#junosjukebox

Paige’s fingers drum against the bar’s counter, the rest of the world a muffled noise around her as she glares daggers at a couple in the corner. She should be having fun. She had just been promoted, and her friends had ordered a girls' night out, which should have been the perfect recipe for her to let go and enjoy herself, but she couldn’t. All because of Bones, cosied up in the corner of a club with a girl dressed head to toe in pink.

It was silly, it’s not like they were dating, but for some reason the sight of the two made her blood boil. It wasn’t even the first time this had happened, Paige stumbling upon one of Bones’ dates, but the annoyance that had been gradually building up had turned to full-blown jealousy. The way Bones would brush against the girl’s arm or laugh at her jokes…Paige wanted that to be her. She scowled again. Who even was this Barbie wannabe?

“Paige?” Bonnie raises an eyebrow, pulling her back to the present. She glances toward the direction Paige is looking, sighing. “Girl. No.”

“You don’t even know what I’m thinking.”

“Right. Surely you aren’t thinking of trying to make Bones jealous by doing…god knows what, honestly, to get back at her for going on a date. Because that would be ridiculous.” Bonnie deadpans, taking a sip of her drink. “And also because we’re supposed to be having a nice night out, which means no thinking about complicated hookups.”

Bones glances in their direction, her eyes locking with Paige. She smirks as her eyes glint with mischief before she pulls the blonde girl in closer, whispering something in her ear and making her giggle. The jealousy inside her roared even louder, and in that instant, her mind had been made up – much to Bonnie’s dismay. Bones would not get away with this.

“Of course I wouldn’t do something like that.” She huffs as she steals a sip of Bonnie’s drink. “I’m just going to have some fun on the dance floor.”

She hears Bonnie mumble an ‘oh no’ as she struts onto the floor, immediately scanning the floor for someone to dance with. It didn’t take her long before someone approached her, and Paige eagerly pulled them in. She was sure Bones was watching; she could feel her brown eyes burning into her, so she pulled out all the stops. Giggling, biting her lip, tossing her hair – the whole nine yards. If Bones wanted to play, she was determined to make sure she’d win.

Their silent battle continued, with the two going farther and farther just to spite each other. She doesn’t even know this person’s name, but she can see Bones unravelling more and more, so they’re doing exactly what she needs them to do. Paige giggles at something they say, running her hands up their arms and pulling them in for a quick kiss. She glances back towards Bones, who is clearly seething – perfect, she had won. Content, she excuses herself from the person, going out into the back alley to smoke.

Bones shows up about a minute later. Paige lazily smiles as she approaches, taking a drag from her cigarette. “Aww, ‘ya left Barbie all by herself?” She teases with a giggle. Bones doesn’t answer, grabbing her chin and yanking her face towards her. She hesitates for a moment before pulling Paige in the rest of the way, Bones hungrily kissing her.

Paige reciprocates her hunger, dropping her long forgotten cigarette on the ground as she wraps her arms around Bones’ neck, deepening the kiss. They pull apart after a moment, only because they were out of breath. “You…” Bones grits out, Paige slyly smiling as she challenges her. “You’re impossible. Jealous, were we, Paige?”

“You’re one to talk.” She hums, resting her forehead against Bones’. The other woman tuts but doesn’t protest, instead resting her hands on Paige’s back, pulling her closer. Bones has done it a million times by now, but it still gives her butterflies – something about it, something about them just feels…right.

“What are you thinking about?” Bones murmurs, pulling back slightly so she can look at Paige. But her hands remain on her, rubbing circles onto her back. “You’ve got that look in your eyes.”

“I dunno…I just…” She hesitates for a moment, taking a deep breath. “I don’t want you seeing other people. I don’t like it. When I see you on a date, I keep wishing it were with me instead. I want you all to myself.”

Bones is taken aback for a moment at her honesty. “I didn’t…I’m sorry, I didn’t realise you felt that way. You’re serious?” Paige nods. “I…want you all to myself, too. I was scared you didn’t feel the same, so I…well…you get it.”

“Oh my god…you’re telling me we could’ve sorted this out ages ago?”

Bones laughs. “I suppose. Better late than never?”

Lana raised a brow, looking up from her laptop. “Neither of us are 21 yet, in case you forgot.”

“That’s literally never stopped us before.” Jewels bounced over, draping herself over the side of Lana’s bed and looking up at her with wide hopeful eyes. “Please? This is the first time Suzie asked me out for drinks — I need you there to be my wingwoman.”

Lana pursed her lips, closing her laptop and turning her attention fully towards her roommate. “Why don’t you ask Kori or Lydia?”

“Because there’s no way in hell a bouncer will buy that Lydia is 21, and Kori will spill the beans about my crush as soon as she gets half a drink in her. Plus you’re my best friend,” Jewels whined, lips set in an adorable pout.

“I’d love to—“ she started to say and Jewels perked up instantly. “But I can’t.”

She felt a bit like a monster as she watched Jewels’ face fall. “It’s Arri’s birthday, I promised I’d spend the night with her,” she jumped into an explanation quickly.

Jewels bit her lip, brow furrowing. “Well, she and Suzie get along fine, right? Why don’t we just invite her?”

“Invite who?” Came a smooth voice from the doorway.

Lana’s heart fluttered as she caught sight of her girlfriend, leaning against the doorframe, smiling at Lana as if there was nobody else in the world. If Jewels wasn’t there, Lana would already have Arrietty in her arms, those perfect lips captured in her own. But Jewels was there, so she just smiled back.

Jewels popped up immediately, a glint in her eyes. “Arrietty, you like Suzie, right?”

Arrietty tilted her head to the side, a few strands of dark hair falling out of her loose braid. “She’s fine. We don’t talk all that much.”

“Okay, great. perfect,” Jewels barreled forward, entirely ignoring Arrietty’s response. “She invited us out for drinks tonight. You should come! I’ll buy you a birthday drink. Pretty please with a cherry on top?”

“Lana and I have dinner plans,” she said smoothly, walking over to the bed. Lana’s heart raced and her hand twitched with the urge to touch, to pull her girlfriend onto the shitty twin mattress and kiss every inch of tanned skin she could reach.

Jewels, however, didn’t seem to notice anything. “After, then?”

Lana had to hand it to her, she was nothing if not persistent. She looked at her girlfriend, raising her brows in a silent question.

“My roommate isn’t home tonight,” Arri murmured, so soft that Lana wondered for a second if she had imagined it.

Shifting imperceptibly closer, Lana let her hand ‘accidentally’ brush against Arrietty’s. “Sorry, Jewels. I’ll make it up to you next time,” Lana breathed, letting herself drown in the depths of Arrietty’s heated gaze.

Jewels said something in response — Lana was pretty sure she did at least — but she didn’t hear a word of it. Not when Arrietty was staring at her like that, making her entire body prickle with anticipation.

Suddenly, there were soft lips against hers, a familiar tongue gently teasing her lips apart. Lana’s eyes fluttered shut, hand coming up to cup her cheek as she kissed back — until a sudden bolt of fear shot down her spine.

Scrambling away as quickly as she could, her head whipped around wildly to find Jewels, already trying to come up with some sort of excuse, some lie to save face.

“Wow. Even on my birthday, I don’t get to kiss my girlfriend? I’m wounded.” Arrietty sat on the edge of the bed, wrapping her arms around Lana’s waist to pull her onto her lap.

Lana tried to calm her racing heart. “What about Jewels? What if she saw us—“ she swallowed thickly.

Rolling her eyes, Arrietty tilted her head up to peck Lana’s lips once more. “She left, baby. She’s off to try and convince Sam to go to the bar with her. It’s just us now.”

Looking over to the door and then back to Arrietty, she let herself be shifted onto her lap properly, arms snaking around her neck. “She could come back any minute…”

It was a half-assed protest and Arrietty knew it, leaning in to place a warm kiss on the tender flesh where Lana’s throat met her jaw. “That still gives us a minute or two to do whatever we please,” she breathed out against the soft skin, an electric current running through her body at the sensation. If she wasn’t careful, she could lose herself in this, let herself spend the rest of the night getting taken apart by Arrietty’s devilish mouth, Jewels be damned.

Moving carefully, she tucked two fingers underneath Arrietty’s chin, tilting her head up. Staring down into her dark twinkling eyes, the love she was suddenly hit with felt overwhelming – a semi-truck ramming into her at full speed. It was moments like this where she thought maybe she could let the world know about them; she wanted to be able to shout from the rooftops that Arrietty was hers and nobody else's.

Leaning in, she connected their lips gently, warmth blooming like a flower in her chest as they kissed, bodies melting together to become one.

The familiar click of the door being unlocked filled Lana’s ears like a gunshot. Shoving Arrietty away, Lana scrambled for purchase, praying she didn’t look too disheveled.

Someday. Someday she would tell Jewels; she would tell everyone.