wanna see what true power really looks like?

** means explicit!!

ocean’s 8/loubbie;

jealousy, jealousy**

friends don’t kiss me like you do

winter things - carol (2015)!loubbie AU

summary: debbie ocean is an aspiring photographer working at a department store in manhattan, where she meets lou miller, an alluring, wealthy older woman who is trying to put an end to her loveless marriage. their relationship escalates quickly when they start to catch feelings for each other. yes, this is absolutely a modern day carol (2015) AU, essentially, but i’ll be changing a few things every now and then.

length: short sorry next one will be longer

warnings: none

—

“Miss Ocean, they need you at the toys section!” the brunette was just about to sip from her coffee mug when she heard her boss call. She glanced at the doors of the cafeteria, noticing the woman wasn’t there anymore after yelling out her name, so she’d better hurry up.

Debbie stood up, washed her coffee mug in the bathroom and put it back on her locker, she wouldn’t go home until 5. It was still 9am, this was going to be a hell of a busy day, with christmas just around the corner, the store was soon to welcome a bunch of middle aged women who only wanted to buy their kids toys without thinking too much about it so they wouldn’t lose their minds trying to figure out how to make a better christmas dinner than they made on the previous year, and it was always this same cycle of attending desperate mothers — and sometimes fathers — that only made Debbie want to quit and kickstart her photographer career. But of course, she wouldn’t do that, not with the amount of money she had now. It just wasn’t enough.

She felt it was getting colder by the hour, and wondered if anyone else working behind the counter also felt like they were about to lose a finger. She checked her phone one last time before putting it away, completely ignoring the millions of texts from her boyfriend, or at least the guy that liked to call himself that. Claude Becker really needed to learn how to take a hint when a girl says she thinks your sister is “infinitely hotter than you.” Debbie didn’t even want to imagine how stupid she looked right now, fidgeting with the white pom-pom of her santa hat before putting it on, not wanting to deal with her boss later. You need the stupid money so do the stupid job.

At least two hours passed by and Debbie could now feel her feet dancing behind the counter to the christmas song that had started to play on the toy floor, quietly moving side to side as she felt the air quietly fill her lungs, breathing in and out with her elbows on the counter and her hand supporting her head. She was too distracted doing absolutely nothing to notice the woman looking at her from the other side of the aisle, following her every breath. After a second or two, Debbie seemed to have looked at her, briefly, and something sparked inside her chest. The woman wasn’t there anymore, and losing sight of her only made Debbie take another, long breath, this time a sharp one, not quietly like before. Who was that? She wondered. It was too late to think about it any longer when she saw blonde locks shining against the yellow light of the aisle roof right there in front of her, waiting. She was tall, but not that much taller than Debbie herself, had marble skin, pale, soft, older. But not that much older than Debbie herself.

She looked up from the blonde’s hands that held her brown leather gloves tightly seconds before she placed them on the counter next to her, and she admired her other features. She wasn’t quite like anyone else the brunette had ever seen, and she saw more than 200 people every day. Her eyes were icy blue and the curves around her lips when she grinned at her made Debbie want to burst into flames, her bangs fell perfectly into place, almost hiding her piercing gaze on the brunette, but Debbie sure caught on to it, jumping like the woman’s presence had suddenly startled her, and she felt more ridiculous than ever, wearing that silly hat and just in her red sweater and jeans when the woman in front of her was undoubtedly wearing a very, very expensive leopard printed overcoat and layers of good jewelry on her neck and fingers.

“Sorry. How can I help you?” did her voice come out almost strangled? Did the woman notice? Did she care?

“I wanted to buy a doll for my daughter, but I think I’m out of luck… That new one, that talks and wets herself.” Debbie chuckled, and the woman seemed to enjoy her response.

“Yes that one sold out this morning, but we do have other models that your daughter might li-“

“What did you want when you were 5?” the woman asked, unbothered. Her voice was deep and raspy, almost raunchy.

“Definitely not dolls. But people were too picky about these things in the 70’s so I couldn’t really just go to my mother and tell her I’d rather have a bike and not a… pink haired Suzy doll.”

“Why not? If that’s what you wanted.” she smiled at Debbie, and her once dancing legs were now all shaky.

“You’re right.” Debbie said, looking around for other options.

“I can’t buy my 5 year old a bike, although that sounds kinda cool.” Debbie looked back at her. “Not for her, for me.”

“How does she feel about puzzles? We have them with 500 pieces and more.”

“Is she gonna need help with it?” the woman asked holding back a smug smile before taking her wallet from the pocket inside the coat.

“Oh no, they’re pretty plain and simple. But it might take her a little while to complete it, she’ll be busy for hours.” Debbie answered enthusiastically.

“Well, that’s that. Sold.” she smiled at the woman, like she was ignoring everyone and everything else that was going on in the aisle. “Shouldn’t I pay now?”

“Oh, yeah, right. Sorry. We can have it delivered to your place if you’d like. Just write down your information on the paper and I’ll take care of it for you.”

“Nice.” she watched the woman grab the blue pen she handed her, writing down some numbers and then her name, finally her name. Lou M. She finished signing her name and glanced at Debbie with a smirk, thinking the brunette’s mannerisms were cute, the way she silently gasped when she saw her and the way her cheeks flushed whenever Lou smiled at her.

The woman grabbed her wallet and gave her the pen back, taking a deep breath before straightening her shoulders. “Merry christmas.” she said before leaving, and just as she was about to leave Debbie’s sight once more, she turned around for a second, checking her out from the other side of the room shamelessly, and quietly mouthed “I like the hat”, making Debbie’s cheeks go as red as the fabric of her sweater.

She shook her head after the blonde finally left the aisle, trying to wash away the image of that woman that was stuck in her head. She was happy to see her boss put a thumbs up in the air for her, realizing that that was probably the first time she’d seen that bitter old woman smile at her.

“I’m just gonna go pass down the client’s information to the delivery department, watch the register for me?” Debbie asked a colleague, who was quickly eager to be helpful.

“Oh, Debbie, you forgot your gloves.” the man said, making Debbie turn around to see what he was talking about.

“My gloves?” her eyes caught a glimpse of the leather gloves on the counter completely forgotten, and she immediately remembered who they belonged to. Well fuck me.

Debbie had no trouble finishing her shift, she went home and kept on ignoring Claude’s messages and calls, stopping to grab some coffee on the way home. It was cheap New York coffee but she was still satisfied, she just wanted to get home so she could send the gloves back to their owner safely and have time to prepare dinner for one, assuming she wouldn’t find Claude sleeping on her couch again. Debbie didn’t even like sharing a bed with him, and he thought maybe she wasn’t ready to be that intimate with him yet, it’s not like she didn’t want to or anything… right? Even if it had been 8 months since they started “dating” and Debbie didn’t like him to call her his girlfriend in public.

She sighed when the front door unlocked and she saw a man sitting on her kitchen table, eating an apple as his eyes rapidly found hers, tired and for a strange reason, anxious, maybe a little ecstatic. She didn’t bother talking to him, quickly going to her room and locking the door behind her, and he only took it as a sign that it hadn’t been a great day at work, so he didn’t go after her, asking about her possibly shitty day, although that wasn’t the case, at all. If anything, there hadn’t been a better day for her at work than that day.

summary: lou and debbie have to fight their feelings for each other while working/living together + one very jealous lou miller.

length: long (and gay) enough

warnings: extreme fluff!! and a little angst

—

“Just leave it there, TamTam, Jesus.” Debbie spoke with an angry tone while Tammy was sitting at the other end of Lou’s couch, trying to fix Debbie’s heel that broke when she and Tammy ran home together after getting out of the cab on a rainy New York city night.

Debbie almost twisted her ankle stepping on a cobblestone and Tammy laughed, tugging her arm and helping Debbie steady herself, but one of her heels was now wrecked and the brunette was cursing under her breath, meeting an impatient Lou waiting for them by the door, whispering “what the fuck” when both women showed up looking like train wrecks, both a little drunk too. It was supposed to be a business dinner with one of Debbie’s old friends who worked at the bank, and it ended up with margaritas and endless vodka shots.

Lou was a bit hurt, not ever admitting that to anyone, that Debbie didn’t ask her to come with her, calling Tammy instead. Sure, Tammy was her best friend too, but she wasn’t Lou, and Lou wondered why not just ask her when Tammy had to leave four snotty kids at home and Lou was always just… there. She welcomed their drunk mess with tea and dry towels, and now she was watching the silly shatter from the kitchen as Debbie snatched the heel from Tammy’s hand with a giggle.

“Leave it to me, honey, I can do it.” Lou knew it was all part of the banter, but hearing someone else call Debbie those stupid pet names was one of the worst things she’d ever witnessed. It only made her wanna throw up, thinking she’d been somehow replaced by Tammy as the best friend, and maybe as something else too. And it hurt her even more that Tammy was her friend, and that now she was starting to act and think like an immature teenager. Put it together, Miller.

.

Lou was in love. She couldn’t deny it. As much as she really, really, truly wanted to. She and Debbie had decided on staying “just friends” until they could really work things out between them and also get the heist successfully done. But every time Lou let time pass carelessly she’d find herself attached to the brunette, physically, almost too many times.

It would either happen after Debbie had a rough day assembling new members for the team or after Lou didn’t have a good day at the club. They would always find comfort in each other after midnight when Lou was about to go to bed but Debbie always stopped her before the australian could even step into her bedroom.

It was 1am, Debbie was sure because she’d had dinner with Lou three hours ago when she came back from the club, and afterwards she texted Tammy good night, assuring her that she was okay and thanking her for the help with the banker guy the other day, “also, fuck you, I ruined one good pair of heels because you thought you were Usain Bolt in the rain.”

She heard Lou turn off the kitchen lights and knew the australian was headed to bed, and she suddenly lost interest in the cooking book she was reading. It was Lou’s and she wasn’t even so sure Lou herself actually ever read that thing ever, but it was something to kill her time.

“Lou? Can I sleep with you?” the whisper filled the silent living room. All the lights were out except for the yellow ray from the creepy skull lamp Lou had gotten as a gift from her brother Rusty, she put it on her coffee table at first not really knowing what to do with it and she would always find Debbie sitting by the corner of her couch, using the light to read in the dark. She liked to sit there because she could always see when Lou walked around the place.

Debbie’s eyes followed her like a flashlight and even after almost fifteen years of knowing that woman the effect the australian had on her was still the same. Lou didn’t change at all. Being in prison for five years, she missed seeing that on the daily, and to her surprise, the first night she spent with Lou felt like home again. She never got used to being without Lou. And Lou didn’t either.

It would all fade to black again when Debbie decided to distance herself from those feelings, from Lou. She couldn’t escape the fear of fucking things up with the most important person in her life, so she would pretend to look away when Lou looked at her with that look, wouldn’t go out with her even just to run some stupid errands when Lou asked her to, every moment did something to her and she couldn’t bear it anymore. She couldn’t bare being Lou’s sidekick, even if she knew she wasn’t just that to her.

“Can I?” she whispered again.

“You- uh-“ Lou looked her up and down, her body covered by the robe she hadn’t known the brunette borrowed from her. She smirked, thinking about how she too would often just grab some of Debbie’s clothes and not even give them back later.

“I know we’ve talked about it. It’s not that. I mean- I just can’t sleep. I’m probably reading this stupid book for the 20th time only because I can never fucking sleep. It’s hard, without…” Debbie’s eyes would start to get watery if she hadn’t known any better, feeling so vulnerable in front of her partner. But she felt grateful for Lou’s silly smile growing wider, and the pang of pity as well. Usually that would piss her off, make her feel like she was nothing, like people were always just trying to be nice to her out of politeness and not because they cared for her, but this was Lou. And she knew the truth whenever it came to Lou.

“Yes, c’mon. Leave the bloody book there.” Lou walked to where the brunette was sitting on the couch and helped her stand up, grabbing the book with her right hand and Debbie’s waist with the other. Debbie looked at her with guilt in her eyes.

“Lou, I…”

“Yeah?” she watched the blonde rub her eyes in a sleepy way before yawning and sticking out a hand to her in the most loving, Lou way possible.

“Nothing. Thank you.” she closed her brown cardigan tighter around her shivering body, taking Lou’s hand and walking upstairs to Lou’s room.

Lou let Debbie make herself at home as the brunette tucked herself in and waited for her on her side of the bed. Lou usually slept in the middle of the bed, but she didn’t mind this, at all. The room was a bit dark and had one big window that shone the night lights from the shore outside. Lou loved hearing the waves break inside her head and how the shadows coming from outside the window made living shadows on her walls, it always helped her fall asleep faster, but tonight she didn’t mind that either. This was one of those nights where Debbie was all she would think of. Touching her and having her scent all over her and the room, felt like she could stay like that forever, falling asleep in the brunette’s arms as she scared Debbie’s nightmares away.

She cuddled closer to her, feeling the Ocean sniff her neck as they held each other tight, and Lou covered both their bodies with the heavy white blankets.

“I think we forgot to turn off the lamp, Lou.” Debbie whispered as she felt the blonde run her fingers across her arms.

“What?” Lou glanced at her, confused, making Debbie flush at how cute her stupid little frown was.

“In the living room.”

“Oh. That’s okay, Debs. Just sleep, alright?” she kissed the crown of Debbie’s head and held her like that, letting Debbie get closer and closer. “And you never know, maybe Tam will wanna barge in in the middle of the night to try and fix your heel for you. She might need the light to see.”

“Lou.” Debbie warned, holding back a chuckle.

“Sorry. It’s true.” Lou laughed, turning her back to Debbie.

“Lou?” Debbie called again, almost too scared to speak up.

“Yeah, Debs?” she answered like a mother angry at her child, making them both laugh.

“I miss this.” Lou’s heart stopped, and she looked at those dark eyes facing her in the dark. She could barely see Debbie, but she knew every inch of that face and that woman even more than herself.

“You miss sleeping with me, Ocean? Well that’s fucking impossible because you’re always in my bed.” they shared a laugh and Debbie rolled her eyes.

“You know what I mean, Lou.”

“I do.” Lou could feel her heart break inside her chest like never before. They both knew what they felt for each other, and how they’d left things between them before Debbie went to jail, and they hadn’t walked so far from that point after she got out. Five years later. They just knew it was still there, all of it. The painful silence, the electric touches, the desperate exchange of looks in a crowded room. The longing.

But they had agreed on staying like this for a while and that was the plan the had to stick with no matter what. No matter how much they wanted to go home together after a party with the team and just jump at each other with kisses and teeth, no matter how bad they were in love with each other in a way that nothing else could ever live rent free in their minds like each other.

“I miss… sleeping with you.” Lou smirked, covering her face with her arm.

“We really had it all didn’t we?” the australian whispered.

“We still can.” Debbie said, almost like a plead.

Lou shook her head, lying with her back facing the ceiling and her elbows supporting her weight.

“We couldn’t figure it out back then, Debs. What makes you think we could now?” Debbie cupped her face, bringing it impossibly close to hers.

“We were young, Lou. And stupid.”

“Yeah, well-“ the blonde scoffed, thinking about a 19 year old Debbie Ocean kissing her for the first time. “We still are. Stupid, at least.”

“I wanna be stupid together.” her voice came out broken, her hands finding Lou’s above her brown locks. Lou smiled.

“You do?”

“Yeah. I really fucking do. I can’t be just friends. I wanna kiss you all the time and every fucking day and I wanna be able to tell people that I’m yours and you’re min-“

Lou’s lips met hers with a calm pace, both in a way of saying “please shut the fuck up” and “I love you more than you’ll ever know.”

i came across this manip and immediately had an idea… so bear with me. this is a little loubbie (nsfw?) imagine!!

length: not that long idk

warnings: nsfw, cursing {english is not my first language so i’m really trying my best here, ignore any mistakes}

—

“Oh come on, cut the crap!” Lou scoffed.

“I mean, they’re not wrong.” the sassy brunette spoke, chewing on her gum, her hands focused on Lou’s poker cards while the rest of the team stared at the two of them, teasingly.

“Yeah, no, I’m telling you, those two would make a hot pair!” Constance blurted out, almost too excited considering Debbie’s daring glance.

“Okay everybody, let’s just stop. Daphne and I only did that because we needed a distraction. Otherwise all you little shits would be in jail right now.” the room goes silent for a moment before Rose lets out a sigh, reaching for her third slice of pizza on the coffee table.

“Oh dear, please don’t say that.” Rose begs, dragging a brief laugh out of Debbie, who had her head resting on her hands, hiding her face, maybe in exhaustion, maybe because her face was flushed and dominated by jealousy caused by the little space between Daphne and her partner in crime.

“Not you, Debs. You would be fine.” the tall blonde gives Debbie a warm, mischievous smile, and Debbie leans back on the chair.

“What can I say, I learn from my mistakes.”

“No more dating douchebags then.” Debbie grinned at her, then stared at the floor. “Nice.” Lou whispered funnily.

“You never liked him. It’s almost like you knew what was gonna happen.” she looked back at Lou, who hadn’t looked away.

“Not because of that but, yes. Wasn’t very trustworthy to begin with.”

“Wait why did she not- why did you not like him before?” Amita looked away from the Scribble board to speak as if she had always been a part of the conversation.

“You know what darling, men just can’t be trusted.” Rose said confidently.

“Yeah but, you know, you can always dip into the lady pond, Momma. No worries.” Constance said, making Debbie think of the many situations she would find herself in with Lou kissing her when she least expected and the two of them still in their twenties, both a little unexperienced, but way too eager to learn with each other. She remembered Lou was the first girl she’d ever been with, remembered how they’d spend nights together at the beach just talking about jobs and whispering sweet nothings in each other’s ears.

That wasn’t them anymore, clearly, because Lou was more worried about coming up with a plan that involved her having to kiss another woman than have Debbie help her distracting the security team. Debbie couldn’t stop thinking about it. Really? It was just a few dumb men, she didn’t need to do that, but she did it anyway. And it hurt Debbie, in the most ridiculous way.

Lou smiled at her, the same thoughts coming back to her, but Debbie was quick to divert her eyes from her.

“That didn’t work out for me either.” Debbie confessed, and she noticed how Lou wanted to speak, but she didn’t. At least she didn’t say anything Debbie wanted to hear, but on the contrary, she just decided to play Debbie’s game.

“Can’t say the same.” were the words that came out of the australian’s mouth.

“Clearly.” Debbie mouthed to her lap, and all eyes were on her right now, going back and forth between her and Lou, and Daphne.

“O…kay, girls, why don’t we take this party to my new flat?”

“Party? This is a funeral.” Constance said.

“I have wine and steak.” Amita made sure to look continuously at Lou and Debbie as she spoke, and she barely even had to ask before they were all grabbing their belongings from the floor and walking out, Nine and Tammy still a little tipsy from Lou’s cheap vodka but whispering in unison a little rap that went ‘a little party never killed nobody’ repeatedly.

After realizing they were alone, Debbie’s first thought was to go hide in her bedroom and cry, maybe cry until she was sleeping.

“What the fuck was that?” Lou asked.

“What the fuck was what?” Debbie’s intonation was filled with sarcasm.

“Your little jealousy show in front of them. You broke up with me, Debs.”

“I know, you won’t let me forget about it.” Lou grabbed her gently by the wrist, making Debbie look at her. “Wha…”

Her words didn’t even come close to affecting Lou when she had already pulled her into her arms, kissing her, her hands wandering around Debbie’s waist and to her back, pressing hard everywhere.

“You think I would kiss her like this?” Lou asked, whispering close to Debbie’s neck before kissing her there, leaving marks, and Debbie let out a soft groan.

“You did…” she was trying her best to speak, but having Lou’s hands and lips on her that way again was exhilarating, addicting.

“You think I would touch her like this?” the blonde held her tighter and walked with her to the nearest wall causing some books on the shelves to fall to the ground, which they payed no mind to and Lou’s thigh slipped between the brunettes legs, forcing against her cunt.

“Stop talking about her.” Debbie sighed and kissed her, and Lou didn’t think about breathing anymore.

“It’s you that I want, honey, don’t you know that?” Lou was kissing her everywhere and making her way down Debbie’s body, but Debbie stopped her, taking her by the hand and walking with her to her bedroom on the second floor. Debbie’s bed was bigger, and that drew a smirk out of Lou’s lips because she knew Debbie was going to absolutely destroy her tonight.

“I want you too, baby. Now will you stop talking and help me out of this thing.” Debbie gestured to her white silk blouse while she tried to unbutton it, and Lou almost ripped it, doing the same with her own. They fully undressed each other and fell on the bed together, and Lou stopped to look at Debbie under her.

“What?” breathless, she asked.

“Just wanted to remember this face next time you get jealous, desperate for me to fuck you, so I can feel motivated to tease the shit out of you.” Lou whispered.

“Not funny.” Debbie yanked the blonde strands and Lou moaned softly into her mouth.

“Ocean…” she breathed out, kissing the brunette’s shoulder. “How many times will I have to say-“

“Don’t say it then.” Debbie smiled and Lou couldn’t stop herself from kissing her. She kissed the crook of her neck, planted kisses on her collarbones and rushed down to Debbie’s centre, teasing her thighs making Debbie squirm under her.

needless to say, claude becker was a mommy’s boy. and now, jane fonda’s character aka claude’s mom, after finding out about debbie framing him, wants revenge. her plan is to destroy debbie and end her con artist career. she goes for what debbie loves the most, or in this case, whom. without her partner, her lou, debbie is not the same. she is weaker. can’t be as good. so she kidnaps lou, and the plot is all about the girls + julia roberts’ tess trying to help lou [sneaking into her multimillion dollar mansion, where lou is being kept at] whilst debbie is plotting to take something from the woman, since she went for the thing debbie cared about the most, debbie does the same, so the gang cons the hell out of her while she’s too busy (thinking about outsmarting debbie) because what she cares about the most— besides her son, is her money. she thinks her plan is working, but what she’s not counting on, is one very alive danny ocean who is ready to help lou (they’re old friends) and his sister no matter what. oh, and he helps them steal from her as well. debbie realizes just how much and what lou really means to her and they confess their love for each other.