A/N: Sorry if this chapter is so much longer than the others. Some of it is a bit explicit. :)

Her homework had been completed, her room had been cleaned, and she had done more than one wardrobe check in the hours before Jane was expected to arrive. Maura was alone in her dorm, which was unusual for her. She and Markie were practically inseparable and, because they were dating best friends, Markie tagged along when she wanted to see Jane and Maura tagged along when Markie visited Mark. In the rare moments that Markie left Maura by herself because she had to go to class or to a club meeting, their suitemates were always around to keep her company. Before college, Maura had gotten used to being alone, but now that she knew what it was like to have friends, she found it difficult to be without them, which is why she was especially grateful that Jane was going to spend the night with her. As much as she loved her friends, nobody could compare to Jane.

Although she was excited about spending an entire night alone with Jane, Maura was nervous about what the night had in store for them. Earlier that day, Maura's suitemate Roxie had come up with the ingenious idea of tracking each other's sexual conquests by using different color heart-shaped beads that they'd string from the ceiling. There were white beads for making out, light pink for manual stimulation, hot pink for oral sex, and red for going all the way. Their color code might have just been suggested a few hours prior, but Roxie had suggested they start with encounters that had happened since move-in day, which meant the playing field was far from level. Maura glanced at the strands of beads hanging from the wall. Her friends had an assortment of colorful beads, but all Maura had was one solitary white bead that symbolized the time she had made out with Jane in the backseat of her car. It wasn't a particularly heavy make out session, but it was making out nonetheless.

Maura's friends were putting pressure on her to go further with Jane, but she wasn't ready to give in to them. Jane was her first kiss and she wanted Jane to be her first everything but only when the time was right. They had only been seeing each other for a short time and, unlike her friends, Maura wasn't willing to have sex with someone after the first date. She wanted Jane and she constantly fantasized about what she wanted to do with Jane, but she wasn't about to let her libido get the best of her regardless of how much Jane turned her on.

At exactly eight o'clock, Maura heard a knock on her door. As much as she hated to make Jane wait, she rushed to the bathroom before answering the door. She was going to do yet another wardrobe check although nothing about her clothes or her make up had changed since the last wardrobe check. Her suitemates had told her she looked flawless and Maura hoped Jane would agree with them.

Maura pulled Jane in as soon as she opened the door. She had talked herself out of going further with Jane, but every time she saw her, it was becoming more and more difficult for either of them to hold back. Maura knew it was too soon to be love, but it had to be more than lust. They were making out near the door, Maura's body pinned to the wall by Jane. Their hands were awkwardly roaming each other's bodies, unsure of what was off limits, but too embarrassed to ask. "White bead," Maura thought—or at least she had hoped that was just a thought.

"White bead?" Jane asked. Why, Maura? Why?

"White beads mean we've—we've made out," Maura stammered. She looked square into Jane's eyes, expecting her to be upset, maybe even wanting to leave, but Jane's reaction was the complete opposite. She was smiling at her, which put Maura at ease.

"What are the other colors?" Jane asked.

Maura tried to think of a way to explain their system without sounding like—as the term Markie coined to describe Roxie—a sex fiend. "I'll show you," Maura said as she led Jane to the area of her dorm where four strands of beads with name tags hanging from the ceiling.

"Markie, Maura, Roxie, and Stash," Jane read aloud.

"We each have one," Maura pointed out. "Roxie suggested this as a way of keeping track of our sexual encounters."

"These strings are long. How many sexual encounters do you plan on having?" Jane asked.

"As many as you'll let me," Maura responded. Maura, why? Again, why? Why can't you think when you're around this girl?

"I'll let you have as many as you want."

Maura looked at Jane's expression after she had said that. She wasn't smirking. She wasn't laughing. There was a look of sincerity on Jane's face. Maura, your body is ready, but are you? She didn't wait another moment to answer that question. Maura put her hands on Jane's waist and waited for a reaction from her. There was no verbal response, no sarcastic comment or protest. Instead, Jane pressed her lips to Maura's. "I'll tell you what the colors represent," Maura said after breaking their kiss.

"Or you can show me," Jane suggested.

"You're ready?" Maura asked, hoping she, herself, didn't seem uncertain.

"I am," Jane responded. "Are you?"

"I'm ready whenever I look at you."

Her response made Jane go from the confident girl she was just seconds ago to being as shy as she was when they first met. "Maybe we can catch you up to Roxie?"

"Jane? Sweetheart?" Maura asked when she noticed Jane avert her eyes. "We don't have to do this."

"I want to," Jane insisted. "I'm just overwhelmed. Maura, we're…losing it."

"As in our virginity, yes," Maura said matter-of-factly.

"I get to see you naked," Jane said in disbelief. "I get to touch you. I get to…do…everything to you."

"What is this everything?" Maura quipped. "And it isn't only you who gets to do everything. I want you just as badly."

"Maura?"

"Yes?"

"I don't know how I'm supposed to start," Jane said nervously.

Maura bit her lip to prevent herself from giggling. She found Jane's nervousness endearing and she was thrilled that Jane was just as nervous as she was, but she still didn't want to risk bruising her girl's ego. "There isn't a definitive way to have sex. We'll do whatever feels good for the both of us. What have you always fantasized about doing?"

"You don't want to know," Jane smirked.

"Tell me," Maura insisted.

She was taken by surprise when Jane grabbed the hem of her shirt and lifted it over her head. She met with no resistance from Maura who was now exposed to Jane save for her bra and the skirt she was wearing. Jane was about to unclasp her bra when Maura grabbed her hands and set them at her sides. "It's my turn," Maura insisted.

Jane was wearing a loosely-fitted flannel shirt, buttoned up just high enough to show that she wasn't wearing a tank top—or anything—underneath. Maura slowly unbuttoned each button, knowing that Jane's breasts would be fully exposed to her once she was finished. When there were no more buttons left to unbutton, Maura slowly grazed Jane's torso with her fingertips, working from her abs all the way to her shoulders. With one quick movement, Maura pulled the shirt from Jane's shoulders and the two of them let it fall to the ground, leaving Jane bare-breasted in front of her. Without breaking their eye contact, Maura unclasped her bra and tossed it on top of her desk. "This is me," Maura said nervously. She was about to cross her arms over her breasts, but she remembered it was Jane she was with—Jane who was just as nervous and self-conscious about this moment as she was.

Jane pulled Maura into her and Maura nearly shivered because of the skin-to-skin contact. "You're perfect," Jane whispered into her ear.

Maura could no longer hold back. "Make love to me?" There was no longer any space between them except for garments they were still wearing on the lower half of their bodies. In an awkward fumbling of buttons and zippers, they removed each other's clothing. Jeans, a skirt, a flannel, and a blouse were now crumbled on the cold floor of Maura's dorm room.

They were both caught in between girlhood and womanhood and it was evident in the way they looked. There was a gangly awkwardness about Jane's body, but Maura failed to notice any of that. In her eyes, Jane was the embodiment of perfection and she had so much desire for this girl. Judging by the way Jane was looking at her, Maura knew she was feeling the same way and all of her self-consciousness disappeared. The size of her chest, her waistline, her thighs—anything she had once considered an imperfection, but her friends insisted was perfect—no longer mattered in that moment because Jane wanted her for more than her physical appearance.

They made their way over to Maura's bed without any hesitation. Jane and Maura were lying next to each other, their lips locked in a kiss. She felt Jane's hands caress her breasts, but the caresses only lasted so long until Jane's hand moved to her inner thigh and remained stagnant as if she were waiting for permission. She's afraid to touch me. "It's okay," Maura insisted. "I want—I need you to touch me."

The slowness with which Jane moved her hands made Maura start to ache. She felt as if she couldn't wait another second and then Jane touched her where she had needed to be touched. Jane's fingers were gently rubbing Maura's swollen clit. As much as she was enjoying every stroke of Jane's fingers, she wanted more. She wanted to feel Jane and to taste Jane. "You're so wet," Jane said softly. "And so—so, Maura I don't even know what to say right now."

"I'm wet because of you," Maura whispered into her ear.

"Hey, Maura!" were the next words the two of them heard followed by "Oh, fuck. I'm so sorry!"

Jane and Maura looked in horror at Maura's suitemates who were standing near the door that adjoined their bedrooms. They were all too shocked to move except for Jane who quickly grabbed a blanket and threw it over herself and Maura.

Her suitemate Stash covered her eyes, but Roxie looked at them and started shaking her head. "Why wasn't there a scrunchie around the doorknob?" she asked.

Maura gave her a confused look while trying to remain fully covered. "Why would I put a scrunchie around the doorknob?"

"International symbol for 'I'm getting plowed,'" Stash pointed out once she had removed her hands from her eyes.

"Plowed?" Maura asked.

Stash and Roxie started cracking up and it wasn't long before Jane joined them. "It means some guy is balls deep in your vagina," Stash informed her.

"But Jane's a girl," Roxie reminded Stash. "So, I guess, in Maura's case, a scrunchie around the doorknob means Jane is knuckles deep in her vagina."

"She has long fingers," Stash told Maura. "Your girl is hung. Congrats. I'd high-five you, but I don't know where your fingers have been."

"It's not so much the length that matters," Roxie pointed out. "If a guy has a long dick, I'm like, 'so what.' All he's doing is slamming against my cervix and I get fucking annoyed. It's the girth that matters."

"True," Stash responded. "Since it's girth that matters, Jane, how many fingers did you use?"

"I hope you just used one to start with," Roxie said worriedly. "We want Maura's cherry to be popped in the least painful way. Let her get used to it first and then you can add a second finger, maybe even a third."

"I'll keep that in mind," Jane said hesitantly.

Maura was becoming annoyed with the entire conversation. She loved her friends, but all she wanted was an intimate moment with Jane. What they were experiencing was supposed to be beautiful, but now the memory of this was going to be tainted. "I'd like to be alone with Jane now."

"Yeah, no prob," Stash responded. "We just came to see if you wanted to go to a party."

"Not tonight," Jane said as politely as she could. "I really just want some time with Maura."

"We get it," Stash said nonchalantly. "Maura wants to finish cashing in her v-card."

"Jane's a cherry, too," Roxie pointed out. "You two have been going out for like—what—two weeks or so and you're already losing your virginity to each other? Sluts! Total sluts! I'm so proud!" She jumped on the bed with them and gave Jane and Maura each a hug. "Smooches! Meet us in the dining hall tomorrow morning and you two can tell us all about it at breakfast."

"Great," Jane said sarcastically.

Once they were gone, Maura covered her face with the blankets. "Jane, I'm sorry."

Jane pulled the blanket down. "It's not so bad."

"Not so bad?" Maura asked in disbelief. "My suitemates saw my labia. They saw us both naked. I'll reiterate, they saw my labia. How is that not so bad?"

"Okay, it's bad," Jane admitted. "But it could be worse. At least they weren't disgusted or saying anything derogatory to you for being with a girl. They seemed thrilled that you were having sex. You have some pretty cool suitemates and friends."

"I do," Maura realized. "And I have the coolest girl in my bed. Thank you for not being upset."

Jane smiled at her. "Kind of embarrassed, yes, but not upset. Are they like that all the time?"

"All the time," Maura emphasized. "Do you want to—"

"Continue?" Jane interrupted. "Is it wrong if I want to cuddle instead?"

"Cuddling is never wrong," Maura insisted. "Stash and Roxie ruined the romance."

"They did," Jane agreed. "We're going to lose our virginity in the backseat of your car like normal teenagers."

"And you'll be knuckles deep," Maura quipped. "Jane, help. They're making me vulgar."

"I'm going to thank them for that."

Maura scrunched her nose in disgust, which made Jane start to laugh. It was still early for them to fall asleep, but cuddling gave them the perfect opportunity to talk to each other. That night, Maura fell asleep wrapped in Jane's arms. Never in her life had she felt anything as comforting as what she felt in that moment with Jane promising to hold her the whole night through. When she awoke the next morning, the first thing she noticed was that Jane had kept her promise. She was still holding her.