The second Imogen stepped inside Fiona's loft she felt at home. The smell of Fi's perfume hanging in the air, a classic French film playing on the TV, and the overall openness instantly put her mind at ease. Fiona was in the kitchen, putting together some type of snack, and she called out a "hi!" to Imogen without even turning around. Imogen had been over countless times after they worked on the mini-house project together and she could finally call Fiona Coyne her best friend. This was, however, the first time Fiona invited her to sleep over and for some reason this caused Imogen to feel progressively nervous, yet excited about the night, regardless of the fact she couldn't quite figure out why.

Before she knew it, nearly 5 hours of movies, laughs, and reality TV had passed, and Fiona was getting up off the couch. "Ready to go to sleep? You will finally be the first person since Holly J to take the BFF spot in my bed" Fiona said as she yawned, and started walking towards her room. Imogen felt butterflies in her stomach. Again. She had assumed she would just sleep on the couch, but now she found herself following Fiona into her room. Imogen had never been in Fiona's room before. Yes, she had been over tons of times, but they were always cooking or watching movies or talking or doing anything else that never required her to go inside it. She had always been curious to see it though, after all, it was Fi's personal and private space, and Imogen found herself wanting to know everything that was personal and private about her.

Fiona's room was everything Imogen had expected it to be. It was simple, but at the same time absolutely elegant. She had expensive bedding, white and purple colored lamps, and jewelry sitting on top of her dresser. There was also something Imogen wasn't expecting. It hung on Fi's wall. A huge painting that took up almost the entire length of the room. It was of Fiona. Her face was in the middle, the bottom covered in roses, and the corners of the painting mixed blue, purple, and green together in a perfect way. She looked beautiful in it.

Imogen smiled, admiring the piece of artwork. Fiona saw her gaze locked on the painting and felt embarrassed, so she spoke up immediately, "You must think I'm completely self-centered for having that". Imogen turned to Fiona, "No I don't. I think it's beautiful. Where did you get it?" Fiona looked relieved, and threw back the covers on her bed. "Charlie painted it. I bought it at her first art show last year." Imogen's stomach dropped, and she felt a pang of jealousy. "Charlie? You and Eli used to talk about her a lot last year." Imogen observed. Fiona sat on top of her bed now. "Yeah that's the one. We used to date but it didn't work out. Shocking huh?" she said sarcastically. Imogen didn't understand why she was getting so upset that Fi still had a painting from her ex in her condo, but she found herself spitting out word vomit before she could stop herself, "Did you sleep with her?" Fiona's eyes grew big as she snapped her head up and made eye contact with Imogen. "Why would you ask that? It's kind of an awkward question…" Fiona trailed off when she saw how upset Imogen looked, and she thought she could see tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

Imogen didn't know what to say. She knew it was a weird question, she just couldn't bear the thought of sleeping in the same bed that Fiona had done more than sleep in with someone else. "Do you still like her?" she continued. Fiona couldn't help but let out a laugh, "Imogen, I haven't talked to her in months. I'm so over it, it isn't even funny." Fiona kept her eyes locked on Imogen, waiting for any sort of explanation. It didn't seem to make Imogen feel any better. Why was she even caring about this? Why was she so confused? She knew she had to go. "Sorry...I actually need to get home. I'll see you at school" Imogen muttered as she turned and ran out of the condo. As soon as she got to the street she realized she was full out crying now. She saw a couple pass her on the sidewalk, holding hands. That's when it hit her. She liked Fiona. As so much more than a friend…

When Fiona woke the next morning, she rolled over expecting to wake up next to her best friend after a typical sleepover. When she saw the other side of her bed was empty, it all came back to her. Fiona had been somewhat shocked when Imogen asked her if she had slept with Charlie. It wasn't that she didn't want Imogen to know that she had, after all they were best friends, it was just the way that she had asked. She had been so upset, and had looked so…lost. She didn't mean to laugh when Imogen asked if she still liked Charlie, but it was so ironic, considering Fiona had developed a huge thing for Imogen during the past year. Lately Imogen had been a little flirty with Fiona, but she had dismissed these moments as her reading into things normal girl friends do. Fi couldn't help but acknowledge that Imogen had definitely acted jealous last night, but she didn't understand why. After all, Imogen was straight.

Fiona grabbed her phone off the nightstand and checked to see if Imogen had returned any of her countless calls and texts from last night. Nothing. Sighing, she fell back on her bed and hit the redial button. Like clockwork she got Imogen's voicemail, but this time she decided to leave a message. "Imogen, it's me. Look, I hope you got home safe last night… I wish you hadn't left. Please just call me back. I didn't mean to upset you" Fiona shut her phone and looked over at the painting. After what felt like hours, she got up and removed the piece of art from it's hooks and carried it into her living room. Picking up her phone once again she scrolled through her contacts and found the name she was looking for. She hit the call button and waited.

Imogen was in the Degrassi darkroom when Eli found her. She was carefully hovering over the different chemicals, developing what seemed like the 50th picture in the past couple hours. "You do realize school's out on the weekends, right?" Eli said as he approached her. "Simpson said I could come in anytime to work on my projects" Imogen responded, sounding dull. Eli nodded slowly, "So what's wrong, Imo. You seemed pretty upset when you called me". He was browsing through the prints on the drying rack now. Every single one was of Fiona. Some were the same photo, just too light or too dark. Others were of her in different places, taken from different angles, all developed a little differently. Imogen hung another photo on the drying rack, and stepped back to examine the prints she had. "I really like her, Eli. And not just as my best friend" Imogen said quietly. Eli gave her a sympathetic smile, "Have you told her?" Imogen's shoulders sunk as she glued her eyes to the floor, "No but I acted like a total freak last night. I got jealous that she still had a painting from Charlie in her room and I left." The two stood in comfortable silence as they admired her work. Eventually, Eli gave Imogen a nudge and pointed to one of the photographs that had dried. "I like that one. So will she. Go talk to her, tell her how you feel. I think her response may surprise you" he said with a smirk. Imogen delicately picked up the print that Eli had selected and placed it into an envelope "Thanks Eli."

Fiona heard the knock at the door and checked herself in the mirror quickly before she answered it. "Fiona Coyne. Long time no see," Charlie said as she walked into the condo. Charlie looked the same, except her hair was longer and it flowed almost to her waist. She had on a leather jacket and combat boots which thudded slightly on the wood floor. Surprisingly, Fiona felt nothing when she looked at her. She wasn't nervous; she wasn't having any old feelings come rushing back. She just saw a person, an old friend. "I know this is kind of weird, but it didn't seem right to get rid of this without asking if you wanted it first" Fiona motioned towards the painting, which was propped up against the back of her couch. "Let me guess," Charlie started, "new girlfriend hates it?" she looked at Fiona with a smile. "Something like that" Fiona replied. "I thought maybe you would want it for your next gallery show, or for your portfolio or something." Charlie nodded, "I would love to…but you paid for this Fiona, are you sure you want to give it away?" Fiona nodded, "It's time I redecorated anyways." she smirked. Charlie laughed, rolled her eyes and went to pick up the canvas.

At that exact moment Fiona heard her door open, and as she turned to see who it was, she felt her stomach drop. Imogen came barreling in with a huge canvas of her own and a speech to go with it. "Look Fi, I'm sorry I stormed out last night, I know you probably think I'm nuts, I just have something I really need to tell…you." Imogen dropped her canvas with a thud the second Charlie came into view. Fiona saw her look at Charlie, then at Fiona. Imogen's eyes said it all. Before she could even reply, Imogen was out her door once more, slamming it shut behind her. Fiona glanced at Charlie before running after Imogen, who was already down the hall and on the stairs. "Imogen, wait up. Stop. Please" she called down the stairwell but Imogen was not listening. "Shit." Fiona muttered to herself before she walked back to her door, seeing Charlie leaving with her painting in tow. "She's cute," Charlie commented before turning to leave, "Take care Fiona". "Bye Charlie," Fiona said as she watched her exit the condo.

Locking the door behind her, Fiona picked up the canvas Imogen had left behind. It was covered in a big, white sheet and looked just about as large as the painting that used to hang on her wall. Fiona felt the pit in her stomach grow. Carefully, she removed the sheet to reveal the print that Imogen had blown up. It was a black and white photo. It was Fiona, with her hair up in a ponytail, wearing an oversized t-shirt, sitting on her windowsill, coffee mug in hand. She was looking out her window with a slight smile on her face. Fiona remembered the day it was taken well. She had invited Imogen over one Sunday morning to do homework, and Imogen had been busy finishing her history assignment while Fiona had already finished hers. She had been enjoying her coffee, waiting for Imogen to be done when she noticed the click of a camera. She chased Imogen around her condo for a solid 10 minutes trying to steal the film because she thought she "looked like a homeless hobo" but Imogen refused and had a smile on her face for the rest of the day once her camera was safely stashed in her bag.

Fiona slowly walked into her room with her new canvas in hand, and placed it on the hooks that were still in the wall. Standing back to look at it one last time, she grabbed her purse and headed out the door.

Imogen was sitting on a bench at the dog park, inside the fence, reading while every so often glancing up to make sure Volta was still running around and playing. There weren't any other dogs there that day, and Imogen couldn't think of a better day to have the place to herself. She immediately took that thought back when she heard footsteps coming towards her, assuming it was someone with their dog, she continued reading without bothering to look up. "You're a really talented photographer" Fiona said, standing in front of her, "Do you mind if I sit?" Imogen continued to stare at her book, remaining silent. Fiona sat down anyways, unsure of what to say. After several minutes, it was Imogen who broke the silence. "I didn't mean to interrupt your date with Charlie" she spoke without looking up. Fiona sighed, and turned to Imogen. "It wasn't a date. She was picking up her painting. I didn't want to just throw it in the trash, so she took it for her portfolio." Again, Fi was met with silence.

Imogen closed her book and set it beside her. Taking a deep breath she looked up and watched Volta, who was still roaming the enclosed area. "I'm sorry I acted weird last night. It won't happen again." Fiona waited for a moment before reaching across Imogen, gently placing her right hand on Imogen's left cheek, and turning her face towards hers slowly, forcing the two of them to make eye-contact. Fiona didn't remove her hand and slowly leaned in, kissing Imogen softly for a second before pulling back a little. Imogen closed the gap and kissed her again, slightly harder this time.

When they finally parted, Imogen blushed and looked at her feet while Fiona smiled proudly. "You know, I've liked you since the beginning of the year. I never said anything because I was under the impression you were into Eli" Fiona looked to Imogen for an answer. Imogen smirked, "and I never said anything because I was under the impression that you would never go for a girl as weird as me." Before leaning in for another kiss, Fiona whispered, "Yeah, but you're my weirdo".