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⠀ ⧽ the history of starah

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 they first meet their freshman year at the first frat party of the year

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 stella is all but dragged by viv, her older sister, even tho she hates the feeling of being surrounded by a mass amount of people in a new place

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 she pretty much sticks to viv side throughout the first thirty minutes of the party, getting introduced to azzi, paige, kk, and the rest of the team

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 when she meets sarah, she kind o fnotices how quiet she is and same goes for sarah, so when viv gets dragged off by her friends and the rest of the team disperses once more leaving the two of them alone, they kind of just decide to stay together

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 they make very awkward small talk that consists of the usual college questions you get asked “what’s your major?” “where you from?”, etc.

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 viv eventually makes her way back to her sister because she knows she’ll probably start complaining about heading back to her dorm before the clock even strikes midnight

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 when she sees her talking to sarah she kind of furrows her eyebrows in shock but has a small smirk on her lips because this is the first time this has happened in awhile where stella got so comfortable with someone quickly

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 she approaches them, asking stella if she wanted to go soon and when she says yes, sarah tells viv she’ll walk her back if viv isn’t ready to go yet

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 sarah leads stella back to her dorm, their small talk a little less awkward but still shy

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 sarah tells her that if she ever needs another guide to text her and they exchange numbers

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 after that, viv starts bringing sarah up in conversations and notices the slight blush stella gets on her cheeks every time she hears her name

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 viv is not the only one who notices the spark between stella and sarah because kk starts interrogating sarah too and tries to get her to admit it

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 the next time they see each other is at the next frat party, they both kind of immediately go to one another 

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 once the party has come and gone, viv and kk form their little operation (operation starah aligned)

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 phase one: baby steps

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 slowly, sarah and stella start running into each other more; whether it’s because viv sent stella to pick up food where she knew sarah was getting it from or because kk and viv wanted to study in the library and brought sarah and stella along, respectively

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 somewhere near the middle to end of this phase, sarah recognizes her feelings for stella and will vaguely acknowledge them out loud 

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 the team is at practice and everyone’s asking the freshman how they’re year is going and if they’re getting adjusted. kk is the one to bring up the topic of crushes and sarah kind of just says she’s seen someone around campus she might like but leaves it at that

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 stella only finds it odd that she sees her everywhere but doesn’t pay too much attention to it

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 phase two: disappearing act

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 this is when kk and viv start making plans and suddenly forgetting about them/can’t come or having sarah/stella fill in for them (stella asking viv to pick her up from the studio but viv making her ask sarah instead because she’s already in bed or kk having plans to hang out with them and then remembering she has an assignment due the next day)

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 over these two phases, sarah and stella get close; going on late-night shopping runs, having study “dates”, etc.

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 sarah will offer to pick stella up from the studio more often now that she’s started to know her schedule (especially when it’s a late night and doesn’t want her walking back in the dark)

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 they start to text each other a shit ton, there is never a moment where one of them didn’t have a message from the other sitting in their notification center

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 phase three: gshooha (get stella’s/sarah’s head out of her ass)

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 viv knows stella is truly, madly, deeply crushing on sarah but she also knows her sister and knows she’s had a crappy track record with liking people and a very shitty experience with a guy in high school

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 she has a talk with her, and in result of that conversation stella ends up writing a letter in the late hours of the night, practically pouring her feelings out on the sheet(s) of paper

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 viv lowkey reads the letter (not cool but it’s for the plot) and tells sarah about it and somehow sarah knows she’s telling the truth (“i know my sister, and sttella won’t make the first move. if you want her, you have to”)

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 phase four: happy ever after

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 kk and viv help sarah plan the cutest most perfect date for the two of them and that’s when sarah asks her to be her girlfriend

⠀ ⧽ starah basics

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 main trope ◞ friends to lovers, mutual pining, match making

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 specific tropes ◞ shy!gf x shy!gf, dry-humor!gf x dry-humor!gf, basketball!gf x dancer!gf, night-owl!gf x night-owl!gf, driver!gf x passenger-princess!gf, type-b!gf x type-a!gf, yapper!gf x listener!gf

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 who fell first ◞ sarah

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 their song ◞ accidentally in love - counting crows

⠀ ⧽ nicknames ◞ contact names

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 stella's nicknames for sarah ◞ baby, honey, occasionally sweetheart

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 sarah's nicknames for stella ◞ stells, ells, ellie, star girl, babe

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 stella's contact name for sarah ◞ sarah 💙

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 sarah's contact name for stella ◞ ells 🌟

⠀ ⧽ love languages ◞ being together

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 stella's love language ◞ quality time

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 sarah's love language ◞ quality time

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 favorite thing to do together ◞ late night shopping trips

⠀ ⧽ favorite attributes

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 stella's favorite physical attribute of sarah's ◞ her hair

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 sarah's favorite physical attribute of stella's ◞ her stomach (in a nonsexual way... she just loves to lay her head there)

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 stella's favorite non-physical attribute of sarah's ◞ her basketball yaps

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 sarah's favorite non-physical attribute of stella's ◞ her letters (loves loves loves the way she writes)

⠀ ⧽ starah's relationship

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 sarah always has stella proofread/edit her essays

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 they have a shared note full of all their orders for different places because they love to surprise each other with food/drinks

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 sarah is basically stella’s chauffeur, but she loves it

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 stella loves writing sarah little love notes and sarah keeps them all in this box she found at the store that’s stella’s favorite shade of pink

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 they have matching lock screens (insert pic below)

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 for sarah’s birthday, she makes her those little boxes full of letters for different occasions (oh sarah loves it so bad)

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 they don’t know when it starts happening but stella starts leaving kisses at the bottom of her letters and so sarah will cut them up and keep them in a little tin that she carries it with her for away games

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 stella makes a playlist of songs that remind her of sarah/their relationship and will listen to it when she’s stressed

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 sarah finds out about this and gets “upset” that stell didn’t share it with her (she gets the link to it not even two seconds later)

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 sarah is clingy and she’ll fully admit that, this girl does not get embarrassed when they’re at a party and she’s practically hanging off of stella as she talks to people 

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 the type of couple to have a lot of matching things: matching mugs, matching pants, matching sweatshirts, matching shoes, etc.

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 sarah will paint stella’s nails! sometimes they’re messy but she swears she’s getting better at it

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 if she doesn’t paint them and stella goes to a salon or viv will do them, stella will let her pick out the color

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 sarah brings out stella’s chaotic side more than anyone else

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 stella does have her moments where she’s bright and bubbly (usually around her friends or family) but when she’s with her girlfriend, she’s laughing so loud the whole campus can hear her

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 they’re kind of annoying when they go on late night shopping runs because they can’t stop giggling at every little thing as they wak through teh store

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 def get each other “i love my gf” shirts

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 they are both horrible at painting but will do painting dates or go to a pottery shop to paint plates or something

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 sarah hates pictures but stella loves them, so most of their pictures are with sarah hiding her face, usually in stella’s neck or shoulder

⠀ ⧽ meet stella

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 nicknames ◞ stel, ells (everyone), ella (viv)

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 birthday and birthplace ◞ she was born on may 4, 2006 in naperville, illinois

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 education ◞ she attends the university of connecticut where she's studying management

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 family ◞ she has an older sister, vivina, who also goes to uconn and is studying journalism to become a fashion journalist (she wants to own her own magazine one day). her dad is a divorce lawyer, and her mom owns a boutique in downtown chicago. her grandma spent a lot of time with them so both of the girls are super close to her

⠀ ⧽ stella's favorites

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 color ◞ pink

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 animal ◞ kittens

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 season ◞ spring

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 food ◞ ice cream (strawberry)

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 drink ◞ energy drinks (like... any of them)

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 sport ◞ dance

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 song ◞ the off campus series (elle kennedy) but she has a connection with better than the movies bc of liz (the fmc)

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 artist ◞ taylor swift

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 movie ◞ mirrorball - taylor swift

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 tv show ◞ dance moms

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 book ◞ to all the boys i loved before

⠀ ⧽ stella's personality

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 stella is very shy at first, hates being the one to reach out and make friends, but once you get to know her, it’s like you unlock a whole other person. she’s very bubbly but has a dry and somewhat dark sense of humor, but that’s because of her dad. she’s always been a hopeless romantic, watching old romcoms with her grandma. loves exploring and going to new places, but she has to have a friend with her because sometimes she gets really scared to talk to people and ask for help finding where she’s going

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 likes ◞ adventuring, trinkets (especially if they’re pink), late nights in the studio, lyrical dances, journaling, spacing out in a crowded space while choreographing, rainy days (plus the smell right after it rains), trying new flavors of ice cream, painting, showers after a long rehearsal, animals

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 dislikes ◞ buying new pointe shoes and breaking them in (tho it is a great stress reliever), taking off her warm ups, talking to new people, people who think she's a sterotypical mean dancer, her sister going through her diary, losing something she wanted to keep for her journa, the words "one more time (from the top)"

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 quirks ◞ collects things for scrapbooking (usually things from restaurants like the paper lining or their logo off a menu, ticket stubs, stamps, etc.), doing a step over and over again until it's perfect and then a few times after that, hearing a song in public and scrambling to save it bc she thinks it's a great song to dance too, booping people's noses when she's happy to see them

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 hobbies ◞ writing, painting, choreogrpahing, poetry

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 fears ◞ breaking her ankle doing osmething stupid and not being able to dance, her dreams of owning a dance studio failing, being made fun of because she loves love

⠀ ⧽ stella's things

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 wardrobe ◞ full of pastels, cute little tops and dresses, and kind of basic white girl clothes. loves summer clothes and hates having to bundle up for winter because it’s the worst in her opinion. most of her clothes are pink but also loves blues and yellows. owns a few denim items but she never really strays towards them if she can help it. has the cutest yet mature leotards (usually spends most of her money on dance wear). if there’s a cover-up/warm-up you could think of, she probably has it in her closet somewhere. i swear half of her wardrobe consists of dance clothes

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 accessories ◞ she’s very minimal with her jewelry because she hates dancing with it since it will inevitably get covered in sweat and grime. but when she goes out she’ll wear a necklace with some stud earrings (nothing dangly because they hurt her ears more) and maybe something on her hands but most likely not

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 apartment ◞ who’s shocked at the fact that most of her decorations are pink? she has white bedding covered with pink floral designs, some small pink pillows sitting in front of her main ones, and a stuffed animal or two making their home between them. has lots of carts filled to the brim with trinkets and books, all of her journals sit on them too. one of her walls is covered in a collage of paris photos, ballet photos, and some of her own pictures mixed within. has a cork board full of poems she likes and important dates, a few pictures here and there, etc. 

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 pets ◞ she doesn’t have any of her own pets but her grandma has two orange cats (starfruit and pineapple). she really doesn’t know why they’re named that since neither of the two fruits is orange. she acts like they’re her kids and is always so excited to talk to about them to anyone who’s interested

⠀ ⧽ more about stella

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 at the top of her bucket list is to go to paris

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 would absolutely love to become a professional ballerina but also knows that she doesn’t have the talent for it (not in a negative, self-depricating way exactly, but she knows she doesn’t have the “ballerina” body type, and she didn’t work for it when she was younger and was never pushed to do it by her parents)

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 wants her future studio to be more inclusive since when she was younger, a lot of her dance teachers didn’t think she’d be able to do because of the way her body looked

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 quite literally loves ice cream with her whole heart

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 has tried every flavor at baskin robins, gets so excited when she sees a new flavor at the store, etc.

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 lowkey has kat make her a spreadsheet of all the ice cream flavors for her bc she is just a girl

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 she’s been dancing since she was three! she fell in love with it, and even if she wasn’t the best dancer to begin with, she got told by other parents that she was so fun to watch because she had the hugest grin on her face, no matter what 

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 loves loves loves loves looking through the costume binder (the binder that gets put out near the end of the year that shows the costumes for each dance going on at the studio)

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 would spend hours looking at dance costume websites and finding songs to match them

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 is extremely close to her grandma, she absolutely adores her with her whole heart

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 wants to get a small tattoo of a butterfly bc her grandma esther was obsessed with them

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 stella loves to journal bc of viv (her older sister) which is where her love of writing letters to her future selves and to other people came from

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 has a small habit of drawing and painting so she’ll do that only if she’s anxious or if the supplies are there to do so

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 sometimes she starts to draw on her hands or legs (whatever surface available) when she gets overwhelmed/overstimulated

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 has a youtube channel ( stella jones ) ! she has around 1k followers and it’s mostly just her vlogging about dance and school

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 lowkey addicted to energy drinks, her fridge is always stocked with them but does try to only drink one a day

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 besides that, she loves fruity drinks ! 

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 puts stickers on every surface possible

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 has a small book of butterflies that her grandma drew and gave to her

⠀ ⠀ ⠀ 〃 kind of gives off the impression of being type b but is fully type a! if even a dust particle is out of place, she’ll go bonkers

⠀ ⧽ stella's moodboard

Date nights for y/n and Paige were rare enough when they weren’t 1600+ miles apart; y/n wasn’t too fond of going out in public with her. Not because she was ashamed of Paige, quite the opposite, actually. She loved her girlfriend, wanted to scream it from the rooftops whenever she got the chance. However, the media was a cruel thing, something that, unlike Paige, y/n wasn’t used to. So she always opted for cozy nights in, curled up in blankets with their current favorite takeout spread across the coffee table, while they watched their show. 

She would never tell Paige why she hated going out, getting all dressed up for the public eye to see. However, deep down, her own insecurities got the best of her. There were good days, when she didn’t care if the whole world saw her, and the shirt that hugged her was just a little bit too tight for comfort, but she couldn’t find anything else to wear. Then there were bad days, when from the moment she woke up tangled in sheets, she was self-conscious about how she looked.

She wasn’t totally surprised when she came to visit Dallas for the first time. Paige had told her to pack something dressy, something that she wouldn’t get too hot in. She’d heard on multiple phone calls and read through multiple texts about the places Paige wanted to take her when she came down, wanting nothing more than to show off the city she now called home. 

Still, that doesn’t mean she was looking forward to whatever Paige had planned. 

𓄲

The morning of Paige’s surprise rolled around unbeknownst to y/n. She woke to Paige leaving kisses against her shoulder, her arms wrapped around her waist from behind as she scrolled on TikTok. Turning her head enough to be able to look up at the blonde, she smiled, mumbling a good morning out to her.

Paige seemed to brighten immensely, knowing her girlfriend was awake, throwing her phone down to focus all of her attention on y/n, “Good morning, baby.”

“For you not being a morning person, you’re awfully cheerful.” Y/n maneuvered, so her head was now buried in Paige’s chest, arms slipping around her torso.

“I have a reason. My surprise for you is tonight.”

Despite not knowing what it was, y/n tensed ever so slightly, yet Paige paid no mind to it, rambling excitedly about what her plans were for the upcoming night, “‘m gonna take you to this restaurant that I found, okay, well Arike told me about it, that’s besides the point. And then I was walking around and saw a store I think you’ll really like, it’s got those flowers you talk about all the time. Oh! You should wear whatever outfit I told you to bring. Wanted to get all dressed up for tonight.”

Even though she could tell how excited Paige was, a sense of dread started to form in the bottom of her stomach. She wished she could be one of those girls who jumped at the opportunity to get dolled up, pick an outfit out from an array of ones she liked, spend over an hour just doing her makeup, and hair. She wasn’t, though, the furthest thing from it. 

𓄲

Later that night, when Paige was in the living room making sure all of her times were correct, and everything was set in place, not wanting anything to go wrong, y/n was in the bathroom, staring at herself in the mirror, the zipper on her dress only halfway up her back.

“Paige?”

“Hm? What’s wrong?” The blonde made her way into the bathroom, focused only on her phone, but looking up once she reached it, grinning at the sight of her girlfriend.

“Can you help me?” Y/n gestured to her back, Paige nodding as she moved to stand behind her.

She started to pull the zipper down, which only caused y/n to yell her name. Paige met her gaze through the mirror with an innocent expression, holding her arms up in surrender, “You need to be more specific, babe.”

Y/n only rolled her eyes, laughing as Paige gilded the zipper to meet the top of y/n’s dress.

“Thank you.” Her voice was soft, twisting her necklace to face the right way, fixing her hair to lie correctly, and tugging at the fabric that clung to the skin of her stomach. 

Paige’s eyebrows furrowed at her quiet tone, not completely unused to it but startled by it nonetheless. She watched as y/n’s eyes trailed over her frame in the mirror, letting herself be leveled with her own scrutiny, no doubt her mind highlighting all the things she thought were wrong.

Y/n felt awful. The dress she once gravitated to for every occasion, now, too, betrayed her.

It was hard enough to find clothes that fit her; it was even harder to find ones she liked, and that actually made her feel good. She’d always relied on this dress, one she bought in her sophomore year of college, a black one that was fitted yet didn’t make y/n think eyes were on her with every step she took. The dress had never failed her, but now? She wanted to do nothing more than tear it off and throw it in the dumpster where she would never have to look at it again. 

“Baby?”

Y/n didn’t acknowledge her, too busy thinking about the way her makeup looked caked on, the way her hair still didn’t do what she wanted it to do. It caused Paige to spin her around, hands moving to cup her face, and guided her chin so she could see her, “Hey, what’s wrong?”

The girl mustered up all the courage she could, plastering a fake smile on her lips, “Nothing. I’m just a little tired, you know?”

“You’re lying.”

“No, I’m-”

“We’ve been dating for two years, you think I don’t know when you’re lying?”

Y/n pouted, arms crossing over her stomach, which drew Paige’s gaze and caused her to frown too, “I thought you liked this dress?”

Curse Paige and the way she always knew what was wrong.

“I did. Now I don’t. It’s too tight.”

“Is it actually too tight, or do you just think it looks like it’s squeezing the daylights out of you?”

“Meanie.”

“Asking a serious question, y/n/n.” Paige countered. “Because I think the only time you’ve ever looked more beautiful is when you wear my hoodie and your hair is a mess.”

“That doesn’t feel very reassuring, Paige.”

The girl sighed, before taking y/n’s hands in hers, moving to sit on her bed, and pulling y/n to stand between her legs. Y/n’s insecurities were written all over her face, and maybe that was just because Paige had known her for so long that she knew the telltale signs. She also knew, somehow, that no matter how much she tried to change her mind, her mind would find a way to counteract her words. 

So, Paige gave in. “You wanna stay here instead? Put some sweats on, order in, and watch that movie you’ve been talking so much about?”

Y/n frowned, but could feel the relief creeping in, “You put so much work into planning tonight… I don’t want to ruin it.”

“I’d be more upset if I knew you went through the whole night not feeling your best and constantly looking over your shoulder.”

“Promise you’re not mad?”

“I promise, sweetheart. Now c’mon, one Paige and y/n signature date night coming up.”

𓄲

Halfway through the movie, takeout containers sat empty on the counter, and a pint of ice cream sat between them on the couch. Paige tried to focus, really did, but she couldn’t stop thinking about the look in y/n’s eyes as she saw herself in the mirror.

“Baby?”

The movie was forgotten the moment the word left Paige's lips, y/n’s eyes meeting hers. She tilted her head, a small smile on her face as she gazed up at her girlfriend, “Yeah?”

“Earlier… when we were in the bathroom-” 

Y/n could feel herself go rigid against Paige, the air leaving her lungs as she continued to listen to her talk, “You were doing that thing again. Where you think everything about you looks wrong.”

The girl stayed silent, not wanting to release the tears she’d been trying so hard to keep at bay from the moment she put that dress on. She didn’t know what Paige wanted her to say; all she could do was nod and hope that the blonde would drop the subject.

“Talk to me… please.” Her voice was desperate, pleading, and soft all in one. 

Y/n’s hand slipped into the girl’s beside her as she turned towards her, her left shoulder pressed against the back of the couch, and her ankle wrapped around Paige’s. She took a deep breath, biting her lip before murmuring, “I just wanna feel pretty, Paige.”

Paige swore she’d never felt her heart break more than in that moment. She hated that her girl had to feel like this, that society had made it so not only her but every girl that didn’t look like the stereotypical one had to feel like this. 

Logic and reasoning were not on Paige’s top priority of things to think about when she pulled y/n into her lap, hugging her tightly like right there was the only place y/n was meant to be. Y/n didn’t have enough energy to protest her girlfriend’s actions, simply digging her head into his shoulder, tears cascading down her cheeks, and seeping into the fabric of Paige’s UConn hoodie. 

Minutes passed before y/n found the strength to pull away from her, her hand reaching up to wipe her nose as Paige cupped her face, the coolness of her hands soothing the warmth of her cheeks, thumbs wiping the leftover tears. 

“Can you listen to me for a minute? Please.”

Y/n nodded, unable to do much more when her girlfriend gave her those puppy-like eyes.

“You are the most gorgeous girl I’ve ever met. Even before we started dating, I would see you, and you would take my breath away and cause me to stare for ages, not because I was judging you, but because I couldn’t believe my eyes. Self-love is the most important kind of love there is, and it breaks my heart every time I see you look at yourself a little longer in the mirror or when you constantly look around to make sure no one’s watching you.

“You’re not going to feel pretty all day, every day, but I want to help minimize those days as much as I can.” 

Y/n’s breathing had slowed, listening to Paige as she spoke, something in her mind finally quieting for the first time since she got to Dallas. She felt Paige’s finger poke her cheek in an effort to get her to smile, and as always, it worked, a laugh escaping her lips.

Paige grinned, “There’s my girl.”

“You’re so annoying.” Y/n buried her head back into her shoulder, unwilling to let Paige see the pink tint that had now covered her face.

Paige’s hand slipped beneath the shirt she was wearing, tracing small circles with her thumb against y/n’s back, “There will always be someone to say something, ma, and trust me, I wish I could take it all away so it wouldn’t have to hurt you. But I want you to know I love you for you, and I could never imagine myself loving anyone else but you.”

“Sap.”

“You love it.”

“Unfortunately.”

And just like that, the tension in the room defused, leaving two girls who simply loved each other until the end of the universe. Y/n’s mind was no longer cluttered with her usual self-conscious thoughts, instead replaced with Paige’s words of love and her own determination to gain a better self-love.