Her black rose

What is this? 'Foreplay.'

The last thing that Charlotte had expected when she fell asleep last night was to wake up on her own. Granted, the pair had spent the night quite respectfully on their own sides of the bed - but to find Mia missing was slightly disheartening. Charlotte didn't know why it had bothered her so much, for of course it wasn't like they were dating or anything. Yet she couldn't help yet another pang of disappointment flicker in her stomach. She figured, though, that if Mia wasn't close right now, she'd roll over to Mia's side of the bed and be close to her in that way. Needy, Charlotte, she thought to herself. Much to her surprise, Mia's side of the bed was still warm. There was a cosiness to it as Charlotte once again wrapped herself up in the duvet.

"It's not difficult, is it? Your English is better than my French. Stop with the frogs legs language." In her sleepy haze, Charlotte hadn't taken the time to properly open her eyes. If she had, she'd have realised that Mia was still very much there - it was just that she was stood on the phone near the door. Her eyes did open then, narrowing upon her as the mean redhead reputation she'd built made an appearance.

"Oh, cry me a river. Coffee. It's just coffee. I want the coffee bringing up to my room." Mia's attitude was enough to rouse Charlotte from her sleepiness entirely. She sat up then, the sound of fidgeting causing Mia to turn around and flash Charlotte a warm smile. The warmth was wiped from her features in an instant by something that had just been said to her down the phone. "I am about five seconds away from coming down there and hitting that smarmy French attitude into next year." Charlotte jumped up, exclaiming a very displeased "Amelia!" as she took the phone from her. "Be kind."

"Bonjour? Hello, sorry. My French isn't great either." She listened intently to an angry Frenchman at the other end of the phone, seemingly ranting about Mia's attitude. Mia's hands planted themselves firmly on her hips as she watched Char with a pout. "Yes, no. No I know. She is rude, yes. I'm so sorry. I bet you've been on all night, haven't you? That's not what you need after a night shift." Mia rolled her eyes, her pout getting poutier. "Are you sure? Oh, if you could bring a coffee up that would be wonderful." Mia's jaw dropped open, her head beginning to shake as Charlotte had worked some kind of magic. "No rush, that's fine. I'm sorry about my friend again. Thank you." Mia shot Charlotte a pointed look; she wasn't sorry, and she didn't want anyone apologising on her behalf.

It was Charlotte's turn to stand with her hands on her hips, looking at Mia expectedly. Mia searched her mind for the most appropriate response, selecting her words carefully. "Good morning, sweetheart. Your coffee is on its way?" She flashed the most angelic look she could pull off, somehow managing to look childly innocent. "Mia, you'll get a lot more out of people if you're nice to them." Char spoke softly. "I'm nice to you, Char." She was trying, Charlotte knew more than anyone just how much Mia was trying. And Mia was right; to Char, Mia was the kindest, nicest, most gentle soul. Oh, Charlotte wanted to be cross at her, she did. But she couldn't keep it up. "Well, that's all I can ask...for now."

They spent a large part of the day exploring a small French town that reminded Charlotte of something out of an old children's storybook. They strolled with their arms linked on cobbled roads through streets that were populated by white stone buildings, where every so often an old Church would come into view. Charlotte was taken aback by every street they went down, the picturesque quaintness leaving her speechless. Mia adored it. There were moments of complete comfortable silence between the two, with Mia taking great pleasure in sharing the time with Charlotte. Whilst Char was in awe of their scenery, Mia was in awe of Charlotte. They way she found the beauty in a street that was almost identical to the last. How her eyes lit up when she spotted something she hadn't seen before. The purity of Charlotte was healing and Mia knew that she'd never get tired of sharing experiences like these with her.