For the first time since we were caught at my house, I await to see my father. The past few minutes have been filled with both silence and excitement. I have to admit, being separated from Lightning, Snow and Sazh after all we've gone through is a little weird. It was starting to feel like I belonged to a new family. Not to say I've forgotten about my real family, but they've grown on me.

I reach for the doorknob, but it won't move when I attempt to turn it. I reach into my pocket to retrieve my key, but it seems to have been lost. Great. Not how I planned this, but at least I'm stuck in a situation that isn't life-changing. I get out my phone and dial my father. It rings for about a minute before the answering machine picks up.

"Hi, you've reached the Estheim residence..."

I hang up and quickly dial the first person I think of when my phone beeps at me to inform me that the battery is almost dead.

"Yeah?" the voice on the other end answers.

"Hey, Light... I kind of got locked out of my house," I get to the point.

"Um... alright, I'll pick you up in a bit. You can stay with us tonight." By 'us' she means with Snow and Serah. Thank goodness I have friends I can rely on in situations like these. I suppose it's nothing though, compared to every other situation we've faced together.

It's getting cold, and I sit with my back against the front door, staring at a cluster of stars directly overhead. The coldness of the concrete seeps through my pants and starts to numb me from the bottom up. My coat keeps me somewhat warm but the cold air is turning my lips to ice. My face is probably blue but who will notice? It's dark and nobody is around.

About half an hour passes before I hear the tires of a car against the pavement. Nobody drives this close to my house, so it's probably either my dad or Lightning. By the sounds of it, my guess is it's Light. It sounds a lot more smoothly than my dad's car runs.

She pulls up in front of me and rolls the window down.

"You've got to be freezing out here," she greets as I approach the vehicle. As I reach to open the door I can already feel the heat from the car finding its way out the window, and as I step inside, Lightning presses a button and rolls it back up.

"Thanks for picking me up, Light," I say as I fasten my seatbelt.

"Don't mention it. I don't want you to freeze to death out there," she says, sounding genuinely concerned. I'm glad she worries about me, since she seems to not really care about anyone else's well-being other than Serah's.

For reasons unknown, I can feel my heart racing faster than ever before. I know I've told myself on several ocassions that I would tell Lightning how I felt about her, but in reality, I know I probably won't. I know she doesn't feel the same way for me. Even if I thought she did, when and how would I do it? Definitely not right now. She just came by to pick me up not even a minute ago. If I did something to push her away, she'd probably force me out of her car. While it's moving, I might add. I take in a deep breath and exhale roughly, but quietly so as to not draw attention to myself, hoping to slow down my heart rate.

"Is everything okay, Hope?" she notices.

"Yeah," I answer shortly, closing my eyes and throwing my head back on the seat, implying tiredness and fatigue."It's just been a long day."

"I know what you mean, kid," she says over the heater, which is starting to strain my eyes and put me to sleep for real.

I awaken in the driveway of Lightning and Serah's house, stopped with Lightning staring at me strangely. I wish I knew why.

"We're here," she whispers as if she doesn't want to startle me.

I yawn, half-tempted to stay in the car and sleep but I decide to follow her to her door and when I do, the cold air hits me like adrenaline and wakes me up. I realize then that I'm not even tired and wonder how I could have possibly fallen asleep in her car in the first place. Stupid heater.

The lights are all turned off when we step inside and everything is quiet.

"Sounds like Snow and Serah went to bed already," she comments while flipping the light switch, showing off the white-carpeted living room in all its clean glory, with the exception of what appears to be a small pile of clothes on the far end of the black leather sofa.

"Nice place you got here," I say, trying to come up with some conversation that doesn't feel awkward.

"Thanks," she responds, setting her keys on the wooden end table beside the sofa, on the wall facing the front door. "I'll show you around. Obviously this is the living room, not much here except the TV. Kitchen is right through here," she says, pointing directly to her left where a big open space exists in the wall and marching onward away from the living room and down the hall to the right. "The main bathroom is having some... leaking issues... everywhere... so if you need to use the bathroom, use the one in my room." She stands in the doorway and points with her thumb, indicating this is her bedroom. The door is open and in the darkness all I can make out is the edge of her bed, coming out from the same side as the door.

She turns the knob of the lamp on the nightstand between her bed and the door, and throws herself back on her bed, exhaling roughly before jumping back up. I feel awkward at this moment. I'm standing next to her door, afraid she might slap me or something if I try to sit next to her. She's (for the most part) always been nice to me but I'd rather not test her boundaries, so I'll stay here until she invites me to sit beside her.

"What time is it?" she hurriedly asks.

"About 10:30," I tell her as I look at my phone, which immediately dies as it lights up to show me the time.

"Thank you," she tells me as she begins raiding her nightstand drawer. I don't see what she's doing until I notice her put something in her mouth and swallow it.

"I didn't know you were taking medication," I say, dumbly.

"I'm not," she adds as I slump back onto the ground the way I sat outside my front door. "I'm on the pill."

This surprises me, since she never mentioned anything about a boyfriend or even a sex life. She certainly never struck me as the type to just openly talk about that kind of stuff, either.

"The pill? You have a boyfriend?" I assume, curious and hoping to be wrong.

"No. I just want to be prepared for when the day comes. I don't want any regrets like an unplanned pregnancy. I don't even want to be pregnant at all," she starts to explain, leaving me stuck on a few words.

"When the day comes? So you're telling me that you're a virgin?" I ask, immediately regretting prying for information out of fear she might get up and slap me or something, and tell me to mind my own business.

"Is there something wrong with that?" she asks, slightly changing the tone in her voice but I'm not sure what to make of it.

"No. I mean, I am too... there's nothing wrong with it," I confessed.

"Yeah, but you're still a teenager. I'm 21. A lot of people my age have lost it already. I mean, Serah's younger than me and I'm pretty sure she and Snow have already had sex."

Awkward moment here. I'd rather not think about the two of them having sex when they're in the next room.

"I need to wash my hair. Make yourself at home, I'll be out in an hour or so," she tells me as she walks toward her bathroom door. I sit on her bed, now that she isn't sitting there, and I think of ways to tell Lightning the truth.

"Nevermind, apparently I'm out of conditioner. I'm gonna run up to the store and get some. Do you need anything?" she asks, walking toward the door and stopping there, awaiting my response.

"I'm good," I answer, surprised she hasn't kicked me off her bed. I guess she was sincere when she said to 'make myself at home.'

"Alright, I'll be back in a bit," she tells me before walking out.

Now I have some time to think. We have a whole night. There's really no time limit until she decides to kick me out or one of us falls asleep. Think, Hope, think. Think harder. Lightning, I love you. No, that's too... simple. Damn it all.

Without realizing, I make my way to the living room where I pace back and forth, still trying to come up with something. I am taken by surprise when, out of the corner of my eye, I see Snow, shirtless and staring at me.

"When did you get here?" he asks, looking confused. Lightning was right about his sex life with Serah. I can tell, his face is red and sweaty, and his hair is messed up. He sounds short of breath too.

"I got locked out so Lightning picked me up and brought me here," I interrupted my train of thought to answer.

"Oh, lucky you. You should feel special. You know she doesn't do nice deeds for just anyone," he informs as he walks to the refrigerator.

"I guess I am pretty special then," I answer, feeling the blood rush to my face, finding my way to the couch and lying down on it.

"No! Don't sit there!" Snow quickly scolds, making me quickly jump back up.

"Is something wrong with it?" I wonder aloud as Snow stops, realizing the damage has already been done, but I'm not sure what damage he means.

"No... just..." he looks slightly embarassed and walks closer to me. "We just broke it in today so you probably won't want to sit there."

I'm not sure what he means until I look back and see that the pile of clothes isn't clothes, but more like underwear. A bright pink bra that looks too small to be Lightning's (as well as not a color I would imagine her wearing), and a matching pair of panties. Now that I've just visualized Snow and Serah's fun in the living room, and probably with much accuracy, I feel awkward now.

Of course, now I can't stop but imagining what Lightning must look like without all of her clothes on. I imagine she would wear neutral colors, maybe black or gray or brown, and she probably wouldn't go for the cute, girly stuff like her sister does. I'm sure whatever the case though, she'd be HOT.

"Where is Lightning?" he asks, followed by drinking a big gulp of ice cold water in a clear glass.

"She ran out of conditioner so she went to get more," I answer.

"Oh man... her shopping takes forever. She might not even be back tonight," he laughs.

"But it's just a bottle of conditioner..." I reply.

"Yeah, but when Lightning goes shopping, she has a list and always comes home with more than she planned on buying. Sure, she's going to get conditioner, until she sees the electronic section and suddenly remembers that she needs more batteries. So she looks for batteries, then realizes they only sell AAAs at the front next to the cash registers. So on her way to the front of the store, she sees something on sale that she thinks we need so she stocks up on it. By the time she's in line and next to check out, she forgets what she came for in the first place and has to walk all the way across the store to get that before returning to the line. It's torturous," he explains, walking back to his bedroom with a two glasses in his hand.

I guess if they don't want me sitting on their... special... couch, I have no choice but to sleep in Lightning's room. I'm sure if she's going to be gone for a while, she won't mind.

I wake up on the side of the bed farthest from the door when Lightning steps in. I want to greet her, but I'm just too tired. She chooses not to turn the light on, I'm guessing she must have seen me sleeping, and I listen to the sounds of her footsteps heading toward her bathroom once she closes her door. I guess the light coming in from the window is enough to light up everything she needs to see.

I eventually drift back into sleep as I hear the water running in the shower, and afterward, still in a stage where I am aware but cannot do anything, feel the bed shift as Lightning gets in. Lightning, next to me, in her bed. Something is going on. She pulls the covers over her and leans on her right side, facing me.

A few moments pass until I feel part of her hand brush against my chest. Now I think that she just now has noticed me, because she begins to pat me in an odd manner.

"Hope?" she questions, feeling around for confirmation.

"What..." I barely am able to talk, but I manage.

"What are you doing in my bed?" she starts to sound a bit angry and begins pulling the covers away from me.

"Snow kicked me out of the living room," I slowly manage to tell her, tugging back on the giant black comforter.

"Why would he do that?" she asks, sounding doubtful.

"He fucked your sister on the couch," I say, straight to the point, and a bit irritated.

"So you're in my bed?" she sounds more irritated, and pulls the covers away from me, roughly.

"Well, where was I supposed to sleep? On the floor?" I ask, more awakened, and yanking the covers back over me. "You have a king-sized bed, Lightning!"

"Stop it, Hope. I need the blanket more than you do," she says, pulling it back again.

"But I'm cold!" I retort a bit loudly just before she flicks me rather harshly on the forehead to draw attention away from the blanket, and steals it back. She faces away from me now, and a few seconds later I lean over her and return the flick. I immediately regret my retaliation because in two seconds flat she has me pinned to my side of the bed by the arms.

"I could take you back home if you don't knock it off," she warns.

"So do it," I dare her, knowing she won't, as I attempt to shove her off of me, and realize why she was being so greedy with the blanket when my hands land on her. Lightning sleeps in the nude.

I could pull my hands away, but my entire body is frozen. Her breasts fit perfectly into my hands without her bra on, and I immediately feel her nipples hardening, along with something else.

"Oh my God, Hope... you're seriously getting turned on by this?" is all she says. Not "take your hands off me" or anything like that. I take this as an okay to keep going on and I squeeze them, just a little bit, still entranced by this feeling.

"Hope!" she shouts to me, sounding angered. I decide to let go, although it takes a lot out of me to do so.

"What are you doing?" she angrily asks me.

"S-Sorry, I didn't know-"

She cuts me off as she grabs one of my hands with both of hers and moves it back to its original position, pressing roughly and throwing her head back.

"That's nice, Hope. Your hands are warm," she says, and I can't help but move my other hand to grab her other breast. I don't know what to make of this. I've never been this close to a girl in my entire life, and I have no idea why she is doing this but I don't dare to question it. She lets out a small giggle, something I have never heard come out of Lightning Farron, as I can feel myself throbbing against her. I don't think I've ever been so turned on in my life.

I'm convinced she must want this the way I want it. Why else would she be letting it happen? My mind is in so many places at once. With my hands on her breasts, I can't help but think back on what happened earlier, at the same time wondering and anticipating what happens next. She said she was on the pill. Was she letting me know about what she was planning? Planning... was she? She would have to have known I'd get locked out, though... Maybe this is just a lucky coincidence?

I snap back to reality when I hear my name come from Lightning's sweet lips.

"Do you want to do this? You seem... hesitant," she says, sounding concerned. To prove her wrong, I succeed in pushing her off to the side and overpower her, shocking even myself. I didn't know I had it in me.

"I'm real nervous, Light," is all I can thinking to say that doesn't come off as reluctance. Our foreheads touch, lips just hairs away from each other. I stroke a small strand of her damp hair before she whispers something.

"Me too." She bites her lower lip before pressing both of them against mine. Her arms encircle my neck, pulling me closer to her. I return the kiss, trying not to push my lips too harshly against hers. The lightest touch and movements leave me begging for more, and soon my tongue slips into her mouth. Her tongue, sweeter than any kind of candy, circles mine as my fingertips brush down her side. As I go lower and lower down her smooth side, she opens her legs a little bit more. My hand finds its way past her hip and wraps around her thigh. I run my fingers across her thigh until my hand rests between her legs. Already she squirms and I shift the focus from her upper lips to her lower ones.

She moans when I barely stroke her. I kiss her neck and work my way up to her earlobe, making her wetter than I thought was even possible. My teeth graze her and my fingers easily slide into her. They slide in and out, spreading her juices over her in a messy manner. She breathes heavily as I tickle her insides, her pelvis thrusting toward me with every movement.

When I think I can't handle hearing any more of her moans, she pushes me away and I fall straight back. She makes her way back on top of me, kissing me passionately as her fingers sneak under my shirt, slowly forcing it up. I can't help but laugh at this. I'm too ticklish.

"You're ticklish, Hope?" she teases, looking me straight in the eye with a seductive grin.

"No! Don't!" I beg, now laughing nervously, but still craving her touch.

"How do you plan on making me stop?" she demands, barely touching my stomach.

I'm laughing too hard to think straight. "I don't know! What do you want?"

"I think you know what I want, Hope," she teases, running her hands further down my stomach to direct my attention somewhere else. Before I even realize what's happening, she unzips my pants and takes all of me in her mouth, dripping with saliva. I feel myself harden even more and I feel like part of me has turned to stone, in more ways than one. She has me completely paralyzed and at her will for anything she demands. But she just chooses to have her way with me. I feel her tongue moving in so many directions as I reach the back of her throat and start to doubt if I can go on, just before her face comes up, staring sweetly at me.

My hands grab her by the hips, pulling her down as I slide into her without thinking. She moans when she rests on top of me before pushing back up with her legs. It evens out; she comes up and I pull her back down, each time with more force. Her moans turn into choked screams as she tries to keep it down so as to not disturb her sister. I move one hand up and away from her hip and up to her breast, squeezing it and running a finger around her nipple. I manage to sit up with Lightning still on top of me, supporting myself with my arms at my sides as I run my tongue in circles along her nipple. Her arms wrap around my neck as she continues pushing herself up and down on me, and my lips now close in on her nipple.

Her arms wrap around my neck and her nails start to dig into the side, heightening all of my senses. She continues pushing herself up and down on me with her legs, and my lips now close in on her nipple.

I wrap a single arm around her smooth waist while she rides me, still supporting myself with the other. I feel my body temperature increase as sweat slowly drips from Lightning onto me. I thrust into her as hard as I possibly can, given the position I am in, and she lets out the sexiest moan over and over again.

"God, Hope..." she mumbles breathily, and I pull her as hard as I can with my one arm and I can barely catch my breath.

"Light, I'm-" unable to finish my sentence as I empty my juice into her and fall back on the bed. For a few moments, Light stays where she is, catching her breath before falling beside me. She faces me, placing one leg over mine and resting her head near my shoulders before giving me a quick kiss on the lips.