I Walk the Line ♤ (gxg)

chapter 18: possession

August was dissatisfied with the contents of her suitcase.

"You couldn't have packed me any better clothes?" she mumbled, looking through the suitcase filled with jeans and plain shirts.

"Considering my plans were to just keep you handcuffed to the bed the whole time, no. And what better clothes? Your entire dresser was filled with sweaters." Willow walked into the bathroom with an outfit in her hand, deadpanning August as she closed the bathroom door.

"Well, I did have a whole closet you could've looked through." She rolled her eyes, pulling out a pair of ripped jeans and the only cute shirt in her suitcase—a tan crop top. Surely the party would be held inside, and she wouldn't have to deal with the December cold, she thought to herself.

"Well, I was a little busy kidnapping you," Willow's muffled voice remarked behind the closed bathroom door. "Plus, you don't have to wear anything nice. No one really cares."

"I care," August mumbled, her voice so quiet it was out of earshot to the woman. Laying her outfit of choice on the bed, she lifted her shirt over her head, leaving her in her grey bra.

Finished changing into her clothes, Willow stepped out of the bathroom, her eyes widening at the sight before her. The girl was standing with her bare back turned to her, her hair bouncing down her shoulders after she lifted her shirt over her head. She froze like a deer in headlights when the girl snapped her head towards her, matching the wideness of her eyes, after she had heard the bathroom door open.

"U-Um, sorry." She felt her cheeks burn as she turned around to go back into the bathroom and wait until the girl finished changing, stopping as August quickly spoke.

"No, you can look," August thoughtlessly interjected. Her words had slipped out of her mouth before she realized how it sounded. "I mean—"

Willow's eyebrows raised questioningly at the girl whose waist twisted to look at her, showing the side of her lace bra. She clenched her jaw to keep her eyes strictly on August's.

"I meant," August stumbled over her words, "like, it's fine. Nothing you probably haven't seen before..." Her voice trailed off, unsure of what she was even saying. She didn't want Willow to think she had to hide in the bathroom and shield her eyes just because her shirt was off, but she also didn't want her to think she necessarily wanted her to look, even though there was a part of her that was interested in the way her jaw flexed when her eyes had laid upon her.

But the truth was that August was nothing Willow had ever seen before. The woman had been with several other women in her lifetime, the countless number probably reaching into several dozens. She had seen many a shirtless woman, but the young girl's delicate, pale frame and the way the grey lace bra contrasted against her skin tones made her hands twitch at her sides. Urges to lay her hand upon the surface of the girl's back which looked as soft as silk rushed into her mind, making her chew on her lower lip as she had to pull herself away from the sight. She surfed her fingers through her black hair as she simply walked into the living room to busy herself before her hands would busy themselves with the wrong thing.

She didn't know why, but a smirk rose to her lips as she noticed how bothered the woman looked, hands nearly trembling as she exhibited her nervous habit of running them through her hair. It was something August had picked up on. She pulled the crop top on, slipping into her jeans and her Vans. She took her perfume out and made sure to generously spritz it across her neck and on her wrists, delighting in the feeling of smelling good.

Adjusting her curly brown hair in the mirror and applying Carmex, August walked out into the living room where the woman stood against the table biting her lip and staring at some magazine that Jerry had brought them that morning, obviously not reading the words. "I'm ready."