February 1978 in the Bible Belt

That thought made Pauline laugh, and Florence pulled back and gave her a quizzical look. "What is it, Pauline?"

"Nothing, really."

"Come on, you can tell me!" Florence sat back and curled up in the middle of the bed.

"Oh, all right, I got to thinking how we used to try to pray this away. Now I'm wondering how I ever could have thought that would work."

"Did you really think it would?" Florence asked. "I never did. Not since probably third grade. I just learned not to say anything about it. Just like I never questioned why Mother and Father kept having more babies -- I knew they were just holding out for a boy."

"And they're well on their way to spoiling Josh rotten, aren't they?"

"Already have," Florence sighed. "So glad I..." She glanced at the door, and then went on in a whisper, "won't be here to see it."

"So you're in, still," Pauline said.

"Of course I am," Florence reached over and fondled Pauline's breasts. "Did Amanda get the car?"

"The Buick outside Mrs. Anderson's," Pauline said. "Listen, I probably shouldn't tell you this, but...Pete knows."

"Shit!" Florence drew back and wrapped her arms around her knees.

"It's okay! He's on our side!"

"How do you know he didn't just tell you that, and he's not telling all four of them right now?"

"Because if he had, they'd be up here holding us down and praying for us?"

"Good point," Florence admitted. "Still, I don't trust him. Never have, ever since that time he asked me if I'd started wearing a bra."

"I was wondering if you had, too," Pauline remembered with a guilty laugh.

"Why didn't you just ask?"

"I wasn't out to you yet, remember?"

"Right," Florence said. "Not until freshman year. I caught you checking out Meg Farlow...math class was it?"

"Yes, but I caught you drooling over her," Pauline said.

"I never -- no, it was you!" Florence insisted. "The way you sighed every time she smoothed her skirt out to sit down."

"That did always get me so wet," Pauline admitted.

"Me too, but not in my mouth," Florence said. "I never drooled over anybody!"

"All right, all right, you didn't," Pauline said. "But I honestly remember noticing first, how you seemed to look at her the same way I did."

"It had nothing to do with smoothing out her skirt," Florence said. "It was her hair, so full and curly..."

"So that was it," Pauline mused. "Same girl, different things about her, but we both saw each other looking at her the same way we looked at her."

"And we both knew we were dead meat if our families ever found out." Florence's wistful smile disappeared, and she burst into tears.

"Florence!" Pauline scrambled to her feet and took Florence's hands to help her up, and then took her in a fierce hug. "I know, sweetie, but we can never be ourselves if we stay!"

"I know, I know," Florence blubbered. "And I know they'd probably disown us anyway. It's just...all the same, I'll miss them. Sort of."

"Me too," Pauline said. "But we've got no choice. Not unless we want to go on lying about who we really are. Do you want to do that for the rest of your life?"

Florence dried her eyes on the sleeve of her dress. "You're right. I know. So, Amanda and Pete got us a Buick?"

"A '74 Apollo, I hope with a 350," Pauline said.

"A 350?" Then Florence's tears turned to laughter. "Never mind, I wouldn't understand if you told me. All I care about is, can it get us to California?"

"It's a three-day drive," Pauline said. "That's enough time to know if I want to keep it when we get there."

"Are you sure about this?" Florence asked. "Is San Francisco really all they say it is?"

"I sure hope so," Pauline said. "But I mean, you've heard about that guy Harvey Milk -- 'We want gays to represent gays' -- and he just got elected. The Daughters of Bilitis got their start there too. I read quite a bit about it in college."

"And your parents never found out?"

"They only wanted to hear about any nice young men I met. They never asked what I was studying."

"Speaking of which, did you finish that accounting course?"

"Got my certificate in the mail last week," Pauline said. "I wouldn't leave without that. And you can get a job teaching."

"Did you hear I was offered a permanent job here?" Florence asked.

"No!"

"Good. I was terrified word would get back to my mother. So I asked the principal not to tell anyone yet while I took a week to think about it. I guess he's in for a surprise when he calls my parents next week!" Now she laughed.

"Oh, Florence, that feels good to hear. That's the spirit."

"I'm thrilled, but I'm scared."

"Me too, but what choice have we got. It's like I said in the letter to our folks..." Pauline pulled back. "That reminds me, do you want to sign it, too?"

"I'd better," Florence said. "I don't want them thinking I just vanished. Even if that's going to be what they wanted out of me when the read it."

"Our dads can hold hands in the study and explain themselves to God if they want, why they ran their daughters off," Pauline said, kneeling down beside her bed. She reached between the mattress and box-spring and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. She unfolded it and handed it to Florence to read.

Florence stood nervously at the foot of Pauline's bed, rocking back and forth on one heel, and read the letter. It was short and to the point, and she betrayed no emotion until she got to the last line, which she read out loud. "'I hope someday you can all understand that love is never wrong. In the meantime, I hope it will suffice to know we are happy together among people who do know that.' Oh, Pauline, that's beautiful." She went over to Pauline's desk and picked up a pen, and signed her name alongside Pauline's. Underneath it, she wrote, "Mom, Dad, I will always love you just the same!"

Florence refolded the note. "I guess now we wait until they all go to bed?" she asked. "Those clothes I brought over last week, they're packed?"

"With mine, in the suitcase in the closet," Pauline said. "All we have to do is get it down the stairs without knocking into anything."

"God, it all sounds so nefarious!" Florence spun around restlessly.

"Well, it kind of has to be, doesn't it?" Pauline said.

"I guess," Florence admitted. "I just -- now that we've made up our minds, I want to get moving! How do we kill the last few hours?"

Pauline stepped up and put her arms around Florence again. "I have an idea!" She slid her hands down and massaged Florence's buttocks.

"Ohooo, Pauline!" Florence sighed. "That feels great, but you know we can't! What if we get caught?"

"We won't," Pauline said. "Think about it, they suspect nothing. They don't want to know!"

"But what if they did catch us? And don't say it couldn't happen!"

"They'd probably kick us out of the house. So we get an early start!"

Florence was silent, but she did help herself to play with Pauline's breasts. "It would sure send them a message, either way, wouldn't it? This is who we are, and we won't stand for you forcing us into something else."

"Exactly," sighed Pauline. "And now you've got me wanting you to rub these without the cloth in the way!" She reached back and unclasped her dress, and shrugged it off down to her waist. "Help me off with my bra?"

"If you'll return the favor," Florence said, as she reached around and fulfilled Pauline's request. She kissed her on the lips as she pulled her bra straps down. "Just...let's be as quiet as we can?"

"Haven't we always had to do that?" Pauline reminded her. Even when they visited one another at their colleges, there was the risk of a family friend getting word back home. "Can't wait to hear you really let loose, dear."

"Same with you," Florence said. "Now get me out of this stupid dress."

"It's not stupid, it's beautiful."

"That's because you're not wearing it." Florence then leaned down and kissed Pauline's left breast, signaling that the time for talking was over. Pauline shivered with pleasure and sighed quiet nothings, then found the clasp of Florence's dress and undid it, and lost no time also undoing her bra. "Thank you!" Florence whispered, and she shrugged both garments off. Pauline followed suit with her dress, which had bunched up around her waist.

Both of them down to their panties, they stole a moment to admire one another, and then burst into gentle laughter. "Remember the first time we did this?" Florence whispered.

"I'll never forget it!" Pauline said. "Come here!" She put one arm tight around Florence and kissed her hard on the mouth, and slipped her free hand inside Florence's panties. A few light frolics through her bush had Florence breathing hard and barely keeping quiet. Pauline almost felt cruel, until she felt her own panties being pulled gently down and knew she was in for the same.

As usual, Florence's magical fingers on her vulva had Pauline utterly whipped up. She danced an impromptu jig to let out the frustration at not being able to make any noise. This made Florence laugh (also quietly, of course), until Pauline regained enough control to reach two fingers inside Florence.

"Nghhhhh!" Florence gritted her teeth and grabbed onto Pauline's shoulder with her free hand, barely keeping her pleasure under wraps. "Feels so good!" she whispered. Pauline still hadn't actually removed her panties, so Florence reached down and pushed them down herself.

Then she responded in kind to Pauline, also with two fingers. Pauline opened her mouth as if to screech with joy, but only exhaled hard and gazed into Florence's eyes, which were looking just as intensely back at her. Their lips met in a long, intense kiss, while both their fingers continued working one another into a wonderful froth down below. With their lips pressed together, it felt a bit safer to voice their pleasure, and both of them did. The vibration of their own moans made them laugh lightly, but they remained locked together.

Florence pulled back suddenly and whispered in Pauline's ear, "About to come!"

"Wait for me!" Pauline replied, and she slowed her stroking while she felt Florence pick up the pace, and also rub her clit with her thumb. That brought Pauline right to the brink faster than she'd seen coming, and she once again opened her mouth and barely kept quiet. She also resumed rubbing faster, and brought Florence off just seconds behind her. They embraced as the delicious moment lingered, Florence nibbling Pauline's neck while Pauline flicked at Florence's earlobe and whispered, "I love you so much!"

"Oh, Pauline, I love you too!"

At last they pulled apart, and enjoyed their first uninhibited look at one another's body in far too long. Pauline's gaze lingered on Florence's bush, slightly bigger and thicker than her own, which had for years inspired envy or lust or both at once, while Florence admired Pauline's nipples, big and embarrassingly hard to hide when she was aroused, as she certainly was now.

When their eyes finally met, they both burst into quiet giggles. "Remember our cover story?" Florence asked. "In case we ever got caught?"

"Just proving to each other that we were pure!" Pauline whispered with a nod and a grin. "Honest, Mr. Barton, I just wanted to make sure your daughter was a virgin, and she insisted on checking me too! We aren't doing a very good job, are we?"

"Not nearly bad enough," Florence declared. "Go lie down."

"Are you sure we should do this, when we're so close to escaping?" Pauline asked, but she did lie back on the bed with her legs spread wide.

"Think of it as a kiss off to your father," Florence said.

Pauline was still shaking with quiet laughter when Florence settled herself between her thighs and gave her clit a hard, intense lick. Caught off guard, Pauline let out a yelp before she remembered to keep quiet. For a long moment they froze in place, Pauline grabbing at the sheets with her back arched and her legs gripping at Florence's head, Florence with her tongue in Pauline's vagina, the only sound coming from the record player, which Pauline noticed was on the last song. The air was thick with a mixture of lust and panic that they both knew all too well.

When Pauline was satisfied that no one was rushing down the hall to check on her, she relaxed her legs and rubbed Florence's head. Florence followed her lead and resumed flicking her tongue playfully, and also reached up to massage Pauline's breasts.

"Oh, oh, ohhhhh...." Pauline kept her voice at a whisper, but she just couldn't remain totally quiet. As Florence's tongue and fingers teased her relentlessly, Pauline closed her eyes and saw vivid swirls of every color. She also saw herself and Florence in their own room in San Francisco, and heard them both moaning uninhibitedly. As torturous as it was to stay quiet now, she felt a serene joy just imagining how close freedom was. Any lingering regrets about her family melted away as she felt Florence working her up to the edge. As it grew near, she rubbed Florence's head a little harder and whispered, "Do it to me, honey, make me come hard....unnghhhhh!"

Pauline gritted her teeth in delicious frustration -- she wanted so to make enough noise to wake up the neighbors! -- as Florence sucked harder and licked faster, and brought her cascading over the edge in a rush of utter joy. She hyperventilated loud enough for Florence to hear over the dying strains of the music. "Thank youuuu," she whispered.

Florence lifted her head just enough to see Pauline's face, which was still lost in a fog of pleasure. She pulled her hands back down over Pauline's belly and teased her pubic hair for the finale. "That never gets old," she whispered.

"Lucky you, you'll be welcome to it anytime you want from now on!" Pauline propped herself up on her elbows. "Now let me turn over the record and then it's your turn!"

Florence sat up to let Pauline off the bed, and Pauline pranced happily to the stereo and turned the record over. As she set the needle on side 2, she looked over to see Florence admiring her. Florence giggled a bit and spread her legs wide, so her big bush revealed its pink secret.

Pauline felt her mouth and her pussy watering at the beautiful sight as she returned to the bed. "Now let's see how quiet you can stay!" she teased as she climbed onto the bed.

"I don't knowwwoooooohhhhhhh!" Florence hissed as Pauline buried her face in her bush and reached her tongue as far inside as she could reach. "Oh yes!"

"You taste divine, dear," Pauline cooed, running her hands through Florence's bush just as she had just done to her own.

"If you like it so much, go back for more! Please!" Florence was as frustrated at the brief pleasure as she was at having to keep quiet through it. She welcomed more of the sweet torture, though, as Pauline did resume her licking and kissing.

She nearly had to bite her tongue to remain quiet as she felt Pauline's fingers teasing her vulva. "Put-em-in!" she gushed.

"Oh, I will," Pauline assured her. But she didn't right away, and Florence was left to writhe about and swallow her moans as Pauline rubbed around her pussy but not quite in it. Through the remainder of the song, she had to settle for Pauline's lush kisses, which did in any event feel amazing.

When at last Pauline slipped one finger inside her, Florence barely had the presence of mind to grab a pillow to cover her mouth. When Pauline slipped a second finger in and set about kissing her clit harder than before, Florence pressed the pillow hard against her face and let out a muffled roar. Pauline was a bit frightened, but she threw caution to the wind and went on stroking and kissing.

Now that the ice was broken and they still weren't disturbed, Florence kept the pillow against her mouth and let loose with all manner of encouragement. "Do it! Faster! Make me feel it!" It all came out as little more than a series of muffled grunts, but Pauline loved every bit of it and welcomed the danger as she brought Florence off to the most intense orgasm she'd ever witnessed. She only wished she could have looked in Florence's eyes, but the view of her body twitching and going slack as the orgasm washed over her was nice enough.

When Florence's writhing stopped, Pauline drew back and gazed up at her. At last Florence pulled the pillow away. "Hate to think what I'd have done without that," she whispered. She held up her arms. "Pauline, come here!" An order rather than a request, and Pauline didn't dare disobey.

They snuggled and kissed quietly through the rest of the record, each caressing the other's breasts now and again. When the record ended, Florence broke the silence. "The little kids are probably asleep now."

"Probably Pete and Amanda have made their escape too," Pauline said. But they could both still hear hints of their parents' conversation from downstairs. She got up and removed the towel from under the door. "Easier to hear when they do come upstairs," she said.

"Then how long do you think we should wait?"

"At least another hour." Pauline climbed back onto the bed. "In fact, maybe we ought to get some sleep, especially if we want to get a long way away by tomorrow night.

"I've got my pajamas in my overnight bag," Florence said.

"Let's not wear them," Pauline said. "I'm enjoying this way too much!" She leaned over and kissed both of Florence's breasts in turn. "Just take my bathrobe to go brush your teeth and pee, and I'll go after you're done."

Florence laughed as she got up. "What will we tell them if anybody sees us both in the same robe?"

"They won't want to know," Pauline joked, and then reasoned she probably was right.

While Florence was out, Pauline set her alarm clock for 1:30 AM and set it on the very edge of the bedside table. There was no way to be sure it wouldn't wake anyone else up; that was just a risk they would have to take.

Florence made it back to the room undetected, and handed the robe over to Pauline. As she took her turn down the dark hallway, she heard her mother saying good night to the Bartons downstairs. "Happy Valentine's Day, kids! Sandy, tomorrow morning?"

Pauline stopped to listen. What about tomorrow morning?

"I'll be here at nine," Sandy said. "Let's make waffles, that's Florence's favorite, and ease them into the talk?"

"Perfect," Mother said. "Just think of us crying at their weddings, it'll be worth it."

Pauline had heard enough, and hurried off to the bathroom. She couldn't help but imagine both their mothers would be crying rather sooner than they thought. She hated the thought, but not as much as she hated the prospect of a lifetime of pretending to be something she wasn't and never would be.

She made it back to her room to the sound of what she assumed was her parents tidying up the living room before they came upstairs, and she turned out the light as soon as she'd shut the door behind her.

"Anyone see you?" asked Florence from the bed.

"Nope." Pauline thought about telling Florence what she'd heard as she hung up the bathrobe, but decided it would be easier on them both if she kept that to herself. She also thought about packing the robe in her suitcase, but just as quickly decided she preferred the idea of neither of them wearing anything to the bathroom and back in their new apartment and their new life. That lovely thought made her smile, but Florence couldn't see that in the dark as Pauline climbed into bed beside her and took her in her arms.

"Mmm, skin on skin," Florence said. "I might never wear pajamas again."

"Can I have that in writing?" Pauline replied.

Florence laughed and tightened her arm around Pauline, but neither of them said another word as they waited for their fleeting sleep.

The buzz of Pauline's alarm clock seemed to be about a thousand decibels, just as she had feared. But she was able to disentangle herself from Florence and hit the snooze button, and once the silence was restored she remembered to turn the switch off in back. They both lay silent for a long minute, ears peeled for any sign that anyone else in the house had stirred.