Delphine arrived at the apartment fashionably late to make sure that Cosima would already be there. Her palms were sweating as she rang the doorbell. She was nervous, unsure of how she would hold up, being around so many people again. So many new people. The fact that they knew nothing about her gave her some relief. She hoped to keep it light and have a little fun.

A man wearing a tank top and tight black jeans opened the sliding door. "Hello there," he remarked.

"H...Hi, I'm looking for Cosima," Delphine stumbled.

"Ah, you must be Delphine. Now I get it," he held out his hand, "I'm Felix. Come on in."

Delphine walked into the space. It was a large apartment with high ceilings and artwork everywhere. There were people standing around, many of them deep in conversation or laughing with friends. She felt a little overwhelmed.

"Delphine!" she heard from across the room, turning to see Cosima bounding toward her, the goofiest grin on her face. "Hey," she beamed as she pulled Delphine into her embrace.

Delphine felt her body relax as she molded into Cosima's familiar touch. "I'm so happy you're here," Cosima stated as she moved back from the hug.

Delphine smiled and nodded. "Me too," she muttered weakly.

"So you've already met my man, Felix. This is his place. Come meet the others."

Cosima led Delphine over to a small group standing against the wall. They all turned to look at her at the same time and she felt her anxiety creep in.

"You know Scott already, obviously. This here is Sarah, Felix's sister, and this is Alison and Donnie. Oh and that's Helena over there." She pointed to a girl with wild hair laughing and taking shots with Felix. "Helena's the wild one," Cosima whispered to Delphine.

"Nice to meet you, Delphine," Sarah stated, holding out her hand to shake Delphine's. "I've heard a lot about you."

Delphine looked at Cosima who had turned a nice shade of red. "You have?" she asked Sarah.

"Oh yeah, this one goes on and—"

"Ok, that's enough out of you, Sarah," Cosima chuckled nervously, cutting her off.

She shook Alison and Donnie's hands. They all seemed very nice. Of course they would be; they're Cosima's friends.

"You want a drink?" Cosima asked. "There's some wine."

"That sounds good," Delphine responded. She needed to relax.

"Come get it with me," Cosima told Delphine, taking her hand. She led her over to the makeshift bar. She poured the wine into two glasses, handing one to Delphine. Before they could go back over to Cosima's friends, Cosima put her arm gently around Delphine's waist to rest her hand on the small of her back. "You doing ok?" she asked, looking sweetly into Delphine's eyes.

Delphine took a deep breath, letting her anxiety flow out through Cosima's warm touch. "Yes, I'm ok, thank you. Your friends seem so nice."

Cosima smiled. "They are going to love you."

Delphine nodded. They walked back over to the group, hand in hand.

"Scotty boy, where's your new girlfriend?" Cosima asked.

Scott blushed. "Oh, she can't make it tonight." He looked disappointed.

"Aww, Scotty's in loooooove," Cosima teased, shoving his arm with her hand.

"Shush, Cosima, or else I'll start talking about how smitten you are," Scott replied.

Cosima blushed, embarrassed, unable to look at Delphine. Sarah came to her rescue. "Hey, Delphine, so how are you liking San Fran?" she inquired.

"Oh, it's very nice. I haven't seen too much of it yet," Delphine answered, "But Cosima's been showing me around a little."

"Oh good, Cos knows all the best spots. Stick with her and you'll have a good time," Sarah replied.

"I have figured that out," Delphine smiled at Cosima who was still beet red.

Delphine was feeling much more relaxed as the night went on, having had a few glasses of wine, and enjoying Cosima's friends. They were really great and did not pry into her personal life too much, which she appreciated.

They ended up all sitting around on the couch while some other people danced in the middle of the floor. Helena was wildly dancing with Felix, who also had two men hanging off of him. Alison and Donnie were slow dancing in the corner, seemingly lost in each other.

Delphine sat close to Cosima, with Sarah and Scott on Cosima's other side. Cosima moved her hand onto Delphine's knee, glancing at her for approval. As soon as she felt the touch, Delphine put her hand over Cosima's and smiled.

It was getting late and Delphine was tired, not used to staying out much past 11pm. She was not so young anymore, and it had been a long time since she stayed out late.

She leaned over to Cosima. "I think I'm going to go home," she whispered. "Would you want to come with me? I mean, we could just hang out a little more." She didn't want to leave Cosima's company.

Cosima grinned. "Yeah, I would love that."

They said goodbye to everyone and headed back to Delphine's. They got inside and Delphine went to the kitchen to grab some drinks while Cosima sat on the couch, opening Delphine's laptop. "Do you mind?" she asked Delphine.

"Of course not," Delphine answered.

Cosima searched for the music she was looking for and pressed play as Delphine walked back into the room. She stood up and walked over to Delphine, taking the drinks out of her hand and setting them down on the coffee table.

"Delphine, will you dance with me?"

Delphine chuckled. "Oh, I don't really dance."

"Well, you don't really have to do much, just, may I?" she asked, reaching out for Delphine's hands.

Delphine's breath hitched in her throat. "Ok," she whispered.

Cosima took Delphine's arms, placing them around her own waist. She then threw her own arms around Delphine's neck, resting her head on her shoulder and swaying slowly.

Delphine felt Cosima's warmth against her chest and she pulled tighter on the brunette's lower back, making their hips flush against each other.

She could feel Cosima's chest rising and falling against her own. She thought about how nice this was, closing her eyes, letting all her anxiety fall away. She thought of Jen briefly and how she used to do sweet things like this for her. She could feel her eyes start to water, but she wasn't sure if the tears were from sadness or happiness. Maybe a little bit of both, she thought.

Cosima brought her hand up to Delphine's necklace, moving her finger over the cool metal charm. "You always wear this necklace. It's beautiful."

"It was my mother's," Delphine explained. "She died when I was 22."

"Oh," Cosima said as she picked her head up, moving her hand to Delphine's cheek, wiping away a stray tear she found there. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, it was a long time ago, but I still think of her every day," Delphine replied, "This necklace sat in my jewelry box for years and years and one day, Jen had it fixed for me. I've been wearing it ever since."

"That's beautiful," Cosima remarked, "Jen sounds like she was so sweet."

"She was," Delphine whispered.

"What was she like?" Cosima inquired as she tugged on Delphine's neck, squeezing the back of it gently with her fingers.

"You really want to know?" Delphine responded.

Cosima nodded.

"Well, she was very kind, very caring. She was an English teacher, taught high school kids, and those kids were her life. She loved them and they loved her. She was always everyone's favorite teacher," Delphine explained, her tears flowing more freely now. "She was such a good person. So good to me, always."

Cosima looked up at Delphine with an understanding look in her eyes. "She sounds wonderful. You must've loved her so much. So well."

Delphine nodded through her tears, unable to speak.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you so upset," Cosima stated.

"No, no, I'm happy to talk about her, I really am," Delphine replied, "It helps keep her memories alive. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to be a blubbering mess."

Cosima giggled. "I don't mind," she soothed.

"Tell me about Elise," Delphine instructed.

Cosima smiled. "She was an artist. I met her through Felix. They had been friends since they were young. She was insanely brilliant, so creative. She looked at the world in an interesting way, so different from anyone else. She had a hard life too, but she dealt with it through her work. And we fell in love...moved in together, had our rough patches, but all in all, it was wonderful. We balanced each other." She pressed her forehead into Delphine's neck, still rocking them to the music. "It does feel good to talk about it, thank you," she whispered.

Delphine nodded and rested her cheek on Cosima's head. "Cosima, I am so tired. I think I need to go to sleep."

Cosima backed up, letting her arms drift over Delphine's shoulders as she moved away. "Oh yeah, I should probably go home."

"Will you stay with me?" Delphine asked, "Just sleep...of course."

Cosima grinned up at Delphine, taking her hands in hers. "Yeah, ok."

Delphine led Cosima to the bedroom, opening the drawers and taking out a t-shirt and shorts. "Is this ok?" she asked, holding up the clothing. "You can find a new toothbrush in the medicine cabinet that you can use."

Cosima nodded, grabbing the clothes from Delphine before heading into the bathroom to change. Delphine changed her own clothing, removing her shirt and bra and putting on a tank top, taking off her pants to sleep in her boxers. She wasn't embarrassed in front of Cosima. She was completely comfortable. She sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for Cosima to come out so she could brush her teeth.

Cosima came out of the bathroom wearing Delphine's shirt, which was clearly too large for her. Delphine chuckled, "I'm sorry, that's one of my smaller shirts."

"That's ok, it's so comfy," Cosima noted, smirking. She climbed onto the bed as Delphine went into the bathroom.

When she came out, she saw that Cosima had gotten under the covers and was laying on her side. Delphine got into the bed, facing her.

They stared at each other, smiling, for a moment until Delphine broke the silence. "Cosima," she paused before continuing, "I'd really like to hold you. Would that be ok?"

"Yes," she whispered immediately.

Delphine moved closer, looping one of her arms under Cosima's neck, the other draping over her side. She brought Cosima's torso toward her until they touched, her head buried in Delphine's chest.

Delphine took a sharp breath as she felt their bodies close, closer than they had been before, their hips pressing against each other's, her leg seeking entrance between Cosima's legs. She felt the weight of Cosima's top leg as it moved to rest on hers, their feet brushing.

It had been so long since she had been this close to someone. She could feel Cosima's heart beating through her chest as she inhaled slowly, deeply. Cosima smelled like sandalwood, with hints of pine. It was comforting in the best way.

She ran her hand up and down Cosima's back, over her t-shirt, until she felt the smaller woman's breathing slow, knowing she had fallen asleep. Delphine closed her eyes, and quickly slipped to sleep with happier thoughts than she had let into her mind in a long time.