Hi, season's greetings and all that – this might be the last update over the Christmas holidays so I'm getting it out now. Many thanks for the reviews, as always feel free to let me know what you think, this may be a longer story than I'd originally planned.

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It happened again two nights later. And the night after that. This time there was no whisper in the darkness, Jade simply appeared, shadowed in the doorway, waiting until Tori pulled back the covers. And each morning, when Tori woke up, Jade would be in the kitchen, cooking breakfast and humming.

But the next time - the next time was different.

Tori didn't know what time it was when she turned over, half asleep, still dreaming. Jade was on her side, facing away from her, her breathing deep and steady, and without thinking Tori slipped her arm across her, her hand sliding underneath the T-shirt, brushing across bare flesh, fingertips ghosting over pale skin. She felt the other girl stiffen with a tiny intake of breath, and then relax, as she moved her hand further, in an all too familiar ritual - until finally Jade responded, as she always had.

But no words were spoken, no promises, nothing but the murmur of bodies in the night, and the next morning Tori awoke to an empty bed. She listened carefully, but there was no sound of breakfast being made, so she put on her gown and crept quietly out of the room.

Jade was asleep on the sofa, blankets drawn up to her chin, snoring gently. Tori watched her for a moment, and wondered whether last night had actually happened. The dull ache in her body told her it had, but then why was Jade sleeping out here? She was interrupted in her thoughts by the fact that Jade was waking up.

"What the... What time is it?" She grabbed for her phone. "Damn it. Sorry." She peeled off the blankets and stood up, shaking the sleep away. "I'll get breakfast started."

Tori was a little taken aback. "You don't need to do that."

"It's fine. Just overslept, that's all. You get ready for work." She disappeared in the kitchen.

Tori followed. "Are you... okay?" she asked, tentatively.

"Fine."

"It's just that-"

"You want pancakes?"

"What? I mean, yes. Pancakes is good. Are good. Um..."

"Go get dressed."

Tori backed out of the kitchen to do as she was told, leaving Jade to start breakfast. She paused for a moment to see if she could detect a change in mood from the clatter of the pans, but nothing seemed amiss, except...

Humming. Jade wasn't humming.

She went to her room feeling uneasy.

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They ate quickly, Jade making almost incessant small talk until it was time for Tori to leave, and by the time Tori reached work she was in a state of mild panic.

Why won't she talk about it? Afterwards Tori had felt like she'd been giving some kind of concession, a peace offering. She'd shared her bed, and then she'd shared herself. She wasn't asking Jade to thank her for it, obviously, that would be obscene - it had been as much for her own benefit as anything. But still...

Then she was struck by a much darker thought. What if Jade hadn't wanted to do it? What if she'd done it because she thought it was something demanded of her, the price of sanctuary? She replayed the scene in her head, the way Jade's body had gone rigid, almost cringing at first, and Tori had a horrible vision of Jade's face, turned away from her, twisted in silent revulsion at her touch.

She shook her head to clear the picture from her mind. It was nonsense. Jade wouldn't have done it if she didn't want to, she was sure. She would have just said no. Wouldn't she?

They'd talk about it tonight, clear the air. Definitely.

Resolution made, she picked up her order pad and took down her cap from its spot on the coffee machine. It felt suspiciously heavier than usual, and she peered inside to find that it was, unaccountably, full of raw eggs. She dumped it into the trash and tried not to hear the giggling from the kitchen. It was going to be a long day.

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They didn't talk about it. Tori came home to a spotless apartment to find Jade hunched over her laptop. She dropped her bag and wandered over. "Hey."

"Mm? Oh, hey," Jade said, as if Tori was the last person she was expecting.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm looking," Jade said, squinting at the screen and deleting an errant comma, "for a job."

"Oh. Right."

Now. Now was the time. Right now. Say it, Tori.

"Um, Jade?"

"Yeah?"

But she couldn't. Couldn't bring herself to say those three little words. About last night...

"Do you want coffee?"

"I enclose my résumé … What? Oh. No, I'm good, thanks. I'll go put some on, though, if you-"

"I can do it." It came out harsher than she'd intended, but Jade didn't seem to notice. She went into the kitchen.

"So," she called back. "Any luck?"

"Not really. I think I'm going to have to lower my sights."

"I can ask at the diner, if you want?"

There was no answer. Doesn't want to lower her sights that far, Tori thought.

Or she doesn't want to work with you.

Something occurred to her. The price of sanctuary. She came back to the sofa and sat down.

"Look," she said, "if this is about paying me rent, or anything, you really don't need to worry about it. I mean, you're already buying all the food and everything..."

"That's sweet, Tori," Jade said, and the little smile seemed genuine. "But I can't stay here forever."

"Well, no, but there's no rush, is there? I can put up with you a while longer. You know, if I have to." She nudged Jade in the ribs to make sure she knew it was a joke, then worried that it might come across as a salacious reference to last night. "I mean..."

Jade rolled her eyes and closed the laptop. "I'll get dinner on."

"Why don't we go out?" Tori said, suddenly. "My treat. You've cooked enough."

There was a mischievous pause. "You don't like my food?"

"What? Yes, of course I do!"

"But you've have enough of it?"

"No! It's just I thought that…" It took a few moments for it to sink in that Jade was messing with her. "Just get your coat."

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They sat in the restaurant, Jade eating, Tori watching. It's easy, Tori. Go on. Just make a start. Say it. Listen, Jade, about last night…

But what about last night? That was the question. What 'about last night' did she want to say? It didn't mean anything? It did mean something? I liked it?

Did you like it?

Did you hate it?

Did I take advantage of you?

Did I make you do it?

No. That way lay madness. She should wait. Maybe Jade would bring it up. Maybe Jade thought she didn't want to talk about it. She should just hint.

"How's your back?"

You know, your back. The one that hurts when you have to sleep on the sofa, my sofa, which you totally didn't have to last night because you were in my bed having real, actual sex with me, like you really, really wanted to.

"Mmm?" Jade looked up. "It's fine."

"Oh. Good."

Tori picked at her food. "The thing is-"

"You have got to try this sauce. Here." Jade was holding out a spoon with some red gloop on it.

"Er… Okay." Tori leaned forward to taste it, but Jade twitched the spoon to leave a blob on her nose instead.

"Oops."

Tori squeaked and grabbed for a napkin, conversation temporarily abandoned. "You are such a child," she said, crossly, wiping it away.

"Sorry," Jade said, clearly not. "It was an accident. What were you saying?"

"I… Doesn't matter."

"So, how was work?"

For a moment, Tori really wanted to tell her. I hate it. It's boring and greasy, and the girls are mean to me. "Okay," she said. "Busy."

"I thought you said you had two jobs?" Tori looked up and saw a trace of guilt pass across Jade's face, as she remembered she was the reason for that. She let her stew in it for a minute, in retaliation for the sauce incident.

"The club's being refurbished," she said. "It's shut for a few weeks."

"A night club?"

"Yep."

"I never figured you for a barmaid."

"I'm not," Tori said casually, chasing a pea around her plate. "I'm a stripper."

Jade choked and went a beautiful shade of puce. "What?"

"Well, you know," Tori said, with a shrug. "A girl's got to pay the bills."

"Tori…"

"And some of the punters tip pretty well if you're willing to do the extras."

"Oh, God."

The look on Jade's face was so heartbroken that Tori couldn't keep it up. "Not really, you dunce," she said. "I work the cloakroom." She grinned smugly at the other girl's furious glare and felt strangely uplifted. She cares, she thought. She cares enough not to want me to be a hooker. Aware that that was not the world's most romantic aspiration, she modified it. She cares enough not to want me to be with anyone else.

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They finished their meal and made their way back to the apartment, and it was there that Tori came up with a plan. It was her favorite kind of plan, because it didn't involve her actually doing anything, which meant she couldn't screw it up. The first part of her plan was simple - she'd just wait and see if Jade turned up at her door again. Quite what she'd do if she did, she wasn't sure. So the second part of the plan was much the same as the first.

She'd wait and see if Jade made the first move.