Author's Note: A shorter chapter this time, and also the penultimate. Yes, it's nearly the end of LMHOTDF because in two days it will be the one year anniversary of this 'fic which would be an opportune date to finish it. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Love you all ~ KennyEchelon

We woke up to Britt's phone alarm the next morning, still curled up with each other. I remember how our legs were intertwined as her cell blared out Blink's "Feeling This" and she sleepily reached one arm over me to press the snooze button. She planted a quick kiss on my forehead, making a jolt flare through me, before she buried herself back in the covers. I could tell she was threatening to fall asleep again, and I nudged her gently.

"Brittany, it's half six. We need to get up, babe."

"Five more minutes" she mumbled.

I couldn't exactly argue with her there. We did have time to relax a bit before cleaning up and going to breakfast. We were definitely going to have to have another shower after the activities of the night before, but we had enough time before wandering down to the canteen. I lay there, repeating that night in my head, running one hand through Britt's golden hair.

I thought that it was going to change things, but if anything, it just made me more confused than ever. I wasn't sure if I'd just gone and made things awkward and I definitely didn't know if I wanted a relationship with her. I mean sure, it was the best sex I'd had with a virgin and I had feelings for her that were too powerful to ignore. But did that have to lead to a relationship? I could just imagine Mom and Dad's faces if I told them that I was dating a girl and it wasn't pretty.

And then it hit me. Holy shit, I'd just had sex with a girl.

And not just any girl, it was Brittany of all people.

Panic rose as I tried to figure out what that meant for me. I'd toyed with the idea of me being a lesbian for a while, but it couldn't be true, could it? My heart beat fast and a sour taste flooded the back of my mouth. Every expletive under the sun ran through my head as I tried and failed to keep calm.

Britt noticed me freaking out and snuggled closer. "What's up, San? You seem edgy?"

I quickly scanned my brain for an acceptable response.

"I just really don't wanna go home just yet. I mean, what if we never see Lucy again?"

Britt's face relaxed with relief. I could take a pretty good guess that she was panicking herself, wondering if she'd done something wrong. Little did she know that the problem was me, and I never wanted her to feel like I did in that moment.

"She said she lived in Ohio, right? We could still visit her and stuff. We'll just have to ask for her cell number today" she replied "Wait, what if she doesn't have a cell phone? She does look kinda homeschooled."

I laughed, calming me down a little bit. She came out with the most ridiculous stuff sometimes. She wasn't being intentionally mean, because Lucy was our friend, but she didn't particularly have a verbal filter either.

We eventually got out of bed, and I slipped into the shower. I let the warm water wash over me and lathered my coconut body wash across my skin. Thoughts raced through my mind, and I fought to suppress them. I quickly rubbed shampoo into my hair and rinsed. I got out and went back into the bedroom. Britt was sat on the bed, cross legged and playing with the ends of her hair. She saw me enter, then gathered her stuff and skipped past me to go to the bathroom. She quickly kissed me on the cheek on her way out.

She came back in her towel 15 minutes later, water droplets trickling down her collar bones. I blushed as I noticed them disappear between her cleavage and averted my eyes quickly.

"I-I can go outside if you want to get changed in private?" I stammered.

"Nah, you can stay. I don't really have anything to hide, right?"

I lay back onto my bed, already changed into my cheer clothes. I made a point of looking fixedly at the ceiling. I wasn't a pervert or anything.

My eyes seemed to disagree, because I found them wandering back to her. Every time I did, I snapped them back to stare at the blank plaster above me.

"Control yourself, Lopez" I mentally hissed at myself.

After what seemed like an age of me resisting the urge to look at her, Britt finished changing into her clothes, her hair still hanging damply around her shoulders. I called her over to my side of the room and invited her to sit on my bed. I remember thinking "Damn, she's pretty" but I managed to stop myself blurting it out.

She sat down next to me and I partitioned her hair into 3 sections. I began to braid her hair carefully, using the moisture in it to keep everything neat. I pulled a hair tie from my wrist and wrapped it around the end of her braid, before wrapping my arms around her from behind. I sat there for a second just breathing in her scent, all warm and shampoo-y from her shower.

"There you go, all ready" I mumbled into the back of her shoulder blade.

"Thank you."

I pulled away before I was ready, thinking I was going to seem creepy if I held on any longer than I had. I was still stressing out about the whole situation, but deciding to shove it to the back of my mind, Britt and I went down to breakfast.