Their real quick visit quickly changes into Abbie asking if they can stay and take advantage of Caroline’s subscription to Disney+, because she still hasn’t seen WALL-E.

Hannah hesitates, still wearing her light jacket as she stands next to the couch, as if Caroline ever says no to their company.

Abbie turns those big blue eyes on Caroline. “Please?”

She’s already very much powerless to say no to that, plus… she really doesn’t want to. She looks up at Hannah. “If you want? I have some more wine.” She only realizes a moment later that she’s trying to tempt Hannah into it.

And Hannah nods easily, unzipping her jacket as Abbie cheers and makes herself comfortable on the nest of pillows Caroline now keeps in the living room just for her, knowing that she likes to lay on her stomach amidst a pillow palace while watching TV.

She enjoys WALL-E; she’d watched it multiple times with Melissa when she’d been younger.

But mostly she finds herself leaning closer into Hannah’s warmth as she sits very close next to her on the couch. It’s the long day catching up with her, she thinks, and Hannah just feels so good.

The length of their bodies align, shoulder to hip, thigh to calf. She’s wearing an old Suffolk Law School t-shirt and Hannah a sweater that has her sleeves pushed up to the elbow. She’s noticed many times over this isn’t just a look she has at the coffee shop, but in general.

The thing about Hannah is that upon first look, she appears delicate. With her fine features and rather naturally soft voice, it’s an easy impression.

But Caroline’s gaze is focused on Hannah’s left hand, that’s laying more against Caroline’s right thigh than on Hannah’s own. She doesn’t have delicate hands. They’re slightly smaller than her own, but are capable, strong hands, with deft fingers. She’s seen them draw deceptively difficult pieces of art for Abbie, effortlessly make complicated coffee orders, execute a perfect French braid, and chop vegetables as if she’s a professional chef.

The spot where Hannah’s hand falls on her burns through her plaid pajama pants, her thigh tingling with it. Hannah adjusts, tucking her legs up under her, and with the movement her hand should fall away. Instead, she settles more against Caroline and her hand falls back to her thigh, rubbing gently before settling again.

But her heart is racing.

It’s that little rub that gets her. It isn’t anything even mildly inappropriate. It’s a way Caroline has been touched before by friends – she’s cuddled like this with friends before – but she’s never had this exhilaration from it even by half.