It was still dark out when Beth rolled herself unceremoniously out of her warm sheets and onto her cold hardwood floor.

"Fuuuuck," she groaned, hopping across her room to her wardrobe, afraid her feet would freeze to the floor in the same way tongues did when kids in movies licked frozen poles (maybe that was just a movie thing though… Did that actually happen in real life?).

She changed from her pyjamas to her running gear (plus a few extra layers, because fuck it was cold) in record time and done some quick stretches before grabbing her phone and earphones and heading downstairs to fill a bottle of water and stick a note to the fridge telling her mother where she was going in case she woke up before Beth got back. Then she headed to the front door, bracing herself for the icy wind that would hit her the second she opened it.

Usually she ran in the evenings after school (mainly because it was at least a little warmer). Though with a competition coming up the following week she wanted to try and get two runs in a day. Plus it was a Saturday, so it wasn't like she was doing too much else anyway.

She hit play on her phone's iTunes and skipped a few times before finding a track that was good for running to. As Eye of the Tiger (yes, her embarrassing music library was the reason she never let anyone near her phone) began to play she pushed off from her doorstep, not really noticing where her feet were taking her as the crisp air beat against her face and the solid sidewalk stretched out endlessly in front of her.

People had always asked her why she'd chosen track over soccer when she'd been given the choice. Her father had even gone as far as to express his disappointment that she hadn't gone for a team sport instead. There was no choice for her though. There was something about running that was just so freeing to her; so liberating. When she knotted the laces on her running shoes suddenly her possibilities seemed endless, like she could go anywhere, and by default be anyone.

She didn't really know where she was going actually, though after about forty-five minutes the streets she was running on began to look familiar. She knew she'd taken a lot more left turns than right ones, so she figured at some point she'd circled back on herself, and had as a consequence apparently ended up in a vaguely familiar part of town.

She considered turning back – by the time she'd find her way home again it'd probably be roughly two hours of jogging – though she didn't. Instead she kept going straight ahead down the suburban street, now feeling like her feet were leading her somewhere in particular.

-.-.-.-

Alison was awake before her alarm. She smiled to herself; it was like a game to her at this point, setting the alarm for eight and then seeing if her body clock would wake her at half seven anyway. It was like her first little win of the day and it always left her hopping out of bed with an extra spring in her step.

Her father was still on his business trip, and her mother had said something about picking up her grandma for an early hospital appointment in the city, so she knew she had the house to herself for a few hours. She dressed quickly and headed downstairs, scanning the kitchen quickly to find the note she knew her mother would have left her. It was sitting on the kitchen table.

Dear Alison,

I'm taking your grandmother to the hospital then running some errands. Your grandmother also mentioned something about wanting to do some shopping while she was in the city so I may not be home until late. Use some of the money in the drawer to order pizza if you don't want to cook.

Love mom.

PS: Your father forgot to empty the kitchen bin before he left, so just dump it into the bin at the street when you get a chance.

Alison groaned. Of all the chores in the world she could be asked to do of course it'd have to be emptying the bin. She'd rather scrub 100 toilets than have to suffer through two minutes of gagging on the smell left by decaying rubbish.

Still though, her mother very rarely left her instructions and Alison was positive that even if she wanted to defy these ones she wouldn't be physically or mentally capable of it (and just like that Sarah was in her head chanting 'goody two shoes' and sniggering). And so, with a long sigh she retrieved a pair of shoes from beside the front door and knotted up the laces before begrudgingly lifting the bag out and double knotting it.

She then went to the door, the bag being held as far away from her body as her outstretched arm would allow. Once she was outside she felt it was safe to breathe through her nose again thanks to the wind blowing the bags smell away from her. She still moved quickly though, and managed to lift the lid off the bin at the end of the lane and throw the bin-bag in in one swift motion.

Once the bag was safely disposed of, Alison chanced a glance up at the street around her. Most houses were still quiet at this hour of the morning as there was no need for kids to be rushing out to school and most parents had the day off. Out of the corner of her eye though she caught sight of someone jogging on the opposite side of the street. She turned to wave, presuming it was the manager of the local bank, training for another mini-marathon. The actual identity of the runner shocked her however.

"Beth?" Alison's words seemed to fall on deaf ears, as Beth made no attempt to look over at her.

Alison could see the wires from her earphone's though, and not one to be put off easily, she stepped out into the road (being sure to look both ways beforehand of course), and called her name again, this time adding a wave. This tactic seemed to work, as her classmate slowed to a stop and took out her earphones.

"Hey Alison what's up," She called, stepping out into the road to meet the other girl.

"Oh not a lot just…" she paused (why had she stopped her actually?). "Just wanted to say hi," she concluded, wincing internally at her lame reasoning.

"Oh," Beth nodded not seeming to find it to be too dumb an answer. "Bit early for you to be up saying hi to people though don't you think," she added after a moment in an attempt to fill the silence that had fallen between them.

"I get up early anyway," Alison explained. "It's not like I was waiting at my kitchen window for you to run past."

"I didn't say you were," Beth laughed. "Though now I kind of think you were and you're just saying that to cover your tracks."

"I was not!" Alison huffed, shoving the slightly taller girl in the arm.

Before Beth had a chance to make another smart remark a car pulled out of a lane up ahead of them. Both girls stepped in off the road to let it past, now standing back beside Alison's bin. They both watched in silence as the car drove down the long road then turned right and out of sight.

"Do you want some water," Alison asked once the vehicle had disappeared.

"Thanks, but I got some," Beth smiled, holding up her half full water bottle and waving it in Alison's face as proof.

"Food then? You must be hungry?" Alison tried again, not caring if Beth would think she was weird for being so eager to hang out with her.

"Well I can't say no to that." Beth's grin grew tenfold as Alison smiled politely at her and led her back into the house.

Once they'd eaten and tidied everything away (well, Alison tidied; insisting Beth would only do it wrong and she'd have to re-do it later once she was gone) they decided it was in their best interest to spend the rest of their day watching movies from Alison's fathers DVD collection that sat on a shelf behind the television.

It had taken them a while to agree on the film ("I am not watching a musical!" "Beth, West Side Story is a classic, and plus there's no way I'm watching a boring action film" "How are action films boring?!" "They're all the same!" "You're all the same." "Oh, good one." "Shut up, it's early." "Whatever, how about comedy?" "Yeah okay sounds like a plan.") though once they did Alison got pretzels from the cupboard in the kitchen (because according to Beth it was never too early for junk food) and they both sat on the couch while Beth hit play.

Three films later (all of which were comedy because apparently they could agree on nothing else – and even then they laughed at different jokes) the pretzels were gone and Beth had fallen asleep against Alison's shoulder, probably exhausted from her early run.

Initially Alison had planned on moving her once her shoulder got sore. Then it had gotten sore and she'd decided to wait until the film ended instead. Then the film had ended and she decided to leave it until after the credits rolled (always nice to appreciate all the work that goes into making a movie happen after all). Now however her arm was in agony, the DVD was doing its sixth loop of the title page and Alison still hadn't pulled her shoulder out from under Beth's head, nor had she attempted to reposition her against the back of the couch.

She couldn't lie here forever though, that would be ridiculous. She had to do something.

Why wasn't she then?

Then again the weight of Beth's head against her shoulder was rather comforting and the feeling of Beth's breath through the fabric of her t-shirt was pretty nice. In fact… Beth herself was pretty nice in a way that was beginning to give Alison butterflies.

Alison's arm jerked out from under Beth's head in reflex to what she'd just realized. Instantly Beth's eyes flew open and she sat poker straight, head darting from side to side as she re-acquainted herself with her surroundings.

"Shit, what… where… oh," Beth finally muttered, her eyes landing on Alison. "I fell asleep, didn't I?"

"You did indeed," Alison nodded, the slightest hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her lips as she watched Beth blink the sleep out of her eyes (why was that suddenly so smile worthy?).

"Damn, sorry," Beth groaned. "What time is it?"

"Half one," Alison informed her, checking the watch on her wrist.

"Yea I better head home," Beth nodded once she heard the time, standing out of her seat and stretching her weary bones. "I told mom I was going out for a jog hours ago, she'll think I've been kidnapped or something."

"Can't you text her?" Alison blurted (what was she doing?!).

"Uh…" Beth considered it for a moment (a moment too long in Alison's mind).

"It's just my mom left me money to get a pizza, but I never manage to eat a whole one by myself and you know… It's fun hanging out with you." (Wow, like wow. Had she really just said that?)

"Pizza sounds really good actually," Beth nodded, grinning widely as Alison blushed. "Just let me call my mom."

Alison decided she'd order the pizza while Beth was on the phone to her mother, and after much debate ("Meat mountain!" "Ugh no, what about chicken and sweetcorn?" "Ew, Alison, who the hell puts sweetcorn on a pizza?" "I do." "Well you're weird." "I'm also paying for your dinner." "Fine… how about we go for just cheese then?" "Seems like a fair compromise.") she was ringing up the order. She was told thirty minutes, and once she hung up she checked her mobile to estimate when it'd be arriving (just after two).

She turned then, and jumped when she realised Beth was standing right behind her.

"Uh, my mom wants to talk to you," Beth murmured, holding out her phone. "Just to like, double check I am where I say I am," she added hastily when Alison shot her a confused look.

"Hello Ms Childs," Alison put the phone to her ear awkwardly. "Yes, I'm Alison Hendrix. Yes, the one that helped Be-Elizabeth with English." (she ignored the giddy feeling in her chest at the realisation she was the only one that called her by that nickname). "Yes just watching some movies, and now we're ordering pizza. No, no, oh no it's not a party, just the two of us. Okay, okay… okay. Bye."

Beth grimaced as she accepted the phone back off Alison. "Sorry," she muttered, shoving it back into her pocket.

"It's cute that she cares," Alison insisted.

"Cute unless you're on the receiving end of all that smothering," Beth retorted. "Anyway," she changed the subject before Alison could add anything. "Pizza ordered?"

"It'll be here in." She checked her watch. "Twenty-seven minutes."

"Cool," Beth nodded enthusiastically. "Oh and Alison." A look that if Alison hadn't known any better she'd have called nerves seemed to flash across Beth's face for just a second before she continued with her sentence. "I really like hanging out with you too. It's uh… It's by far the most fun I've had with anyone in ages."

There was a long pause after Beth spoke where both girls looked one another in the eye – Beth's cheeks growing redder as the clogs in Alison's mind churned until finally she spoke. "I'm going to hug you now."

Beth froze solid when a pair of arms wrapped around her neck and Alison's head rested against her shoulder. Then after a moment –

"If you don't hug me back I'm going to feel like an idiot," Alison muttered against the fabric of her hoodie.

So she did. She wrapped her arms around Alison's waist and buried her face into Alison's hair and just stood there for a few moments, until gradually Alison broke away from the hug, blushing a little, but otherwise smiling contently.

"We'll give you a heart yet tin man," Alison teased, moving around Beth and towards the kitchen.

"You know… I've never seen Wizard of Oz," Beth commented a she followed Alison diligently.

"You're lucky I don't kick you out for such blasphemy." Alison sounded as if she were only half kidding.

They were half ways through their pizza when Alison's phone buzzed indicating a text. She checked it quickly, but threw it back down on the table when she saw it was only from Sarah. She probably just wanted to know if Alison would let her borrow her notes for some class she'd "forgotten" to go to – she could wait. It wasn't until the third time her phone buzzed (and she threw it back on the table) that Beth commented on it.

"You know you should probably get that…" she pointed at the device with one hand while the final slice of pizza dangled in her other.

"It's just my friend Sarah," Alison explained with a shrug. "I'm sure it's nothing major."

"Still…" Something about the tone in Beth's voice made Alison pick up the phone.

"Yea see, nothing major," Alison repeated once she'd read the texts. "She's just reminding me that her boyfriend's coming home from college tomorrow for a few days and I promised her I'd give her an idea for something cheap an romantic she could do to surprise him… a promise I've no recollection of making by the way," she added, rolling her eyes as she threw the phone back on the table.

"That hill outside town," Beth began to speak instantly (and much to Alison's surprise). "If you go up there in the evening you can see the stars because there's no other light up there. They could go there with blankets and food and they could stargaze… I mean I know it's kind of cheesy and it'd probably be cold, but when you're up there there's no one else around it's like you've the whole world to yourself, and when you're staring up at the night I dunno… I guess it'd be kind of magical."

"Wow…" Alison felt dumb, but it really was all she could say.

"Yea, plus it'd be basically free other than the sandwiches," Beth added, seeming oblivious to Alison's awestruck expression.

"I'll uh… I'll text Sarah that now," Alison nodded, recovering a little (Beth did not come across at the romantic kind of person). "That seems really, really beautiful Beth," she added once the text had been sent, a small smile flickering across her face when Beth looked up at her and blushed.

"Thanks."

-.-.-.-

It was eight that evening when Beth finally decided she should go (and Alison finally agreed to let her). They'd long since re-located to Alison's room, since her mother had gotten back and had insisted they move so she could lean the living room (after she politely introduced herself to Beth of course).

"Are you sure you don't want a lift?" Alison questioned, closing the lid of her laptop where they'd been watching Netflix.

"It's fine," Beth insisted, rising off Alison's chest, where her head had been resting for the past two hours, and unwinding her arm from around Alison's waist. "I still need to get in my second run anyway."

"God, all that running in this weather," Alison grimaced, trying to ignore the empty feeling she felt now that Beth's warm body was gone from her side.

"Yea, but it'll totally be worth it when I win a medal next week," Beth grinned cockily.

"I wish I could see you run," Alison mused, imagining just how fast Beth must be.

"You could come," Beth blurted suddenly, turning to fully face Alison in the bed again.

"Really?"

"Well I mean, if you wanted," Beth corrected herself. "We got a bus and there's loads of empty seats, so as long as you got a note from your mom they said we could bring one supporter each," Beth explained enthusiastically.

"Okay!" Alison replied without a second thought for the classes she'd be missing.

"Cool," Beth stood from the bed and pushed her feet back into her running shoes without undoing the laces. "It'll be cool to have someone cheering." She walked towards the bedroom door, and Alison rose to follow her down the stairs.

"Okay well I can't wait," Alison gushed. "I'll see you there."

"Well, I'm sure you'll see me at some point before that… I mean the race isn't until Wednesday," Beth laughed, taking her hoodie off the hook in the hall and picking her water bottle up off the table next to it.

"You know what I mean," Alison rolled her eyes.

"Of course I do," Beth smirked, stretching her legs a few times while maintaining an intense eye contact with Alison that should have been awkward but wasn't. "Anyway, see you Monday Ali," she added with a smile, turning then and opening the door to step out into the cold.

"Yea, bye Beth," Alison called after her, watching as she crossed the road and set off down the path.

She closed the door behind her and turned back towards the stairs.

"She called me Ali," she whispered to herself as she began to climb back to her room. "She called me Ali."

By the time she was safely back in her bedroom with the door locked behind her she was pretty confident her chest was going to explode and her smile was going to crack the skin on her face.