" She wants me, Alex, I'm telling you," Jodie was saying to Alex the next day. Alex was a little distracted, thinking about last night with Marissa.

" You've been saying that since the day you met her, Jod. It's still not true."

" You didn't see her last night," said Jodie.

" I don't want to hear about your dreams today, thanks."

" I had to listen to you talk about Marissa for hours. Now it's your turn to listen, and I want to talk about Summer."

Jodie saw that she had made a mistake in mentioning Marissa as a slightly dazed expression came over Alex's face. She waved her hand in front of Alex's eyes, trying to regain her attention.

" What? I was listening," said Alex.

" Yeah, sure you were. Anyway, back to me, because we all know that's more important, Summer said she had fun with me last night. And she kissed me, so she does want me."

" She kissed you?" asked Alex sceptically. " Are you sure you weren't dreaming?"

" Definitely not," said Jodie.

" So she kissed you? On the lips?" Alex tried again.

" Well, no. But next time… she's just leading up to next time."

" If you weren't my friend, I'd call you delusional. Actually, I'm going to call you delusional anyway."

Although Alex was of the same opinion of Jodie, she didn't want to make her believe that Summer was interested if she wasn't. Besides, it was fun to tease Jodie a little.

" So what are you doing today?" asked Jodie.

" Whatever Marissa wants to do," replied Alex.

" Aaw, isn't that cute," replied Jodie sarcastically.

" You're not going to let her control your life from now on, are you?"

" No, of course not," said Alex, looking like she couldn't quite believe that Jodie had said that.

" Well, you know, with girls you like, you get kind of so…"

" Don't finish that sentence," said Alex warningly.

" What are you going to do today, anyway?"

" Summer. If not today, then hopefully sometime soon."

" Jodie, don't you know how to answer a question like a normal person? Wait, don't answer that."

" Well, I'm actually seeing Summer today."

" You are?" Alex sounded surprised. " And she's going with you willingly?"

" Yeah, she wants me to go shopping with her." Jodie looked slightly revolted at this fact, and getting up to move towards the door.

" Something to do with extra arms for carrying bags, I don't know. I was distracted by," she coughed, " other things, if you know what I mean."

" Well, have fun," said Alex, a slight sarcastic note apparent in her voice.

" Oh, I will," said Jodie as she closed the door behind her.

Alex lay back on her bed. She wasn't meeting Marissa until later, so she had a little time to relax.

Jodie, on the other hand, had no time for relaxing. Summer had requested that she meet her at 11. 11 on a Sunday seemed ridiculous to Jodie, but she went with it anyway. She didn't want Summer withdrawing her offer, that'd make it more difficult for her to get Summer to admit to her feelings. She was picking her up from her house, and was running a little late. She figured Summer wouldn't be ready on time anyway, so why rush?

When she got there, however, Summer was already waiting for her. Leaning across to open the car door for her, she was met with an annoyed tone.

" You're late."

" Summer, I thought you would be too," said Jodie.

" For shopping? I don't think so," said Summer.

" This is going to be a long day, isn't it?" said Jodie, mostly to herself.

" Summer, you look amazing today." Jodie had decided that slightly more subtle compliments were the way to go.

" Well, duh. I always do. Are you trying to say there are days when I don't look amazing?"

"Uh, oh looks like there's a problem with that plan," thought Jodie.

" No, of course not, you always look amazing," she said out loud. Her previous thoughts must have been obvious though, because Summer was laughing slightly at her.

" Relax, I'm just kidding," said Summer.

Well this was new. Summer was joking with her. This meant that they were making progress finally.

" Well, I was kidding too, Summer. That shirt clashes with your shoes," she said, keeping a completely straight face.

Summer looked down at her shoes, then back up at her shirt.

" Oh no, you did not just say that," said Summer.

" My shoes and shirt look great together."

Jodie shrugged.

" Whatever you want to tell yourself, Summer."

" Just drive," said Summer.

Jodie grinned and started to drive.

Later on their journey, Summer noticed Jodie's hand inching slowly across the space between them, and picked up Jodie's hand, moving it to the other side of the car away from her.

" Summer, if you wanted to hold my hand, all you had to do was ask," said Jodie, a smile on her face.

" How many times do I have to tell you, I'm straight? I want us to be friends, but if you carry on like that I may have to rethink it."

Jodie looked down.

" But last night, we were having fun. You didn't seem to mind then."

Summer was surprised by this side of Jodie. She'd always seemed to not care what the people around her thought. But now she appeared concerned about what Summer thought.

" That's just the way I am," she said next, looking a little bothered by this fact.

Summer looked a little guilty.

" I'm sorry, Jodie. I didn't mean to offend you," she said. She moved towards her, giving her a reassuring hug, which due to the fact they were sat in the car, was a little awkward. Jodie grinned into Summer's shoulder. Her plan had worked better than she had hoped.

Summer had felt that, and drew away from Jodie suspiciously.

" Another excuse for inappropriate touching?" she said incredulously. " I can't believe you sometimes."

" Want to go somewhere where I can show you just how unbelievable I am?"

" Shut up and start driving again," said Summer, looking out of the window. She didn't want Jodie to take her anywhere but shopping, no, definitely not. She glanced over at Jodie, her eyes drawn to her lips as she licked them. She looked away again. Jodie had noticed, but seeing Summer's reaction left it alone and didn't mention it.

Marissa woke up and immediately smiled as she thought about last night. Alex was amazing; she couldn't believe she hadn't seen that straight away. She slid out of bed, heading for the bathroom. She wanted to look perfect for Alex today.

While she was putting the finishing touches to her make up, her phone rang. She picked it up, seeing that the caller was Alex.

" Hey," she said softly.

" Hi," replied Alex, the smile apparent in her voice. " Are you ready to go?"

" Just about," replied Marissa. " I can't wait to see you."

" I know how you feel. I'll be about ten minutes, that okay?"

" That's great," said Marissa. " I'll see you in a minute."

" Okay," said Alex, her tone warm.

Alex rang the doorbell, to be greeted by a woman she didn't recognise. She could see Marissa coming down the stairs behind her, and she was about to reply to the woman's question of whom she was when she was cut off by Marissa.

" Mom, this is Alex," she said, offering no further explanation.

As she got closer to Alex, Alex moved in to kiss her, but was left surprised and more than a little hurt when Marissa avoided her, and instead they ended up in an awkward hug. She had seemed fine on the phone, so Alex was confused by the way she was acting now.

After telling Julie she'd be back later, and leaving her no room to say anything in response, Alex motioned to Alex to follow her away from the house. When they were a little distance away, Marissa stopped abruptly. She turned to Alex, drawing her towards her and kissing her urgently.

Alex began to get lost in Marissa, as was happening increasingly often, but she pulled away, knowing that they needed to talk a little.

" Hey, Rissa, as much as I like doing this, I think we need to talk."

" Why?" asked Marissa, attempting to pull Alex closer to her again, smiling at the shortened version of her name.

" What was that about on your door step just now?" asked Alex.

" I didn't want my mom to know about us," she said.

" Why not?" asked Alex, looking offended.

" It's not you, I swear," said Marissa, resting her hands on Alex's shoulders and looking into her eyes.

" It's her. She wouldn't react well."

" How do you know?"

" She caught me with Kate once." Marissa's eyes became slightly troubled.

" She says I can do what I want, as long as she doesn't have to see it."

Alex looked a little troubled by this news, and looked at Marissa, studying her features carefully.

" Doesn't that bother you?"

" Sometimes. But her opinion doesn't matter all that much to me anyway. And I have you now."

They both smiled.

Later, Jodie was dropping Summer home. Shopping with Summer was exhausting, but they hadn't been arguing quite as much today, so Jodie was seeing it as a good thing. She pulled up to Summer's house.

" You want help with your bags?" asked Jodie.

Summer just nodded in response. Summer led Jodie, who was carrying the majority of the bags, into her house, and up the stairs.

" Oh, am I going to get to see your room now? Hmm that's sooner than I thought."

Summer ignored her, opening a door to her left, and directing Jodie to put the bags down against the opposite wall.

" It's very pink in here, Summer. Very you," said Jodie, a little amused.

Summer smiled, and said,

" Thanks for helping me. I'll see you at school tomorrow."

" See you, Summer," said Jodie, giving her one last smile before leaving.

Summer flopped down onto her bed, still smiling. She may have misjudged Jodie. She'd actually had a lot of fun with her today.

Later, Jodie was surprised to hear her doorbell ring. She wasn't expecting anyone tonight, Alex was still with Marissa, and other people rarely visited her house. She opened the door to find Summer sat on the doorstep. She reached out to touch her shoulder. Summer jumped at the contact, turning to face Jodie.

Fresh tears were visible on her face, as well as a bruise newly forming just below her right eye. Jodie held out her hand to help Summer up. When she was stood up, she fell into Jodie, clinging desperately to her. Jodie closed the door behind them, and guided Summer into the living room.

" Sorry to bother you. But Marissa's out, and I…"

" You're not bothering me," Jodie cut her off.

" What happened, Summer?"

" I can't…." Summer said weakly, resting her head on Jodie's shoulder again.

Jodie moved away a little, so she could see Summer's face, and gently brushed her tears away with her thumb. Summer leaned into the contact, her breathing still uneasy. Jodie rubbed her back soothingly with her other hand, telling her that everything was fine.

Summer looked into Jodie's eyes, smiling slightly through her tears.

" Thank you," she said.

Jodie continued to wipe the tears from her face. Summer looked from Jodie's eyes to her lips, then back to her eyes, before slowly leaning in to meet Jodie's lips. They started off slowly, kissing softly, and when Jodie moved to pull Summer closer to her, Summer pulled away, looking at her in shock. She stood up quickly, backing away towards the door.

" Summer…."

" I can't," said Summer, shaking her head. She turned and walked through the door, increasing her speed when she got outside. Jodie closed her eyes, her body still reacting to Summer's touch. It wasn't supposed to happen that way. She was supposed to be able to reassure Summer, not scare her away.

Alex dropped Marissa at her house after their day together. Alex had attempted to teach Marissa to surf again, and had been a little more successful this time. Marissa undid her seatbelt, leaning across the gap between the seats to kiss Alex goodbye. She sucked gently on her bottom lip before pulling away to look at her once more.

" I'll see you tomorrow," she said, kissing Alex one last time before getting out of the car.

" Bye," said Alex, a little breathlessly.

When Marissa entered her room, she found Summer sat on her bed. She could see that she had been crying, and when she switched the main light on, she could also see the bruise under her eye.

" What happened, Sum?" she asked, shocked by the state of her friend.

Summer explained, shakily, that she'd gone out for a walk, and on the way back, a man had cornered her on a deserted street. When she'd told him she didn't have any money, he'd hit her, and she'd managed to escape after hitting him with her bag.

" Are you okay now?" asked Marissa, concerned.

" Sort of. I went to see Jodie," she said.

Marissa looked confused, not sure where Summer was going with this.

" I kissed her," she said quietly.

" Well, that's a good thing, isn't it?"

She saw Summer's expression.

" It's not a good thing?" she asked, even more confused than she was a minute ago.