At first, Katrina thought she was still dreaming. A strange st had filled her senses, oh a heavy metallige, eerily simir to the iron that filled the blood of Humans. She didn’t reize the bed she was currently sleeping on, and when she opened her eyes, she saw an unfamiliar room.

  It only took a few seds to e to her senses. She remembered meeting with Tabitha, ving her to join, then walking Alicia home. Hearing Alicia talk about her high school prom, receiving definitive proof that, yes, she was into girls. Being surprised with a new guitar, ohat could not have e cheap. Alicia growing upset, desperately wanting Katrina to accept the gift without fussing.

  Finally giving in to her feelings, asking Alicia for a kiss.

  Katrina blushed, emotions welling up as she remembered how wonderful their first kiss had been. She had wao stay there forever, ed up in Alicia’s arms, enjoying the feel of their bodies iwined as they slowly kissed each other.

  There had been fear, worry that Alicia might not feel the same if she knew what Katrina had done in the past. For the first time in her life, desperate for panionship, to truly ect with someone, Katrina had shared everything that happened after the ge, after she’d turned into a Vampire.

  I must have cried myself to sleep, I don’t remember much after I finished sharing everything. But, Alicia’s not here. Did I scare her off? Is my past too much for her?

  Katrina sat up, rubbing her eyes as she tried to shake the sleep from her body. When she felt more alert, she began looking around in ear, and that’s when she saw the source of the strange smell. On the floor, o the guitar Alicia had bought, was a wooden vase filled with a flower Katrina had never seen before. She moved closer, sinking to her knees, and breathed irange st.

  Somehow, through some miracle Katrina didn’t uand, the flowers smelled almost exactly like Human blood. There were subtle differences, much the same way that a store-bought perfume would differ from its source of inspiration, but beautiful heless. Ials of this flower sat a small, handwritten note.

  “M sleepyhead! e find me when you wake up <3 - Alicia”

  Katrihe note again, then a third time, then a dozen more. She almost couldn’t believe what this meant, but deep down, she k was something she’d always wanted.

  She didn’t leave… I told her everything, and she still wants to stay with me.

  The flower petals underh Katrina began to twitch, bobbing slightly uhe weight of the tears that fell on them. It took several more minutes for her to pull herself together, but once she did, she stood up ahe house.

  Outside, the moon was bright. It covered the quiet neighborhood with its silvery glow, and Katrina was struck by how quiet it was out here. She’d gotten so used to sleeping at home, surrounded by the city, it almost reminded her of her childhood. She’d grown up in the suburbs, away from the hustle and bustle of Chicago, and had hated it for years. Now, though, as she looked around at Alicia’s home, somethi right.

  A breeze traveled through the branches of Alicia’s Heart Tree, shaking loose another flurry of cherry blossom petals. When Katrina turo look at the tree, and its impressive branches dang in the wind, she finally saw Alicia.

  Her dark green hair floated on the breeze, pink blossoms periodically growing like small hairpins. Her verdant eyes turowards Katrina, and the girls looked at each other in silence. With a smile, Katrina floated off the ground and moved closer, wiping a tear off her cheek as she nded in Alicia’s arms.

  “Alicia… you’re still here,” Katrina whispered.

  “I would never leave you, Kat.” Alicia hugged her tight, their heads resting on each other’s shoulders. “You’re amazing, and what happened isn’t your fault. I want to see the person you bee, to help you figure out who you want to be.”

  Katrina pushed Alicia’s hair aside, leaning in to kiss her again. Her lips were incredibly soft, and Katrina’s hand slowly moved down her back as they pulled each other closer. Their lips danced bad forth; their breath heavy as they lost themselves to the moment. When they finally pulled themselves apart, Katrina spoke up again, her voice almost crag with emotion.

  “Thank you.”

  They tinued leaning against each other, the only noise a gentle breeze rag through the suburb. Eventually, Katrina’s breathing grew softer, and she felt more in trol of herself. She opened her eyes, looking deep into Alicia’s vibrant green eyes, and smiled.

  “Plus, leaving would be pretty awkward, sihis is my house,” Alicia said quietly.

  After a brief moment of surprise, Katrina burst out ughing. It was the perfect release, a way to shake loose all the ay of sharing her past with Alicia. Soon enough, both girls were ughing, their hands interg as they turo the road and started walking.

  When the ughter broke, Katrina wiped the tears of joy from her fad sighed with tent. “Wow, I hat. The flowers were incredible, by the way, I’ve never seen anything like that before. What are they?”

  Alicia squeezed Katrina’s hand tightly. “They’re new! I just made them up today, while you were sleeping. The smell didn’t… trigger anything, did it?”

  “I was a little fused when I woke up, but that was it. I think, on some level, my body knows it’s not real blood.”

  “How did you sleep? I have no idea how fy that couch is, I never use it anymore.”

  “It was really nice, actually. My bed at home isn’t all that special, and I get fy almost anywhere. Though… it was certainly more fortable with you in it.” Katri herself blushing as she spoke, and she retty sure she saw Alicia do the same.

  “Sorry I couldn’t stay… For better or worse, you’re noal and I’m not. My body is always going to try and wake with the sun. Though, thankfully that let me block out the windows so you wouldn’t get hurt.”

  “Thanks, Alicia. I don’t know how I got so lucky.” Katrina leaned closer, kissing the Dryad on the cheek as they kept walking.

  They wahe neighborhood for a few minutes, simply enjoying each other’s pany, before Alicia spoke up again. “So… should we talk about us? About what we want this to be?”

  Katrina paused for a moment, thinking over her words. “Well… I really like you. I want us to be partners, and I have a feeling you feel the same.”

  Aliodded, perhaps a little too enthusiastically. “Yes! I would be hoo be yirlfriend!”

  They both ughed, kissing again before Katrina tinued. “I do think I’d like to wait a little bit before we, um… get physical, if that’s okay? I’m not sure how long, but… well, you heard. For a while, sex was something I used to hunt, but also as a way to self-harm, and I want our first time to be better than that.”

  “Kat, I haven’t had sex in close to four and a half years, I think I wait a little longer." Alicia paused for a moment, then added, “So long as I get to keep kissing you.”

  Katrina ughed. “Whenever you want, Alicia.”

  After yet another kiss, this one lingering for even lohey resumed their walk. “Although… cards oable, I did masturbate for the first time in years the other day…” Alicia said.

  “Yeah? What inspired that?” Katrina asked. As soon as the questio her lips, Alicia gave a suspicious look in her dire, then quickly averted her eyes. “Wait, me?! Alicia! Did meeting me kickstart your libido after four years of chastity?”

  “Well, maybe a little. You’re just so pretty! It wasn’t on purpose, I was just sitting on my river, and my mind started to wander… God, this is so embarrassing.”

  “Alicia, of everything in the world that could possibly embarrass you, I think being attracted to yirlfriend is pretty low on the list.”

  “But we weren’t dati! I didn’t want you to think I was like, a creep or whatever. Plus, I’ve heard people with high Charisma have a hard time being objectified all the time, and I really didn’t want to make you unfortable!”

  “I promise it’s okay, Alicia.” Katrina pulled the Dryad close, ing an arm around her shoulder as they walked. “Besides, it’s not like I’m ace. I have an active libido, I like sex, I just want time to think about everything before I jump in. And when it es to other people staring at me, I much prefer them staring at my tits than my fangs.”

  After a brief pause, Alicia spoke up again. “So, it’s okay if I say you’re ridiculously hot? And that sometimes I have trouble talking to you because of how attractive you are?”

  Katrina ughed; a huge smile pstered on her face. “You could have fooled me. I’ve been worked up this whole week trying to figure out if you were even into girls. I get looks from straight women and gay guys all the time, so it be hard to figure out when people are actually ied and not just appreciating the view. When you told me about your Prom, I finally realized you were into women, and I think that’s a big reason I finally made a move.”

  “That’s all it took?” Alicia, dramatically falling against Katrina’s arm. “Ugh, I’m so bad at reading people. Though, to be fair, I only mustered the strength to give you the guitar because of Tabitha.”

  “What? Tabitha was in on this?” Katrina thought back to st night, when they’d left the restaurant. She distinctly remembered Tabitha pulling Alicia in for a hug to tell her something. “That’s right, she whispered something to you. What did she say?”

  “She said ‘If you don’t make a move soon, I will’. I already had the guitar, I knew you would once we started delving, but I was so nervous that it would make things awkward, or you would think it was a romantic gesture but weren’t into me, something like that. Anyways, with Tabitha’s threat hanging over my head, and with how wonderful st night had been, I decided to take a ce. I’ll admit, I wasn’t expeg to end up yelling at you, I’m sorry about that part.”

  “Hey,” Katrina said, turning to Alicia, “that was adorable. Seeing you get so worked up, it was clear that you were passionate about seeing me happy. I ’t remember the st time anyone has cared about me like that.”

  “Do you have any exes? What was your life like before the ge?”

  “Holy? Pretty uninspired. I was a sy little ginger girl, a little shy, but I had friends, and I dated a few people. I never got too serious with any of them, they felt like retionships I more fell into than chose.”

  The girls had been talking for a while, and when Katrina looked up, she saw they had arrived back at Alicia’s house. “Hey, by the way, the night is still young. Did you have any pns?”

  Alicia shook her head.

  “Would you want to go get our delving lises?” Katrina asked. “We’ll have to go eventually, and now that Tabitha’s oeam, we might end up tag the dungeon soon.”

  “Let’s do it! If we take the train, there’s a ply two stops down. Not quite to your pce, aainly much closer thay.”