i'm only given clues

Chapter 8

It's not what she expected it to be, being left alone in bed.

Her arm stretches out beside her automatically, even though she's never done it before, and it burns to find the sheets beside her cold. At first, the truth doesn't register and she keeps sleepily reaching for soft and supple skin until her eyes open and her stomach drops with an unbearable ache. Suddenly, the bed doesn't feel as warm as it did a minute ago.

It hurts to be the one left behind, wondering. It hurts to be the one disappointed.

Shame and guilt plummets inside of her, unable to accept that this is what she's been doing to Dinah for so long. She buries her face in the pillow and tries to control the tears that well inside of her.

It takes so much effort that she almost falls back into a sleep, dreams of every single time she left Dinah playing like a show reel swirling around her head. Her brain is seconds away from slipping into unconsciousness when she hears the shower shut off.

Her mind is suddenly very much awake.

Then she hears nimble feet wandering back into the room, a familiar humming and then the tell-tale signs of a record being slipped onto the player. Her heart skips and she lifts her head from the pillow, aware of the single tear that leaves her eyes for a different reason now. She turns her head slowly, eyes still sleepy, and doesn't breathe out until she sees the only thing she'll always want to see.

Dinah pulls the underwear up her legs, hips swaying already as they move to the record. The volume is low, but it doesn't stop her. She sways her hips to the beat and Normani's mesmerized, stuck. She chastises herself for ever thinking that Dinah would leave.

Dinah's not her. She's better.

/

She's unaware of how long she's been staring, but Dinah sways to the song like her hips are controlling every beat. She's not really dancing, just moving to the music, but it's still one of the most beautiful things Normani's ever seen. She props herself up on an elbow, her earlier fear dissipating easily and replacing itself with awe.

Her mind stops worrying and, instead, she finds herself daydreaming about a life like this, right here. She wonders what it would be like to have Dinah as her own human alarm clock, waking her up when the shower shuts off and when she's dancing to the radio.

She thinks that she'd always be happy, because how could she not be when her day starts with this?

She blinks out of her daydream when she hears a giggle. Her eyes refocus and find Dinah staring at her. She's still only wearing her underwear, her hair damp from the shower. She grins madly and Normani smirks back.

"You know," Dinah says, "It's rude to stare."

Normani shrugs. "I wasn't staring," she bites her lip and flits her eyes across Dinah's body. Her hips, her thighs, the curve of her torso to her gorgeous, big, brown eyes. She takes a deep breath in. "I was... admiring."

Dinah looks at her curiously, but there's fear and nerves in those eyes. Normani ignores it for the sake of keeping herself together. "Admiring what?"

Normani looks at her, letting the blood rush to her head. "You," she says and her heart skips a beat.

Dinah moves closer. Her hips still sway and Normani can't tell if she's doing it to the music anymore. It doesn't matter. She's more concerned with the way that Dinah's knees dip the end of the bed like they did the night before, the way she crawls up and hovers above her with a face full of determination.

Normani feels typically fearful. Her eyes dart to the still closed bedroom door, the window and the balcony. They're still hidden but it's more likely that someone will walk in. "Anyone could find us," is falling out of her mouth before she can control it.