New chapter up! I'm pleased with the length too! I hope you enjoy!
The two stayed asleep for quite some time, far past when the sun went down. The room finally went completely dark. The lights from the street had long been broken on the street and Claire had closed the light blocking earlier that morning and never opened them. There were electric devices in the room. Only the sound of the small mechanical clock could be heard in the room, coupled with the sound of soft breathing from the two women. Then through the dark, reflecting the almost non-existent light, shone a pair of bright blue eyes. Elle had woken up.
She moved hesitantly, unsure of where she was. The darkness was reassuring, familiar, but the sweet smell of an unknown brand of shampoo and the warm of another body was a completely new sensation. Normally she would have electrocuted the other person by now, but Elle felt, felt something. She wasn't really sure what exactly it was. Perhaps the word safe would suffice? She nodded to herself and moved carefully out of bed, not wanting to awake the wraith of whoever it was next to her.
Once her feet touched the floor Elle has to fight the urge to go back and curl up to the unknown person, who smelled so delightful, but she pushed herself up and walked a few feet away. She slowly walked to the door and opened. Surprised to find the door unlocked she walked through, leaving the door slightly cracked open and allowing the light of the other room into the bedroom. Elle moved around the apartment, not really taking in any of the surroundings, but enjoying the sense of freedom that she had not had in months.
She somehow reached the front door to the apartment. She had to make sure. She had to make sure she could leave. That she was finally free, that this wasn't another lie given to her by those people in the white lab coats. There were no chains on the door and when Elle turned the knob, it moved. She swallowed tears of relief and shut the door. She turned and ran back to the dark room where she woke up, almost tripping on a coach on the way there. Elle reached the room and shut the door. She sunk to the floor, taking deep breaths. She was safe again. She was ok. She was free.
"Elle?" a voice mumbled from behind. The voice was familiar. Elle shut her eyes in concentration. And then it came again as it seemed to realize the she wasn't in the bed. "Elle! Shit shit. Where is she?" It dawned on Elle who it might be.
"C-Cheerleader?" her voice cracked after using it to only scream for so long.
"Only you would." A creak sounded as Claire shifted her weight and slowly got up from the warm bed, she had only just woken up. The soft padded noise of socked feet slowly got louder as Claire walked to the woman on the floor. Claire sat down behind Elle and reached out, she hesitated for a second, but then pulled Elle into a hug. Claire couldn't tell if the other was crying or laughing, but she held on trying to voice silently the things she had kept hidden. Elle, for her part, didn't know what she was doing. She couldn't tell what she felt anymore.
They sat there for a while, neither saying anything. Eventually Claire pulled Elle up and wordlessly brought her back to bed. Still wanting to sleep curled up together, but hesitant Elle looked at Claire who merely pulled her in close. They both knew some explanations were due in the morning.