Ready? Not Really.. (Fem USUK) •IN EDITING•

Francine

a/n
Enjoy my lovelies!
And remember.. any confusion will be further explained ;) all the character relationships were planned out beforehand by yours truly ~~ I just dance around the topic
//anxiously awaits comments
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I'm not sure what you would call me and Alice.
Friends?
Rivals?
Some would use the term "friends with benefits," but that sounded like we used each other. It was quite the opposite. We helped each other.
She would say that we had nothing in common, but if I'd known her long enough to know exactly what she would say, that must mean something. Maybe I was just overanalyzing our relationship.
Alice popped up in my doorway at the usual time: nine or ten minutes before curfew. She was like a clock, I swear. She never broke a habit.
"You look very happy, ma chérie," I said, trying to sound nonchalant, but I was genuinely curious. She looked ecstatic. Her eyes were bright, her clothes were rumpled, and her hair was messier than usual. She was practically radiating excitement. I'd never met anyone that could do that to her, other than me, of course. "Did you finally find someone to fix your horrendous eyebrows?"
"Amelia," she answered simply.
"Amelia is going to fix your eyebrows?" I asked.
"No, idiot." Alice sat beside me. "Amelia is why I'm happy."
Of course.
I sighed. I loved Alice in my own way. She was the only person that had ever truly caught my interest. Almost everything she said had a deeper meaning, and I was proud to say I could read her like a book. "Alice..."
"Don't argue with me, Fran. I'm so not in the mood for it." She stretched out on my bed like a cat. "I just want to go to bed."
"You have your own bed," I reminded her.
Alice eyed me carefully. There was always that issue of getting to know someone... They knew you just as well. "Why are you acting weird? Panties in a twist?"
"I just think you should respect yourself," I said with a shrug.
"Resp- what are you saying?" Alice stopped joking, her smile fading away. "I respect myself."
"Not if you go after a girl that has only ever torn you apart." I got up and went over to my closet. We had this conversation way too often. I'm sure she was just as sick of hearing me rant as I was saying it. "You can do better. You deserve better."
"Who do I deserve? You?" she shot at me.
I paused at the closet door. "Not necessarily," I said slowly. "Just... someone who will take care of you."
Alice sighed audibly. Whether it was out of frustration or something else, I couldn't tell. My back was turned to her as I rummaged through my clothes for pajamas, so I couldn't see her face. "Amelia would do that. She has that obnoxious hero complex where she has to be right on top of any trouble she sees."
I pulled out a nightgown. It wasn't exactly attractive. "Amelia seems to be the source of trouble for you, my friend."
There was a brief silence. Alice was probably thinking of a way to justify herself. I just wanted the best for her. She was my friend, I guess. Something else. We were more like an old married couple. All we did was bicker, but we had each other's back.
"I think she's changing," Alice finally said. I turned to face her. She had already stripped into what she normally wore to bed: just her bra and underwear. Not like I'd never seen her that naked before. "She's much nicer now, Fran. Maddie won't stop saying Amelia is in love with me."
"Madeline," I repeated. She was quite the matchmaker. "I suppose she knows Amelia the best," I said doubtfully. Amelia was immature. Alice had grown up as soon as she discovered her sexuality. I didn't know how they would work together. "I just don't want you getting hurt."
Alice raised her eyebrows. "I can take care of myself, frog. You don't need to mother me."
"A mother wouldn't do half the things I do, chérie," I joked, sitting down beside her once more. Who needed that nightgown, anyways? I threw it aside.
She looked up at me, completely unimpressed. "You're disgusting."
"You're the one in your undergarments," I pointed out.
Alice rolled here eyes. "Like you won't be, soon enough."
I smiled.
Soon enough, I had climbed on top of her. Alice wrapped her arms loosely around my waist. I leaned forward, and she met me halfway in a kiss. She grabbed at my shirt and pulled me closer.
But..
I pulled away and frowned. Alice groaned, "What now?"
"You taste different." I narrowed my eyes. "That's not your lipstick."
She paled. "Oh."
"Yes. 'Oh.'"
Alice didn't meet my eyes. "I... may have... been with Amelia a few hours ago..."
My heart leapt into my throat. "What? Did you tell her about us?"
Her eyes grew huge. "Fuck no!"
"What were you doing with her?" I asked, suddenly suspicious. They had been acting strange around each other lately. I knew they weren't dating, but they acted like it, anyways.
"Tutoring."
"With your lips?" I said skeptically.
Alice shrugged weakly. "Stuff happened."
I rubbed at my face and laid beside her. "You didn't." She looked at the wall as if it was suddenly the most interesting thing in the world. "Alice, you realise if she finds out-"
"She won't!" she interrupted.
"What about when you get together?" I asked quietly. "What happens to me?"
Alice bit the inside of her cheek. "We're still friends. That's what happens." She rolled onto her side so that she wasn't facing me. "It won't happen anytime soon, Fran. Don't worry. Just go to bed."
I shook my head. "Whatever you say, Alice." I reached up to turn off the lamp on top of my headboard. The room went dark immediately. I looked down at Alice, but she already had her eyes closed as if she had magically fallen asleep within an instant.
"Goodnight, Alice," I whispered, kissing her on the cheek and pressing against her back.
Her back rumbled as she murmured that back to me. I wrapped my arms around her.
I didn't know what would happen to us in the future. What events that would make or break us. I just hoped that whatever it was, it would end up okay and, hopefully, without too many broken hearts.