Defy: A Story About True Love Overcoming All (Lesbian Story)

Chapter 5

PIC IS PROJECT
     The rest of the week passed in a flash, and then the next followed. Lyric and Ariss ate lunch in their tranquil clearing every day of those weeks, and Lyric had realized with a start that she had started to become attached to Ariss. Friday rolled around, and the walked into Art together, as they had started walking to this class with each other a couple days earlier. They took their seats and waited for the shuffle of the other students to die down as Ms. Cane began to speak. "Okay guys, projects are due today! Let's see what you've got, yeah?" Lyric was buzzing with anticipation. While they had both worked on the sketches, Ariss had let Lyric do most of the actual painting, after much convincing.
     It was breathtaking. The watercolors had seemed a bit childish at first, but the more Lyric painted, the more she saw herself in the piece of art. Now that she looked at it, the finished product, it was as if she was looking at a small part of her soul. She beamed when Ms. Cane called their names, and carefully picked up the painting, brining it up to Ms. Cane's desk.
     After a long moment of inspection, their teacher looked up at the girls. "This is very nice, I love the technique you used Lyric. Good job girls!" The rest of class was spent talking with Ariss, laughing here and there, and shaking off the occasional glance shot their way by a classmate or two.
     But towards the end of class, Ariss suddenly asked, "Hey Lyric? Wanna hang out at my place tonight, I don't know, maybe you could sleep over? I know, it's kind of short notice and we're probably way to old for that, right?" She said with a laugh. Although everything about her exuded confidence, Lyric thought she could detect the tiniest glimmer of... Something behind the façade. Nervousness? Maybe even embarrassment?
     Lyric furrowed her brow a bit, but smiled and said, "Yeah, that actually sounds really fun." She cast her eyes down for a split second, murmuring, "It's definitely better than the alternative," before she remembered where she was and who she was with. She immediately plastered on a grin and giggled, but a shadow lingered in Ariss' eyes after that. Class flew by and Lyric told Ariss that she would show up around 6, before heading home. 

LATER
     "If Dad asks where I am, tell him I slept at a friends house, okay Sam?" Lyric called back into the house. A muffled, "Sure!" was all she heard as she shut the door and headed towards Ariss' adress. Lyric didn't really go to this side of town that often, and all she knew was that it was nicer than where she lived, for one thing. The other thing she knew was that several of Ariss' famed graffiti pieces were around here. As Lyric neared the block she had been directed to, she stopped short with a slight gasp.
     Directly in front of her, painted masterfully on a plaster alley wall, was an exquisite image of a walking woman, tendrils of night extending from her form, like wisps of living smoke in the form of songbirds. Tearing her gaze away, she walked the rest of the way to the address and knocked on the door, the image of the woman still fresh in her mind.

Lyric jumped slightly, broken from her trance, as Ariss opened the door and greeted her with a cool smile. "Hey Lyric, come in." She grabbed Lyric's wrist and tugged her inside.
     Ariss's' house was not by any standards high class, but it belonged solely to Ariss. Her parents had moved out of Seamer the year before, but Ariss had chosen to stay for some reason, now living alone. Lyric could not contain the spark of envy that developed in her, but quickly forgot it when Ariss led her down a hall and stopped in front of a bright blue door.
     Ariss bit her bottom lip slightly, causing a strange feeling to bubbled up in Lyric, but it was gone in an instant as Ariss said, "I... Made something for you. Over the past week. I just wanted to... Prepare you." Lyric nodded, confused, but managed to murmur, "O-okay," as Ariss nervously turned and pushed open the door. 
     The door swung inward. Lyric's breathe caught. They were in a room filled with easels and paintings, but the one in the center was obviously meant for Lyric. She stared and stared at the painting in front of her, her breathing shallow, and felt tears burn in her eyes. But in her head was a resounding silence. The painting was undeniably her. It was of her, hunched over, arms wrapped tightly around herself. It was of her, broken, shattered her.

     She suddenly took in a huge gulp of air, the tears spilling from her eyes. She began to tremble, and her knees felt weak, as if she would just collapse right there and never rise again. "Lyric?..." Ariss said, sounding tentative, almost fearful. Lyric whipped her head to look at Ariss in the face and held her gaze for five long seconds before looking to the ground and mumbling in a shaky voice, "I... I need to go." She turned, taking a step or two out of the room before Ariss reacted.
     "Lyric, please wait!" She pleaded, but Lyric barley heard. The silence in her mind had been replaced with unbearably loud roaring. She worked so hard to keep up appearances, to be Lyric, the quietly happy smart girl, not the constantly terrified ruined person she really was, and Ariss had seen through that in a matter of days. She made it halfway down the hall before Ariss grabbed the collar of Lyric's loose fitting lavender top, mostly by accident, pulling the collar down past her shoulder to reveal an ugly, blue and purple bruise right between where her shoulder and neck met.
     They both froze, staring at the mark. There was once again silence in Lyric's mind. And then she was on her knees. She didn't remember sinking to the ground, didn't remember when the racking, harsh sobs began, only knew that it felt as if they would never end.
     Without saying a word, Ariss dropped to her knees beside Lyric, gently slipping an arm around her and pulling her close. The warmth of Ariss's' body enveloped Lyric, and she buried herself in it, allowing the tears she always worked so hard to keep at bay to flow freely, and allowed Ariss to silently comfort her as she poured her despair out.
     When the sobs finally subsided, replaced by only a few wayward tears and apologetic sniffles, Ariss gently cupped Lyric's cheek with her free hand, brushing away a tear with her thumb, titling her face up to look into her own.     
     Lyric's skin burned where Ariss caressed it, and her breathe was warm and soft against her face. Still, neither girl said anything, and Ariss slowly slid her hand from Lyric's cheek up into her hair, and moved her mouth the hover over the bruise. Lyric's body buzzed, her heart pounding, and as Ariss softly kissed the monstrosity, flame coursed through her, radiating out from the point where her lips met skin.
     Lyric let out a small noise, somewhere between a surprised squeak and and a gasp and arched her back slightly. Ariss pulled back, but only enough to move up and gently kiss Lyric's neck, then jawline. She pulled away again, and Lyric's shallow breathe hitched as Ariss met her warm brown eyes with her own deep green pools, a question in their depths. Lyric gave a small, barely perceptible nod, and leaned forward ever so slightly, meeting Ariss's lips with her own.
     The kiss was long and slow and deeply laced with passion. Lyric's head was spinning and she groaned slightly as she brought one arm up to wrap around Ariss's neck, leaning back so that Ariss was propped up above her, never breaking apart. Ariss kissed lazily yet with intent, and a scalding desire slipped through Lyric's veins when their tongues brushed. A soft moan emanated from Lyric's throat, and Ariss mimicked it as she slid one hand from Lyric's shoulder down to her waist, the other still tangled in her blonde locks. Lyric opened herself up more to the kiss, and a somewhat growl-like groan rose into Ariss's mouth as the kiss deepened more.
     Lyric was acutely away of her entire body, her lips, her neck, the place where Ariss's hand was burning on her hip. She felt as if she could simply lose herself in that moment, content to remain like this forever. But almost as soon as she thought this, Ariss slowly pulled her mouth away, and looked down at Lyric. Disheartened, Lyric flushed and asked somewhat hoarsely, "Why did you stop?" To this Ariss replied with a strained smile, "Because you know I had to." To this Lyric had no argument.
     By this point it was nearing 8 and they both got changed into nightclothes, Lyric slipping into the master bath. She emerged to find Ariss already changed, sprawled across her bed holding a bowl of popped corn and a movie, smirking. Lyric blushed and averted her gaze, striding over and plopping down onto the bed beside her.
     "What is that?" she asked, gesturing to the movie. Ariss cracked a grin and said smoothly, "The Notebook." Lyric stared at her for a second, then laughed loudly. "Really?" she said, containing her amusement. Ariss pretended to look offended, playfully retorting, "It's a good movie! Just shut up and watch, okay?" "Fine, fine!" Lyric sighed, burrowing under the covers, cuddled up next to Ariss.
     Towards the end of the movie, Lyric's eyes started to feel heavier and heavier. The last waking thought she had was that in that moment, with Ariss's arm draped over her waist, her other hand absently playing with her already mussed up hair, she could not remember the last time she had felt so safe.