"Hold on to me," whispered Stevie in Xenja's ear, after they rushed around the corner to their favorite spot at the windowsill. The other sounds around the girls seemed to fade out while Stevie listened to Xenja's calm breathing. The pianist had positioned her hand on Stevie knee which sent a shiver down her spine.

Following the night, the girls became inseparable, both at school and outside, even though their relationship had to stay a secret. While the bullying at school had gotten better - they just hid together on some windowsill at the end of the hallway to eat their lunch together - being out of the closet at school seemed like it would cause several problems and unwanted attention.

But as they were both girls, they could just be around each other at all times without raising suspicion, did hanging out together and holding hands while walking not differ too much from the behavior of other girls around them. They even tried to copy surrounding groups of female friends in the beginning, not knowing what they could and shouldn't do with others around them. So they hung out as friends seemed to do - like watching movies at the cinema, visiting the aquarium, or just going out for food - no one knowing that those were in fact dates.

Much to Stevie's dislike, Xenja was still the one paying for most of their dates. Stevie did not have a lot of money on her, even if she stopped spending it on makeup and her tan, so she only got to treat Xenja once every other week. Nonetheless, having some pocket money to spend on Xenja felt better than spending everything on her appearance, which was a new but pleasant realization.

It was late one evening on Saturday when the two girls got to Xenja's apartment after being out at the cinema for three hours. The staircase of the building was empty, dead silent and people sleeping, as the two girls in love couldn't keep their hands off each other. Stevie kept pulling Xenja closer to her, while the disciplined pianist tried to hold her girlfriend of just a little bit longer.

They spent the whole Saturday in public - which was way more comfortable now that the were together - and had to keep up the good friends act for so long. Sneaking in a kiss when no one was watching wasn't enough and now things were heating up before even getting home.

The door of the apartment barely shut closed when the girls were already hanging around each other's necks, messily pulling their clothes off.

"Be careful-" Stevie began before Xenja closed her mouth shut with her own. With nothing but the girl in her arms on her mind, Xenja didn't even consider that her mother might not have gone out tonight after all, would it not have been the first time that she changed her plans at the last minute.

It was hard to tell who had the word shock written more clearly across their face as a plate shattered on the kitchen floor. The mother - who had found her daughter half-naked kissing another girl - dropped the plate in surprise, only moments later yelling at the lover to leave and never come back.

It was hard to tell who had the word shock written more clearly across their face - the mother who found her daughter half-naked kissing another girl, the daughter jumping in surprise as the plate her mother was carrying shattered on the ground, or the lover after getting yelled at to leave and never come back by her girlfriend's parent.

"Out!" yelled Xenja's only close relative, "Get away from my daughter and don't you dare touch her again!"

The one person she had trusted enough to speak in front of was throwing the clothes that were still scattered on the floor in her lover's face.

Xenja went after Stevie who made a few defensive steps back in fear, wanting to hold her hand with tears on her face but was pulled back by her mother.

Refusing to leave, Stevie wanted to get closer, but Xenja's mother wasn't having it. Ripping the door open, the woman pulled the blonde by her wrist. The girl stumbled outside, letting out a few gasps, her girlfriend trying to follow. The last thing Stevie saw before the door locked was Xenja being pulled back by her hair, letting out a pained scream.

Stevie could hear a muffled voice and multiple sounds of hands slapping on naked skin from the inside, while she was trying with all her might to beat, kick, and scratch open the door in front of her. She clenched her fists while pulling the t-shirt over her head.

"I did everything for you after your stupid father and his family got themselves killed, and this is how you thank me?" Stevie listened to the woman yelling through the door, pressing her ear on the cold metal, wanting to get inside and help her lover. The yelling continued, "Are you so desperate for attention that you even sleep around with some slut?"

Xenja was still being audibly slapped again, so Stevie did the only thing she could think of and called the police. Neighbors in the apartments around them started taking notice of the commotion, and Stevie hurried to put the rest of her clothes back on when they started opening their doors.

Even with some of the strangers around her trying to help, the door wouldn't budge nor the beating stop. Only when the police finally arrived, the woman ended up opening the door and was taken away.