Tilly confronts Jen
Tilly's mind is running riot as she walks home. She rewinds all her recent conversations with Jen looking for clues that might tell her who the mystery woman was and what she could possibly mean to Jen.
Could Sinead have been mistaken? Perhaps the kiss was more innocent than it looked? She'd been so happy when Jen had told her she was in love with her in the car the other day. Although, now, when Tilly re-played that scene in her mind, it unfolded in a far more negative light. Jen hadn't actually said out loud that she was in love with Tilly. Was it all just in Tilly's head?
Tilly is so distracted that she nearly misses the turning for her own street. Recovering and shaking her head to try and clear her thoughts, Tilly finally gets home and heads straight up to her bedroom.
She sits on her bed clutching her mobile phone. She isn't sure what to do now. She wants to confront Jen but she is afraid of what Jen might reveal. What if Jen is in love with this other woman?
Tilly composes and deletes three text messages before finally writing "Need to see you. Can we meet?" She clicks 'Send' before she could change her mind, then stares at the phone wishing for an immediate response and flinging the phone onto the bed in frustration when the response does not arrive.
The phone finally beeps and Tilly nearly falls off the bed in her haste to pick it up. Unfortunately, it's only Maddie. "Do you want to talk?" asks Maddie. Tilly fires back. "Too mad right now. Call u later?". Maddie quickly returns with "Anytime. Love you. Mx". Tilly is touched by her friend's thoughtfulness but quickly reverts back to thoughts of Jen with the mystery woman.
An hour goes by before Jen finally replies with "Love to. Meet you at the bench in 30 mins?"
Tilly's composure threatens to leave her again but she manages to type out "C u then". She washes her face and re-applies her make-up. She changes her clothes, partly because the temperature has cooled in the afternoon, but also she wants to look her best. If Jen is thinking about choosing someone else over her, Tilly wants her to realise what she will be missing.
Tilly leaves the house as soon as she is ready, knowing that it will make her about 10 minutes early but not caring as she is too wound up to sit still. When she arrives she has worked herself up into such a state that when Jen turns up a few minutes later she is unable to stop the tears which run freely down her face.
Jen notices Tilly's distress at once and is full of concern. "Hey, what's up?" she asks, sitting beside Tilly and putting her arm around her shoulders. Tilly leans into the embrace, resting her head on Jen's shoulder and breathing in her perfume. Tilly can't speak. This was not how she'd planned for the conversation to go. She had wanted to remain cool and calmly ask Jen for an explanation instead of crying like a little girl. "Come on, what's wrong?" Jen encourages.
Tilly disengages herself from Jen's arm and takes a deep breath but can only stammer out short sentences. "Sinead saw you. The other night. She said you were kissing some woman. At the student flats."
Jen is taken aback. "Sinead saw me? What, was she following me or something?"
"Yes, she was" admits Tilly.
"Christ!" says Jenny.
"So?" demands Tilly.
"So...Yes, it's true. I went to see a friend on Wednesday night... In fact it was my ex-girlfriend. And yes, she kissed me. Turns out, she wants me back..."
"She kissed you?" Tilly emphasises the word 'you'.
"Yes" confirms Jen.
"And you kissed her back?" probes Tilly.
"No, not exactly... I was taken by surprise. As soon as I realized what was happening I stopped it, honestly" explains Jen trying, but failing to look Tilly in the eyes which were focussed anywhere but on Jen at that moment.
"Sinead said you were 'full-on snogging'" Tilly says accusingly using her fingers to mime that she was using Sinead's exact words.
"I don't care what Sinead says, I'm telling you what actually happened" insists Jen coolly.
Tilly pauses. She's still reeling and doesn't know what to make of Jen's response.
"So she wants you back then...what did you tell her?" Tilly chokes out.
Jen puts both her hands on Tilly's shoulders and gently turns her around to face her. "Tilly, I told her that I was seeing someone else" Jen assures her. Tilly finally finds the courage to look into Jen's eyes searching for the truth of it. Jen adds "I told her I was in love with someone else – I think she's got the message now". Tilly cannot hold back any longer and her relief manifests in loud sobs whilst she throws herself into Jen's arms gripping both her own arms tightly around Jen's neck.
When she is calmer, Jen reaches behind her neck to pull Tilly's hands away and instead places her own hands on either side of Tilly's face. She kisses away the last of the tears and then gently moves her attention to Tilly's lips, once, twice, three times before extending the embrace. They explore each other passionately, both using hands and lips and tongues to express what they mean to each other. When they finally break apart, both of them are breathless and the light has faded to summer twilight.
Tilly begins "You know the 'someone else' you were talking about... that was me right?"
Jen laughs. "Yes! Idiot!"
"You know I'm in love with you too don't you?" says Tilly, more seriously now.
"I hoped that you might be" answers Jen smiling. "Come on. I'll walk you home and you can help me plan my revenge on Sinead".
"Oh God no, I'm not getting involved" replies Tilly.