Authors Note: So we're going to stick around in 95 a bit longer than I initially intended, but I like to see their bond develop a bit more in the beginning. Hope you all don't mind! Of course we'll eventually move on. Let me know what you think in the comments. Also, English is not my first language, so feel free to suggest improvements, especially on UK slang/words. I'm not that familiar with those and I would really like to capture their tone.

1995

"So how touchy touchy did you get exactly?" Geri asked a few weeks after their first snog. She just now remembered what Mel had told her earlier.

Melanie looked up from her magazine. She was browsing through the pages without actually reading them. "With who?"

Geri was now standing in front of the tiny mirror hanging on the wall in their shared room, a short towel wrapped around her body. She had just gotten out of the shower. She glanced in the mirror to lock eyes with Melanie as she dried her hair. "With the Blackpool girl, of course."

Melanie smirked. She turned around on the bed to lay down on her stomach, slightly tilting her head. "Why do you must know, Geraldine?"

Geri sat down on the chair next to the bed. "Don't go all mysterious on me, you twat," she said, grabbing her moisturizer. "Just tell me."

Mel shrugged. "It was nothing, actually. I didn't even get to see her boobs."

"But you touched them?" Geri asked teasingly, her eyes widening in amusement.

"It was all quite puberal, you know what I mean? She was a bit older than I was, though."

"But did you feel her fucking boobs!"

"YES! God," Melanie said. "They were good boobs, too. But nothing more. It was just a bit of - well - grinding and feeling up on each other. Quite innocent. Just two horny, drunk kids experimenting."

"So?" Geri asked curiously, not taking her eyes off Melanie as she rubbed her legs in lotion.

"So what?"

Geri rolled her eyes. "So what did you conclude out of those experiments!"

Melanie laughed and seemed to think about it for a second. "I'm not sure actually."

"How can you not know? You either liked it or you didn't."

"Well," Melanie said, making her voice sound posh, "I haven't gathered enough information to give a final conclusion, miss."

Geri laughed at her tone. She was talking as if she was giving a press conference on a groundbreaking research paper. She stood up, shook her head and walked over to her drawer to grab some underwear. "So what you're saying is, you're not done experimenting then?"

"I don't know," Mel said. "Never say never. I'm a free spirit." She emphasized that last word, just to sound more dramatic and less serious.

"So you would be open for it?" Geri asked, not letting Mel's attempt of making a semi-joke out of it throw her off.

Melanie's eyes squinted slightly. "You do seem fairly interested in this, Geraldine. Would you?"

Geri was still standing in front of the closet with her back turned to Melanie, when she thoughtlessly dropped her towel to step into her panties.

"Maybe," Geri said, shrugging. "I mean, everybody has fantasies about the same sekse. Right?" She turned around, still topless, and pointed at her breasts. "Don't tell me you've never fantasized about these."

Melanie shattered in laughter. "Oh, you wish!"

"Don't lie to me, Brown." Geri joke-fully jiggled her boobs as she jumped on the double bed.

"You're still wet! Get off!"

"You get off," Geri said as she slid underneath the covers.

Emma appeared in the doorframe. "What are you guys talking about?" She crawled on the bed to lay down in between them.

"Oh, nothing," Geri said. "We're just talking about how Melanie shagged a girl in her early teens."

"I didn't shag her!"

"Okay, she experimented with her. But she grabbed her tits," Geri said, raising her eyebrows at Emma, nodding her head.

"Big deal. I've grabbed yours," Mel said, making herself more comfortable on her pillow.

"Not like that," Geri said.

"No, but you would like that, wouldn't ya?" Melanie said with a grin. "She would," she whispered in Emma's ear, pretending like Geri wouldn't be able to hear.

Geri raised her eyebrows at Emma teasingly, as if Mel was telling her the truth. The two of them always thought it was funny to make Emma feel uncomfortable.

Emma was getting less and less easy to impress, though. She was getting used to the two of them joking around like this. When you're living together with five girls and spent most of your time together, you grow comfortable with each other in almost every way. It didn't take long before they were leaving the toilet door open and shamelessly walked around the house naked. Except for Vicky, maybe. The prude.

Emma let out a short laugh. "Would the two of you like for me to leave the room?"

"Geri would," Melanie instantly said. "Just look at those longing eyes. She-"

BOOM. Geri had grabbed the pillow from underneath her in a quick motion and had punched Melanie in the face with it - hard. Emma shrieked in laughter. "You bitch! That actually hurts," Melanie said when the laughter had passed, rubbing her nose with the palm of her hand.

That same week, Melanie got her tongue pierced. She was walking down the streets of Maidenhead with Geri when a guy handed them an advertisement for it. "O my god! It's a sign!" Melanie shouted at Geri, stuffing the flyer in her face. "I've always wanted one! You know what? Let's do it right now."

Of course Geri didn't resist and hopped on this new adventure without doubting it for a second. She loved impulsive ideas, especially when Mel came up with them. Half an hour later Melanie was sitting in the chair with Geri alongside her as her tongue was getting inspected thoroughly.

"What's taking you so long? Can't you just jam it in?" Geri asked on Mel's behalf. Mel was so excited, yet impatient that she kept trying to speak with her tongue pulled out.

"I can't touch the nerve," the man explained, still fully focused on the tongue he was holding between his fingers. "Your tongue could go numb for the rest of your life if this goes wrong." He took one last glance before he let her tongue go.

Geri's eyes widened. "Oh, we can't have that," she said.

Melanie turned to face the tongue-inspector and smirked. "That would be her worst nightmare, you know," she said point-blanc.

Geri gave her a warning look as she bit down a grin. Yes, they had snogged a few more times, but she didn't have to shout it of the rooftops. Melanie laughed out loud when she saw Geri's face.

"Come on mate, just do it!" she then told the man, who was clearly hesitating. She wasn't asking. There was no way her tongue was not getting pierced today, whether the result was a paralyzed tongue or not.

So when they got home, her tongue was already swollen. Really, really swollen. It was almost frightening.

"Girls, look!" Mel mumbled when they walked into the front room.

"Mel got her tongue pierced!" Geri revealed.

Melanie stuck her tongue out. "See?"

Emma, Victoria and Melanie C looked up from the telly and stared at it.

"Jesus," Victoria said. Her expression was almost unreadable.

"Fuck sake, Melanie," Melanie C said. "Your tongue is bloody purple!"

Emma stood up and walked up to her to take a closer look. "That must have really hurt!" she said.

Melanie shrugged. "Only a little bit."

Geri laughed sarcastically. "A little bit? If you think her tongue's purple, you should see my bloody hand."

Melanie playfully pushed her out of her way and walked to the kitchen. "Do we have ice?" she shouted.

"She has to cool it," Geri explained when the other girls gave her a confused glance. "To stop it from swelling. The thing is huge," she hissed.

"GOT IT!"

Mel let herself fall on the couch and pressed the icepack against her tongue. Geri could swear she could see it throbbing.

"Move your leg," she told Melanie as she sat down on the floor between Mel's legs. There were no seats left, but she still had passed both Melanie C and Victoria before settling down on the ground.

"So, who wants to snog me first?" Melanie shouted. She grimaced when she removed the icepack. That shit was really cold, fuck.

"Uh, I'm not trying to choke," Victoria said dryly, which made Geri laugh.

"Mel, you should really get that swelling under control first. Could be dangerous otherwise." She wasn't even completely joking.

Melanie bend forward and squeezed Geri's upper arms, which were resting on her knees. "Ah come on! I won't see Tom for another week!" she said, pouting.

Geri felt two hands - one of which was extremely cold - grab her face to pull her head upwards. "Melanie!" she said, laughing, when she saw Mel's head appear upside down above her, surrounded by curls.

"Just one snog!" Mel demanded, keeping Geri's face in place on her lap, as she fought to get their lips together.

"Not before the swelling-"

Mel pressed her lips on Geri's mouth, muffling the sound of her voice and her laughter. She smirked against Geri's lips, but quickly realized that this wasn't going to work: there was no way she was going to get Geri to part her lips. A laugh escaped her own mouth when she released Geri's, but she was still holding onto her face and looked into her eyes as they both started laughing, making funny snorting noises along the way. In a reflex Mel gave Geri a quick peck on her lips, quickly followed by another one on her chin; then her nose, her cheek, her other cheek; she covered her face in kisses as Geri laughed hysterically, and then she let her go. While they both slowly recovered from laughter, they noticed that the other girls were looking at them in a bit of an odd way. The sudden outing of - well, what was it an outing of, that was their internal question - had kind of taken them by surprise. Mel and Geri never kissed each other on the mouths: that was something that Geri and Emma did, in a loving, sisterly way. But then again, they would often do unexpected things, so they didn't give it a second thought.

Mel didn't give up the following days. She was determined to test her new accessory, and since Tom - who she started seeing a few weeks ago - wasn't able to meet her until the weekend, she had set her mind on her housemates. She was persistent, but so was the swelling: it took a few days before her tongue was back to normal.

"Come on Geri, have a go with me," Mel said three days later when they were alone in their room, both slightly tipsy on wine. It was evening. "Aren't you curious what it feels like? I swear that it's not swollen anymore. Look," she said, showing her tongue to back her words up.

"Your tongue is red," Geri said with a giggle. She sat down on the bed and let herself fell backwards, her legs dangling. The wine had made her feel nice. A bit lazy.

"Is it?" Mel wondered. She looked in the mirror. "It's the wine. Show me yours then."

Geri had closed her eyes and didn't open them when she stuck her tongue out.

"Red," Mel stated. She lay down next to Geri. "They match."

"Hurry up before I fall asleep," Geri said with a sigh, pretending to be annoyed.

Melanie could hardly contain her excitement as she straddled Geri's lap. "Alright," she said, fully concentrated, as if the following event was going to be ground breaking. "Are you ready?"

Geri sat up and smirked. "Please, I was born ready."

Geri's eyes seemed even more blue up close. Her eyes were actually quite seductive. Ocean blue and - sometimes - outspoken. They were reflective of her thoughts and feelings, but only if you really paid attention and knew where to look. Mel cupped her face and leaned in, but it was Geri who suddenly pulled her face closer and kissed her lips. Mel's eyebrows shot up; she was surprised by her sudden impatience. They both inhaled deeply as their lips locked firmly. A short loss of contact, then they met again and opened their lips. Geri immediately noticed the metal bar when their tongues met. It was different. A funny, new feeling for both of them, which clearly demanded all their attention, because the kiss was almost mechanical. Technical.

Melanie broke the kiss. "And?" she asked.

Geri opened her eyes and was met by Melanie's gaze. Her eyes were hopeful, curious and impatiently waiting for her review. "I don't know, it's a funny feeling," Geri said.

Melanie opened her mouth, fully prepared to go against her, but was stopped when Geri unexpectedly shot forward to cover her mouth with hers again. Their lips united for two seconds before they started to move in perfect sync. It was different than before. Not as rushed, and the main focus had shifted from the metal bar to each other's warm mouths, the subtle taste of red wine, the smell of perfume and cigarette smoke. Gentle and heated, they inhaled each other, their fastening breaths mingling as their tongues became more demanding by the second. Geri's hands were resting below Mel's ears, but suddenly drifted to her hips, pulling her closer. Melanie pushed her down on the bed, gently, not once breaking the kiss, and they strangled each other, pulling each other closer until there was no space left between them. They could almost feel each other's hearts beating frantically, with their chests pressed together firmly, and it wasn't until that moment that Geri decided she liked Melanie's new accessory. Or maybe, she just liked Melanie. She inhaled sharply when she felt how Melanie pressed her thigh between her legs, and she almost automatically clutched her legs around hers, seeking more contact, deepening the kiss even more.

"Good night everyone!"

Geri pushed Melanie off of her with great strength when she heard Melanie C's voice in the hallway. "Good night Mel!" she shouted, a little too loud.

"And?" Melanie asked again, her breathes heavy and uncertain.

Geri looked to her side. "Better," she said with a short nod, her voice high-pitched, as if she hadn't just felt the urge to rip Mel's clothes off her body.

"Good," Melanie said, also with a nod.

"I'm going to brush my teeth."

"Yep."

"Alright."

Geri crawled from the bed and rushed to the bathroom, leaving a stunned Melanie behind.

What the fuck had just happened.

Authors Note: Don't worry… The real smut will happen soon.