Chapter 25: One Day More
It's been four weeks since Delphine asked Cosima to get them a hotel room after prom. Four weeks of their brains thinking of little else except what they'd be doing in that hotel room. They've both committed the tips they got from Sarah and Beth to memory. Each separately dreaming of putting that knowledge to use. The thoughts constantly ruminating in their heads often giving way to steamy make-out sessions initiated by one or the other to relieve some of the built up tension.
As the alarm clock wakes them up on this Friday morning, the anxious excitement is palpable, both unable to forget that tomorrow is prom. Tomorrow is the day they will give each other over fully to the other. But that is tomorrow and today is the day most of their terms papers and assignments are due before finals week. When Cosima glances at the clock, she groans, realizing they only got about 3 hours of sleep, having been up most of the night putting the finishing touches on their papers.
"What's wrong?" Delphine asks.
"We practically just fell asleep and now we have to get up."
"Whose fault was that?"
"We had a lot of schoolwork to complete."
"We were done with all that by 2am. We could have gotten 5 hours of sleep. You chose to spend 2 hours making out."
"That's not a choice, Delphine. Have you seen how you look when you're furiously working on an assignment? The way you were chewing on that pencil? Hot. I was kinda jealous of the pencil, to be honest."
"Are you still jealous of the pencil?"
"No, but I bet the pencil is jealous of me. Am I gonna need a scarf?"
Delphine examines Cosima's neck. "No, it's not too bad, maybe just a little bit of concealer. My teeth are not nearly as sharp as yours. Good thing I'll be wearing a shirt to school today."
"Says you."
Delphine hits her with a pillow. Cosima grabs the pillow from her, tosses it to the side, then leans in and kisses the mark she made at the top corner of Delphine's left breast, just below her armpit. "Better?"
"Much."
"Good, cause there will probably be a lot more where that came from after tomorrow night."
"Is that so?"
"Mmmhmm."
Delphine leans forward, capturing Cosima's lips in a kiss, then bites down.
"Ouch. What was that for?"
"Hey, two can play that game. I plan on giving as well as I get."
Cosima laughs. "I'm gonna hold you to that."
"Mon dieu." Delphine says exasperated after realizing what she said.
"I don't think that's the last we'll hear you say that either," Cosima winks.
Delphine elbows her in the ribs playfully before getting out of bed and getting ready for school. Cosima slowly following her lead.
They walk into Psychology right as the bell rings. Dr. Bowers stands at her desk collecting their term papers as they walk in.
"So, Doc, do I get extra credit for turning in a paper about the Psychology of Lateness on time?" Cosima asks.
"Actually, you automatically get a failing grade for not handing it in late," Dr. Bowers responds. Cosima's mouth hangs open. "I'm kidding, Cosima, but, no, no extra credit for following the rules."
Cosima pouts, while Delphine and Beth laugh at her.
For English, the students had to memorize and perform one scene from any Shakespeare play with a partner. Alison and Donnie perform the scene from Taming of the Shrew where Kate and Petruchio meet. The class gets a good laugh from their performance, especially when Alison delivers the line Asses are made to bear, and so are you.
Cosima and Delphine act out the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet, Cosima as Romeo to Delphine's Juliet. As they declare their love for one another in character, the rest of the class can't help but feel like voyeurs peeking in on an actual conversation between the two, the passion emanating off of them far too real to be just good acting.
"Thank god it's Friday, huh?" Beth winks as Delphine takes her seat beside her in Criminal Law. "You ready for tomorrow night?"
Delphine can't control the huge smile that crosses her face.
"Guess that's my answer."
Meanwhile, as Cosima's students each perform the DNA rap songs they were tasked with writing, she can't keep her own grin from forming as she thinks about the powerful scene she and Delphine performed and how much it echoes her own feelings of love at first sight when she saw Delphine at her door that first night.
At lunch, the gang is all abuzz about prom night. They all plan on meeting at Cosima's at 6 and then riding to the prom in Cal's RV.
"You excited about seeing Cal tomorrow, Sarah?" Cosima asks.
"He's on his way up here now actually, been texting me whenever he stops to eat or refuel the RV. He should be here by the time school lets out this afternoon. But I am excited. I can't believe you've gotten to see him in person more recently than I have. Skype sex isn't the same as real sex."
"Really Sarah, I did not not have to hear that," Felix groans. "It's bad enough I have to hear it through the walls of our bedrooms."
"Shut up," Sarah smacks him on the head.
Conversation then turns to everyone's prom dates. Alison is going with Donnie, Beth with Paul, and Art with Angie.
"Damn, Dipshit, I can't believe you're going with Angie, I thought you two could barely stand each other," Beth says.
"Angie isn't that bad, we just don't always agree on stuff. But hey, don't judge, you're the one going with Dierden. Does he even speak or is everything out of his mouth a grunt?"
"Grunts mostly, but that's cause when we're together, we hardly talk."
"Sounds like a wonderful relationship?" Sarah snorts.
"It's not a relationship, Sarah, it's a mutually beneficial arrangement."
"I'm looking forward to dancing tomorrow," Helena says.
"Who are you going with, Helena?" Alison asks.
"Jesse."
"Who's Jesse?" Alison wonders.
"He's a boy in my auto body class, he's almost as good at fixing engines as I am. Science puppy helped set us up."
Alison gives her a perplexed look. "Science puppy?"
"She means Delphine," Cosima answers with a chuckle.
"I've been tutoring Jesse for his French final. He's seen us at lunch together and asked me about Helena, said he's had crush on her since he saw her repair a carburetor. Whatever that means. I mentioned him to Helena and she lit up like a Christmas tree, seems the feeling was mutual and then she asked him to prom."
"Thank you again, Science Puppy," Helena smiles.
"You're welcome, Helena."
"Well I'm going to prom with Colin," Felix announces.
"Colin, as in Scott's chemistry partner?" Cosima asks.
"I'd say he and I have more chemistry, but yes, that Colin. He's an odd duck that one, but quite cute."
"He asked a sophomore to prom?" Beth says, surprised.
"Hey, Felix Dawkins is not just any sophomore," Felix says, "I am a catch."
"Doesn't he hang out in morgues?" Cosima asks.
"He doesn't hang out in them, it's his part-time job, he wants to be a coroner."
"Creepy," Sarah shivers. "He just better not lay my little brother out on a slab."
"He can lay me out anywhere he wants," Felix grins.
"If he lays you out anywhere, I'm gonna sic Helena on him," Sarah promises.
"I think you're all crazy to be going to prom with dates," Tony says.
"Why's that, Tony?" Alison inquires.
"Do you know how many broken hearts there are liable to be that night? We're in high school, there'll be a lot and I'm gonna be there to pick up the pieces of each and every one of them." They all laugh at his plan. "Laugh now, but let's see who's laughing when Tony's got a date on each arm before the night is over."
After lunch, Cosima, Delphine, Felix and Art head to Photography where they have to present their photo essays. Art's photos of Felix tell the story of an artist at work with various shots of Felix painting. The one with Felix in nothing but an apron, butt cheeks on full display, is a particular favorite of the class.
Felix's photos of Art present a serious guy, intensely focussed on whatever task he is working on whether he's presenting a case in Criminal Law, taking photos for this class, or sending a kid to detention as hall monitor.
Cosima is excited to see Delphine's photos of her as they both refused to show the other their work beforehand. Delphine hangs them up on the wall when it's her time to present and Cosima is taken aback at the chosen shots. Delphine had taken a lot of photos of Cosima, but these shots, these are ones Cosima either wasn't aware were being taken or didn't realize were going to be used for this assignment. The first one, taken when they went bird watching, shows Cosima pointing towards a bird in a tree with one hand while the other hand is shaped like a beak as she was imitating its sound. In the second, Cosima is driving, but her hands aren't on the wheel where they belong, they're gesticulating wildly. The next was taken on the beach, as Cosima was building the sand castle, her hands full of sand, constructing a turret. In the fourth, Cosima is leaning over the camera, goofy grin on her face as her hands are poised to tickle attack Delphine. And the fifth is Cosima sleeping, but as her face reveals she's far away in dreamland, her hands are a blur, waving in the air.
"I talk with my hands in my sleep?" Cosima whispers.
"You do," Delphine says with a smile.
Even in a series of still photos, Cosima's active hands are a striking focal point, showing that her communication with them is just as vital as communicating with her voice.
Cosima is up next with her photos of Delphine. The first is a picture where Delphine is covering most of her face with her hands in the park after Cosima first told her she looked like a puppy. Her right eye, left corner of her lip and hair are really the only parts of her face visible. The next photo is of Delphine biting her lip in that nervous little way that only she does. In the third, Delphine's eyes are looking down, not wanting to make eye contact with the camera. In the fourth, half of Delphine is obscured by darkness while the other half is white and bright. In the final photo, she's sticking her tongue out, presumably at Cosima for wanting to take her picture. Though these seem odd choices for a series of photos representing who someone is, it becomes clear while reviewing them all together that this is the story of a beautiful girl who's unwilling, or maybe unable, to reveal all of herself, who keeps parts of herself hidden from view or does something silly so her true face is not seen.
"Is that how you see me?" Delphine asks later, as they walk to Chemistry.
"No, I actually see you completely the opposite way, but that's because we're together all the time and you're more open with me, at least when I'm not pointing a camera at you. But that's how you present yourself to others, maybe even how you see yourself. I know that a lot of that is because you don't recall your past and you feel that you don't really know who you are, but I do. When I look at you I see a beautiful, funny, compassionate, brilliant, sexy woman. You just have to let go of your insecurities and let the rest of the world see you, really see all of you. Well maybe not the sexy part, we can keep that between us, but the rest…"
Delphine stops walking, the lack of momentum causing Cosima to stop talking and be yanked back by Delphine's hand that is firmly holding her own. "Oh, no, Delphine are you pissed about the photos? Look, I'm sorry if you didn't like them or what I just said but-"
Cosima is silenced by Delphine's lips pressed against hers, her body pushed up against the lockers.
When Delphine finally pulls away so they can continue to class, Cosima looks at up at her with a smirk, "So you're not mad then?"
"I am mad, actually. I'm mad about you," she grins. "I'm also touched by how much you get me, almost like you can see into my soul. And you're right, I have let my anxieties and unease with not knowing who I am prevent me from fully opening up and being comfortable with myself, but your photo essay and what you just said have convinced me that it's time I stop worrying about the past and focus on the now, on who I am today and what I want to do tomorrow and the next day and well into the future. I need to stop letting everything I don't know hold me back. If I want to be an immunologist, then I'll find a way to make it happen."
Cosima smiles as they walk into their classroom and head to their lab table, "That's the spirit. Now, are you ready to present our final project?"
"As ready as I'll ever be."
The teams begin their presentations. Scott and Colin go second and do a nice job on their topic of Forensic Chemistry.
The third team wraps up and Cosima and Delphine step up to the front of the class. The topic they have chosen is Medicinal Chemistry, focussing on drugs that help study and treat diseases such as Alzheimer's, ALS, Parkinson's, stroke, and depression, as well as a section of their paper examining the chemical composition of cannabis and its medicinal applications. Their presentation is a hit with the class, especially when Cosima acts out the positive effects of marijuana. They conclude their lecture to applause from the class and Cosima cheekily takes a bow.
"Very nice job, Ms. Niehaus, Ms. Cormier," Dr. Leekie commends as the girls head back to their table. "I must say, the two of you have proven to be a most excellent team. We may have found our next scientific pairing on par with Watson and Crick."
"Thank you, Dr. Leekie," Cosima says. And for the first time in a long time she doesn't roll her eyes at the man, just sincerely accepts his praise.
"Cosima is an incredible partner," Delphine replies.
"Ditto. Obvs." Cosima grins in her girlfriend's direction.
After school, the gang all meet up in the parking lot to solidify their plans for tomorrow. The reconfirm the 6pm meet-up time at Cosima's house where they'll take pictures and then ride to the hotel where prom is being hosted. Just then, an RV pulls into the parking lot.
"Hey, Manning, looks like your chariot has arrived," Beth points towards the vehicle.
"See ya tomorrow," Sarah shouts as she runs off towards the RV. The door swings open and Cal appears. He waves to the crew as Sarah pushes him back inside with her mouth on his.
"So I guess we'll just talk to Cal tomorrow then," Alison says as they watch the reunion.
"Yeah, when the RV's a rockin', you don't want to go a knockin', unless you'd like a Sarah sockin'," Beth jokes.
They all go their separate ways with Cosima leading Delphine to her car and opening the passenger door for her. "After you, Mademoiselle."
"Thank you, Chérie," Delphine gets in the car and Cosima gently shuts the door before getting in the driver's seat. "Why'd you decide to drive this afternoon?"
"I have plans for us."
"Oh, what sort of plans?"
"You'll see," Cosima starts the car and drives off. 30 minutes later, Cosima parks the car and runs around to let Delphine out. She then takes her hand and leads her a block to an old movie theater.
"Are we going to watch a movie?" Delphine asks.
"Excellent deduction, Sherlock," Cosima teases, causing Delphine to stick her tongue out at her.
"What movie?"
"Oh, you'll see." They walk in and are greeted by an usher who walks them to the concession stand where they are handed popcorn and drinks. Then the usher leads them to their seats.
Delphine glances around, "Um, Cosima, why are we the only ones here?"
"It's a private screening."
"Private?"
"Yeah, I rented out the theater for us."
"Cosima, that must have cost you a lot of money."
"Nah, not really, the owner is a friend of my folks, gave me a good deal. Besides, you're worth it."
Delphine gives Cosima a kiss as the lights go dark and the movie begins. The movie opens on a girls' high school volleyball game during gym class. When the title card comes up, Delphine turns to Cosima, "Carrie?"
"Yeah, it's the original 1976 version. A real classic. Heads up, though, it's a bit scary."
"I'm sure I can handle it."
Nearly an hour and twenty minutes later, Delphine clutches Cosima's hand tightly as the bucket of blood pours over Carrie. And when Carrie's hand shoots out of her grave at the conclusion of the movie, Delphine screams and buries her face in Cosima's neck causing Cosima to laugh as the credits roll.
"You're laughing? That wasn't a funny movie, Cosima."
"I'm not laughing at the movie, I'm laughing at Ms. 'I can handle it.' I think I lost feeling in my hand from you squeezing it."
Delphine lets go of her hand and gives her shoulder a little push.
"What did you think? I chose it cause of the whole prom motif."
"That was a good movie, but extremely horrifying. Please promise me our prom will be nothing like that one."
"I sure hope not," Cosima giggles. "That would really suck the fun out of the night. You know, getting burnt to death and all."
"Yeah, it really would." Delphine agrees.
"Are you ready for the next stop on our date this evening?" Cosima says as she rises and extends her hand to Delphine.
"Ooh, there's more?" Delphine says as she accepts the hand and stands up.
"There is," Cosima answers as they exit the theater, thanking the usher on the way out.
They walk a few blocks, stopping in front of a French bistro. Cosima opens the door, "Après vous."
"Merci," Delphine steps into the quaint little restaurant, the sound of French music emanating throughout. They are greeted by the Maitre d'. "Niehaus," Cosima says.
"Ah, yes, right this way." He leads them to table for two, lit by candlelight.
"This is lovely, Cosima," Delphine remarks as they sit, looking around at the artwork adorning the walls. "So what prompted this whole evening tonight?"
"Can't I take my girl out on a fancy date?"
"You can, but your girl is just as happy sitting with you on the couch watching movies and eating take-out."
"I know, but I just wanted to do something special before tomorrow night. I know prom will be awesome and all, but I kinda wanted to have a nice night out for just the two of us."
"You're so sweet, Cosima." Delphine kisses her hand as the waiter comes to take their order. They quickly peruse the menu.
"I'll have the Boeuf Bourguignon," Cosima orders in her best Julia Child impersonation. "I've always wanted to say that."
"And I will have the Duck Confit," Delphine requests. "So was Carrie alive at the end or was that really just a dream?"
"People have interpreted it both ways, but I think she was dead and it was Sue's guilt, for her part in the bullying that led to the prom night massacre, haunting her."
"Yeah, that makes the most sense," Delphine agrees. "I felt bad for Carrie, the way they all treated her, you almost can't blame her for snapping like that."
"I bet if you went to that school, you'd have protected Carrie from those bullies."
"You would have, too, Cosima."
"I guess we're both a bit overprotective of our friends or anyone being treated unfairly. Except I pull pranks, like with the electric eel, and you nail people with balls."
"So are you saying you're the brains and I'm the brawn?"
"Pretty much. Although your brain is pretty powerful. I definitely don't have the brawn."
"I don't know, I've seen your arms, Cosima, they're quite toned."
"Have you been checking out my guns?"
"Your guns?"
"My muscles," Cosima clarifies with a chuckle.
"Oh, oui, I have."
Cosima blushes as their food is served.
Delphine takes a bite of her dinner, "Mmmm, c'est delicieux."
"Mine's damn good, too," Cosima says as she chows down. "Too bad we can't order wine. You know, you really should have asked Ramon for a fake ID making you 21, not 17."
"I didn't think that far ahead in my criminal activity."
"Stick with me, kid, I'll make a bad girl out of you, yet."
Delphine starts laughing, "Ah, yes, you're a regular pot smoking, bio-energy farm wrecking rebel. How are you not behind bars by now?"
"I've got an excellent lawyer for a girlfriend, she gets me outta tight jams."
"One criminal law class and I'm a lawyer, huh?"
"You're the best I've got and I have you on speed dial."
"For you, I'd do my best to keep you out of the slammer."
"I appreciate that."
They finish eating, Cosima pays the bill, and they walk back to the car. When Cosima holds open the passenger door, Delphine objects, "No, you get in on this side. It's my turn to drive." She plucks the keys out of Cosima's hand. Cosima gets in and Delphine heads around to the driver's side.
Delphine drives them past the street they always take to get home. "Uh, Delphine, you missed the turn back there."
"No I didn't, we're not going home yet." Delphine drives a little further before pulling into a parking lot. "We can't go home until we've had some ice cream," she says, gesturing towards the ice cream parlor in front of them.
Cosima smiles, "You sure do know the way to my heart."
They get out of the car and head into the shop. Delphine orders a giant sundae with two spoons. They sit down and dig in. At a certain point, Delphine stops feeding herself and turns her spoon on Cosima, making airplane sounds as she brings the spoon to Cosima's lips. Cosima opens her mouth and takes the ice cream off the spoon.
"You know, I think the airplane noise is for feeding kids, not trying to serve someone all sexy like."
"Who said I was trying to be sexy?"
"Oh, well in that case," Cosima digs her spoon into the sundae, getting a huge chunk of ice cream covered in chocolate sauce and whipped cream on it. She makes exaggerated airplane noises as she weaves the spoon through the air, finally landing at Delphine's lips, where it is happily accepted.
They play the airplane delivery game for a while til there's nothing left in the bowl except for some whipped cream and a cherry. Cosima scoops up the whipped cream onto her spoon and guides it towards Delphine's waiting mouth, however, instead of the intended target, she turns the spoon over and plops the whipped cream on her nose.
"Oops, looks like you got some whipped cream on your nose, let me get that for you." Cosima leans forward with a napkin in hand, she goes to wipe it off, but at the last second takes Delphine's nose into her mouth, sucking off the whipped cream, then cleaning the remains with her tongue.
Delphine laughs.
"Oh, you think it's funny, but it's snot."
"Cosima!" Delphine swats her arm.
"Sorry, sorry, no snot." She points towards the bowl, "You want the cherry?"
"No, you take it," Delphine picks it up by the stem and dangles it over Cosima's mouth until her lips part and she pops it off the stem and into her mouth.
"Mmmm. So ice cream was the perfect capper to tonight, thanks."
"Thank you for such a lovely date."
"It was my pleasure."
"Ready for me to take you home?"
"I don't know, Delphine, don't you think that's moving too fast?"
Delphine rolls her eyes, grabs her by the hand and pulls Cosima up. They head to the car and Delphine insists on driving them home. They pull into the driveway and neither moves to get out. They look at one another, both lost in thought.
Cosima finally speaks up, "If we both kinda took the other out tonight, who opens the door?"
"Well, I drove you home and the last part of the date was my treat, so I'll do the honors." Delphine gets out of the car, goes around and lets Cosima out. They walk arm in arm into the house, then proceed up to the bedroom.
Cosima is ready for bed first and sprawls out as Delphine finishes up in the bathroom.
When Delphine returns to the room, she finds Cosima humming. She turns off the lights and gets into bed next to her. "Are you humming One Day More?"
"Hmmm? Oh shit, I didn't realize I was audible, just got the song stuck in my head."
"What prompted that?"
"Nothing," Cosima says looking away.
"Cosima," Delphine pulls her face so she's looking at her again, "tell me."
"I was just laying here thinking about something I wanted to do and then I realized I'll be able to do it tomorrow night and that song came into my head."
"Something you wanted to do?"
"Well, I guess not so much a something as a someone," Cosima says as she diverts her eyes.
"Oh." Delphine's own eyes go wide as realization sinks in, "Oh."
"I'm sorry, that was inappropriate."
"Cosima, look at me," Cosima rolls onto her side so she's facing Delphine. "I'm fairly certain I've been having similar inappropriate thoughts."
"Yeah?"
Delphine nods and Cosima leans in to kiss her. Delphine reaches her arm around Cosima to pull her closer.
"Delphine," Cosima says after she's been moved inwards, "did you just grab my ass?"
"I did."
"Ok, just checking," Cosima smiles as she resumes kissing Delphine, her heart swelling.