Jackie opened her eyes as her lips slowly parted Catherine's. Just outside her field of vision, just past Catherine's cheek, she spotted a figure standing across the road. The figure was still, illuminated only by the glow of the street light, and panic began to consume her as she realized someone had seen them kiss. As her eye sight began to focus on the blurred image, sudden familiarization sparked within her brain, "Hannah" she spoke softly, the panic growing as Hannah began to walk backwards when she realized Jackie had spotted her. "Hannah!" She called out.

Her outburst sent Hannah running down the sidewalk in the opposite direction, the way a timid animal would after surprising it. She followed after her, leaving Catherine at her car.

"Hannah! Wait!" She called out before Hannah disappeared around the corner. By the time Jackie turned it, she was in her car clumsily sticking her key into the ignition.

"Hannah, stop!" Jackie pleaded once she reached the car. She banged on the window, "Please Hannah, just let me explain," she said exasperatedly, but Hannah drove off, not even giving her as much as a glance.

Jackie ran back around the corner and up to her apartment to get her car keys. When she was coming back down, Catherine met her on the stairs, her eyes wide and frantic. "What's going on?!"

"She saw us. She wouldn't talk to me and drove off, I've got to go find her," Jackie shouted as she barrelled down the stairs past her.

When she pulled out she saw Catherine standing outside of her apartment on the street, stunned. She felt bad for taking off and leaving her alone knowing she was just as frazzled as she was, but she was trying to save them both.

When she got to Hannah's apartment she took the stairs two at a time. "Hannah!" She called out as she knocked, but there was no answer. She cupped her hands against the window and peeked inside, there was nothing but darkness, she either wasn't home or was hiding out. Looking around, she didn't see her car on the street. Knowing it was a long shot, she dialed her but there was no answer, there were however, multiple messages from Catherine wanting an update.

"At her place but she's not here. I'm going to go look for her, I'll call you when I'm done." Jackie typed, as she headed back to her car. She decided to check out the bar and a few other places she thought Hannah might be. Once at the bar, she lapped it twice, even checking the bathroom before heading back to the parking lot. Her phone rang and it almost slipped from her fingers as she fumbled with it at the hopefulness that it was her, but it was Catherine. She didn't answer, instead she let it ring then called some of her and Hannah's mutual friends asking if they had seen her.

"No, why? Is something wrong?"

"No, no. Just can't get a hold of her, it's nothing serious."

Deciding it was best to just go back to Hannah's apartment and wait, she drove back over and once again knocked, still no sign of her. Jackie took a seat on the steps, she would have to come home eventually. Catherine hadn't stopped blowing up her phone since ignoring her call, so found this best as time as any to call her back.

"Hey," Jackie said exhausted, her hand pinching her forehead.

"What's going on?" Catherine asked irritably, she could picture her frantically pacing.

"Still no luck."

"Where are you?"

"Back at her apartment, I've looked everywhere."

"Jackie, would she tell anyone?"

"No, no." Jackie insisted, hoping to offer Catherine some sort of relief, "She's an actress, she understands it's just-"

"It's just what?"

Jackie didn't want to say why Hannah was more affected by seeing them kiss than an average person, and wished she could go back and prevent those last two words from slipping from her mouth. A figure emerged in front of her as she stumbled to find the right thing to tell Catherine, and once it drew nearer she saw it was Hannah.

"I gotta go," was all she whispered into the phone as she dropped it from her ear and got to her feet. Hannah timidly walked towards her.

"Please let me explain what you saw."

"Explain what? I saw it clear as day," Hannah replied, her arms were crossed against her chest and she wouldn't look directly at Jackie, just off to the side.

"What you saw, it's not what you think."

"So I didn't see you locking lips with Professor Stark?" She said callously. A young man came from behind her, causing her to step off the walk so he could pass by them. He nodded at them both awkwardly as he past.

"Can you please keep your voice down," Jackie said through her teeth once the man was inside.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't aware you wanted to be discrete considering I just saw you making out with our college Professor in the middle of the street."

"We weren't making out."

A scoff of laughter slipped from Hannah's mouth as she shook her head in disbelief. "But you're sleeping with her, aren't you."

Jackie nodded shyly.

"Are you insane?!"

"Just let me explain..."

Hannah took a deep breath in and exhaled so heavily, her arms dropped from her chest as she rolled her eyes and sat on the step Jackie had risen from.

Jackie took a seat next to her, not wanting to be caught off guard by any more surprise guests. Nervously twirling her thumbs, she finally squeezed her eyes shut and let the words flow freely from her lips.

"Hannah, I'm in love with her."

"You're in love with her?" Her voice was patronizing, which was to be expected.

Jackie responded with a half smile and a gentle nod.

"Do you have any idea what you're doing? Jacks... she's your professor. The amount of trouble she could get in, and if the media gets a hold of this..."

"Trust me, I know. There's so many reasons why I shouldn't... but I can't help it."

"Does she feel the same?" Hannah was now looking directly into her eyes and Jackie knew the truth was going to hurt her, that yes, they were in love.

"She does," she replied with a small smile, trying to be empathetic to her feelings.

"Why didn't you just tell me that then? I thought we were friends."

"We are, but not one person in my life knows about this, they can't. Do you know how hard that is?"

"Yes, I do. Or don't you remember us in this exact same situation?"

"I know, I'm sorry. It's just, last time it got out and she ended up losing her job, and I can't bare to see that happen to her again."

"Last time? How long has this been going on?"

"Basically since the moment we met back in Bloomington."

"Shit..." Hannah exhaled, staring forward in a daze.

"You...you didn't tell anyone did you?" Jackie asked bashfully.

"No, of course not," she snapped. "How could you even think that?"

"I know, I'm sorry, I knew you wouldn't."

They sat in silence, letting this new shared secret between them sink in. Jackie glanced at her from the corner of her eye and watched as she was trying to wrap her mind around it all. It felt kind of nice finally being able to talk to someone about Catherine.

"Why did you kiss me then?"

Jackie went through the entire year, how Catherine and her went from hardly speaking, to Catherine refusing to let their relationship go anything deeper than the physicality of it, to where they were now.

"I feel so naive for not catching on to any of this..."

"Honestly? I'm relieved you didn't. It means were doing a damn good job then."

"How can you live like this? If you really love her, isn't it hard not to be able to express yourselves? The constant sneaking around and lying, that's not healthy and sure as hell not a way to live."

"I know, trust me. It's why we broke things off the first time around, but she's here now, and I can't imagine life without her or at least giving it a real shot." As Jackie spoke she saw the hurt begin to engulf Hannah's face. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be saying this to you..."

"No, it's fine. I'm actually a little relieved it's because you're in love," she smirked. "I just hope you don't end up getting hurt and I hope you realize you probably will..."

Jackie drove straight to Catherine's afterward and wasn't looking forward to having to fill her in on everything that happened, she was exhausted. She had barely put her hand on the door knob when Catherine opened it. She knew she must have been looking out for her the moment she let her know she was on her way.

"Everything's fine." Jackie assured her when she saw her worried face, slipping her arms around her waist and hugging her tightly. The warmth of her body felt like home and exactly what she needed but Catherine's body stiffened, she was so anxious wanting to know answers.

"Are you positive?"

"Yeah, we had a long talk. I'm sorry I kept you worried."

"Is she upset?"

"She was."

"What did she say?"

"Can we go lay down? My head is pounding" she said, as she began rubbing at her temple.

"Where was she? Did she say if she talked to anyone?" Catherine asked as she rummaged through her drawers and handed Jackie a shirt to sleep in.

"She went for a drive and no, she didn't tell anyone, I made sure of that and she was slightly offended that I even had to ask." Jackie pealed off her clothes and slipped into Catherine's.

When Catherine at last retreated to the bathroom, giving a break to the twenty questions, Jackie pulled back the covers to the bed. When doing so, she spotted herself in Catherine's mirror and noticed the shirt Catherine had given her, her favorite shirt of hers she wore in Bloomington. The guilt began to erupt into the pit of her stomach again. She knew she had to tell Catherine about their kiss, if she didn't now, now when the opportunity presented itself, there would be no coming back from it later. But she was leaving in two weeks and she couldn't bear the thought of having to leave for so long on anything other than a good note. Fearful of the thought of spending their last days together arguing, she looked down at the shirt as she gripped the bottom of it. They weren't together when her and Hannah kissed, she did nothing wrong, she shouldn't feel guilty, or so she tried to tell herself.

When she heard Catherine finishing up in the bathroom, she quickly slipped into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. She squeezed her eyes shut and pretended to be asleep when the door creaked open. The unexpected feeling of a cool wash cloth settling over her eyes made her flinch.

"Sorry," Catherine apologized. There wasn't any pretending now.

"Thanks" she said, as she reached up and rested her hand on it. "Could you turn off the lights?"

"Don't fall asleep if I do."

"I'll try not to."

"Jackie..." Catherine said sternly, as she flicked the lights off.

"Catherine, it's been a long day..."

"Yes... it has. I've been worried sick with the little communication from you, not knowing what was happening."

"I know, I'm sorry. It was just too much trying to handle the both of you. What do you want to know?"

"Everything. Start from the beginning."

Jackie sighed. "I waited outside her place after I went searching for her. She finally showed up. We talked. She assured me she'd never spill the beans, I came here."

"Wha-wha-wha-wha-wait." Jackie felt the bed shift as Catherine propped herself up on her elbow.

"Back up... details."

"Why don't you just ask me specifically what you want to know."

"Was she upset with you?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"She thinks I'm crazy, she thinks we're crazy. Told me exactly what we know, how big of a risk it is, if the school finds out, if the media finds out."

"And what did you tell her?"

"That we know all of that."

"Does she know we..."

"That it's not just some random fling? Yes. She knows all about Bloomington. I told her everything."

"Why did she run?" Catherine asked suspiciously.

"It's a pretty shocking thing to witness, coming across your friend and your professor kissing."

"Yeah but when she got to her car, why did she drive off and not talk to you? Just seems kind of dramatic."

Jackie felt her chest tighten, her breathing seize.

"Jackie?" Catherine shook her arm. "Wake up."

"I am. You were right."

"What do you mean?"

"Hannah has... Hannah has feelings for me."

"I knew it."

Jackie didn't say anything.

"No wonder she fled."

"Yeah..."

"How did you handle that?"

"Told her I was in love with you."

Jackie felt the bed shift a little again as Catherine's lips encompassed hers. She then pressed her hand gently on the towel over Jackie's eyes for a moment before snuggling up next to her..

"So it's finally out."

"You don't need to worry. She's the best person to have caught us because she's been in our shoes. She's not going to tell a soul."

Jackie felt for Catherine's hand and kissed it before they laid in silence in the darkness.

"Are you asleep?" Catherine whispered after a few moments. She could feel her warm breath against her cheek as she tried her hardest to steady her breathing to a slow rhythm. Convinced she was, Catherine didn't bother her again and she laid awake wrestling with her guilty conscience as she listened to her sleeping peacefully next to her.

In the morning she awoke to the smell of bacon and was surprised to see Catherine awake so early on a weekend. Shocked how out of it she must have been not to hear her, she assumed her body had finally just subdued to the exhaustion of last night's events.

Catherine suddenly appeared in the doorway with a tray, her face gleaming.

"What's this?" Jackie asked as she raised to her elbows.

"I was just thinking about what you told me last night. It couldn't have been easy for you. It's a difficult thing telling someone you don't love them back, let alone a friend."

"I never said she loved me. She never said she loved me."

"Oh I'm sure she does."

"Why do you say that?" Jackie forced a laugh as she grabbed a piece of crisp bacon from the plate and chomped down on it.

Catherine crawled across the bed toward her, "It's impossible not to" she smiled, before kissing her cheek.

The burning deep within her began again and before she knew it, it erupted. "Come to Europe with me," she blurted out as Catherine's lips were still pressed against her cheek.

"Right," Catherine laughed.

"I'm serious," she said as she set down the piece of bacon and turned to her.

"You know I can't."

"Why not? There's no chance of running into anyone there, we could go out in public without a care in the world." Jackie said as she got to her knees and took Catherine's hands in hers.

Catherine just smiled at her, not taking her seriously.

"You were saying Hannah and I got to do so many fun things in Europe, so could we. I want to experience it with you."

"What does Hannah have anything to do with this?"

"She doesn't," Jackie felt herself panic. "I just mean... I wish it would have been you there. I know you'd love it."

"You know I can't, I already signed up to teach summer term. Where is this coming from all of a sudden?" Catherine's face and accusatory tone let on that she was catching on to Jackie's reluctancy to tell the truth.

Not knowing what else to do, Jackie pretended to get defensive. "God forbid that I want to see you at some point this summer" she said, rising from the bed. "Maybe...Maybe it's starting to sink in that I'm leaving. And the fact that we finally just got back to a good place..." She was pacing now and could feel her voice begin to tremble with fear as Catherine eyed her.

"Jackie, did something else happen last night that you're not telling me?"

"What? No." She could feel her cheeks begin to ignite.

"Why are you acting so weird?"

"I'm not."

"Yes you are, you can't even sit still. Tell me the truth, did something happen?"

She lost. Catherine knew her too well to keep trying to fool her. It was a lost cause. She did nothing but finally stop pacing and look at her, preparing herself for what was to come.

"So something did happen."

"Hannah kissed me."

"Last night?"

"No, no. It was before... Before me and you... It was during our break."

"Was it just once?"

"Yes."

"Well you didn't kiss her back, did you?" Catherine laughed insecurely.

Jackie's jaw immediately shut and her teeth settled tightly, almost as if her mouth was trying to save itself from causing any more damage.

She watched Catherine's cheeks begin to soften as her hesitant smile faded.

"I was so upset with you, I was hurting and thought it would help me, but it didn't. All I could think of was you as soon as it was happening. It was over almost as soon as it began and I told her I couldn't. That I didn't feel the same way."

Jackie could see the muscles in Catherine's jaw flexing as her eyes slid down to the bed. "When," she asked sternly.

"I told you, we weren't even speaking hardly-"

"WHEN." Catherine repeated, this time louder as tears began to brim her furious eyes.

"I don't know, a couple weeks ago. We were both drunk off champagne, it would have never happened sober."

Catherine's eyes began to dart back an forth, her brow furrowed in concentration.

"Champagne?"

"Yeah, she brought a bottle over to celebrate a role she landed."

"You kissed her the night I met you on the roof?" Her voice had an eerie calm to it now.

Jackie could hear the blood pumping in her ears, why did she mention the champagne. "Yes, she was there earlier, but Catherine-"

"You kissed her that night? Of all nights. That's the night you kissed her?"

"I thought we were done-"

"You kissed her and then you kissed me, and then we..." Catherine's voice trailed off as she shook her head in disbelief, her face twitching as she struggled to control it until she finally turned and sat on the edge of the bed, her back to her.

"Catherine I thought whatever we were was over with, our conversation in that classroom, the things you were saying..." Jackie said as she began crawling over the bed towards her. "I was so upset over you and she leaned in at the perfect time to catch me at my most vulnerable," she placed her hand on Catherine's shoulder and her enter body shuddered as if it caused her actual pain. "Don't you dare touch me" she said through clenched teeth.

Jackie slipped off the edge of the bed and went and knelt before her. "I honest to God was going to tell you right then and there. I even tried interrupting you but you told me not to. Then all of the things you were saying to me, how could I ruin that moment?"

"You just did," Catherine said quietly, yet fiercely as she lifted her tearful eyes to meet Jackie's.

"We weren't together," Jackie said softly. "I didn't want to ruin these last couple of weeks we had left. I feel absolutely nothing for her and stopped it without even knowing this was going to happen between us. That has to be proof enough."

Catherine's eyes fell from hers, her shoulders raising as her breaths deepened. Jackie saw a box of tissues sitting on the nightstand so wobbled over on her knees and grabbed a few before wobbling back and placing them in Catherine's hands. She wiped a tear that was slowly trickling down her cheek with her thumb. "Please don't cry over this. If I did have feelings for her do you think I would have chased you around all year like I have? I could have just been with her if that's what I really wanted."

Catherine stay silent, staring down at the crumbled tissue she was fumbling with in her hands. This was unusual. Usually she was laying it into her, making cruel jabs, never silent. After a few moments of silence passed, Jackie placed her hand gently on her knee, "What are you thinking? Yell at me, tell me how awful I am, anything, please just say something, anything."

Catherine slowly looked up into Jackie's eyes, her eye brows crinkling, "I don't want that. I think you should go though..."

"Catherine-

"There's a spinning class that I told Leslie I might join her at."

"Skip it, please..."

"No. I think it's a good idea for me to go, to clear my head."

"Can I come back after?"

"I don't know... I just need some space right now."

Jackie respected her wishes and grabbed her things. She looked back as she stood at the door way before leaving, Catherine was still sitting on the side of the bed with her back to her, she had never seen her so still and it took everything within her to walk out that door. When she got home, she kept herself busy packing the rest of her things. She couldn't tell if Catherine's new levelheadedness was a good thing or something to be alarmed about but either way, she almost preferred her screaming at her, at least then she knew what was going on in her head.

When 6 o'clock rolled around and she still hadn't heard from her, she sent her a simple text message. "Just know that I love you." After waiting to see her screen glow, she ordered herself a pizza when it never did. At least she was getting somewhere in the packing, the stress was making her exceptionally productive and in return the packing was easing her stress as much as it could. Her stomach growled just in time for the buzzer to ring, she hadn't been able to eat all day. Grabbing her wallet from the counter she opened the door as she counted out the money but when she looked up, Catherine was standing before her. Catherine's lips formed a straight line as she shrugged her shoulders. That was enough for her, Jackie wrapped her arms around her and held her tightly. Her body softened in her arms, the way she had wished it had the night before, making her never wanting to let go. "I don't want to fight any more," Catherine whispered.