© Christina Hadfield
SENIOR YEAR
Tess collapsed against Dr. Morgan, panting and shaking. Dr. Morgan wrapped her arms around the girl, pawing at her, desperate for the closeness. She pushed at the girl gently, leaned up and sucked against her pulse point, then let out a whimper of displeasure when Tess shoved her away.
“I can’t take anymore,” Tess choked out, sweat beading on her brow. Despite this, Dr. Morgan kissed her again, more firmly. “Maggie, please.”
“Okay,” Dr. Morgan gave in, falling back and letting Tess fully collapse against her.
They lied like that for a while, pressed fully against each other, their breathing heavy. Slowly though, Tess slid off to the side and nuzzled against the other woman’s neck. Then, after more silence, and after their heartrates evened out, Tess whispered, “So, we should probably talk, right?”
“Yes, um, we probably should.”
Tess pulled back slightly from Dr. Morgan just so they could look into each other’s eyes. She waited to see if the woman would take some initiative but wasn’t at all surprised when she didn’t.
“I’m… well I’m sorry,” Tess muttered out. “I’d been getting really snappy with you as of late because all those freshmen were just getting on my nerves. I didn’t… realize, per say, initially why I felt so hostile towards them. But um…” She dipped her head, blushing, feeling embarrassed. “I guess I was just being territorial. I didn’t like the thought of you sleeping with someone else—don’t like the thought of it. And after we fought I… well I started to realize it wasn’t so casual for me anymore…”
“I have no interest in sleeping with anyone else,” Dr. Morgan declared. “The fact you even thought you had to worry… I get the best sex of my entire life with you, Tess, why on earth would I ever willingly give that up or even risk jeopardizing it for something subpar?”
“Best?” Tess questioned. “The best sex of your entire life? Didn’t you used to bed a different woman like every weekend—”
“Yes, used to. And yes, the best, I stand by what I said.”
“That’s… pretty high praise.”
“I know.”
“You don’t ever give out compliments like that.”
“Yes, well… you rather have the tendency to blow through any and all walls I’ve managed to build up. You blew away any expectations I had as well.”
Tess curled her arms around the other woman, hugging her tight. “I really like you, Margaret. I never thought I’d say that, but it’s true. I can’t stand the thought of you with someone else or the thought of never seeing you again… like after I graduate, if we just… stopped… I don’t think I could…”
Dr. Morgan cleared her throat, muttered out bashfully, “I can’t stand the thought of losing you either, Tess.”
They settled into silence, Tess collapsed on Dr. Morgan, Dr. Morgan trailing her fingers lightly along Tess’s bare back. After a while, Tess turned and pressed into Dr. Morgan’s neck. She sucked in a breath, trying to gain courage for her next words, trying to brace herself for the worst.
“I… well I know you don’t do relationships…” Tess whispered, Dr. Morgan freezing her hand movements to listen carefully. “But well… since we have fantastic sex together, with no interest in sleeping with other people, and if you have feelings for me, and I have feelings for you… I guess… well I think it would probably make sense if we… if we, well…”
“If we… dated?” Dr. Morgan uttered out, barely a breath escaping her lips.
“Yes.” Tess tucked her face more firmly against Dr. Morgan, hidden away so she wouldn’t have to look at the other woman, so she wouldn’t have to face the rejection.
Dr. Morgan sucked in a breath and let out a sigh. “Life… can really suck sometimes,” she muttered. “It was easier to keep people distanced from me. If we never got close, they couldn’t hurt me, and I couldn’t hurt them. If you’re… if you’re close to people, that’s a whole lot to lose.”
Tess snorted. “I know. It’s horrid, isn’t it?”
Slowly, Dr. Morgan reached up and cupped Tess’s check, urging her to turn and lift her head. Tess let Dr. Morgan lead her, turning so she could look at the other woman.
“I think though… I think I’ve learned that it’s important to open up to others,” Dr. Morgan continued. “And I think I’ve learned that it’s important to be honest with others about our feelings… communication or whatever it is that Amy’s always harking on about.”
Tess laughed.
“So well, I guess my point is, I’m completely terrified, but, yes… Tess… will you be my girlfriend?”
Tess smiled wildly. “I’m scared too,” she answered. “But absolutely.” Then she leaned down and sealed it with a kiss.
As Tess strolled down the hallway of the biology building, she was hardly thinking about anything she should have been thinking about. She wasn’t thinking about the homework assignment that was due tomorrow, or the fact that she needed to go to the library to print something. She wasn’t thinking about how she was supposed to meet Kai for lunch, or how she needed to schedule a time to meet with her group about their project. All she was thinking about was Dr. Morgan, or more importantly, her girlfriend. Who had the honor of calling that stunningly gorgeous, insanely smart, woman their girlfriend? Not very many ladies, that’s for sure, and Tess was beyond grateful.
Tess was thinking about how that morning, Dr. Morgan dropped her off right across from her apartment.
“Why so close?” Tess questioned when they pulled up. “I thought you didn’t want anyone to see us together?”
“What’s so wrong with me dropping my girlfriend off at her apartment before her classes?” Dr. Morgan questioned. Tess beamed. “Besides… half the campus already thought we were sleeping together… might as well let them know it’s serious. Maybe it’ll help cut back your jealousy… though it’s a bit hot.”
Tess reached over and grabbed Dr. Morgan’s shirt in a fistful, jerking her close to kiss her wildly. “I’m coming straight to your office after my first class this morning, I hope you know,” Tess stated. “And if there’s a flock of horny freshmen outside your door, I’m not responsible for whatever action I take.”
Dr. Morgan just rolled her eyes.
In fact, Tess was so distracted thinking about all the sinful things she wanted to do with her girlfriend later as she strolled down the hall of the biology building, that she entirely missed when someone reached out and grabbed her arm, jerking her into an office.
Tess spun, nearly yelping as the office door was slammed behind her, and she turned, taking a minute to realize she was in Dr. Kemper’s office, and it was Dr. Kemper and Dr. Marlow who ambushed her.
“Alright, Tess, you’ve got to fix things,” Dr. Kemper immediately dove in. “Margaret’s been an absolute nightmare. We can’t work with her like this! We know you two fought—your mood’s been bitter as well—and you have to fix things with her because we’re going insane!”
“I’m not proud to admit this, but she made me cry twice this week!” Dr. Marlow squeaked out.
Tess, still dazed, heard that loud and clear. “She made you cry?” Tess questioned. “Well, that’s absolutely not acceptable. I’ll have to talk to her about that. What did she say to you?”
“She said that I—she called me—”
“That’s not the point!” Dr. Kemper protested. “The point is that you need to make up with her, Tess! We don’t know what you fought about but fix it! We’re here for you, whatever you need, so please, if you need to discuss what you fought about—”
“I got jealous of the freshmen that keep throwing themselves at her,” Tess huffed. “But my jealousy made me realize that well… she means something to me—”
“Oh no, did you tell her?” Dr. Marlow questioned. “Did you decide to stop… to stop doing… well, you know…?”
Dr. Kemper reached out and smacked Dr. Marlow, because this was the pivotal turning point they had been looking for all along. They knew Dr. Morgan had feelings for Tess, and if the girl had realized she’d developed feelings too, they couldn’t mess up the advice they gave her moving forward.
“We did… for a while,” Tess replied, “because I snapped and told her she ought to just sleep with them. We were just casual anyway and since she seemed to like sleeping around.”
“Oh, but, oh no,” Dr. Marlow muttered.
Dr. Kemper however realized something. “You… don’t seem too upset about that,” she observed. “But I thought you said she means something to you… that you were jealous—”
“I was jealous, and I was upset,” Tess confirmed. “But I’m not anymore.”
Dr. Kemper and Dr. Marlow turned to each other, a look of horror on their faces, afraid Tess was only momentarily fixated on Dr. Morgan, but had grown past that when other potential suitors came into play. And now, well Tess was moving on and Dr. Morgan was hurt and being particularly nasty.
Before more could be said, there was a knock on the door. Dr. Kemper turned, slowly, and opened the door, as she was standing right in front of it. Dr. Morgan poked her head in.
“Are you two always hoarding Miss Stanford?” Dr. Morgan questioned. “She’s more than just your TA, you know.”
“They abducted me, I’m sorry,” Tess answered, grinning. “I was on my way to your office, I swear.”
“Wa—wait a second…” Dr. Kemper stated suspiciously. She stepped back, eyes narrowing, as she looked between the two.
“We made up,” Tess answered with a shrug, walking towards Dr. Morgan. “Turns out our feelings are mutual.” She slipped her hand into Dr. Morgan’s. “Come along, Maggie.” Then Tess pulled Dr. Morgan away and off down the hall.
“Maggie?” Dr. Kemper questioned after a moment.
“I… do you think they confessed their feelings to each other?” Dr. Marlow asked.
“… I think we should ask Kai.”
“Nope, sorry, I’m sworn to secrecy,” Kai declared stubbornly in Dr. Marlow’s office. She swung by to help with grading, only to be ambushed by the two baby bio professors, questioning about Dr. Morgan’s and Tess’s relationship.
“We know they’ve been sleeping together,” Dr. Kemper pushed. “We just want to know if they’ve confessed to each other or not.”
“I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but Tess is only interested in her casually,” Kai finally caved, never having been one for keeping secrets. “And I’m pretty sure Dr. Morgan feels the same. Could you imagine her caring about someone?”
“We broke her,” Dr. Kemper stated. “She told us she’s in love with Tess.”
Kai frowned slightly, remembering how upset Tess was when she had fought with Dr. Morgan about seeing other people. “Maybe… maybe she does have feelings for Dr. Morgan…” Kai uttered absently.
“Gossiping behind my back, huh?” Tess questioned, shoving into the office. “You know, these walls aren’t all that soundproof, and based on this conversation, I think I can figure out how that rumor about us sleeping together spread across campus…”
“Tess!” Dr. Marlow gasped.
“Just came to work on some grading with Kai,” Tess replied, sitting down beside her friend.
Kai didn’t beat around the bush. She turned pointedly to her friend and snapped, “Are you in love with Dr. Morgan?”
Tess blushed.
“Oh my god!” Kai continued. “You’re in love with Dr. Morgan and you didn’t even tell me!”
“I—I only recently figured it out!” Tess protested. “I was going to tell you, I swear!”
“Yes, but the important question is, did you tell Margaret?” Dr. Kemper asked.
Tess’s blush deepened. “We talked, yes, and made up, yes, and confessed that we do indeed have feelings for each other, yes. But… but the ‘L word’ is a bit strong… it’s a bit too early, I just—”
“But you did confess your feelings for each other?” Dr. Kemper reiterated. “And she told you the same? How she feels?”
“Yes,” Tess answered.
“So… the casual friends-with-benefits?” Kai questioned. “That’s going how?”
“Well, we figured it wouldn’t make much sense to keep that up when we wanted to be, well, more than friends.”
“Are you dating!?” Kai squealed.
“Yeah,” Tess answered, shrugging to feign disinterest, but she was smiling largely, just positively beaming.
“Oh thank god,” Dr. Kemper sighed. “It’s about damn time.”
“Debbie!” Dr. Marlow scolded.
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