Becoming More Than Strangers

Chapter 12: Weeks Gone By

After a few weeks, Sadie ran to Jess's trailer during one of their breaks. She opened the door abruptly and had startled Jess. Sadie said, "I'm so sorry, J. I just couldn't wait to tell you!" Jess sat down on the built-in bench catching her breath. She said, "Okay??" Sadie continued, "Okay! So since we're gonna be filming on location in New Mexico, my parents and Jacey are gonna come and visit!" Jess responded, "No freaking way! That's awesome!" Sadie said, "Yes! Which is why I think it would be the perfect opportunity to, you know. Meet them?"

Jess looked at Sadie with her jaw open. She said, "Whoa whoa whoa. You mean like just meet them or like...meet them?" Sadie bit her lip and said, "I don't know. Meet them?" Jess sat up and said, "But I thought you hadn't come out to them?" Sadie blushed and said, "I know, I know. I thought maybe I could this week..." Jess responded, "Sades, I hate to break it to you but I feel like coming out and introducing your girlfriend to your parents at the same time is a lot." Sadie sat and thought for a moment. She said, "Well I don't know. I figured ripping off the bandaid all at once would be easier?" She gave Jess her best puppy dog eyes. Jess sat and thought for a moment before saying, "Okay. Well I'm on board with anything you want. You know them best." Sadie tackled Jess with a hug and said, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She showered Jess with kisses as Jess tried to playfully push her away. Sadie continued, "Okay. Well I should have been back at hair and make up..." she checked her phone, "5 minutes ago but I just couldn't wait." Jess smiled and said, "Okay, Sadie girl. Good luck. I'll talk to you tonight." Sadie beamed and ran out the door, red hair swaying behind her.

The following day, Sadie, Jess and half the cast were on their way to New Mexico. Jess took her seat next to Sadie who was dawning one of Jess's old worn sweatshirts. She handed Jess an air pod to listen to music with as they got settled in and waited for the other passengers to board. Sadie and Jess did their best to keep their arms an appropriate distance away from one another. If people were going to find out about them, they sure as hell did not want to be outed on a plane.

Once safely in the air and allowed to move about the cabin, Sadie and Jess looked through movies to watch together. They decided on "Jumanji". Part way through, Jess decided to get up to use the restroom. By the time she got back, Sadie was sound asleep, leaning on the window. Jess smiled and sat back in her seat. As she was getting her seatbelt buckled she heard a "Psst!" She looked up to see Gaten in the seat in front of her, holding his phone that had a picture that had been taken probably 30 minutes prior. Sadie was leaning on Jess's shoulder as they smiled, intently watching their movie. There were animated hearts scribbled all over the photo. Gaten then started to mockingly make kissing noises to which Caleb jumped in. Jess's face went red and motioned for Caleb and her to briefly switch seats to which he obliged. She plopped next to Gaten and said, "What is that?" She motioned to the phone in his hands. He shrugged and said, "Your wedding invites." Her face was still red and he said, "Oh shit, Jess. Did you not know we knew?" Jess was shocked. She said, "Who the hell is 'we'?" Gaten said, "Not too many people...I mean Caleb, Mills, Noah, Finn...probably Maya...we haven't really talked about it...ummm I feel like Natalia might know—" Jess felt panicked and said, "How? When? What??" Gaten responded, "Well we could tell you guys liked each other the first night. And then it was pretty much established when we went to go check on you in the closet and you guys had left." Jess was still rendered speechless. Gaten continued, "Come on. You can't really hide it from us. Remember the movie night? Or when we went to Dave & Busters? Or the time we went to that fair? Pretty much every time we all hang out, you guys go off and swap spit. You don't do a great job of hiding it from us." Jess said visibly grossed out, "Okay. Pleaseee don't say that. That makes me feel icky..." Gaten shrugged again and Jess slapped her forehead.

She leaned across the aisle and nudged Noah who was nearly awake. He and Millie both groggily turned to her. She whispered, "You're telling me, you both knew about me and Sades?" They both stared at her emotionless and then broke out into giggles. Noah said, "Yeah. We love it. Even have a group chat." Jess pulled on her hair, shocked beyond belief. She switched back to her own seat next to Sadie who was stirring awake. When she finally sat up, Jess turned to her and asked under her breath, "Did you know they all knew about us?" She motioned to Gaten, Caleb, Noah and Millie. Sadie cocked an eyebrow confused. Jess continued, "Caleb said they all already knew." Sadie sat up straighter and kicked the seats in front of her. Gaten and Caleb turned and she said, "Why didn't you tell us you knew?!" Gaten chuckled and Caleb said, "You guys were so cute. We just waiting for you guys to tell us." Jess crossed her arms and said, "We'll Gaten didn't seem to wait for us to tell him." Gaten put his hands up in defeat and said, "Hey! I'm sorry. The photo was just too precious." Sadie eyed him and said, "What photo?" Gaten tossed his phone over to her. She blushed at the sight of it. She tossed it back to him and said, "Don't let this out, okay?" They both motioned, crossing their hearts and turned back around. Sadie leaned into Jess and said, "Okay but that photo was really cute." Jess nodded in agreement and a huge smile.

After getting to their respective hotel rooms, the cast planned to meet up in the recreation room. Before Jess and Sadie could head down, Sadie sat on her bed with her fingers running through her hair. Jess pulled up a chair and sat across from her saying, "Hey, hey. What's going on, Sades?" Sadie looked up, her hands intertwined in Jess's as she tried to not fidget. She said, "I don't know, Jess. This is all becoming so real." Jess scooted closer, holding her hands tighter. Sadie continued, "Like when we were on the plane, it all started to hit me. Like our friends know about us. About me. But like what's the world gonna say? What will my parents say? Like what if things go wrong? I know it will inevitably go wrong with some people. It's just, it's just so—" Tears began to spill over her blue eyes and she tried hard to avoid eye contact. Jess wiped away her tears with her thumbs, noting how cliché it seemed. She said, "Hey. I can't promise how things will go with your parents, your family or the world for that matter. But I can promise that no matter what, I'll be here. Okay?" Sadie sniffled and nodded. "It's bullshit that we have to deal with this. But I'm just glad I get to deal with this with you." Sadie smiled a bit. "And ya know what? You don't have to tell your parents about us or you yet. When it happens, it'll happen. Until then, I'm just enjoying what I get to experience with you." Sadie leaned into Jess, their foreheads touching. Sadie said, "I—thank you. I'm so lucky to have you, Jess. I love y—I love being able to do life with you." Jess leaned into Sadie, kissing her hard. She pulled away and said, "And I love doing life with you. Now let's go kick the crew's asses in ping pong. Down?" Sadie wiped her final tear and reached her hand out, taking ahold of Jess's. "Let's go."