How you feeling? Such a stupid thing to say
Sapphic Eddithan (Edie Munson x Jonnie Byers) ficlet
Jo is stretched out on her bed with her back to the window. Her T-shirt pulls taut across her shoulders, hanging loose along the curve of her spine, and her hair spills across the pillow, drawing Edie's attention to the exposed skin of her neck and the soft, baby hairs at her nape.
Edie taps lightly against the glass, and Jo jumps, startled enough to make Edie huff a laugh. She quickly bites the inside of her cheek, trying to hide her smile as Jo crosses the room to open the window.
But by the time Jo reaches her, Edie isn't smiling anymore. Only up close does she notice the redness around her eyes.
"Hey." It comes out less like a greeting and more like Edie already working herself up over whoever made her cry.
Jo waits until she climbs through the window before sliding it shut behind her.
"My dad was here." She shrugs it off, but the flash of anger in her eyes gives her away. "He ripped my Evil Dead poster off the wall. Can you believe that?" She lets out a hollow laugh. "Said it was fucking indecent."
Edie follows Jo's hand to the bare patch of wall where the poster used to hang.
"He spends most of his life pretending we don't exist," Jo continues. "How hard would it be to just leave us alone for good? You know what I mean?"
Oh, Edie knows exactly what she means. Every time her own father gets out of prison, he finds a way to drag her into some new scheme that eventually lands him right back behind bars.
Jo sits on the edge of the bed and looks up at her. "How's your English assignment going? I checked the book out from the library and already started reading it. Figured it couldn't hurt to get ahead so I could help you. Then when I actually have to read it—"
"You sure you don't want to talk about…" Edie interrupts gently, sitting beside her, "how you're feeling?"
Jo frowns. "What? No. I'm fine."
No wonder Jo rarely opens up to her. What kind of question was that? She sounded like the guidance counselor. And how does that make you feel, Jonnie? God.
She reaches up, sweeping Jo's hair aside and exposing the curve of her neck. Then she leans in, pressing soft kisses along her neck.
It takes Jo a few seconds to react. She shifts away, putting some distance between them. "What are you doing?"
Edie lets her gaze linger on her lips before meeting her eyes again. "Offering you a distraction."
"I don't—Edie, we should stop doing this."
There's a hesitation in her voice that betrays her. As if she's denying herself something she wants because she's convinced herself she shouldn't. It wouldn't be the first time.
She reaches across Jo, boxing her in as she pushes her back onto the bed and captures her lips in a kiss. Then Jo is kissing her back, and that's how Edie knows she wants this just as much as she does.
At the sound of her mother's voice, Jo immediately scrambles out from under Edie, making her stumble backward onto the mattress.
A second later, she's out the door, pulling it shut behind her.
Edie stays on the bed, staring up at the ceiling as she listens to their conversation. It's hard not to when they're standing right outside the room. From what she can make out, Jo's mother wasn't home when her father showed up, so Jo rushes through the story, skimming over details and probably downplaying what happened. Otherwise, Edie wouldn't have found her the way she did. It had been obvious he'd left her in tears.
When Jo finally comes back, she pauses at the door, her hands tucked behind her back. The dark circles under her eyes seem heavier than before, her jaw tight with tension. There's something about the quiet way she carries her sadness that has always drawn Edie in.
"Sorry about this," Jo says softly.
Before she realizes it, Edie's already crossed the room and is standing in front of her. Jo takes such good care of her most of the time. Edie just wants to return the favor the only way she knows how.
But just as she's about to close the distance between them, Jo speaks again.
"Did you not want to talk about your assignment? Was there something else on your mind?"
Yeah, you. I only saw you yesterday, and I was already missing you like crazy. "Nothing important. What matters is finding something that'll make you feel better." Edie discreetly fishes a joint from her pocket. "Want to just lie in bed, listen to some music, and—oh!" With a quick flourish, she produces it in front of Jo. "What's this?"
That earns a weak chuckle from Jo, which counts as a huge win in her book.