for @maimishou I hope you enjoy!
•••
“You’re my best friend, you know.”
Jo’s voice cut through Kelsey’s nonsensical ramblings—about their upcoming APUSH debate in which Kelsey was set to be a muckraker of the 1920s and Jo was playing Henry Ford and the argument she was planning to tear her friend’s capitalist character down with. Grey’s Anatomy was playing on the TV in front of them, something dramatic happening that Jo hadn’t been paying attention to for a while. She wasn’t a big fan of the show, anyways.
Kelsey’s face was obscured by the face mask that she had brought over for the two of them to share—Jo had a matching one lathered across her skin, as well—but it wasn’t too hard to picture the questioning quirk of her eyebrows, the almost suspicious scrunch of her nose that she wouldn’t dare do with the mask on. Jo had known the girl for too long. She knew Kelsey’s quirks like the back of her hand.
“You’re my best friend, too?” Kelsey’s voice was almost a question, but the smile in her eyes—still not stretching her skin because Jo taught her well—more than genuine. She kicked out at the other girl with her foot. Jo had painted Kelsey’s toes just a few minutes ago and she had complained about the purple separator she had forced on the other girl the entire time. Jo grinned as she dodged Kelsey’s kick, letting a snort of laughter out. “Why are we getting sentimental right now? We haven’t even broken out the wine.”
Jo rolled her eyes, her low, sarcastic groan loud in her small living room. She tossed herself back onto the couch as dramatically as possible, throwing her head back and rubbing the back of her head into the colorful throw that lay across the back of her family’s couch. She liked to tease that her mother treasured this old textile more than she loved her own daughter. Her hair came back static-y and angry, pops of noise picking about the air as she pulled away and grinned over at her closest friend.
“I just wanted to let you know.”
“I already know, silly,” Kelsey’s laugh was bright. It was electric. Her eyes wrinkled up, not-yet-permanent crows feet dashing out like strikes of lightening. Jo was sure, if not for the mask she had on her face, there would be a happy, pink coloring high in her cheeks. Kelsey quickly relaxed her face when she realized that she was likely wrinkling the mask, but her cheeks were tight around her lips as if she were attempting to swallow her laughter down but couldn’t in full.
It painted a funny picture. Or maybe it was just the pure charm that was Kelsey. Laughter spilled from Jo’s lips in response and soon the two were laughing together, ignoring the wrinkles spreading across their masks. Even though she had been the one to suggest this self-care day Jo didn’t care. She didn’t care that her hair was messy and tangled. She didn’t care that the paint on her nails was likely getting smudged and rubbed into that throw that her mother loved so much. She didn’t care. Because that laugh, that piercing, ringing, beautiful thing made her heart stop. It made her brain short circuit. It made her limbs freeze up and her mouth go numb.
Jo would do anything to keep that laugh in her life.
“Gosh, we’re both messes now!” Kelsey broke through Jo’s haze of admiration, the girl peeling the mask from her face and tossing it towards the trash bin they had pulled from Jo’s room. It landed atop the cotton balls and makeup wipes that had been using earlier with something that could hint at a wet flop. She reached for the other girl’s mask before Jo could react, pulling it from her face, as well. The cool air on her newly exposed face made her cringe back. “I’m serious, Jo! My pores are probably still all clogged up!”
“It’s okay, Kels,” Jo laughed at her friend’s distress. “You’re still beautiful.”
“Jo!” Kelsey squealed in response, her hands flying up to cover her face as she leaned into Jo’s shoulder. Jo couldn’t help but laugh again, wrapping her arms about her friend and falling back into the couch. Kelsey’s own laughter was warm against Jo’s neck as she peeked up at her friend. Her eyes were bright with mirth and Jo knew without seeing all of the other’s face that there was a smile on her lips. “You can’t just say stuff like that.”
“Yes I can!” Jo protested. “You’re my best friend! We’ve just determined that!”
Kelsey fell silent, leaving Jo’s laugh ringing by itself before she realized her friend had quieted down. She tilted her head down to look at the other, a question in her eyes. Kelsey’s face was a touch pink, her gaze off to the right as if she were attempting to avoid Jo’s sight—and she wasn’t just looking at something off to the side, Jo had checked to be sure.
“Kelsey?”
“Just,” Kelsey started, clearing a lump that had seemingly gotten stuck in her throat. Jo tugged at a strand of Kelsey’s hair as if to prompt her. “Just friends?”
Jo felt her breath catch in her throat, her lungs seizing up as she considered what Kelsey had just said. Her words bounced relentlessly through her head. She felt slightly put out as well, of course, but that was mostly due to the fact that Jo had always expected to be the one who confessed first. She had toyed with the possibility that Kelsey would return her feelings, usually on sleepless nights where not even Instagram could keep up with her million-mile-an-hour mind, but she had never found herself being confessed to by the girl of her affection in even her wildest dreams.
Jo’s mouth was dry as she gaped at her friend. Kelsey seemed to be getting progressively more embarrassed, the pink of her cheeks plunging into a red and the girl squirming almost uncomfortably in Jo’s hold as if she wanted to be anywhere but here. Jo tightened her hold on the other, watching as she calmed her movements, glancing up at her once again.
“I mean,” Jo managed to say. She was sure that her face was just as red as Kelsey’s by now. “We can be more if you want?”
“Was that a question?”
“I guess?”
Kelsey giggled into Jo’s shoulder once again, burying her face into the crook of her neck for a moment before extracting herself once again. Jo was both disappointed and relieved. Relived because this was a conversation that they needed to have as well as the fact that she was ticklish. Disappointed in the fact that Kelsey had pulled away. So sue her. Jo had always been in love with the idea of simply being surrounded by her best friend—even if that was the only form the affection came in.
“Well. My answer is yes. I would like to be more.”
“Oh!” Jo croaked out excitedly, a smile breaking across her face. She grinned down at Kelsey, who grinned just as brightly back up at her. “Yeah, that sounds good to me.”
“Can I…?” Kelsey trailed off. It took Jo a moment to realize what the other girl was asking, her mind still reeling with what had just transpired.
“Definitely!” She finally managed, letting Kelsey squirm her way out of her arms. Jo settled her hands atop Kelsey’s. Were her palms always this sweaty?
Where Jo was sitting cross legged on the couch, Kelsey had somehow found her way to kneeling atop it, her whole body turning to face Jo as opposed to the girl in question, who had just angled her torso towards the other.
“Awesome.” Kelsey breathed as she pressed closer to Jo.
Jo watched as her friend’s eyes flickered from her own gaze to her lips and back again. She took that as a prompt for her to do so as well, and was once again mesmerized by the idea of Kelsey’s lips. By the idea of kissing them, of kissing Kelsey, of Kelsey kissing her.
Kelsey surged forward only a moment later. It wasn’t anything like fireworks or bursts of light. It was the awkward press of lips against lips, a chaste thing that hinted at clacking teeth if their mouths had been open.
The two pulled back with laughter spilling out of them. And then, after a moment, they pressed back in.
Jo was pretty sure there were fireworks this second time.
