Shared Bed
Cinderella couldn't be more appreciative of her friends. After her stepmother kicked her out of her home, she was forced to find a new abode, and luckily enough, when her friends Tiana and Charlotte saw her crying at work, they took her into their apartment with no hesitation.
"Oh, thank you both so much again, this really means everything to me." The woman said sweetly to her friends, who just smiled at her and shook their heads.
"Really, it's nothing Cindy. You would have done the same thing for us." Tiana said, setting a gentle hand on Cinderella's shoulder.
"I only wish we had another spare room for you, Cinderelli. I feel so awful making you sleep on the couch." Charlotte whined, but Cinderella shook her head.
"It's alright. I'm happy just to have a roof above my head, you two, really."
Still not please, Charlotte exchanged a glance with Tiana before smiling gently. "I could make Big Daddy sleep on the couch, and you can have his room for now. Does that work?"
Shaking her head roughly, Cinderella stood up and took Charlotte's hand in her own. "I appreciate it, Lottie, really, but I could never do that to him. You know that. It wouldn't be right of me."
The other blond nodded slowly. "Well, alright. But we are going to bring you some extra pillows, alright? And if your little mice friends come and join us, well," She shared an amused smile with Tiana, "just make sure they're comfortable here, too, alright?"
Cinderella nodded. "They are just as thankful as I am that you two offered us somewhere to stay."
Tiana laughed lightly. "Just make sure that they don't make too much of a mess in the kitchen, alright?"
The sitting blond nodded, and her friends finally returned to their own bedroom for the night.
While finally alone in the living room, Cinderella stared at the ceiling for a moment, taking deep breaths and thinking about all that had happened that day. It was incredibly eventful, after all. It wasn't every day that your stepmother kicked you out. She knew she shouldn't have trusted her step-sister Drizella with her big secret. Anastasia was trustworthy enough, but Cinderella should have been more careful. She shouldn't have told her stepsister about how she loved women.
She almost found herself breaking down when she heard small footsteps from the hallway. When Tiana handed her some extra pillows, her friend stopped herself for a moment behind the couch, draping her hand over it.
"Cindy... I know this is a bit forward, but... would you like to come and sleep with Lottie and I? We just feel so bad leaving you in here, and the draft can really get bad at night."
A bit taken aback by the request, Cinderella couldn't help but find herself seriously contemplating it. Of course, she couldn't help but be attracted to both of her friends. She had met Tiana long ago, and was working in the same café as her. She often found herself daydreaming about her coworker on her breaks and sneaking glances at her smile when she was working, and she couldn't help but long to be the one to bring the smile to her face. But then Charlotte arrived.
It was clear from the first day Charlotte came that her and Tiana not only knew each other, but they were the best of friends. And then, one day, she couldn't help but notice Charlotte staring at Tiana extra-long, the same way she did by accident, but Charlotte wasn't afraid of anyone catching her. And when Tiana noticed and strode over to her friend, Cinderella could only stare with her mouth agape as Charlotte sneaked a chaste kiss onto the other woman's lips.
From that day forward, it seemed Charlotte came in on every break Tiana had, and Cinderella soon found herself staring at the brightly colored blond, too. And when she saw the two kiss, something in her heart lit up in a way she still couldn't quite place.
And now, here was one of her crushes and one of her best friends, asking if Cinderella wanted to come in and lay down with her and her girlfriend.
Cinderella wanted to desperately say yes, but she didn't want to give herself away, she shook her head. "Oh, I'm alright, really. Thank you, though, Tia."
The other woman shrugged and pushed a hair out of the blonde's face tenderly before leaving the room.
Even after she was long gone and probably fast asleep, Cinderella stared after the door she left into, her hand hovering over where Tiana had touched, her lip quivering.
She should have said yes.
Still, Cinderella forced herself asleep, and the next morning, she woke up shivering. She knew she should have accepted the offer.
As she trudged to the kitchen shivering, the other two women of the house noticed instantly and rushed over to her.
"Cinderelli, what happened to you?" Charlotte asked, quickly fetching one of her many pink jackets from the coat rack and draping it around the other blonde's shoulders.
Shrugging lightly, she kept her eyes nervously on the countertop. "It's nothing. Must have just been the draft. I should have covered myself up better last night."
Tiana hummed in thought and placed a gentle hand on the other's cheek that made Cinderella shiver. "Cindy, say you'll come and sleep in our room tonight. If you sleep out in that draft again, you're going to get yourself sick."
"Yeah. It's much warmer in our room." Charlotte added, tightening the front of the jacket she threw on Cinderella. "If not in our bed, at least sleep on the loveseat in our room. We have a heater in there, and at this time of year, you don't need to be sleeping in the living room. It's way too cold out there, Darlin'."
"Well, I guess I could sleep on the loveseat, if that's really alright."
"Of course!" Tiana replied, a gentle smile on her lips. "One more night on that couch and you're going to be sick. We should've have just suggested the loveseat yesterday, but it slipped my mind entirely."
Cinderella shook her head and gave the other two a genuine grin. "It's fine."
Finally, night time crawled around, after a day of work, two movies, and a few rounds of old maid. Cinderella couldn't help but feel more confident than usual, with how close her two friends kept sitting to her, and with how they kept smiling at her as if she radiated warmth somehow.
When the three retired to the bedroom, Cinderella lay with her back to the other two, before a gentle hand tapped her back. When she turned around and spotted the sweet smile of Charlotte, she couldn't help but return the expression, though hers was much more nervous.
"Why don't you lay down with us over here, Darlin'? The weather's dropping outside. You'll be warmer with us."
Biting her lip, Cinderella glimpsed over at Tiana, who sat on the edge of the bed and waved the other over. Embarrassed, the other blonde rose to her feet and fidgeted with her hands. "Are you sure it's alright?"
"Of course." Tiana calmed, and Cinderella nodded, standing up and approaching the bed. "Is it okay if you sleep in the middle? We want to make sure you stay warm enough."
Nodding, she scooted into the comfortable crevice of the bed and felt her entire body relax into the softness. Tiana joined the front of her vision, and she could feel the bed bend under Charlotte's weight directly behind her, and just as Cinderella lay on her back to sleep, Tiana and Charlotte both leaned forward and kissed the girl's cheeks.
When she led out a soft gasp, they both snorted. "Was that alright? Not too fast, was I?" Tiana asked carefully, and the blonde in the middle let out a small giggle.
"No, I just... I didn't realize..."
Another snort escaped Charlotte and eyes fell to her. "You really didn't think that we liked you, too?"
Cinderella shrugged her shoulders limply. "I just... wasn't sure."
"Well," Tiana tenderly wrapped her arms around the woman in the middle carefully, being careful not to overstep her boundaries, "are you sure, now?"
Nodding, Cinderella couldn't help but beam proudly. "And now... I'm incredibly warm, too."
Two more snorts rose into the air before the group whispered a little longer and fell fast asleep.