When Mulan first opened her eyes, she prayed that it was all a dream. The catastrophic night was a fuzzy haze, which she could not recall most of. Her mind awakening slowly, she examined her location. She recognized it as Aurora's sitting room. The couch had been a rough, bumpy example of a bed, but the cushions were silk, and ridiculously comfortable.

As Mulan slowly eased herself off the couch, Aurora entered the room, a wide smile spread across her face. Dressed in a cute pair of pink checkered pajamas, she carried a tray full of bacon, sausages, toast and baked beans. Aurora was the type to go overboard to make a guest feel comfortable. "Did you sleep well?" she asked, placing the breakfast onto the coffee table next to Mulan.

"I guess," replied Mulan. She then turned to the food. "What's all this for?"

"I made you a fry-up. Minus the egg, of course. The day you eat eggs is the day the zombies attack."

Mulan arched an eyebrow. "When did I say that?"

"A-A while ago," said Aurora, clearly embarrassed that she remembered a dumb phrase that Mulan had briefly mentioned months ago. She hoped she wasn't blushing. "We were discussing with Ruby and Belle our least favorite foods."

"Yours is broccoli, right?" said Mulan. Honestly, she didn't need the confirmation. She always remembered the significant details about Aurora.

"Right. And Belle's is dark chocolate, while Ruby's are lemons."

"Seriously? Ruby wouldn't stop talking about lemons last night."

Aurora shrugged. "Me thinks she was obsessing over a different type of lemon," she said in a low, suggestive tone.

The realization dawning on her, all Mulan could say was a stressed "Oh."

Aurora chuckled at the stupidity of her friend. Then, her mind unexpectedly reeled back to the previous night. Unable to preserve the positive image she had visualized when seeing Mulan sleeping content, she had spent the night silently sobbing into her pillow, feeling hollow and worthless. She didn't sleep a wink. Her dream of raising a family was too good to be true.

"Are you OK?" asked Mulan, concerned over Aurora's sudden and unusual silence.

"Yeah, yeah," nodded Aurora. "I'm fine."

"You don't seem fine. Have you been crying?"

Aurora's eyes stung like hell, so they were most likely red and puffy. She concealed the tears that were forming in her eyes, instead faking a wide smile, and trying her best to maintain the happy, optimistic image that Mulan would not question further. "Allergies," said Aurora, indifferently pointing at her eyes, attempting a joke out of the scenario.

"I know you're lying to me," said Mulan.

Aurora bit her lip. A person calling out her lies was an awful feeling. It racked her up with guilt, and made her immediately want to take it back.

"You don't have to lie to me, Aurora." Mulan put a comforting hand on Aurora's shoulder. "We can talk about this. Get everything off your chest."

"Not to be rude, or anything, Mulan, but this is none of your concern. These are my issues, and I have to deal with them alone."

"What's the point of suffering alone when you can tell other people, and there's a possibility that they could help you? I know it's difficult. You would be such a perfect mother. But you and Phillip can keep on trying. Never give up, right?"

Of course, Mulan just had to be asleep when Aurora had poured her heart out in the taxi. Because of this, Mulan was only aware of the fact that Aurora believed she was pregnant, but had got a negative on her test. Now that she was sober again, Aurora was in no state of mind to tell Mulan any of her tragic backstory. However, she supposed that Mulan deserved to hear a portion of truth. "I've been thinking last night, and I'm not sure if I want kids after all."

Mulan's eyes widened. "You've got to be shitting me right now."

"No joke, I'm serious. I always thought having kids was my future. Maybe this is fate telling me it's not. Maybe there's a better destiny out there for me."

"Aurora, ever since I've known you, all you've ever talked about is being a mother one day. Now, you expect me to believe that it's all in the past."

"Don't you get it? It is in the past. I'm not in a fit state to have a child right now, anyway. Look at me, I'm a mess."

"You're anything but a mess. Stop denying the fact that your destiny is to have and raise a child."

Aurora's cheeks reddened with anger. How dare Mulan talk to her like that? The only person in control of her destiny was her. "You're not the boss of me. Consider the possibility that anticipating having a child has held me back all these years. My passion for art, sculpture, interior design went down the drain, just so I could be a stay at home to-be Mom."

Speechless, it took a few seconds for Mulan to respond in a softer tone. "You know exactly who held you back from your dreams?"

Looking down in embarrassment from her rant, Aurora exhaled. "Phillip."

"Exactly. He's not the one for you, honey. You know that, too."

Tears welled up in Aurora's eyes. This time, she let them fall. Mulan pulled her in for a long hug.

"I just want to be happy," said Aurora, choking on the sobs.

"I know. I know," comforted Mulan.

…

Across the town, Ruby's apartment was completely silent as the two girls lay in bed. Next to each other. Naked.

Both were filled with confusion and anxiety. Neither had spoken a single word as they stared up at the ceiling, struggling to fit all of the pieces of the night back together. Whoever had woken up first had no urge to awake the other. Only one thing was important: nobody could know what they had done.

This was so bad. How could they have slept with each other? Twice. Double the action, double the mistake. They had a serious dilemma.

After what felt like decades of silence, Belle turned her head, and at last spoke up. "Did last night mean anything to you?"

Ruby's eyes remained fixated upwards. She couldn't bear to look Belle in the eye. "I… don't know."

The words sunk in. It was as if Belle had been punched in the stomach. Without hesitation, she proceeded to collect her things and begin to get dressed.

Ruby sat up in the bed. "What are you doing?"

"Leaving before something else tragic happens. Wouldn't want that, would we?"

Ruby thought back to the night for a moment. "Did we steal my car?"

Putting on her boots, Belle narrowed her eyes in thought, before nodding.

Ruby groaned from the pit of her stomach, repetitively slapping her forehead. "Fuck! What were we thinking? I'm not even insured." She then remembered the events beforehand. "Hey, I gave the keys to you to look after. You're the one who claimed they were stolen."

"I thought they were! I grabbed a load of stuff from this slut's bag into mine, skedaddled, then assumed the keys were hers."

"How didn't we recognize the car was mine?"

"We were totaled. Go figure."

Ruby sighed. Though her car was a huge concern, it didn't beat the situation with Belle. "Please stay for a while so we can talk about last night," Ruby practically begged her.

"You're not supposed to stay in contact with one-night stands," sneered Belle, sarcasm on her tongue.

"It wasn't a one-night stand."

Belle froze midway putting her blazer on, intrigued. "What was it, then?"

"I don't know. It meant something, I just don't know what."

"So, what, are we a couple now, or something?" mocked Belle.

Her arms crossed, knees tugged close to her bare chest, all Ruby could do was shrug. She was so confused, unable to comprehend anything that was happening. "We need to talk about this. Maybe if we do, we can figure out if we would work as a couple.

Hesitant, Belle slowly sat back down on the bed. She solemnly looked up at Ruby. Seriousness lay in her eyes. "For the longest time, I've always noticed you. Not in a 'I would' way but in a 'You fascinate me' way." The next words took a while for Belle to bring herself to say. "I don't want to lose you to some crumby one night stand."

Ruby hadn't realized that as Belle had spoken, her breath had been held all the way through. As if Ruby's emotions hadn't already been mixed enough, now she was utterly disorientated by the whole situation. She knew exactly what she wanted to say. "I understand completely" "You're my everything" "I love you" But no words came out. All she could do was stare in complete perplexity, praying that she wouldn't lose the one person who truly mattered to her.

"I think that we need some space for a while." The words hurt to say, but Belle knew they had to be said. It was best, after all. "To figure out just what this is. Is that OK with you?"

To Ruby, nothing was OK right now. Nothing was fine, and nothing ever would be until she and Belle were together again. The last thing she wanted was for them to keep apart. She wanted to be with Belle every second of the day, until the end of time. Her love for this girl was indestructible.

But being apart was what Belle wanted. She had to serve Belle's wants and needs prior her own. "OK," was all Ruby could manage.

Accepting, Belle took the rest of her things, then left the apartment. The second the door was closed, on cue, Ruby felt empty again. The same state she had always been in whenever Belle wasn't there. This time, the gaping feeling could not be mended. So long as Belle was out of her life, Ruby would not be able to be herself again. As cheesy as it sounded, Belle completed her. There was nothing on Earth that could shake the phenomenon of being in love with the Australian bookworm who would forever be on her mind.

Ruby tried her best to hold onto the hope that Belle would come back soon, confess her true feelings, and they'd live happily ever after. There was one problem: Ruby had never been quite an optimist.