Sorry for taking so long with this! I planned to put this and the next chapter all together, but it's gotten so long that I've split it. This one is pretty much fluff with a bit of sick!fic and hints of angst to come

Enjoy!

SIDE B

Track 6: You're The First, The Last, My Everything - Barry White

Missing Track: Kung Fu Fighting - Carl Douglas

The summer of 1983 was one of the hottest on record, and we were together almost every day. In the months following, when I would sit for hours and hours by the phone, nails bitten down to the flesh, waiting for her call and wondering where on earth I went wrong, it crossed my mind that perhaps this was the reason she had stayed away. Maybe we had exhausted ourselves, overexposed ourselves to one another until she couldn't stand another second in my company.

Many days and nights we spent outdoors, just laying on the grass in the park, either chatting away or simply laid there in companionable silence, our joined hands disguised from the world by our discarded jackets. We still stayed in the hotel on a Saturday night though, as was tradition, and sometimes even on a couple of weekdays when we had the money. It was suffocatingly warm though, with no air conditioning and the old, splintered wooden windows only opening a crack. One night in particular, the hottest day of the year, we spent half the night pouring cold water on one another in desperate efforts to cool down, until giving up and deciding instead to walk to the park and watch the sunrise. I remember thinking how wonderful it was, being able to walk through the empty streets hand-in-hand, without the fear of anyone catching us out. Maybe that was part of the reason she cut me off. The army was her life - why would she want to risk losing that for me?

Exam results came, marking the beginning of the end for us. I remember the cold, anxious feeling that began in my gut when we arrived to pick up our envelopes, expecting it to dissipate when we opened them and discovered our fate, but no - the feeling remained, a constant reminder that I was soon to be broken-hearted. I remember embracing her as we both grinned in relief that we had got our grades, but my smile had faltered the moment her chin rested on my shoulder as the crushing realisation came that this was happening, that we didn't have all the time in the world, that nothing could last forever.

The weeks flew by, and soon the days we had left to share together could be counted on two hands. We went out, as usual, and we had a good time, but we both knew that time was running out. We never really spoke about it for the whole summer, but with the end approaching, it was a conversation that needed to be had, though it took Bernie getting more drunk than I've ever seen her for it to happen.

"Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!"

I watched in amusement as the boisterous jeering went on, Bernie and Alan both oblivious to it as they concentrated on getting down the cans of Black Label they had been challenged to drink the fastest. It was just six days until most of them, including Bernie, were to go their separate ways for university - my own course starting a week later - and as a parting celebration we had decided to go camping for a night. We were all sat around a campfire in a field on the farm owned by Simon's parents, our tents set a few metres behind, and the usual drinking games had taken up a large majority of the time so far. Bernie won each game without fail, upturning her empty can in victory as the rest of them cheered, and I couldn't help a proud chuckle at the fact she managed to drink lads twice her build under the table. She really was in her element amongst them, and it was endearing to see the mutual respect between them all. It gave me hope, seeing their blind acceptance of us and of Jonty and Adam, who were leant drunkenly against one another at the other side of the fire. They allowed us to feel normal, valued and respected, and that was the best feeling in the world.

"Oh, yes! Remember this, Bern?" Simon teased, turning up the volume on the boombox balanced on the log beside him.

Oh-hoh-hoh-hoah

Oh-hoh-hoh-hoah

She groaned loudly, hiding her face in her hands. "Oh, no," she winced, resting her head against my shoulder as she cringed. I eyed her curiously as good-natured laughter filled the air.

Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting

Those kids were fast as lightning

"Someone got a bit worse for wear at the house party I had when my parents were away when we were… fifteen, I think?" Dukes told, a nostalgic grin on his face. "Scarred everyone for life!"

"It wasn't that bad!" She attempted to defend herself, but her tone told me instantly that their tormenting was deserved.

"She looked like Mr Tickle on acid, waving her arms about like that."

"I didn't—"

"She nearly broke my nose. Everyone was running for their life trying to get away from her flapping about!"

I clasped my hand over my mouth in laughter, nudging her with my shoulder as she murmured embarrassedly, "I was trying to breakdance."

Her words were met with further jeers.

"You were trying to break something, alright!"

I raised an eyebrow at her playfully. "I think this deserves a demonstration," I smirked, watching in amusement as her face dropped.

"No!"

Laughter and cheering erupted around us.

"Simon, I am going to kill you!"

I slung my arm around her shoulders, squeezing her to me fondly.

"You are rather adorable when you're embarrassed," I murmured in her ear, prompting a bashful smile from her as her cheeks burned. She never was one to show weakness though, or rather what she perceived as weakness, so quickly turned on Simon.

"Right, come on." She stood up, walking pointedly over to where the alcohol supply was. "One can, two tequilas. Loser has double."

His mouth opened incredulously as the rest started jeering and whistling.

"I can't drink that; I'll die!"

"Well I did say I was going to kill you."

"Oh, come on now, Simon. Rise to the challenge," I backed her up, grinning. He shot me a cunning look.

"Okay, if you think it's that easy, why don't you join us?"

My eyes widened, and I looked over to Bernie for help, only to see her raise an eyebrow daringly. I sighed. "Go on then."

Her eyes lit up as I stood, and she quickly got pouring the shots and handed us each a can ready for Jonty to shout 'go'. She finished a good fifteen seconds before Simon and I, but I managed to finish just before him, to my relief. Not to his, though; he got half way through his forfeit can of Black Label before rushing off behind the tents to vomit. In fact, quite a few of them ended up in a similar position, with all the drinking games and too much BBQ food. Bernie, however, was still going strong, as always.

It was around midnight, and most of us were simply lounging around the campfire now - with the exception of Alan and Chris who were making quite a show of trying to light one another's farts. Bernie and I were leant against one another, both watching them amusedly.

"Would you believe he's predicted three A's?" Bernie slurred, her lips close to my ear as she rested her cheek on my shoulder. I chuckled.

"Just because he can pass exams, doesn't mean he's got half a brain," I pondered, raising an eyebrow as one of them exclaimed victoriously, 'That one almost did it!'

I felt her shaking her head despairingly. "I've known most of these boys since we were five," she began lightly, her voice laced with nostalgia. "And they haven't aged a day. Mentally, I mean. I think if Alan had been six-foot-four in reception class you'd have heard about it." She giggled at herself, and I smiled fondly. "Still," she continued, her nose poking into my shoulder as she took in a deep breath of my perfume. "I'm going to miss them. Though if you tell them that," she lifted her lips up to my ear, her breath tickling and making me shiver, "There might just be consequences."

I clapped a hand on her thigh, squeezing it comfortingly. "I'm sure you will," I replied, trying to keep my breathing steady, though my heart sank slightly with the stark reminder that we were soon to be separated. "It'll be a big change. For all of us."

She sighed heavily, her lips grazing lazily along my neck as she struggled to hold her head upright. "We'll be okay though," she murmured, her eyelids falling shut as her head flopped. "We'll all be okay. All's well that ends well, or something like that." She laughed.

I hummed quietly in agreement, tilting my head to rest atop hers as I watched Adam fiddling about with the dial on the boombox in an attempt to find a better radio station. I wanted to ask if she would miss me too, but really I knew the answer. Or, rather, I thought I did. If she had missed me that much, surely she would have felt compelled to get in touch?

I felt her tense up beside me, carefully lifting her head so that her lips touched my ear.

"Serena, I'm gonna be sick," she mumbled, her voice thick and rushed.

"Ah, the great Berenice Wolfe! Fallen at last," I joked, but when I looked up her face was deadly serious, slightly green and her eyes panicked and urging, not here. I always found it funny, the things she considered as shameful. She would waltz around changing rooms fully nude with a group of teenage boys covered in love bites and simply shrug it off, but would gladly be beamed off the face of the earth before anyone saw her being sick after drinking.

"Right," I announced, wincing slightly as I hauled myself up after sitting down for so long, the alcohol making my head spin. "We're going for a walk." I held out my hand to help her up as Simon wolf-whistled. "Do you think of nothing else?" I rolled my eyes at him.

"He's just jealous," Bernie jumped in, slinging an arm around my shoulders as I put mine round her waist, helping her stay upright as discreetly as possible. "The only vagina he's ever seen is his mum's when he came out of it."

"And yours," he shot back, grinning.

She barked a laugh as we began walking. "And mine," she repeated. "Touché."

I directed us to a gap in the hedge beside the tents leading to the next field, holding onto her more tightly as her legs wobbled. Part of me felt smug, really, since she was so often boastful about her 'heavyweight' status, but I resisted the urge to tease her just yet. I gently pulled off the hair tie that she wore round her wrist, just in time for her lunge in the direction of the nearest hedge. As she heaved and retched I carefully scraped her hair up out of her face, tying it as best I could at the nape of her neck before resting my palm between her shoulder blades comfortingly, my other hand strong on her forearm in case her legs gave way again.

"Can we just… sit down for a bit," she mumbled eventually, wiping her mouth with the tissue I had passed her and tossing it into the hedge before stumbling across towards the centre of the field, still leaning on me for support. Letting go of me, she flopped down onto the grass with a groan, turning onto her back to face the night sky and gesturing for me to join her. I did, shuffling up to rest beneath her arm as she wrapped it around me.

We lay in contemplative silence for a while, both enjoying the feeling of resting against one another and of being completely alone underneath the stars, though we could still hear the faint murmur of the radio coming from the campsite. We had one week left in the same city, before we were to be wrenched apart. Tears stung in my eyes at the thought of it. Though I knew she, like myself, would be home at Christmas, still I couldn't shake the feeling of something ending. I felt grief, truly. How could I cope without seeing her beautiful face every Saturday night? Her smile? Her laugh? My heart ached.

"Listen," she said suddenly, nodding over to the campsite. I frowned, turning, as she began to hum the music that spilled between the trees.

My first, my last, my everything

And the answer to all my dreams

"You're my sun, my moon, my guiding star," she murmured along, her lips against my ear and her words still slightly slurred. "My kind of wonderful, that's what you are."

I grinned, resolving to do my best Barry White impression and deepening my voice melodramatically.

I know there's only, only one like you

There's no way they could have made two

You're all I'm living for, your love I'll keep forevermore

You're the first, you're the last, my everything

She joined in the dramatics, and soon we were lost to giggles, clutching onto one another and rolling about in the grass, moving and writhing to the tune.

Girl, you're my reality, but I'm lost in a dream

You're the first, you're the last, my everything

"You know, I really really really love you," she gushed as the song ended, wrapping both arms around me tightly.

"Don't sound so surprised," I replied dryly, raising an eyebrow with a grin.

"No, I'm not… I just… this feels…" She stammered, grinning happily. "I don't know," she laughed. "You're amazing and fantastic and beautiful and kind and I don't know what I did to deserve you."

I chuckled. "You are such a soppy drunk, you know that," I teased, kissing her nose.

"Am not," she mumbled, resting her forehead against mine. "Really. I love you. More than anything."

"I know." I nodded gently. "I love you too."

We were silent for a few moments then, both reflecting on our words, our eyes on the stars.

"We will keep in touch, won't we?" She asked quietly, her voice small and tentative, almost scared.

I pulled back to look her in the eye, my heart jumping. "Of course we will," I promised determinedly. "I don't think I could bear it if we didn't."

"Good," she nodded simply, her eyes falling away from mine. I pulled her back to me, tucking her head beneath my chin and inhaling the soft, familiar scent of her curls.

I heard her take a shaky breath. "I'm going to miss you," she murmured, her voice thick. "I know I don't tell you enough." A lump formed in my throat.

"I'm going to miss you too," I whispered into her hair. "But we'll get through it."

I felt her nod against me, her lips brushing my throat. She placed a gentle, chaste kiss there, and I felt her inhaling deeply, sending a shiver down my spine. Her hands smoothed across my back, reaching for the hem of my blouse as her kisses traveled along my jawline to the sensitive spot behind my ear.

"Don't take offence," I started breathily, my own hands reaching down to her arse and grinding our hips together. "But please do not kiss me." I felt her chuckle as she took an earlobe between her teeth.

"I'm sure I can think of somewhere better to put my lips," she whispered. I chuckled.

"In a field?" I asked jokingly, but already I felt my body responding, nerves tingling, heat shooting straight to where her fingers were now tracing circles over the front of my trousers.

"I just can't resist you," she breathed into my ear, her voice shaky with arousal and giddiness. I pressed a kiss to her shoulder, the base of her neck, my own hands mirroring her actions as I palmed her over the rough fabric. Her breath hitched as I pressed my middle finger harder against her centre, a satisfied grin spreading across my lips as I felt her rut against me and knew that she was just as wet as I.

"Bernie! Serena! Christ, you lezzas don't half take your time. You're wanted back here!"

We both froze as we heard Simon calling across the field. She cleared her throat. "We'll be there now!" She called. He replied something incoherent, disappearing back out of earshot. She shook her head. "I don't know what went wrong with that boy," she mused.

I laughed, pressing a kiss to her temple before sitting up. "Or rather what went right with the rest of them, you mean," I corrected, standing and brushing myself down before holding out a hand to help her up.

When we arrived back at the camp everyone was already sat around the fire, even the ones that had ended up retiring early. We sat down heavily in our spot, Bernie with an arm slung around my shoulder, and craning our necks to see what Alan and Chris were fiddling with.

"Oh God, you haven't seriously?"

Chris looked up with a grin. She shook her head, though the corners of her mouth twitched.

"I don't approve of this."

"Oh be quiet, Mum."

"Don't approve of what?" I asked with a frown, my question immediately answered as Alan held up what was clearly a home made tattoo needle. My eyebrows shot up. "You're not seriously going to do your own tattoos?"

"Come on captain, you're up first!"

I looked at her incredulously but all she could do was shrug and sigh, resigned to her fate. She stood up slowly, her head no doubt still light from the excessive alcohol, and strode over to where Alan and Chris were sat.

"Where's it going?" She asked as she sat down, running a hand through her hair. "I can't have it visible."

"Ribs?"

She nodded apprehensively, lifting her shirt and the strap of her bra. "Do it under there. And can I just say," she added, a warning tone to her voice. "If anything even slightly resembling a phallus ends up permanently inked into my skin, I'm going to take that needle and shove it right—"

"Alright, keep your hair on!"

She shook her head warily, casting me a slightly worried glance before telling him to get on with it. Carefully, he tattooed a small, slightly wonky replica of the team's emblem into her skin, before continuing to the rest of the team.

"Serena?" He asked, after the rest of the lads were finished and admiring their new additions.

I froze. "No," I stammered, my hand tightening on my drink. "No, you're okay. I'm not even part of the team. I've only known you a few mon—"

"You might not play rugby, but you're definitely part of the team," Luke butted in, his words muffled by a mouthful of crisps. The air filled with calls of agreement.

"Here, let me do it," Bernie offered, beckoning to Alan to pass her the needle. I raised my eyebrows.

"I think I might trust Alan more with permanently injecting ink into my skin," I said cautiously, eyeing the needle with slight apprehension. "At least he's had twenty practices."

She laughed. "I can't fault your thinking there."

I pursed my lips, considering her words, but the alcohol had admittedly lessened my inhibitions so I eventually nodded. "If you bugger this up…" I warned.

"Of course not," she beamed. "I'll take my time."

I lifted my blouse, waiting nervously as Alan explained to her the technique.

"Ready?" She asked eventually, and I tried not to shiver as she smoothed her cool fingertips across the bare skin she was about to ink.

I nodded, swallowing nervously. "Ready," I replied, sounding infinitely more confident than I felt. The needle felt hot and stung as it pierced my skin, and I drew in a sharp breath.

"Alright?" She asked, her free hand on my shoulder, thumb swiping back and forth soothingly.

"All good," I grimaced, my jaw tight. She continued, and I closed my eyes against the uncomfortable scratching, listening as Alan talked her through it.

Eventually, she leant back to admire her handiwork.

"Hm." She grinned at me, her eyes sparkling. "A masterpiece, if I do say so myself."

I lifted my arm to get a look at where she had tattooed me. Right enough, the emblem was as neat as I could have hoped for, and next to it, in as small print as was possible to still be clear, was the initial 'B'.

"I should have known you'd have to get your name somewhere," I shook my head, but really inside I couldn't have been happier to have a piece of her engraved into me forever, seeing as in my teenage naivety I assumed that we would be forever.

"Am I really that vain?" She joked, dabbing at where some ink had leaked with a tissue.

"Yes!" I barked out, grinning as I snatched the needle from her. "Eye for an eye." I raised an eyebrow expectantly. Her eyes widened in mock fear.

"Do you remember what our chemistry teacher said when you told him you were going to do medicine?"

I shook my head.

"Doctor's handwriting!" She raised her hands to emphasise her point. I swatted them down.

"I think I can manage a semi-coherent 'S', don't you?" I nodded for her to turn around. She paused, before obliging, lifting her shirt.

"Alan, make sure she does it right, please."

"Oh, shush!" I chided, shoving her shoulder. She slapped my hand playfully, her hair falling across her face, before allowing me to continue.

"There," I announced proudly. "All done. See, that wasn't so bad!"

She turned around and grinned at me. "Oh, the agony!"

I shook my head warningly and she laughed, kissing me on the cheek.

"Thank you," she said sincerely, cupping my cheek. "For permanently stabbing your name into my skin." She winked.

The rest the night was spent lazily, leaning around by the fire and listening to the music before eventually retiring to our tents, falling asleep almost instantly after spending a few moments admiring our new tattoos in the torchlight. And they stung like hell when we woke up.

Looking back now, it fills me with absolute horror that we had done such a thing. Not the tattoo itself, of course; I could never regret that, no matter how much she had hurt me, as it commemorated such an important chapter in my life, and though I tried I had not once in my life wanted to forget her. But sharing a needle with such a vast array of people, with the current epidemic, and in a field full of mud and no doubt countless germs and bacteria… My gut clenched.

See, of all the things that ground on my nerves about Berenice Wolfe, about what she had done, how she had left, it wasn't what she had done to me that filled me with white hot rage. No. It was Jonty.

He and Adam stayed together for years, after we departed, but in 1985 went through a rough patch, separating briefly, and it was in this time that Adam had a one night stand on a night out in Leeds. They never spoke about it; they were separated at the time, after all.

In February 1991, Adam was diagnosed with HIV, and Jonty soon after. By the end of the month, Jonty developed AIDS, and by mid-March he was dead. Adam is still alive today.

And she wasn't even at his funeral.

I knew she was in the city; my mum said that she had seen her in Blockbuster returning a video. She was his best friend, all those years, and she didn't have the human decency to attend his funeral.

That's what really gets me about Berenice Griselda Wolfe: her ability to completely detach, to leave people behind without a second thought, cut herself off from everyone who thought they meant something to her.

How could I ever trust her to stay?

I am so so sorry :( let me know what you think!