"'morning, sleeping beauty." Alex grinned broadly at her statement, acutely aware of the fact that she may never come across another moment so precisely perfect to use that phrase in.

The other girl managed to croak out a dreamy "Hey" by way of response, realizing that she had fallen asleep again while waiting for Alex to finish her shower. Beginning a wide stretch, Marissa felt her arms envelope a noticeably warm and very awake Alex, who was now in the process of positioning herself comfortably atop the other girl. Alex placed a hand on her girlfriend's cheek, carefully brushing aside an errant strand of beautiful brunette hair before closing the last distance between them.

The feeling of Alex's lips against hers was a sensation Marissa was still finding herself becoming accustomed to. It wasn't merely the newness of their relationship, or even that Alex was a girl; rather, it was that she had never been kissed quite like that before. A kiss is always more than a kiss; it can be an expectation, a hope, a desire, a catharsis. It can be all or none of the above. Marissa knew that Alex's kisses were more than kisses, but as the slim blonde girl's tongue found its way past her parted lips, Marissa found herself suddenly not as much in the mood to continue pontificating on the nature of kisses. Alex's kisses meant that she was here, right now. In that moment, in any moment, that was all that mattered.

Finally parting for want of oxygen, the two girls collapsed side-by-side, allowing a comfortable near-silence to descend upon the moment. Deep, erratic breathing and the steady rhythm of chests in need of air the only salient reminders of the passion the two girls had just shared. Knowing that not all silences need be broken, the girls drew closer, allowing a few brief but passionate kisses before settling in next to one another, simply taking in the presence of one another.

Finally concluding that 2:30 was a suitable time to begin preparing the most important meal of the day, Marissa and Alex set about preparing a hearty breakfast to compensate for the numerous meals they had already missed that day. Even Alex partook in the feast, which consisted of scrambled eggs, bacon, French toast, and waffles, writing the meal off as "not technically breakfast" given the late hour, prompting an amused eyeroll from the other girl.

"So, what do you wanna do today,"Marissa inquired, taking a bite of her eggs.

"Hmmmmmmm..." Melodramatically attempting to appear deep in thought, Alex finally replied, "You mean besides skipping work, taking you back to bed, and possibly never leaving?"

Taking the playful punch to the arm from Marissa as an affirmative, Alex took a quick glance up at the clock before formulating a response. "Well... I guess I should probably be getting to work pretty soon...," the blonde-haired girl drawled mournfully before adding, "Wanna come?"

"Actually, I was thinking about going to see my mom today, make sure she hasn't burst a blood vessel or something worrying about me. Lord knows that woman doesn't need another excuse to be a walking ball of unresolved stress."

"Mm, sounds like fun," came the sarcastic quip.

"Well... I was going to stop by Summer's on the way...," Marissa added in defense.

"Oh?" A suddenly much more interested Alex asked. It's not that she was desperate to make their relationship public or anything like that, but it needed to come out eventually...

"Yeah... hey, I should probably get going, and you need to get to work, so...," Marissa quickly rattled off the words before placing a quick kiss on Alex's lips and heading for the door.

"Hey, Marissa, I'll see you tonight, though, right?"

"Yeah, of course." Marissa smiled and closed the door, and the two girls went their separate ways, for the moment...


Thanks a ton for all the feedback guys, I really appreciate it. Keep it coming! Next chapter should be up in a couple days.