She should have known to have provided more suitably colored sheets for what she had planned for today, she really should have, it's those small details that keep slipping her mind that ruin her plans. Because let's face it. It would be quite the uncomfortable setting to have sex with her girlfriend for the first time with her mouth and chin a peculiar shade of pinkish brown left after wiping the blood off.
And damn it all to hell! After making the effort of the sort she has put into today and have the atmosphere ruined in an instant when she finally had Max pinned underneath her and panting for breath before they even started?
Fuck! That's about the only word that can vaguely convey the gravity of the situation.
Thing is, she must also admit to have kind of expected something of the like to happen. And still the though that it might be a good idea to get crimson covers hadn't even occurred to her until her maya ones went on a magical journey of being colored red. Serves her right for forgetting something as crucial as having a stupid tissue box in her room. On such a day no less!
The day that will go down as the day she almost boned Maxine Caulfield. For the first time anyway, if she has anything to say about it.
The girl in question is soothingly rubbing the small of her neck right now. Still looking way too flushed for how little they've done. Their make-out sessions became a norm some time ago already and today the blonde only managed to get as far as getting her hands under the shorter girl's shirt before they had to cut it short when Victoria realized they were swapping blood instead of saliva in their sloppy kisses.
Or rather that only she was doing so as Max was just passed out.
She would have jumped out of her shoes had she had them on, and her heart nearly crawled out through her throat when she noticed. It was the scariest thing that has happened to her to date and she had every right to be terrified. Knowing that her girlfriend's health isn't exactly stellar is one thing. Seeing her underneath herself, unconscious, pale and bloodied is another story altogether! She might have screamed if her throat hadn't refused to let even a smallest of sounds pass. In retrospect, she's thankful for that, the damage it would have caused her reputation alone...
Suffice it to say she froze up, and what had eventually come out of her mouth was a sound more alike choking than anything else.
Honestly, the entire incident has probably made a bigger dent on Victoria's own health than that of Max. A week of life taken away at the least!
Her panic induced stillness gave her enough time to recall basic first aid. Which had thankfully not been necessary beyond checking the other girl's pulse and breath, both functioning properly, thank God. Well, that and adjusting Max's position so that her blood wouldn't pool in her throat, she's not sure if that's an actual thing but it can't have hurt. And she's not taking any chances.
Regardless. The only thing on hand to tame that stupid freckled nose were the sheets so, without even thinking about it, the blonde used those, ruining them beyond any hope of washing the mess out. Oh, no, no she doesn't regret doing so. She's rich, screw the satin sheets. Her problem is that she hadn't even though of accommodating to her girlfriend's condition. Again, spending those few hundred dollars isn't the problem, it's the principle of things. A dumb mistake, something she could have prevented as easily as-
"Tori."
Victoria's attention snaps back to the girl who's arms are now encircled around her stomach as she lets Max spoon her on the sofa, it's usually the other way around but she's not complaining about this sudden bout of initiative. It let her heart calm down when she settled in her girlfriend's arms. Knowing that nothing's wrong with her, well. Nothing terribly wrong. She can have those little episodes of hers at the most inopportune of moments.
Like in the pool, back at her family's mansion.
Son of a bitch. She's never letting her swim with sharks.
"You're doing it again."
"Doing what?" She snaps back and immediately cringes, she keeps telling herself she'll get better at controlling her temper and, well. She is, but still nowhere nearly good enough to consider it close to too far from sufficient. It's a grueling effort but it has never stopped her before. It won't stop her now when she has her own reason for once. "I'm sorry. Doing what?" Better, still terse but nothing like the dog bark but a moment ago.
"Overthinking. Look, just relax." she grabs the blonde's hand and starts rubbing small circles on its back."No point stressing over it now, alright?" That's one thing she's not even going to try. Besides, there is every point. If only to make sure it won't be an issue ever again if nothing else.
"Vicky come on." She lays her chin on her shoulder and it takes every ounce of strength Victoria has not to shudder when her warm breath tickles her ear. "You did everything, alright? Today was wonderful and it's me who screwed up again, so for real, cut it out."
"But-"
"No. And stop gnawing on your lip." She doesn't like being ordered. She doesn't like being ordered around at all but it's something she's familiar with. Something that she does almost on instinct and without conscious thought. It's been hammered into her since before her memory reaches. It's also probably why she hates it so much. But she knows Max isn't using that, she's simply concerned and knows how to get her back in the right MO. She can deal with that much. And well, worrying her lip is a bad habit either way.
The taller girl bites down on her teeth to stop and untangles one arm from Max to reach for her phone. She's NOT going to go through her breathing exercises with Max in the same room. They hit it off pretty well, surprisingly, and it might already be a month but... not yet. Just not yet. She wants to and it's a pretty good indication of where their relationship is going and she knows Max wouldn't laugh but she still can't.
Instead she turns on bluetooth and puts on a playlist before tossing the phone on the bed, refusing to bother with wiggling it back inside the pocket. She's dressed to kill today, not to build a shed. She can feel Max's lips, pressed into her shoulder, twisting into a smirk when Heart Skipped A Beat starts playing.
She closes her eyes and focuses all her attention on reciting the lyrics in her mind. She's not one of those who open their mouth as if to sing when she doesn't intend to. It looks downright retarded as far as her mirror is concerned. It still took her weeks before she stopped catching herself doing just that. Ugh, she should have turned the volume up too, screw it. She's not getting up now.
She starts replaying the music video in her mind too, so that her imagination is focused on something else than the passed out Max and her blood on the sheets. Or the lingering coppery taste still on her lips.
She shudders as she remember how after the second time she helped Max (in Blackwell that time) and after the girl left, she realized that literally every contageous disease in the world can be carried by blood. The first thing she had done was booking a blood tests array right there and then. Stupid of her not to even think about that in the first place. Little things, as always.
The taste is probably more psychological than physical by now, she briefly wonders how long will she be able to taste Max's other fluids, probably not so long. In Victoria's experience, unpleasant things root themselves in memory alike sequoia.
"Hey Victoria?" Full name, she's been thinking about something, probably feels uncomfortable asking. She has a habit of using full names when uncomfortable.
"Yeah?" she tiredly murmurs back, finally (slowly) crashing down from the adrenaline high that her girlfriend has caused her.
"I'm sorry for the sheets. Uh- I'm gonna pay back, okay?"
No, no she isn't.
And not because she gives out empty promises. No, the blonde is sure that Max would actually pay her back, or just bring in some new covers of similar quality. But she won't do that because Victoria knows the smaller girl's budget, or its approximation at least, doesn't take that much to figure it out when most of what she spends her money on is film for her camera and small gifts on their dates as well as food. Well sometimes anyway, mostly because Victoria simply likes spending money. And lots of it too. Honestly, she still has to reign herself in as to not intimidate the other girl with her wealth. Cause while her financial situation is not exactly bad, Victoria's shoes alone are worth more than Max's entire wardrobe. It's a miracle she can pull off looking decent when she actually tries.
Point is, she can't pay for the bed sheets without either finding a side job or giving up on her small spendings for a month. Or two. Both would mean either Max having to spend less time with her or being even more insecure about how the taller girl is paying for everything. She might be trying to conceal it but Victoria knows she's bothered by that.
Ugh, money! Bad if you have it, even worse if you don't. How should she phrase it?
"Hey, it's not that big of a deal." Because it isn't, beside the damn color... not going there again, not now. "It will wash off." To a degree. She can donate it to an animal shelter perhaps, they shouldn't mind a little washed out stain. Maybe she will actually organize a charity event at Blackwell while at it, why think small after all?
Max gives her a skeptical look but doesn't push the issue, recognizing her terse expression for what it is. Numbers and names. Knowing by now that Victoria's mind is set. She's probably not happy about it but it'll pass, and much quicker than if she would have to give up small things like bringing chocolate marshmallows to their movie nights. That is if she wouldn't take up a job, in which case there probably wouldn't be much time for those movie nights at all. There are probably a hundred better ways Victoria could have handled that, she knows. But she also knows not one of them.
"Come on," she says as she suddenly stands up. "Help me change it, I'm not sleeping in this mess, take those off." She points at the bed, not in the mood to wait for Max to find the spare set at her wardrobe's bottom.
When she turns back some twenty seconds later, after digging some clean covers up, she has to bite down on her cheek not to curse.
Of course it would soak right through and stain the mattress. Ah fuck it. She's so not dealing with this till tomorrow.
She throws the sheets in her hands to the floor and stops herself from sighing in frustration when she sees her girlfriend staring at her feet, picture perfect image of guilt. Not so long ago she would have snapped and posted a photo the very moment she saw her like that.
"Stop it." She hates seeing her like this. That she made her look like this once. "I said it's not a big deal, I'll just... sleep somewhere else tonight." She hasn't been on a classic sleepover in forever. As good an excuse as any she supposes. The blonde grabs her phone from the desk where Max put it to text Courtney.
"Um-" Victoria's head turns in the shorter girl's direction,, slightly tilted to encourage her to speak on. "You know, you could just, sleep with me tonight." She just stands there for a moment, processing what Max has said before it clicks in her mind.
Max wants her to sleep with her, or in her bed anyway. It hasn't even occurred to her that she should ask, they might have almost had sex but to Victoria, there is a gaping chasm of intimacy between sleeping with someone and sleeping WITH someone. Enough so that even if she though of it, she wouldn't have asked.
But she's not against the idea, not in the least.
Maybe the day hasn't turned out just like she planned it, but then again, maybe it's not such a bad thing.
Yes, it's the same AU as The First Date.