“Right.” Caroline nods, watching Hannah closely. Maybe she doesn’t remember the night before?

She offers Abbie’s backpack and duffel bag to Hannah. And as Hannah takes it from her, their fingers brush and as always, Caroline feels it. Nothing new, there.

What’s new is Hannah’s awkward, embarrassed laugh as she tugs the bags away quickly. Her movements are jerkier than normal and she doesn’t meet Caroline’s eyes as she quickly makes her way inside.

Yeah.

She definitely remembers.

xii

xii

She’s carving pumpkins in her kitchen with Abbie the following week after school when Abbie turns to her and asks, “Do you think you can sleep over at my house on Halloween, after you come trick or treating with us? That would be fun, right?”

Caroline’s focus on her jack-o’-lantern slips minutely as she shoots Abbie a teasing glance. Abbie’s pumpkin is already done, the stenciled ghost carved out and waiting to be lit up, while Caroline is still attentively working on her own; it’s really the one craft she actually enjoys doing.

“Where am I going to sleep, huh? I’ve seen your room, and your twin bed wasn’t made for the two of us.”

Abbie lets out a long suffering sigh as if Caroline is being such a dumb adult. “In mom’s room, obviously. She has a bigger bed.”

Caroline’s mind betrays her by immediately taking her back to sharing a bed with Hannah, her throat running dry at the memory. She kind of still can’t believe she’d essentially had in person phone sex with Hannah, because it sounds extremely unlike what she ever would intend to do in the sober light of day.

Mostly because it’s impossible to not think about that exchange when she’s lying in bed at night.

The sound of Hannah’s voice, the timbre of it, sending shivers down her spine. It’s so wrong – so wrong – but the number of orgasms that start with a fantasy of what could have happened that night if Hannah wanted her is embarrassing to say the least and she tries not to think about it.

She clears her throat after nearly stabbing herself with one of the pumpkin carving tools. “Sorry, but I think we should stick to our own beds.” And not just for Caroline’s sake, either.

But because in the three times that she’s seen Hannah since, their interactions are still a bit… off. Nothing is said about it, but she has certainly noticed that Hannah hasn’t really touched her since. That she lingers a bit less after dinner.

It’s a good thing, she always reminds herself, because she should keep more distance. But, well, she also wishes Hannah didn’t feel like she had to put it between them.