Cosima stared blankly for a few seconds. She brought her hand down to her side, wondering absently what Delphine was doing at the door.

"Delphine?" She hadn't expected to find her on the second house she tried.

Delphine blinked back at her.

"Cosima?" she repeated. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, uh, well, I err," she stammered. Shit. She hadn't thought this through at all. What was she doing here? "I, uh…." Shit. Shitshitshitshitshit. "You know, I was just in the neighbourhood." She gulped. "And, well, you know, I thought, 'hey! Wonder what Delphine is doin' right now?' and so I just, you know, came by. How are you doing?"

Delphine smiled, blood rushing to her cheeks. "I was just going out for groceries, but honestly I'm a little wiped. I don't think I would have been able to get much done anyway."

Cosima shook her hands, protesting. "No! No, I didn't mean to interrupt, I just, uh, yeah." She felt blood rush to her cheeks.

"No, I insist, it's nothing. Would you like to come in?" Her hands motioned Cosima inside, and Cosima had no choice but to comply.

"Sure, I guess, but only for a little while. I should get going soon. I have a, err, prior engagement. Later today. Yeah."

"Of course, Cosima," Delphine said, smiling a knowing smile that told Cosima she knew exactly how many prior engagements she didn't have. Delphine strutted over to the kitchen, using her hips a little more than was absolutely necessary if you asked Cosima, but she wasn't complaining, and poked around at her pantry. "Would you like anything?"

"Oh, no, I just came by to ask if, uh…" She wracked her brain, trying to think of something, anything, to say. She didn't usually get this nervous around cute girls. "If you had any plans tomorrow night!" she almost shouted. "I mean, uh, would you like to do something?"

Of course! If she had plans with Delphine tomorrow night, she wouldn't have to go to the party with Leekie! How had she not thought of that earlier?

Delphine grinned. "You have my phone number, no?"

"Well, yeah, but you never know if it's gonna work. I thought it might be better to come over and ask in person."

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint, but I have plans tomorrow night. I'm sorry."

She honestly did look sorry. She looked like she didn't really want to go to whatever it was she had to go to and would much rather have spent it with Cosima. Or anywhere else on the planet.

"Oh, no, that's okay. But you know, even if you don't want to go with me, you don't have to go to whatever it is you're doing tomorrow night…"

Delphine shook her head. "No, I do."

"But… you're an adult… no one can make you do anything you don't want to."

She looked down at her feet. "Oh, but I really do."

"No, you don't." Cosima stepped closer to her, trying to look her in the eyes. "No one but you can tell you what you have to do."

She smiled a small smile and took a deep breath. "Cosima, when you grow older, you're going to learn something. Just because you aren't a kid anymore once you turn eighteen doesn't mean people won't still treat you like one. There will always be adults with power over you, even when you are an adult as well. You still have to listen to your elders and you still have to do what they say because, contrary to popular belief, you are a still beneath them. You will always be beneath them, as long as you both live. And even if somehow you manage to escape that, there are still those with power over you. Those who can do whatever the hell they want to you, pardon my language, and you are powerless to stop them. You might as well be five years old again."

Cosima was quiet for a few moments. "You could always run away, right? If there truly is no other choice?"

Delphine sighed loudly, as if she had been through this conversation many times. With herself or with others, Cosima couldn't be sure, but whatever the case, she was tired of the argument. "It isn't that simple, Cosima."

"No. It never is."

There were a few moments of silence before Delphine spoke up.

"I just mean that sometimes you have to do things whether you want to or not. Sometimes those things can guarantee you a future."

"Yeah."

Delphine shifted her weight awkwardly.

"Well, you know, I should probably get home. I just came over to, uh, ask you if you were free, and now I should probably get home. I already said that, didn't I? Yeah, I did. Whatevs, I just, uh, yeah. I'll get going." Cosima turned around to face the front door and began walking out until a voice stopped her.

"Wait!"

She rotated on her heels. "Yeah?"

"Uh, how did you get here?"

"I walked?"

"Well, your house is too far away to walk back! Could I, err, maybe drive you?"

"What? No, no, I couldn't ask that of you."

"Non, Cosima, you can't walk back on your own. Please?"

Cosima contemplated letting Delphine drive her back. On one hand she couldn't keep asking for favours, but on the other hand, she was really tired. "Yeah, that'd be great. I-if it's not too much trouble, of course."

"No, not at all. Hang on, go to the door and let me get my keys, okay?"

"Sure thing," she replied, turning and strolling over to the door. She reached her hand out to grab the door handle, but a vibration in her pocket stopped her. Digging her hand into her pocket and pulling out a pink phone, she slid the top up to find a message from, of all people, Sarah Manning.

oi cos. paul needs to talk to u. can u come over to my house tues?

Cosima furrowed her brow. Sarah Manning didn't talk to her unless it was to ask for her homework early or to change what time she'd drive her over to their Friday party. She hadn't gotten a text from Sarah in – well, ever.

Delphine glanced over at Cosima, seeing her confusion and immediately abandoning attempting to find her keys.

"Cosima? What's wrong?"

"Hmm?" She looked up from her phone, brow unfurrowing and eyes widening. "Oh, it's nothing," she began, waving her hands around. "Just Sarah Manning texting me. I didn't even think she still had my number." Cosima shrugged it off and stuffed her phone back into her pocket among a crumpled up grade report from what had probably been the beginning of the first semester and a few gum wrappers. Not two seconds after Cosima had put her phone away, it began to vibrate again.

"The fuck?" She stuck her hand back into her pocket to pull out the phone, seeing another text from Sarah.

wait, nm, he says it can wait.

Cosima was more than a little bit tempted to ask what it was that could wait, but with Delphine here she couldn't risk being rude and scaring her off. She moved to stick her phone in her pocket again when the screen lit up and it vibrated again.

k, sorry, paul says hes got to talk to u in person tues. can u come

Cosima was getting a little fed up with the constant stream of texts, so to shut her up, she quickly ran her fingers along the buttons, typing a quick response that ran something along the lines of, "Whatever. I have to go now though. Talk to you later."

Delphine looked over at her. "Everything okay?"

"Hmm? Yeah, oh, no, it's all good. Paul's got to talk to me on Tuesday."

"Oh." Delphine unlocked the front door and stepped outside, motioning for Cosima to follow. "What do you think it's about?"

"No idea. Sarah is just very strange and completely incomprehensible."

Delphine just nodded and unlocked her car, opening the door for Cosima to get in. "I think I remember how to get to your house, but if I go the wrong way you'll have to correct me."

"Yeah, obvs. Thanks, by the way, I didn't, you know, mean to just come over for a ride. I really did want to see if you'd do something… Nevermind."

"No, I know." Delphine lowered herself into the car and stuck the keys into the ignition. "Honestly, it's no trouble. You showing up is the biggest encouragement to actually go out and buy groceries I could have." Delphine gave a small self-deprecating smile before continuing on to say, "I've been living off Chinese take-out and Pizza Hut for the last two days."

Cosima broke out into a loud belly laugh. "No kidding?"

"No," Delphine replied, shaking her head and giggling slightly. "I do not kid you."

"Dude, why haven't you gone out?"

"Well, I was planning to go out Friday and get food, but then I got a little caught up writing an essay, and then it was two in the morning."

"Wait, hold up here, you got caught up writing an essay?"

Delphine just nodded.

"At least tell me it was about something interesting, right?"

"Oh, yes. It's about the, eh, ethics and morality of cloning?"

Cosima furrowed her brow. "Really? Ethics and morality?" That wasn't a typical essay assigned by a science teacher.

Delphine shrugged. "My teacher is very strange. Mostly, I think he's just trying to fill some time and keep us interested. He didn't imply it was that big of a grade, so I'm guessing it's just a personal interest."

"Cool teacher."

Delphine hummed her approval. Cosima's stomach growled.

"Non, can not be serious, Cosima. Did you not eat at home?" Delphine asked.

"Well, yeah, I mean, duh, it's me. I eat all the time. But, you know, I may have gotten a teensy tiny bit baked? Munchies, dude. What are you gonna do?"

Delphine laughed and said, "I don't know, maybe just not get high?"

Cosima gasped in fake horror. "Not get high? Never! But nah, dude, don't worry. I ate like a crapload of Twink- oh, fuck me!" She sighed and put her head in her hands. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"Cosima? What's wrong?"

Cosima shook her head. "I ate Twinkies."

"And this is bad because…"

"No, not that, ugh." Cosima sighed. "It's not that I at the Twinkies, it's that I didn't leave that many left in the box, ugh, now I have to buy more, and ugh."

"Well, do you have money?"

"Yeah…. I was planning to get some on my way home, but now that you're driving me-"

"Non! No, no, we could stop at a store easily, Cosima. Remember, I have to pick up some groceries too?"

"Wouldn't that just slow you down?"

"No, honestly, it's okay. See, there's a 7-11 right up ahead I'm sure it'd be easy enough to grab some Twinkies for you and I'll finally get my milk and eggs and cigarettes."

"Oh, so you're a cigarette girl?"

"Mm, yes. Do you smoke?"

"Nah, just pot for me. I'm true to San Fran." Cosima paused for a second before looking back over to Delphine and adding, "I'm going to get you so baked one day."

Delphine grinned. "One day," she agreed. She pulled into a dirty parking lot of what Cosima assumed could only be 7-11, judging from the pay phone in front, (who used payphones anymore?) the group of freshmen trying to be cool, and the faded sign in front. Delphine looked more than a little disgusted, probably trying to figure out how this was the home of the infamous Slurpee.

"Yeah, they taste better than the place looks, promise. Just, don't go by the back because there are always people trying to hook up back there."

"Outside a 7-11?"

Cosima shrugged. "Horny teenagers. Honestly, they'd do it anywhere."

Nodding, Delphine pushed open the door and slung her coat over her arm. She looked over to Cosima, who was grinning like an idiot and practically skipping over to Delphine. Delphine couldn't help but smile at this girl, even though she thought, no, she knew, she could never like a girl. Not like this, at least.

Together, they walked into the store, Cosima still grinning and Delphine biting her lip to conceal a smile. There was a boy who looked like he couldn't have given less of a shit to be there working at the counter, picking at appeared to be a scab on the back of his hand. He glanced up briefly at the two of them as they walked in, but deeming them beneath his attention, returned to his scab picking. Delphine immediately headed to the back of the store to the refrigerators where milk and eggs where kept while Cosima ran to the isles of snack foods to search for Twinkies. She found them in a matter of seconds and, content with the price, headed over to the counter.

The boy looked up from his hand to glance at Cosima before sighing and running his fingers through his dark hair. He rolled his eyes and straightened his back before asking in a monotone, "That all?"

Cosima nodded and passed the Twinkies over, turning around at the sound of Delphine's footsteps behind her. Delphine was carrying a jug of milk, a carton of eggs, a pack of cigarettes, and two candy bars.

"Healthy," Cosima commented.

Delphine made a face and retorted, "Says the girl holding a box of Twinkies and nothing else."

"Touché."

Cosima turned back to the counter, where the boy was holding out her box of Twinkies with the most annoyed expression she'd ever seen, ever, on his face.

"You gonna pay for it or what?"

"Yeah, yeah, calm yourself." She reached into her pocket to pull out her money and handed it to him, her middle finger stuck up under the counter.

Handing back the change, the boy motioned for Delphine to come forward do the same and Cosima stifled a laugh. The boy looked over, intrigued for a second, before shrugging and proceeding to check out Delphine's items. He handed them back, along with her credit card, and Delphine turned to face Cosima.

"Brat!" she whispered. Cosima just grinned and walked out of the store with a new bounce in her step. She spun around on her heel to face Delphine's car only to see in the corner of her eye something utterly revolting.

"Shit!" She grabbed Delphine's arm and pushed open the door, slinking back into the store. "Fuck! Shit fuck shit!"

Delphine glanced outside the window to try and see what Cosima had, but with no luck. "What? What's wrong?"

"That's Scott's dad," Cosima mouthed, pointing.

"Are you sure?" she whispered, poking her head out the door trying to get a better look.

"Yes!" She grabbed Delphine's arm again and pulled her back inside the store, pushing her back up against the wall. "What do we do?

"I don't know! Does this happen often?"

"Seeing my friend's dad making out with some random woman outside a 7-11? No, this is kind of a first. Of course it doesn't happen often! Why do you think I'm freaking out?"

"Okay, okay, calm down. It's okay. We just have to calmly walk out and not make eye contact until we get into my car. Then, we drive away as quickly as humanly possible and pretend this never happened. Agreed?"

Cosima sighed. "Agreed. On the count of three, we walk out. Okay? One. Two…" Cosima prepared herself to push open the door and pretend not to notice a thing. "Three!" She rammed the door open and practically ran to where Delphine's car was parked.

Pulling Delphine along, she hardly noticed the gasp coming from beside her when Delphine recognised the woman Scott's dad was kissing, until –

"Mom?"