Octavia slowly opened her eyes, and right away she knew something was different. She silently took stock of her situation, and a few facts presented themselves to her.

First, she was in her bedroom. Simple enough, and altogether expected.

Second, it was early still, judging by the angle of the sunlight pouring in through her window. That was a relief. She hated oversleeping.

Third—and this is where things started to get a little more unusual—she was absolutely exhausted. She felt as though she had run a marathon. And yet, it must’ve been an incredibly good marathon, because she felt… oddly satisfied. She had never been so happy to be sore.

Finally, there was a warm, soft sensation against her side. If she didn’t know better, it was skin, pressed against hers, but that would be ridiculous. Why would somebody be in b—?

Then, it all clicked.

With wide eyes, she looked down, and the first think she saw was a shock of blue hair cuddled against her neck. And past that, a body that disappeared under her sheets, and a distinctly arm-shaped lump stretched across Octavia’s midsection.

It wasn’t a dream, she thought.

The previous night flooded back into her mind. The meeting on the hilltop. The late-night snack at Sugarcube Corner. The piano duet. And hours of sex—more pleasure than she’d thought possible.

Thank goodness, it wasn’t a dream.

With a happy sigh, she pulled Vinyl’s body against her more tightly and kissed the top of her head. She didn’t feel like going back to sleep, so she simply lay there, enjoying the feel of Vinyl’s body against her and meditating on the previous night.

Between the Battle of the Bands and everything that happened after, it had easily been the strangest, most wonderful night of her life. If someone had told her, when the concert first ended and she took a seat on that hilltop to reflect on the uneasy feeling in her gut, that a girl like Vinyl would step into her life and sweep her away, she wouldn’t have believed them. And those uneasy feelings? Gone. Evaporated. After all, if they led to this, they couldn’t be all bad. Sure, the world might be a bigger, more confusing place than it had been before, but she knew now that she could face it. Especially with Vinyl by her side.

And that was perhaps the best thing about it all: the future. For the first time since those Sirens swept into her life and flipped everything over, Octavia found herself looking forward to tomorrow, because Vinyl would be a part of it.

…Right?

Biting her lip, she looked back down at Vinyl’s head.

What if she doesn’t feel the same way?

She was stirred from her second-guessing by a faint buzzing sound on the floor. Careful not to wake Vinyl, she raised her head and looked, finding that the sound seemed to be coming from Vinyl’s discarded shirt.

A cellphone, perhaps? Could be important. Well, there’s nothing for it.

“Hey, Vinyl,” she whispered, nudging the sleeping girl gently. “Vinyl, wake up.”

Vinyl stirred slightly, smacking her lips and groaning. “Mm-wha?” Peeking her eyes open, she looked up at Octavia’s face. To Octavia’s elation, she smiled. “Mornin’, Tavi.”

“Good morning. I’m sorry to wake you, but… I think your phone might be ringing.”

“My phone?” Vinyl hummed absently.

“I’m afraid so.”

Vinyl lay there for another moment, and then: “Oh, crap!” She darted upright and blearily stumbled out of bed, squatting her naked body down to fish her phone out of her breast pocket. She looked at the screen. “Shit,” she swore, taking a seat on the edge of the mattress and massaging her temple. “Shit shit shit.”

“Is everything alright?” Octavia asked, sitting up with concern in her eyes.

“It’s my brother,” Vinyl groaned. “He’s left, like, a dozen voice-mails. Shit!”

“Oh dear…”

“I told him I’d be late, because of the concert and all, but he was expecting me back last night. He’s okay with me staying over with friends, but—idiot that I am—I forgot to let him know. He’s gonna be pissed!”

Octavia lowered her eyes, guilt roiling in her gut. “I’m sorry if I got you in trouble, Vinyl. It didn’t even occur to me that you might be expected elsewhere.”

“Hey.” She lifted Octavia’s chin with a finger. “It’s cool. It’s not your fault I’m a doofus. But… y’know, I’d probably better be going.”

Octavia’s heart sank. “That… might be for the best.”

Vinyl looked at her for a long moment, then leaned forward to catch her eyes. “Hey, I’m not bailing on you, Tavi. Last night was probably the most awesome night of my life.”

The corners of her mouth twitching upwards, Octavia opened her mouth to reply…

And suddenly, there was a low, droning noise.

“Whoa, what’s that?” Vinyl asked, looking around.

Octavia stared into space with haunted eyes. “That, Vinyl, would be the sound of my garage door opening.”

“…Meaning?”

“Meaning my parents decided to come home early.”

Vinyl blinked. “This really isn’t our morning, is it?”

“No. Not it isn’t.” She took a deep breath. “Vinyl? Would you mind getting dressed and leaving before my parents catch me with a naked girl with my bed?”

“Roger.”

As one, both girls leapt out of bed and scrambled. Octavia darted around the room, handing Vinyl her clothes, which the DJ put on as quickly as she could. Once she had gotten her clothes on and more or less in order, Vinyl sat on the bed to put on her shoes. Octavia ran to her bedroom door, opening it and tapping her foot impatiently.

“Hurry, Vinyl! I will be grounded for the rest of my natural born life if my parents catch us.”

“Right,” Vinyl said, pulling the knot in her shoelace tight and getting to her feet. “I’m ready.”

The sound of a door opening and bodies shuffling into the house drifted up the stairs.

“Oh, come on!” Vinyl whined quietly.

“Out the window!” Octavia ran to the window in question and opened it.

“Are you crazy?”

“There’s a way to climb down, and from there you just go around the left side of the house. Just count our lucky stars that I had you park your car down the street.”

As the sound of activity continued downstairs, Vinyl climbed out the window and prepared to make a run for it.

“Vinyl, wait!”

She stopped, returning to the window. “What is it?”

Octavia hesitated, then asked, “What about… you know, us? Was this just a one-time thing, or…”

With a smile, Vinyl leaned forward and gave Octavia a passionate kiss, with just a hint of tongue. When Vinyl pulled away, she was smiling.

“Does that answer your question?” she asked.

Octavia released a happy sigh. “Yes. Yes, I suppose it does.”

“Awesome.” A wink. “I’ll talk to you later. Oh, and Tavi?”

“Yes?”

“I’m not complaining, but I thought you might like to know: You’re still naked.”

And with that, she was gone, scurrying down a lattice on the side of the house.

“I’m still…?” Looking down, Octavia saw that she had, in her scramble to get Vinyl dressed, neglected to cover her own nudity.

As if on cue, a voice just outside her door asked, “Octavia?”

“Blast!” Her eyes frantically darted around her room.

The doorknob turned, and the door opened. Her mother stepped inside. “Octavia?”

Octavia gave an exaggerated yawn, lying in her bed with the blankets pulled up to her neck. “Mother? What are you doing home?”

“Oh! Sorry, darling, I didn’t mean to wake you. Neither of us slept very well at the cabin, and we decided to come home early. We thought we might go out for breakfast. Do you want to come?”

“Oh, yes. That sounds wonderful. Just let me wake up and get dressed.”

“Alright, we’ll see you downstairs.” She looked across the room, seeing Octavia’s clothes strewn around the room. She took a sniff, and her nose wrinkled. “And you’ll need to clean this room up today. It’s not like you to let it get so messy.”

Octavia blushed, for more reasons than one. “Sorry, mother.”

With a shake of her head that seemed to say, ‘What am I going to do with you?’, Octavia’s mother left, closing the door behind her.

Octavia sighed with relief, raising a hand to her forehead. “That was far too close.”

After a moment to calm her nerves, Octavia got out of bed, deciding that a quick shower was in order. As she made her way into the bathroom, her thoughts turned to a certain blue-haired DJ, and she couldn’t keep the smile off her face.

Vinyl wanted to keep seeing her.

I… I think I have a girlfriend!

The thought, she found, was a happy one. The idea of dating a girl would still take a little getting used to, but all of her reservations were gone, wiped away by everything she had experienced the night before. Even the memory of it made her tingle in some very interesting places.

She smiled.

Yes. All was right with the world.

“Octavia?” came her mother’s voice from downstairs. “Are these your sunglasses on the piano?”

Octavia’s smile melted away. “Oh, f—!”

Author's Note

This story has been a long time coming.

From pretty much day one, I knew I wanted to write an Octascratch story, but it wasn't until Rainbow Rocks came out that ideas started solidifying. But over the next nine months, all I managed to write was a rough draft of the first chapter.

Thankfully, my Clopmas in July exercise gave me just the excuse I needed to finish it.

Despite being a couple of days late, I'm feeling pretty good about this one. Tell me what you think.