City of Angels - Chapter 1
The girls didn't feel the hammock tipping until it was too late.
As they landed in the sand together, Hannah on top, the wind rushed out of both of them in pained grunts. Hannah could hear Grace wheezing, and panic filled her chest before she realized Grace was laughing.
The brunette cackled noiselessly until she could pant and wheeze herself into composure.
"You know, I had really hoped the hammock would keep me from getting sand"--she wiggled her hips--"everywhere." She gave the blonde on top of her a sly grin. "We might as well have stayed on a towel."
"Oh, but wasn't the hammock fun?" Hannah teased, pressing a kiss to Grace's chest beside the strap of her bikini.
Hannah rolled off of Grace, but the taller girl followed her, hovering over her girlfriend on her hands and knees. Her voice was a hot, breathy whisper when she asked Hannah,
"Remind me again who thought sex on the beach was going to end well?"
Hannah's sheepish grin answered for her.
"Right." Grace pushed off the ground and stood, readjusting her striped bikini shorts and brushing off as much sand as she could while Hannah righted herself.
Grace could feel the blonde's eyes on her.
"You're beautiful," Hannah sighed. She folded her arms on her bent knees, just below her board shorts, and smiled up at Grace.
"You always say that," Grace smiled, shaking the sand out of her hair.
Hannah practically leapt out of the sand, and Grace couldn't help but watch the muscles in her stomach move.
"I always mean it," Hannah said seriously. She reached out to take Grace's hands, their fingers folding together naturally. "You're beautiful."
Grace smiled at her feet, clearly self-conscious, despite what the two girls had been through together. Across the months, the continents, the cultures, Grace always dropped her eyes. But Hannah could tell there was something different in the way Grace looked away then.
"Is it weird to say I don't want to go?" Grace murmured after a quiet moment, "After wanting to settle so badly?"
Hannah shook her head. "Not at all. It's like this is a dream, and we're about to wake up."
"You make it sound so dark," Grace teased with a soft huff. "We're starting a life together. That should be exciting!"
"Says the girl who doesn't want to go," Hannah joked back. Grace gave her a playful glower, and Hannah beamed.
"It's just that... life means responsibility, bills, stress," Grace sighed. She squeezed Hannah's hands with every new point.
"Yes it does, sour patch. But it can also mean familiarity, constancy... joy."
Grace nodded. "I guess I just got used to movement. Losing myself."
The word struck a chord in Grace, and Hannah watched the brunette's face crumble. She knew the feeling all too well.
Both girls had a lot to forget. If they ever would was still a mystery, but Hannah couldn't deny that restlessness seemed to help. It always had.
"Let's go take a long shower and get rid of all this sand, then we'll worry about packing. Maybe if we get done in time, we can sneak in some dinner before our flight?" Hannah prompted.
Grace nodded, but words seemed to have left her. Hannah wrapped an arm around the brunette's waist and began to lead her down the beach while the sound of the waves crashing against the shore washed the thoughts out of Hannah's head like they were drawings in the sand.
Their shower brought both of the girls back to life. The steam cleared their foggy heads; the feeling of each other's skin under the water was familiar and comforting. Grace had fun washing Hannah's hair, spiking it up into a floppy dorsal fin with the shampoo bubbles, and then massaging the blonde's scalp under the water to wash away her masterpiece. Hannah reveled in the feeling, letting her hands rest on Grace's slippery waist, eyes closed to focus on the sensation of touch.
When they'd finished, they toweled off and slipped into comfortable, airy clothing; Grace in a flowing sundress and Hannah in a button-up and long shorts. They packed their remaining clothes into well-worn suitcases slowly, with a precision that screamed of procrastination. Prolonging the inevitable.
Leaving a destination before had always meant jumping to a new one. This time, it meant not moving again for quite a while. It meant stasis. For Grace, it was like hitting stop. For Hannah, merely a pause. It was simply the way she was wired. Permanence had never been a strong suit of hers, but for Grace, she would change. She would settle. But that wasn't the word for it. It wasn't forced, it was craved. She wanted to do whatever would keep her with Grace for the rest of her life, and if that meant slowing her run to a halt, by God, she was going to slam on the brakes.
They talked and joked while they worked, and when the cases were packed, they rolled them to the door of their suite, ready but not to leave their room behind.
It looked as if they'd never even been there, as every room before had. They were wayfaring strangers, merely a breeze passing through. But soon they would look back on their way out a door and see their lives entangled everywhere they looked. They would be looking back at a space they would always return to. Their home. The more Hannah thought about it, the more she began to enjoy the idea.
As they dragged their possessions behind them, on their way to the front desk, Grace made a noise of realization.
"We need to call Mamrie!" she blurted.
Hannah nodded without really processing the thought. She was sure Grace was right, she just wasn't sure why.
"She has our pictures and stuff," Grace added, nodding as if to assure herself but also to reflexively explain to Hannah, who she knew had probably agreed on impulse.
The phone was already in Hannah's palm. She dialed the number and hit the call button before drawing Grace to a halt. As the phone rang, Hannah reached out and plucked a flower from the bush behind Grace, then tucked it behind the brunette's ear. It matched her dress.
The high-pitched screech from the other line startled both girls out of the tender moment, and Hannah turned speakerphone on.
"My Trinititties!" she bawled. "I missed you girls!" Her tone changed abruptly. "Why haven't you called, you dicks? Did Sex on the Beach stop being just a cocktail?" The girls blushed at the redhead's accuracy, and were both very grateful she couldn't see them. Because she would know. And like hell would she take that realization calmly. "What's up?"
"We're coming home, Mamrie," Grace smiled.
"Back to Brooklyn?!" Mamrie shouted.
"No, we, uh... we were actually thinking Los Angeles," Hannah explained, meeting Grace's eyes.
Mamrie hummed. "Well aren't you gonna be a damn fine Hollywood actress, huh, Gracie?" she teased.
"I mean, if I can find work, yeah," Grace replied, "that would be great!"
"What about you, Hannah Banana?" Mamrie asked. "God I missed you guys," she added half a second later.
Hannah chuckled. "We missed you too, Mametown. And I'll do anything, really," she answered. "Maybe teach a language, do some writing... I'll figure it out."
"Land of the artist," Mamrie sighed. "You girls are so lucky. Let me know when you find a place, okay? I'll bring all your shit there myself, maybe intrude for a while."
"Of course," Grace assured her. "You're welcome any time."
"Ooh, shit yes, this means I can finally taste In-N-Out!" Mamrie blurted. "Ahh! Right, well you girls get your asses on a plane, I'm tired of looking after all your shit."
Hannah and Grace knew she was teasing, but agreed anyway and wished their friend goodbye.
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