Author's Note: Glad some people are liking the story! :) I really like writing this pairing. Read and Enjoy!
Stella slides onto the couch, leaning against the armrest as she sets her beer down on the floor. Her head is throbbing and it's impossible to tell if it's because of the music, the fact that everyone seems to be yelling or that she's currently five drinks deep. Probably a combination of sorts. This is why she hates parties. Does anybody really have fun at these things?
"Steeeellllaaaaaa!" From across the room Wen hangs off the banister of the stairs, arm outstretched toward her as he does his best Stanley Kowalski. Usually she hates when people do that to her because it's so obvious and lame but she's fast on the winding road to drunk and Wen makes it funny. She giggles, standing up and walking over to him. Pulling her under his arm, he leans on her so she has to support his weight.
"How's my faaaavorite girl doin?"
"Ahh, Wen you fatty, you're gonna crush me!" She sinks under him bringing them both down until they're sitting on the stairs. Taking another sip of her beer she nudges him playfully, "Hey, I thought Olivia was your favorite girl. Over her so soon?" The bewildered look on his face makes her laugh again. "Sorry dude, it was too easy."
Wen's face turns serious for a moment. "It's that obvious, huh?"
Stella leans against him comfortingly then. "Only to people who have eyes. And why haven't you asked her out again?"
"I dunno I'm waiting for the right time." He leans into her as well, sighing.
Across the room Stella spots Mo. She's with Scott, of course. Their arms are around each other and they're swaying together in their own, drunk little bubble of happiness. It makes her want to throw up everywhere. Suddenly she's pushing Wen off of her, standing up and grabbing his face in her hands. "Listen to me, ok Wen? If you can be with a girl and she wants to be with you and there are absolutely no other contributing factors that can fuck up the matter just BE WITH HER! Jesus, it's not rocket science. Not everybody has that luxury, you know." She gives him a light slap on the cheek and sits back down.
"Wow. That came out of nowhere. I'm stunned, actually."
She shrugs, purposefully lowering her gaze from Scott and Mo, "blame in on the a-a-a-a-a-alcohol."
"How many beers have you had anyways?"
"Working on numero cinco."
Wen reaches for Stella's cup, "maybe you should take it easy for a little while."
Stella felt suddenly irritable. "Maybe you should fuck off and go bang Olivia already." He stood up clearly offended. "Wait, wait, I'm sorry! I didn't mean it. Well, I meant the stuff about going after the girl but I shouldn't have been such a bitch about it. I'm just…"
"Drunk?" Wen offers. He smiles at her.
"You're too good to me, Wendell Gifford."
"Don't I know it." He sits back down next to her. "Hey, uh, is everything ok with you?'
"Yeah, things are just peachy-keen, but seriously, they're good. Why do you ask?"
"I dunno, it's just, you've seemed a little down recently and that thing you just said about me just being with Olivia, it kind of sounded like you were speaking from experience."
Stella stares at Wen, taking in the honesty in his soft, blue eyes. She loves the kid like a brother, really she does and it kills her to lie but…she just isn't ready to face the truth. It would take at least another drink for that. "I'm fine, Wen." She forces a smile. "About the Olivia thing, I'm only speaking as a dedicated subscriber to Seventeen Magazine and that's what they're always telling people to do. And really, you should. You guys are perfect for each other, everyone can see it."
"Everyone?"
"Everyone. I think even Principal Brenigan is bursting in anticipation over the matter." Stella pats him on the shoulder good-naturedly. "But don't worry dude, I'm sure it'll happen when it's supposed to happen. In the mean time, could you fill me up? I seem to have run out." She shakes her cup in his face
Wen sighs, standing once more as he takes it from her. "Ok, but promise me this is your last one."
"Suuure buddy, whatever it takes to get you over their pumping that keg." He leaves reluctantly. Stella wonders what it is about drinking that turns her into such a complete asshole. "I'll apologize again when he comes back." It's then that she really starts to feel drunk. The room isn't spinning or anything but her body feels so warm and light, lighter than she's felt in weeks. It's almost like the world is glowing. Standing up she lazily makes her way up the stairs, pulling herself up the banister while pretending she's climbing Mt. Everest. Reaching the top she pumps a fist in the air victoriously. A forgotten drink sits at the top, her trophy. Picking up the cup she tips the entirety of it down her throat and chucks the cup against the wall. "I am a beast!"
"Scott, just tell me the truth." Mo's voice makes her freeze. "Why do you have to be so vague all the time? It's not fair to me." She follows the sound of her voice down the hallway, creeping slowly so as to remain quiet. They're in the last bedroom all the way at the end of the hall.
"Why can't you just trust me when I tell you it's not important? Jesus Mo, who are you, my Mom? I'm getting really sick of dealing with you like this."
"Well if you're so sick of me then why are we even together?"
"Good question. I can't even talk to you right now, I'm outta here!" There are heavy footsteps and then the door opens. Stepping backward Stella takes in an obviously pissed off Scott. He stares at her for a moment, looking slightly surprised before nodding curtly and storming off.
Stella doesn't hesitate to enter the bedroom. Judging from the poster of cars and models plastered on the wall it's Scott's room. Sitting on the edge of the bed is Mo. The sight of her deserves a pause. Her dark hair looks like fine silk, illumined by the lamp on Scott' side table, lips coated in an utterly delicious shade of ruby red. She's wearing this short party dress that's silver and slightly sparkly. It shows off her long, tanned legs like the designer tailored it specifically to do so. Stella wants to admire her for as long as she can but the sound of a sniffle brings her back to the reality of the situation. Her right hand makes a fist and knocks quietly at the door.
As she looks up the hope in Mo's eyes is heartbreaking. She obviously thought it was Scott. "S-Stella, hi!" She says a little too loudly, turning her head away as she attempts to wipe a way the tears that have run down her cheeks. "H-How are you liking the party?"
Stella walks around the bed slowly to Mo's side, focusing hard on not swaying or stumbling as she does. She sits down next to her and lets out a deep sigh. "It's alright. I was just hanging out with Wen downstairs. I think I might have accidently ditched him, actually."
"Really," she laughs a little and Stella's insides bloom with happiness at the smile that crosses that beautiful face. "Were you guys having fun?"
"Well, last we left off I was bullying him into asking Olivia out, so if you ask him, probably not. I, however, was kind of enjoying myself."
"Hahaha, no you did not! Stella!" She pushes Stella playfully.
"I did. It was bad. I'm gonna have so much apologizing to do to him once I sober up."
"Are you that drunk?"
"Kinda, how about you?"
"I've had a couple drinks but I think fighting with Scott kind of sobered me up."
Stella debates pretending she didn't know about the fight but doesn't think she's sober enough to be convincing. "Yeah, I kind of heard the end of that. I passed Scott in the hallway too, I thought he was gonna murder me with the frown he had on his face. Oh...sorry, that was a shitty thing to say. I'm such a bad friend…" Stella scowled.
"Hey," Mo's hand reaches out and touches Stella's cheek. Stella's swallows a gasp and suddenly finds it hard to breathe. Just this small form of contact has her stomach doing somersaults and she feels her skin flush. Her eyes meet Mo's tentatively. That damn beautiful brown. She's not in control right now. There's no rational voice in her head telling her what a bad idea it would be to kiss Mo. All she can think of is how soft her lips look, how nice she smells. "You're not a bad friend, Stella."
"T-thanks…"
"Wait, let me finish. You're the WORST friend." For a second Stella thinks she's serious but then Mo starts laughing.
"You jerk, I thought you were serious!" Stella nudges her with her shoulder, causing Mo to lightly slap her knee. The two girls begin a fake fight, both of them shrieking with laughter. Finally she's giggling so much she can't breathe. "Okay, okay, stop!" She halts their movement, using her strength to overpower the Indian girl. Gulping in breaths of hair she opens her eyes and has two realizations. The first one is that they seem to have fought their way into the middle of Scott's bed. Weird. The second is that she's straddling Mo and has the girl's hands pinned in her own. Still on Scott's bed. SO weird. It's like her wildest fantasy come true.
Mo's still laughing beneath her, seemingly unaware of their predicament and Stella doesn't know what to do. This is the beauty of alcohol because if she was sober she would be horrified. If she was sober this never would have happened in the first place. As things stand, not only has it happened but Stella can't even find it in herself to be embarrassed. All she feels is the steady build up of all the desire she's withheld for the girl lying beneath her. It feels like a wildfire ripping through her entire body and she has to resist the severe temptation to grind her hips down into her friend.
"Mo." Her voice is low, husky with want. She must look like an animal on the verge of devouring its' prey because Mo isn't laughing anymore. The girl isn't getting up but the look on her face is one of confusion. She sees it in those brown eyes.
"Stella are you…"
"Please don't ask me if I'm ok. Dammit, I've heard that question from you people enough to last a lifetime. And you know what? Fine, you win. I'm not ok. I can't remember the last time I felt ok. Stella Yamada is the complete and utter opposite of ok. Are you happy now?"
"No, of course not." Mo's expression has gone from confusion to concern and that's not what Stella wants at all. She tries to sit up but Stella's body is preventing her. Not once has she fought to be free. It's strange. Lying back on the bed, she looks up into Stella's eyes. "Tell me. Please, Stella. Tell me what's wrong."
She wants to know and Stella isn't going to pretend anymore. "It's you."
"Me? I'm what's wrong with y-" Stella interrupts her with a kiss, leaning down and capturing those lips like she's dreamed about doing for so long. It's a light kiss by most standards but Stella fills it with all the emotion she's bottled up and it seems to come out of her in endless waves. Her hands thread through Mo's bringing them to rest at the sides of her head, against Scott's pillow. The feel of it all, her lips, the way their bodies seem to fit perfectly against one another, the softness of palms in her own, it's the most wonderful feeling she's ever experienced. She feels like a person whose been lost in the desert for days and is finally tasting the water that's haunted their conscious.
Breaking away, Stella sits back breathing hard. She's disoriented for a moment, looking around the room like it's completely new to her. Scott's room….Scott's room, Scott's bed, Scott's girl. She looks down. Mo's breathing hard as well. Her gaze is unreadable but she looks shaken.
"I…I…" Stella starts to panic. What has she just done? Mo's gonna hate her now and she'll never want to see Stella again. What has she done. "I'm so sorry Mo. I didn't mean…I was just…" Words are failing so she goes with the only instinct she has left. Stella bolts. Rolling off of Mo, she jumps off the bed and literally sprints out of the room, down the hallway and down the stairs. At the bottom she sees Wen.
"Hey I've been looking for you. Where have you-"
"Not now Wen, gotta go. I, uh…parents found out I'm not home. Probably grounded for life." She dashes past him and out the door. Her heart is pumping so fast, the beating roaring in her ears. She runs until she's a good few blocks away. It's then that she feels nauseas. Slowing down to a walk, she bends over and throws up on someone's lawn. Trying to keep moving she manages to get a few houses down before collapsing onto grass. Her phone vibrates her pocket. Taking it out Stella notes a missed call from Mo.
"Shit, shit, shit." The world feels like it's completely closing in on her. Staring up at the stars, she pleads to the universe for time to rewind so she can take back everything but nothing happens. "What have I done?"