Hi everyone. Shatha is the student many of you helped get into university. She's now entering her second semester and needs to apply for a student visa ASAP because she worries the crossing opening again might mean the old medical residency would be void.

We have always been here, it’s just that the world wasn’t ready for us yet. Samra Habib, We Have Always Been Here

With God, she didn’t have to explain it, at least. She’d gotten on her knees to pray, but she’d just cried for an hour instead. “You know how much I love her,” was all she finally said. Lauren McBrayer, Like a House on Fire

Trust me, she mouths. My palms are sweating. I’ve only ever trusted three people in my life—never gotten close enough to trust any more. I hold on to her waist a little tighter. And I answer with my body: I do. Leah Johnson, Rise to the Sun

“Oh,” she said, and curled to kiss her. Pat kissed her back, brain still slow with the aftershocks of that glorious feeling, and slid her hand over Fen’s backside with more confidence now. “Mph. How lovely.” K. J. Charles, Proper English

“Dear femmes,” she says, “(...) We live in difficult and dangerous times, it is true. But as long as we have our stories, and we have each other, then we have hope. And this is the greatest magic of all.” Kai Cheng Thom, Fierce Femmes and Notorious Liars

I stop breathing as I reach for her, Blake inhaling sharply as our hands finally find each other’s in the dark, our fingers touching every so gently, my hand dancing around hers to slide slowly into her palm. Rachael Lippincott, The Lucky List

I was with her, beside her, for ever close to her, in that infinitely lovely, infinitely distant star, which shed its mingled rays of sorrow, affection and renouncement on the dark cold world below. Dorothea Strachey, Olivia

“I’ve wanted you,” she murmurs, and those three words are sudden heat; when she pulls back, my lipstick is smeared across her mouth, a scarlet streak cutting past her jaw. Her lips are parted and still damp. Victoria Lee, A Lesson in Vengeance

I was afraid to, because I’ve been told it’s wrong, but you’re right—I don’t want to think that way, just because someone said it’s so. I know the truth. I love you. Kacen Callender, Hurricane Child

“You come first,” I told her, setting my jaw. “Cammie, look at me. You come first.” Siera Maley, Taking Flight

It’s a terrible story and one way to tell it is this: two girls in love and a fog of wasps cursed the place forever after. Emily M. Danforth, Plain Bad Heroines

She propped herself up on one elbow, looking at Csorwe’s face, serenely still and perfect and thought 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶. A. K. Larkwood, The Thousand Eyes

The sound of it must have woken Gillian because the next minute I felt a familiar arm around my waist, and the heavy weight of her body behind me. I leaned back into her warmth and let her nestle into my neck. Julie Owen Moylan, That Green Eyed Girl

I’d like to make it to heaven before you do. To run your bathwater, to make you a plate, to turn the TV to your favorite channel, and turn it off, and make you believe you left it that way. Jasmine Mans, Black Girl, Call Home

She kissed her best friend on the mouth and she closed her eyes and felt something she hadn’t felt in many years. Connie kissed back, and she put her fingers delicately on Caroline’s jaw. Liz Parker, All Are Welcome

I could feel my blood beating in my temples. Her fingers slipped lower, to my collarbone. There was a crackling hiss from the kitchen as the water boiled out of the pan onto the stove. Alison Ames, To Break a Covenant

And Prue still held my hand and the ocean had never looked so beautiful and the smell of salt had never seemed so warm and good and I thought: possibly this is the best night of my life. Katrina Leno, Summer of Salt

No, I changed my mind as the kiss engulfed our faces and my hands found the soft flesh of her shoulders and pressed her close. This was easier than going on strike. This was easier than anything. Elana Dykewomon, Beyond the Pale

So I kiss her harder. I push her lips apart with mine. I take her breath. We’re sweetness, and sweetness turning into ruthlessness. Lorelie Brown, Far From Home

It’s completely silent in the shop, so I hear every hitched breath and soft noise both of us make. I hear the way Tal’s shoes scuff the floor when she stretches her legs out, leans back onto the pillow behind her, and takes me with her. Maggie Horne