Although I had taken Ecstasy in several different settings I had never had the opportunity to take it in a one on one context with someone. After almost four months with my girlfriend, we decided to take an MDMA trip together, alone, at my house. We each took one pill of E that had been obtained by a friend. According to several sources, they were excellent pills and we were looking forward to a wonderful evening together.

We took the pills in the bathroom and got into the shower after we swallowed them. We were in the shower for probably fifteen to twenty minutes. After we got out, dried off and got dressed I began to think I might be feeling a slight drug effect. A few minutes later L (my girlfriend) mentioned she thought she was feeling it. We turned on Spiritualized's Lazer Guided Melodies and sat back to let the trip come on.

At this point in our relationship we were pretty comfortable with each other, but it still seemed very fresh. I was in love and very happy with the way things were going. All in all it seemed to be the best relationship I'd ever been in. I expected this trip to be a great experience.

The drug came on in a warm wave. I lit a couple of candles, turned out the lights and we got comfortable on the couch. The music sounded very rich and sonorous. As the album progressed we made small talk and let the drug get settled in. L was experiencing a lot of jaw clench and asked me for a pacifier, which I was happy to supply. I was having some jaw clench and a bit of nystagmus (eye wiggle) but not enough to be really distracting.

By the time the album ended we were peaking. I put on another CD (the Verve's Urban Hymns) and sat back down. I was feeling very good at this point, sensual, relaxed and happy. L and I cuddled up on the couch to enjoy the music. We were both pretty impressed by how good the music sounded. We remarked on it several times throughout the night. It was a very different sort of enhancement than I find with LSD. On acid, I seem to sort of become one with the music, to sink into it and to lose myself in it. On this ecstasy, it just seemed to sound richer, somewhat like it does when I am stoned. It also seemed to be charged with emotional significance, perhaps because L was the person who had introduced me to the music we were listening to.

As usual the E made me very talkative. Once we started talking, we didn't really stop for the remainder of the evening. For the most part I talked and she listened. We discussed many things, ranging from the inane to the very intimate. We talked about us, my past, people in my life that I have been having difficulty with, the music, and a ton of other things. Our conversation was easy and open. It had a strange, almost indefinable quality to it. The closest approximation I can come up with is as if it were predetermined what we would say. I asked L about this later and she agreed that our conversation had a sort of "fated" quality.

We were very touchy as well. Throughout the evening we touched each other, stopping often to kiss. We cuddled together on the couch. It felt like we couldn't be close enough. Touching felt fantastic, each caress sent shivers of electricity through me. However, there wasn't a particularly sexual component to it. It was far more sensual than sexual. We even discussed it, agreeing that neither of us felt particularly "sexy", just very, very touchy.

I spent a good deal of time looking at L, just getting into her and thinking about how lucky I was to have found someone so special and so compatible with me. She looked exquisitely beautiful and I really enjoyed watching her. Every once in a while she would close her eyes and move her head in time to the music we were listening to and when she did I was struck by her beauty and her presence, almost as if it were a tangible thing.

The whole trip had a profound feeling of rightness to it. I felt very glad to be where I was. There was a timeless, eternal feeling surrounding the trip. It felt like it was never going to end, and that was a very good feeling. After three and a half hours we were both noting a drop off in the drug effect, but no drop at all in terms of the warm glow we were sharing. We discussed several alternatives to extend the trip and/or ease its come down, finally settling on smoking a little marijuana. We both took a couple of bong hits of some excellent kind bud and set back to let it work.

As in my past experiences with the combo, the pot changed the character of the remaining ecstasy. It took on a heavier, "stony" feeling and I began having some mild patterning visuals with open eyes, and abstract cartoonish visuals with eyes closed. After we smoked the pot I began to feel more inclined to sex. I mentioned this to L and she began playing with my penis. This felt incredible and I became very aroused. After a bit we retired to bed and had sex. It felt fantastic but I was unable to finish, which seems to be usual for me with ecstasy. Even though I didn't come, the sex was great, both physically and emotionally. It was one of those rare and special encounters where you feel totally in tune with, in love with and merged with your partner.

We got to sleep around 3:00 a.m. or so. The next day I was somewhat tired and hung over, but not terribly so. I did go to sleep early that night, and the next day there was no trace of a hangover or any other side effects. L reported that she felt some midweek "blahs", however.

This was one of my best E experiences to date. I highly recommend that anyone who takes ecstasy try it in this context. It was a deeply moving and satisfying experience. L and I have discussed it a bit since it occurred and have agreed to repeat the experience at regular intervals. We both felt it deepened our appreciation of one another. L remarked that she would probably not bother to do E at parties anymore (this is her second E trip, her first was at a rave on New Years). All in all it was a wonderful trip that I would not hesitate to repeat. To me, this seems to be a near ideal setting in which to take ecstasy