The weather was unseasonally hot given it was still only early April and both girls made the sensible decision to venture out without even so much as a light jacket. Delia in her trademark long sleeved t-shirt and jeans that looked a size too big, and Patsy in a red checked shirt teamed with a pair of tight skinnies.

Patsy was grumbling incessantly as they made their way down the path to the car. "I cannot believe I'm missing out on this beautiful weather to spend the day being dragged around Ikea with you," She complained, though only half-heartedly. The thought of spending a whole day with Delia made her heart giddily skip, "I could be enjoying an afternoon in the garden getting some colour into these ghastly milk bottle legs and sipping on Old Fashioneds."

Delia was looking at her with a raised eyebrow. "Excuse me but I do recall it was you who suggested it, so stop complaining and get in the bloody car!"

They climbed into the car, opening the windows and Patsy started the engine, shaking her head. "I know but if I'd known it would turn out so lovely, I might have retracted my offer."

"You had ample chance to change you mind... but you seemed intent on using your mouth for... other things," Delia laughed, provoking a stern sideways glance from her companion. "and as much as I'd love to spend the day walking through the park or getting merrily pissed in the beer garden, these drawers won't buy and assemble themselves. Actually, the pub is sounding more appealing by the second." She finished- inwardly groaning at the prospect of spending an afternoon building flat pack furniture- and scrambled around in the glove box for the aux lead. Radio 4 was not befitting of gorgeous spring days and Patsy's taste in music was atrocious to say the least. How could a 26 year old woman still like Boyzone and S Club 7?

Three hours later, and after many, many words of warning from Patsy about her car not being a seven-and-a-half-tonne lorry, the pair piled out of the car struggling with a chest of drawers, a wardrobe, a rug, a wicker bin and a set of new bedding with curtains to match. The bulkier items were not only a dead weight to carry, they were almost impossible to manoeuvre around the corners of the hall, stairs and landing, eliciting shrieks of abject horror from Patsy about "the state of the paintwork!"

Both women collapsed side by side onto Delia's bed, slightly sweaty and breathing heavily from their exertions.

"I don't know about you Deels, but I'm absolutely twatted!" Patsy panted heavily, brushing away stray strands of hair that had stuck to her face.

Delia turned onto her side to face the laboured redhead, a wry smile creeping to her lips as watched her chest rise and fall in a somewhat ragged fashion. "Same, but I've got bad news I'm afraid."

"Oh?"

"Might need your help pushing this bed over there and getting this down the stairs." Delia answered, gesturing lazily towards the broken drawers.

Patsy sat up with a defeated look on her face and sighed, "I swear Busby, if any more paint gets knocked off my walls, I'll personally oversee that you're the one patch it up." leaning over to plant a soft kiss on Delia's lips. Delia reciprocated and they lost themselves in the moment, not caring for anything other than revelling in the closeness they were sharing until an idea played out in the welshwoman's mind.

She pulled back from the kiss, feeling saddened at the lost contact but also quite giddy at the thought she'd had, "If I can break this stuff up into smaller bits, do you reckon we could chuck it in the fire pit and have ourselves an early bonfire night?" she asked excitedly, almost pleading as the image played out behind her eyes.

Patsy couldn't say no to a face like that. "I don't see why not." she conceded, "Now come on, the sooner we sort this out and the sooner we get to enjoy the rest of the day." Reasoning with a broad grin and rising off the bed with an outstretched hand and pulling Delia to her feet.

As it happened, flat pack furniture was not Delia's forte- even with Patsy's help, which in truth only actually stretched to fetching cups of tea and handing over the required bits and pieces- it took much longer and expended more energy than she'd expected. Patsy enjoyed herself rather more than she'd like to admit, as she watched the muscles in Delia's arms and shoulders flex and shift beneath her skin, and observed her abs grow taut when she stretched upwards, the bottom of her shirt lifting, to relieve the kinks. Good Lord, that girl was in good shape.

The air outside had cooled considerably but the sky remained clear as the stars glittered faintly in the inky darkness above. Delia was busy stacking pieces of wood in the fire pit when she heard Patsy call out from the kitchen.

"Tea, Deels?"

"Something stronger wouldn't go amiss if you've got it Pats." Delia called back, sliding the last pieces into place and setting fire to the kindling at the bottom.

Patsy came outside with two glasses of bourbon and a thick knitted blanket slung haphazardly over her shoulder, and made her way to the small wooden bench Delia was sitting on.

They sat in comfortable silence for what felt like an age, quietly sipping their drinks and watching as the flames danced and leapt into the night sky. Delia turned slightly, one leg tucked under her other and observed as the flickering light both illuminated and cast shadows over the profile of the woman next to her; lips full and eyes deep in thought.

Delia took a long sip of her drink before breaking the silence. "Penny for them?"

Patsy turned, taking the smaller woman's hand and draped her arm around her shoulder, nestling herself back to lean against her chest before answering. "Never in my life did I think I could draw so much pleasure from sitting in front of a pile of burning bedroom furnature on a freezing cold night," intertwining her fingers with Delia's and placing a soft kiss to each knuckle, "so thank you, this is lovely."

Delia's heart was soaring. Here she was, under a blanket in the cool night air with the most gorgeous and enchanting woman she'd ever met. She giggled at her words, "And here I was, thinking you'd be high maintenance, demanding dinners in Knightsbridge and expensive nights out at the theatre," moving a lock of ginger hair to the side to plant a kiss just behind her ear. "If I'd have known all it would take to win you over was this, I'd have done it the first night I moved in."

Patsy shuffled down a bit more, pulling Delia's arm tighter around her chest and smiling at their honestly with one another. She'd never been any good at this sort of thing; saying out loud the things she felt or savouring a moment wrapped in the comfort of someone's arms. It was new and scary but excitingly thilling all at once. This tiny, deliciously mischievous and magnificently gorgeous woman from South Wales had burst into her world and was quickly changing her perceptions of herself. It didn't matter if she lost herself in a moment they were sharing. It didn't matter that Delia was slowly, probably subconsciously, chipping away at the walls she'd spent years building around herself. She didn't care anymore. And nor did it matter that she was starting to fall. Fast.

"You won me over the very second I laid eyes on you." she whispered back.

The temperature had cooled further, causing their breaths to mist in the air around them and the fire was dying out. The only sounds to be heard were the crackling of the embers and their own synchronised breathing, calm and steady.

Patsy sat forward and lit her final cigarette of the night, sighing, wishing the night didn't have to end. "It's getting late," she said, exhaling a thick plume of smoke upwards, "we should probably call it a night."

Delia also didn't wish for the night to end. If she could spend every waking minute with this woman she'd still want to spend every sleeping minute with her too, and even that wouldn't be enough.

"I suppose so, yes."

She waited for Patsy to finish her smoke before standing and bringing her to her feet, still holding onto her hand. They left their glasses by the sink and made their way upstairs.

Delia was absolutely certain now that she didn't want to be apart from Patsy tonight but her words stuck in her throat as they stood face to face on the landing. Needing to garner some courage from somewhere, she stepped forward, pulling the redhead towards her and bringing her head down into a soft, deep kiss, full of longing and want. Patsy responded, wrapping her hands around the back of Delia's neck and deepening it with a swipe of her tongue across her bottom lip, requesting access. Delia allowed it, just for a moment, before stepping back.

"Stay with me tonight?"

Patsy nodded and followed the brunette into her bedroom, closing the door behind them.