#upjas

It’s summer 2020. August 13th. The height of pandemic chaos, the hottest day of the year, and the last night she’ll ever spend in Chicago.

The St. Louis Police Department sent her an offer to run her own task force a month ago. In any other condition, Vanessa probably would have rejected the offer without hesitation. Everyone in Intelligence is her family now and she feels rooted in the connections she’s made with the people here. Only this offer was a great opportunity and, if she’s being honest, these last few months have really reminded her how short life can be. In the blink of an eye you could get hit by a bus or shot on the job or infected by some horrible disease. It’s all unknown to her, what’ll happen next in life. She thinks maybe she deserves to explore her options a little. She could never afford to do that before but she can now, so really, what’s stopping her?

It was a spur of the moment decision but once she accepted it, there was no going back. She never regretted it until she had to tell the unit. Voight’s reaction was supportive. Adam, Kim, and Jay were all thrilled for her. Kevin and Hailey, on the other hand, were the ones feeling the effects of it the most. She doesn’t blame them for it though. Even she herself didn’t know she’d be leaving. Their surprise must be ten times worse. Thankfully she’s managed to smooth it over with Kev but Hailey’s been reeling from it— from her— for the past two weeks.

That was why, when the weather forecast says there’s a thunderstorm in store for tonight, she was sort of thrilled. She’s got packing to do anyway (even though it’s considerably minimal packing) and a storm that’ll box them in and deter them from leaving the apartment means Hailey’s chances of saying no to helping Vanessa pack were slim to none. She accepted gracefully that morning and now, when the day borders on the evening and the sun has set, it gets blocked by clouds leaving a misty grey sky and a tense Hailey Upton. Vanessa’s least favourite Hailey— although, admittedly, she’d take any version of Hailey over anyone else any day.

“Thanks for helping me pack,” Vanessa tells her over the sound of pouring rain as they sift through the things in the kitchen trying to decipher which stuff belongs to Vanessa. They’re standing side by side, leaning against the counter as Vanessa shoves her spice rack in a box (and she gnaws at her lip when she sees Hailey labelled the habanero salt as “Roja-banero” which she thinks will always remain the lamest pun to ever exist). Her elbow bumps against Hailey’s as the spice rack falls into the box, and it sends a tingle up Vanessa’s spine.

“Yeah, no problem.” Then after a moment, Hailey adds in a softer voice without ever meeting Vanessa’s eye, “I still can’t believe you’re leaving.”

“It’s a great opportunity, Hails, you know that,” she refutes. “But you know I’m going to miss you.”

Hailey blinks a little at that. “You will?”

“Yeah, of course,” Vanessa assures. Was it not obvious just how fucking bad she’ll miss Hailey Upton? Was it not embarrassingly blatant? It’s… almost abnormal, the amount Vanessa’s going to miss waking up to share a coffee machine with her each morning, to shoot Hailey a playful wink at work and say “see you at home, roomie” like it’s an inside joke no one understands. “Why else do you think I’ve put off packing for so long?”

“I just thought you didn’t have much to pack,” she admits in her own defence.

“Also true. But it’s a hell of a lot more than what I had when I first moved in.”

Hailey lets out an amused snort at that. “Yeah, I remember you dragging that one duffle bag into our— my— apartment that day. Man, that feels like ages ago.”

The reminder that she’s moving is enough to make Vanessa wince with heartache, but she forces a half-assed smile anyway. “It does, yeah. I’ve got a lot of good memories here.”

There’s a moment where Vanessa becomes acutely aware of the fact that their hands are gripping onto the counter right next to each other— so close that they’re almost touching— and that from their pinkies to their elbows, their skin makes the gentlest contact. A familiar lump forms in Vanessa’s throat and her breath hitches.

“Well here, let’s make a toast then,” Hailey suggests, pulling away abruptly and moving far away to the other side of the island. She’s gunning for the whiskey though, Vanessa can already tell that. Hailey’s default whenever things get uncomfortable is to pull out the whiskey, frankly, and having your roommate move out is definitely uncomfortable for her. (Not that she’s an alcoholic, but it gives her something to do with her hands, Vanessa thinks.) So, Hailey goes on her tiptoes and finds the good stuff, pulling it down with a grunt and grabbing two glasses with it.

By the time she’s done pouring it in, Vanessa’s moved from the counter to the island. They’re still on opposite sides of it but she leans in so much that it feels like there’s a lot less space. “Cheers,” Hailey says while lifting her glass up, sliding Vanessa’s across the marble island, “to the memories we made here.”

“Cheers to that,” Vanessa echoes. She clinks her glass against Hailey’s and they both take a sip. Hailey’s eyes train on her as she takes her sip, and Vanessa’s sip becomes a lot bigger all of a sudden. The whiskey burns at her throat but it proves to be a useful distraction from whatever that charged, piercing look was.

Vanessa’s been getting a lot of those looks from Hailey shot her way recently. It started right around the time when she told her about the job offer, actually. And this energy that’s been building between them ever since has been nothing short of confusing and… kind of amazing? It sends a flutter in her stomach that’s addicting, even if she’s terrified of it because she knows soon it’ll just be one more thing to miss about Chicago.

But it’s like she said: the whiskey’s a good distraction.

“So I think we’ve packed everything you need,” Hailey tries conversing again after she takes a second sip, moving over to the couch and giving the living room a once over (checking for more stuff to pack, she thinks) before sitting down. “Well, it was nice knowing you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Vanessa sorts as she plops down next to her on the couch and gives Hailey’s knee an affectionate pat. “I’m still going to talk to you. There’s texting and calling and facetime and all sorts of shit like that. And I’ll come and visit you guys come Christmas time. Trust me, you’re not getting rid of me that easily.”

“Good.” Hailey’s voice comes out raspy and quiet— and very uneven. It sends a chill down Vanessa’s spine. “I don’t want to get rid of you.”

Trying to keep her brain from short circuiting, Vanessa utters the only thing she can seem to think of. “I’m going to miss you so fucking much.”

This seems to do something to Hailey, because suddenly she’s squirming in her skin and trying to shift further away on the couch, leaving a good foot of space between her and Vanessa. Hailey just clears her throat awkwardly, takes another sip of whiskey, and finds anything to look at apart from Vanessa.

Did she do something wrong in admitting that? The fact that she’s leaving tomorrow has certainly given Vanessa the ability to be a little more… bold, in her feelings (feelings which, lately, have been anything but platonic) but she wouldn’t dare risk ruining the last night she’ll ever have with her best friend before leaving.

But oh God, did she just ruin it anyway?

“It’s raining.” Hailey suddenly points out. Her eyes are absently focused on the downpour outside the windows across from the couch, glossed over with something fearful that peaks Vanessa’s curiosity.

There are four windows, really: two outer windows that are merely windows, and two inner windows that are rather sliding glass doors that lead to a small balcony. Combined, it means the view of the city from the couch is wide and unobstructed. It’s beautiful in the mornings when the blue sky and the natural sunlight sink in to light up the place, but on days like these with a storm as bad as this, the trail the lightning makes in the sky is clear as day. In a matter of seconds, Hailey manages to look at the hot, heavy rain through all four windows, her eyes never once needing to blink.

“Yeah,” Vanessa replies hesitantly. “It’s coming down pretty hard.”

At that moment, a big and sudden rumble of thunder decides to go off. Hailey flinches, practically jumps out of her skin as she holds her breath and grabs onto Vanessa’s hand out of instinct.

“Sorry,” she whispers after the thunder ceases, still sounding like she’s holding her breath. “I hate storms. The flashing and the loud noises, it makes me feel like I’m six again and running from my dad; running from the one thing I can’t control. It’s… I just really fucking hate thunder.”

Oh shit.

Hailey’s mentioned her father before and all of the torrent abuse he inflicted on their family. It never dawned on her that loud noises like this could affect someone as tough as Hailey Upton. In all fairness, you can duck and hide from gunshots, and perps can be caught and arrested. There’s no defending against a storm, though. Once it comes, it comes, and there’s no escaping it. Hailey probably hasn’t felt like that in a while. Vanessa wishes she could have protected Hailey from her father but if the only thing she can do right now is to help talk her through this torrential downpour, then she’ll do it with all her might.

Hailey moves to let go of her hand, but Vanessa squeezes back even tighter so that their hands stay intertwined. “It’s okay,” she assures the blonde, her thumb rubbing gently at Hailey’s hand. “I get it. But I’m right here. My plane doesn’t leave until tomorrow morning, which means I can stay here and I’ll be by your side the whole night”

“I don’t need a babysitter,” Hailey tries playing tough. “I’ll be fine.”

“What’d I say about not being ridiculous? Huh?” She arches her brow at Hailey, who takes the hint and sighs.

“Fine, okay. Thank you,” she adds, a small smile creeping on her face. They’re still holding hands, Vanessa realizes. It makes her stomach feel like shoes in a washing machine.

“No problem, roomie. The forecast said it’ll get bad though so we should make sure to prepare for if the next hot flash causes a power outa—” Halfway through her sentence, the second flash of lightning comes and the lights start flickering. For a moment, they both hang in the silence watching the lightning, but then gust of wind and rain hits the side of their apartment building especially hard and the lights start flickering… flickering… flickering….

And then boom. The thunder rumbles as the power craps out.

“Shit,” Vanessa curses under her breath.

“The candles are--”

“Second shelf from the bottom,” she finishes, “I know.”

The reminder of how familiar they are with each other and sharing a space is nothing new but only this time does it make her heart crawl into her throat. Although lately, if Vanessa’s being honest, moments like these have been happening way more often. It’s gotten to the point where her heart is practically living in her throat, taking refuge from the rest of her body and making her speechless.

She shakes that feeling off though— or tries to with all her might— and then gets up to grab some candles. Absently pulling a few out of the drawer with a matchbox, she lights them and brings them over to the couch. There’s a coffee table on the left side where Hailey’s sitting, and another one on the right, so she places one on each. For the right side, the firewood candle Kim and Adam had bought her as a going away present, and for the left side coffee table, the honey and thyme candle. It’s Hailey’s favourite; the closest-smelling thing she’ll ever have to Greece.

When the candles are all lit and placed, Vanessa finds her way back to her spot on the couch again. Her hand absently finds Hailey’s and her nose gets filled with the scents of the candles almost instantly. It’s a perfect combo, funnily enough.

Not to mention that Jesus, Hailey Upton under dim light looks like a fucking goddess.

Hailey manages to speak though, musters a small smile and replies, “What are you going to do when you’re in a new place and can’t find the candles?”

“Well I’ll just put them in the second shelf from the bottom in whatever new place I have,” she shrugs. “Just like you do. And then whenever I reach for them, it’ll be like I’m taking a tiny piece of this place with me.”

Hailey blinks at that. Once, then twice, then about half a dozen times much more rapidly. Jesus. This night has been nothing short of awkward, Vanessa thinks. First, the storm freaks Hailey out. Then she has to go and say something just a little too bold, and then she has the audacity to do it again? And freak Hailey out even more? God, what a wreck. Leaving Chicago really is doing a number on her.

Only Vanessa’s starting to think it’s not merely the act of leaving that’s doing this to her. It’s leaving Hailey.

Before Vanessa can say anything about it, however, she’s interrupted by Hailey.

Hailey’s who’s lunging forward. Hailey, who’s cupping Vanessa’s face with her hands. Hailey, who’s now kissing her with sweet, determined lips like there’s no tomorrow.

Because there isn’t. Not for them, at least. And that thought alone makes Vanessa pull away instantly (no matter how blissful and insanely amazing the kiss was). “Woah woah woah,” she stammers quietly, the rain still beating down against the windows. Her lips feel numb from the kiss in all the right ways. “What was that for?”

“Because I felt like it,” Hailey tells her simply, still nervous and rambling. “Because you let me hold your hand through this storm, because you knew where the candles were, because I’ve had a glass of whiskey, because I may never see you again, because you said you missed me— twice, actually. And because… because I never said it back.”

And holy shit, each word washes over Vanessa until she’s drowning in Hailey’s voice.

She feels the same way? The realization comes as a shock. As a detective, it probably shouldn’t have taken getting kissed to figure that out but alas, they’re here. Now. In this moment. And Vanessa’s joy, though comparable to taking ecstasy, is overthrown by the fact that she has boxes packed in the kitchen and bags packed in her room. She’s leaving tomorrow, which means she has no idea what to do. Will taking this step only once make things even worse? Will the pain of leaving be even worse? Does she care?

Maybe she doesn’t.

There’s a deafening, thick moment of silence where Vanessa swears her brain is on fire. The rain keeps beating down outside, the AC blasting out any hot August air. For a moment, everything is still and frozen except for the rain. It’s like the storm outside is now in her heart though. There’s tension, humidity, bubbling up in the space between them and accumulating in the air.

Something has to break it. Something has to crack. Hailey’s made her move though, so now, maybe… it’s time to make hers.

“You didn’t have to,” she replies gently.

Just like that, the stalemate is broken. All that cumulative density and anticipation gather like particles in the air until the pathway is found a crack! The next flash of thunder makes its way through the sky right as Vanessa leans in and kisses Hailey back. She can feel Hailey smiling into the kiss but only responds by pushing her lips further onto her.

“I’m still”— she tries uttering between kisses— “leaving”— Hailey slips her tongue into her mouth— “tomorrow.”

“I know,” Hailey whispers, pulling back for a second to meet Vanessa’s eye. It’s the first time tonight that she doesn’t look nervous or hesitant. There’s just something fierce and beautiful in those big blue eyes, something that makes Vanessa’s whole world quake with affection. Her soft hands cup Vanessa’s face and her thumbs stroke gently at her cheeks. It’s like she said before. Whole. World. Quaking. “But we’ll always have tonight then. Are you okay with that?”

Vanessa’s more than okay with it. In fact, she’s never been more okay with something her entire life. It means she doesn’t have to wait a second before delivering her answer. “I’d rather have one night with you than a hundred with anyone else.”

Hailey beams at that. Like, practically glows with joy in a way Vanessa’s never seen. They both lean back into the kiss, lips and tongues more gentle and relentless as ever. Thunder booms throughout the sky again and Hailey flinches a second time, but Vanessa’s hands find her waist and hold her— not too tight that she’s scared, but firm enough so that the pressure keeps her in Vanessa’s embrace.

Hailey’s lips are softer than she’d imagined (several times, admittedly) but Hailey herself is still commanding. The fear from the storm raging outside in the hot summer air is now gone, replaced with something equally hot, equally heavy, and even more exhilarating. It makes it so that Vanessa finds herself sliding back onto the couch, letting Hailey position herself on top of her. Thunder booms again. This time, with Vanessa under her, Hailey doesn’t flinch.

“Shirt,” Hailey orders in a mumble, already pulling at Vanessa’s black tank top. It comes off in an instant, the two of them tearing it off eagerly as Hailey’s lips place a trail of kisses from her lips to her jawline, to her neck, to her collarbone, all the way down to her barely covered chest.

Barely covered soon becomes not covered at all. Hailey takes her flannel off just before unhooking Vanessa’s bra in one fell swoop. And the amount of skin that’s pressed together, kissed, licked, teased, prodded, milked for all its worth after that is unbearably intense. It sends her body on fire, so much so that Vanessa thinks for a second the walls of this apartment were useless against the storm and she’s actually been struck by fucking lightning. A moan slips out of her mouth into Hailey’s ear, which breeds a positive reaction and a moan of her own.

Some strange and primal instinct takes over and Vanessa starts scratching Hailey’s back, stroking, kissing her neck, running her hands through her blonde hair. It’s all a blur; a perfect mixture between gentle and rough, soft yet hard, fast and slow, all of which is a total haze to her.

Hailey’s hands slip down to Vanessa’s jeans and work at the button. When it pops open, she pulls back to give Vanessa a look as if to say “Are you sure?” It’s wordless, but Vanessa just… understands. She understands it in the same way she understands that Hailey always puts her toothbrush in the same placeholder each time, that she puts her bread through the toaster twice when making toast, or how she’ll steal Vanessa’s socks out of the laundry when her feet get cold but never admit to it because being cold is a “coward’s move” according to her (which never fails to make Vanessa laugh). In all of this, she’s never once questioned it. These little quirks that make up their days have simply become the way life has been.

That’s why, without Hailey needing to say a word, Vanessa gives her a small nod of consent and whispers, “One more night. Give me everything you’ve got. I want it all. I want… I want you.”

And Hailey does exactly what she’s told— eagerly, exceptionally, and with determination.

They never make it back to the bed, spending the rest of the night surrounded by lightning, thunder, and the vague scent of firewood and thyme as their fingers take turns practicing deep strokes, hair tangled together, with lips that never leave each other.

****

When Vanessa wakes up the next morning, they’re still on the couch. The sky is blue once again and the storm is gone. Both she and Hailey are still bare, skin sweaty and sticking together while they’re curled up on the couch. The clothes she tore off last night are now the only things she hasn’t packed yet, she realizes.

A part of her considers staying there. God knows the temptation to fall asleep again and pretend this amazing job offer doesn’t exist is real, that she does wish she could just pull Hailey closer and forget about the world. But this isn’t a dream, this is real life. And in the real world, she has a plane to catch. One that leaves in… shit, what time is it?

Hailey’s still asleep but Vanessa manages to manoeuvre herself off the couch anyway, reaching for her phone next to the two emptied glasses of whiskey on the island in the kitchen. Something about walking around in the apartment naked feels weirdly normal but she can’t bring herself to pick up her tank top and jeans. All she does is open her phone, stub her toe walking up to the island, and curse under her breath when she realizes she has an hour to get to the airport.

Ugh. She’s going to have to do it: the “leaving with no goodbye” act. She hates this. She wishes they had more time but then again, last night was nothing short of perfect. If that’s all she ever gets, she’ll still die a happy woman. (Besides, waking Hailey Upton up before 8:00 is asking for a death wish.)

She grabs her phone and starts to head back to her room, but stops at the couch and looks out at the view. Through the sliding glass doors and the windows, she can see the clear sky and can hear the birds chirping. Hell, there’s even the faint trace of a rainbow peeking through. What a miracle. What a tragedy she can’t show it to Hailey.

She stands there for a while, looking out at the city and memorizing every piece of it. God, she loved this place. She loved every minute of it, every friend made along the way, every case and every trip to Molly’s. Mostly, she loved seeing this city here, through these windows. Through Hailey’s eyes. She needs to leave though. It’s better off this way. It simply has to be.

But then why can’t she pick her clothes up off the ground?

In the end, she just unzips her suitcase in her room and grabs a quick outfit to throw on. At least that way, Hailey will have something to remember her by. A momento, she supposes.

With her boxes under one arm and her suitcase wheeling behind her, she tiptoes her way through the apartment before gently letting the door click shut behind her. The trip to the airport is silent and heavy and all around awful. She boards the plane, and the guy next to her starts listening to a true crime podcast way too loudly. Vanessa swears she hears Hailey’s voice whispering in her ear, making a crack about how this guy couldn’t tell a real murder suspect from his ass. The plane is cold and the sky's still blue. She wishes it were raining again.

Before liftoff, she pulls out her phone. Hailey will probably be awake by now, cursing Vanessa’s name for not saying goodbye and wondering why her clothes from last night are still on the ground. She wants to say something. Text a funny joke, a thank you, a flirty remark about the great sex. But she just… doesn’t know what to say.

Her window seat looks out on the landing strip, her eyes absently counting clouds as the flight attendant goes through the airline safety guides. It then dawns on her what to say.

Her thumbs type a slow message, hitting send just before takeoff and using up the last bit of wifi she’ll have for the next hour and twenty minutes.

Message to Hailey Upton - 7:43am

See? Thunderstorms aren’t so scary.

Miss you already, roomie. I’ll call you when I land.

As soon as she’s alone, she looks it up on her phone, religiously refreshing the page to see if any deaths or serious injuries had been reported. She knows it’s stupid to do so, she doesn’t know if any of her extended family even live in the vicinity of the eruption site, and she certainly wouldn’t call her mom up to check, but she just needs to know. Vanessa doesn’t begrudge her mother for losing custody of her at such a young age, she’s lived far too many years without her presence to maintain that grudge, but she missed out on a lot.

Family being the thing she noticed missing out on the most. Thirty two foster homes is a lot, even for a kid who was in the system for almost a decade before finally being given up on one last time at age fifteen, and those years had been filled with inconsistencies on both her mother and her father’s ends. The vast majority of her files had stated she was Salvadoran and black, and while DCFS wasn’t exactly known for its accuracy in regards to anything, she figured that this many repetitions of the fact had to give it some credibility.

The rest of the work day passes her by in a haze, nothing of interest arising in their ongoing case leaving her to stare at paperwork and worry about a nation of people she would never get to know. On more than one occasion, she finds her hands twitching towards her phone, itching to call a number she blocked years ago on the off chance that her extended family lives near a currently active volcano.

Before she knows it, Voight is letting them go home for the night, saying something about looking at it from another angle in the morning, and Vanessa rushes to pack up all of her things and go home. Shutting down her computer and shoving her unfinished paperwork in her top desk drawer, she steadfastly ignores Adam’s calls for a round at Molly’s to distract themselves in favour of grabbing her things and leaving.

Which would have been a great plan, except for the fact that Hailey had driven them both into work that morning, and her girlfriend had been more than eager enough to accept the invitation on both of their behalf. Any other night she could have gone, any other night she could have enjoyed a couple hours after work spent drinking and relaxing, but not tonight. All she wanted to do tonight was obsess over the disaster event, forget everything else going on in her life, pray for people she would never know, and blame her parents for their misgivings.

She does her best to muster up a smile when Hailey walks into the locker room, but she can tell it’s weak at best and it certainly isn’t enough to convince her girlfriend that all is okay. At first Vanessa tries to brush it off, says it’s nothing serious and that she’ll get over it, but all that seems to do is light up warning signals, somehow telling the blonde that the world as she knows it is ending. Sighing in defeat, Vanessa slumps down on the uncomfortable wooden bench, waiting for Hailey to take a seat beside her.

And sure enough, in less than a second her girlfriend is next to her, tucking Vanessa’s hair behind her ear and squeezing her knee, lacing their fingers together as soon as Vanessa holds her hand out to her. They both keep an ear out for their team, and once Vanessa is sure that none of them are coming in, she rests her head on her girlfriend’s shoulder, closing her eyes and forcing back the tears that have been threatening to spill over all day.

Hailey, being the blonde angel that she is, doesn’t say anything to her about it being okay to cry or about how it’d all be okay, letting Vanessa take her time to relax and be in someone’s company with no expectations.

“There was a natural disaster in El Salvador today. Volcano erupted in San Miguel, it’s one of the bigger cities, and it just threw me off.”

“Anything in particular that got to you, or just the whole volcano in your home country thing?” Hailey whispers, turning her head to press a kiss to Vanessa’s temple.

“Kind of. It just made me think about the other family I must have out there, the ones I never met and never will. And then it made me think about Mamá and… basically my head’s been a mess trying to work through a new issue I didn’t realise I had.”

“I’m sorry baby, that sounds like it was really difficult. I’m proud of you though, for not falling back onto bad habits.”

“Thanks Hails.” Vanessa says, her voice hoarse. “Can we, uh, possibly skip Molly’s tonight? I’m not really feeling it.”

“Of course, listen, you take the keys and go wait in the car, I’ll tell Adam we can’t tonight. We can go home, maybe get some takeout, watch some TV, what do you think?”

“That sounds perfect cielo, I guess I’ll see you outside.”

Pushing herself off of her girlfriend, Vanessa grabs both of their bags before heading out the back exit, sure to stick close to the walls and keep out of sight of any of her well intentioned coworkers. Unlocking Hailey’s car, she dumps their bags in the back seat, sliding into the passenger’s seat and checking her phone again for any more updates on the people of San Miguel.

Hailey gets into the car not even five minutes later, having successfully deterred Adam by citing ’women’s problems’ as the reason why they were dropping out, Kim thankfully not mentioning the fact that she knows neither of them were on their period. Vanessa drops her phone in her lap, sighs loudly at the lack of news, and Hailey smiles sadly at her, rubbing her shoulder before turning the car on and driving out of the precinct.

The journey home is a quiet one, Vanessa stuck in her head and Hailey respecting her need for quiet in this difficult time, but when she parks the car in front of their apartment building, Vanessa shakes herself from the thoughts racing around her head, thanking her girlfriend for being so good to her. Hailey tells her to stop being stupid, there being no need to thank her, but Vanessa simply shrugs and leans across the car seat to grab their bags from the back.

When she steps out of the car with them, Hailey takes hers, giving her girlfriend a kiss on the cheek as ‘payment’ for her help despite the look which says ‘you’re so ridiculous’ in response. They walk through the lobby hand in hand, Hailey sending off an order for some Greek food with her spare hand while Vanessa checks her phone again. By the time they get to their apartment, Hailey’s gotten a text to confirm their order meanwhile Vanessa is ready to throw her phone across the hall if it meant the journalists would write updates faster.

As they step into their home, Hailey takes their bags and dumps them in the closet before pocketing Vanessa’s phone, promising to return it once she’s gotten changed into something more comfortable and brings some blankets out of their room with her. She complains at first, glaring at her partner as she stretches her arm high enough to stick it on the shelf of no return, but once she realises she may lose her phone forever - or at least until one of them can be bothered to get a chair - she tactically retreats to their bedroom.

Grabbing the first hoodie she sees, which just so happens to be Hailey’s if the blonde hairs covering it are any indicator, as well as a pair of discarded basketball shorts, Vanessa changes out of her work gear, grabbing the blankets they keep at the end of their bed. Padding across the cold wooden flooring, she walks back into the living room to see it completely transformed.

All the blinds are drawn, and the only light in the room comes from the warm glow of fairy lights draped around the shelving units and window frames. The food that Hailey had ordered is spread out on their coffee table, a bouquet of tulips decorating the centre, and the TV is cued up with Lilo & Stitch, which had quickly become Vanessa’s favourite film after her girlfriend had declared it a travesty that she hadn’t seen it before.

Hailey herself looks rather cosy, sitting at one end of the couch with her feet tucked under the throw cushions that decorate the furniture, wearing a hoodie which Vanessa suspects is hers. She walks over to the couch, pressing a kiss to Hailey’s golden locks and draping the blanket over her, before taking up residence at the other end of the couch. There’s not much point, Hailey will undoubtedly migrate over to her by the time the movie’s half way done, but she doesn’t say anything, smiling to herself at her girlfriend’s antics.

“Okay, so here’s the deal. You can check your phone now, just to see any updates, and once you’ve seen them, you give me your phone to keep a hold of during the film. Sound good?”

“Yeah, sounds good, I love you mi amor.”

“I love you too, asteri mou.” She responds, passing her partner her phone and grabbing a takeout box off of the table.