and after three millenia, here is the update at last! thank you everybody for putting up with my shenanigans and waiting for so long! also, thank you for allowing me to get to over 50 follows on this story! i love you all so so very much :) without further ado, onto the chapter!

It's dark, and my body feels lined with lead. I struggle to open my eyes or to lift my fingers but to no avail. Something flashes in my vision, and then the light goes away again.

"What in the name of hillbillies did you do this time, Spencer?" That's Hanna, I think. I smell lilies coming from my right.

"Han, calm your pants down." Coffee on my left. That must be Spencer.

"Yeah, she ought to sit her pants down too." Vanilla? No way. My brain hurts. This is a super weird dream.

The weird flashing light is back. It is getting really annoying. Also, the girls are super noisy.

"Guys, her eyes just fluttered."

"First off Hanna, that's because you're shining a flashlight in her face, and second off, don't you mean her eyelids? Because not only are her eyes closed, but also eyeballs don't flutter."

"Wer yer preezh shuddup." There. That ought to quiet them.

"Um, does anyone speak Neanderthal?" So much for hoping. By the way, Aria. Your cotton candy scent. Get it away from me.

"Why are you looking at me? There's a reason I'm in French Cl..."

Holy shit that is bright.

"Welcome back, Emily!" The light subsides. A brunette blob bobs enthusiastically as two other brunette blobs and a blonde mess look on.

I blink a few times, and Blob #1 sharpens into Lynn. Vanilla. I cough. She's leaning in so close that I can make out the pores in her nose. This is a big no-no.

"Em, you okay?" I turn my head left and see Spencer yanking Lynn back by the shoulder.

"What happened?" My senses are getting sharper with each passing moment, but I'm still drawing a blank as to what happened on the road.

"The kid's fine," Spencer says, interrupting my reverie. "You passed out right when I swerved, and we went off the road just in time to avoid her."

"Wait...you almost hit a fucking KID?" Hanna bellows.

Aria scowls. "Are you physically capable of keeping your volume below ten thousand decibels? I think not. Prove me wrong and I'll buy you a cookie."

I make a mental note to use confectionary goods the next time I need Hanna to shut up.

After the girls are done fussing over me, we continue our drive. Apparently I was out for a few hours; most likely my lack of sleep coupled with the trauma from Spencer's run-in caught up with me. It's early morning, and I am enjoying the way the sun dyes the hills pink and orange when my stomach rumbles.

The minivan bursts into giggles, and Hanna snakes her hand over to drop a tube into my lap. "We stopped at a rest station while you were out," she says.

I stare at the paprika Pringles in my hands. " In Italy, of all the things you could have gotten, you got chips?"

"Hey, 'thank you' is the courteous thing to say in this situation," Hanna huffs.

I sigh. "I don't even LIKE Pringles."

I forgot that insulting any form of junk food would lead to an interrogation. Stupid Hanna.

"Of course you wouldn't like popcorn! You've never eaten it in a theatre!" The blonde says, googling up a storm for "movie theatre milan."

Spencer sighs and shades her eyes against the sun. "You just had to bring that up, didn't you, Fields?"

I shrug. "It just kinda came out, I guess." I feel a nudge on the back of my head and turn to come face-to-face with the brim of an outrageously big and floppy black hat.

"Sorry," Aria chirps as she tugs on it, crushing the brim into my face. I crinkle my nose.

Suddenly, Hanna's hand snaps out to snatch Lynn's wrist, and she hurriedly latches onto mine as Hanna barrels down the street. My free hand flails about and knocks Aria's spacecraft off of her head, but Spencer's too preoccupied with ogling a nearby "dreamy soul" to notice. I flail my free arm at both of them frantically. My head's still throbbing from earlier.

Aria slaps Spencer's cheek lightly. "Hello! Toby would not approve. Try to keep your eyeballs in your head?" Her voice gets softer with every step the Hanna boogey-train takes.

Spencer nods and pulls Aria along as she dashes after us.

"Wait, my hat!"

"Remind me, again, why the hell Brokeback Mountain is playing in an Italian movie theatre," Spencer mumbles, scratching her head.

Hanna tosses her hair in Spencer's face. "Two American boys sucking face to papal subtitles? It's a classic."

"Just because we're in Italy doesn't mean the pope's involved..." I begin before realizing that Hanna has stuck her thumbs in her ears and is dancing about the theatre lobby, probably not listening to me and definitely making a fool of herself.

Lynn pats my shoulder and leans over to whisper in my ear. "Darling, she just wants to see a red-blooded, vagina-loving lesbian squirm at the grunting and thrusting of two men as they..."

I shudder and shove her face away as she laughs. Suddenly, Hanna bounds over, spilling popcorn left and right from the monstrous bin she has wrapped in her arms.

"Want some?" She mumbles at me and Spencer through a mouthful of puff, generously showering us with mush.

I raise my eyebrows at her. "Since when did you start offering your food to people?"

She tosses her hair smugly. "I flashed the cashier boy, and he gave me the biggest tub they had instead of just a medium bucket. It's too much for a pre-dinner snack."

Aria shakes her head, and Hanna laughs. "I have to get my fun somehow. Aria, I'm 29 years old."

Aria blows air up at her bangs. "You're 31."

"Precisely my point. I'm getting older."

I stare at them until I realize that my mouth is hanging open and that my vision is blurry. I bite my fist. Spencer clears her throat and says, "You did NOT just quote Imagine Me and You." I swivel my head in surprise to see that all my girls are smirking.

"You guys spent way too much time with her," I mutter through my fist.

The girls shrug, and Aria raises an eyebrow. "You're the one who owns a flower shop."

Lynn raises her arms above her head, yawning as we walk out the theatre doors. "It's still light out. You guys wanna grab some dinner?"

Spencer looks at me, and I shake my head. "Let's hit some clubs."

Hanna yodels, and Lynn sweeps her off of her feet and twirls her. Spencer chuckles and looks at me. "Are you sure?"

When I nod, Lynn plops Hanna on a nearby bench and grabs my hands to spin me in a circle. I feel my cheeks pulling upward into a grin and let my tongue hang out, just the tip. It's okay to enjoy myself a little, right? It's Europe, and I'm with my girls. I might as well make some memories to bring back to her while I'm here.

Hanna has spotted a promising destination two blocks away. She scrambles off the bench and starts power-walking.

Milan Mood. The name seems promising. The rainbow flag waving above its doors is even better.

Aria opens her mouth again. "Is this really the best idea? None of us actually speak Italian. And none of us are single!"

Spencer ignores her and runs after Hanna. I follow as Lynn scoops a protesting Aria into her arms and breaks into a run.

Hanna runs over to me after dancing for what's seemed like hours. "They're everywhere!" she says, her eyes wild. Her hair is messy and her face is peppered with at least four different shades of lipstick. She wobbles on her feet and collapses onto the chair beside me. "I LOVE lesbians!"

I chuckle into my rum and coke and turn my gaze back to the dancefloor. Spencer is politely bobbing up and down to a soft butch in leather who's been gyrating at her for the past twenty minutes, and Aria is standing in the corner nursing a glass of scotch and awkwardly peeking at the dancing men and women.

But Lynn is a magnetic force in the club. Her arms swing up and down in time to the throbbing music, and her hair swishes as she swings her hips at first one girl, then another, and then another. Her white wifebeater accentuates her perfect boobs in the flashing lights. I'm not the only one who's noticed. Her dance partner of the movement ris twisting and bobbing in sync with Lynn and the music as she trails her hands up and down Lynn's lithe body. I watch her flatten her palms onto Lynn's shoulders and slide them down over Lynn's breasts, trace each abdominal muscle on her belly, before sliding across her hips and squeezing her ass.

I guzzle my drink and slam the glass onto the table, making Hanna jump. "Getting a little over-excited there, Em?" She says with a smile, placing a hand on my trembling arm.

I wipe my mouth with my hand. "I'm fine. I need more alcohol." Hanna grins as she waves a waiter over and places an order for four shots of vodka.

Hanna's knocked back both of her shots, and I still have one left. She eyes me impatiently. "Drink up already! I wanna dance dirty with the hottest girl here!"

I glance at Lynn's writhing body and pick up the glass, throw it back, and slam the glass back down onto the table in one motion. I grab Hanna's hand as I feel the burn in my throat. "Let's go."

The first shot has started to warm me, and I can already feel the glow of the alcohol loosening my muscles. She always enjoyed teasing me about being a lightweight.

Hanna pulls me into the throng of writhing bodies on the dance floor, and I sidle up to Lynn. Her hair flies in every direction as she dances, and the strands waft her sweet fragrance of vanilla in my face. She's the right height, the right hair color, the right body shape. And she has the right smell, the one scent that can both calm me and drive me absolutely mad. I close my eyes and finally, after so long, let myself go into the longing. It's so easy to pretend.

She senses my presence behind her and turns to grasp my waist and pulls me closer. We shake and writhe, our hips perfectly in sync. I place my hands on top of hers, still at my midsection, and stroke up her arms until I reach her shoulders. She lifts her arms so that our limbs tangle together, and the people moving around us push me further into her embrace. Her hands are everywhere at once, ghosting over my breasts to tease my belly, grasping at my hips and then circling my neck, and her fingers trail fire with every touch. I ignore how the flames kindle slowly instead of igniting into an overwhelming blaze. I ignore how tentative the touches are, how they do not confidently stride over the terrain of my body with a cocky sense of ownership and familiarity. I ignore how the slow burn deep in my abdomen simmers instead of smoldering in reaction to those wandering hands. I ignore how I long to press my lips onto a hot mouth that knows exactly how much pressure and heat my body demands. Those lips aren't there.

Instead I focus on vanilla. That bewitching scent wraps me in its embrace, tantalizing me with its spicy yet soothing flavor. I bury my nose in her neck. I remember how I can taste it on her skin, along with the dry sweetness of almonds and something else altogether unique. I tilt my head to lay an open-mouthed kiss.

I am abruptly yanked back by the shoulder before I can complete the task at hand. Hanna's icy gaze drills into my own bewildered eyes as she pulls me off the dancefloor. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" she yells over the dinn in the club. "Loosen up doesn't mean 'whore it up,' you asshole! Get your facts straight, Em." She jabs a finger at the confused brunette still dancing. "Which include, she is, and you're taken." She slaps me across the face before stomping off to confront Lynn.

I chuckle to myself before biting my knuckle hard enough to draw blood. Hanna had been a moment too late. I can't deny the flavor that singes the tip of my tongue. It burns of oranges, not almonds.

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