Kiss

It was late at night, yet Beatrice and Clover were still wide awake, sitting on the bed and trying to read a book together by candlelight. The redhead was holding the book and the brunette was holding the candle.

"Wait, what's this word, I can't see…" Clover asked for the third time in the last fifteen minutes.

"How about I just read it to you so you stop asking that question?"

"Sounds good."

She listened to Beatrice read the words aloud. Soon enough, her gaze left the book completely and settled on her friend's face. And her moving lips. She barely heard anything the other girl was reading now. Instead she realised just how close to one another their bodies were, hips and shoulder touching. They had found each other in this position multiple times before, why did it feel… different lately?

The sudden silence followed by the redhead's slightly annoyed hum brought Clover back to reality ; she finally noticed she had lowered the candle a bit too much and let a few drops of wax drip on the wooden floor.

She promptly apologised and held the candle upright again.

"If you're tired, why don't you say so instead of dripping wax everywhere?" Beatrice asked.

"I'm not tired, I just was…distracted and…"

Clover hoped her friend couldn't see her blushing in the dim light.

"And what? If something's wrong, tell me, I'm not a mind reader you know!"

She opened her mouth to speak but couldn't find the words. How could she explain what was going through her mind? How could she explain to her best friend that part of her wanted to slowly inch away from her while the other part wanted to get even closer? How could she explain that the other part was wining?

She set the candle on the nightstand, her eyes going back and forth between Beatrice's eyes and her lips the whole time. The next thing she knew, their lips were touching. Then, just as quickly, Clover backed away and stood up while apologising profusely.

She turned around and headed for the door ; right before she could reach the handle, the redhead joined her and grabbed her arm.

"Clover, you can't just leave in the middle of the night!"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have -"

"It's – it's ok, it was just really sudden and… Warn me next time."

"Next time? You… you want a next time?"

It was Beatrice's turn to blush now even though the darkness hid it from her friend's eyes.

"Hum… m-maybe?"

Neither of them was entirely sure which one kissed the other first this time.