Around a curve, we pass a semi-truck going the opposite way, and my heart jumps as I struggle to keep my SUV centered in the lane while going double the speed limit.

“I can’t believe my grandma let us watch a Stephen King movie that night,” Suki says.

“It was fun, though.”

“So fun.”

She’s probably remembering the movie for different reasons than me. If I’m honest with myself, that night was definitely my queer awakening, and I wouldn’t have said no if she’d leaned in to kiss me.

Prom was coming, so we decided to watch Carrie. We ended up clutching each other under a blanket, and I’ll never forget the butterflies inside me as I rested my head on Suki’s shoulder and held her hand, pretending to be more scared than I actually was. I remember the feel of her warm body against mine, her soft skin and hair, the sweet smell of her.

Then, when it was time to sleep, her grandma only had one guest bed. We cuddled under the guise of being scared after the movie, but for me, it was more than that. I remember playfully kissing her nose, and she laughed and blushed. We fell asleep in each other’s arms.

We never talked about it, and I never found out what her feelings were that night—whether she was cuddling because she wanted to touch, or if she was just being a friend. Neither of us has ever dated anyone, and we’ve never talked about crushes.

“Remember we ate her entire tin of cookies?” Suki says, pulling me from my thoughts.

I moan. “I still dream about her chocolate chip cookies. Tell me you have the recipe.”

“I do. I promise I’ll make ten batches if we—”

Behind us, in the distance, a semi-truck lays on its horn.

We both gasp.

Suki peers out the back window, looking like she might vomit.

If that horn was the semi-truck we passed moments ago, then there is a real possibility that the motorbikes are catching up, and they just nearly slammed into the semi while passing the cars behind us.

I accelerate, on the edge of losing control of my vehicle.

Rain beats hard on the roof. The windshield wipers scrape.

“Do you think they’ll kill us?” Suki says quietly.

“Fuck,” I say, the word bursting from my lips. I take a hand off the wheel to reach over and lace our fingers together. “I won’t let that happen, okay?”

Suki squeezes back, breathing deeply, like she’s on the brink of breaking down.

I curse under my breath.

I want to make this situation better. Seeing her like this, everything inside me is spiraling. It’s hard to breathe. I could be about to lose everything that makes me happy.

“I have to tell you something,” I say, the words spilling out. I’ve spent too long not knowing, and I don’t want to die without saying it.

“What?” Her voice is high with emotion.

“If we… If something does happen to us…” My mouth is dry. It’s hard to get the words past my lips. “I want you to know that I love you.”

“I love you, too, Thea. You know that.”

“No—” I shake my head, putting both hands back on the wheel. My heart is ready to burst out of my chest. “I’m in love with you, Suki. Like, your smile is my favorite thing in the world, and I miss you whenever I’m not with you, and my heart feels like it’s literally expanding every time I look at you.”

Suki falls quiet.

Regret bubbles inside me. I shouldn’t have admitted that. I don’t know what I was thinking, and I don’t know what I expect her to say. This isn’t the right moment to confess my feelings.

“You don’t have to say anything,” I say, heat rising in my face. “I just wanted to tell—”

“I love you too,” she says, voice thick.

I glance at her, stunned. “You do?”

Her eyes are watery. She swipes a hand across her cheek and nods, smiling. “You’re the best thing in my life and the only person I want to be with.”

I choke out a laugh, my insides doing backflips. “Then we sure as hell better get out of this alive, and remind me to kiss you when it’s all over.”

She laughs too, and the sound gives me the energy I need to keep driving.

I bite my lip, torn between smiling and crying. Why did it have to take this possible-death experience for me to admit my feelings? I should have told her months ago. Years ago.

I drive faster. For Suki, and for any future she and I might have, I need to get us away from these guys.

We’re about to pass a service road leading into a forested area when Suki shrieks for me to turn down it.

“Go off-road. Turn off the car when we’re in the bush. We’ve got the advantage of four-wheel drive.”

I do it, wishing we were close to a busy supermarket instead. But hiding in the woods is better than driving aimlessly in a place I’m unfamiliar with.

We bump over the gravel road, my insides sloshing with every pothole. When I turn off the car and headlights, the world beyond the windows is pitch black, the forest blocking out the twilight.

The interior lights are still on. Suki and I look at each other across the bench seat, panting, terror hanging thick in the air between us.

She reaches up and turns the interior light off, plunging us into blackness.

I lean against the headrest, catching my breath. Sweat prickles under my shirt.

Absolute darkness and silence engulf us.

In the distance, the sound of motorcycles draws nearer.

“Fuck,” Suki says, voice cracking.

“It’s okay. It’ll be okay,” I say, trying to convince myself just as much.

Her seatbelt clicks, and the leather groans as she slides closer. Her fingers close over mine and she leans against me, her soft hair tickling my neck.

As I squeeze her hand, the motorcycles grow louder.

Louder.

We might have seconds left before they find us, and we’re trapped in the woods, totally vulnerable. They could shoot us both, take the journal, and leave, and it would take days or weeks for anyone to find our bodies.

I angle my face toward Suki, eyes closed, focusing on the feel of her breath against my face, her fingers entwined in mine, her head resting on my shoulder.

And then—

Part 3 coming tomorrow! Read the full story right now on “Sweet & Spicy Sapphic Stories” at patreon.com/tianawarner. Plus you’ll get early access to next week’s story.