Their trip hadn't been derailed.

Thelma had overexcited herself and fallen asleep in the car, so there had been no reason to stop.

They were almost there and the vacation was still on.

As it should have been.

Louise parked the car, taking a moment to look up at the night sky.

It had been quite a while since she'd heard anything besides road noise.

Her eyes fixed on the moon.

This would be a good weekend.

She smiled to herself, even if it was just a small one.

She'd missed Thelma's voice once she'd fallen asleep.

Louise would never admit it, but she couldn't wait to wake her friend to go inside.

The butterflies in her stomach- which had been turned to moths by all of the experiences life had thrown at her- were restless.

Louise sucked in one last deep breath before finally turning to her friend.

She was still crumpled in the passenger seat, curled up like a tiny puppy.

How cute.

Louise placed a gentle hand to her friend's shoulder and spoke up, "Thelma, hey, we're here. We should probably head inside before a coyote tries to eat us."

The younger girl stirred easily, stretching her arms upward as she turned to Louise.

"Well, good morning, sweetheart," Louise chuckled, "Feeling rested?"

Thelma smiled- that bright, irresistible smile that made Louise's heart race.

That smile that would make Louise do anything for her.

That smile that even jaded ol' Louise couldn't help but match.

"Of course. Thank you for driving. For taking me up here with you."

The sincerity in her friend's eyes and tone was a little more than Louise wanted to deal with at the moment, so instead she quickly hopped out of the car.

"Let's go check the place out!"

She began to unpack the backseat, instinctively grabbing Thelma's bags first.

"Oh Louise, this is so nice."

Louise stood in the doorway of the cabin, just watching Thelma excitedly beam in every direction.

She went on for a good while longer, happily rambling on about everything from the decor to possible plans for the rest of the weekend.

And Louise easily agreed with each statement, whether it was true or not.

Suddenly Thelma disappeared into another room and Louise followed suit.

When she found her again, the younger girl was sprawled out on a mattress in the bedroom.

She began giggling as she made 'snow angels' on the sheets.

"Come here, Louise! The sheets are so soft!"

There were those damn butterflies again.

Despite herself, she'd still do anything for Thelma, so Louise threw herself down onto the bed next to her friend.

They shared an excited laugh.

"Oh, Darryl would never take me anywhere like this..."

There was a brief moment of silence and Louise just knew that man was ruining Thelma's fun like he always did.

"Now look, there ain't no sense in thinking about him when he ain't here."

The silence settled over them again.

A moment later, Thelma rolled over, so she could look down at her friend.

"Darryl would never take me anywhere like this," she repeated.

"Now come on, Thelma..."

"Never do anything this nice for me."

Before Louise could speak up again, try to reassure her friend, Thelma leaned down and pressed a slow peck to her lips.

Her lips were soft and sweet- nothing like Louise had ever experienced before.

Thelma pulled back sooner than her elder would've liked, once more gazing down at Louise with that bright smile, though this time- for the first time since Louise had known her- it was shy.

Her normally tanned cheeks were flushed a warm pink.

"I'm sorry," she gave a nervous chuckle.

Louise laid there motionless, her shock keeping her still.

But then she noticed Thelma start fidgeting- she was waiting for her to say something.

Louise couldn't let her think she'd done something wrong, so she swallowed roughly and finally spoke up.

"What made ya do that?" She gave a small laugh.

"I wanted to thank you," she placed a gentle palm to the center of Louise's chest, "Plus you just looked real beautiful."

It had been so long since anyone had been nice to Louise like that.

Hell, no man in her past had ever called her beautiful and meant it the way she knew Thelma did.

"Oh come on, sweetheart," Louise let one of her hands rest against Thelma's smooth cheek as she gently caressed it with her thumb, "You're a thousand times prettier than me."

"I don't think so. Louise, I think you're gorgeous- always have."

The smaller woman's heart was pounding against her ribcage and Thelma could most definitely feel it under her fingers.

Not giving herself another chance to back out, to listen to the logical half of her brain, Louise tugged her friend down for another kiss.

Thelma let her hands easily tangle in Louise's curls, smiling into the kiss.

She'd thought about this moment for so long.

They kept their lips pressed together as long as they could, savoring the moment.

When they finally parted, both girls were flushed and breathless.

Thelma let her forehead rest against Louise's.

The elder was suddenly incredibly self conscious of how sweaty her flesh was.

"See, I knew there was a soft spot under that hard shell of yours."

Embarrassed, Louise playfully shoved Thelma off her so she could stand off the bed.

"Now stop distracting me. We ain't even unpacked yet."

Louise had showered first and found herself back on the bed, watching television.

Some old western romance- not exactly her thing, but there wasn't anything else on at that time of night.

Just then she heard the shower turn off and Thelma came to join her in the bedroom, wrapped in nothing but a white towel.

Louise immediately found her eyes drawn to her as she worked on brushing out her blonde hair.

She was an angel.

Darryl didn't deserve her.

But maybe Louise was just being selfish.

"What're ya looking at?" Thelma giggled as she set her brush onto the dresser and turned to Louise.

"Oh uh," she was never this nervous- it was a new sight for Thelma, "I don't know."

"Ya know," the younger girl stepped closer to the bed, "I like when you wear your hair down like that. Really lets your curls be free."

Louise hummed, still not used to her friend's compliments.

"It's our weekend," Thelma's tone was serious for once, "We should be having the most fun of our lives."

With that, she dropped her towel, causing Louise's mouth to go dry.

Jesus, she was an angel.

"You're my princess," Louise breathed out from her place between Thelma's legs.

"Ah," Thelma gasped out, her body shaking as she lost control.

Louise had never tasted something so sweet.

Felt something so delicate.

So as Thelma began to stumble back down, she joined her at the head of the bed, placing a few chaste kisses to her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" She whispered between pecks, slowly trailing her way up to her lips.

"Never better," Thelma sighed happily as she continued working on catching her breath.

"Mm," their mouths connected once more, "I'm glad. I've never done something quite like that before."

"Louise," her shy, careful tone was back, "Can I love you, too?"

Was she worthy of Thelma's love?

The younger girl smiled and she couldn't help but return one of her own.

Of course she was.

They'd spent much of the night and early morning just lying in bed together, enjoying the serenity of their time together.

Louise was rubbing gentle circles on the younger woman's back as she laid against her chest, just staring up at her.

"Ya never looked better," Thelma cooed, "I feel blessed seeing ya like this."

Louise wasn't sure what she meant.

She's sure she looked a mess.

Her hair was mussed, her skin was splotched with pink, and she's sure she was still sweaty.

Nothing beautiful here.

Thelma suddenly hopped out of the bed, giving Louise a good view of her figure as she hurried to one of her bags.

When she returned to her spot in Louise's arms, she had her camera.

"I wanna remember this weekend forever."

She snapped a quick photo and a Polaroid immediately printed.

She took it and handed it to her friend, smiling bright.

"Ah, I look bad in this one," Louise grumbled, leaning over to set the photo onto the nightstand.

When she turned back, she was greeted by Thelma eyeing her through the viewfinder of her camera.

She tiptoed her fingers playfully up the blankets, attempting to tug them down.

"Hey! What are you-" Louise struggled to keep herself covered, "Stop that," she chuckled.

"I want to show you how beautiful you are," Louise gave in, letting Thelma pull the covers away to expose her flesh, "See yourself the way I do."

Louise was the first to wake, years of the same early diner schedule having been engraved into her mind even without an alarm.

She was immediately greeted by Thelma's bare back still pressed against her.

She grinned to herself as she covered her friend a bit better then draped an arm over her hip.

The warmth from her body was better than any coffee she'd ever had.

Something had crossed over in them the previous night, and now- now they'd never be able to go back.

And Louise was grateful for that.

She snuggled closer into her friend, laying there until she'd join her for the day.

Thelma excitedly ran ahead on the mountain trail, her large puffy coat making her look like a small child.

She was thoroughly enjoying her freedom and it was very apparent in the way every small thing seemed to amaze her.

"Oh, Louise, look!"

She stopped to shout back as she pointed up towards a tree.

Louise took her time catching up, placing a soft hand to the small of Thelma's back when she was at her side.

"What is it, hon?"

"Look at that bird. Oh, it's so bright! I love its colors!"

Louise grinned, looking at the bird and then Thelma's eyes.

They were shimmering with wonder.

"Probably some kind of warbler," Louise stated plainly as she kept her sight on her friend, "There's all kinds up here."

Thelma turned to meet Louise's eyes, that ever-present bright smile still on her face, "I think I'd like to be a bird. Would you be a bird with me?" She interlaced their fingers and happily bounced, "Oh, think about it- we'd be so free!"

There was something lovely about the thought of being a carefree bird with Thelma.

Flying wherever the breeze took them.

No Darryl or Jimmy.

They could even make a little nest together.

Louise shook her head- what the hell was she even getting started about?

"Yeah," she sighed as she gave Thelma's hands a gentle squeeze, "That'd be real nice."

"Let's run away together."

The thought had slipped from Louise's lips before she'd even realized what she was saying.

"What?" Thelma chuckled as she flipped a hot dog on the grill.

Louise sat up in her lawn chair, putting her head in her hands.

"No, nevermind. Forget I said that."

Normally Thelma was the naive one.

The one who threw out the silly ideas.

The impossible ideas.

"Aw, come on," she closed the small barbeque pit before walking across the leaf-strewn yard to stand in front of her elder.

She pushed her back gently, so that she was once again sitting upright in her chair, and plopped down into her lap.

She easily wrapped her arms around her shoulders.

"You really mean that?" Thelma teased.

Louise shook her head, "I don't know. I'm not sure what's going on with us right now, Thelma..."

"I do," the taller girl pressed her lips to Louise's cheek, then the corner of her mouth, and finally her lips.

It lingered a little longer than Louise had expected, so she let her hands find their place on her hips.

They parted.

"Care to clue me in then?" Her words came as breaths against Thelma's lips.

She hummed as she nodded, "I love you."

She said it so matter-of-factly, as if it had been so clear.

Louise felt dizzy, like she was going to faint.

If she hadn't been sitting, she knew her knees would've given out.

Suddenly tears began to prick at her eyes.

"Our food's going to burn," she tried to take Thelma's attention off of her.

When the elder attempted to stand, she was immediately pushed back into her seat.

"The food can wait," Thelma huffed, "Why're you crying?"

She wasn't sure...

"I'd go anywhere with you and... And do anything for you. Shit," Louise breathed out, realizing something for herself, "I do love you. I love you, too."

The taller girl giggled, squeezing Louise's cheeks softly with her palms.

"Geez, after Friday night, I'd hope you do," she blushed and looked down towards her lap, "...We can figure out what to do later. We still have time."

It was their last day in the mountains, so Thelma had convinced Louise to hike down to a nearby lake with her- not that Louise really needed all that much convincing.

When they arrived, the younger girl immediately kicked off her shoes and dropped her coat.

To Louise's surprise, she hadn't worn anything but a frilly, blue bathing suit underneath.

"Now, Thelma- you're going to catch a cold doing something like that!"

"Oh lighten up," she turned and caught her elder in a hug, "I assumed you'd warm me up if I needed it."

Louise pulled open her jacket and wrapped it around Thelma as best as she could given their position.

She could feel the warmth radiating off her flesh.

She definitely hadn't needed the coat yet.

"Go enjoy yourself. I'll be here when you need warming up."

Thelma pressed her lips to Louise's briefly before taking off and excitedly jumping into the water.

The elder wasn't sure she'd ever get used to that.

Louise crossed her arms, just enjoying watching her friend as she splashed around.

She looked gorgeous, not that she didn't always.

"Hey, Louise!"

Her words pulled the smaller girl from her thoughts.

She nodded towards her, signaling for her to continue.

"I was thinking," she pushed her water-dampened hair back, "I think we should run away together. Start a new life."

Louise's heart thumped, "What?"

"Just us. I could be your little housewife," she tossed a wink towards the other woman, "How nice would it be to see each other every day?"

It would definitely take a bit of money, effort, but they could manage.

Louise would do anything for Thelma.

"Yeah. Yeah, that would be real nice."

"Well..?" She drew the word out expectantly.

Screw it.

She was done holding herself back.

They'd finally be free.

"Let's do it."

As soon as she agreed, Thelma swam quickly to shore, and immediately ran into Louise's arms.

The force of her embrace nearly knocked Louise down.

She was soggy and the wetness transferred to Louise's clothes, but she didn't care.

Louise squeezed her tighter, her mind racing.

They'd finally be free...