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Ally hummed as she climbed the steps of their tour bus, sated by her post-show dinner.Dinah and Normani had discovered a nice little restaurant close by, and suggested that they eat there after the show. Camila and Lauren opted to stay behind because they were exhausted from the night’s events, and just wanted to relax. Despite sharing Camila and Lauren’s feelings, Ally agreed to go out for dinner anyway.An hour into their meal, Ally was kind of regretting her choice. Her speech had become punctuated with one too many yawns, and she’d nearly gulped down a lit candle when she mistook it for her glass of water.Cradling her chin in her palm, Ally had tried to pay attention to whatever Normani was saying. But it appeared that she only had enough energy to focus on one thing at a time – either keeping her eyes open, or understanding the conversation.She had apparently chosen to keep her eyes open.Ally had zeroed in on Normani’s mouth, trying to make out what she was saying. Then she realised that she couldn’t lipread, and gave up with a sigh. She had hoped that the girl wasn’t saying anything important. Knowing Normani, it was probably just something about Beyoncé.Ally then decided to close her eyes for just one second, and before she knew it, the earth was falling from beneath her.Not literally, though.Her elbow had slipped, dropping her head from its perch, and jerking her from her micro-nap. Dinah noticed though, and promptly ushered her from the restaurant, telling her to get some rest. Ally argued half-heartedly, but the younger girl pinned her with a look and she dutifully followed her orders.Ally hadn’t really minded leaving; she had been finding it hard to smile when her frequent bouts of yawning made her teary-eyed. So she left Dinah and Normani to finish their food, and returned to the bus by herself.On the way, she passed a sushi place and decided she may as well grab Camila and Lauren something to eat.And that’s how she ended up where she was, climbing the steps of their tour bus with a bag of sushi in hand and a satisfyingly full stomach.She stepped onto the bus and gently closed the door behind her, unsure of whether Camila and Lauren had gone straight to sleep after she and Normani and Dinah had left for dinner. She tiptoed through the empty front lounge, between the bunks – all of which had their curtains wide open – and into the back lounge.It was empty too.Ally frowned confusedly. Perhaps Camila and Lauren had gone out for dinner after all?She looked down at the bag of sushi in her hand with a sigh. So much for being thoughtful.She heard a faint shuffling from the bunks, and peered over at them. Then she noticed the closed curtain of the bottom bunk closest to her – something that she’d overlooked because there wasn’t much lighting in that particular part of the bus.Ally stepped towards the bunk – Camila’s – with a bright smile, expecting to see the girl’s sleeping form. She was about to ask her where Lauren was, since all the other bunks were empty and she obviously wasn’t on the bus, but as soon as she pulled the curtain back, the question died on her lips.Ally could only stare.Camila was there, as expected. But so was Lauren. And they were both shirtless.The first thing she thought was, “There is no way that that is relaxing.”Her second thought was, “Oh my gosh!”Lauren was lying atop Camila, and the two girls were engaged in a heated lip lock. It appeared that they were too absorbed in each other to realise that they had company.Ally’s eyes unintentionally followed the curve of their bodies, but she quickly averted her gaze when she caught a glimpse of their hands in places that she really shouldn’t see.Someone seriously needed to clean the roof of the bus, she thought distractedly.Still staring upwards, Ally reached blindly for the curtain and hurriedly pulled it closed. She cleared her throat loudly and announced that she’d brought dinner. Then she retreated to the front lounge and dumped the bag of sushi on the kitchen bench.Collapsing onto the closest seat, she wondered if she could purify her eyes by dousing them in holy water. It would probably be less painful than the way her mind was tormenting her by putting the scene on replay.Camila and Lauren… together? Camila and Lauren, together?!Ally had always thought that they would make a cute couple, but seeing it in the flesh?(Entirely too much flesh, if she was being honest.)She didn’t know whether she was more surprised or horrified by what she’d seen.Lost in her thoughts, Ally jumped when Camila and Lauren emerged from the bunk area. With clothes on, she noted thankfully.Camila went straight for the bag of food, and only stopped to thank Ally when she had half a roll of sushi in her mouth. When Lauren retrieved her dinner from the bag, she sat down on the lounge and looked over at Ally with a smirk.“Thanks, Allycat. Love you.”***They didn’t talk about what she saw. Not that night, or the morning after, or any other day. Eventually, Ally was able to push the scene from her mind and continue on like she’d never witnessed her two band mates making out with each other.She was currently rushing around backstage trying to locate Tweedledum and Tweedledee.Dinah and Camila were late for glams – again – and Ally had unfortunately been assigned the task of finding them. Neither girl was answering her phone, and Ally was frustrated as heck.Ally had poked her head into every room that she passed, but she still hadn’t found the two missing girls. She eventually came to a hallway completely devoid of people. Assuming that it was a restricted area, she turned around and decided to backtrack through the rooms she’d already searched.Just as she was about to turn the corner and move away from the empty hall, Ally heard voices echoing from somewhere nearby.“Chancho, make sure you don’t get too much light from the window. I don’t wanna look all Casper-the-friendly-ghost, like Lauren.”“Relax, Cheechee. How long have I been your photographer for? I know how much light your skin needs to glow without being too pale.”Rolling her eyes, Ally marched back up the hall. Darn these girls and their impromptu photo shoots!She burst into the room that their conversation was echoing from, fully prepared to tell the girls off and remind them that they had a schedule for a reason.Suffice it to say, she was not at all prepared for the scene she walked in on.Dinah was standing by the window in the nude. Camila was kneeling in front of her, iPhone camera at the ready.Ally gaped. Dinah waggled her fingers in greeting. Camila turned around and smiled at their guest.“Oh, Ally, thank God you’re here! We could use a third opinion. Which is better: legs crossed, or a shoulder’s width apart?”Dinah modelled the poses as Camila spoke, adding, “Which one do you think Lauren would like more?”Ally spluttered. She averted her eyes from Dinah’s beautifully tan body and hurriedly backed out of the room. Suddenly remembering what she was actually there for, she called out to the two girls.“Ya’ll are late for glams!”Ally then tottered back down the hallway, determined to forget about the implications of the scene she’d just witnessed.***A few weeks after the nude photo shoot – which neither Camila nor Dinah brought up, thankfully – the girls were spending the night at a fancy hotel that their manager had somehow wrangled.It was late, and Ally was scampering down to the pool. The humidity was making her dizzy, and the air-conditioning in her hotel room was just giving her a headache.It was after hours, and she had never been the rebellious type, but Ally figured that a dip in the pool wouldn’t do any harm.She was wrong.Clumped together in the shallow end of the pool was three-fifths of Fifth Harmony. Ally stood at the pool gate, jaw hanging.Dinah was sitting on the half-submerged steps with Lauren in her lap, and they were kissing rather passionately. Camila was perched just behind Lauren, her mouth attached to the back of the green-eyed girl’s neck.The entrance to the pool area was right next to the shallow end, so Ally was watching the scene side-on, and she could see how closely the three girls were pressed up against each other.Dinah and Lauren were chest to chest, and Camila’s front was pressed right up against Lauren’s back. Ally doubted that she could slide a hand between their bodies, they were that close.Dinah’s mouth moved down to Lauren’s chest, and the girl began panting heavily. She turned her head to the side to grant Camila more access to the side of her neck, and that was when everything went south.Lauren locked eyes with Ally and the corners of her lips quirked.Ally squeaked when she was caught, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the scene.“Would you like to join us?” Lauren asked, her voice husky and low.Ally hastily declined the offer. “Whatever you girls are doing can stay between ya’ll.”Lauren gave a throaty laugh. Camila and Dinah were seemingly unfazed by Ally’s presence, and simply moved to kiss each other over Lauren’s shoulder.“I meant if you’d like to join us in the pool. To swim.” Lauren amended, an amused smile on her face. “Though I wouldn’t mind the other option, if you were up for it.”Ally blushed furiously, trying to ignore the way that Camila moaned when Dinah reached around Lauren and palmed her backside. She shook her head vehemently, deciding that a shower seemed like a better idea.“Suit yourself.” Lauren said with a shrug, turning back to the girls and continuing on like they’d never been interrupted.Ally concluded that a cold shower would be a much better idea.***Some time passed after the pool incident, and Ally was able to forget about the wandering hands and mouths that she’d witnessed.It was just another night in another hotel room. Or so she thought.She was absentmindedly talking to Normani – her roommate for the night – as she towelled her hair dry. Then she walked out of the bathroom and gasped.Her towel dropped to the floor with a soft thump.“Normani! Not you too!”Normani and Lauren were rolling around on her bed. Normani’s shirt was halfway off, and her shorts had been shucked across the room. She pulled away from Lauren’s lips with pinned Ally with a look.“What? Lauren’s hot. You would too – don’t deny it.”And then she went back to kissing Lauren – who was wearing only her underwear and a smirk – like it was no big deal.Ally was sort of glad that they had gone back to making out, because she didn’t want them to see her flush at the truth in Normani’s words.Instead, she scooped up her towel and stormed out of the room, muttering something about polygamous girl groups and teenagers who were far too attractive for their age.***Ally lay in another hotel bed, days later, trying to understand the events of the last few weeks.When had the girls become so grown up and so… sexual?She just couldn’t grasp the concept that they weren’t her little girls anymore.Their innocence hadn’t just worn thin – it had flown straight out the window.Ally was having difficulty not thinking about the way Camila’s ass looked when she wore high-waisted jeans. She tried to take no notice of how her cheeks heated up when Dinah’s chest heaved and she was wearing a top with a particularly low neckline. She was trying to ignore the insistent throbbing south of her stomach when Normani showed off her abs in a tight crop top, and stifled her groans when Lauren wore full-length dresses that clung to her every curve.Ally found it hard to refrain from openly admiring the girls’ bodies. She’d never really noticed how attractive they were. She’d always known that they were beautiful, of course. But she’d never thought of them as hot.Especially when they were all over each other, kissing and touching and moaning and groping…Ally shuddered at her impure thoughts. No amount of repentance could save her now.But what did it all mean? Did she really want to be a part of their… promiscuity?Ally sighed heavily. Taking part in their polygamous relations… it would be wrong of her, wouldn’t it?She didn’t get the chance to answer her own question. The door to her hotel room flew open and Lauren strutted in.Ally hurriedly sat up as Lauren dropped down on the bed, right beside her.The green-eyed girl spoke calmly, “I’m not going to sugarcoat this. I know you want in on our… shenanigans. So what’ll it be?”“I shouldn’t want this…” Ally trailed off, her gaze trained somewhere on the scratchy linen bedspread.Lauren reached out lifted Ally’s chin with a finger, her touch lingering a little too long to be friendly.“But you do,” Lauren said simply, locking eyes with her. “You want us, and we want you too.”“Won’t this change everything?” Ally asked in a quiet voice.Lauren shrugged. “Not if you don’t want it to. We didn’t let it. We’re the same as we always were, except, y’know… we touch each other sometimes.”Ally exhaled shakily.“I’ll ask one last time – do you want to do this?”Ally didn’t trust her voice to remain steady, so she just nodded. Lauren smiled softly. Her hands reached out to cup Ally’s face, and they both leaned in slowly.When their lips touched, Ally knew that she’d made the right decision.Her heart was beating a mile a minute, her lips were tingling with the taste of strawberry lip-gloss that wasn’t hers, and she was pretty sure that she’d stopped breathing about ten seconds into the kiss.But it felt so good. It felt so right.Ally wasn’t prepared for Lauren to pull away, and she impatiently chased Lauren’s lips with her own. Lauren turned her face away with a chuckle, and Ally pouted.“Lauren!” She whined. “I did not deal with these sinful thoughts for weeks just to get one measly kiss!”“All in due time, Allycat,” Lauren assured her, rubbing a thumb across her cheek affectionately. Then she called out, “Girls!”Dinah, Normani and Camila burst into the room. They eagerly piled onto the bed and Ally found herself tangled in limbs and cries of “finally!” and “thank the Lord!” and she couldn’t help the laughter that escaped her lips.How could something that felt so right ever be wrong?The caress of their hands was like the answer to a question she never asked, and their mouths tasted like home and felt a lot like love.The girls each took turns lovingly corrupting her, and Ally wouldn’t have had it any other way.
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“I’ve already complied to your request for three tubs of ice cream! We are not getting a fourth.”Ally pulled their shopping cart to a halt in the middle of the aisle and blindly opened a freezer door to discard the extra tub of ice cream. She closed the door with an air of finality, ignoring Camila’s pout.“But cookie dough is Lauren’s favourite flavour!” The bow-clad girl whined, pressing her nose up against the glass and scrabbling at it with feeble fingers.“I’m sure Lauren will appreciate the tub that I already agreed to,” Ally said, looking down at their shopping cart pointedly.Sure enough, there was a tub of cookie dough ice cream sitting in amongst the boxes of chicken nuggets and frozen pizzas.(Ally didn’t even want to buy those things – the girls were supposed to eat healthy so that they had the energy to keep up with their hectic schedule – but Camila had turned those puppy-dog eyes on her and it took less than half a second for her to cave. Having learned her lesson, Ally had determinedly avoided Camila’s gaze ever since.)Ally took hold of the shopping cart and pushed it forwards, leaving the younger girl to stare longingly at the abandoned tub of ice cream. She reached the end of the aisle without any further attempts at persuasion and grinned triumphantly.Suffice it to say, she was caught off guard by the words that were breathed into her ear not two seconds later.“If you let me get the extra tub, I’ll do the thing that you like. You know – the thing with my tongue?”And that was how Ally ended up with a guilty conscience and a shopping cart full of junk food.***In the shower later that night, Ally absently wondered if she could physically wash away the feeling of guilt, and somehow regain her status as the responsible adult of the group.How on earth did Camila manage to coax her into buying half a freezer’s worth of processed food?She shook her head. Never again, she told herself firmly.As the cool water cascaded down her body, she vowed to never let Camila join her on another grocery run. If the younger girls had their way all the time, Fifth Harmony would be living on a diet of deep-dish pizza, barbeque chicken wings and McDonald’s fries, and they wouldn’t have the energy to get through a single show.Too busy wallowing in her remorse, Ally failed to hear the bathroom door open. The freezing cold water made her immune to the slight breeze that came when the curtain was drawn away, so she was completely oblivious to the other person slipping into the shower.Until she heard a loud yelp from behind her, that is.“Oh my God! Allyson, why are you showering in the freaking arctic?”Ally turned around and regarded Camila’s nude body with a cool gaze. The girl was backed up against the far shower wall wearing only a horrified expression, clearly avoiding the chilly spray.“Cold showers are refreshing,” Ally shrugged nonchalantly, turning back around and fiddling with her loofah. She didn’t want Camila to see how affected she was by her naked presence.(She was embarrassed to admit that she was very much affected by Camila’s nudity; the warmth between her legs was accompanied by a wetness that definitely wasn’t from the shower. She was grateful that the water concealed her blatant desire.)Camila apparently decided to brave the cold though, because the next thing Ally knew, the loofah was plucked from her hands and a request was made to pass over the bodywash.Ally complied wordlessly. She sighed contentedly when the soapy loofah was drawn across her back, unconsciously leaning into Camila’s touch. She breathed in sharply and tensed when the almost burning warmth of Camila’s free hand rested on her hip to steady her.“Relax. I know you feel bad about letting me have my way with the groceries,” Camila said soothingly, dragging the loofah gently across her skin.Ally just hummed. She did feel bad, but the groceries were the furthest thing from her mind right now. She could barely hear the other girl over the pounding of her heart in her ears.“If you’ll let me…” Camila continued, running the loofah dangerously low down her back. “I’d like to make you feel good again. All you need to do is let me have my way with you.”It only took one nod. The loofah was tossed aside, the residual soap washed from her body, and Camila was on her knees. Ally gasped at the warmth emanating from the girl’s mouth as it trailed kisses across her heated flesh.Just like she promised at the grocery store, Camila did the thing with her tongue that made Ally whimper and reach down to tangle her fingers in the younger girl’s matted hair.Her confidence in her talent was completely justified, Ally thought absentmindedly, barely holding back a moan.It was all over in a matter of minutes. If Ally were capable of any higher thought processes, she would probably be embarrassed at how fast she came undone.“Lauren says thanks, by the way,” Camila said when Ally gently pried her head back due to oversensitivity. She began kissing her way up Ally’s stomach instead. “For the extra ice cream.”She straightened up completely and pressed her lips to the corner of the older girl’s mouth before stepping out of the shower.Ally felt boneless. She remained slumped against the tiled wall long after Camila left, trying to regain her strength. When she finally found the willpower to get out of the shower, she discovered that she was missing more than just her stamina.“Camila! You took my towel!”There was no reply, of course.So Ally was forced to tiptoe out of the bathroom, dripping wet and in the nude. She had hoped to reach the linen closet in the hall without getting caught, but she unexpectedly found herself under the scrutiny of four pairs of eyes. One pair in particular was twinkling with mirth.Ally gave the girls a bashful smile, attempting to cover as much as she could with her tiny hands. Normani shook her head, reaching out to gently grasp one of her wrists and prevent her from hiding away.Dinah wasn’t as gentle with her other wrist. She took it and promptly dragged her (and the other girls) to the nearest bedroom.The girls definitely didn’t mind the view, if the rest of the night was anything to go by. With their affectionate gazes and murmured compliments against her skin, Ally had never felt more beautiful.(She especially loved how Lauren took the time to trace the letters of the words ‘cookie dough ice cream’ with her tongue – in upper and lower case.)***Lauren was right when she said that things wouldn’t change – not if they didn’t let them, anyway. The girls’ relationships with each other were the same as they always were – aside from the fact that they kissed and stuff sometimes.(Sometimes was putting it mildly. It was a lot of the time, actually. Ally had tried keeping a tally of their extra-curricular activities, but she soon discovered that the girls’ mouths were really good at making her forget everything.)Things were all well and good. Until all these boys came into the picture.First it was Austin. Then along came Thomas. And now there was Bradley.Ally had had the decency to break up with her own boyfriend when she’d started messing around with the girls; she didn’t want to deal with the repercussions of being a cheater. The breakup wasn’t too traumatising – she and Troy had already been buckling under the pressure of being in a long distance relationship. Fooling around with the girls was just another incentive to call things off.She didn’t stop to think about any other repercussions of being in a polygamous relationship with her band mates. Not the emotional ones, at least.Ally had grown extremely attached to the girls.She’d been playing the multifaceted role of mother/sister/best friend ever since their group was formed. But now she was adding the title ‘sort-of-girlfriend’ to her list, and things were getting a little more complicated.When Camila, Normani and Lauren began parading their hormone-laden teenagers around, Ally became frustrated as heck. Jealousy could really do things to a girl.She was venting her feelings to Dinah, who had leant a sympathetic ear and offered to cuddle with her in bed. Ally figured that talking to her (rather than the other girls) was best – Dinah had recently broken up with her boyfriend and was currently only involved with the girls, just like Ally herself.They were lying with Ally’s back to Dinah’s front.(Ally had once requested that she be the big spoon, but Dinah merely laughed at her and dismissed the idea. She followed the younger girl around for a week, begging that they try the position just once. Dinah caved eventually. She let Ally slip into her bed and begrudgingly allowed her to be the big spoon.The position was awkward at best – Ally couldn’t breathe through Dinah’s mane of hair, and Dinah felt like she was being bear hugged by one of her younger siblings. They reverted back to their natural position without a word, and Ally never questioned their sleeping arrangement again.)During a lull in Ally’s emotional confession, Dinah shifted so that her chin fit into the space between the older girl’s shoulder and neck. Ally smiled, reaching back to rub Dinah’s hip lovingly.“I’m sorry about dumping this all on you,” Ally apologised, softly nudging the girl’s head back so she could turn around and face her. “I know you probably have better things to do.”Even through the darkness, Ally could see Dinah’s disgruntled expression.“You know I would drop everything to come to your aid. Don’t ever think you’re not important to me.”Ally nodded sheepishly, knowing Dinah could feel the movement. She closed her eyes when she felt the girl sigh and press a tender kiss to her forehead.“Have you thought about just telling them?” Dinah asked, barely pulling her lips back from the kiss. Ally could feel her warm breath playing across her skin.Ally was unsure about taking that step. “I don’t know, Dinah… It’s not like we ever defined the boundaries of our ‘relationship’. I don’t know if I’m allowed to do that – I don’t know what the rules are anymore. And I don’t want to change the dynamics or make things awkward by introducing my feelings.”“I’m sorry that we didn’t ‘define the boundaries’ or whatever. And the only rule we ever had was that there were no rules,” Dinah said apologetically. She shifted so that their foreheads were touching, and wrapped an arm around the older girl’s waist.Dinah began rubbing circles into Ally’s lower back with her thumb, and continued on. “I can’t speak for the others, but I can tell you one thing for sure – I’m all yours. There’s no one else for me but you and the girls.”There was no light in the room, so Ally couldn’t see the way that Dinah’s gaze was trained on her, but the sudden weightlessness of her body made her certain she could feel it.Ally willingly melted into the loving kisses that followed her confession, sinking further into Dinah’s embrace.With gentle caresses and a prowess that belied her age, Dinah helped Ally to forget her worries. It wasn’t a permanent fix, but Ally was grateful nonetheless.***Unfortunately, Dinah’s reprieve only lasted the night.The girls were in the studio the next morning, and Normani decided to embark on what felt like an eon-long spiel about her new boy, Thomas.No rules, Ally reminded herself. Our arrangement has no rules. We can do who we want when we want. Normani is allowed to see other people. It’s totally fine.But it wasn’t fine at all.Dinah saw the distress that Ally desperately tried to hide, so she cringed good-naturedly at Normani’s speech, saying something about not wanting to hear those kinds of things about her cousin (yes, Thomas was Dinah’s cousin – as if things couldn’t get any more twisted in their little love affair).Normani giggled and continued on, like Dinah was just being funny.Dinah sent Ally an apologetic look afterwards, but the older girl waved her off with a smile.You’re tied together with a smile but you’re coming undone, sang a little voice in her ear. It sounded like Camila.Ally decided to ignore it. What else could she do in her situation? Just lash out and stake her claim over the girl?Pffft. As if. There was no way in the world…(But her body apparently thought otherwise.)The sound engineers and producers had vacated the building for lunch, leaving the five girls on their own for an hour or so. Camila, Lauren and Dinah decided to relocate somewhere outside, citing the sunshine and cloudless skies as a more pleasant environment than the dark walls of the studio.Having just watched Normani kill it during a solo recording session, Ally was on edge. The girl was still in the booth, going over her runs and trying to perfect them before the sound guys returned.Ally ogled Normani unabashedly through the window between the booth and the control room. She eyed the toned stomach that peeked out between Normani’s shirt and jeans, noting every movement of her muscles as she sang.She felt like marching into the booth and taking Normani then and there.So she did.Normani had just enough time to register the tiny tornado that burst into the booth before she was pressed up against the wall and Ally completely assaulted her senses.Ally’s fingers slid deftly beneath Normani’s shirt to stroke the muscles of her abdomen, which rippled at the sensation. She swallowed Normani’s moans with hungry kisses, barely allowing the girl to breathe. Normani could only respond by gripping handfuls of Ally’s shirt and drawing the girl impossibly close.“Mine,” Ally growled – actually legitimately growled – in between harsh bites and soothing licks against Normani’s neck. “You’re mine.”Normani groaned her assent, too stupefied by Ally’s ministrations to say anything else. Ally painted her victory, all teeth and tongue, sharp and unyielding against Normani’s soft mouth.***Ally was left panting into the skin of Normani’s neck, her jealousy-fuelled need sated (if only temporarily).“I just wanna say you’re mine, you’re mine,” Normani sang teasingly into her ear. “Fuck what you heard, you’re mine, you’re mine.”Ally blushed furiously, burying her face further into Normani’s neck. “Shut up.”Unbeknownst to the two girls, the sound engineers had left the microphone on in the booth, and every noise they made could be heard in the control room.Luckily for them, none of the staff returned during their spontaneous ‘session’. But that didn’t mean that no one heard them – in fact, three pairs of ears were attentively tuned into their actions.“That was one hell of a recording session. When do I get to do something like that?”Lauren’s comment filtered through the speakers in the booth, and was accompanied by a muffled laugh from Dinah. Normani and Ally turned their mortified expressions towards the window, where Camila was waving at them cheerfully.***Ally’s actions in the recording booth didn’t go without questioning. Thankfully, the girls had enough sense to save their queries for when they returned to the apartment that they were renting in order to stay close to the studio.“I can’t deny that the possessive thing was super hot, but what was the reason behind it?” Normani asked, pulling Ally down to sit beside her on the bed.Camila and Lauren whispered to themselves as they lounged on the floor before them, and Dinah was perched on a chair in the corner of the room, absorbed in her phone. They pretended to not listen – to ease the pressure of the situation – but they were being blindingly obvious. Ally appreciated their efforts nonetheless.Still, she hesitated before answering Normani’s question. Was she really ready for this? Was she ready for the possibility that things could change, and maybe not for the better?Normani was incredibly patient, not even prompting her when the silence stretched longer than she was comfortable with. She waited until Ally had geared herself up to talk, tracing comforting patterns onto her back all the while.“I’m yours. I am unabashedly, unashamedly, completely, wholly yours. And I’m not just talking to Mani here – I’m talking to all four of you,” Ally addressed the other girls, who abandoned their transparent acts and focused their eyes on her. “And I wish I could say the same about the reverse.”Camila’s brows knitted together as she scooted closer to the bed. “You want us to be yours too?”Ally nodded sheepishly. “We never laid down any ground rules for this relationship of ours, and I don’t know if feelings are allowed, but I have them – a lot of them – for you girls. And I can’t seem to switch them off.”“You don’t have to wish, Ally. We’re yours too,” Lauren spoke up, glancing around the room at the other girls with a soft smile. “Aren’t we?”Normani, Dinah and Camila nodded fervently. Ally frowned in confusion.“But- what- why didn’t you say anything?”Lauren shrugged guiltily. “I didn’t want you to feel like we were pressuring you. I felt as though asking you to be exclusive would sound like an ultimatum. I refused to take any action that might threaten our relationship – both in and outside of the bedroom – so I chose not to do anything. I would rather have a little part of you than nothing at all.”“I was just following Lauren’s lead,” Normani confessed. “I thought maybe you were getting cold feet about our arrangement, and I didn’t want to come on too strong.”“Me too,” Camila piped up. She wrapped her arms around Ally’s calf and directed a charming smile upwards. “I didn’t want to lose you by clinging onto you. Like the way I am right now.”Ally reached down to affectionately scratch at Camila’s scalp. “But what about the boys? Austin, Masi, Brad?” She asked reasonably.“Distractions,” Lauren supplied easily, rising to her knees and shuffling towards the bed.“Tryna make you jealous, homie,” Camila added as she released Ally’s leg and threw her hands up in a sorry thug-like imitation.Normani let out an exasperated groan and reached down to palm the girl’s face. “Stop. You’re embarrassing yourself.”Camila peeled Normani’s hand away and flashed her a self-assured smile, “You know you like it when I make bad jokes.”Ally was amazed at the ease with which the conversation changed topics. “So that’s it? No further discussion? We’re like, a thing now? Exclusively?”Lauren regarded her with an amused smile. “Yeah. As exclusive as you can get in a five-way polygamous relationship, anyway,” She said, reaching up to tangle her fingers with Ally’s.The corners of Ally’s mouth quirked upwards when Lauren gave her fingers a reassuring squeeze. Dinah approached the bed and sat on her other side, giving her a sly wink.“Like I said – you shoulda just told ‘em,” The youngest girl whispered into Ally’s ear. “It didn’t turn out too bad now, did it?”***Ally hummed as she spread chocolate frosting over the cake. She was so focused on her task; she barely glanced up when Camila strolled into the kitchen.She’s probably just looking for a snack, Ally thought. The girl could eat a full meal at breakfast, brunch, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner, and she’d still be hungry.“What’s the delicious looking cake for, Allycat?” Camila asked, hopping up onto the kitchen counter and gingerly sniffing what remained of the batter in the mixing bowl.Ally smoothed one last scoop of frosting onto the side of the cake before dumping the butter knife back into the bowl. “I made y’all an apology cake. Does it smell nice?”“It smells amazing,” Camila replied reassuringly, albeit slightly confused. “But why are you apologising? Did you accidentally mix the reds and whites when you were doing the laundry? Because the only one you’ll really have to appeal to is Lauren, and I don’t think she’s so easily persuaded by baked goods – no matter how tasty they are.”Ally gave a hearty laugh. She smacked Camila’s thigh lightly when the girl reached out to swipe her finger through the remaining contents in the bowl of frosting, handing her the knife instead.“No, I didn’t mess up the laundry. I’m apologising for the way I lost control in the studio yesterday and got super possessive over Normani,” Ally shrugged self-deprecatingly. “It was out of line; I shouldn’t have let my jealousy get the better of me.”“Oh, I don’t think you need to apologise for that,” Lauren chuckled as she sauntered into the kitchen. “From what I saw – and heard – Normani was totally into it. And believe me, watching the two of you go at it was hot as fu- wait, is that chocolate frosting?”Lauren eyed Camila as she licked the frosting off the knife. Camila paid her no mind, and continued happily lapping away at the last of the chocolaty goodness.“Did someone say chocolate frosting?” Normani asked as she strutted into the kitchen. “Because she has just arrived.”She rounded the end of the kitchen bench and came to a halt beside Camila, giving an exaggerated model-worthy pose. Ally snorted whilst clearing away the rest of the dirty utensils.“Actual chocolate frosting, you dummy,” Lauren said with a good-natured eye roll. Then she gave Normani a sly look. “Not that you don’t taste just as good.”Normani winked at her. “No, but seriously. Where the frosting at?”Lauren peered into the empty frosting bowl. Then she glanced up at Camila, who was too busy trying to lick frosting from the corners of her mouth to pay attention to their conversation.“It appears that the last of it is in and around Camila’s mouth,” Lauren informed Normani with a devious grin. “Wanna taste?”Normani raised her eyebrows suggestively. “You know I do, girl.”Camila was blissfully unaware of their intentions, still trying to rid her face of any errant frosting. Ally watched with a smile as the girl was suddenly accosted by searching tongues and wandering hands. Dinah soon slithered out from her bedroom and joined Ally on the sidelines.They watched as Camila moaned into Normani’s kiss, until Lauren impatiently nudged Normani aside to explore the recesses of Camila’s mouth herself.“I’m not saying I don’t mind the view, but what’s happening here?” Dinah asked Ally after a few good minutes of shameless voyeurism.Ally laughed lightly. “Camila ate the rest of the frosting, and Lauren and Normani are apparently really hungry for some.”Normani picked up on their exchange and lifted her lips from the column of Camila’s neck so she could address them. “I think I actually managed to taste some of it. Wanna check my mouth?”Dinah hurriedly obliged, dragging Ally into the fray with her.Ally couldn’t taste the frosting at all – not that she thought she actually would – but the girls smothered her in kisses that tasted better than chocolate ever could.Camila’s lips tasted like hope, and Dinah’s tongue like comfort. Normani’s fingers grazed her body with an air of belonging. Lauren’s eyes shone with promise.These girls had corrupted Ally in all the best ways, and she couldn’t be more grateful for them.