i’ll be good (for all the light I shut out) | ally mayfair-richards x danna bishop
words: 4,524
summary: Being the one supportive, the one fixing things, wasn’t something Ally knew how to do. But after three years she thought that maybe, finally, she managed to make a difference. And it all came by the hand of the woman she was trying to comfort.
After three years, sometimes Ally still got uneasy when there was too much silence in the house.
It didn’t help at all that she got used in almost two years to have a loud house, Ozzy always filling it with his laughter and Danna helping him with her usual bubbly self. So that was part of why the moment she crossed the front door, taking off her coat and shoes, she felt wrong having that calmness hanging around. Even more since Danna had the day off, which meant more often than not that Ally could come home to a little revolution led by her son and their tiny dog against her partner.
Rolling up the sleeves of her sweater, Ally tried to check the first floor and the backyard in case Ozzy and Danna were there somewhere. As far as she knew, mostly through Danna’s texts, they didn’t do much in the day but the usual schedule. It was true that after lunch Danna went silent, but Ally just didn’t put much thought into it since she was busy at the restaurant first and then at the office. Also, once again, it was Danna’s day off and probably she was just relaxing if there wasn’t a revolution going on.
Ally scratched her cheek lightly when she didn’t see any of the other members of her family around the first floor, getting a bit worried. Not even Roberto came to welcome her home, which was as strange as not having Oz and Danna welcoming her. So her best bet was to try some luck upstairs.
Ozzy’s room was empty but Ally frowned a bit when she saw her bedroom’s door closed. Which mischief were they up to today? She thought while carefully opening the door of the bedroom to not startle them and probably caught them red handed.
But all she saw was the most tender picture ever.
Cuddled in bed, those three hurricanes she loved so dearly seemed to enjoy just being in the presence of each other. Oz had his headset on, video game controller tightly held in his hands while pressing the buttons as fast as he could, clad in his superhero onesie and his ginger curls held back by the headset; Danna was also clad in the parrot onesie she bought to match Ozzy’s, her arm around him as if she was hugging him protectively, but she was totally KO’d against the so many pillows they had and she had Bob inside the onesie, his tiny head showing through the collar, resting comfortably in her chest, and revealing he was as fast asleep as his owner.
She couldn’t help but capture the moment with her phone and get caught by her son a second later.
“Shh,” Ozzy was pretty careful doing the shush motion towards her and then motioned her to come forward.
Ally tiptoed her way to her side of the bed, empty aside of the food tray that was there and carefully moved it to the floor to occupy the space. Ozzy leant a bit to get his daily kiss on the forehead, which Ally gave gladly before fixing her eyes to the screen to watch her son play. If she was being honest, she still wasn’t so sure about having a television in the room but that was probably the old Ally trying to come back, because the new Ally reminded her that it was actually a not so bad addition.
“What did you have for lunch?” Ally whispered to Ozzy, taking off slightly one side of the headset so he could hear her better.
“Danna made cuban sandwiches with...some kind of plantain thing, it was tasty, we ate in bed watching a show,” he said all of that without looking away from the television. “We were extra careful, I promise, we didn’t drop anything, not a crumb.”
Ally didn’t have many rules as of now, but Ozzy still had that tiny thing engraved in him that always made Ally feel a bit uneasy. Overall because in so little time she changed and grew out of many of her old habits.
“It’s okay, sweetie, not the usual but okay,” she felt the need to reassure him and Ozzy smiled at her for a moment before going back to the game. “Homework?”
“Done,” Ozzy pointed at the little pile of books and notebooks over the nightstand.
“Okay, that’s impressive,” Ally raised her eyebrows at that, because lately he wasn’t a big fan of doing things immediately, and felt tempted to put her own hand over Danna’s, which was placed against Ozzy’s belly. “What got into you?” Ozzy shrugged and looked down a bit. “Oz?”
They’re attention was drawn by a tiny dog yawn, Bob waking up and wagging his tail still half asleep when he saw Ally. She approached her hand to give him some quick cuddle, gaining a lazy lick back before he dropped his head against Danna’s soft chest again, snuggling just like that.
Danna frowned in her sleep, rolling slightly towards Ozzy’s body, and kept sleeping undisturbed. For a second Ally smiled and decided to finally put her hand over Danna’s. Intertwining their fingers automatically, it didn’t wake Danna up but it made her hum in her sleep.
“Mom?” Ally hummed in response, not letting go of Danna’s hand but getting herself more comfortable against the pillows. “I think...she’s sad.”
Hearing Ozzy saying that made Ally look at him a bit perplexed.
“How so?”
“She didn’t have music on when she picked me up at school,” Ozzy took off the headset and left it over his legs with the controller. “Not even when cooking. She asked me about school, that’s what you do, not her, and it was weird,” Ally wanted to tell him that everything seemed off the second he said that there wasn’t music. “But then she...I don’t know mom, Danna had red eyes and didn’t laugh with my joke.”
“That’s...a lot of things, baby,” it was pretty impressive that Ozzy managed to figure out all of that with a few hours of being together with Danna. “Did she say something weird?”
“She said she was tired,” Ozzy shrugged again and looked at Danna for a second before looking at his hands again. “You say when someone’s tired, it helps when someone else makes things easy for them,” Ally smiled at that, because he was a good kid. “So...I helped with food and told her to have a pajama afternoon,” Ozzy looked at their pajamas. “I asked her to help me with homework and then I showed her how to play my game,” then he looked at Ally and Danna’s joined hands pressed in his belly. “She fell asleep with Bob after one game.”
“I see.”
They fell into a comfortable silence after that, mostly because Ally got into her head and she had much to think about. With Oz back in his game, she actually had the first break in all day and she decided to close her eyes as well.
This morning when she left Danna didn’t seem any different from another day. Well, since Dara’s incident it was true that her mood - all the cousins’ mood as a matter of fact - had changed a bit, but it was normal taking in count how close they all were. They were worried, of course, and Danna was the one being the furthest from them, which Ally thought would make worse the worry but Danna kept being her sunshine-ish self and probably Ally should have pressed her a bit more.
“Mom?”
It was lucky she kept her eyes closed, because she felt herself tear up a bit with the only thought of having Danna feeling bad in silence.
“Yes honey?” Ally stilled her voice with a long sigh.
“I don’t like seeing mama sad.”
Yeah, Ozzy was too good for this world. Since Valentine’s, Oz had slipped a few more times by addressing Danna as that and, to be completely honest, she liked how the word sounded when it went towards the other woman. She didn’t press Ozzy into anything, Danna neither, they only played it cool and, well, maybe someday he would actually be vocal about it.
“I don’t like it either,” Ally caressed Oz’s belly with her thumb absentmindedly.
“Should we call titi and ask what we could do?” Ozzy liked Danielle and Ally found funny how fast he bonded with Danna’s twin sister since he only saw her a few times. Not even with Ally’s sisters was he that close.
“Let me think about something and if it doesn’t work, we call her, okay?” Ozzy was the one humming in response now and then he let out a pained groan when he lost the game, turning the console off and letting his head rest in his mother’s chest. “Another level you can’t pass?”
“Yeah…Dami should know how to,” he groaned again but didn’t move because being cuddled by his mom was the best thing on Earth. “I’m hungry again.”
“Well, it’s not a surprise, you ate around four and it’s almost nine,” Ally got surprised when she checked her wristwatch. “Okay, you go get showered and I’ll come up with something for dinner,” her eyes went to Danna. “Something we three like.”
“Pizza?” excitement filled Ozzy’s voice and Ally rolled her eyes. “It’s pizza, right?”
“It’s pizza as long as you go shower now.”
And just like that, Ozzy broke their linked hands and ran fast towards the bathroom. That made Bob to finally react, waking up with the highest energy an eight year-old chihuahua could gather and waking Danna up in the process, the tiny dog going after Oz without giving Ally a single bark.
“And with the demigod gone, the Goddess herself finally showed up,” Danna yawned big and let herself fall onto Ally’s lap, hugging her like that with her eyes still closed. “Will I burn if you show me your real form?”
“How can you go all mighty speech right after waking up? A mystery to me,” Ally giggled and caressed Danna’s cheek with her fingertips. “Was the nap good?”
“Mhm,” Danna nodded lazily, nuzzling her nose against Ally’s belly and then she laid face up, so she could look at her better. “If I wasn’t starving, I would skip dinner and go on with it till tomorrow.”
“You missing pizza is very unlikely,” that made both laugh for a second and then they went silent, enjoying each other’s presence. Ally was sure that if she kept at it with the tiny caresses, she would lull Danna to sleep again. “Ozzy told me you were sad.”
“That’s not true,” Danna frowned, eyes closed again. “Would a sad person be dressed as a fluffy parrot? I think not.”
“Darianna,” Ally whispered Danna’s full name and she got her to open her eyes, no sleep in them. “He said you didn’t laugh at his joke and asked him about school which, in his words, it’s a thing that I do,” Danna got the guilt all over her face and rested both of her hands over her own chest. “And he said you had red eyes, so either a sandstorm got in your eyes or you were crying.”
“Sandstorms in Michigan are a very common thing,” Ally rolled her eyes at that and, like Danna used to do when she felt like annoying her, she pinched her nose until Danna swatted her hand away to get some air. “Okay, okay! Nani called this morning and maybe I cried for half an hour after hanging up, happy now?”
“Not really,” Danna sat up to Ally’s response and then leant back in the pillows, leaving both side by side in bed in silence again. Ally put her hand over the bed, facing up, as an offering to Danna, who was fast to take such a lovely offer. “I’m not really happy when the woman I love is hurting and she doesn’t tell me so I can do something about it.”
Ally watched Danna look at the ceiling for a few seconds and then to their hands, how she pulled off the hoodie with her free hand and then put it over her eyes. Ally could only squeeze her hand a bit upon seeing Danna’s tears leaking through her fingers, silent sobs making her body tremble.
Danna didn’t cry much, but it was heartbreaking every single time she did.
“They don’t know what to do to get her out of bed,” Danna’s voice was tiny and scared. “Lia and Nani say she’s catatonic or I don’t know. Nani called me to ask for one of our granny’s recipes, so maybe that could comfort her or get her better magically,” Ally brought their hands to her lap and used her free hand to cover them. “Billie is working from home to take care of her, Audrey is helping, Damien goes everyday after high school to spend time with her. Even Shelby has stayed with her!” Danna said that last point a bit furiously. “And all I can do is nothing, like always, just give my sister an old recipe in hopes for something that won’t happen any time soon.”
And then Danna started to cry harder, making Ally to get closer and bring her to her chest to let her hide there.
Because it was what Danna needed and she knew it. To let go of all her inner turmoil and to be held, to be listened, not heard. Ally could listen to her as long as she wanted and needed, she could do that for sure, because the new Ally wanted to be better than the old one so fucking bad that if she had to sit for an hour listening, she will do it without a single doubt in mind.
“This is what I hate the most about my life and me,” Danna kept sobbing on Ally’s chest and she kept hugging her. “I’m not there when things happen, they can’t rely on me because I’m never there,” Ally closed her eyes a bit, because those things were pretty heavy statements. “My aunt died when Lia was eighteen, where was I? Arizona, couldn’t even attend the funeral and when I went to Sacramento after three months, Dahlia already moved to Seattle to attend uni,” Danna rubbed her eyes to stop the tears, but they didn’t stop coming. “When Nani gave birth to Damien, we were in this stupid nine year feud that made me miss all kind of things, and I should have been there...but where was I again? New York, getting yelled at while my twin sister was being cut in half like a turkey because my niece was coming way too early in Québec,” Ally reminded herself not to mention that terrible simile in the future and neither the information that was thrown at her. “And Dari...where do I fucking start? When she ran away to Los Angeles, we met because I was working there at the time and I bought that she was visiting a friend? When she got into a car accident and I was in Germany so I didn’t see her until way after New Year’s Eve?”
“Sweetheart, it’s impossible that you knew all of that was going to happen…” Ally brushed her hair with care, kissing the crown of her head.
“But I should have known, because I’m the oldest and...they needed me, I wasn’t there, and the story repeats itself.”
Shocking revelation for a wrecked situation.
Ally didn’t know what to say right away but kept giving Danna cuddles, trying to get her to slow down with the choking with her own tears. Danna talked really fast when she was upset, Ozzy showered really slow, so in between both things Ally felt that they had enough time to settle part of this giganormous conversation.
“Why can’t I be there but they can?” Danna moved to rest her head on Ally's shoulder, which prompted her to leave a kiss in her forehead. “Lia took a train to Vancouver from Seattle to be with me during Christmas because I got sick that same year and didn’t leave me until she was sure I stopped from throwing up my insides out,” there was now fondness in Danna’s affected voice. “Dari picked me up when they kicked me out of the restaurant I was working in Los Angeles, we went to party together and ended up eating tacos at the beach with a punk band, and even after that she kept checking on me until my mentor called me and I moved to Chicago,” with that, Ally couldn’t help but write down somewhere in her head to ask about that again in the future, because the punk band part sounded fun at least. “And Nani...Damien was barely six months old when my stupid heart made stupid things and Nani strapped that badass baby girl to her chest, flew from Québec to Sacramento and didn’t leave my side for days,” there her voice went tinier and Ally felt her own heart squeezed against her ribcage. “You should have seen my ex-brother-in-law’s face when Nani said I was coming back home with them. Nani was the one that sat us down to talk, put the stupid feud behind, and started all over again.” Danna rubbed her eyes and looked at Ally, who was watching her with understanding eyes and soft smile. “How did they know when to stop their lives for a second to be there…?”
Ally didn’t know either the answer to that, mostly because she didn’t know them much to begin with, but leant in to press a kiss to her lips. Danna kissed her back like always, lingering both in the moment before Ally found the right words to say while trying to wipe away Danna’s tears with her sleeve.
“It’s a matter of context and situations, sweetheart. I’m pretty sure they actually didn’t know,” Ally took Danna’s face between her hands with love, tracing the soft flesh of her cheeks with her thumbs tenderly. “It's something that happens, and that’s it. We can wish to have been there, but what we do afterwards it’s what counts the most if we weren’t.”
Danna sniffed a bit but didn’t seem to have something to say back, only moving enough so she could hug Ally better. For Ally it felt like the tiniest win, one she hoped brought some peace of mind to her girlfriend. They shared the silence, Ally brushing Danna’s cheek with her thumb carefully so she could sense she was still there, actively listening if she had something else to get out of her chest.
“Sorry for being such a disaster.”
Ozzy showing up was the only thing that stopped Ally from going full bananas over that statement. Seeing Danna withdrawing into her shell and trying to chirp her way through the conversation with Ozzy about which pizza they were having was one of the most painful things Ally had witnessed. And she fell quiet for the rest of the night, trying to think about how to approach Danna about that again.
It wasn’t until they were back in the bedroom, Danna out of the onesie and with an actual pajama and Ally fresh out of the shower, that Ally acted on it. Difficult as it was, taking in count Danna was falling asleep once again thanks to the television, she took away the controller without much trouble and turned it off before moving under the blankets so she was straddling Danna effortlessly.
That woke the latina enough to move her hands towards Ally’s belly, her weak spot, right away.
"You should turn on the television if you wanna do that, bunny," Ally rolled her eyes a bit by Danna's nickname for her for the day. "Don't you think?"
"No, I need to be forward with you Darianna."
"Allyson, when you say my full name while on top of me like this, it's very confusing," Danna said, giving Ally a soft boop on her nose. "I'm scaroused."
"Well, maybe you should be," Ally joked as a way of warning her partner, leaning to kiss her slowly and having Danna's hands finding their way to her ass. "But that's not the thing tonight…" Ally sat up again, not being really heavy and placing her hands on top Danna's belly, playing with her shirt a bit. "...I don't like when you call yourself things. You're not a disaster, nor terrible, nor anything."
That made Danna move her hands to rest on Ally's covered thighs, avoiding the eye contact with her so she didn't have to face the truth somehow. That hurted Ally too much and her hand went naturally to Danna’s chin, lifting her face a bit so they could lock eyes.
“Because tell me, were you one when I broke my elbow and you drove me in half the time to the hospital? When you took care of everything around the house and the restaurant to get my part of the load off my back” Ally knew how stressed Danna could get in emergency situations, but she handled that pretty well. “And what about when Ozzy had to do that project for school last minute and you pulled the all-nighter, slept two hours and then went to work?” Ally found Danna’s hand and intertwined their fingers together. “Every time you looked after him? When he was sick with those fevers and he didn’t want to leave your side?” Ally saw how Danna sighed unsteadily, sign that she was about to cry again. “Or when we were down one or two in the restaurant and did everything they had to do yourself? When you cared and tried to find a solution when problems arose? When you try to teach everyone everything so they’re prepared just in case?” Danna’s lip quivered a bit and Ally pressed a kiss to let her know she was there. “I don’t see a disaster and that’s why I don’t like you saying those things, apologizing even. You’re not, you’re just someone that cares too much and has a lot going on in her life, and that’s it,” Another kiss and Ally’s hands went to cup Danna’s face with love. “And everyone loves you for that, I love you for that sunshine.”
“Okay, okay,” it was so sad hearing Danna talk with such a tiny voice, on the verge of tears, but she looked like she finally understood. “But I see why Oz doesn’t like when you scold him.”
“I wasn’t scolding you,” Ally laughed at that and that made Danna smile, a tiny cute smile for such a big woman. “I was just stating facts and trying to make you see what I see everyday.”
“I know…” Danna moved her hands behind Ally, just to rest them in her lower back. “Is just...I can’t help it sometimes, all these thoughts live rent free in my head,” she stretched her neck a bit and got more comfy. “And maybe I’m stressed and...I miss them Ally, I miss hugging them,” she mimicked what she said by pulling Ally down to hug her better, Ally falling without much trouble because she loved being held by her girlfriend. “I miss my family.”
With her chin resting on Danna’s chest, Ally stopped her train of thought for a second and her eyes went to her nightstand.
Was it maybe the right time to…?
It is, Allyson. Just fucking do it, come on, it’s been planned since February and it’s almost November!
Ally sometimes loved and hated her inner voice in equal parts, not gonna lie there. But today she was on the loving side she supposed, taking in count that she was listening to it since she came home hours ago.
Sneaking her arm out a bit, Ally managed to reach the drawer and blindly search for what she left there. Danna looked at her, asking silently what was she doing after pressing a kiss to her temple, but when Ally showed her the paper...well, she couldn’t help but tear up again.
“Let's go to Los Angeles then," Ally smiled at Danna, who was trying very hard to clean her own tears. "Do the reservation at the spa, let's stay with your sister for a few days, go visit your cousin and cook in person the recipe that may help her," Ally couldn't help but kiss Danna's chest, right where the neck of her shirt was letting her see the scary scar. "You need it, we need it, I bet Ozzy will be the happiest for skipping school for a few days."
"We'll have to talk with his teachers if we go more than the weekend…"
"Oh, you said that not me, I want it recorded," that made both laugh and Danna ended up moaning a bit because she was still crying. "Six days, we go pick up Oz on friday to school and by dinner time we would be there."
"What about the restaurant…? Your office…?"
"Office work I'll give an extra push to cover it up and I'll bring my laptop just in case," Ally was trying not to spiral on her own with all the stuff they'll have to arrange, and she was successful on it. "Restaurant, well, I trust in Beverly to replace me...and you have Ferdinand and Aathmika to handle the kitchen. We'll get everything in order so they don't have to worry about it."
"Ally...are you really sure we can do this right now…?"
Having Danna being the one thinking that hard in everything was a good change, a really good one, but Ally needed the spontaneous Danna right now.
"We can totally do it," she looked in her eyes while saying that. "As long as we are together, working like a team, I trust in us to get through it," it was difficult saying this, but she never felt that way with Ivy. "So...are you in Bishop?"
In that moment Ally didn't know that they'll work their asses off to get everything in place, that they'll arrive to a mess of a situation that - strangely enough - only Danna being physically there managed to fix, even getting Dara to eat and talk a bit more. She truly didn't know that, after fixing the mess, she would get to relax and to know better her sisters-in-law. Nor even that after she kept trying to organize her mind, right there on top of Danna, they'd have the softest sex they had in a while.
But she did know that this was the right thing to do, what they needed in order to keep going. Having Danna to agree was just the cherry on top and God that kissing away all her tears and almost all her worries lifted a heavy cape from Ally's shoulders.
She was indulging and growing out of her old ways, she was doing perfectly what her therapist and her were working towards.
And helping the love of her life along the way was just plainly brutal.
This one is hard damn, they already are living in a Chef AU of some sorts hahaha I think I really love that of them but if I had to put them in one...well, I still dig a lot the idea of Lawyer/The Good Fight AU, the one I said in Mina and Ray’s alphabet, so I totally see them in the same AU. But also, maybe, The Holiday AU. That’s a good film, I love it a lot and I could make it work somehow Danna and Audrey exchanging houses and then Audrey meets Dani and Danna meets Ally, I totally see it.
AND maybe some kind of Fighter AU? Boxing AU? OR BETTER Superhero AU OR OR OR WAIT ME A MINUTE D&D AU. Yeah, God, that would be awesome for fucking sure. Danna is totally a bard and Ally is the queen or something, I totally see it.
B - Baby (Do they want a family?)
They have a family: Ozzy and their dog, Bob. Danna didn’t think about her having kids and Ally doesn’t want another one, so they both are pretty content with Ozzy. So it was kind of a surprise family, at least for Danna. At first she was pretty much worried about not being good influence for Ozzy or Ally not wanting her to be close to him, but after a few pick ups at school and home dates, Ozzy totally fell in love with her mother’s new partner. Like from all the women Ally dated after Cult, Danna is the one that Ozzy liked the best and actively asked for her to Ally, which always got tear-eyed because not many could get a reaction out of him in such way.
When I say everyone was shocked and surprised upon knowing that Danna was dating someone with a kid, I’m totally honest with you. I mean, Dara could have say Billie and her were having a baby - which they both agreed not to - and it would have get less surprising and shocking reactions than the ones Danna got.
C - Cuddle (Cuddler? How would they cuddle?)
Ally is the cuddler and Danna loves cuddling her way too much, so there’s no much fighting about this to be honest. It doesn’t matter where they are, Ally always finds her way into Danna’s arms and they settle after Danna kiss the crown of her head or gave her a tiny peck.
With Ivy, Ally held back a bit on the PDA, but with Danna she’s all over the place and she doesn’t care at all because Danna seems as happy as her. Though sometimes Danna is the cuddler and it’s funny because their height differences are pretty much noticeable and Danna is like a human blanket.
D - Dates (What are dates like?)
Pretty...basic. They are content with simple things, simple dates at most, because they are always busy. So big dates are always for important stuff. This doesn’t mean they don’t feel the need of going out only the two of them once or twice, though, it’s just that too many times they are satisfied with their little dates at home or even when they’re on a break in the restaurant.
E - Everything (You are my ______? Life, world, etc)
Danna to Ally ‘You’re my pandora’s box.’
Ally to Danna ‘You’re my new sunrise.’
F - Feelings (When did they first realize they had feelings for the other?)
Five months after Danna started to work for Ally in the restaurant, around the time they were more comfortable with each other. I like to think that Ally was hesitant at first but she knew that her feeling for Danna were sincere from the beginning. And Danna was scared when she realized she was catching feelings for Ally, like hard feelings, after their fifth date and it wasn’t until it passed two months in their relationship that Danna actually addressed them properly.
G - Gentle (Are they gentle? If so, how?)
They are, both. But we all know Ally can be a bit harsher at times. With each other though, they are the most gentle even when they tease each other and such. I think it’s because they didn’t feel things so strong for someone in a long time and well, I always said Danna and Ally are the soft spot of each other, so what else can I say?
H - Holding Hands (Do they like it? How often?)
Heck to the yeah. But it’s always Ally the one doing it more naturally, Danna tends to overthink somehow. Maybe it’s because everything that Ally makes her feel is a bit new for her, so she feels like she’s walking over egg shells, not knowing if it’s okay to do this or that. Ally helps her get braver and it’s cute watching Danna, this enormous woman, be so nervous about holding her girlfriend’s hand. They do it pretty often, Ally always takes Danna’s hand in hers and leaves her free hand in Danna’s bicep, head resting in her shoulder a bit and all, which makes Danna to lean a bit to kiss her forehead with love.
I - Impression (What was their first impression of one another?)
Ally thought Danna was like a cartoon character, her reactions too big and weird at first and not matching with all the impressive stuff that was in her resume. She was really walking on thin ice because yeah, Danna looked and was a good professional, but as a person she was a bit over the place.
Danna was a bit scared of Ally at first, she made her nervous and that made her act in her silly self to ‘break the ice’. Danna had some sick respect for Ally upon meeting and for the next six months that were their pre-relationship, even when they started dating Danna went as far as blurting all of that out of nervousness to Ally, which found it hilarious.
J - Jealous (Would they ever get jealous? How would they act if they were jealous?)
They both get jealous more than they want to admit, but they act on it playfully most of the time. Ally tease Danna about it, maybe a new way of approaching it taking in count everything that happened with Ivy, and Danna is always pretty oblivious about many stuff that happens around her that isn’t Ally or the kitchen related so Danna goes to Ally and picks her up like she weights nothing, trying to draw some laughs from her and kissing her, telling her afterwards that she didn’t notice that the new scullion was flirting with her because the most beautiful woman was around the kitchen.
When it’s Danna’s turn to get jealous the feeling is all over her face, it’s so easy to notice it? She tries to hold it back but all her unsaid words are there in the form of Danna getting closer to Ally, wrapping her from behind and being a bit more cuddly than she is on daily basis. Ally always comment lightly about how nice this whoever was once they are alone and it’s then when Danna just let it all go and get all flustered and everything and Ally can’t help but kiss her all over her face before dragging her to bed.
K - Kisses (How do they kiss?)
There are times and times, but they kinda kiss slow most of the time, big ones when they think none’s watching but everyone’s totally is. Danna have this thing of holding Ally’s face between her hands in such delicately way that has Ally all heart-eyes without a single doubt.
But the quick kisses with the ‘D wink trademark’ that everyone in Danna’s family has...those are a good soft spot, though.
L - Love (Who says ‘I love you’ first?)
Danna! And it was by accident but Ally followed her the next second. I want to specifically write this because it’s a wholesome and cute scenario, but let’s say Danna was talking over the phone with Dani and Ally overheard her saying that she loved her a lot and that Ally was making Danna to want to stay and not escape like pretty much of her relationships. It was way too early in their relationship though, like two months or so, they knocked each others socks off pretty hard.
M - Memory (What’s their favorite memory of the relationship?)
I think their favourite moment, forever and ever, would be the night Ally asked Danna to move in with them. There wasn’t crazy, big, whatever, in the whole memory but the simplicity of it all, the warmth in the moment, was enough to make it their favourite. Ally was cooking dinner while Danna watched over Ozzy, who was doing some homework, and when she turned around to see why they were bickering...well, it got Ally’s heart all soft to watch Danna mess with Ozzy because she was ‘bored’, all in a lighthearted way.
The question came out of Ally’s lips too fast and she looked at Ozzy quickly, because his reaction was the most important one in that moment, but seeing how Ozzy was even more excited with that idea...well, what else could I say? Danna moved in the following week, though, but between us she totally cried a bit that night in Ally’s bathroom out of happiness.
N - Nicknames (What do they call each other?)
I said this before but with Danna is like a russian roulette of nicknames, each day she has a different one, words and combinations that she comes up with in a second and stick for the rest of the day and Ally is always pretty amused of what will she be every day.
Ally sticks with sweetheart, darling and sunshine, but this one is something pretty intimate and holds a lot of
O - Orange (What color reminds them of each other?)
Orange is the colour that reminds Ally of Danna, mostly because it was the colour of the flowers Danna gave her in their first date. Prussian blue reminds Danna of Ally though, really specific blue, but it was the colour of the shirt she was wearing the night of their first time and Ally put it on in the morning afterwards - said shirt is constantly borrowed by Ally, needless to say.
P - Proposal (Who proposes and how?)
You know those videos of people that propose at the same time? Ally and Danna are those. And Ozzy knew all the fucking time because they took him, separately, to buy the rings and he’s the one in charge sending the video over the group chat with the rest of the medium gang and let me tell you, they both cried like a lot. It was over movie night, pretty casual thing, they’ve been planing it for the week and like they just wanted to have a calm night with Ozzy since it was hectic at work and everything. So basically Ally went to the kitchen to make popcorn, thinking about when would it be the right time to propose, and it was then that Danna took advantage of the situation to be there on her knee when she was back. Ally literally couldn’t respond, she dropped the popcorn and knelled in front of Danna to do the same and Ozzy is like holding Bob so he doesn’t eat their snacks but at the same time holding Danna’s cellphone so he can make the video.
Q - Quiet (Do they like to talk, or are they more of an actions type of person?)
Ally is, little by little, changing some of Danna’s ways of handling stuff into building some sort of ‘safe space’ so she can voice her opinions more easily. If it was for Danna, she would show Ally the world only with her actions but Ally needs to be verbally reassured, like, it’s something that clung to her bones since Ivy in such heavy and nasty manner that she couldn’t help it. For someone that speaks so much, Danna have some serious troubles voicing her feelings tbh.
R - Rich (Do they spoil one another?)
They do, but both are quite the ‘hesitant buyers’ as to speak. Like they always over think if it’s really okay of them to buy something to each other and many times, even when they end up buying it, they have their heads full of thoughts against it. However, upon seeing each other’s faces full of surprise and love those thoughts change and they are more at ease.
S - Sleep (What are their sleep habits?)
They both have, impressively, the habit of not going to sleep late. Ally because she built that but Danna because after ten is falling asleep as they speak. If there isn’t something that hold them back, they both are in bed around eleven or so. It quite the contrast taking in count, per example, how Dani always go to sleep late and one would think Danna, being the upbeat twin, has the most energy of the two.
Sometimes they take a bath together before bed though, it depends of what has transcended during the day, and that may be ending up in sex...more times than they want to admit but hey, a bit of fun here and there in between the calmness of their nights it’s good.
T - Touch (Their favorite place to touch?)
Ally’s favourite place to touch in Danna will be her hands, it’s something she can’t get enough of it. She also found that Danna, weirdly enough, is ticklish when touched softly over her knuckles, and Ally finds that really endearing for some reason.
In Danna’s case it’s a bit harder, mostly because is hard that she admits having a favourite place to begin with since she loves all of Ally but there’s something that keeps drawing her to just place her hands over Ally’s tummy. Overall when Danna is hugging her from behind, she can’t help it, or when she’s hugging her sideways with one arm. Ally always giggle a bit because she isn’t used to that kind of things.
U - Unencumbered (What do they do to relax?)
When they are together, Danna loves to watch Ally cook, it puts her in a good mood and also she likes being told what to do, taking in count she’s the one giving orders on the daily around the restaurant and all. It also form some kind of silly sweet moments together and Danna is a sucker for those, because she gets to see the softer side of Ally. At times she likes to take care of the garden too, it reminds Danna of home, of afternoons spent with Dani, her siblings and cousins when they were younger.
For Ally it’s whatever chore she has at home to be done, it helps her to ground herself, to remember that even with everything that has happened and it’s happening, she still pretty much is there existing. That and reading, she likes reading too much, so when she’s with a book in hand both Danna and Ozzy know that they have to keep their loudness down and let her enjoy. Sometimes Danna nap with her head in Ally’s belly if she’s reading and Ally loves to brush Danna’s hair with her fingers or resting her hand in her nap, caressing her skin with her thumb, while at it.
V - Virgin (What’s the sex like?)
At the beginning pretty vanilla, being completely honest. They kind of enjoy not rushing it, as if they were and are learning their ways around each other, which is nice and makes Ally feel comfortable since their first time Ally thought Danna was about to go full bananas but ended up being pretty wholesome the whole thing. But, as of now, they are experimenting a bit here and there and Ally likes Danna’s assertiveness because it lets her know clearly her limits and how far she is willing to go.
But overall their sex is fun, lots of giggling and laughing, they have fun and they are happy while at it, which is the most important thing. Is a bit of their little gateway of daily life, because only them exist there.
W - Wedding (What’s the wedding like? Big, small?)
Small! Well, as small as it can get with Danna’s family. But yeah, pretty much Ally is still worried taking in count is her second marriage and Danna promised her that it would be like a tiny gathering. Ally’s family is a bit intimidated at first with Danna’s family but after a few hours they are like a big family. There are some friends too, but only the closest ones.
Someone will think that Danna was going to have the biggest wedding and party ever, but after so many years she just wanted to make Ally happy and have a good day with everyone important to her.
X - Xylophone (What’s their song?)
Their song, no matter what, is ‘You Make Me Feel Like Dancing’ by Leo Sayer. They love it and Danna has it as her tone for Ally in her cellphone. They also danced to it any time they can, because the happiness that it brings them is unmatched. Ally always jokes that this song is like really old, way older than her, but it makes her feels something in her chest. For Danna, it only makes her lean to kiss her fiancee because all that song is for her is like she’s talking to Ally about how she fell in love with her.
Also I feel like Danna will show Ally ‘Magic in the Hamptons’ by Social House as a joke and that song ends up being their guilty pleasure song. I said what I said.
Y - Yearn (How do they cope with being away from the other?)
Incredibly well, to be completely honest. Danna has always been travelling and living away from everything she loves and holds dear to her, and it still is really hard but she knows how to handle it through texts, calls, videocalls and such. She can’t take a shirt from Ally or something, ‘cause it doesn’t fit her, but she does take one of her bracelets, or even a ring or one earring. That’s enough for her to not miss her new home that much, taking in count Danna already has a picture of them three as her cellphone’s background.
In exchange...well, Ally does suffer a bit more with this. However she has the advantage that anything she takes from Danna’s side of the closet fits her perfectly big and comfy and she already has a favourite sweater and all. She has even worn some wool jackets for work here and there, and once Danna’s big coat too. Maybe it is because of her own trauma is acting up a bit, but having Danna calling her everyday to check on her helps a lot.
Z - Zoo (What kind of pet would they have, if any?)
They got a dog! As I said, after months and months of Danna and Oz joining forces to convince Ally to get a pet, they finally did it after a whole year of it. They went to get a rescue dog, though, and after much deliberation Danna and Oz decided to get an old chihuhua that had been there for a really long time.
His full name is Roberto and maybe he’s a bit ugly, okay, and trembles a little too much and his left ear is a bit chomped, but when he crossed the main door for the first time and went directly to Ally, who was in the kitchen...it was like love at first sight.
They three are pretty in love with Bob or Bobito, which is how Danna calls him, and he got used to his new home pretty fast, which was the best thing. And outside of home and talking about the rest of the gang...Billie and Dani still doesn’t get how can he be that ugly and still are kinda worried about the fact that they got him; Dahlia is okay with him, she likes him and sometimes gives him little beacon bits; Shelby is pretty neutral, but she’s likes him enough to agree to ‘babysit’ him if necessary; Dara still cries because she’s allergic to animal fur and wants to pet him every time; and Audrey is mostly awkward around him, but Bob loves her for some reason and he’s always with her if he’s not with Ally.
1. How do they fall asleep? Wake up? Any daily rituals?
Danna has the habit of falling asleep in her back, long as she is, and one of her arms under her head. She doesn’t notice about it, which makes it funnier, and Ally pointed out several times that she has that ‘bad girl’ aura engraved so deep in her that even her whole posture give it away. Ally likes to take advantage of this, and that Danna has heavy sleep, to move her other arm so she can fit against her side with her back.
They always wake up in a bundle of sheets, Ally wrapped in Danna’s arms because she always tends to close as the night goes by, and when their alarm goes off is when the daily ritual begins: Ally sneaks her arm out of the warm prison that is Danna, Danna tugs her closer to her body, Ally manages to turn around and kisses her cheeks, her nose, her chin, her neck and then Danna laughs, finally with her eyes open and ‘give me one true kiss before I make us go late’ because they are pretty capable of it. So they share a kiss and then, off they go for the day.
Not everyday is like that, some other days they fall back asleep and Ozzy comes already dressed like ‘we are going to be late’ and then Danna rolls out to bed like a ninja and Ally enters the panic mode and they manage to prepare in less than half the time they always have.
2. How’s their team work? Do they share well?
On point, they move in perfect tempo when they are together, which is impressive for many of their close friends (and for Audrey, Shelby and Billie because damn, how do you two manage? Billie seriously is in shambles, she’s been ten years with Dara and they can’t make breakfast together to save their lives or be in time to anything while helping each other.).
Maybe because Danna is used to the chaos in the kitchen, it’s easier for her to adjust to changes and Ally is pretty clear not only with orders but while doing things, so it’s something that comes naturally for them. They don’t have much trouble sharing either, mostly because Danna is just too relaxed with material things and Ally knows where some lines are, so well, no problems with that.
3. Are they open about their relationship? How do they feel about public displays of affection?
In the beginning both were careful of their relationship, but after they managed to see that they didn’t have to fear anything, who was going to stop them from enjoying their life? It’s true that Danna is more open than Ally at times, but she knows that Ally prefers to keep the affections at minimum when they aren’t in ‘comfortable’ place. If not, well again, who’s gonna stop them from kissing or holding hands or each other or just joke around? C’mon they are the happiest when they are together! They decided that they wanted to enjoy their life, so there they go.
4. Nicknames? Pet names? Any in-jokes?
Danna comes up with whatever nickname she finds funny and just say it, she doesn’t even keep tabs with this, so for Ally it’s a constant ‘what will I be today’ that makes her laugh most of the time or shake her head in disbelief. Ally has darling and sunshine reserved for Danna and only her, and sometimes she throws some more sweetheart or honey here and there.
An in-joke they have is actually calling each other names of movie characters, mostly from those they identifies the best and also those in which they had to stop watching because The Mood arrived in the middle of it. A sweet secret that brings good memories made only by them.
5. What annoys them the most about their partner? Would they change it if they could?
What annoys Ally about Danna is communication. Sometimes she finds herself in situations easily avoidables if Danna was able to be more direct or talk more clear about what is she going to do or what has she done. It's mostly because Danna has lived all her life mostly by her own, fending for herself and doing what's right under her own point of view; and Ally gets it, it's okay, but sometimes she wish she was more open...however, most of the times communication between them failed were silly things that ends in hilarious or embarrassing situations and Danna is trying to change that, it really shows, so Ally doesn't really mind much because she knows there are gonna be changes eventually.
Danna wished that Ally didn't worry that much sometimes. It pains her to see Ally riled up with anxiety over things that aren't that deep and maybe is because Danna isn't an actual worrier, she's too relaxed even, but damn that sometimes gets in her almost non existent nerves. But Danna doesn’t want Ally to change, because it reminds her that she should be more of a worrier at times and she also knows that when the anxiety monster come in, she could do something to make it go away enough to let Ally think with clarity.
6. What do the like best about their partner?
What Ally likes best about Danna is how cheerful she is? It’s like Danna irradiates this...energy at any second of the day that keeps on charging Ally. She’s not a type of annoying cheerful person, but she is easy to be around and has always something crazy or weird in the tip of her tongue to say and it makes forget for a few seconds how ectic can her schedule be. But Ally isn’t mistaken by the cheerfulness, she knows deep inside Danna hides a sad person and she tries to keep checking on her, because sometimes the sun has its own eclipses.
For Danna...well, it’s hard to pick up the thing she likes best about Ally, because she really likes too many things about her. But if there’s maybe one thing above the others is how Ally’s presence makes her feel on Earth. Danna has a thing of thinking too many things at the same time and sometimes she feels disconnected of everything going around her, but when Ally comes into view...she’s is here and not Saturn or Pluto. That’s one of the things that attracted Danna from Ally, she made her want to stay and not fly away with her thoughts were none could reach.
11. What does their home look like?
Taking in count Danna moved to Ally’s house...very Ally like. Danna always lived from studio to studio, so she doesn’t have many things to actually introduce to their home...but it’s fun to recognize those things here and there, a big contrast with the homie and simple way of Ally’s tastes. Ally always tries to let Danna know that, if she wants something, she only needs to ask for it and she will buy it and Danna just shakes her head telling her that she likes everything very much and doesn’t need of her.
Until Danna saw that hammock and her eyes lighted up with a million of stars and ‘oh God Ally what do I do? do I buy it? do i not?’ and Ally is already with her card in hand because it was about fucking time.
13. How do they hug? Kiss? Tease? Flirt? Comfort?
Unlike some tall people, Danna likes to hug Ally wrapping her from under her arms because she loves how Ally leans on her, arms circling her neck, and then she just straighten her back and...up we go. She truly loves having Ally wrapping her in her arms, to be honest, it allows her to just hide her face in Ally’s neck and get more kisses.
Kisses? They are big fans of the big ones when none seems to look at them. But Danna has a weak spot for quick kisses that leave Ally blinking a bit in shock and then it comes the ‘D’ wink’ trademarked that, after a while and being in touch with Dara, Danna, Danielle and Dahlia; she knows means more than the innocent ‘hey’.
Ally is actually the one that flirts the most out of the two, surprisingly, and it always catch Danna off guard and makes her laugh. But it makes Danna get clever and go back at her with the right words and that way her hands always find her right spot...mhm chef kiss, literally.
And I can say for a fact that Danna’s way to let the rest know they are ‘safe’ and have somewhere to lean on, it’s by giving them big warm bear hugs and tiny pep talks that probably she gave to herself in moments of need. Ally is a sucker for these and when she’s wrapped in Danna’s arms and hearing her voice...everything seems better. Ally’s way to provide of comfort goes close to try and be gentle, rubbing the back of Danna’s head or brushing her hair or even let Danna put her head on her chest to hear her heartbeat. It works every damn time.
16. How do they handle disasters or emergencies? Minor injuries? Sickness?
Danna? Really bad in two extremes. If it's in herself, she literally brush it behind the rug and keeps going with her life, it's the type of tough it up until it pass and this makes Ally freak out because once she came work with a heavy fever and she kept telling Ally she was fine while her trembling hand was trying to cut an onion with a spoon. But when it’s someone else? She just panics because she doesn’t know what to fucking do, and starts to overthink, and she already has Danielle on speed dial because ‘Nani help please’ most of the time, mostly with things a band aid doesn’t heal.
Ally it’s pretty chill and is in control of the situation, which makes a good contrast with how Danna handles everything. She always has the right words, the remedy or even the contingency plan for whatever disaster arise and Danna feels like she’s an angel sent from Heaven just for her. Ally is really patient, to be honest, and little by little is trying to teach Danna how to handle things in case she isn’t around (with Danielle’s help).
17. Do they know when the other is hiding something?
Abso-fucking-lutely.
For Ally at least, she knows Danna is up to something even before seeing her face. There’s this strange aura around Danna that gives everything away and Danna can’t make up an excuse to save her life. Also she has this big guilty across her face and it reminds Ally of a kid who just finished the whole cookie jar, crumbs all over her face and clothes, and it doesn’t help that she’s trying really hard to not make eye contact with Ally and her voice is really tiny.
However to this day, Danna still has zero idea of any surprise Ally is about to give her. She literally can’t lie nor discover the lie to save her life.
20. Do they have any pets?
Oz and Danna are working in this really hard and Ally is not having it, not even a little bit. But they are working to get a dog, a tiny one! not a big one, one that can hop here and there when it’s needed and ‘easy’ to handle for the three of them. They are almost there, Danna believes that her long time plan is going to work eventually and Ozzy trust in her very much at this point because Danna always manage to convince Ally somehow.
Spoiler: Ally finally gives in and then they get a chihuahua and they call him Roberto and Ally suffers what I call the ‘get it out of my house, wait now the dog is my child’ syndrome and it’s hilarious because Bob is the most loved little shit on Earth and Ally didn’t want it to happen? Can you believe it?
25. Do they let each other get away with things that would normally bother them?
All the time, it’s terrible, Ally has a soft spot for Danna and Danna has a soft spot for Ally and fuck damn, ‘Danna Bishop don’t look at me like that! No, no, n-AH OKAY, OKAY!’ and then when it’s Ally’s time to get away she just leans in Danna’s back slowly draping herself all over her and kissing her cheek and ‘okay, I can’t with you, you are too powerful, who gave you the right’ and then everything is fine again.
They know their limits but for harmless stuff they just are like, who cares? let that whatever sparks its joy.
26. Do they talk often? What about?
Totally, Danna has the gift of being able to speak all day long and she always has something to say or to tell or she thought about something a second ago, and Ally is willing to listen to her as long as she lets her, because Ally is more of a quiet person and likes to listen and for a change she finds herself enjoying that kind of talks. It lets her know more about whatever cross Danna’s mind and at the same time to keep herself from thinking too much.
Ally surprise herself more often than not, however, being the one starting the conversation with whatever and Danna is there to follow and adding stuff. They talk about everything and nothing, a lot of banal stuff most of the time because those are the things that their time together allows them but at times they retire earlier to bed and talk about more serious stuff, being both cozy together and giving each other kisses.
after four years from the aftermath of Roanoke, in which Audrey and Shelby managed to survive, everything started to go to better as the years went by
obviously there were things that put all upside down, mostly because people grow as time pass by and at times some surprises come along the way
by the time the end of the summer of 2020 arrived, a lot of things had happened already
Billie Dean Howard eloped to her long time partner, Dara Ann Lynch, and before that they both kept a relationship with Audrey Tindall that ended after the two of them married but having them three as the closest friends as result; and Dahlia Deen and Shelby Miller started to finally date a year prior, moving together and trying to live their life.
and then Dahlia, one good morning, woke up to a message of one of her favourite cousins, telling her she was back home for a few days and wanted her to meet someone special for her
a cousin that wasn’t Dara, which lived two hours away and Dahlia already knew how very much she loved her wife
but talking about the devil, Dara messaged Dahlia about their cousin that was coming home a second later and then Dahlia, sleepy eyes and all, managed to type an unsure plan
one that revolved around a little gathering in Dahlia and Shelby’s new home, the latter still very much asleep and very much unaware of what her girlfriend was doing
after two light coffees and a too long phone call with Dara, which Dahlia adored a lot but damn that woman and her planning skills, Dahlia got herself on kitchen duty for the special day and also as hostess and it’s not even nine in the morning and Dahlia is really sure Shelby is gonna freak out
spoiler: Shelby did freak out
spoiler: Billie, in Dara’s side, laughed her ass off when her wife told her Shelby freaked out
but now everything was settled and, with their cousin, Dara and Dahlia started to plan how things would work and who’s gonna pick up their cousin from the airport (that was quickly adverted by said cousin, telling them not to worry about it because she will rent a car) and where they were going to sleep (another don’t worry because their cousin were getting a room in a hotel in Santa Monica but would gladly take the offer to sleep in Dahlia’s apartment the first night which Dara responded she also wanted her to come to her apartment, so their cousin agreed to it too)
spoiler: Billie freaked out to that last one bit, because their apartment was very much tinier than Dahlia and Shelby’s
spoiler: Shelby laughed her ass off because ‘HAHA take that bitch’
and then THEN, in between all the planning and the hows, whens, wheres, Shelby trying to see how they were going to fit 6 people in their tiny living room table, Billie planning how to fucking fit another couple in their FUCKING LIVING ROOM DARA ANN LYNCH WHAT THE FUCK
away of the mayhem
Audrey was living her life, going here and there, resting most of the time, going to therapy when she was appointed, talking with her agent to see if they could try again and find maybe a bigger role? she was even trying to read some theater in case the spark was still there in her heart
and in between her calm daily life, she got a call from one of her favourite persons in the world so far: Dahlia Deen.
“Drey? Ahm...I was calling you because we are having a small dinner party at home because one of my oldest cousins is coming to visit us, Dal and Billie Dean are coming and I know you three are close...and maybe you want to come? I’m going to cook my vegan lasagna and all.”
Dahlia always trying to not push Audrey into anything she didn’t want was one of the sweetest things her best friend did for her
and f u c k that Dahlia’s vegan lasagna was to die for
“Of course sweetheart, tell me more about it.”
when the phone call ends, Audrey has already Billie on speed dial to ask her if they are going together in the same car and other banal stuff as ‘do we have to bring something more?’ or ‘i’m pretty sure Shelby won’t like a bit that, Bills’ or ‘oh god ARE YOU TWO FOR REAL IM CALLIng tOMorroW’
for Audrey the days until the dinner passed ever so slow, to be honest, because for some reason she’s excited and at the same time a bit scared
that one last part because her nor Billie nor Dara had told Dahlia about them being a thing till not long ago, long as in until the couple eloped, but they three wanted to tell Dahlia eventually and maybe Billie thought this was a good time? since they were all gonna be together
but mostly she’s excited because she’s gonna see her best friend after months of only messages and the casual video call here and there
(and maybe she has missed Shelby a bit too, a tiny bit, really tiny tiny bit, a bit she wasn’t going to admit ever in her life)
for a second Audrey wondered which cousin was, because she knew for a fact in Dara and Dahlia’s family they were a fkn bazillion (after four years, she got also adopted by their family as if she was one more of them), but she kept that question to herself
the day finally arrived and Billie and Dara went to pick her up in order to start the 2h trip a) she knew they were gonna make it in 1h30 as soon as she was buckled up in the back seat, and b) any worry about the new cousin or what was she gonna eat at Dahlia’s banished in order to pray Dara made them arrive safe
(Audrey won’t ever admit it but she much preferred Billie being the driver, as much as she recognize the other woman has the skills of a professional)
when Shelby opened the door, she almost fall backwards because Audrey hugged her like ‘god bless we are safe and here’ and then Shelby passed her to Dahlia’s more welcoming arms
after a few minutes they were all settled in the apartment, waiting for the oh so expected cousin and their someone special, Dara telling the rest they were almost there
while at it, Audrey decided to stick with Billie and talk about whatever crossed their minds, wine glasses in hand and Dara’s chatter with Dahlia and Shelby in the background
“Annie didn’t even want to tell me how she looked like” these days is more Annie than Dara for Billie and it’s a really sweet change that makes Audrey feel their love “I’m pretty sure I didn’t meet her in any other family gathering or yes and my mind can’t put a finger which one is”
“I’m sure she’s nice, I mean, everyone in their family is quite nice” is the only thing Audrey can say, pushing her shoulder a bit “but yeah, I wonder how she looks like too”
and they were at it, trying to guess blindly how this person looked like while Dara joined them to talk, when the doorbell finally ringed and all eyes were on that
the first thing they saw was this...giant woman crossing the door with a short haired brunette by her side when Shelby opened the door
and when Audrey’s mind catch up with her eyes, something clicked upon seeing the face of this tall stranger
“Billie Dean Howard, bathroom, parlor, n o w”
was the only thing she was capable of saying before dragging poor confused Billie to the bathroom, Dara laughing openly and Dahlia panicking for a second because what the fu-
however, whatever chaos started in the living room, wasn’t affecting the mood in the bathroom, that was another little chaos of its own
“Pumpkin, I’m pretty sure this is not very polite of us n-”
“Bills, I know her.”
“You know who”
“The tall woman, I know her”
“From a family gathering? I mean she’s the only one I can see being the cousin, the short one didn’t look much alike”
and then is when Billie notice how fucking anxious Audrey is and what the fuck is happening
“No, from when I came to the States”
let me tell you that made Billie even more confused and made Audrey sit in the nearest place while she took her hands
“what are you even talking about Drey? what’s going on”
“I’m trying to tell you that I FUCKED THAT WOMAn NEARLY 8 yeARS ago BILLIE DEAN HOWARD”
and Audrey’s voice was so tiny and panicked that for a second Billie think she didn’t hear her well but her friend is squeezing her hands to death
“you...did what again?”
“the cousin, Dahlia and Dara’s cousin, bloody hell, is her, I know her” Audrey is stressing herself a lot in barely a few minutes “oh good lord”
and in her nervous state, Audrey didn’t notice how Billie’s own mind has clicked upon that information and she’s trying really hard to come up with something to calm Audrey down but at the same time she wants to laugh
which is what Billie did
and Audrey stared at her in disbelief and at the same time starting to hit her with her hands because ‘it’s not funny, Howard!!!’
until Billie manage to stop and hug Audrey by her shoulders to try and give her some kind of speech to help her calm down
‘it’s okay Drey, don’t fret over this, I mean, it was once and....waIT NOW THAT I THINK ABOUT IT YOU FUCKED WITH FIVE oUT of SIX PEOPLE IN THIS HOUSE I CANNoT-oh no pumpkin DON’T CRY NO NO NO NO IT’S OKAY HEAR ME OUT it was just once right? I bet she doesn’t remember okay? Let’s try to keep quiet and if it’s too much we can have a ciggie break outside here and there, alright?’
(Billie is the only one in the world right now that knows every detail (except this one) about Audrey, per example, that she had an affair with Dahlia 5 years ago and, while both Audrey and Shelby were healing in Dahlia’s house after Roanoke, that she and Shelby had angry sex because they couldn’t stand each others guts)
after a few minutes Billie managed to calm Audrey down enough to get them out of the bathroom, going back to the cheerful chatter in spanish of the three cousins, more like Dara and the cousin while Dahlia was trying to escape the bear hug she was getting from said cousin
and then the rest finally notice they’re back and this tall woman (even taller than both Dara and Dahlia and anyone in that room for a matter of fact) gets a mischievous grin all over her lips and reaching her eyes
“So you are the one that have our Dal wrapped around her fingers, I saw you on television a few times when she told me you invited her to your program,” the woman leans to kiss Billie’s cheeks, making Billie laugh “Danna Bishop, finally a pleasure to meet you.”
Danna is all smiles and pure warmth and then her light brown eyes finally met Audrey...
...and she waits for someone to say something, a glint in her eyes as if she was recognizing her, but Audrey is not really sure because she’s still really anxious and Dahlia is actually the one that says something
“She’s Audrey Tindall, Drey this is our oldest cousin.”
when Danna shakes Audrey’s hand, her free hand enveloping their both, some of the memories together came to her head but also the simplicity of the gesture is capable of bringing her back to Earth
“Danna, a pleasure,” then the short haired brunette comes in view after Billie has greet her and Danna looks at her like she’s the brightest star “This is Ally, my girlfriend.”
and from that? everything seemed to go smoothly
they did manage to fit 7 adults in the tiny living room table, Shelby even decided to sit across her for once while Audrey is in a sandwich between Billie and Dara and Dahlia is one of the heads of the table along Ally in the other, so that makes Danna take the seat by Shelby and almost across Audrey too
they share food (Dahlia’s vegan lasagna, Shelby’s salad and Dara has made salty small pasties and for dessert Ally bought chocolate cake and that’s why they arrived a bit late) and also they share a couple bottles of wine so far (the only one that isn’t drinking at all is Dara, and Shelby after one glass stopped) and soon everything feels homie
and it melts the anxiety in Audrey’s body and she’s enjoying the anecdotes around the table (how Danna and Ally met, Dara’s last craziness in her job (which Audrey didn’t know which was at this point), Billie telling them about this spooky house that was just: spooky in the end, Shelby finally recognizing why Ally felt so familiar and getting everyone :0 when they knew she was a fkn Senator) and she’s mostly okay, because Billie has her arm draped in the back of her chair, telling her she’s there for her at the same time she’s drunkenly teasing and making some heavy remarks and sweet nothings to Dara, using her as a shield from the rest of the table; and Dara’s chair is touching Audrey’s chair so she can be closer
and then, when there’s a moment of drunk silence in the table, Audrey makes eye contact with Danna again and she knows she’s happier and comfier because she got four glasses of wine and
“it’s really good to see you Audrey, eight years passed well for you”
the silence deepens then and Audrey feels like a deer caught in traffic lights
until a wasted Billie starts to laugh her ass off so so hard it confuses everyone in the table more while Audrey’s soul is already leaving her body
because Danna did recognized her but it seemed she felt how nervous and worried the other woman was and decided to play it safe, play it dumb because she remembers how bad Audrey’s nerves are, since they did NOT fuck only once and got involved a bit longer and then Billie wheezes hard
“I WAS TRYING TO FORGET THAT AUDREY TOLD ME IN THE BATHROOM YOU TWO FUCKED AND NOW THIS”
Shelby is trying to fucking drill holes in Audrey’s skull like ‘what the fuck is going on’ and Ally is confused and Dahlia and Dara’s are gaping really hard and Danna is contently indulging in nice memories, hands over her belly
“RAISE YOUR HAND THOSE WHO GOT WITH DREY”
Billie can’t get more annoying because she’d probably pass out and go into coma if she’s keeps drinking
but everyone in the table is way too in shock and the cake, not the one in the middle of the table half eaten but all the secrets, is out when all the table except obviously Audrey AND Ally don’t have the hand up
Dahlia looks at Shelby “SHELBY!?”
and Shelby is coughing hard because she was trying to hide by drinking water but it went down the wrong pipe but she wants to give a immediate response “IT WAS JUST HATE SEX, WE WEREN’T TOGETHER AT THE TIME AND YOU PASSED OUT IN THE COUCH AFTER WORK AND-”
and then the mayhem begins
everyone is talking at the same time, facts being thrown here and there (”POR EL AMOR DE DIOS DAHLIA, WE ARE ADULTS WHAT’S WEIRD ABOUT A THREESOME FROM TIME TO TIME”, “I DON’T KNOW!? MAYBE THAT YOU WERE FUCKING MY BEST FRIEND??? I JUST THOUGHT YOU THREE WERE JUST FRIENDS”, “hate sex, Miller? you truly are that type?”, “Howard, I’m about to fucking punch in the face”) and at some point Dahlia snatched the half bottle of wine from the table and start chug on it until it’s empty, and Ally is looking at the mess like ówò while holding her glass in case someone take it away
Dara is like ‘I think I need more wine’ because the shock is too much
and Danna, who’s now trying to keep quiet so everyone forgets about her, is like “I think Lia drank it all” and Billie is wiping her tears of laughter “now you’re missing out Ally, Drey” and Dara is like “Billie Dean shut up oh fucking lord” and Shelby is just “i’m leaving’ and escape to the bathroom and suddenly yells “WHY IS THIS TOWEL IN THE FLOOR!? HOWARD!?” and Billie is so fkn smug bc she left it there weirdly prompted as a joke
Ally is having the time of her life even while confused tbh, because she’s used to the calmness of her home and her daily life with Oz and since Danna came into her life it’s like a spark of happiness she found herself missing, and well, this is a good craziness and an absolute coincidence
and Dahlia is in hysterics because “when did YOU and her happen” trying to point between Dara and Audrey and Dara is ówò because well what did her expect of her when Billie was getting down on Audrey in that way? and it makes her go like “i’m about to yeet myself out of the window, we’re in a fifth”
but everything starts to get overwhelming for Audrey and the first one to notice is Billie because she’s deadly silent and has a face that tells that it’s not funny at all and she takes her hand to get her to the balcony, trying to not think about the mess in the living room, making Audrey to settle in her lap and sharing a cigarette so Audrey can calm down and feel better, caressing her back with care
Audrey knows Billie is barely holding herself together, but she’s pushing the drunk haze away to make her feel good, and she thanks her for that a lot because it was supposed to be fun and not mayhem she couldn’t handle
and then a soft voice comes from the balcony door and “i’m sorry i made you have a breakdown...I was just...Audrey, I was glad to see you well, because I heard about what happened to you but I didn’t have any way to contact you...and well, didn’t expect you knowing my family, I-well, I’m saying a lot well, but I’m not the one that’s around often...”
Audrey looks up to Danna as if she was the answer of all her problems and yeah, she’s pretty used to Billie or Dahlia being the ones that handle her the best, but getting that softness and real concern from someone is always more overwhelming
“can I do something for you? I don’t think you want vodka, they forgot about the wine, and well Dara and Dahlia seem russians like right now and maybe there isn’t much vodka left”
“can I get a hug?”
Danna just smiles like she’s the sun, “that i can do for sure” and then Audrey is off Billie’s lap and wrapped in a big mama bear hug that leaves her sobbing like a child, her breakdown starting to melt away while a drunk Billie goes inside to check on everything
“i’m happy you found yourself comfortable with these two, and their chosen ones,” Danna doesn’t let go of Audrey, caressing her back with care, and Danna is chuckling because she’s hearing them fist fight drunkenly while Billie and Shelby try to stop them “Life, mhm? who would think we’ll find each other again.”
it’s the most heartwarming thing Audrey felt in a while, being completely honest, so she just gives in and starts to forget what makes her anxious, and then she hears a new voice in the balcony and Ally is there, looking at them with shyness
“ahm i think we are all going to sleep here,” Danna still doesn’t let go enterely of Audrey, just resting her arm around her shoulders, when Ally catch their attention and she smiles at them “Your cousins are totally hammered and miss Howard ahm i think she just has the bathroom all by herself and Shelby is...I think she’s stress cleaning? I don’t know,” Ally laughs lightly and it only makes Danna to beam up even more, squeezing Audrey by her shoulders. “everything okay here?”
“I think so, sweetheart, just needed some fresh air...oh wait, why don’t we go get some ice cream to the 24h? wine always makes me crave for chocolate ice cream,” then she finally walks towards Ally, kissing her ever so sweetly in the cheek, and turn around to look at Audrey “what do you say? wanna come with us?”
and the invitation is so alluring? stepping out of the apartment and the chaos but then there’s this...something in her chest, that says to her that she better decline the offer to let the couple be by themselves for a while
“I think i’m gonna check on Billie and maybe help Shelby, if she doesn’t end up throwing a plate at me”
“okay, okay, then we’ll bring you some ice cream...strawberry, right?”
Audrey nods (how could she remember that?) and then the couple is off to the store, living her to whatever she has to do and she feels a kind of closure? like, she doesn’t feel bad now that they talked, she feels pretty calm, so she decides to hurry and check on Billie before Shelby forbid them all to ever coming to the house again
and when Ally and Danna are walking without knowing where is the nearest store, but they are walking arm in arm contently and Ally just says “I’m glad I came along, this is the most fun I had in two years” and Danna laughs too openly, warming her heart, and pulls her into a kiss because Ally gets too cute when she’s sincere “well, since i don’t plan to let you go, you better prepare for more fun because I won’t be missing Christmas this year, so what about we three comes to my family gathering?” and then Ally just says ‘okay’ with a tiny excited smile before pulling her into a new kiss that she has to get by tip toeing a bit
after the sweet mess this was, all of them end up getting a group chat and as months pass by none is a stranger anymore
and of course Audrey is invited again in Christmas, because she didn’t get plane tickets in time to go visit her parents and well, she feels welcome in the Danna, Dara and Dahlia’s big family
so now they all are in Dara’s parents home along with the whole family and Ally is having a blast there, because she start to feels like she belongs somewhere and everyone is so cheerful and happy and Oz is playing with nieces and nephews and she doesn’t have to worry because everyone has thousand eyes on them in case the younger ones of the house need something and she can finally breathe in peace
BUT OF COURSE Billie is there and well, Billie and Ally eventually get tipsy and they try to get Shelby to engage in their conversation (which she doesn’t want because she’s pretty much content eating something her father-in-law gave her and ‘please last time you pulled a too big bullshit Howard, I don’t want to get dragged)
spoiler: Shelby got dragged by drunk!BillieAlly into whatever they think was a good idea, which was playing extreme Uno
and Audrey is trying so hard to avoid drunk!Billie, just hanging out by the wine and the spaguettis and watching Shelby get dragged like ‘get rekt is your turn’ until Billie realize that
and soon she’s walking towards her friend, and Audrey gets her glass closer to her chest because she doesn’t want to take part for once of whatever Billie is thinking
“are you trying to get yourself another cousin?” and Billie shots her that teasing grin that makes her so beautiful for some stupid reason but now Audrey was drinking when she said that and now she’s spitting all the wine back to the glass
“BILLIE DEAN HOWARD”
but the argument dies before it starts because suddenly the front door opens and someone is able to talk over all the voices
“sorry we’re so late, our flight got delayed and damned the time I decided to get a taxi.”
and Billie and Audrey are now watching this new tall woman enter the house, a teenager behind her, and they can fucking swear Danna was a second ago goofing around with one of her baby nieces and not in the door?????
“Nani, about fucking time!”
well it was absolutely not Danna, because she passed Billie and Audrey by their left and now is hugging the look alike woman like her life depends on it
“Nana put me fucking down, I’ve been on a plane ten hours and I don’t exactly feel my legs.”
“Oh shut the fuck up and let me hug you,” the hug resumed and now Danna has her arms around the teenager “You rascal, come here!”
everyone is so excited about this ‘Nani’ that suddenly, Shelby and Ally are close to Billie and Audrey, a bit confused because fuck damn it they are seeing doubles??? however Ally is only there as a support because she kinda gets an idea of who she is but she only heard her voice over the phone
and as if their partners heard them, Dahlia, Dara and Danna looked at them all excited and Dahlia is happier than they ever have seen her? which makes her the first one to say something to them
“Come here you four, don’t be shy!” bold thing to say when you’re always the most shy one. “Danielle, Damien, I want you to meet Shelby, she’s my girlfriend.”
“Hey no, I’m the twin, Ally comes first in presentations!”
Twin
Danna has a twin
Audrey is froze on the spot and Billie is turning her head to look at her, with all the stars in the universe in her eyes and her mouth agape like ‘i don’t know if karma is pulling your leg or giving you a chance, either way what bliss’
“Billie Dean, N O”
but Billie is already taking her by her wrist
“BILLIE DEAN, Y E S”
(after that Audrey finally meets Danielle, which is the most serious woman she ever met but at the same time has that playfulness that the cousins have in their own weird ways)
(maybe maybe she admits Danielle is quite nice to look at, okay? but Billie is trying too hard and is a bit off putting yet at the same time Audrey wants to give it a chance to the fact that Danna’s twin is trying to be nice with her when the ‘sisters-in-law’ ball try to drag her to play extreme Uno)
(and at the end of the gathering that last the two Christmas days, when everyone is in their homes cozy and warm, there’s a new blip from the group chat)
(a blip that announces that ‘[Danielle has joined the chat]’)
Billie couldn’t get her eyes off Dara, not today at least, but she had the feeling that she wouldn’t be able even if she was forced to. Her lover was searching for something in the wardrobe, clad in that flowery silk robe she had always owned and only that; her tattoos on display, thighs as well and even her scar was nothing compared to the beauty of the rest of her body; sporting again her hair short, disheveled from spending a day in bed with Billie; and then she singsang happily a ‘gotcha!’ and turned around with a tiny envelop in her hands.
“Close your eyes, honey,” and Billie looked at her like ‘do I really have to’ while sitting up in bed, which gained her a smirk and then the cutest pout ever, making her comply but open her arms so Dara could get in them, sitting in her lap. Which it was what the woman did automatically, having Billie’s arms circling her. “Was it that difficult, mhm? Okay, in the count of three. Three, two, one...”
When Billie opened her eyes, chin resting in Dara’s shoulder and caressing with her thumbs her belly over the robe, the tiny envelop was in reality a tiny velvet box. Open now, there was a metal pendant with a black stone - a black tourmaline - in between strings to hold it in place in the middle of it. “I know you don’t do the ‘stupid crystal stuff’ but...I have a friend that do handmade things with them, pulling a favor they owed me I got them to teach me and tada!” Billie lifted her hand so she could take it from the box by the silver chain attached to it. “Do you like it...?”
And Billie can only kiss Dara because she doesn’t even have words to say how much she likes it, loves it; she doesn’t know what to do to surpass this gift and, on top of all, she doesn’t want her lover to see how she actually teared up. Her chest is roaring, so loud that her heart hurts a bit, and when they finally broke the kiss the only thing Billie did was to press her forehead softly against’s Dara’s.
“Will you help me with the clasp, my Valentine?” she whisper softly, afraid to give away she’s really moved with the gesture.
She doesn’t need to say another word, because as soon Dara’s done, she can catch how full of love her lover’s eyes are filled with. And maybe Billie’s mind made up and making love to her once more was the best option, that sweet ol’ good love making.
At least it would give her time to rethink what to get her, because her now ‘lame’ plan of buying her a rose and inviting her for dinner sounded too little, too little for someone that deserved all the red roses Billie could buy in California and all the stars in the universe.
She was very much afraid of saying those three words Dara wanted to hear but let her take her time with, eight years already since they were together, but upon seeing how Dara’s eyes lit up in that way that made her younger later in the night when she gave her a whole bucket of roses...maybe, maybe, it made her feel that oh so awaited day was about to arrive.
Adriana Girardi
Sally has a hard time around these dates, who could blame her? But what she did not expect was for someone to get it worse than her.
When she had come downstairs, she couldn’t find an explanation of why Elizabeth had come down from her own room to the bar. But then she looked a bit better just to see how Adriana was all dressed up, days without actually doing so and just wearing sweatpants, with what it looked some really fancy clothes out of the 30s, her hair styled the same way and making Sally to picture her right there.
She was drinking from a tall champagne glass, as did Elizabeth, and then is when Sally managed to see that Adri was holding a dark blue velvet box in her free hand, dancing softly to the rhythm of the jukebox she managed to save in an auction.
“Every twenty years, she does that,” Elizabeth spoke up, hearing the silent question of her fellow ghost. “It’s a tradition already. She gets drunk on champagne and dance on her own for as long as she’s standing up, holding to the box she never gave her,” and her voice is not full of snark, there’s only a softness Sally’s sure she never heard in her. “My girl got it bad, Valentine makes her miserable...yet she manage to hold up to see another twenty years.”
Sally knew mere bits of Adriana’s life, but through the years together in the Cortez, she managed to catch as much as knowing her friend had lost someone so important that totally wrecked her. They stood there until Elizabeth had to pull her friend to sit in a couch nearby and Sally decided to sit by her side, full knowing Adriana wasn’t remotely sober enough to talk probably. But she stick to her, letting Elizabeth know she got her even when she was watching over from a corner of the bar. Adriana didn’t even muttered a word, she just sat there in silence and moving her arm just to keep the champagne getting in her system.
Worrisome? Of course, but rare? Not at all. She had watched the afflicted drink two whole bottles of vodka without blinking an eye, so this wasn’t weird at all. However, Sally was sad and needy and the question popped out of her when she saw how Adri managed to focus her eyes in something else that wasn’t her glass.
“Do you think someone will gift you something again?” it was a rude mumble, but it got the reaction of having her blink and look at her. “Today, I mean...I don’t think I’ll ever will anymore.”
And Adriana seemed to restart her whole being, like she really saw how from behind the drunk haze, something moved. And then her voice came out as steady as you can be after like ten champagne glasses.
“You wait here, okay? Don’t move, don’t you even dare, I’ll know,” her voice was so fucked up, but Sally stayed where she was. “Promise? Pinky promise.”
The only thing for Sally to do to let Adriana go was to accept her pinky. Then she set off somewhere, making Elizabeth to get in panic because she couldn’t be able to follow her, taking in count Adri was pretty much alive and could leave the Hotel as she pleased...which was what she always did, getting everyone worried.
However when she came back, a big box in her arms and a paper pocking out of her back pocket, Sally was too focused in her phone to notice her. Elizabeth’s features relaxed visibly but also she lifted an eyebrow in confusion. Under the surprised gaze of Elizabeth and Liz, Adri managed to stand up on a chair behind Sally and then...
...she started to shake the now open box to make a petal shower start to fall lightly over Sally. The woman looked up to her, between the tears and the petals, to see the dorkiest smirk in the other woman’s lips and when she ran out of petals, she jumped off the chair to look directly at her before handing Sally the paper.
“What’s this...?” Sally mumbled, finding out it was a card. In the front there was something very bad drawn, maybe could be a cat or a skateboard or a tree or maybe a Picasso, who knows, but when Sally opened the card...well, she couldn’t help but laugh out loud, more tears running down her cheeks. “You’re such a dork, smarty pants.”
“If someone deserves to have a good Valentine is you,” Adriana put her hands in her own hips. “So I’m genie for you, girl, what do we do today?”
Sally couldn’t help but stand up and hug tightly her best friend. From that year onwards, every Valentine’s Day Adri would gift her a card with the corniest pick up line, styled with Adriana’s illegally beautiful handwriting inside and illegally awful draw on the front, but Sally would always put the one she gifted her that year (the one with ‘Well, here I am. What are your other two wishes?’) as her favourite of them all.
Adriana could hate Valentine’s Day with her all, think that she didn’t deserve anything, but seeing Sally enjoying...maybe that was enough for her. And Sally didn’t waste her last wish, because deep in her she knew one day she will need it to save her best friend...save her from herself.
Raleigh Ocean
“Did you really used our son as your Cupid?”
Wilhemina tapped the floor softly with her cane, drawing Raleigh’s attention from her laptop. Her wife was all cuddled in bed, glasses perched in her nose, and tired expression in her features. For sure that year didn’t start well, Raleigh still recovering from her breakdown in early January, but that day proved that there was a minimal chance that she was getting better. Raleigh quirked her lips ever so briefly, putting a hand to her lips and faking feeling offended.
“What are you implying, miss Venable? I would totally never do something so atrocious,” her voice was a bit monotonous, as usual these days, but Wilhemina heard the joking tint laced. “What’s a God to a non believer? If Cupid wanted to show up and do their thing, I have nothing to do with it.”
She closed the door behind her softly, shaking her head a bit. Eric, their nine years old son, had spent the day delivering tiny boxes with chocolates to those who were his family. Queenie, Zoe and Mallory, Madison, an scandalized Coco, Rhiannon and Victoria, and a delighted Misty (even a confused Kyle) had received the tiny gifts from the kid gladly. But when he had showed up to Cordelia and Wilhemina’s office, delivering the final part to both women, she had known her wife was behind everything.
Who used chili powder with homemade chocolate if it wasn’t Raleigh?
Cordelia, the old sap, had hugged Eric and thanked him right away, Wilhemina was sure she even teared up because she was like that. But she had seen how her kid didn’t get close to her afterwards, indulging in how his godmother was loving him, and she could see how he was hiding something in his hoodie. Oh how surprised Eric was when Mina asked him with a soft smirk if he was sent by his mother, which made Cordelia to look scandalized for a second but then Eric had put that lost puppy face that gave every lie away and she just knows. Eric quickly makes his way to her, kissing her cheek before she can catch him, and leaving her chocolates and something that looked very much like a book.
“Also that would mean you are Venus and I Mars,” Wilhemina reach for the bed and seats on the edge of it close to her wife. “Or maybe the other way around? Oh, that would be so romantic of you, but you forget that I’m a simple mortal upon your magnificence and not a God, as much as you repeat every so often.”
“Nerd,” it’s the only thing she can say before leaning to capture Ray’s lips with her own, getting a big kiss in return and a delighted hum.
“Not as big as you, mi reina,” and Ray looks at her directly in the eyes after pushing her glasses up in her head to rest, her tone ever so soft overwhelming the automatic one she has these days. “Did you liked your gift?”
And Mina couldn’t help but chuckle, looking at the copy of ‘The Merchant of Venice’ that she has in her lap right now. Pocking from the pages there’s a bookmark and she takes it so they both can look at it. Written in Raleigh’s hurried handwriting, there’s a date and a ‘would you like to take a walk with me?’, and before taking the bookmark out it was marking a bit of the sixth scene in the second act. Wilhemina memorized it, taking to her heart all that.
‘Beshrew me but I love her heartily,
For she is wise, if I can judge of her,
And fair she is, if that mine eyes be true,
And true she is, as she hath proved herself.
And therefore, like herself, wise, fair, and true,
Shall she be placèd in my constant soul.’
“I hope this means we are taking a walk to the French quarter,” and Ray placed her laptop in the free side of the bed to be more comfortable, sitting with her back to the headboard and lacing her fingers with Mina’s. “And not actually flying to Italy.”
“If that’s what I wanted to mean, don’t you think I would have gifted you ‘All's Well That Ends Well’ or ‘King Lear’?” they both end up chuckling to that, because every surprise with Raleigh has a meaning in her perfect way. “I thought we deserved this, only us...but mostly you.”
“Little Cupid isn’t coming?” there’s a hint of worry in Mina’s voice but she’s now climbing to the bed, hearing the door getting magically locked.
“I got an A plus babysitter for that,” Raleigh was welcoming her wife with open arms, holding her close to her body and kissing slowly from her shoulder through her neck and her lips again. “This means we have a date?”
“Let me give you an answer later, I’m not really sure about it yet,” and the teasing tone in Wilhemina’s already means a big yes, but they know how to drag everything just for the sake of it.
“Oh, definitely you are Venus, how whipped you have Mars.”
That’s the last thing Raleigh says, because now both are too busy to think or say anything more. Having a bit of intimacy after weeks feels great, the thought of spending time away from their daily lives even better, but what makes Wilhemina feel that everything is finally moving forward again.
And overall, that her wife still had that soul that drew her in eigthteen years ago in a pub in Los Angeles, strong enough to make her move across the country barely a few days after they said ‘hello’.
Karina Sväre
Lana felt herself wanting to laugh, because this was truly something else. Well, she actually didn’t expect anything to begin with, but she couldn’t really picture Karina to do that.
Again, they’ve been off for a few years, but a couple months ago Lana had broken up with the girl she had been seeing for a couple years. It didn’t pain her that much, not this time at least, but after a few days of recovery she had showed up in Karina’s doorsteps with an invitation to get coffee and a couple new books she was sure her dearest friend didn’t have in her bookshelves.
Karina had welcomed her to her new home...and also her work space. She couldn’t say she was surprised when she had told Lana about what she wanted to do, to help all those girls and kids in need of a home, but what surprised her was that today the living room of Karina’s home had been decorated with some stuff to make it look thematic.
“Sorry,” a little voice came from behind her and when Lana turned around, a girl barely twelve was waiting with a cat in her arms to walk in the living room. “Aunt is in the kitchen, if you are looking for her.”
“Oh, thank you very much,” she didn’t even took off her coat, just walking towards where Karina was, in words of that little girl.
And when she arrived there, Karina was hand in hand with an older girl mixing something in a big bowl. Something twitched in her brain for a second, taking a better look to her lover and then...
“I can’t believe you cut your hair...that short, oh my.”
Karina turned her face enough to catch the surprise in Lana’s face, feeling how her ears were getting red and warm really fast. She was sporting an garçon haircut, her ever so black hair barely having white hairs here and there, which was a truly surprise because she had spent ten years growing her hair along the hippie movement. Lana couldn’t say she wasn’t a bit sad, mostly because she loved brushing with her fingers Karina’s hair, enjoying how soft was...but this new change suited her.
“Oh shut it,” was the first response she got from the woman, who was now gesturing the girl to leave it to her. The girl chuckled but complied, closing the door after her and leaving the two women alone. “Are you gonna give me a hand or should I kneel and ask, princess?”
That earned her a soft push to her shoulder before Lana took off her coat, leaving it in a chair from the tiny kitchen along her bag. And when Lana took the spoon from her hand, Karina kissed her shoulder with love.
“So this is what are we doing this year?” Lana smiled at the gesture, starting to mix the chocolate batter. “Spending Valentine’s at home instead of going to our favourite restaurant?”
“I thought it would help Carla and Vivien to adjust, being together with people,” Karina whispered, rubbing her ear a bit and getting the freckled skin there red. “I don’t know, maybe with this we make Georgie to come out of her room...” Karina sighed and looked at Lana with the shadow of a smile in her lips. “And I’m baking your favourite chocolate cake, so don’t complain.”
Oh, Lana won’t ever do that, as much as she liked to tease her lover here and there. Honestly, she kinda loved staying at home for once, being able to spend time in a space where they were safe. And, well, she had to admit that ever since Karina started her home for youth, it was more difficult to see where to make time to spend it together idly. That and Lana’s show getting that famous.
“Aw, you only bake my favourite cake when you...” then she realized that Karina was looking away, her hand in her pocket. “When you want me to stay for more than one night.”
“I’ve been having nightmares again and I thought...that maybe you could stay for a few days, if it’s okay with-”
And Lana didn’t let her finish the sentence, because she would say ‘yes’ a thousand times and more, without a doubt. She leant to capture Karina’s lips with her own, having missed her all that time they were apart, and then pressed her forehead to Karina’s so she could look at her eyes better. It always amazed Lana how green could be her eyes, but at the same time have gold and hazel around to bring it out.
“Of course it is, but you’ll have to lend me some clothes for the day, Nina,” was the only thing she said before going back to the task Karina asigned her.
“Yeah...” Karina was now beet red, fumbling with whatever she had in her pocket, and then her hand was in front of Lana’s view. “I got you this, by the way...I know it’s not much, but, well...”
When Lana opened her eyes, with the sweet memory fading as the make-up girl finished the last touches for the interview, her eyes went first to Marion and then to the ring in her left middle finger, an old golden band with a tiny green agate in the middle.
How could nothing meant so much?
That’s what she thought, taking in count the tiny chaos that was her old mind in that moment. A new Valentine and she was going to spend it giving an interview,..the interview in which she would tell the whole truth finally. How much she wished to not even be there, but the only thing she promised herself was to get through it and maybe, after dinner, she would indulge in calling Karina.
Telling her what she did during the day and maybe remind her about that Valentine’s day around mid eighties in which Karina almost made her stay forever by her side.
Danna Bishop
“And now, we will need a volunteer for the next trick, would someone in the crowd give us a hand?”
Ally couldn’t help but laugh at her fianceé’s antics, watching Danna faking to doubt who to pick out of none int the living room. Ozzy was with her, clad in a tuxedo almost identic as Danna’s, doing the same crowd searching until Ally raised her hand innocently. They both faked a surprised gasp and then Danna offered Ally her hand.
“The pretty lady in the front, please, come here,” Danna winked at Ally, making her giggle once again and they laced fingers almost immediately, matching rings meeting with a soft clink. “Now! I need my assistant to bring the deck, because we’ll get this lovely woman’s card!”
When Oz was off the retrieve the deck, somewhere in the kitchen, Danna took advantage to kiss the ‘volunteer’ all big and eager.
This was the first time in three weeks they had been able to relax, taking in count Ally’s new campaign was starting, so at least having a moment to breath was good. But Danna had differently ideas of what a ‘moment to breath’ meant, which went along the line of what they were doing now instead of the old ‘let’s have wine after dinner and maybe we can cuddle and then not cuddle?’. She always thought of the bigger picture, the bigger and unexpected picture that kept Ally’s life to get a boring turn.
And she loved that...and the way the tuxedo fit her in the right places, but that was another story.
When Ozzy finally made his way back, Roberto was following him with a tiny bow tie in his collar. The too tiny and maybe a bit ugly old chihuahua quickly made his way towards his humans, making Ally pick him up as soon as he was by her side and kiss his head lovingly. Danna smiled widely when Ozzy went to her with this big card deck, too big even for doing tricks, and Ally looked at them with somewhat of curiosity peaking out from her eyes.
“I’ll need you to pull a card and I’ll try to guess it,” she offered the deck and as soon as Ally touched one card, she knew it was handmade because of the paper. “C’mon hurry, hurry, magic waits for none.”
“Okay, love, just,” she laughed, supporting Roberto in her shoulder a bit while flipping the card to read whatever was there or see whatever drawing it had. But what she encountered wasn’t hearts, clovers, spades or diamonds; it was something completely different. “Wait, what’s this?”
“I don’t know, what is it?” oh, when Danna played dumb she got this softer look in her eyes and the goofiest grin on ever.
The ‘card’ displayed a few plant details here and there and in the middle, with elegant font, there was a tiny message. An invitation, well, it looked more like a reservation for a few days in a spa...in Los Angeles. It started to raise too many doubts in Ally the second she read it all, but then Danna put her hands in her face to make her look directly at her eyes.
“Danielle’s gonna watch over Oz so we can have some time alone, and she even agreed to take in Bobito too,” Danna smiled at Roberto, which had his tiny head all cuddled in Ally’s neck. “I got the flights, have the money aside for it, schedules, everything so you don’t have to worry about anything but enjoy.”
“But what about...”
“Mom, let mama take you in vacation, it’s a surprise! You always wanted to do that!” Ozzy took Roberto from Ally’s arms easily before stepping back a bit so he could watch them with a huge grin on. “And Damien told me they will show me a really cool comic store, so please let’s go!”
And when Ally only nodded with the softest ‘okay, we’ll go’, words stuck in her throat, Ozzy cheered and ran to his room leaving both Ally and Danna in the living room, speechless. Every second in silence passed with a heaviness and then a sob broke it. Ally got startled because it didn’t come from her, which was a surprise, and her eyes went to Danna. She was trying to press the heels of her hands in her eyes, trying to stop the fat tears running down her cheeks somehow.
“Ally, he called me mama,” something inside Ally vibrated with new strenght, enough to feel like she was able to fly in that moment, when Danna managed to say something without looking at her. “Fuck, he called me...fuck...”
It was supposed to be Valentine’s day, but right after Ozzy did that, that day was one of the most important for both Ally and Danna and not because of something any of them did for each other. They would go to the spa, for sure, they would have a blast there and Ozzy would enjoy his stay with Danielle, Damien and Audrey as much as if he was with them...
...but for the day, Ally was trying to not cry herself to death because her son gifted them two the prove that this was working out really well.
Dahlia Deen
Her body felt like she was going to break in a million pieces.
Dahlia had a while without feeling like that, but it was a good feeling this time. Well, good feeling, more like this time she was grateful of feeling like that instead of wanting to pull her hair out in a maniac tired rage. She barely managed to fall backwards in the bed, letting go a ‘ufhg’ when her column relocated after the whole day.
She wasn’t the best at building furniture, okay? Indeed, she had to check too many times the manuals to build it correctly, but she managed to do it with patience and a phone call to her dad when Shelby had went out to buy some sandwiches. But there was some kind of relief knowing that she managed to do something like that, taking in count they didn’t have much time before they arrived.
“You should take a shower, Li,” Dahlia had her eyes closed and hummed in response upon hearing Shelby’s voice. “You’ll feel better.”
“I don’t think I can get there By,” a soft laugh got out of her chest more than her throat, making her feel her joints hurt with the slight movement. “Do I even have bones and muscles?”
“Of course you do! Turn around and take off your shirt,” and Dahlia complied, because Shelby could tell her she wanted her to jump in the ocean and she would do right away. She didn’t mind at all, she indeed loved that part of them as a couple because Dahlia trusted in her wife with all she got.
Dahlia couldn’t see Shelby because her face was pressed to their pillow, not caring a single bit about her glasses getting a bit smashed by doing that, but she did feel her climbing in the bed and then straddling her like that. Groaning softly because of that, loving how Shelby’s weight pressed her body against the bed, and then giggled when the wet ends of her hair dropped some water droplets in her bare back. Shelby’s hands, sweetly cold, started to work and her fingers pressed in those spots her wife always had trouble with, doing wonders.
“The fact that you have healing hands is distracting me of the fact you are just in bathrobe sitting on my ass, you know?” Dahlia mumbled, turning her head enough to rest better in the pillow and Shelby laughed, leaning to press soft kisses down her spine. “Miss Deen, you’re such a tease.”
“Ah, am I, miss Deen?” they both laughed at that and Shelby pressed her fingers right in the base of Dahlia’s head to ease the knot there, earning a soft moan. “And having you strip like the easiest thing what makes you?”
A fool in love with an angel. Dahlia thought, keeping it for herself and just chuckling as a response. Things like this reminded her why they were together, why they decided to fight for each other and keep going, now with new rules, new feelings and new old heart.
Shelby kept massaging Dahlia with care, touching here and there as she knew. It was the least she could do, after being all day working around the house. It was easy to love Dahlia, she was caring and soft and too good for anyone in this world. Sometimes she wondered how Dahlia kept on loving her, many of them she wanted to ask her, but she knew it was something that her wife kept close to her heart. Focused on the task, Shelby barelly noticed how Dahlia had relaxed enough to start breathing deep and slow, falling asleep deeply.
“Happy Valentine’s day, dearie,” Shelby always felt calm when they were together, Dahlia always making her feel at ease and not on the verge of a violent outburst of unspoken feelings. She leant with care, leaving a kiss in the back of her head and then behind her ear, whispering her next words while taking off her glasses. “I love you more than words can say.”
At that, however, something unexpected happened. Shelby didn’t have time to climb down from the bed nor from her wife, because Dahlia turned around to place herself between her legs and over her, making her circle her waist with them thanks to that. Then she took advantage of the new position to kiss her fully on the lips, deep and calm as the ocean Dahlia was so afraid of.
“I’m sorry I didn’t get you anything, or cook you something nice for dinner,” Dahlia managed to sound small and shy in such position, kissing Shelby’s neck slowly in between words. “It’s no excuse, I know, but...”
“It’s okay Li, I prefer you loving me all year long than showing me one only day that,” Shelby chuckled breathlessly at that, getting turned on as the seconds and kisses went by, her hands finding their right places at Dahlia’s nape while her wife loosened her bathrobe. “Also, you already gave me the greatest gift...”
And when Dahlia looked up at Shelby, which was a bit blurry because without glasses she was blind as a mole, she could discern the soft redness in her blue eyes. Something in her chest swelled up, all warm, sweet and maybe a bit scary...but the good one of scary, that type which made you be more excited and make your tummy churn for it.
That’s why they’ve spent the day reforming their shared office, building bunk beds and accomodating everything so the new lives they were gonna receive would be comfortable. It took a lot of hard work, a lot of thinking, a lot of everything so they finally were ready to be foster parents.
If there was one thing Shelby still wanted was to be a mom, but the only thought of getting pregnant again scared her to death and Dahlia didn’t want her to go through that again, and also she wasn’t sure she was ready to give birth now...or never. So adoption was the next thing they thought and then, well, there they were.
“You’re gonna be an amazing mother, By,” it was time for Dahlia to be breathless, pressing a new kiss to Shelby’s forehead. “I saw you with my nephews and nieces, you truly...glow. Even with the oldest, and you know how is Eva with her things.”
Shelby wanted to say something else, but she was moved by Dahlia’s words. It was going to be hard, that for sure, but she believed they were meant for this. They had overcome too many bumps in the road, they were in a place where they had been able to heal...and it was about time to take a new step in their lives.
Leah and Johnny were in their way, and Dahlia and Shelby were going to give them the home they deserved.
But for now, still childless, Shelby let herself drown in Dahlia’s presence and warm arms. She would have to shower again, that was for sure, but as soon as her wife had her hands on her, fingers caressing in the right places...well, let’s say Shelby knew her ocean arrived to swallow her whole.
Gabrielle Summers
Winter looked up to the doorframe once again, encountering another little bundle of mistletoe of all things tied up there. Annoyingly, she looked around to see if her girlfriend was somewhere to be seen and then jumped to take it off, not wanting the glue to ruin the wood and having their landlord make them pay for reparation.
Seriously, it was the seventh mistletoe she took off around the apartment and the place wasn’t that big! They weren’t even in Christmas, why was there mistletoe to begin with!?
And when she got to the kitchen, there were fake spiders with candies attached from Halloween here and there, making Winter to rub her forehead and sigh deeply before going to get all those things off...and maybe eat the candies while she was at it.
At times Winter didn’t know why Gabrielle was that way, but as she was cleaning the corridor from more spiders, mistletoe and...were those petals? she thanked to be with her in that tiny apartment in Queens. Indeed, she was very thankful of having such lovely idiot loving her every day, without a fail, because at the end of the day Gabrielle was her idiotic heroine, and that wouldn’t change for the rest of their lives.
Getting used to live without fear was...an experience, to be completely honest. But Winter still got nervous when things around her started to happen all of a sudden, per example, how their stupid apartment was decorated in all those things from different festivities.
However, when she opened the bathroom door, she felt herself loosen the grip she had over all the things she had been picking up to drop it in the tile floor. Feeling how her mouth opened a bit, speechless, Winter tried to wrap her head around the fact that her too tall girlfriend was barely fitting in the small bathtub they had, legs handling from one edge and over the other near the wall. There were more petals here and there and Gabrielle smiled widely at her, as if she wasn’t being so effortlessly sexy doing such stupid thing.
For some reason, Winter loved every weird stupid thing Gabrielle did.
“About time, Winnie,” she laughed, hazel eyes shining with happiness. “Wanna join me in this so special Valentine’s day?” Gabrielle was...charming to say the least, black short wet hair all back and strong arms waiting to hold her. “Oh, you found all the clues to find me, did you like them? I couldn’t buy like...dozens and dozens of petals, we don’t make that much money, so I had to get creative.”
Sexy, charming and all...but she was just the dorkiest of them all...and all hers.
Winter laughed from the deepest part of her soul, using her feet to kick the stuff she dropped and soon she was out of her clothes, trying to fit with Gabrielle in such tiny space. It was difficult for sure, but they managed to make it, Winter basically sitting over Gabrielle and having half her body out of the water though.
“You’re unbelievable,” Winter traced with her fingers the curve of Gabrielle’s biceps, taking her time and making the other girl to close her eyes in pleasure. “I thought I was going crazy with all those mistletoes.”
“Why do you freak out with harmless plant but not with murderous spiders,” Gabrielle chuckled at that, taking in count she hated spiders so much.
“Because spiders doesn’t bite and if you get under the mistletoe...that’s what you get,” she replied, giving a knowing look to her girlfriend, who only laughed because last Christmas their making out went overboard. “They are quite nice.”
“You are quite nice,” Gabrielle’s hand moved to caress Winter’s belly, slow, tracing her thumb over the skin there and getting Winter to roll her eyes back and bite her lip. “I took the night off from work, so...we have all day for us, honeybun,” there was a soft tint of sweetness in Gabi’s voice and that only made Winter to move her hips. “So...what my queen wants to do? Aside of the obvious.”
How could Gabrielle be like that? That was a question Winter always asked herself since the day they met. But also...how Gabrielle could look at her in the eye, knowing all what she did. She never replied, because Winter was the one asking always everything and nothing, but sometimes she got the feeling that the only thing Gabrielle wanted was to rebuild and forget about Michigan.
And that was something Winter was wishing too, to forget all the pain, all the trauma, all the nightmares that plagued her every night since they left.
“Having pizza on bed and watching ‘Grey’s Anatomy’,” she mumbled in response, leaning in to kiss Gabrielle as her life depended on ti, making at the same time that the water threaten to overflow. “Buying that videogame in discount you liked and playing until I want to fuck you again, what does my knight in not that shiny armour thinks?”
They were weird, that’s for sure, but they loved each other very deeply and in a way they both feel like they belonged somewhere.
Joking between the walls of their tiny apartment in Queens, waking up every morning to go to uni hand in hand, eating lunch while talking about the day, bidding farewell when Gabrielle had to go to work and welcoming her home every night.
Gabrielle knew Winter hated many festivities, even Valentine’s day, but having her indulge was one of her biggest achievements. She knew her girlfriend indulged many times for her, but those times were she was just doing it because she actually wanted...well, those were trully a blessing.
“Knight in shiny armour is all in.”
Rowan Ramírez
Oh shit, his hands were sweating so bad.
Rowan was trying to calm himself down, rubbing the back of her neck and then trying to swipe his hands in the back of his thighs. In his head, all he could think about was all those tiny advices his sister gave him, going through them with the outmost care because he didn’t want to fuck this up.
After a while of trying to take a faith leap, Rowan finally did it after finding himself thinking all day and all night about Coco. He knew that it was going to be hard, taking in count they lived as far as each other in the other side of the country, but he wasn’t remotely scared of from trying to start the relationship. And that was almost more than a half year ago, time making him bolder and more like Raleigh than any of them expected...at least in the being stubborn and spontaneous in times of need.
However, he couldn’t figure out how all of that had brought him to New Orleans in secret just to surprise his girlfriend for Valentine’s day.
Maybe it was that he was head over heels in love with the blonde witch, that he wanted to make her as happy as he could, that he was trying to picture himself by her side as long as his mind could...and in between all of that, Rowan found himself finally knocking on the front door of the Academy.
Raleigh had let him in from the other house, so he didn’t have to go through the ‘the Academy’s barrier would want to eat you if you touch it’ part of the plan. After letting Sidonia know he wasn’t going to play fetch with her, kissing his baby nephew’s head and saying ‘hi’ to his sister-in-law, which was reading in the kitchen in that fine Sunday morning; he had armed himself with the bouquet of roses he bought in his way here and went to retrieve his girlfriend in the other house.
The waiting was so painful? He thought to himself, putting a lock of his hair behind his ear, trying to not go and start jumping to relieve some of his stress. But it was then when the front door opened, just to show Misty’s concerned face...that eased into a funny one as soon as Rowan came into view.
“Ahm...uhm, I-I’m here to...well, oh God,” fuck, fuck, fuck him and his shit ass nerves. Now words didn’t make sense in his head. But Misty took pity on him, putting a reassuring hand in his shoulder before throwing her head back enough to yell.
“Coco, there’s an Amazon guy in the door askin’ for you!!” and that only made Rowan to go beet red, because the white lie kept rolling in order to let him surprise his oblivious girlfriend. Girlfriend that was frying his phone, in her back pocket, with messages at that point of the day.
The new waiting time was even harder than before, but as soon as Rowan overheard the quick click click of Coco’s heels along feeling her magic approaching, he started to relax. He felt how her lips quirked in a goofy yet shy grin and when Coco realized it wasn’t an Amazon guy but Rowan who was waiting for her in the front door, her hands went directly to cover her mouth and her eyes visibly watered.
“Don’t cry pretty, please,” was the first thing Rowan said, because his inner panicker jumped in action. Then he handed the bouquet to her, still goofy grin on. “So...I hope you don’t have date for Valentine’s, because I’m asking you for one now,” he chuckled to let the last bits of nervousness go away and Coco hugged the bouquet to her chest with care before reaching for him. “Would you like to go on an ice cream hunt to the French quarter with this poor warlock in love?”
“Of course I do!” Coco let out the cutest yelp as response, Rowan finally taking her hand and pulling her close to lean and kiss her lips, a peck that started the biggest bonfire in his whole body. “Just let me take my purse and put the flowers...”
“No, no purses, I’m inviting you today,” Rowan knew Coco was happy to always pay for everything, but he had been working hard all year to earn money and spend it on his loved one for once. Maybe it was because of the way his mother raised him, that his aunt Abigail raised him, but he usually didn’t like to be treated to things (and Rowan only let his big sister to treat him because a) Raleigh was a bit scary; and b) ‘Twenty years apart gave me the right to treat you for another twenty, so shut up.’)
“And I’m taking the flowers, so!” Mallory appeared behind Coco, giving Rowan the biggest smile ever because of how happy it made her know her cousin was being happy and in love with her best friend. “Take her before she start her yearly rant about red velvet cake, Roro!”
Rowan complied, laughing at that because he knew how his girlfriend was with food. But having Coco by his side again, after months of chatting and videocalling through their phones and laptops...well, for him it didn’t matter if she went a bit overboard with her powers...and with her chatter, for that matter. He was always more like a listener than a ‘talker’, which was good for how many stuff Coco had to say, and Rowan tried to kiss Coco’s cheek from time to time to see her trail in whatever she was saying.
Overall seeing how happy was Coco, made all the sleepless night planning this trip worth it, but what made Rowan the happiest was that he was able to find someone who loved him for who he was.
Danielle Bishop
Audrey could tell Danielle was feeling on top of the world right now.
It obvious by the way she was talking more confident, her face glowing up without any trace of the usual tiredness she carried, and drinking red wine like it was water. Maybe that last bit was because she was a bit nervous, making Audrey to chuckle when a new anecdote fell from her lips because seeing her girlfriend nervous was truly a thing, taking in count it was more a thing of Danna than Danielle’s.
For Audrey, it was cute and heartwarming. Mostly because she didn’t expect to come home to having the kitchen all ready and set to have what it looked like a romantic dinner. Of course they’ve been exchanging messages, kisses and Audrey had woken Danielle up with a nice surprise just because. It was the third Valentine they spent together, being the first one and the second one spent having a little date to a coffee nearby to Danielle’s office because she was working on a case for several days and didn’t have much time, and Audrey was thankful that her girlfriend gave her such big private thing.
Damien wasn’t there, mostly because her father had come to visit her and he was spending as much time as he could with her, so they didn’t have to worry about her much aside of waiting for Dara’s call that she arrived to Billie and hers’ house safely since they wanted to have a bit of privacy for the day. The fact that Danielle’s ex husband was around, also, had them both worried and this was truly a shot of fresh air from thinking.
Cliché as it was, they shared their classic dinner in between laughs and kisses. As far as Audrey knew, Danna had helped Danielle to cook everything through videocall, which knowing both probably was full of yelling, reassuring words, two times almost giving up and Danna cheering the loudest when something turned out what it was supposed to be. But Audrey loved every bit of the cliché situation because her life wasn’t full of those at all, taking it with her whole heart because after moving in with Danielle, each day it passed it made her see that she was feeling at home finally.
It was a good sensation, it made her want to go back to Danielle’s arms all the time they were apart, to provide with the same love she was being pampered with. And after all those years, it was the only thing she wanted, being completely honest. Any doubt she had was reassured and kissed away, any problem that might rise was taken care diligently so it wasn’t a bigger problem...and having some control over the chaos that her life was, made Audrey to go and thank her partner endlessly...even more.
“Okay, are you ready for my amazing strawberry cake?” Dani announced, after downing her third glass of wine with, food finally gone and Audrey wanting to leave her seat and go reclaim her rightful spot in Danielle’s lap. “It’s ugly and maybe a bit too sugary? but I did it all by myself.”
“I’m sure it’s amazing, my darling,” Audrey was looking at Danielle dreamly, detailing how she chose the burgundy shirt Audrey loved and those dressing black pants that fit her too damn well, long black hair pulled back by her nervous hand and wide smile clinging to her lips and making her want to kiss it for the rest of the night. “You know I like sweet stuff.”
Audrey winked at that last thing, getting a big hearty laugh from Danielle and a kiss that knocked the air out of her lungs before she went to retrieve the cake from the fridge. She took advantage of that to check her phone, sending a picture to Billie of the whole table and brag about it, because why not? Audrey checked her texts while Billie replied and soon she got a picture of Dara, sleeping over Billie with the cutest pout in her lips and ‘I’ve tired out my Valentine :(’ under.
She giggled to that, typing a fast ‘you two are truly unbelievable’ before she overheard Danielle’s steps coming back. Putting down her phone, she waited for Danielle to put the cake in the middle of the table but her girlfriend had another plan it seemed. So she walked towards her, leaving the whole plate in front of her and then kissed her temple with love.
“Are you expecting me to eat all of this by mys-” Audrey started to say, but was cut mid sentence when Danielle didn’t go back to her seat, kneeling by her side so that way Audrey had to look down to make eye contact with her. “What are you doing there, silly?”
“Well, it’s kinda obvious...I think?” Danielle laughed softly at that, one of her hands resting in Audrey’s thigh while the other was out of view because she was getting something from inside her shirt. Like, Audrey saw her do that many times before, hiding stuff like money or her phone in her bra, so she was over that already...however she didn’t expect Danielle to pull out a tiny velvety box.
It was then when Audrey’s heart stop beating for a second.
“Look, all this time I tried to be sincere with you, and sometimes I wished to do things...in a better way, but it didn’t matter because we got through it and you never left me, even when I thought the worst of me, even when things weren’t as pretty as we both wanted,” Danielle was trying to keep looking at her and Audrey was feeling how her body re-started with the sudden speech. “I...well, after my divorce I didn’t think I would be able to love someone this...deep, but you didn’t give up on me, you showed me that not only me but both deserved another chance, and what the hell, we make a good Uno couple...and Damien loves you,” that drew a choked chuckle from Audrey, in the verge of the sob. Damien truly liked her, and that was one of the biggest goals she accomplished. “I thought we could step up our game...because you are the only one I see myself getting married with and I want to keep on make you happy till the end of our days and beyond. So, Audrey...would you marry me?”
And then Danielle opened the box with trembling fingers to show her girlfriend the gold ring with the tiny jewel in the middle of it.
Three years had passed and Audrey still couldn’t believe Danielle, of all people, had trouble to do long speeches taking in count her line of work. But she got why she couldn’t, because for years she didn’t show she had feelings at all and talking about something you so worked so hard to hide was difficult...and that’s when Audrey entered the picture, being emotional, being vocal about everything, showing her that it was okay to show what was inside without fear of judgement.
“Dani...” Audrey closed her eyes late, her tears spilling in a very dramatic turn of the events, but one that entered the million possibilities Danielle had planned in her head. “Of c-course I do, damn it, yes, yes and ten million times yes!”
it was time for Danielle to laugh, to let out the breathe she was holding in a ragged way because all the nervousness melted the moment she slipped the ring in Audrey’s finger. She didn’t take in count, however, that Audrey would take her to the ground, hugging her like no tomorrow and kissing her as if she needed her to keep being alive.
In between kisses, laughs and trying to make it to the couch, forgetting about the cake over the table, Audrey thought that Danielle, in the end, was what she was looking for all those years. She didn’t need someone that complied to everything she said, she only needed this someone to feel she was enough for her, that she was loved and cherished by her...
...and, as her fingers found every button from her favourite Danielle’s shirt, that someone finally had a face, and a body for that matter, to die for. Which wasn’t necessary but oh good Lord help her that it was a good plus.
Cold-hearted Severa
Mr. Mumbles cooed in her shoulder as they moved through the camp, feeling how a little happy tune was bubbling in her chest and getting through her as a little hum. Selene wasn’t much of a happy-go-lucky person, always worried about everything and nothing, but today she felt lucky enough to get things right through the day.
She was one of the few that were lucky enough not to get many looks when she went to town, so that morning she had rolled down along Jimmy to get some groceries there and also the bouquet of daisies and dandelions that she was now holding tightly in her grip. There was this giant field in the way from camp to town and she only trust in Jimmy to not spill the beans, so she had asked him to take her with him to pay a little visit.
Taking a few breathings to calm herself down, Selene used her nose to give a cuddle to her companion, her face taken hostage by the monkey like always. She chuckled and poked him in the belly, his weak spot, and then she was free to keep walking towards the siameses’ tent.
It was her main goal and the reason she was taking this big ass step, all the courage she had tied in a knot so it didn’t fly away. She had fixed the handmade bouquet specially for Bette, but since they both would see it, Selene had fixed it with two different flowers so that way both had something pretty to look at for a while.
Her heart was hammering its way in her chest, reminding her sweetly that she was very much alive. She was taking advantge that she saw them in the main tent to do this, because she wasn’t as courageous to actually look them in the eye to give them the gift. Selene didn’t want to impose in them, she much preferred to look from the distance and watch them being happy, knowing she wasn’t enough for any.
Bette and Dot had made it very clear that their feelings weren’t the same, and Selene took that to her heart, her love for both still there but also growing when Bette confessed later that she was confused about what to feel. That was enough for her, to be honest, she thought while leaving the tiny bouquet over their desk and starting to run back to Eve’s ban.
It didn’t matter they didn’t love her, she was pretty much content with being their friend at least, and as a friend she had left those pretty flowers to make this Valentine’s day better for them.
When she arrived with Eve, she looked at her with a lifted perfect eyebrow, asking silently why such hurry...only to see that Selene was handing her something. She loved the twins, that for sure, but Selene wouldn’t forget about her best friend and how much she also loved her.
“Is that for me?” Eve blinked confused upon seeing the tiny present, the one that Selene spent her savings in, and took it in her hands with care before unwrapping it. “Oh dear, it wasn’t necessary.”
But Selene smiled widely, in silence like always, waiting for Eve to see what was inside. She had taken note of how pretty her friend found those earrings she was now pulling out of the box, once they went to take a walk in town and passed by a jewelry shop. Selene was always taken little notes about what other people needed, it was common for her at this point.
“I can’t believe you went back and bought them,” Eve shrieked in delight, standing up fast to wrap her best friend into a tight hug before planting the biggest kiss on her lips, like she always did. “You’re a blessing for sure, sweetheart, thank you very much.”
Maybe Bette and Dot didn’t love Selene back, but when Eve looked at her with that shine in her eyes, it made Selene think about the possibilities of staying with her best friend for the rest of their lives.
She didn’t know what the future would hold for them, but as long as she kept at least Eve by her side, she was quite content to keep living her life as it was. She could learn to love better, she could learn to be more brave, maybe a bit more unspoken at times? And maybe someday she would be able to feel at ease in a place.
Because, yeah, the show was all she got but she couldn’t call it a home.
And when Eve asked her to get dinner only the three of them, because she always included Mr. Mumbles, Selene thought that maybe one day her true home would become a place in which none felt left out.
