Chapter 15
Not Playing Nicely
Four girls sat in awkward silence on the couches in Diana, Hannah and Barbara's apartment. Amanda had been nervously tapping her fingers on the arm of the love seat for the past ten minutes and studied the actions of the other three girls in the room. After the...incident, it was not surprising to see Diana and Barbara avoiding eye contact at all costs. The blonde's tactics were effective as she leaned over with her head in her hands, resting her elbows on her thighs and letting out a groan every once in a while. Barbara on the other hand, sat on the other end of the couch from Diana and had her knees pulled up against her chest and hugged them tightly. And every once in a while, her eyes would flicker to the blonde and then back to the floor in front of her. Hannah just looked bored to be honest. She was filing her nails next to Amanda, not seeming to notice or care about the tension. But the redhead didn't like silence. None of them had spoken since Diana and Barbara had managed to disentangle themselves from each other. Amanda knew she should keep her mouth shut. But she just couldn't handle the silence anymore. She just needed to say something. Anything.
"So, that was...uh...a thing, huh?" 'Smooth O'Neill' she internally smacked her forehead.
Diana's head shot up and sent a deadly glare in the redhead's direction. If looks could kill, Amanda would be dead ten times over. Hannah snorted and then immediately brought her hand up and covered her mouth in embarrassment. Apparently the effects of the alcohol had not quite subsided yet. The blonde then covered her face and groaned again, but to everyone's surprise, she finally spoke.
"Was it really..." hiccup "that bad?" Her words were slightly muffled in her hands.
"Well..." Amanda's gaze landed on Barbara who now had her forehead resting on her knees in an effort to hide her blush. "Nah. If anything it might have been...a little...too good?" This caught the blonde's attention as she lifted her head and arched an eyebrow at the redhead, who in turn jerked her head in Barbara's direction. Diana turned her head and for the first time, noticed her distressed friend. "Look, Diana. Why are you doing this, really? It can't be all about revenge. This is so not like you." Amanda inquired suspiciously. It had been an entertaining morning, but it was so out of character for Diana that there had to be something else on her mind.
"Akko is so..." The blonde paused, swaying a bit as she contemplated her next words with narrowed eyes. "Fun. And carefree. And I envy that. I want to be that way with her. I've spent too long being the good girl, the prim and proper heiress that did no wrong. I missed out on so much because of that. And Akko reminded me that I still have a lot of life to live. I want to be...normal. You know?"
Her words were soft, her wistful smile small, and if Amanda didn't know any better, she was acting shy? Vastly different than the cold and distant person Diana used to be. It had taken the redhead this long to notice just how much Diana had changed since she met Akko. But Amanda was almost sure that the alcohol was aiding in this sudden confession of the need to rebel against the expectations thrust upon her. And the redhead wasn't sure how far she should take this conversation, she actually wasn't sure what to say at all. Amanda O'Neill didn't do feelings well. She had had a lifetime share of the feelings in the distressing past couple weeks, and now here she was, staring blankly at Diana Cavendish who looked back at her expectantly. Until the blonde's features turned unsure and doubting.
"You know what? This was stupid. I shouldn't have..." Diana sighed and stood up, stumbling a bit before catching herself on the arm of the couch. "Thank you for trying Amanda but I...I can't do this." She turned and began walking toward her room.
"Wait!" Amanda shouted, finally snapping herself out of her thoughts. "No, I get it! This isn't stupid Diana. If this is what you think you need, the-"
"Just drop it O'Neill." The blonde cut the redhead off tiredly. "You were right. This isn't me." She turned again and made it to the hallway before stopping once more and clearing her throat. "This morning never needs to be spoken of again." Diana spoke with a tone of ice and finality before she disappeared down the hallway, and a second later the sound of a door closing rang out around the silent apartment.
"Is she always so emotional when she's drunk?" Amanda turned to Hannah, exasperated.
"It's the vodka." The auburn haired girl just shrugged. "We usually try to keep it away from her. She gets a little crazy. Although..." She paused, expression thoughtful. "She didn't make anyone cry this time so I guess it's an improvement?"
"That was one time!" Barbara finally broke her silence, lifting her head up from her knees. "And we're not supposed to talk about that."
"Okay, wait." Amanda held her hands up, putting a stop to the conversation. "How many instances has she asked you not to talk about?" She arched her eyebrow at Hannah, but before the girl could speak she shook her head. "You know what? Never mind, I don't want to know. Look, we have to talk about this morning."
"No, we don't." Barbara said as she leaned back in the cushions and began to blush again.
"Oh but we do. Is it weird to either of you how good Diana is at lap dances? Or is it also normal for vodka to turn her into a stripper?"
"Amanda, you told her to take her shirt off." Hannah deadpanned.
"Wha…? She said she was hot! How was I supposed to know there wasn't a shirt under that flannel?" Amanda spat back indignantly, scooting herself to the edge of the couch. That's when she noticed the black haired girls blush deepen and she was able to make the connection as to why Barbara suddenly fainted during the lesson. "Oh."
"W-what?" The black haired girl shifted nervously under Amanda's knowing stare.
"I thought you were straight." The redhead stated with her eyebrows raised. Maybe Akko's mom was right. Her gaydar isn't working well.
"How...I d-don't..." Barbara sputtered out, glancing pleadingly at Hannah to help her out of this painfully awkward situation.
"Not that it matters, Amanda..." The auburn girl paused to flash a warning glare at Amanda before continuing. "But Barbara is bisexual. And she, well, we have both had small crushes on Diana but obviously nothing would have ever come of it, she's our best friend after all. So if you could imagine, it was quite a shocking situation for Barbara to be in when Diana started taking her shirt off while sitting on her lap. Now, can we please move on?"
Hannah glanced at Barbara to make sure she had explained it right, and the appreciative smile she received told her that she had. Amanda just nodded slowly, taking in all of this new information. The three girls stayed silent for a long time, not knowing how to continue this conversation.
"Okay, all of this aside, we can't just let Diana not do this now. Not after what she told us." Amanda said determinedly.
"Amanda, she was drunk." Barbara said, her tone soft and regretful.
"Hey, people lose their filter when they're drunk. Miss goody two shoes wants to break out of her shell, and as her...friends, I think we need to nudge her in the right direction."
"This is absurd. What are we going to do? Force her down on Akko's lap?" Hannah pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance.
"Well..." Amanda arched an eyebrow.
"We cannot force her down on Akko's lap, Amanda!" Hannah half shouted in disbelief.
"Okay okay. Sheesh. But there has to be someth-"
Amanda was cut off by a knock on the apartment door. The three girls made no move to get up however. The knocking came again and the redhead looked to the others.
"You gonna get that?"
"Amanda, I'm drunk at 11:30 in the morning. I'm not answering the door right now." Hannah rolled her eyes and went back to filing her nails and Barbara silently nodded in agreement.
The sound of a door opening made the three girls turn to the hallway where Diana appeared a few seconds later in a robe, looking as if she had just gotten out of the shower.
"Aye, you got anything on under that robe, Cavendish?" Amanda catcalled to her as she was on her way to the door.
"Oh. You're still here. Don't you have someone else to annoy, O'Neill?" The blonde asked with a sigh as she passed, missing the redheads smirk and Hannah's sharp elbow jabbing into said girl's ribs.
Diana approached the door and looked through the peephole to see who was on the other side. All she saw was a crimson eye looking back at her, making her giggle.
"This girl." She mumbled under her breath and smiled mischievously as she grabbed the door handle and swiftly pulled it toward herself.
Akko, who had been leaning on the other side of the door, didn't have time to regain her balance. And with the loss of something to lean on, she fell forward onto the floor in front of Diana.
"You do know that the peephole only works from the inside right?" The blonde chuckled as she watched her girlfriend scramble to her feet and clear her throat.
"I know how they work." Akko grumbled as she crossed her arms in a pout.
Diana smiled fondly at her girlfriend's adorable antics and stepping closer, she reached out to move a stray lock of hair behind the brunette's ear, fingertips lightly brushing across her cheek. Akko looked up into the blonde's loving azure eyes and couldn't help but lean into the touch.
"Hey." The brunette flashed a lopsided smile as she wrapped her arms around Diana's neck, pulling the blonde close.
"Hey yourself." Diana said seductively before she wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's waist and leaned in to capture Akko's lips in a soft kiss.
After just a moment, the brunette pulled back and began to plant kisses along the blonde's jawline and down her neck.
"A-Akko, what...ah!" Diana let out a surprised yelp as Akko's teeth lightly scraped across the pale skin of her neck.
"We can hear you ya know!"
The brunette froze with her eyes wide at the loud brash voice coming from the next room before slowly looking up at her flustered girlfriend.
"Why is Amanda here?" She whispered quietly. "And why do you taste like vodka?"
"Ah...yes, Akko. All great questions. But I must really get some clothes on." Diana flashed an apologetic smile as she turned and walked away.
"But..." The confused brunette began but stopped as she watched her girlfriend walk quickly to her room. She hesitantly walked further into the apartment until she could see the kitchen table and noticed the two empty liquor bottles and four shot glasses scattered haphazardly on the table top. With her eyebrows furrowed she continued into the main living area where she saw the owner of the loud voice and the other two girls sprawled out on the couches.
"Sup Akko." Amanda flashed a wide grin.
Akko could tell that the grin was forced and it did nothing to quail the brunette's growing suspicions that there was a lot she was missing. Next to the redhead was Hannah, who hadn't acknowledged her presence, and Barbara laid on the other couch. The black haired girl immediately fished her phone out of her pocket and pretended to be immersed in whatever it was that she was reading to avoid eye contact with the brunette.
"What's going on?" Akko asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyes at her red headed friend.
Amanda's grin never faltered but the brunette could almost hear the gears turning in the redhead's head, obviously thinking of any excuse for the odd circumstances and behavior that Akko had walked in on.
"We're just hangin out."
The slightly higher pitch of Amanda's voice told Akko everything she needed to know. They were keeping something from her and she was going to find out what it was. Although it was unlikely that she could get anything out of Amanda without the use of physical force, and she didn't want to start a wrestling match in Diana's apartment. She didn't know Hannah or Barbara well enough to get any information out of them either, and by the way they were avoiding her, they weren't just going to give it up if she simply asked. But there was one person here who she had a shot of breaking, and she would have fun with it, too. If the blonde didn't want to tell her what she wanted to know, she could start with her ear. Yeah, the way Diana melted when she nibbled on her ear was so...
"Why are you smiling at me like that? You're making me nervous."
"Huh?" Akko was jarred out of her thoughts by Amanda, who was nervously shifting on the couch under her stare. "Oh, sorry. Just uh...I'm gonna...heh" The brunette pointed toward the hallway with a nervous laugh and walked away quickly without another word.
"Diana's fucked." Amanda said with a menacing chuckle.
"...Excuse me?" Hannah abruptly stopped her nervous nail filing at the sudden vulgar language coming from the person next to her.
"I've seen that smile before. She's scheming, and it never ends well for the person on the other end."
"Should we stop it? Akko can't find out what happened this morning." The auburn haired girl looked at the hallway where Akko disappeared in concern.
"Nah, Diana can handle it. But I think it's best we get out of here." Amanda grabbed Hannah's hand and pulled her up off of the couch.
"Excuse me, I live here." The auburn haired girl pulled her hand away from the redhead and scowled. "I'm not going anywhere."
"Okay." Amanda put her hands out in front of her in surrender. "I guess you can stay here and listen those two go at it. And I don't mean fighting, honey." The redhead winks and turns around to head for the door.
Hannah face slowly turned to one of terrifying realization at Amanda's words. She cleared her throat and grabbed Barbara, pulling her up off of the couch frantically. By the surprised look on her face, the black haired girl hadn't been listening to their conversation.
"Hey, what-"
"Come on Barb, I can't have you fainting twice in one day." Hannah mumbled as she dragged Barbara toward where Amanda was waiting with a smirk by the door.
"But where are we going?" Barbara asked as she slipped her shoes on.
"I'm taking you girls out on a date." Amanda winked at the black haired girl, making her blush furiously.
"Calm your tits, red." Hannah grumbled and rolled her eyes. "We're just giving Diana and Akko some-"
"Ah! Did you really just bite me?!"
The three girl's eyes widened in shock at the words they heard coming from Diana's bedroom.
"Okay, quickly then." Amanda opened the door and practically shoved the other two out before they were subjected to anymore erotic noises coming from their friends.
"Well you're not telling me what you guys were doing before I got here." Akko narrowed her eyes at the girl underneath her on the bed.
"So you bit me." Diana deadpanned, looking up at her captor.
"I don't intend to play nice until you tell me." The brunette smirked down at her girlfriend.
Diana's mouth twitched slightly, narrowing her own eyes a bit as she positioned her elbows underneath her. She was now only a few inches away from Akko's unflinching face, entering a battle of wills with the girl.
"You promise you won't play nice, Akko?" The blonde almost whispered as she brushed the brunette's lips with her own, causing Akko's breath to hitch.
"Y-you can't...just...t-that's not fair." The brunette sputtered out as she sat straight up, now sitting on Diana's thighs and shaking her head in an attempt to get her brain working again.
With a low chuckle, Diana sat up as well and wrapped her arms around Akko's waist to pull her closer.
"I'm supposed to be...mmmm..." The brunette started but was successfully quieted by her girlfriend's tongue running along the shell of her ear. "in...charge...here." She finished through shallow breaths.
"By all means, continue your interrogation." Diana mumbled as she began to place kisses down Akko's neck.
"W-what happened th- Ah!" The brunette began to ask but before she could, the blonde bit down on Akko's neck and then used her tongue to sooth the spot she'd attacked.
"What was that, Akko?" Diana asked as innocently as she possibly could.
"Iaskedyouwhatyoudidth- gah!" Again Akko was immediately quieted by a teeth digging lightly into the skin of her shoulder. And on top of that, Diana had brought her hand up underneath the brunette's shirt and firmly squeezed her breast, making Akko arch her back and push herself into the touch. She then pushed herself up and off of her girlfriend as fast as she could and stood up. After taking a few deep breaths she was calm enough to continue and pointed her finger out accusingly. "No. No distractions. I want to know...what...what..."
Diana was leaning back on her elbows now, her robe only halfway on and revealing a painful amount of pale skin. She arched her eyebrow at Akko who was eyeing her bear skin hungrily, her words all but forgotten. The blonde pushed herself up and slid off of the bed.
"If that's all, Akko, I need to get ready and pack for my flight tonight." Diana taunted as she passed.
Akko turned and watched the blonde head toward the bathroom, not able to form any words. And to make growing heat in her core worse, Diana took off her robe as she walked and held it out to the side, dropping it into a heap on the floor. The brunette's jaw dropped as far as it possibly could as she watched her girlfriend, no, her naked girlfriend enter the bathroom and close the door. She then slapped her forehead loudly and groaned as she flopped down onto Diana's bed, face landing gracelessly into the fluffy pillow. For a few blissful minutes she had forgotten that her girlfriend would be leaving for two days, a business trip to Germany. This will be the norm of course, and Akko didn't have a problem with it. But they had just reunited a few days ago, and she didn't want Diana to leave so soon. She did say that she'd be back in time for Akko's birthday party, though. That's all that really mattered.
"Only two days." She mumbled into the pillow. "It's only two days." The brunette then turned over and laid on her back. "I should have ripped that damn robe off of her."
"Yes, you should have."
Akko jumped and sat up immediately, seeing Diana standing in the doorway to the bathroom with a very amused expression, unfortunately fully clothed now.
"But alas, you've missed your chance. And here I thought you were going to make good on not playing nice." The blonde smirked, smugly arching her brow and crossing her arms.
"I...I was. But you...distracted me." Akko mumbled, not meeting Diana's amused gaze.
The blonde sauntered over to the bed and leaned over, grasping the brunette's chin with her hand and forced her to look up.
"I'll be back on your birthday, I promise you'll get a chance to redeem yourself." Diana leaned down and kissed Akko softly before pulling back and looking lovingly into beautiful crimson eyes. "I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too."
"Croix! I'm home!" Chariot yelled out as she walked through the front door of her home. It had been a terribly stressful day for her. Ever since she had revealed who she really was, since Chariot had returned to the world, she had been contacted nonstop for interviews. Along with a meeting with the director of athletics for the school about the upcoming trip to France that weekend for the team's next tournament game. She threw her backpack down still lost in thought until she smelled it. Smoke. And a voice that was no doubt yelling curses in Italian. 'Oh god. She tried to cook.' Chariot thought as she ran toward the smoky kitchen. As she entered she had to wave her hand in front of her face to keep the smoke from her eyes.
"Croix! What are doing?" Chariot shouted before coughing and waving her hand again.
"Ah!" Croix yelled as she spun around in surprise. "Oh...uh...Chariot. I was just….MERDA!" The Italian hissed as she had picked up a very hot pan with her bare hand while she had been distracted. A pan of burnt, whatever it was, fell to the floor and made a loud harsh noise that left a ringing sound in Chariot's ears. And then there was silence. The two woman looked at each other with wide eyes through the smoke until Chariot put her hand to her mouth and snorted loudly before she doubled over in laughter.
"I was attempting to make dinner for you but it...got out of hand quickly." Croix informed her, embarrassment written all over the woman's face.
"Why?" Chariot laughed again and then stopped almost immediately when she had a thought. "Croix, what did you do?"
"What?" Croix's voice raised an octave. "I didn't do anything! I just...uh...thought it'd be a nice thing...to do?"
"You didn't set fire to the basement again did you?"
"No! I mean, I did, but the extinguisher you got me did it's job perfectly."
"You...when did that happen?!"
"That's not important." Croix laughed nervously as she moved to push Chariot out of the kitchen. "Just...why don't you just relax and I'll make us something else." The Italian all but pushed Chariot onto the couch and retreated back into the smoky kitchen.
Chariot let out a long sigh and grabbed her backpack, pulling out papers she had accumulated that day to go over. She nervously glanced at the kitchen every couple minutes to make sure that their house was going to be safe from a fire that surprisingly hadn't started yet. Minutes later, Croix came in and bowed.
"Dinner is served, madame."
Chariot giggled and rolled her eyes as she stood up from the couch and joined her girlfriend. Croix led her out onto their little patio on the side of their house. The red haired woman gasped when she saw their small round table decorated with candles, wine glasses and their nicest dishes. Which weren't very nice at all if she was being honest. But it was a beautiful sight, almost bringing tears to Chariots eyes. Almost. Because that's when she saw what was sitting on top of the plates where real food was meant to be.
"Ramen. We're eating instant ramen for dinner." Chariot said flatly. She should have expected it, yet she didn't think her girlfriend really had the guts to ever feed her this monstrosity for dinner.
"And bread." Croix stated as if it made things better.
Remembering all of the effort her girlfriend must have gone through for this dinner, well, the dinner that never was, made Chariot play along. She didn't have the heart to turn down the hopeful smile on the Italian's face at the moment.
"Okay. Let's eat then." The red haired woman kissed Croix on the cheek and sat down, making sure to pour herself a large glass of wine. She was going to need it.
They both dug into their ramen, one more enthusiastically than the other, and soon they were finished. Chariot took a piece of bread and spread some butter on it before Croix broke the comfortable silence between them.
"So do you feel any better about returning to France this weekend, Chariot?"
Chariot tensed at the words and took her time chewing to delay the answer to that inevitable question. She had done her best to seem okay about going back to her home country that seemed to turn on her so easily all those years ago. Croix obviously saw right through her defenses like she always did. And the information she had gathered today from the meeting about the coming weekend only made the situation worse.
"No, I don't feel any better. In fact, I feel worse about it after what I learned today." She hadn't meant to blurt all that out but it seemed that her emotions were building up and finally overflowed. Croix, who was about to take a bite of her bread, immediately put her food down and raised her eyebrows, urging the red haired woman to continue. "The France team acquired a new coach. Gabriel Moreau."
"What?! That bitch who started those rumors about you?" Croix spat, seething.
"Croix, don't." Chariot rubbed her forehead tiredly. "We don't know that."
"She...she ruined your life because she was jealous, Chariot. She wasn't caught but everyone knows it was her." The Italian stated harshly. But her expression softened when she saw how tired and stressed Chariot looked across the table from her. "Sorry. I shouldn't have brought that up."
"It's fine. I knew this was coming if we won the first game, but now that it's actually happening...I'm just a little anxious is all." Chariot said with a sigh and she took another sip of her wine.
Croix nodded slowly as she took in her girlfriend's crestfallen features. She believed this night was ruined because of her mishap in the kitchen earlier, but it seemed like Chariot needed this. Chariot needs her right now. She needs to finish tonight like she had planned. Ramen be damned. The Italian quickly pulled out her phone and connected it to the large wireless speaker she had brought out earlier. She scrolled through the music until she found her favorite song. The song that made Chariot's eyes roll every time she played it, but always put that beautiful brilliant smile on her face. Croix would do anything for that smile. She pushed play and stood up. Suddenly the air filled with a soft catchy jazz tune and Chariot recognized it immediately. She did role her eyes as she looked up at Croix who was holding a hand out to her, silently asking her to dance. And to the Italian woman's delight, her girlfriend's brilliant smile did appear as she stood up.
"What's with you and Sinatra?" Chariot asked, chuckling, as she took Croix's hand and put the other hand on her girlfriend's shoulder. The Italian only grinned wide and began to move to the beat and sang along when the verse started.
"Someday, when I'm awfully low, when the world is cold, I will feel a glow just thinking of you." Croix moved them into a slow spin as she sang the last line, making Chariot giggle, and then pulled her in close. "And the way you look tonight."
They continued that way as the song went on, The redhead relaxing more with every passing moment. Soon Croix stopped singing and just enjoyed the carefree dance with her girlfriend.
Yes, you're lovely, with your smile so warm
And your cheeks so soft
There is nothing for me but to love you
And the way you look tonight
Chariot's sweet laughter filled the patio area as Croix spun her around at random points of the song. But then the Italian slowed, electing to take in her girlfriend's beautiful features than keep up with the beat. Her teal eyes met Chariots sparkling red ones as they swayed out of time with the song, the music seeming to fade as all they could focus on was one another now. Croix leaned in and softly pressed her lips to the redhead's, who reciprocated immediately. The lilac haired woman pulled back and rested her forehead on Chariot's.
"Je t'aime pour toujours." Croix cooed, making the redhead pull back and look at her with raised eyebrows.
"Je t'aime aussi." Chariot replied as she flashed a bright smile. "Since when do you know French?"
"I've been working on it here and there." The Italian shrugged but couldn't hide her proud grin before turning serious again. "I've been working on it for tonight actually."
Chariot furrowed her eyebrows and tilted her head questioningly. Croix took a deep breath and looked her girlfriend in the eyes before continuing.
"Veux-tu me faire l'honneur d'être ma femme?" She asked confidently.
Chariot stepped back and covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes as wide as they could possibly get. Croix pulled out a small black box out of her pocket and stepped forward before getting down on one knee.
"I love you more than anything in this world. And there's nothing I want more than to be yours for the rest of our lives. Will you marry me, Chariot?"
The redhead didn't move for a moment, the only change to her expression was the tears building up in the corners of her eyes, until she nodded slowly.
"Yes?" Croix voice cracked slightly as she asked, her eyes lighting up.
"Yes!" Chariot gasped as she threw her arms around Croix's neck, knocking the woman over onto the cement below and landing on top of her. "Oh, I'm sorry." The redhead said through a mixture of tears and laughter before she pushed herself up until she was kneeling. She helped Croix up as well.
"Let me see your hand." The Italian held out her own hand as Chariot reached out. "Your other hand." Croix rolled her eyes as her girlfriend let out a giggle and switched hands. The lilac haired woman took the ring from the box and slipped it onto her fiance's ring finger and then she leaned down and kissed it.
"I love you so much, Croix." Chariot said softly, gazing lovingly into Croix's teal eyes.
"I would hope so. Because you just agreed to marry me." The Italian smirked, earning a shove backward from the fiery redhead.
"Of course you'd say that." Chariot laughed in disbelief and stood up.
"Where are you going?" Croix asked and snickered as she pushed herself to follow her fiance.
"To get some real food. Please never feed me instant ramen again or I will divorce you."