AN/ OKAY. This chapter is hella fluffy. Like super extra fluff. Like this ship is made of cotton-candy and is tended by chinchillas.
I STILL OWN NOTHING. NOT EVEN A LILL BIT.
"Dude Peridot, I don't care what you say; Watching the northern-lights all night in Skyrim with a girl is still ten times more romantic than watching the sunset in Minecraft. That sunset last what, all of a minute anyway?"
"Shut your beak, Pearl. Skyrim is a world that's already made for you, granted it's graphics are great and the content is wonderful, but it's all been discovered before. Someone has already written that story. Think about it, In Minecraft, you look out from over the top of a castle with this person in a world you both spent countless hours building together. You slow down after all that hard work and finally really watch the sunset over a land that's a beautiful product of your spent time together. That is the most serene and romantic activity that could be done in game with someone. It's deep and personal."
"Now, I see your point, but let's be real here... Minecraft unlike Skyrim won't get you laid-"
"-PAH like you'd know!"
"Actually yes, I would know. Skyrim has landed me many a good nights."
"Yeah, with your hand!"
"Girls! Seriously, stop! The world understands, you both are avid gamer lesbians with a near mute sense of romance, now shut up and eat your damn lunches or give them to me!" Amethyst reached out to nab the deli sandwiches off the two nerd's plates before having her hands slapped away simultaneously as the ladies snapped at her and resumed their own meals with grumpy expressions.
This was a rough Thursday for everyone, people in the halls seemed extra ruthless with the approaching weekend and there were more students in mechanics class today leading to some under productivity on Peridot's part as she tried to evade people whom were seeking some "help" with their pointless works. More like "Peridot, do this for me," or her favorite "Peridot, you know how to do this, right?" Damn mooches are just too lazy to do their own projects. What made it more odd for the blonde was that Lapis had texted her good morning and sent her a picture of a massive cup of coffee, this made the girl smile and reply with a good morning text of her own cup of coffee, but the brunette seemed to skip out on math for some reason and didn't reply when Peridot asked about her absence.
She didn't want to say she was worried, but this little happenstance had a bit of an effect on her overall mood.
"Pearl, did you happen to see Lazuli on the bus today?"
"I did, yes." Amethyst seemed to catch on as she shared the same math class as Peridot and Lapis. Pearl gave them both a questioning look, "why?"
"She didn't show up for math, I was curious if she came to school today-"
"-Taklin bout me guys?" Speak of the devil and he shall appear. The kid slid her lunch tray onto the table beside Amethyst, seeing as that was the only spot open at this table. Making herself at home by sitting and stuffing the turkey sandwich into her mouth.
"Yeah, where were you first pe-" green eyes landed on that tan face before growing as wide as saucers "oh my stars! Lapis what happened?"
"I tripped into a door." That was a lie, the white brace that adorned Lapis's swollen nose and two black eyes did not scream "accident" and everyone at the table knew it. Pearl reached out and touched the brunettes hand with a motherly-like worry in her soft blue eyes.
"Lapis sweetie, you don't have to lie to us.."
"Dude the bird's right, you're sitting at the nerd kids table. We get bullied every day, don't feel alone."
Lapis swallowed hard and averted her gaze for a long moment, a muscle in her jaw clenching and relaxed before she turned her dark eyes up to the group, "look guys, I really just don't want to talk about it right now, alright?"
And with that, everyone nodded in respect before resuming eating and arguing about video games, Lapis would openly laugh with them and interject her own opinion whenever the opportunity arose. Turns out, she's had some game experience too. This opened several new points of views and options. The blue woman also made it a point that staying up till midnight on new-years to watch the fireworks in AnimalCrossing was the most romantically stimulating in-game experience to share with another person, and Peridot had to agree. Of course she agreed.
The rest of the day went smoothly after that, thankfully. The people in the hall were still rambunctious and loud, but it was more tolerable now. With the end of the school day creeping closer, Peridot found herself out on that bench that overlooked the field and the pool again. Working on math much like she had been yesterday, and much like yesterday, Lapis came up to sit with her after swim practice. She was dressed this time, but her hair was still damp.
"How is it that half the time we meet alone, you're already dripping wet?" A giggle escaped a lopsided smile as the woman in question shook her head, flinging water droplets much like a dog would. This made the blonde hold up her book in an attempt at blocking the assaulting liquids with a laugh.
"Real funny, Peri. Another day studying outside and not knuckle-deep in an android?" Something about that question made the green eyed girl blush lightly with a little smile.
"Yeah, it might be becoming a bad habit of mine. So, coach let you on the team yet?" Peridot tilted her head at the other with curiosity in her green eyes.
"HE DID! And I get my official team hoodie next week some time, gosh I'm so excited!" Indeed she was, her smile reached her eyes and made the natural blues sparkle with energy. Peridot compared those eyes to the ocean once, so deep and uncharted. When Lapis was truly happy, her smile was like a run-away vacation to an unknown part of the beach. Like a breath of fresh air that smelled faintly of salt and warm sand. And when she laughed, it was like a delicate breeze rustling an old bronze chime into a natural song. The blonde quickly found herself warming to the idea of getting lost with this woman... getting lost IN this woman-
"I bet your parents are going to be so proud." Get a hold of yourself Peri.
"Oh my stars I bet they will be-" Lapis almost looked like she was ready to jump up out of excitement like a puppy gets excited when it's master comes home from work, but she cut herself off quickly and reached up to touch her nose "... crap, my parents don't know about my face yet.."
"Just tell them what happened and-"
"-I can't Peri, they'll get all defensive and over-protective again and then they probably won't let me go out tomorrow besides for school..."
"I'm sorry Lapis, but I don't think there is much hiding something like this-" The poor girl looked like she was on the verge of having a panic attack, Peridot reached out and gently placed a hand on the other's shoulder "-maybe we can convince your parents to let you sleep over at a friend's house for the night and go the track after school with said friend?" This seemed to calm Lapis as she looked at her lap for a moment, thinking the idea over in her head before turning to meet the other girl's eyes.
"You think it would work?"
"It's worth a shot."
Lapis deemed that answer good enough and pulled out her phone, standing and walking a few paces away for some privacy as she talked with her parents. The family seemed really excited about this call, Peridot could hear them talking really fast and quite loudly as Lapis tried to answer all the questions being thrown at her "No mom- .. I, yeah, I have an extra change of cloths in my bag- I know. Yes. Yeah she's a girl- what? No dad, she's like my age. Sure. Yeah, I'm gonna take to her to the track tomorrow- I know. Right. I know. Thanks, love you too mami, bye!" She hung up the phone quickly before throwing both arms into the air in victory.
"I'll take that as an okay?"
"Heck yes! My pride and dignity is safe one more day! You really are a genus, Peri!" She beamed at the blonde, making the lanky teen flush a dark shade of pink before she stood and gathered her things.
"Oh, well, I don't know about that... I mean, I prefer the term Mastermind, but genus is good too," this made the brunette chuckle as she gathered up her own bag. The bell rang as they righted themselves, letting them know that school was officially out for the day.
The walk home was something great, Lapis spotted a spider that skittered into a crack in the sidewalk and she narrated a little voice for it that was squeaky and small, sounding like a little-itty-bitty shriek of terror "AAH, NO PLZ, giants! The giants are advancing! Every critter for themselves!" Peri laughed at the little monologue before asking the girl how she felt about spiders anyway, Lapis answered with a distasteful noise before asking if she should be scared of Peridot's place. They chatted and laughed together for the short walk from the school to the blonde's dwelling before a thought struck Peridot right on the nose.
Lapis is staying the night.
At her house.
Shit.
"Uh, sorry about the mess.. I wasn't expecting company tonight."
"Pfft, no worries Peri. It's not a mess, it's aesthetic!"
"Good evening, Tumblr. Please take your shoes off at the door," the blonde half laughed as she removed her own shoes and padded into the kitchen to rifle through the continence of her fridge. Jasper had left a number of healthy microwavable meals for her in an effort to get her to take care of herself better, looks like low-fat whole-grain mac-an-cheese, kale and spinach lasagna, wheat pancake mix, soy milk, greek yogurt, and various canned vegetables "so, what do you feel like for dinner?"
"Pizza."
She can almost kiss that girl right now.
So they ordered out. Two medium cheese and pepperoni pizzas. Peridot showed her a cool way how not to get her fingers all greasy buy taking two slices and laying them on top of each other so your fingers only ever touch the bread of the pizza without bending a slice and creating a grease funnel. She also showed her a great treat by putting a handful of cool-ranch Doritos on one half before putting on the top slice and making a tasty and thick crunchy sandwich. Lapis was amazed by this invention and proceeded to devour more than half a pizza in that fashion as well as half of the chips by herself.
"Okay, I know you have a problem with your hands, but you wear gloves to eat too?"
Shit
"Yes."
"Can I ask why?"
"No." Lapis looked dejected, but curiosity still swam in her eyes. She let the conversation die for now.
They continued to eat in silence for a while, the only noise in the room being the TV that played a re-run of some show that they don't care to remember. Peridot was fighting the anxiety that had built up in her chest at Lapis's question and only grew more anxious as she thought about how this night was going to end up. She needed a distraction.
"You gonna need sleepwear?"
"Probably, but I could sleep in my cloths if it's too much."
"I'mma get you some pj's," the blonde placed her paper plate down on the coffee table and stood, making long strides to her bedroom and changing into pajamas quickly. Green hoodie, new gloves, sweatpants, and black socks. She also snagged some extra sweats for Lapis and an old black T-shirt with "I look fucking good today" written on it in white. Peridot returned to the other girl and handed her the clothing.
"Dude epic shirt," The brunette had dressed herself in the bathroom and emerged with a grin, having rolled up the sweats a little at her ankles because they were much too log for her "mind you, if my mum could see me now, I'd be deader than a door-nail."
"Pffft, well it looks good on you. How's your face?"
"Sore, but it's easy to forget about..." She stood there for a while, just looking at the Peridot as the nerd lounged on the couch lazily flicking through channels on the screen. Something in her chest burned like alcohol, it reminded her faintly like grief and fear, but it felt more like a distant want or yearn, like homesick. Was Peridot making her homesick? "Hey Peri?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks.." calculating green eyes strayed from the TV to the shorter's blue ones, the level of sincerity in the brunette's voice catching Peridot off guard momentarily "I... I just want you to know, I'm grateful for this-" she motioned to the house with a gesture "-and I'm very happy we ran into one another when we did. It's really nice to have someone around that I know I can trust and... and.."
Oh no, here come the tears.
"Hey, hey.." The blonde stood up and walked around the couch, coming to stand in front of the other whom hid her face in her hands. Peridot knew the woman was in distress, so she reached out with both hands, gently touching her shoulders and upper-arms in an attempt to sooth the other girl, "you're okay, don't cry.."
Lapis sniffled and wiped her eyes vigorously "I'm sorry.. It's just been a while sense I've been shown this kind of kindness from someone. Oh my stars, crying is painful when your nose all is busted up-" she laughed awkwardly as she made to swipe under her nose with the back of her hand and only ended up winching in pain. Peridot hushed her by placing her hands on either side of the other's round face, seeming put take a lot of concentration into lift her thumbs and gently brush the gloved digits over the other's tear-streaked cheeks. The action made Lapis freeze like a deer in the headlights before her big blue eyes looked up into the bright green that was Peridot.
Those eyes were so intense, they confused her and enlightened her at the same time. Made her heart beat faster and made heat flood into her face, she felt like she wanted to run and hide, but at the same time she also wanted to wait and see what came next. Being so close to the other woman and gazing into these eyes filled her a familiar sense of calm that made the brunette relax inside and found herself leaning into Peridot's touch.
Gods her hands were freezing.
"Why are your hands so cold?"
"I- I have a condition-"
"Hug me."
"What?"
"I said hug me, you fool." So she did, wrapping her arms around the smaller's waist and pulling her close. Lapis tucked her arms between them, resting her palms on Peridot's collarbones as she snuggled up under the other's chin.
"Careful with that nose-"
"Shhhhhh, I know." They stood like this for a while, just enjoying the peace. Not really hearing the TV in the background anymore.
"You still smell heavily of pool-"
"-really killing the mood Peri."
"Ey Lapis?" The smaller pulled back enough to look up at the other girl with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah?"
"I trust you too."
END CHAPTER 4
AN/ Now KISSSS! Omg this went better than expected. Secrets. Secrets everywhere. Secrets for DAYS.
Hey guys, next chapter is Friday. NEXT CHAPTER IS NASCAR DATE, GET HYPE!