Borrowed Time

Chapter 133

If there was one mistake that Juliette had decided that she was never going to make again, it was getting ready in the trailer after Esme had already left for the venue for a show. She'd done her best to get everything ready and together before Shelby had gotten her, but Esme had rightfully taken their makeup bag with them, and Juliette had left her eyeliner in there... Which meant that she was not as ready as she'd wanted to be...

And it meant that they had had to get to the venue earlier than they normally did so that Shelby could help with her makeup... Esme offered, but Juliette wanted to lean against them... It was comfortable... So that was what their pre-show entertainment was now: Shelby stabbing Juliette in the eye with eyeliner.

She flinched away again and Shelby let out a frustrated noise as Esme lightly placed a hand on the back of her neck to try to keep her in place... It wasn't doing much, but they were trying, right?

"Are you ever gonna learn how to not squirm when someone's fixing your eyeliner? Seriously..." Shelby sighed, gripping Juliette under the chin as Esme chuckled behind her, tracing comforting patterns on her arms as she leaned against them.

She knew she was squirming away again and flinching, but she really couldn't help it. How was she supposed to know to not do that? It seemed like what her body was supposed to do when there was something sharp coming towards her eye, right?

"Okay, it feels like a fucking sensory nightmare for me, sue me for moving around a bit." Juliette sighed, trying her best not to tear up or twitch, but it was inevitable... Esme rubbing their knuckles on her arms and back was helping a lot, it was helping distract her with a different sensory input... But it wasn't making it 100% better, she still wanted to peel her skin from her body.

Tegan hopped off of the ledge he'd been perched on and walked over, stretching... She liked his shirt today, it said something like 'human babies are suspicious and I do not trust them' and he'd cropped it just above his navel. Paired with the beat up, paint covered jeans that he was wearing, it was the perfect outfit.

"Oh I get that." Tegan gave Emma a wide smile, a knowing one. Emma's face dropped as they seemed to catch onto what was being said. "Emma has to, like, hold me down when they do mine." They said, and Emma sighed, nodding.

Huh. Well, good to know that she wasn't alone, right?

"You are the worst with it." Emma chuckled, which earned them a look from Tegan, who knocked lightly into their shoulder with narrowed eyes... Oh. Well, maybe this ran deeper than a few stabs to the eye with some eyeliner...

"Stop stabbing me in the eye and I won't be the worst anymore, right?" Tegan asked, and Emma rolled their eyes and sighed, shaking their head... But Juliette could see the loving smile on their face even as they tried their best to look as annoyed as possible.

She was pretty sure that it was impossible to stay mad at Tegan for longer than a few seconds, he was just too fucking sweet.

"It was one time." Emma sighed, and Tegan nodded sagely, not looking at all like they had any more leniency for Emma just because it had only happened once, which Juliette understood completely. She was still holding a grudge against Shelby for stabbing her in the eye with mascara when she was twelve.

"One time too many, yeah." Tegan responded, which made Juliette snort because he did it with the exact amount of animosity that Juliette would have expected - the exact amount that she would have herself, honestly.

Emma sighed and shook their head, crossing their arms across their chest.

"Okay..." Another loving glance. "Drama queen." Tegan beamed at this, seeming to accept that accusation wholeheartedly in a way that made Juliette chuckle.