Miranda parked her car on the residential road in Carthys in front of Nora's flat. She smiled at the other woman sitting in her passenger seat. The date had gone extremely well. Miranda had been painfully nervous. She hadn't been on a date in over a decade but the conversation had flowed easily over the excellent food. The two women had found common ground in their love of art and ethnic cuisine. Miranda felt strangely close to the woman.

"Well, this is me…" said Nora, with a smile.

"May I see you to the door?" Miranda asked shyly. Gods, I sound like an idiot…

"Sure."

She hurried around to open the passenger door for Nora, holding out her hand to help the other woman out of the car, offering her arm. Once the pair had reached the front door, she dropped her arm and gave Nora a shy smile.

"I had a really great time," Miranda said.

"So did I," Nora replied, her keys in her hands.

The two gazed into each other's eyes both trying to find courage. Miranda, praying she wasn't misreading the situation and with her heart pounding in her chest, leaned forward. Nora met the kiss halfway, circling her hands up between Miranda's shoulder blades, pulling her in close. The kiss was slow and gentle with a barely restrained urgency. When Miranda felt the tip of Nora's tongue, she parted her lips. Her breath hitched in her throat and she couldn't suppress the tremble in her jaw when Nora's tongue swiped across hers. She felt the slight change in Nora's stance as the other woman's knees weakened. The two parted breathless, their foreheads touching. Miranda brought her fingers up, brushing them through a lock of hair that had escaped the clip holding back Nora's fringe.

"Would you like to come up?" Nora asked so quickly that her words almost ran together, her voice husky.

Her breath hitched at the question and Miranda felt desire pool in her belly. She swallowed on a dry throat. "I'd like that," she said, "but I think I should say goodnight."

The disappointment on Nora's face was clear and she started to pull back from the embrace, thinking she was being rejected, but Miranda tightened her arms, leaned forward and kissed her again. This time she didn't hold back, adding bold heat to the kiss. Nora let out a throaty moan as their lips moved, their tongues pressing and massaging each other. As Miranda broke the kiss, she swiped her tongue along Nora's bottom lip, the other woman leaning heavily against her.

"It's not a rejection… it's a rain check," she said, bending to bury her nose in the crook of Nora's neck, inhaling and planting a small kiss there. She felt Nora shiver.

"Are you sure…" she said, her voice quivering slightly.

"No, I'm not sure and I think I'm completely daft," Miranda said and gave a small laugh. She stepped back, cupping the other woman's face with her hand. "But I am going to say goodnight."

Nora turned her face to kiss the palm of her hand. "Goodnight, then."

"Goodnight," she said, letting her hand fall.

Miranda watched with a nervous smile as Nora unlocked the front door and disappeared up the stairs. She turned her gaze up to the curtained windows of Nora's flat. She took a few steps backwards, not taking her eyes off the windows, nearly colliding with a pedestrian.

"Oh! Excuse me! I'm so sorry…" her voice trailed off as she recognised the face of Kiernan Davies, her Watcher.

"No, my fault," Kiernan said brightly as he reached out to smooth Miranda's coat and she felt his hand slip into her pocket. As quickly as the encounter had happened, it was over.

She looked away from Kiernan's retreating back and up at Nora's windows, the curtains were drawn and the lights were out. With a stab of regret, she got into her car before retrieving the small slip of paper Kiernan had deposited in her pocket with his untidy scrawl on it.

Tomorrow, 5:30AM - the lift