"You can't be serious." Her speaking was in a sharp tone, if one was sensitive enough of a person it would feel like a smack to the gut. And Heather McNamara just happened to be one of those people, unlike the leader that stood beside her. "Wait. You have to be joking. Both of you know full well the dynamic of a trio with sexy bods to involves having sex with others, more than just one of us available when we allow it. We already had to drop one of us out due to emotional instability." There was the slightest glance to Mac, telling that she knew which was to blame. "So now only one of us will be involved in sex, mostly to appease the two main horndogs of jocks that hang around us. You're telling me that that it isn't going to continue and you're cutting yourself out of the sex-fest too?" The glare she had mostly aimed toward the leader of the three, the youngest of them could swear she was the one being targeting by those snake-eyes, but she knew that was just her mind tricking her.
Heather Chandler took the hand of McNamara and slightly tugged her to move behind her defensively. "Yes. Neither of us are doing it anymore. If you want to, that's your business. Just keep yourself out of the maternity ward and everything will be fine. Remember, my word is final. This is me telling you, not asking you." She let out a sigh and brought her thumb and index finger to the bridge of her nose. "And if I catch you trying to pick on Mac when I'm not around, I'll be sure to give the jocks a few calls for you. Understood?", her threat of such an inconvenient problem definitely held some effect for the body-obsessed sidekick.
Saying Heather Duke was furious would be an understatement, she hated to be trapped in a corner and told to sit in a corner. The best moments for here was any moment she was allowed to do as she pleased, which made being under the rule of Chandler cause the chances to be one instance out of one hundred, on a good month. "You sound like such a dyke bitch. I can't believe you ever decided this. You've always been obsessed with sex, what the fuck could cause the sudden change of interest?" There was the faintest hint of a glance that the leader gave back to McNamara, showing to Duke that McNamara was at fault. That would be a mistake, which meant that the green of the three had to keep her rage to herself and allow for the chance to get revenge. "I see", she shook her head, "I suppose that concludes our discussion. Or rather my part in it."
She left, slowly overall due to her gathering her belongings, but a bit quicker than a casual pace. Chandler was watching her until Mac squeezed her hand, it was in that moment that they both realized they hadn't let go. It was only the slightest of slip-ups, but Duke hadn't noticed so McNamara took herself as lucky in this case.
"Are you alright?", Chandler asked, turning to the other Heather as their hands fell apart from each other. Her expression didn't quite hold concern, at least not a lot of it. It held more of the usual intimidating expression, but if one looked into her eyes and listened to her tone, one could tell that at that moment it was a facade.
Mac could tell that there was more to the expression than just a threatening look, she overtime has learned how to read her. "Only because you helped me. Thanks, Heather." Her smile was vibrant with a large amount of gratitude, a smile that Heather Chandler believed was irreplaceable.
With a silent huff, a tint fell over her cheeks, color slowly nearing that of her clothes. She couldn't look at the one she honestly thought was cutest in the group. But she would never admit that, why would Heather Fucking Chandler admit that anyone was anything other than sexy? "What are you talking about, I was doing it for myself. Duke needs to be put in her place sometimes, and those jocks need to be weaned off their sex addiction." Or something. It was a random excuse she came up with out of nowhere.
She usually had a better plan of what to say, but with the little sweetheart in front of her? All composed thought fell apart and ended up being put together like she was doing a kids word jumble while high as a kite. McNamara knew it was a bullshit excuse. The pink on Chandler's face spoke every word she kept hidden, maybe not explicitly, but she knew there was something underneath the remark that was kinder than it seemed.
"Sure it is", her tone was doubtful, which only deepened the tint on the other girl's cheeks. Mac knew Heather wasn't thinking straight by two different meanings of the word. "Maybe you didn't directly mean to, but you still did and I appreciate it anyway. I really needed that", her eyes watered, she covered it by tapping her forehead into the chest of the one who had saved her.
Chandler had caught the sight of watery eyes for a split second and tensed for a second at the physical contact. Taking a second to get used to it, she slowly wrapped an arm around the fragile girl's lower back, her opposing hand held her nape, thumb gently rubbing into her hair. The growing concern caused the feeling of heat in her cheeks to disappear, not wanting to focus on her own feelings at this moment.
It wasn't like this hadn't occurred before when Mac was feeling low, Heather was always available. She was even available at night, after long nights of thinking about how she desperately wanted to confess to McNamara. But she couldn't bring herself to lower her ego and humble herself with the confession, she was terrified that she would never be able to bring it back up and that the Heathers would all separate.
Silently, in her mind, she confessed to wanting to hold onto her and be there more than she already was. But that didn't matter right now, Mac was hurting, it hurt more to see her this way than it did to keep her confession bottled up. The quiet sobs seemed to echo in her mind. Heather McNamara didn't like to cry, Chandler knew that she liked to stay strong so she could stand as a part of the trio of Heathers.
"It's okay", she spoke softly, just loud enough for the smaller one to hear. Her hold on the girl tightened. "Don't listen to Duke. She's just jealous that I end up having to give her a hard time, even though she knows that it's due to her own bitchy behavior." Mac quickly brought her arms up, returning the embrace with an equal tightness, as if the words allowed her the courage to do so.
She wanted more than anything to reassure her that she was the best person to ever set foot on Westerburg campus, better than all of the little shits to take a breath in Ohio, the best person she'd ever met. But the moment she let the slightest bit spill, she knew the rest would crawl up her throat and become a bunch of stupid sappy lovey-dovey barf that left her mouth. She'd have preferred to drink drain cleaner than to go through something as embarrassing as that.
"Th-thank you, thank you so much for being here. I know y-you don't want to admit to the kindness you have. But you're s-so nice to me anyway. It means the world t-to me", sobs interrupted her speech, causing various stutters.
It started to twist at her heart further, the need to say something good for her. She was supposed to be lead bitch, she wasn't allowed to act that way. This was her cover, this was her throne. But there was the slightest of a ridiculous idea in her head, one where she could whisper words of kindness without Duke or anyone else around. An idea that she could feel herself grasp for.
There was a wall in her throat of bricks and mortar, a dryness that fell into her mouth and a tension in her jaw. All of the questions lead to the same one, 'How the fuck do people say so many nice things without being disgusted with themselves?' It was horrible, the first step was always the hardest, with every waiting second it got worse.
"You're right. I don't want to. But I have so many things to say.", she spoke, trying to lead herself into a somewhat composed level of talking. "If I'm to be honest", she rest her head barely on Mac's so she'd be less likely to look her in the face as she spoke, "you say you're the least attractive one of us, that's a lie, Duke is. You're definitely the best looking one of us. And you're generally nicer than both of us, way nicer." Her hold on McNamara tightened just a bit more, settling her fingers that were at the down and away from the beautiful blonde hair to meet the other at her lower back. "These confessions, where you spend a long night just talking to me about the same fears over and over, I can't get sick of it. It's me watching you have more courage than I could ever have and it's really impressive. You crying like this, knowing you have so much pain, I'm glad you show yourself to me. Sure, it doesn't feel great to know you're hurting, but I'd prefer this than the alternative. And I hope you remember that you're worth something, more than just something. A lot more." A blush rose to her own face at her own words, it was horribly embarrassing to say these things, but a small part of her felt good about saying these things.
Mac slightly pulled away, forcing Chandler to loosen her hold, but neither of them broke it. The tears were slowly coming to a stop, but after removing an arm from around her, a couple were wiped away with a couple more to replace them, be wiped away again and the flood stopped. A smile fell onto McNamara's face that was somehow bigger than before, even after crying. The pink on Chandler's face deepened, becoming a borderline red.
"You're not used to this, are you?", she held back a chuckle, she did it well enough to prevent Heather from noticing. "You being so honest and kind, this is like some kind of miracle. God, I hope I'm not dreaming right now", there was a definite level of concern that this was a dream. Her doubt reminded Heather Chandler that she could also be dreaming, it has happened before. Then, after a second, she pinched her own forearm, gaze focused on it before looking up with a heated face. The fact they were so close still seemed to sink in for both of them, faces only a mere few inches away from each other.
Mac stepped closer, slowly reaching arms around to the back of Heather's neck as if it could burn her at any second. Chandler's hold followed McNamara's back, tightening to keep her close. They both didn't want to take the first step, but Mac knew Heather had already taken one unfamiliar leap today and decided to test the waters with the slightest brushing of their lips together. Their lips barely separated before they did it again, pressing a little more than before, staying there for what felt like a frozen moment in time.