NOTE: This is a three-chapter, sequel to "Enjoy the Silence" and part of that series. I put the three in one because they mostly share the setting - if not the rating (it goes uuup...:)).

This first part's, of course, inspired by the Guns N' Roses "November Rain"; actually, mainly 'cause it's November, and it was raining when I started. But it was raining at the end of "Enjoy the Silence", never mind the wrong month, so, why not.


SEPTEMBER RAIN

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Sleeping in the same bed had been inevitable.

At around midnight it was just too late to change the sheets on Isabela's, and Juliana's was definitely too small for an adult, even average-sized, not to mention a friggin' giant.

These thoughts had gone through Maritza's mind confusedly like an intuition not yet neatly laid out in words.

She'd grabbed her friend's hand, said "Let's go to sleep" and the other had let herself be dragged away from the window of the living area, to the rooms.

Maritza had walked the few steps with purpose, her reasonings on their arrangements rushing out of her mouth on their own.

"Left side is mine," she concluded.

"Ok…" Flaca just said.

Hands parted, they awkwardly slipped under the mid-season duvet.

Though the table lamps were presently switched off, some light filtered in from the street and the blinds. It was still raining heavily, an occasional thunder rumbling somewhere.

But even without the storm, the air was electrical.

It was impossible to sleep like this, to shut one's lids, hell!, to breathe freely. Not with the mental picture of Flaca's face in the window, how she'd looked, what had seemed to pass in her eyes...

Lying on her back, arms ramrod straight by her side, the skin was so thin over her nerves she was sure the tiniest thing could trigger them. As if on cue...

"Maritza -"

"- AAAH!"

She jumped.

Flaca jumped back up in reaction.

"Hey!"

"Fuck's sake!" Maritza clutched her chest.

"Sorry, geez! You gave me a heart attack."

"I gave you a heart attack?! You gave me a heart attack!"

"...shit," Flaca exhaled.

They breathed a few moments, still half-sitting wide eyed at each other; then, gradually calming down, but still wary.

"So…" Maritza readjusted the sheets, and settled back. "What did you want?"

'Cause what had caused all the commotion was simple: Flaca's fingers had reached out to touch her elbow, and the sudden feeling together with Maritza's twitchiness had made her spring like a… well, a spring.

Flaca settled back too. She looked away. "Oh, it's nothin'."

Wha… "Seriously? Flac…"

She looked up.

Oh… oh.

There was something there, something… restrained. And alive.

It was like a creature Flaca kept hidden inside, and at times seemed to escape her control and show itself. Maritza had caught it before, lastly and most clearly short ago, in the other room. But now the thing seemed coupled with such vulnerability, as if it had been discovered naked and ashamed; and their moment, so fragile.

"A'right."

They lay in silence for a bit, ears strained. Only the rain outside, the faint sound of a car driving through a puddle.

If she had got it right, if she knew what her friend was feeling, then she could understand the hesitation to lay it on the line.

They'd known each other for such a long long time. At Litchfield, maybe, their bond was first formed merely to try and kill the pain of loneliness, but then it became more, inside and outside.

She had never expected her own heart to change so much.

Fuck these fears, she thought.

And turned towards Flaca, wiggled nearer. Pressed her lips on her cheek cupping the other in her palm and inhaled, a beat, two…

Flaca froze; then started to breathe again, and melt under her touch.

"G' night Flac," Maritza murmured, though she didn't go back to her side of the bed. Rather, she slid down and got comfortable against the longer frame, head resting below the other's, hand moving carefully to circle her waist. This resulted in a wince, but no complaints.

"G' night Maritz," was whispered in return instead. A tentative arm came around her, and she felt a kiss drop on her hair.

She held tighter.


She held tighter.

Waited a minute, two.

Place was warm and soft, but some of that electricity lingered in the air.

It was obvious they were both still awake, from the careful hold, from how light they were trying to breathe.

It was obvious, and it was bullshit.

Maritza's face inclined slightly, and she put her mouth on the skin she found there, the plane of Flaca's chest.

"...Mari." She was shuddering.

The mouth moved north, to a neck; the underside of a jaw. Then Maritza pushed to get leverage on her forearm and lift herself a little, just so, to kiss her cheek again, again.

She paused, got up some more, looked down, and even with the darkness of the hour and the shadows in the room, Flaca's face could be seen well enough.

They'd both had time apart, spent alone, or not. She wasn't sure they needed any more.

Flaca was gaping, the creature in her eyes was a deer in the headlights, and she had simply gone mute.

Maritza refrained another second, biting her lower lip hard, really, really hoping from deep in her clenching stomach she wasn't gonna screw this up.

Then focused on her goal, reached out to move some hair away, closed her eyes and went in.

Theere.

It was barely a two-second peck, quite like their first kiss all those years ago, on a kitchen counter at camp. Then she retrieved.

Looked at the other, however, there was no smile on either face this time. They were not a bit drunk, and so much else had happened.

But just like then, it wasn't nearly enough.

"Do it again," Flaca breathed.

What?

Surprise, recognition. Maritza brightened and smiled. She remembered! She remembered. And… she was staring. The creature was still alert and waiting. Right.

The smaller woman got serious again and steeled herself. It was all or nothing.

She caressed her cheeks, and took the plunge.

...and oh fuck. The plumpness, and the softness, and the… crave, were all there. From the first contact and a little testing nip, a shaky gasp followed and hands gripped hard. It escalated quickly. To taste, sample, devour, aah fucking breathe each other and the little oxygen in-between, and push and pull and they were again up half-sat, always in a chase with that hot slippery mouth, kissing like they meant it while fingers came to tangle in her hair, to pull on her shoulders, and she had to straddle her now to…

Ah.

FUCK.

It felt like a plug had been suddenly, violently pulled.

Darn, again!

Gaping, air in and out, recovering, dreading in her tight throat and large expectant eyes…

'Cause Flaca had pulled away. Flaca's super black eyes were fearful too; for a moment. Then, then a sparkle got into them, a curve on her lips...

No, please don't laugh, please don't say no...

...She laughed.

"Oh my fucking God." Flaca dropped onto the mattress, with an incredulous sound of mirth.

Maritza dropped as well and hid her face in a pillow. "... ?"

"Hm… What?"

Maritza turned towards her friend, daring to open one lid. "I screwed everything up, didn't I?" She was such a dummy. Must have got it all wrong.

Flaca turned to her with a fond smile. "You're such a dummy."

"HEY!" What?

"C'mere," Flaca patted the space between them.

"Hmpf," Maritza grumbled, but complied, so they were both on their sides, facing each other.

And Flaca confessed. "I've wanted this for ages."

"What… really?"

"Hm-hm," she nodded, looking sheepish. But this, this was...

"But, why didn't you say anything?"

"I was afraid, ok! I didn't know what you were thinking, and… I really liked what we had, I didn't wanna risk that."

"Hm." Happy warmth in her belly, Maritza reached out, smiling, and put her right on Flaca's hip, caressing it. "I feel the same."

"Really?" Flaca beamed, hand moving up to mirror the other's.

"Hey, who kissed who now?"

"Weell, I think it was, like, fifty-fifty here."

"Pfft. I still had to start it!"

They chuckled. Got closer.

"Then I was also thinking of Juli, and our friends, and -"

"- Flaca." She inched closer, menacing.

Flaca almost startled, whether for another perfectly-timed thunder or the hot slightly scary Latina right there, who knew. "Yeah?" she squeaked.

"Leave 'em out of my bed." Maritza squeezed more tightly.

"Ook."

"We can find a way. You'll see." They were so very near, again.

"Ok."

Their noses were so close they were almost touching, each woman studying the other. That current was back, palpable. The deer was there too, seemingly ready to make a bolt, only god let it be in the right direction.

"I'll kiss your dumb lips again now."

Maritza smirked, and wet them with her tongue. Flaca shivered. The hell, it wasn't even really cold in that room.

"You better."

And they made up for lost time.

.


NOTE: I have not been able to write something from start to finish in quite some time, and I figured a fairly straight(haha…)forward chapter of KWP made sense to come back to fanfiction. Where KWP = Kiss without plot; or, well, Kiss where the plot leading up to it is to be found elsewhere, already taken care of.

And Ik Guns N' Roses are not mentioned in the series and maybe Maritza wouldn't label them as "p*ssy music", who knows, but I'm sure Flaca likes them. Im, she's got great taste otherwise, she can't not like them right? :)