, and I thought it was a nice idea. It's not original at all. I'm sure hundreds of people have the very same phrase inked on them somewhere. But I like it... I think it's a good idea to live by."

"Was your mother angry?"

Kate sighed. "She doesn't even know I have it."

Maura tried to think of an answer to this, but couldn't. Kate had another drink, and got out her make up. She considered asking Maura to do her eyes; her hands weren't feeling very steady, but she changed her mind and did them herself. She didn't want to make Maura uncomfortable.

Maura shook a hand through her hair and looked over at Kate's shiny mass of brown waves. Her hair was fine, but it had a tendency to go a bit frizzy, and she preferred Kate's brown to her auburn. She was almost a redhead... When she'd been little she'd had hair that was practically bright orange. At least it wasn't like that any more.

"You won't have fake ID, will you?" Kate asked. Maura chuckled.

"No. I don't have fake ID."

Kate slipped hers into a small clutch purse, along with some cash and her bank card. Maura had a similar bag to carry. The party they'd chosen was just off campus, within easy walking distance. Maura slid her feet into her heels; when Kate also had her shoes on, they locked their room, both taking a key.

"How are you feeling?" Kate asked.

"Good, I think..." Maura replied. "And you?"

"Fine. Excited," Kate said, though she wasn't anything like as excited as she'd thought she might be. Talking to Maura gave her far more of a buzz than the idea of getting even more drunk and being felt up by college boys...

The walk to the student union club didn't take long. When they arrived, Kate said she would go and get them something else to drink, and Maura waited a little way behind her in case they asked for ID. She watched Kate, so relaxed in her revealing outfit, so beautiful and clever and feminine, but also so brave. Maura envied Kate's courage more than anything. She knew she wasn't bad looking, she knew she had plenty going for - but she just... Didn't like people. Even if Kate said she shared that feeling, she had nothing of Maura's fear of social interaction. She danced like she meant it, sashaying through the crowd of people, completely comfortable in her own skin.

Maura bit her lip. She could feel the alcohol buzzing in her brain, and was beginning to regret her third and fourth shots of tequila. She had very little experience with alcohol, but from reading and studying, she knew how much her body should be able to tolerate, as well as what effects the tequila would be having on her body right now.

Kate came back with a brightly coloured cocktail, and against any of her judgement, let alone her better judgement, Maura accepted it. Kate's eyes sparkled in the disco lights; Maura could barely hear a thing over the music.

"Let's dance!" Kate yelled. Maura worked out what she meant and slightly reluctantly, let herself be guided into the crowd of people. She sipped her drink. It was sweet, exotic, dangerous, seductive... It was like Kate.

Kate kept a close eye on Maura. She was clearly very drunk, but she was handling it well, just swaying a little on her heels. Her big, innocent eyes looked around the room a bit like a frightened animal, but she was becoming more confident by the second, and Kate had a feeling there was a lot more to Maura than Maura let on... Kate didn't think she was anything like as innocent as she appeared, even if her misbehaviour didn't usually involve alcohol.

At least in her head, Kate thought. At least in her head, she's quite bad. Kate knew Maura had watched her changing earlier. She didn't know why she hadn't said anything... She guessed she'd just found it a bit funny. Cute, too. Maura had been to boarding school, surely she'd seen loads of other girls..? Well, maybe not. Kate realised boarding school life probably wasn't like a porn movie... It was probably very private. And English, too. So very, very private. She chuckled. She saw Maura watching her mouth and deliberately bit her lip, a gesture she'd discovered when she was about 12. She'd never used it on a girl before, though.

Maura blinked. She knew Kate was watching her, gauging her reaction to everything. It was nice having someone to look after her, but at the same time... She didn't think Kate was very stable under her tough exterior. While Kate was more used to drinking, the alcohol was definitely having an effect on her. Maura had a sip of her drink, and Kate mirrored her.

A big guy began dancing behind Kate. She took a step forward to move away from him, but he simply followed, beginning to press himself into her behind. He'd been at the bar, too. She groaned. She did not want him chasing after her all night. She had an idea.

"Help me get rid of him?" she said in Maura's ear, just loud enough for her to hear. Maura could guess what Kate meant. They were already pretty close together...

Kate leaned in and planted a confident kiss on Maura's lips, dropping her drink so she could embrace the girl with both hands. She was a little taller, and a little braver, but Maura was showing she was far from passive. She slid a hand up Kate's back and into her perfect hair. They both still had their eyes open, and Kate's twinkled as she grabbed Maura's ass. Maura responded by thrusting her hips right into Kate's; Kate made an accidental noise of something between surprise and pleasure...

When they finally broke apart, they realised they'd accumulated quite an audience. Some guys were clapping. Kate rolled her eyes and took Maura's hand.

"Come on babe, I have to powder my nose," she yelled. Maura laughed loudly and sidestepped the broken glass – her drink had hit the floor at some point too – to follow Kate to the bathroom.

A/N: Thanks for reading and for your previous responses! I love it when you tell me what you think... *big kisses (more of them!)* xxx