"So what's it going to be?" Tori called out from the living room, where she was perusing her enormous movie collection. "A chick flick or a horror movie?" With a grin, she pulled out 10 Things I Hate About You and Scream.
In the kitchen across the hall, Maya was prepping their usual sleepover feast—ice cream floats, brownies, and a large pepperoni pizza—while the popcorn finished up in the microwave.
"Um..." came Maya's response a moment later, her voice uncertain.
Tori turned to see her best friend leaning against the doorway, her face clearly displaying her conflicted emotions as her mind debated between the two unappealing choices. Her forehead was creased in the way it always did when she was worrying too much, a feature the brunette had noticed in the past and had grown fond of over time.
Without thinking about it, she dropped the movies on the coffee table and approached the blonde.
"You don't have to think too hard about it, Maya," Tori said lightly, a small smile on her lips as she brushed back her hair from her face, her thumb gently smoothing over her forehead.
Maya, caught by surprise, froze. She was doe-eyed as she stared at the brunette's full lips, speaking her name in a tone that made her heart thud painfully against her ribcage. She didn't realize she was chewing on her bottom lip until Tori's warm brown eyes flitted down to it.
Tori's hand feathered down Maya's face until it cupped her jaw, her thumb hovering hesitantly over her anxious mouth.
The last couple of months had been peppered with intimate moments such as these. Neither girl knew when nor how their feelings for each other had blossomed, but blossomed they had, and awareness had been a slow creature for them both. Tori, normally straightforward and persistent in her pursue of love, had become shy and somewhat timid with Maya. Maya, in turn, laughed and smiled more around her romantic interest, and around Tori, she was effervescent with love. And it was moments such as these, when they traded adoring gazes and soft touches and secretive smiles, that they cherished most. It was the kind of moment where Tori or Maya or both would lean forward slowly, hesitantly, to finally share a long-awaited kiss. And it was the kind of moment where they were always interrupted, without fail.
Lightning flashed across the windows of the living room and illuminated everything briefly, barely half of a second, before a sudden crash of thunder bursted in the night sky, sending the house into a momentary shudder. The girls jumped apart, their faces slack with surprise. Then, Tori giggled.
"Perfect weather for a horror movie, isn't it?" she noted, grinning at Maya's startled expression.
The microwave beeped. Maya gasped.
"Relax, Maya, it's just the popcorn," Tori said with a nonchalant wave of her hand, turning to retrieve their sleepover feast from the kitchen. "So you still haven't said which genre you want to watch," she called out as she pulled out bowls from the cabinets and the popcorn from the microwave and a tub of Ben & Jerry's from the freezer. "I was thinking a scary movie might be better since we've got the perfect weather for it."
Right on cue, another flash of lightning glowed against the windows, disappearing just as quickly as it had come, with another clap of thunder quickly following suit. Then the sky ripped open and unleashed a heavy downpour, the rain beating furiously against the roof and the windows.
"Hey Maya, can you come help me move the food to the living room?" she called out as she opened the bag of popcorn and dumped it into the bowl.
Tori grabbed it and the box of pizza and walked into the living room. She nearly jumped out of her skin as another round of thunder grumbled angrily overhead. As popcorn flew out of the bowl, she laughed.
"This storm is making me jumpy," she said to Maya. At least, she thought she had. When she looked around the room for her best friend, she realized she was alone. "Maya?"
When there was no answer, she called out louder. Silence, save for the storm outside.
With her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, she set down the food on the coffee table, right next to the movies. Her eyes landed on Scream, and then she knew why Maya was suddenly MIA.
Tori shook her head and sighed.
"Maya, it's okay! We don't have to watch Scream, I know how much you hate that movie. I only took it out as a joke. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," she yelled out as she walked down the halls, poking her head in the rooms as she went along.
When it became clear that Maya wasn't on the first floor, Tori went upstairs. She checked the linen closet, the bathroom, her dad's study, even her parents' bedroom, with no luck. The only room left was her own bedroom, but even when she looked around, Maya was still nowhere to be found.
Another rumble of thunder sounded overhead just as Tori was leaving the room. Then she heard a whimper.
She paused.
"Maya?"
Tori looked around, but she was sure the blonde wasn't in the room. She was waiting, her ears alert, when she heard a sob.
"Maya?" she tried again, and she was rewarded with a sniffle.
The brunette dropped to the floor and peered under her bed to find her best friend curled into herself, shuddering violently and weeping.
Her eyes widened in surprise.
"My! What happened? What's wrong?"
Tori squeezed under the bed, edging forward purposefully. When she finally reached Maya, she was in near tears herself, her chest aching to see the person she loved the most in such obvious pain. With a steady hand, she brushed Maya's tears away and cupped her damp cheek.
"Why are you crying?" Tori whispered, her voice rough.
"S-s-storm..." Maya stuttered, her voice barely audible.
Without another word, Tori enveloped Maya's petite, trembling form into a hug.
"You're not alone," she whispered, brushing the soft tresses away from Maya's pale face and pressing her lips to her clammy forehead. The blonde wracked them both with a violent shudder as a sudden peal of thunder rumbled overhead, but, once it subsided, she nuzzled in closer to the embrace. Tori's arms tightened protectively. "I'm always with you, My. You'll never be alone."
The rest of the night continued much the same way, with Tori ceaselessly whispering and caressing and humming. Whenever the storm became particularly arduous, Maya's whimpers would get louder.
It wasn't until several hours later, when the storm finally receded, that they emerged from beneath the bed. Their hands were intertwined.
"I'm sorry," Maya said to the ground, her face pink with embarrassment. "If I knew there was going to be a storm tonight, I wouldn't have come to sleep over."
"Maya," Tori said seriously, squeezing her hand to draw her attention. When Maya finally looked up, Tori stepped closer and looked her in the eye. "There isn't a thing in the world you could do that could make me love you less. Okay?"
The two stared at each other, Maya in wonder and Tori in determination.
Slowly, Maya nodded.
"Okay."
Tori's smile was illuminating.
"Good. Do you still want to watch a movie? Lilo & Stitch is in the DVD player."
Maya's grin was adoring.
"I'd love that."
For the rest of the night, Maya and Tori ate cold pizza and cuddled on the couch, with a little bit of affectionate kissing in between. And as they fell asleep, they whispered to each other, over and over, "I love you, I love you, I love you..."