Letting out a heavy breath I didn't even know was still in me, I collapse still half on top of her, dazed. It hits me for a second that there isn't much difference between the way the world looks when I'm coming and the way it is with the back of a hand to my head, but this is better in every way imaginable, and it flickers away fast, forgotten almost immediately. I never made Callie sound like that, but she's barely on my mind now, a ghost in the background. Ellen's laughter is brighter, stronger.

My thumb strums up over her waist, her ribs, and there's a dull ache in my wrist from holding onto her like that. Hard enough to leave bruises, I think, and the idea's a satisfying one. Marks to remind her tomorrow I was here, this was real.

For the first time since leaving home, I might get a decent sleep tonight.

"Fuck," I say again, like it's the only word I know other than her name. It might as well be. My voice is rough as it is, so that I'm surprised I even speak. Nuzzling against her cheek, I still don't know much of anything at all about her, but for the moment, she's just about perfect to me.