Sorry for the short chapters, guys! I'm new to this whole thing. I truly appreciate all your comments and story alerts, etc. Hope you enjoy. : )
"Honey! I'm home!" This declaration is flourished with a slam of the door and Naomi visibly flinches at the sounds – both the greeting and the slam. She sits delicately in the corner of the couch – where the arm meets the back – her body practically fusing with it from inactivity. Her slender finger is poised over the power button on the TV. It'd been there for hours, waiting to fill the room's silence with whatever station Alice had left it on, probably some mindless channel Naomi would have immediately changed to the news if she wasn't so mindless herself at the moment. She was shaken from her earlier encounter with Emily, although she brought it on herself, she didn't anticipate the repercussions. The trainride and car rides did little to snap Naomi out of her reverie. She thought maybe when she was back in her home, filled with her and Alice's joint belongings it would bring her comfort, but instead she felt numb, and could only toss her purse in the corner by the door before falling onto the couch.
Her finger sprung to action turning the TV on as she heard Alice's actions – her keys gently knocking against the wall as they were hung on the hook, her heels clicking over to the basket she kept her shoes in and the light shuffle as she took them off and tossed them in. Naomi knew this routine all too well, she had spent hours waiting on Alice to get home from work, always hearing these repeated actions, reveling in the comfort of them and the fact that they would ultimately bring Alice to her arms. Now, her synapses were screaming at her that the entrance wasn't loud enough. There wasn't the incessant quacking of a duck keychain clattering on the wall, there weren't muttering and expletives as she tried to remove her shoes and the clonk as they fell wherever she took them off, there wasn't a huff as she hung up her jacket, and there certainly wasn't the slide of stockinged feet across the tile. But of course there wouldn't be – those were the actions of someone else entirely. Someone with bright red hair and chocolate eyes who would pounce on Naomi, prattling on about her day and occasionally showering Naomi with heated kisses.
Instead Alice sat gingerly on the sofa next to Naomi and placed a manicured hand on her exposed thigh. It wasn't the same. It wasn't enough. Naomi hastily pulled Alice onto her lap, eagerly joining their mouths, tasting the sticky vanilla lipgloss on Alice's lips briefly before shoving her tongue into her mouth. It was rough and urgent, but Naomi needed to feel Alice completely. Wanted to snap herself out of her misplaced nostalgia. Alice's hands gripped Naomi's hips, straddling them and deepening the kiss, her strawberry blonde waves cascading over Naomi's shoulders. But instead of being turned on, Naomi began to panic, Alice's grip was suddenly too strong, the nails running up and down her arms too long, digging into Naomi's flesh too harshly. She abruptly pulled away, shifting her gaze before she could see the questioning look she knew she'd find on Alice's face. She shifted Alice so she was sitting beside her again. The panic began to subside.
"Hi" Naomi said, her voice too composed, an overly enthusiastic lilt added to her usual monotone. Luckily Alice didn't notice, just rested her head on Naomi's shoulder and muttering into her neck, "I missed you".
Naomi closed her eyes, letting the words wash over her. Remembering why she fell in love with Alice in the first place. She placed a chaste kiss on her forehead.
"Missed you too, Al."