3.

The wall before Carly seemed impenetrable. At first it had only appeared to be a small bump in the road, something she could easily overcome by doubling her efforts, but now she could no longer see a way past it. She kept reading and rereading the material, but it just wouldn't stick in her head, and when she tried to form a coherent sentence on her computer everything just became a jumble. She was too tired, plain and simple.

"Sam?" she quipped over her shoulder, "A little help?"

"What?" came the wearily startled reply.

Carly sighed and turned around on her seat, looking in the living room. The television was showing some infomercial, and Sam was sprawled on the couch, lying on her side, her head on the armrest. She must've been sleeping, the jerk! "You're supposed to help me concentrate!" Carly shouted irately.

Sam let out a chuckle and twisted her neck around to look back at Carly. There was a grin on her face, even though her eyes barely stayed open. "How am I supposed to do that?"

"I don't know, but that's the only reason I let you stay over!"

"I thought I was just supposed to keep you awake?"

Carly rolled her eyes. "You're not doing that either."

A puzzled expression came over Sam as she sat up and stretched her arms high in the air, yawning in the process. "But you're awake, aren't you?"

"No thanks to you," Carly said, then watched how Sam only shrugged her shoulders helplessly, looking apologetic. "Ugh! You are useless to me!" she groaned and swung around again, back to the kitchen counter, the computer and her many books. She picked up one that was already open and tried to focus her eyes on the text.

"I don't know what I can do, Carls. Don't be mad." Sam's voice sounded sad, but Carly knew it was a deliberate attempt to gain sympathy from her. "If I talk, I'm only distracting you. If I try to help, you'll never get your A... Oh, I know!" The last words came as a happy shout.

"You're not hacking into the school's computer to change my grade again," Carly stated blandly.

"Awwwh! Then I'm out of ideas."

Carly sighed. "You could rub my shoulders."

"No," Sam said firmly.

"Then make me a snack."

Carly heard a loud groan from the living room. "Do I have to?" Sam's voice was even whinier this time.

"Yes!"

There was no movement in the living room that Carly could detect. She wasn't exactly holding her breath either. Sam was lazy under the best of circumstances, when she was tired it usually took some unearthly force to get her to do anything. And, really, it was a little unfair of Carly to take her frustration out on the blonde. It wasn't Sam's fault that she was having so much trouble finishing one stupid assignment. But the beauty of their relationship was exactly in the fact that they didn't have to be fair to each other. What they had was so deep that Carly couldn't think of anything that wouldn't be forgiven between them.

"I got it!" Sam suddenly yelled after almost a minute, when Carly had already become convinced she'd fallen back asleep. She set down the book, not having memorised a single word or made any kind of progress really, and again faced the living room. Sam was on her knees on the couch, leaning over the backrest, staring back at her with an excited smile. "Did I ever tell you about this dolphin show I saw on television?" the girl asked.

Carly's expression remained bored as she tilted her head slightly to the side. "What?"

"No, this is good!" Sam went on, likely noticing the disbelief on Carly's face.

"When did you watch a program about dolphins?" Carly asked dubiously. It certainly didn't sound like something Sam would be interested in.

"I don't know, earlier this evening," Sam shook her head quickly, "It ended about an hour ago, I guess."

"No, you never told me about that. I suppose I've been too busy," Carly talked in a calm voice, "WORKING ON MY ESSAY!" she finished with a shout.

"Whoa!" Sam uttered, visibly taken aback. "Deep breaths, Carly. Now, do you wanna hear about this or not? It'll really help you," the girl added quickly.

Carly closed her eyes and followed Sam's advice, taking in a couple of calming breaths, before returning her attention to the girl. "Fine, tell me about the doolphins," she said, drawing out the words boredly, imitating Sam's patented 'Yes, mother' voice.

"First, come closer," Sam said, haphazardly emphasising her words with a hand wave. "This is so good, it has to be whispered."

Lazily Carly pushed herself off the chair and started slowly making her way across the floor. "It better be better than sliced bread," she said in a warning tone. She would not tolerate any nonsense this time of night. When she arrived behind the couch she directed her gaze down on the blonde girl, who was staring back intently. "Dolphins?" Carly queried.

"Dolphins," Sam affirmed quietly. "Did you know that when they sleep, half of their brain stays awake and they can still keep on keeping on?"

There was a disturbingly amused quality to Sam's voice. It bothered Carly quite a lot, but what she had actually said sounded too curious to neglect. "I guess I'd heard of it. It does sound familiar," she said, "What are you getting at?"

Sam motioned her to come closer with her finger, and waited while Carly crouched down and laid her head on the backrest right next to hers. "Now, listen carefully," Sam said, staring directly into Carly's eyes. "You know how we're brain twins?"

"Wha...?" It was all Carly managed to get out of her mouth before it was swiftly attacked by Sam's lips. The blonde lunged forward and kissed Carly much more aggressively than the first time. The effect on her was pretty much the same, though. She could feel it all happening, even when Sam pushed her tongue past her lips into her open mouth. She knew what was going on but just couldn't react to it in any way. There was a faint coconut taste to Sam's lips that also registered as an enjoyable experience.

And then it was all over. Sam pulled away and grinned at Carly's blank, empty expression. "Are you listening?" the girl whispered barely audibly.

"Ahha..." Carly made a noise, even though no muscles on her face moved.

"Good," Sam chuckled quietly. Placing her mouth right next to Carly's ear, she started telling her about dolphin sleep and brain twins.