Before The Storm ( wlw / lesbian )

Chapter 6

Grace opened her eyes as her brain slammed against her forehead with the speed of a car hitting a barrier. The blankets are tangled around her as if they intend to never let her go, her pillows are scattered and astray

A nervous tap on the door surprised her though, who on earth knocked before entering a communal room, let alone a bedroom that she didn't own? Humming in reply she found her answer and of course...

Toni, with a soft smile on her face. The light pouring in to the room did not help the barrier-bidden car, as she groaned and reached for a pillow to protect her senses.

"Come in, save me." Grace groaned. Toni peeked in with a laugh, looking fresh as a daisy in opposition to Grace's hungover rose that got bashed against the street a couple of times before getting thrown back into a vase of bed covers.

Toni moved over to the bedside, where she popped a few Tylenols onto the table and a bottle of water, placing a quick kiss to the sleepy redhead's forehead.

Grace quickly downed the medicine and chugged the water greedily, groaning at just how dehydrated she had been. She absentmindedly smelt her own hair, grimacing at the distinct scent of sweat and... vomit?

"You can take the bathroom to get ready for the day," Toni chuckled,  trying to sound as easy as she could. "You threw up in the middle of the night, if you're wondering. I tried to take the liquor away when you started singing. Oh, Grace." Toni chastised, voice as soft as her eyes at her name (G-r-ace) Grace didn't know what she was being chastised for but grinned stupidly at how Toni had said it. "You can wear something of mine. Your stuff is in the wash." She says before disappearing back the way she came, leaving Grace to look for something to wear.

She fingered the hangers in search of something to her taste. As she suspected, lots of flannels and mesh. She decided on the yellow hoodie Toni wore the night before, surprisingly cleaned of blood, and a pair of shorts she found in the bin by the dresser, and smiled softly at the faint smell of lilac detergent and something indescribably Toni.

Grace made her way to the bathroom, and her cheeks flushed at the memory of the night before. She didn't get to fully acknowledge the bathroom when she was drunk and bleeding, and looked around at the small space.

The shower had half empty bottles of Toni's shampoo and conditioner, and the bathroom sink had a variety of dark makeup. She saw a few broken nail polishes in the trash, and made a mental note to pick some new ones up. Mainly eyeliner and mascara and polish, but there was also a couple travel sized bottles of things on the sink that must have been picked up for her, and it was so domestic and simplistic that it made her chest ache. It's domestic, it's everything, and feels like they're teetering on the precipice of something . The naming of the intangible, fleshy, Thing that seems to tether both of them to each other.

But saying it would make it too real , would make it something that she has to confront, push up against, instead of just running. Turn around to the snapping, snarling, jaws of the beast with no weapon, no defence. She's not quite made for fighting. 

Taking a glance at her own reflection, she looked lighter. Happier. Like the darkness shed been suffocating in had finally let up and allowed her to take her first, real breath. A slow smile trickled on to her lips, tugging off the bandaid  and with a twist of the shower nob slipped off the pajamas she'd somehow put on during the night, letting the steam roll off of her, relaxing every muscle that she had tense for the past 18 years.

-

"So, Tiny," Wonderboy grinned at her, folding his hands on the table like an excited father, and she already groaned at what was undoubtedly floating around his pea-sized brain.