The soft hum of a lo-fi playlist filled the warm, dimly lit room, the kind of music that felt like a secret whispered between two people who didn’t want to be found. Maddy’s bedroom was a cocoon of plush textures and muted golds, the fairy lights strung across the ceiling casting lazy shadows that danced on the walls. The scent of vanilla and sandalwood lingered in the air, mingling with the faint trace of Maddy’s perfume—something floral, a little wild, and unmistakably hers.
Rue’s heart was a wild thing in her chest, beating a frantic rhythm that matched the way Maddy’s fingers trembled slightly as they traced the line of her jaw. Their eyes locked, heavy-lidded and full of unspoken promises, and the world outside the room—the noise, the chaos, the expectations—faded into a distant hum.
Maddy's eyes frantically search the taller girl's almost as if she was telling a story and the cheerleader was soaking in every word.
Maddy’s lips brushed against Rue’s, soft and tentative at first, like testing the surface of something fragile. Then, as if the air between them ignited, the kisses deepened, slow and deliberate, a language only they understood. Rue’s hands found their way to Maddy’s waist, pulling her closer until the warmth of their bodies pressed together was the only thing that mattered.
“You’re so beautiful,” Maddy whispered against Rue’s mouth, her voice thick with something like awe and need.
Rue smiled, a shy, fierce curve of her lips. “You’re the only one I want to see like this.”
They moved together with a quiet urgency, the kind that comes from stolen moments and secret spaces. Maddy’s fingers tangled in Rue’s hair, pulling her closer, while Rue’s breath hitched as Maddy’s hands slid beneath her shirt, tracing the soft skin of her ribs. Caressing the girl with a gentleness Rue had never experienced before Maddy.
Outside, the world was loud and unforgiving, but here, in this room, time slowed. The only sounds were their breaths, the faint rustle of sheets, and the steady thump of their hearts trying to keep pace.
But then, the sharp buzz of Maddy’s phone broke the spell, vibrating insistently on the nightstand. The screen lit up with a name neither wanted to see: Cassie.
Maddy rolls her eyes in response, groaning as she drops her head against Rue's chest.
Rue nodded, heart still racing. “She’s probably worried.”
The two had been succesfully sneaking around for months now, and the biggest pain in their butt was Cassie Howard. The blonde frequently calls Maddy throughout the entirety of the day, asking for opinions on her outfit, dating advice, etc. Maddy, was tired, for lack of better term. She loved her best friend, she truly did but not when the blonde was getting in the way of her meet ups with Rue.
Rue chuckles when Maddy lets out another groan as her phone continues to buzz against her nightstand.
"Babe, you should probably answer that", Rue hums, moving her hand to gently caress Maddy's thighs.
Before Maddy could say anything else, a sudden knock at the door startled them both.
“Maddy? You in there? I’m coming up!” Cassie’s voice was bright but edged with that unmistakable mix of concern and determination.
Maddy’s eyes widened. “Shit.”
Rue scrambled off the bed, grabbing a thick velvet robe from the chair. “Hide,” she whispered urgently.
Maddy nodded, moving to open the closet door. Rue slipped inside just as Cassie’s knock turned into a push, the door creaking open.
Cassie stepped in, eyes scanning the room. “I called you like, a million times. You’re ignoring me.”
Maddy, sitting on the bed with her robe wrapped tight, gave Cassie a tired smile. “I’m just... taking a break. Coach has been pushing me like crazy", Maddy hums, hoping that the blonde did not notice the bruising that was littered across her neck or the heat rushing to her cheeks.
Cassie’s gaze flicked to the closet door, then back to Maddy. “You sure? Because it smells like someone’s been here.”
Rue held her breath inside the closet, the faint sound of Cassie’s footsteps making her heart pound louder than before.
Maddy stood, walking over to Cassie with a playful smirk. “Maybe it’s just the candles.”
The closet was, in true Maddy Perez fashion, a masterpiece of organization and excess. It smelled like a department store perfume counter—a dizzying blend of floral top notes and expensive leather. Rue sat on the floor, her back pressed against a row of hanging silk slips that felt like cool water against her neck. She had her knees pulled up to her chest, her oversized hoodie acting as a makeshift cushion against the hardwood.
Outside the slatted closet doors, the world of East Highland High was being dissected with surgical precision.
"And then he just... he looked at me, Maddy. Like I was a stranger," Cassie’s voice drifted in, muffled but perfectly audible. It was that specific, high-pitched frequency Cassie hit when she was spiraling—a mix of genuine heartbreak and a desperate need for a script to follow. "I was wearing the blue dress. The one you said made me look like a 'sixties starlet.' And McKay just walked right past me to talk to some scout from out of state."
Rue rolled her eyes in the dark, her head thumping back against a pair of Maddy’s thigh-high boots. She could practically see Maddy’s expression: the bored but dutiful nod, the way she’d be filing her nails or checking her reflection while offering the necessary "mhm" and "he’s trash, babe."
"He’s just stressed, Cass," Maddy’s voice was smoother, more grounded. It was the voice she used when she was trying to usher someone out of a room without being a total bitch. "College is a lot. Football is a lot. Being a man is apparently very exhausting for them."
"But it’s not just that!" Cassie’s voice rose, followed by the squeak of Maddy’s vanity chair. She was pacing now. Rue tracked the sound of her footsteps—left to right, left to right. "The whole school is talking about the carnival. And then there’s the thing with Kat and Ethan, and ... Maddy, do you think I’m too much? Like, emotionally?"
Rue reached out and blindly grabbed a stray shoe from a nearby rack. It was a platform sandal with a dizzying heel. She turned it over in her hands, tracing the logo on the sole. She thought about the irony of it all. Here was Cassie, terrified of being 'too much,' pouring her heart out to a girl who was currently hiding a secret lover in her closet.
If Cassie only knew that Rue Bennett—the town’s resident 'lost cause'—was sitting three feet away, surrounded by Maddy’s designer handbags, the sheer shock would probably cause her to actually implode.
"You're not too much, Cassie. You're just... a lot for people who don't know how to handle a lot," Maddy said. It was a classic Maddy-ism—a compliment wrapped in a dismissal.
"I just feel like everything is changing," Cassie sniffled. Rue heard the distinct sound of a tissue being pulled from a box. "I feel like I don't even know who my friends are anymore. Like everyone has these secret lives."
Rue froze. She stopped fidgeting with the shoe. For a second, the air in the closet felt thinner. She looked through the slats of the door, catching a sliver of the room. She could see the edge of Maddy’s bed and the back of Cassie’s blonde head.
Maddy’s voice didn't waver. "Everyone has secrets, Cass. That’s just life. Now, are you going to drink that green sludge you brought me, or are we just going to stare at it until it turns into a solid?"
"I'm not hungry," Cassie sighed. "I just... I missed you. You've been so distant lately. Are you sure you're okay? You're not, like, back on anything? Or with him?"
"I'm fine, Cassie. I'm better than fine," Maddy said, and Rue could hear the hidden smile in her voice—the one meant only for the girl in the closet. "I'm just finally doing things for me. No boys. No drama. Just... peace."
"I wish I could be like you," Cassie murmured.
Rue leaned her head against the hanging clothes, a strange sense of guilt mingling with the boredom. She wanted to jump out and tell Cassie to go home, to let them have their peace. But she also knew that this—the sneaking, the hiding, the muffled laughter in the dark—was the only way they could keep this version of themselves alive.
----------------------------------
The silence that followed the final click of the bedroom door was deafening, a sharp contrast to the hour of frantic, high-pitched emotional labor Cassie had just performed. Rue didn't move for a long beat, making sure the sound of Cassie’s footsteps had truly faded down the stairs and that the front door had groaned shut.
When she finally pushed the closet door open, she emerged like a ghost returning to the living. Her face was flushed, partly from the lack of ventilation among the silk and fur, and partly from the sheer absurdity of the situation. She stood there for a second, blinking against the soft amber light of the room, her hair a mess of static and stray threads from Maddy’s knitwear.
Maddy didn't say a word. She just crossed the room in three strides, her silk robe fluttering behind her like wings, and crashed into Rue.
It wasn't a gentle hug; it was a collision. Maddy wrapped her arms around Rue’s neck, burying her face in the crook of Rue’s shoulder, pulling her so tight it felt like she was trying to merge their heartbeats. Rue stumbled back a step, her hands instinctively finding Maddy’s waist, holding on just as hard. The smell of the closet—that heavy, artificial floral scent—was immediately replaced by the grounding, real smell of Maddy’s skin.
"Close call," Rue whispered into Maddy’s hair, her voice sounding scratchy and thin even to her own ears.
Maddy pulled back just enough to look at her. Her dark eyes were bright, dancing with a mixture of adrenaline and genuine affection. She reached up, her manicured thumb gently brushing a stray curl away from Rue’s forehead, her touch lingering on Rue’s temple.
"But worth it," Maddy murmured. She let out a small, breathless laugh that shook her shoulders. "Did you hear her? She thought the room smelled like 'boy.' I almost told her it was just the smell of someone who actually has a personality."
Rue cracked a smile, the tension finally draining out of her limbs. "I thought I was going to sneeze for like twenty minutes straight. You have a lot of sequins in there, Mads. They’re a respiratory hazard."
"They’re vintage, shut up," Maddy teased, but her expression softened almost instantly. She slid her hands down to cup Rue’s face, her palms warm. "I hated it. Having her sit there talking about all that garbage while you were three feet away in the dark. It felt... wrong. Not because we’re a secret, but because I wanted to tell her to shut up so I could go back to kissing you."
Rue leaned into Maddy’s touch, closing her eyes. The adrenaline was fading, replaced by a heavy, sweet exhaustion. "She’s just worried about you. In her own, very loud, very Cassie way."
"I know," Maddy sighed, pulling Rue toward the bed. They collapsed onto the duvet, a tangled mess of limbs and oversized fabric. Maddy tucked her head under Rue’s chin, hooking her leg over Rue’s. "But I don't want to be the girl everyone worries about anymore. I don't want to be the girl who needs a ' cortisol-lowering smoothie' because her life is a disaster."
Rue ran her hand up and down Maddy’s arm, the silk of the robe sliding under her palm. "You're not that girl with me."
"I know," Maddy whispered, her voice drifting as she finally relaxed. "With you, I’m just... quiet. It’s the best thing I’ve ever been."
They lay there in the aftermath of the intrusion, the room reclaimed and silent once more. The moon had shifted, casting long, silver bars across the carpet. For a few more hours, the world belonged to them again—no drama, no scripts, just the steady, rhythmic breathing of two people who had found a way to be happy in the one place nobody thought to look.