Claire couldn't believe that she had just said that.

"There's nothing wrong…with her," the words were off her tongue and out of her mouth before she had processed them; before she had thought of the implications. Once again her overwhelming need to let Elle know how special she was had trumped everything else, even if the older girl had no idea it was her she was referring to.

After a few minutes the mounting silence began to make Claire uneasy and she wondered if she had made the right choice, but at least Elle had yet to move from her position curled around Claire's body, and that had to be a good sign, right? She wasn't recoiling in horror, so that was at least something.

If she had run from the room screaming, she didn't think her heart could take it, but fortunately for her, Elle never developed the tendency to operate on the side of the more melodramatic. It was one of the more favourable traits that had been developed in her lack of contact with regular teenagers.

Elle finally found her voice. "Her?" she asked.

Claire nodded and suddenly felt silly; Elle wasn't looking at her and sometime in her pensive moment Elle had let the little ball of electricity go out, undoubtedly so that Claire couldn't read what she was thinking. The one thing she had on her side was that she could now read Elle's face pretty well, and she hadn't timed this well to utilise this talent.

She was freaked out, nervous and down right embarrassed, but she was gripping on to Elle's hand, which gave her a reassuring squeeze in return, which gave her a little glimmer of hope, maybe everything would be ok.

# # #

Elle was stunned, and had no idea what she should say. She had always thought that it was boys and girls, and that's what she had been told so she never really over thought it beyond that.

Daddy had told her she would marry a boy and she had built a lot of her understanding on how the world works around that information. The thought that people didn't have to stick to what they were told baffled Elle. She knew that she would get in trouble if she broke the rules, and wondered if the same applied in this instance.

Hearing Claire say that she had feelings for someone else, and opened up something inside of her, and frankly…she was jealous.

She didn't like that someone else could come in and take Claire away from her, but she figured that was where she had been this week. With her. And Elle didn't like the way it made her chest constrict and her blood boil.

She squeezed Claire's hand softly, partly to let her know she was still here and partly to try and control the ball of energy that was aching to make its way out of her hand. She hoped this girl wouldn't be around very much or she is not sure that she could control herself, and she isn't sure Claire would be that impressed if she electrocuted her new girlfriend.

She shook her head and tried to clear her thoughts. She wondered if this meant that she was giving up theperson who made her heat flutter like Claire said it should to this unidentified mystery woman. She felt devastated. Not only for the loss of her someone special she should be holding on to but also her best friend.

If Claire was already pulling back from her then she could only imagine that it would get worse, not better, as time went on. And she didn't know how to survive without Claire ever again; frankly she wasn't sure how she had done it the first time. She isn't even sure how she made it through the whole previous period of her life without Claire. Sighing, Elle gently let go of the younger girl's hand, sure that she wasn't allowed the same privileges anymore.

She thought it was selfish of the girl to make her want her this much…to make her need her this much and then jut take it away. She didn't know what she was supposed to do but she was guessing that she could no longer touch or talk to Claire whenever she wanted to. She had seen how these things go in the movies, and she was sure that Claire wouldn't mess up her dates, she would be perfect and they would disappear in to happily ever after together.

Once this girl saw how special Claire was she would never let her go. Elle was nostalgic before she had even had to stop, and she decided that she would never move from this position. She would stay in Claire's bed, clinging to her and then she could never leave her. It sounded like a brilliant plan.

Elle leaned her head on Claire's chest so she could hear her heart, which was beating wildly and she wasn't sure why. Maybe she thought Elle would be angry at her for breaking the rules?

She picked up her hand which was now limp at her side and began playing with it so she knew she wasn't angry, but Claire's heart just increased to an even more rapid pace. Elle wasn't sure why. But she wanted her to know it was all ok.

She didn't want to have to say it because she was scared that her voice might betray her, so she did what Claire had always don't to make her feel better, she tried to find her cheek to kiss in the darkness.

She moved her face up in the darkness and aligned it with where she thought that Claire's cheek would be, but her lips clumsily found the edge of her lips and she mumbled an apology, but before she could explain her mistake, Claire's lips found hers in the darkness and they connected. And it was like nothing that Elle had ever felt before. It was perfect.

It was soft and tentative, and it made goose bumps appear all over her body at once, she could suddenly feel every nerve ending in her whole body, even though only it was only their lips that were touching. She didn't know what this would mean for the girls, nor the rules they were currently breaking, and she didn't care. She didn't want this to stop, so she deepened the kiss and flicked her tongue over the younger girls bottom lip, asking for access and praying not to get turned away.

# # #

Elle had taken the first move, deepening the kiss, and that was all the encouragement that she needed. She opened up claimed soft lips in a tender kiss, she was excruciatingly careful not to rush things as quickly as her body wanted her to, because she didn't want to scare Elle off. The trail of fire kisses she felt fluttering over her collarbone told her she had nothing to worry about, as Elle had somehow manoeuvred her way on top of her.

It was all a blur of tingling sensations, of fiery touches and swollen lips as Claire desperately tried to keep her voice down so as not to wake Sandra and Noah. She wasn't sure she could stop even if they had walked in.

It was getting harder and harder to maintain her self control, especially since somehow flesh was now touching flesh, and Claire's hands were wandering with a life of their own. The air was thick and the satin sheets had been kicked to the ground long ago, in a desperate attempt to free their limbs from any restraints.

After what seemed like minute but could have been hours they pulled away slightly, their foreheads leaning on one another, refusing to break contact completely, now that they had found what they had been looking for this whole time…their whole lives. Elle's hands remained tangled in her hair, gently playing with the curls.

Almost simultaneously, they leaned in for another kiss, back to the gentle velocity that they had begun with. It was all the permission that Claire needed, and she gently rolled Elle over and pushed her back down, so that she was now in the lead. She heard Elle's breath hitch as she placed kisses down her neck, and across her body. Not wanting to leave any part untouched. A soft moan slipped past Elle's lips and caused Claire to grin.

She felt alive, and every nerve in her body was screaming. She may not be able to feel pain, but she could feel this. And this was more than enough.

Hands were dancing across skin and the painful, delicate slowness that had been used was done away with as the tempo rose and the stakes were raised.

# # #

Elle could hear Claire breathing heavily and she smiled wickedly in the dark, she liked that she had that effect on her, and she let sparks fly out of her fingertips as she moved them across her flesh, liking both the way they made Claire moan and the glimmers of flesh that she was able to see in the otherwise darkened room. Claire slid off of her and they settled in to position, lying side by side, bodies pressed together in the dark.

Elle stopped being so cocky when Claire's fingers moved under her waist band, and it was all she could do to focus, wanting Claire to feel what she was too, she mirrored her movements, pace for pace reigniting the ball of electricity with her free hand as they lay side by side facing each other, staring in to desperate eyes.

Elle had never felt this before, never experienced what she was now, and as her eyes closed involuntarily and her body shuddered, she was glad that it was with Claire.

"I love you," Elle heard in the darkness but she couldn't be sure if she had said it or Claire had. Maybe it was both of them as they moved in-sync.

# # #

Claire felt Elle's tremors which set her off on an equally unfamiliar sensation. And when the movements and changes and sensations in her body finally subsided all that was left was heavy breathing, intertwined limbs and a satisfied grin. Claire was happy lying here, no matter what tomorrow brought, she knew that as long as she had Elle it would be okay. Nothing seemed like it was that bad now that she had Elle wrapped up in her arms.

Her skin sill burned in every place that Elle had touched her, and she didn't think it would ever fade, she reached out and touched her in the darkness, caressing her skin and letting her know that she belonged here, that the belonged to each other now.

Elle burrowed in to the crook of Claire's neck in response, and when she finally spoke her voice was husky, with not a trace of sarcasm, "So who is this girl you like?" Claire giggled and groaned as she placed a kiss on Elle's swollen lips, thinking maybe she would have to show her again.

Authors note: Thanks for the reviews everyone, and sorry about the lag in update....exams etc. And also thanks to ~ Dragynflies ~ for being a beta for this chapter