[NEW] Carol- what came after

-1- changes

It has been one month since Therese moved into the apartment Carol had previously bought after selling the house with Harge. The custody fight was over, Carol was allowed to see Cindy every six months, nothing more, nothing less. Even though Therese had unpacked most of her belongings in the new apartment, she and Carol even picked some furniture out together, she still had trouble to grasp this was really happening. After Richard had, thank god, left her and set her free, everything had gone far too quickly for her liking, she had no time to adjust or slow down at all. Many papers to sign, the questions of her friends who couldn't understand why Therese left Richard, a "perfect man", how they would phrase it.

Therese remembered it all vividly, how Carol had told her she loved her in the fancy bar downtown, how Jack interrupted them before Therese had time to react in any way. How she left with Jack, went with him to a party. How she locked herself in the bathroom to smoke a cigarette, how she noticed how alone she felt, even though she was in a place full of people. How she left and came back to Carol who was sitting in a restaurant with her male friends. As she made eye contact with Carol and her smile started to faintly show on her lips, Therese couldn't help but feel terribly scared. Not of Carol herself, but about what was going to come. She had approached her all tensed up and hesitantly, and then spent the evening with her and her friends. 

Therese would glance to Carol from time to time, remembering how the words "I love you" had been so softly spoken to her just hours before, how easy it had all sounded. Carol threw her head back, laughing,  at something Theo, a friend of hers, had said to her, but Therese was so lost in thought she couldn't follow their conversation and so she just smiled along. Actually, she smiled more at the way Carol was acting that night. She hadn't seen her laugh so genuinely in a long time, and it was refreshing to see her love at ease and joy. Carol carried a specific easiness that night, Therese thought. 

As the others were caught up in their own talks about for Therese, uninteresting things, Carol faintly turned to her and smiled at her, brushing her leg against Thereses gently, a small and barely noticeable gesture that might had also been unintentional. 

"Are you enjoying yourself?" Carol asked her, her voice velvety and the glimmer in her eyes didn't go unnoticed. "I am, indeed." Therese replied and smiled shyly, almost blushed as Carol brushed her hand over her thigh under the table so nobody would notice. Therese couldn't help but wonder why Carol had gotten so affectionate this evening, the month before it was mostly Therese who sought physical closeness.

Therese knew Carol well, well enough to know that her little touches and gestures weren't intended sexually, but it had a foreign intimacy to it on which Therese couldn't quite put a finger on. 

"I like your friends, they're nice." Therese said and looked at Carol, a question on her mind. "Who do they think I am?"

"I told them you were a good friend of mine." Carol said and reached for her wine glass, her red lipstick smudged at the edges. She swirled it around slightly and turned her focus back on Therese. "I wouldn't have thought that you would come here." She said, and Therese could only smile a little. "You're full of surprises.", she added, repeating a sentence she had said before, but Therese couldn't tell if Carol could remember too. Therese smiled at that and looked up at her, reaching for her beer that stood on the table in front of them. She took a beer, not because of the taste, she actually hated the taste, but she didn't want to get drunk that night.

"Will you come home with me later tonight, Therese? My apartment is down the street." She asked her, and Therese almost melted at the way her name sounded from Carols lips. Still, she was hesitant. 

"I don't know, Carol." She replied, and Carol didn't look surprised at all. She just nodded and grasped that Therese was still hurt and was still testing the waters, testing how far she wanted to go. Carol opened her mouth to say something, but she was interrupted by Mick who was sitting across at the table and the topic was dropped by both of them. Carol was engaged into the conversation quickly, but Therese couldn't focus on the conversation once again.