THE FOLKS

(Joanne POV)

Maureen leaned against the counter sipping her wine while I went to answer the door. It was like a stampede as soon as the door was cracked. My parents came bursting through like they hadn't seen me in years. In all actuality, it had been roughly three days. My mom grasped me tightly in what felt more like a chokehold than a hug. I looked over at Maureen and rolled my eyes, making her smile. Once my mom had moved on, my dad embraced me in a real hug.

"Hello baby," my dad said. I have always been a bit of a daddy's girl. He's always been very supportive of everything I've ever done, from law school to coming out. He's always said that if I'm happy, that's all that matters to him. If I'm happy, then he truly succeeded as a dad.

I walked over to Maureen and grabbed a hold of her hand.

"Mom, Dad, this is Maureen. Maureen, these are my parents," I said, trying to judge their reactions.

"Nice to meet you both," Maureen said sincerely, shaking my mom's hand and being embraced in a huge daddy-like bear hug. She was kind of shocked at that. I could tell by how big her eyes got.

I somehow managed to get my mom and dad over to the table, while keeping Maureen in the kitchen to help me with dishing up dinner. She still looked pretty nervous, so I kissed her.

"Baby, you'll be fine. Just be yourself and remember I love you. They'll be gone before you know it." I smiled at her reassuringly. I kissed her again and told her I love her once more before taking food to my parents with her hot on my heels. As soon as we started to eat, the dreaded interrogation began. Luckily, it was my dad first.

"So, Maureen, Joanne told us you're a performance artist. How long have you been on stage?" he asked politely. At least it wasn't a horribly personal question first. Nevertheless, I held her hand under the table, silently reassuring her.

"Well, I've been performing all my life. When I was little I used to put on singing shows for my parents and I was on stage by probably 4th grade. I did as many school plays and musicals as I possibly could. Unfortunately, I haven't had much success with auditions since high school, so I turned to protesting. I'm not afraid to speak my mind in front of even a huge group of people, so it kind of felt right. Not only do I get to speak my mind, but I also get to sing, which is my true passion. Protesting doesn't pay the bills, but that's what day jobs are for, ya know." She smiled at them and took a sip of wine. I squeezed her hand and winked when she looked at me.

"So what exactly do you do to pay the bills?" my mom asked snidely. It was almost as if she was suggesting that Maureen is inadequate or incapable of taking care of herself.

"I'm one of two assistant managers at a bookstore a couple blocks from my house. And, occasionally, if that job's not cutting it, I bartend. I'd bartend full-time if it wasn't so exhausting. And plus, if I bartend at night, then mine and Joanne's schedules conflict really bad and we don't hardly get to see each other. Right now, they're practically perfect." With my parents both being attorneys, she knew that they'd maybe have a bit of a problem with her bartending, but she figured its better to have them know from her rather than find out another way.

"That's excellent. So I take it you like what you do for a living?" my dad asked, pulling his fork from his mouth.

"I really do. Don't get me wrong; there are some very bad days, and certainly more glamorous jobs. But doing this still leaves plenty of time for me to spend, undistracted, with Joanne. And I can get the occasional protest in."

"So, why Joanne?" This came from my mom, of course. Shit. Now she's going to be sizing Maureen up to all the men she wants me to be with.

"Well, Mrs. Jefferson, to be perfectly honest, and as cliché as it is, I knew there was something special about her the moment I laid eyes on her. There was just something different about her. I don't know if it was her warm eyes, or her inviting smile, or what exactly." She looked at me and smiled. I smiled back and squeezed her hand. "She's the most amazing person I've ever met in my entire life. She's witty, smart, beautiful inside and out, independent, passionate, and knows exactly what she wants and how to get it. She stands up for herself and her beliefs like no one I've ever seen. Her love for life is amazing and her laughter is completely contagious. She's so easy to talk to and a great listener. She gives the most amazing advice and is always there when you need her most. She knows me better than anyone and still accepts and cares for me; flaws and all. I can't think of one single flaw of hers, and even if I could, it wouldn't matter. To me, she's perfect, and I love her more than life itself." She kind of bowed her head feeling a bit vulnerable, I think. Tears were streaming down my cheeks by this point. No one has ever said anything like that about me. She reached over and wiped away my tears with her thumbs, and I smiled weakly at her.

"I love you," was all I could manage to get out.

My mom seemed pretty satisfied by her answer and seemed a little ashamed of her previous hostility. She stood and started to clear the table. My dad quickly followed suit, giving Maureen and me some privacy. The two of us walked into the living room and I immediately pulled her into a hug.

"I love you so much, Maureen. That was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard. Thank you so much for coming into my life." I just held her as close as possible, never wanting let go.

"I love you too, Joanne." I could feel tears on my shoulder now. I pulled away and lovingly kissed away her tears. We were standing there smiling at each other when my parents walked in the room.

We all decided to watch a movie and my dad and Maureen finally picked Murder By Numbers. My mom and dad sat on the couch while Maureen sat on my lap in the recliner.

By the time the movie was over, my mom and Maureen had both dozed off to sleep. My dad stood and proceeded to wake my mom while I attempted to wake Sleeping Beauty. She woke up surprisingly quickly and got up off my lap. We walked my parents to the front door and thanked them for coming. Maureen gave my mom a hug and my dad a kiss on the cheek and said that she was pleased to meet them. I hugged both of them goodbye and closed the door behind them. I had barely shut and locked the door when my back was pushed up against the wall and Maureen's lips were on mine. Her hands were madly running through my hair and mine were quickly sliding her shirt up, dragging my fingers over her flat stomach.

(Maureen POV)

Joanne was very quickly removing my shirt while I started to unbutton hers, kissing her the entire time. She somehow managed to get away from the wall and started leading me to her bedroom. We were so caught up in each other we didn't even notice the pictures that we knocked off the wall, or the glass that shattered all over the floor. We were randomly pushing each other up against the wall, kissing the entire way down the hall to her room. She pushed me up against her door and kissed me fiercely before opening the door carefully so I didn't fall backwards. Once we were in her room, things changed. It was no longer fierce, but just as passionate. Joanne walked over to me and wrapped her arms tightly around my waist and kissed me. I pulled her closer and deepened the kiss, pouring all the love I have for her into it. We slowly removed the last of each other's clothes, getting distracted by loving kisses every now and then. Joanne picked me up, rather gracefully I might add, and carried me to her bed and laid down next to me. I grabbed her arm pulling her on top of me. She leaned down to kiss me and teasingly ran just her fingertips from my hips up my sides. I quivered at her gentle touch and traced my hands down her back, memorizing every curve. She was now kissing along my collarbone and down my chest to my stomach. The feeling I was experiencing was unreal. It was like pleasure, pain, love, want and anticipation all in one. Need.

I was coming down from a high like nothing I'd ever experienced, and was aware of Joanne's kisses back up my body. Still trying to catch my breath I pulled Joanne up to me for a mind-boggling kiss. I rolled her over so I was now on top and I began to kiss her as she had done to me. I was so nervous at first, having no clue really what to do, except what I like done to me. My nerves were quickly gone, however, when I heard the sounds Joanne was making. She was able to tell me what was good and what was better without uttering a single word. Her moans made everything disappear and suddenly the only important thing was pleasing her.

I crawled, cat-like, up and lay next to Joanne. No words were dais. We lay there watching each other, gently caressing sensitive areas, and exchanging small kisses. That didn't last very long though, as our libidos couldn't take much more. It was like we had to get out five weeks of passion and sexual frustration out in one night. Completely spent, a few rounds later, we fell asleep tightly entangled together.

(Joanne POV)

The next morning, I awoke to the most beautiful sight. Maureen was sound asleep curled up around me like I was a living body pillow. Her arm was draped over my stomach, one of her ivory colored legs was between mine, and her head was on my shoulder. I lay there for a while just watching her sleep, falling more in love with her with every passing second. After about half an hour, I decided I needed a shower. I carefully slipped out of Maureen's grasp, trying not to wake her. She whimpered a bit at the sudden cold, but remained asleep. I walked into the bathroom and quietly closed the door. I turned on the hot water and climbed in. I was so into my relaxing shower that I didn't hear the door or notice the shower curtain open. I jumped and screamed when I felt arms snake around my waist. Maureen just laughed at me and kissed my shoulder.

"I missed holding you, so I decided to join you. I hope you don't mind," Maureen said apologetically still kissing my wet skin.

"Not at all. I tried to be quiet, but in a way, I'm glad you woke up," I winked at her. She grinned menacingly and the next thing I knew, she was on her knees in front of me doing things I've only dreamed about. I slid down the wall and sat next to her, the water pouring on us was no longer very warm. We climbed out of the shower together and she wrapped the only towel around me.

"I'll go grab you one from the dryer," I said.

"No, I'll go get it. You stay here." She kissed me and walked out of the bathroom bare ass naked. We have that in common. I heard her singing as she walked down the hallway followed by a scream.

"FUCK!" she yelled. I ran to see what had happened and was shocked. She was sitting on the floor with he back against the wall. There was blood everywhere and it seemed to be coming from her foot.

"Baby, what happened?" I asked, running to her side, not caring that I dropped my towel.

"I stepped on a fuckin' piece of glass. It's still in my foot," she was almost crying now, but not quite. She's so strong. I looked up and saw that a couple of pictures were missing from the wall, and vaguely remember the sound of glass breaking last night on our passionate trip down the hallway.

A/N: I hope you all like this chapter. It was so hard for me to keep it tame! I wanted to write this whole racy scene, but figured I might get in trouble. So this will have to do. Enjoy! Please review.