#workinpeace

Hailey happily swings her arm, holding hands with Harmony as they walk down the nature trail. Zoey stalks behind them, grumbling about the walk and wasting time with them and whatever else she's saying. Hailey barely hears her, too amazed by the bright smile on Harmony's face.

"Thank you for doing this with me." Harmony smiles, and it's directed at both of them, but Zoey doesn't respond.

Hailey squeezes her hand and nods. "Of course."

Harmony pulls them to a bench on the side of the trail. Hailey ends up in the middle between her and Zoey, with Harmony still holding her hand. Harmony starts to point out the different plants while Hailey tried to memorize her words, though she's never had the greatest memory for this kind of thing.

"At least the natural lighting is good." Zoey mumbles next to her, pulling out her phone and bringing up the camera app.

"Are you seriously taking a selfie right now?" Harmony teases, a big smile on her face. They've already accepted Zoey isn't great at admitting her feelings.

Zoey rolls her eyes. "Shut up, nerd." she reaches her phone out in front of them, leaning into Hailey. She quickly takes a picture with them and, before they can say anything, leans back, acting like nothing happened.

Hailey watches Zoey post it to her story, and resists the urge to gasp. Zoey, who always said they had to keep their relationship secret because she worried it'd prevent her from getting certain roles, or worried her grandma would find out. Maybe it wasn't the most romantic photo, but it was something, and it makes her face warm. She sneaks a glance to Harmony, who's got the same amazed look on her face.

“Did it work?”

There was a strange feeling of tension in the air as the living room tv was switched on. With Zoey away for a theatrical workshop out of town, Hailey Dilmore finally had the house to herself. She paced nervously as Harmony Jones, the pair’s former roommate (Zoey had given her the boot after coming into some money) fiddled around behind the TV.

“I think so!” Harmony chirped, pulling back and admiring her work. An old VCR had been hooked up to the flat-screen by a plethora of cords. It had taken hours, and Zoey would no doubt be pissed when she got home, but it was well worth the hassle. 

Hailey went over to the kitchen table, hoisting a shoebox full of VHS tapes into her arms. “Glad I was able to find them. Mom insisted on using the ‘fancy camera’ and VHS even after DVDs arrived.”

“Good thing.” Harmony chuckled. “I don’t have a DVD player.”

Hailey set the box down, pawing through them gently. “Christmas 1994? That’s before I was even born!”

“This one just says ‘Easter’…” Harmony dangled a cassette between her thumb and forefinger, and Hailey frowned in response. 

“That’s probably when they rented out one of those creepy ass bunny costumes,” she shuddered. “I still wake up screaming sometimes.” Harmony giggled, but tucked the nightmare fuel back into the box, instead examining a case of CD’s. 

“Are these the ones you used to have in your room?” She handed them to Hailey, who just laughed. 

“I think so. God, I hated these things…mom and dad wanted me to “know the value of physical media” or something. I wanted an iPod.”

Hailey tossed the CDs aside and pulled the box closer to her. With a sudden ‘aha’, she removed something from the depths. “School play, 2004!” 

She shoved it into the VCR and instantly a fuzzy scene started to appear. Hailey flopped over onto the plush couch behind her, and Harmony settled in at her side, flicking the lights off. 

It was terrible quality, but eventually the camera zoomed in on a little girl at the front of a stage dressed in what appeared to be a cat costume. Bright hazel eyes, long chestnut hair pulled back into a ponytail that really did not do much for the already shitty costuming…yeah, Zoey hadn’t changed much.

“God, remember this?” Hailey laughed, chuckling into Harmony’s shoulder as the taller woman draped an arm around her. It was comfortable, more comfortable, in fact, than Hailey had been in a good, long while. 

“That’s what happens when you let a bunch of first graders “write” their own school play,” Harmony pointed to the right corner of the screen. “There’s you. Zoey made you play a tree.”

“I was always a tree.” Hailey rolled her eyes. “Even when Zoey wasn't the de facto director at age 7.”

“I was a ladybug, look.” There was silence, for a moment. The “opening song”, if it could even be called that, had just ended, and the girls were left alone in a cozy, pleasantly dark room, just the two of them on the couch snuggled up in a blanket. 

And for the first time since moving in with Zoey, being here felt right.

“What do you wanna do after this?” She whispered shyly. “It’s pretty shitty out there, I wouldn’t want you doing your…whatever you do, not in this weather.” She gestured vaguely at the window, the curtains drawn tight over the scene outside. The pitter-patter of raindrops against the pavement was barely audible over the off-key screeching that was the school play. 

“Oh, Hailey…you know I want to stick around, I always want to stick around…” she wormed her arm around the shorter girl fully, pulling her into a side hug that made Hailey’s face flush red. “You’re sure you want me here? Wouldn’t want little miss perfect to know I was back in her house after she kicked me out for…why did she kick me out again? Something about ‘disagreeing with my lifestyle’? How does one disagree with the planet?” 

Hailey gave a half-hearted laugh, too distracted by other emotions to fully explain what she understood of Zoey’s thought process. “I just don’t think she likes vegans.”

“She’s weird.” 

“Yeah.”

There was more, slightly less comfortable silence until Hailey sat up rather abruptly. “Harmony?”

“Mhm?”

“What if you moved back? I know for a fact Zoey’s spent all that shit she got from her grandma, and we have a spare room, and I…I really fucking miss you. I don’t know what it is about you but…I miss you. So much.”

It all came spilling out like word vomit and she couldn’t control it and her face looked like a beet! Before she knew it she was back on the couch and looking at her former roommate with pleading eyes, hands pressed together as if in prayer, so tight that her knuckles had gone white.

Harmony just cracked a smile. “I’ll text Zoey. Look, work’s about to start and I’m due to be on Main Street. Seriously, I have to get going now, m’kay? Take care, Hailey-bear.”

Hailey melted. Her heart was pounding, and the flush on her cheeks refused to dissipate. She nodded, awestruck.

“I will.”

Two hours later, Hailey Dilmore was laying flat on her back on the living room carpet, staring at the ceiling fan. She felt how she imagined one would feel after the best sex of their life—completely blissed out. With the stress of work and theatre and…Zoey…it had been so easy to forget how much she missed Harmony. 

They hadn’t been particularly close as roommates, but Harmony, as pushy as she could be, had something about her that made Hailey swoon. Despite her own dietary restrictions, Harmony had always made sure to cook things that wouldn’t make Hailey’s stomach act up. She’d driven her to and from work whenever she needed, she’d been the voice of reason in the household whenever Zoey flew off the handle, she cared a hell of a lot about her work and her passion for saving mother earth…

And then, with the force of a thousand stampeding elephants, Hailey Dimore realized something:

Oh my god. I’m in love with her. I’m in love with Harmony Jones.

The rain had only gotten heavier as the day went on, and Harmony Jones was stuck in the downpour. She would never speak ill of Greenpeace, and nine days out of ten, she loved what she did! This just happened to be in that remaining one in ten days. Not only were the streets empty, but the onslaught of rain soaked her from head to toe. She slapped herself mentally for not asking Hailey to borrow an umbrella, but that only led to a wandering mind…god, Hailey…

By far the worst part of being forced to move out was leaving Hailey. Living with Zoey had been a nightmare, but she’d held onto her bond with Hailey, however small it may have been, as tightly as possible. Hailey was awkward, she was shy and she let Zoey walk all over her, and god, Harmony wished she could have helped her step out of that. Standing there in the rain like a sad stray cat, Harmony Jones started thinking that maybe, just maybe…

She was in love with Hailey Dilmore.

In a flash, every thought was shooed out of her head and replaced by the knowledge that someone was calling her name. Whipping herself around, her rain soaked auburn hair slapping against the side of her face with an uncomfortable splatter, she came face to face with the very subject of her desires. 

Hailey was running at her at a full sprint, having parked her beat-up old car on the side of the road. There was an umbrella in her hand, open wide and trailing along behind her. Wordlessly, the pair collided, and Harmony was almost shoved into the wall of a nearby office building with the force of her small yet stalky ex-roommate.

Hailey passed over the umbrella, and, finally shielded from the rain, Harmony leaned down and captured her lips in a kiss. Her hand found Hailey’s, leading it to her hip for safekeeping as she softly pressed their lips together. She wasn’t sure if it was rain or tears (and if they were tears, whether they were happy or…maybe regretful?), but Hailey’s face was damp with emotion. Harmony pulled away and wiped at the shorter girl’s cheek with her thumb.

“Why are you crying, Hails?” She brought her in for a hug, feeling Hailey’s weight shift onto her.

“Because I never did this before, damn it! And then you moved out and…it was all a blur and…!”

“God, Hailey!” She was laughing almost uncontrollably now. “You can come see me whenever you want, stupid!” She teased gently.

“I know, I know, but…I don’t know, something about today just…clicked.”

Harmony nodded wisely. “Then you couldn’t have done it before.” She pursed her lips in deep thought that really wasn’t all that deep, for she’d asked herself a question with only one answer.