It had only been two weeks since Gracie spilled the truth about her relationship with that actor dude, whose name Dorothea struggled to remember. It was quite unimportant and rather uninteresting, anyway.
All she could focus on was Gracie. And especially today because today was the day Gracie released her debut album; Good Riddance. Dorothea hadn't heard any of the songs yet, no matter how much she had begged and cried to at least just hear a snippet from one of them.
But today was the day and Dorothea was excited, to say the least.
"Gracie! Hi Precious!" She squealed into the phone right when Gracie picked up. "I'm coming over in, like, ten minutes, mkay?" The drive from her apartment to Gracie's was definitely longer than ten minutes, but Dorothea had a car and a dream, and she would get there in ten minutes, even if it killed her.
"Just don't kill yourself, alright, Dory?" Gracie sighed on the other end of the line and it made Dorothea worried. That wasn't a joking, playful sigh. That was a I-have-some-bad-news sigh. "Look, Thea, Dory, beautiful human; Callum will be there, okay? He has to — for the publicity. It'd be weird if my boyfriend weren't there for the release of my debut album."
There was a pang in the depths of Dorothea's heart, but she also understood what Gracie said. She was right, it would be weird if Callum — the dude everyone thought was her boyfriend — weren't there. Dorothea knew it was true, but she desperately wanted it not to be.
"Oh, yeah, that's fine, I understand that! I'll just stay away from him; I don't really like him, y'know?" Dorothea felt bad the moment the words left her mouth. Callum hadn't actually done anything to her, she only hated him because she though he was dating Gracie, but know she knew the truth. Why did she still hate him? She didn't actually have an explanation.
Maybe it was time to grow up and learn to tolerate the guy, just till the end of the contract.
Nora and Olivia and all the rest of Dorothea and Gracie's mutual friends were there when Dorothea arrived. Either she was late or everyone else was early, and she had to admit it was most likely the former; Olivia had never been early to anything in her life, so why would she today?
Abby and Audrey were also there, and although Dorothea had never actually met them, she'd spoken to them over the phone several times. The rest of the room was unfamiliar, though. With the exception of that stupid head of blond hair that Dorothea still despised for some reason.
Weirdly, he wasn't stuck to Gracie's side like Dorothea had expected he would be.
Actually, she couldn't see Gracie anywhere. She wanted to see Gracie, she missed Gracie. Gracie was the only reason she was there. Gracie was the only reason Dorothea was anywhere ever. Dorothea needed to see Gracie.
"Olly, where's Gracie?" She asked, wrapping the girl in a side hug and planting a hasty kiss on her cheek.
Olivia shrugged, stealing a subtle glance at Callum. Dorothea knew what Olivia wanted her to do, she could basically — at all times — read the Rodrigo girl's mind. But she didn't want to follow through with Olivia's unspoken plan. She had no interest in ever interacting with that stupid towheaded actor whose head was definitely way too big for his body — just a little quality Dorothea had observed while rewatching Instagram posts of him and Gracie.
"Thea, you know you have to learn to like him at some point, right? He's dating your best friend." Olivia chirped, for the first time in all of her lifetime sounding nervous and unsure about her own behaviour. Was it really a good idea to remind Dorothea that her best friend, the girl she'd basically fallen in love with, was dating some guy?
"I know, Olly, I do. And I will, don't worry." Dorothea forced an obviously fake smile and glanced over at Callum. "I have to go talk with the devil's spawn, if I don't come back, help me."
Olivia hid her smile and nudged Dorothea towards Callum. She watched as the Bishop girl approached him, and she saw the way Dorothea's body stiffened as she shook the actor's hand.
It didn't take long before Dorothea returned to the safety of Olivia — this time with a seriously unamused look on her face.
"She's in the upstairs bathroom, I'm gonna go find her, I'll be right back." She mumbled before running to the staircase and skipping up the steps.
True enough, the upstairs bathroom door was closed and locked. Dorothea knocked, and she smiled when she heard Gracie's soft voice, telling her that she'd be right out.
"It's me, Grace." Dorothea's face was one big smile as she patiently waited for Gracie to finish her business and come out the bathroom. She couldn't wait to give her a big hug and tell her just how proud she was of her and the album.
The door unlocked, but Gracie didn't come out. Dorothea took that as a hint for her to come to Gracie, instead of the other way around.
"Hi, Precious! It's your release pa—" Dorothea stopped up and cut herself off when she saw Gracie's red and teary eyes. "What's wrong, Gracie?" She asked, worry lacing her tone as she wrapped her arms around the brunette. "Precious, hey, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"
Gracie nuzzled her face in the crook of Dorothea's neck and inhaled her familiar scent. "I'm just so tired, Thea." She mumbled, "it's exhausting having to pretend this thing with Callum is real...I don't even like him, I like you, yet I have to walk around with my tongue down his throat. It sucks so bad, Thea."
"I know, Grace, I know. Two more weeks, you can do that, can't you, beautiful?" Dorothea said, rubbing a soft hand up and down Gracie's arm. "You can, Precious, I know you can, you know why? Because you're the strongest woman I've ever met in my entire life. And I know a girl who's been rejected by three community colleges."
"Thank you, Dory. You're just...everything."
Author's Note
hating this chapter
but too lazy and too busy to rewrite anything
mwah!
@hearthands
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SWEET NOTHING , Gracie Abrams
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