Sorry this update has taken so long, work has been crazy with the end of school and starting a new job. I found this chapter quite tricky to write, hope it doesn't go on too long. Thanks again for all the lovely reviews, the encouragement means a lot as this is my first attempt.

Delia had stayed true to her word. She and Patsy had text playfully back and forth all weekend, getting to know each other, taking advantage of the confidence being behind a text can give you. Delia had even tried flirting a little, but it had so far not been reciprocated.

'So I'll bring my lunch to your office dinner time tomorrow then? Xx' Delia text late Sunday evening.

'Great, see you tomorrow xx night xx' Patsy replied.

Patsy put her phone down on her bedside table and lay wide awake, thoughts cascading through her mind like a waterfall. She was excited at the prospect of seeing the brunette on her own again, but was unsure she was ready for the somewhat honest appraisal of her life that Delia might make whilst having their 'chat'. There were so many things that Patsy had bottled up over the years, stopped herself from telling anybody, or tried to forget had happened, she had started to doubt what was real, did she really like women? Or had it been a dream? She was unable to deny however, her developing feelings for the beautiful Welsh woman. Every time her phone had sounded over the weekend, notifying her of a text from Delia, her heart had fluttered. At the thought of her, she lifted her hand to where Delia had placed a chased and delicate kiss on her cheek and her heart beat a little quicker. This wasn't a dream, this was real and it terrified her!

With her lunch in hand, the tracksuit clad Miss Busby made her way to the Head of English's office ready for their 'meeting'. The thought of it had put a smile on her face all morning, no mean feat when faced with Year 9 Boys…

Delia went to open the door without knocking, but instead cast her eye through the glass square in the door. There she saw Patsy at the front of the class, striding up and down lecturing what appeared to be a group of notorious trouble makers. As Patsy turned to walk back the way she had come, she caught Delia's eye and mouthed, "Sorry." Deflated, the brunette nodded as obviously as she could and made her way back to her building. She was desperate to talk properly with Patsy and to get to the bottom of her apparent discomfort with herself and her feelings. She knew there was something palpable between them that she wanted to explore, but she didn't want to make the red head feel uncomfortable in any way.

Her second Monday at St Nonnatus had ended really rather well with an excellent Year 8 hockey session and Delia was feeling pleased. She had managed to get on top of her work a little over the weekend and was looking forward to an earlyish finish. As she got up to leave, she heard the handle of her office door turn.

"I thought you'd still be here," Patsy sighed, her relief noticeable. "I've brought a piece offering to make up for earlier, Winifred's a good teacher, but her behaviour management is just ghastly!" Patsy held out her hands to reveal a packet of custard creams. "I thought we could have them with that cup of coffee you promised." Patsy followed this with the most effortlessly beautiful smile Delia had ever seen, which she reciprocated automatically.

The brunette set about filling and boiling the kettle while Patsy was immediately drawn to the book shelf. Fingering the spines of the books, she tilted her head to read the titles and authors' names; mostly unknown to Patsy as they were sport science related. "You like to read?" Patsy asked wistfully still engrossed in the books.

"D'you think because I like to hit balls around with sticks that I wouldn't be interested in reading?" Delia teased and turned to Patsy with a face of mock outrage.

"No… I just meant…"

Delia started chuckling and Patsy realised that she wasn't being serious. "I do actually, I keep all my subject ones in school because my shelves at home are already too full." Patsy couldn't contain how happy it made her that Delia was a lover of books, it was as though she loved part of her.

When the coffees were made, they sat together at the table in the middle of the room, each fiddling with the handles of their mugs or twisting a biscuit in their fingers. "Right then Patience Mount, time for the serious questions!" Patsy visibly tensed and looked down. "… What's your favourite colour?" Delia laughed and Patsy relaxed her shoulders, "I'm sorry, you were looking so awkward I couldn't resist!" Patsy frowned, but when she lifted her head up to look at Delia, she couldn't help but smile too.

The brunette reached her hand across the table and placed it on Patsy's, "look, the last thing I want to do is make you feel uncomfortable or anxious." Unbeknown to Delia, her hand on Patsy's, made the red head feel both. "I just want to get to know you," she continued trying to maintain eye contact, "and I think you want to get to know me?" Patsy nodded silently and refocused her gaze on Delia's hand that was still resting comfortably on her own.

"OK, but answer me this, because I need to know. You don't have to say it, a nod will do. Do you like women?" Patsy nodded slowly. "Right, thank you for confiding in me." Delia couldn't conceal the wide grin that now appeared across her face. The tempting dimple that always managed to catch Patsy's eye, made an appearance and stayed. "Another biscuit?"

This is how they continued for the following weeks. When time and schedules allowed, Patsy would go to Delia's office after school for a coffee and they would chat and laugh, tease each other and learn embarrassing stories about their past. Patsy couldn't remember the last time she had become so close and shared so much with someone else so quickly. The darker parts of her history, she had chosen to keep to herself, not yet ready to divulge the things that made her wake at night.

The last week of the half term had finally come around and all of the teachers at St Nonnatus welcomed the break with open arms. Delia was aware that her feelings for Patsy had deepened over the last 6 weeks, the connection they shared was undeniable and she found her utterly beautiful in every way possible but she had been unable to act for fear of scaring her off.

Packing her things up ready for the week off, Delia busied herself in her office and waited for the visit from her now favourite red headed English teacher… but she didn't come. The brunette checked her watch and the clock on the wall, it was 4:30 on the last day of term, if she wasn't here now, she wouldn't be coming at all. Feeling dejected, Delia thought she would pass through the English Department to see if she was there… but nothing. Realising she hadn't actually heard from Patsy in over 24 hours by text or call, Delia felt her stomach drop with panic. What if something had happened to her?

Delia got out her phone and text Patsy immediately, trying to maintain an air of calm and nonchalance.

'Hey Pats, no coffee this arvo then? Hope you're ok? Xx'

With that, Winifred walked passed, fully laden with bags of books to take home and mark. "Have you seen Miss Mount today by any chance?"

"Um, no, sorry Miss…?"

"Busby"

"No, she hasn't been in today. Called in sick this morning and has made life very difficult for us I don't mind telling you!"

"OK, thank you."

Winifred rambled on but Delia had stopped listening. Why wouldn't Patsy have told her, let her know, stop her from wondering. The horrible feeling that was in the Welsh woman's stomach started rising, making her feel sick. She whispered to herself as she walked to her car, "Right, if she doesn't text back, I'll text her again when I get home. There'll be a perfectly good reason."

Delia did as she said, but by 8pm there was still no response, so she couldn't sit and wait any longer. Grabbing her keys, she decided to go over to Patsy and Trixie's house to see what was going on and more importantly, if Patsy was OK… No one would think to tell her if something had happened and why would they?

Arriving at the house, she rang the bell and waited, fiddling nervously with her keys until the door opened.

"Hello Sweetie, here for another round of Never Have I Ever?" Trixie smiled.

"Um, no, actually, is Patsy here? She wasn't at school today and I haven't heard from her, is she OK?"

"Oh aren't you a sweetheart! Yes, she's fine, just a bit under the weather that's all. I'll let her know you came." Trixie reached for the door as if to guide Delia back out.

Not moving anywhere, Delia asked, "Can I see her?"

"Well I'm not sure she'll be up for seeing anybody, she's awfully fluey."

"Trixie, it's OK." A hollow voice came down the stairs towards the two women from the landing. Patsy walked down a few steps revealing red, puffy eyes and a tissue in hand.

"There you are Pats, you had me worried!" Delia spoke imploringly, searching for a reason she'd been kept in the dark.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think, I've been a little out of sorts today." Patsy descended a few more steps as she spoke, giving Delia a better view of her face. Realising she was no longer needed to protect her friend, Trixie closed the door and walked silently back to the sitting room, leaving the two women locked tightly in each other's' gazes.

"What's the matter Cariad? Can I come up?" The look of concern she felt inside was clearly etched all over the brunette's face.

"Yes, OK." Was all that Patsy gave her. Turning to go back up the stairs, Delia followed Patsy in to her room.

"I was just a bit worried that's all when I realised that I hadn't heard from you and then Winifred said that you hadn't been in, which I thought isn't like you…" Delia rambled on as she often did when she felt nervous and failed to notice the red head turned to face the now closed door sobbing quietly. Delia instinctively went to the taller woman, turned her around and held her close to her, rocking slightly back and forth; feeling Patsy's tense body relax in to her. Being unable to comfort her properly due to their stark difference in height, the smaller woman led Patsy over to the bed where they sat at its edge facing each other.

"What's happened Patsy? Tell me Sweetheart!" Delia threw caution to the wind and placed her hands on Patsy's cheeks, using her thumbs to wipe away her tears and the rest of her fingers to gently stroke her face. As she did so, she felt Patsy's head lean towards her touch and heard a sigh leave her mouth.

"I hate that you've seen me like this, it's just this day, it never changes, never goes away…"

"What Cariad?" Delia asked gently.

"10 years ago, today, my mother and younger sister were on their way to pick me up from boarding school for the holiday." Patsy stifled a tear. "But they never got to me, their car was hit by a drunk driver at a junction and…"

Out of everything that had gone through Delia's mind today as to what could be the matter, this had taken her by complete surprise. "This date every year just brings it all back to me." Patsy let out more tired sobs.

"I'm so sorry Sweetheart, come here." Delia pulled Patsy to her, placing her head under her chin to rest on her chest and enveloped her completely in her arms, kissing the top of her head softly.

Patsy didn't know how long they'd sat there like this, but this woman had the power to ease her pain, as if her grieving had been halved by her embrace. Delia continued to kiss and whisper in to Patsy's hair. "I'm here for you darling, as long as you need, I'm not going anywhere."

At these words of comfort Patsy raised her head to look at the brunette and found two glistening pools of blue staring back at her and the most comforting smile she had ever seen. She'd stopped crying now, but Delia couldn't resist the opportunity to wipe away the last tears from her eyes with both hands. In that moment she knew she couldn't wait any longer, she had to show Patsy how much she cared for her and what she felt for her.

Keeping the red heads face in her hands, she leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her lips. Bracing herself for Patsy's body to tense and for her to pull away Delia leaned back and dropped her hands waiting for a response; the feel of Patsy still making her lips tingle. Instead, she saw a small side smile appear on the red head's face and, reciprocating the movement, she gently held the back of Delia's neck and pulled her towards her, their lips meeting again, sending gentle waves of pleasure through Patsy's body, easing the tension a day of crying had caused. The kiss deepened, but remained soft, Delia's tongue the first to venture forward past Patsy's lips, eliciting a passionate sigh from the red head.

Begrudgingly, Delia broke them apart eager to check that Patsy was OK, not wanting to take advantage of the situation. Searching for an answer to an unspoken question, Delia looked in to Patsy's eyes. "Will you stay with me tonight?" Patsy asked.

"Of course Cariad,"