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Stephanie's breathing filled the quiet room. Cass lay awake listening to it, to its soft and steady rhythm, almost but not quite in time with her own heart. She rolled over and looked down at the bottom bunk.
She was there. Her chest was rising, and she was there.
Cass rolled back over, closing her eyes. Stephanie was there. The Lazarus serum had worked— Stephanie was alive again, and she'd shown no side effects yet. There was nothing to be afraid of. She was not going away.
Outside, crickets chirped. A brisk wind blew in from the crack in the window. Cass flung off her blanket, knowing she wasn't getting any sleep tonight.
She gave herself another look down.
Stephanie's hair spilled across her pillow, glittered with moonlight and the soft orange glow of the lava lamp. Her blanket was askew, trailing onto the floor. One of her fists was clenched. Bad dream? Stephanie had those, sometimes.
Cass did, too. But not as much since she'd started living with Stephanie.
"Mm." Stephanie's eyes cracked open. "...Cass?"
"Sorry. Didn't mean to wake you."
"It's fine," she said, yawning. "It's always hard for me to sleep after being kidnapped, especially by a loser like my dad. What are you doing up?"
"Not tired."
Stephanie hummed. "Well, neither am I, now. It's one of those nights, huh? The moon sure is bright out there."
It was. Just like Stephanie.
"Feeling okay?"
"Peachy." Stephanie grinned up at her. "C'mon, Cassie, I told you I'm fine."
"Barbara said it could have.... delayed side effects."
"Babs worries too much, and so do you. I was dead for five seconds max. And then you saved me."
"You saved me first."
"What, when I took the rap for you eating all the ice cream in the manor? You know that's not what I'm talking about."
That wasn't what Cass was talking about, either. But she didn't have the words to explain it. To explain how every time she'd been drowning, Stephanie had pulled her out of the water. Had led her to the light.
"Stephanie," Cass said. "Your..."
"Hm?"
"Your letter."
Stephanie blinked. "What about my letter?"
"You wrote that... you love me."
"Oh." She turned to the window, her face disappearing from view. Cass could still read the uncertainty in the shape of her shoulders, the lines of her cheek. "I thought I was gonna die, so—yeah. I did mean it though. I do."
"Good."
"Good?" Stephanie huffed a laugh. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means I love you too."
Stephanie turned back around, eyes wide in the darkness. "Wow. That—is good."
Cass leaned farther out, hanging over the bunk with her head upside down. Stephanie sat up until they were face-to-face—sort of.
"You're going to get dizzy," Stephanie said.
"I don't get dizzy."
"Of course you don't, Spookygirl." She smiled. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Yes."
"When I wrote that letter, I—I didn't really think I'd have to talk to you about it. So, um. When I said 'love', I meant—well, what did you mean, when you said you love me too?"
"There's more than one meaning?"
"There's tons. There's love like, I love being your best friend! And then there's love, like, you mean the world to me. And there's also love that means I want to kiss you, and hold you, and... yeah. All kinds of love."
"Yes."
"Yes? To which one?"
"All kinds."
Stephanie flushed. "Oh. Well... good."
Then her hands came to rest on Cass' cheeks, and Cass maybe, possibly, felt just a little bit dizzy.
"Y'know," Stephanie said, leaning so close Cass could feel her breath against her skin, "I think I've loved you for a long time. You were always so out of my league, though. Still are."
"Out of your league?"
"Too cool for me. Too beautiful." Stephanie's gaze went to Cass' lips. "I've never once beaten you at anything, have I?"
"Nope. And you won't now. I've loved you longer."
"Okay, no way. I've loved you since—since you gave me Batgirl. Remember? When we were taking down those bad guys, I could tell you trusted me to watch your back, and then you trusted me with your identity. Nobody else trusts me like that, Cass. Nobody but you."
"Well, I loved you since... before that. Before..." Before the gang war. Before she'd watched Stephanie leave her, screaming her name as she vanished from sight. Before the funeral, touching the wood of the coffin, wondering if Stephanie had taken all of the words in the world with her.
"Cass?" Stephanie's thumb brushed against Cass' cheek. "You're... crying."
"Sorry. I just..." She swallowed. "Yesterday, when you—when you fell. It scared me."
"Oh, Cass." Stephanie bumped their noses together. "I'm here, okay? I'm not going anywhere."
"Promise?"
"Promise.
Cass exhaled. "Okay. Now kiss me. I know you want to."
"Hey—!" Stephanie turned an even deeper red. But she did it anyway—slowly, at first, leaning in until their lips were just touching. Then a little harder, but not by much; just enough to melt the rest of the world away.
They drew apart, panting. A laugh bubbled up Cass' chest.
"You're even a better kisser than me," Stephanie said, laughing too.
"Not better," Cass said. "Tied."
She grinned. "I'll accept that."
Cass drew herself back onto the top bunk, then did two flips off the railing and landed on the ground. Stephanie clapped.
"Very nice," she said.
Cass jumped onto the bed next to Stephanie, pulling her down. She wrapped her arms around her and buried her face in Stephanie's hair.
"Batgirl," Cass said, because it was the only word that could mean all that she wanted it to mean.
Stephanie hugged Cass back, pressing herself into Cass' chest. "Batgirl. I love you. God, I love you."
They stayed like that until the sun came up. Stephanie fell asleep right before dawn, the sky tinting a feather-light pink. Cass stayed awake because she could. She took as many looks at Stephanie as she wanted to, because she could.
In the morning things would be different. They might come up with a word for what they were now, and that word would change things. But change was good—one of the best things in the world. Anyone could change, and anyone could change you.
The birds were chirping, the sun was rising, and Stephanie was here. There was nothing to be afraid of.