Crossed Fingers (Bones Fanfic)

Chapter Four: Playing For The Other Team

I woke up to a knock on my bedroom door. "Hey," Aaina spoke as she strolled into my room, "how are you feeling, love?" She sat down next to me on the bed.

"Ugh," I paused, "not good," I spoke as I tried to hold back the wave of impending vomit. 

"Come on, Xannie, let's get you to the toilet."

I made my way to the bathroom, shielding my eyes from the light and working to hold it in just long enough.

"Do you remember anything from last night?" Aaina cooed while helping me hold back my hair.

"Just enough." I smiled while remembering some of last night's details.

"Do you remember some of the things that you said?" She placed a concerned hand on my shoulder.

"A couple of things. And, uh, I've gotta talk to you about something."

Aaina tensed up, obviously not liking where things were going.

"You've been acting, um, really weird lately. Did I do anything wrong? Are you okay?"

She couldn't look me in the eyes.

"I have to tell you something," Aaina mumbled slowly.

My heart was practically beating out of my chest. What was she about to say? Uh oh, this sounds like it's going to be bad. 

What if she lost her job?

What if she's moving out? 

What if she has cancer?

What if she doesn't want to be best friends anymore?

What if she lost her job and is moving away from me because she has cancer and doesn't want to be best friends anymore?

"I'm a," Aaina exhaled, "lesbian."

I sighed loudly in relief. "Thank God! I thought you had cancer!" I hugged her tightly. 

"I love you, Aaina! I'm so glad that you're okay."

Her eyes were wide. She was probably surprised at my reaction.

"So, you're okay with it?!" She began to hug me back.

I laughed out loud. "Why wouldn't I be? I love you, and because I love you, I don't care who the heck you love."

"Well, then," she continued, "I have someone that I want you to meet. She's coming over for dinner tomorrow night. Oh! Also, Sweets called and he wants you to come to lunch with some of the group at twelve-thirty. Founding Fathers, as per usual. You should probably start getting ready now, since it's less than two hours away."

"You're going to help me pick out an outfit, right? I'm totally lost without you making me look cute."

Aaina giggled. "Oh, honey, you're already cute exactly the way you are," she whispered as she put my hair into a bun, "I just like to find ways to help you see your own beauty. It helps you be less insecure."

I nodded. She was right. She always is. 

I don't know why she thought I wouldn't be okay with her liking girls. Why wouldn't I be okay with that? I love her. And she knows that.

"Can I ask you another question?" I was honestly a little offended that she thought I might be homophobic.

"Shoot."

"Were you just nervous to come out, or," I traced the lines on Aaina'a makeup table because I dislike confrontation, "did you really think I wouldn't like you anymore if I knew about you being a lesbian?"

"Mostly just nervous. You sometimes have religious tendencies, and so I wasn't quite sure how you'd react. Some people are totally okay with gay people unless they have to interact with gay people, and I was hoping you wouldn't be one of those people. I was pretty sure you weren't. But you never know. I was nervous."

"How long have you known that you're gay?" 

"Honestly?" She placed a necklace on me.

"Honestly."

"I've known it subconsciously pretty much my whole life. I just didn't realize that I knew it until I met Leslie."

"Aww! Leslie? That's such a cute name. What's she like?" I feel so much happier now that Aaina's being honest with me.

"She's tiny. She's super short, and she has the cutest pixie cut. She's a health and fitness journalist from New York and we've been dating for three weeks."

"That explains why you've been so weird for the past couple of weeks. How did you two meet?" I cringed as she held up a pair of high heels for me to wear. They looked painful, and sadly, Aaina and I were the same size in shoes.

"We met in a kickboxing class that she was teaching. I needed extra help; we ended up talking a lot."

"You took a kickboxing class without me?" I pouted my lower lip slightly at her. She laughed.

"It's not really your thing."

"True," I agreed with her. I'm not really the boxing type. Or the kicking type. Or both of those combined. I just think it's weird that she hasn't told me any of this until now.

"So anyway," I continued, "should I keep this a secret, or are you cool with me talking about the cute girlfriend you now have with my new friends?"

"As long as they're not homophobic, I'm totally fine with you talking to whoever about it."

"If they're homophobic, they're not my friends." I smiled reassuringly at her.

...

"So have you talked to Aaina about how she's doing? Is she alright?" I loved how Sweets always worked to help me vent about things that were on my mind.

"Yeah! Actually, there's nothing wrong with her. She's just gay." I smiled.

Hodgins nodded in excitement. "That's cool, man."

"Yeah, it is! She has a girlfriend and everything. I'm meeting her tomorrow night. Her name is Leslie. I've heard she's cute."

"Good for her," Angela replied, "I'm so happy that she had the guts to come out. It's hard to do."

"You should tell her that if she ever needs someone to confide in-"

"I'm gonna have to stop you right there, Sweets. She has someone to confide in; that's me. But, she'd probably like you. You two should really meet sometime. You'd bond over your need to help every single person around you become a better person."

"Oh," Hodgins sighed, "she's one of those."

"Mmm-hmm. Yeah. But she's not like Sweets. She's not that bad. I'm kidding, of course." I smiled at Sweets.

He smiled back, obviously not hurt by my attempt at playful teasing. I was relieved. I'm bad at teasing people. I either say things that don't make sense or I end up going way too far. That's one of the many things Aaina's helped me with.

One by one, we all finished our lunches and went home to enjoy the rest of the weekend.

...

I feel like things are finally beginning to come together.

I'm starting to get a friend-group going, and that's great. I like that.

Aaina's no longer hiding some huge secret gay life from me, and that's also great.

I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders.

For now. We'll just have to see how long that lasts.

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