It would be wrong to say that Naiya's Thanksgiving plans had gone swimmingly and that everything had worked out exactly as she had planned. Not that it had gone badly or anything. No, quite the contrary. It had actually gone about as well as one could expect, but that wasn't saying much when you considered the fact that Naiya honestly hadn't expected all that much and instead had been relying almost purely on the power of hope. Luckily, that had been just enough to get her through.

It really hadn't been easy and she probably would have copped out completely if fate hadn't stepped in and forced her hand. The fact that fate took the form of her stepsister Macy was hardly a surprise. In fact, one could even say that it was just about the only way it could've happened since both Ashlee and Naiya had up to that point been very successful at avoiding each other even though Ashlee spent nearly every night sleeping in Macy's bed. It was only during the day that Naiya had free run of her own house and the freedom to talk to her stepsister.

The nature of those conversations ranged greatly from more serious topics to the usual silliness generally brought about by their habit of wandering off to smoke weed together whenever possible as well as just general catching up with the mundane details of each other's lives. Even though they'd been talking quite a bit lately and were hardly out of touch it was just somehow better and more real to talk about their lives and the interesting and not so interesting things they'd done in the past few months in person instead over the phone. They were pretty much sisters, after all. Face to face conversation was what they were used to. It was natural. It was the way they'd been almost from the day Naiya's mother moved them in with Macy's father back when both girls were still in elementary school. It was just right to see Macy roll her eyes in sympathy at Naiya's vivid descriptions of the failings of her professor's instead of having to imagine her doing it even though Naiya had seen the move so many times over the years she could paint a picture of it with her eyes closed.

Still, not all their conversations were made better by this closeness. Conversations about Ashlee for instance were not made any easier by Naiya being able to see the sadness, the pity and the understanding in Macy's eyes. It all just made her feel that much smaller, that much dumber, that much more sick over what a coldhearted bitch she been to Ashlee. She knew she deserved it, though, and because of that she made herself sit there and take it even when Macy's words threatened to bring a self pitying tear to her eyes, or worse, when Macy started on her with the "So when are you going to talk to her?" bit in an attempt to get the ball rolling.

Of course, that part didn't really start until after the first night when Naiya chickened out of the first planned attempt and then locked herself in her room and ignored Macy's knocking when Ashlee left to go buy some rolling papers. Naiya didn't unlock the door until the next morning when Ashlee was safely away at her parents house for one of her many family gatherings, but even then she successfully avoided her stepsister's disdainful stare at the breakfast table thanks in part to the presence of Naiya's mother and Macy's aunt discussing the plans for the evening meal.

It wasn't until after both girls had gone upstairs to change that Macy finally managed to corner Naiya in her room to ask her what happened that Naiya found herself a victim of her stepsister's calm, but forceful attempts at persuasion as Macy repeated the fact that time was short and it was now or never several times and in several distinct ways over the length of a very short conversation before they were interrupted by a shout from the bottom of the stairs telling them to hurry and get in the shower before people started showing up. This led Naiya to think that she'd been granted a reprieve, but if she had been it was a short one because for the rest of the day Macy kept the pressure on whenever she could and didn't stop until Ashlee came over that night.

Once again Naiya thought at that point that she would be free from anymore needling. After all, she was an adult now. She knew what she had to do, what she'd planned to do. Sure, she had definitely chickened out, but the time just hadn't been right.

Same for that night. It just hadn't felt like the time. Besides, it was late and she didn't want to leave Megan hanging waiting on her nightly call. There was always tomorrow when the family would be gone and on and on and on.

She even said as much to Macy the next morning when Macy cornered her in Naiya's room again to once again urge her into action. Macy, of course, didn't buy a word of it and it was then that she made her threat by saying "Look, Naiya. You know how you're going to feel if you go back to school without doing this. I know you. This is going to eat you up from the inside. I mean I'll admit that I wasn't all whatever about this when you first mentioned it, but damn it, Naiya, I'm getting sick of pretending you don't exist when Ashlee is here, so please, when Ashlee comes over tonight just come talk to her and get it over with. Please just promise me you will."

"I don't want to just bust into your room and..." Naiya started to protest, but it just wasn't working. She knew this even before Macy cut across her just by the look on her stepsister's face.

"Look, if you don't do something I will. Okay? Just please try, okay? Please?"

"Okay," Naiya said meekly knowing full well that Macy didn't make empty threats. Still, as the day went on and things became more relaxed she was far from at ease. She tried to put her fears out of her mind, but as time ticked by and cousins and aunts and uncles and what not began to slowly filter out of the house she found herself unable to do so.

Of course, Macy noticed and whenever she could she cornered Naiya and kept the pressure on. Not in an overbearing manner, but with just enough force to let Naiya know she wasn't going to let her chicken out again. It took a lot of this before Naiya finally just accepted her fate and started trying her best to steel herself for the coming confrontation. She even managed to sneak a few bowl hits on the back porch and just tried to settle down as the time ticked on by. When Macy told her to go to her room and wait because Ashlee was coming she amazingly did as she was asked without even thinking of protesting.

She only ended up waiting for a good ten minutes for Ashlee. Still, it felt like an eternity despite the fact that she spent the time talking to Megan until Ashlee knocked weakly and then entered and just stood there staring at her grimly until Naiya said "I gotta go," to Megan and waited just long enough for Megan to say "Good luck. I love you." before responding in kind and then hanging up and staring back briefly trying to look happy before she said "Hi" in a voice that barely escaped her lips before Ashlee responded with "So Macy says you want to talk to me..." in a cold, even voice that stunned Naiya into silence as she nodded her reply.

Naiya tried her best to gather her strength to press the attack and do what she knew she needed to do, but it was all in vain. She simply could not do it. Luckily (though it didn't seem so lucky at the time) Ashlee could.

As one might imagine, the conversation that followed thanks to Naiya's momentary lack of courage didn't start out very friendly as Ashlee instantly began telling Naiya basically everything that Naiya already knew and felt horrible about as Naiya just sat there taking it all in while knowing full well that she deserved it. Even when Ashlee, by then even more put off by Naiya's calm acceptance of her own faults, began to dig deep and raise her voice as she called Naiya a "selfish, childish little bitch" for not talking to her about her fears and doubts (proving that Macy had indeed been talking to Ashlee about their conversations.) Naiya just sat there and took it and calmly agreed to every single accusation because every word no matter vindictive was deserved and every accusation was true. She knew it, Ashlee knew it, Macy knew it and even Megan, who had never really even met Ashlee, knew it.

Hell, everyone who knew even the smallest amount about it agreed: Naiya had been a selfish, immature, childish and stupid person. Those were the facts. They were indisputable and Naiya didn't even try to do so. Even as Ashlee's frustration over this lack of conflict seemed to overwhelm her for awhile Naiya just couldn't bring herself to give to her the denial of fault that Ashlee seemed to crave. Instead, as the volume of Ashlee's voice continued to rise and threaten to cross over from being just a bit too loud all the way over to full on yelling Naiya just continued to sit there and take it. It wasn't until Ashlee finally just put her frustration out on the table by saying loudly "Why aren't you arguing with me?" that Naiya finally found herself capable of speaking her true feelings.

"Because you're right, Ashlee. Look, just please sit down and let me ... ugh, I don't know how to say this." Naiya started and then covered her eyes as she paused to collect her thoughts trying hard to remember the speech she'd been practicing in her head for over a month and failing miserably until she finally decided to just let it come as it would, but not before once again insisting that Ashlee sit down. When she did, in the same chair she had been sitting in the night they had first kissed not all that long ago, Naiya took a deep breath and finally started saying her piece.

"Look, you're right, okay. I was a bitch. I know that. I can't even begin to argue with that. You deserved so much more than what I gave you. You deserved the truth, you deserved my trust, you deserved ... I don't know ... you deserved like everything I didn't do. I know that. Hell, I knew that. I mean the whole fucking time I was talking to Max while ignoring what it was doing to you I knew what was I doing and there's nothing I can say to defend myself. I was being a selfish, cowardly, weak and I was a stupid bitch and even though I know ... I..." Naiya paused to wipe away a tear a take another breath while avoiding looking directly at Ashlee somehow knowing that if she did it would be all over and she wouldn't be able to say another word.

"Look," she said after realizing she hadn't said anything for several seconds. She then paused again taking a breath before forcing herself to finally look in Ashlee's direction while somehow avoiding eye contact before she continued her voice getting shakier with every word "I'm sorry. I know that sounds like so much bullshit and that's not even close to being enough, but whatever. I loved you Ashlee and I shouldn't have treated you like that. I was just scared about all the feelings that ... I mean look, and please don't take this wrong way, but I never expected anything to come out of it. I mean that night we first had sex, made love or whatever, I wasn't ... it was just supposed to be fun. I didn't think it'd end up being as serious as it was. I didn't think..."

Again Naiya paused to collect herself and wipe away a tear, but as she did she made the mistake of looking Ashlee in the eyes and saw, much to her dismay, that there were tears there as well and she immediately lost it. As she turned away from Ashlee she felt the tears begin to flow freely from her eyes as she said "I'm sorry" once again between sobs not at all expecting what happened next.

In fact, she didn't even register the fact that Ashlee was no longer sitting in the chair by Naiya's desk until she felt her bed shift under Ashlee's weight. Even then she didn't react until she felt Ashlee, the person who had only moments before been berating her with words like bitch and cunt while calling her selfish, childish and stupid, suddenly embraced her in a full and loving hug.

Suddenly, any restraint that Naiya had still possessed instantly vanished as she turned and returned the embrace as the tears began to flow freely from her eyes. She had no idea how many times she repeated the words "I'm so sorry" between sobs as Ashlee hushed her and told her that it was okay, but by the time she realized that Macy was there as well when she suddenly felt Ashlee stiffen momentarily and then felt Macy's arms wrapping around them both as Macy joined the hug it didn't matter. She even repeated it a few more times before finally she was all cried out and the embrace ended with a weak laugh and one more apology before Ashlee, would had been silent for quite awhile said in a quiet, somewhat strained voice "Stop apologizing, please."

It was weird, it was irrational and it didn't make any sense, but after that things just seemed to go almost back to normal. Well, not quite "normal" in the sense that everything just went back to the way it had been before. There was still definitely some tension between them because words, no matter how honest and heartfelt, could only repair so much, but when Macy, who after her subtle entry had said absolutely nothing, finally spoke up and said quite simply "I think this calls for a joint" the mood lightened noticeably and pretty much stayed that way for the remainder of the break.

Still, it wasn't like Ashlee and Naiya were suddenly best friends again, but at least they were talking now. It was a start and it was nice. Really, it was pretty damned good despite the fact that the conversation that night was noticeably sparse and tightly controlled by Macy's mediating presence.

By the next morning, however, there was a more natural flow to everything. Ashlee actually stayed over until late in the afternoon and more than once Naiya found herself alone with her and not really that uncomfortable. Sure there was still awkwardness to their conversations (and strangely enough to Ashlee and Macy's conversations as well, but Naiya didn't let herself dwell on that too much because it not only wasn't her business until one of them made it her business, but is more of a feeling than anything concrete), but whatever it was remained below the surface and eventually they rediscovered their old ability to make each other laugh.

That night was more of the same as they all went for a stony cruise and went hiking in the cold, clear late November air liked they done some many times before. The only difference was that when they returned to Naiya and Macy's house and eventually went to bed it was Naiya who ended up alone in her room while her stepsister and former best friend tried and failed to make love quietly in the room across the hall. Naiya, of course, couldn't have cared less because at the time she was too busy talking to her lover on the phone with her hand down her panties as they teased each other to orgasm. The sound's coming from Macy's room were nothing more than background noise to her.

By the time Naiya was getting into the car to head back to school any awkwardness that remained was minimal and all them seemed to be on the same page of just getting over the past and learning to live with the new normal. Still, Naiya was mildly and pleasantly surprised to hear Ashlee say that she really hoped she'd see her at Christmas and that she hoped Megan could come along as well. For a moment Naiya (and Macy as well judging from the way her eyebrows raised ever so briefly when Ashlee said it) was simply too stunned to respond. Ashlee noticed of course and said "What? I can't be nice? Anyway, seriously, from what you told me she seems cool. Just ask her. If it happens it happens. If it doesn't whatever. Just think about it okay?" and there was nothing Naiya could do but agree knowing full well that Megan would likely do everything in her power to make it happen. She then hugged both Ashlee and Macy before getting in her car and leaving feeling both pleased and eager to see them both again.

So, all in all, that aspect of her holiday at home went great. Well, if not great at least a whole lot better than she had expected it to. There was however an entirely different aspect of her short stay at home that had been almost unbearable in a way that Naiya just hadn't anticipated: being separated from her roommate, her friend and her lover Megan.

Sure, she had expected to miss Megan a little bit, but she had not expected to miss her as much as she did. She honestly felt like she was back in tenth grade when she was still very much (and very foolishly as it turned out) in love with Max. She felt like a piece of her was missing, like there was a hole in her heart and a constant dull ache somewhere unspecific that had started almost even before she'd left and that was not at all helped by the fact that she was hardly out of contact with Megan for more than a few hour at a time the entire time they were apart except when they were both asleep.

Even the knowledge that Megan felt exactly the same way did absolutely nothing to ease her suffering. All she wanted was to be at her side again, to feel her body pressing against her, to taste her skin and just to be with her. It was both terrible and wonderful all at the same time.

It was also more than a little surprising. Sure, it was hardly a shock to her that she had feelings for Megan. She'd known that for awhile now. She also knew that those feelings were definitely rooted in that perfect combination of love, friendship and lust. What was surprising to her was the acuteness of it all as well as how oddly good it felt to finally feel this way about someone again and to know that they felt the same way about her.

Still, it was kind of scary. She'd even said so to Macy one night when everyone was asleep and Ashlee was still driving back from her Grandmother's house before they had made amends. Macy had, of course, laughed at her and when that didn't go so well she said simply "That's love, dummy."

"I know, it's just I feel kinda..." Naiya started to retort only to have her step sister interrupt her.

"Feel guilty? " Macy said, finishing Naiya's thought for her. Naiya could only nod in response as Macy smiled weakly at her. "Naiya, don't. You can't help how you feel. I mean, I'm not going to ride you about all that and I'm not going to pretend it's my right to forgive you, but love can't be quantified like that. I mean, like I love you and I love Ashlee, but I don't love you in the same way, but I still love you both just like I love my dad and mom and your mom as well, but it's all like ... you know, different, but it's all just as good and true and real."

"Yeah, but that's not it, it's..." Naiya tried to rebut, but once again Macy cut her off.

"Seriously Naiya, don't try to compare this love you feel for Megan to what you felt for Ashlee or Max or anyone. I don't know her, but I'm sure she deserves better than that. You love her. That's all that matters. Trust me; you really can't let yourself fall into the trap of wallowing in your regrets. Shit, if I did that I'd never have sex again let alone have a relationship. Seriously, you don't even know half of the stuff I've done."

After that Naiya couldn't help but feel a little better and not just because after that little discussion Macy finally decided that Ashlee was taking too long and that if she wanted to get pissed about them smoking some of her weed she could just get over it. No, it was more because Macy just had that kind of an affect on her especially now that Naiya was starting to come to terms with her sexuality. It was just one of the many reasons she loved her stepsister and was glad that she'd never really left her life. Macy was in a lot of ways the best friend she'd ever had.

Of course, that didn't make the pain subside any and neither did the long phone conversation (complete with a long session of some very hot and beautiful phone sex) she'd had with Megan an hour later when Naiya slinked back into her room upon hearing Ashlee's Jetta pulling into the driveway. Macy, of course, rolled her eyes at her and headed downstairs to let Ashlee in. Even the sound of Macy and Ashlee making love just across the hall from her after she let Megan go to sleep didn't distract from her desire to be with Megan again. In fact, the sound of Ashlee coming didn't even make her feel as jealous as she thought it should. Instead that too only made her long to be making love to Megan once again.

Nothing could save Naiya from these thoughts until she finally opened the door to her dorm room and instantly found herself staring at her lover as Megan stood there fiddling with her iPod in nothing but a pair of pink panties looking just absolutely, deliciously cute and ready to be ravaged.

Megan, of course, had absolutely no idea that Naiya was even there. Still, she looked absolutely angelic as she stood with her back partially turned to the door while doing a silly, little dance and singing along badly, but cutely, to Bikini Kill. Naiya had never wanted Megan more than she did at that moment.

Megan had obviously just returned to the room after taking a shower. The still wet towel hanging off the back of Megan's desk chair, the obvious dampness of Megan's hair and the now all too familiar smell of Megan's shampoo and body wash that Naiya knew so well spoke to this fact quite clearly and only added to the appeal of the scene set before Naiya. The image was again enhanced when Megan turned around and instantly let out a little girlish scream once she realized she wasn't alone. Megan then blushed as Naiya laughed at her before she finally closed the door behind her then quickly closed the small amount of distance between them and pulled Megan into a soft, but passion filled kiss before Megan even had a chance to recover.

Of course, Megan didn't mind a bit. Far from it. She simply accepted Naiya's kiss willingly and completely forgot her embarrassment at being startled the instant those soft and now oh so familiar lips touched her own. It was just so natural, so right, so loving and so not at all unexpected. They were both just so deeply in lust with each other that they just couldn't imagine greeting each other any other way after such an unbearably long absence from each other's presence.

Sure, it had only been a long weekend and they'd hardly been out of touch or even free of intimacy, but texts and phone calls during the day and phone sex every, single night were hardly enough to compensate for pure joy of just being near each other and feeling the other's soft caress as they were rediscovering right at that very second as they both wrapped their arms around the other and pulled themselves tightly together, Naiya pawing gently at her lovers naked back while Megan's hand struggled to get past the layers of clothes Naiya had been wearing to protect herself from the chilly late autumn air.

"God, I missed you," Naiya somehow managed to say as she took a breath and then instantly returned to kissing Megan's sweet mouth before Megan could even think of responding with anything other than a soft sigh. At least that's all Megan managed for the moment. As she struggled to get her hands past Naiya's pull over hoody and the two shirts she was wearing underneath that quickly changed.

"I missed you too, baby," Megan said in a breathless voice as she too took a breath and then briefly returned to the kiss before once again breaking away to add in somewhat amused frustration "You need to take this shit off or I'm gonna rip it off."

"Well, since you asked so nicely..." Naiya responded, smiling wickedly at Megan and her uncharacteristically succinct demand. Before she did as she was asked, however, she couldn't help but kiss that delicious mouth one more time. Once this kiss broke she barely had time to smile dreamily before she felt Megan pulling her hoody, sweater and t-shirt up over her head in one swift, skillful and transparently needy motion that made her laugh despite herself as she mentally thanked god that she wasn't wearing a bra as well.

Megan, of course, didn't mind either the laugh or that lack of brassiere. In fact, she barely even noticed as she kissed her now topless lover while her hands busied themselves unbuckling Naiya's belt and unbuttoning her jeans. She would've also removed Naiya's jeans and whatever else Naiya might be wearing if Naiya hadn't chosen that very second to reassert herself by taking a step towards the nearest bed and Megan just found herself backing up along with her until they both ended up lying side by side on Naiya's bed.

For a series of long, sweetly beautiful moments any thought of removing the rest of Naiya's clothing were nowhere to be found in Megan's mind (or Naiya's for that matter save for the fact that she managed to somehow remember to kick off her shoes as they both scooted themselves to a more central location on the twin sized bed) as they once again became lost in the feel of each other's kiss. Even when Megan's hands began to explore past the now much less restrictive barrier of the waist of Naiya's jean to feel the soft fabric of her panties and the even softer flesh she knew lay just beneath it Megan still managed to maintain some semblance of self control thanks in part to the fact that Naiya was doing pretty much the same thing to her.

This calm moment lasted quite awhile as they both began to relax and take in the moment. It was hardly a bad thing. Though neither was really all that experienced they had both learned a long time ago that there hardly ever was any need to rush. Sure, a good quick fuck never hurt anyone and they had definitely partaken in the occasional fast and furious fingering session in the bathroom at a party or what not but nothing compared to the times when they allowed patience to win the day.

This day, however, was just not destined to be one of those days. Not yet anyway. No, there would be time enough for patient lovemaking later because those softly exploring touches quickly began to become much more aggressive the longer they kissed and pressed themselves against each other. Oh they tried, but as Naiya's hand found its way between them to teasingly caress the front of Megan's panties as her kisses began to travel to the nape of her lover's neck their mutual efforts to maintain control were quickly falling apart. By the time Megan's hand had found its way down the front of Naiya's panties to massage Naiya's already very aroused pussy those efforts were officially wasted.

"God, I fucking missed you so much," Naiya whispered once again as Megan's fingers began to teasingly slide between Naiya's pussy lips. Meagan just laughed a little, too lost to Naiya's own wonderful touch on her sex to try think of a witty retort. Instead she just used her free hand to pull Naiya back into a kiss and somehow ended up pulling Naiya down with her as she rolled onto her back as their mutual touching became more aggressive with each passing second.

When Naiya's fingers began to delve ever so lightly into Megan's warm, wet crevasse Megan's touches began to falter, but Naiya didn't mind a bit. Even when Megan completely removed her hand from Naiya's sex Naiya didn't even think of complaining. Honestly, it barely even registered in her mind at the time as she was just far too focused on the softness of the skin on Megan's neck as she kissed her there, the sweetness of her gentle, pleasing sighs, the feeling of Megan's warm tightness enveloping her fingers as she penetrated ever deeper and the sensation of her lover's arms softly wrapping her back and hips.

Even if it had fully registered that Megan was no longer trying to make her come as well Naiya wouldn't have been concerned one little bit. She knew she'd get hers eventually, but even that didn't really matter. That wasn't what this was about. Sure, she definitely did want to come, but this was just as good in so many ways.

In fact, at times it was almost better. Like right then. It just felt so good to be back in her lover's arms listening to Megan softly whisper "I love you" as Naiya's fingers entered her and curled upwards reaching and finding that sweet, little spot inside of Megan. She was delicately toying with her trying to elicit a whimper and succeeding admirably as she whispered into Megan's ear "I love you too, baby," before gently tracing her tongue inside Megan's ear making Megan whimper once again.

Naiya really did enjoy the sound of Megan's whimper. She couldn't help it. It just seemed to drive her crazy in ways she couldn't even begin to explain. None of the noises her male lover's had ever made ever made her feel as good. They were always just too animal, or worse, silent. Only her other female lovers, Kelli and Ashlee, were comparable, but just barely. Well, maybe Ashlee's moans and whimpers had been just as cute and arousing, but that was the past. Megan was the present and the present was all that mattered.