midnight sky

   Riley had been in New York at the corporate offices for training for about two weeks. Being away from everyone that kept her grounded hadn’t helped much. She could tell that something was wrong between her and Quinn, and those uncomfortable vibes had just made her pull back from the other girl even more. They’d had a few short facetimes and phone calls in the last week, but hadn’t talked much. She could tell Quinn was upset. But she couldn’t bring herself to focus on anything else other than picking up more drugs from Briar. The brunette had been the first person she’d texted once she’d gotten back to her apartment. 

   Now, against her better judgment, she was in her car on the way to Eden’s to buy from Briar again. She knew that this could get her in significant amounts of trouble. Again-- she couldn’t bring herself to care as she walked into the strip club in a pair of light blue ripped jeans and a tight white crop top, pulling her phone out and shooting Briar a text telling her she was here. She lingered near the bar, declining the bartender’s offer to fix her a drink. There was a small thought in her mind that told her she was too dressed down to fit in here, but she was able to shut that out with the overwhelming feeling of wanting to pick up more drugs from Briar. If it needed to be here, it would be. And maybe it would be better if she didn’t look like she’d gotten dressed up and tried to look hot to come here. 

   She raked a hand through her short blonde hair and sighed softly, biting absent-mindedly on her bottom lip as she waited, looking at the strip club around her. 

when told to remind riley not to forget to order pizza, quinn smiled and chuckled softly, “okay i’ll remind you. maybe we can order it in an hour or so.” she suggested and kept the smile on her expression. as riley told her about her day, quinn nodded her head and listened, “aw that sounds like fun, i’m glad you were there for her and i’m glad she was feeling better. i feel like i haven’t seen penny outside of work since the barbecue, i’ll have to message you.” she tells her and smiles listening to her words, “i know, it’s pretty insane that she’s going to be a mom soon and skyler a father wow.. who would have thought.” she shook her head and gave a small smile. there was a question quinn wanted to ask riley, but felt it wasn’t the right time to ask, “but i’m sure the baby is going to be super cute of course. did she tell you if she knows what she’s having?” quinn was curious as to if penny would have a girl or a boy or if it was too early to even tell. “but aside from that, are you ready for an amazing night with me?”

   “It feels like she’s always busy doing something or the other with Skyler or whoever now so you might not get a message back right away,” The words came out sounding more bitter than she realized. Penny and Riley used to be attached at the hip, but she hardly ever saw her anymore now, and with the baby coming it just didn’t feel like their lifestyles were going to be able to match up so perfectly like they did before. Then, Riley shook her head, “No, I don’t think she officially knows what she’s having yet. She really thinks it’s a boy though, and whenever Penny gets feelings about things, she’s usually right, so they’re probably have a boy,” She laughed a little and then perked up, nodding enthusiastically. “I’m one thousand percent ready! It’s been a rough week and I’m ready to forget about all of it and just have a good time with my baby,” She grinned, leaning forward to place a tender kiss to Quinn’s lips before pulling back and smiling at her. 

a small appears on her lips as she waits for riley to answer the door. a soft giggle leaves her throat just hearing the dog barking on the other end. as she waited, she looked down but soon looked up as soon as she heard footsteps behind the door. 

as the door opened, she smiled and greeted riley. “hi.” she responded and happily returned the kiss to her girlfriend. she took her shoes off and placed her things on the couch as she walked more into riley’s apartment. “oh good, i brought some snacks myself just in case.” she giggled softly and followed her over to the living room. “i’m down for anything to be honest, pizza, snacks all of it sounds amazing.” she smiled and took riley by her hand to pull her close to her, “how was time spent with penny?” she asked and laced their fingers together. 

   “Don’t let me forget to order the pizza, if we want it. Because I will forget if you don’t remind me,” She laughed lightly and then happily stepped closer to Quinn. “It was good,” She nodded her head, “We talked about baby stuff, so that was cool. She was already feeling a lot better by the time I got off work and got to her place, so that’s good.. I think Skyler probably helped cheer her up. He seems like the only one who can really do that nowadays,” She forced out a small laugh and then shrugged, looking down at their fingers entangled together. “It’s so weird, picturing Penny as a mom. She’s gonna have a baby in a few months. Like an actual human baby.” She let out a huff through her nose and shook her head. “That feels so insane.”

“An epinurmal? I think I heard about that before. Remember when Angelica Romano got pregnant in senior year? She said she had one of those and it was just like… a needle. I didn’t really talk to her much, though, she was bitch.” Giving a little grin at the memory, relieved that Skyler would get to be there, though she didn’t like the idea of him seeing her girl parts if they were ever going to look like what she’d seen. He’d probably never want to touch her again if he did, hell, she’d never want to touch herself. “Do you remember at Jason Grosman’s party when Angelica tried to do a flaming shot and started her hair on fire? Oh man, that was funny.” 

Smile brightening, the messy bun of thick hair on top of her head bobbed as she nodded her head. “Well, we talked about it and well for a boy, we’re thinking Skyler Jr, with Ricardo as his middle name… you know for Ricky since he’d be godfather, and for a girl… Penelope Charlotte. Because Charlie. I don’t know… I just feel that he’s a boy, though. Every time I think about it, it’s just… *he*. Little Skyler Jr. I wonder who he’ll look like more…” 

   Riley scrunched her nose and nodded her head at the mention of the girl they’d gone to high school with. “I’m pretty sure she told everybody a different story about when she had her baby so I don’t really trust what she said, but I think it’s a shot they put in your back?” She shrugged, “Who knows. I can google it for you later, just so you don’t have to do any more researching today.” Then Riley couldn’t help but let out a loud laugh, remembering the night in question very well. “Yeah, oh my god! And then she screamed at uhhh-- oh god, what was that girl’s name. They were friends for only like two seconds.. Jenny? Justine? Something with a J... But she yelled at her cuz the girl threw a drink on her to put the fire out and she was covered in beer.. I’d rather be covered in beer than have my hair burned off.” She chuckled, shaking her head. High school felt so far away, but it also felt like it could’ve happened yesterday. 

   Her face softened and she put a hand on her chest, “Awww, that’s cute, I like that.” Hearing that they had names picked out made everything even more real for Riley. She started thinking about how months from now, there’d be a baby-- Penny’s baby-- around. It made her head spin if she thought too much about it. “Are you guys gonna find out if it’s a boy or a girl through the doctor or are you just gonna let it be a surprise? You’re probably right, it’s like your mom senses are already telling you stuff about the little one. That’s so cute!” She was able to push her fears and her anxieties and every other feeling she had aside to be excited for Penny and Skyler. They would be a great family, Riley knew that. All her issues with Penny being pregnant were selfish, which is why she hadn’t expressed them so far, and knew she probably wouldn’t ever. “He’ll be a cutie no matter who he looks like. He got lucky having two parents with good looks.”

aside from everything that happened at the barbecue, quinn was happy that she and riley were able to fix things. well not only fix things, but make their relationship official. it made quinn super happy knowing she was able to finally call riley hers. the two had planned to have a sleepover at riley’s place, with movies and cuddles and lots and lots of snacks. quinn packed an overnight bag with a few clothes and things she needed to bring with her to riley’s. getting into her car, she heads out to the other’s place already having memorized the directions there. 

getting out of the car after she parked, she grabbed her bag and walked up to the front door knocking a few times and waited for her to answer. 

   Riley felt butterflies in her stomach when she heard the knock at the door. Her dog Daisy lifted her head up, and let out a soft bark, but Riley shook her head. “No barking, Daisy.” She told her before heading towards the door. 

   She opened it, greeting Quinn with a wide smile. “Hii,” She leaned in and kissed Quinn on the lips before stepping aside and inviting her in with a gesture of her arm. Once she was inside, she closed the door behind her. “I got a lot of snacks,” She said, heading towards her living room and gesturing towards where she had different snacks laid out on her coffee table. “We can order a pizza or something, too, for like actual food. But I like snacks,” She chuckled. 

   Riley was happy that her and Quinn had made up. She was hoping they would be able to put the whole issue behind them and move forward. Of course she wasn’t really thrilled that their first fight had been in public at a company event, but it could’ve been worse, so she was just thankful that they were fine. She was also incredibly excited that Quinn was coming over. She’d gotten snacks and everything prepared and ready, and had found that time was passing even slower once she was off work.

   She was seated on her couch, scrolling through TikTok on her phone, checking the clock every few minutes and waiting anxiously for Quinn’s arrival. 

With a bright gasp Penny took the bear and wrapped him up into her arms in a tight hug, using a bump of her hip to close the door behind her so the pair could make their way over to plop on the couch. “I love him so much, he’s the cutest thing. Wait until Skyler seems him! He’ll be so cute on our bed.” Giving her friend a little smile, she lowered the bear into her lap and lifted her shoulders before letting them all in a heavy shrug. “I honestly don’t know. I’m scared to show my face at work now… and… and I didn’t know it was like that. I watched all these videos and…” 

Just the topic had her panic levels rising again, though she did her best to wave off not only those emotions but the anxiety as well. “Wanna finish Legally Blonde 2 with me? I’m only a few minutes in. I think… I think we might have picked out names, though…” 

   Riley shook her head, “I don’t think you need to worry about showing your face at work. Everybody will probably forget about it soon anyway as soon as the next thing happens, they’ll move on.” She tucked her hair behind her ear and scrunched her nose up at the mention of the videos. “Yeah.. It’s not cute.. But my mom told me about this shot she had when she had all me and my siblings. It’s called like... An epinurmal or something? It numbs you down there so you don’t feel anything. A lot of ladies get it when they have their baby.” Truthfully, childbirth scared the living hell out of Riley. It was one of the reasons she never really wanted to get pregnant herself. She didn’t know how to comfort Penny and tell her it was going to be okay when she was scared of the thing herself. “Plus Skyler gets to be in the room and so he can hold your hand and help you through it and everything. You just gotta stop watching those videos.”

   She kicked off her shoes and pulled her feet up onto the couch, nodding her head. “Yeah, duh,” She laughed and then perked up at the news. “No way! Already? Damn, I don’t think I could make my mind up that fast.” Riley grinned at Penny excitedly, “What did you guys pick?”