You and I

Chapter 10: I Think He Knows

Chapter 10: I Think He Knows

Chapter title lyrics from "I Think He Knows" by Taylor Swift.

Thank you so much to everyone who has read so far I love u 🤍

Tarja woke up the next morning to an unfamiliar beeping noise. It was so loud and insistent that her first thought was that it was a fire alarm, but when she opened her eyes, she realized that it was coming from Sharon's phone on the nightstand across the bed. She groaned and propped herself up on one elbow, and looked over to see Sharon asleep face down on the other pillow. One of her legs was still draped over Tarja's.

Tarja inhaled sharply as the events of the previous night came flooding back to her. She felt guilt settle in the pit of her stomach, but she didn't regret a thing. How could she? She remembered the feeling of Sharon's soft skin on hers, the taste of her juices on her tongue, the expression on her face as she had been overcome with pleasure. A shiver raced up her spine just thinking about it.

She reached over the other woman, trying not to disturb her, and tapped her phone to turn off the alarm. Ironically, that was when Sharon woke up. She groaned and turned over to face Tarja.

"Good morning," she said, a lazy smile forming on her lips. The husky edge to her voice was accentuated more than normal.

"Good morning," Tarja replied, fighting the urge to lean down and kiss her and start their fun of the previous night all over again. "I can't believe that alarm didn't wake you up."

Sharon grinned sheepishly. "Sorry. I'm so used to it that it sometimes takes like five minutes for me to actually wake up, but that's usually the only thing that will wake me up at all--if I set my alarm to one of the more musical tones, it just becomes part of my dream."

Tarja smiled. She wanted to know everything about her, all of the little things like this.

"I wish we didn't have to get up," Sharon whispered.

"I know."

Tarja burrowed back under the covers, and they lay in each others' arms for a few more precious moments. But they both knew they were only prolonging the inevitable, and they slowly crept out of the warm, sacred cocoon they had created even though it brought them one step closer to facing reality.

They showered together. They took turns under the hot stream of water, rinsing away the remaining evidence from the night before. Sharon poured shampoo onto her palms from the bottle she had rested against the side of the tub and created a lather between her hands.

Tarja's lips parted in surprise as Sharon placed her hands on her head and started massaging the shampoo into her scalp. She hadn't expected this, but she wasn't complaining. This somehow felt even more intimate than what they had done hours before.

When Sharon was finished, she rinsed out Tarja's hair and applied conditioner, and then without a word, they switched places and she washed Sharon's hair as well. She relished in the feeling of the other woman's hair beneath her fingertips and all of the points of contact where their bodies touched, standing so close together.

Once they had dried off, Tarja got dressed in her clothes from the previous day, retrieving her pantsuit, jacket, and undergarments from various places on the floor, and grabbed her purse from where she had left it by the door. She would have to run back to her room to get changed and grab her things, but she still had a few minutes before she needed to meet her band in the lobby to leave for the airport.

But she didn't want to leave. Not when Sharon was standing in front of her, sadness etched into her features and pooled deep into her eyes.

"When will I see you again?" Tarja asked, her voice breaking. She hadn't realized that a lump had been building in her throat until that very moment. The last night had been a dream, a fairytale when they had been in their own little world that no one else could touch. Now reality was creeping back in, and it was about to come crashing down when she opened the door.