INTERMISSION 2

"Ouch- Careful, Meenah," Aranea puffs out her cheeks slightly in protest, clenching her fists tightly as her shoulders raise up and tense at the pain in her scalp.

"Oh, quit complainin', Serket, I'm almost done. Besides, it's gotta be tight or it won't look good," Meenah grins, fingers still working on finishing up the last braid in her friend's hair. "This is looking badass as hell."

It was a Saturday night and the two had been in the middle of watching Mean Girls during their sleepover at Meenah's house when Meenah insisted on braiding part of Aranea's hair. The blonde sits on the edge of the bed in her short, blue night dress, eyes trying to focus on the television screen. Her best friend sits behind her, guiding her head from side to side as she finishes up the last braid at the side of the blonde's head. Meenah wears a pair of short pink pajama shorts and a black midriff top.

"If you say so," Aranea mumbles quietly, staring at the wall above the television. The two had watched this movie so many times that she had become a bit uninterested in it, and only put up with it because it was her friend's favorite.

"Alright," Meenah grins, running her fingers through the remainder of the soft, unbraided blonde hair in front of her. She turns and crawls to the other side of her bed, reaching into her night stand for a handheld mirror to hand to the other girl.

The blue eyed teen takes the mirror from her friend and holds it up so that she can see the side of her head. Her free hand goes up to trace carefully over the cornrows that run horizontally toward the back of her head, causing her to smile softly. "I guess you're right," she says with a grin, "they do look pretty badass." She tilts the mirror just a bit to see Meenah's face in it, grinning over her shoulder.

"What did I tell you? Have I ever lied to you?" The dark skinned girl wraps her arms around the shoulders of the girl in front of her, hugging her from behind. She grins and presses a friendly kiss to the other girl's cheek.

"Meenah," Aranea warns, turning her head away slightly, "We've talked about this. You can't do that anymore."

The taller girl rolls her eyes and presses another playful kiss to the other's cheek. "Seriously, Serket?" she laughs with a smirk, "Maryam's not here. And you're really going to fuss at me for a tiny kiss on the cheek because you think she'll get a little jealous? Do you really think she actually cares?"

Aranea looks down slightly. She and Meenah have always been this close. Kisses each other on the cheek was nothing more than an expression of their friendship. But when Porrim had stepped into the picture, Aranea had always felt bad about expressing this sort of closeness with Meenah and soon stopped doing it out of discomfort.

It was not as if Porrim had verbalized any sort of discontent with how the two acted around each other. In fact, it was not uncommon for Porrim to kiss Kankri's cheek the same way Meenah would kiss Aranea's. So why did it feel wrong for her to receive the same affection from her best friend? She almost felt guilty, which would not make any sense since Aranea and Meenah were only friends. Right?

The blonde sighs out quietly, pulling away Meenah to turn around. "Just stop." The words do not come across nearly as stern as she had expected them to, which is shown clearly by her friend's response.

"Make me," Meenah says with a laugh, grinning as she moves closer and kisses the other's cheek again, and then once more.

"Meenah!" Aranea practically giggles, shoving her shoulder lightly but not managing to stop the kisses landing on her cheek. She laughs and tries to pull away from the other, only to find two arms around her waist again and pulling her down onto the bed. "Seriously!" the blonde shrieks with laughter, kicking her legs in an attempt to roll away from the other, only to have Meenah roll on top of her.

"You'll have to do better than that, Serket!" Meenah calls out, kissing her best friend's cheek repeatedly. She laughs as she moves to straddle the other girl's hips and grabs her wrists, pinning her down playfully as she slowly stopped kissing her, chest heaving as she quieted down.

The blond laughs, face red from her struggle. She smiles up at her friend softly, hair messy and dress riding up slightly. She feels herself blush even more as she feels Meenah's hand find her own, their fingers lacing together to hold onto one another. In that moment, Aranea feels the guilt wash over her once again and she turns her head away.

Meenah's wide, toothy grin slowly faded into a frown as she stared down at the other girl. "What are you so upset over, Aranea?" The darker skinned teen hesitate before pressing one more soft kiss to the other girl's cheek.

"Porrim is my girlfriend," Aranea says simply, staring off to the side. She was not sure what she was expecting then, but Meenah's hand tightening around her own was not it.

"What if you were my girlfriend?" Meenah asks quietly, eyes tracing over the other's face for any sign of response.

"What are you talking about?" Aranea asks, finally looking up again, "I mean, if you were, then I guess this wouldn't make me feel so bad then, huh?"

"No, Serket," Meenah says, eyebrows furrowing together in determination. "I mean-" With that, Meenah takes the other girl by surprise. She leans down and presses her lips to Aranea's.

The kiss is slow and sweet, making the blonde's stomach feel as though it is turning upside down inside of her and her skin run hot with the unbelievable feeling of her best friend's lips against her own. Meenah pulls away a bit too quickly, staring down at the other.

It is not until Aranea's eyes open that she realizes that she had closed them. She is met with the sight of Meenah still hovering over her, lips parted only a few inches away from her own. She s able to see every sunburst of light gold in the dark chocolate of Meenah's eyes and she can feel the other girl's chest laying comfortably against her own.

"I mean," Meenah says again, this time much slower than the first, "What if you were my girlfriend?"

END OF INTERMISSION 2

I have some explaining to do. When I started this story I really liked Porrim and Aranea together... But now. I just really like les8ifins okay?

Thanks for reading! Please leave me a comment! It really makes writing this worth while!