Nancy Reed woke up in her now most favorite place in the world; in the loving embrace of Maura O'Halaran. Nancy and Maura had been college roommates for four months. They had some rough times at the beginning of their tenure as roommates. And it was true that it was sex that had been the catalyst for their current relationship. But it had become about more than just the sex.
They had repaired their friendship after a frightening incident where Maura was being attacked and Nancy had jumped in to save her. But there had already been a sexual vibe between them that had been growing. The attack seemed to put the sexual tension on the back burner as their friendship renewed. However, as the friendship strengthen, sex came back front and center and for the last 5 weeks, they had been lovers as well.
They admitted to each other that there had been some type of immediate attraction the very first day as roommates. However, some early quarrels had them at odds. And just as they had gotten past the early conflict, the attack on Maura occurred. Nancy had received a concussion while struggling with Maura's attacker and so there was added time needed for her to recover. Then, the initial spark which had ignited at that first meeting finally roared into a blazing inferno of love and lust.
Now their first semester at college had come to an end. They would be going home to stay with their families for the semester break. And while they had made plans to spend a few days together at each other's home, they would be apart for the first time since they had become lovers as well as roommates.
Nancy lay on her side, snuggled closely back into Maura's body. Since Maura was a few inches taller than Nancy, Maura was usually the big spoon when they slept that way. Nancy woke up first and as she turned so she would be facing Maura. The movement woke her roommate. When Maura opened her eyes and saw Nancy right there before her, she gave Nancy a kiss.
"Good morning beautiful." Nancy smiled but her smile quickly diminished. Maura said, "What? Morning breath?" as she put her hand to her mouth.
"Well, yes. But that's okay. It's just we're leaving today."
"Nance, I love you. But this is starting to get a little annoying. It's only for a few weeks. And we will see each other twice over that time. Plus, they have this amazing new invention now. It's called a cell phone."
Nancy punched Maura's upper arm. It had become their thing when Maura would tease Nancy and Nancy would punch her arm. One might consider this a strange token of affection, but such was their relationship. Maura just smiled back and gave her another quick kiss before saying, "Okay, let's go. Your parents will be here soon enough and if you're not ready to go they'll probably blame me."
Since Nancy was injured protecting Maura from a boy who Maura had originally planned to hook up with, Nancy's parents had been wary of Nancy's friendship with Maura ("
Thank God they don't know about us having sex."
Maura thought.
"They'd probably want to kill me
."). She had been a little hesitant to even accept the invitation to go to Nancy's house over the semester break. But Nancy was coming to her house and it would mean going longer before seeing Nancy again if she did not go. And while Maura had pretended to be angry that Nancy kept bringing up the separation, it was actually at the top of Maura's mind as well. She had decided she would rather face Nancy's parents then not get to see her that second time over the break.
Both girls were showered, packed and ready to go when Nancy's parents arrived. Nancy's family lived much further away and Nancy's parents would drive out the night before if they were picking her up and stay at a hotel. Then leave early the next morning so that they could still get home at a reasonable hour. Maura's family was close enough to make the trip both ways in one day, but it also meant her parents would be there later.
The greeting between Maura and Nancy's parents was cordial, although Mrs. Reed did say in a somewhat disapproving tone, "I notice the beds are still together."
Nancy replied, "Yeah Mom. It really was better space use that way. We could do yoga in our room to help clear out minds during all the studying for finals and we've being fine sleeping next to each other."
Maura thought, "
Up against each other would be more accurate."
But she said nothing.
When it was time for them to leave, Nancy and Maura hugged each other. They were very close and hugged for longer than seemed like roommates would hug. Especially roommates who would be seeing each other in ten days. They broke the hug and fought the urge to kiss and Nancy and her parents left.
A few hours later, Maura's parents arrived to pick her up. Her mother noticed that Maura's eyes were a little bloodshot and puffy. Maura had been crying recently. But she was all smiles from the moment her parents arrived and so her mother said nothing.
That night Nancy and Maura spoke on the phone. They talked for over an hour about nothing in particular. As the were hanging up from the call, they both whispered, "
I love you
." to each other so that they were not overheard.
On Christmas morning, Maura had a soft bag, hastily wrapped in her stocking. The handwritten tag said, "Don't let Mom see this." and inside was a quarter inch drill bit and four one-quarter by one-inch bolts with nuts. Her father had given her the hardware to bolt the beds together.
Just as she was hiding the hardware under a sweater so her mother would not see, she heard "Ho ho. Just what I wanted." She looked over to see her dad holding the cordless drill one of Maura's bothers had given him. Her mother seemed perplexed. "You already have a drill."
"Yes, but this is a new cordless one. That is an old plug one. That's more of a starter set tool. Maura, you should take my old one. I don't need it anymore and maybe you can use it for decorations at some party or something."
"Thanks Dad. Maybe I will find some use for it." Her Dad looked at her and winked.
When the weekend Nancy was coming had finally arrived, Maura woke up very excited. Maura's parents were driving to a nearby town to meet the bus that Nancy was taking to get there. They made a point to remind each other during their phone call the night before not to kiss each other when they met. They agreed a long hug would be okay. The irony was that both mothers had already noticed the signs and had an idea that the girls were already more than just roommates. Maura's father seemed to have an inkling as well.
Nancy was like a rockstar to the O'Halaran's. After having literally jumped in to save Maura from an attacker, they had a very high opinion of her. Thus, they had no reservations about a deeper relationship between their daughter and Nancy.
When the bus pulled in, Maura went right up to the door. When she saw Nancy turn to come down the stairs, her knees went weak. Nancy barely had both feet out of the bus before Maura wrapped her up in the sanctioned hug. With her mouth near Nancy's ear she whispered, "
I sorry, Nance. You were right. It's been so hard not having you next to me even if it's only been nine days.
"
Nancy replied, "
Nine days, four hours and about twenty-seven minutes, but whose counting. I'm here now
." They squeezed each other even harder, before realizing their hug had probably been a little longer than it should have been. Nancy collected her carry-on and then went over to say hello to Mr. and Mrs. O'Halaran and take the ride to Maura's house.
They got back to the house and the girls regaled Maura's parents with stories about the semester and classes and the dorm life. They left out all the sex stuff and there was no mention of the assault, so it was a fun-filled afternoon.
That night, there was a big dinner and Nancy got to meet Maura's siblings and heard some stories about when Maura was younger. They embarrassed Maura greatly, but the stories were endearing to Nancy.
When it was time to go to bed, the O'Halaran's pointed out that Maura's room only had one bed so Nancy could sleep in a spare room. But Nancy and Maura both said they would sleep on the floor. The whole point of the visit was for them to spend time together. They promised not to talk loudly or stay up too late and so at bedtime, they both went into Maura's room.
After getting their bedding set, they lay down next to each other and just held each other for a long while. They had already talked about how they couldn't do anything sexually that night. Worried that their insistence to sleep on the floor rather than apart might arouse any suspicion, they did not want any telltale noises coming from the room in case someone (i.e. Maura's mother) was listening.
They did talk for a while in hushed whispers. Nancy admitted that she was intrigued about being in Maura's childhood bedroom. Maura talked about growing up and some of her hopes and dreams back then. Nancy got Maura to talk about her first attempts at masturbation on the bed next to them. However, they both started to get turned on and thought it best not to keep going down that road this night. They went to sleep with Nancy on her back and Maura snuggled into her, Maura's head on Nancy's chest and Nancy's fingers stroking Maura's hair. This was their second favorite way to fall asleep.
They woke up in each other's arms and kissed each other good morning. Despite sleeping on the floor, it was the best sleep either of them had since the winter break had started. Maura spent most of New Year's Eve Day showing Nancy around the town where she grew up. They went to all the schools Maura had attended. They went to one of the childhood playgrounds where Maura had played. They played around on the monkey bars and the swings. Maura was having fun showing all these childhood memories to Nancy. She wanted Nancy to be a part of all the joy she had before she knew Nancy, trying to make Nancy a part of her whole life, not just the last four months.
They had lunch at the burger joint where Maura had worked in high school and spent several hours at the roller rink. Nancy had never roller skated and it took her a while to get the hang of it. But she was a good sport and laughed when she fell or almost fell. They had a wonderful time and just enjoyed being together.
Finally, Maura drove Nancy up to Markeson Point. There was a grass parking lot overlooking the river below. The river wound around Markeson Point and then flowed past the city. On any given night, there might be four or five cars parked here. With the city lights behind the Point, it gave a very clear view of the nighttime sky. But most people did not drive up to Markeson Point at night to see the Milky Way.
During the daytime there was still an impressive view of the river valley and rolling farmlands as far north as the eye could see. At the moment, they were the only car there and Nancy was enjoying the view. She looked over and Maura seemed to be lost in deep thought. She didn't look sad, but she certainly wasn't happy either.
"What's wrong Maura?"
"Nothing. I just hadn't been up here in about eight months."
"Why was that?"
"It was prom night. I was up here with Steve Murphy. In fact, we are almost exactly on the spot where I lost my virginity eight months ago."
"It doesn't seem like a happy memory?"
"It's not a bad memory, but it's not really a happy one either."
"He didn't force himself on you, did he?"
"No. Oh heavens no. Steve Murphy is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. No, I was very much an active participant in the evening's festivities. The problem was we were both virgins and we just didn't want to be virgins anymore. I liked Steve but I definitely knew I didn't love him. I just didn't want to be a virgin when I got to college. And he was a nice guy so..."
"So, what happened after that night?"
"Well, it had been awkward. He almost came when we put the condom on." This actually brought a smile to Maura's face as she was clearly replaying that night in her mind. "We had a little trouble getting him lined up and we knew that first thrust was going to break my hymen. I think he was more scared than I was. And yeah, it hurt. But I was past it and he started thrusting in and out and by the fifth one, he'd cum into the condom. We did kiss a little after that, but that was it for the night. He drove me home and except for saying 'Good luck in college' to each other at graduation, we didn't speak to each other after that."
"Are you sure you didn't love him?"
