Dorothea probably shouldn't have driven home that day. She wasn't drunk anymore, but her severe exhaustion and pounding head still made her a danger to the other cars. But she survived; she got Leonora home without any injuries, and she parked her car in the parking lot with no bumps or scratches.
The following day as she was walking into work, her phone vibrated in her pocket.
𝙓𝙓𝙓-𝙓𝙓𝙓-𝙓𝙓𝙓: 𝘩𝘪𝘪𝘪 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘦, 𝘭𝘪𝘷 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 :) 𝘪 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵
Dorothea could feel her heart melting in her chest. She'd suspected that Gracie was one of those overly cute people who just seemed to be incredibly precious no matter what they were doing, but she didn't think she'd ever get her suspicions confirmed.
𝙈𝙚: 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘵, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 :) 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳?
Her phone dinged again; it was Gracie thanking her again and telling her that she was, in fact, feeling much better — perfect, actually.
It was as if the day felt much brighter after Gracie's message, and that concerned Dorothea. Did her happiness really depend on a girl she'd just met? If it did, that was embarrassing, and she'd definitely never share that with the world. They'd just think she was weird, and Dorothea didn't want to be weird.
"Morning Nathan," Dorothea smiled politely at the receptionist as she passed his desk. Nathan had worked there for longer than her, yet they'd never talked much — only the polite greetings every morning and noon.
As her workday progressed, Dorothea found her train of thought to be especially interested in a certain brunette. She kept thinking back to the previous morning — or rather, noon — when she'd woken Gracie up. She'd looked so adorable as she'd laid there, curled up on Olivia's bed.
"What's got you smiling like that, Bishop?" Dorothea's friend and co-worker, Xavier, asked as he took a seat on the break room table, right next to her food.
Dorothea waved him off, but she knew he wouldn't leave it alone until he got an answer he was satisfied with. "It's no one; don't worry 'bout it."
"No one? It's a person! Who's got you smiling like that, then?!"
"Like I said, it's no one. How far are you on that document I sent to you?" Dorothe knew steering the conversation away wouldn't work, yet she still made an attempt. Perhaps the universe was weirdly twisted today; maybe Xavier would leave the topic alone; she couldn't know without trying.
But much to her dismay, Xavier lived up to her expectations and continued bugging her about her apparently unusual happiness (which she found incredibly rude; she was rarely mad, right?).
"It's just this girl I met on Saturday — one of Olivia's friends." Dorothea shrugged, giving in and letting Xavier interfere with her personal life. He always managed to get his way in one way or another, and Dorothea didn't always understand how he did it.
And so it happened that Xavier successfully managed to take up Dorothea's entire lunch break by shooting questions at her, like was he a machine gun in human form.
Dorothea felt the sun shine on her skin and the gentle breeze in her hair as she left her place of work. She had an unusually happy bounce in her steps, one that seemed to be portraying the joy she was feeling. Though, as soon as she realised how weird she must've looked to other people on the street, she slowed down and got rid of the bounce.
As opposed to every other day where she took the subway, Dorothea walked home today, enjoying the good weather and listening to the birds sing. She felt so happy — like, truly, genuinely happy. And she wondered why that was — what had caused the sudden change of mind and mood.
Her phone dinged and she smiled at the message portrayed on her lock screen.
𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙚: 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵, 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 !!
Dorothea did as the brunette said and stopped abruptly in the middle of the street. She looked around, scanning her surroundings. Her eyes came to a halt as she spotted Gracie walking towards her. The girl was sporting a smile, one so wide that Dorothea could see it from several feet away.
"Gracie! Hi!" Dorothea asked, wrapping Gracie in a hug. "What are you doing here?"
Gracie pulled away from the hug — her smile just as big as before — and retracted her arms, wrapping them around her waist and leaving them to rest there. "Just finished up in the studio! I was just on my way to the coffee shop to get a little treat."
"Oh! Are you going to Coffee Haven?" Dorothea watched Gracie nod at her question, and a wide smile appeared on her lips. "I know the owner there! You have to order a blueberry scone; she makes the best ones!"
Gracie's eyes lit up as they focused on the precious girl ahead of her. "Well, d'ya want to join me? You could get one of those delicious scones. My treat."
"Oh my God, yes! Obviously, I want to join you." Dorothea won the fight against her excitement. She was scared that Gracie found her weird for being so excited about something as small as a scone, but she simply couldn't help herself. Lottie's blueberry scones were heaven in pastry form.
The girls walked side by side down the street, turning to enter the coffee shop. The bell above the door rang, and it caught the barista's eye. Dorothea locked eyes with the elderly lady and smiled.
"Hi, Lottie, how're you doing?" The Bishop girl asked as she and Gracie approached the counter. "How's Rufus?" Rufus was Lottie's husband; Dorothea had only met him once or twice, but she still felt like asking about him too was the polite thing to do.
"We're both doing great; getting old, but we're loving it," Lottie answered, smiling at Dorothea. "How're you? And what about your sister? Who's this?" The elderly woman asked, gesturing to the brunette behind Dorothea.
Gracie smiled softly and waved at Lottie, inching closer to Dorothea in search of consolation and familiarity. "Both Nora and I are good. And this is my friend, Gracie. She's here to try your reputable blueberry scones." Dorothea smiled, her pearly whites showing through the thin line between her lips.
"Well, I'll get those started for you then. Want anything else?" Lottie asked, grabbing two plates and a kitchen tong. "Heated or not? And do you two want something to drink?"
"We'll take them heated, thank you. And could I get an iced latte with almond milk? Gracie, what d'ya wanna drink?" Dorothea looked back at Gracie, patiently awaiting an answer.
Gracie looked at the menu and took a moment to think — it was a tough decision, after all. "An iced matcha, thank you."
When Gracie went to pay, Dorothea slapped her hand away and went to pay herself, but got her own hand pushed off by Lottie, who insisted that it was on the house. Dorothea knew better than to argue with Lottie, so instead she and Gracie thanked the woman and went to find an unoccupied table.
Dorothea took a seat on the chair in front of Gracie's. She propped her elbows up on the table, resting her head on her hands, and looked at the brunette ahead of her, admiring her every feature.
"So, Gracie, tell me about yourself."
Author's Note
In honour of my best friend returning from Spain later today, here's the third chapter
Idk when the next one will be, this wasn't supposed to be published just yet, but I thought I'd do it to celebrate my pookie finally coming back to me
Kiss kiss,
@hearthands
YOU ARE READING
SWEET NOTHING , Gracie Abrams
Fanfiction» I find myself running home to your 𝘚𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 « Gracie Abram...
