Tilly ran as fast as she could. Catching up with Chris before he disappeared out of sight. She tried her utmost to talk him round but he was adamant. Tilly hung her head and started back slowly, in the direction of the pub. When she got there Maddie was feeling just as angry, just as stubborn. She wouldn't discuss it. Tilly's world was unraveling. She was beside herself, at a loss how to move forwards.

Meanwhile, Jen walked back along the beach. Her mind was buzzing, working overtime. She felt distraught that she might miss seeing Tilly tonight. It had made her suddenly think beyond the end of the holiday. She had been avoiding thinking about their future, just enjoying being with Tilly, being in the moment, always knowing they had tonight as a last night before reality came crashing down around them when they went back home. But now, not being able to see Tilly as planned had brought forward all of those feelings she was trying not to think about. She wasn't sure how she would deal with ending it all. Last time, after the polaroid discovery, their relationship had ended before it had really begun, but now they had spent this amazing week together, where they had got on really well, made each other laugh, been intimate with each other, had incredible fun in bed, bared their souls, shared their innermost thoughts. They had made a really strong connection. Jen just had to look at Tilly and her mind would wander off into pleasant daydreams. But they wouldn't get a chance to realise any of it.

Jen felt desperate. She knew they had to end but the thought made her feel physically ill. She wondered if it had been a bad idea in the first place, acting on their attraction this week. Should they not have done so? It would have meant they didn't have to deal with the heartbreak now, the separation would have been so much easier. But she knew the answer. She wouldn't have changed this week with Tilly for anything. As she got closer to the bus she stopped, and turned to look towards the sea. 'Fuck it!' she thought and ran straight in, peeling her clothes off as she went. Hoping the cool water might help her feel better.

Tilly took herself off to the toilets to collect her thoughts. She stood there, looking in the mirror, the time ticking past. It felt like it was speeding up, spiraling out of control. She had to think fast, she needed to come up with an alternative solution. Maddie and Chris were hopeless. Her mind raced until eventually she thought of a Plan C. It was tenuous at best. Definitely risky. She could go home now, saying she was ill, and grab an hour or so with Jen before the others arrived home. It was dodgy, she could get discovered out in the bus with Jen, but Tilly had had enough. It was time to take back control of her own life, and get what she wanted for a change.

She found Maddie at the bar.
"Hey Mads, look, I'm feeling really rough, I think I'm gonna head home"
"What's wrong mate?"
"Just haven't been able to shake the headache I've had all day. Drink is making it worse. I think I just need to sleep."
"Good idea, Tills!"
"Thanks hun" Tilly said, "I'll see you at home?"
"Nah, I'll come with you, I'm not having much fun tonight"
"No, no, you stay here." This was not what Tilly wanted at all.
"No way, taking you home is the least I can do. Besides I want to come with you." Maddie said smiling, as she reached for her jumper.

'Shit!' Tilly thought, 'Give me a break!' She protested further but it was no good. Maddie was coming too.

As they were walking home Tilly's mind was working hard. That wasn't exactly how she had wanted it to go, but as she thought about it she smiled to herself, perhaps Maddie would have an early night. That way once Maddie was asleep she could leave for the bus, then get back first thing in the morning before she woke. That could work. 'Hmmm...' she thought 'What plan am I up to now? Was this Plan D?' She had lost count. This latest idea was just as risky as the last one, maybe more so. During the night Maddie could always come looking for her in the bus. She could say she had left to escape her snoring, but Maddie would have to not find her in a compromising position with Jen. It was not ideal, but it was the best option open to her right now.

Jen arrived back at the bus. She was cold and wet from her swim. The bus was in darkness and the evening was turning chilly. Summer was nearly over and she could feel it tonight. It felt cold being there without Tilly. Jen felt even worse when she turned the light on and saw the half drunk bottle of wine and all her french food she had carefully prepared, remembering how excited she had been with her idea of a first date. Tilly's jumper was thrown haphazardly over the chair, her shoes were still by the door, her handwritten note was on the table. Everywhere she looked there was Tilly, just no actual Tilly. She picked up her sketchbook, and saw the studies she had done of her, and let out a sigh. She looked at the bed - it seemed so big and lonely, and far too large just for her. She felt really low, and realised how desperate she was for Tilly to fix everything so that she could come to her that night. The situation felt out of her control, and she didn't like it.

When Tilly and Maddie returned to the house, Tilly immediately looked outside to the bus. The light was still on. She was pleased. There was still time if she was quick. She stretched and yawned
"I'm going to turn in now." She said casually
"Ok hun, sleep tight" Maddie replied, over her shoulder, walking into the kitchen to grab a bottle of wine.
"Are you not coming?"
"Not just yet, gonna stay up for a bit longer I think"
Tilly was losing patience "How much longer do you think?"
"Does it matter?"
"Oh!" Tilly stumbled, trying to sound relaxed "Just that I don't want you to wake me when you get in"
"I won't I promise, off you go, feel better soon!" Maddie said with a smile, turning the TV on and settling down in front of it, pouring herself a glass of wine.

'ARGH!' Tilly thought, wanting to scream at the top of her lungs! She left the lounge feeling puzzled, and wandered upstairs. She sat down on Maddie's bed, her brain working overtime. How was she going to sort this out? The only thing she wanted to do was spend the last few hours with Jen before it was all over again for God knows how long, maybe forever. A year was a long time to expect Jen to wait for her. She was gutted it had to end tomorrow. She hoped Jen would change her mind and that they would continue in secret, but deep down she knew that wasn't going to happen. And she also knew it wasn't fair to ask Jen to do that, no matter how much they both wanted to. Jen had everything to lose if they were found out, and Tilly did understand. She wasn't always good at acting like it, and she didn't agree with the stupid laws that dictated it, but she understood that they had to operate within those laws, as much as they could, for the sake of Jen's future. She was prepared for it all to be over tomorrow.

Which was why tonight was so incredibly important.

Out in the bus, Jen looked at her watch again. It was past 1am. She sighed to herself, Tilly was not coming. She was not going to wait up all night for her. She felt bereft. Obviously Tilly hadn't been able to work something out. Jen was surprised at just how upset she was, she actually felt like she could cry, and small tears formed in her eyes. 'Well. I guess that's it then!' she thought to herself, before taking her clothes off and sitting down on the bed, her shoulders hunched, a frown on her face. She just felt so incredibly disappointed. She closed her eyes and swallowed hard. The thought of a whole school year without being able to be with Tilly was hard to bear. She grabbed some paper and wrote a note for Tilly, just on the off-chance some kind of miracle happened and she was able to come to the bus. She left it on the floor just inside the door. It simply said

WAKE ME!

Then she turned off the light and settled down under the covers, her heart heavy.

Up in Maddie's bedroom, Tilly looked out of her window to see the light flick off. 'Shit!' she thought to herself and crept downstairs again to check on Maddie. She was still sat in the lounge, changing channels on the TV, in no hurry to leave, drinking more and more wine.

Tilly had to get her to come to bed somehow.

She walked into the lounge and stood next to her, looking at her disapprovingly.
"I thought you weren't gonna drink too much tonight, Maddie?" she said.
"Chill out, buddy! I thought you were going to bed" Maddie replied aggressively. She was obviously still in a bad mood over Chris.
Tilly's eyes narrowed, she was feeling really irritated now. Not only was Maddie unwittingly preventing her from seeing Jen, but as far as Maddie knew, she had promised Tilly she was not going to drink much, so that she wouldn't snore and keep her awake all night. Yet here she was breaking her promise, doing what she wanted, being selfish again. Tilly wasn't really worried about Maddie snoring, in fact she wanted her to, it would make her story more credible, but by drinking the way she was, she was just displaying how self centered she was, how she didn't really care about anyone else, Tilly included. Tilly was starting to feel like a doormat, added to which, Maddie's rediculous behaviour and attitude towards Chris was preventing her from being with Jen. Tilly's eyes were burning a hole in the back of Maddie's head.

She turned around to Tilly "Off you go Hun, I'm gonna wait up for the others. Feel better soon." and she gave her a smile.

Tilly felt like she was going to explode, but what could she do? She walked out of the room, irritated beyond belief. But she knew she couldn't have a go at Maddie, or she may not come to bed. Tilly started walking up the stairs, then stopped, thinking hard. 'Plan D will only work if Maddie comes to bed. What if she falls asleep in the lounge? What possible excuse could I come up with then?' Tilly's brain hurt. It had all in all been a nightmare of an evening from start to finish. She tried to think of Plan E, wondering if there even was one. She thought of Jen, lying in bed, sleeping without her. She put her fingers to her lips, remembering their incredible kiss from earlier that evening. Maybe it really was the last one, a kiss goodbye. As Tilly stood there on the stairs, wondering what she could do, there was a knock at the door. Tilly opened it to find Chris standing there!

This was Tilly's last chance. She instinctively reached out to him and hugged him. He took a step back, surprised. Tilly apologised
"long night..." she said by way of explanation, then brought him into the lounge.
Maddie was immediately defensive "What the hell is he doing here?"
"Can you give us a minute, Chris?" Tilly asked politely, smiling at him, covering for her friend. He went outside onto the deck, at which point Tilly pulled Maddie aside and laid it all out for her. She spoke quietly but firmly, calmly putting her in her place. She didn't normally talk to Maddie like that, but she had snapped. She had enough, it had been the most frustrating day, and her happiness was at stake.

"Look Mads, I'm going to be honest with you here. Your pride is your biggest enemy. Chris really likes you, otherwise he wouldn't be here. Don't cut off your nose to spite your face. Just enjoy the fact that you can be together at all. Plenty of people can't. You've had a wonderful holiday with him. I've never seen you this happy. Now stop behaving like an idiot and give the guy a break!"

Maddie looked at her surprised, saying nothing
"I mean it Maddie, your attitude sucks. Pull your neck in, act like a grown up, and let yourself be happy."

They were harsh words, but this was Tilly's last chance. She had pulled out all the stops, it was close to 2am now.

Not waiting for a reply from Maddie, Tilly let Chris back in, and retreated to the kitchen, hoping desperately that she had done enough. She sat quietly, looking out at the dark windows of the bus. She could hear raised voices from the lounge, then it all went quiet. She gave it another 5 minutes, then went back to the doorway to check on them. They were stood in the middle of the room, wrapped around each other, kissing. Tilly turned away from them and gave a silent fist pump in the air, mouthing 'YES!' in triumph. Maddie saw her reflection in the window.
"What are you doing Tills!?"
'Shit!' thought Tilly. "There was a moth!" she explained, then repeated a similar action, swatting the air around her. "Urgh!" she cried, pretending to try to avoid it. She stopped and looked at them. "Are you two ok?"
Maddie smiled back, giving her the answer.

"I'll go back in the bus tonight then..." Tilly whispered.
"Thanks Tills!" Maddie replied, her face beaming. Chris turned to her and smiled. So she left them standing there, not remotely worried about the details of their reconciliation. As she went into the corridor she heard the others coming back up the drive. She ducked out the back door quickly before they could catch her. She didn't want to talk to them, she had her own life to concerntrate on now...

Tilly launched herself through the door of the bus. It was dark. She knew it was really late. But better late than never she thought, and it seemed so very true that night. She closed the door behind her and leaned on it, breathing a heavy sigh. This felt like coming home. The bus was a sanctuary, away from all the bullshit of her friends, the rest of the world. She saw Jen's note saying to wake her and she smiled. She had finally made it. She looked over to the bed and saw Jen in the light of the moon through the skylight, her eyes adjusting to the dark room. What a day! What a nightmare! Once she saw Jen none of that mattered anymore, it was all worth it.

Jen was half under the covers, lying on her back, her foot and leg sticking out. Tilly smiled, finally feeling happy. She walked over to the foot of the bed and leaned down, placing a very gentle kiss on the top of Jen's foot, then slowly moved her kisses up her leg. She tasted salty, and Tilly smiled, Jen must have gone for a swim on her way home. Jen stirred but didn't wake, so Tilly climbed onto the bed, hovering over her, her kisses continuing. Tilly's eyes were closed, savouring every moment, it felt wonderful. She had been so close to not being able to do this at all, she was relishing every kiss, every touch.

Tilly pulled the cover back, as her kisses continued, leading up Jen's inner thigh, crossing over to the opposite side, grazing the front of her underwear with the tip of her fingers as she did so. Jen moaned sleepily, shifting her position slightly, so Tilly looked up and moved her own body up so it was suspended over Jen, close to her face to look at her. Tilly thought she looked really beautiful, sleeping peacefully in the moonlight. There were times during the evening that Tilly thought she would never make it back to the bus, and she felt incredibly lucky - she nearly didn't get to do this! It brought it home what they would have to give up tomorrow. She knew she had to make tonight count, and there was no time for sleeping.

Tilly dropped back down the bed and she continued kissing down Jen's stomach, before eventually settling at the foot of the bed, lying between her legs, kissing down to her inner thighs again. Jen let out another sleepy moan but was clueless as to what was really happening. She was so utterly exhausted from their week together she had dropped straight into a deep sleep. Tilly's kisses were now pulling her back into a lighter dream-like sleep. The negative head-space she had taken to bed had manifested itself as a stressful dream. Feelings of sadness, sorrow, regrets and goodbyes had given her a dream about deadlines and marking papers, but it was now fast becoming much more enjoyable. Visions of random artwork were morphing into people and faces, until they eventually turned into a blurred female form. As the haze lifted she could see it was Tilly, she was covering her in kisses, Jen sighed in her sleep, her dream muddled with reality.

Tilly gently pulled Jen's underwear down and then off. Jen mumbled something incoherent in response but still didn't wake fully, so Tilly dropped her kisses lower, pulling Jen's knees up either side of her face, as she settled down between them, aiming to wake Jen up the most pleasurable way she could think of. She gently lowered her lips down to her, and she heard Jen moan sleepily again, responding to Tilly delivering her the most intimate of kisses. As she continued, oblivious to the rest of the world, Tilly felt Jen move beneath her, pushing herself forwards, welcoming her. Jen's eyes were still closed, her dream taking on a life of its own, mirroring Tilly's real life movements in the most delicious way. Her subconscious was hard at work, magnifying each touch, increasing her body's response to it beyond what it would be if she was awake. All the while Tilly was completely occupied, lost in Jen, her only thought on making her feel good, moving her tongue over and around her, again and again, feeling how warm she was, how amazing she felt. After everything she had been through tonight, Tilly couldn't be happier than right now, wrapped up in Jen, reconnecting with her, breathing her, tasting her.

Jen stirred, the sensation was becoming too intense, she was inching closer to waking with every movement Tilly made. Tilly continued, completely focused on bringing Jen to the utmost peak of pleasure. She could tell she was incredibly close to it, only moments away, so she slowed down a little to let Jen savour it.

Jen involuntarily arched her body towards her, then her eyes snapped open, confused. She had been pulled from her sleep by the incredible feeling of it all, gasping for air. But to her surprise, somehow the dream carried on. In her half-sleep she was unsure of what was real and what wasn't. She felt a weight on her hips and she pulled herself together enough to run her hands down until they met Tilly's, her arms wrapped around under her thighs, hands resting on Jen's hip bones.
"Holy shit!" she cried breathlessly, in shock, as she caught sight of Tilly in the moonlight, finally realising what was happening. She wasn't dreaming! She instinctively grabbed onto Tilly's hands tightly to steady herself, as the realisation took her the final distance and she felt a wave of pleasure suddenly pass through her. Her body arched again as she was enveloped by it, shuddering in ecstasy, her eyes closing once more. Unable to talk, unable to move, she lay there for a moment, clinging on to Tilly, pulsating slightly, letting the waves wash over her and then subside again. Eventually she caught her breath, then pulled Tilly's face up to meet her own.

"Wha...?" She breathed in disbelief, looking into Tilly's eyes, lost for words.

Tilly smiled "Sorry I'm late..."