Gladys had noticed Betty was looking a bit down; it's enough to get anyone down, the love of your life dating your ex-boyfriend, so Gladys invited Betty out for a girls night. Tangiers was her favourite place, and Betty seemed comfortable there so it seemed like a no-brainer. But Betty, while showing willing, didn't seem to be enjoying herself, so Gladys cut it short. She leads Betty back out to her father's Dodge and slides onto the bench seat, watching Betty deflate as soon as she closed the door. She hadn't been particularly animated in the club, but now she seemed smaller, more hunched in on herself. She looks like a cat that's been caught in the rain; a cat that's still in the rain, pitiful hazel eyes refusing to meet Gladys'.
"Sorry Glad, don't seem to have it in me tonight," Betty says. Gladys says nothing, just starts the car.
Instead of heading back to the boarding house, she heads down to the lake. With the blackout it looms eerie and creepy, like a pool of black oil. Betty half-heartedly mumbles something about submarines before Gladys catches Betty's mouth with her own.
If Gladys were to think it through, she would tell herself she was just trying to get Betty to shut up; but it's not a very good lie because Betty generally takes verbal instructions from Gladys pretty well. A single word ('lake', in this case) would have done the trick. But Betty, who's been so subdued for months, suddenly comes alive under Gladys' mouth, pulls her in across the bench seat and rests one hand on Gladys' face and another on her waist which creeps steadily upwards and Gladys surprises herself by not minding that at all. She came out tonight to cheer Betty up and this seems to be doing the trick for both of them. Gladys embarrasses herself a moment later with a moan when Betty finally palms her breast; she has to pull away and catch her breath a little.
"I'm not easy," she starts, and Betty laughs into her neck and all the worry fades away from Gladys.
"You're not…"Betty pauses, makes a face, wriggles her hand, "either, but here we are."
"Where are we?" Gladys asks coyly, and Betty gives a little growl, nips at Gladys' neck.
"We were here," Betty says, finding Gladys' mouth in the darkness, flooding with relief when she finds Gladys' lips still open and receptive. Gladys' hands start wandering, skirting around her chest. When she finally makes contact with Betty's breast she gasps into Betty's mouth, who relishes in the sound, swallows it to digest later.
"My god, you're so soft," she whispers, whimpers against Betty's mouth. It does something to Betty, pulls her deep inside, makes her hips jerk, which makes Gladys' eyes open. She can just make out Betty's face, Betty's dark eyes as she retrieves her hands and undoes a few buttons on her dress. Gladys' hand has fallen to her waist, but Betty picks it up, brings it to her mouth, and kisses the knuckles before sliding it in under her bra. Gladys' moan is much more pronounced this time, her fingers seeking tentatively across soft flesh. Betty shudders, kisses Gladys again and rests a hand deliberately on Gladys' knee. No silk stockings tonight, Betty notices, noticing the silky smooth skin under her palm goosepimpling, noticing the way Gladys' knees separate for her.
"I never thought… so soft…" Gladys starts again, and Betty kisses her again.
"Has anyone ever told you, Princess," Betty growls, "that you talk too much?" Gladys starts to say something but Betty shuts her up by sliding her hand upwards against something she knew would distract Gladys from speaking; Gladys makes a mewling noise instead and after that gives up any attempt to speak other than expletives muted against Betty's lips and throat. Betty hadn't expected much; she'd never expected this, but she'd never expect Gladys to mirror her actions, to have them both collapse, gasping against the leather seats a few minutes later.
"I miss James," Gladys says a few minutes later. Betty nods and it makes sense to her. She feels she needs to say something, so she does.
"I'm not James," she tells Gladys.
"I know, you're my Betty." Betty's never been… someone's before. It's kind of nice, if a little confusing right now.
There's a knock on the window, a subdued light shines through. Gladys slides over to the driver's side again, straightens her hair and opens the window.
"What seems to be the problem, officer?" She asks innocently, like a few minutes ago she wasn't experiencing pleasure at her friend's hand.
"Excuse me ladies, I thought… the lake… couples come out here."
"She lost her fiancé and the boarding house is too full to talk. It's quiet out here. Or it was," Betty says meaningfully, and the policeman tips his hat and walks away. They wait until Gladys has shut the window to burst into giggles. Gladys put her arm around Betty, who despite all appearances to the contrary, has no issue nestling into her. Gladys strokes Betty's hair, wondering if this was how James felt afterwards. It feels like everything and nothing has changed.
"Is that… what you normally do?" Gladys asks, and she can feel Betty's grin against her shoulder.
"Questions like that can get you in trouble," Betty says warningly, aware that it must have been as long between intimacies for Gladys as it has been for her, and now that the edge has been taken off, this is dangerous territory; the first is a gift, the second comes with the cost of attachment. But then, Betty's never really had female friends; not ones like Gladys anyway.
"I'm game if you are," Gladys says and holds her breath. A few moments later Betty's head is under her dress, kissing her in places James had never thought to kiss her, places she'd never thought to have kissed. She would describe it as mind blowing, except her mind was already blown a few minutes ago, so this has to be labelled as earth-shattering instead.
Gladys' limbs are loose and heavy when she starts the car and heads back to the boarding house. Betty is nervous now, picking at her fingernails when Gladys looks over under the street lights. Gladys reaches a hand over, stills Betty's hands with her own.
"Nothing's changed, Bets. You're still my best friend, and this was something that happened that we can talk about like adults."
"You don't like women," Betty says dully.
"I like you," Gladys says as if it's an answer. "But not like that, no, I don't usually like women like that." Betty looks crushed when Gladys looks over and Gladys starts to panic, because this is worse than Kate rejecting Betty, this is leading Betty on, having her way with her and then rejecting her. "No, no, no. I don't mean… I do love you Bets. It's just…"
"Something that happened?" Betty asks a little bitterly. Gladys sighs, squeezes Betty's hand.
"Something… I trust you more than anyone. And I'm a little confused right now, because I have no idea why that happened. I just know it's the best thing that happened since James left and I've been so worried about you since Kate… I don't think I'm like you," and here Gladys ignores a muttered a 'coulda fooled me'. "I'm emotionally invested in men, but you're a very attractive and very talented woman and quite honestly that was..." Gladys sighs, "amazing."
Betty sulks for another minute before Gladys huffs.
"Do you actually want to date me?" Gladys asks.
"Good God no," Betty says, faster than thinking. "I mean, no thank you."
"See? We went out, had a lovely evening, and now we're friends who can get back to being friends without having to wonder…"
"You wondered?" Betty asks, knowing smirk on her face.
"Of course," Gladys says honestly. Betty nods to herself and they pull up outside the boarding house. No one is on the street, so Gladys kisses Betty one last time. "I'll walk you to your door."
"Such a gentleman. Of course, you weren't such a gentleman when you had your way with me in daddy's car." Gladys puts her hand over Betty's mouth, both of them laughing.
There are girls lazily sprawled over furniture all through the common rooms. Gladys follows Betty, notices the swagger that had been missing has returned to her hips. They pause outside Betty's door.
"I could come in," Gladys suggests. Betty turns around and Gladys snorts. Betty looks confused and Gladys gestures to her chest. When Betty looks down, her dress is still unbuttoned and she blushes thoroughly. Neither notice Kate stepping out from her room.
"All this time – the policeman – he must have noticed! We're lucky he didn't write us up!" Gladys is laughing so hard that she's leaning against the wall now while Betty's fingers work frantically and uselessly against her buttons. "Public indecency! Oh leave it, they'll be undone again in a minute."
"Where have you been?" Kate asks quietly behind them. They both spin around, and Gladys tries to shuffle her body in front of Betty's bodice.
"Tangiers," Betty says gruffly, fumbling for her key.
"Leon there?" Kate asks, eyes flying to Betty's chest. Gladys could almost swear Kate looks as crestfallen as Betty did at the start of the evening, but she must be imagining things.
"Don't recall," Betty says, fumbling with the lock. Gladys takes pity on her, unlocks the door with her hands over Betty's. Kate's breath hisses in through her teeth and she retreats to her room without another word. Betty's face has dropped and Gladys' intentions have changed drastically in the last few seconds. She helps Betty shrug her dress off dispassionately and holds her as she finally cries. It's been months since Kate first rejected her and ran away all in one breath. It's been months since she came back, fragile and haunted and withdrawn from Betty. It's been weeks since she started seeing Ivan and not once in that time had Betty cried; not once. She'd drunk a lot, smoked a lot, swore a lot but she hadn't cried. Gladys leads her back to the bed, sits them both down and lets Betty ball herself up into a sobbing mess. Gladys knows now that she was a passing distraction; she also knows that half an hour ago she wasn't. Since Kate left, Gladys had this strong emotional connection with Betty because she trusted Gladys with what she was. But Kate trumps that every time; with just 6 words she can completely dismantle the woman in Gladys' arms.
There's a knock on the door. Gladys is tempted not to answer it and Betty is in no state to move but there's only one person it can be and she's jealous and uncertain and she might need to see this.
"Come in," says Gladys, and the door opens, then Kate's head peers around it, her eyes wide. When she sees Betty crying she closes the door and steps forward involuntarily, then pauses before she reaches the bed. She makes eye contact with Gladys and Gladys is surprised at the bevy of emotions there. Kate sits on the other side of Betty and Betty stiffens as Kate's hand rests on her back.
"Please don't," Betty whispers, but Kate's hand rubs over her back, bumps against Gladys' hand.
"You were giggling when you came in… " Kate says slowly, then meets Gladys' gaze again. "Do I really make you that miserable?" She asks, and it's enough to get Betty to lift her head from Gladys' chest. Betty just looks at Kate and shrugs, exhausted. "I don't mean to," Kate continues, looking stricken, her hand stilled on Betty's spine.
"You do, though," Betty says slowly. "You know what you're doing. If you didn't you wouldn't be here right now. You expected to be turned away because… but we're not, and now you have to face that you're the cause of this… this mess." Kate's crying too now.
"You're my Betty," Kate says, as though that's a justification; as though that makes sense.
"You can't have two people. You can have a Betty, or you can have an Ivan. You can't wave one in front of the other," Gladys snaps, despite having called Betty hers earlier that evening.
"Ivan's… safe," Kate says, looking down to where one of her hands sits in her lap.
"Betty's not dangerous!" Gladys exclaims and Betty appreciated Gladys going to bat for her but this is too much and she's too tired so she proves Gladys wrong.
By kissing Kate.
Kate, surprisingly, lets her. And by 'lets her', Betty doesn't mean that Kate sits by idle as Betty kisses her like last time as her brains catches up, she means Kate's mouth opens and her lips catch Betty's. It's Gladys' turn to hiss.
"You have a boyfriend," Gladys says, and Kate pulls away, slightly dazed.
"I'll make a call. I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere." And neither of them do until Kate returns a few minutes later.
"I don't have a boyfriend," she says, sitting down next to Betty again, lifting her face from Gladys' chest and kissing Betty thoroughly.
Gladys just came out for a good time and honestly she feels so confused right now. Kate's hands are pretty… active for a virgin. And the thigh one of them is climbing definitely does not belong to Betty.
It's already been a strange day and Gladys has already had more ladysex than she ever thought she would have, but neither of them seem to care that she's there and half-entangled in both of them. When Kate's hand brushes against her underwear, Gladys gasps.
"You know I'm here?" Gladys asks cautiously, and her two friends pull apart to nod at her, dilated pupils mirrored. Betty catches her mouth, and Kate mouths Betty's collarbone. Then Kate is kissing Gladys, and Kate is the second woman Gladys has kissed but there is such a world of difference – the softer, fuller lips, and Gladys has no idea how any of this will work and she's already fetched twice but she's got the feeling that this girl's night could go all night.
Several hours and half a dozen fetchings later, the three women fall back against the bed in an untidy tangle. Every scar on Kate has been lathed with kisses, every tear from Betty has been kissed away. They've been pretty quiet, considering, but Gladys bit down on Betty's shoulder at one point and now she's tracing the lines her teeth left on Betty's skin. What Betty showed Gladys really was just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, but Gladys has never been so satiated.
When she wakes up alone in her own bed at the mansion, she has never been so disappointed.
Author's note: Apologies for so many cliches, and apologies to the actresses.