“Why is this thing still in our room?” Claudia scoffed and set the bowl down, coming over to try and shoo her roommate’s hands away from it. Last time someone messed with it, it had taken days to reposition so the signal could come through.
“Where else would my radio be?” She quirked an eyebrow and switched it back on. It took a moment to find a decent station, but she kept the volume low enough to hear the rain pattering on the roof.
“In some hipster’s garage, gathering dust.” The brunette drummed her fingers on the radio’s tv stand. Claudia scoffed in response and patted it as gently as she could manage.
“You’re insulting Tim. Why do you love to insult him, what did he do to you?” She smiled and went back to her bowl, pulling the dish rag out of her pocket. The shorter girl came over and leaned against the counter with her arms crossed.
“For starters? My mornings could do with a little less Fall Out Boy.” Claudia shot her a scandalized look over her shoulder and put one hand over her heart. She put the dried bowl away in the cabinet and moved to check the tea kettle.
“Not everyone’s iPod can be all show tunes and rave music, mein stern."
“Could too, if anyone had three grains of common sense.” She didn’t need to look over at her to know that there was an indignant pout on her face. She could hear it in the girl’s light, sharp voice. Gianna always had a very distinct way of speaking. Her accent was always there as a warm undertone, but her diction was sharp. Like if someone had wanted to, they could transcribe every one of her words easily. Claudia always supposed that it came from years of vocal training. She had always been a crystal clear kind of person when it came to how she spoke. Her syllables, her tones. The only thing to figure out about Gianna Vianni was what she was really saying.
“Grains? What if someone had two grains of common sense? Half a grain?” She turned the stove off. Claudia was so in-tune with her kitchen that the tea kettle typically didn’t get a second of whistling in.
“Mm, then they would be named Claudia Baer.”
“Mean.” She shook her head and tucked a strand of gold hair behind her ear. The hot water swirled into the first cup, mixing with the brown powder at the bottom. Typically she hated packaged hot chocolate. But it was almost two in the morning, and she was not about to give herself another half hour of dishes to wash by breaking out the real stuff.
“I should spit in your tea or something.” She finally looked over once she had finished stirring her cocoa. Gianna clicked her fingers in response, a smirk on her face.
“That would do you in. Very first review on Yelp for your precious patisserie: Let me tell you. When we were in college and sharing a dorm room, this wretched girl spat in my tea. I’ve contracted some horrible persistent disease since then and I’ve got a lawsuit in the works.” Claudia rolled her eyes and plucked out the Tupperware container filled with her roommate’s tea. “It would absolutely ruin you.”
“Horrible persistent disease?” Her fingers dug around, pushing a few bags onto the counter as she searched for the right one. Late night drinks were always done like this. Claudia would have decaf coffee or hot chocolate, and Gianna would just request tea. She would never tell her what tea, she always left it up to Claudia. “Like what? Diabetes, because I’m so sweet? Or a fever, because I’m hot?”
“Worse that that. Love.” The rifling around stopped in an instance. Gianna had hopped up to sit on the counter, socked ankles idly knocking lightly against the wood. She was looking at the floor, bottom lip pulled between her teeth gently. Claudia took one last look at the tea bag in her hand and plunked it into the cup of hot water. Then, she turned and moved to the girl on the counter.
It was funny how much she noticed on her short walk over. Like the blue flecks of dye on the tiles to the left of the oven; leftover from the cotton candy icing she had been messing around with, that she should really have scrubbed already. Droplets of water by the sink that could’ve been wiped up. The tiny tear in the right sleeve of the burgundy sweater that the brunette was wearing. And the way that oak brown eyes still hadn’t met her own blue ones.
Love was a tough subject for Gianna, that much Claudia knew. The summer after graduating high school, she found out that her boyfriend of three years had been cheating on her practically the entire time. Since then, she had happily stayed away from anything remotely close to a steady relationship. Quick romances and a few friends-with-benefits suited her just fine.
The blonde’s brow furrowed when she spotted telltale signs of tears in her expression. She cupped her hands against Gianna’s cheeks, popping up on tip-toe and leaning against the counter for balance. Her forehead met Gianna’s and she smiled. It was a contagious kind of smile, the kind that you put on just for the hope that it would spread to someone else who deserved it.
“Es ist in Ordnung, Süße. Es ist in Ordnung." She whispered. Gianna’s eyes had slipped closed in an effort to stop any tears before they started, but Claudia’s were still open. Admiring the other girl’s long lashes, the faint strip of freckles painted across her nose and cheeks. It was only when she felt Gianna’s lips meet hers that she closed her eyes and hummed happily into the embrace.
They stayed like that for a few long moments. Claudia, one hand still cupping her roommate’s cheek and the other on the counter. Gianna with her arms draped around the blonde’s neck and kissing her until the scared, heartbroken eighteen-year-old fell back into the abyss.
The (marginally) younger girl murmured two words to her when they finally broke apart, nose bumping against hers. The hand on the counter found one of Gianna’s and squeezed. In return, Gianna just made a noise that sounded like either a scoff or a sob. But for once, it seemed like all the acting skill in the world couldn’t hide that smile.
“Stick to German. Your Italian’s terrible.” She breathed and returned the Eskimo kiss, causing Claudia to giggle and peck her on the lips for good measure.
“How do you say it, then?” Her head cocked to the side.
“Tee-amo. Not tey. Ti amo.” She grumbled and made a watery attempt at shoving Claudia away when kisses started getting peppered over her freckles. “Ti amo, dolcezza— Down, girl.”
“Ooh, dolcezza. I like that. What’s it mean?”
“Girl-who-suffocates-with-affection.” The shorter girl tugged the hand still in hers, pulling her close so she could press a kiss to her neck. Claudia let out a ticklish squeak when she felt a nibble, taking a few stumbling steps out of reach.
She heard the rain still coming down, could see the droplets streaking down the windowpane. Paired with it, the sound of her little-radio-that-could. The song coming from it was being sung by a girl. Slow and delicate, accompanied with an acoustic guitar. A nice cover of an old love song, some American singer if she could recall right. Between the rain, the music, and the way the brunette was looking at her, she felt young. Heck, she was young. Only recently twenty one, with most of her unruly blonde tresses tucked up into an old brownie beanie and a big dopey grin on her face.
Gianna dropped down off the counter and took her hands. She looked down at them for a moment before bringing one to her waist, taking the other in her hand.
“Do you want to dance?” It was so like Gianna to ask her to dance after she had already decided for both of them. But Claudia nodded and felt the flock of butterflies all the same.
Their world wasn’t perfect. Their campus was always in some kind of turmoil, running drills wore them out, and schoolwork was great at putting them both on the ropes. But they caught their breath in their dorm room, occasionally encased by a bubble of pouring rain and crackly music that drifted from a beat-up old Sony radio. Engulfed in each other’s smiles and surrounded by warm arms and untouched mugs, they found a home.
