hello my lovelies, I have returned for round two! Thank you guys so much for the support on my last fic, your encouragement means the world to me! I hope y'all enjoy this one as well:)
Grace opened her eyes and immediately looked at her clock. She had slept in until 10:45 in the morning but to her surprise, she didn't feel an ounce of guilt. Maybe it was a side-effect of living on the beach, she thought, or perhaps her newfound carefree lifestyle was a side-effect of living with Frankie. There were so many side-effects of living with Frankie actually, and Grace's happiness seemed to be the common theme.
She rolled over to look out her windows and allowed the sun to work its' way over her face as she breathed in the fresh ocean air. She felt like she could fall back asleep, but she also wanted to know what Frankie was up to right now. Grace searched for her phone to send Frankie a quick text opting to not get out of bed just yet. She rolled back over to the windows waiting for her response.
Things between her and Frankie have been interesting lately, to say the very least. Grace was never one to act on emotion or let emotions affect her in any way, yet Frankie tapped into those emotions and there was little Grace could do about it. The more time she spent with Frankie, the more she realized their relationship consisted of much greater content than roommates. As to what that content may be she had no idea, all she knew is they had entered some sort of limbo where they danced around their attraction for each other, all the while not doing anything about it.
It all started about a month ago, when Grace had been drinking by herself and started to think about Frankie. She thought about how good Frankie is to her, and how much she depends on her. She thought about how much fun she had been having with Frankie, and how Frankie gave Grace so much joy, a happiness she only thought she felt during her life with Robert. Frankie's companionship was a lot more fulfilling for Grace, her smile was a lot more warming for Grace, and her arms were a lot more welcoming for Grace. Grace sighed as a familiar thought crossed her mind for the billionth time that month. At first it was nonsense, then it was fear, but eventually it became a reasonable theory – she had a crush on Frankie.
Grace hadn't yet mentioned this thought process to Frankie yet, in fear that Frankie wouldn't react the way Grace had hoped, and also to give Grace time to figure out if she actually did have the hots for her best friend, or if it was just her mind's way of playing games. They had been sharing plenty of intimate moments with each other, however, and maybe Grace was reading too much in to Frankie's frequent compliments or how many times they share seemingly heated glances toward each other.
The sound of her phone buzzing pulled Grace out of her thoughts. Frankie was calling her.
"Grace? Are you still in bed?" she asked immediately.
"Well yes, I-" Grace began, Frankie cut her off.
"You are too old to waste all that time in bed! Get up! Come outside and play with me, the sand is the perfect texture to get some pretty freakin' great sand castles today."
"Oh please. What have you done today, besides get out of bed that I haven't done?" Grace said.
"I was in the kitchen this morning when I noticed that hammock we have out by the water," Frankie replied, "So I decided to give it a go. I've been down here for about an hour."
"So you get to give me shit about wasting time in bed when you've pretty much been doing the same thing all morning?"
"Hey now, I got dressed and went outside. Come get in this hammock with me, Grace."
That last comment took Grace by surprise, and then she got mad for being surprised. It's not what she thought it was, there was no need for her heart to flutter at the thought of getting in a hammock with Frankie, but it still did. "Okay I'm coming." She said, not wanting to miss out regardless.
Grace put on some yoga pants and a sweater and went downstairs. She came across Frankie exactly where she said she'd be, relaxed in a hammock with the sun shining directly on her. She looked comfortable, and Grace wanted in on it.
"You look comfy." Grace spoke, not knowing what else to say.
"It's about to be a whole lot comfier, get in!" Frankie responded. There it was, those were the comments that were throwing Grace for a loop. Every once in a while Frankie would say something implying that she felt how Grace did. It made grace boundlessly happy, but also nervous because she really didn't know what was happening. Grace plopped down in the hammock and was instantly pushed up close to Frankie's body. Suddenly she felt hot, despite the cool breeze rolling off the ocean. Frankie's eyes met Grace's, and she became hotter still.
"Why are you staring at me?" Frankie said, and it caught Grace off guard.
"I – I'm sorry I didn't realize I was." Grace mumbled, and tried to get comfortable. Frankie picked up on this and shifted so Grace could get more comfortable, moving her so she lay perfectly next to Frankie, with Grace's head on her shoulder. Frankie was holding her. Grace was tense, tense because it felt so good for her to be there and she was so confused as to why. Frankie felt Grace tense up, and tried to relax her by rubbing her shoulder with the hand Grace wasn't currently laying on. This did little to calm Grace's nerves though, Frankie's touch only made her body catch on fire.
Grace tried to focus less on how nervous she was and more on how nice it was to be in the hammock with Frankie. She was trying to enjoy herself but she couldn't get the urge to kiss Frankie out of her head. She wanted to so bad, and she had thought about it many times in recent history. She thought about what Frankie's lips would feel like against her own, and what Frankie's tongue would taste like as it battled with hers. Grace spent a lot of time wondering if that would ever happen, and where it would happen and what they would do if it happened. She was finding herself in an increasing amount of situations that Grace considered perfect times to make a move, including the very intimate position they were currently in, but never quite got to that point. There was too much to risk, she reasoned. It would be so much easier if Frankie would make the first move.
"What is going on inside that beautiful head of yours?" Frankie broke the silence, noticing a very focused look on Grace's face.
Frankie's loose compliment made Grace's skin tingle and she smiled. "You're the one with the beautiful head" Grace giggled, not knowing what else to say. She realized she probably sounded like an awkward teenager.
"Are you drunk?" Frankie asked, smiling widely at Grace.
"No, I just…" Grace trailed off. She stopped herself, not wanting to get into anything. She was content at the moment, swinging gently in a hammock by the beach snuggled up with Frankie.
"Just what?" Frankie prodded, attempting to poke Grace in her side to tickle her. This made Grace curl in to Frankie, increasing their body contact even more. Grace had no words now, and her expression went blank as she stared right at Frankie's lips. This would be the perfect time, Grace thought, but she still just couldn't do it. "Oh for fuck's sake, woman, you're making me do all the work here!" Frankie smirked, and within a split second, pressed her lips to Grace's.
Grace felt her insides melt, like she was being electrocuted. Her body was a raging wildfire now, and there would be no stopping it. She had no time to dwell on what Frankie meant when she said she was doing all the work. Grace kissed her back, with all her pent up emotions spilling out. The kiss started out gentle, Frankie allowing Grace to get comfortable. Graced moved her hand to the back of Frankie's head, and pulled her in more as Grace opened her mouth for her. Frankie moved her free arm to Grace's waist, pulling her in as tightly as she could.
They continued to kiss like that, hands roaming and tongues dueling, coming up for gasps of air before returning to one another. There was so much built-up tension that was being released. Who knows how long it went on. Grace started to feel dizzy and pulled away, taking comfort in the fact that she knew they weren't done. She looked at Frankie, who was beaming down at her, obviously pleased with what just took place. The look on Frankie's face brought an immeasurable amount of comfort to Grace, knowing that this wasn't going to be one of those awkward encounters they just shove away and never talk about.
"Wow Frankie, I-" Grace was cut off by Frankie's lips.
"We don't need to talk right now. I just want to be with you, like this. We can talk later" Frankie assured Grace, and placed little kisses all over Grace's face and neck.
It's funny, Grace thought, how she had pretty much forgotten this hammock even existed.