I'll See You When I Fall Asleep

Chapter 26

"Come home with me tonight."

Virgo tore her gaze away from the hypnotic sunset. The flaming colors painted in the sky contrasted starkly with the ice blue of her lover's eyes. The question was unexpected, a pitch from left field. Would she go home with her? Virgo's eyes danced all over Cammie's face like an explorer trying to find the secret to a hidden treasure.

Recognition dawned on Cammie after a moment of decoding the astonished expression carved into Virgo's face.

"Oh! No, not for that." Cammie quickly said, her face burning with embarrassment at the implication of her words. "I just meant that I wanted you to come over and hang out. Not for. . ."

Virgo chuckled, amused with the ease in which Cammie became frazzled. "Of course. Yes, I'll come home with you."

"You can stay the night if you want," Cammie sputtered. "Not to like, do anything. I mean, like, just hang out and we can watch a movie or something and then if you wanted to sleep over you can, but you don't have to—"

Virgo threw her head back in laughter, bemused by Cammie's disconcertion; this was the first time Virgo could recall Cammie struggling this much to form a single sentence.

"Arrêter, arrêter. I understand Cammie," Virgo said through a split of laughter.

"Yeah, yeah, i just mean that we don't have to, um, not that I don't want to, it's just like—"

Virgo laughed again and covered Cammie's mouth. For this Cammie was very grateful, because she realized that in her rambles she was about to say something incredibly awkward.

"Cammie, calm down. I understand."

Cammie looked down, sputtering with embarrassment. "Right, right." She inhaled a deep breath, exhaling slowly to even out her rapid heartbeat. "I'm sorry, I'm really nervous right now and I don't know why." A strangled laugh escaped Cammie's throat and she wondered why, suddenly, she became a nervous wreck.

"T'es mignonne."

Cammie smiled at the change of language. Somehow, when Virgo spoke to her in that enchanting tongue, Cammie stilled.

"I still don't know what you said, but it sounded nice."

"I said 'you are very cute'."

"You're making me wonder about everything you've said to me in French before today."

"I've said a lot."

"Have you said things like that before?"

"Every day."

The blush returned to Cammie's face once more. She turned her face away to hide it from Virgo and thought back to all the times Virgo spoke to her in French, the melodic words shrouded in mystery. How many times had Virgo given her a compliment? How many times had she told Cammie that she liked her? Loved her? How often had Virgo expressed a thought she felt couldn't be said to Cammie in English?

"It's very clever of you, you know? To talk to me in French. You can say whatever you wanted and I'm none the wiser."

Virgo smirked. "C'est vrai."

"I really need to learn so you can't say secrets around me anymore."

"Pour l'instant je suis comme un espion qui parle en code," Virgo said with an eyebrow raised in challenge.

"Oh, you think you're so funny, don't you?" Cammie asked, grinning. "You can say whatever you want because I can't understand you."

Virgo returned the grin.