if I post, the autism won

The blue dot on the phone is a bit off on the agreed meeting spot. She wasn’t used to using Uber, having only used it for today because her date had told her the restaurant was known for their alcoholic drinks. Plus, if Angela was going to be stepping back into the dating world after a few years she'd most likely need a few drinks in her system. Without them she could only imagine at some point her nerves would get the best of her in some way. 

Especially given the fact her and her date weren't exactly entirely into each other just yet. It was mainly a thing both were down to try and see what happens. Though Angela could do without the restaurant being a bit far away. 

Angela's phone sprung to life, a loud and familiar ringtone being heard. She haphazardly lowered the volume of her ringtone, accepting the call as she stepped farther out the sidewalk.

"Hey, Angela?" A pleasant and friendly sounding voice asked. 

"Uh, yeah," Angela replied. She looked at the Uber driver's name, briefly thankful for a common name she wouldn't accidentally butcher. "Amanda, right?"

"Yeah," she paused. Angela could hear the wind in the background as Amanda drove. "Just checking, are you in the parking lot or near the front sign?" 

"Front sign." 

"Cool," she said. "I'll be there in a second, once this light turns green." Before Angela could reply and thank her the call ended.

She shifted from one foot to another, the nerves regarding her date starting to rise up on her. With every passing second she was getting closer and closer to the date itself and she couldn't help but be nervous. She had only talked to her tinder date for almost 3 weeks, albeit there weren't many texts in the first place. Past memories of various crime documentaries she watched that all started with online dating rushed through her mind, making Angela anxiously tap her foot. Angela knew the basics about her and they had called way more than they texted. Maybe, she shouldn't have listened to Chanse's advice and put herself out there. She had always preferred meeting someone in real life anyway, starting as friends and seeing how something goes from there.

The sight of a silver honda brought her out of her thoughts as her Uber driver pulled up on the side of the road. She could see her from the window, her Uber driver evidently very pretty. Angela glanced at the front seat, momentarily, noticing a small bag resting there. She walked towards the back, opening the door and immediately noticing how clean the car was. It was definitely cleaner, and smelt nicer than her own car.

Amanda turned, glancing at Angela and smiled. "You got a date?" She asked as she put her car out of park, and Angela put on her seatbelt. "The dress is nice. You look pretty." 

Angela gulped, ignoring the part of her brain that was reeling over the fact her Uber driver looked effortlessly gorgeous without even trying. "Yeah, thanks," she said, pausing as she made an effort to continue the conversation. It'd be nice to talk to someone anyway, perhaps it'd help her get over her nerves before her date. "It's honestly my first date in like forever. I don't really try out online dating much but my friend told me I should put myself out there." 

"Oh, this is a first date," Amanda mused, as she made a u-turn. "Well you definitely dressed for it. What made you get back into dating? If you don't mind me asking of course." She quickly added as an afterthought.

"I've been single for too long," Angela mumbled just loud enough for Amanda to hear. "I took a pause on dating in the first place to focus on acting." 

Angela sighed as the words left her mouth, a part of her scared at the reaction. From her experience it either ranged from apprehension at a career that didn't promise much, or shock that she was going into the field in the first place. For people who knew her it was easier since they knew what she was like.

Amanda lightly chuckled. "What a small world," she said. "I'm doing acting too. I actually had an audition a few hours ago."

In an instant, as if a switch was flipped Angela visibly brightened smiling as she leaned closer. "How did it go?" She asked excitedly. 

"I'm onto the next stage," Amanda grinned. "I think it's me up against like fifteen other girls."

"Good luck," Angela smiled. "I hope you get the part." 

"Thank you," she said. "I'm looking forward to a more proper role. I've mainly just been doing commercials nowadays." 

"Hey, still something." Angela commented. She looked out the window, watching as they stopped once again due to the traffic. Maybe she should've gone out earlier to catch an Uber ride. "So, do you just work as an Uber driver or is there another side hustle you have going on?" 

"Bartending. I mainly just do this on the side when I don't have a shift."

Somehow, she found that hot. Angela wasn't sure if her date was making her have a lot more borderline-lewd thoughts or if she genuinely just thought this.

Bringing Angela back to reality, Amanda spoke again. Her car started up again as she continued driving. "Hey, what time is your date? I hope you're not late." Her eyes briefly glanced over to her car's console, the time displayed in a blue glow. "It's almost 6:30. God, I'd hate for you to miss your date. Especially, when it's your first time back in the dating world.”

Angela smiled at her concern. It felt nice to have even a stranger care for something pertaining to her life. "Yeah, my date starts at 6:30." She pulled out her phone, turning on her data, as she pulled up the most recent text conversation. Like the others it was short and brief, always showing a past call instead. "It's okay, I'll just text her that I'm going to be a bit late. I should be fine."

The fact she said 'her' completely slipped Angela's mind, the sentence coming out almost naturally. It wasn't as if Angela was closeted, rather she just never went out of her way to tell people. She always preferred to keep that part of her life private, and have that part of her more open to her closest friends.

A second of silence passed between the two. "If you say so," Amanda commented. "We have about 5 minutes left, so you shouldn't be too late. Oh! Real quick, I've been to that restaurant before,  you want some recommendations?" 

"Yeah sure," Angela shrugged. "I've never been to Mastro's Ocean Club anyway." 

"Try the Japanese Wagyu steak if you can," she briefly glanced at Angela, winking. "You won't regret it." 

Angela gulped. "Got it. I'll see once I see the rest of the menu."

A nice and natural conversation followed, soothing Angela's pre-date nerves with everything Amanda said. She felt easy to talk to, though conversation topics didn't come easily since they were strangers, it still felt natural. It felt nice. Though she hadn't been on many Uber rides, it always seemed extremely easy for the rest of the ride to be followed in silence until she reached her destination. 

With a smooth stop Amanda pulled up to the restaurant, Angela not even realising she had arrived until the car fully stopped. "Finally here." Amanda said, her voice almost a pitch louder. "Christ, traffic was a bitch today." 

Angela double checked her small bag, before exiting the car, as she waved Amanda off. She saw as Amanda smiled, pausing before she rolled down her car's window. "Enjoy your date, Angela." Amanda smiled. "It was nice meeting you.”

Angela turned, to meet Amanda's gaze. "You too. Thanks for the ride." 

As she drove off a small part of her couldn't help but think about Amanda. She would've been a nice friend to have, she thought offhandedly. As the thought crossed her mind she sighed, burying the fleeting thought. She was just an Uber driver who was making conversation. That was it. She had a date to focus on anyway. 

Angela entered the restaurant, she let out a shaky breath. Her hand fished into her pocket, frowning as she was left on read. She groaned, glancing past the front desk, attempting to spot her date. 

She stepped to the side, away from the line of people waiting at the front desk, and called her date. 

“Oh, hey,” she said. “Sorry I forgot to tell you earlier. Are you at the restaurant?” 

“Yeah,” Angela paused. “Gwen, where are you?” 

“Sorry, uh I actually meant to cancel our date,” Gwen said as she stumbled over her words, seeming incredibly awkward at that moment. 

“What?” Angela repeated incredulously. “I'm literally at the restaurant. Could you not have told me this before?”

“I got distracted.”

Angela pressed further, ignoring the couple that looked at her weirdly. “By what? What in the world distracted you long enough that you couldn't even text me a few simple words?” Angela sighed, determined to remain calm in that moment. “You even left me on read when I told you I'd be showing up a bit late to the restaurant.” 

“You know I'm bad at texting,” Gwen sighed. “That's literally why we had a date in the first place, is it not?” 

“That doesn't matter,” Angela argued. “You still could've called me.” 

“Fine, I'm sorry, you're right,” she said. “I'm just going to be honest with you.” Angela hummed lowly, telling Gwen to continue. “There was this other girl I was chatting with. She was the one I was more interested in and she was suddenly available today.”

Before Gwen could even continue explaining herself Angela hung up. She sighed, running a hand through her hair as she resisted the urge to just scream. She looked ahead at the restaurant, noticing she was the last one waiting to be seated.

“Might as well get a meal out of this shitty development,” Angela mumbled to herself, approaching the front desk and forcing herself to smile as she spoke. 

As the words left the worker's mouth Angela was so close to just calling Chanse and rant to him. 

“I'm so sorry, Gwen called earlier to cancel her reservation. We can squeeze you in tomorrow at nine, if you're interested.” 

She thanked the worker with a strained smile, bolting out of the restaurant right after. All she wanted to do was go home. Rather than being mad that she never got to go out on a date with her, she was more so annoyed by her actions. Sure, a part of Angela definitely liked talking to the girl, given the many times they called. Yet all of that feeling seemed to disappear over the anger she felt. The wasted effort in putting on makeup and finding a fancy dress, combined with the now wasted money on Uber rides was a lot testing her. 

She pulled out her phone, ordering another Uber ride, and waited. She watched as the order processed, and a few seconds passed as she got connected to the driver. 

“Meet the driver at Mastro's Ocean Club”

Right under the pickup screen was the name Amanda. A familiar profile picture of her smiling right next to her name. Realistically, Angela should've seen this coming. Of course she'd be the one closest to the restaurant. She had dropped her off not even ten minutes ago.

All Angela could do was wait and watch as the time slowly changed, giving an estimate on how long it'd be until she arrived. Angela wasn't sure how she felt about it, suddenly very unsure. A part of her wanted a different Uber driver who'd just drop her off and it'd be all over with. Whilst the other part of her wondered what'd it be like to talk to her. They had definitely gotten along to some extent. 

It didn't take long for the familiar silver car to pull up by the restaurant. Just before Angela could move herself to the backseat, Amanda rolled down her window, patting at the passenger seat right next to her.

"Hey, Angela," Amanda sadly smiled, as Angela buckled herself in. She hesitated over her words, pausing as she found the right words to say. "So what happened to your date?” She asked. Angela couldn't help herself but look away from Amanda, watching as the car started to move. "Fuck, we're you too late? I didn't think seven minutes would matter that much." Amanda said her words slightly rushed. 

"No," Angela sighed. She wasn't sure what it was, but she felt comfortable talking to Amanda. She leaned her head back  against the chair, letting herself dully list off the events. "When I called her and told her that I'm at the restaurant, she apparently forgot to tell me that she's cancelling our date,” Angela explained, her tone showing how annoyed she was. "Then when I tried to just eat by myself, because you know, at least I'll get a meal, turns out she cancelled her reservation earlier and just never told me." 

Amanda’s face scrunched up in confusion. "What the hell?! Who does that?" She ranted. “It's too bad you couldn't even get a meal out of it, geez.” Amanda continued. 

“I don't know,” Angela shrugged. “I just wish I was told before I got all dressed up.”

“Well, at the end of the day, it's her loss,” Amanda smiled. She paused as she waited to take a turn, as if she was trying to find the right words. “You look like a tall glass of wine in that dress, and she doesn't deserve to even see you in that."

Angela's eyes widened, and swore her face would appear red for Amanda to see had it not been dark. She really needed to get used to compliments. 

As Angela glanced over at Amanda, she watched as she tapped her fingers against her steering wheel. "You know,” she said, continuing what she said before. “Even though you're not that tall.” She glanced over at Angela giving her a small smile. She couldn't help but return it despite Amanda’s jab. She was trying to make her feel better. 

Amanda's mouth opened, just about to take back the teasing jab with a rushed ‘just kidding,’ but Angela interrupted her, chuckling. 

“That's not fair!” Angela started. “I'm literally average height, a lot of people just happen to be taller than me." She continued, smiling wider as Amanda seemed to brighten at the starting banter. "Also, how'd you know that you'd tower over me? I know I appear short next to your car, but still.” 

Amanda laughed. “First of all, never called you short,” she continued. “Also I'm around six feet.” 

Angela had a feeling she'd be tall anyway given how far back her chair was compared to the passenger seat, but she definitely didn't think she'd be that tall. For a second Angela was left speechless, with a huge part of her reeling over how tall she was. That definitely made her more attractive in her books. 

“That does not matter at all,” Angela said, despite her previous thoughts. 

"How come?" Amanda said, chuckling underneath her breath. The sound itself made Angela want to hear it again. It was short, and she had heard it before in their earlier conversation, but it'd be nice just to hear her laugh again. 

Angela paused as her brain worked a mile a minute to think of a comeback. "Tall people die faster!" She came up with, immediately regretting it due to how stupid that sounded. 

"What?" Amanda said in-between a laugh, making Angela lean over in her seat with a smile. "Is that even true?" 

"I don't know! But if it is, it's targeting you and my stupid supposed-to-be date." 

Amanda could only smile, rolling her eyes, as she continued to focus on the road. "You're not going on another date with  her, right?" She asked, changing the subject after a comfortable moment of silence."Because everything she did is some kind of red flag." 

"Oh hell no." Angela immediately answered. "Especially, not once she told me the reason she cancelled was because her first choice was available or something.” 

"What the hell?!" Amanda asked for the second time throughout the car ride. "Hey, let's take a detour and go to her house and kick her ass.” She joked, making Angela chortle. 

Amanda's tone straightened out as she fixed her posture. Another moment of silence took over them but never was it tense nor awkward to her. 

"In all seriousness though, are you okay?" Amanda hesitantly spoke. One of her hands reached out towards Angela's hand that was resting on the seat. She squeezed it briefly, the touch itself comforting, before darting it back to the wheel. "I'm sorry your date sucked." 

Angela wasn't even that upset about it anymore. "I'm actually doing a lot better than I was before," she honestly spoke. "You made me feel better. Thank you."

"I'm glad I was able to,” she said. "Or else this Uber ride would be a lot different."

As Amanda continued to drive Angela back to her apartment, they comfortably talked about anything. The onsurge of traffic in certain areas allowed them to talk for longer. Whether it be the types of roles they took on recently, or their other hobbies and interests. It felt nice talking to her. They even had shows they both watched which made the conversation flow easier. They talked as if they knew each other for way longer than what was roughly an hour. 

As they slowly started to approach Angela's apartment complex, now being within the neighborhood, Angela didn't want this moment to end. She opened her mouth, changing the subject as she saw the building in the distance. 

"Honestly, I think I'd end up having more fun talking to you than I ever would've on that date," Angela suddenly confessed. "We just ended up going on one anyway to see if there'd be more chemistry in real life. Overall, I don't regret how this night went at all.”

Amanda didn't say anything for one second then another. Her hands gripped at her steering wheel. "Well,” she bit her lip. “Do you think there's chemistry here?" 

Angela choked on her own spit as she processed her words. In hindsight she could definitely see how what she said could be interpreted as something. Even though Angela genuinely just meant it as being friendly, even if her heart didn't share the same sentiment. "Are you hitting on me?" 

"If you want me to,” Amanda quickly replied. "If you're not ready for anything after your whole failed date thing, I totally get it. Don't worry about it.”

"I don't look this good without the makeup and dress on." Angela said, as if she was warning Amanda, still in disbelief over everything. 

"I don't care,” Amanda chuckles. She parks her car, making Angela realise they had arrived. "You'd end up looking adorable either way."

Angela smiles. She takes off her seatbelt, but remains seated, not leaving the car just yet. "Do you flirt with all of your passengers?" She asked, jokingly. 

"Nope.”

"Then what made you so interested in me?”

"You literally made my night Angela,” Amanda admitted. "Sure our first ride was a bit awkward, but that was literally the most genuine conversation I'll ever get out of an Uber ride. I had fun talking to you and getting to know you. I don't want this to just end here. 

"Yeah, me too." Angela breathed out with an infectious grin. She ignored the way her heart beat against her chest, the feeling of butterflies in her stomach she hadn't felt in so long returning. All she wanted to do was soak herself in this moment. 

"So, how do you feel about a date?” Amanda asked, not once breaking eye contact. “I can even drive you. Free of charge.”

"Ohh a free Uber ride, how romantic," Angela joked, rolling her eyes. "How can I possibly say no to that?” 

She smiles, pulling out her phone from her pocket and hands it to Angela. "Put in your number, and I'll text you." 

“I look forward to it.” 

-

"Angela,” Chanse started, as soon as the call connected. "You can't just text me ‘my date went terribly, I'm so happy’ and expect me to connect the dots.” 

"My date pulled a dick move, okay? Like, obviously, I cared for her, and was willing to try it all out to see if we’d click, but after everything I’m just taking it as a warning sign.” Angela answers. She looks at herself in the mirror, taking off her makeup as she spoke. “But I got a date with someone else, anyway, so it doesn't bother me that much anymore.

"Well, damn, you moved on fast,” he commented. "What the heck happened?" 

"I hit it off with my Uber driver,” Angela shrugged, as if that was the most normal and natural thing. 

"What?" He asked in disbelief. "Angela, what? Your Uber driver? How? Why?” 

-----------

In retrospect, maybe Angela should've been a little better prepared.

In her defense, there's only so much you can prepare for when it comes to "Your workplace is making a music video about being submissive and breedable and your two coworkers/close friends/people you definitely have regular feelings about are playing dominatrixes in said videos. To your bosses. Who are calling themselves submissive and breedable."

Actually, Angela isn't sure someone SHOULD be prepared for that situation. Even if they have a job that involves sentences like "We need to have a safety meeting about where we're storing the floggers".

That said- maybe there were warnings. Signs. She had some knowledge of knowledge of what the video would entail- the theme of the video wasn't a secret internally, nor was the involvement of the cast. Or their roles. Even if Anthony and Ian didn't love making jokes about being submissive and breedable, Angela certainly wasn't going to forget Amanda and Courtney bounding up to her at 11 AM, full of excitement, crowing "Guess who are the sexy doms of the office!"

No, that moment is absolutely seared into her brain. She remembers the extreme hot flush that came over her body, and she remembers making a vague strangled noise that could, generously, have been interpreted as a "woo!" or a "yay!" in response to the news. and definitely not air punching out of her lungs at the thought.

And she remembers, what she thought was the world showing her mercy that Amanda and Courtney didn't seem to pick up on anything amiss, other than a long pause, with Amanda's gaze lingering a bit on her expression, and Courtney drifting closer, something charged in the air for a long second- before they continued their celebration.

Now, standing in a room full of her peers, slightly tipsy, watching her bosses on a screen chant "Submissive and Breedable", and feeling a mounting sense of dread. Angela is realizing maybe the world wasn't being merciful. It was just biding its time.

And- okay, fine. Angela should've known. She should've been ready. Maybe she'd let herself get lulled into a false sense of security in the last few months as her reminders of the shoot mostly boiled down to Erin griping about logistics during coffee dates, or Amanda or Courtney being busy on certain shoot days.

Smosh tried hard to keep details on this one under wraps, which meant Amanda telling Angela that they "did me all up in leather" (complete with an eyebrow waggle) or Courtney saying they "looked DAMN good in a harness", but not many details beyond that. Which had been fine for Angela, who, at the time, was already going through the full spectrum of human emotion trying to respond normally to this information, potentially failing, and then discarding the interactions from her brain before she could linger on them forever.

(And- fine, maybe she'd been trying hard not to think too much about the shoot because,  more than it being Amanda and Courtney, it was Amanda AND Courtney. And because ever since the shoot, sometimes it felt like they were sitting a little closer than they used to. Like there was a sort of newfound understanding, or something, some kind of bonding experience there.

Where sometimes Angela would look up and they seemed to be gravitating towards each other a little more. Leaning a little closer to each other, or laughing at an inside joke clearly from their time shooting the music video. Little touches.

Nothing big, and it wasn't like- it wasn't like Angela was being left out of anything, technically. Amanda still was her lovely, caring, physically affectionate self, pulling her into warm hugs, leaning against her whenever she was near, as they talked up a storm about anything from the latest Dateline to LA traffic. Courtney still lit up whenever they saw her, immediately sharing gossip and compliments with equal joy, pulling her into selfies and hooking their arms together whenever they wanted to bring her somewhere, or just because.

It wasn't anything big, it was maybe just in Angela's head- the fact that, recently, when it was the three of them sometimes it felt like they were both watching her, that they sometimes giggled together quietly and it made Angela feel. Odd. Maybe it was just Angela, on the days when both of them were out, thinking too hard or too long about the idea of them- both of them- at a "sexy" shoot together, even if sexy shoots were never sexy during the creation process. Maybe it was something about the idea of them, in leather and harnesses, together, getting closer, while Angela-)

Well. Angela had been trying to not think too much about it, was the point.

And now, here, in a room full of Youtubers and coworkers and people she likes and respects, she's going to pay for it.  Angela can't tear her eyes away, as her bosses- her bosses- dance and sing "Submissive and Breedable" and before she can brace herself properly, the song moves into its first verse, and-

Fuck.

Courtney, is onscreen, silhouetted in red, in a harness and tanktop. Courtney with a fake tattoo sleeve and their hair slicked back with chains around her neck and-

Courtney making a beckoning motion with her hand, Courtney throwing Ian onto a bed, Courtney slapping a riding crop on her hand, jesus fucking christ-

The song continues, the background switching to a white room with bbno$ and her bosses dancing in BSDM gear, and honestly, that's fine, because Angela is still trying to remember how to breathe. And think. She knows her jaw is agape right now and she's too busy trying to continue standing upright to care.

She can't decide whether to be glad or horrified that right now, at this moment, none of her friends are around her. Amanda and Courtney, while proud of their work, had both understandably opted out of being in the room during the initial screening, and Chanse, Erin, and Mallory had abandoned Angela for more drinks.

And by now Angela deeply, deeply regrets not joining them. She takes a gulp of her wine, wincing as it burns down her throat, trying to stabilize her breathing and ignore the way her whole body is overheating. Only for Anthony on screen to put on some kind of VR headset, and the background turns purple and Angela nearly swallows her tongue because -

Amanda.

It's Amanda, except Amanda in dark makeup and a dark lip and a high ponytail and- oh fuck, she wasn't kidding about the leather- a form fitting leather dress and harnesses and chains and- she's holding a collar-

-and she has on a choker that says "Mommy"-

(In some distant, distant part of her brain, Angela is glad that the people around her are wolf whistling or ooh-ing or laughing because she's pretty sure she made a noise when she saw the collar and she doesn't think it was a dignified one.

Most of her brainpower, however, is currently dedicated to stopping her knees from giving out under her and not crushing her wine glass under the influx of white hot arousal coursing through her body.)

There's a shot tilted up at Amanda, leather dress skin tight, riding crop in her one hand and makeup and hair and everything flawless. Am i dead. Angela faintly wonders to herself. Am I dead and my hell is me watching my close friends be the hottest thing I've ever seen in a room of professional acquaintances. On screen, Anthony is crawling at Amanda's feet, and- All Angela can think about is that being her. A collar around her neck, and Amanda over her and Courtney with her riding crop and-

Oh god. Oh god.

Something in her brain short circuits at this moment, goes so far into a kind of horny shocked awe that it loops back into a white numbness.

She tears her eyes away from the screen as the music video shifts, thankfully, back to the chorus and the white room and the dancing, and gulps down the rest of her wine, if only to try to stop staring in openmouthed shock. Looking away and staring intently at her cup doesn't help, much, though, because she's pretty sure she's going to have these images emblazoned across the forefront of her brain for the rest of the day. Or life. On loop in her mind, images of tight leather, and harnesses, and jawlines and-

shit. shit. shit. She steals a peek up at the screen, and- something vaguely goofy is happening but also Amanda and Courtney are both there now, still in their getup, still looking- fucking hot as hell, and- Angela averts her gaze again. She knew how she felt about both of them, on some level, okay, but she wasn't. Prepared. For this.

Across the room, Chanse is whooping a little as he watches the screen, new drink in hand. And because he sucks, and she hates him, he seems to feel Angela's gaze, and glances over at her, before a knowing grin spreads across his face.

He's not even saying anything, but she knows he knows. He's one of her best friends, and he's looking at her red face and unsteady stance and her empty cup and she knows, he knows. He's probably known this whole time, and he's silently laughing, now, and Angela's going to kick his ass the moment she's close enough. And remembers how to make her legs work.

Her revenge plot is interrupted by an eruption of clapping and cheers as, apparently, the music video concludes. Somehow, she'd survived. People are cheering and whistling as Anthony and Ian shuffle back towards the center, and Angela is- remembering how to breathe again, mostly.

Only to nearly jump out of her skin, shrieking a little bit as a familiar hand falls on her shoulder. "Enjoy the show?"

"I-" Angela attempts to get her heart rate under control as Amanda grins at her, the colors on her shirt swimming in her vision a bit. "You- well- I."

"I think that's a yes." comes Courtney's voice from over her other shoulder, and, okay, yeah, maybe Angela can just die now, because there's one hand on each of her shoulders and they're on both sides of her, Angela cannot stop thinking about how good they both smell, and-

"-Ang? You there?" and she blinks, and Amanda and Courtney are both in her vision now. Courtney eyeing her with a hint of warm concern, hand still on her shoulder. Amanda is facing away as Ian and Anthony drone on, but with an arm looped through hers, a warm and steady presence. When Angela doesn't immediately respond, Amanda glances back as well, a question in her eyes. Courtney, without saying a word, grasps Angela's hand and gently pulls Angela past the people standing behind her, maneuvering back towards the wall, away from the crowd. Amanda's arm stays looped through hers, shoulder pressed against hers until they come to a stop towards the back.

Once situated, Amanda swaps out Angela's empty cup for a cup of water (when did she even get that) and Courtney pats her arm. "Wow, that bad, huh?" They say jokingly, although there's a hint of vulnerability, there. Amanda reaches a hand out and squeezes Courtney's shoulder, before fixing her gaze back on Angela. "I'm sure it was- a lot..." Amanda trails off, uncharacteristically unsure. Angela, sensing the shift in the air, stumbles over her words.

"It was fucking incredible. You guys looked. Hot as fuck. I- it was. Really- good." She finishes lamely, self consciousness raging back in as she speaks. In the background, whatever speech Ian and Anthony are giving winds down, but Amanda and Courtney's gazes don't waver.

"Yeah?"

Amanda and Courtney exchange another glance, a little warmer this time. but this time, pressed between them, Angela doesn't feel left out of- anything, doesn't feel like she's missing anything, especially as they look back at her, a warm understanding growing between all three of them. She pulls in the arm Amanda is looped through to one side, and squeezes Courtney's hand with the other, pulls them both closer. Something about all of this feels- familiar, and safe, and suddenly Angela can find her words again.

"Yeah. Couldn't stop looking. At either of you. Nearly dropped my drink. You guys weren't kidding about the harnesses or leather, huh? No idea how I stayed standing, honestly."

As Angela talks, Courtney's smile turns a little more wicked, and Amanda's posture smoothes into something more confident and steady.

Spurred on, she bites the bullet.

"I don't suppose either of you got to keep any of those outfits, or anything."

Amanda's smile is blinding, and dangerous, stirring something deep in her core, and Courtney's hand in hers squeezes once, twice, as Amanda says, slowly.