It was Alex's big day and Abbie couldn't help but spend the entire afternoon teasing her for never having made out with a woman. She couldn't be happier for her best friend, but she was having way too much fun teasing her; however, the teasing stopped when she saw how nervous Alex was. That's when she sat her down and gave her a few pointers on how to make out with a woman. She had already told her that there was no definitive place to put her hands, but that wasn't enough for Alex. The two of them role-played with each other as best as they could without actually making out. Assuming that Casey was going to be the one to initiate everything, Abbie decided to take Casey's role. She grabbed Alex's hands and showed her various ways to position them. It was all so childish to Abbie, but Alex was taking everything seriously—so seriously that she decided to jot down a few notes on what Abbie was saying. When she put the tablet down, Abbie saw that there were also drawings of stick figures to accompany these notes.

If she's this nervous about making out, sex is going to blow her mind.

Once Alex had picked out the perfect outfit, Abbie took it as her cue to leave. Earlier, she had put on a pair of workout pants and a hooded sweatshirt, so Alex would think she was going to the gym for a couple of hours, but her ensemble was merely a disguise. She was about to risk everything to visit Serena in her dorm. Before meeting Serena, Abbie couldn't fathom being with the same woman more than once let alone risking her job just to spend time with her. A couple of her first-year law students lived in the same building as Serena, so she made sure to pop the hood over her head and disguise herself as best as she could in the shapeless pants and sweatshirt. Abbie felt unattractive, but while it was that time of the month, she honestly didn't care.

The moment she arrived at Serena's dorm, Serena grabbed her by the neckline of her sweatshirt and pulled her in. Abbie had expected some small talk, but instead Serena just pushed her against the wall and started kissing her.

"I want to take your clothes off," Serena whispered into her ear.

"Can't," Abbie reminded her. "It's that time of the month."

Serena wrapped her arms around her. "I'm so sorry I forgot, but it's okay. All that means is that we get to cuddle and get to know each other better."

Abbie pretended to be disappointed, but she was actually ecstatic. She had wanted to cuddle with Serena all day and now she finally had her opportunity.

Alex fastened the strapless bra that Abbie had told her to wear. She had told her that a bra with straps would get in the way and it wasn't as sexy as a strapless bra, especially a strapless bra that fastened in the front. As she fastened it, she couldn't believe that by the end of the night, another woman would actually be unfastening it. The thought of it was almost too much to handle, so she decided to find a way to help her relax. Casey was due to arrive any moment, which made Alex even more nervous. She got up to check her appearance in the mirror and that's when she heard a knock at her door.

"I'll be right there," Alex shouted as she fixed her hair and make-up one last time. She had wanted to wear lipstick, but Abbie told her lipstick was a bad idea because it would smear all over Casey.

When Alex saw Casey, the first thought that came to mind was how lucky she was for getting to kiss her and be alone with her. Alex had been attracted to other women, but never in her life had she felt like this. Casey was everything she had wanted in a woman; she was intelligent, pretty, fun, and incredibly caring. Alex felt comfortable with her and she knew she was ready to let Casey in on her secret.

"I missed you," Alex said as she cuddled with Casey on her bed. She had never laid on her bed with another woman and she worried about being too forward.

If I'm kissing her as we're lying on my bed, will that make her think I want to have sex with her? Is that a bad thing? Who wouldn't want to have sex with her? She's so gorgeous.

"You get right to the point, don't you?" Casey teased.

"Am I being too forward?" Alex asked nervously.

"No," Casey responded. "I'd just never take you for the type who brings girls to her bed right away. You do this often?"

"Actually," Alex began. "There's something I've been wanting to tell you and I'm hoping it won't change anything between us."

"Go ahead," Casey urged. "I won't judge you."

Here goes nothing.

"Casey, I'm…"

Casey waited for Alex to continue, but all she did was start biting her lip. "Alex, you're what? You're beautiful? I already knew that."

"I'm a virgin," Alex said quickly.

"You're a what?"

"I'm a virgin," Alex repeated. "I'm not exactly thrilled about it, but I've never had sex and I've never made out."

"Why?" Casey asked in complete shock.

"Casey!"

"I'm sorry," Casey said and kissed her hand. "I've just never met a twenty-four-year-old virgin before. That's kind of like finding a unicorn."

"Now you're probably going to think I'm a freak," Alex said as she took her hand away from Casey. Instead of giving her space, Casey decided to do just the opposite. She wrapped her arms around Alex and pulled her even closer to her.

"If anything, it makes me respect you even more," Casey told her. "There's nothing wrong with being a virgin, Alex. All it means is that you have respect for yourself and respect for the woman you're meant to be with."

"Abbie makes fun of me for it."

"Well, Abbie isn't normal," Casey reassured her. "I know she's your best friend, but there's something not…right…about her. Sex should be special and an experience you only share with a woman you love. I don't see how she and Serena can just have sex with women who mean nothing to them."

"When did you lose your virginity?" Alex asked.

"I was eighteen," Casey informed her. "And she was my girlfriend. We were together for three years, but she graduated in '94 and then went off to medical school in San Francisco while I still had one year of college left. We tried having a long distance relationship, but she started seeing someone else. She's the only woman I've ever had sex with, in case you were wondering. I was devastated my entire senior year and I went as far as swearing off women for the rest of my life."

"How's that working out for you?" Alex asked playfully.

"Swearing off women has been very difficult ever since I've met you."

"I'm sorry she broke your heart."

"I'm not," Casey told her. "It's for the best."

"I've had…opportunities," Alex admitted. "But nothing about them seemed right. I'm not saving myself for marriage, but I'm saving myself for the woman I could marry eventually. You probably think I'm weird now."

"Not at all," Casey told her. "This reminds me of a story my mom told me when I was a teenager, except she didn't mean for it to be about two women. Imagine you and the woman you fall in love with are both given a really beautiful rose when you're born and every time you have sex with a different person throughout the course of your life you have to remove one of the petals from that rose. When you finally meet the woman you're meant to be with, you give your rose over to her and she gives hers to you. When it's time to give that rose away to someone, wouldn't you rather give her one that's still immaculate? It would mean so much more than one that's missing most of its petals or one that is nothing but a stem."

"Case?"

"Yes, beautiful? I mean, yes, Alex?"

That's the second time tonight that she's called me beautiful.

"I've never thought about my virginity that way," Alex said before kissing her. "Thank you for making me feel better."

"Let's not make out tonight," Casey told her. "I want to make out with you, but I don't want it to be planned the way this was. If the right time comes for us to make out with each other, it's going to be special. You've been saving yourself for twenty-four years, Alex, and you deserve for everything to be done the right way. Let me take you out to dinner instead and we can spend some more time getting to know each other."

Alex gave her another kiss on the lips. "I'd like that."

Casey arrived at her dorm that night feeling happier than she had been in a long time. Her dinner date with Alex had gone well and they spent over an hour talking to each other about anything that was on their mind. With Alex, conversations were never forced. She genuinely loved talking to her and she was always interested in knowing what was on Alex's mind and what Alex's opinions were. Casey had wanted to take her to a nice restaurant, but Alex insisted on going to one of the local pizza places instead. Alex and Abbie always swore by it, so Casey figured it was worth trying, especially because they could get two large slices of pizza and a soda for $3.

"What base did you get to?" Serena asked as she smiled at Casey from her bed.

"It's not about getting to a certain base," Casey insisted.

"Oh, so you struck out?"

"I know you'll find this hard to believe, Serena, but there are more important things than sex."

Serena started laughing. "The only women who say that are those who don't get laid enough."

Casey noticed the hickeys all over Serena's neck and started to wonder what woman Serena had invited over. I guess she isn't so heartbroken about Abbie if she's already seeing other women.

"Who was it this time?" Casey asked as she sat down next to Serena, but there was no verbal response from her. Instead, Serena started crying. Casey spent the rest of the night consoling her even though she had no idea who her date was or why she was crying. She had planned on telling her all about her evening with Alex, but now there was no way she would flaunt her happiness in front of Serena.