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

Amelia

It took a while to open my eyes once I woke up. My head was pounding, and my legs were aching uncomfortably. I stretched with a grimace, but when I extended out my arms, I realised something was off.
"Alice?" I croaked. No reply. My eyes flew open and I sat up, looking around the room. She was nowhere to be seen. "Fuck," I whispered. Maybe everything from the night before was all just a really good dream, or maybe it wasn't but she had already given up on me. I panicked and looked for something to put on, freezing in just my underwear.
"Oh," I heard from the doorway. I froze. "You're awake."
"Jesus, Alice," I sighed, laying back on her bed. "You scared me."
Alice raised her eyebrows and walked into the room, a cup of water in her hands. "You can't go fifteen seconds without me?" she joked, closing the door behind her before crossing the room and setting the cup on the windowsill of the back window.
"I thought you... I don't know." Alice opened the blinds, and I covered my face with my arm. "Left or something. I thought you left."
"Even if I wanted to," Alice started. "We are roommates on top of everything. I can't exactly up and leave."
"Don't talk like that," I said quietly. Alice's face fell into a smile. She slipped into bed beside me and kissed me gently on the cheek.
"I could never leave you," she whispered. I relaxed and put my hands on her hips. She was wearing my jacket, probably to go get water without being half-naked. I looked over at the window as she pressed kisses all over my face. Why'd she put a cup of water in the direct sunlight? Wouldn't that make it taste shitty? Alice followed my gaze and laughed softly. "I wanted to see if I could grow one of the roses," she explained. "I want something from last night to live on forever."
"We will," I said. Alice smiled more.
"I know we will. I just wanted to keep something else. It's... daft, I know."
I pulled her close and bumped our foreheads together. "It's really sweet, Alice. I hope it grows."
"I hope so, too." She tucked her head under my chin and closed her eyes, her breathing slowing as she got more relaxed. I ran my hand along her spine, feeling every bump through the thick material of my letterman and realising that I would be able to touch Alice whenever I wanted and, hopefully with time, wherever I wanted.
"Well," I started, trying to lighten the mood into something I was more comfortable with. Cuddling was nice, but it was way too foreign to me. "You gotta give the rose a name."
Alice looked up at me. "You're kidding me."
"No!" I said. "When Maddie and I were at home as kids, we'd give the flowers in our garden names. So you gotta name it."
She rolled her eyes. "And what would you suggest."
"Err..." I thought for a moment. "It has to be something cheesy like... Clementine."
"No!" she laughed and pushed my shoulder. "I am not naming our rose 'Clementine.' That's a horrible name for it!"
I grinned, glad I could get her to laugh so easily. It was a beautiful sound, sending chills up my arms. She used to never be so happy around me, but now I was so excited I was able to make her feel this great. "What do you suggest, then?"
Alice thought for a moment, twisting a strand of my hair around her finger. "Lucille," she said finally.
"Talk about cheesy."
"What, you don't like it?" She smiled lazily.
"Nah," I said. "Lucille it is, then. She shall live on in history."
"You're a moron." Alice kissed me on the nose before she got up out of bed, trudging over to her rose bouquet that was laying on my bed across the room. She brought it over to me, sitting on the edge of the mattress. "Which one looks like a Lucille to you?"
"Hard question." I wrapped my arms around her waist, still laying on my stomach. Her body was warm and soft, and I wanted to hold Alice forever. I forced myself to keep going along with the joke and not bombard her with too much affection. I didn't want to look obsessed with her or anything. "Hmm... I'd say... that one." I pointed to the most perfect looking rose, a red one in the centre of the bundle that was a little taller than the rest.
Alice plucked the flower out. "You are the chosen one, my young Lucille," she said. I smiled and nuzzled my head against her back. Alice patted my hands before breaking out of my grasp and walking over to the glass, putting our small Lucille into the water. "Perfect," she said. "I'll get a pot and some dirt later so that she can grow."
"Sound good." I stared at Alice's body, her slender legs exposed and absolutely hypnotic. I didn't feel at all like it would be okay yet for me to touch her there, though, so I was restricted to just watching them.
Alice stretched her arms over her head, moaning as her back popped. "Fuck," she sighed. "What time is it?"
I grabbed my phone that was charging on the wall and checked. "Quarter till eleven."
"Damn." Alice joined me in bed again, pulling the covers over herself. "I never sleep that late."
I frowned. "No," I agreed, half-listening. A few missed texts from Maddie, Gil, and Fran. Wow, I was popular.
Alice wrapped herself around me and sighed happily, not caring if we had to talk. Fine with me. I needed to see why the hell everyone was trying to get my attention.
Mads: congrats on the gf :D treat each other well and go slow <3
Thanks, sis. Not embarrassing at all. Not like that wasn't totally something a mom would say.
Gil: hey so maddie said I need to say congrats so
Gil: congrats
Gil: but really, good job, my man
Gil: you go get that ass, ames
My face turned red, and I was glad that Alice had closed her eyes. Yeah, that text was going to be deleted ASAP.
But why did Fran text me? I would think she didn't want to talk ever again.
Francine: I hope you both have a long and happy relationship. Be good to her, Amelia. You'll never get anyone else like her.
"Who texted you?" Alice asked, putting her chin on my chest so she could look up at me.
"Ah," I started, thinking for a moment. "Maddie and Gil." I knew Fran didn't want Alice to know that she was at her performance, so I erased her text as well. It would be obvious we had talked if I kept that text and Alice read it. I didn't understand my cousin, but I was glad we left on good terms. She would go to France with her parents for the summer and possibly forever, and I would stay in America with my girlfriend.
Alice smiled and nodded. "What did they say?"
"Just congratulated us." I ran my fingers through Alice's short hair. It was super soft. Again, perfect.
"That's sweet of them." Alice murmured, resting her cheek over my heart. It was still a shock to me how quickly her actions had shifted once she accepted me as her partner. Before, she had just subtlety touched my arm or kissed me on the cheek, but now I had fucking Alice Kirkland cuddling me. I didn't even know she was capable of cuddling! I thought she was made up of getting butthurt over dumb things and sarcastic comments! Okay, so that kinda contradicted me calling her perfect, but still.
I looked out the window in our room, watching kids walk to class in small clusters. They talked and laughed and didn't have a care in the world. I was suddenly nervous. I wanted to show off Alice as my girlfriend since it only took us our whole fucking lives to get together, but I didn't want to have the weight of people judging us crashing onto our shoulders. Not like I cared. Hell, I wanted to hold her hand in public and kiss her before leaving for class. I just didn't want anyone to bully Alice for dating me. I wanted to protect her and keep her safe so that I could keep her smiling for as long as I could.
"What are you thinking about?" Alice asked. She had her eyes closed again.
"Nothing," I lied.
"Really?" Alice pressed her ear against my chest. "I swear your heart started racing."
"Probably because I have a super hot girl laying on me," I said. Alice's cheeks flushed pink.
"I'm hardly-" she spluttered. "I'm not-"
"You are."
"I- Gah!" Alice buried her face in my shoulder. The tips of her ears had started to turn red. "Stop that!"
"Stop what?" I grinned.
"Stop saying embarrassing things! I know you! You're doing it on purpose!"
I laughed and shook my head. "But it's true! You are really hot!"
"Amelia!"
I kissed the top of her head. Her face was so red, I could feel the heat of her cheeks on my skin. "Let me compliment you," I chuckled. "I know you like it."
"Not if you do it like that," she grumbled.
"Fine." I thought for a second. "You're the most beautiful girl in the world."
"Oh my god, you're doing it again," Alice groaned. She smothered her face into her pillow.
"You're absolutely gorgeous."
"Amelia."
"And your eyes are the most amazing shade of green."
"Amelia."
"And I really, really think your body is sexy-"
"That's enough!" She grabbed a pillow and slapped me in the face with it. I laughed and tried to push it away from me. Alice climbed on top of me and straddled my lap, hitting me with the pillow over and over again. I squealed and tried to pry it out of her hands. Eventually, I grabbed her wrists and managed to stop her from suffocating me.
"You almost murdered me with my essential tool of sleeping," I said, grinning. Alice looked like she was trying to be angry, but the corners of her mouth were trembling.
"I am going to murder you with your essential tool of sleeping," she corrected.
"Try me."
Alice fell onto my chest and kissed me on the lips, her eyes closing and her hands cupping my face. I held her so she wouldn't roll off of my body, and I kissed her back. She stroked my cheeks with her thumbs, and I fell in love with her all over again.