Taking It to the Grave - 2 (Patreon)

And Norah's story is back...

Okay, I have to admit - I'm in real deep with them.

The Iceberg Principle –Taking it to the Grave – TWO

“Parker, these drinks are for the table I covered for you on your break,” Janet informed her, waving at the drinks that had just been set on the bar, as Norah finished re-tying back her hair. “Table twelve.”

“Thanks,” she replied to Janet’s back, as she was already walking away.

Janet wasn’t one of Norah’s favorite people to work with, especially on a busy night. She always acted as though, somehow, her job was a lot more difficult than Norah’s, even though they quite literally did the same thing. But she wasn’t her least favorite, either, so the night could be worse.

She grabbed the drinks, minutely shaking her head to get back into the right headspace. Back to her customer-service smile.

Norah hated giving her customer-service smile, but she was damn good at it, so she felt like it all netted out to neutral.

“I was on my break when you were seated and put in your drinks,” she’d already started her spiel in a practiced, friendly tone, as she turned around the tight corner that would bring her to table twelve. Nonna’s wasn’t a small restaurant, but it had been built delicately into a historic apartment building, with minimal construction to change the foundational set up. “I apologize if–”

Her standard sorry for any possible delay was cut off as soon as she laid eyes on who sat in her section.

“Norah!” The grin that blossomed over Daniele’s face was so radiant, even in the ambient candlelight.

Perhaps especially in the ambient candlelight?

Norah wished she could say her heart didn’t skip a beat at the sight of that smile, but she wasn’t a great liar. Well, not to herself, anyway.  

She swallowed tightly, hating that tug in the pit of her stomach at how gorgeous Daniele looked. Straight up angelic, honestly, with her long, dark hair pulled back, leaving her neck and shoulders bare save for the delicate gold necklace studded with diamonds that Norah would bet her life were very real. She was wearing one of the sleeveless dresses that Norah had come to learn Daniele was very fond of.

Norah was very fond of them too.

No. Bad. Fuck.

Pushing past the rush of surprise and the now-familiar attraction that slithered through her like a pest she couldn’t rid herself of, she pushed a smile back onto her face. Half customer-service, half normal.

“Daniele, fancy seeing you here. Stalking me?”

Daniele laughed, her dark eyes literally twinkling in the flicker of the – no. “What constitutes as stalking, I suppose, is the clarifying question before I can answer.”

See, if Daniele was someone else – anyone else – Norah would think this was flirty!

But she saw Daniele with Abbie. She saw and heard Daniele be giggly and flirty for real, all smitten, and this wasn’t the same.

She supposed Daniele really was just… fucking friendly and personable.

Norah tapped her pen against her order pad. “Well, as far as I know this is the first time you’re coming to this restaurant, and you know I work here. But – that alone isn’t stalking. I think the real qualifier is if you asked to sit in my section.”

Daniele made a show of drumming her fingers against the table, ramping up the anticipation of her answer, before she broke off with a laugh. “No, we didn’t ask for your section. But I thought this would be a great place to bring my parents, because Abbie said that the food you two have had here is delicious.”

Norah paused, blinking herself out of her staring-stupor.

They weren’t alone.

She’d known that, technically. But she hadn’t looked anywhere other than directly at Daniele since she’d realized…

She glanced up, looking across the table from where Daniele sat. An older man and woman politely returned her stare, and yeah, she’d be able to place them both as Daniele’s parents.

Her father’s dark hair was distinguished gray at the temples, his very neatly-kept facial hair salt and peppered, and he had Daniele’s same eyes.

Her mom’s hair was blonde, swept into a chignon, and she shared all of Daniele’s other facial features.

They both wore small pieces of jewelry, quietly expensive – just like Daniele.

“So sorry I’ve been hoarding your drinks,” she apologized when she blinked down at the small tray she’d set down on the corner of the table in her surprise.

She handed Daniele the seltzer water with lime, then delivered the identical glasses of red wine to her parents.

“Norah, this is my mom, Iris, and my papá, Rafael.” Daniele gestured to them before she turned to gesture to Norah. “Mom, papá, this is Norah. She’s Abbie’s cousin.”

“And best friend,” she added, wagging her finger at Daniele. “That part is very important.”

An answering smile tugged up Daniele’s mouth. “Please excuse me for leaving it out. No harm intended.”

Norah followed her mental guidelines and didn’t let her gaze linger on Daniele’s face. Because that wouldn’t lead her down any good paths in her mind.

The last few weeks had been the next step in her Daniele-centric exposure therapy. Since that day in the pool, and the subsequent movie night, Norah had doubled-down on this being the best route. There was no going around this budding attraction/crush on Daniele; there was only going through.

It had to come to an end, she reasoned. Eventually, being around Daniele would feel normal.

Oh, that’s Daniele. Abbie’s girlfriend. Great gal – and scene. They’d likely be friends on the other side, because they were locked into this regular hanging out situation.

So, she’d said yes whenever Abbie had invited her to hang with them. If she was free, anyway, which wasn’t guaranteed. Not between picking up shifts here, working on the weekends, and doing as much community service as she could, as was recommended for her degree.

Movie nights – sure. She could sit a couple feet away from where Abbie and Daniele cuddled up on the couch, snuggled under her own blanket, making commentary on whatever they put on. She could manage the way her heart fluttered when Daniele did things like offer her a KitKat that she’d grabbed at the store for Norah, because she’d remembered it was her favorite.

Pool days – why not? Norah loved to float. Daniele looked hot in a bikini. Anyone would think so.

They’d gone to grab coffee together, taken walks through the park a couple of times on days where the humidity didn’t feel like they were literally breathing in water. Abbie and Daniele held hands. Norah made glib comments about the scenery and subtly stepped to the side when she and Daniele’s hands would accidentally brush, if they ended up next to one another.

Easy.

“Lovely to meet you, Norah,” Iris said, drawing her back to the moment.  

Norah nodded back at her. “It’s really great to meet you both. I heard you all were going to Abbie’s match this afternoon?”

Given that Abbie had finished high school, but was yet to leave for Duke, she was in a weird in-between place when it came to beloved sport – and she would never take full months off. Norah could perfectly picture the aghast look Abbie would give her at the mere suggestion. But the summer training program she was doing still arranged for informal matches with other training programs every so often.

And she knew that Daniele’s parents were going to be in town, because Abbie had been all jumpy about it the other day. That they were going to go to this game and watch her.

It had been really sweet, truly, because Abbie was never really nervous about how she’d perform when she played. She’d told Norah a couple of years ago that the second she started to get in her own head was the second she’d already lost the game.

Norah had pointed out to Abbie: she’d won national titles. She was going to one of the best colleges to play this very sport. She’d been offered full rides to multiple Division 1 schools.

And, if none of that was comforting, Norah highly doubted that Daniele’s parents were going to judge Abbie based on how good of a goalie she was.

Plus, if they did, Abbie should run away now, because that was crazy.

“We did,” Rafael confirmed. “She was wonderful. Didn’t allow a single goal!”

Daniele beamed.

“Not surprised,” Norah quipped, also feeling a secondhand pride for her cousin. “Throw anything at her, she’ll catch it. I’m not even convinced her reflexes are human at this point.”

“So, Abbie’s heading to Duke soon. Are you in school, too?” Iris asked, giving her a very intense look –

Huh. So, that was where Daniele got that from!

“I am,” she confirmed. “I go to Suffolk, here in Boston.”

Was that necessary to add? She had no idea how familiar Daniele’s parents were with Boston. All she knew was that they didn’t live here.

“She’s pre-law,” Daniele added with an encouraging nod.

“Very nice,” Rafael intoned, tilting his head at her. “Though, are you certain you’re not interested in pre-med?”

Daniele rolled her eyes. “Papá.”

“¿Qué?” He immediately returned.

“You’re not funny,” Daniele informed him, arching her eyebrows.

“I wasn’t being funny,” Rafael defended, and Norah really didn’t know if he had been joking or not, but based on Daniele’s reaction – not? “Merely asking a question.”

Norah cleared her throat gently, flashing a smile as she closed down the topic, “You three can see people on the operating table, sir, and I will see them in court. Also, while I’d love to stay and chat, I unfortunately have some other tables waiting on me to wait on them.”

Ba dum tsh.

Daniele breathed out a laugh, before she nodded quickly.

“I believe we’re ready to order,” Iris cut in, glancing at both Daniele and Rafael.

“Awesome.”

Because for as much as Norah could stay here chatting with Daniele and her parents, she needed to get a move on. First, because yeah she really did have other tables. But also because she knew herself, and she knew that she’d enjoy spending far too much time not stealing looks at Daniele.

***

When she walked out of the restaurant an hour and a half later, finally free for the night, she yawned, rolling her shoulders back.

But she’d only taken a few steps when she heard footsteps on the sidewalk behind her, moving quickly, and the back of her neck tingled in awareness even before being able to see who it was. She just… knew. She could feel it.

“Norah! Where are you going, walking alone at night?” Daniele asked, a reprimand in her voice as she reached Norah’s side.

She’d debated whether or not to pause and wait for her, but her feet had already stopped without her body’s permission. And, voila, there was Daniele. In the burgundy dress she wore that Norah could now see cut off a couple of inches above her knees.

She slowly lifted an eyebrow up at her, glancing around deliberately slowly at the decently well-lit, busy-ish sidewalk in the North End. “I think I’ll be all right.”

Besides, her father not only had taught her some self-defense, but he also had given her pepper spray, and taught her that it did expire, so she needed to keep herself up to date on it.

“And I figured you’d say that,” Daniele tsked, shaking her head. “Which is why I decided I’d walk with you to the T.”

“My hero,” she dryly murmured, and she had to keep it as sarcastic as possible, hoping it would work to squash the way it actually did make her feel… nice.

Funny how almost everything was a matter of perspective. Kai, one of her guy friends she’d met her first semester, had attempted to walk with her sometimes, and she was genuinely grated by it. Why did he assume she couldn’t do things herself? No offense to Kai, but Norah had once seen him make a fist to jokingly play-fight another dude in their study group, and he’d put his thumb inside of his fist.

Norah was reasonably secure in her belief that Daniele, similarly, wouldn’t be that much actual help if they were about to be mugged. And yet! Daniele’s insistence on walking with her made her feel all soft inside.

Go fucking figure.  

And on that note – “Well, what’s your play here?” She returned. “If you walk with me to Haymarket, I’m going to have to then be concerned about you getting home, and we’ll be going in a vicious circle.”

While Norah had no concerns regarding herself getting around at night – she did it frequently, given her job schedule and late-night study sessions at the library – she wouldn’t feel okay about leaving Daniele.

Daniele, much like Abbie, didn’t have a lot of experience being out by herself at night. While Daniele had lived at Elliston throughout all of high school and away from typical parental oversight, the school had relatively strict rules regarding residential students going off-campus unattended at night. Norah was absolutely positive the rules wouldn’t have kept her on-campus if she’d lived there, but Daniele wasn’t a huge rule-breaker.

Yet another reason she and Abbie were, like, meant to be.

“I’m going to get a car and go to Abbie’s.” Daniele lifted her phone and wiggled it at her. “And if I thought you’d be willing to accept a ride to your house, I’d offer to drop you off first. But–”

Norah wrinkled her nose. “It’s only a fifteen-minute ride on the subway; I’m fine.”

A total waste of money for an uber when she could get home on her usual route for a couple of bucks.

Daniele hummed, knowingly. “Isn’t it fun how well I already know you?”

While Daniele’s voice was light and joke-y, Norah’s stomach twisted. No. No, it wasn’t fun at all, actually.

So, fine. She’d allow Daniele to walk with her – her stop was only another five or six minutes away, anyway.

“Where are your parents?” She asked, darting a look over her shoulder, as if they’d somehow snuck up on them. “They going to hang out with Abbie, too?”

“Ha. No. They’re meeting some old colleagues for a drink.”

Old colleagues… Norah rolled that around in her head for a second before she decided to ask, “Where do they work, now? Where did they work when they lived here?”

There were other questions she had – how long had they lived here? Why would they move when Daniele was still in school? Why wouldn’t Daniele go with them? How did Daniele feel about all of that?

Norah couldn’t imagine how she’d feel if her dad decided to move away from her, and that was now, when she was nineteen. She had Issues with her mother’s abandonment, and she didn’t even remember the woman.

But she bit all of those questions back. Because she didn’t need to ask, didn’t need to open the door to deepening her friendship with Daniele. She wanted to. A lot.

Which was exactly why she kept her mouth shut.

“Ah – they both did their residencies here in Boston. That’s when they had me. When I was eleven, my mom got into one of the most selective thoracic surgery fellowships in the country – but it was in L.A. My dad was here for a few more years, and that’s when I ended up boarding at Elliston. It… just made sense; I’d already gone to day school there since kindergarten. He ended up getting an offer to be the Chief of Neurosurgery at the same hospital my mom was doing her fellowship at, so – he moved out there, too.”

“You didn’t want to live in California? Too much fun in the sun?” She couldn’t help but ask.

Dumb dumb dumb. Went against her rules of not asking Daniele follow-up questions. But she just desperately wanted to know.

Daniele’s eyebrows furrowed into a contemplative stare for a few seconds before she shrugged. “Obviously, they asked if I wanted to. But… I already lived at Elliston. I already had all of my friends there. I only had two years left in high school, and I didn’t want to start over. And, to be honest, the reality was that it wasn’t like I’d have much more time with my parents if I moved. They both work, like, over sixty hours a week.”

Norah was absolutely fascinated. Especially by Daniele’s tone, because she sounded a little… removed? In a way she typically didn’t. In a way Norah had never heard before.

Granted, she figured Abbie had maybe heard this voice before or something; Norah had actively spent this summer thus far trying to avoid deep, meaningful conversations with Daniele.

She really wanted to know more. Wanted to dig deeper.

But she bit her cheek – literally – to stop herself.

None of her business. Not until she had this little crushling under control, at the very least.

Daniele shook her head, clearing her throat. “Anyway – sorry we took up so much of your time tonight. I hope it didn’t eat into your tips too much?”

Norah shrugged. “Eh, I’m the one who stayed and chatted with you. Hence, as you might recall, why I refer to myself as a mid-waitress,” she reminded her with a knowing look. “You tried to challenge that, but, clearly…”

Daniele laughed that bawdy, nothing-held-back laugh that echoed into the night air. “That’s… you know, it makes sense now.”

Norah listened to that laugh and tried not to let it settle inside of her like a warm blanket, as she decided not to comment that even if spending extra time at Daniele’s table cut into her tips, her parents had tipped Norah so generously that it by far made up for it.

They’d tipped her obscenely well, actually. To the point that a part of her almost wanted to offer part of it back to Daniele, because Norah didn’t actually do that much work tending to them throughout their dinner.

But 1. Daniele definitely wouldn’t take it, 2. It would be kind of embarrassing. Norah, Daniele, and Abbie were all aware of their differences in financial situations, but there was something really in-your-face about literally serving Daniele and her parents and then her parents giving her a really great tip, and 3. It was a tip Norah could really use; she wasn’t waitressing for fun.

“How long were you working today?” Daniele asked.

Unsurprisingly, a chatty patty. As Norah had learned – Daniele loved asking questions. Never meaningless chit-chat, which was sucky because Norah was so great at giving meaningless chit-chat. No, Daniele loved to ask questions and really dig in.

An annoyingly attractive quality.

“Since noon.” Given that it was now after nine, she was hungry and tired.

Daniele frowned at her. “Didn’t you also work yesterday during the day? And last night? Abbie said that you were originally planning on coming over and joining us while we were swimming, but then you couldn’t.”

“Ummm yes to working last night, but yesterday afternoon I was volunteering,” she corrected.

“Where do you volunteer?” Daniele’s eyes lit up at the new topic, “We haven’t gotten into that. Abbie didn’t mention it.”

“I volunteer at Rising Tide.” And Abbie wouldn’t have mentioned it, Norah thought, but mostly because Abbie had told Norah she thought she was pushing herself too much a couple of months ago, and she’d toned down telling Abbie every last detail.

Abbie… didn’t get it. Yes, Abbie worked fucking hard; it wasn’t like she was doing something she’d be able to skate by in on name or money or connections. But there was a fundamental understanding that someone who’d never experienced any financial insecurity really couldn’t know.

Yes, Norah was tired. Yeah, she was working two jobs, and volunteering as much as she could, and taking six classes a semester. But now wasn’t the time to slow down.

Daniele waited for a second before she leaned in and nudged Norah’s shoulder. “Which is…?”

She detested how she swore her body catalogued every tiny touch from Daniele, and she did everything in her power to ignore how her skin tingled. But, damn it, she was in a tank top. Daniele was in a sleeveless dress. Norah’s bare shoulder had no right to touch Daniele’s!

She realized Daniele was still looking at her expectantly, and – oh. “It’s a domestic violence shelter, for women and children.”

Caroline had recommended it to her last summer.

“That’s really great. Not, obviously, that it has to exist in the first place,” Daniele hurriedly tacked on, waving her hands in front of her in a way that was absurdly adorable. “But great that you donate your time there.”

And there Daniele went all over again. Staring at Norah all… sweetly.

The worst thing was that Norah knew it didn’t mean anything. She knew that. She knew Daniele wasn’t feeling soft, butterfly-wing thoughts about her. Not, like, romantically.

Norah did her best to fight back the way she felt her cheeks heating up. Controlling her expressions was essential to going into court one day, so the time to perfect her responses was now.

She let out a little scoff. “Yes, I’m preparing for sainthood,” she dryly drawled. “And, while I’m at it, thinking about my law school application.”

“You’re going for that special program, right?”

Norah shot her a sidelong stare, because she was pretty sure she’d never discussed that with Daniele.

“Caroline brought it up when I was at dinner last week.” Daniele’s expression was unbearably encouraging. “She was really proud that you’d do your degree in three years, and start law school after your junior year… that’s really impressive.”

“I haven’t yet gotten in; I can’t even apply for another year, so… you all can hold the applause. At least for a little while,” she wryly shot back.

She was hoping to get into the 3+3 program, where Suffolk offered a joint Bachelors/JD in six years rather than the traditional seven.

Rather than scoff or nudge her again, Daniele’s lips tugged down in a frown. “You don’t need to do that, you know.”

“What are you talking about? Don’t need to do what?” Her confusion was very real, because she’d given Daniele the same response she’d give to anyone. And no one ever questioned it.

“You don’t need to, like, pretend that everything you’re juggling isn’t hard. Or valuable. Or – like I said – impressive.” Daniele’s voice was both gentle and… not quite scolding, but so serious. Like she really wanted Norah to hear her.

“I’m not pretending anything,” Norah defended, her cheeks flashing with heat at being so impeccably seen. “I’m just being realistic. I need to keep an A-minus average, an above-average LSAT score, and land a decent internship next summer. There are a lot of variables involved before I might get into the program. And then, I will accept your applause.”

Daniele shook her head, eyes narrowed, as she studied Norah’s profile.

Norah stared forward, relief trickling through her entire body as they approached her stop. “My chariot awaits. Thanks for the company.”

She liked it a little too much, and hated it because of that.

“Mhmm,” Daniele hummed back, taking in a deep breath.

Norah came to a stop, gesturing to Daniele’s phone. “All right, order your car, so I can rest assured you’ll be safe, too. Reciprocity is key.”

Shouldn’t say that.

Daniele breathed out a laugh, as she ordered her car. She held up her phone. “Will be pulling up in less than one minute.”

“Great.”

Norah really didn’t want to wait here longer than that, looking at how Daniele even looked so ridiculously good in the glow from a streetlight.

***

The following day, Norah was treating herself to an iced coffee after leaving the construction office. Shiela’s notes were all in shorthand, and it had taken Norah a little while to figure everything out, but now they worked like a well-oiled machine.

The sun was blazing overhead, and the coffee was refreshing as hell, and she was going to a party tonight, which she’d decided was sorely needed.

She already knew, when she felt her phone buzzing in her back pocket, that it was either Abbie, her dad, or her grandfather. Everyone else – barring an emergency – would text her before calling. Even her grandmother had mastered the art of texting. Hell, her grandma loved to text.

Somehow, she wasn’t surprised to see Abbie’s name on the screen.

“What’s up?” She asked upon answering. “How are things?”

“Things are good. Just wondering if you’re planning on going to that party you mentioned to me the other day?”

“That’s what warranted a full-on phone call? Ab. That’s a text, maximum.”

“You don’t always text back quickly!”

“Excuse me?” The nerve! “I return texts waaaay faster than you do.”

“You’re on your phone more than I am!” Abbie defended. “If we use the stats of, like, how much either of us look at our phones compared with how quickly we answer messages, I would win.”

“Okay, well, I’m not using that stat. Or else I will lose.”

Abbie laughed. “Anyway. Are you?”

“Sure am.” She figured Abbie would love that update. Norah was going to do something fun, something that wasn’t work or school-related or volunteering.

“Do you mind if Daniele and I come with?”

Well, that threw Norah completely for a loop, and she nearly came to a stop right there on the sidewalk. She’d probably be murdered, given that there were people in a hurry behind her, so she didn’t. But almost.

“You want to… what?” Surely, she’d misheard.

Really, it wasn’t like Abbie was morally against a party. But she so rarely had expressed an interest in the last year whenever Norah had invited her. Plus, she normally had some sort of game or training situation on weekends.

“Go to the party you’re going to,” Abbie repeated, like duh. “Did you go through a bad service spot or something?”

“Nope, just surprised,” she answered honestly. “Especially because you’ve been so into date-dates with Daniele or wanting to be disgustingly cute hanging out at your place.”

“Daniele mentioned wanting to go somewhere to dance, and she’s brought up wanting to go to a college party before the term starts. So… two birds with one stone.”

The girl was a problem solver.

Norah dropped her head back, pulling a face up at the sky. “Yeah. Yeah, all right.”

Abbie was quiet for a few seconds before she asked, “Is it all right? You’ve always invited me to go out with you, so I didn’t think it would be a big deal?” She sounded so genuinely confused.

And why wouldn’t she be?

Abbie was right; Norah was the one being weird.

She’d planned on having a night where she was going to drink a little bit and dance a little bit and forget about the fact that she had a little crushling on her cousin/best friend’s girlfriend. And she couldn’t exactly say that to Abbie, could she?

Get. Yourself. Together.

She cleared her throat, rolling her shoulders back. “It really is all right. I was just in a weird headspace.”

Not that she’d tell Abbie what her weird headspace was about, not in a million years.

“Okay,” Abbie accepted without hesitation, because Abbie trusted her, and didn’t have any idea that Norah had fallen asleep last night wondering what fucking perfume Daniele wore, because she swore she’d been able to still smell it long after she’d gotten home. “If you’re sure…? I thought it could be fun if we made it a whole night, you know? You and I haven’t had a sleepover all summer. And that’s my fault, because I’ve been so wrapped up in Daniele. I just – I’m trying to spend as much time with both of you as I can before I go.”

Abbie sounded like she felt incredibly guilty, and Norah’s stomach churned so violently, she could have been sick from it. Between the two of them, Abbie shouldn’t feel like the guilty party. Not one bit. If Norah wasn’t having this little crushling on Daniele, she wouldn’t care if Abbie’s girlfriend was always hanging out.

“Stop – you’re fine. It’s… you should be wrapped up in Daniele, come on.” The words fell from Norah’s mouth so quickly, they all ran together.  

“Well, I’m leaving for Duke in a week, and I don’t want to not have one of our usual sleepovers on the books before I go. I figured we could go to the party for a little while, then we could all go back to your place? Since you live a lot closer? If we come back to mine, someone will have to drive, or we’ll need to take a car.”

“Very reasonable,” Norah agreed, reaching up and rubbing her temples.

And Abbie was right. Not only about the car-thing, but… Abbie was going to North Carolina soon, because soccer season started almost a month earlier than the semester did. Norah wasn’t going to miss out on time with Abbie now, before everything changed, just because she had an inappropriate baby crush on Abbie’s girlfriend.

That would make her an even worse person.

Right?

“Tonight sounds good.” There – Norah could be proud of herself for sounding so normal. “Why don’t you two come over by eight so can drop off your stuff and get ready here before we go?”

“Awesome! We’ll see you tonight.”

***

Norah didn’t usually run around her house like a madwoman in a pair of boxer shorts and an oversized t-shirt in the early evening when she was planning to go out relatively soon, but she didn’t usually feel out of sorts, either.

She hadn’t planned on needing to arrive home and get everything ready.

She and her dad didn’t live in, like, filth. Obviously. Their house was clean, but it wasn’t always tidy, she supposed, was the best way to think about it.

Since she’d hit her teen years, she and her dad both fulfilled different chores around the house. Her dad, for example, was super particular about how to properly clean and maintain the real hardwood floors, and he did that multiple times a week.

Norah’s purview was laundry. Mostly because it drove her crazy when her dad tossed his work clothes in without properly treating them, first. It didn’t bother him; he was just going to the worksite, and he didn’t care if he had stains from paint or oil or whatever else from previous days of work. As long as the clothes were washed, he was fine.

It bothered her, though.

Mostly because she’d developed a healthy adoration for fashion throughout high school. They couldn’t really afford luxury designers for the most part – though her dad had gotten her a Hélène Pierce skirt for Christmas this past year, and she adored it – but Norah was willing to put in time and energy to properly thrifting both online and in person.

And if she properly cared for her clothing, it would last a lot longer.

But Norah was on a strict laundry schedule, given how busy she was. And she wasn’t due to wash her sheets until tomorrow, but she’d had to rush home and hurry through the clothing she’d already had in from this morning, so she could take care of her bedding.

She had a king-sized bed. When Abbie spent the night, they obviously just shared it; why wouldn’t they? And… presumably… she, Abbie and Daniele were all going to be sharing her bed tonight.

They’d all comfortably fit without a doubt, and she knew Abbie and Daniele wouldn’t, like, hook up or anything. Weird. She could see it so clearly, how they’d be all cute, cuddled up in pajamas when they made their way back from the party. But, none of that was the point.

The point was – was Daniele going to be sleeping in her bed tonight? With Abbie, her girlfriend?

If none of Norah’s feelings were working overtime on Daniele, this wouldn’t matter. She was reasonably sure they’d all be tipsy tonight, and they could come back to her place and have some water and ibuprofen and maybe a snack, and they could all come up to her room and change and collapse into bed, and that would be that.

She just had to treat it that way.

Be normal.

“Normal,” she muttered under her breath in a mocking tone – mocking at her damn self, as she stared at the countdown on the dryer.

If she was going to be normal, though, she had to admit she probably wouldn’t have washed her sheets. She washed them every four days, like clockwork. If tonight was just going to be her and Abbie, then, whatever. Abbie could sleep on Norah’s sheets, and she’d wash them tomorrow as scheduled.

But. Daniele.

So, here she was, bouncing back and forth from foot to foot. She needed to get the sheets, and then she’d go upstairs, put them on her bed, and get dressed.

Two fucking minutes.

“Norah,” her dad called from the kitchen, which was essentially just off the very small laundry room.

Her dad had done an addition to add a very small laundry room when he’d bought and refinished the house, because the original home had been built in the early 1900s and hadn’t been designed with washer/dryer hookups. Whoever had added them hadn’t done it very well, or so Norah had been told, and thus – her dad fixed it.

Huffing out a breath, she shot a glare at the dryer – still saying two damn minutes – before she went out to the kitchen. If she hadn’t been rushing around to make sure her bedroom and bathroom were in perfect condition, as well as readying the living room, she’d have probably already been lulled in here by the smell of the spaghetti her dad had been cooking.

He stood at the counter on the opposite side of the room with his back to her, humming off-key to himself. In his typical fashion, he was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, both of which he’d work to the site today and, as such, were inevitably stained with dirt or oil or paint.

“Hey, kid, just letting you know I cooked dinner.” He shot her a grin over his shoulder, before tilting his head to gesture for her to come closer. “Come here, look at this.”

When she got close enough, she could see that he had a cutting board in front of him, parsley and basil both in a small pile.

“You ready?” He asked, bumping into her with his hip.

“Not fair – you have a knife; I can’t do it back.”

“Chicken.”

Scoffing, she did, indeed, bump him back.

He laughed, before gesturing at the cutting board in front of them. “All right, watch this.”

And with that, he quickly chopped the herbs into small, flakey pieces, the knife moving quickly over the cutting board with admittedly impressive speed and precision.

When he was done, he placed the knife down and shot her a proud grin, as if to silently say ta-da!

She patted him on the back. “Now, let’s see you do it blindfolded for the gold.”

Normally, her dad would continue the little teasing bit; it was kind of like their thing.

Instead, though, he tilted his head and studied her, his lips drawing into a frown. “What’s up with you lately?”

Damn it. “Nothing,” she denied, and turned away from the counter with measured movements. All casual. “I’ve just been super busy.”

“And… the cleaning fit for the last hour and a half…?”

Norah’s stomach cramped, but outwardly, she simply shrugged. “I didn’t realized people were coming over. Just, needed to get everything ready.”

“People being Abbie and her girlfriend?” He asked, quizzically. Like genuinely baffled that she was rushing around to make sure things were fine for Abbie – and that was a valid confusion for him to have.

She shrugged again.

“If you don’t want to talk about it, just say that. But don’t insult your dear old dad and tell me there’s nothing going on.” He drummed his fingers against the counter, turning to watch her as she walked to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of lemonade. “Nothing has been up for the last several weeks, if my memory serves.”

“Maybe we should get it checked out. You have a neurologist?” She asked, walking to the fridge and filling a glass with ice as she shot him with an arched look.

“Norah.”

Oh, her dad was getting serious now.

Which made sense; her dad was typically the only person who could so easily see right through her, not falling for any excuses she might come up with. Even when, in moments such as this, she kind of wished he didn’t, she also wouldn’t trade it for the world. Because she didn’t know how else she’d be able to ever be known by anyone.

But the truth could not escape her.

She felt genuinely, physically, unable to voice the fact that she had this – this thing for Daniele. For Abbie’s girlfriend, which was how she was trying to think of Daniele. It seemed a little rude, even in her own mind, to ascribe some sort of ownership like that over a human being, but she needed to force her brain to re-wire itself before this grew any bigger.

“I just… can’t really talk about it right now,” she hedged quietly, sipping at her drink.

“Is it lady-business?”

“Since when would I not talk to you about ‘lady-business’?” She shot back, nearly spluttering over her lemonade.

After all, her dad had watched tampon tutorials online in order to be able to instruct her. Could he have sent her over to her grandma or to Caroline and Hannah’s, so they could discuss menstruation with her? Sure. But he’d given himself a crash course on everything he might not know about, so that she’d only have to turn to someone else if she chose to. And she hadn’t chosen to.

He held up his hands. “Just checking in. Good to talk about those things. You know, I recently read that PCOS is on the rise.”

Norah couldn’t help but laugh, wincing painfully when she accidentally snorted lemonade up her nose. “Ouch. Fuck. PCOS?”

“It’s–”

“No, I know what PCOS is, Dad,” she cut him off, shaking her head, even as she felt a rush of affection for him. “But – as far as I know – I don’t have it. And… I’m fine. Seriously.”

He stared at her through narrowed eyes, his arms crossed over his chest as he remained leaning against the counter. “All right,” he acquiesced. “I’m here if you want to talk.”

“I know.” And she did. But she didn’t want to talk. Not about this.

She was still willing it to leave her alone.

Something she loved about her dad was that he was willing to let things go. Like now, as he clapped his hands together. “Okay, then – spaghetti time. You–”

He was cut off by their doorbell, and they both turned to shoot a stare out of the kitchen doorway and down the hall to the straight shot of the front door.

Her dad looked at her with a frown. “Weird. Abbie doesn’t usually ring the doorbell.”

No. Abbie didn’t. She let herself in, the way Norah did at Abbie’s most of the time. Her stomach sank, as she turned back to look at the door. “Might not be them,” she suggested, and sounded a bit too hopeful to be natural.

They weren’t due here for over twenty minutes. Abbie had let her know that she was going to have to swing by the sports center at seven for a quick meeting. Norah ran the timeline in her mind; there was no way Abbie would have had any meeting, then met up with Daniele, then gotten to Norah’s house that quickly.

“Well,” her dad cleared his throat. “No way to know but to, you know, check.”

“No kidding,” she scoffed.

“Want me to?” He offered, that baffled – edging on concerned – stare sliding onto his face. His hands had little pieces of herbs on them, though, and it just made more sense for her.

“No, I got it,” she responded, already turning on her heel and walking down the hall toward the door.

The only glass on their front door was stained glass, so she couldn’t see through it. But she glanced quickly through the window on the side as she approached, and –

Daniele.

Of course, it was Daniele. No Abbie, either, which…

Norah would prefer to only spend time with Daniele when she was also with Abbie. The guilt was crushing and it ate her alive, but Abbie’s presence was a constant and acute reminder. She hoped that Abbie’s presence would make it click for whatever piece of her got these fluttery feelings for Daniele that Daniele wasn’t available to crush-flutter over.

She could feel her dad’s stare, as he stood in the kitchen doorway. Aware of that, she didn’t close her eyes and take a deep breath to brace herself. Besides, she needed to stop doing that, anyway. Show no trace.

Swinging the door open, leaned her hip against it. “Well, what do we have here?”

Daniele had a Prada duffel bag over her shoulder, and Norah wanted to curse at the fucking sky. She envied Daniele for having that bag. She, insanely, envied that bag for having Daniele.

“Sorry I’m a little early. I know Abbie isn’t here yet, but I’ve been packing all afternoon and I just finished, and I was so ready to leave. So, here I am.”

“Here you are,” she echoed, and was proud of herself for the teasing tone she used that truly didn’t sound at all as pained as she internally felt.

“Is that okay?” Daniele asked, tilting her head softly at Norah, eyes searching. “I should have texted first – and I would have. But I don’t have your number; we should fix that.”

She hated how smooth Daniele was, going about asking for her number. Not that it meant literally anything, but, ugh.

If Daniele had just been that girl in the coffee shop from last month, Norah would have asked for her number long ago. She wouldn’t have left that café without it – in a non-weird or aggressive way, of course. Assuming that if Daniele wasn’t with Abbie, she would, in any way, be interested in N –

NO.

No. Noooo. That was a road-blocked avenue. There were to be no what-ifs when it came to Daniele. It would only lead to Norah torturing herself even more, and it somehow felt even shittier to Abbie than what she was already feeling.

And, realistically, now that she knew Daniele, there was a good chance she might not be into Norah if they’d both been single when they’d met. Daniele adored Abbie, and Abbie was… so… free. She was so – genuinely, from the bottom of her heart – good.

Norah wasn’t a bad person by any means, but she wasn’t as pure of heart as Abbie was, not by a mile.

“If it’s not fine, I could, like, wait outside I guess…” Daniele trailed off, pointedly. As though she was genuinely wondering, now, if Norah was going to leave her outside until Abbie came.

If only she could.

“Nah, I’ll let you in. Just this once.” With that, she stepped back, and very deliberately left a wide margin of space for Daniele to walk through.

She wondered what Daniele saw when she looked around.

Norah loved their house. All of the cherry wood that her dad had refinished when he’d bought the house at auction. It had been foreclosed on and was in horrific shape; he’d only been able to buy it with a construction loan, and he’d renovated the entire house himself – with some help from buddies from work for bigger projects – in order for them to move out of their grandparents’ house.

It wasn’t nearly as big as Aunt Caroline and Hannah and Abbie’s house. Not even close. It definitely didn’t have all of the  updates and modernizations. Where their house was airy ceilings and big windows and semi-open concept – and it was incredibly beautiful – Norah and her dad’s house had the same bones of the colonial style it was built as.

She had no clue what Daniele’s parents’ home looked like, but… she could imagine. She found herself staring at Daniele’s softly sculpted profile, her eyes lingering on Daniele’s slightly open lips –

Tearing her eyes away, she cleared her throat and turned to look at her dad. Who was observing her from the end of the hall, wiping his hands on a dishtowel.

Cheeks heating slightly, she cleared her throat. “Dad, this is Daniele, Abbie’s girlfriend.”

Her dad strode forward, smiling warmly as he offered his hand from way too far back.

“Daniele, this is my dad, Jared.”

“Welcome to our humble abode,” he greeted when he reached them, shaking Daniele’s hand. “Great to meet you, I’ve heard wonderful things.”

Norah couldn’t help but grin at the wonderful things her dad had heard – namely, Abbie pining over Daniele when she’d been here for sleepovers in the last couple of years. Not that Abbie set out to tell her dad about her crush, but he was around.

“Nice to meet you, too,” Daniele returned his handshake. “Curious as to what you’ve heard.”

Her dad waved his hand through the air. “I can’t reveal that or I’ll lose cool uncle status.”

Daniele shot her a teasing look. “And here I thought you’d heard from Norah.”

“This Norah? Norah Parker? Too cool for that,” her dad scoffed.

“As a cucumber,” she drawled.

Her dad nudged her. “While you all get ready to go out, I’m going to go next door and watch the rest of the game with the O’Brien’s. Be safe tonight; you know the drill,” he aimed that part at Norah.

She did know the drill. Always be aware of her surroundings. Always make a choice that left her better safe than sorry. Always keep an eye on Abbie – and tonight, Daniele – because if she brought someone with her to a party, they were her responsibility. Especially her cousin, who technically was a year younger than she was. And always call if she felt like she was in over her head.

She made a thumbs up and held her hand out to him, which he returned, pressing his own fist and thumbs up against hers, pushing their thumbs together. She didn’t know why he did it, but he always had. If he didn’t return the gesture, it would have been ruder than leaving her hanging on a high-five.

“That’s cute,” Daniele commented.

Norah’s stomach fucking fluttered again, and her muscles all tightened in response.

Her dad noticed. She knew he did, even though he didn’t say anything. Not to her, anyway. “Why, thank you,” he pretended to doff a hat he wasn’t wearing toward her.

“See you later,” Norah pointedly stated, fixing a smile on.

She didn’t think her dad would say or do anything that might in any way give her away or embarrass her. But she still thought it was better to have him moving along.

He shot her a knowing look as he walked around Daniele, locking eyes with Norah for just a few seconds as he lifted his eyebrows. He didn’t linger long enough to make it weird, though, and within seconds, he’d left.

… he’d left, and Norah was alone in her house with Daniele.

“Your dad knows we’re going to a party?” She asked. “He doesn’t care?”

Because, of course she did. Because Daniele loved to ask.

She hummed the affirmative. “Well, first and foremost, we’re over eighteen,” she pointed out, arching Daniele a look. “But he’s never been strict about things like parties or drinking, even when I was in high school. His philosophy amounts to – it’s going to happen, so he’d rather be informed.”

And Norah had always appreciated that, because yes, she was going to do what she wanted to do, and she didn’t want to have to sneak around or lie to him.

Daniele’s eyebrows were furrowed slightly as she simply murmured, “Huh.”

Norah shrugged. “I get good grades. I’ve never done something of truly dumbass caliber. Until the day comes where I end up in some wild or irresponsible situation, I’d hope he respects my choices.”

After all, he’d been the one to raise her to make said decisions.

Her dad would be the first person to admit that all throughout his teens and into his early twenties, he hadn’t been exactly responsible. Until she’d landed on his lap and forced him to grow up, her dad hadn’t held down a full time job or a lasting relationship. Partied a lot, and partied, in his own words, irresponsibly. He’d been very honest about his past and how he’d struggled in getting his shit together, in hopes that Norah would take it into consideration when making her own choices. And she did.  

“I can’t really imagine that.”

“Your parents set you up in a situation where you didn’t have their direct supervision since before you were a teenager,” Norah pointed out.

“True. But it also came with… expectations. They definitely would have never been chill if they got a phone call that I’d been drinking.”

“That’s probably normal,” Norah acknowledged.

Her dad had been chill the first time Norah had drank at a party. She’d been sixteen, and returned home a liiiittle tipsy. He’d waited until the next day to discuss logistics and safety, and… that was that.

Norah’s dad treated her like an adult, and had since she’d been in high school. Then again, she hadn’t done something totally out of pocket, and if she had, she knew her dad would have tightened the reins.

“Here, let me grab your bag,” Norah found herself offering, already reaching for it before she could stop herself.

She’d offer that to anyone staying as a guest in her house, but… but she probably could have let Daniele carry her own bag.

Too late, though. Her fingertips were already brushing against the bare skin revealed by Daniele’s tank top, and ohmygod her skin felt like fucking silk.

“Thank you.” Daniele allowed her to slide the bag down her arm. “I mean, you totally don’t have to, but thank you, since it’s already happening.”

“You’re getting the whole Parker-guest treatment, here.” Norah tugged the strap up onto her own shoulder. And it felt lovely. Prada and Daniele, what a combination.

It was only when she caught sight of herself in the mirror on the opposite side of the hallway that she remembered that she was wearing her kind of crappy cleaning-day clothes.

Not that it mattered, she forcefully reminded herself. Because it didn’t matter how Daniele saw her. Even if she did see her as a slob.

… then again, Daniele was with Abbie. And Abbie loved to lounge in comfy clothes like this. She was probably more Daniele’s type in this outfit than her normal nothing.

Ugh what was wrong with her fucking brain?

“I’m going to go upstairs and change. If you want, you can hang out down in the living room,” she nodded her chin toward the doorway to their right. “And wait for Abbie?”

“I’d love the tour, actually,” Daniele stated with no shame, as she looked around again.

“You’re a very curious person, you know that?”

“Yes, I do.”

And Norah found it charming as hell.

Aaaanyway.

She turned away from Daniele, hefting the bag up on her shoulder – doing her best not to inhale at all, because when she did, whatever scent that wrapped Daniele up wafted to her from the bag.

“Okay, well, we’ll start here.”

Even though there was a lot of history in this house, and Norah knew all of it and usually did enjoy telling fun anecdotes about how certain rooms came to be, she kept the tour perfunctory. Being as impersonal and aloof with Daniele as possible was the best case scenario.

… it was hard to be entirely impersonal, of course, when Daniele ended up carrying a bundle of Norah’s sheets and pillowcases upstairs, because the damn dryer had finally finished. Hard to be impersonal when they’d walked in to see the pile of clothing that Norah hadn’t folded because she’d been rushing, which was half comprised of Norah’s delicates, her bras hanging off the dryer rack.

She wasn’t really embarrassed, necessarily. Norah felt very confident in her bra and underwear selections. Normally, if someone Norah was damningly attracted to got a glimpse of her lingerie, she’d make a flirty comment.

For obvious reasons, that couldn’t happen now.

Instead, as she led Daniele into her bedroom, she asked, “So… why were you packing all day?”

“Oh – one of the goals of my parents visit was to find me an apartment in Cambridge,” Daniele explained. “As of yesterday, the goal was complete. My parents were able to get my lease started right away, because the apartment was empty for the summer. So, I’m officially moving in in a couple of days.”

“How does it feel to be moving out of Elliston?” She couldn’t help but ask.

Daniele wasn’t the only one with a million questions; Norah just had to keep hers in check.

But she was curious. Because Daniele had lived at Elliston through all of her teen years, and she’d still been living there after graduation as a summer resident, technically allowed to even graduated seniors for what Norah was sure was a pretty penny.

She imagined Daniele was excited to move, because Daniele didn’t ever strike her as being daunted by the future. But she also imagined there was an element of possible nerves about the future?

She didn’t really know… but she wanted to. She wanted to know how Daniele felt about starting down the path for her own very impressive plans.

She wanted to know if Daniele felt similarly to Norah. There was a plan, and there was a big goal to be working towards and it was something she wanted, but it was also… a lot.

Norah knew Abbie didn’t feel that way. Abbie had her laser-focus and a certainty that she was going to achieve her goals, and Norah didn’t doubt it for a second.

“You can just hang out over there while I make the bed.” She nodded over to the side of her room where she had her desk set up, as she gently set down Daniele’s bag, and her armful of laundry.

The original layout of the house had a primary bedroom and three small bedrooms. While her dad kept the primary as it was, he’d knocked out the wall between two of the smaller rooms, giving Norah’s room the space to have her large bed as well as the built-in bookshelf that spanned the other wall, near the built-in desk, all custom built by her dad.

She looked around, wondering how Daniele possibly saw her room.

Norah had some photos on her walls – some from family events, and some fine-art and landscape photos she’d gotten copies of over the last couple of years. Her dad had given her a handful of figurines of famous female lawyers when she’d started pre-law, including a custom one of Caroline. And she had a large tv mounted to the wall opposite her bed.

Her room was very her. But –

But nothing. It didn’t matter what Daniele thought about it.

“I’ll help. Here,” Daniele tossed her one end of her sheet, before she rubbed it between her fingers. “Soft. These are really nice.”

“Thanks. I read a lot of best-of lists before coming to the conclusion about these sheets, so it’s nice to know it paid off,” she half-joked.

Except she had done her research, and she did like knowing that Daniele liked her sheets.

“And to answer your question – it feels… good? I feel ready. Honestly, I liked living at Elliston. Being around my friends all of the time was nice. Even when my parents lived here, I didn’t see them a ton. I had Marcia, my nanny,” Daniele shrugged, tucking her end of the sheet in. “But everyone has been slowly filtering out all summer. On the bright side, I don’t have to live in a dorm again. I’ve done my time,” she joked, before she paused and glanced around Norah’s room again. “Do you live in a dorm during the school year?”

“Nope. You’re looking at where the magic happens, year-round. It just doesn’t make sense to pay a ton of money to live in a dorm when I already live in Boston. Plus… honestly, I like being here.” She shrugged. “I have all of the freedom I’d have in a dorm, my dad is the only roommate/housemate I’d want, and all of my stuff is here already. Win-win.”

“I think it’s really sweet. That you have the relationship with your dad that Abbie has with her moms.”

“Something in the Parker line, that’s for sure.”

“Something great, yeah,” Daniele agreed easily.

Norah shook her head. “So, I hear you were the one who wanted to go out tonight?” She asked, while not thinking about how wildly domestic it felt for Daniele to be helping her put her sheet on her mattress, as they wordlessly moved in tandem to spread the top sheet over the mattress.

Daniele brightened, giving her a nod. “I just mentioned to Abbie that I’d love to go to a party with her, before she left. You know, going to a ‘college party’ together, like our first one, feels like… it would be such a moment that we should have together.” Daniele’s full bottom lip poked out in the cutest little pout. Like she was thinking about how Abbie was leaving soon, and it upset her, and – that was exactly how Norah wanted Abbie’s girlfriend to feel about Abbie leaving. “Then Abbie called me and was all excited and mentioned that you got invited to parties all of the time, and that you’d mentioned going to one tonight.”

“Perfect timing.” She reached for the comforter, tossing one side to Daniele.  

“Do you?”

“Do I…?”

“Get invited to parties all of the time.”

She lifted her hand, shaking it back and forth. “I don’t… not. But it’s not some formal thing; just a hey, this is where a party’s going to be, come if you want.”

“That sounds suspiciously like what someone cool would say to avoid saying they’re popular.”

“Daniele, I’m the coolest, most popular person in the world.” Because the coolest, most popular, incredible person in the world would absolutely be internally falling over herself for her best friend’s girlfriend, obviously. “Couldn’t you tell?”

Daniele snorted out a laugh, then playfully tugged the comforter over to her side, right out of Norah’s hands.

She grabbed it back, then tossed a pillow at Daniele, hitting her in the face and making her drop the blanket. When she heard Daniele splutter out a laugh, she felt a deep sense of victory flood through her.

It just felt so… easy. She didn’t want it to feel so easy and seamless to be around Daniele. She wished, in fact, that it felt awkward and uncomfortable.

It would make this so simple. She’d still find Daniele attractive, but – big deal.

“Helloooo?” Abbie’s voice drifted up from downstairs.

Daniele’s smile brightened even more – as it should. As was right.

And Norah was filled with both relief that Abbie was here so she wouldn’t be alone with Daniele anymore, and guilt. Because she’d totally forgotten at some point in the last couple of minutes that Abbie was due to arrive.

***

Norah never totally let loose at a party; she didn’t trust a lot of dumbass decisions other people would make here, and she wanted to have her wits about her.

Normally, though, if the vibe was right she would have a couple of drinks, relax, dance a bit. Occasionally hook up with someone. As her potential plan had been for this evening.

She wasn’t going to hook up with anyone tonight, given that she was here with Abbie and Daniele and wanted to be available if they needed anything or wanted to leave. But she’d decided that the night didn’t have to be totally changed.

Abbie and Daniele – at her encouragement – had gone off to dance together or make out or something, after Norah had made them all a drink.

And, as luck would have it, Norah had bumped into Lindsey, the cute girl she’d bumped into and hooked up with a couple of times at other parties this year. Two years older than Norah and also pre-law, they’d had a lot of fun this year. Lindsey wasn’t looking for a relationship as she was preparing for her senior year, which had worked just fine for her.

She tugged Lindsey back against her, slowly sliding one hand up over the curve of her waist, rolling her hips into her ass.

This was precisely what Norah needed, she thought, as she closed her eyes and hummed in quiet pleasure at the way Lindsey reached back and tunneled her hand into Norah’s hair. Her nails scratched against her scalp, and she shivered, her body starting to feel alive.

“I’ve missed seeing you around this summer,” Lindsey’s voice reached her over the pulsing of the music.

Norah opened her mouth to respond, also opening her eyes –

Which was a mistake. A huge mistake.

The last time Norah had looked up, Daniele hadn’t been there. She hadn’t seen Daniele or Abbie in over an hour.

But Daniele was there, now. She was so close to Norah and Lindsey, and she was… she was stunning.

Abbie wasn’t with her; she wasn’t dancing with anyone. Just herself. Her eyes were closed and her lips were curled into a smile, clearly enjoying herself, as she moved her hips in a sensuous, sinful beat. Like she could feel the music thrumming through her very veins.

The quiet but enjoyable simmer she’d been feeling for Lindsey as they’d danced was amplified in milliseconds, her throat so dry she felt like she’d never known water.

Her grip tightened on Lindsey’s hip of its own accord, like she was trying to find any sort of stabilizing source. And it so happened to be the woman who was grinding against her.

Who wasn’t – obviously, and for good reason – Daniele.

“Want to get out of here?” Lindsey asked, leaning up to press her lips to Norah’s ear as she asked the question.

She shivered, and –

And then Daniele opened her eyes, and locked onto Norah’s, and the shiver became a full-body shudder, the her hips stuttering slightly out of rhythm against Lindsey’s ass.

“I… can’t,” she managed out, both sounding and feeling choked.

She’d felt fine before. No problem with airflow.

But, as Daniele realized it was Norah she’d ended up next to as she danced, the smile on her face widened.

Norah’s heart beat wildly in her chest. Like, out of control.

Tearing her eyes off of Daniele, she forced herself to focus on Lindsey. “Sorry, I can’t,” she repeated, a little louder. “I’m here with my cousin and her girlfriend. We came together, we’ll leave together.”

“Fair enough,” Lindsey responded, but stopped dancing as she turned to face Norah. “But, to be totally honest, I’m kind of looking tonight. Obviously, I’d love if you were… available.”

Norah nodded, regretfully. Very regretfully. “Totally get it.”

“Some other time?”

“Definitely,” she confirmed, and had to bite back a sigh when Lindsey departed, after popping up to press a kiss to her cheek.

Before Norah could even have a second to do the smart thing and get the hell away from Daniele, it was too late.

Daniele smoothly slid right into the spot Lindsey had just vacated, and Norah almost died.

Not as close as Lindsey had been; their bodies weren’t pressing right up against one another in the same way. In that intentional way. But close enough that she felt Daniele’s breasts brush against hers, and they were breathing the same air and…

Norah start to pull away, but Daniele moved with her. Leaning in, and Norah’s heart froze and stuttered in her chest. What –

“Where did your friend go? Or… more than a friend?” Daniele asked, sounding a little giggly and suggestive, leaning in so her mouth was right next to Norah’s ear.

Which, logistically, Norah knew made sense. Because the music was loud as hell, so how else could she possibly hear her?

But – fuck – feeling Daniele’s hot breath wash over her ear made her tremble.

“Not more than a friend,” she managed to get out, her words feeling stilted. Everything feeling off-balance. “At least, not tonight.”

Probably for the best. Norah hadn’t ever been in a position where she’d been thinking about/lusting after a different person than she was having sex with, and that didn’t really feel like someone she wanted to be.

“Where’s Abbie?” She asked, far too belatedly.

“What?” Daniele shouted back, before she leaned in and turned, angling her ear toward Norah.

For a moment, she stared. Just… the light sheen of sweat that glistened over Daniele’s neck, and her hair smelled incredible, and –

“Where’s Abbie?!” She repeated, her throat absolutely parched.

“She had to go to the bathroom,” Daniele answered. “But I didn’t want to have to wait in the line when I could be dancing. She’ll be back soon.”

The beat dropped, and Daniele closed her eyes again, and the way her hips rolled made Norah’s pulse echo throughout her entire body. Her hands itched to reach out and dance with Daniele, to move with her.

And the thing was, she could. Because Daniele… she was just dancing. Norah was positive that Daniele wouldn’t see it as anything more.

But it would feel that way to Norah, and that was wrong, and she shouldn’t be so turned on by Abbie’s fucking girlfriend, and –

“I’m going to go to the bathroom, too,” she let Daniele know, before turning and making her way through the throng of bodies surrounding them.

It was easy, as they were near the edge of the area in the living room where everyone was dancing.

Norah froze when she saw Abbie, though. Standing only a couple of feet away, looking at Daniele. Meaning, she would have also seen Norah there a moment ago.

“I heard you were in the bathroom?” She asked.

“I was! Was going to join Daniele again, but… then just got caught up.”

Abbie was somewhat of a lightweight, so Norah always kept that in mind when they’d gone out. The bright side was that Abbie was generally very giggly and happy when she drank, which was not the case with many other people Norah encountered on nights out.

Even Abbie’s expression right now, that bright, drunk smile she wore as she stared all smitten at Daniele radiated pure happiness. It was unbearably cute, and it made Norah want to cry. Made her want to break down from the crushing weight of the guilt eating her up from the pit of her stomach outward.

“Isn’t she just…” Abbie trailed off, sighing.

“Mm,” Norah felt like that was all she could offer.

She had to agree; because it would honestly be weirder if she didn’t. Daniele was, objectively, just… as dreamy as Abbie felt she was, yeah. And if Norah didn’t feel a way she shouldn’t feel for her, she wouldn’t hesitate to hype Abbie up about the woman she was dating being so sexy. Being a total catch. And Abbie was a total catch. So, a perfect match.

“Norah?”

“Yeah, Abner?”

“I love you.”

“There she is. Drunk Abbie,” Norah teased.

“No!” Abbie insisted, before she broke down in a giggle a second later. “Okay, fine, maybe. But… I do. You’re my best friend, and I’m so happy you’ve been so cool about everything this summer, having Daniele at our hangouts and everything.”

Could someone just come in and stab Norah in the face instead? She was sure it would be less painful than this was. She really felt like she was going to throw up, and she knew without a doubt that she wouldn’t be having another drink tonight.

Norah was pretty good about holding her alcohol, generally. But she sensed that if she drank another sip tonight, she might very well break down and cry over the guilt and shame she felt starting to swamp her, as she and Abbie both stared at Daniele.

As she and Abbie were both likely having the same thoughts about Daniele. Feeling the same physical response to the way she was moving her body, on-beat, freely moving with the music, eyes closed, completely unbothered.

Gorgeous. And so sexy. And –

Norah reached up, pressing her hand against Abbie’s back to lightly press her forward. “You should go dance with Daniele. She’s waiting for you.”

And if Daniele was waiting… Norah couldn’t imagine why anyone in her right mind wouldn’t go to her.

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