I’m 6’4”
228 pounds
and have 9 years of combined martial arts training and 3 years of being a Line Backer in football.
Just in case you are looking for variety.
This was already amazing. But that reblog comment and the extra they hid in the tags (for some unfathomable reason) makes this fucking hilarious and I love it even more. XD
I have been here, multiple times! By referring to the order as a “Little Rosa”, you don’t have to make as big a deal out of the fact that you’re seeking help.
And believe it or not, it gets better. Rosa’s also gives out sweatshirts to the homeless (or sells them to the general public) that has information on local soup kitchens and even computer training in the area, on an insert sewn inside the sweatshirt.
I just finished reading Didn’t Stay in Vegas by Chelsea M. Cameron, and I just have to say...don’t sleep on this one! This is a super cute feel good (with some angst for good measure) wlw romance. The best part, for me, is that the main character (written in first person) has ADHD, and I felt like she was one of the most relatable characters I have ever read. Highly recommend . 10/10 will probably read again.
Hey guys! I read a lot of graphic novels in 2019 with queer themes, and I wanted to share them with you. Included are the genre, type of representation (as well as I could remember it), and some warnings. My favorites are in bold. Enjoy! ♡
On A Sunbeam by Tillie Walden: Sci-fi; main character (MC) is wlw. Everything by Tillie Walden is great, but especially this story!
Motor Crush by Babs Tarr, Brenden Fletcher, and Cameron Stewart: Sci-fi; MC is wlw.
Low by Rick Remender and Greg Tocchini: Sci-fi; one of the MCs in the second volume is WLW; warning for gore, and the love interest dies. The rep isn’t ideal, but I think the series is worth checking out for the interesting worldbuilding.
The Legend of Korra comics: Fantasy; MC is bisexual.
Monstress by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda: Fantasy; MC is wlw; warning for gore.
Spera by Josh Tierney: Fantasy; MCs can be easily interpreted as wlw. They’re butch and femme princesses traveling together, guys.
Meal by Blue Delliquanti & Soleil Ho: Slice-of-life, MC is wlw. Also check out Delliquanti’s webcomic O Human Star, which has a trans wlw protagonist!
Pumpkin Heads by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks: Slice-of-life; female MC is bi/pan.
Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy by Rey Terciero and Bre Indigo: Slice-of-life; MC is lesbian. It’s a modern retelling of Little Women.
Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell: Slice-of-life; MC is lesbian.
Kiss Number 8 by Colleen AF Venable and Ellen T. Crenshaw: Slice-of-life; MC is bi/pan; warning for transphobia.
Moonstruck by Grace Ellis and Shae Beagle: Fantasy; MC is wlw.
The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang: Historical fiction; male MC is non-binary (nblw); warning for transphobia.
Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe: Memoir; the author is nblw.
The Witch Boy by Molly Ostertag: Fantasy; one of the MCs is wlw. Saving my favorite for last; I highly recommend. It’s filled with queer themes.
Some fantasy and science fiction books with bisexual, pansexual, or otherwise multisexual protagonists.
Similar posts:
Massive queer SFF rec post
Trans SFF
F/F SFF
Ace Spectrum SFF
Queer SFF books by authors of color
Also, I swear that every time I make one of these I forget something. This time it was In the Vanishers’ Palace by Aliette de Bodard. It’s awesome, go read it.
If you want more queer science fiction and fantasy, you can visit my queer SFF database.
I’m not transcribing all the text, but you can find the titles, authors, information on TW, etc beneath the cut.
When possible, I’m linking to my database of queer books. The page for each book includes the synopsis, content warnings under spoiler tags, and links to reviews from queer readers.
I like The Raven Boys a lot but I feel like it (and Six of Crows and Carry On) are practically the only queer books that get recommended, probably because some people only know those three. I wanted to focus on some other titles and include a more diverse group of authors.
I took a break yesterday from writing, but here is part 2 today!
Nanowrimo Word Count: 15157
Quinn grabbed her jacket and followed her niece out of the office. Daisy started racing ahead in a way that made Quinn worry that Emery’s injuries were worse than a simple fall. She hurried her pace, and reminded herself that Daisy was only eight, and therefore prone to freak outs that would not be experienced by adults.
When they got to the school a small group had formed around Emery. Quinn carefully made her way through the crowd to Emery who was sitting up with the same woman Quinn had seen in her classroom the previous day.
The woman looked up at Quinn, “Is the doctor coming?”
“I am the doctor,” Quinn said kneeling next to Emery.
Emery shifted uncomfortably before looking at Quinn, “You’re here to rescue me again?”
Quinn smiled at her gently, “I’m here to help. You hardly need recuing. Can you tell me what happened and what hurts?”
Emery’s cheeks flushed, “I slipped on some ice and my left ankle is killing me, I’m not sure if I can stand on it.”
“Ok, I’m going to check your ankle, if anything hurts too badly let me know, I promise to be careful.”
Emery nodded and allowed Quinn to lift the leg of her slacks. Quinn felt around to see if anything felt broken or out of place. Emery tensed slightly under her touch but didn’t cry out at any of the points Quinn pushed on. She breathed a sigh of relief, nothing was broken.
“It looks like you twisted it, there is nothing that appears to be broken. If we can get you up and over to the office, I can wrap it for you. It should heal in a few days with some rest. I’m going to try to help you stand, I want you to try to get up without putting much pressure on your left leg.”
Emery nodded and took Quinn’s hand and, with the help of her friend, was able to get to her feet. Quinn looked at her friend, “It would be best if she didn’t have to walk to the office.”
“I drive here, I’ll go grab my car.”
Quinn nodded, “Perfect, we’ll wait for you at the curb.”
Emery’s friend took off to get her car leaving Quinn and Emery in the center of a mass of people looking on with a mixture of curiosity and concern.
“Can we form a path please? I need to get Emery to the curb,” Quinn said with as much authority as she could muster.
It worked; people started moving aside leaving a path for them to walk through. Emery sagged against Quinn and hobbled over to the curb, “This is so embarrassing,” she murmured.
Quinn laughed, “Don’t be embarrassed. You were thwarted by the ice.”
“Ice sucks so hard.”
“Agreed.”
They stood in silence while they waited for Emery’s friend. Quinn tried to ignore the feeling of Emery’s body pressed into her side while also resisting the urge to pull her closer. She focused on the fact that Emery was hurt and needed her in her capacity as a doctor, not as an emotionally confused wonton train wreck.
“Thank you so much for coming, by the way, I know I should have said it sooner, but I’m glad you’re here,” Emery said.
“I couldn’t leave you injured in front of the school with a potentially broken head.”
“Broken head?”
“Daisy was vague in her explanation of what happened.”
Emery chuckled, “Yeah, second graders are like that.”
Emery’s friend pulled up to the curb, and Quinn helped her get inside. She looked at the driver, “Take her to Dr. Henry’s I’ll meet you there.”
“Ok and thank you Dr. Stone.”
“You’re welcome-“Quinn let the end of her sentence hang in the air, she was uncertain of the woman’s name.
“Lauren,” she supplied.
“You’re welcome, Lauren.”
Quinn stepped away from the car and then started jogging back to Dr. Henry’s office. They would certainly beat her there, but she didn’t want them to have to wait for her to leisurely walk back to the office.
“Is Ms. Webster going to be ok?” To Quinn’s surprise she found that she had two jogging buddies, her mother and Daisy.
“Yeah, Daisy, she’s going to be fine.”
“Why does she need to go to the doctor then?”
“So, I can wrap her foot up for her, it will help her heal.”
“Ooh,” Daisy said,
“Do you show this much concern for all your patients?” Her mother said through huffs of breath.
Quinn’s flushed cheeks had nothing to do with the exercise or biting cold, “It’s parent of my job.”
“Couldn’t you have-called-ahead and let -Dr. Henry- handle it?”
“Mom, when is the last time you went running?” Her mother had never been in bad shape and had made it a point to force her family to stay active when they were younger, but now it seemed like her mother could hardly keep up the light jog.
“Hush-you.”
Luckily, the physical exertion her mother had to practice to keep up was enough to keep anymore of her questions at bay. Quinn didn’t want to think about the gnawing worry she had felt when she heard that Emery was hurt, or how she wanted to make sure she was the one to wrap her ankle. She didn’t want her mother to analyze what it meant, when she wasn’t even sure what it meant.
Finally, they reached the office. Molly stopped outside to catch her breath and Daisy stayed to make sure “Gran doesn’t pass out”. Quinn hurried up the stairs to the office. Emery and Lauren were already sitting in the waiting room.
Emery’s eyes widened, “Did you run here?”
“It was more of a light jog,” she replied through deep inhales of air.
A look that Quinn couldn’t distinguish passed between Lauren and Emery. She shifted uncomfortably, “I can take you back right now and get you patched up, would you mind waiting to give her a ride home, Lauren?”
“No, of course not,” she said helping Emery get to get feet.
Quinn hurried to her side and allowed Emery to lean against her as support. They went into one of the rooms where Quinn helped Emery up onto the examination table. She carefully removed Emery’s oxford style shoe from her foot along with the sock.
“Hopefully my feet don’t stink,” Emery laughed nervously.
“Terribly, but I’ll find a way to work through it,” Quinn said with a smile that she hoped would put Emery at ease.
She grabbed an ace bandage and gingerly wrapped the hurt ankle. When she finished she replaced the sock and opened the shoe widely to place it back on Emery’s foot, “It might be a little snug, but wearing your shoe will at least keep the ace bandage dry and your foot warm.”
“Thank you, again, you really are a life saver.”
“It’s part of the job,” Quinn said.
She helped Emery off the table, but Emery tripped and fell into Quinn so that they were almost nose to nose. The stood there for a minute staring at one another, the air around them felt heavy, and Quinn was almost afraid to take a breath for fear of dispelling the moment, and then she saw it. Emery’s eyes flicked downward to her lips and then back up again. Quinn’s throat immediately went dry, and unbidden, she leaned a little bit closer to the woman.
A knock on the exam room door broke their contact. They jumped apart, Emery steadying herself against the exam table, and Quinn against the sink on the other side of the room.
“Y-yes?” Quinn asked, she could hear the shake in her own voice.
Bea opened the door and came in, “Hey honey, your mama said to let you know that she was taking Daisy home and she would see you later. She always said to tell you, Ms. Webster, that she hopes you feel better.”
Quinn had to reel herself in, she had almost snapped at Bea, almost asked her why she had to come in at the specific moment to let her know, but that was just Bea, nothing unusual should have happened in the exam room, so why not come in?
“Thank you, Bea, we’re all done here anyways, I’ll walk Emery to the waiting room and then finish up with the other patients who are still waiting.”
“Oh, don’t you worry about that, Dr. Henry took care of the other patients today.”
“Oh, ok. Thank you,” she said again.
Bea left the room, left Quinn and Emery alone. They stared at each other, should they talk about what happened? The almost kiss?
“Well it feels nice and secure now, I think I can walk on it a little bit now, especially is I’m careful,” Emery said quickly.
So that was a no to talk about it, “Good. Let me get you to the waiting room so that Lauren can get you home and you can rest.”
They walked to the waiting room but stopped just before opening the door. It felt like something was hanging in the air between them, something they weren’t ready to put a name to.
“Uh, Emery, do you, do you want my phone number? You know, just in case?”
Emery’s cheeks turned pink, “Oh, y-yeah. That’s a good idea, to exchange numbers, just in case.”
Emery handed Quinn her phone, and she inputted her number into it and then shot off a text to herself so that she had Emery’s number. She handed her the phone back, “There we go. W-well, goodnight.”
“Goodnight and thank you again.”
Quinn held the door open for Emery and watched her walk/hobble over to Lauren before exiting the office. She leaned her head against the door, there was no way in hell she was going to get Emery Webster out of her head now.
I worked on part of a chapter today. Here is part one of chapter 8.
Nanowrimo Word Count: 13506
VIII
Quinn
Quinn was glad to be at work so that she could focus on anything other than the events of the previous evening, aside from her conversation with her mother, that conversation had actually gone a lot better than she originally anticipated.
After she put Daisy to bed the previous evening, her mother had been waiting for her in the kitchen. And not in the nice, make you a cup of tea in the warm lighting to chat, way, but, in the lights off wait for you to pass the kitchen and quietly call out your name way.
“Quinn,” came her mother’s voice from the kitchen.
Quinn had jumped and dropped her glass of water on the ground, “Fuck!”
Her mother hurried over with a kitchen towel to help her clean the mess up, “What did you do that for?”
“Why did you sit in the dark kitchen and call out my name like a serial killer?” Quinn shot back.
“Don’t be ridiculous, what serial killer would know your name.”
“Oh my God, that is not the point. You scared the shit out of me.”
“Well I’m sorry, but I thought if you saw the kitchen lights on you might try to sneak away without talking to me.”
Quinn groaned, her mother knew her too well, “Ok, well your weird plan clearly worked, so what do we need to talk about?”
“About Bernard.”
At the mention of the hardware store owners name, Quinn was assailed with the images of nude flesh and deep moans, “Mooom, do we have to talk about this. I saw what I saw, it’s fine, people date, and do things, normally their children and grandchildren don’t walk in the front door and get an eye full of it, but, hey, it happens.”
“Quinn, I need you to take this seriously and listen to me, can you do that?”
Quinn exhaled and feel back onto her butt on the floor, “Yes, I can do that.”
“Good, now Bernard and I, we’re in love,” she paused as though waiting for Quinn to protest, but Quinn offered none, “I’ve been keeping it a secret since January.”
“January? Right after-“ Quinn cut off the accusatory words, she had promised to hear Molly out.
“Yes, right after- Noelle,” her Mother swallowed, “I had gone to the hardware store to get some things to fix the sink, and I just broke down, right there in the middle of the store. I had no idea how to fix the sink, your father always fixed things, and then after him I relied so much on Noelle, and it just hit me, I was alone.”
Quinn felt a pang of guilt at her mother’s words, it wasn’t an accusation, but Quinn felt it as one all the same, Molly was alone because Quinn had run away. She stayed quiet and listened to Molly continue talking.
“Bernard saw me crying and took me back into his office so I could clean up privately. He listened to me, comforted me, he was so kind and gentle. He ever came and fixed my sink for me. I know it’s hard to understand, Quinn, but I was lonely and having him around made me feel better, like my lungs weren’t always collapsing.”
Quinn swallowed the lump in her throat, “That’s not hard to understand at all, Mom.”
Her mother gave her a grateful smile, “Thank you. The only reason I kept it a secret was because I thought it would be too much for Daisy to handle, too much change. Bernard understood, and he didn’t mind sneaking around with me, but recently things have been getting more serious, tonight was the first time we had been intimate with one another.”
Quinn cringed against her own will, “Ok, that’s a lot mom.”
“I know, I am going somewhere with this, don’t get your panties in a bunch. Anyways, after you and Daisy left, Bernard told me he loved me,” Molly’s voice was sad.
“Isn’t that good?”
“He told me he loved me, but he couldn’t be my secret anymore, it was too much for him,” a tear ran down Molly’s cheek.
Quinn reached out and grabbed her mom’s hand, “Mom, you don’t have to make him your secret. If you love him and you want to be with him, I can help you with Daisy. I think she might surprise you though, Daisy may be having problems, but her grandmother being happy isn’t going to be one of them.”
Tears were rolling down Molly’s face in earnest now. Quinn scooted over to her mom and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
“Do you really think that?” Molly asked hopefully.
“Yes, I really think that, Daisy and I both just want you to be happy. As long as you stop doing it on the sofa, or other communal areas.”
Molly laughed wetly and gave her daughter a playful push, “Maybe you’re not such a rotten kid after all.”
“Do not take away my status as rotten child, it’s all I have.”
Quinn smiled at the memory of her mother’s happiness, she deserved it, hell all three of remaining Stone women deserved it. Quinn stopped short in her walk to the next patient’s room at the thought, it was the first time she had considered her own happiness. It was an odd feeling, to acknowledge that, like her mother, her lungs often felt like they were collapsing in her chest. Her snowball fight with Daisy had been the first time she had laughed or smiled in over a year, and she had Emery to thank for that.
A jolt ran through her at the thought of Emery. The dazzling blonde who she was struggling to get out of her head. It wasn’t like her to dwell on a woman, even before Noelle’s accident, Quinn had not been the dating type. She had been the one-night stand type. The sneak out in the middle of the night type. The never think about them again type. But something was different about Emery, Quinn wanted to spend time with her, to see her, even now she wondered what Emery was doing.
She had stupidly given up her opportunity to see Emery when she agreed to letting her mother take Daisy to school and pick her up that day. She had told herself that she needed to show Dr. Henry she was serious, she needed to put in the time so he would know she was serious about this, but truthfully, she had been avoiding Emery.
She glanced up at the clock: 3:45, school had let out fifteen. She thought about taking a break and going down to the school, but that was completely insane. She had no good reason to be there, and if she went, she would then have to admit that she was there for the sole purpose of seeing Emery. She shook her head and focused back in on her work.
She had her hand poised on the door to the room of her next patient when she heard Bea call out, “Dr. Stone, we need your help up here.”
Quinn furrowed her eyebrows and went to the reception desk, “Whats up?”
Bea gestured to the waiting room. Quinn looked up and saw Daisy bouncing up and down, “Daisy, whats going on?”
“It’s Ms. Webster! She fell down and now she can’t move. Gran said to come get you, quick!”
Quinn’s heart fluttered and she looked at Bea, “Can you tell Dr. Henry I went to the school to handle a potential emergency please?”
This morning I was thinking about how behind I have felt in working on this novel and how bothered I had let myself become about not making my daily goals and word counts, and I realized something. Stressing about this was making me dread writing. Normally I have a pretty good time writing, I enjoy it, but I have not felt that way in the past few days, which is a big problem.
My solution? Forget word counts and just enjoy writing again. Don’t get me wrong, I plan to continue working on this project, but if I don't finish all 50,000 words, or the story itself ends up being shorter than 50,000 words? I’m not going to stress about it. Again, I still hope to finish the 50k, but I’m not going to sacrifice my love of writing to do it. Anyways, here is what I wrote today.
Nanowrimo Word Count: 12230
VII
Emery
Emery and Bucky were taking their nightly walk down main street, when Emery’s phone rang. She stopped walking to pull her phone out of her jacket pocket and check the caller id. Bucky pulled on his leash a little bit before stopping with a huff, one leg stuck straight backward in his funny little snow boot walk. He looked at her indignantly as if to say, first you make me wear these ridiculous things on my feet and now you make me stop walking?
“Sorry, bud. It’s Lauren,” Emery said apologetically. She hit the green accept button and put the phone up to her ear, “Hello?”
“I am dying over here, Em. Spiiillll,” Lauren said into the phone.
“So dramatic,” Emery laughed.
She resumed her walk knowing that Lauren had no intention of letting her off easy.
“I am not dramatic! But, you defiantly made me wait too long!”
“She’s dramatic,” She heard Dave say in the background.
“Hush, you. Ok, so tell me about the very gorgeous Quinn Stone.”
Emery felt her cheeks heat, “There is nothing to tell.”
“Bullshit, tell me.”
“She really just came so that I could show her some of her niece’s work, and then she left. She was there for less than five minutes, and that’s about it.”
“Uhuh, and then?”
“What makes you think there is an ‘and then’?”
“’That’s about it’ is Emery code for, ‘there are other pieces of this story that I have not yet told you’.”
“Unfair.”
“Whatever, just tell meeee.”
“When I was leaving, she and Daisy were throwing snowballs around, one hit me, and I might have engaged with them.”
“Oh, spicy, a sexy snowball fight.”
“Jesus, Lo, you heard the part where her niece, my student, was there correct?”
“Admittedly it was out of my mouth before I could stop it.”
“I see that,” Emery said chuckling.
“And that was it?”
“Yeah, that was it.”
“Ok, so, you’re totally into her right.”
Emery heaved a sigh, “I wouldn’t say totally.”
Lauren screeched in delight, “I knew it! I saw the way you looked at her in when you walked in, all wistful.”
“Knock it off, even if I am into her, I’m not going there.”
“What?! Why?”
“Well first of all, her niece is in my class, so that would be weird.”
“Weak! Next reason.”
“What? That’s not weak, it’s a valid concern, what if it causes a conflict of interest! Imagine how weird it would be if I gave Daisy a poor grade and then I had to face Quinn? What if she asked me to give Daisy a better grade?”
“Does Quinn strike you as that type of person?”
“Well no, but I mean, what if?”
“Like I said, weak.”
“Ok, well what about Daisy? She might now want her teacher and aunt to date. She’s my student first and foremost, I want her to feel comfortable in my class.”
“While more valid, still weak. What if Daisy doesn’t care or is happy about it?”
“Ugh, you’re turning it around on me.”
“I’m just asking a different ‘what if’ than you, so if we’re done with that scenario. What is your next reason?” Lauren asked.
“Ok, well I don’t know if she is interested,” Emery said.
“That-is actually fair. I defiantly didn’t get a vibe from her one way or the other.”
“Maybe because you were too busy staring?”
“I was not,” Lauren said indignantly.
“You were.”
“Fine, maybe a little. Anyways, I get where you’re coming from, but I think you should put yourself out there.”
“Lauren, I literally met this woman three days ago, and on two of the three occasions we met, it wasn’t exactly pleasant.”
“And yet, here we are.”
Emery groaned, “I just don’t think it’s the right move.”
“Ok, but just like, be open to it?”
“Maybe,” Emery said. She paused when she saw a familiar figure walking toward her. Jade. Great. “Hey, Lo, can I call you back?”
“Sure, but be warned! I shall not be made to wait too long again!”
“Drama Queen,” Emery said and hung the phone up.
Bucky started growling, his hackles rising as Jade drew closer.
“Bucky, you know me,” Jade said, trying to play nice with the little Frenchie.
“And he doesn’t like you,” Emery said firmly.
Jade’s laugh sounded forced and Emery had to fight the urge to draw away from her, “He never really did, huh?”
Emery shrugged, “I can’t say that I blame him.”
“Ah, don’t be like that. I saw you walking and wanted to say hi to you.”
“Pleasantry received. Look it’s cold, and I need to get Bucky home. I’ll catch you later.”
Jade bit her bottom lip in what she probably felt was a seductive manner, but the only effect it had on Emery was to make her stomach roil, “Maybe I could walk you home.” She ended the statement with a wink. Clearly, Jade thought she had a chance of seeing the inside of Emery’s apartment.
“No,” Emery said in a tone that would have shut down anyone else.
“Ah, Em, don’t be like that,” Jade said reaching out to touch her arm and step closer to her.
Emery pulled her arm back and wrapped her arms tightly around her torso. She stepped away despite her efforts to hold her ground, “Leave me alone Jade.”
Jade leaned closer to her still, “Ah, but we had so much fun last time.”
Emery shivered, shame and regret washed over her. She knew exactly what Jade was referring to, and it wasn’t something she liked to dwell on. Bucky let another threatening growl fill the space between them. He had never bit anyone, but in that moment, she wished he would just take a little bite out of Jade’s leg.
“Ms. Webster!” A yell of joy ripped through the air, and Jade immediately drew back
Emery looked past Jade to her savior, and saw Daisy barreling toward her. She caught the little girl in her arms and help her tightly like the lifeline she was, “Hey Daisy.”
She looked up from Daisy and saw Quinn walking toward them with her hands in the front of a black Nike hoodie. Emery had never been so glad to see other people before.
Quinn looked from Emery to Jade and raised an eyebrow, “Everything ok, here?”
Jade forced a smile onto her face, “Of course, I was just offering to walk Emery home. I don’t think we’ve met; my name is Jade.” She stuck her hand out toward Quinn.
For a moment Emery thought Quinn wouldn’t take Jade’s hand, but she shook it briefly, “Quinn.”
Quinn looked back at Emery and asked more directly, “Are you ok?”
Emery’s throat felt dry, Quinn was offering her a lifeline, she took it, she gave her head a small shake. Quinn raised an eyebrow and turned back to Jade, “You know, I think Daisy and I can handle walking Emery home.”
Jade’s eyes narrowed, “Excuse-.”
Quinn cut her off, “You’re excused. Have a good night.”
Daisy, who Emery was still holding onto said, “Um, Ms. Webster? You have to let me go if we’re gonna walk you home.”
“Oh! Sorry honey,” she released Daisy and turned toward the direction of her apartment, “I’m this way.”
Quinn nodded stoically and walked closely beside her. So closely that she could smell the pleasant scent of cinnamon wafting from her.
“Ms. Webster? May I walk your dog please?”
“Sure, he’s a good boy, just make sure you keep an eye on him, if he sees a cat he might try to chase it,” she said handing Daisy the leash.
“Is that how he ended up in the street the other night?” Quinn asked, casting a sideways glance at her.
“Unfortunately.”
They walked a little further, the silence wasn’t uncomfortable, but Emery could feel the questions hanging in the air between them, “Thank you, by the way, for the save.”
“Thank Daisy, she’s the one who saw you when we came out of Sam’s.”
“Still, you helped.”
“You’re welcome. You looked pretty shaken up, I couldn’t leave you there. Who was that jerk anyways?”
“My ex, she doesn’t seem to realize that all parts of the relationship are over.”
“Ah, the worst,” Quinn said.
“The very worst,” Emery replied.
They continued to walk in silence, Emery’s hand brushed the back of Quinn’s, and she felt her cheeks heat at the simple contact. She had to fight against doing it again, or worse, grabbing Quinn’s hand. Finally they reached her apartment building, “Well, this is me.”
“Woah! You live in a tall building, Ms. Webster,” Daisy said in wide eyed amazement.
“I do! Except, I only live in a small part of this tall building,” she said smiling.
“Oh, neat!”
Quinn laughed, “Alright Daisy, tell Ms. Webster goodnight so we can head back.”
Daisy gave her a third hug, “Bye Ms. Webster!”
“Bye Daisy,” she turned her eyes to Quinn, “Bye, Quinn and thank you again.”
“Bye,” Quinn said simply, before taking Daisy’s hand and walking back toward Sam’s pizza.
Emery picked Bucky up and carried him up the stairs to their studio. When she got inside, she closed the door and leaned against it for support. Maybe totally was the correct word to describe just how into Quinn she was. She sighed and thought about calling Lauren but didn’t. Lauren would call when she wanted to talk anyways, and right now Emery just needed a moment to collect herself.
She thought about Jade and their encounter. She wished that she had never muddied the waters after their break-up, somehow leading Jade to believe her door was open anytime she wanted. She knew she needed to get the situation with Jade under control, she didn’t ever want a repeat of those three minutes before Daisy and Quinn had saved her.
She felt her heart do a flip when she thought of Quinn. She had saved Emery. With a single look she was able to tell that she needed help and hadn’t hesitated to swoop in to save her. That doesn’t mean she’s into you, crazy. Emery told herself, though that didn’t seem to stop her brain from thinking fondly of the red-headed woman. Of her soft hand, or her inviting lips.
Emery’s eyes widened at the thought, and she shook her head. She forced the thought of kissing Quinn out of her mind. She refocused on all the reasons she would never get involved with Quinn Stone. The only probably was that now, as Lauren had said, they sounded weak.
She turned the TV on as a distraction and flipped to Hallmark, they would be showing some sappy Christmas movie with a woman leaving her inattentive suit-wearing boyfriend, for the handsome, small-town carpenter that would defiantly take her mind off Quinn. Except the one that was showing was about a small-town doctor. Emery sighed, settled into her sofa, and accepted that the universe was going to force her to think about a woman she had sworn she wouldn’t get involved with as penance for her misdeeds.
I am getting to a point where I am not sure I am going to make it, but we’ll see right? Here is the progress I made today.
Nanowrimo word count: 10377
VI
Quinn
Quinn hustled out of Emery’s classroom and down the hall in such a hurry that someone would have thought she were being chased. She only slowed when she reached the front of the school. She leaned against the wall and let her head fall backward. Her head was reeling from her brief exchange with Emery.
Emery, who was too easy to talk to. Emery who hadn’t shied away from her when she started crying but had comforted her instead. Emery who sent tingles through her entire body with just a single, probably friendly, touch. Emery who made her feel things that she didn’t want to name or think about. Emery who was defiantly her niece’s teacher who she shouldn’t think about.
Quinn tried to remind herself that the woman she was having unwanted warm feelings about was the same woman who on two separate occasions had irritated her beyond reason, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t muster those feelings anymore. She switched tactics and tried to tell herself that any warmth she felt was because Emery had been kind to her and had comforted her in a time of vulnerability. Satisfied with that conclusion, she walked out of the building where Daisy sat on the playground swings waiting for her.
She paused and thought about what she needed to do to repair her relationship with Daisy. She knew it would take time for her to rebuild the trust, like she had told Emery, Daisy had a good reason to be upset with her. She had all but abandoned the kid after she had already lost her mom. Quinn swallowed and tried to push the rush of emotions thinking about her sister brought on, from her mind. She needed to focus on Daisy anyways.
Quinn watched Daisy push herself slowly on the swing and it occurred to Quinn, that in three days, she hadn’t seen her niece anywhere near a smile. That needed to change. Quinn scooped up some snow, despite the fact that she wasn’t wearing gloves, and lobbed the lightly packed snowball at Daisy’s back.
Daisy looked around in confusion until her eyes landed on Quinn. Quinn smiled mischievously and grabbed another handful of snow. Daisy’s eyes went wide, and she scrambled to get her backpack off and collect her own snow. Quinn tossed another snowball that landed on Daisy’s chest. Daisy ran at her with her own snowball and threw it, nailing her aunt in the side.
“I’m wounded,” Quinn cried in mock despair.
Daisy giggled and grabbed another handful of snow to throw at Quinn. This time she hit Quinn in the back as she retreated. They continued to exchange snowballs, squealing and giggling together. Quinn threw another snowball Daisy’s way, but it sailed over her head and hit Emery Webster in the face.
Quinn’s mouth fell open and Daisy dropped the snowball she had been making, eyes wide in surprise.
“You hit the teacher,” Daisy mumbled.
Emery removed the brown leather messenger bag she was carrying, dusted the snow off her face, leaned down to collect a snowball, and fired it at Quinn. The snowball struck her in the shoulder. Quinn looked at Emery, only to find the woman smirking at her.
Quinn smiled and yelled, “The enemy has returned fire!”
Daisy squealed in delight and picked up the snowball she dropped, “Get Aunt Quinn!”
“What?! Traitor!”
Daisy and Emery both started pelting Quinn with snow until she gripped her chest and fell dramatically into the snow. Daisy and Emery ran at her and fell, laughing, in the snow beside her. Daisy snuggled into her side and for the first time in a long time, Quinn felt content and warm. She turned her head so she could look at Emery and mouthed, “Thank you.”
Emery nodded and smiled back at Quinn. It was the most beautiful smile Quinn had even seen, and for one charged moment they held their eye contact. Quinn was the first the break the eye contact to look down at Daisy, “You ready to head home? I don’t know about you, but I could use some hot cocoa.”
“With marshmallows?” Daisy asked.
“Obviously, I am not a hot cocoa novice.”
“Whats a novice?”
“It’s like a person who does something for the first time.”
“Ooh, ok.”
Quinn stood up out of the snow and helped Daisy and Emery to their feet. Emery smiled at her and bit her lip in a way that made Quinn’s mind go blank, “Thank you for letting me play.”
“Thank you for taking that snowball to the face like a champ.”
The both stood awkwardly, shifting, both wanting to say more, but unsure what else to say. Daisy looked between the two of them, before deciding to dispel the tension herself. She gave Emery a big hug, “Thanks for the snow fight, Ms. Webster.”
Emery hugged her back, “Of course! I’ll see you tomorrow Daisy.”
Daisy let go of her and grabbed Quinn’s hand to pull her toward their house, “Come on, you said hot cocoa!”
Quinn turned back over her shoulder one more time and said, “Goodnight again, Emery.”
Emery waved at her, still smiling that gorgeous smile. As they walked home Quinn had to make an honest effort not to let her thoughts drift to Emery. She focused on putting one foot in front of the other, and almost ran into Daisy when she stopped in front of their house.
“Who’s car is that?” She asked pointing at a faded blue pick-up truck.
“No idea. I guess we’ll find out when we go inside,” Quinn answered nonchalantly.
They walked up the steps to the front porch, unlocked the door, and then went inside. What Quinn found inside made her wish she had never even thought to open that front door. Right there, on the sofa, was her mother stark naked, in the arms of a man Quinn recognized as the owner of the local hardware store.
“Oh my God,” Quinn said before grabbing Daisy and swinging her out the door before she could be exposed to her grandmother’s nudity.
“What?” Daisy asked squirming, “What is it?”
“N-nothing. How would you feel about going somewhere else for dinner?”
“Like where?”
“Anywhere.”
“What about Gran?”
“I don’t think gran’s hungry right now.”
“What? But we always eat together.”
“Well, maybe not tonight.”
“Why are you acting so weird?” Daisy asked, clearly getting irritated with her aunt.
“I’m not being weird,” Quinn replied, knowing she was being weird.
Before Daisy had a chance to press her further, Molly came out the front door wearing a robe, “I completely lost track of time!”
“Clearly!” Quinn replied.
“Look, I know this must be hard for you, but Bernard makes me happy. I haven’t felt like this since your father.”
“Mom! Please, can we not have this conversation right this minute?”
Daisy looked at her grandmother in confusion, “What conversation?”
“It’s nothing Daisy, dear.”
“Right, it’s nothing. I was just telling Daisy here that maybe she and I could go to dinner, but she’s pretty insistent that you come.”
Quinn gave her mother a meaningful look. Molly looked back at her, almost like she didn’t comprehend at first, but slowly nodded her head, “Daisy, why don’t you go along with your Aunt Quinn? You can bring me something back.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am positive, love, go and have a good time with your Aunt.”
Daisy nodded, “Can we go to Sam’s Pizza? Pretty please?”
Quinn sighed in relief, “Anywhere you want.”
Daisy danced around happily, “Yes! Can we go in your car?”
Quinn nodded and started walking toward her car, but Molly reached out to grab her arm, “Later tonight, can we talk about this?”
“Yeah, Mom. Though if you plan on bearing your soul to me, know that I have seen other things lain bare that I didn’t intend to see.”
Her mother smacked her shoulder, “Rotten child.”
Quinn got into the driver’s seat of her Mercedes and started the car, what an evening.
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