Caroline was horrified. Mortified. Terrified. Which one she was feeling the most was hard to tell. She did not go on camp. It was not something she had ever done, or ever wanted to do. There were so many teachers, surely one of them could go instead. Hell, she could employ someone who's only role was to go to camp.

"Maybe his wife will die before camp starts and then he will be able to go again."

"Caroline!"

Caroline huffed out a half hearted apology, staring at the camp information. It suggested she would need a fly net. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"Oh for god's sake. It's what..four days? Five days? Lawrence will be going. And you'd only be a chaperone, so they won't need you there through all the other stuff, surely?" Gillian asked, glancing up from the car she was attempting to clean.

"Lawrence being there makes it so much worse. Because even if I manage a brave face, he will know exactly how I'm feeling and he will love it." Caroline groaned, putting her head in her hands.

"And there definitely aren't other teachers who can go?"

"I am the substitute this year. It will look bad if I palm it off on someone else."

"As bad as or worse than the head teacher crying over a mosquito?"

Caroline just gave another dramatic sigh.

"What does Kate think about it?"

Another sigh. "I haven't told her yet. I'm trying to be more positive."

Gillian's laugh received a glare.

"Can she maybe go?"

"She's already going!"

"Well, there you go, there's your positive spin! 5 days with just kate!"

"And 12 children, the religion teacher, and the male colleague who has been in love with Kate since he met her."

"Oh. Shit."

Another dramatic wail left Caroline's lips.

Caroline had insisted Kate stay home the day before camp was due to begin. She felt she had successfully kept her panic to herself and didn't want Kate to witness her descent into possible madness and definite sleeplessness.

She had followed the packing list that had been given to the students, but at 11pm that night was still pacing her bedroom panicking that she would forget something vital and they'd all probably die and then she would go to prison and her mum would definitely disown her. Alan probably would, too.

When her phone rang, she grabbed at it without looking. Perhaps someone else could go! Or maybe an emergency only she could deal with, so she would have to bow out gracefully. "Caroline!"

"Caroline, video call." Kate's voice came through the speaker.

"Oh!" Caroline moved the phone away, looked at the screen, raised her eyebrows, and pushed her glasses down to the end of her nose. "W-wh..ah.."

"I'm hoping to distract you from your worry about tomorrow."

"I'm not..not..I ah..wh…"

"Why don't you run yourself a nice warm bath, with some nice relaxing oils." Kate replied. Currently sat in her own bath, the phone was propped up showing her whole body under the swirling water, giving Caroline only peeps.

"W-what..what-"

"I know you're nervous about going on camp. About the activities, the hours, the nature. And I know you're nervous about spending a week with someone who.. openly enjoys my company. So I wanted to show you that I'm all yours."

Caroline pulled off her glasses and sat on the edge of her bed, but that's about as much as she could manage.

"I was having a glass of wine and a relaxing bath before bed, and I was thinking that I wished you were here." Kate's hand began wandering under the water, moving to run a finger over one breast. "Yours." To the other "yours." She moved a little higher out of the water to show a lovebite. "From you."

As Kate took Caroline on a tour of her body, Caroline just sat there with her mouth partially open, staring at the screen and unable to say a word. She watched in awed silence as Kate traced her whole body and spoke with a low voice about what she loved that Caroline would do to that part of her.

"So you see, Caroline. You have nothing to worry about. Because I am all yours." Kate smiled, a little less preditorily than she had when she first called. "Would you like me to come over?"

Caroline could only nod.

"Morning Kate! Caroline." Graeme nodded at his colleague and his boss. "Didn't sleep well?" He gestured to Caroline's large cup of coffee.

"Oh, I slept perfectly, thank you, Graeme. Just giving myself a little encouragement to get through a 4 hour bus ride with 12 children."

"I've snagged the best seats at the front for us. Perhaps Kate you'd like to-"

"Thankfully we got a big enough coach that there's a pair of seats for each of us." Caroline cut him off with a smile. "Now, you must excuse me, I need to go and sort out my son before he forgets his luggage like last year."

Kate smirked behind the thermos of coffee she held tightly. God, she was magnificent.

Four hours spent on a bus trying to keep unruly teenagers calm, with her own son testing the boundaries more than once. Four hours of sitting in front of Kate and just being able to smell her perfume. Four hours of Kate's fingers reaching through the gap between the wall and the seat to stroke her arm soothingly every time she yelled.

Then an hour of walking, with a heavy bag. Why she had decided to go at the back of the group she would never understand. At least at the front she would have had to plow on to show the students how it was done. Instead, she'd had to spend the whole hour staring at Kate's bottom to work up the energy to keep going.

She had thought the next two hours would be spent organising tired teenagers, but it turned out her other colleagues had that in hand and needed nothing from her aside from the occasional glare at the loudest child. Kate had even magiced a cup of tea up from somewhere for her, and as she sat sipping it, miracle of miracles, Lawrence came to sit next to her and they had a lovely calm chat for the first time in months.

Then, over dinner which Caroline could only toy with, she was forced to sit opposite Kate who licked her lips much too often and seemed oblivious to the pain she was causing the woman across the table.

"I can't do this." Caroline muttered to herself, staring at the ceiling of the tiny room she had been placed in. There was a spider in the corner, too many bugs to count, and the sheets were definitely questionable. That all would have upset Caroline if she wasn't so utterly turned on and completely miserable. She couldn't. Not on school camp. It felt entirely obscene. Not that the kids would know anything about it. But how would it look if something happened and she wasn't there because she was in her girlfriends knickers. They were lovely knickers. Practical, but perfect. A warm blue, which Kate had said with a smile this morning matched Caroline's eyes.

..

"Hi." Kate smiled as she opened the door, though it faded somewhat when Caroline walked past. Shutting the door, Kate turned to the blonde. "..can I-"

"We are going to have to be quiet."

"Pardon?"

"Quiet. We are going to have to be quiet. The bedding is not ideal either, and frankly I'd rather not but-"

"Caroline. Please forgive me if I've got the wrong impression, but if you are after sex, I'd rather not have sex with someone who doesn't seem very happy about it."

Caroline flinched both times she said 'sex'. "I don't..I do..I want…need..I do. I do want.. it. And I'm sorry if I'm not making that clear, but I've been agonising over it for the last hour staring at the ceiling and working myself up, thinking of all the things that could go wrong."

"Nothing can go wrong if nothing happens, Caroline. I'm tired."

"…but your knickers match my eyes…"

A slight smile pulled at Kates lips when this was said so forlornly. "Yes. But this mornings Kate was a very different person than the one who sat for hours with teenagers and already has hundreds of mosquito bites."

Caroline almost deflated in front of her. "Oh."

"..we can have a cuddle for a while if that will suffice?" Kate offered.

"Ok." Caroline nodded.

They managed precisely 15 minutes of cuddling with Kate as the big spoon, during which Kate could feel Caroline periodically clench her legs together and give a very quiet sigh into the pillow.

"What are you-" Caroline asked when Kate's hand slipped into her top to caress a her. Kate shushed her as her other hand slid into Caroline's pyjama bottoms.

"Kate. KATE! Shit. Wake up!" Caroline shook her arm again and then fumbled with her pyjama pants.

"Hmm?"

"We need to get up! The kids are already stirring and that pillock Graeme has already knocked on your door, so he had probably knocked on mine too, and he will know I wasn't in there and..you've got beautiful breasts, Kate."

Kate was mid stretch when she had to laugh and look down at her white single that was apparently more see through than she had realised.. "Thank you, Caroline. Would you like to-"

"No! Well, yes, but not now. I've got to go."

Kate watched the blonde slam the door and shook her head with a smile. Caroline had fallen heavily asleep as soon as Kate had finished her ministrations last night, leaving the brunette wide awake most of the night and frustrated.

"Up..there?"

"It's not as high as it looks. All the students manage it every year." Kate offered.

"You want me to go on a flying fox? For the first time at 46 years old?"

"…you've done a lot of other firsts this year, what's one more?"

"I might be trying to be braver, Kate, but I haven't got a death wish. I'm staying here."

"You'd better swap with Graeme then and stay with the sick kids."

"Camp Kate is very bossy."

"Camp Caroline is very-"

"Ma, are you coming? I've done it once and it's awesome!"

Caroline glanced at her son, then at Kate, who raised her eyebrows. "..I'll be there soon."

"I can't. I can't. I can't do this."

"Breathe, Caroline." Kate urged with concern. She hadn't thought she would be this anxious about it.

"I think I'm going to be sick. I need to go back."

"It's back past all the students who are waiting." Kate pointed out, rubbing Caroline's back.

"Oh god." It came out as a quiet wail. "Why did you make me do this?!"

"I haven't made you do anything, Caroline." Kate drew her arms away and folded them, looking hurt.

"Are we ready?" The instructor suddenly appeared.

There was a pause, and then suddenly "I'm so sorry. I'm feeling faint. Caroline, can you help me back?"

A bewildered Caroline helped Kate back down to the offices and was quick to send Graeme back to the kids. "Can I get you a water? A-"

"I'm fine. I was helping you save face, not that it ever does me any good to help you."

"Kate-"

"I didn't make you do anything. It was you who decided to go as some show of strength for your son, so don't you dare blame me, Caroline."

"Kate. I'm sorry. i-"

"I don't care. And stop looking so broken! If you're going to think I'm going to break up with you every time we have an argument then we are as good as dead in the water because you'll be treading on eggshells forever."

"Kate."

"And stop saying my name. Stop looking at me with your eyes."

Caroline dropped her eyes to the ground and there was silence.

"..kate?"

"What?" She snapped.

"Are you umm…do you…" you're going to have to say it, Caroline! "Do you need an orgasm?"

"Yes, please." Kate nodded miserably.

"I meant it, Caroline."

"Meant what?" the blonde asked. Tonight, she was the big spoon and was enjoying nuzzling Kate's neck. She had reciprocated last nights events, and was now enjoying stroking Kates perfect breasts.

"You can't walk on eggshells. We are going to argue, but that doesn't mean I'm going to leave."

"I know."

"Do you?" Kate rolled onto her back and looked up at Caroline with concern.

"I'll learn. "

Kate traced her fingers over Caroline's jaw. "I love you."

"I love you, too. But I'm very sorry, I need to..sorry." Caroline suddenly disappeared down the bed.

Kate held her breath and waited hopefully, then let out a loud laugh as she hears Caroline scratching and grumbling about mosquitos.

"Camp wasn't all that bad. In fact, I might sign up for next year."

"Please don't!" Lawrence and Kate both cried.