“I wasn’t going to,” she replied. The brunette rubbed her eyes to chase away the sleep, and sat up in Spencer’s bed. The blonde simply looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

            “Very clever,” she stated while eyeing the bed, and inevitably, the girl in it. Ashley gave a weak smile.

            “Well, I needed to talk to you.” Spencer frowned a little, but knew that they needed to talk. She sat somewhat close to Ashley, but left about three feet between them, not wanting to get distracted by the brunette and her body. “I must say, it was quite an unpleasant shock to wake up after a night of wonderful sex, to find the bed empty, and no indication of where one’s girlfriend may have gone off to,” Ashley said starting off the conversation.

            “I must say, it was quite an unpleasant shock that after having wonderful sex, to find pictures of one’s girlfriend making out with other people, on her desk.” Ashley nodded her head. “I wasn’t snooping,” Spencer added in. “I just had to go to the bathroom, and then when I came back inside, I tripped, turned on your light, and saw them.”

            “I never thought you snooped,” Ashley replied softly. There was a short awkward pause before she spoke again. “I looked for you today.”

            “I know. I saw you a few times.” The brunette looked at her somewhat upset.

            “And you couldn’t talk to me then?” she asked, trying not to get angry.

            “No,” the blonde admitted truthfully. “I needed time to think, to clear my head. Unfortunately, I’m still as confused as ever. Seeing those pictures before, that was no big deal. But seeing them now that we’re together, that maybe you’re not over that kind of freedom, that maybe you miss it, that scared me, and confused me. I mean, what makes me so different from all of them?” Ashley’s heart softened at the realization that Spencer had been doubting their relationship.

            “Can I explain?” Ashley asked, and Spencer merely nodded her head and tilted her head, waiting for an explanation.

            “You know I’ve never really been in relationships, but with you, things are so different. I’m so attracted to you on so many different levels, physically, mentally, to your personality, just everything about you makes me crave to be around you. And I don’t have the desire to be with anyone else. I know I can talk to you, I trust you, I know that you trust me, you care about me in a way that no one else ever has. That’s why you’re different. As for why I was looking at the pictures, I just wanted to say goodbye to that lifestyle. I was putting it behind me. Hell, I was even going to burn them, I just didn’t know if I needed to chant some magic charm while dancing naked around a fireplace out in the middle of the woods!” Spencer looked at her if she were crazy, and laughed.

            “Dancing naked in the woods, huh?” she asked with a questioning look.

            “I don’t know…you always hear about people doing stuff like that!”

            “Well, make sure I’m there when you do this whole ritual. I mean…strictly for the sake of knowing.” Ashley grinned and noticed that at some point, Spencer had moved closer to her. She wrapped her arms around her and never wanted to let go. “I’m sorry, Ash,” Spencer said, feeling badly. “I was just hurt and confused, but I should’ve let you explain.” Ashley kissed the top of her head.

            “You did let me explain. You just needed some time and space first. I’m just glad we got this all figured out.” With that, Ashley let out a yawn, and then pulled Spencer down so that they were now lying down. “Let’s go to sleep,” Ashley said. Spencer simply snuggled up against Ashley, rested her head on her chest, and closed her eyes.