#jelsey

•••

“You’re my best friend, you know.”

Jo’s voice cut through Kelsey’s nonsensical ramblings—about their upcoming APUSH debate in which Kelsey was set to be a muckraker of the 1920s and Jo was playing Henry Ford and the argument she was planning to tear her friend’s capitalist character down with. Grey’s Anatomy was playing on the TV in front of them, something dramatic happening that Jo hadn’t been paying attention to for a while. She wasn’t a big fan of the show, anyways.

Kelsey’s face was obscured by the face mask that she had brought over for the two of them to share—Jo had a matching one lathered across her skin, as well—but it wasn’t too hard to picture the questioning quirk of her eyebrows, the almost suspicious scrunch of her nose that she wouldn’t dare do with the mask on. Jo had known the girl for too long. She knew Kelsey’s quirks like the back of her hand.

“You’re my best friend, too?” Kelsey’s voice was almost a question, but the smile in her eyes—still not stretching her skin because Jo taught her well—more than genuine. She kicked out at the other girl with her foot. Jo had painted Kelsey’s toes just a few minutes ago and she had complained about the purple separator she had forced on the other girl the entire time. Jo grinned as she dodged Kelsey’s kick, letting a snort of laughter out. “Why are we getting sentimental right now? We haven’t even broken out the wine.”

Jo rolled her eyes, her low, sarcastic groan loud in her small living room. She tossed herself back onto the couch as dramatically as possible, throwing her head back and rubbing the back of her head into the colorful throw that lay across the back of her family’s couch. She liked to tease that her mother treasured this old textile more than she loved her own daughter. Her hair came back static-y and angry, pops of noise picking about the air as she pulled away and grinned over at her closest friend.

“I just wanted to let you know.”

“I already know, silly,” Kelsey’s laugh was bright. It was electric. Her eyes wrinkled up, not-yet-permanent crows feet dashing out like strikes of lightening. Jo was sure, if not for the mask she had on her face, there would be a happy, pink coloring high in her cheeks. Kelsey quickly relaxed her face when she realized that she was likely wrinkling the mask, but her cheeks were tight around her lips as if she were attempting to swallow her laughter down but couldn’t in full.

It painted a funny picture. Or maybe it was just the pure charm that was Kelsey. Laughter spilled from Jo’s lips in response and soon the two were laughing together, ignoring the wrinkles spreading across their masks. Even though she had been the one to suggest this self-care day Jo didn’t care. She didn’t care that her hair was messy and tangled. She didn’t care that the paint on her nails was likely getting smudged and rubbed into that throw that her mother loved so much. She didn’t care. Because that laugh, that piercing, ringing, beautiful thing made her heart stop. It made her brain short circuit. It made her limbs freeze up and her mouth go numb.

Jo would do anything to keep that laugh in her life.

“Gosh, we’re both messes now!” Kelsey broke through Jo’s haze of admiration, the girl peeling the mask from her face and tossing it towards the trash bin they had pulled from Jo’s room. It landed atop the cotton balls and makeup wipes that had been using earlier with something that could hint at a wet flop. She reached for the other girl’s mask before Jo could react, pulling it from her face, as well. The cool air on her newly exposed face made her cringe back. “I’m serious, Jo! My pores are probably still all clogged up!”

“It’s okay, Kels,” Jo laughed at her friend’s distress. “You’re still beautiful.”

“Jo!” Kelsey squealed in response, her hands flying up to cover her face as she leaned into Jo’s shoulder. Jo couldn’t help but laugh again, wrapping her arms about her friend and falling back into the couch. Kelsey’s own laughter was warm against Jo’s neck as she peeked up at her friend. Her eyes were bright with mirth and Jo knew without seeing all of the other’s face that there was a smile on her lips. “You can’t just say stuff like that.”

“Yes I can!” Jo protested. “You’re my best friend! We’ve just determined that!”

Kelsey fell silent, leaving Jo’s laugh ringing by itself before she realized her friend had quieted down. She tilted her head down to look at the other, a question in her eyes. Kelsey’s face was a touch pink, her gaze off to the right as if she were attempting to avoid Jo’s sight—and she wasn’t just looking at something off to the side, Jo had checked to be sure.

“Kelsey?”

“Just,” Kelsey started, clearing a lump that had seemingly gotten stuck in her throat. Jo tugged at a strand of Kelsey’s hair as if to prompt her. “Just friends?”

Jo felt her breath catch in her throat, her lungs seizing up as she considered what Kelsey had just said. Her words bounced relentlessly through her head. She felt slightly put out as well, of course, but that was mostly due to the fact that Jo had always expected to be the one who confessed first. She had toyed with the possibility that Kelsey would return her feelings, usually on sleepless nights where not even Instagram could keep up with her million-mile-an-hour mind, but she had never found herself being confessed to by the girl of her affection in even her wildest dreams.

Jo’s mouth was dry as she gaped at her friend. Kelsey seemed to be getting progressively more embarrassed, the pink of her cheeks plunging into a red and the girl squirming almost uncomfortably in Jo’s hold as if she wanted to be anywhere but here. Jo tightened her hold on the other, watching as she calmed her movements, glancing up at her once again.

“I mean,” Jo managed to say. She was sure that her face was just as red as Kelsey’s by now. “We can be more if you want?”

“Was that a question?”

“I guess?”

Kelsey giggled into Jo’s shoulder once again, burying her face into the crook of her neck for a moment before extracting herself once again. Jo was both disappointed and relieved. Relived because this was a conversation that they needed to have as well as the fact that she was ticklish. Disappointed in the fact that Kelsey had pulled away. So sue her. Jo had always been in love with the idea of simply being surrounded by her best friend—even if that was the only form the affection came in.

“Well. My answer is yes. I would like to be more.”

“Oh!” Jo croaked out excitedly, a smile breaking across her face. She grinned down at Kelsey, who grinned just as brightly back up at her. “Yeah, that sounds good to me.”

“Can I…?” Kelsey trailed off. It took Jo a moment to realize what the other girl was asking, her mind still reeling with what had just transpired.

“Definitely!” She finally managed, letting Kelsey squirm her way out of her arms. Jo settled her hands atop Kelsey’s. Were her palms always this sweaty?

Where Jo was sitting cross legged on the couch, Kelsey had somehow found her way to kneeling atop it, her whole body turning to face Jo as opposed to the girl in question, who had just angled her torso towards the other.

“Awesome.” Kelsey breathed as she pressed closer to Jo.

Jo watched as her friend’s eyes flickered from her own gaze to her lips and back again. She took that as a prompt for her to do so as well, and was once again mesmerized by the idea of Kelsey’s lips. By the idea of kissing them, of kissing Kelsey, of Kelsey kissing her.

Kelsey surged forward only a moment later. It wasn’t anything like fireworks or bursts of light. It was the awkward press of lips against lips, a chaste thing that hinted at clacking teeth if their mouths had been open.

The two pulled back with laughter spilling out of them. And then, after a moment, they pressed back in.

Two Days left to join Lady Like Week!

Come join us in celebrating Lady Like ships, from September 16-20, 2019!

Create something (fic, fanart, graphics, etc.) for any ship involving at least one Lady Like gal, past or present - (okay i say gal but i won’t say know to fics about Mike tbh). Tag @rarebuzzships​ in it (important!) AND use the #rareladylikeweek, which i’ll be tracking. You can also add Ao3 works to our Ao3 collection.

(Note: this is Kelsey D.)

Jen sits at her desk, legs tucked under her, restlessly clicking her pen as she waits for the final render of her last project.

Kristin makes eyes at her over her laptop, at first a look of y’okay there, Jen? that soon turns impatient when Jen keeps clicking.

“Why don’t you just take a walk? It’ll be ready when you come back.”

Jen shrugs and makes her way to the canteen, mindlessly scrolling through Twitter as she walks. It feels like her entire body’s filled with static electricity and intrusive thoughts.

This is one of the biggest projects of her career. What if it tanks? What if she loses her job and has to go back to Illinois?

Her body, her mind, feel too tight – she wishes she could crawl out of it and just… live as a hermit or something.

She turns a corner and almost slams into Kelsey but looks up at the last minute and manages to stop herself. That, of course, sends her tumbling into Kelsey’s arms anyway, because she stops too short.

Kelsey stills her with an arm around her waist and laughs. “Oh look, it’s my ex-wife! I missed you too, you don’t have to meet-cute your way into my arms!”

“Very funny, this is exactly what I’m doing,” Jen deadpans, and tries to pull away, but it’s like her body fights against her. She just slumps against Kelsey’s chest, self-consciously trying to step back. She waits for the familiar wave of anxiety that envelops her every time she’s forced into physical contact, but it doesn’t come.

Quite the opposite, actually. She feels all her stress, all her insecurities, drain away, all nervous tension leaving her body.

She squeezes Kelsey’s wrist and pulls back at last.

“Ha, that was – um, thanks for that.”

“Sure thing, babe,” Kelsey nods and gently punches her shoulder – their usual no-hug greeting.

Days pass, Jen’s video is well received – it does better than she expected, in fact – so why is she still so stressed out? She finds herself craving something, but she can’t put her finger on it. She feels like a tightly wound ball of nerves waiting for the right thing so she can finally let go.

She works late, until her desk lamp is the only one still lit, trying to channel her restless energy into something productive. On her way downstairs she notices she’s not the last one left – Kelsey’s still at her desk, one floor down. Jen doesn’t even realize her feet are moving until she’s right by Kelsey, moving her bag from shoulder to shoulder nervously.

“Done for the day?” Kelsey asks, saving her work. “Wanna grab dinner?”

Jen forgets to answers because Kelsey stands up into Jen’s space and Jen does what she never does. She steps closer and wraps her arms around Kelsey’s waist, tucking her head under Kelsey’s chin.

Kelsey lets out a surprised breath but hugs Jen back. “You don’t like hugs,” she says, and it sounds like a question.

Jen, mumbles, voice muffled against Kelsey’s chest. “This is not a hug.”

She can feel the question mark in Kelsey’s entire being.

“It’s – it’s a body high five.”

It’s a coping mechanism, is what it is. Once more, she feels something inside of her uncoiling, tension dropping, stress just vanishing. This is what she’d been craving.

Kelsey pats her shoulder. “Sure, buddy.”

Jen is still holding on. “Just. Just stay like this, okay?”

Kelsey kisses the top of her head, and Jen just about melts on the spot. “Okay, babe.”

“Ramen would be good,” Jen says, still pressed into Kelsey.

“Oh hell yeah.”

“But like. In five minutes.”

“You know you don’t have to take all the hugs you can get right now, right? I’m here whenever you want one. Hell, I’ll hold you all night if you want.”

“You would?”

“Of course, you’re my wife.”

Jen sniffles a bit. “Thanks. But it’s not a hug.”

“I know, babe.”

Jen: At the very worst, I make, like, a better friend. Kelsey: Best case scenario: we fuck.

thank you mauricio i fucking love u

zugene - they are slow burn. the slowest fucking burn. it’s ugly how slow of a burn it is. keith and ned have to fucking force them together. but when they do get together (at a school dance, of all fucking places) they are a gross pda couple. so in love. it’s nasty.

ned/ariel - they are….. literally so cute. okay so ned carries all of ariel’s books around and ariel has ‘mrs. fulmer’ doodled in the margins of her notebooks and one day ned sees it while holding her chem book and actually cries thinking “fuck im gonna marry that girl one day.”

standrew - okay these boys are so fucking cute and it warms my heart. every friday is their date night and they take each other to their fave restaurants… of course they’re a lil poor so it’s not always the fanciest establishment but you better bet for their year anniversary in sophomore year (bc yeah they started dating in freshman year….. fight me on it) they go all fucking out.

becky/keith - they grew up together, their moms are on the pta together, and they would always play like ninja warrior dragon fighters as children. (keith was always a dragon who hoarded food and becky was a ninja warrior fighter who always wore a morph suit.)

ashtel - ashly works at a fast food restaurant and chantel always comes in to hang with her after her shift. she won’t order any fast food but she has to order something to hang around so she orders one coffee and sits in her corner with her book until ash is ready to leave. all of ashly’s coworkers just think her girlfriend is weirdly coffee-addicted.

shyan - their first date, is, of course, to a scary movie. ryan tries to do the yawn and stretch thing within the first ten minutes but he’s too short so he fails. this causes shane to die of laughter, cackling for a good ten minutes, patrons sitting around them shushing them and ryan trying to ask satan to open the ground and swallow him up.

and this one is a bonus bc no one but me ships them but. after seeing this video. i can’t not.

kelsey? a trainwreck bi who doesn’t know what expressing her emotions tastes like 

jen? an oblivious disaster gay that has never been able to tell when someone is attempting to flirt with her in her life 

kelsey and eugene are the epitome of drunk wlw/mlm solidarity 

kelsey thinks its so cute when jen just falls over for no reason. like someone might think that shit is annoying but kels is just enamored 

jen tryin to carry her was legit the cutest shit that has ever happened to kelsey 

trainwreck bi kelsey darragh buys butch disaster gay jen ruggirello flowers and jen just,,, doesnt get it 

she just “Thank... you?” 

kelsey spontaneously combusts tbh 

she just gives jen flowers and ducks, finds eugene and they get Blasted 

he talks about being a trainwreck bi for zach and kelsey Vibes

jen has a crush on kels but it’s something she kinda views as unrealistic? like in her head its not going to happen so she doesn’t get too hung up on it, but kelsey is definitely in her top 5 would bang coworkers 

each and every single one of the ladylike girls knows about kelsey’s trainwreck crush on jen except jen

chanti gives her wlw solidarity but also Roasts 

freddie tries to set them up 

kristin just fuckin laughs sometimes when kelsey gets distracted by jens existence 

devin is the one who roasts her and tries to set them up 

devin and freddie set them up on a successful date (finally!) after collabing with the worth it boys to find a good place with a definite date atmo and kelsey has a literal cow when she realises its an actual date

jen realises its a date and just

“Oh. Cool! You’re cool with this right?” and kelsey feels like such a  nut 

Lady Like Week - a rarepair creation challenge

Come join us in celebrating Lady Like ships, from September 16-20, 2019!

Create something (fic, fanart, graphics, etc.) for any ship involving at least one Lady Like gal, past or present - (okay i say gal but i won’t say know to fics about Mike tbh). Tag @rarebuzzships​ in it (important!) AND use the #rareladylikeweek, which i’ll be tracking. You can also add Ao3 works to our Ao3 collection.

All creations will be reblogged during the week and added to a round-up post.

Reward:

Everyone who joins will earn a custom moodboard based on one of their fills

IMPORTANT:

There are no themed days anymore, you can post any ship on any day.

Inspiration:

A few LL ships: jenstin, jelsey, devam, polydylike, ashtel, chandie, safty, etc.

Take a look at our Ship List for ships you’ve never considered before (and also to know how to tag your rarepairs)

Take a look at our Prompt Tag for inspiration

what if i can’t join?

please, please, help spreading the rarepair love by boosting this post, and also supporting our creators! reblog, like, and comment on their creations!

next challenges

Kelsey D. Week - a rarepair creation challenge

Come join us in celebrating Kelsey D. ships, from August 5-9, 2019!

Create something (fic, fanart, graphics, etc.) for any Kelsey D. ship. Tag @rarebuzzships​ in it (important!) AND use the #rarekelseydweek, which i’ll be tracking. You can also add Ao3 works to our Ao3 collection.

All creations will be reblogged during the week and added to a round-up post.

Reward:

Everyone who joins will earn a custom moodboard based on one of their fills

IMPORTANT:

There are no themed days anymore, you can post any ship on any day.

Inspiration:

A few Kelsey ships: sharrelsey (seriously, check out Am I Doing This Right and write me something i need it), jelsey, keljazz, shansey, etc.

Take a look at our Ship List for ships you’ve never considered before (and also to know how to tag your rarepairs)

Take a look at our Prompt Tag for inspiration

what if i can’t join?

please, please, help spreading the rarepair love by boosting this post, and also supporting our creators! reblog, like, and comment on their creations!

next challenges