hannah

Hannah stepped out of her large shower and wrapped herself in a towel, she'd piled her hair on top of her head, figuring it could wait to be washed until tomorrow, before stepping out of her bathroom and into her adjoining bedroom, where Peyton had already started making herself at home. "Is this an open a bottle of wine kind of night, or are you actually tired?" She asked, unfazed by her presence in the room. She crossed over to her dresser and removed the towel, patting the remaining droplets from her arms and legs before throwing on a tshirt and pair of booty shorts.

peyton

Peyton was mid pulling a t-shirt over her head when she heard Hannah’s familiar voice, “Every night is an open a bottle of wine kind of night.” She replies with a slight smile as she climbs on into the same side of the bed she’s slept on for the last eight years. “I’m definitely not tired.” Without Lexi home, and without Puck in her own bed it was apparently far too easy for Peyton to do everything besides sleep. There was a tendency to overthink that came when she was by herself.  Sighing she props herself up on the pillow with her elbow to watch as Hannah got herself ready to join her. “As it turns out, I hate going to sleep by myself these days. Go figure.” She comments with a shrug before pausing and smirking. “Sooo... how was Micah? You’ve seen him twice in two days, that has to mean something.”

hannah

Hearing confirmation that wine was necessary, Hannah stepped out into the kitchen and opened a bottle of red and a couple of mugs, because no one wanted to worry about precarious wine glasses while having a snug-sesh, and brought everything back into the room. "I knew it." She said, setting everything down on the dresser and pouring two generous helpings. "I knew you were going to get all Peyton on me over Micah." She handed Peyton her mug and slipped into the bed next to her with a shrug. "He's just easy, we have good chemistry in bed, he's no frills but always gets me off, and if he's not tired he can get really into what I like." She took a generous sip of her wine. "But there's nothing more than physical there."

peyton

Feigning shock, Peyton takes the mug of wine and sits herself up in the bed just enough to bring the drink to her lips. “I am not going all Peyton on you, that’s not even a thing, thank you very much!” She says jokingly, though with the knowledge she may have had a habit of reading too much into Hannah’s sexual encounters in the past. “But chemistry in bed, can lead to chemistry in... other places. I’m just saying. And Micah is a nice boy.” After taking another,  larger, sip, Peyton places the mug next to her and bites down on her lip for a second as she snakes her arm around Hannah’s shoulders, tugging her in towards her side and squeezing tightly. “I’m not sorry, I haven’t seen you in three weeks, you have to deal with my tight hugs.... Don’t spill your wine on me though, this shirt isn’t technically mine and if it smells like wine it’s going to be hard to return it and pretend like he’s just misplaced it for a few days.”

hannah

"Perhaps if he ever grows up, or at the very least changes his sheets more than once a month, I'd consider it, but until then, he's just a fuck buddy, plain and simple." Hannah leaned into the hug, secretly loving when Peyton got all lovey dovey like this. Though she did clutch her wine mug protectively. "I seriously doubt Puck cares if you have his shirt." She teased. "Speaking of which, enough about my sex life! You're really going to talk to him?"

peyton

Groaning playfully she pulls away from her bestie’s side, “But your sex life is sooo much more exciting than my life at the moment.” Actually always. It’s something Peyton had always admired about Hannah, the way she was so bold and carefree when it came to putting herself out there, while still being one of the most independent and caring people she knew. “Yeah... I’ll talk to him. I just hate talking about that night. And what if bringing everything up again when there’s finally a small resemblance of normality just ruins us all over again?” She admits, hating that a night which was her decision was still something she had to think about. “Would it be weird to just... do it over text?”

hannah

Taking another sip, Hannah nodded. "Peyton, you have to trust him to be able to handle an adult conversation if you ever want to actually be able to move past this. Look at it this way, would you rather constantly have this thing between you, forever, while pretending to feel normal, or would you rather know that you genuinely put yourself out there and fought for him, regardless of the outcome, and have an actual chance at a real, healthy, functional relationship with him." She knew she was slipping into therapist mode, it was a habit she found hard to break unless she was naked. "I think face to face is better, but if you can only handle it through text, then.... at least that's something?"

peyton

After this long, Peyton had accepted that sometimes when she spoke to Hannah she didn’t just have a best friend, she had a therapist. And right now the therapist was actually a welcome addition to the conversation. Sighing, she picks up her mug and takes a few gulps before replying. “Don’t use the word relationship to Puck.” She chuckles sadly, her fingers circling on the side of the cup. “But you’re right. You know, I hate that you’re always right sometimes. I will be an adult and talk to him about it face to face... That way if it gets really bad I’ll just get naked.” Peyton was half joking, but sometimes when it came to serious conversations it paid to really know the other person. “Seriously though... Can you not go away for that long again? It’s like you leaving just causes a domino effect of stress in my life, and talking to you on facetime is just not the same.” Peyton puts the mug back down and frowns a little as she lays down into the bed and rests her head in Hannah’s lap. “Never again, okay? You can have a fantasy threesome here.”

hannah

With a sigh and a smile, Hannah took one more generous sip of wine and put her own mug down, turning her attention to playing with Peyton's hair. "I promise, never again. From now on, a week TOPS, even if I have to fly back and forth to take care of you between holidays." She smiled fondly at Peyton. "What else do you need to tell me about? Something's happening with KJ?" She asked, her finger combing lightly through Peyton's soft hair. She knew how close the other girl was to her brothers, and she knew it must be killing her that KJ was mad at her, no matter the reason. Though she couldn't really think of anything Peyton had ever done to make anyone in her family mad before, so it must have been something big.

peyton

Peyton’s eyes flutter shut as Hannah’s fingers comb lightly through her hair, it was a comfort she felt like she’d needed for three weeks. “I’m going to hold you to that promise.” She responds softly, and eyes squeezing tighter at the mention of her little brother. It was a topic she’d tried not to talk about, even more so than the one with Puck. KJ was her blood and her whole life it had just been her and her brothers. “KJ had... something happen to him.” Peyton begins to tell her, feeling a lump in her throat growing saying the words out loud. “I didn’t know how to cope, so I told someone... I know it wasn’t my story to tell, but he’s my brother, you know? Every time I thought about everything I couldn’t breathe and I needed to breathe again. But KJ doesn’t see it like that, he just sees it as me betraying his trust?” She shrugs. “I don’t know... I have no idea how you deal with other people’s problems all the time. It’s draining.”

hannah

Hannah breathed a laugh at Peyton's last statement. "Well, for one, I don't become emotionally attached to my clients, it's a lot harder when it's someone I love." She kept her hand moving through Peyton's hair. "And as for KJ, I can pretty much guarantee you he's not really mad at you, oftentimes when we are feeling lost or overwhelmed by emotions or situations we can't control, we take it out on the people we love. It's easier for him to be mad at you than at himself, or at whoever actually deserves it, because he knows that no matter what, you will always love him and be there for him. His anger, as misplaced as it is, is his subconscious way of telling you he trusts you with it." She really needed to get ahold on not turning into a therapist with her friends. "Give him some time and a little space, when you feel the time is right, just remind him that you love him, and you're sorry for overstepping a boundary."

peyton

“See, this is just another reason you’re not allowed to leave me.” Peyton turns into her lap to look up at her best friend, quickly wiping the loose tear from her eye. “I clearly can’t function without you.” She tells her with a sad smile and reaches up to bop her nose. There were perks to having someone constantly in her life who knew human emotions much better than she ever could. “Tell me something exciting about your life to make me feel better... And it can’t be about Micah because I already know all about that.”

hannah

"Hey..." Hannah frowned, she knew Peyton had missed her, but the idea of her being so upset, she'd never imagined the other girl needed her this much. Or maybe, she told herself, it just happened to be a rough few weeks and it had nothing to do with you not being around. Either way, she shifted, wrapping her arms around Peyton and pulling her in so her head rested on her chest, Hannah pressed a kiss to the top of her taking, taking in that Peyton smell. "I promise I won't leave for that long again." She said, holding out her pinky so Peyton could take it without moving. Then she sighed, trying to think of something exciting, to her, life was pretty standard. "Well, you know about my holiday threesome, and you know about Micah, and... that's been pretty much it..." She tried to think of maybe something non-sexual. "Oh! Did I tell you one of my cousins lit himself on fire with my Nana's birthday cake?"

peyton

With the kiss to her head, Peyton felt like she could finally relax into the girl’s embrace, all the talk about feelings was done, and with Hannah here she didn’t have to overthink everything. Hannah was, and has been for a long time, her logical voice of reason. “You don’t know this, but there’s a secret recording device in here that i’m going to bring out if you decide to go again.” She joked, extending her pinky to link with her friend’s. She wrapped her arms around her, and settles comfortably into her chest. “Oh my god! Honestly? Really glad it wasn’t your nana. At 102 the last thing she needs is to get lit on her birthday.” Peyton laughed to herself, finding amusement in her own terrible jokes. “Thanks for ditching a boy’s bed for me tonight.”

hannah

Hannah chuckled softly. “And here you are threatening to straight up move away from me.” She teased, giving Peyton’s arms a squeeze. “Trust me, if you added up all of the hair product my Nana has used over the course of her entire 102 years, it still wouldn’t be half as much as this kid had in his hair. You ask me, he had it coming.” She laughed. “But he’s fine! His eyebrow should grow back eventually.” Shaking her head, Hannah opted not to remind Peyton that she had been planning on leaving Micah’s anyways because they did not do sleepovers. “Anytime, babe.” She said instead.

peyton

“Shhh, you’re coming with me, we’ve established that. Give me three to five years to convince you.” She chuckled tiredly. Her head shook against Hannah as she imagined one of the girl’s cousins suddenly with no eyebrows. “When I move to LA I’m determined to meet every single one of your cousins. They’re all stuck with me,” Peyton tells as her eyes start to feel heavy now — possibly from the wine, though more likely as a result of no longer feeling alone. “You know you’re always welcome to crash at my place... if you’re feeling lonely, that is. mi casa es su casa. My shower isn’t as good, but I have the best tub around.”

hannah