Melissa was floundering, utterly drowning in her own words. Alice actually found it sort of amusing, but she forced herself not to react. That would just make her feel bad. If she was perfectly honest, she had to admit that she wasn’t sure where he behavior was coming from either. She understood Melissa’s confusion. Still, that didn’t mean that she was any less determined.

“Crescentia will go on. Don’t worry about that right now. Let me do the worrying.” Still, Alice was obviously not at all worried. It probably wasn’t much comfort. “Besides, no one has to know. It’ll be our little secret.” Her voice dropped to a whisper to emphasize the point.

She felt a small morning breeze brush between them marking the passage of time, but Alice was in her own world in which time and consequences didn’t exist. In her hyper-focused state, nothing existed except for Melissa and herself.

Alice reached for Melissa’s face and cupped her cheek, gently guiding their lips together. She focused on the hardness of the other girl’s jaw against her fingers. She focused on the coldness of her skin. She focused on the light feeling swelling in her chest. And despite focusing on all those things and more, she felt utterly, utterly relaxed.