A/N: Good news: I have figured out where I'm taking this fic. It will be awhile before the end comes, and I'm thinking there's going to be a stretch of chapters that will function, more or less, as individual episodes (or these 'episodes' may take a couple chaps each, who knows…we'll see when we get there). In any case, it's going to be a longer fic than I intended, so I hope I can maintain your interests long enough to make it there. (I'm not planning a 100+ chapter epic or anything, just to clarify… I don't know how long it'll be… like I said, we will see). But I have it outlined now (rather vague outlines though—the full summary of this very chapter is "Let's talk about sex, baby")… so anyway, I've set my course. Anyway, this is a little short, but hey, sometimes it be that way…

Chapter Fourteen

In spite of herself, Tawny had one thing on her mind: sex.

She sat up in her bed, in the dark of her room, anxiously awaiting Ren's late-night arrival. As she turned her thoughts over and over in her brain, trying to figure out why Ren wanted to come over tonight, out of the blue, and the only thing she could think of was that maybe Ren was finally ready for some action. Anything else could've waited until the next day…right?

Her parents went to bed at 11, Ren knew that. She'd stayed over late enough to know. But she never did anything like this… sneaking in through the window after the parents had gone down for the night. It was quite un-Ren, as far as Tawny could see.

12:01. Ren had yet to show up. Tawny had figured in 11:30 or so, considering that it was a school night and this was Ren, even if she was stretching the mold a little bit it seemed unlikely she'd want to stay out too late.

By the time the clock struck 1:30, Tawny had laid down, angry with Ren for getting her hopes up and then not even calling. By 2 she was asleep.

It was around 3 when Ren slid the window up and crawled into Tawny's dark room, making her way slowly over to the bed she knelt down beside it, folding her arms against the mattress and resting her chin in them. The moonlight shone through the opened window, illuminating Tawny's sleeping figure.

"Hey, beautiful," Ren whispered, well aware that Tawny couldn't hear through the barrier of sleep.

Several moments passed, Ren just silently watching Tawny sleep—watching her breast move gently up and down with each breath, watching every little movement, studying every line that formed her perfect features.

Tawny's eyes opened slowly, revealing a dark figure less than a foot from her face. Without thought of hesitation she screamed, shoving herself backwards, away from the intruder, causing herself to fall off her bed.

"It's just me!" Ren whispered hoarsely, jumping up and gesturing for Tawny to lower her voice.

"Oh my God," Tawny gasped, holding her hand over her heart. "You scared the--"

Suddenly a light went on in the hall and footsteps came thundering toward the room.

The door swung open, Ren dropping out of sight behind the bed just in time.

"Is everything ok?" Tawny's father, Dr. Dean, asked, his face and voice full of worry.

"Ye-yeah… I, it was just a bad dream," Tawny managed.

He nodded, relieved. "Why is your window open?" He began to move towards it, to shut it.

"No, it's too hot… leave it open."

"Hot? It's November, Tawny," he stated.

"I know, but… I'm…hot."

"Alright," he shrugged. "Goodnight, sweetheart."

He retreated from the room, closing the door behind him. A few seconds later they heard a click and saw from the cracks around the door that the hall light was off. The moment finished with the sound of Dr. Dean shutting his bedroom door.

Tawny turned to Ren. "My God, you creep, what the hell was that?"

"I told you I was coming over tonight," Ren said, smiling as she took a seat beside Tawny on the bed.

"You were just sitting there!"

"I was watching you," Ren corrected.

"Oh, ok, well that doesn't sound creepy," Tawny replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Oh, honey, shut up," Ren said, leaning over and planting a kiss on Tawny's soft lips.

"It's 3 in the morning," Tawny said when Ren pulled away. "I figured you'd blown me off."

"I'd never do that," Ren said, tilting her head to the side, offended Tawny would think such a thing.

Tawny smiled and leaned over, kissing Ren again, this time a little harder. "So, what'd you want to come over for?"

"I just…" Ren hesitated, she could tell by Tawny's voice where her thoughts were. "I wanted to see you."

"In the dark?"

"Well, you know… I wanted to talk, hang out… I haven't had a chance to spend any time with you these past couple of days."

"Oh," Tawny failed to hide the disappointment in her voice.

"I know what you thought," Ren said, a little hurt by Tawny's disappointment.

"No, it's…" Tawny, not wanting to seem so base tried to cover. "It's 3 in the morning. It's an unusual time to just hang out, especially for you."

"Should I go?" Ren asked, not really sure if she wanted to be there anymore anyway.

"No, no," Tawny answered. "Stay, I'm sorry. I don't mean to…"

"I don't even know what to do, Tawny," Ren confessed, cutting her off. "And even if I did… I don't know if. I mean, I know you don't really hesitate in this department but I…"

"No, Ren, it's completely ok," Tawny reassured. "I just… I mean, yeah, that's kind of what I thought you wanted, coming over like this. And, don't get me wrong, I'd love it if that were the case, but I can wait. It's not a problem. I understand. I don't want you doing anything just because you think it's what I want you to do."

Ren nodded, though she stared down at her hands: she wasn't sure if she believed her fast girlfriend entirely. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry? You don't have anything to be sorry about, Ren," Tawny said, trying her best to sound convincing since she sensed that Ren didn't fully by her assertion. "And as far as 'not knowing what to do'… no one does at first. You just mess around. See what works."

"How do you know what works?"

"I... you'll know. Trust me," Tawny said with a smile. "Relax, baby, I'm sure you'll do fine."

Ren sighed. "Whatever you say."

After a few moments of silence, Tawny spoke. "So, you really just wanted to hang out? Nothing in particular you wanted to talk about?"

"Initially, yes. I just wanted to spend some time with you. When I realized what you'd be thinking I anticipated this conversation."

"Right, well," Tawny brushed a lock of hair out of Ren's face. "You going to stay the whole night?"

"It's a school night," Ren replied.

"Exactly," Tawny nodded. "You walked here, right? Well, it's too late for you to walk back—it wasn't safe for you to walk in the first place—and I'm closer to the school anyway. You've told me that half the time you're up and out of the house before either of your parents and I know you're out before Louis gets up. So no one will know."

Ren smiled, unable to refuse Tawny's invitation. She took off her shoes, socks, and jacket and climbed into bed with Tawny, wrapping an arm around her perfect body, resting her hand on the small of her back. Tawny moved as close to Ren as she could manage, giving her a light kiss on the cheek before she rested her head on the pillow and closed her eyes again. Ren leaned her head to the side so that her chin rested gently against Tawny's forehead. She kissed her lightly. "Goodnight, beautiful."