PUMPKIN, PUMPKIN 🎃

There’s something pleasing about seeing Mia in her passenger seat. Maybe it’s the knowledge that she’s going on a date or just because she’s admittedly smitten with Mia, the dark haired figure from her past, but either way, Danny is just happy to be in the moment. Endeared, Danny’s nerves prick under the skin where Mia’s hand falls and she pushes away the urge to smile stupidly.

She never knows how to handle compliments; words are hard enough but responses to kind words were nearly impossible for her to find. A soft you too and a meek smile are all she can muster. 

“No need to apologize. Everyone always tells me I’m too mellow, so I think we have a good, balanced vibe here,” Danny offers, allowing the smile to really break through now. They turn onto the street where Retro is and Danny’s brown eyes begin scouring the immediate area for a parking spot, only searching briefly before pulling into one. “I hope parallel parking is on your list of good date qualities,” she jokes, though her attention is focused on the task at hand. “I know it’s an exceptionally rare skill to have.”

There’s a calm that settles over Mia, one she’s not entirely used to yet. And it makes her smile not only remain, but grow in all of its warmth. If it’s because of Danny’s smile, or just how everything just feels — easy, Mia can’t pinpoint, and she doesn’t try too.  “Balance is something I strive for.” She says, and there’s joking in her tone, but she’s not entirely lying. 

brooke let dylan tighten herself around her, loving the feel of her best friend so close. which didn’t surprise her - she always felt safe with dylan, even with everything going on in her life and just how unsafe she should be feeling. but with dylan? the blonde knew her best friend would literally move oceans to ensure she was safe.

her hands instinctively went to dylan’s hips as the girl straddled her, watching her tear the gummy in two and  hand one off to her. brooke kept her hands on dylan’s hips, leaning up to take the gummy from between the brunette’s fingers with her mouth. “mm, these are actually good,” brooke mumbled between bites.

“i mean, yeah, i’ll come by–” brooke deferred to what her best friend had mentioned before giving her the gummy. the nervousness in her voice wouldn’t have been evident to anyone else, but dylan knew her like no one else did. it made her nervous being anywhere but their apartment - she went out and got drunk or high but she always got as wasted as possible so she could forget how terrified she was to leave the house. but dylan’s work? she’d be with dylan, though she didn’t necessarily trust ryan (she didn’t trust anyone except for dylan), she knew she’d be safe. “when do you want me to swing by?”

“you don’t have too b,” she’s smiling, and it’s sweeter, here. her reaction to brooke and opening a brand new cart were pretty much the same. “but if you wanted to come by at the end of my shift tomorrow, it’s closing, so we’d miss all the shitty tourists if we hit the beach.” her head tilts, and she’s resting her hands over brooke’s without really thinking. “wait,” and suddenly, she’s extremely serious. “b,” are her eyes glassy with tears? most definitely. “we have pizza.”

dylan’s eyes close, and she’s nodding. “god is real.” 

her eyes blink a few times before she lets her hands fall to brooke’s stomach when her shoulders feel too heavy. “but the kitchen is very far away.” 

fingers flicker after a few moments to brush some of brooke’s hair from her eyes. “how was your day? other than the debilitating pain of missing me, obviously.” her eyes flash with teasing as she taps a light rhythm on brooke’s stomach. staying still for more than a second was not dylan’s brand. 

it was rather confusing to mack, the way the older girl’s touches were somewhat calming the chaos in her mind. in some ways, the care that quinn touched her and undressed her with struggled to make her mind more chaotic, but still, her brain calmed some and she was able to look up at quinn and let out a breath. she didn’t look at quinn a lot when they were sober – it was too serious, it meant too much. she knew she’d get stuck looking at the beautiful woman in front of her, which is exactly what happened in the few times she looked at quinn sober or not. 

they stepped into the shower, and mack continued to look at quinn. she took a chance and hesitantly wrapped her arms around her, her hands resting at the back of quinn’s neck. “i–” mack took a breath, rolling her eyes and giving quinn a tight-lipped smile. “nevermind. s’not important. shampoo?” her arms dropped and she reached behind the other woman to grab the bottle of shampoo. 

quinn, with all her tact, and privacy, was never one to let something go. that was probably the main reasons she’d stuck around enough time to know a few, small things about mack. her fingers curl around the girl’s hips, thumbs brushing carefully across the soft lines of her bones, and when mack’s leaning back, quinn can’t help but let a finger brush under her chin, nudging it up carefully. “no. you what?” blue eyes are framed with raised eyebrows, and she’s feeling persistent today. 

“c’mon.” her touch splays out to brush along mackenzie’s jaw. “i’ll get it out eventually.” that? she wasn’t so sure of, but a little false bravado never hurt anyone. 

Dating has never really been Danny’s strong suit. Most of that can be chalked up to the fact that she was deep, deep in the closet for her formative years, making it still a bit difficult to get comfortable with the idea of actually going out somewhere with someone. But Mia: sweet, sincere, and admittedly way out of Danny’s league, makes tackling that obstacle a bit easier.

Donning her favorite leather jacket, as promised, coupled with a simple mini-dress and her Doc Martens, she feels comfortable (or as comfortable as she can in this situation) as she pulls up to Mia’s apartment building, parking her Subaru at the curb. She needs to wait only a moment before Mia, looking as stunning as ever, makes her way to the door, practically gliding with grace as she does so.

Unable to be deny MIa’s charm, a smile touches Danny’s lips as her date gets into her car, a subtle scent of familiar perfume faintly touching the air as she does. “Is my five-star rating going to go down if I’m not the perfect date?” It’s meant as a joke, but Danny would be lying if she said she wasn’t horribly nervous to fuck things up with Mia. She offers another smile, a bit strained but still sincere, before pulling away from the curb. “I’m glad you texted,” she begins, gaze shifting between the road and the beauty beside her. “I’ve been really wanting to go to Retro again.”

“hmmm,” mia hummed, thoughtfully, like it was a very, very serious question. “maybe, but you’d have to work pretty hard for that to happen.” she pulls down the mirror, running her thumb under her lip to catch any smear of lipstick. there was nothing there, really. but hey, perfectionist and all. 

mia can’t help but let a sweet grin touch her lips at danny’s words as she sits back against the seat. there’s a comfort around the blonde, and she makes mia feel a certain kinda gay. and way. 

“well i’m glad i texted too.” her fingers tug at the edge of her dress, toying with the slightly rough fabric. “because i’ve been wanting to see you. and go to retro. so it works out really well.” it’s almost like she’s pleased with herself.

her eyes go back to danny, and her hand goes to press a soft touch to the girl’s arm. “you look really pretty, by the way. but you always do.” 

while surrey was no stranger to happiness, it never ceased to amaze her how utterly so she was in robbie’s presence. it was all encompassing - her whole body was touched by the warmth it brought, and she doubted that would ever change. not when it was brought about so easily, doing something so simple. everything about the moment just felt right. 

“it just so happens, i do too.” them agreeing on such a thing wasn’t surprising, but, as teasing as it was, it was enough to fit with the warm feelings - this mornings theme. “dying aside, of course. i think i like it because, no matter what happened or what anyone else said, they never question their love. and because my mom used to read it to me.” and those were some fond memories; ones she’d always have with her, even though she didn’t have her mother anymore. 

“oh, i’m sorry.” she wasn’t anything of the sort, and the poorly concealed grin on her lips coupled with a barely concealed laugh said as much. it was moments like this she could live in forever. “if it will help with this honest, innocent conversation,” despite her words, she only leaned forward on her elbow; closer, “i can turn around, if you want?”

robbie’s hands are reaching out now, reaching out for surrey’s hand, and her words, saying no with her touch, saying that she wanted her looking at her with the way her fingertips curled against surrey’s, that she wanted her with those hazel eyes that looked way too warm, and kind to belong to robyn newman. the food beside her is forgotten, at least, temporarily. she’s not good at words, at comfort, but she hopes the sweetest smile she can manage, and the touch of her skin, is good enough, to make up for her, in general. “don’t you dare.” 

“i never thought about it like that.” she says, after a beat, toying with surrey’s fingers as she thinks to herself. “that idea, with r & j, i mean. that it wasn’t that they were just fucking around, it’s that they legit just believed in it that much.” she’s leaning over more now, almost uncomfortably, as she presses a kiss to surrey’s knuckles. “i always thought it was really dumb, i’m not going to lie. i was that kid who was like, ‘oh, christ they knew each other like a day’, and i thought i was so ahead of everyone.” then she’s looking back up, and thinking to herself that it sometimes felt like a game of magnets with surrey, how no matter what her attention was drawn too, she always found her eyes again. 

“i still loved the story, and the bigger picture. but i didn’t really get how you could feel that connected to someone after just, one meeting. hell, i’ve had people in my life for years and barely felt enough to text back.” her eyes narrow slightly, in a mock anger. “but then again, you came into my bar, just one time and totally fucked that up that idea.” she squeezes surrey’s hand. “so maybe you’ll make a romeo out of me yet.” her smile looks more like a smirk as she pushes off the counter again. “i’d look damn good in those tights.”

and then, she’s forcing herself to actually make the food, thankful she hadn’t picked something too complex.  

There’s a simplicity to all of this; a familiarness of the carefree love that Marra shares with Riley and the happiness welling up inside her as she’s embraced once more. A playful shriek escapes Marra, high pitched and lined with laughter, when she’s surprised by Riley’s advance. Frame leaning into Riley’s hold as she’s lifted clean off the ground in one fell swoop, Marra submits to the doting attack until her feet land softly back on the grassy ground below her. 

Using her small stature to her advantage, Marra snakes her way around Riley’s middle now, arms looping easily around her waist as she swaps their positions. Pressing her cheek in between her shoulder blades and tugging her in gently, Marra hums low. “Mind if this lightning bug plays the big spoon for a bit?”

In a rare moment of silence, Marra allows herself to enjoy the entirety of Riley’s presence, her lips pressing to her pale skin as she litters small pecks across the expanse of Riley’s shoulders. “This is really nice,” Marra admits, tone soft and sincere. “You might just turn me into the outdoorsy type yet, Riles.” Sliding her hands so that they rest over Riley’s, Marra voices one more thought before shifting her focus to the pale, exposed skin of the red-head’s neck. “We should camp out here.”

the change feels like she’s floating, and then suddenly, she’s anchored, pressing into marra’s presence and feeling a kind of giddiness bubble up in her stomach. 

and she wants to kiss her, to turn around and grab on, but she has to let herself settle. has to try not to hold on so tightly. but she couldn’t blame herself. especially, as her head lulls slightly to the side, and her eyes flutter closed, and all those noises in the forest? they just go quiet. just for a moment. all she can hear is her heartbeat, and the slight catch in her breathing.

“kissing you under the stars sounds,” she tries to think of prettier words, to express what she’s thinking, and her fingers push up against marra’s, twining their fingers messily. “sounds like a dream.” it’s clumsy, when she pulls on marra’s hand, moving it up, craning her neck down to press a few, careful kisses against it. riley settles their twined hands on her chest, close to her heart. 

and in that moment, she feels so painfully safe. 

there’s a little flash of terror, because she feels so much. it’s like there was a tap left on in her chest, and now? she’s flooded. and she thinks, not for the first time, that the way she feels about marra is like fire. and the deeper she fell, riley wondered if she was going to get burned. 

but marra would never hurt her.