Disclaimer: I own nothing.


THE RIGHT WORDS WILL SPARKLE

"I love your eye shadow," Alexa told Bayley. "It's really sparkly."

Bayley beamed. "Thanks, I love the glitter on your nails."

Alexa smiled, pleased as she glanced down at her manicure. It really suited her. But Bayley thought that most things suited Alexa because Alexa was so cute and awesome. Just talking to her made Bayley smile.

"I could do it for you."

Alexa was nodding towards Bayley's hands. The nail polish. Bayley liked the idea of having nails that sparkled. They nodded in reply and Alexa high-fived them. Bayley clasped Alexa's hand and kissed the backs of her knuckles because they wanted to and because Alexa's smile really was too much to resist. Alexa smiled sweetly and leaned in to kiss the edge of Bayley's lips. She tasted like lemonade and summer. Bayley pressed close for another mouthful.


Life was always full of brightly-colored fun for Bayley. But there were shades of gray too because their body didn't always feel right, often they felt like they was wearing the wrong clothes and the wrong skin.

They frowned at themselves in the mirror, then pursed up their mouth, pressing a hand to their chest. Today was more of a boy day. It was the only way Bayley could put it into words; sometimes things felt more boy, sometimes they felt more girl, sometimes it felt like something else completely. It was like there was a scale or a thermometer and Bayley's mercury crawled up and down daily. They were always Bayley, that was all they could say.

At the Performance Center, they answered to female pronouns even if that didn't feel totally right. They mostly wore girl clothes there too. Some days, they wore boxers under their boy jeans with a button-down over their vest top. Other days they wore long frayed jean shorts with a purple top and purple-glitter eye shadow. Other times, they wore pants covered in pockets – they loved those pockety pants – and a cartoon shirt and their headband with a pretty bow on top. They didn't wear her chest-binder though, some things they was still trying out at home only.

And if Sasha and Becky sniggered at them and some of the guys stared, Bayley just kept on pushing themselves in the ring to prove that they was nothing to snigger at. Alexa smiled no matter what Bayley wore. She liked the pockety pants too.


Bayley and Alexa shared dinner a few times – burgers and fries in the best diner Bayley had found in Florida, crammed around a corner and full of greasy delicious smells. Other days they had chose greens and lean protein. Their legs usually got tangled up and Bayley always offered Alexa a bite of her meal. Alexa leaned close and tried everything once.

Bayley liked how the evening lights looked on Alexa's skin. Bayley wondered how Alexa would look if she saw what Bayley wore under their clothes. Bayley wanted to find out. There were days when what they saw of themselves just didn't match up with how they felt inside. They knew that they was quieter on those days and Alexa held their hand, concern wrinkling her expression. She didn't push yet, she just told Bayley that she was there and that she wanted to help if she could. Bayley kissed her; they didn't know what to say. They'd never put any of it into words before.

They liked Alexa and Alexa never commented on Bayley's clothes. Bayley wanted to share all of themselves with Alexa. They wanted Alexa to keep smiling at them. Alexa wanted to help; she wanted Bayley to be happy.

So one night, when the Not Right feeling was really peaking and she was getting ready for a date with Alexa, Bayley put on their chest-binder. Something settled under their skin, it wasn't everything but it was really good.

They looked at their reflection and liked what they saw. When they opened the door to admit Alexa, their heart was pounding hard but their didn't hesitate. Alexa was awesome and she liked Bayley, why would she stop now? Bayley had faith in Alexa, that definitely wasn't going to change.

Alexa looked at them and smiled. Bayley felt the air leave their chest as Alexa drew them in for a long sweet kiss.

Then she wrapped her arms around Bayley's neck and said softly, "You look really good."

Bayley bit their lip and Alexa giggled, kissing the bite away. They smiled at each other in the doorway for a while before Alexa asked quietly, "Can you tell me about it? I don't want to say some thing wrong."

Bayley finally closed the apartment door and led Alexa over to the couch where they cuddled up together, comfortable and happy. Alexa wanted to use the right words. Some things Bayley didn't even have syllables for but there was stuff that they could tell Alexa. They really wanted to; they was giddy with the idea, with Alexa being so close and sparkly.

So Bayley explained about pronouns and boy days, girl days and days that they didn't have words for yet and how all their days were Bayley days. Alexa nodded slowly and ran glittery fingers across Bayley's. There was a really awesome look in her eyes, sort of shiny and happy. It was amazing.

"I like Bayley days."

She kissed Bayley's fingers and then surged upwards to Bayley's mouth. Bayley moaned because Alexa was relaxed and she was kissing Bayley and they would totally talk more later. Bayley liked talking to Alexa. If Alexa had questions, then Bayley would try to answer them and Bayley would probably ask Alexa questions too. That felt really good, knowing there was that open door.

Pretty much everything with Alexa felt good.

Alexa slid a questioning hand under Bayley's shirt and Bayley angled themselves down onto their back so that Alexa could get much better access. Alexa's smile was sort of wicked and fun and her fingers skimmed around Bayley's chest-binder, like she was figuring out how to approach it. Her light touch tickled, making Bayley laugh quietly. Alexa joined in but kept her fingers where they were. Her touch wasn't impersonal, it was like she was literally feeling her way into this, not wanting to do anything wrong. Bayley liked that consideration and sighed, pushing themselves towards Alexa's fingers.

Alexa looked at them. "Is this...?"

Bayley nodded vigorously. "It is."

Because they still felt warm under her clothes, under their skin, like they needed more of Alexa pressed up against them. Alexa's smile got even more dazzling and they smiled into each other's mouths. Bayley's hand slid up Alexa's thigh and under her skirt. Alexa's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. Bayley wanted to make Alexa happy, it made them feel good too, it was great feedback loop of making-each-other-happy. Hearing Alexa's gasps, feeling her warm fingers, it was amazing, like the breathless start to a really awesome match. Bayley loved that feeling, they thought that maybe Alexa did too.

They swallowed down Alexa's heady breaths and felt full of sparkles.

-the end