I could feel my courage wavering already.

3…

Why wasn't she saying anything?

4…

A deep intake of breath from her. She bites her lip.

5…

Come on Gail, perseverance!

6….

I lean in ever so slowly.

7…

I loop my arms around her waist and pull her to me.

8…

A wave of nervousness washes over me. I know if I kiss her now I have no excuse to fall back on if it all blows up in my face.

9…

Perseverance.

10…

I kiss her. She melts into me and it's glorious the way her lips feel upon mine. Not sloppy like last night. Firm and soft at the same time in a way I am certain is wholly Holly. I feel her tongue upon my lips and it is at this moment that I realize that she wants this as much as I do. Any doubts I had regarding her feelings for me dissipate and I deepen the kiss with my newfound courage given to me by this realization. Her moan is soft but it sounds like rolling thunder. Everything about her is like a beautiful perfect storm—inescapable and magnificent in its grandeur. I could drown in her kiss and I would be okay, I would feel like I lived a good life simply because I experienced this kiss. She withdrawals her tongue and places a short chaste kiss on my lips before breaking away.

I feel a cough rising in my throat and pull away from her to cover my mouth.

"Oh my gosh, Holly! I probably just gave you the bubonic plague! If both of us are infected it's going to be a pandemic. We could turn this campus into fourteenth century Europe!"

"Gail…" her voice was soft.

"I just turned us into a Black Death grenade!"

"Gail…"

"What?"

"You taste like lemon Alka Selzer and Vick's Vaporub."

"Oh…well usually I taste better, I promise. Plus, you're the one that made me drink that awful Alka Selzer. It made me sad in every single fiber of my being. "

"Yeah, well, you need to feel better, so I won't make you drink it anymore. Then 'every fiber of your being' can return to being happy. And what, pray tell, do you usually taste like?"

"Sunshine and happiness."

"You? Sunshine and happiness?"

She laughs a throaty laugh at me and I can't help but smile.

"Sarcasm and bitterness?"

She flashes me a full-wattage smile and its beauty blinds me.

"That sounds more like you. Don't worry about causing a Black Death pandemic—since you don't actually have the bubonic plague. Even if you did, medicine nowadays is far superior to that found in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Furthermore, this university doesn't have a large enough populace so I doubt the "Black Death grenade" that we have become won't kill 75 to 200 million people. I think the effect on campus will be quite minimal."

"Well, but people leave campus and they could take the plague with them and then spread it all over Canada!"

"You're insane, you know that, right?"

"Mmm, it's been mentioned in certain circles."

I flash her a smile as she traces languid circles on my shoulder with her fingertips. I lean into her touch and smile contentedly. A ray of sunshine falls upon her as it flashes through a open segment of the blinds. She looks thoroughly radiant in its glow.

"But love the one you hold

And I'll be your goal

To have and hold

A lover of the light."

I softly hum along with these lyrics as they play in my mind. She stops the circles on my shoulder and looks at me briefly.

"What's on your mind?"

"You are so beautiful."

I breathe out and the circles on my shoulder begin again. The touch of her finger to my skin feels like a spark of electricity. She leans in and places a soft and short kiss on my lips. I imagine that is her way of reciprocating my sentiment.

"I think I'd prefer the sarcasm and bitterness. I am starting to regret making you drink that lemon Alka Selzer. I wasn't aware it would come back to bite me."

"I just wanted to share the delight, Holly. I mean, that stuff tastes almost as good as a meal at a five star restaurant. Almost."

"Aw, Gail. You're too sweet to me. Is that the only reason you kissed me?"

"Well, yeah, of course. I thought you should feel the torture as I felt it. Then I considered that simply forcing you to drink it wouldn't be as fun. I thought you should have the taste second-hand…so I had to kiss you. Sad, though, as it was horrible for me—I mean I wanted it to end just as soon as it started. You're a terrible kisser. Just atrocious. Then I thought to myself that if I stopped kissing you only a second or two in that the true awfulness of the lemon Alka Selzer wouldn't hit you. So to be horrible to you…I had to persevere."

"Is that so?"

"Yep, and it appears to have worked."

I grin at her triumphantly.

"So if I were to kiss you again?"

"It would make me miserable. And since we hate each other…you should probably do that—immediately and for a long period of time."

"Oh should I?"

She flashes me a teasing smile, raises her eyebrows, and the lights in her eyes are dancing. Her fingers are still tracing patterns on my shoulder and I am lost in the sensation of it all. This girl sure did know how to make me swoon.

"Well, yes. I know you're always looking for the upper hand to win this little war we've been waging since we moved in together. This would certainly give you the edge. Forcing me to kiss you, considering how much I loathe you."

"You loathe me?"

"Yep, pretty much."

I nod vigorously and try to keep a stern look on my face even though a smile is tugging at the corners of my lips. She slides her hand up under my shirt and it blazes a path to the underside of my breast. I involuntarily let out a small gasp.

"You loathe me?"

She asks again, her voice husky. Her eyes have darkened and she looks impossibly sexy. I swallow hard.

"Mmmhmm, pretty much. Yep."

She kisses me and sends my entire world spinning.

And in the middle of the night,
I may watch you go.
There'll be no value in the strength
Of walls that I have grown.
There'll be no comfort in the shade
Of the shadows thrown.
But I'd be yours if you'd be mine.