to the moon & to saturn | cate blanchett

chapter 10

Elle woke the next morning as light poured into her room from the window. She forgot to shut her curtain last night, so it was earlier than her natural wakeup time. Her clock read 7:37 AM. Elle stretched her arms over her head and yawned.

Cate stirred next to her, but remained asleep. The older woman shifted from her back onto her side, curling her legs up to her chest. She hadn't even bothered to crawl under the covers with Elle, but she was wearing the matching black sweatpants and sweatshirt that Elle laid out for her. Somehow she looked even more beautiful when she was sleeping.

She smiled to herself as the night's events flooded her memory.

Cate had kissed her.

Although they didn't explicitly discuss the details of the relationship (Cate insisted they save that conversation for the morning), the kiss was confirmation enough for Elle. There was definite chemistry between them, driven by a mutual adoration.

After the kiss, Elle had retired to bed. She offered for Cate to stay the night, because it was convenient, and Cate accepted. Elle went to bed alone, however, since Cate stayed in the living room to finish up some work calls.

Eventually, the blonde had joined Elle in her bed around 4:30 AM. They didn't cuddle during the night, due to an agreement beforehand. Cate insisted they figure out the logistics of their relationship before advancing further.

Elle agreed, of course. It was a complicated situation. She would follow the lead of the older woman and respect her decisions.

Unable to fall back asleep, Elle quietly got up, closed the curtain, and went to the kitchen. She shut her bedroom door behind her so Cate could continue to rest.

Elle grabbed her favorite cereal, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, from the cabinet but thought better of it and put it back. She never had a significant other sleep over before. Should she make something special for Cate? Elle knew Cate deserved a fancy meal, but she wasn't the best cook; usually it was Dylan who made the meals for both of them.

"Please don't serve your girlfriend cereal for breakfast," said Dylan, walking into the kitchen in her silk leopard pajama set.

"How did you know she spent the night?"

Dylan gestured to the woman's purse on the counter. She rolled up the sleeves of her pajama top, put on her apron, then grabbed a pan and set it on the stovetop.

"Do you want me to make french toast?"

"Yes please! Dylan, you're a lifesaver," exclaimed Elle, hopping up onto the counter to sit.

"Can I help?" she asked.

"I'd rather you didn't," said Dylan, opening the fridge to grab eggs.

She started combining ingredients into a bowl.

Pointing the tube of cinnamon at Elle, she said, "But you can tell me all about your night. Don't you dare leave out a single glorious detail."

"I didn't sleep with her, Dylan."

"Well, that's certainly unfortunate. How did your conversation go?"

Elle told Dylan about her inability to form a coherent sentence, how Cate calmed her down with a comforting hug, and lastly, the infamous first kiss.

"Knew it," grinned Dylan. "I knew she liked you."

Elle's bedroom door opened and Cate entered the kitchen. Her hair was slightly messy from the night's sleep, but it was ruffled in the most adorable way. Elle's oversized sweat clothes fit the tall woman nicely, hugging her curves. The pants didn't bunch up at the bottom like they did when Elle wore them, due to Cate's fabulously long legs.