everywhere, everything | gracie abrams

vii.

THE MORNING SUN filtered through auroras curtains, a warm glow spreading through the room. aurora awoke with a splitting headache caused by last nights party. she looked to her side, gracie no where to be found. she looked at the time on her phone - she had slept in until almost 11 am.

the kiss between her and gracie replayed over and over in her head. she was so confused. at first, gracie wants to run away from her after aurora kissed her, but then she comes back and kisses aurora. she was stunned by the lack of communication which was usually very important in their friendship.

the aroma of coffee wafted through the house, encouraging aurora to get out of bed. she reluctantly arose with a groan, quickly checking herself in the mirror and throwing on a pair of track pants before leaving her room.

as she descended down the stairs, her eyes fell to gracie who was sitting at the dining table, sipping her coffee. there was a cup waiting for aurora opposite of gracie. the tension in the air made aurora slightly uncomfortable. "morning." aurora mumbled.

"morning." gracie replied with a guarded tone, bringing the steaming coffee mug to her mouth.

aurora sat down with her cup, opposite gracie. her heart hammered against her chest. they exchanged an awkward glance, both girls grappling with their own thoughts about their kiss.

"um," gracie started. aurora swallowed loudly. "about last night," gracie was hesitant to continue. aurora looked up at her. "yeah?"

"i don't- i don't know what that meant." gracie stammered.

"i- i don't know either," aurora confessed. gracie's gaze softened, putting down her cup. "i'm just confused, gracie."

gracie cleared her throat, almost choking on the awkwardness of this interaction.

"i mean, i kissed you, which i totally get was out of line, and you run away, but then you come back, we don't talk about it at all and then you kiss me? it's just confusing, cie."

"i, um, i don't know what happened. i mean, im with hayes-"

"i know, which is why i shouldn't have kissed you in the first place. you have hayes." aurora sighed. aurora wished that she wasn't with hayes. she wished that gracie was single so everything wouldn't be so confusing, so she could love gracie just as hard as she already does, except proudly.

gracie's body tensed when she heard aurora say hayes' name. she wished she wasn't with him. she wished she had seen the signs. she wished things were different, so she could end things easily, so she could explore her new found understanding within herself. all this time she had been chasing the wrong person. she realised the one for her had been around her this whole time.

gracie was going to continue her sentence, but she didn't. she looked up at aurora, her face covered in a look of guilt. gracie wished she didn't have to feel guilty. she wished for so many things, but so many things couldn't go her way.

as the girls sat in the quiet of the kitchen, birds whistling outside the window, a strange tension hung between them. all they needed was to communicate.

"can we talk in my room instead?" aurora asked. gracie stood up, leaving her cup at the table. she followed aurora up the stairs and into her room.

aurora strolled into the room and shut the door behind her, sitting on her bed. gracie chose to stand, fiddling with the rings on her fingers in anxiety.

"what are we now then? what is this?" aurora asked, looking up to gracie, pleading for a straight forward answer with her eyes.

"what do you mean?" gracie asked, holding her breath.

aurora sighed, sitting up straight. "best friends don't make out, gracie." aurora said, looking down at the floor.

gracie exhaled, looking upwards at the roof. she pondered telling aurora everything. about how she liked the kiss, about how she yearned to do it again and how it consumed her thoughts when she was in ohio.

"can i tell you something?" gracie asked, her heart pounding in her chest. as she heard the words come out of her mouth, she realised she didn't know what to say.

"yeah." aurora sighed.

"oh my god, i don't know how to say this," gracie whispered with trembling hands. she stayed quiet for a moment, trying to map out her sentence in her head. "i liked it." gracie finally mumbled, barely audible.

"what?" aurora turned her gaze back to gracie, confused.

"i liked it!" gracie raised her voice. "i liked it when you kissed me! i just didn't fucking know what to do! i was overwhelmed with how i felt, so i left. believe me aurora, i couldn't stop thinking about it in ohio. i wanted to do it again so bad, aurora, so bad. when you kissed me, i realised how i've been feeling for so long. i just didn't know what to do, so i ran off!" gracie blurted, moving to stand above aurora and wired her eyes shut. each word weighed heavily with years of unspoken longing, and gracie felt the weight lift of her chest with every word. "i know it was shitty, and i know i should have talked to to you but, you just- you make me feel some type of way that i don't understand. no one else makes me feel this way except you - not even hayes. i don't even love hayes, not anymore, because-"

without a single word, aurora swiftly stood up and cupped gracie's cheeks, her lips softly pressing into gracie's, taking her breath away. startled, gracie pulled back and widened her eyes.

in that moment, time seemed to stand still. as gracie stared into auroras eyes, every worry, every problem, seemed to disappear, and something came over gracie. her lips met auroras once more, and she realised that aurora was all she needed. she pushed aurora backward, slamming her into the closet door. aurora gasped, grabbing gracie's waist for support. "gracie," she muttered in between the kiss.

"mhm?" gracie hummed.

aurora pulled back. "gracie, you have a boyfriend." aurora said, breathless.

gracie pressed her lips to auroras again. "i know, but i don't care."

aurora grabbed the back of gracie's neck as she deepened the kiss, a whirlwind of emotions encircling them. gracie pulled back, smiling widely. "sorry, uh-"

"you don't have any idea how long i've wanted this." aurora interrupted.

gracie quickly kissed her again. "i've liked you for ages." gracie said, trying to catch her breath.

"me too," aurora smiled. "what about hayes?" she asked.

gracie placed her hand right next to aurora head, leaning on the closet door with her arm.

"fuck hayes. i want you."

——
a/n - ahh finally! they're on the same page with each other 🙏

also, i added an actual book cover, i feel like it was finally time.

i'm excited to write these next chapters, im gonna see where i want to go with this book, but i have a good idea of where im gonna go. sorry for the shorter chapter, i usually write like 2-3 hundred more words.

thanks for reading 💕

love u!
@metyouattherighttime