One towel to share

Sitting alone a moment, Amy picks at her wet clothes. The blast of the heater in her face means she just feels too hot and too cold at once. That and the aching twinge in her ankle are a recipe for misery, offset by the relief and gratitude she feels. And a kind of excitement sitting in her stomach that she can’t quite place.

But now Sarah has clambered back with the towel, and there’s nothing for it but to try to undress. Amy’s t-shirt and her trousers squelching with wetness as she rolls-scrapes-peels them off. And though Sarah at first is just trying to give her some privacy, dignity, Amy catches a hint of something like panic in her expression as more and more is revealed…

Is Sarah into girls? Is Amy into girls? Maybe she’s been, you might say, curious from time to time, but in this moment, she doesn’t know if she’d stop at curious…

Pushing her wet things down out of the way, she wraps herself in the towel. Oh, the relief. The absorbency. The fluffiness. She lets out a long, slow sigh before a thought occurs.

“Wait, you were out there too. You must have gotten soaked helping me…”

“It’s fine!”

“Nooo, I can’t just get you this wet and—” Amy feels a sudden warmth in her cheeks as she realises what she just said. “I mean…”

“No, hey, it’s fine.” Sarah doesn’t seem to have clocked it yet. But she’s clearly shivering even in the full flow of the heater.

“Do you have another towel?”

“Uh. No, that’s my only one.”

“Well, then, let’s share…”

The words are out before Amy’s thought them through. Sarah’s mouth opens and closes as she searches for words.

“Here!” Amy’s committed now. She tries to stretch the towel across. “Wait, I can— ow, no, no I can’t—”

“Maybe if you just…?” Sarah’s trying not to look. “I can lean a little—”

“No, I’m not as flexible as — ow! All right, wait, let me try and—”

With a jolt and a small squeak of surprise, Amy falls into Sarah’s arms. She lies across the two seats, wordless for a while, getting her breath back.

…but now she’s aware of how nice this feels. Sarah’s arms around her, strong, steadying. The warmth of her body, holding her close. Just the towel between them…