Bonnie was pleasantly surprised. Despite Joss's adamant declaration that she wouldn't let her new relationship monopolize her time, the former cheerleader had more than half expected their agreed Wednesday night get-togethers would be an intermittent affair at best.
But after six weeks, Joss hadn't cancelled a single time. Usually, the two women simply had dinner at Bonnie's, chatting comfortably with each other, though on the second week they had taken a trip up the interstate to have dinner and catch an art-house movie Bonnie was keen to see. Joss had enjoyed the meal; the movie, less so ... they'd argued good-naturedly about it over coffee afterwards, heads bent together over the small table, until the Montanan had suddenly backed off, opening a gap between them.
Bonnie frowned, unsure what had just happened. "Is something wrong?"
"We're just attractin' some unwanted attention." Joss slid her eyes to the right. Following the younger woman's gaze, Bonnie saw an elderly couple, watching them with disapproving expressions.
"Oh." The former cheerleader blushed and looked down, even as she felt a stab of anger. Not at Joss. Not even, really, at the older couple, despite their stone age attitudes. But at herself, for letting those attitudes matter so much to her.
"Risk o' bein' seen out with me, I'm afraid." Joss shrugged apologetically. "Some folks are gonna think I'm corruptin' ya."
"Not your fault." Bonnie mumbled, as she stared at her coffee.
"We can go, if you like?"
"... no." The former cheerleader shook her head, then glanced up at Joss. "We haven't finished our drinks, yet."
"'kay." Joss gave her that smile; that, dazzling, playful smile, this time sweetened by the gratitude Bonnie saw shining in the younger woman's eyes.
It was a small enough gesture, finishing her drink, rather than running, but it felt like a victory nonetheless. Baby steps.
"Thanks for saving me a seat." Joss said, as she flopped down in the chair opposite Bonnie. "When I saw the crowds I figured I'd hafta eat on the run."
"As your cousin would say, 'no big'." The older woman smiled, glancing around at the barely-restrained bedlam of the cafeteria. "It's always like this just before Halloween, I'm afraid."
"Nah, it's good." The Montanan waved off the apology and looked around at the garishly decorated room. "I love Halloween. Saffy 'n' I always used to go all out for costumes every year."
"Are you and Reba doing anything for it?" Bonnie asked, managing to keep her tone casual. After six weeks, she'd more or less come to terms with the other Joss's relationship. You made your bed, now you have to lie in it.
"We both managed to get Friday off, so we're going up to Atlanta after work on Thursday. There's a bunch of stuff going on at the clubs up there, and we'll be in the thick of it." Joss picked up her chocolate muffin, broke it in half, and dropped the slightly smaller piece on Bonnie's plate. The former cheerleader reciprocated with her own, blueberry-laden pastry. This had become something of a Monday morning ritual. "Should be fun."
"Sounds like it will be." Bonnie took a bite of muffin. It seemed safer than saying anything more.
"Yeah, it will. The only drawback is that I'm gonna miss out on 'Moon Madness'."
Bonnie nearly choked on her muffin. "Moon what?" She managed at last, stifling a cough.
"'Moon Madness'." Joss repeated, a small grin quirking the ends of her lips. "It's a promotion they're running out at the NASA museum, this week. They're staying open until later, and have lots of new moon-related exhibits, plus all kinds of Halloween games ... something to get the kids in. Sounds cool, but it doesn't start until tomorrow, and Tuesday is my busy day."
"Why not go on Wednesday night?" Bonnie suggested, figuring it was what the Montanan hoped she would do. Six weeks without a cancellation was pretty good, after all.
Joss looked genuinely surprised by the suggestion. "I thought we were doing something?" She frowned. "Are you busy, this week?"
"Well, no ... I'm not." The younger woman's evident confusion at her suggestion made Bonnie feel a little ashamed of her cynical assumption ... but also pleased that it was wrong. "But we hadn't made any firm plans for this week, yet -" A sudden impulse came to her, and for once she didn't question it. "- maybe we could check it out together and then do dinner?"
"Really?" Joss looked pleased, then paused. "... you're sure you want to? It's probably going to be a bit dorky."
Bonnie laughed. "Dorky? I thought you said it sounded cool?"
"Well ..." Joss leaned forward and dropped her voice in a conspiratorial whisper. "... don't tell anyone, but I'm a bit of dork, myself."
"... you certainly are." The former cheerleader shook her head, still chuckling.
"Hmmph!" Joss sat back in her chair, folding her arms and affecting an air of mock outrage. "Meanie!"
"Yep." Bonnie grinned complacently, and popped another piece of muffin in her mouth. Joss chuckled and shook her head.
"Well, if you're sure you wanna go?"
"I am."
"Then I'll pick you up from your place on Wednesday ... say at quarter to six? That way we can get in a couple of hours at the museum before it closes."
"Sounds good to me." Bonnie glanced at her watch, sighed, and scooped up her half of the chocolate muffin. "I gotta run ... got freshmen to educate in the mysteries of the theater. See you Wednesday."
"See ya." Joss agreed, offering a small wave.
Bonnie threaded her way through the crowds at the cafeteria, dumping her plate and cutlery at one of the collection points. She turned to head toward the door, and almost bumped into Lorraine as she did so.
"Bonnie." The older woman said, sounding a little cool. The former cheerleader stifled a flash of annoyance. She's probably just miffed that I keep ducking her for lunch.
"Lorraine." She greeted the older teacher with a warm smile. A fake smile, but a warm one nonetheless. "How are you?"
"I'm fine." The older woman sniffed. "But dear, I think you might not be."
Bonnie blinked. Then she folded her arms, no longer bothering to stifle her annoyance. "What's that supposed to mean?" She asked sharply, knowing full well what it meant.
"That ... woman." Lorraine's lip curled. "She's -"
"A friend." Bonnie cut off her colleague, having neither the time nor the inclination to listen to whatever nonsensical advice the older woman was about to offer. "Just like any other."
Lorraine sniffed again. "Not just like."
Bonnie sighed. "If you mean that she's gay, I don't see what difference it makes. It's not like I can catch lesbianism from her." Especially since I already have an advanced case.
"Well -" Lorraine huffed.
"Sorry, Lorraine, I've got to run to take a class." Bonnie brushed by the other woman, and made her escape, before she said anything else.
"Hey." Joss leaned nonchalantly against the frame of Bonnie's door. "Ready to roll?"
"Yep." The taller woman wrapped a light shawl around her shoulders, to ward off the cool October evening, then locked the door behind her. She glanced at Joss, who wore her usual jeans and leather jacket. "I hope I'm not overdressed?"
"You look great." The Montanan replied, in much the same the perfunctory way Brick had always offered the compliment. Bonnie rolled her eyes and sighed, which prompted Joss to frown. "What?"
The older woman shook her head and chuckled. "Sometimes you can be such a guy."
"What?" Joss spread her hands as she followed Bonnie down the stairs. "What did I do?"
"Never mind." Bonnie waved it off, then paused as she rounded the corner and saw, not Joss's car, but her bike. "We're taking Aimee?"
"You don't mind do you?" Joss ran a hand through her hair and gave an apologetic shrug. "I figured it wasn't far to go, tonight, and Reba and I will need to use the car all weekend, so Aimee wouldn't get a run ..."
"It's fine." Bonnie shook her head slightly. Just as well I wore slacks. She cleared her throat. "Good evening, Aimee." Try as she might, she couldn't help but feel a little ridiculous, talking to a motorcycle.
"Good evening, Bonnie."
Joss snorted. "Oh, now you decide to talk."
"Huh?" Bonnie gave the younger woman a confused look, then glanced at Aimee, who somehow contrived to look smug.
"This young lady -" Joss waved at the motorcycle, "- refuses to talk to Reba. She's been making me look like a lunatic for the last two months."
"Oh, is that what's been making you look that way?" Aimee's voice was treacle-y sweet. Bonnie chuckled, involuntarily, then blushed and coughed when Joss gave her a pout.
"Traitors, the pair of them." Joss addressed the sky in an aggrieved tone. "What did I do to deserve being surrounded by such turncoats?"
"You have such a hard life." Bonnie said agreeably, as she swung herself onto Aimee and patted the leather in front of her. "Now let's get going, shall we?"
Still grumbling good-naturedly, Joss handed her the spare helmet, then donned her own, climbed onto the bike and started the engine.
"You all set?" The Montanan called over her shoulder. Bonnie didn't answer immediately, instead shuffling forward until she was pressed against the other woman's strong back, then clinching her hands around Joss's waist. Very deliberately not thinking about the firm ripple of muscle she could sense under her hands, she nodded.
"All set."
They roared off toward the museum.
Author's Note: Bonnie does indeed take some baby steps forward in this chapter, doesn't she, even if it is more about standing by her friend than admitting who she is? So much so that I almost made a 'kindergarten' reference in the chapter title. But then I figured I might need to use that later, so I held onto it :-)
And Aimee doesn't seem to like Reba. Who woulda thunk it? :-)
Fair warning: sometime in the next few chapters, this story will start to earn its "M" rating. I'll try and remember to post a more specific warning just before we get to that point, but thought I'd mention it now, just in case.