Manderking, 17. “Looks like we’ll be trapped for a while…” and 21. “We’re in the middle of a thunderstorm and you wanna stop and feel the rain?”
In which Peter and Costa play matchmaker (honestly, these kids will never learn) and Jaquie and Freddie are their reluctant guinea pigs on a rained-out beach day. I did end up using both prompts for this one. I hope you enjoy what I did with them! Thanks for the prompts! :) (On AO3)
Jaquie glares at the back of Peter’s head from her spot in the backseat of Costa’s car. She can’t believe he and Costa dragged her into this.
They’re on their way to the beach, which wouldn’t be so bad, except that Freddie Kingston is sitting next to Jaquie in the backseat, her hands clenched in her lap, worrying her bottom lip gently between her teeth. It’s sort of adorable.
But that doesn’t mean it was okay for Peter and Costa to decide to play matchmaker! Honestly, after all that ridiculous Love Gods crap in Peter’s friend group over the years, he should really know better by now. Jaquie never should have let them tease out the identity of her crush, because their machinations are only going to end in humiliation for her.
“So, Freddie,” Peter says pointedly. “Did you hear Costa’s next show is one of Marlowe’s history plays? And Jaquie is playing a genderswapped Hal, because Costa owes her for not giving her any lines in Faustus. You like the history plays, right?”
“I, um… yeah?” Freddie says nervously, glancing at Jaquie. “I mean, Ben made me watch a few of the film versions, with Tom Hiddleston as Hal, and I really like the, uh, the political themes. I think a genderswapped version sounds amazing. Are you enjoying rehearsals, Jaquie?”
Jaquie rolls her eyes. Talking to these two is like talking to her grandparents, they’re so full of well-meaning, tell-me-about-yourself style questions.
“It’s fine, okay? I’m just happy to have the lead for once.” She crosses her arms and stares stubbornly out the window.
From the driver’s seat, Costa gives a long, put-upon sigh. Jaquie prepares herself for another lecture on the larger than life humanity of Hal and how important it is that Jaquie take her role seriously and learn all about the politics of the play as part of the rehearsal process.
“I have an idea!” he exclaims, and Jaquie just knows what’s coming. “Maybe Miss Freddie here can help you research Henry IV. I’m sure she’d find it a fascinating opportunity, right Peter?” Costa holds up a hand and Peter slaps him five.
“Absolutely,” Peter says. “Freddie, you’re free tonight, aren’t you?”
“Well, I-” Freddie starts.
“Perfect!” shouts Costa, swerving the car slightly in his excitement and causing the others to curse and grab the handles on the roof. “It’s a date!”
“Eyes on the road, babe! Jesus!” Peter scolds his boyfriend.
“I’m going to kill you both for this,” Jaquie mutters under her breath. Honestly, whatever happened to ‘bi kids stick together’?
***
When they get to the beach, Peter and Costa go chasing each other along the sand towards the water. Jaquie, comfortable in her white heart-shaped sunglasses and blue tankini, spreads a towel on the sand and lies down, turning her head to watch Freddie in her purple one-piece (Jaquie’s not even kidding, a one-piece. It’s kind of cute on her, really), parked a few feet away and already hard at work on a meticulously designed sand castle. The girl wouldn’t know fun if it kicked her up the arse, Jaquie thinks to herself, refusing to admit how much she’s enjoying the view. She will not give Peter and Costa the satisfaction.
Freddie’s pale skin is slathered with sunscreen, so the sunlight shines against her freckled arms, and her red hair is piled atop her head in a slapdash bun. She looks up suddenly from the castle turret she’s been shaping, and smiles when she catches Jaquie watching her. Jaquie’s heart flutters. She’s got it so bad, it almost makes her angry at herself. Get it together, Manders.
Awhile later, Jaquie is warm and sleepy, and she doesn’t want to get up. She moans when a droplet of water lands on her nose.
“Leave me alone,” she sighs, as another droplet hits her partially-bared midriff.
“Jaquie!” Freddie’s voice calls, and suddenly Jaquie is being bombarded by water droplets, as the sky opens on them. She shrieks at the cold, squirming to her feet and grabbing her towel. Jaquie spots her three friends ahead of her, heading towards the pier and the little lifeguards’ equipment shack where they can take shelter.
“Guys, wait up!” She calls, running up to them. “Wait, why have you stopped moving? Do you want to get drenched?”
“We’re already drenched, Jacs!” Peter points out, spinning around with his arms spread wide as Costa does the same. “Why not enjoy the weather?”
A thunderclap sounds overhead, and Jaquie shudders against the sudden cold.
“Seriously? We’re in the middle of a thunderstorm, and you idiots want to stop and feel the rain?” Jaquie shouts, the water starting to blur her vision, it’s raining so hard. “No way. I’m going inside!”
Stupid Peter. Stupid Costa. Getting her soaking wet and trying to matchmake her with a girl who’s probably not interested anyway, given the way she’s hardly spoken to Jaquie all day. She’s so going to get them all back for this.
***
Jaquie is huddled alone under her sandy towel on the floor of the equipment shack, next to several slightly moldy pool noodles and a lost and found bodyboard. She feels all crusty and gross from the water and sand, and wishes more than anything that she could shower and change out of the wet swimsuit that clings to her skin, filling her body with cold. She rubs her gooseflesh-covered arms, trying desperately to warm up.
Suddenly, she hears a scratching noise- the wooden door scraping open and closed again. Someone coughs or clears her throat, a sound simultaneously rough and soft. “Hello?” the girl calls. “Jaquie?”
“Freddie?” Jaquie’s heart starts beating faster, and she folds her arms around herself instinctively. “I’m over here!”
Freddie appears around a stack of old beach chairs, damp and barefoot, stepping carefully to reach the other girl. “I hate being wet,” Freddie sighs, plopping down next to Jaquie on the floor, dust and sand sticking to her legs. She wrinkles her nose, still shivering.
“I’m sorry for intruding on your beach day,” Freddie says softly. “I know you didn’t want me here. It’s just, with Stanley so busy and Ben traveling abroad, I’m a little short on friends at the moment.”
“What? No, of course I want you here,” Jaquie admits. “It’s Peter and Costa I’m getting sick of.”
“They’re cute,” Freddie says. “They’re out there right now performing every song from Singin’ in the Rain at the tops of their voices. They actually don’t sound half bad.”
“They would do that,” Jaquie laughs. “Theatre kids through and through- Hey, you’re shivering.” She can feel Freddie’s leg practically vibrating against hers, and it makes her shiver a little bit too, just touching her.
“Come here,” Jaquie says, and then the other girl is right beside her, and Jaquie threads an arm around her waist, draping the sandy towel around both of their tired bodies. Freddie rests her head on Jaquie’s shoulder.
It’s quiet for a long moment, Jaquie and Freddie resting against each other. Freddie’s hand has found itself on Jaquie’s knee, almost on her thigh, really, and Jaquie’s breath catches in her throat as Freddie brushes her fingers in a swirling pattern on Jaquie’s skin. Jaquie is close enough that if she turned her head just slightly, she could kiss Freddie on the cheek, bury her nose in the flowers-and-sea-salt smell of that soft red hair.
“You know how you can hear the ocean in a seashell?” Freddie asks suddenly, breaking into Jaquie’s train of thought at just the right moment. “That’s my favorite part of going to the beach, finding seashells. You sound like a seashell. Your heartbeat.”
Jaquie is thankful for the dim light in the shed, so that Freddie can’t see the light blush on her tan cheeks. “That’s like the cheesiest pickup line I’ve ever heard,” she says, realizing too late what she just implied.
“Do you want it to be a pickup line?” Freddie asks, pulling away from Jaquie, who immediately misses the other girl’s body heat against her. “Because it doesn’t have to be! It looks like we’ll be trapped here for a while, because of the storm, and I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. I know Peter and Costa think- But we don’t have to! We can just forget this ever happened, I promise-”
“Freddie.” Jaquie cuts her off. “I don’t spend much time cuddling people I’m not interested in. And besides, it’s cold in here.” She holds out her arms and Freddie slips back under the towel with her, huddling close.
“So… you like me?” Freddie mumbles into Jaquie’s shoulder. “Really?”
“I will admit how much I like you under one condition,” Jaquie says.
“What’s that?”
“You cannot tell Peter and Costa that we got together on this beach trip. They’ll never shut up about how they’re the ones that made it happen, how they were right all along, and I’ll have to admit it to them. And I am not about to deal with how smug and annoying they’ll be then.”
“Neither am I,” Freddie admits. “They trampled my sandcastle.”
“Boys,” Jaquie rolls her eyes. “Who needs them?”
“In that case, I should probably tell you that I’ve liked you ever since Peter first brought you home, and I was incredibly jealous that he got to kiss you in Faustus,” Freddie admits. “I can’t believe I just said that, oh my god.”
Jaquie grins. “I liked you too, even if you were a little intense about those ridiculous rules of yours.”
“Don’t remind me,” Freddie shudders. “Panicking and forbidding myself and my friends from dating anyone was really not the best way to deal with realizing I’m pansexual. And a total control freak.”
“Everyone has flaws,” Jaquie laughs. “I mean, I hang out with a couple of losers who know all the words to the complete score of Singin’ in the Rain, so.”
“Do you really want to hang out tonight and talk about Henry IV?” Freddie asks. “Please say yes.”
“Yes,” Jaquie says. Just then, another clap of thunder sounds, scaring both girls so they cuddle even closer together. Jaquie catches her breath and asks, “Do you want to make out a little while we wait for the storm to pass?”
“I, um, I guess so,” Freddie squeaks, but she’s smiling. “I think I’d like that a lot, actually.”
“Well then,” says Jaquie, leaning in, and it’s a glorious feeling, all right.
