You keep on asking me the same questions (why?)

Nick woke up to find Dawn clinging to his chest. Her ears were twitching, and one of them was tickling his nose. So he woke up sneezing.

“Yeee!” Dawn screeched, jumping up from the bed in shcok. She looked around frantically, and scrambled to find her glasses and get them on.

“Sorry, sorry!” Nick apologized, his face flushing. “I, uh… sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you like that, Dawn.”

Dawn shook her head, her heartbeat returning to normal speed. “No, it… it’s fine,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s fine…”

Nick noticed that Dawn’s face was exceptionally red. He didn’t think he’d shocked her that much, but he reached out to her anyway to see what was wrong.

“Is everything okay?” H asked, rubbing her back. “You look a little flustered.”

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” Dawn replied, shaking her head. “It’s just that I was having a really nice dream… I dreamed that you and I were buying a house together, and it was just chock full of adorable kittens, and we just rolled around in them all day…”

She smiled and her eyes turned glassy as she remembered the dream. “Then, the craziest thing happened, we were suddenly on a roller coaster together with all the kittens.”

Nick let out an incredulous chuckle. “What? Going on a roller coaster with a bunch of kittens? How does THAT work?”

“That’s what I said!” Dawn laughed. The two chuckled over the absurdity of that for a few moments, before Dawn yawned and stretched.

“Wheew, that was… really something.” Dawn glanced down at the stained sheets and blushed. “We kind of went wild last night, huh? No wonder I’m so exhausted.”

“You’re not sore, are you?” Nick asked, worried that he might have been a little too harsh on her petite figure.

Dawn rolled her eyes. “Come on, seriously?” She snorted. “Come on. I could have gone for way more strenuous stuff like that, Nick! I mean yeah, it was really hot, being carried around and pinned down like that, but this body can take a lot more.” She was surprisingly confident with her declaration, which struck her as odd. She wasn’t the kind of girl who would beg for something like that with a straight face, at least she didn’t used to be.

Maybe she was finally getting more confident about expressing what she wanted in the bedroom, instead of just passively lying back and taking it? (Of course, what she wanted was to passively lie back and take it.)

“Well, I’ll keep that in mind,” Nick nodded, appreciating her honesty. It definitely made things easier for him, that was for sure. He made a mental note that if Dawn wanted more **** stuff, he should probably do some research- last night, the only limiting factor about the sex they’d been having was the fact that Nick wasn’t aware of a lot of sexual positions.

Given some time to research that stuff, though, and if he was lucky he could really wow her! And judging by the grin on Dawn’s face, that was something she was hoping for, too.

“Well, now!” Dawn hopped out of bed and stretched, and stifled a yawn. “I should probably get going to breakfast. Unless…”

Her eyes slid to the table, where Holly was waiting diligently. Late last night, after Nick and Dawn had finished having sex and cuddled up together on the bed, she’d let herself out of the kitchen to see what was going on.

And seeing how Nick lovingly cuddled Dawn, a woman of small stature who could be a bit standoffish, made her heart yawn with appreciation. If he could love someone like Dawn… then maybe his “I love you” to Holly was special, too.

That thought made her smile, and kickstarted her pleasant mood for the day. Humming to herself, she’d prepared a delicious breakfast with all Nick’s favorites.

Nick got out of bed, pulling his pants back on, and walked over to the table.

“Thanks, Holly, it looks delicious,” he informed his sex ****.

“Oh! You’re very welcome, master!” Holly’s face flushed with joy at his compliment. “I woke up early and worked hard to prepare it all for you to wake up to!”

“That’s my girl,” Nick beamed at her. “No wonder I love you so much!”

Dawn smirked and Holly’s jaw dropped. Her stunned face took on a deeper red complexion and she stumbled backwards. “That’s, ah… ah!” She gasped. “Just… please enjoy your meal!”

Then to Nick’s surprise, she actually ran back into the kitchen.

“Holly?!” He exclaimed in amused surprise. He never would have expected that she, of all people, could still get embarrassed.

“I thought that nothing embarrassed her anymore,” Dawn said, putting words to his own thoughts. “I guess that’s not the case, huh? You charmer, you.”

“Holly’s a bit of a complicated one,” Nick said, trying not to laugh. He felt a little bit like Rose in that moment, trying to come up with ways to tease and play with the girl he loved, to get more adorable reactions out of her- and help her come to terms with the fact that even though she might not have been in his harem, that didn’t mean she wasn’t a precious person to him.

Hopefully, she would understand that given time.

Holly wasn’t the only one getting a little antsy about taking her relationship seriously.

Rose woke up to see Carly pacing around the room. She was wearing a strange costume that looked rather cute, but her troubled expression was anything but. She wore a long, plain white dress with a purple bow over her sizeable chest. It was slit in the front between her legs, showing off her long dark stockings and the tall boots that covered them. She wore large white beret on her head, and her hair had been styled a bright orange the same color as Mary’s, hanging down in two fringes that framed her troubled face.

“What’s up, Carly?” Rose asked, sitting up. She’d had a particularly lovely dream, that she suspected had been a gift from Morgana. She and Nick had gotten married, and gone on a honeymoon together to Hawaii. Rose had never been before, but she enjoyed seeing the sights.

The sight in front of her was a strange one, though.

“Oh! Rose, you’re awake,” Carly said, lifting her head.

“Yup, awake,” Rose said, stretching. “And feeling pretty good for it, not gonna lie. Tell me, Carly, have you ever gone ziplining?”

“A few times,” Carly replied.

That kind of took the wind out of Rose’s sails a bit. “…Oh. Well, okay, then. I had a nice dream about it. Anyway, what’s up? Why are you wearing a circle into our floor?”

“OH, just… sorry, I’m a little worked up right now,” Carly apologized, shaking her head. “It’s been a really hectic night for me.”

“Oh, that’s not good,” Rose winced. “Bad dream?”

“…No, no bad dream,” Carly said, shaking her head. “Just… no dream at all, really. Since, you know, I couldn’t get to sleep.”

Rose winced. “Oof. That sounds pretty difficult.”

Rose loved her beauty sleep. If she could, she’d spend most of her day just snoozing away in bed, especially if she got to dream of Nick while she was doing it. So she knew how hard it was to go a day without sleeping.

And if that wasn’t bad enough…

“And I couldn’t even do anything fun, either,” Carly groaned, walking over to the bed and staring down at her sister. Marley was snoring away with a blissful expression on her face. “Because if I got more than ten feet away from her…”

Rose winced. “Yeah, you’re right,” she admitted. “That DOES sound pretty hard to deal with, if you ask me.”

Carly sighed. “I love my sister, I really do,” she murmured. “But sometimes, I wish that I could just leave her alone, you know? And be my own person.”

Rose nodded. “Yeah, I think I understand that. But that’s the thing with these transformations, right? You’re kind of stuck with them. Hey, I know! What if I use my transformation again?” She suggested. “I could copy your transformation, and give you some time for yourself!”

Carly smiled. “Thanks, Rose, that’s really sweet,” she said. “But we can’t do that yet. Your last one’s still active.”

She gestured to Rose’s farmgirl outfit, which she was still wearing from yesterday.

“…Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Rose admitted with a sheepish smile.

Carly just sighed in exasperation.

“Haaaahn…” Rose and Carly turned to see Marley sit up in bed with a yawn and a stretch. She rubbed her eyes. “Whatsamatter?” She asked, looking at both girls with a bit of disappointment on her face. “No one was in bed for me to cuddle with…”

“Sorry, sis,” Carly apologized. “No time for cuddling today. I just felt a little worked up, and needed some space.”

Both sisters sighed. “Needing some space” was a desire that was pretty hard to satisfy if you were chained ten feet to each other.

Marley looked warily at her sister. It was easy for her to see that Carly was troubled about something big.

“What’s up, sis?” She asked worriedly, frowning. “You seem a little worked up. Are you still worrying about Dani?”

Carly winced. “I mean… can you blame me?” She mumbled, looking down. “I’m not used to feeling like this, you know? I’m used to my relationships with people being simple and easy to understand! I’m the kind of girl who can get along with anybody and is always looking forward to hanging out and having fun! But when it comes to Dani…”

“Well, there’s no use sitting around and moping about it!” Rose declared, clapping her hands together. “You’ve got a big night ahead of you!”

“Oh!” Carly’s eyes widened as she realized what Rose was alluding to. That had completely slipped her mind.

“Gosh, you’re right!” Marley gasped. “I totally forgot, but tonight is your night with Nick, isn’t that right!?”

“Yeah…” Carly nodded, her eyes taking on a glassy sheen. “It’s our night together… we’re going to be together…”

“Something wrong?” Rose asked, frowning.

Carly quickly shook her head. “No, it’s not that anything is wrong,” she quickly clarified. “I’m just… you know, thinking about something.”

Rose squinted. Then a playful expression crossed her face. “Well, if you’re not in the mood for Nick, you could always pass your night off to me! I’d just love it!”

“Yeah, maybe…” Carly vaguely muttered, and Rose’s jaw dropped.

“…I-I was kidding about that,” she clarified, shaking her head. “Are you okay? Are you sure you don’t have a fever right now?”

“What do you want me to say?” Carly mumbled. “Right now, my thoughts about Nick are so twisted together with my thoughts about Dani that I’m not even sure if I can look forward to tonight or not… I hate this! I don’t like feelings like these!”

Marley nodded sympathetically. She could understand where her sister was coming from. Carly was worried about her feelings for Dani, and what they meant for her sexuality. Meanwhile she was still definitely sexually attracted to Nick.

It made for all kinds of issues.

“Look, it’s going to be fine,” Carly assured herself, taking a few deep breaths. “Dani and I are cool. We can be cool. We’ll just say high to each other, and everything will be fine.”

Rose wasn’t convinced of that at all. “You sure you’re not just being delusional?” She rudely asked. “I mean, not to make a big stink about it, but you told her that you might be falling in love with her. Coming from a girl who just heard that from the guy of her dreams, that’s something that sticks with someone. Dani’s probably just as worked up about this as you are.”

“Haah! Hah! Haaaaahh!”

With a clang, Dani rested the barbell on the rack, and sat up. She grabbed her towel and wiped the sweat from her eyes, and yawned.

She’d been working out all morning.

Since today wasn’t Kim’s workout day, she’d had the gym all to herself. Which led to her immediately doing what she always did when she got stressed out about something.

Pumping iron.

There were a lot of things Dani hated about the transformations she was afflicted with. Whether it was her massive bust and curvy figure that she couldn’t cover with the clothes she wanted to cover it with without breaking the bank, or the fact that she couldn’t have any emotional issues without Nick being there to comfort her, to even the fact that she couldn’t cut her hair, there were lots of problems she faced.

The enhanced strength was a nice part, though.

Dani sat up and stretched, feeling her muscles getting sore. It wasn’t even breakfast time yet, but she’d had so much trouble sleeping that she couldn’t resist getting an early start on the day.

For now, though, she needed to relax. And the best place to do that was obviously the hot spring.

She finished wiping herself down, and took a shower in the gym’s facilities. It was good to wash the sweat away, before going to take a bath. No sense in polluting the water with her filth, after all, that would just be gross.

As she walked towards the spa with only the night sky as her company, she felt an uneasiness welling up in her chest.

The same thing that had caused her to wake up early with doubts and uncertainty swirling around in her head was still getting to her, even after her workout.

That… what Carly said… is she really falling in love with me?

Dani didn’t know what to make of that declaration. It had been so sudden and come so out of nowhere that it had blown all the other shocking things from that day out of the water.

Well… with one major exception. She didn’t think she was going to forget about almost drowning any time soon.

It can’t be, right? She tried to tell herself. There’s no way that Carly could actually have feelings for me, no way!

If she did… that would be a dream come true. It would mean that the feelings Dani had been fighting for practically the whole show, she could stop fighting now, and embrace.

…But it wasn’t true, so she couldn’t.

It would mean that even if she had to be stuck on this show, and stuck in Nick’s harem, she could rest easy knowing that someone else in their group truly did love her as a woman, someone that she could actually love back, in turn.

…But it wasn’t true, so she couldn’t.

And, best of all… it would mean that she was finally not alone. That there was someone else out there for her, and even if they couldn’t be together, she could be relieved that it didn’t collapse into a mess of toxicity like the last time she thought she was in love with a woman.

…But it wasn’t true, so she couldn’t.

These were the thoughts that plagued Dani’s brain all the way to the spa. And when she finally entered and walked into the hot spring, a part of her hoped that these thoughts would be washed away with the warm water.

Unfortunately, a hot spring had no tide, so there was nothing to wash away. All she could do was stew in her own doubts and insecurities.

“Carly? Love me?” Dani hugged her legs to her chest and shook her head. “There’s no way, there’s just no way!”

But even as she said that, she had to admit how hollow the words sounded. Once upon a time, she would have thought that the hope she was clinging onto was just blind faith, something that was unlikely to have any serious payoff, because of course it couldn’t. It was just her being delusional about Carly liking her. It wouldn’t be the first time she misinterpreted a girl’s platonic affection for genuine romantic interest.

But… this time, Carly had said it herself. She had said that she thought she was falling in love with Dani. And why should Dani doubt Carly’s own words? Doubt her heart?

Carly wasn’t the type of person to throw the “love” word around easily. She knew that well enough, anyway.

So did that mean she could really believe her friend, when she told her how she felt? Was that something she could really do?

Dani wanted to believe it was possible. But at the same time, she didn’t actually think that it was, either. She couldn’t afford to believe that.

So many bad things had happened to her, and she had so many doubts and uncertainties swirling around in her head.

She felt like her feelings for Carly were a Pandora’s Box. Her brain was a mass of all the wickedness in the world, and only a small sliver of hope clung on in the center.

If she opened her heart up to those feelings, then what would happen? Would she get a happily ever after?

She seriously doubted that.

With a sigh on her lips, Dani loosened up and sank into the water. She laid on her back and stared up at the night sky, slowly sinking until just her face remained above the water.

“What should I do?” She wondered aloud.

Carly hadn’t said anything besides the fact that she thought she was falling in love with Dani. And Dani had been too stunned to press for details. It felt like there was a moment when she could have asked for clarification, but that moment had passed now.

At this point, Dani was actually worried about what would happen if she saw Carly again. If that happened… would it be like after the Ferris Wheel, where the two girls were too embarrassed to even look at each other? Or would Carly try to pretend like everything was normal, and they would go back to the way they were before?

What even was “normal” for them, at this point? What would that look like? And was that something Dani should be striving to maintain? After all, it was Carly who had confessed her feelings. As for Dani, her own feelings on the matter were a little complicated.

She decided that she’d just wait. See what the mood was like when Carly came down for breakfast in the morning. But she also decided that she shouldn’t push anything, even if the mood felt good. After all, tonight was Carly’s night with Nick, and that would definitely make everything a lot more complicated. The kind of complications Dani really didn’t want to deal with right now.

“Ah!” Dani gasped and sat up in the water. Was she just hearing things? Or was that…

It definitely was. She heard a rustling in the fake bushes around the hot spring. Someone was listening in. Someone was spying on her.