Dahlia wakes up with their sweaty bodies pressed together, and Jenna's fingers laced with her's, and her face nuzzled against her neck. Dahlia sits back slightly and looks at her, not even feeling like last night actually even happened.
She lays against her for a little while, just savoring this moment in its entirety. Dahlia feels amazing, content, happy, and she wishes she could stay like this forever.
She knows she was drunk, but she still can't believe she allowed her to ever be this close to her anyway.
But it doesn't take her long to remember what it was like to be cuddling with her two mornings ago, when she woke up in a panic thinking it was her fault. Dahlia knows she can't leave it like this. As much as she doesn't want to, she unpeals her body from hers, and unclasps her fingers from hers, and quietly backs up to her side of the bed. She looks over at her, a surprising amount of sunshine pouring through the window-especially after the downfall of rain yesterday. Dahlia stares at her, seeing her shift and pull the blanket up to her chin with a sleepy sigh.
She gulps as she watches her, suddenly finding that it's harder to breathe. She thinks over last night: their fight, how drunk she was, the way she kissed her, the way she held onto her and pulled her closer as she fell asleep. And all of the things she told her about herself.
This all just makes her so incredibly confused. They only fight and get annoyed while sober-but the second that one of them starts drinking, it feels different. Their kissing feels different, the way they talk to each other feels different, the way they touch feels different. And she doesn't understand why.
And Dahlia finds herself propping her head on her hand to watch her sleep, just to see the way she breathes and the way she sighs and the way she brushes her hair from her face while she dreams.
Her hand is there on the pillow, and she stares at it for a moment, before slowly reaching over and gently setting her hand on top of it. Dahlia swallows thickly and lays her head back down on the pillow, feeling her soft, warm skin against her, and seeing the way she lets out a small, unconscious huff when she touches her.
Is this what it would be like to wake up to her every day?
"God, did someone beat the hell out of me last night or what?" Jenna groans, blinking her eyes open. Dahlia hurriedly pulls her hand back and off of hers before she realizes it's there. "I feel like someone actually dragged my ass through hell and back. Or I might still be in hell, I don't know. That's sort of what it feels like."
"What do you mean?" Dahlia laughs nervously, confused at why she's confused. "It's probably just a hangover."
Jenna sits there for a second and thinks, before rolling over and looking at Dahlia.
"It's all a huge blur," she sighs and rubs her eyes, before pressing her fingers to her temples. "What happened? I didn't do anything too embarrassing, did I? Like laugh at one of your jokes?"
Dahlia sits there in shock, just looking at her. Does she really not remember? Any of it?
"You...you don't remember?" She asks, sitting up to look at her.
"I mean, I remember our fight or whatever, and then I went to Mia's and grabbed some of her whiskey, but nothing really after that," Jenna shrugs, sighing. "Why? Did I do something? Do we know each other biblically now?"
"No," Dahlia shakes her head, gulping. "Nothing really happened. I just went and found you and brought you back, and then put you to bed."
"And I assume we made up because I don't really feel mad at you anymore," Jenna replies, blinking at her. "Not more than usual, at least."
"Yeah, we did," she nods, fighting the urge to reach up and rub the back of her neck. Buts he now knows what that means, and she knows that she knows what that means, so she holds back from it.
Dahlia's not exactly sure what to do from here. She hadn't even considered the fact that she really was drunk enough to not remember things from last night. But she feels bad now, and she doesn't want to bring up the kiss or the intimate conversation, because she doesn't want to make her feel awkward about it. So she just decides to leave it alone and let her stay in the dark. It'll at least make one of them feel better about it.
"Why are you acting weird?" Jenna asks, looking at her curiously. She tries not to focus on her furrowed eyebrows, or the wavy hair she's now pulling back into a scrunchie, and she definitely forces herself not to think of the way she kissed her last night.
"I'm not acting weird," she laughs, shaking her head. "I just feel bad about the fight yesterday and everything. I'm just...sorry."
"Um," Jenna breathes out, the topic apparently still touchy. It's weird seeing her joking and laughing now, pretending everything's okay when she now knows that it's not. But she doesn't know she knows. "It's...okay. Let's just not talk about it."
"Yeah, okay," Dahlia nods, watching her get up out of bed and dig some Aspirin from her suitcase. She feels weird knowing all of those personal details about her now that she doesn't even know she knows. It feels wrong-especially since she's so private about all of that stuff.
"Looks like the sun's out again unfortunately," Jenna groans, covering her eyes from the blinding light coming through the window. "Remind me to never drink again, okay?"
"I always do, but you never listen," Dahlia laughs, yawning and lying back down against her pillow, tucking her arm beneath it. She thinks about how that same arm was wrapped around Jenna last night, this morning, and she's the one who pulled it over herself, wanting it there.
"After feeling this awful today...I think I just mightactually have to listen next time," Jenna shakes her head, falling back into bed next to her after downing the rest of her water bottle.
She closes her eyes and sighs, snuggling into her pillow again comfortably. Dahlia watches her, unable to fight the tiny smile that's on her lips.
"God, I want to go back to sleep but it's stupidly bright in here, and my mouth is so dry that my tongue feels like sandpaper, and my head feels like an elephant just stomped on it." Jenna whines, before she pulls her pillow up and over her head, then groans into their sheet. "And god, did I throw up last night? I still have that burning barf sensation in the back of my throat."
"Yeah, you did," Dahlia answers, knowing she should probably reply with a quip or a jab, but she doesn't. "You got pretty sick."
"How awesome," she replies, her voice still muffled from the blankets and pillows and sheets.
"If...if it'll make you feel better, I can shut the blinds and get you some more water and rub your head if you want," Dahlia mutters out, already regretting it as soon as she opened his mouth. "I've gotten some practice in since my mom has migraines sometimes."
Jenna's silent and completely still under the blankets, and Dahlia feels like the biggest idiot of all time. She can't even understand what's going on with herself right now; the only thing she knows is that something about last night changed the way she views her. And as much as she hates it, she's pretty sure it's guilt and pity.
"Are you just being nice to me because you feel bad about our fight?" Jenna pulls her head up, staring at Dahlia. This is actually better than what she thought was going to happen, which was Jenna accusing her of being nervous because of her attraction to her. "Actually, the reasoning doesn't even really matter; I'll take you up on that offer if it means a free head rub."
Dahlia thinks about at the spa when she told him about her discomfort in being touched, and her heart warms when she realizes, for sure now, that she is an exception to that rule.
Trying to hide this weird, overly-nice side she's had all morning, she replies: "I'm only doing this so you'll finally stop whining and complaining for once in your life."
"Yeah, it could be that. Or it could be the fact that you just want to have a reason to put your hands on me again." Jenna smiles with feign innocence, watching her close the blinds, then grab a water from the fridge, then make her way back over to her. She just shakes her head and rolls her eyes, but this time it's in pretend annoyance and denial.
Dahlia's pretty sure she just really, really needs to get a breath of fresh air. And probably "blow off some steam" too, just to clear her mind and let herself start thinking straight again. Because this is getting ridiculous, and it's distracting, and the fact that she's purposely doing it to her makes it even worse.
"You caught me," Dahlia sighs sarcastically, sitting back down on the bed and handing her the water bottle. "So my mom usually just...I don't know, puts a pillow on my lap and lays on it and we do it that way," she tells Jenna, already knowing she's going to make a suggestive comment about this. "But however you want to do it is fine."
"Laying on your lap is fine with me," She says, and Dahlia's shocked for a second when she says that without giving her a wink or a laugh or a teasing bite of her lip. But then she looks at her and says:
Dahlia stacks pillows against the head of the bed so she'll be comfortable laying against it. "Don't start acting like a perv and get turned on that I'm laying on your lap" Jenna laughs.
"like you aren't susceptible to being turned on either! I just...can't tell when." Dahlia sighs.
"Are you referring to me being wet, Dahlia?" she raises an eyebrow, a small smile on her lips.
"Yeah, I am, actually," Dahlia shrugs, swallowing thickly. She's trying to defend herself but she's not sure it's going very well. Or not in the way she wanted it to, at least. "It just sucks that you could instantly tell me that I get horny looking at you, when you could have been this entire time and just blame it on me. So I can't mess with you about it like you mess with me about it."
"I mean if you want proof that bad, then you're welcome to feel for yourself if you'd like," Jenna shrugs, looking at her with a slight tilt of her head. Is she talking about what she thinks she's talking about? "But only with your mouth."
Dahlia's jaw actually drops then in shock, and she's laughing, and she's forcing herself not to imagine that thought.
"I literally didn't think the jokes could be any cruder."
"They can always be cruder."
"Let's please not test that theory."
"Why? Scared you'd like it?"
"No, just scared I'd get a visual and involuntarily start blowing chunks like you did last night."
"You mean get a visual and get an horny?"
"No, I definitely meant throw up," Dahlia replies with a huff, finalizing the conversation. She just smiles. "Just lay down so we can get this over with."
"That's not usually how I like to start off a dirty talk session, but I guess it can still get the job done," Jenna shrugs, grabs her pillow and puts it down on her lap, and then settles her head there. "So I know you wanted this to be intimate and everything, but can we turn the TV on? My lack of blue light consumption this week is causing severe withdrawals."
Dahlia doesn't say anything, she just grabs the remote and switches it on, changing the channels until Jenna insists they watch Wheel of Fortune. So they do.
"Ready?" Dahlia asks, somewhat nervously hesitating her hands above her head.
"Wait a sec," she replies, sitting up slightly and pulling the scrunchy from her hair, before laying back down and saying, "Okay, now I'm ready."
She takes in a breath, before pushing her fingers through her hair. Dahlia's tense at first for some reason, this whole situation seeming weird and uncomfortable. But when Jenna starts yelling out answers to Wheel of Fortune, she starts focusing on that more and playing along with her. So eventually, before even realizing it, they're both playing the game, and her back is relaxed against the headboard, and her thumbs are absentmindedly pressing into her temples. She looks at her while she watches the TV; smiling sometimes, frowning sometimes, yelling out answers. As hard as Dahlia tries, she can't look away from her.
About half an hour later, right as she's about to tell Jenna her hands are tired and she's done rubbing her head, she looks down to see her already asleep. Her eyes are shut and her breathing is steady, and her arm is draped over her leg. Dahlia laughs a little and tries her hardest not to wake her as she reaches down, pulling the blanket up and over her curled up legs. And then she gulps, lightly using the backs of her fingers to trace along her jaw, her cheek, trying to ignore the quickening of her heartbeat as she feels her smooth, warm skin against her.
After realizing how weird that actually probably is, Dahlia moves her hand back and relaxes against the headboard again, now laying down herself. She shifts then in her sleep, letting out an unconscious sigh, before wrapping her arm around her leg, getting closer. Dahlia watches her for a while after that, just content seeing her slow, steady breath. And then, eventually, she falls asleep too.
They wake up to the sound of three extremely loud knocks on the door, followed by Aaliyah yelling, "We need you guys to help us set up the party!"
Jenna just groans and rolls over, and Dahlia sits up with a yawn, feeling an awful crick in her neck from sleeping mostly upright.
"Jenna? Dahlia? Seriously, guys, are you in there?" Mi now yells, and Jenna groans again, before finally sitting up.
"We'll be out in five!" Jenna yells out, before leaning over and rubbing her temples.
"Is your hangover any better?" Dahlia asks, rubbing her eyes and stretching.
"Yeah, mostly," she sighs, pulling her hair back again. "What time is it?"
"It's..." Dahlia starts, then looks at her phone. "Almost twelve thirty."
"Shit," Jenna laughs, now setting her feet on the ground and standing up. She's still in her bra and underwear from last night, but she tries not to act like it bothers her. "That explains why I'm so hungry."
"Yeah, me too," Dahlia agrees, making her way to the bathroom to brush her teeth.
Jenna pulls some shorts and a shirt on, and then right as Dahlia's coming out of the bathroom, she's going in. She gets dressed and attempts to fix her hair while she brushes her teeth, and then they're ready to go.
"Finally!" Mia laughs, walking up to them on the dock. Jordan's beside her-his arm casually over her shoulder-but Aaliyah's nowhere in sight.
"Where's Aaliyah?" Jenna asks, looking around. Then Mia points down the dock, laughing as both Jenna and Dahlia turn to look.
"She's over there heavily flirting with that cute snack bar boy," Mia laughs, sighing and shaking her head. "At least it's not one of our boyfriends or girlfriends this time though, right?"
"Yeah," Jenna nods, laughing quietly. Dahlia looks down at the dock, trying to fight the fact that she's jealous that she's jealous.
And why exactly is she jealous? Maybe they've been faking this for too long.
"Let's go-the party stuff just got here," Mia tells them, pulling Jordan along with her down the dock.
"I knew she'd go after him," Jenna tells Dahlia, waiting to be out of earshot of her sister.
"So what?" Dahlia says, trying to act unbothered. Then, right after that thought, she reminds herself that she actually is unbothered-she doesn't have to just act like she is.
She doesn't reply. She just keeps walking, ignoring her thoughts, ignoring everything, actually, and trying to focus solely on the sound of the crashing waves surrounding them.
"Hey, Jenna," Jason stands taller and waves, trying to get her attention as they pass the snack bar. He even ignores Aaliyah to do it-something she is very clearly not happy about.
Jenna seems pleased, waving back and saying hi too, before moving along and continuing to follow Mia. Dahlia can feel Aaliyah staring Jenna down in annoyance, but she's too scared to turn and look, so she ignores it and keeps walking beside her.
"So we're gonna have, like, a luau-themed party," Mia tells them, picking up a tiki torch decoration and waving it around with a smile. "Um, I was thinking we could have a small platform right here in front of the tennis court where we could do karaoke, right?"
She explains their entire plans to her, Jenna, and Jordan, before Aaliyah comes back over to help setup. So then they unload the boxes; Dahlia trying to not make eye contact at all with Aaliyah in the process.
"Don't you think this party theme is sort of...I don't know, offensive?" Dahlia whispers over to Jenna, looking at all of the decorations.
"Oh, definitely," she nods, already seeming to notice herself.