"Hey, Delphine! Welcome," Marion, Siobhan's wife, greets me as I arrive and shows me to the back patio.

Everyone gives me a collective wave as I walk in. I look around, finding Cosima sitting in the corner, with a joint up to her lips, laughing with Beth and MK.

When she sees me, she gets up immediately to run toward me, and throws her arms around me in a long embrace. "Hi, cutie," she says.

I laugh and whisper in her ear, "Are you high already?"

"I don't know what you're referring to," she jokes, "You want some?"

"I'm ok. I'm going to grab a drink," I tell her.

I walk over to grab a beer and she motions to me to get her one too. We all sit around the patio table, in various lawn chairs, drinking and eating.

I look around at everyone, realizing that this summer has changed my life. Thank goodness for Krystal and her invitation to this team. I watch Cosima as she talks animatedly to Alison, probably explaining something that Alison doesn't understand or care about. I chuckle to myself.

I see her hands flailing wildly, her mouth turned into a grin, her face so alive. I realize something at that moment. I want to spend my life with her. I want us to have everything, do everything together. I want to wake up with her in my arms every morning. I want to be hers.

As the night goes on, we drink more, and we end up playing a game of Never Have I Ever.

I was never a huge fan of games like this. I always tend to get embarrassed, but everyone wants to play, so I go along with it. It's a very silly premise. Someone says something they've never done and if you have done it, you take a drink.

Helena goes first. "Never have I ever slept with a dude," she states as she laughs. I look around the circle as we all start giggling and almost none of us take a drink.

I look at Krystal as she takes a swig. "That's an unfair one," she complains.

She is next around the circle, so she says, "Never have I ever slept with a woman. There you go."

We all crack up again and all take a sip of our drinks. Cosima looks at me and holds her bottle up, smiling at me before she drinks.

We continue going around, having a blast as people reveal some funny things about themselves. It gets to be my turn and I feel a little nervous. "Never have I ever gone to a professional sporting event."

Almost everyone takes a drink. Cosima turns to me with a look of shock on her face. "Not even a baseball game? You're Miss Star of the High School Softball Team!" she exclaims.

I shake my head. "Nope."

"Oh my god, I have to take you!"

I smile and nod.

It's Cosima's turn to go. "Hmm...never have I ever...pitched a softball game," she grins as she looks at Alison, who does not look amused. Alison drinks, and a few other people do too. I bring the bottle up to my own lips. There was that one time in high school when I had to fill in.

"Oh no! You have?" Cosima asks, "I'm sorry." She giggles.

People have started having side conversations so the game dies off. I am feeling quite buzzed from the drinks I've had. I watch as Cosima approaches me and sits down sideways on my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck. She smells like beer and pot. She puts her cheek against mine, nuzzling up against me. I put my hands around her torso and squeeze her. She giggles and whispers in my ear, "Can we go home? I want to get naked with you in your bed."

I'm already warm from the beer but I get even hotter when I hear her words. The party seems to be winding down so we get up to leave, saying goodbye to everyone and promising that we'll all get together again in the off-season.

I take her back to my place. We are both pretty drunk and we fall into my bed, stripping off our clothes and cuddling each other close. We kiss each other gently, not rushing things, just wanting to be with each other, to feel all the sensations in our intoxicated bodies.

I bring her head to rest on my chest briefly, savoring the feeling of our skin together.

She lays for a moment before looking up at me. "Delphine?"

"Yes?"

"What do you want?" she asks.

"What do I want with what?" I inquire, not exactly understanding the question.

"Like, in life, what do you want? From life?" she clarifies.

"Oh babe, you're getting deep here. You must be high," I tease her.

She pokes me in the side and I squeal. "I'm being serious. I wanna know."

"Ok, ok," I concede. "Umm...well, I want to be a great teacher and make a difference in lots of kids lives...like my favorite teachers did for me."

She smiles at me and nods. "What else?"

"I want to be happy...not just like happy all the time, because of course that's not possible, and you can't really feel happy without having all the other emotions in between, but like, I want to be truly happy, like that feeling of warmth in my heart...it's the feeling I get when I look at you…"

Cosima picks herself up, bending her elbow and resting her head in her hand. "You babble when you're drunk," she observes, "I like it. Anything else?"

"Um...I want to spend my life with someone...someone special...I want to have all those things that are cheesy and that you dream about...like I want to get married and maybe have some kids, and have a house…"

"You're such a romantic," she says, "A cheesy romantic. But you're my cheesy romantic. All mine."

I grin. "What about you? What do you want?"

"Well," she starts, "I want to make a difference in my field, discover something really awesome and be remembered for doing great work. And personally, I want a lot of the things that you said...yeah...I agree with what you said." She pauses before continuing.

"But mostly, I want you. I want you to be my someone special. I just want to be with you, always."

I feel the warmth creeping through every muscle in my body, radiating from my heart.

"Cosima, move in with me," I blurt out.

She looks surprised. "Really?"

I have never been so sure of anything in my life. "Yes, I want to wake up with you every morning. I want to share everything with you. Nothing would make me happier."

"Yes!" she exclaims, grabbing me tightly. I smile into the skin of her shoulder, giggling.

She climbs on top of me, our naked bodies pressed against each other as she lays her head on my chest. "You make me the happiest I've ever been," she whispers.

I lift her head up, pulling her lips to mine, grasping for her in a blissful, buzzed kiss. The kiss deepens as our tongues explore each other's mouths. We are both moaning, pushing and pulling in our drunken state.

My senses are heightened and the intensity I feel for her is unlike anything I've felt before. We're a little sloppy, but it doesn't matter. Nothing else matters.

Her body slides against mine and I can feel the friction against my clit, creating a wetness at the apex of my thighs. I groan into her mouth. I cannot pull her close enough. I cannot feel her enough. My body aches for hers.

I flip her over abruptly and she giggles before I move my mouth to her neck, nipping and grazing her sensitive skin with my lips and teeth. She whimpers into my touch and I know she has completely surrendered to me. I feel it in the way her body responds to me. I feel it in the way her body relaxes underneath me, waiting, wanting, needing me to take her over.

I move my mouth to the soft flesh of her breast, swirling my tongue around her nipple, causing her body to submit to me entirely as she arches her back for more contact.

I move my mouth back up to hers, wanting to feel her lips the whole time, while I take her. My fingers go to her wet center and I slip inside her easily as her hips buck up to meet my hand. She shudders and closes her eyes as I continue to kiss her, her breath quickening.

She is panting now, gushing wetness as I make love to her, my mouth never leaving hers. I see her reaching down all of a sudden and I feel fingers start to circle my clit.

She whispers into my mouth, "I want you to come with me, baby."

I groan loudly as she rubs me in just the right way. I have trouble focusing on my fingers inside of her, but I can tell she is close, so I keep pumping furiously.

I know it's not going to take much for me to get off. The alcohol in my system is making me much more sensitive, and I soon find myself close to the edge.

"Cosima," I moan, "I'm gonna come."

"Yes...fuck...me too," she pants, "Tell me again, tell me…"

"Baby, I'm coming...I'm coming," I eke out before I am spilling, exploding. I feel her thighs clench and she lets out a loud grunt as she comes around my fingers, shaking.

I can feel her body tremble in her aftershocks underneath me as I feel my own, our muscles almost in synch with each other's.

I collapse next to her and pull her on top of me, showering her face and head with kisses.

"I love you so much, Cosima," I whisper.

She kisses my chest, burying her face into my skin. "Delphine, I never thought I could love someone this much."

My eyes close and I squeeze her tightly. I am ecstatic. I feel her breathing slow and I can tell she's about to fall asleep. I lay awake for a few minutes, unable to wipe the grin off my face. She's going to move in with me. She is mine and I am hers. This is the beginning of something amazing, and I can't wait.