Holding hands for berena plz
Itās not just that Serena has no idea whatāshappening in the film, itās that she doesnāt even realize she has no idea whatās happening until more than an hourinto it.
āWait, whoās that?ā Serena asks ā and she doeswant to know, even if the question is mostly an excuse to touch her nose toBernieās cheek and whisper in her ear.
āJohn Glenn,ā Bernie whispers back, squeezing herhand and then rubbing her thumb back and forth over a patch of skin that Serenacould swear shouldnāt be so sensitive, not after thirty years scrubbing in andout of surgeries, not after an adult lifetime of doing far more with hersignificant others than holding hands.
Doing far more than that with significant othersin movie theatres, even, but getting kicked out of cinemas (and restaurants,and a barber shop one dreadful night with Edward) isnāt really Bernieās style,and to be honest, all of that feels⦠unnecessary now. Getting away with (oralmost getting away with) lewd public displays of affection was a way ofkeeping things interesting, of making Serena feel vibrant and passionate and young.
And yet here she is, well into middle age and thrilledto distraction by nothing more than Bernieās hand in hers. Jason and Elinor willask her opinion once she returns home ā Elinorās a fan of one of the leadactresses and recommended Serena see HiddenFigures in the first place; Jason has no interest in seeing the film buthas been reading up on the historical inaccuracies ā and Serena wonāt for thelife of her be able to come up with an opinion on anything about the film otherthan the way Bernieās face looks in the reflected light of the screen. Bernieāslike a kid at the movies, eyes wide, mouth a little open, and seeing Berniewithout worry weighing her down is more than worth the price of admission. Sure,Serena wants to kiss her, wants to slide her hands under the hem of Bernieāsshirt to splay across the warm skin beneath, wants to express the way her heartis so full in her chest by taking Bernie to bed and making her sigh Serenaāsname while her skin sparkles with sweat in the lamplightā
But she has that, some nights, and she has long daysfull of conversation and shared expertise and yanking strangersā lives backfrom the breach, and tonightās about this, about going out to a movie andholding hands in the dark.
Serena drops her head to Bernieās shoulder,closes her eyes and breathes her in. Bernie lifts their clasped hands andkisses Serenaās knuckles, and they have so much more than this together, butSerena thinks even this would be enough.
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