Part 6 (I think)
"Why couldn't we just stay at my place?" Faye grouched irritably "It's like the whole freaking town is here."
"Most of the town is here." Diana said, taking a sip of her drink. She grimaced slightly as the liquid burnt it's way down her throat "What did you put in here?"
"I snuck you a double Bacardi when Adam wasn't looking." Faye grinned proudly "Which makes your drink like…a triple. It's good right?"
"No." Diana answered, taking Faye's drink from her hand and replacing it with her own. She took a testing sip, relieved to find that it was slightly weaker than the one she'd been drinking previously "Are you trying to get me drunk by any chance?"
"Of course." Faye smirked flirtatiously "I plan to take full advantage of your drunkenness before the end of the night."
"Good to know." Diana grinned, lightly gripping her girlfriends hand "We can get out of here after Midnight and then we're free to do…" she took a small step forward and lowered her voice to a whisper "Anything we want."
"Why can't we leave now?" Faye frowned "Why are we even here?"
"Because half of the town is here and both of us not turning up would look suspicious." Diana explained simply.
Faye's gaze shifted over Diana's shoulder and she glared at something across the room "If he doesn't stop watching you, I swear I'm going to turn him into a toad. I've always wanted to do something like that."
"Who?" Diana dropped Faye's hand and glanced nervously behind her, only to see Adam sneaking glances at her from where he was standing with Cassie, Melissa and Jake across the room "Oh…" she turned back to Faye, to see that she was still glaring daggers at Adam "Ignore him…he won't do anything. He knows I'm not interested anymore."
"Do I at least get your midnight kiss?" Faye asked as she looked back to Diana "You're not going to kiss someone else at midnight, are you? Like…Adam?"
"Don't be stupid." Diana answered, rolling her eyes "I'm going to kiss you at Midnight. I don't know how yet but…somehow I'm going to kiss you."
"Good." Faye smirked "I'm a much better kisser than him anyway"
"And modest too." Diana laughed.
"You're saying I'm not?" Faye raised an eyebrow in challenge.
"You definitely are." Diana agreed, her eyes dropping to Faye's lips "And…other things."
"I don't think they would notice if we slipped off to the bathroom for a few minutes…" Faye said suggestively.
"I'm right behind you." Diana grinned, giving Faye a light push towards the boathouse bathroom.
XXXX
Faye was leaning against the walk with a drink in her hand, staring at Diana who was quietly conversing with Cassie. She smirked slightly when Cassie dropped something, effectively distracting herself and allowing Diana to glance in Faye's direction. She offered a small smile and a wave, both of which were quickly returned before she had to turn away again.
"I know."
Faye drew her gaze away from Diana long enough to glance in Melissa's direction. The shorter girl was smiling smugly as if she knew something nobody else did "You know what?"
"I know about you and Diana." Melissa stated.
As quickly as it had strayed, Faye's gaze shot back to Melissa "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"There's something going on between you and Diana." Melissa explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world "You two are hooking up or something."
Faye attempted a careless laugh, only for it to come out rather nervous "You're crazy. Me and Diana? First of all, we're both straight and second of all…Diana? You really think I would hook up with her? She's way too uptight."
"You've been all over each other since you got here." Melissa pointed out purposefully "And before that. Before Cassie's party even. If you were going for subtlety, you're failing miserably…you can't keep your hands off each other."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Faye said again, though her voice was slightly weaker than it had been before.
"Maybe I should just ask Diana then." Melissa challenged, taking a couple of steps towards the girl in question "I'm sure she'll tell me if there's something going on."
"No!" Faye quickly grabbed Melissa's wrist and pulled her back to her side "Leave Diana alone, okay?"
"Ow…" Melissa frowned and rubbed at her wrist "I was going to ask her a question not attack her."
"There's nothing going on between Diana and I so just forget about your stupid theory, okay?" Faye glared at Melissa, completely ignoring what she had said "And don't bother Diana with it."
More unnerved by the nervousness in Faye's eyes than the purpose of the glaring Melissa held her gaze intently "Faye, you said it yourself. I know you pretty well…and I know that you're lying to me."
Faye licked her lips nervously as she looked over at Diana who was still conversing quietly with Cassie "You can't say anything to Diana."
"So I'm right?" Melissa smirked smugly "You and Diana are dating?" when Faye flushed slightly at the statement, she grinned brightly "Oh my God that's so g…!"
"Shhhh!" Faye hissed, clapping a hand over Melissa's mouth "She doesn't want anyone to know, okay?"
"Fimmphjustgetoff." Melissa grumbled, her voice muffled by Faye's hand.
Faye warily lowered her hand from Melissa's mouth "You can't mention this to Diana."
"Why ?" Melissa frowned.
"Because she doesn't want anyone to know!" Faye whisper yelled.
"Why not?" Melissa asked in confusion "Nobody is going to care that she's into girls now. I certainly don't care."
"Well not everybody in this town is as understanding as you." Faye informed her "Just…don't say anything to her, okay?"
Melissa nodded and regarded Faye in silence for a moment before speaking "So what are you doing with her? Messing around or…?"
"No!" Faye exclaimed quickly "I mean…At the start it was just sex to her but I think it's different now."
"So you really like her?" Melissa asked hopefully "Like like her?"
"Obviously."
"Have you said it?" Melissa quizzed curiously.
"That I like her?" Faye asked, slightly confused by the question "I think she knows."
"No…it." Melissa corrected impatiently "The other L word. I mean do you even feel that way towards her? Is it that serious?"
"Why are you asking me so many questions?" Faye asked shiftily "I didn't come here for an interrogation."
"Oh my God, you have!" Melissa gushed, practically bouncing up and down in excitement "Did she say it back?" Faye awkwardly averted her eyes and Melissa instantly sobered upon noticing the reaction "Oh…"
"It's not a big deal." Faye stated dismissively "I don't want her to say it if saying it means that she's lying to me. I'd rather wait until she's ready." She paused but Mellissa merely stared at her with a troubled expression "Anyway, I didn't even mean to say it, it just came out ….why are you looking at me like that?"
"Sorry." Melissa attempted to wipe the concerned expression off her face and managed a small smile "It's not like you to jump into a relationship at the deep end with the 'L' word. I was expecting you to say that Diana had said it first."
"So what?" Faye questioned defensively "Maybe I'm different now."
"I just don't want to see a repeat of what happened with Jake." Melissa explained sincerely "You're my best friend and seeing you like that sucked."
"This isn't like that. Diana isn't like that." Faye argued even as the memories of her state after her fight with Diana flashed through her mind "What I had with Jake doesn't even compare to…" she trailed off with a frown "I sound like an idiot."
"You sound like you're in love." Melissa corrected with a wide smile "I'm happy for you."
"You can't tell anyone." Faye warned seriously "Diana doesn't…"
"Want anyone to know." Melissa finished for her "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone. Scouts honour."
XXXX
"You told Melissa what?"
"I didn't tell her!" Faye exclaimed defensively over the loud music, audible even though they were a few metres away from the boathouse "I already told you that she guessed!"
"And you didn't think to deny it?" Diana yelled, her voice tainted with utter disbelief "God Faye…" she turned away and threaded her fingers through her hair in a sign of frustration "I can't believe you would tell her even though I specifically asked you not to!"
"I didn't fucking TELL her!" Faye yelled back "And I did deny it but then she was going to hassle you and you would have freaked OUT. What the hell was I supposed to do, Diana? She promised not to tell anyone anyway!"
"LIE!" Diana answered angrily "God knows you're good enough at it!"
"Really?" Faye countered "Because from where I'm standing it seems like I'm the only person in this relationship who's actually honest about they feel! You certainly don't fucking tell me how you feel!"
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"It doesn't take a genius to figure out!"
Diana hesitated for a moment before shaking her head in confusion "I have no idea what you're talking about, Faye."
"Of course you don't." Faye muttered, rolling her eyes "Maybe the fact that you're too fucking ashamed to tell anyone that you're with me? That's bullshit…I'm fucking hot and you know it!"
"You seriously think that's why I don't want to tell people that we're together?" Diana retaliated "You haven't thought about the looks we're going to get when everybody finds out, the way people will treat us, the way our parents and friends will treat us?"
"Fuck them!" Faye exclaimed loudly "Unless…" she paused for a moment in thought, carefully watching Diana's expression.
"What?"
"Is this about Adam again?"
"No, it's not about Adam!" Diana responded furiously "How many times do I have to tell you that I'm over him? I wouldn't be with you otherwise."
"Well it doesn't seem like that!" Faye argued before she could stop herself.
"If that's what you think why are you even here?" Diana retaliated in disbelief "If you honestly don't trust me, why are you even with me?"
"Because I fucking l…" Faye started to respond but stopped herself, remembering Melissa's earlier words "It's not like you've given me any reason to trust you! All you do is make me feel like you're ashamed of being with me by locking me in the freaking closet!"
"You know what?" Diana scoffed with a shake of her head "I'm out of here."
"So you're running away again?" Faye demanded as Diana began to storm back to the boathouse.
"No." Diana paused and turned around to reveal her eyes awash with tears "I'm calmly walking away. I'm not running. I'm going to go somewhere to think about the fact that we could be outed any day now and despite the fact that I'm terrified by the thought, my girlfriend wo…" she trailed off as her voice cracked with emotion and lifted a hand to cover her tearful eyes.
Faye instantly softened at the downtrodden appearance of the other girl and took a small step forward "Diana, wait…" her protests were too late however as Diana was already storming off.
XXXX
Faye sighed as she glanced at her watch for the fifth time in the past hour or so. It was already 11:51pm and Diana was nowhere in sight, apparently too mad from their argument to make an appearance. She sighed, resigning herself to spending midnight alone and began to walk over to where Adam, Cassie and Melissa were standing when a hand on her waist stopped her. She stilled but before she had a chance to turn around, a familiar voice whisper sounded in her ear "Come with me." A hand slid down her arm, fingers entwining with her own and a moment later she was being pulled quickly out of the boathouse bar.
"Where are we going?" Faye asked as Diana pulled her along. There was no answer from the determined looking girl and Faye resigned herself to the silence, thankful that they were together at all. They powerwalked along in silence for a couple of minutes until Diana came to a stop at an empty looking spot overlooking the harbour. She took a deep breath before turning to Faye with a guilty expression on her face "I'm sorry."
"You're…sorry?" Faye asked in confusion as Diana dropped her hand "What for?"
"I'm sorry for overreacting." Diana elaborated hurriedly "I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. I know it wasn't your fault that Melissa guessed something was going on between us."
"Um…It's okay?"
"And I'm sorry that I pretended not to know what you meant when you said I don't let you know how I feel." Diana continued with a quick glance at her watch "I'll try to be better…I promise."
"Okay." Faye stated with a small smile "I'm sorry for accusing you of not being over Adam."
"I forgive you." Diana returned the smile tenfold. She glanced at her watch again before looking back to Faye "You know I like you, right? I really like you but I don't want to say…that without meaning it. I care too much about you to ever lie to you like that."
"I know." Faye said seriously "I don't want you to say it if you don't mean it either." There was a beat of silence before she continued "I thought you weren't coming back after you left."
"Of course I was coming back." Diana disagreed "This is important."
"This?"
"Our first New Year's kiss." Diana smiled at the question "I timed my watch perfectly so we wouldn't miss it."
"How long do we have?"
"About…" Diana glanced at her watch "40 seconds."
"I was worried that I would have to kiss some randomer instead of you." Faye confided as she took a small step forward "I'm glad you came back."
"I would never let you kiss a random person." Diana frowned, looking slightly disgusted "Do you know there's a New Year's tradition that says the person you kiss at midnight is the person you'll spend the rest of the year with?"
"So…you're saying you want to spend the rest of the year with me?" Faye asked unsurely.
"Yes." Diana said just as an echo of '10' rang out from the harbour below them. She took a step closer and dropped her hands to rest on Faye's waist "9."
"I want to spend the rest of the year with you too." Faye stated, choosing to put aside the worries she felt, at least for the time being.
"8…7…"
"Good." Diana smiled softly "5."
"4…" Faye murmured, beginning to lean forward.
"3…"
"2…" Faye whispered, revelling in the feeling Diana's breath on her lips as she allowed her eyes to slid shut in anticipation of the kiss.
"1…" Diana whispered, finally tilting down to press their lips together just as fireworks sounded around them.
THE END
