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Chapter Text

The day had been unnecessarily long for Florence, who huffed with frustration as she tried to kick and wiggle the door to her student house open. Her arms were full of her reading materials for second year and her backpack was slowly slipping down her bicep. Once the door finally swung open, her books all tumbled to the ground. Defeated, Florence let her bag join the books on the floor and closed the door behind her. With muttered curses, she scooped the countless novels into her arms again and made her way into her room where she dropped them all onto her bed.

Finally alone, the redhead took a moment to simply stand and breathe. She felt the tension begin to gradually melt away from her shoulders and she let out a gentle sigh of relief. Finding the silence unsatisfactory, Florence sauntered over to her chest of drawers and switched on the record player that was presented on top of it. She carelessly placed a vinyl onto the deck and dropped the needle onto it, letting it scratch against the grooves before mellow music filled her room and soothed away her racing, stressed thoughts. That was, until the door swung open behind her.

“Florence! How was your day?”

Her housemate, Finlay, stood in the doorway with an oddly excited expression. Florence and Finlay had been friends since the beginning of university, after Finlay had helped an utterly drunken Florence get home during fresher's week. Fucked-up Florence had a tendency to ramble about nonsense and people generally thought her crazy for it, but Finlay had sat with her and spoke about life and death and love and hate until the small hours of the morning. They'd fallen into a beautifully relaxed kind of friendship since; they both simply understood each other.

“Jesus, Fin! I could have been naked or something!” Florence exclaimed, making her way back over to her bed and sitting herself down next to the daunting pile of library books. Without invitation, Finlay crossed the room and lay down on Florence’s bed, resting her head in her lap.

“Wouldn’t that have been a treat for me” Finlay smirked wickedly and Florence swatted her shoulder, smiling fondly down at her.

After a moment of passing silence, Florence let out a soft breath and shrugged a shoulder dismissively. “My day was alright, I suppose. I don’t know why I bothered going in, really. It was nothing but pointless introduction lectures designed to stress students out about 'how important this year is'. And now I have two dozen books to read in the next few months. You’re lucky you only have to read music, not books. How was your day, anyway?”

At this, Finlay sat up with an enthusiastic grin on her lips again. “I got to join some final years in the studio today. We’ve been told we have to help out with the tech for their final year projects. Guess who I got paired up with?”

The redhead squinted in deep thought. Her summer in Camberwell had really erased a lot of her memories of first year and admittedly, she couldn’t remember a single person on her friend’s degree. Frustrated with the silence, Finlay continued.

“Isabella Summers! You know, that bad-ass final year who spends every weekend DJing the hottest clubs in London? She’s really cool, Flo. Oddly down to earth. Well, until we smoked a joint at break. But guess what?”

Now she’d said the name, Florence did recall Finlay frequently mentioning Isabella last year. Florence had been certain it was a crush, until Finlay got into a relationship, which had sadly ended over summer break. Florence had never actually seen this Isabella girl in person, but she was quite popular on social media and it seemed as though almost everybody at the university adored her. Sharing a joint with Isabella was practically celebrity status around campus. So, intrigued, Florence quirked a brow to usher Finlay to continue.

“She invited me to a house party she’s throwing tonight! She’s DJing. Her parties are notoriously wild. I think a fresher nearly died at one last year… Anyway, want to come with me?”

It didn’t take long for a smirk to spread across Florence’s face. Isabella’s parties sounded like the perfect type of party for Florence. “Are you crazy? Of course I want to come with! Now get your ass out of my bed so I can get ready!”

As the early autumn evening began to grow darker, Florence had finally decided on an outfit. She wasn’t entirely sure what kind of people would be at this mystery party, but if they were anything to do with Isabella Summers, they were going to be rich, quirky and artsy. Knowing there would be plenty people wearing eccentric clothing, Florence didn’t want to even attempt to upstage them. If anything, she felt like being a nameless body in a crowd tonight to dance away all of her stress and tension. So, the redhead was left with only a tiny section of her wardrobe to choose from. When she had finished getting ready, she felt good regardless. She touched up her eyeliner swiftly before heading out into the hallway to check herself out in the full-body mirror.

“Seriously, that’s how you choose to dress to the most exclusive house party of all time?”

Florence took in her appearance and toyed with her fiery hair. Despite what Finlay said, she felt hot. Her flared jeans were tight against her thighs and her blasé baggy D.A.R.E  t-shirt was contradicted by her full face of makeup. She knew it wouldn’t take long for her dark plum lipstick to end up smudged, but for now, she felt confident and sexy.

“Finlay, dear. Looking like you don’t give a fuck is the sine qua non of being a music student. You’re like, the most flamboyantly dressed person in your year. Everyone else just throws on jeans and a t-shirt. I think I’m gonna blend in well. Nobody will ever know I’m an impostor English student” Florence winked.

And once again, it seemed as though Finlay was going to be the most extravagant person at the party. Her curly hair was styled into a rather androgynous up-do and she sported a bright white shirt and trousers paired with an almost blinding yellow jacket. As Florence checked her out, she chuckled to herself. She truly admired her friend’s sense of style. “You really think you’re Freddie fucking Mercury, don’t you?”  

“You hit the nail on the head there, baby” Finlay winked, turning on the heels of her platform boots to head into their kitchen. “Now, why don’t you come over here and get drunk with me before we head out?”

In the back of the taxi on the way to Isabella’s high-end house, Florence was already flying high. She’d rolled down the window and was allowing her hand to float around in the nighttime breeze, too drunk to process the world passing by. When they finally pulled up outside the detached property, Finlay had to nudge her out of her own thoughts. They paid the driver and stumbled out of the cab, turning to look at the house. The booming music was already notable from the street and students were dotted around outside, smoking or getting some air. The redhead felt the excitement bubble up inside of her and when she felt like she was about to explode, she grabbed Finlay by the hand and dragged her along to the doorway.

As soon as they’d stepped through the door, Florence knew there was nowhere else she’d rather be that night. The walls were thudding with deep bass sounds and there was electric in the air, so sharp it gave her shivers. It was as though they’d stepped into another world. The house was unlike anything Florence had ever seen before. It was far from an ordinary student house. The walls were littered in unusual abstract and contemporary art and the house was dark, but the occasional neon sign lit up the room with a multitude of clashing colours.

As they made their way through to the lounge, the entire room was alive and moving. All that Florence could see was bodies moving everywhere - jumping, grinding and winding around each other. It was perfect. Sharing a knowing look with Finlay, Florence backed into the crowd and allowed it to swallow her up. She threw her arms in the air and laughed as her friend joined her. The two began to thrash around to the heavy baseline with the rhythm of the room. The way Florence completely surrendered to the music was already turning heads. Yet, Florence never cared about what the others thought of her. Most people danced in such a boring manner, so she naturally had to be different.

Finlay was a perfect dancing partner for Florence. She was a breath of fresh air at any party. The majority of the girls around them were unrecognisable from one another, but with Florence’s manic energy and Finlay’s swagger, they naturally attracted the attention of like-minded people. Soon there were hands on her body, but Florence hardly noticed. She was completely lost in the music. She had never heard DJing quite like it. Occasionally, riffs from old classics were mixed with the lyrics from modern songs, giving a whole new life to both records. It was simply genius.

When Florence finally turned her attention back to Finlay, she noticed her friend was getting quite a lot of attention from a tall, long haired man. As the bass dropped, their lips crashed together in a desperate, drunken display. Florence couldn’t help but smirk and continue to shake her head to the music, thrashing her fiery hair around. She wrapped her arms around strangers and threw her head back with laughter as she struggled to stand among the mess of bodies.

The room was spinning ever so slightly and the colours from the neon lights began to blend into one. The music was growing heavier and the bassline dirtier. The mixing of one song into the next was truly flawless. With that, the realisation finally hit her. This was Isabella Summers. This was what she could do. Everything began to make sense to Florence. The music in this house was better than at any club she had ever been to and the magnitude of Isabella’s talent dawned on her. Curious, Florence began to look around to locate the DJing station. Being taller than most, especially in her heels, Florence managed to find it rather easily. She had expected to see a table with a laptop and a small mixing deck hooked up to it, but what she did discover was a complete professional setup. There were speakers stacked on top of speakers and the booth was much larger and more professional than she’d expected.

Propelled by curiosity, Florence slipped away from the people she’d been dancing with and moved her way through the writhing crowd to get a closer look at the DJ booth. She was distracted multiple times along the way by people attempting to dance with her but she’d often steal a sip of their drink and continue on her endeavor to get a look at the mysterious Isabella woman.

Florence was far from disappointed when she finally lay her eyes on the DJ. Isabella Summers was hunched over what must have been a meter long deck, expertly moving her fingers across the knobs and switches whilst tapping out her unique beats on a colourful launchpad. Isabella herself was stunning. She was completely lost in her own music, bopping her head in time with the beat as her fingers drummed away. Finally, Isabella flicked a switch and dropped a heavy bassline which made the entire room bounce even harder. With the mix playing perfectly, Isabella eventually looked up and took a moment to swig from her drink and watch the crowd. Florence hoped Isabella hadn’t caught her staring, but the DJ's round sunglasses meant she had no way of knowing. Her blonde hair was sprawling out from beneath the hood of a grey sweatshirt that she wore underneath an expensive looking bomber jacket. As Florence’s body continued to wind to the beat, she found herself entranced by Isabella; so much so, that when Isabella took hold of a microphone and began to speak, her words greatly disappointed the redhead.

“Thank you all for coming, I hope you’re all getting fucked up tonight!” Isabella called over the crowd, eliciting a chorus of cheers and howls, “If you liked my set, hit up my socials. You can find me all over London if you look hard enough. Now, I want you motherfuckers to scream for my boy Aku who is taking over on the decks!”

With that, Isabella put the microphone down and pulled the headphones off from beneath her hoodie. She shared a brief hug with a man with dreaded hair before he took over DJing and Isabella stepped into the crowd where Florence completely lost sight of her. The man who was now mixing the music was still incredibly talented, but for some reason, it didn’t feel the same to Florence. Nonetheless, she continued to dance with the strangers around her until she noticed her stomach growling. In the rush to get ready earlier that evening, she had completely forgotten to eat. Wondering if there was a kitchen nearby that she could sneakily steal food from, Florence finally stepped out of the heat of the crowd and began to explore the mysterious house she’d found herself in.

At first, Florence had stumbled right into somebody’s bedroom where a group of people were laughing and joking. She fondly watched a few girls who had ended up dancing in their underwear on the bed in the middle of the room but flailed unsteadily as they continued to step on discarded nitrous oxide canisters. Amused but out of place, Florence backed out of the room again and continued her hunt for food. When she pushed the second door open, the bright light disorientated her drunken mind momentarily. She could make out wall tiles and a counter through the blinding light so triumphantly concluded she had located the kitchen and closed the door behind her.

However, when she finally blinked away the disorientation and her eyes focused on the room, she realised she had been very much mistaken. She was in a large bathroom, and three people were stood at the other side of the room staring at her. A fourth girl was hunched over the countertop and inhaled sharply before she too straightened herself up and looked over at the sudden intruder. Florence felt her stomach plummet. It was Isabella.

“I, uh, fuck, sorry.. Was trying to find the kitchen. T-to steal some water. I mean, drink some water. Not steal your food or anything…” Florence stuttered tragically.

Unphased by the nonsensical babbling, Isabella passed a rolled up ten pound note to a man on her left and folded her arms over her chest, looking directly at Florence with a light grin on her face.

“I’m sorry… I don’t believe we've met.” Isabella finally said, briefly wiping away a small trace of powder from beneath her nose. Florence felt dramatically under scrutiny by the other woman. The confidence she felt at the start of the night was beginning to slowly slip away as the awkwardness of the social situation grew more and more intense in her mind. She felt as though she shouldn’t even be there - that she shouldn’t be somebody who interacts with the most famous person at the university.

“I- my name’s Florence. We haven’t met. My friend Finlay dragged me along.”

A loud snort captured Florence’s attention and one of the men made a slight grunt as he too took a line of cocaine and passed the note on to another person.

“Ah, Finlay is wonderful. Crazy good drummer, right? Well, it’s nice to meet you Florence. I like your shirt. Fancy a line?” Isabella offered. She was smiling warmly at Florence and admittedly, the generosity was quite comforting. Isabella’s sunglasses were long discarded and for the first time, Florence met her heavily lined eyes. They perfectly matched the DJ’s entrancing persona and Florence found herself struggling to look away.

“I’m more of a weed and pills kind of girl, but…” Truthfully, Florence knew she could do with something to take the edge off right now. She was no stranger to getting high at parties, but she had never tried cocaine before. Regardless, Florence mentally shrugged off her hesitation and nodded. “Sure, thanks.”

As the redhead stepped closer to the countertop in the bathroom, she took a second to admire the room. It was understandable how she had mistaken this for the kitchen - it looked nothing like a bathroom. The walls were riddled in graffiti, scribbles, paintings, framed photographs and more neon lights. Her favourite, just above the toilet, read   ‘Please don’t do coke in the bathroom’ in bright yellow. She chuckled to herself at the irony as she was passed the rolled up note. The three other people who were with Isabella then nodded to the door and before she knew it, Florence was unexpectedly alone with the DJ.

“I know, our choice of decor is interesting, to say the least. I suppose that’s what you get when you throw five ‘creative types’ into a house together. The walls make for an interesting read, though. They're mostly mental scriptures written by people tripping balls.” Isabella chatted casually, leaning against the counter besides Florence and grabbing a plastic baggie, pouring the remaining white powder out on top of a copy of the Kamasutra and using her student ID to neatly push the powder into a line. The entire bathroom and the events occurring inside of it felt beyond surreal to Florence.

“There’s a lot of interesting things going on in this bathroom. It’s very… loud . I like that.”

Now that they were in closer proximity, Florence could get a proper look at Isabella. Beneath the bomber jacket and zip-up hoodie, the blonde woman was wearing a low-cut, black strappy top that her chest practically heaved from, which instantly sent blood to Florence’s cheeks. Isabella finished the line and dragged the ID along her tongue to collect any lingering powder before stepping back and motioning for Florence to go ahead. Watching the display, Florence rapidly understood why Finlay may have had a crush on this woman.

Muttering her thanks, Florence took a step forward and placed a finger on the side of her nostril to close it up, leaning down and holding the rolled note to her other nostril. She dragged the note along the line and took a long, sharp inhale. With a moan, Florence stepped back and continued to take short sniffs. She’d never expected it to burn the way it did, but the discomfort swiftly dispersed. Isabella was chuckling softly besides her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Always stings like a bitch the first time” she reassured her. Florence gave a bleak laugh and tossed the note onto the countertop. Placing her hands on the surface, she looked at her reflection in the mirror. As she’d predicted, her lipstick was an utter disaster. “So, what do you do, Florence? Are you one of the band kids?”

Florence crossed the room and sat down on the closed toilet seat, grabbing some tissue to touch up her smudged lipstick. Only once it was fixed did she reply, “Oh, no. I study creative writing. I suppose I want to be a poet, or some shit.” Her attention was captured by the scribbles on the wall besides her. She trailed her fingers along a particular scribble that simply read  ‘I’m so high, I could eat the sun’.

“That’s sweet. The world needs more poets. Words have become so concrete nowadays.”

As soon as the words had left Isabella’s lips, the party outside of the room gave a roar of cheer. The song that had began playing was a very popular song at the moment, and the energy in the house felt amplified instantly.

“So, Florence. Want to dance?” Isabella asked with a wink.

Florence couldn't say no.

It seemed as though the man who had taken over the decks after Isabella had been teasing the audience until now, making them squirm with need for the music to be harder and faster. Now, he’d given everyone what they needed. His remixes had been good so far, but all of a sudden, the music was blown out of the water. Florence was suddenly aware of so much more than the rhythmic thud of the bass. She felt every change in pitch in her bones and she found herself moving in time to rhythms nobody else in the room seemed to be experiencing. And most importantly, she was dancing to these rhythms whilst pressed flush against Isabella Summers.

The beat was fast, but it managed to match Florence’s accelerated heartbeat. She felt fantastic. Her hunger had gone, she was wide awake and felt exactly as though she could eat the sun. Her blood felt hotter than a supernova, but in a strangely satisfying way. Isabella’s hands on her hips were the only thing keeping her anchored down to Earth. Florence was aware that people in close proximity to them were staring, probably because Isabella was dancing with who they considered to be a nobody, but Florence couldn’t muster up a care in the world. She felt incredibly alive.

In her intoxicated mind, Florence and Isabella were on a plane that nobody else could reach. She barely knew a single thing about the woman in front of her, but what she did know was that there was an unspoken intensity between them that could only be described as feeling right . The way Isabella moved was beyond rousing. Florence had always known she was attracted to women, but nobody had ever gotten her as hypnotised as Isabella. When the blonde woman spun around and pressed herself back against Florence, the taller woman felt as though she could implode. Her hands snaked around Isabella’s waist and she pressed herself more fully against her, still grinding to the music. When Florence peered over the DJ’s shoulder and found herself watching the bounce of her chest, the thudding bassline travelling through her bloodstream made its way southwards. She needed her, and from the way Isabella was initiating this kind of dancing, Isabella wanted her too.

As the raunchy lyrics that accompanied the music encouraged her to do so, Florence trailed a hand up Isabella’s front, sneaking up to wrap around her throat and jaw. She could feel Isabella’s pulse beneath her fingertips and it drove her wild. Unable to resist any longer, Florence gently tilted the smaller woman’s head back so she could meet her mouth with a hot, intense kiss. Florence was far from naive sexually, but despite all of her years of experience, she’d never had a kiss feel as good as kissing Isabella felt. Their mouths moved in perfect synchrony and the blonde turned to face Florence, reaching out desperately to tangle her fingers in fiery hair and pull Florence impossibly closer. Her senses were on fire. Every touch set her alight. Her ears were fine tuned to hear every slight whimper Isabella made. The smell of the other woman’s perfume was making her dizzy. Perhaps a little too dizzy.

Suddenly concerned about her own physical state, Florence regretfully pulled back from the kiss. She noticed Isabella instantly look at her nose with surprise and try to yell something at her over the deafening music. It was no use, though, as her ears had began to ring. Despite Florence’s confusion, Isabella gently reached up and dabbed a fingertip below the redheads nose, pulling back to show her the trace of blood.

Abruptly, Florence felt a wave of embarrassment and paranoia crash down upon her and soak her up. She stumbled backwards, holding her nose, before turning and shoving her way through the crowd. She didn’t know where she was running to, but as Isabella tried to follow her, the crowd of dancing people engulfed her. Isa pushed and hit at people to let her through, but once she escaped the rabble, Florence was nowhere in sight.

This time, Florence successfully found the kitchen. It was laced with people messing around and dancing on tables, but she staggered straight through the room to the back door, pushing it open and stumbling out onto the patio where she practically walked directly into a couple having sex against the wall. She attempted to mutter an apology, but found herself muttering it to thin air as her legs carried her deep into the dark garden. When her back collided with what she assumed to be a shed, she sank down to the ground. The world that had only moments ago felt so infinite was suddenly colliding in on her and she was struggling to breathe. Her heartbeat was not slowing and now that music wasn’t accompanying the thudding, it felt uncomfortable and foreign. It didn’t feel like her own heartbeat.

Desperately, Florence smacked at the pockets of her jeans and was relieved to find her phone. She pulled it out with hopes of calling Finlay to come and help her, but the first thing that greeted her was a message from Finlay saying she had gone home with the man from earlier. A tear of defeat rolled down Florence’s cheek and she pulled her knees to her chest. The garden was enclosed in complete darkness so anybody who came to look for her would have no luck, but this comforted the redhead. She didn’t want Isabella to find her like this - it was beyond embarrassing.

As she’d pulled out her mobile, her cigarettes had also tumbled from her pocket. With trembling hands, Florence pulled out a smoke and placed it between her bloodied lips, lighting it and tossing her lighter back among the grass. She hoped the nicotine would relax her pounding heart like it usually did, but this time, it was to no avail. After chain-smoking through a couple of cigarettes, Florence felt her eyelids begin to grow heavy with sudden exhaustion. She figured that it would be okay for her to lay down among the dirt for a little while, just until she felt well enough to leave the party and go home. Yet, once her head met the softness of the grass, her eyes fell shut and she passed out in the darkness.

Chapter Text

At dawn, Florence eventually roused to the melodic chirping of birdsong. At first, she felt at peace. The music was beautiful and the air she breathed in felt fresh and crisp in her lungs. Then, the confusion captured her and burst her peaceful bubble. Beneath her fingertips, Florence could feel cold dampness. The hard ground caused pain to split through her skull and her body felt uncomfortably contorted. Her thoughts were nothing but a blur.

It took a long while for Florence to finally blink open her heavy eyelids. Once her pupils adjusted to the blinding sun, it became apparent to her that she was staring at the cloudy blue sky. Confused, she extended an arm up into the sky and watched the movement of her fingertips. Her hand looked grazed and dirty, but she definitely wasn’t dreaming. Peering around, she found her body pressed up against a fence panel, shaded by the safety of thick trees. With no clue where she was, Florence scrambled to sit up. The ground beneath her hands was thick with morning dew and her flared jeans were riddled with grass and mud stains. When Florence peered down at her favourite t-shirt and found it bloodied, the memories finally began to creep back to her.

The shame engulfed her like a tsunami. Last night had been perhaps the wildest night of her life. She remembered how wonderful the music had made her felt as it pumped through her veins, she remembered meeting Isabella and how good the cocaine made her feel. Most of all, she remembered how alive Isabella’s body made her feel as they danced together, grinded and kissed. But then she remembered the horror that had quickly followed - the bleeding, the panic, the paranoia.

Florence groaned and rubbed at her aching face. She reached for the packet of cigarettes besides her and placed one between her lips, fumbling over the lighter for a moment before her trembling fingers finally lit up the smoke. With a heavy drag, Florence felt the nicotine calm her down. Sitting in silence with her muddy knees drawn to her chest, she simply sat and smoked.

Florence assumed she was in Isabella’s garden. Frustratingly, this meant that she would have to try and find a way to sneak out unnoticed in order to get home. Florence was furious with herself. Isabella was perhaps the most stunning woman to ever show interest in Florence; she was completely out of her league but the intense memories of their intimacy felt like electric shocks of desire through Florence’s bones, even now. But she’d fucked it all up. She had embarrassed herself by getting that damn nosebleed and then made it even worse by running away like a child. Florence had no doubt that Isabella would have been the best lay of her entire life, but now, she would never know. Florence knew she couldn’t bring herself to try and approach Isabella again after what had happened.

Wearily, she reached for her phone. Wiping the dewy screen on her jeans, she checked the time. It was a measly eight o’clock in the morning. Determining that there probably wouldn’t be anybody awake at this hour after such a party, Florence struggled to stand up. Her feet were greeted by the cushiony grass and she became aware that she’d lost her shoes last night, as well as her dignity.

Mustering up her courage, Florence began reeling herself through the garden towards the towering house. It had escaped her notice the previous night, but the house was massive. It must have been the most expensive student house in London. Florence figured Isabella’s housemates must all be as successful as the DJ if they could afford to live in such a house.

Much to her relief, Florence noticed that there was nobody else in the garden. She was less pleased to realise that there was no other means of escape other than going through the house. Quietly, she cursed to herself.

The back door, thankfully, was unlocked. Florence silently pushed it open and crept into the kitchen where she found that she wasn’t the only party guest who hadn’t made it home. Amidst a couple dozen empty bottles, a boy had fallen asleep topless on the kitchen counter. There were also a couple of girls passed out against the cupboards. They remained in a drunken slumber as Florence tiptoed through the room. She wasn’t entirely sure if she was going the right way, but when the redhead slipped through the door, she found herself in the lounge that she loosely recalled dancing in last night. There were even more people passed out on the ground and the entire room was trashed with bottles, plastic cups and random lost junk. Florence had to stop to take in the disastrous state of the room for a shocked moment before continuing to sneak towards the exit.

Just when Florence was near the door to the hallway, she heard the low creak of another door opening behind her. Her blood suddenly went cold with fear of being seen in this state, especially by...

“Florence?”

The redhead’s eyes fell closed in defeat. She took a moment to compose herself and took a steady breath before turning around, shyly meeting Isabella’s gaze. The DJ had just left the bathroom with a toothbrush protroduing from her mouth, clad in nothing but a paisley silk gown. Even feeling as rough as she did, Florence was still blown away by how flawless Isabella looked. Isabella, on the other hand, looked mortified. After a long silence between them, Isabella began walking forward intently.

“Florence, what the hell. Are you okay? You’re still covered in blood. I thought you’d gone home. Where were you?”

Isabella reached for Florence and gently caressed across her face, almost causing the taller woman to flinch with surprise. The worry in Isabella’s eyes comforted Florence and with a sigh, she averted her gaze to the ground.

“I think I’m okay. I passed out in your garden, though…” she replied timidly.

The words sounded ridiculous coming from her mouth, but when she finally mustered up the courage to look into Isabella’s eyes again, there was no judgement awaiting her. The blonde simply brushed away a smear of blood with the pad of her thumb before reaching down and taking Florence’s hand in hers, guiding her backwards towards the bathroom.

“I wish I’d known,” Isabella started, “I came looking for you when you ran away. I was looking for you for the rest of the night, but I had to assume you’d gone home. Let me clean your face up, okay? It’s the least I can do.”

Florence’s mind was working very slowly. She found herself solely focused on the warm feel of Isabella’s hand in hers. For such a fervent, intimidating woman, her touch was so incredibly gentle. When Florence’s mind finally caught up with what Isabella had said, she stuttered awkwardly for a moment, but couldn’t bring herself to resist the help.

The two made their way into the bathroom which Florence remembered vividly from the previous night. Somehow, it looked even crazier in the morning daylight. In the bathtub, a couple of people were crumpled up uncomfortably, asleep. Isabella let go of Florence’s hand to pick up a discarded shoe from the ground, tossing it at the people in the bathtub.

“Oi, time to get the fuck out of my house! Get up. Go!”

The harshness in Isabella’s tone was completely foreign to Florence. She almost didn’t recognise it coming from the DJ. In any other state, she would probably find the assertiveness quite arousing. Right now, however, she became increasingly aware of feeling nauseous. The teenagers in the bathtub groggily stirred but briskly scampered for the door when they saw Isabella’s raging expression, leaving the pair alone in the graffiti-riddled bathroom.

Isabella paced over to the bathroom sink and finished brushing her teeth. After she’d wiped her mouth, she gestured for Florence to sit down on the closed toilet seat. Florence obliged wordlessly. Isabella reached for a clean cloth and ran it under warm water for a moment before stepping up to Florence. There was a heavy tension in the air as the blonde reached forward and softly placed her fingers beneath Florence’s chin, lifting her head up to get a better look at the bloodied nose before carefully beginning to dab the warm cloth around it.

“Look, Isabella-” Florence bashfully began, only to be instantly stopped in her tracks.

“-Please, call me Isa. Isabella sounds so strange.”

Florence nodded and bit at her lip momentarily before restarting. “Isa, I… I’m sorry for being such a state last night. I can’t believe how pathetic I was. And I was such an idiot for running off like that. Look where that got me.”

Isa offered a benign smile and shook her head, continuing to softly drag the cloth along Florence’s bloody face, slowly removing all of the remnants of last night’s mess. Only now did Florence stop and really take Isa in. She was truly stunning. Despite their antics last night, Isa looked perfect. Her hair fell beautifully and even though eyeliner was smudged beneath her eyes, it managed to look stunning. Her silk gown hung loosely over her shoulders, exposing her gorgeously defined décolletage and invitingly generous cleavage. Once she found herself staring, Florence had to quickly look away.

“You have nothing to be ashamed of, Florence. Everybody in this house has seen people in much worse states. My first time on coke was a nightmare. I tried to jump out of a tree because I thought I was indestructible. Needless to say, I ended up in hospital. So I’d say your night was a success. We had a good time, no?”

There was a suggestive hint to the end of Isa’s response and Florence felt her heartbeat quicken. She was too afraid to talk about their almost sexual encounter, so desperately tried to change the topic.

“So why do you still do it, if you ended up in hospital the first time? I mean, I got the appeal last night, but now? Not so much.”

Isa chuckled lowly to herself and finished cleaning the blood from Florence’s face, tossing the bloody cloth aside and wiping a spec of water from the redhead’s chin.

“All beautiful again…” Isa muttered before taking a step back and leaning against the counter, folding her arms over her chest. “Well, I guess I learned after my first experience. I quickly found out that it makes me feel good when I’m dancing and in clubs, but doesn’t work out well any other time. That first time I tried it, my friend was offering me a pick-me-up because I looked tired. So it was the middle of the day on campus, and I jumped out of a fucking tree” Isa laughed.

Florence wrapped her arms around herself and stifled a giggle. Hearing Isa’s first-time story was strangely reassuring. She understood that set and setting were vital when trying new drugs, and perhaps in a crazy bathroom with intimidating strangers wasn’t the best setting for trying cocaine for the first time?

“It’s crazy, how that shit makes you feel” Florence started, thinking aloud. She was staring at the mindless scribbles on the wall again, distracting herself from looking at Isabella. She felt wildly inferior whenever she did. “Whenever I’m on MD, I feel the music much more intensely than when I’m sober, but last night was a whole new level. It was as though I was the music. I didn’t even have to think about dancing, my body was just moving on its own. I bet I looked crazy. I bet I sound crazy.”

When Florence turned her head to look at Isa, the blonde had a rather fond grin on her face. Quizzically, Florence narrowed her eyes. Isa simply nodded in the direction of the wall behind Florence and when Florence followed her gaze, she smirked too.  ‘I feel bad for the people who never go crazy ’ was scrawled rather largely on the wall in angry red paint. It was fitting.

“You looked great to me. I like your moves. And I like your mind, Florence. I struggle to get on with boring people. Let me make you some tea, yeah?” Isa insisted with a courteous smile, sauntering over to the door and nodding for Florence to follow. Florence was taken aback by the flirting and felt a rush of heat flood to her cheeks, but she got to her feet and followed Isa to the kitchen regardless. After a moment, the heat in Florence’s cheeks began to spread all over her body and she felt increasingly feverish by the second. The kitchen suddenly felt unbearably hot and Florence motioned to the back door, stumbling over to it.

“I’m going to get some air, it’s really warm in here…”

There was a worried expression on Isa’s face when she turned to look at her, but Florence was in the garden again before she could say anything. The blonde made two hurried cups of tea before venturing outside barefoot, finding Florence sat on the wall that divided the patio from the grass. Isa made her way over and sat herself down besides Florence, offering her one of the steaming cups of tea. Florence wrapped her hands around the warm cup and drew it to her lips to softly blow on it to cool it down.

Inside, Florence’s body was going crazy. She was beginning to feel as though she could sweat every ounce of water from her pores and her head rapidly grew more and more painful. She wanted nothing more than to escape to hide in her room and throw up, but with how welcoming Isa was being, she felt it would be rude to leave.

“Tell me what you’re feeling” Isa finally broke the silence, her expression concerned and sympathetic. Florence was clearly in discomfort from the way her legs were shaking and Isa had noticed that the redhead’s complexion seemed paler than last night. She was almost certain she knew what was happening to Florence, but didn’t want to panic her.

“I-” Florence started, reaching one hand up to rub at her brow. “I think I’m getting a fever. Everything is hot and cold. My head hurts.”

Isa sighed. Her instincts had definitely been correct. She shuffled a little bit closer to Florence and placed a hand on her shoulder, brushing fiery bangs from Florence’s forehead to check her temperature. She was burning up beneath her touch. “I think you’re having a rough come down. I’m sorry. This is probably going to be one hell of a ride for you.”

Florence wanted to die. She already felt embarrassed by the previous night’s events and now she couldn’t even handle coming down from the drugs properly? She was making an utter fool of herself in front of Isa, who most definitely had better things to be doing today than helping Florence get over her disastrous first time trying cocaine.

“I should probably get home then, I’ll call a taxi-” Florence tried to get to her feet, but Isa’s hand on her shoulder carefully pushed her back down. Surprised, Florence looked into caring blue eyes. “Y-you surely have better things to do, I should get from under your feet…”

“Shut up, Florence” Isa instructed, “I’ve helped dozens of people through rough comedowns, I’d feel much better knowing you’re here being looked after than on your own, not understanding what’s going on. Okay? Let’s get you upstairs to lie down.”

Truthfully, Florence was relieved. As much as she was ashamed that she needed to be taken care of, she was scared of how rapidly her body felt as though it was deteriorating. “Alright. Thank you, Isa. Really.”

Isa took Florence’s teacup into her hands and stood up. Florence took the cue to get to her feet too and she followed Isa back indoors, where everything instantly felt too hot again. People in the house were beginning to stir but Isa ignored them all as she guided Florence through the lounge to the hallway where they started to head upstairs. Florence kept her arms wrapped tightly around herself and kept her head low to avoid anybody noticing her.

At the top of the staircase, Isa pushed open a door and held it ajar for Florence. When she stepped inside, the room was jaw-dropping. It was everything Florence could ever want in a room. It embodied the exact aesthetic she wished she could decorate her entire house with. There were records, books and CDs absolutely everywhere. Bookshelves were practically falling apart, only held together by the stacks of music. The walls were covered in framed paintings and photographs of anything and everything. Funky patterned scarves and hangings were carelessly thrown everywhere, pleasingly assaulting her eyes.

Isa noticed Florence’s approval and smiled to herself as she walked past her to pick up a towel from a drawer, placing the cups of tea on top of a random pile of books. With her back turned to the redhead, Isa bit on her lip to fight away a huge grin. There was something about Florence that felt utterly magnetic. Isa desperately wanted to explore the depths of the girl’s mind and the pace at which she was growing infatuated frightened and excited her simultaneously. She was usually a very guarded person, so wanting to open up to Florence so spontaneously was a brand new feeling for the DJ. Isa couldn’t put her finger on it, but she knew that deep down, her and Florence were unmeasurably similar. Little did she realise, Florence was stood at the other side of her bedroom thinking the exact same thing.

“I’m going to go and jump in the shower. You should lay down, drink the tea. I won’t be long.” Isa suggested, locking eyes with Florence briefly before slipping into her en suite bathroom.

Florence was still transfixed on the room. As rough as she felt, she couldn’t resist pacing around Isa’s bedroom. She flicked through old books and rummaged through records and CDs. Isa’s taste in music was unbelievable. It ranged from acid house to folk; heavy metal to pop; ska to hip hop. It was phenomenal. Florence felt like a child in the best toy shop known to man. There was junk everywhere and Florence couldn’t help but pick things up and admire them. There were crystals, old pottery, tarot cards, endless jewellery, plants, obscure instruments, herbs. Almost everything Florence saw intrigued her.

In one corner of the room, Isa had what could only be described as a miniature music studio. She had what looked like a very expensive computer, launchpads, mixers, digital drums and a keyboard all cramped into the small space. Losing her manners in the wonders of the room, Florence switched the keyboard on and began to toy with the keys, playing a small melody, before getting distracted by the stack of records that were next to the mixers. She could only assume that these were Isa’s most recently played records. Once again, the variety was shocking. Florence picked up each record individually, smiling at Fleet Foxes, The Specials, Lemar and Elton John respectively.

“Are you musical, Florence?”

“-Shit!” Florence jumped at the sudden voice in the silent room. She had been too absorbed in Isa’s little world that she hadn’t noticed the woman herself come out of the bathroom again. With the surprise, she’d dropped the Elton John record onto the floor. Isa chuckled and walked over to Florence, picking the record up for her and placing it back on the stack. The DJ was now clad in a black Yeezy sweatshirt and jogging bottoms, with her wet hair tied up into a messy bun. Yet, she still managed to look stunning.

“I thought I’d told you to get into bed” Isa smirked mischievously, clearly amused to find Florence snooping. The playful tone to Isa’s voice still managed to turn Florence on ever so slightly, despite what felt like total organ failure unravelling inside of her.

“I- uh. Your room. It’s amazing. I suppose I got lost in it all.” Florence explained, using her hands to awkwardly motion to the wonderland of music and books around them. “And no, I’m not a music student or anything, I study English and Creative Writing. But I guess I’m musical. I sing a lot. And I write songs.”

Florence had peaked Isa’s interest. She raised a brow with intrigue and folded her arms over her chest. “I want you to sing for me some time” she said firmly, “but you really should be getting into bed and resting before it gets worse-”

“No!” Florence interjected and Isa rose her eyebrows with surprise, “I- When I was young, I used to sing to help myself feel better. Maybe it would still work?”

Florence wasn’t sure where her sudden spurt of confidence had came from, but she didn’t regret it. Whenever she got sick as a child and nobody came to comfort her, she would sing lullabies to herself. It had always helped her feel better. Plus, she was no idiot. Isabella was a DJ. She made music. Making music was Florence’s true dream, and if Isa liked what she could do, it could be the start of something wonderful.

Thankfully, Isa smiled at the enthusiasm. She moved around Florence and sat herself down at the keyboard, giving the taller girl a knowing look when she found the instrument already switched on. “I have the perfect song, if you’re ready?” she asked, flicking a few switches and buttons on the keyboard. Florence gave a nod and stood behind Isa, curious to see what she was going to play.

When the first note of the song filled the room, Florence instantly felt some sort of soothing in her mind. As Isa’s talented fingers strung the notes together, Florence eventually recognised what Isa was playing. She glanced across at the Madman Across the Water record that she had dropped earlier and shook her head fondly. Isa was playing Tiny Dancer. The way she played was stunning. Florence had never heard the song sound so beautiful and melodic and Isa’s playing was completely faultless. She was so lost in watching the awe-inspiring concentration on Isa’s face that she nearly missed her cue to begin singing, but collected herself just in time.

Much to her relief, her voice sounded the same as it always did, despite the war raging on inside of her organs. She began the verse softly and as soon as Florence opened her mouth, Isa’s eyes widened. Her hands almost stumbled across the keys. She had definitely not been expecting the strong voice that came from the sickly girl behind her.

Isa eagerly continued to play, dragging the song to the bridge where Florence began to project her voice more. It was a dramatic comparison, but Florence’s voice was like sex to Isa. She’d never had the opportunity to work with someone with such a raw talent. As she played through the bridge, building Florence up to the chorus, she began to completely lose herself in the music they were making. She hunched over the keys, bobbing her head along to the beat, feeling excitement build up inside of her before she pushed the song over the edge and came crashing down into the chorus. Behind her, Florence had gotten utterly dissolved in the music as well. As the chorus began, she threw out her arms and sang louder and stronger, feeling the passion swell in her chest and the pain melt away. Isa pressed her fingers harder against the keys as she played, closing her eyes and letting Florence’s voice completely envelop her. Then, as quickly as it had began, the chorus was over and slow, gentle singing and piano resumed.

As beautiful as it was, the slower and more reserved singing teased Isa. Having heard what Florence’s voice could do, she wanted nothing more than to be lost in that chorus again. When it finally came, she threw her head back as she slammed down on the keys. Florence began to hold her notes for longer and fill every word with more and more passion. Her lung capacity was phenomenal. The powerful notes continued for an impossibly long time and as Isa played the last few notes on the keys, she was breathing heavily.

When both of them eventually stopped, a heavy silence endured between them. Florence wrapped her arms around herself again, feeling vulnerable in the uncertainty, whilst Isa licked her lips slowly and composed herself. Her body was screaming at her to turn around, stand up and kiss Florence hard and hot. But Florence wasn’t well, and Isa knew exactly how crippling comedowns could be, so she subdued the urge and turned to look into deep green eyes.

“Florence…” she began, struggling to find words that would do Florence’s talent justice, “I’ve never heard anybody sing like that. You have the most precious talent I have ever heard.”

Flushing, Florence brushed her hair bashfully behind her ear and smiled. “Thank you. That felt really good… you’re incredible. You play amazingly.”

Isa grinned. Florence’s voice was so gentle and shy. She almost couldn’t believe that the voice she had just heard actually belonged to the timid redhead.

Whilst the singing had helped Florence feel better, now they’d stopped, she could feel the fever coming back with vengeance. Her face dropped a little and she took a shaky breath. Isa stood up from her stool and tucked it away beneath the keyboard.

“I think we work really well together. We’ll have to do that again when you’re better. Now get your goddamn ass into bed, you look like you’re going to pass out.”

This time, Florence complied and headed over to the bed, steadily laying herself down and drawing her knees to her chest, clutching the sheets to her chest for comfort. The sheets smelled like Isa, which didn’t help. It only made her feel more nauseous as she found herself thinking about how she could have ended up in Isa’s bed last night in a very different context. Trying to think through emotions and feelings right now was sickening. What she and Isa had just shared was definitely something significant, but it was too much for Florence to work through right now. She buried her face in the pillow and tried to steady her breathing to banish the nausea.

Isa felt awful as she watched Florence writhe in discomfort. Technically, it was her fault that Florence was in this state and she felt the need to do all she could for the younger woman to help her through the pain. She approached Florence quietly and placed the still warm cup of tea down on the bedside table.

“Please try and drink this, it will help. And I’m going to make you something light to eat. I know eating is probably the last thing on your mind right now, but trust me, it will help. I’ll get you some clean clothes to change into whilst I’m gone, too.” Isa soothed. She grabbed a pair of jogging bottoms and a baggy t-shirt from her dresser, setting them out on the bed. Florence could barely look across at Isa as the comedown deluged her. Isa knew there was nothing more she could do right now, so quietly slipped from the room and left Florence to sweat it out.

Chapter Text

As soon as Isa stepped from the room, she let out a heavy sigh. Despite the brave face she maintained in front of Florence, she wasn’t exactly feeling on top of her game this morning either. Isa couldn’t quite recall precise details, but she knew the night had continued to get messier after she lost Florence. She recalled a couple of fights, broken furniture and her friends hooking up with people she knew they would later regret. Isa was glad that she’d woken up alone and not next to some random person she couldn’t quite remember.

She remembered Florence. How could she forget that quirky, fiery girl? After getting to know Florence’s musical talent, Isa wished that she’d woken up tangled in her arms. She wished that her and Florence had slept together regardless, but hearing Florence’s passionate voice had made her even more intrigued by the beautiful redhead. Sadly, instead of sleeping with her, the poor girl had slept outside, like a dog.

Shrugging her racing thoughts aside, Isa plodded down the stairs. There was slight commotion in the house as guests woke up, confused and dazed. In the lounge, they scampered around to collect their belongings and left the house before Isa could unleash her rage on them. Her lounge was an absolute disaster, but luckily, her housemate Leo was already groggily shuffling around and tossing empty bottles into a large bin bag.

“Morning, kid” Isa muttered in passing, heading straight into the kitchen where she was relieved to discover that the passed out people from earlier had left. Instead, one of her other housemates was hunched over the kettle, making a strung-out attempt at a cup of coffee. Isa made her way over to her housemate and tangled her arms around her waist, groaning.

“Our house is ruined, Laura” she complained with a pout, despite having her face pressed against the other woman’s back. Laura chuckled and twisted around in Isa’s embrace, draping her arms around the blonde’s shoulders.

Laura had been Isa’s closest friend for the majority of her time at university. They had been living together for over four years and had grown extremely close in that time. Their friendship was comfortable and easy, and Isa was eternally grateful for Laura’s unconditional loyalty.

“Leo will have it sorted out before we know it. You know how much he hates mess. Plus, he got less wrecked than us last night, so it’s only fair.”

Isa peered up at Laura and laughed when she realised her friend was already wearing sunglasses beneath her wildly curly fringe. She slipped from Laura’s embrace and wandered over to the fridge, snooping around to try and formulate some sort of healthy meal for Florence.

Once she’d made her coffee, Laura backed against the counter and watched Isa curiously. Seeing the short woman pull avocados and eggs out of the fridge, Laura furrowed her brow.

“This is a strange hangover cure” she commented with an amused grin, nursing her steaming coffee mug in her tattooed hands. Isa shot her a mock glare and dumped the ingredients on the kitchen counter, grabbing a couple of slices of bread and tossing them into the toaster.

“It’s not for me, shit-for-brains. There’s a girl having a deadly comedown in my bed. I need to try and get some food in her. Pass me a frying pan?”

Laura made no comment at first, reaching into the cupboard besides her for a frying pan and wondering over to Isa to pass it to her.

“So… you got laid last night?” Laura tentatively asked, only to receive a soft smack from the frying pan across her arm.

“No, sadly. I almost did, but she got a nosebleed. Then got really paranoid and ran off. Turns out she passed out in our garden, the poor thing. She’s in a pretty bad state this morning, but oh my god, Laura-” Isa stopped in the middle of chopping the avocado and turned to her friend, putting the knife down, “-this girl is something else. She seems fucking crazy, but in a really intriguing way. She writes poetry. She’s smart, sexy, and fucking hell. She just sang for me. I’ve never heard anything like it. I can’t even describe it - she gave me goosebumps. Her voice is better than sex.”

Realising how much of a tangent she’d veered off on, Isa flushed and turned back to the avocado. Laura stood in disbelief, a teasing smirk plastered across her face.

“Isabella Summers, I haven't heard you talk about anybody like that for a very long time” Laura taunted, poking playfully at the blonde’s ribs as she tried to distract herself by frying eggs. “What does she look like then, this mysterious singer lady? Did I see her last night? She sounds hot.”

“No, you were busy trying to serenade some girls in your room with your stupid fucking ukulele.” Isabella prodded, a mischievous glint in her eyes, “I met her when me and the boys went to do a line or two. She stumbled into the bathroom whilst we were in there. It was kind of adorable, actually. She’s tall and her hair is dyed red, but you can tell she’s naturally ginger anyway. She’s pretty slim and has legs for fucking days .”

Laura was still surprised to hear the way her friend was talking about this mystery girl. She hoisted herself up onto the kitchen counter and rested her chin in her hands, watching Isa over the rim of her sunglasses. “So what actually happened with you and her? Did one look at your hot ass give her a nosebleed?”

Isa chuckled to herself as she splashed the oil over the eggs in the pan, unable to stop herself from smiling as she remembered her time with Florence. “Well, when she walked in on us in the bathroom, she ended up doing a line with me. It was her first time on coke, though. And we ended up dancing. It got pretty heated, like we were both on the same astral plane or some shit. We were sort of moving as one, and then she was grinding on me, and she kissed me. God, it was amazing. But that’s when it must have all gotten too overwhelming for her because her nose started to bleed. I didn’t see her again until this morning. I caught her trying to sneak out but I cleaned her up and took her up to my room to get some rest. She seems to like all the junk in my room and yeah, she ended up singing for me.”

After listening intently to her friend, Laura gave her first genuine smile. “Well, she really must be something to have Isabella Summers talking about her like this. Just be careful, okay? Try not to rush anything. We’re in uncharted territory - you’ve never told me about someone the morning after you've slept with them, yet alone go all mushy about someone you didn’t even fuck!”

Laura hopped off of the kitchen counter and gave Isa’s arm a gentle squeeze before grabbing an apple and making her way back to her room. Isa stood staring into the pan, a smile still on her face. Laura was right, she never really had much of a connection with anybody she hooked up with. Isa knew she had quite a unique personality and had always struggled to connect with people. The only people she’d managed to find genuine human connection with were her friends, and at this point, she couldn’t find them attractive romantically even if she tried. Florence was already becoming a very unique case.

Meanwhile, the redhead was writhing in Isabella’s bed. She was burning up and sweating, but whenever she kicked the sheets away, she began shivering uncontrollably. The smell of dirt on her clothes had made her feel nauseous, but once she changed into the clothes Isa had put aside for her, the smell of Isa made her nauseous too. The ache had spread from her head and down her back, seizing up her limbs whenever she tried to move. She felt lower than ever before. She was alone in an unfamiliar room, hating herself, all because she was stupid enough to agree to take drugs with a girl she’d never met before, just because she was pretty and popular. Isa had probably only been gone half an hour or so, but it felt like an eternity to Florence. The room around her that had been so wondrous before now felt dark and intimidating without Isabella’s presence and Florence felt like she was trapped - trapped in this bed and trapped in her own mind.

Her brain was rapidly becoming her worst enemy. Idiot. Idiot. Idiot. It chanted. Florence balled her hands in her fringe, silently praying for the pain and anxiety to leave but to no avail. Her body was trembling and she couldn’t stop it. At this point, she wasn’t entirely sure if the trembling was due to physical or mental discomfort. Florence just knew she needed something to help her. She desperately hoped that Isa would return soon, just to distract her from falling into the abyss.

Florence could hear the thudding of her heartbeat in her ears. She covered her ears and groaned into the pillow but nothing stopped the drumming inside her skull. It was so deafening that she didn’t hear the door creak open, nor the soft footsteps that approached the bed.

As soon as Isa saw the state Florence was in, her heart tore in two. The tall girl was curled up on the bed like a child having a nightmare, trembling and whimpering. Isa had been in this exact position before and understood the agony the redhead was in. She placed the tray of food down on the bedside table and cautiously slipped into the bed besides Florence.

The sudden dip in the mattress alerted Florence that Isa had returned but she couldn’t bring herself to look behind her. She couldn’t formulate any kind of emotional response as her mind and body spiralled into overdrive. As Isabella shuffled closer across the bed and tentatively tangled her arms around Florence’s slender waist to hold her close, all Florence could think about was how thankful she was to have something anchoring her to the waking world. She knew Isa would be able to feel her disgustingly sweaty body trembling, but she couldn’t find a care in the world amidst the chaos in her brain.

Isa knew her actions were forward, but she couldn’t stand aside and watch Florence suffer alone. This was far from the way Isa had imagined having her arms around Florence’s waist but as the trembling gradually got less intense, Isa knew she had done the right thing by holding the other girl.

“W-what the fuck was in that shit you gave me?” Florence finally asked, her voice weak and forced out through partially gritted teeth. Her body was beginning to stop shaking and she wasn’t sure if Isabella was warming her up of if she simply needed her presence to rescue her from the torment of her own mind. Either way, she wasn’t complaining. In any other situation, the swell of Isa’s chest against her back would probably drive her insane, but right now she was simply thankful to have another human to nurse her through the hellish comedown.

“It was as pure as cocaine is going to get. Trust me, I only buy from the best. Some people just have worse reactions than others. I was almost the same after my first time. I had a broken leg to deal with, too” Isa half joked.

Florence made a low sound of acknowledgement. She was relieved to know she probably wasn’t having some sort of adverse reaction to a secret ingredient in the cocaine.

“Flo, I’m going to need you to try and sit up…”

Isa’s words were the last thing Florence wanted to hear. She felt as though the world would spin off into oblivion if she tried to move from her safe foetal position. Regardless, she trusted the other woman to know what she was doing. With a deep breath, Florence opened her eyes. She was pleased to find that the room was no longer spinning, so she took the risk and slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position. Isa smiled proudly at her and quickly got up from the bed, snatching the mug of tea and kneeling in front of Florence on the mattress again.

“Drink this or I will kill you” she told Florence sternly. The thought of consuming anything turned the redhead’s stomach and she glared at Isa from beneath hooded eyelids, but Isa refused to take no for an answer.

“There are worse ways to go” Florence quipped back stubbornly.

Isa laughed aloud and carefully brought the mug to Florence’s lips, leaving her no other option but to take a reluctant sip. When the tea didn’t immediately make Florence vomit, she extended a shaky hand to hold the mug herself and finish it off.

“See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” Isa beamed, sitting cross-legged in front of Florence. “I made you some lunch too. You really should eat it, but take your time.”

Florence glanced over at the plate of avocado and egg on toast and smiled.

“Isa… that’s really nice of you. Pass it over, I’ll try and eat.”

Isa sprung to her feet again and placed the plate in Florence’s lap, handing her the cutlery. Deciding against looming over Florence like a helicopter parent, Isa wandered across her bedroom to her musical corner, flicking through a stack of records. She was playing a rather large show in London later that evening and still wasn’t one hundred percent sure on which songs she was mixing in her set. She tossed a few records aside that seemed promising but kept her back to Florence. She could hear the scrape of cutlery against the plate and didn’t want to distract Florence from eating.

Florence was struggling. The food was delicious but waves of nausea kept preventing her from fully enjoying the meal. Finally having food and drink in her empty stomach had helped, as had having Isa present again, but she still felt unmeasurably rough. Surrendering, Florence placed the half-finished food aside and drew her knees to her chest, watching Isa at the other side of the room. The blonde now appeared to be absentmindedly flicking through an assortment of DVDs. Having noticed Florence had finished eating, Isa glanced over her shoulder and locked eyes with her.

“Do you have a favourite movie?” she questioned.

Florence hesitated for a moment. She was still struggling to string her thoughts together coherently.

“I suppose I really like the cult classics? The Breakfast Club, Pulp Fiction, Rocky Horror…”

Before she could finish her list, Isa grinned an endearing grin and snatched a DVD from her collection. She made her way over to the foot of the bed where she had a compact projector hidden away beneath some patterned blankets. Noticing Florence’s confused look, Isa flashed the Rocky Horror Picture Show DVD case at the redhead who couldn’t help but mirror Isa’s grin.

“We’re going to watch Rocky Horror, then. I fucking love it too. I can’t think of a better comedown movie. You have a seriously good taste in… well, everything, it seems.” Isa popped the DVD into the reader and looked up at Florence. They locked eyes and Isa found herself biting her lip as the air between them grew heavy. In another situation, it was the kind of tension that would end in an intense kiss.

Before either of them could break their weighted stare, the loud sound of the movie beginning cut into the silence. Isa released a breath she wasn’t aware she’d been holding and bundled up the blankets in her arms, clambering onto the bed besides Florence and throwing the blankets over them. Florence scarcely reacted, so Isa kept her eyes glued to her bedroom wall where the projection of the movie began to play.

Besides her, Florence felt as though the air had been sucked from her lungs. There was most definitely something intense and indescribable going on between her and Isa but she could not begin to explain it in her current state. It felt as though the universe was screaming to her that Isabella was somebody significant but Florence was covering her ears and refusing to listen. She had far bigger problems to deal with right now, such as trying not to die right there in Isa’s bed.

As the movie began, Florence found herself rapidly forgetting her negative and hectic thoughts. She smiled along with the film she loved so dearly and her and Isa would occasionally share a chuckle. Now that she was calmer, the simple moments between her and Isa seemed much more comfortable. Florence couldn’t allow herself to get lost in thinking about the complexities of things but the joy of the movie surrounded her and Isa in their own little Rocky Horror bubble. As her comedown grew easier to cope with, Florence even hummed along and mumbled the lyrics to the eccentric songs. Isa found this adorable.

After being absorbed in the movie for around an hour, Florence was almost back to her usual self. Her mumbling had evolved into enthusiastically singing along and occasionally her singing was paired with flamboyant little dance moves. Isa was captivated. The quirky hand gestures and the shameless way Florence lost herself in the lyrics were refreshing to watch.

One song in particular almost sent Isa into overdrive. When she’d spontaneously decided to put the movie on, she had completely forgotten about the existence of the song Touch-A, Touch-A, Touch Me. When the scene before them progressed, Isa quickly remembered how promiscuous the song was. When Florence’s low voice began to sing along, Isa said a silent prayer for her loins.

Daring to look besides her, Florence had her fingers tangled in her hair and her lip curled into a snarl as she sang along. Thankfully, the redhead was too lost in her one-woman reenactment to notice as Isa watched her intently. Small movements drove Isa to insanity - the way Florence’s eyes fell closed as she lost herself, the slight rhythmic winding of her body to the music and the way she would tilt her head back as she sang. Isa needed nothing more than to bruise her lips against Florence’s throat and kiss the devilish song from her lips, but all she could do was sit and try not to hyperventilate.

Isa almost breathed a sigh of relief when the song ended and the movie progressed. With her body pulsating and her mind swimming in sexual tension, she cleared her throat.

“I seriously don’t understand what somebody with a voice like yours is doing on a creative writing course” she chatted casually, desperately needing to cut the tension.

Florence seemingly snapped out of her little musical world and looked across at Isa, taking a moment to process the comment before shrugging a shoulder dismissively and leaning back against the headboard.

“I don’t think a music degree would suit me. I really struggle to go ‘by the book’ when it comes to music. I have my own strange, chaotic way of making music that would probably be frowned upon in a degree. I only ever made it to grade four music theory - I hated the technicality of it.”

“It is quite technical, I can’t argue with that,” Isa smirked, “but the technical shit is my specialty. I don’t really have the raw talent you have. I can play a couple instruments to a decent extent but my talent lies in knowing how to put music together, I suppose. I mean, I’ve been here five years and I still learn new things every day in this field.”

“-five years?” Florence interrupted curiously. The DJ smiled and nodded.

“I’m only a part-time student. You think I could afford to live like this whilst being a full time student?” Isa chortled, “No, I actually started off studying part time because I had to look after my sick mother.”

“I’m sorry” Florence frowned, her sympathetic eyes focused on Isa who simply waved a dismissive hand and smiled warmly.

There was a comfortable silence between them as they both partially paid attention to the movie before the redhead’s curiosity got the better of her.

“So how did you end up where you are now? You’re practically university royalty. How did you even get into this position?”

Isa gave a distant smile. There was a glimmer of pain in her eyes as she reflected on her past few years, but she masked it well when she looked at Florence.

“I’ve been mixing and making music as a hobby for as long as I can remember. I used to keep it to myself, though. Only a few of my friends knew. One day in first year, one of them asked me to DJ their house party. I ended up accepting. It went really well and after that night, I got quite a few people asking me to DJ their parties. I found myself DJing some popular final year’s party one night and I was approached by somebody who worked at a club in the city. They said they really liked the way I mixed and asked if I could be a guest DJ at their club. I took the opportunity and it kind of went mad from there - I got asked to DJ at multiple clubs and ended up being a known name on the scene. It was all luck, really. And it paid the bills until…”

Isa stopped her sentence in its tracks and glanced away. There were certain things that were too heavy to dump on somebody so soon, so she resisted the urge to recite her life story and instead smiled bravely.

“So, yeah. I’ve been bouncing from club to club for years now. I love it. I love the people. And being part-time is great because it means I have more time to nurse the hangovers and the comedowns.” she half-joked.

The way Isabella shut herself off hadn’t gone unnoticed by Florence. She bit her lip worriedly but didn’t comment on the segue. The way Isa had found such success and fame was oddly reassuring to Florence, however. It lit a spark of hope inside of her that she too could pursue music if she stumbled into the right situation at the right time. She even allowed herself to wonder if stumbling into Isa’s life like this had been the first step in her music career, but quickly stopped herself from getting her hopes up so dramatically. Isa had been working at this for five years; finding success wasn’t going to happen over night.

Five years . Florence turned back to the movie. Five years? Isabella was in her sixth year at university now, whilst Florence had just gone into her second. Realization of their age gap hit her like a bullet to the back. Isa was at least four years older than Florence and the feeling of inferiority bubbled up in Florence’s gut once more. The paranoia enveloped her again and she shrank into herself. I must just be some stupid kid to her, Florence thought, she probably doesn’t actually care, she’s just mothering me because I’m young and stupid.

They watched the rest of the movie in silence. Florence had lost her desire to sing or dance along and whilst Isa was aware of this, she assumed it to be the moodswings of the comedown taking their effect. Florence didn’t feel capable of thinking through her emotions but could not shake the uneasiness. It would be something for her to work through in the morning, when her head was clear and she wasn’t distracted by the woman besides her who was wildly out of her league.

When the credits rolled onto the screen, Isa was surprised to see Florence swing her legs out of the bed and stand up. She was glad Florence was feeling better but grew quite confused by the sudden change in atmosphere between them. Florence bent down, fighting through the nausea in the pit of her stomach to rummage through the pile of her clothing for her mobile phone. Once she found it, she sat on the edge of the bed and unlocked it. Her missed calls number was in the double digits and she had too many texts to even attempt to read. What she could see, however, was that the majority of the missed calls were from Finlay. Suddenly feeling guilty for leaving her best friend in the dark, Florence turned to Isa.

“Fuck, I’m going to have go to… my friends have no idea where I am or what happened to me.”

Isa nodded. She could tell Florence wanted to leave and whilst it disheartened her, she was in no position to try and tell the younger woman what to do. Instead, she slipped out of the bed and paced over to a drawer, grabbing a canvas bag and wordlessly walking up to Florence, bundling her discarded clothes into the bag and passing it to her with a chivalrous smile.

“How will you get back?” Isa inquired, standing in front of Florence, whose green eyes darted around the ground between them.

“I’ll just walk, it would only be half an hour or so…”

“Not in your condition, you’re not. I’m going to call you a taxi” Isa insisted, pulling her phone from her pocket without hesitation.

“But I don’t have any cash on me,” Florence objected, finally looking up at Isa who already had the phone to her ear, “I’ll be fine.”

Isa raised her index finger to her lips and playfully shushed Florence, who stopped protesting and glanced back at her feet. As Isa began talking to the taxi company, Florence remembered that she had lost her shoes last night. Walking home barefoot through London would have been risky, but the embarrassment of needing to be looked after made Florence feel dreadful.

When Isa covered the microphone on her phone and asked Florence for her address, she gave it to her reluctantly. Having Isa present had rapidly gone from being comforting to making Florence want to crawl out of her own skin. She needed to be alone right now, wrapped up in her duvet, ignoring the world and all of her overpowering emotions.

“They’ll be a couple of minutes, they already gave a guy nearby. And I’ve got you covered, okay? I still feel guilty for being the reason you’re in this state in the first place.” Isa smiled to Florence, who was only half glancing at her. She pulled open a drawer and swiped a twenty pound note from beneath some socks, passing it to Florence. The redhead hated feeling like she needed charity, but the broken glass streets of London truly didn’t seem appealing to her bare feet.

Isa bit her lip for a moment. She was afraid of pushing Florence too far in her fragile state but couldn’t let the girl slip through her fingers like this. She feared she would never see Florence again once she got into the taxi so Isa desperately wanted a reason to see the other woman again.

“I want to see some of the songs you write” Isa spontaneously blurted out. It caught Florence by surprise and she looked up at the DJ like a deer in headlights.

“They’re nothing special. They’re barking mad, sometimes, actually. There are better people you could be making songs with…” Florence replied shyly. She wasn’t used to anybody showing interest in her musical talent and felt utterly overwhelmed by it. Her comedown thoughts took sport in reminding her that her lyrics weren’t good enough but her heart held onto the hope that perhaps her and Isa could make music out of them some day.

“Barking mad is my type of music” Isa simply smirked back mischievously.

The blonde held her hand out to Florence who was confused by the gesture but quickly realised Isa was asking for her mobile phone, which she was gripping intensely. Florence passed it to her after unlocking it with her thumbprint. Her brow was furrowed with bewilderment when Isa returned the phone but she soon realised she had just been given Isabella Summer’s number. The pair shared another silent gaze before the beep of a car horn snapped them both to reality.

“Fuck, I-I” Florence stammered as she headed for the door. Calm, Isabella followed. “Thank you for making sure I didn’t die today, or anything. And… I’ll work on some lyrics. I think it would be good for us to make music again some time.”

“I couldn’t agree more” Isa replied truthfully. She opened the door for Florence and guided her down the stairs to the front door. The daylight that hit Florence’s eyes roused her headache once more but the fresh air and promise of her own bed comforted her.

Before stepping from the house, Florence smiled at Isa. It was an awkward kind of smile but genuine nonetheless. The things she’d shared with Isa over the previous twenty four hours had been intense and significant, but the smile was all she could offer for now. With that, she stepped over the threshold and down towards the street where the cab awaited her.

“Call me sometime!” Isa called after her and Florence smiled to herself. When she reached the taxi, she paused and looked back at Isa.

“I will” she promised before slipping into the car.

The taxi journey home had actually turned Florence’s stomach. The driver was far from reckless but the fast movement and rapidly passing scenery made her nauseous again. She remained silent throughout the short drive, allowing her brain to fall into a muted, meditative state.

When she finally got home again, she thanked the driver and paid him with Isa’s money before clambering ungracefully out of the taxi and up to her front door. Realising she didn’t have her keys on her, she knocked loudly at the door. Luckily, it was Finlay who swung the door open after a suspenseful pause.

“Florence!” she gasped, throwing her arms around the taller girl instantly, “Where the fuck have you been? I was worried sick! It was so out of character for me to not wake up to a dozen crazy drunk messages from you.”

Florence chuckled, stifled by Finlay’s tight embrace. When her friend pulled back, she shuffled inside and dropped the canvas bag with a huff, feeling relieved to be back in her own home with her own friends.

“Last night was insane. Today was insane. Everything is insane.” Florence grumbled. She rubbed at her face with her palms before looking at her friend with an exhausted expression. Noticing this, Finlay took her by the hand and guided her through to the lounge where she collapsed onto the sofa and immediately curled up beneath their blankets.

Finlay flicked the kettle on in their open plan kitchen before sitting besides Florence, waiting impatiently to hear about her friend’s adventures. Florence seemed reluctant to explain anything but she knew that she owed her friend an explanation for her sudden hiatus. So, after a lot of explaining, Finlay sat with her jaw wide open in shock.

“So you’re telling me that after I left last night, you’ve practically been doing nothing besides getting cosy with the Isabella Summers?” she gasped.

“I wouldn’t exactly put it that way” Florence groaned, sprawling herself out on the sofa with defeat, “We were on track to have a night of hot, high sex. Then I bled everywhere, passed out in a garden and spent the entire day in her bed having the most nightmarish comedown of my entire life. I wouldn’t call that ‘cosy’.”

“You’re ignoring the important bits!” Finlay protested, bouncing to her feet and making her and Florence a cup of tea, “She still wanted to spend time with you after you almost nose-bled all over her! You literally performed a two-man show in her bedroom and you watched a movie together. Sounds like a success story if you ask me.”

Florence sighed. Everything was still too overwhelming for her to comprehend. She couldn’t deny that she was attracted to Isabella and after seeing a piece of her world, she also couldn’t deny that she liked Isa as a person. Really liked her. They had a lot in common and she’d never felt a thrill like when her and Isa made music together. But she couldn’t shake the feeling of inferiority no matter how hard she tried. Isa was popular, professional, talented, gorgeous and older than her. Florence couldn’t begin to understand why Isa would be interested in a girl like her - she could practically have any man or woman she wanted. Florence didn’t understand why Isa would settle for her.

“I think I need to sleep this off” Florence muttered, getting to her feet and walking up to Finlay. She took the mug of tea, thanked her friend and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek before retreating back to her room until the following morning.

Chapter Text

After the awful day of coming down, Florence had managed to get herself back on track. She’d spent the rest of the weekend cooped up in her room recovering with music, writing and copious volumes of tea. Come monday morning, her room was littered with scraps of paper with various nonsensical scribbles on. Sadly, none of it was stringing together into a song good enough to show Isa.

Florence hadn’t thought about Isa much as the week progressed, besides when focusing on writing the song. Whenever she felt a non-professional thought about the DJ pop into her mind, she forced herself to suppress it and consistently told herself that she didn’t have the headspace to think about Isa romantically. Florence was still lost in her self deprecating mindset, convincing herself that Isa was too good for a girl like her. Because of this, Florence still hadn’t lived up to her promise of calling the other woman.

Once or twice throughout the week, Florence had lay in bed at night staring at her phone. She’d fallen into a habit of clicking on Isa’s contact and staring at the empty message box before locking her phone and tossing it aside. She wouldn’t even know where to begin.

University had been painfully average that week. Her lectures had all been rather boring and didn’t require much thought so she’d busied herself with reading her recommended books and attempting to write.

After how hectic Isa’s party had been, Florence and her housemates didn’t consider having another night out that week. They had curled up and watched a couple of movies together, but besides that, had kept themselves to themselves as they got back into work-mode after the summer. Finlay attempted to get Florence to message Isa multiple times but to no avail as the redhead began to grow frustrated with the pestering. Sensing this, Finlay finally stopped mentioning Isa towards the end of the week.

It was Friday evening when Florence finally let her hair down again. She’d gotten a head start on her next assignment and to celebrate, she cracked open a fresh bottle of Martini. She turned the volume up on her record player and danced carelessly around her room with her glass in her hand. The more she drank, the more she felt creative energy bubble up inside of her. It wasn’t long before she was sat at her desk with her pen scribbling aggressively in her notebook. Whenever she stopped scrawling she would tap out drum beats on her desk in thought. With every swig of Martini, the song on the paper in front of her unravelled itself before her eyes.

Before she knew it, a fully fleshed out song had been strung together. It spoke in poetic metaphors about diffidence, cocaine and drunken disasters. Florence grinned at her work. She could hear the song in her mind perfectly without even singing it. She felt confident in the scribbles and in a tipsy moment of carelessness she grabbed her phone and tapped the button she’d been hesitating over all week long. The reality of the dialing tone couldn’t shake Florence from her giddy excitement and as soon as the other end of the phone crackled as it was answered, Florence spoke eagerly.

“I finally did it. I finally wrote a really good song. I think you’re going to love this.”

“Florence?” Isa simply asked in shock, darting up from the bar table she sat at with her friends and wondering away from their noise to hear the caller properly.

Isa had not expected Florence to call her. After waving goodbye to the redhead the other weekend, Isa had held onto the hope that she would get a call. But as the days crept on and Isa heard nothing, she’d began to lose hope. It had hurt. She couldn’t get Florence out of her thoughts no matter how hard she’d tried. Her interest in the redhead had even sparked a really creative week in the studio and she’d already began to get a good start on her final year project, which had led her out to the bar with her friends to celebrate.

“Yeah! I’ve been trying to write something decent all week but apparently all I needed was a few Martinis because I just wrote this in like an hour” Florence laughed down the phone. She lounged back in her desk chair and drew her knees to her chest, unable to keep the grin from her lips. She wasn’t sure if she was grinning with excitement over the song or because she was finally speaking to Isa again.

The joy in Florence’s voice caused Isa to grin hopelessly to herself too. She backed against a fence in the beer garden and bit her lip to try and stop herself from looking like a heart-eyed school girl.

“So, when do you want to show me it?” Isa replied. There was a suggestive hint to her voice that wasn’t intentional, but once she’d spoke, she became instantly aware of how forward she’d sounded.

The forwardness caused Florence’s breath to hitch in her throat momentarily. She hadn’t really thought the phone call through and now the reality of it dawned on her. She would need to see Isa in person again for them to actually work on music together. However, tipsy Florence simply smirked at this.

“When do you want to see me?” Florence found herself teasing back. She swayed in her chair, listening to the busy background noise on the other end of the phone as she waited for Isa’s reply.

“Fancy seeing me tonight? I’m at a bar not too far from my place with some friends. You could bring your friends. We’ll make a chill night of it.” Isa offered.

She crossed her fingers at the request, hoping Florence would say yes. Speaking to Florence had reignited her desire for the other woman and she longed to see her again. So, when Florence replied with an almost instant acceptance of her invitation, Isa beamed triumphantly.

“Brilliant. I’ll text you the name of the bar. You’ll find us out the back. We’re pals with the manager so he lets us practically have the beer garden to ourselves. Just tell the bar you’re here to see me and they’ll show you the way.”

“Great!” Florence exclaimed, “I’ll let you know when we’ll get there. I’ll see you soon, Isa.”

“I look forward to it” Isa flirted back shamelessly before ending the call. She quickly sent the address to Florence before slipping her phone away and taking a breath to steady herself. Once she was sure she’d stopped grinning like a Cheshire cat, Isa made her way back over to her friends and sat herself down besides Laura. She tried to remain blasé when she told Laura that Florence was coming to join them but as soon as her friend began teasing her, the hopeless smile was back on her face.

“Finlay!” Florence called, barging into her friends room without invitation, “We’re going out, go get the boys, they’re coming too!”

Finlay dropped her bowl of popcorn onto her duvet with surprise, staring wide-eyed at her energetic best friend. When words finally found their way back to her, Finlay stuttered for a moment before challenging Florence.

“Where the hell are we going at such late notice? And at seven o’clock on a Friday? And are you already drunk?”

“No, I’m just a bit tipsy perhaps. And Isa invited us for drinks with her and her friends!”

At this, Finlay jumped out of her messy bed. She darted up to the taller girl and placed her hands on her shoulders.

“Why didn’t you say that in the first place! Go make yourself look sexy. I’ll go tell the boys. Go, go, go!” Finlay instructed, slipping past Florence in the doorway to rush upstairs and tell their two other housemates to get ready.

Florence took Finlay’s advice and made her way back to her room, striding up to her wardrobe and throwing the doors open to look at her colourful explosion of clothing. Hesitating over the variety of different styles before her, Florence had to try and process what she actually wanted from the night. Did she want to impress Isa? In what way did she want to impress her? Did she want her to see her for the creative person she was or did she want to make Isa want her? Florence wasn’t entirely sure which conclusion drew her to the little black dress, but she settled for it regardless. It was tight and short but had a unique and colourful embroidery across the shoulders and neck to make it stand out as a garment.

Once she’d slipped into the dress, Florence made diligent work of her makeup. She lined her eyes heavily and carefully applied eyeshadow until her eyes appeared dark and smoky. With a quick flourish of blood red lipstick and a tease of her hair, Florence slipped into her black heels and made her way into the lounge where she found her two other housemates sat waiting to go out, already chattering over cans of lager.

Robert and Tom were good guys. They had been close friends of Finlay’s since the start of university and by default were now good friends of Florence’s too. Both of them were also musical and had met Finlay through a failed attempt to start a band, where Rob played guitar and Tom unconventionally played the harp. Sadly, Rob’s physics degree had become too demanding for him to maintain playing in a band and Finlay and Tom couldn’t seem to succeed as a band consisting of just drums and a harp, so Tom also spent most of his time focusing on his classics studies.

“Are you trying to pull tonight or something?” Tom laughed when he saw Florence, flicking his toxic green hair from his eyes.

Florence pouted and walked over to the two men, shoving Tom playfully as she sat down between them. She stole the harpists can of lager and took a challenging swig before passing it back. Tom looked at the can in disappointment, finding lipstick smeared on the rim.

“Maybe I am. Or maybe I just felt like looking nice tonight?” Florence shrugged. Tom couldn’t argue with that and continued to drink.

“Where exactly are we going? Fin was sketchy on the details. Something about that chick she thinks is cool?” Rob asked, wrapping his arm around Florence’s shoulders as she leaned into him. She checked her phone to see the address Isa had sent to her earlier.

“Not too far away. A bar. Isabella invited me. I haven’t spoken to her since the train-wreck party last week but she wants to start making music with me.” Florence explained, seeing Tom’s eyes widen. The punk boy turned to her.

“The Isabella Summers? That’s who you nearly got off with last week? You never told me that part!” he gasped.

Florence had forgotten that she’d been quite lacking on the details of her hectic night with everybody besides Finlay. She nodded bashfully.

“She’s who we’re hanging out with tonight? Fuck. I’d have dressed nicer. She’s so fit.” Tom protested, looking down in dismay at his own casual attire. Finding herself feeling a touch of possessiveness, Florence kicked her friend lightly.

“Hands off” Florence muttered, folding her arms over her chest childishly. The thought of Tom trying to flirt with Isa made Florence feel a fiery jealousy and the thought of him succeeding in flirting with her turned her stomach. It was unusual for her to feel that way about somebody so soon, so she tried to shrug the feeling away.

Luckily, the trio were interrupted by Finlay finally making an appearance. She was sporting flared jeans, a mustard tank top and a forest green bomber jacket which was shockingly toned down for the eccentric girl. Upon her friend’s arrival, Florence hopped to her feet and dialed for a taxi. As she booked the cab, Finlay gave her a once-over and winked approvingly at her outfit.

“You look stunning” Finlay told her once she hung up, “Isa won’t be able to keep her hands off you. Again.”

As the alcohol wore off throughout the taxi drive, Florence found herself growing anxious. She bit at her nails as she watched the world pass by, stealing swigs of cheap lager from Rob along the way. Finlay could tell her friend was nervous to see Isa again so placed her hand comfortingly on her knee, but Florence kept quiet and tried to maintain her composure.

The others took charge of paying and thanking the driver whilst Florence wordlessly slipped from the cab, looking at the bar they had pulled up outside of. It was very… Isa. It was as though the aesthetic of Isa’s bedroom had been turned into a quirky London bar. There was outdoor seating at the front that was illuminated by various different fairy lights and candles in glass holders on each table.

As they made their way inside, the bar was cosy and warm. There were unique photographs and paintings covering the walls and the orange lighting and colour palette of reds and burgundy made the entire bar feel lost in time. Elegant jazz music filled the room and Florence could tell that her friends, who were towing behind, approved of it.

Lost in admiration of the decor, Florence sauntered up to the bar. The server must have addressed her instantly, but the redhead was too busy looking around in awe. Only when the server spoke louder did she hear and snap her attention to the man behind the bar.

“Oh! Sorry” she fumbled, “I’m here to see Isabella, she told me to let you know?”

The server nodded understandingly and offered a kind smile, stepping from behind the bar and motioning for Florence and the others to follow him. He guided them down a rather exclusive seeming corridor before gesturing to the door at the end of the hallway. Florence thanked him despite the thudding of her heart and strode along to the door, pushing it open to be greeted by the cool evening air.

The back of the bar had much of a similar aesthetic to the front. There were wooden tables and benches dotted around with fairy lights twisted and tangled around the fences. At the far end of the beer garden there was a large wooden gazebo with wicker sofas and chairs beneath it. This too, of course, was littered in pretty lights. The only people outside were all sat laughing beneath the gazebo and Florence hesitantly approached. The sweet sound of acoustic music filled the air as they got closer and Florence noticed a curly haired person sat on one of the tables playing a ukulele and singing quietly as everyone else sat near, talking among themselves. When Florence got close enough to be noticed, it was the ukulele player who spotted her first and grinned a charming grin. They leaned over and tapped somebody on the shoulder and before she knew it, Isa was bounding up to Florence with a smirk.

And in that moment, Florence forgot how to breathe.

Isa was wearing a black, tight crop top with a matching pencil skirt, revealing her toned legs and midriff. The dark outfit was contrasted by a large fur coat thrown over her shoulders, which Florence soon discovered to be extremely soft as Isabella wrapped her arms around her to greet her with a hug. At the embrace, Florence snapped from her daze. She squeezed Isa lightly before pulling back and clearing her throat shyly, turning to her friends.

“Isa, you obviously know Finlay. And these are our housemates, Rob and Tom.” Florence introduced timidly. The boys waved politely and offered muttered greetings whilst Finlay strode up to Isa and also greeted the DJ with a hug.

“It’s really good to see you” Isa replied once Finlay pulled back, but kept her eyes locked on Florence's. She allowed her gaze to daringly venture down Florence’s body, making no effort to disguise her once-over and shamelessly allowing a smirk to settle on her lips. “You look incredible.”

Florence flushed and took a step closer to Isa, feeling the tense air of her expectant friends behind her. She could sense that they were hanging on to every word exchanged between her and Isa so she riskily lowered her voice.

“You don’t look too bad yourself.”

The flirting elicited surprise in Isa’s eyes but she loved every moment of it. With a knowing glance to Florence, Isa began guiding them over to the gazebo, picking up her drink from the table once they arrived and taking a long sip through her straw.

“Guys!” Isa alerted the group, causing all eyes to turn and settle on an anxious Florence, “This is Florence. She’s writes poetry and has the voice of an angel. And that’s Finlay, she’s helping me produce my music this year, and she’s a mean drummer. And those are their housemates, Rob and Tom. Please, sit, we’ll get you a drink!”

Florence’s head was spinning a little from the mass amount of social pressure but the way Isa described her voice as angelic echoed around her mind. She beamed at that and took a seat besides Isa whilst her friends boldly scattered themselves around the group. Feeling Isa’s body pressed up against hers set Florence’s skin on fire and she turned to face the woman besides her, biting her lip.

“So, did you bring that song for me?” Isa asked, reaching an arm out to place it on the back of the wicker sofa behind Florence’s head.

“Straight to business are we?” Florence teased, reaching into her purse to retrieve a cigarette with hopes of it calming her nerves, “You haven’t even introduced your friends to me.”

Right on cue, Laura stepped over to the duo and crouched down before Florence, reaching up to light her cigarette smoothly. Isa narrowed her eyes at her friend, who had clearly been eavesdropping, but allowed Laura to introduce herself regardless.

“Laura” she told Florence, extending her hand for the redhead to shake, “Me and Isa have lived together for years. She just can’t get rid of me.”

Florence reached out and shook Laura’s hand. The curly-haired girl was beyond unique with her suave style and androgynous appearance and in that moment, Florence once again felt as though she simply wasn’t ‘cool’ enough to be here.

“Go make yourself useful and get us both a drink, will you?” Isa interrupted, prodding at her nosy friend’s arm. Laura laughed at this and got to her feet, giving Florence a charming smile before swaggering away to the bar.

“Sorry about her. She thinks she’s some sort of sex icon. But she’s a really good musician and songwriter. I do love her.” Isa continued, turning back to face Florence and meet her deep green eyes. Florence held her gaze for a moment, lightly blowing smoke in her direction before turning to observe the rest of the group.

Noticing this, Isa shuffled a little closer and pointed to a girl who was sat at the far end of the group, talking to a sandy haired boy. “That’s Tamzin and Leo. They live with us too. Tamzin is a visual artist and Leo is in a folk band. And you see that guy talking to Fin? He’s Dev. He’s a great rapper. I’ve worked with him a shit load.”

Florence nodded slowly, attempting to take in all of the talent around her. When Laura returned with two rum and cokes, Florence took one thankfully and swigged it. She was grateful when Laura began strumming on her ukulele again as the music diffused the imaginary tension she felt in the air.

“Everyone is so talented here” Florence commented, turning to give her full attention to Isa and block out the intimidating strangers around her. She still couldn’t believe how stunning the blonde looked and it sent flames of desire through her blood. She took a more generous gulp of her drink with the hopes of taming her anxieties.

“You’re talented, Flo. You really have trouble believing me when I say that, don’t you?” Isa replied, placing a reassuring hand on Florence’s bare knee which caused the adverse reaction in the redhead as it only sped up her rapid heartbeat.

Florence nodded. “I think I have trouble believing anybody when they tell me that. I barely passed grade four music theory, I feel like a fraud whenever anybody tells me I’m skilled. My singing teacher used to tell me I had no discipline and would never be professional...”

Isa gave a sympathetic smile, her thumb moving in unintentionally arousing circles on Florence’s leg.

“Music isn’t about grades or academic performance. If you have talent, it’s in your heart. You have it.”

The singer swallowed. The feeling of Isa’s hand on her bare leg combined with her winsome words sent Florence's mind into overdrive. Part of her longed to have Isa whilst another part of her desperately wanted to run away from the overwhelming emotions and hide. Forcing herself to respond in a socially ordinary way, Florence dared to place her hand over Isa’s and offered a warm smile. The DJ’s words truly did touch her soul, but her soul was feeling too chaotic to process the compliments.

“Where is the bathroom in this place?” Florence asked casually, glancing over her shoulder at the backdoor they had came through.

Once Isa explained where the toilets were, Florence got to her feet and strode across the patio to slip back into the bar, soon finding the bathroom in the hallway and stepping into a cubicle to collect her thoughts. She sat atop the closed toilet seat and ran her trembling fingers through her hair. The room felt incredibly hot, which Florence blamed on the fact that Isa looked utterly irresistible. She felt such a strong longing for Isa but couldn’t bring herself to make any sort of move to act upon it. She constantly felt held back by her own diffidence and self doubt.

Florence couldn’t get her head around it - she usually found it so easy to make a move on somebody she found attractive, especially if she’d had a few drinks. This time felt completely different. It felt as though Isa was surrounded by a wall of energy that Florence could not penetrate; as though she was starving, with the only source of food being on the other side of a glass wall. It drove her insane.

After a series of deep breaths, Florence got to her feet again. She adjusted her dress and fanned her face with her hands to cool herself down before stepping out of the cubicle, almost jumping out of her skin as she collided into Isa.

“Fucking hell!” the redhead exclaimed, leaning against the stall and placing her hand over her racing heart. Isa only laughed uncontrollably at Florence’s fright, placing a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. “I didn’t even hear you come in here!”

“You’d been a little while, I was worried about you!”  the DJ replied once she’d managed to stop herself giggling. Concerned, she scanned Florence’s eyes, but couldn’t read her emotions.

Noticing how close she was to Isa, Florence shyly tucked her hair behind her ear and kept her eyes cast downwards. Frustratingly, this meant Isa’s tempting legs were directly in her gaze.

“S-sorry. I got caught up in trying to reply to some texts” Florence lied.

Despite seeing straight through this, Isa didn’t question the lie. She dropped her hand from Florence’s shoulder and took a step backwards, leaning against the countertop in the bathroom. Smiling through the discomfort of being lied to, Isa gestured towards the taller woman.

“Hey, so how about I get a look at that song now? I’m dying to see it” she grinned.

Florence suddenly looked up with passion in her eyes once more. She reached into her purse and rummaged around desperately before pulling out a chunk of crumpled paper, passing it across to Isa who laughed at the unkempt presentation of Florence’s work. She unraveled it and rapidly absorbed herself in reading the poetic lines of metaphors and beautiful imagery whilst Florence stood in front of her, nervously anticipating the verdict.

Several chewed nails later, Isa looked up from the scribbles with an awestruck smirk. She stumbled over the correct words before finally managing to respond to the artwork she’d just read.

“I want to hear you sing this. I need to hear you sing this. Did you have any kind of beat for the rhythm in mind?”

Florence almost leapt forward enthusiastically. “Yes! I was drumming out beats the entire time I was writing it! I kind of imagined something like this-”

And with that, Florence was tapping a rhythm out on the bathroom countertop. Isa had to bite her lip in order to suppress a smitten grin from plastering across her face at the raw passion that Florence had for her music. She found herself nodding along to the beat and getting absorbed in it - even tapping along herself until she passed the crumpled papers back to Florence.

Florence took the papers back with slightly shaky fingers. She was a little nervous to sing for Isa again but was also excited to see how the song executed. So, as Isa maintained the rhythm on the countertop, she began to sing. With her body swaying along to imaginary instrumentals, Florence’s powerful voice began to fill the empty bathroom. The imagery of her genius vocals elicited beautiful scenes in Isa’s mind and she lost herself in the younger woman’s singing, feeling every word in her soul and channeling that into unconventional changes in beat that somehow simply worked . It may have only been a bathroom, but in that moment, it felt like their stage. Florence’s lyrics were advanced and intricate. They told a story of pain that could be interpreted to fill a void in anybody who listened to them. They resonated with Isa about struggles she’d never even confined in Florence about. Somehow, the words were able to omnisciently soothe past ailments.

The chorus to the song was strong and captivating. Come the second time around, Isa found herself humming along. This only encouraged Florence to pour her heart into the song, pairing her singing with extravagant hand gestures and shakes of her head. Her eyes fluttered shut as she dragged out the last note, feeling chills spread over her body from the way her vocals projected from the bathroom tiles. Isa stopped drumming and allowed the raw beauty of Florence’s voice to vibrate in the air for that last moment of singing before Florence came to a halt, her eyes still closed and her breathing ragged.

In the tense moment of silence that endured between them, Isa was overcome with an unadulterated desire, almost identical to the longing she had felt the very first time Florence had sang for her.

When Florence’s eyes blinked open again, Isa was closer than she had been previously. Florence’s voice was more addictive than any substance Isa had ever experimented with and whilst riding its high, she unconsciously snaked her hand around the back of Florence’s neck and pulled the taller woman down into the softest of kisses. Their lips melted together like two pieces of the same puzzle and the intensity of how gently they kissed caused Isa’s heart to thud against her ribcage as though it was trying to break free.

The redhead was in utter shock at the sudden kiss. Her senses took a delayed moment to register what was happening but when she finally allowed herself to be washed over by the sensation of Isa’s silken lips, she relaxed into the kiss and found herself sliding her arms around Isa’s petite waist, daring to pull her even closer. Truthfully, the kiss was blissful. Florence felt the wall of energy surrounding Isa open up and envelop her. The glass between them had shattered. Her hectic, hypochondriac thoughts were silenced by the simplicity of the feather-soft kiss. She didn’t want it to end. They were the north and south poles of magnets, finally giving in to the pull between them and interlocking perfectly, as though it was always meant to be.

When Isa attempted to pull back to breathe, Florence’s lips were on hers again within seconds. With boldness finally pumping through her veins, Florence reached up and tangled her fingers in Isa’s locks, kissing full lips with wanton desire. Isa gladly reciprocated and lecherous hands wandered over Florence’s waist.

Isa carefully prompted them to stagger backwards until the redhead was pressed flush against the wall, eager victim to Isa’s tongue as she deepened the kiss, her hands wondering up Florence's tense abdomen. The moan that escaped Florence’s throat caused Isa to echo it in harmony, her senses overwhelmed by the woman before her. She could taste her, hear her, feel her, smell her. It made her yearn for more.

Until the door swung open behind them.

As soon as the outside world burst their bubble, Isa shot backwards in shock. Whipping around to see who had caught them, she met Tamzin’s cold stare. Her housemate stood there for what felt like forever, looking between Isa and Florence in disbelief. After a slight scoff, Tamzin turned around and left.

Florence’s mind was spinning. The kiss had been utterly phenomenal. In that moment, she had felt equal to Isa. She could sense the longing the blonde had for her and knew that it was no act. Isa wanted her, and oh how she had wanted Isa too. Simply feeling the tingle of where Isa’s lips had just been made her smile dopily. Yet, Tamzin’s cold stare plagued her. Why had she looked at them with such disgust? Did she disapprove of Isa hooking up with someone so below her ranks, or did she want Isa to herself?

“Florence?” Isa spoke softly, snapping the girl in question from her haze.

Isa stepped closer to Florence and gently cupped her face in her hands, searching earthy green eyes for a sign of emotion. Florence caught her bottom lip between her teeth, still feeling residual static energy from their kiss.

“Ignore her, okay? She’s a fucking strange one. Don’t let her get in your head.”

Florence nodded slowly in response, unable to look away from Isa’s oceanic eyes.

“I’ve been thinking about doing that ever since you left my house last weekend…” Isa admitted with a low breath, moving her hands to trail down Florence’s collar, where she gently traced her fingertips over the redhead’s tempting décolletage. “...and it definitely didn’t disappoint.”

With that, Isa leaned forward and tormentingly ghosted her lips across Florence’s collarbone. The younger woman let out a shaky breath and tilted her head back, attempting to push herself closer to Isa’s teasing mouth, but Isa only grinned and continued her feather-soft trail up Florence’s neck. Florence’s skin was electric. The slightest graze of Isa’s lips sent sparks through her body and down to her loins. When Isa reached her earlobe and suddenly took it between her teeth, Florence couldn’t suppress the desirous whimper that escaped her. Isa grinned a coquettish grin against Florence’s skin at that.

“I think we should go back outside” Isa whispered into Florence’s ear, pulling back so their faces were mere centimeters apart. With the proximity driving her insane, Florence desperately stole an unchaste kiss. Upon pulling back, she licked her lips and nodded at Isa’s suggestion.

Isa flushed at the longing in Florence’s kiss and entwined their fingers, leading the way as they left the privacy of the bathroom and headed back to their friends. The hand-holding didn’t go unnoticed by Finlay as the two girls approached and she grinned at Florence knowingly, managing to maintain her excitement and continue calmly talking to Laura.

As the pair sat down besides one another with slightly giddy smiles on their faces, Laura drew her tongue along a cigarette paper and finished rolling a joint, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively to Finlay. Heartwarmingly, Rob was strumming along on Laura’s ukulele and Tom and Leo were talking enthusiastically about the harp. Florence couldn’t help but calm down at how well everybody seemed to be getting along. Isa’s friends seemed really lovely. Besides Tamzin, who the redhead avoided the gaze of.

“What are you thinking about?” Isa interrupted Florence’s thoughts. Her fingers were still tangled in Isa’s and the blonde had been absentmindedly fumbling with them.

Florence smiled as she turned back to Isa, her eyes instantly glancing at Isa’s lips, remembering how amazing they’d already made her feel. She was sure they could do many more wonderful things…

“What we just did…” Florence confessed with a mischievous twinkle in her eye, “And how lovely it is to see everybody getting on. Your friends do seem lovely.”

“That’s because we are” Laura interrupted, smoke spilling from her lips as she passed the joint to Florence with a cocky grin.

Florence blushed, realising she’d been overheard, but took the joint happily and sucked a long drag into her lungs. Besides Laura, she noticed Finlay giggling merrily.

“Quit fucking eavesdropping!” Isa laughed, swatting at Laura’s arm. Instead of backing off, however, Laura shuffled closer and wound her arm around her best friend’s shoulders, slipping besides her on the wicker sofa.

“Did you two have fun in the bathroom then?” Laura prodded teasingly. Finlay slid closer to them, resting her chin on her hand as she listened intently.

Isa rolled her eyes and gently took the joint from Florence, taking a hit to prepare herself for handling Laura’s nosy questioning. She was more than surprised when Florence was the first to answer that question, placing her hand on Isa’s toned thigh.

“We did actually” she commented, watching Finlay nearly fall out of her seat in celebration. Florence could only giggle at her friend’s reaction and Isa turned to look at her, her eyes dark with desire from Florence’s boldness.

The night progressed in a comfortably mellow manner. As the mellow stoned sensation washed over Florence she began to venture out of her shell. The scene playing out around the redhead was wonderful and she felt as though her mind was floating about in a serene daze. As Leo drummed on the wooden table and Rob strummed along passionately on the ukulele, a quiet chorus of singing cut through the various conversations happening beneath the softly lit gazebo.

At one point, Rob had began to play one of Florence’s favourite songs. As soon as she realised this, she gasped excitedly. Her autopilot mind grasped at Isa’s hand and the blonde grinned, also riding a rather pleasant high. With a complete loss of inhibition, Florence began to slowly sing along. Their hands were tightly entwined as the younger woman absorbed herself in the lyrics, turning the heads of everybody who had never heard Florence sing before. Isa relaxed back in her seat, unable to look away from how simply breathtaking Florence was as she serenaded her.

Through lyrics that sang of young love, Isa grinned. She was captivated. With certain suggestive lines, Florence would open her eyes and fixate on Isa’s with a longing that drove the latter woman wild inside. All of their friends around them were swaying and singing along but the DJ didn’t focus on a single thing besides the way Florence’s desirable lips moved. By the end of the song, Isa wanted to wisk Florence away to her bedroom in a heartbeat.

Sensing this, Florence carelessly leaned forward and grazed her lips teasingly against Isa’s parted ones. The blonde nearly snarled at the almost-kiss, but was soon given what she needed as Florence’s mouth met hers completely in a searing kiss. Laura gave a playful wolf-whistle at the display whilst others chuckled fondly at the blossoming romance but returned to their conversations shortly after.

Pulling back, both women smiled widely. Isa slid her arm around Florence and pulled her closer, feeling the chill of the night air beginning to rouse goosebumps on their skin. Florence, on the other hand, studied the group. Everybody seemed to be happy and enjoying themselves. Everybody, that was, besides Tamzin.

Tamzin had eyes like daggers. She sat directly opposite her and Isa and caught Florence’s wandering gaze intently only to shake her head in disapproval. Florence swallowed thickly. A cold chill spread through her body - not from the cooling Autumn air, but from the icy stare scrutinizing her. Tamzin made Florence feel extremely uncomfortable and the redhead couldn’t quite decide whether she had just been threatened. Unsure of this, she began to panic internally.

“I want to take you home”

A whisper suddenly broke through Florence’s fog and she turned to Isa, who had slipped her hand slightly further up her thigh.

In an all too familiar sensation, Florence’s heartbeat began to quicken. It wasn’t the excitement of arousal, though. Instead, Florence felt herself spiralling into a full-blooded paranoia attack.

Unsteadily, Florence rushed to her feet. She could feel Tamzin’s stare burning holes in the back of her head and she found it increasingly difficult to breathe. Confused, Isa’s gawked up at her worriedly.

“I-I. Fuck. God, I would love you to. I really would. But- I can’t, Isa. I’m so sorry. I-”

With that, Florence darted for the exit. She stumbled through the hallway of the bar and around the maze of tables in the main seating area before crashing out onto the busy London street. Terrified of her problems catching up with her, she chose a random direction and scampered. She managed to bustle among fellow Londoners and swiftly escaped the proximity of the bar, only distantly being able to hear as Isa burst out onto the street behind her and called her name out into the night air.

Chapter Text

It had been over a week since the bar incident and Florence was still feeling miserable. She’d gone about her weekly routine with a mantle of sadness draped around her shoulders. She felt beyond embarrassed by what had happened and every time she saw Isa’s name pop up on her phone she grew nauseous and couldn’t help but ignore the message. Her mind was chaotic and despite the passing of the days, she’d still not managed to get much of a grasp of her emotions.

What Florence did know was that the world made sense when she was with Isa. Yet, there were dozens of complications holding her back from simply running back into Isa’s arms. Florence still couldn't shake the feeling that Isa belonged with somebody better than her - somebody popular, talented and clever. Isa's friends had seemed wonderful but they had all found success whilst Florence was still struggling to even write a decent song. On top of that, there was Tamzin. The way that Isa’s housemate had so blatantly disapproved of whatever was going on between them had made Florence feel dreadful. She felt like a helpless cockroach beneath Tamzin’s heeled shoe. The other night, the weed had given her the confidence to be herself around Isa, but her sober mind was petrified of seeing Isa and her friends again.

When she’d ran away from the bar the other week, she’d found herself aimlessly wandering the streets. She’d staggered into a corner shop and bought herself a bottle of whisky which she swigged from shamelessly as she explored the night. Finlay and the boys had found her at midnight at the side of the Thames after Florence had finally answered a phone call. They’d managed to get her to come home with them in a taxi and carried her safely into bed.

The next morning, Finlay had filled Florence in about what had happened. She’d told her friend that Isa was rather upset after Florence had scarpered and that she’d taken to drinking her feelings away, which resulted in her starting an argument with Tamzin which everybody had to try and break up. After the argument, the two groups had parted ways. The fact that Isa had argued with Tamzin over what had happened was slightly reassuring to Florence but she still couldn’t bring herself to reach out to the DJ. If any sort of relationship with Isa was going to cause hostilities in the blonde’s own home, Florence couldn’t endorse rushing back to Isa.

There was only one issue with that, though: Florence had already developed feelings for Isa. The connection they had with one another was unlike anything Florence had ever experienced and Isa was the first person in a long time who made her feel wanted and desirable. Her first year at university had been full of meaningless one night stands designed to fulfill her basic human needs and through this, she’d destroyed multiple friendships. It had left Florence frightened of giving herself to somebody again but the feelings she felt for Isa complicated that and she found herself imagining what their relationship could be like. Florence had a suspicion that it would be a beautiful kind of relationship, but she would never know. She couldn’t.

On Isa’s end of things, events had grown even messier. What Finlay hadn’t been aware of was that once Isa and her housemates got home, the argument had continued. Isa had been seeing red with Tamzin ever since she realised that she was likely to be the reason Florence had ran away. Once they were out of the public eye, she’d stormed back over to the other woman and shoved her. Spitting insults and accusations of selfishness at Tamzin, Isa had finally lost her composure and with a drunken carelessness, her smacks had evolved into punches. Eventually, Dev had managed to tear Isa away from a cowering Tamzin but not before she’d left the artist bruised and sniffling.

Isa had instantly regretted her violence when she awoke the following afternoon. Tamzin, Dev and Leo all refused to speak to her and even Laura had voiced her disappointment, but thankfully, her best friend understood her rage. The fight had made everything at home feel incredibly awkward and tense. Isa didn’t need that kind of stress on top of the pain of Florence ignoring her messages, so she stayed away from the house for most of the week.

The DJ busied herself with her work and hid herself away in her rented Crystal Palace studio night after night, working on various pointless beats and encouraging her associates and friends into the studio to work on spontaneous music to keep her distracted from her pain. She fell into a cycle of making music, getting high and falling asleep on her studio sofa. It was a shameful kind of routine but it felt more comforting than hiding in her own home and keeping her head low. She skipped all of her lectures that week but cockily made no attempt to catch up on what she’d missed. She’d lost her care for university - all that mattered was her music. It kept her sane.

Come Friday night, she’d invited a group of friends to the studio to help them record their debut grime album. One hotboxed studio and a couple of fully produced songs later, Isa was feeling on top of her game. The group had decided to go out to celebrate and despite only being clad in a back hoodie and a mini skirt, Isa had joined them to the club. They had hung out in the VIP area for most of the night and Isa had continued to get herself into more of an intoxicated state. She tried to dance her pain away and ignore all of her worries but once she found herself grinding seductively against one of the men, she stopped herself and sat down. She knew that wasn’t what she wanted. She still wanted nothing but Florence, and the thought of the redhead sent her mood spiralling again.

Instead of travelling all the way back to Crystal Palace, Isa crashed at one of her friend’s houses that night. The house was essentially used as a drug dealing base but it served its function and Isa fell into a dizzy sleep on the couch.

It was the same house that Isa found herself at again the following night as her friends sat weighing and bagging up their most recent imports. She sat in the corner of the lounge with her headphones on, mixing some beats for her show that evening on her laptop. She was feeling rather low but excited to escape into the DJ booth again. She knew she looked rough, but she had briefly snook home earlier that day to shower and grab her things for later. She’d felt awful tiptoeing past Laura’s room but couldn’t muster up the courage to talk about anything with her friend, so she’d slipped from the house silently.

It was strange how sitting besides illegal drug preparation made her feel calmer than sitting in her own home, but Isa supposed it was because these people all had more important things to think about than her. Nobody here could judge Isa for fighting Tamzin because they had all done worse things themselves. Isa was a saint in this house, but a sinner in her own. Besides, Isa wasn’t exactly a stranger here. All of her drugs came from this group of people and she reasoned that it was only sensible to know exactly how her substances were being handled. On occasion, Isa would also deal to people in clubs for her friends, so she was as involved with the illegal operations in this house as anybody else in the room.

A tap on her shoulder snapped Isa from her thoughts. She quickly shoved her headphones away from her ears and turned to look at the restless looking man besides her, rolling her eyes instantly.

“Hey baby, do you have the shit you promised me?” the wired man asked sketchily, twisting his scrawny beard between his fingers.

Isa’s stomach lurched at the pet name but she sighed and reached into the pocket of her leather jacket, pulling out a small baggie of pills and shoving them into his hand. Turning her attention back to her screen, she held her hand out expectantly. When a couple of notes were placed in her palm, Isa slipped the money into her hoodie and continued to work wordlessly. When she still felt the man’s presence besides her a little while later, she turned back to him.

“What the fuck are you still doing staring at me?” she snapped.

“I was hoping we could pick up where we left off a few weeks ago” he grinned sleazily in response.

Isa huffed and continued to ignore the man. In a high oblivion, Isa recalled getting uncomfortably handsy with this man after dealing to him. Sometimes her intoxicated decisions truly disgusted herself.

“No chance, pal. I regret touching you in the first place. I must have been really out of it.”

Offended, the man sniggered and moved closer, placing his hand on Isa’s shoulder possessively.

“Quit the act, Isa. You seemed pretty happy to have my cock in your hand the other week.”

Again, Isa saw red. She shot to her feet and lunged towards the table where her friends were cutting and bagging the drugs. She stole one of the knives and turned to the obnoxious man, pointing the blade at his chest. Defensively, he threw his arms up. Everybody around the table shot to their feet, alarmed at the sudden hostility.

“The only time I’d ever touch that tiny dick of yours again is to cut it clean off” Isa hissed, threateningly gliding the knife lower towards the fly of the man’s jeans.

Suddenly frightened of what Isa would do, the man backed away and practically sprinted to the door, stumbling out of it and slamming it behind him. When Isa turned to the group around the table, she found them all staring at her wide-eyed. Realising how uncharacteristically she was acting, she clattered the knife back down onto the table and threw herself back into the armchair in the corner, rescuing her laptop from the floor and slipping her headphones back on to drown out the silent tension.

Isa felt void. It was as though all of the softness in her life had been sucked away in the last six days and she couldn’t quite understand why. She didn’t like the hostile person she was becoming. The DJ assumed it was the unhealthy combination of sleeplessness, drugs and alcohol but she couldn’t tear herself away from her vices. When she wasn’t making music, drugs and drink were the only things keeping her sane and smiling. She couldn’t quit that easily. Not right now.

The bar Florence stood in was overwhelmingly loud, but the redhead liked it that way. It allowed her to fade out among the soundwaves and become a nameless body in a busy room. Nobody in the sea of people surrounding her knew who she was - her friends were the ones on the stage, making the rowdy music everybody was jumping around to.

Finlay looked completely in her element, exorcising all of her problems with each enthusiastic slam of the bass drum, pound of the snare and smash of the hi-hat. She really was an incredible drummer and Florence was glad that she’d found people to begin performing with again. Rob had taken time out of his busy study schedule to perform with their friend but Tom had refused to come along, favouring a Tinder date which had left Florence completely alone in the audience. The band were performing covers of well known songs which the slightly drunken students in the bar loved and danced along to. With her mask of anonymity on, Florence also let herself move to the beats and bounce around to the rhythm, attempting to shake all of her problems out.

It had worked for a little while. Despite being painfully sober, Florence sang along to the songs and span around, her long flowery dress whipping around her legs as she did so. However, when a boy in the crowd apparently found this endearing and attempted to dance with her, Florence’s bubble was burst. She was instantly reminded of Isabella and misery rained down on her again. She excused herself from the boy’s proximity and moved to the side of the stage where she dully waited for Finlay and the band to finish their set.

After a couple more songs, the band had finished. When the lights illuminating the small stage dimmed, Florence hopped onto it and made her way over to Finlay, instantly engulfing her short friend in a hug.

“It’s good to see you play again. You were fantastic” Florence smiled, refusing to let Finlay go despite her squirming.

“Thank you. But I’ve needed a piss for half an hour and I’m afraid if you don’t let go right now I will end up pissing on your shoes!”

Florence laughed and released Finlay from her grasp, chuckling to herself as the drummer scurried off to the bathroom as though her life depended on it. Waiting for her friend to return, Florence sat at the abandoned drum kit and picked up the drum sticks, twirling them between her fingers and quietly drumming on the snare to pass the time. She almost sprang out of her skin when she felt a hand touch her shoulder but was relieved to find that it was only Rob.

“Are you alright? You don’t quite seem yourself tonight. You’re… quiet.” he asked, concerned.

Florence smiled sadly and placed her hand atop of Rob’s, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“Still just a bit down in the dumps over Isa, I suppose. I’m sure I’ll get over it soon.” she shrugged.

But Florence wasn’t sure she’d get over Isa soon at all. In fact, she worried that her infatuation with the DJ would persist and that she’d end up spending all of her university career pining over a woman who was brutally out of her league. Yet, Florence was good at façades and Rob didn’t see through her lie. Instead, he ruffled her messy red hair and made his way back to his corner of the stage where he busied himself with packing the wires and amplifiers away.

“Are you coming with us for a drink?” Finlay asked Florence upon her return from the bathroom, draping her arms around Florence’s shoulders from behind and resting her chin atop her head.

Florence relaxed into her friend’s affection and placed her hands over Finlay’s, leaning back against her. She pondered the question for a while before giving a soft sigh and shaking her head.

“I don’t think I’m particularly in the mood for it, I’m sorry. I’ll probably just go and get the tube home.”

Finlay echoed Florence’s sigh and closed her eyes with frustration. She knew exactly what was on Florence’s mind and she was growing a little tired with watching her friend wallow in self pity.

“Florence, just fucking talk to her. What’s the worst that could happen? And to be quite honest, I think Isa needs to talk to you too. She was awol all week. I’m concerned about you both.”

The redhead dropped Finlay’s hands and swivelled around on the stool, looking up at the drummer. It took her a little moment to register her friend’s bluntness but once she’d absorbed the information, she blinked.

“Isa’s been awol?”

“Yeah. I was supposed to meet up with her twice this week. The other week she had some big tech ideas for her project that she needed me to help her with. But nothing. I messaged Laura but she’s not really seen Isa either. They won’t tell me what’s going on, though.”

Florence’s face dropped with concern. Hearing that Isa had practically vanished made her stomach drop with dread. Suddenly, Florence was overcome with guilt. She cursed herself for being so selfish about their blossoming relationship and got to her feet.

“I've been such an idiot. I really didn’t even consider Isa’s feelings. If she… actually likes me… and I’ve just ghosted her? And left her to deal with the Tamzin shit on her own? Fuck. Maybe I will talk to her.” Florence frantically rambled. Finlay visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

“That’s more like it. I’m tired of this pity-party. You clearly want her but for some reason you’re blind to how much Isa wants you too. Go and fucking get her!” Finlay encouraged, placing her hands supportingly on Florence’s shoulders.

The redhead nodded. She took a series of breaths to calm herself before snatching her jacket and pressing a rushed kiss to Finlay’s forehead.

“You’re the best!” she called out to her friend as she hurried off towards the exit, propelled by a whirlwind of newly unearthed emotions.

“You better call me and tell me how it goes!” Finlay shouted back, watching Florence disappear into the night with a proud smirk.

As soon as she was out of the door, Florence pulled her phone from her jacket as she walked. Without hesitation, she opened the several unread messages from Isa and began to type out a text.

To: Isa (10:30pm): Where are you tonight? I need to see you. I’m so sorry I’ve been an asshole all week.

Florence sent the message instantly, hoping Isa would reply swiftly. As she waited, she scrolled through the various messages she’d ignored throughout the week. Each message twisted her heart more and more until she was almost suffocated by her own selfishness.

From: Isa (Saturday, 3:46pm): Hey Flo. I hope you’re okay after last night. I’m really sorry about what happened. I’m really mad at Tamzin and I kind of confronted her about it. Anyway, I hope you felt the same spark between us last night that I did. I’d really like to see you again. Just the two of us this time, perhaps? Let me know. X

From: Isa (Monday, 2:18am): Did I do something wrong? I apologise if I made you uncomfortable in any way. I just kind of can’t stop thinking about you.

From: Isa (Wednesday, 6:29am): I’m worried about you. I’ve never been this fucking clingy to anyone before but it’s hard to not message you every minute of the day. I can’t stop wondering where you are, what you’re doing, if you’re happy, if you think about me. I can’t stop remembering your adorable laugh and beautiful smile and how soft your goddamn lips are. I’m going to regret this when I’m sober.

From: Isa (Wednesday, 5:03pm): Yup. Regret it. Doesn’t make it any less true though.

From: Isa (Friday, 11:56pm): Mate, you got any charlie?

From: Isa (Friday, 11:57pm): Oh fuck, ignore that, wrong person

From: Isa (Saturday, 4:37am): If you’re mad at me and never want to see me again, please just tell me. So then maybe I can try and stop thinking about you all the time. Force myself to fuck someone else to try and forget about you. But if you’re not mad at me and I’m not imagining that there’s something real between us… tell me. Please. You’ve taken over my mind.

The messages brought a tear to Florence’s eye and she stopped in her tracks, causing other people on the street to bump into her and swear. It appeared as though Isa genuinely cared about her and genuinely wanted to spend time with her. She must have felt the spark between them as well and it seemed that she was hurting just as much as Florence. After scrutinizing the wording and times of the messages, Florence realised that Isa had potentially been taking a lot of drugs the past week, making her feel awfully guilt-ridden. Desperately needing to see Isa to make sure she was alright, Florence backed against a wall and began stalking her way through social media with a hope of finding where Isa could be.

Right on cue, a notification popped up on Florence’s phone informing her that she’d been invited to a local club night. Confused by this rare kind of notification, she clicked on it, only to find that it was Isa who had invited her as she was DJing the event. Almost cheering aloud with success, Florence slipped her phone back into her pocket and began hurrying towards the club. Luckily, it was not too far from where she currently was. After a couple of stops on the tube, she was right where she needed to be.

The club was one Florence wasn’t particularly familiar with. She’d probably ended up there in an intoxicated blur back in freshers week, but she couldn’t quite remember the details. It wasn’t usually her kind of scene. It was a tall building on the corner of one of the busiest club streets in London with bright lights shining everywhere and a queue longer than Florence would have liked. She joined the queue of already drunken people and impatiently shuffled along with the crowd, checking her phone periodically with the hope that Isa had replied to her, despite knowing that the blonde was busy working.

It felt like eternity before Florence was at the front of the queue. She could hear the thudding of the music through the building walls and the bouncer made a quick job of checking her ID and taking her payment. Florence rushed through the entrance to the club and jogged up the steps to the first floor of the club, scanning the neon room of moving bodies intently. She recognised the unconventional beats of the music and was almost positive this was the floor Isa was DJing. To be sure, the redhead weaved her way through the pulsating sea of people to try and get a look into the booth.

When Florence’s eyes fell onto Isa’s frame, she felt an unmeasurable relief envelop her. The DJ was stood behind the decks, focused on her work with unfaltering precision. Yet, Florence was instantly aware of how downright tired Isa looked. Her eyes were smudged with day-old makeup and her hair was more unkempt than usual. Isa was wearing a tight, sparkling party dress which whilst it admittedly looked stunning on the blonde, it was clearly a distraction tactic from the bags beneath her eyes. Florence’s heart wrenched for the other woman.

The DJ booth was completely inaccessible for anybody who wasn’t already in the VIP section and Florence felt a stab of defeat. There were a few men in the booth who Florence didn't recognise. They seemed to be quite friendly with Isa and Florence couldn’t help but feel a pinch of jealousy from how close to her they were. Though, Isa seemed completely disinterested in their presence. She was simply bopping along to her own music and keeping her eyes glued to her equipment. Florence figured she had no chance of getting to Isa until after the set, so she made her way over to the bar and ordered her first drink of the night.

At the bar, Florence took a long swig of her rum and coke and tried to relax. She was itching to get to Isa but reassured herself that Isa would be around after her set, at which point Florence would be able to get to her easier. So, with her drink in hand, Florence filtered back into the crowd of people and began to dance. She’d not heard Isa DJ since the house party and she’d forgotten how fantastic Isa’s beats were. Within no time, Florence was enjoying herself as she danced to the music among the excitable strangers. It didn’t seem like much time had passed before she heard Isa bring an end to her set and with that, Florence’s alertness switched back on.

The redhead watched as Isa pulled her headphones off and turned on her heels, briefly exchanging a few words with the men around her before stepping down from the booth and back into the VIP area where Florence could just about make out the shorter woman making a beeline to the bar. In response to this, Florence also slipped between the bodies towards the bar and got there before Isa, capturing the bartender's attention quickly.

“Hey, could you get a Martini for Isa on me?” she shouted over the music, nodding to the other side of the bar where Isa had just arrived, not looking around enough to notice Florence. “Tell her it’s from me.”

The bartender nodded and left Florence to pay as he began making the drink. Once it was done, the drink was taken over to Isa who looked at the server in surprise before he pointed across the bar at Florence. When Isa’s eyes met Florence’s, the DJ almost gasped. She took the drink in her fingers and instantly began pushing her way around the bar, finishing the drink in a few swift gulps to allow the to alcohol help her deal with the coming confrontation. The redhead couldn’t help but smile widely at the sight of Isa walking towards her again, even if the shorter woman did appear to be mildly pissed off.

Finally standing before one another, neither women knew where to begin. Isa scanned Florence’s eyes desperately but couldn’t quite find the right words, so she took Florence intently by the hand and began guiding her through the club towards the outdoor smoking area, where the atmosphere was quiet enough for them to actually hear one other speak. In a secluded corner of the area, Isa turned to Florence and let out a heavy breath, not letting go of Florence’s hand.

“God, I wish you would’ve just answered my fucking texts” she sighed. There was no anger in her tone, however, merely disappointment laced with a hint of relief.

Florence felt dreadful. The hurt in Isa’s blue eyes was evident and it upset Florence to know that she was the cause of the pain in someone so beautiful and wonderful. Struggling with her words, Florence simply smoothed her thumb against the back of Isa’s warm hand for a moment.

“I’m so fucking sorry, Isa. I’ve been so selfish. I’ve been a complete mess and I just kept running away from everything. I just… I really struggle with my self-esteem and I couldn’t understand why somebody like you would really want somebody like me. My own mind wouldn’t let me believe it at times. And then there was Tamzin… I suppose she was the final straw. All of my negative emotions swallowed me up and I drowned in them.”

Isa’s eyes softened and she took a step closer to Florence, reaching up to cup Florence’s sharp jaw in her hand.

“You’re ridiculous, Florence. You need to realise that there is no hierarchy between us. We’re equals. You’re amazing and talented and so goddamn beautiful. Why wouldn’t somebody like me be attracted to somebody like you?”

Florence flushed at the honesty. Isa’s words felt intense and sincere and it roused butterflies in the pit of her stomach. She leaned into Isa’s touch and offered a poignant smile as she realised how silly she’d acted over the last few weeks. She hated how her self doubt had gotten the best of her and hated how she’d denied herself this wonderful, exciting feeling for so long. But now wasn’t the time for regret - now was the time for moving forward.

“I think about you all the time,” Isa continued, “Nobody has ever kissed me the way you kiss me. Nobody has ever made me feel as alive as you make me feel. I know we’ve not known each other very long but this feels special to me, Flo. We have something. I’ve missed you like crazy this week. And I’m sorry for the weird messages I’ve sent you when I was fucked up…”

“We do have something,” Florence concurred, her heart beating as fast as hummingbird wings, “Something intense and something language can’t quite describe. We just work well together, don’t we? And we’ve barely even had chance to explore that yet. I’m sorry I’ve been a coward and I’m sorry I left you in the dark this week but if you’ll have me, I’d like to make up for that…”

A mischievous smirk spread across Isa’s face at Florence’s words and she closed the final gap between her and the redhead, pressing their bodies flush together.

“Florence, are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?” Isa asked provocatively, biting down on her lower lip as the sexual tension elicited goosebumps across her skin.

Florence mirrored the shorter woman’s grin and tangled her arms around Isa’s shoulders, pressing her hips forward, desperate for more contact between them. She was undeniably nervous and almost felt as though she was in a blissful dream, but she knew what she wanted and she wasn’t going to deny herself of it any longer.

“I want you to finally take me home, Isa.”

With that, Florence dipped her head down to capture Isa’s lips with her own. At the long anticipated kiss, both women whimpered. Feeling Florence’s gentle lips against her own encouraged all of the hostility and tension of the past week to fall from Isa’s heavy shoulders and she felt warmth and affection rush through her body in replacement. It felt foreign after the nature of her past few days, but it was welcomed with open arms. She kissed back eagerly, leisurely moving her lips against Florence’s and allowing her eyes to flutter shut.

Heat spread through their bodies to protect them from the cool autumn air and their hands restlessly wandered over each other’s bodies as the kiss grew in intensity. Before either woman could register her own actions, hands were venturing into hair, nails scraping against backs and tongues teasing lips. It was Florence who finally gave in to Isa’s advances, allowing her lips to part and melting their tongues together with a dizzy moan. If it wasn’t for Isa’s arms tangled around her and the stone wall behind them, Florence was certain she’d have fallen over from the buckle of her knees.

From the kiss alone, Florence’s body was throbbing with desire. She slowly pulled back from the kiss and licked her lips, her darkened eyes locked on Isa’s. The blonde held her gaze for a long moment, smirking at the unspoken raw desire Florence’s eyes conveyed. Isa smoothed her hand over the fabric covering Florence’s waist and moved her face closer to Florence’s, feeling the taller woman’s breath on her lips. Her hand ventured around to the small of Florence’s back whilst the other pressed flat against the wall behind them to steady herself.

“So, you want me to take you home and fuck you?” Isa dared to tease against Florence’s lips, her hand slipping southwards to rest over Florence’s behind, pulling her hips ever closer.

Isa’s words felt like hot lava being poured all over Florence’s body. The way the DJ had accentuated the last two words of her sentence made Florence whine with unbearable anticipation. If Isa’s words alone could drive her this insane, Florence couldn’t wait to see what the rest of the night had in store for her.

“Yes,” Florence breathed in response, the feeling of Isa’s wondering hand making her head spin, “I want you to take me home and fuck me all goddamn night.”

The blonde grinned devilishly at hearing Florence finally ask her to do what she’d been dreaming of doing for weeks. A squeeze of Isa’s hand caused Florence to let out a small gasp which Isa instantly took advantage of, closing the gap between them and kissing her hotly. Florence felt completely at Isa’s mercy, but she adored every second of it. She ached for Isa’s hands and lips to be all over her and when Isa ended the kiss by capturing her lower lip between her teeth, Florence couldn’t take it anymore.

“I need you. You’re killing me. Please, let’s get out of here.”

Isa didn’t need telling twice. She snatched Florence’s hand in her own and with an excitable grin she began escorting her back into the club. Instead of heading straight to the exit, Florence was momentarily confused to find them heading to the VIP section. But when Isa made quick work of putting her laptop and launchpad in a big black rucksack which she threw over her shoulder, Florence was reminded of the situation that had led her to being in Isabella’s arms again. She was unmeasurably thankful that she’d found her way to the club. The excitement of what was to come made Florence the happiest she had felt in a long time.

Once Isa had gathered all of her gear and said goodbye to a handful of people, her fingers were tangled in Florence’s again and they pushed their way impatiently to the exit, stumbling out into the nighttime air with a giggle. The pair fooled around like drunken teenagers as they made their way towards the main road to hail a taxi. Isa tangled her arms around Florence’s slender waist and pressed hot kisses to her neck which caused Florence to gasp out into the bitter air, not caring that passerbys were watching them fool around.

It didn’t take them long to capture the attention of a passing cab and clamber inside. As soon as Isa had given her address to the driver, she turned to Florence and crashed her lips against the redhead’s again. Florence laughed at the impatience and kissed Isa back just as eagerly, cupping her face in her hands, not wanting to ever let go.

When her lungs ached for air, Isa pulled back with a slight pant. With her arm snaked around the headrest behind Florence, she slipped her free hand along Florence’s thigh, dying to venture further.

“This is a very pretty dress. You look great in it. I just wish you’d wore something a bit goddamn shorter” Isa laughed, balling the cotton in her hand in frustration.

Florence chuckled at the blonde’s clear torment and reached out to tease her fingertips against the exposed skin of Isa’s lower thigh.

“But you’ve made this very easy for me. I could fuck you right here in the back of this taxi if I was indecent enough to.” Florence whispered, thriving on the way that her words caused Isa’s breath to catch in her throat.

Isa had been so caught up in her fantasies of touching Florence that she’d barely had time to fantasise about the redhead repaying the favour. The realisation sparked a new longing in Isa and she groaned, capturing Florence’s lips deep desperation.

When the taxi driver cleared his throat, Isa quickly realised they had arrived. She fixed her slightly disheveled dress and made a quick job of paying the driver before rushing out of the car and helping Florence out.

Briefly, as she turned to look at the house, Isa felt discomfort in the pit of her stomach. She hadn’t spent a night at home since the day after she and Tamzin had fought and she prayed that they wouldn’t bump into anybody on their way to her bedroom. Nonetheless, she confidently made her way up to the door and fumbled in her purse for her keys. Unable to keep her hands to herself, Florence trailed distracting kisses up Isa’s neck which only prolonged how long it took Isa to retrieve her keys.

Eventually, they stumbled giddily into the house where the taller woman backed Isa against the front door to kiss her. Paranoid about being seen by her housemates and desperate to get Florence into the privacy of her own room, Isa wiggled free with a laugh and guided Florence up the stairs to her room. Once inside, she locked the door and turned the lights on whilst Florence propped herself against the wall to free herself of her high heels.

Sensing an opportunity, Isa snuck up behind Florence and pressed herself flush against the other woman’s back. She was relieved that Florence was of a similar height to her now that she had discarded her heels and her lips couldn’t resist pressing bruising kisses to Florence’s neck.

“I’ve been thinking about this so much” Isa muttered between kisses. Florence tilted her head back, desperate for more from the shorter woman.

“Tell me what you’ve thought about” Florence challenged with a wicked smirk, turning her head to look over her shoulder into Isa’s eyes.

Isa could only grin back at her. Florence’s forwardness was turning her on beyond measure and she loved the way the younger woman encouraged her to voice her most sinful desires.

“I’ve thought about having you alone in my room again, like this. I’ve thought about leaving marks all down your neck to show you’re mine. I’ve imagined getting you out of all these clothes and wondered what your gorgeous body looks like. What it feels like…”

To punctuate this, Isa’s hands daringly wondered up Florence’s front to cup her chest through her bra, squeezing teasingly. Florence moaned at the unexpected contact and squirmed as her body pulsated with need. Isa’s words made her dizzy in the most thrilling way.

“...I’ve thought about tasting you, being inside of you, making you scream my name…” Isa’s voice was raspy as she trailed kisses to Florence’s ear, her heart hammering in her chest. She lowered her voice to a measly whisper before finishing her unholy tormenting:

“And every time i’ve thought about fucking you… I’ve touched myself.”

The heat that rushed to Florence’s core made her feel as though she would explode. She turned in Isa’s arms and in one swift movement, she was sandwiched between the cool wall and Isa’s body. The sexual frustration Florence was experiencing was evident to Isa. Her pupils were blown and her breathing was ragged and desperate. It was a stunning look on Florence.

“Nobody has ever made me feel like this. I need you so fucking badly, Isa. I need you to make me scream your name.”

“Oh, I will, baby” Isa smirked and leaned in to kiss Florence slowly and deeply, her hands wondering up Florence’s back and fiddling with the zipper of her dress.

Florence arched her back away from the wall to help Isa unzip her dress. She wrapped her arms around Isa’s shoulders and gave herself into the deep kiss. It was the kind of kiss that assured her she wasn’t just ‘some other girl’ to Isa. It was the kind of kiss that promised Florence that Isa cared about her and wanted to wake up besides her in the morning.

Within moments, Isa’s expert hands had unfastened the dress and she slowly guided the garment down Florence’s body, giving up once the dress was ruffled around Florence’s waist. She couldn’t resist reaching up and caressing her palms across the now exposed skin of Florence’s torso. She was smooth and warm beneath her touch and Isa immediately needed more, so she undid Florence’s bra with a pinch of her fingers and stood back momentarily as Florence slipped the bra off and tossed it aside.

Isa simply stood and admired Florence for a long moment as the taller woman leaned back against the wall, topless and panting. The blonde almost scoffed in disbelief at how beautiful Florence looked.

“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen” she eventually whispered and Florence blushed a deep scarlet at the compliment. Her instincts told her to cover herself up, but she didn’t feel vulnerable under Isa’s gaze. In fact, she felt appreciated and desirable.

“I think it’s slightly unfair that I’m almost naked and you’re fully dressed” Florence teased in response, wanting to see Isa's body too.

With a smirk, Isa reached around her back and unzipped her dress. Shamelessly, she let the entire garment fall to the ground. Florence felt her heart skip a couple of beats at the sight before her. She’d expected that Isa would need to shed another layer of clothing before she saw her bare breasts, but Isa hadn’t been wearing a bra, and Florence couldn’t tear her eyes away.

“My god, you’re gorgeous” Florence breathed.

Feeling as though she would ignite on the spot, Florence reached out for Isa and pulled the older woman back against her. The smooth feeling of skin on skin made both women sigh as their lips met again in a greedy kiss. Florence allowed her hand to wander up to Isa’s chest and take a breast in her palm, kneading lightly and rolling her thumb over Isa’s hardened nipple which caused the DJ to whimper. Triumphantly, Florence continued to tease Isa like that until she tilted her head back with pleasure, allowing Florence the perfect access to leave bruising kisses down her throat.

With the desire becoming too much to handle, Isa pressed Florence against the wall and trailed a hand up her stomach to her breast, pressing searing kisses down the redhead’s collar and chest. She posessively sucked on the cool skin of Florence’s breast, leaving a bright red mark before finally sealing her hot mouth around the other woman’s nipple.

Florence moaned loudly at this which only encouraged Isa to rhythmically flick her tongue against the hardened nub. Florence’s eyes fell shut with pleasure and her hand dove into Isa’s hair, holding the other woman against her chest as the feeling sent sparks through her body. Isa grinned at Florence’s reaction and teased her fingertips over her neglected nipple which only made the singer moan louder. If Isa’s housemates were home, they were undoubtedly going to be able to hear what was to come. Florence was definitely going to be loud in bed.

“Isa… I can’t take it anymore. Please, take me. Ruin me. I’m yours.” Florence pleaded desperately, feeling her arousal soaking between her thighs.

Isa’s tongue ceased its pleasant assault at Florence’s nipple and she looked up at the redhead with lustful eyes before sinking even lower. Finally pushing the dress completely to Florence’s ankles, Isa left a pathway of feather-soft kisses down the redhead’s toned stomach. Her hands wandered up smooth thighs before her fingers curled around the hem of Florence’s lacy panties, gradually pulling them down as she pressed almost loving kisses to the woman’s navel.

Unable to resist teasing Florence at every opportunity, Isa began kissing even lower. She kissed where the hem of the panties had previously been before daringly kissing the tuft of light hair between the taller woman’s thighs. Just as Florence thought Isa’s lips were going to venture to just where she needed them, the following kiss was to her thigh and Florence groaned with frustration.

Whilst nipping teasingly at the skin at the top of Florence’s thigh, Isa’s hand slid up to between Florence’s legs. She raked her nails at the inside of Florence’s thigh and could feel the heat radiating from where Florence longed to be touched. So, her fingertips finally reached their goal. Isa moaned immediately at the unexpected amount of wetness that met her fingers from the simple touch alone. Without particularly thinking about what she was doing, she looked up into Florence’s eyes and sucked her fingers into her mouth, humming lowly at the taste of the other woman.

“Jesus christ, Florence. I don’t think anyone has ever been that wet for me before.”

The view drove Florence wild. She spread her legs desperately and slid her hand into Isa’s hair, needing her mouth. Sensing the desperation and finally giving in, Isa spread Florence’s sex with her fingers and melted her tongue against the other woman’s throbbing clit.

A deep moan spilled from Florence’s throat. She closed her eyes and allowed her head to tilt back, rocking her hips ever so slightly against Isa’s hot tongue. Instantly, Florence was lost in an intensity she’d never experienced before. Every movement and flick of Isa’s tongue made her entire body twitch and spasm with pleasure. Isa’s tongue worked at Florence’s core in just the right way to make her writhe and moan loudly. Isa had to actively try and stop herself from grinning at the reactions she could elicit from the younger woman. The way Florence moaned for her was intoxicating. Looking up from between her legs, Florence’s beauty was comparable to that of a Renaissance painting. Her sharp jaw was tilted back and her chest was heaving with every gasp. It was a godly view.

With Isa’s hands on her hips, Florence felt her climax approaching at an alarmingly fast rate. After such extensive teasing, she couldn’t force herself to last longer even if she tried. She laced her fingers with Isa’s and threw her head back, arching her back off of the wall and suddenly giving into the orgasm that crashed over her. She cried out Isa’s name as she gushed against the blonde’s tongue, her jaw slacked open as the orgasm momentarily transported her out of her body.

After slowly licking at Florence’s clit to bring her carefully down from coming, Isa got to her feet with a smirk on her lips. She draped her arms around Florence and lazily kissed at her shoulder as Florence caught her breath, eventually tangling her arms around Isa’s bare body too.

“You’re fucking amazing” Florence panted with a giggle.

“And you’re really goddamn hot” Isa winked, pulling back from the embrace and glancing over at her bed.

Mischievously, she took Florence by the hand again and led her over to the bed. With her legs shaking from her orgasm, Florence didn’t need prompting to lay down and Isa crawled on top of her to kiss her, her once searing lips now cold from crying out Isa's name again and again. Tasting herself on the DJ's lips reignited a spark inside Florence and as she gradually regained her energy, their kissing grew heated once more.

“I want to be inside of you” Isa whispered as she pressed kisses to any patch of skin she found. Florence shivered at the thought and nodded, eagerly spreading her legs.

“Please. I want you to fuck me. Hard.” she begged.

Already having all the encouragement she needed, Isa moved to lay on her side besides Florence. Her hand was soon back between Florence’s legs, slowly rubbing at her and eliciting a chorus of rousing whimpers again. She couldn't help but simply watch the way Florence reacted to the touches - the way her lips parted and her hips wound and her hands gripped desperately at the sheets.

Needing more, Isa finally slipped two fingers deep inside of Florence, knowing the other woman was already more than wet enough to accommodate more than one digit. Both women moaned loudly at the sensation. Florence was hot around Isa’s fingers and as she slowly began to push her fingers in and out, Florence’s moans grew ever louder.

Whilst Isa was lost in infatuation with the way Florence’s gorgeous body reacted to her touch, she just about made out Florence’s plea of  ‘harder ’. With this, Isa began to pump her fingers into Florence at a more relentless pace, curling them and hitting a spot that made Florence cry out in the most tantalizing way. As her fingers pounded into the redhead, Isa trailed her kisses along her jaw and neck, feeling her erratic pulse beneath her lips.

Again, the way Isa fucked Florence felt like nothing the singer had ever experienced. Pleasure had completely overridden her senses and her thoughts began to blur into nothing but bliss as Isa’s fingers slammed down against all of the right places. Her moans became unintelligible and as Isa tipped her over the edge once more, sparks erupted behind Florence’s closed eyelids and she let out a long cry that Isa could only liken to an alluring vocalisation in a song.

Florence was tight around Isa’s fingers but the DJ persisted to slowly thrust into her as the redhead shook with pleasure against the duvet, a lazy grin on her face from the intensity of her second orgasm. When Isa was finally satisfied that Florence had ridden out her orgasm, she brought her fingers to her mouth and sucked them clean with a sigh of pleasure.

Exhausted, Florence rolled over and curled up against Isa, wrapping her arms around the blonde’s waist. The air between them was comfortable and peaceful.

“I think I can safely say, that was the best sex of my life” Florence chuckled, resting her head on Isa’s chest.

Isa wrapped her arm around Florence’s shoulders and ran her fingers through her fiery hair affectionately. Her eyebrows raised at the compliment and she smirked victoriously.

“Oh really? Well, I can say that I’ve never enjoyed fucking anybody as much as I enjoyed fucking you” she teased back, eliciting coy chuckles from the both women.

After a long, comfortable silence, Florence looked up at Isa with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Her fingertips traced invisible patterns over Isa’s stomach before they began to suggestively wonder lower.

“Who said we were finished for the night, anyway? I’d say we’ve only just begun…”

Chapter Text

As soon as Florence woke the following morning, she felt completely at peace. Her head was comfortably rested on a fluffy pillow and she was swathed in warm blankets that comfortingly filled her nostrils with the scent of Isa. The record-clad bedroom was illuminated with a beautiful glow from the sun outside and Florence could hear a chorus of bird song from the other side of the window.

As the moments passed, Florence finally became aware of Isa’s arm draped around her waist. She smiled lazily and carefully began to roll over, facing the sleeping blonde and snuggling closer to her warm body.

Florence couldn’t believe her luck. Isa looked absolutely stunning as she rested peacefully, the sunlight giving her sprawled hair a golden tinge. The sheets had ruffled up around Isa’s waist leaving her torso fully exposed and Florence couldn’t help but bite her lip as she soaked in the sight of the blonde laying naked besides her.

There was something oddly beautiful about watching Isa in such a tranquil sleep; something about it that made Isa seem more human than ever. She was no longer the popular, intimidating DJ that Florence felt wildly inferior to. She was just Isa, the gorgeous woman who had held Florence in her arms all night and made her feel like a goddess.

She couldn’t help but smirk to herself as she recalled the events of the previous night. Florence's content breaths grew ever so slightly heavier as she remembered the feel of Isa’s tongue between her legs and the way she’d made her come again and again until she’d almost forgotten her own name.

Florence had only ever particularly seen sex as a necessity before last night - a tool to help quash her desires when they became too intense to ignore. But sex with Isa had transcended that. Even when Florence had thought she was satisfied, Isa had continued to make her feel nothing but unmeasurable pleasure; so much so that Florence couldn’t actually recall how many times she’d came last night. It was a feat she had never experienced before. She was usually lucky to come once, but by the end of their escapade, Florence had been a twitching mess. She physically couldn’t take any more, even if she’d had the strength to continue.

On top of that, she’d had the utmost pleasure of finally getting to know Isa the way she’d always longed to. She’d learned how she tasted, how she moaned, how she liked to be touched, how hard she came. It had been the most erotic night of Florence’s life. Isa’s body was beyond stunning and the way she responded to Florence's touch drove the younger woman wild with desire. She'd needed to make Isa come like a heart needs to beat. Seeing the DJ arch her back and squeeze her eyes shut to scream out Florence’s name had become something the singer couldn’t get enough of. She longed for the scratches of Isa’s nails down her back and the bruises of passion along her throat. Florence had gotten exactly what she'd needed until the early hours of the morning, at which point both women passed out from exhaustion, entwined in one anothers’ limbs.

With the memories beginning to arouse her, Florence tried to suppress the sultry thoughts of the previous night. Instead, she lay in serenity and watched Isa’s eyelids begin to twitch as she stirred, trying not to remember the way Isa had looked at her with those fuck-me eyes the night before.

When Isa’s eyes eventually flickered opened, she glanced across at Florence momentarily and allowed a fond grin to spread over her features before her eyes shut again, unable to overpower her drowsiness.

“I’d say it’s rude to stare… but that was actually a very nice thing to wake up to” Isa mumbled, reaching up to rub her sleepy eyes in an attempt to coax them to stay open.

Florence flushed and bit her lip, somewhat embarrassed to be caught staring. She nuzzled her head further into the pillow to hide her blush but Isa had already rolled over, now face to face with the shy redhead.

“Were you wondering how easy it would be to smother me in my sleep and take off with all my expansive music gear?” Isa joked as her eyes shamelessly lured over exposed ivory skin.

“Of course not!” Florence retaliated instantly, “I… was just thinking you looked really lovely.”

Isa grinned. She’d known all along that Florence was looking at her with awe sparkling in her eyes, but it felt amazing to hear the woman confess to it aloud.

“I was thinking exactly the same thing” Isa whispered back, her gaze momentarily flickering to Florence’s lips.

Despite it being a boldly unconventional move, Isa shuffled closer and closed the distance between her and Florence, capturing her lips in a feather-soft kiss. Florence’s heart swole in her chest and she hummed contently against Isa’s lips, her fingers delicately cupping the other woman’s jaw to delay her from pulling back.

Once she did, Florence licked her lips bashfully. Her heartbeat drummed in her ears and the pleasant nausea of butterflies stirred in her stomach. She had been hoping that Isa wouldn't brush her off as a one night stand once they awoke, but she had not expected her wishes to come true. Now that her fantasies were fabricating, the excitement was intoxicating. She wanted to giggle like a love-sick schoolgirl, but instead she dared to move closer to Isa and wrap her arms back around the older woman’s waist.

“So… last night…” Florence began, relishing in the sensation of Isa’s arm winding around her shoulders, drawing her into a tender embrace.

At the cliché conversation opener, Isa laughed heartily. She absentmindedly laced her fingers in Florence’s soft hair and toyed with it as she sighed happily.

“Last night was really fucking great. You… you’re something else” Isa grinned, her mind bombarded with pornographic memories of Florence. She slid her hand from Florence’s hair to her back, drawing invisible patterns with her fingertips, savouring the feeling of her soft skin.

Florence was staring up at the tapestry that hung loosely from Isa’s ceiling, losing herself in its psychedelic patterns. With Isa holding her tight and gushing about how fantastic their night together had been, she felt completely at ease.

“It really was, wasn’t it? Perhaps the best sex of my life? We must have been at it for like three hours or something ridiculous” Florence chuckled, covering her face with embarrassment.

Isa echoed Florence’s laughter and reached for her hand, moving it away from her flushed face and holding it gently in her own. Florence looked adorable to Isa as she giggled sleepily with her head on her chest and the DJ wanted to cherish the moment for as long as she could.

“I’ve never had a night quite like that either. Dare I say, I look forward to the next time it happens?” Isa replied, holding her breath momentarily as the uncertain danger of her assumption hung heavily in the air.

Florence’s laughter died down as Isa’s comment resonated in her mind and she fell silent with surprise. She almost scoffed in disbelief, unable to believe that Isa also wanted this to become a frequent occurrence.

Looking up into the other woman's eyes, Florence swallowed thickly. Her hand that had previously been resting comfortably on Isa’s hip began to slowly venture upwards, smoothing her palm against the skin of the blonde’s chest and tracing the pronounced lines of her collarbones.

“I don’t think I’d ever be able to turn down an opportunity to fuck you again” Florence smirked devilishly, her fingertips unexpectedly searching out to roll over Isa’s hardened nipple.

A loud gasp spilled from Isa’s lips at the contact and she chortled instantly at how dramatically she had responded to such a gentle touch, shaking her head in amusement.

“You’re a fucking minx.” Isa teased, leaning forward to steal a chaste kiss from Florence once more. “I’m parched. I’ll go grab us some tea and breakfast, okay?”

Florence smiled into the quick kiss and nodded as Isa pulled back, reluctantly unravelling herself from their embrace and allowing Isa to slip out of the bed. As soon as Isa’s body wasn’t pressed against hers, Florence felt cold. She curled herself back up in the bright white sheets and rolled onto her side, watching the other woman.

Shamelessly, Isa stood from the bed and paraded her way around the room naked. Florence’s eyes were transfixed on Isa’s perfect curves as the blonde wandered over to her desk and fumbled around with a packet of incense, languidly lighting a patchouli scented stick and continuing to saunter over to the record player where she hesitated over a pile of vinyls. Eventually, Isa dropped the needle onto a record that Florence soon recognised to be the quiet sound of one of her favourite MGMT albums. She smiled in awe at how similar their music taste was.

“I’ll be back in a bit, alright? I’m sure you’ll find something to keep you entertained whilst I'm gone” Isa smirked over her shoulder at Florence, reaching for her baroque patterned gown and slipping it over her bare body before stepping from the room.

Once she was sure that Isa was out of earshot, Florence finally allowed a humongous grin to spread across her face. She giddily bounced to her feet and lunged for her discarded jacket, rummaging through it to find her phone and jumping back into the warmth of the bed. Excitedly, she tapped the Facetime icon besides Finlay’s contact and held her phone out, waiting for her best friend to pick up.

It didn’t take long for her friend to answer. Finlay was already grinning expectantly, thirsty for whatever gossip Florence had for her. Suddenly, however, Finlay blinked in surprise and laughed heartily.

“Florence, first of all, your tits are out.”

“Oh!” Florence exclaimed, grabbing the duvet and pulling it around her chest completely to cover her nudity.

“Secondly: Oh my god. You’re naked in Isabella’s bed aren’t you?”

Florence practically squealed at the question and covered her mouth as to not exclaim too loudly. Finlay gasped on the other end of the video call and shouted celebration down the phone.

“Fin! Jesus christ. Ugh!” Florence babbled, struggling to find the correct words to explain her current mood. She threw her head back against the pillows and took a deep breath to compose her whirlwind of thoughts. “That was the best night of my goddamn life. How is she even real? Three hours, Fin. We fucked for three hours . And when we woke up this morning she kissed me? I don’t think it was just a one night thing. I have no idea what we are right now but we’re definitely something and it feels so fucking good.”

Finlay was overjoyed for her best friend. Whilst Isa was gone, the two of them rambled and talked through how things had played out last night in between sequels of excitement and laughter. Florence could hardly believe the story that came from her own lips. She felt drunk on happiness and joy radiated from her. Florence hadn’t felt glad to be alive for a very long time and evidently, her grin never faltered throughout the entire conversation.

Meanwhile, Isa had managed to sneak downstairs without bumping into anybody. She was still somewhat frightened of the concept of bumping into Tamzin and she felt wary about seeing any of her other housemates, too. In the kitchen, she flicked the kettle on and tried not to linger as she threw some bread in the toaster. However, over the hiss of the kettle, she’d not heard Laura sneak into the kitchen behind her with her arms folded confrontationally over her chest. Only when Isa span around on her heels to head to the fridge did she notice her housemate stood stone-faced in the doorway.

“Shit! You absolute mother-” Isa cursed, having almost sprang out of her skin with shock.

Laura took a few paces forwards and closed the door behind her. She hadn’t so much as cracked a smile at Isa’s fright and Isa felt dread begin to bubble up in the pit of her stomach.

“Nice of you to finally show your face around here,” Laura began spitefully, her piercing glare unyielding, “even if it was just so you could rail that redhead of yours and keep me awake all goddamn night.”

Isa despised her friends being angry with her. She moved over to the wooden dining table and pulled out a chair, sitting down to keep herself grounded. She couldn’t find any excuse or apology for her behaviour in her vocabulary, so she simply sat and stared at the mahogany. Taking full advantage of the silence, Laura sat down opposite Isa and continued:

“I spoke to Gunner. He told me you’ve messaged him asking for blow pretty much every night this week. Where the fuck were you? What have you been doing? I’m starting to think you have a fucking problem, mate.”

Isa rolled her eyes and huffed, leaning back in her chair. Gunner was her dealer. Coincidentally, he also happened to be an ex-boyfriend of hers. Frustratingly, this meant that all of her close friends were in contact with him - either because he was their dealer too or because of Isa’s history with him. So, if he ever thought that Isa was asking for too much gear, Gunner would tell Laura. Despite this, he always discounted her prices and Isa never feel threatened by him, so she kept on going back to him for more.

“I don’t have a fucking problem,” Isa finally retaliated, “I had a bad week, okay? We all have bad weeks. The only difference is that you fuck your way through a bad week and I sniff my way through it. It helped me feel less dead inside, alright? And I crashed at my studio all week. I couldn’t stand being stuck here with Tamzin playing the fucking victim all the time.”

Laura’s eyes widened at the angst in Isa’s words and she shook her head. She ran her fingers through her curly hair and sighed, letting her frustration drop once she figured that arguing wasn’t going to get them anywhere. Isa met Laura’s softened gaze and she visibly relaxed too, feeling the tension between them melt away a little.

“No matter what you say, you used too much this week. I love you, okay? That’s the only reason I say what I say. I’m worried about you. You know I don’t care that you use blow at parties but if you were just using it on your own to try and cheer up… that’s a bit of a worrying thought. Do you see where I’m coming from? Please, try and have a week or so off…” Laura reasoned gently, reaching out across the table to take Isa’s hand in her own.

Isa nodded slowly. She knew Laura was right, but she refused to admit aloud that her and drugs had a somewhat problematic relationship.

“Alright, I’ll take some time off. I’ll quit the coke for a while. Besides, I’m feeling better now anyway.”

At that, Laura grinned her typical charming grin. She let go of Isa’s hand and got to her feet, making her way over to the kettle and finishing the two cups of tea that Isa had began to make before she’d intruded.

“So you’re all good again now you’ve finally fucked Florence?” Laura smirked, glancing over her shoulder as she stirred the tea. Isa drew her knees to her chest and hid her grinning face against them, the thought of Florence making her giddy. When she’d finally wiped the ginormous smile from her face, she looked over at her best friend.

“I suppose you could put it that way. And I… um. I’m sorry we kept you up last night.”

Laura made her way back over to the table with the two teacups in her hands, setting them in front of Isa and placing a hand on the blonde’s shoulder with a genuine smile.

“Dude, don’t worry about it. I’m glad you finally got your girl. It seems like she makes you really happy. Besides, it was pretty hot hearing you fuck her.” Laura joked and Isa gasped, shoving playfully at her friend and laughing in unison with her.

“Seriously, though,” Laura continued once their play fighting ceased, “I’m happy for you, man. Now c’mon, finish making breakfast. The poor girl is probably starving by now after that fuck-fest last night.”

Isa sniggered and got up from the chair, pulling Laura into a brief hug to show her appreciation. With that, she grabbed the slices of toast from the toaster and scooped everything up with a flourish. With her hands full, she wondered back upstairs again and awkwardly maneuvered her bedroom door open with her feet.

Luckily, Florence had ended her call with Finlay a few minutes prior and had resorted to languidly laying in bed, scrolling through her phone. As soon as Isa came into the bedroom, however, she dropped her phone and beamed over at her. Isa grinned to herself.

“You’re fucking adorable” the DJ mused as she made her way over to the bed, placing the mugs of tea down and slipping into the sheets besides Florence, settling the plate of warm buttered toast between them.

Florence eagerly sat up, feeling a growing rumble in her stomach. She grabbed a slice and didn’t hesitate to take a bite whilst Isa simply sipped on her tea. She enjoyed these simple moments with Florence. She felt completely at peace besides the naked woman.

“I’ve always found something very charming about buttered toast. It’s homely. Comforting.” Florence thought aloud and Isa chuckled in response, marvelling at how the younger woman's mind could make something as simple as toast sound so poetic and meaningful.

“You’re pretty easy to please, then” Isa joked back, looking into Florence’s sparkling earthy eyes.

The redhead laughed at the comment and hungrily finished the slice of toast, shrugging a shoulder teasingly as her thoughts wondered.

“I thought you already discovered that last night” she winked coyly. Florence was beyond relieved to realise that she was becoming her normal, flirty self with Isa. After last night, the timid and self-deprecating version of herself was beginning to fade away. It was a welcomed change that finally allowed her to enjoy her time with Isa wholey.

Isa raised a brow at Florence’s teasing and her lips twisted into a smug smirk. She locked eyes with the singer and after a daring once-over of Florence’s naked form in her sheets, she unwaveringly reached out and caressed a curious hand up Florence’s bare thigh.

“If you keep on talking like that, I think I’ll be spending the entire day pleasing you all over again.”

Florence felt her blood burn up in her veins at Isa’s sultry words and she bit her lip, struggling to resist the urge to move Isa’s hand exactly where she wanted it.

“And is that supposed to put me off? If anything, that’s more of a reason to keep talking like this.”

Isa laughed a sultry laugh and shrugged a shoulder, her fingertips tracing up dangerously close to Florence’s core. Just before she touched the redhead right where she needed her, Isa pulled her hand away and left Florence whining for more.

“Well, I’d actually hoped we could work on some music together today. But if you’d rather stay in bed and fuck all day, that can be arranged too.”

Florence groaned. She was torn. Whilst her mind couldn’t stop recalling the erotic writhing of Isa’s body and the sweet moans she’d elicited from the DJ last night, she knew they had work to do. Isa could be her only chance at making actual, real music. Florence knew she couldn’t pass up on that opportunity. So, she rested her head gently atop Isa’s shoulder and huffed.

“I guess we should be sensible and try and get some music made. But I could really do with a shower first. I need to freshen up.” Florence chuckled.

Isa smirked at Florence’s reluctance to turn down the sexual invitation. She felt high on the knowledge that Florence had enjoyed their time together just as much as she had, but for now, the redhead was right. They needed to try and turn their musical ideas into a song; and they definitely needed to shower away the remnants of last night.

“Yeah, I could do with a shower too. Then we’ll try and compose some music to go with those lyrics you wrote the other week. We can record you singing them to make it a lot easier.”

Florence grinned at the prospect of her singing actually being recorded and produced into music. It was a dream she had never envisioned truly happening in her life and it swole her chest with excitement.

“I can’t wait!” Florence agreed enthusiastically, sitting up to swing her bare legs out of the bed and wander over to her jacket again, retrieving the same crumpled up piece of paper from her pocket that she’d shown Isa the previous week. “Do you want to go and shower first? I think I might want to make a few tweaks to these lyrics. I’m never satisfied with them.”

The blonde leered her eyes down Florence’s form and silently crept from the bed, too. Sneaking up behind the taller woman, she snaked her arms around her waist and giggled at Florence’s surprise.

“Your lyrics are perfect. Stop fretting about them. But okay, I won’t be long. I’ll get a towel ready for you” Isa reassured Florence, pressing a quick kiss to her bare shoulder before untangling herself from the warmth of her body. She brandished her hand to leave a sudden smack against Florence’s tempting backside before sauntering away to the bathroom, leaving the singer to simper at the ground.

Once Isa had slipped into the en suite, Florence collapsed onto the bed. She unfolded the scrap of paper in her hands and tried to ignore the bittersweet burn of the spank as she skimmed her eyes over her lyrics. She mentally made a few changes to the occasional word before dropping the paper onto the bedside table and staring up at the ceiling with a contented sigh.

Florence could hear the water begin to run in the adjoining room and she couldn’t stop her mind from veering into thoughts of Isa stood beneath the hot jet of water. She pictured Isa’s silken skin shining with a sheen of water - droplets tumbling over her full lips and wreathing down to the crevices Florence longed to touch again.

Before she could register her own actions, Florence’s hand had slipped between her spread legs. She stifled a moan as she dragged her index finger along her sex and paused over her sensitive clit, slowly beginning to dance in circles against the bundle of nerves. Florence’s eyes fluttered shut and she envisioned stepping into the steamy shower, pressing Isa against the cold tiles and exploring her body. She fantasised about touching Isa exactly how she was touching herself and hearing the DJ moan sweetly into her ear.

Finally catching herself, Florence’s hand seized up. She quietly scoffed in disbelief at her own sordid actions and sat up, staring at the bathroom door.

“What the fuck am I doing…” Florence muttered to herself. It seemed ridiculous to the redhead that she was lay in Isa’s bed, touching herself at the thought of the older woman, when only a door separated her from what she so desperately longed for. So, with coquettish confidence, Florence got to her feet and wandered over to the bathroom door. She wrapped her fingers around the handle and after a tentative moment, pushed it open.

The steam of the bathroom instantaneously spread warmth over her naked body and the adrenaline from her temerity caused Florence’s heart to hammer against her ribcage. Yet, it was all worth it when she was met with the near artistic vision of Isa in the shower. Isa had her back to Florence, but the divine curvature of her body and the pronounced structure of her muscles only set Florence’s desires into a hotter blaze.

Florence hadn’t realised that she’d inhaled sharply at the sight, but Isa had heard the sudden sound and whipped around to find the redhead staring. Whilst others may find the situation far too bold, Isa simply grinned mischievously and continued to lather soap across her body.

“I had a feeling you wouldn’t be able to stay away” the blonde teased.

Dumbfounded, Florence nodded. Her eyes were glued to the rotation of Isa’s hands as they massaged the suds against her skin. When she finally met Isa’s sparkling eyes, they seductively lured her to join the other woman in the shower.

Florence hummed with satisfaction as her body pressed flush against Isa’s, the water soon soaking her hair and running down her face. The kiss that inevitably followed was as hot and steamy as the room they stood in and the redhead began to embody her fantasies as she pressed Isa against the bathroom tiles.

“I couldn’t help but imagine how stunning you’d look in the shower,” Florence finally admitted as she broke their kiss, “the thought of it made me touch myself. But then I realised - why touch myself when I could be touching you?”

Isa’s lips twisted into a smirk at Florence's seductive teasing and she draped her arms languidly over the taller woman’s shoulders as the water fell between them. Retreating one arm, she allowed her fingers to gently trace the outline of Florence’s lips before cupping her chiseled jaw and drawing their faces closer together.

“So what are you waiting for?” Isa whispered daringly, tightening her grip around Florence’s shoulders, “Touch me however you want to. I want those fingers deep inside of me again.”

With that, Florence’s lips found Isa’s once more and her hand ventured down her toned stomach, feeling water gush between her fingers as she smoothed her touch over addictive skin. The singer almost shuddered as her hand found it’s way back to Isa’s core, moaning at the soft wetness that greeted her fingertips. With expert precision, her slender fingers found their way to Isa’s clit which she teased with a devilish smirk, greedily drinking in the sight of Isa’s eyes fluttering shut with pleasure. Her delicate teasing gradually grew firmer and she drew tighter circles around Isa’s clit, thriving on the way it made the DJ moan louder and more desperately.

“Florence…” Isa moaned breathily, arching her back in a frenzied attempt to get more from the redhead.

After stealing a couple of wanton kisses from the blonde’s water-clad lips, Florence eagerly complied and carefully eased a finger into Isa’s tightness. At the sensation of being filled by Florence, Isa relaxed against the tiles and a relieved sigh slipped from her lips, as though she had been missing a crucial part of herself until now. Florence marvelled at Isa's beauty before trailing gentle kisses down her already bruised throat and beginning to gently move her finger.

As Isa began to ease around her finger, Florence began to thrust her finger harder. Isa accommodatingly lifted a leg and propped it against the edge of the tub, allowing Florence effortless access to fuck the blonde harder - her knuckles meeting slippery skin with every thrust. The shorter woman raked her nails down Florence’s back as her overridden senses went wild, yet she forced her heavy eyelids to stay open so she could lock eyes with the redhead. Despite the pleasure being intense, Isa loved to make a show and she adored the way her moans and whimpers made Florence’s eyes grow darker and darker with desire.

Sensing Isa’s attempt to make her buckle with need, Florence smirked and unexpectedly slipped a second digit inside of Isa. This time, Isa couldn’t stop her eyes from falling shut as she threw her head back and cried out with pleasure, rolling her hips down against Florence’s hand.

Having Isa so completely at her mercy felt phenomenal to the younger woman and she began pumping her fingers in and out of Isa harder and faster, watching the blonde mewl and moan until climax rapidly approached. As the pleasure became all too much, Isa reached down and grabbed Florence’s wrist, stopping her movements and pausing her fingers inside of her.

“Curl your fingers” Isa instructed and in an instant, Florence surrendered her power and did as Isa wished, crooking her fingers against the other woman’s most sensitive spot and massaging her fingertips against it.

With the new found pleasure, Isa’s moans became lower and guttural. She rolled her hips ever-so-slightly and hooked her arm around Florence’s shoulders, holding her close and burying her face in masses of wet red hair as her orgasm tore through her. She cried out against Florence who echoed her moans, working her fingers carefully as Isa throbbed and convulsed around them.

They remained in silence for a long moment once Isa had came, catching their breath and holding one another close to regain their strength. Eventually, Isa pulled back and pressed a bruising kiss to Florence’s lips which was keenly returned until they both pulled back with a breathless chuckle.

“That was… incredibly fucking hot. I’m glad you snuck into my bathroom to perv on me” Isa winked and Florence flushed, her cheeks beginning to ache from all of the smiling she’d done throughout the morning. “Now let's get out. I have a piece of music I’m dying to show you.”

After drying themselves off between stolen kisses and mindless foolery, Isa and Florence made their way back into the bedroom. Feeling comfortable in the safe haven of music, Florence made no attempt to get dressed again. She simply towelled at her hair and sat on the foot of the bed, watching as Isa did the same before grabbing her gown and slipping it over her shoulders. Much to Florence’s relief, Isa made no attempt to fasten the gown and left it hanging casually open, leaving nothing to the imagination.

Once she’d tossed the towel aside, Isa made her way over to her keyboard and sat down on the stool. She flicked a few switches before looking over at the redhead and ushering her to join her which Florence instantly submitted to, slipping onto the stool besides her.

“I put a new piece together a while ago. I think it could work with the lyrics you sang for me. I managed to tweak the melody a little bit to make it flow with your song more.” Isa explained, revelling in the sensation of having Florence sat so close to her.

“What are you waiting for, then? Let’s hear it” Florence beamed, excitedly anticipating the music like a child waiting to unwrap her Christmas gifts.

With a smile, Isa’s fingers readied themselves over the keys before she slowly began to play. The melody she played was grand to say the least. The keyboard was set to an organ-like mode which made a beautiful, resonant sound fill the room. It caused Florence to grin. She’d not considered choral music before, but hearing Isa play made her realise how perfect her lyrics were for the sound.

As Isa effortlessly played her way through the piece of music, Florence began to hum along, fitting her lyrics into the cadence of the music and growing increasingly excited as it strung together perfectly. Come the second chorus, Florence successfully managed to sing along to the music in a way that sounded fitting and when Isa finished playing, she squealed with success.

“That was great! Oh my god. I’d never considered pairing it with music like that but it gives the song this huge canticle feeling and I love it! We could make this song massive. Not massive as in popular, massive as in, argh !” Florence gushed, throwing her hands out as she vocalised the end of her sentence, attempting to convey that they could make their music loud and powerful.

Isa laughed heartily at the enthusiasm and nodded in agreement, “We could! I’m not exactly a very hi-fi producer. I’m lo-fi as fuck. Making music with me is going to be raw and low budget and sketchy. But we can make it sound as massive as you want.”

“How are you managing to turn me on whilst talking about producing?” Florence smirked and Isa rolled her eyes, pressing a brief kiss to Florence’s lips before turning to her laptop and booting it up. The uninhibited kisses made Florence dizzy with emotion, but she curiously watched as Isa opened her mixing software and fought with a tangle of wires to bring her microphone closer.

“What are you doing?” Florence asked, clueless as Isa linked multiple wires up to multiple different ports.

“I want to get this recorded before we forget it. I need to get you singing. I’ll record the piano too. Then we can go absolutely wild on any other instruments.”

After a couple of attempts, the pair had perfectly recorded the vocals and the piano. Florence was proud to hear her voice coming from the speakers as Isa played back what they had just recorded and within minutes, they had fallen into an experimental music-making frenzy. They brainstormed drum beats by banging on tables and smashing tambourines around and they recorded rhythms of hand claps to string into the developing melody.

Within a few hours, an incredibly raw track had been produced. On top of the piano and vocals, the duo had recorded aggressive drum beats on Isa’s electric kit as well as added abrasive percussion and descant melodies over Florence’s voice.

With a laugh, the two eventually fell back onto Isa’s bed. They both mirrored a humongous grin at how fun their music-making experience had been. Neither woman had heard a sound quite as eclectic as what they had just made and it excited them both, leaving them eager to work together again.

“I’m going to put a really narsty baseline over that track and play it at one of my shows” Isa half-joked in her lilting Cockney accent, rolling over to face Florence on the mattress.

“Do it!” Florence giggled, “But only play it at four in the morning or something, when everyone is already too fucked to really care.”

Once their laughter died down and a comfortable silence washed over them again, Florence plucked up the courage to ask Isa something she’d been wondering about since the morning after the very first night they met. She bit her lip and shuffled slightly closer to the blonde before looking up at her.

“Hey, can I ask you something a little bit personal? I’ve been curious ever since you mentioned it a while ago…”

Already feeling the daunting weight of the coming question, Isa sighed softly but nodded nonetheless. There were many personal things she didn’t like to open up about, but she struggled to say no to Florence’s curious green eyes.

“Well…” Florence began carefully, “Remember when I asked you how you ended up being such a successful DJ? You told me you had time to work on things because you only study part time because you had to look after your sick mother. I was wondering… is she okay?”

Isa’s eyes fell shut and she took a steady inhale. After counting her breaths for a moment, she let out a slightly bitter chuckle which she instantly scorned herself for. It wasn’t Florence’s fault, she was just curious, but the topic always struck complex emotions inside of the older woman.

“No. No, she’s not. She died a couple of years ago.”

She's been dead for two years and now you’re just some low-life druggie DJ who is barely scraping through her degree. You make her turn in her grave.

Isa visibly shrugged her troubling thoughts away and looked down at Florence, whose eyes conveyed nothing but sympathy and sadness. The redhead placed a slender hand on Isa’s chest and swallowed thickly.

“I’m so sorry. It was never my place to ask. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for you. I…” Florence trailed off, inwardly debating whether it was appropriate to share her deepest pain with Isa in return, “My grandmother killed herself a few years ago. She was my world. So I suppose I understand the pain, in a way.”

You weren’t even there for her when she died. You were too busy snorting ket and sleeping with strangers. And what are you doing now? Exactly the fucking same.

“Isa?”

“-Sorry” Isa finally spoke up, realising she’d been sucked into the cyclone of her self-sabotaging thoughts. “I’m fi-”

You’re not fucking fine.

“I really struggle with it-”

Isa’s eyes widened once the words left her mouth. She’d never opened up to anybody about the way her mother's death affected her. It was a conversation reserved for those Sunday mornings when her and her father stood getting rained on in the graveyard, staring at an engraved stone and remembering the woman it represented.

“-I miss her every day. And I worry that I’m nothing but a disappointment to her. She never liked the idea of me pursuing music. She wanted me to have a ‘real job' and be sophisticated. But when she heard my music teachers talk about my talent, she came around to the idea. She let me come here to study but made me promise that I would work hard and not go off the rails. I broke that promise before she even passed away. And now I just continue to break it all the damn time.”

“Isa…” Florence whispered, unsure of how to soothe the other woman but knowing she wanted to do all she could to help comfort her. She cupped Isa’s face and stroked the pad of her thumb along her cheek gently. “I’m sure there will always be part of her that is proud of you. I mean, look at you. You’re practically a university celebrity because of your talent. There are clubs all over London with posters of your face stuck to the walls. That’s phenomenal. I don’t know any other undergraduate who has exceeded as much as you. So what if you do a bit of blow? We all do things we keep from those we love. No matter what you say, you’re a success story.”

At Florence’s words, Isa blinked a few times in an attempt to keep her tears at bay. She smiled wearily and placed her hand atop of Florence’s. The comforting words had slightly soothed her aching heart and she mustered up a sincere ‘thank you’, offering a true smile.

“I guess I don’t really talk about it much. I've got to keep up the hardcore façade, right?” Isa gave a watery laugh and slowly sat up in the bed, crossing her legs. Florence took the incentive to sit up too, facing Isa and reaching out to take her hand. She could tell that the DJ didn’t particularly want to delve into her emotions, so Florence sat in silence and allowed Isa to say whatever she felt needed to be said.

“Your grandma…” she eventually commented, finally realising that Florence had also shared her story of pain and suffering, “Killed herself? That’s awful, my god. I’m so fucking sorry. That must be even harder to come to terms with. At least part of me always expected my mother to pass. We all knew the heart disease wasn’t getting better. But suicide is so unexpected…”

Florence frowned and nodded, giving Isa’s fingers a gentle squeeze. “It is hard to come to terms with. It sent me into this strange spiral of being obsessed with trying to understand death. You should see the crazy songs I’ve written about it. I’m always writing about it. Perhaps I’ll share them with you some day?”

“I’d like that” the DJ smiled back warmly, wiping the slight brim of tears from her eyes and lounging back against her pillows, patting the empty space besides her to coax Florence to join her.

The pair spent the following hours lay together, passionately discussing the music they’d made and the inspirations they drew from when creating. They shamelessly opened up about the experiences that had shaped them as people and comforted one another through the tales of their hardships and downfalls. It was a liberating feeling for both of them, as neither was accustomed to talking so openly about their emotions and troubles. It was only when Florence realised that the light outside was beginning to dwindle that she became aware of the time.

“Oh my god, is it evening already? Fuck. I have a seminar tomorrow on a book I haven’t even read” the creative writing student panicked, propping herself up from her comfortable position nestled against Isa’s side.

As she too realised how late it had become, Isa groaned and rubbed her forehead. “And I suppose I should get back in the studio tomorrow since I missed all of last week’s goddamn recording time.”

Reluctantly, they both rose from the warmth of the bedsheets and made lazy work of getting dressed. Once Florence was clad in last night's clothes and Isa had thrown on a sweater and skirt, she guided the younger woman back downstairs. As Florence passed the room adjacent to Isa’s she couldn’t help but notice Laura sat at a desk inside, grinning knowingly at her as their eyes briefly met. Florence’s cheeks turned as red as her hair as she realised just how close Laura’s room was to Isa’s, knowing that the songwriter must have heard their lengthy escapade last night.

Having noticed the exchange, Isa chuckled once they were at the bottom of the stairs. “Yeah, she heard everything. But don’t get embarrassed about it. The amount of times she’s kept me up doing the exact same thing is unreal.”

Still mildly ashamed but amused, Florence tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and gazed down at her feet with an airheaded smile.

“I guess I’ll try to be quieter next time” she jested, painting a wide grin on Isa’s face. The blonde stepped closer and wrapped an arm smoothly around Florence’s waist.

“I’m glad to hear that there will definitely be a next time” Isa whispered, placing her fingers beneath Florence’s chin and tilting her head back up to meet her stare. After an intense exchange, they simultaneously leaned in for a gentle kiss.

“I won’t be a stranger this time” Florence promised once they broke the kiss, smiling shyly as she recalled how awful she had treated Isa over the last few weeks.

“You better not be. Now get that fine ass home and read that book. You’ll smash your seminar, I know you will.”

Florence gave a grateful smile and shared an meaningful gaze with the DJ one last time before slipping through the door and into the cool evening air. As she made her way down the stone driveway and onto the street, Florence had to muffle her desire to squeal with happiness. The vehemence of their connection was thrilling and nauseating all at the same time. It was bittersweet, and Florence was already hooked.

Chapter Text

It was a surprisingly warm day for the middle of autumn and Florence cheerily sauntered through campus, her eyes glued to her phone screen as she eagerly tapped out a message to Isa. The sky was a comforting blue hue and the soft breeze made her sundress flap around her legs as she made her way to the campus cafe where she had arranged to meet Finlay for coffee.

The redhead muttered an apology to a faceless figure she had obstructed in the doorway before slipping into the cosy cafe, grinning hopelessly at the flirty text she had just received. Finally, she looked up and peered around the maze of tables, spotting a calculating looking Finlay sat at a secluded table for two.

Florence rushed over to her friend and sat down with a grin, offering a brief greeting to Finlay before giving into the temptation to grab her phone and type out a teasing response to Isa.

“Oh for fucks sake” Finlay laughed, carefully pushing a steaming cup of coffee towards Florence, “I've literally spent all morning in the studio with Isa watching her smirking to herself as she messages you, and now you're doing exactly the fucking same!”

Despite her friend's joking tone, Florence realised her rudeness and locked her phone, giving Finlay her full attention. Though, she couldn't wipe the smug smirk from her lips at the image of Isa smittenly texting her too.

“Sorry, how has your week been?” Florence asked, wrapping her slender fingers around the warm cup of coffee and drawing it closer. They had both had exceptionally busy weeks with their studies and besides passing one another in the kitchen at home, the duo hadn't had much time to talk.

Finlay shrugged. “It's been hectic but good. Isa is getting some really hot shit produced in the studio this week so I've been recording beats non stop. Which reminds me, I've got this to give to you. It’s from her.”

Finlay passed Florence a small USB drive that simply had the letter ‘F ’ written on it. The redhead curiously picked it up whilst Finlay enquired how her week had been, too.

“Busy! I’m so glad it's Friday. I'm on track with coursework but fuck , I've missed Isa. I still haven't seen her since we slept together but… she seems eager to see me again” Florence blushed bashfully, taking a sip of the coffee and eliciting a joking eye roll from Finlay.

When their giggling died down, Finlay sighed. Florence furrowed her brow upon noticing the shift in her friend's mood and reached out across the table, locking their fingers.

“What's wrong?” She asked gently.

Finlay shuffled uncomfortably before looking up and meeting Florence's eyes. “I… was wondering if you could come with me to get my haircut this afternoon?”

Florence laughed with surprise. She made a confused stutter before shaking her head. “Of course I can? I'm free all afternoon. Why do you seem so nervous about that?”

“-because it's the most important haircut of my life.” Finlay interjected, looking down at the table worriedly. After a deep and steady breath, Finlay continued.

“I'm cutting it really short. I want to look like a guy. Because Florence, I… I am a guy. I've never really been a girl. I'm trans, Flo. I've known for so long, I've just been so scared to take this first step and be open about it. But every day that I wake up in this fucking body is harder than the last and I need to start doing something about it. I came out to Laura the other week and she talked to me about her own gender struggles. It made me finally feel confident enough to do this.”

Florence's eyes widened at the confession and she took a moment to process the new information before a smile spread across her face. She squeezed Finlay's hand reassuringly before lifting it, pressing a brief kiss to the back of his fingers.

“I'm so proud of you,” Florence whispered, watching the relief visibly melt away from Finlay as tears brimmed his eyelids, “You're still the person who walked my drunk ass home in freshers week; who stayed up with me all night as I rambled about werewolves between vomiting into the toilet. You're still my best fucking friend. I've got your back no matter what. And I will do whatever I can do to help you feel more comfortable. Anything.”

Unable to formulate a response to such touching acceptance, Finlay got up and wrapped his arms around Florence's shoulders, squeezing her tight.

“You're my best fucking friend too” he sniffled, hiding his face in Florence's fiery hair to disguise his quiet crying. Florence tangled her arms back around Finlay and pulled him into her lap with a giggle.

“Wipe your tears, pretty boy. Let's go get that hair chopped off.”

Later that day, Florence had found herself almost crying, too. Finlay radiated happiness whilst lock after lock of hair fell to the ground. Once he hopped from the barber's chair and began teasing and toying with his new short style in the mirror, Florence placed her hand over her heart and held back tears of happiness for her sidekick.

“Very handsome” she commented horsley as Finlay strode over to her. Noticing the emotion in Florence's voice, Finlay laughed and shoved playfully at the redhead's shoulder.

“Don't get going all soft on me, Flo” he grinned, linking arms with her and confidently striding out of the shop.

As they wandered back towards their home together, the pair chatted about what was on the horizon for Finlay. He explained the process carefully to Florence, informing her that he had an appointment at a gender clinic in the next few weeks and that he would hopefully begin taking hormones at some point in the near future. Whilst the description of the process was new to Florence, she nodded along supportively and was overjoyed to hear that Finlay would be able to get the care he needed to be his true self.

“So, do you feel up for a celebration tonight?” Florence asked devilishly, desperate to let her hair down and enjoy herself after such a hectic week.

On a high from getting his haircut and being accepted wholeheartedly by Florence, Finlay nodded eagerly.

“Of course, I need to make my debut on the town as my new, authentic self” he smirked, spinning on his heels flamboyantly as they made their way through a quaint park en route.

Right on cue, Florence's phone began to buzz in her pocket. As Finlay walked ahead, humming a tune in celebration, Florence pulled her phone out and grinned as she saw Isa's name on her screen. She accepted the call instantly and lifted her phone to her ear, beaming widely.

“Hey baby, you good?”

Hearing Florence go quiet, Finlay turned and clocked that it was the DJ on the other end of the phone call. He made mocking kissing faces at Florence, who flipped him off, before turning to give Florence some privacy.

“Hey! Yeah, I'm good. Just grabbed a coffee with Fin. I heard things have been going well in the studio?”

Florence's heart was still pounding from hearing Isa call her ‘baby’ again and she bit her lip as her and Fin wondered past a small pond. She looked out at the rippling water and felt momentarily blessed by the wonders of the world.

“Oh man, it's gone off in the studio this week! I'm on a roll. But hey, I'm playing a set at a gay club in the city tonight. I miss you. It would be great if you'd come along? Laura and some of my mates are coming and you can bring your lot along, too.”

Hearing this, Florence excitedly skipped up to Finlay and practically jumped on him from behind, holding onto him as she replied to Isa.

“That sounds great! We were just talking about going out tonight. Which club are you playing at? I'll be there for sure. I've… missed you too.”

Realising Isa had invited them out, Finlay made a fist-pump of victory. When his laughter threatened to become audible to Isa, Florence clasped her hand over his mouth playfully.

“I'll send you a link to the event. It's a pretty cheesy mix of songs. Not my typical set but definitely good to get down to if you're wasted. Oh, and Flo? Make sure you check out that USB Fin gave you.”

Florence could practically hear the wink in Isa's voice and curiosity sparked inside her. She hadn't had time to ponder over the gift earlier, but as she traced her finger over the bulge of the pen drive in her pocket, she grew eager to see what Isa had given her.

“Sounds great to me! And I'm nearly home, so I'll check this mystery gift in a bit” Florence teased back, crossing the road to their house and letting Finlay search for his keys.

“Great! I'll see you tonight, gorgeous.”

Florence leaned against the wall besides their house and felt warmth spread throughout her body at the compliment. She placed a cigarette between her lips to calm her slight nerves and Fin walked back up to her once he had opened the door, lighting it for her.

“See you tonight… baby.”

Florence took a long drag as soon as she dared to use the pet name, desperate for the nicotine to soothe her pounding heart. Yet, Florence was relieved when Isa simply gave a fond chuckle before hanging up.

“So, I take it we're partying with the music folks tonight?” Finlay teased and Florence rolled her eyes, turning her head away from Fin to blow out the smoke and hide her bright red flush.

Later that afternoon, Florence sat at her desk with the mystery USB stick twirling between her fingers. The beats of hip hop filled her room and clothes were sprawled across her bed from her earlier attempt to string an outfit together for their night out.

When her laptop finally booted up, Florence slipped the USB into it and took a sip of her herbal tea, curiously loading up the contents of the device to find two interestingly named folders.

Deciding to ignore the ‘a little present’ folder for now, the redhead clicked open a folder titled ‘recording’ to find an audio file. Intrigued, Florence clicked on it and paused the music playing over her soundsystem. Once everything loaded, she grinned as a familiar set of piano chords and background percussion began playing. It was the song her and Isa had recorded together the previous week. Upon hearing the song fully produced, Florence was overjoyed. It actually sounded good . Her voice worked well with the music and she felt proud of what they had created together. It was everything she had ever imagined and more.

With curiosity eating up at her, Florence resumed the Drake song at an obnoxiously loud volume and ventured into the other mysterious folder on the USB. Once she opened it, she was greeted with one text file and two unopened images. She clicked on the text file first, reading through with a sultry smile growing on her lips.

Flo,  

I've been thinking about you so much this week. I'm sorry we haven't had time to see each other but what we shared last weekend has been on my mind non-stop. So much so that I got a little carried away thinking about you from time to time. I hope you enjoy what came out of that. ;)

Isa x

Already suspecting what was to come, Florence bit her lip and double clicked on the first of the two images, but nothing could have prepared her for the photo that popped up on her screen. Isa was lay sprawled on her bed, completely topless, her bare breasts scandalously exposed to the selfie camera. Florence's breath hitched in her throat and she soaked in the sight, instantly remembering the sensation of Isa's body beneath her palms the previous week.

After staring at the image for perhaps a little too long, Florence moved her mouse to hover over the second photo. Mustering up the courage, she clicked it.

“Fuck” Florence breathed instantly at the sordid image. Isa was knelt on her bed, entirely naked, with her hand between her legs carelessly. From what Florence could make out, Isa was knuckle-deep inside of herself. The realisation made a slight moan spill from her throat.

“Florence! I don't know what the fuck to wear. Help dress me? Bobby said I can borrow some of his clothes.”

The redhead sprang from her seat at the sudden intrusion and slammed her laptop shut, panic sweating through her body.

“Finlay! Knock!” She exclaimed as he threw himself down on her messy bed.

Finlay gave Florence a suspicious smirk and raised a brow at her, propping himself up on his elbows. Florence noticed how flat his chest appeared to be and couldn't help but smile through her panicked surprise. Finlay had told her about his recent binder purchase and she was glad that he finally felt confident enough to wear it around her.

“Sorry, did I catch you watching porn?” He smirked.

Florence huffed and folded her arms, making her way over to her bed and laying down besides Fin.

“Not exactly, no…”

After a moment of silence, the redhead rolled onto her side to look at her friend.

“So you came out to the boys too?”

“Yeah” Finlay smiled, “Tom was cool with it. Pretty blasè, as usual. But Bobby was great. He said I have free access to his wardrobe if I need to borrow anything. I thought that was pretty sweet.”

“Rob is sweet. And we are gonna make you a killer outfit for tonight. C'mon, let's go see what we can throw together!” Florence encouraged, attempting to push the arousingly sinful images of Isa to the back of her mind as she got to her feet. Yet, no matter how hard she tried, the image of Isa touching herself for her would not leave her fantasies.

Standing behind the DJ decks, Isa double checked the time on her phone. It had just turned 11pm and Florence was half an hour late. Impatient, she watched the crowd of dancing people like a hawk, eager to spot the redhead flailing among them. Disappointedly, she accepted that Florence had still not arrived and turned her attention back to DJing. Stringing various chart-topping songs together took little effort, so Isa remained lost in her own mind, praying that Florence wasn’t going to stand her up.

“You doing okay, babe?” A voice asked behind Isa as strong hands took her by her shoulders. Looking behind her, Isa smiled warmly at the presence of her friend Jeremy.

“I’m fine. I’m just waiting for someone to get here…”

“Oh! The girl Laura has been telling me about? The one who is really loud in bed?” Jeremy smirked slyly, using the privacy of the DJ booth to pull a small baggie from a pocket inside of his jacket, scooping a bump into one of his long fingernails and inhaling it sharply. When he wordlessly offered some to Isa, she turned it down.

“She was pretty loud… so I guess that’s the one, yeah” Isa laughed, glancing back out to the crowd. She suddenly felt her heart stutter in her chest as she noticed Florence near the entrance to the club, laughing with her arm around who Isa believed to be Finlay, only with a new haircut.

Florence was clad in very short hot-pants with glitter smeared across her cheekbones and Isa couldn’t help but chuckle at Florence’s ability to dress for any occasion. Finlay, on the other hand, was almost unrecognisable in a hot-pink mesh tank top and leather trousers.

Isa watched intently as Florence and Finlay shouted at one another over the booming music before the pair parted ways. Florence appeared to be making a beeline for the bathroom whilst Finlay filtered into the crowd. It wasn’t long before Finlay caught sight of Laura and the pair embraced on the dance floor, but Isa was far more concerned with where Florence was going. When she was certain the redhead was heading for the bathroom, she suddenly yanked her headphones off and shoved them against Jeremy’s chest.

“Five minutes. Please, don’t play anything hideous. I’ll be five minutes”

With the cocaine having no discernible effect on him, Jeremy nodded and took the headphones whilst Isa rushed past the crowds to the bathroom, eventually managing to stumble into the room just behind Florence. Moments before the younger woman entered a cubicle, Isa snatched her hand to arrest her attention.

“Isa!” Florence exclaimed, clumsily backing away from the toilet cubicle as a frustrated woman shoved past her. “Sorry we’re late, it took forever for Finlay to settle on an outfit and-”

Florence was cut off by Isa’s lips crashing against hers and she smirked into the kiss, extending her fingers to cup Isa’s jaw and hold her close. She’d been yearning for the soft feeling of Isa’s lips against hers all week long and the anticipation had only heightened how satisfying it was to finally kiss the DJ again. Despite having no comprehendable idea of what was actually going on between her and Isa, greeting Isa with a kiss felt overwhelmingly right and Florence savoured the feeling of her searing kiss for as long as she could.

Isa, on the other hand, could feel her heart slamming wildly against her ribcage. It was a bizarre and foreign feeling and she wasn’t sure she had ever felt so dizzied from simply kissing somebody before. The desperation of Florence’s lips only further encouraged her and she grinned into the kiss as the younger woman’s tongue dared to venture against hers. She could taste the sambuca on her lips and realised that Florence wasn’t entirely sober, but then again, neither was she.

When they eventually broke the kiss, Florence kept her fingers entwined with the wispy hairs at the back of Isa’s neck and pressed their foreheads together. “I missed you” she finally breathed, turning a blind eye to the various women shuffling past them to use the bathroom.

“I missed you too” Isa smiled warmly, taking a step forward to press Florence against the wall and move them slightly out of the way of the other club-goers.

At the feeling of being pressed against the bathroom tiles, Florence grinned wickedly. Her synapses instantly fired to filthy destinations and she bit her lip amorously, looking into Isa’s eyes from beneath her lashes.

“Miss Summers… those pictures on the USB…” Florence started, her lips unable to resist twisting into a sinful smirk. The alcohol pumping through her veins gave her a confidence she would never have imagined she would have around Isabella Summers, but she relished every moment of it.

Suddenly, Isa’s mind gave her an impromptu reminder that she was supposed to be DJing. She licked her lips and caressed her hands down Florence’s arms, tangling their fingers.

“I left the booth to come and find you… I really shouldn’t have. Come back to the booth with me and tell me exactly what you thought of those photos?” she flirted shamelessly.

Florence nodded at the request and stole a breathless kiss from Isa before taking a step backwards. “I really need to pee. But I’ll be right there in a moment” she promised, her dark eyes locked on Isa’s as she stepped back into a cubicle and shut the door behind her.

Isa finally caught her breath once Florence was out of sight and grinned to herself, turning to the row of sinks and looking at herself in the mirror. Noticing her lipstick had been smudged by their passionate kiss, she grabbed some tissue and began touching it up.

As Isa turned to leave the bathroom to make sure Jeremy hadn’t completely butchered the DJing, she caught the eye of a smirking older woman who leaned boldly against the wall near the door with her arms folded.

“Can’t blame you for that dumb smile on your face. Your girlfriend is shit hot.”

Isa narrowed her eyes at the mystery woman and stopped in her tracks. Her stomach contracted with what felt like a distant relative of jealousy and she cocked her head, not particularly feeling comfortable with the idea of leaving Florence in the bathroom with this sleazy woman.

“What, do you just stand around in bathrooms waiting to catch a glimpse of women making out? There are websites for that, you know?” Isa quipped.

The mystery lady scoffed, propelling herself from the wall and approaching Isa who squared her shoulders defensively, despite the growingly obvious height difference between them.

“Oh, you think you’re clever? You think you’re better than me just because you have that stupid VIP shit around your neck?”

Isa could smell the stench of beer from the taller woman and she scrunched up her nose in disgust at its pungency. As the drunk lady reached forward to grab at Isa’s VIP lanyard, Isa smacked her hand away carelessly. At the physical contact, the woman’s eyebrows raised in surprise.

“No, I think I’m better than you because I’m not picking fights I can’t win in a club bathroom” Isa hissed.

With that, the woman’s hands shot to Isa’s shoulders to shove at her. Just as the DJ prepared to lunge forward, she felt slender arms tangle around her waist and restrain her.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but she clearly isn’t worth it” Florence’s voice calmed her and Isa sighed, her narrow gaze still locked on that of the stranger. After a moment of silence, she huffed and turned away from the conflict to face Florence.

“You’re right. C’mon, lets go”

Isa took Florence firmly by the hand and guided her from the room. As they left, the redhead stared at the stranger as though her gaze could act as a physical barrier between the conflict, but she couldn’t help notice as the lady shamelessly lured down her body. Grimacing, Florence turned away and focused on leaving the bathroom and following the testy blonde to the DJ booth.

Florence felt her pulse increase as she slipped past the security and up to the booth. It was thrilling to feel important, and Isa definitely made her feel like a somebody. Among the wires and piles of technology, a man Florence didn’t recognise was hunched over the decks and shaking his braided hair to the music. As Isa stood besides him to usher him away from the knobs and switches, he gave a jaded grin and peered around.

Upon spying Florence, the flamboyantly dressed man swaggered up to her, unbeknownst to Isa who desperately tried to fix the slightly skewed beat he had created.

“Hey, princess. I’ve heard a lot about you” he smirked, extending a ringed hand for Florence to shake, “I’m Jeremy. Can’t say I caught your name amongst the gossip, though.”

Despite Isa only being a couple of meters away, Florence felt anxious in the presence of one of her friends alone. She shook his strong hand regardless and brushed a wisp of her hair behind her ear, flushing a bright red at the thought of being gossiped about.

“I’m Florence. Nice to meet you, Jeremy.”

Luckily, Isa turned around once she had salvaged the beat and extended her hand to Florence. Relieved, Florence smiled and took Isa by the arm, curling against her and watching the lights on the decks glow colourful rainbows and flash along to the bassline.

“Sorry, Jeremy can be quite overbearing. Plus he’s high.”

“That’s okay” Florence chuckled, glancing over her shoulder and watching the young man leave the booth, leaving them alone, “he has a great style.”

As Isa slipped the headphones on and began to fiddle with some of the switches, Florence admired the precision with which she worked. Every movement was clean and faultless and was executed with years of practice and experience. Once the song was on track and playing to Isa’s satisfaction, she turned to Florence with a knowing suggestive smirk.

“Speaking of getting high, I brought you a little gift” Isa started, slowly reaching into her bra and pulling out a small plastic baggie with four or so pills inside.

At the seductive way Isa presented her with the gift, Florence smirked. She reached out and took the baggie between her fingers, poking around at the multicoloured pills. Recognising the symbols on them, she met Isa’s mischievous eyes.

“You’re really spoiling me with your little gifts. Ecstasy?” she double checked, popping open the zip-lock fastening and tipping one pill into her palm.

Isa nodded and reached for her drink besides the decks, her gaze unyielding as she took a long sip.

It had been a long time since Florence had done MDMA and she couldn’t deny the excitement coursing through her veins as she poked around at the little pink pill in her palm. Deciding to get revenge on Isa, she teasingly placed the pill on her tongue and shot the DJ a wink before stealing her drink and taking a swig to swallow the pill down.

The seductiveness of Florence’s actions made Isa shake her head in disbelief. She took the baggie back from the redhead and carelessly spilled two pills into her palm, making swift work of swallowing them down and taking Florence’s hand in her own, exchanging the baggie back to her in the process.

“There’s one left. They’re not that strong.”

Florence instantly caught that Isa was prompting her to take another pill. Although it caused a slight pang of nervousness to stir in the pit of her stomach, she trusted the older woman and bit her lip, finishing the last of the pills. It didn’t go down as smoothly as the first but she made no obvious sign of her discomfort, instead watching Isa with dark eyes.

As Isa reluctantly turned back to the decks, Florence intrepidly tangled her arms around the shorter woman’s waist from behind and teasingly ghosted her lips up the side of her neck, distracting herself from the chalky feeling in her throat.

“I can’t believe you hid those photos on the USB” Florence grinned into her ear and Isa simpered down at the controls, forcing herself to pay attention to the transition between two songs before wiggling around in Florence’s embrace to face her.

“If you’re already this handsy, I look forward to when the pills kick in” Isa teased, letting out a breath as she reached up to tangle her fingers around a lock of Florence’s hair. For a moment, the DJ searched the taller woman’s eyes. She wasn’t sure what she was looking for, but the way Florence held her gaze with matching intensity turned her blood to electricity.

“I take it you liked your surprise then?” she finally continued, her fingertips absently tracing up Florence’s very exposed thigh. Florence shivered at the simple touch, beginning to grow impatient for the high that was to come. If Isa’s touch already felt this good, she couldn’t imagine how good she would feel in an hour.

“It was so fucking hot. You’re so fucking hot. And the song didn’t sound too bad either” Florence grinned.

In that moment, with Isa’s arms tangled around her in the DJ booth, Florence already felt high. The way Isa insisted on having her in the booth made her heart soar. She felt sexy and desirable sandwiched against the soundsystem and she never wanted it to end, but she did feel a pang of guilt for leaving Finlay alone.

“I need to find Fin” Florence pouted, seizing Isa by the jaw and pressing a quick, desperate kiss to her lips, “I need to buy him a drink, it’s been a big day.”

“Him?” Isa questioned, raising a brow with confusion, slowly licking her lips.

“Oh! Long story. Fin’s came out as trans. We’re celebrating!”

Isa smiled at the pride Florence radiated for her friend and she nodded understandingly, untangling herself from Florence and reaching for her purse, pulling out a ten pound note and passing it to Florence.

“This one’s on me. Tell him I’m proud of him. I’ll find you guys later, my set finishes in an hour or so.” Isa told Florence, pressing a lingering peck to her cheek, but finding herself unable to resist another searing kiss before letting Florence go.

Giddily, Florence nodded and bit her lip. She took a few steps backwards and allowed herself a moment to check out the way Isa’s legs looked in her tight skirt before turning and steadily making her way down to the crowd, allowing the music to flood back into her senses again.

Feeling the familiar tingles of her come up, Florence sauntered over to the bar and ordered two drinks before searching through the crowd for her housemate. It wasn’t the largest club, so Florence soon found Finlay dancing with Isa’s familiar group of friends. Beaming, Florence pushed her way over to him and passed him the jägerbomb, leaning in close to tell him Isa’s message.

Already seeming elated, he threw his arms around Florence and squeezed her tight.

“She’s a keeper, that one” he remarked teasingly before swallowing the liquor in one eager gulp and returning to dancing excitedly.

Enjoying the celebratory energies radiating from Finlay and the other familiar people around them, Florence grinned. Her drink vanished down her throat and she tossed the plastic cup aside, throwing her arms in the air and cheering as the bassline to a song dropped, ushering her into a trance of elated dancing.

They had been dancing for almost an hour when Laura smirked cockily at her. Florence had her arms draped around Finlay as they danced, raking her fingers through his fresh trim and marvelling at how nice it felt to touch. At the way Florence was so clearly enjoying the sensation, Laura leaned forward with a laugh and shouted over the music.

“So, how much E has Isa given you?”

Giggling bashfully at being caught out, she lifted her hand and held up two fingers as she resumed her rhythmic dancing to the beat. Laura chuckled heartily and shook her head, completely unsurprised by the answer. Florence seemed to be lost in an experience of her own and Laura daren’t interrupt her, not wishing to subdue the redhead’s bright smile.

Florence’s grin only grew wider as a figure stepped through the crowd and gently brushed her long hair to one side, pressing an explosive kiss to her neck. The younger woman already recognised the touch - she felt the way that the figure behind her was stretching up onto her tiptoes and she knew the feeling of slender hands grasping at her waist.

“Speak of the devil” Florence mused to herself before turning to face Isa, smirking as she dangled her arms over the blonde’s shoulders. She could see the blown-out darkness in Isa’s eyes and couldn’t resist capturing a kiss from the lazy smirk on her lips.

Shrouded by the blanket of loud beats and rhythms, the pair shamelessly danced together among their friends. Florence could feel the love from the people surrounding her rushing around her body like a warm breeze and Isa was her anchor, stopping her body from being blown away by the gust.

Every time the DJ’s touch grazed her bare skin, Florence gasped softly. Their kisses felt more crucial to her survival than her ragged breaths and she longed to have Isa impossibly closer, desperate to discover how transcendental their touches could become as clothing was shed and inhibitions lost.

At some point, Florence recalled Finlay drunkenly insisting that she goes home with Isa early, as it was clearly what they wanted. After a cascade of declarations of love and hugging, Florence had agreed to leave Finlay with Laura in the club and had clambered into the back of a taxi with Isa. She hoped Finlay would make it home alright alone, but Isa’s eager lips rapidly relieved her of her worries and she soon got lost in the heightened pleasure of their kisses.

When they arrived at Isa’s pad, they stumbled up to the door together and staggered into the house. With all of Isa’s housemates left behind at the club, they had the entire house to themselves. Carelessly, Isa kicked on a soundsystem in the lounge to fill the house with pleasurable beats as she guided Florence backwards towards the sofa, ushering her to fall back onto it.

She made nimble work of straddling Florence and freeing her of the confinement of her tight clothes, careful not to waste a single moment between their intoxicated kisses. Florence lay back against the plush sofa and hitched her legs around the shorter woman’s waist, drawing their bodies closer, longing for more intimacy.

Hastily, sensing the desperate need between them, Isa worked Florence’s hotpants down her long legs and discarded them, caressing her hands up the smooth exposed skin and hooking her hands behind Florence’s knees to draw her closer. She looked up at Florence with dark eyes as she kissed ever nearer her core, making the redhead writhe with anticipation and intensified pleasure.

Eventually, Isa pushed Florence’s panties aside and delved her tongue precisely where the other woman needed it, eliciting a loud, uninhibited moan. Florence’s hands found their way into Isa’s silken locks and she held her head in place, rolling her hips desperately against the other woman’s tongue until a chorus of giggles snapped her from her sensory overload.

“What?” Florence laughed infectiously, looking down at Isa’s chuckling expression between her thighs.

“I can’t!” Isa continued to laugh, sliding further up Florence’s body and pressing half-kisses up her stomach on her way, “I physically can’t. I’m gurning so badly!”

Florence laughed heartily at the realisation and noticed the way Isa’s jaw slacked from the MDMA, restricting her certain abilities. Regardless, she cupped her face and kissed Isa longingly.

“Don’t worry though, there are other ways…” Isa smirked against Florence’s tingling lips, grazing her hand up the redhead’s thigh to where she needed her more than ever, making her feel indescribable ecstasy until the early hours of the morning…