Mia was looking at Ellie, and seemed to be thinking. As if she was wondering whether to ask why they were out in the hallway.

“Ask,” Ellie said, to make it easy for her.

“You’re sure?” Mia said.

Ellie nodded.

“I don’t have to ask anything,” Mia said. “We can just go inside and never mention it again.”

“Not yet.”

Mia thought. “Or go wherever? Somewhere else?”

“Maybe,” Ellie said. “Or you could ask.”

“I can ask. So what’s up?”

“Nothing,” Ellie said, and then didn’t know why she’d said that. Especially after telling Mia to ask.

Ellie felt very odd. She wanted to be truthful. She wanted to be honest. She wanted to not to be so confusing, and so confused, all the time.

It just wasn’t actually happening.

Mia seemed to understand, though. She waited for a moment, and then said. “But something’s up. So what?”

“Maybe there’s something,” Ellie said.

“Okay,” Mia said, and waited a little longer, and then said, “So should you tell me what?”

“Probably,” Ellie said, and didn’t.

“You don’t have to,” Mia said.

Ellie thought.

Mia was just standing there, looking at Ellie, apparently not minding waiting. Apparently happy with whatever Ellie did.

Mia’s patience was sometimes quite surprising.

“We don’t have to if you’d rather not,” Mia said.

“I’ll tell you.”

“No, I mean we don’t have to. If you’ve started feeling strange about it.”

Ellie was confused. “Have to what?”

“We really can do something else. Anything. Just whatever.”

Ellie didn’t understand. “Do what instead of doing what?” she said.

“We don’t have to have sex,” Mia said, like Ellie was being difficult.

“No,” Ellie said. “What? Of course we are…”

Mia was looking at Ellie as if she was confused now too.

“Dude,” Ellie said. “Of course we’re having sex. What are you talking about?”

“Oh,” Mia said.

“Unless you don’t want to,” Ellie said, suddenly worried.

Mia started to grin. “I do.”

“Well I do too,” Ellie said. “That wasn’t what I meant.”

Mia nodded. “Good.”

“And also, um again?” Ellie said. “Because you kind of ask me that a lot.”

“Do I?”

Ellie nodded, and Mia shrugged, and they kept looking at each other.

“I want to have sex,” Ellie said. “Of course I want to have sex.” She glanced down at herself, so Mia knew what she meant. “I didn’t do this just to talk.”

Mia smiled.

“It’s Tasha,” Ellie said. “That’s all. I was kind of weird last night, and now I’m a bit, um…”

“Embarrassed?”

“Yeah. Is she home?”

“She is.”

“Am I too much?”

Mia shook her head.

“Are you completely utterly sure?” Ellie said, because after a conversation like that, Mia really deserved a chance to change her mind.

“I’m sure.”

“Completely sure?”

Mia grinned and just said, “Come on.” She took Ellie’s hand, and led Ellie down to the apartment’s front door, and Ellie let herself be led, relieved.

Mia must have left the door ajar, or with the bolt locked open, because she didn’t turn the handle or knock for it to be opened. She just pushed on the door, and opened it, and then leaned in and said, “Hey dude, you’re a weirdo creep so can you look the other way for a second.”

Ellie could hear Mia, but not Tasha’s reply. She was almost glad of that.

Tasha answered, then Mia said, “Just do? Please?” and Tasha must have, because Mia added, “Like right around,” and then pulled Ellie into the room.

Tasha was on the couch, but twisted sideways, facing away from the door.

Ellie was suddenly even more embarrassed. She was being silly. She was being completely, embarrassingly silly. She stopped, and stood where she was.

She opened her mouth, and was about to apologise to Tasha and run away.

Mia looked at Ellie, and seemed to realize. She grabbed Ellie’s hand again, and tugged Ellie past her, making her walk, then pushed Ellie from behind, across the room, and into the hallway, and down the hall to her room.

“Keep going,” she said quietly to Ellie, then called, “Thanks,” backwards to Tasha.

Ellie did, because she didn’t know what else to do. Even though she had a feeling she was about to get stuck in Mia’s room out of sheer embarrassment.

She walked into Mia’s room, and then stopped. Mia came in behind her, and Mia closed the door. She put her hands on Ellie’s hips, and started kissing Ellie’s neck.

She started, but Ellie had got distracted.

She was standing where she was, just inside the door, staring at Mia’s TV.

The TV was on and a video game was on the screen, paused at some kind of start screen. It looked like the screen of the game that Mark and Mia always played together, and Ellie looked at it and thought.

Mia kept kissing her neck which made thinking difficult.

“Hey,” Ellie said, trying to concentrate. “Were you just in the game with Mark.”

“Um, yeah,” Mia said, still kissing. “He still is.”

“Oh,” Ellie said, then, “Oh shit.”

“What?”

“Just shit. If we’re keeping this secret.”

Mia stopped kissing, and looked up. Looked where Ellie was. “I don’t get…” she said.

“I talked to him as I left. Like said I was going out.”

“So?”

“He’s been here, right? He knows how long it takes to get here?”

“I suppose.”

“So I leave, and then that long later, you suddenly stop playing and disappear for however long. And then you start again, and that long later after you do, I turn up back at home?”

“Oh,” Mia said, and seemed to be thinking. “Oh yeah.”

“I’m not making too much of that, am I?” Ellie said.

“I don’t think so, no. Shit.”

“Just if we’re keeping this a secret,” Ellie said. “We don’t have to, but…”

Mia nodded, and bit her lip. “I kind of wouldn’t mind. If you don’t. I mean, if you’re not offended. For a while, anyway.”

“I’m not. And same.”

“It’s just I never tell him about stuff like this, and I don’t want to start and have him thinking about it all the time and getting weird.”

“Yeah,” Ellie said. “Exactly.”

“Fuck,” Mia said. “Just fuck. I don’t know what to do. I really want to.”

“So do I.”

“No, I really, really want to.”

Ellie had an idea. “So do,” she said. “Keep playing.”

“But you’re…”

“I’m used to sitting watching you two do this. Just keep playing. I’ll find something to do.”

“Something?” Mia said.

Ellie shrugged, and tried to look wanton and innocent at the same time. She wasn’t sure if it worked. “Yep,” she said. “Something.”

Mia understood. She started to grin.

“Okay,” she said. She picked up the controller, and sat down on the bed. “Something,” she said, and grinned at Ellie.

Ellie thought for a moment, and then slid onto the bed, and sat behind Mia, and put her arms around her.