Oh bless her, my dear Hazel has nodded off with her head resting on my shoulder. I don't want to disturb her, so I'll stay where I am on the sofa and chat for a while with my Gran.

It's been a hard day, and it's nice to relax at Gran's little bungalow and enjoy a long and lazy afternoon with her. It's so cosy here and she makes anyone feel at home with her warm and welcoming nature. This place is a sanctuary, not just for me and my family, but for the whole neighborhood and now Hazel as well. Lots of folks come here to Gran's house to unwind and tell her all their problems.

"She's a lovely girl," Gran says, meaning Hazel.

"She is isn't she," I reply. "We're such close friends."

"That's nice. It's good to have someone close."

My hand is on Hazel's now and this is my chance to say something about just how close a friend she really is to me. But I've already changed my mind and decided not to mention it. I don't think it would be fair on Gran, she doesn't need to know and I don't want to risk upsetting her.

I might not even tell Mum now after what Hazel told me happened to her this morning. She tried to explain about us to her parents, but they wouldn't listen. They pretended to understand and be all liberal, but that's obviously not the case, seeing as they haven't decided yet if I'm welcome to stay at their house with Hazel anymore.

Hazel and I are both nineteen, we're young women and not little girls. We know what we're doing and we understand our parents may not be too thrilled with the news of our relationship, but this is love we're talking about and not some great crime. It may not even last very long, we don't know, all we do know is that our love is something harmless and beautiful.

We don't want to have to pretend and sneak around all the time. We want to tell the world of our love, let it blossom and have our families be happy for us, or at least try to be. But we know it's not easy, not for family, friends may come and go but family is forever.

"Well, if you're not going to tell me, I'll make the tea," Gran says.

"Tell you what Gran?"

"I'm not blind Steffanie, I've seen the way you and Hazel are with each other."

"I told you, we're very close Gran."

"and?"

"We're... we're in love with each other."

"Oh Steffanie, you've got such a big heart, you're just like I was at your age."

I don't know what she really means by that, and apart from those words about our hearts, her reaction is nothing more than a smile and a nod. There's no shock or horror, no endless questions or warnings of doom or emotional misery. No judgement that our love is in anyway wrong.

She doesn't want to know any details either, no probing into our sleeping arrangements or anything personal like that. I think she might be embarrassed, that she's shut up shop in order to cope with my news. What's most curious though is that she doesn't seem to be in the least bit surprised.

Gran gets up to go and make the tea, acting all normal like my big revelation never happened. Hazel stirs a little and I wake her up. She looks so beautiful and sexy when she's all sleepy.

"I told her," I whisper.

"Really? And?"

"She's fine about us."

We both smile and take advantage of Gran being out of sight, take our chance to steal a little kiss. Then we walk hand in hand to rejoin Gran in the kitchen. We stay holding hands, I'm now proudly presenting Hazel as my girlfriend.

"You youngsters, you think you invented love," Gran tells us. "You think I'm daft."

We giggle a little but we don't know what to say in response. I'm beginning to think that Gran knows an awful lot more about this than she's letting on. She seems to be dropping hints all the time.

"Well sit yourselves down," Gran says. "And I'll tell you both a story about love."

Oh brilliant, I'm so proud of her and I'm expecting that this is going to be by far the best story she's ever told me. Secrets from her past will be revealed, experience and wisdom that will help guide Hazel and I.

But it's four o'clock, and first we must sit and have tea and cake. Gran will pour from the teapot and everything will be very old fashioned, all very English and normal. Following her normal routine is how Gran likes things to be. Our news won't spoil a thing, because to my Gran's mind there's nothing more normal than falling in love, with whoever it happens to be.

steffanie xxx