“Are you sure that's the last of it?” I asked as the moving pony placed Vinyl’s bedside table on the floor. He grunted in frustration and rolled his eyes at me.

“Yes, lady, I told you. That’s all there was.There wasn't a whole lotta furniture beneath all that trash.” He answered. I thanked him, paid him and watched as he left.

Was Vinyl really living in such bare bones conditions? When we organized for the moving ponies to come pick up her furniture, I expected at least a fridge, but Vinyl had seemingly been living completely off non refrigerated food. No wonder she always so strongly insisted that we be at my house when we were together, or that we either eat out or eat at mine. We were definitely going to have a talk when she got home.

Gosh, the last month had passed so quickly. Yes, my decision to ask Vinyl to live with me was sudden and brash, but turns out moving house is anything but sudden. While we organized paperwork, change of address details, so on so forth, Vinyl and I had been able to spend plenty of time together properly getting to know each other. I learned her interests, and I shared mine with her. Sometimes, I found what she did boring to me, but other things were very similar to my own interests, particularly those relating to music.

Vinyl’s taste in music was… weird. Not bad weird, just very much not what I usually listen to. I guess that's the best way to explain it. Her tastes were, as I expected, mostly in electronic music, but the array of genres she listened to was much wider. She listened to everything from deep house to ambient electro. I quite enjoyed the ambient style music, but dance music I found hard to get into now that I wasn't drunk at the bar.

As I was lost in my work, moving things around the house and figuring out where Vinyl’s paltry share of the furniture should go, I heard a quiet click as the door shut behind me. I turned around and smiled, quickly switching to a frown. I had expected Vinyl by now, but instead, a mare with a fiery orange mane and a pale blue coat stood before me.

“M-may I help you, miss?” I asked the mare.

“Oh, hey! Sorry, Vinyl told me to just come in, said she'd be here when I arrived.”

“No, she's not back yet. Sorry, you know Vinyl?”

“Yep! I'm her sister, Spin Top.”

I froze, memories of my many conversations with Vinyl about her family coming to mind. Was her sister as close minded as her parents were? I offered my most friendly smile and extended a hoof.

“Charmed to meet you. I am Octavia, a… friend of Vinyl’s.”

“Ah, so you're this marefriend I've heard so much about. She wasn't kidding, you really do look fancy.”

I was taken aback a little.

“Y-you know about us?”

“Yep! She talks so much about you that you might as well be married already.” Spin Top said with a laugh to her voice. Well, she's not screaming at me, and Vinyl was the one to tell her, so she must be cool with it.

“Well, I'm glad to meet you too. I'm surprised that Vinyl hadn't mentioned you yet.”

“Hard to get a word in with a tongue down your throat, huh?”

“Wh-what!?”

“Hey, hey, relax, Octavia. Just messin’ with ya.”

“Y-yes, um… w-would you like something to drink? Tea perhaps?”

“Coffee would be great, thanks a bunch.”

-

After I had finished brewing Spin Top’s drink, I brought it out to her and we sat down on the couch together. She glanced around the room a bit, sipping her coffee as she took in her surroundings.

“Damn, girl. You got a nice pad.”

“Pad?”

“Home. Your home is sweet.”

“Oh, thank you. It's quaint enough to suit my purposes, and hopefully, Vinyl’s too.”

“If she's still living above The Rocking Horse, you bet it will be.”

“Excuse me?”

“That's where she lives. Or, I guess, used to live, now that she's moving in with a cute mare.”

I blushed slightly but still pressed the matter.

“You mean to say that she was living in an apartment above that night club?”

“Uh, yes...? Did Vinyl not tell you?”

“No, never! If I knew, I would have…”

“Done what?” Spin Top said, leaning back in her seat. “If she told me right, you two started planning to move in literally the night of your first date. There wasn't anything more you could have done, and you're already making Vinyl happier than I've ever seen her, so don't stress about it. I offered her a place to stay, but she said that she liked it. I guess she found something better.”

“Well, I guess you're right about that. Th-the not being able to help more thing. I really… make her that happy?”

“You kidding me, girl? She meets with me twice a week for lunch and hadn't talked about anything but you. Her face lights up when she talks about you, heck, all those times I had to snap her out of daydreams, she was probably thinking of you too.”

I flinched as a panicked grunt came from across the room. Vinyl had walked in while we were talking and had caught the end of our conversation, her eyes now angrily focused on her sister.

“Hey, don't blame me that you're so infatuated with her that you can hardly think of anything different.”

Vinyl rolled her eyes in defeat and walked over to us. She took a seat next to me and pulled out her notepad, eyes focusing on the page as she wrote a message for us.

I see you two have met? Hopefully she hasn't told too many embarrassing things about me or I'll have to mention what happened at our family vacation last year.

I could almost hear a gulp as Spin Top’s eyes glanced over that.

Regardless, thanks for dealing with the moving ponies while I was out. Had to talk to my old landlord.

“Your old landlord, huh? You mean the owner of The Rocking Horse?”

Vinyl blinked and stared at me. She shot an angry glance at a very guilty looking Spin Top before reaching for her pad again.

I… I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I've just been tight on money recently. Lost a bunch of my DJ gear a year back and had to move to somewhere… cheaper while I paid off my new stuff.

“It's quite alright, Vinyl.” I smiled warmly and placed a hoof on hers. “I don't care why, I'm just glad you don't have to live there anymore.”

She nuzzled me in thanks before shying away a little and blushing, remembering that her sister was still present.

“You weren't kidding, Vinyl. This one is a keeper.” She winked and gave me a playful nudge to the ribs before standing up from the couch. “Well, it was nice to meet you finally, Octavia. Vinyl, I left your old mixing board by the door. See you two lovebirds later!” She waved before stepping out the door and shutting it behind her.

“She seemed very nice. Surprised you didn't mention her before, she's quite welcoming and didn't seemed bothered at all by the fact you're dating another mare.”

Vinyl shrugged and took ahold of her pad.

Tops has never really been judgemental on that kind of stuff, so it honestly just slipped my mind. I came out to her last year and she was proud of me. We've been meeting up regularly ever since.

“Well, I'd love to meet your parents eventually. I know they might not approve, so I won't force you if you don't want to.”

Maybe eventually. Not for a while at least.

“That's perfectly fine. So, what did you want for dinner?”

Pizza.

“Thank goodness, I was worried you were going to say something that required effort.”

-

Dinner was nice and casual, giggles and laughter coming from me every once and awhile. I had gotten used to Vinyls strange breathy way of laughter. Her giggles were sometimes melodic and beautiful, but it was clear that laughing like that hurt her, so her laughs became more and more breathy, less harsh on her throat.

We both agreed that it was time to head to bed, and after disposing of our empty pizza boxes, we walked upstairs together and entered my room. Our room now, I reminded myself with a smile. Vinyl lay down on the bed and raised a hoof, allowing me to rest my head on her soft chest. I breathed a sigh of satisfaction and closed my eyes, happy to be in the presence of the mare that I loved.

My eyes shot open and I froze. Did I really just think that? I did. That specific word shone above all the others. Love. Did I really love Vinyl? I mean, I liked her, I really, really, really liked her, but love? My mind began to swim with thoughts, her reactions to affections, the way she wrote about our relationship in her messages, the way she looked at me, everything pointing without a doubt to the fact that she felt the same. But was what I was feeling really love?

Vinyl is nice. She looks very pretty, particularly without her glasses. She smiles whenever I'm around her and her smile fills me with an amazing warmth. The way she holds me, the way she kisses me, is laced with an incredible amount of raw passion that filled me with that same passion and warmth. I wanted to hold her in my hooves, tell her everything would be okay when she's sad or worried, tell her about my day, tell her my own worries, tell her that I loved her, tell her that-

…

Oh Celestia. I love Vinyl Scratch.

A soft nudge from Vinyl broke me from my thoughts and I gasped, lifting my head off her belly and looking her in the eyes. A look of worry and confusion crossed her face and her magic searched for her writing pad.

What's wrong, beautiful?

“N-Nothing! No, no, all is well!” I said, probably a bit louder than I had intended based on Vinyl’s expression.

You're a terrible liar, you know?

“Oh, Vinyl,” I laughed out nervously. “Don't you worry at all! I'm fine, r-really!”

She shot me a disbelieving stare and a raised eyebrow that broke through my facade.

“Fine, I'm sorry. I just… I don't know how to say this… Vinyl, what do you think of me? Of… us?”

What do you mean?

“What do I mean? Uh… I mean, what does it feel like. Us. This thing that we have.”

It feels pretty amazing. I think you're pretty amazing. I think we are very well suited for each other.

“What do you think about when you see our future?”

Honestly, I see us together. Unless you do something stupid, like cheat on me (which I have no doubt in my mind you will not do) then I see us living a very happy life together.

“Life? You want to live with me?”

Don't know if you realized, but I literally moved in, like, today. We are living together.

“Living together doesn't mean having a life together. You want to live with me for…” She stopped me with another note.

For as long as you'll have me, Tavi. I have a feeling that will be a very, very long time.

“Vinyl…” My eyes welled up a little from her words. She was so confident in what she wanted. She said that she wanted me, and she said that she wanted to live with me potentially forever, so did that mean she…

“Vinyl…” I breathed in, steeling myself for what I was about to say. “Do you love me? Because… I think I love you.” I closed my eyes shut and turned away from Vinyl, half expecting her to get up and shout at me, despite that being a technical impossibility. A soft touch of a hoof brought my face back toward her and I slowly opened my eyes. I was greeted by a vision of her white eyelids only a split second before her soft lips touched mine. Her passion was almost exploding from the kiss. Her touch so tender that it could lull me to sleep if it weren't for how intense this kiss was. I was only broken from my trance when I tasted something salty hit my lips.

I opened my eyes and gasped as Vinyl looked at me. There was a shaky smile on her face, tears streaming from her eyes. I stared at her beautiful eyes, my own beginning to fill with tears. She looked to her side and pulled out her notepad again.

Yes, Octavia. I love you. I love you I love you I love you I love you

The words became more and more frantic and messy toward the end and she threw down the pad, pulling me into a tight embrace. She pecked my face over and over, leaving tiny wet marks as she covered me entirely in affection.

“Heheh, Vinyl!” I giggled uncontrollably, her rapid kisses leaving me in hysterics. “Stoooop!”

She did not stop.

Author's Notes:

Aaaaand I'm back. I'm still busy, so progress on all my stories will be slow, but I haven't given up on any of them.