Hey all, I'm back! I'm sorry I've left this story alone for so long.

Also, a note: I hate that I've made them play tennis in winter (massivest faux pas!) but I'm going to finish this story before I go back and fix it. So, for the duration of this story, people play tennis in winter. It's the new black, okay. headdesk

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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

"It's almost eight-thirty. I should get going."

Steph nodded, feeling that the hour had gone by far too quickly. It had been an idyllic breakfast, munching on chocolate croissants and drinking coffee from Starbucks. They had talked about everything except for stuff that Steph discussed with Mel as her guidance counsellor.

Steph leaned over and kissed Mel quickly, but firmly, on the mouth. "Thanks for breakfast."

Since it was an impossible scenario for them to be seen together outside of the context of counselor and student, they had been meeting in Steph's office for almost four weeks. Usually it was breakfast for about an hour, like today; other times it was an extended session. When there was tennis practice or a match to be played, Mel stayed behind after the rest of the team had gone, and Steph took her home after.

But, by mutual agreement, they had decided to plan beforehand when they were going to have sex.

"It's too risky," Steph had said, the first night she'd dropped Mel off and almost did her right there in the car. "We never paid attention before, and wherever we do it, we risk getting caught. We have to be really careful."

So Mel would text Steph to let her know if David and Claire weren't going to be around on some evening, and Steph would carefully take note of her colleagues and their everyday habits, and the two of them would go to her office early in the morning to have breakfast together.

Now, Mel looped her arm around Steph's waist from behind, pulling and turning the redhead down onto her lap. Instinctively, their lips found each other, and the kiss grew more heated within seconds.

On some days, it was okay to have sex in the office.

Today was not one of those days.

"Ah, stop, stop," Steph gasped, throwing her head back to get away from Mel's kiss. Immediately, Mel's lips latched onto Steph's exposed neck, sucking gently at the steady beat of her pulse. Steph felt Mel's fingers undo the button of her fly even as the teenager pressed her thigh harder between Steph's legs. "Oh, God," she groaned. "You're going to make me come."

She felt Mel chuckle against her throat. "That's usually the idea."

With something that felt like superhuman effort, Steph forced herself to stop her frantic movements against Mel's leg, and grabbed the hand nearly buried in her pants. "We can't," she managed with great effort, her body still tingling with pre-orgasmic spasms. "I have a staff meeting… in fifteen—Oh!"

Mel had sneaked her other hand past Steph's underwear and was now mercilessly teasing her clitoris with her thumb. It wasn't long before Steph was rocking frantically against Mel's hand again. Soon, Mel felt the tell-tale shiver that ran through Steph's body, and felt the rapidly accelerating carotid pulse against her lips as Steph came with a muted groan, catching her lower lip between her teeth.

Steph squeezed her eyes shut and laughed softly. She was sure she looked as flushed as she felt. "Why are you wearing stockings today?" she groaned, frustrated, cursing the pantyhose that blocked easy access to between Mel's legs. She slid her hand along the inside of Mel's thigh, grinning at the shiver she induced.

Mel shifted away from Steph and gently pushed her hands away from her body.

"What?" Steph asked, sitting up. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Mel replied, her face as inscrutable as always. "You shouldn't be late for your meeting… Keep on any longer and they're going to know something's up."

Steph frowned. "What about—"

"I'm fine," Mel said, but Steph knew she most certainly wasn't. She didn't need to look into Mel's eyes to see the flushed features and twitching muscles that belied the teenager's arousal.

She decided to leave it alone, passing it off as Mel's misgivings about their going out. But she was getting frustrated. It had almost been a month now, and instead of growing closer, Steph felt like they were growing apart. Surely their relationship wasn't based purely in their physical attraction to each other? But the psychologist in Steph knew that, in all of the five months that they'd known each other, she couldn't assume that Mel was suddenly going to open up to her in a snap, just because something in their relationship changed from casual to… a more serious casual. She shoved the thoughts at the back of her mind and got off the couch, and tried to make herself look presentable.

"Will I see you this weekend?" she asked, tucking in her once-crisp white shirt and attempting to will away the heat in her belly. "Or do you have band practice again?"

According to Mel, her foster parents were overseas visiting old friends. When Steph curiously wondered further, the teenager had been guarded in her replies, refusing to divulge more information except for the fact that she had the house to herself for the next month. It was about halfway through that month, now, and lately Steph had been taking to dropping by the Fletcher residence for longer intervals each time. She had even shared a meal with Mel, in the house.

"No." Mel shook her head. "We all have exams from Tuesday, so we don't really have time for the band right now."

Steph nodded and cleared the small makeshift coffee table. "I want to make the most of these two weeks," she told Mel, watching the teenager watch her.

"We will," Mel said, wadding up the last of the rubbish, and tried to throw it into the bin, which was about three feet away.

She missed by at least five inches.

"Don't quit your day job," Steph chuckled. She reached over and easily tossed the crumpled ball into the plastic basket. "Now that's how you do it."

"Yeah," Mel muttered without inflection. She stood up abruptly and appeared to check if everything was in order. "I should get to form class… I'll see you later."

The girl was gone before Steph could say goodbye, and this time, Steph did pinch the bridge of her nose in silent frustration. Many thoughts ran through her mind, the first and foremost of which was the fact that their relationship wasn't going to be smooth at all.

I just hope I can be a girlfriend instead of a psychologist… Oh, hell, who am I kidding. I'm an idiot to have perpetuated this.

But she loved Mel, or at least she was quite sure she did. Legality of it all notwithstanding, her obstinacy wasn't going to let her let Mel go without a fight.

There was a knock on her door, and Darren poked his head in after Steph had bid him entrance. "Hey, I just saw Mel when I was on my way out. Everything okay?"

"As far as I know," Steph replied, careful with her words. She hoped Darren wouldn't notice her physiological state. "Why?"

Darren lifted a shoulder. "I was hoping you could tell me. She was a bit flushed and tense, and she seems really on edge. I think she was quite close to biting my head off when I said hi."

Steph could probably guess why Mel was flushed and tense. But she also knew that Mel saw Darren almost as a friend, and for her to treat him coldly and without apparent reason was strange. "I don't know, Darren," Steph mused aloud. "She seemed fine when we were talking just now." She didn't try to elaborate any further.

Although Darren didn't seem satisfied with the answer, he tapped his hand on the doorframe all the same. "Well, it might be exam stress," he said, as Steph walked with him to the staff meeting. "How's she getting along?"

"Client confidentiality," Steph replied automatically, but then added, "But she's doing well. I think I'm getting the hang of reading her moods." Or it's nice to think that I am, anyway.

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Mel strode out of the building and folded her arms across her chest as she walked, confident and sure of herself in the familiar surroundings. In the deep of winter, the biting winds and rains showed no sign of letting up anytime soon. She took the long way around the school campus to her homeroom, trying to organize her thoughts.

It was obvious how much Steph cared for her, far above and beyond a professional level. But, Mel remembered, she was the one who had chased after Steph. Physically, to be sure, but there must be a reason why I'm trying to make things work on another level. Is that part of why I don't feel comfortable letting her touch me anymore?

Before Steph's feelings got factored in, Mel had selfishly delighted in feeling Steph's hands and mouth on her. She couldn't deny it – Steph was a wonderful lover, and they'd both given and taken equally passionately. Now, Mel felt stuck and mired in some invisible force that compelled her to hold Steph away at arm's length, preventing her from getting too close, even though they were moving closer and closer to each other every day.

Mel rubbed her eyes under the lenses and cursed her disability under her breath. She was tired of pretending to be brash and headstrong, and always steeling herself with a fake confidence. To a certain degree, she was confident and headstrong, but under different circumstances. Living with Bright and Penny amongst the dark alleys of Los Angeles taught her how to survive without a permanent home and to not get used to foster care, and it taught her how to look after herself when there was no roof or bed to hide under.

She thought back to Traylor Trash. Not that a bed was any place to hide.

A hand on her shoulder drew her out of her thoughts. She tensed, ready to move, when Kevin appeared on her left. "Hey, Mel," he greeted. "Are you all right? I called your name, like, three times already."

"Sorry. I didn't hear you."

Kevin grinned easily. "That's cool. Listen," he began, falling into step with Mel, "I know we're real busy with exams and stuff, but I was… I was wondering if I could see you this weekend. You know, uh, hang out or something."

They stopped outside the door to her homeroom just as the bell rang for first period. She glanced up at nothing in particular and realized she'd been looking forward to the monotonous repetition of Math, to take her mind off things. "I thought we already said we weren't having band practice this week," Mel said without thinking.

"I wasn't talking about band practice," Kevin said. He hesitated. "I mean, just us two. Like, you know?"

"Oh," Mel said dumbly. Really? Is he really doing this? She had to talk to Dom about it in class. "Uh… listen, I really gotta get to class—"

"Yeah, sure, of course," Kevin said obligingly, stepping back. "Me too."

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