Title: Quiet Love
Author: OpheliacAngel
Pairings: Marissa/Summer
Genres: Romance/Friendship
Rating: Teen
Summary: It hadn't been a kiss on the cheek, or a playful peck on the lips.
A/N: Written for femslashficlets for prompt #050 remainder (#001 - begin).
There were three moments in Summer's life that changed her outlook on everything.
Moment #1: The day her pet goldfish Ruby died. Sure, she was only five, but there's nothing quite like the death of one's first pet that shakes a person up. Summer cried for at least two hours before her father helped her to bury Ruby in the backyard, a bag of M&M's lying next to her little fishy body.
Moment #2: When she received the letter in the mail informing her she had been accepted into Harbor. Summer wasn't a stickler for grades and made it a point never to spend too much time on homework, yet the pride written all over her father's face had been worth it while it had lasted. Summer wasn't ashamed of being a daddy's girl, and while her dad would always love her no matter where she ended up, she would never forget the happiness she felt at seeing him so pleased with her progress on the way to a future they could both be proud of.
Moment #3: The one that topped them all. The moment Marissa kissed her and the awkwardness after.
And yeah, she knew that last one needed more explanation. She and Marissa had been friends since… as long as she could remember. And as long as she could remember she had crushed on Marissa, this huge, messy crush that she could absolutely not, under any circumstances, give into. Summer somehow coped, probably by telling herself that lots of people were attracted to their best friends, especially if they had grown up together, but that it would fizzle out. Yet even as the two of them had grown up and entered into high school together, Summer never was able to shake that something was missing. She wanted to spend every waking second with Marissa, and it wasn't like Marissa did anything to stop her: she never once claimed that she felt suffocated… that was how close they were.
So Summer waited for the day where she would spill all and ruin their friendship, only to find that Marissa had beat her to it, which made her sorta jealous and idiotic too, but Marissa was the only person on Earth besides her dad who really got her.
Summer didn't kiss back, not when the shock of Marissa's true feelings brought up her own that she was supposed to be ignoring. This wasn't a kiss on the cheek, or a playful peck on the lips. This was a full-out kiss, tongue and all, Marissa gripping the back of Summer's neck and squeezing her shoulder until Summer could swear Marissa's fingerprints were there for the entire world to see, so Summer didn't even have to open her mouth and say anything or announce their love to the world.
That didn't mean she didn't want to, 'cause she really wanted to.
Especially when they stumbled out onto the beach after her birthday party.
"Coop." Summer crooked a finger and Marissa followed, accepting Summer's hand before they tumbled down onto the sand as one, full, spent, sated and god, Summer hadn't felt like that in so long, just so happy, so happy to be alive.
The second kiss, well, that was all her own.
Yet it was their beginning.
FIN