A few days later and Cheryl finally arrives home, the Geordie throws her arms round her girlfriend as both Kimberley and Nadine come out to help her with her many cases.
“I've missed you so much” Cheryl mumbles into Kim's shoulder holding her tightly.
“I've missed you too babe” the older girl replies gesturing to the cases as they finally break apart after one final squeeze.
“Why is it that you always come back with twice as much as you went with?” she asks teasingly.
“You know how it is, all the freebies they give us now, I'm not going to complain” Cheryl smiles.
“Hi Nads, how you been holding up?” the Geordie gives Nadine a quick hug and the three carry bags back into the house as the Irish girl cheerfully assures Cheryl that she's been doing so much better since she came to stay with them.
Later on that night Kimberley and Cheryl are laid naked in bed together, the younger girl rolls onto her side stroking her hand lightly over Kim's toned stomach.
“Mmm...I've missed this” she begins huskily, slowly easing her hand down to Kimberley's neatly shaven pubic area, “and this” she whispers planting small warm kisses against her girlfriend's neck.
The older girl sighs slightly and tenses up causing Cheryl to cease the kissing and ease the pressure of her finger's against Kim's outer labia.
“What's wrong baby? Don't you want to?” she asks with an anxious expression upon her face.
“No I really want to it's just....it's just I have to tell you something and I'm scared you're gonna go mad” the older girl replies.
“God, don't tell me you've been shagging Nadine!” laughs the Geordie, her off-the-cuff joke making Kimberley visibly wince.
Seeing her girlfriend's reaction Cheryl's face drops and her lower lip begins to tremble.
“Kimba...no...please say no” she whispers, tears filling her eyes.
“No we didn't...I didn't...never Cheryl....it's you I love”, the older girl takes Cheryl's face in her hands, staring deeply into the Geordie's dark brown eyes.
“But I need to explain what happened without you planting one on Nadine” she continues softly, acutely aware of the raw nerve she's touching with this topic of conversation.
Cheryl sits up and reaches for a tissue, blows her nose and quickly rubs away the moisture from her eyes with the back of her hand.
“Go on then, explain, tell us exactly what happened from start to finish, then I can decide if I want to punch Nadine”.
Half-an-hour later and Kimberley's told Cheryl the entire story from Nadine's drunken flirtation, to her guilty attraction, to the incident with the dildo and, eventually, her refusal of the Irish girl's advances.
“Wow” is all that Cheryl can manage “that's fcuked up Kimba”
“I'm still really p!ssed off at Nadine though” she continues, frowning, “and I can't believe you've let her stay in our house after that, you're too bloody soft for your own good”
Kimberley smiles gently, quietly relieved that Cheryl's not marching into the next bedroom, hauling Nadine out of bed and dangling her over the balcony by her ankles. The Geordie might be pint-sized but, Kim reflected fondly, she could kick some major ass if needed.
Luckily she'd matured very quickly from the early days of the band which was also a bonus considering the rest of what the older girl had to say.
“I'm not being soft Cheryl, you've not heard the best bit yet” replies Kimberley before launching into what happened the morning after....
