"Would you like another cup of tea?"

Rita asked, placing the kettle on to boil even before Connie had looked up.

"Please."

She smiled. Rita rinsed out the mugs they had already used and dropped fresh tea bags into them before glancing over her shoulder to where Connie sat on the sofa. She held her phone within one hand, and her thumb moved quickly across the keys as she emailed Grace goodnight. Something she did every evening at 11PM, despite the time difference.

Rita smiled to herself, watching Connie without her knowledge was fast becoming one of her favourite past times. She loved the way in which Connie's mouth turned down at the corners slightly whilst she was concentrating on the email that she was sending. She loved how one particular curl of hair just refused to stay behind her ear, springing out every now and then so that she had to reach up to set it back into its place. And she loved how she felt when she was near her – so exposed and raw in a way that meant every touch and word was amplified and made even more beautiful.

The kettle came to a rushing, spluttering boil and she poured the water into each cup, making the tea. She heard Connie sigh and place her phone down on the coffee table. She poured in the milk, gave a quick stir with a tea spoon and made her way back over to the sofa with the mugs.

Rita curled herself neatly up into the corner of the sofa, it was small, much smaller than Connie's, and she immediately felt herself begin to relax again as she felt the warmth of the other woman's body beside her.

"Thank you."

Connie exhaled as she spoke, receiving her tea and placing it down on the floor next to her, waiting for it to cool slightly.

She was so beautiful, Rita thought. She was perfect, sitting there, with the dim orange glow of the lamp light showing her face in profile. The curve of her chin, the line of her jaw and the carefully sculpted ear, the top of which was hidden by that errant curl of hair. She felt her heart wince. Just having her in such close proximity made her feel as if she were choking, as if all the air had left her body and she was floating, smothered and free all at once.

Connie cleared her throat and leant back again, catching Rita's gaze. The younger woman's eyes were sparkling and she bit her lip to contain a smile.

She knew in that instant, when Connie met her eye's and the wind whispered and howled against the corners of the house. It was then that she fell in love completely. It happened the way things are never supposed to happen in real life, like a sledgehammer, like a bolt from out of the blue. She had known she adored her, she had even known that she loved her. But it was only now, when one minute she was doing something as mundane as making a cup of tea, and then; in the next one, Connie looked up and she was someone whose whole world had exploded, leaving her adrift in the Milky Way, so far from earth she was walking on stars.

"I don't think I've ever seen you so happy."

Connie's voice came out as a low whisper, and Rita noticed how her eyes strayed from her eyes to her lips for a fraction of a second too long.

"I haven't had much cause to be happy lately..."

Rita answered quietly, and she gave a slow shrug of her shoulders. Connie looked down at her own hands. She knew full well that a lot of that had been down to her.

"You make me happy."

Rita added. She knew what Connie was thinking, she didn't want her to think that she had meant she blamed her for their past relationship. She watched as Connie's lips turned down again, this time in a smile that slipped out before she caught it.

"It's so strange to really have you hear."

She whispered when Connie made no move to say anything herself.

Connie glanced up again, her eyes were soft and warm and smiling. She leant her weight back fully into the sofa, twisting so that she faced Rita.

"Come here."

She said quietly, holding out her arms. She was tired, she always seemed to be tired recently, but the look on Rita's face made her realise she needed her, she needed to know that what was happening was real, and that Connie was really there.

Rita only hesitated for a moment before she set her own mug of tea on the floor by Connie's and shifted herself along. Connie made a turning motion with her hand and she turned around and allowed herself to be pulled back against her.

For a moment Connie felt that the intimate contact was too much. Just for that moment, as Rita lay back in between her legs. She had the fleeting feeling of that night sticking to her like super glue, invisible and heartbreaking and unavoidable, threaded to the future, just as surely as day is sewn to night.

She drew in a breath and closed her eyes, and when Rita had adjusted herself and made herself comfortable, she allowed herself to open her eyes.

Rita's hair just touched against her cheek, it was pale and soft and smelled faintly of honey. She could see the gentle rise and fall of her cheek and the edge of her lips as she smiled.

Gently she drew her arms around the smaller woman, curling them about her arms so that her fingertips rested against her stomach, and her heart tripped over itself as Rita exhaled a sigh of pure happiness.

She allowed herself to close her eyes again, just letting herself fall into this new existence that seemed to have created itself for her. Some things, she realised as her breathing slowed, and she saw the flutter and close of Rita's eyelids, when they change, never do return to the way they once were. Butterflies for instance, and women who fall in love.

Apologies for the lack of updates. We've been celebrating our wedding anniversary, and my two year old son isn't very well, so I haven't been able to get online. Hopefully I'll update at least twice today/this evening for you all and we'll see Connie become 'more physically able', and hopefully I'll get to Grace's appearance! I have a storyline planned for Grace, but I would love to hear what you all might like to happen when she does appear :) xxx