Coming Out Lunch
Pairing: Tomoko Higashikata/Holly Kujo
Raiting: G
Prompt: “Family” for @jjbarareshipsweek2k17
Ao3 Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/11557794
Warnings: it’s set between Vento Aureo and Stone Ocean, but that’s not really important
Notes: this fic has been staying in my pc since months, but I never had the will to finish it. When I noticed that one of the prompts of the week fitted with this fic, it gave me the will to finally finish it lol
Holly sang one of the old american songs her father used to hear her when she was little and swung her hips in time with the music, putting one foot of the other in a clumsy dance.
She tasted the soup with a little spoon and, seeing how it was still sweet, she added more salt before turning the stove off to let it cold down. She was so happy, her darling son was coming with her little brother and she couldn't wait to see them, it had been years since she had seen the both of them together!
Holly started to peel one of the potatoes, her hands nearly shaking for the excitement. But in her heart she was also afraid, she thought that something could go wrong and she didn't want to upset either member of her family.
“Still worried about today?”
Holly yelped surprised and let the potato fall from her hands on the floor. She turned around with a cute pout crossing her plump lips.
“Tomo-chan, you scared me!”
Tomoko laughed amused and wrapped her slender arms around Holly’s waist. Her bright eyes roamed on Holly’s beautiful body and a satisfied smile tugged her lips.
“You look dashing, I want to eat you all up, Seiko.” Tomoko wiggled her eyebrows in a suggestive, comical way that made Holly giggle. “Seiko” was the name she had taken when she moved to Japan and it was cute how Tomoko used it as a pet name for her, it sounded so sweet when it came from her lips.
“You can't, you can't, Tomo-chan! But you can eat lunch later.” Holly chuckled harder when Tomoko pouted, titling her head and looking at Holly like a kicked puppy. She was really pretty when she was like this, Holly could see where Josuke had taken his soft features.
“I wanted you to be in my menu.” Tomoko sighed and ducked down to steal a small peck on her lips.
They had kissed so many times since they had started going out, but Holly still felt her cheeks burning when Tomoko pulled back with a satisfied smirk on her face.
“You’re so cute, Seiko.” Tomoko cooed, tightening her grip around Holly’s waist, nuzzling her head against her cheek affectionately.
Holly melted in that tight hug, but gently pressed her hands against Tomoko’s chest to distance herself from the other woman - even if she didn’t really want to do it, she was really warm like that.
“Tomo-chan, please set the table… And you’ll ruin your makeup if you keep doing this!”
Tomoko pursued her lips, seemingly wanting to say something to her girlfriend, but soon unwrapped her arms and laid her hands on her full hips.
“Fine, I’ll let you continue cooking.” Tomoko grumbled, tucking one of her black stripe of hair behind her ear, then a ghost of a smirk played on her face. “I know you just wanted to touch my boobs anyway.”
It was comical how Holly’s face turned red in less than a second. She parted her lips to apologize or say anything to her girlfriend when the doorbell rang once, twice, distracting the two women from their conversation.
Tomoko straightened her back and took Holly’s face delicately between her hands. “It’s going to be alright, okay, Seiko? Don’t worry about it too much, you know our silly sons.”
Holly nodded nervously and the corner of her lips twitched in what resembled a smile. It was touching how much Tomoko cared for her, but she couldn't help but feeling her heart thrumming in her chest like a crazy.
When a pair of lips pressed against hers, all of Holly’s nervousness seemed to dissipate. She hummed against Tomoko’s mouth and swiftly squeezed her hand in search of comfort. Holly smiled when Tomoko’s squeezed back and was slightly disappointed when Tomoko broke their kiss.
“Better go, or they’ll break the doorbell.” Tomoko laughed even if they both knew that their sons could perfectly do that with the strength they had.
Holly turned towards the counter again and took the spoon to taste the soup when she noticed that her fingers were trembling. She took a shaky breath and laid her hands against her chest. Her heart was beating too fast and she couldn't stop the million of thoughts that invaded her mind. She knew Tomoko was right, that there was nothing to worry about and that her son and brother would love her anyway, but she couldn't shut down that annoying voice who kept telling her “what if it goes wrong? What if they don’t accept you?”. She was terrified, her son was her life, if he started to hate her she didn't know what she would do.
“Oh dear, I’m really hopeless…” Holly mumbled, pinching the bridge of her nose with two of her fingers.
She heard shoutings and loud greetings and a small smile blossomed on her face. That was surely Josuke, no matter how many years passed, he kept being a cheerful and happy boy. She couldn't still believe that such a nice boy was her brother and soon to be son.
She heard the deep rumble of her sweet Jotaro’s voice and anxiety took a grip on her once again. Holly took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down once again. She could do it, if Tomoko was on her side there was nothing she wouldn't be able to surpass.
Lunch passed quickly, with the bickering of Tomoko and Josuke in the background and the few words Jotaro spared to her. It was nice, she could stay like this forever, lulled by her family until the end of her days.
But nothing could last forever, when Tomoko’s hand was placed on hers, she knew it was time. Her nerves were wrecking her, she was shaking so much she had to place the glass down before it slipped on the floor. Jotaro looked at her in question, arching an eyebrow and taking that expression that one could describe emotionless, but Holly knew it hid his worry for her.
“Jotaro, Josuke, Seiko and I have to say something to you…” Tomoko began, eyeing both men, her eyes were so serious they stopped Josuke from saying anything.
Holly knew Tomoko was nervous too, she could tell by the way she kept gulping down saliva, but she was better than her in hiding it and Holly really appreciated that of her.
“Mom, you're kinda scaring me now, what's wrong? Did you break the law? Do I need to arrest you or do you need our help to hide a body?” Josuke laughed trying to ease the tension, picking on the nervousness of both women. He was drumming his fingers against the table and sent glances to Jotaro in a silent ask, but the man beside him seemed as confused as him.
“What Tomo-chan wants to say is--” Holly felt a grip in her throat. She wanted to just spit it out, it wasn't so difficult, they were only a few words, but why couldn't she tell them? Why wasn't she able to just tell her boys the truth? She felt so stupid--
Tomoko’s hand squeezed hers in a calm grip. Holly’s eyes turned towards her partner’s, Tomoko was looking at her with a nervous yet gentle gaze. It's alright, I’m here, it was what she was saying to her. Holly’s lips curled into a smile, yes, she wasn't alone, this amazing woman was with her, why was she so afraid over nothing?
She turned her head once again towards Jotaro and Josuke, who had stayed in silence the whole time and squeezed Tomoko’s hand once more.
“Tomo-chan and I… we are dating.” The words were finally out, she felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders and she wondered why it had been so difficult to say.
She caught a glimpse of Jotaro and Josuke’s expression and her heart skipped for a moment. They were watching them with blown eyes and open mouths, it was the first time she had seen them look like that and truthfully it scared her.
“Come again?” Josuke was the first to speak, he was too baffled too utterly surprised to say anything else. Jotaro didn’t seem any better, but at least he was better than him in covering his emotions.
Holly ducked her head down, her cheeks started to take a red colour, she opened her mouth to repeat herself but Tomoko beat her to it. “I’m sure you heard her, Josuke, no need to be this shocked.”
Josuke’s eyes turned towards his mother, he frowned at her, he seemed like he wanted to say something but he was left gaping once again from a sudden realization. This time, he grabbed Jotaro’s hands, squeezing them in his palms and leaned forward until his nose brushed against the other’s.
“I’m your brother now!” Josuke exclaimed loudly, a huge grin making his way on his face. Jotaro’s expression turned grim at that, he wanted to disagree with him, but Josuke hadn’t quite finished talking, his enthusiasm taking hold of him. “Can I call you Onii-chan from now on?”
Jotaro made a disgusted face at the obnoxious name, but he made no movement to pull away from Josuke. “If you do I’ll call out Star Platinum.” Were the only words Jotaro muttered in a deadly threat, before he glanced towards Tomoko and Holly, who had been staring at the show in front of them for the whole time with amused smiles.
“Congratulations, mom, if you’re happy, I am too.” Holly’s eyes filled with tears at the sight of her son’s smile. If he kept staring at her like this, she wouldn’t be able to hold her emotions anymore.
Tomoko’s hand squeezed hers again, Holly turned towards her and wasn’t surprised to find a smile gracing her girlfriend’s face.
“I’ve told you it would be good, right? There was nothing to fear.” Holly nodded at her words and, guided by her emotions, she leaned forward to press her lips against Tomoko’s, kissing her while a few tears dropped from her eyes.
Tomoko hummed, she lifted an arm to catch Holly’s tears and smiled in their kiss. It didn’t matter if their lipstick would be ruined after this, their hearts were beating too hard for them to care.
They pulled after a moment, nuzzling their noses together like they were teens again, but their moment was broken when Josuke coughed in his hand. Both Holly and Tomoko looked towards their sons and saw that Jotaro had his hat in front of his eyes, hiding them from their sight, while Josuke was looking down at his plate with a blush on his cheeks.
Finally, Josuke - who had been the one to cough - lifted his gaze to meet theirs and gave them an awkward smile. “You know, if you want we can go and leave you alone, right, Jotaro?”
Jotaro stiffed beside him, but gave an imperceptible nod. Holly’s cheeks turned red at the implication and she started to blab some excuse, wanting to clear the misunderstanding as fast as she could, but Tomoko was of another opinion.
“You two little rascals!” She shouted, pointing at the two of them but she had a grin on her face. “Then I guess Seiko and I will eat the chocolate cake that Seiko had prepared for us yesterday… what a pity, but at least there’ll be more for us, right, my dear?”
At those words, Josuke was animated once again and shook his head, then he tangled his fingers together like he was praying. “No please, anything but that! I want to eat Holly-san’s cake too, please, have mercy on my poor soul! A man needs his sweets!”
Jotaro chuckled beside of him, keeping watching the little show that mother and son were giving to them. Holly’s found his eyes, for a moment they stared at each other, neither of them moving for an inch
After what seemed like ages, Jotaro nodded towards her, letting her know that the words he had said before were the pure truth. He hadn’t been lying, he was truly happy for her and this was the best gift a mother could have ever wanted.
Holly felt her heart skip at that, she held Tomoko’s hand tighter in her palm and watched how she was playfully arguing with her son over the dessert.
Right now, they looked like a real family having fun and Holly wouldn’t trade this happiness with anything in the world.