REESE
I was probably going to die.
"Reese! I swear to god, where the fuck are you? Get your ass out here! I am going to shove a rusty shovel so far up your ass you're going to taste how much of a goddamn shit you are. Powers!"
I was definitely going to die.
Swallowing, I tried to level my breathing, the edge of a cardboard box digging painfully into my ribs as I tried to bury myself farther into Stella's closet. When I'd first heard her screech my name from downstairs, chills sprinting down my spine as it reverberated against the walls, quick thinking had me dashing behind closed doors. Now that I could clearly hear the murderous tick in her voice, getting closer and closer, I realized that I probably should've jumped out the window.
And that was going to be my fatal mistake.
At least it was good living while it lasted. I'd gotten accepted into a good university, I was the Super Smash Bros champion, and I even got to touch Stella Sandavol's boobs. Good times.
But now I was going to die.
Thick sweaters draped over my face, a wash of blacks, greys, and navy's- the only colours Stella ever seemed to wear- as I peeked through the tiny slit into her room. My breath caught in my throat as Stella stomped in, a flurry of dark hair, elephant stomps, and sailor curses. The edge of my mouth quirked up against my better judgement.
"Powers!" she growled again, pounding across to the other side of the room, hastily ducking to check under the bed. "Get out here so I can murder your stupid goddamn face!"
Involuntarily, I snorted, and then immediately clamped my hands over my offending mouth. As soon as the sound escaped my lips, sealing my fate forever, I saw her head instantly snap up. Her eyes narrowed, zeroed in on the closet, and I held my breath.
Maybe she didn't hear.
"Powers!"
She definitely heard.
Helplessly, I watched as she jumped to her feet and stalked over to the closet, ripping open the double-doors with a King Kong strength that never ceased to amaze me. When her light eyes burned into me, that familiar Sandavol glare that had piqued my interest almost a year ago, all I could offer was a sheepish grin.
"Fancy meeting you here."
She glowered. "You."
I batted away the hanging fabric and smiled up at her, flashing her my most innocent dimples. "Your wonderful boyfriend, me, yes?"
Stella's brows furrowed, pale lips pressed into a thin line that seemed very disappointed with my entire existence. So, nothing really that new. Then she shoved her phone in my face, making haphazard pointing motions towards it. "What is this, Reese?"
I cocked my head. "Some handsome selfies your wonderful boyfriend took while you were in the bathroom."
Her gaze narrowed, and she pointed more forcefully to the screen. "And what's that- behind my stupid boyfriend? In the background? Can you see it? Can your stupid face see it?"
I paused, looked her directly in the eye, and shrugged. "Nope?"
She groaned, shaking the phone closer to my face with pursed lips. "Let me enlighten you, soggy twat-faced lump of moldy coleslaw. That's my underwear! And my bras! Very clearly seen in the background! That everyone has now seen! You shitter!"
I gently pushed the phone out of my face and looked up at her, blinking. "Can I get up? I feel like I wanna get up."
Her jaw clenched. "Delete them."
"Can I get up first?"
"No."
"Please?"
"Fuck no."
I paused, pressing my lips tightly to stop the chuckle that threatened to escape. She still loomed over me, arms poised with intimidation on her hips. A deep frown was punctuated on her face, and that spark of fury twinkled, the one that always seemed to light up her eyes.
And it was just as entertaining as it was the first time, something that never occurred to me before. I never thought that, after all these months, she could still pique my interest in the same way.
But she always did.
And honestly, it wasn't exactly an accident that a pair of her lace black underwear were captured in the background of my Facebook profile picture.
"I left my phone over there," I told her, eyes falling over her shoulder to the other side of the room. "There's a passcode. If you want me to delete the picture, you're gonna have to let me go."
I saw a look of deliberation cross her face, her nose pinching, and then a defeated sigh pushed past her lips. A moment of silence flooded between us. I watched as she shot me one last look of skepticism, receiving the broadest of grin in response, before she begrudgingly took a step to the side.
"Be quick. Or I can't promise you'll make it out the door."
When I lifted to my feet and brushed by her, making sure to flash another grin for good measure, I could still feel her intense stare singeing into my back. Securing an exit was top priority according to any survival instincts I hadn't blatantly ignored over the course of our relationship, and so I found a safe seat on the edge of her bed. I pretended to grab something from the opposite side of the bed, and then slipped my phone out of my pocket and into my palm. When I looked up, her unwavering gaze still scorched into my own, and I grinned.
"You should be happy that I didn't include the hot pink granny panties."
She did not look happy. In fact, I would go more for homicidal.
"Delete them now. Or I will kill you. And I will hide the body. And no one will ever know," she snarled, taking a threatening step forward. "And no one will ever care."
I threw up my hands, chuckling. "Okay, okay, got it. But I mean, it's just, it's a pretty good picture. I'm just saying-"
"Delete it."
"I'm really working my angles though-"
"Do you want to die?"
Her gaze fused with mine, and I couldn't stop a bark of laughter from escaping. "Stella, I know you're upset, but listen, I look fantastic. Do you really want to take that fantastic selfie away from the world? Are you really prepared to face those consequences?"
She fixed me with a deadpan look, transcending her death-threats to a new level of non verbal communication, and then, when I challenged her stare head on, she heaved a tired sigh. "Fine- fine, okay, whatever."
I arched a brow. "Seriously?"
She threw her hands up in annoyance, giving a shrug. "I'm just gonna have to delete them myself."
"Wait wh-"
Before I could react, she lunged for me, pinning me down against the bed and viciously grabbing for the phone in my right hand. My welfare had clearly been forgotten as an aspect of her decision making. I almost choked as she collapsed my lungs with her palms, although I still managed to keep the phone just inches away from her wriggling grasp. I could her hear struggle, frustrated groans interrupted by heavy sighs, and I gasped for air.
"Christ- Stella, what're you doing?
"Just- shit, just, damnnit Reese! Give it to me! Give me the phone!" she demanded, interrupted by her own struggles, her teeth worrying at her bottom lip as she seemed to do whenever she didn't get her way.
"If you wanted to move this party to the bed, Stella, you could've just been honest," I murmured, feeling a little more secure as I realized that my height in cooperation with the fact that I'd hooked a leg around her waist, keeping her still, meant that I'd gained the upper hand.
She seemed to realize too as she struggled even harder, shooting me another heated glare. "Stop being rude. You're being rude. Stop this. Immediately. I demand you stop being a shit-face."
"You're the one that attacked me," I reminded her with raised brows.
"Reese," she whined, pouting, finally giving a rest to her incessant squirming. "Just delete it. Come on. Please? For me?"
She blinked up at me, fluttering her lashes and cocking her head with that innocent tilt in the way she knew always seemed to hit me right in the heart, a tactic she used sparingly but effectively. I felt something inside of me waver, inevitably, and decided to take her small surrender as an opportunity. And so, with one swift motion, I tightened my grip and pinned her wrists against the bed, a wolfish grin touching my lips as she looked up at me.
"Reese."
I dipped my head, lips brushing dangerously close to the shell of her ear, something I knew always induced a wave of goosebumps across her skin, and chuckled. "Is it really that bad that I want everyone to be jealous of what I miraculously managed to have as my girlfriend?"
"You're dating my underwear?" she asked, patronising notes weighing down her voice, but I could hear the slight waver.
"Actually, the hot girl in the underwear," I murmured, planting a quick kiss on her jawline.
"That's not why you did it, and I know it."
I pulled back, grinning. "Okay, okay, fine. I just think you're cute when you're angry."
A chuckle escaped her lips as she rolled her eyes, a betraying smirk digging into her cheek. Somehow the simplest acts always seemed to drive lightning bolts down my spine. And when I caught her gaze, she shot me a crooked smile. "You're an idiot."
"Your idiot?" I asked, hopeful.
She paused, imitating a thoughtful face, and then leaned up to capture my lips with her own. As soon as I felt her mouth on mine, a fire coiled in my stomach, a warmth crashing through all of my veins as if it had been the first time, that first night, under the moon and only the faint chorus of crickets as our backdrop.
While it had been months ago, the memory still burned in my recesses of my mind. A premature beginning to our strange relationship, and while it hadn't been a smooth ride afterward, I was still reminiscent of the moments, the tingling of my lips, the flush on my skin, knowing, in that moment, I'd never let her go. That it was more than just silly entertainment on the side, a quick fling to focus on for the time being, just another girl, just another night.
I knew that I had to kiss her again.
And I did, kiss her again. And again. And again. I weaved my fingers through her long, dark hair and I pulled her closer, felt her mouth hot against mine, skin prickling against skin, a stirring down below that was inevitable as soon as she brushed her fingertips against the nape of my neck. Shivers sparked down my arms, and when she briefly paused to pepper kisses down my jawline, I restrained a groan. Her breath was like fire against my skin, scorching against the shell of my ear, the tables seemingly having been turned. My phone had been forgotten, somewhere abandoned at the edge of the bed, and all I could focus on was Stella.
Shit.
It was ridiculous how little she could do to coax such a strong reaction out of me.
We'd somehow switched positions, and then she was hovering above me, breath fanning across my cheek. I grabbed a handful of her ass and squeezed tightly. In response, she pressed a light kiss right under my ear and chuckled. Beneath my boxers, I felt myself begin to awaken, and my eyes coasted over to the open door.
That door needed to be closed like five minutes ago.
Just as I began to lean up, she was pressing her hand against my chest and forcing me back down, flashing me a smile. I obeyed, feeling a spark of excitement ignite in my gut.
We were gonna play it like that.
Her teeth gently grazed my earlobe, and I rolled my hips into her, breathing hard. Stella chuckled, and I swallowed, her lips still dangerously close but still not close enough.
"Reese?"
"Yeah?" I breathed out, voice hoarse.
"Delete the goddamn picture."
In an instant she was on the other side of the bed, sitting up with arms crossed over her chest and that glare had returned with a vengeance. I almost whimpered at the loss of contact but managed to swallow it down, a groaning of frustration that may or may not had been of the sexual kind sounding at the base of my throat.
"Oh my god, I can't believe you just did that," I moaned, rolling over onto my stomach and burying my face in the pillow. "You're an actual menace."
"Well clearly my anger was not getting to you. Come on, Reese. Do it. Delete it. Delete the picture. Or I will kill you in ways that are even worse than the shovel murder I was talking about before."
I heaved a sigh and grabbed for my phone, still acutely aware of the tent that was currently pitching in my pants. When I made a pointed look towards said erection, and then Stella, and then back to the erection, she flipped me off.
That was my girlfriend.
"I'm deleting it, I promise, this is me, deleting, all of the deleting," I murmured, my thumb swiping across the screen of my phone, opening up Facebook.
I took notice to a new message, and found it to be from Britta. Her memory flashed behind my eyes for a moment, her laugh, her tanned skin, her hip bones, all condensed into a seemingly innocent message. One that I had seen before, with Melissa, and with Sabrina, and with Anika. My fingers twitched, hovering over the keyboard, and then I swallowed.
Looking up, I saw Stella was now preoccupied with something else, her eyes falling out the window, distracted. She was gently chewing on her thumbnail, and I took the moment to drink her in. Her skin had tanned over the summer, devising a light sprinkle of freckles over her nose, and her long, dark hair was pushed over to one shoulder, where her loose t-shirt was slipping off. And when she took notice to my staring, she turned her head and pulled a face at me, causing me to grin.
"Are you deleting it, or what?" she asked, fixing me with a dry look.
"Deleting, deleting," I reassured her, my fingers almost automatically deleting the conversation and all traces of Britta from my phone. It felt odd how easy it was, how little effort it took, when I could recall agonizing over those messages before. Spending days stewing over them, or of the moments afterward when I'd already screwed up.
I almost couldn't believe how much I'd changed since the day Stella first stepped into my life, or that is, on my foot when I'd accidentally bumped into her on the sidewalk. Since when she'd first whipped around and pinned me down with that glare, already a river of swears pouring from her lips, that frown dipping on her face.
And how mesmerized I was with how unapologetic she was. How much she did not give a single shit about my opinion.
I felt stupid, mostly, looking back. How ridiculous and immature I'd been, not that I could definitively say I'd grown completely out of it, still, I'd moved up several notches. Enough to look back and realize that stealing diaries was for fourth graders, and that sneaky ploys to trick people into falling in love with you was ridiculous.
But without it, I wouldn't have known Stella. I wouldn't have known her ridiculously creative threats, her word-vomit approach to any social situation that required the least bit of tact, her complete lack of hand-eye coordination, and her fiery, unapologetic love for her friends, her family, the people she cared about.
And somehow, I found myself one of them.
I wouldn't have been able to realize that the weight of everyone's opinions were always going to be too heavy to carry on my shoulders, that pleasing everyone was never going to happen, and that every pathetic, futile attempt to go with the flow was only erasing any authentic part of me left.
That part of me that Stella managed to drudge up and slap back into my cheeks with her hard glare and middle finger flipped up.
And while her anger had calmed down considerably, she was still stubborn, and assertive, and her threats never did get less graphic, but I still fell in love with her.
Which meant that for the first time in my life, Britta was the farthest thing from my mind.
"You're staring at your phone really quiet and if you're trying to convince me you're not a serial killer, you're doing a very bad job, Mr. Bundy."
I snorted, quickly deleting the profile picture, not before taking notice to Wyatt's quick comments that were mostly just hearts and exclamation points, and then lifted the phone. "See? Deleted. All gone. My beautiful face, forever disappeared."
She shot me a deadpan look. "Oh no, however will we all go on?"
I shrugged. "The world is going to end now."
Stella stuck her tongue out at me, causing me to laugh. Then she crawled over and pushed me back down on the bed, making me arch a brow, only to collapse next to me with a sigh. "We were supposed to be packing for New York."
I leaned up against my elbows. "Am I sensing some reservations?"
She scrunched her nose, toying with a strand of her dark hair, puffing out her cheeks. "When we go to New York that means that Savannah's going to New York and that means when we come back for school, she's not coming back for school. I don't want her to go," she admitted, swallowing with downcast eyes.
"It'll be fine," I reassured her, borrowing her gaze when I pushed her hand down. "You guys will still talk everyday. Eva's still here, since she's taking a year off, and Chris is going with Savannah, so she'll be okay."
Stella pulled a face. "Don't remind me. I can't believe they're still dating."
I shrugged. "I'm sure people could say the same about us."
"Yeah, but like, he's gross. And she's beautiful. It's just, it shouldn't be a thing. It's like Beauty and the Beast except underneath it he's just an immature manboy who thinks putting his balls on sleeping people's faces is funny."
"Well-"
She shot me a look. "Keep talking, I dare you."
I grinned, bending down to plant a kiss on her cheek. "I'm just saying, the whole Beauty and the Beast thing can work. I mean, look at me, I'm beautiful and you're obviously-"
A hand reached out and smacked my arm, causing me to flinch, and I was met with narrowed, bright blue eyes. She glared. "I gave you a fair warning."
I gaped at her, shock written across my face. "I was going to say I'm beautiful and you're obviously also beautiful which is why I'm so excited we're going to university together, but fine, be that way. I was clearly wrong."
Months ago, when we'd both been patiently checking our emails by the hour, I never thought I'd be stepping into my university life with Stella by my side. I'd always had this vision of college, with solo red cups and older, flirty girls, but somehow now I couldn't imagine it without Stella. As if she was always meant to be there.
The girl raised her brows at me. "Oh, sure, I totally believe you on that. That was exactly what you were gonna say."
I flashed her a grin, stealing a quick kiss, something that I never got tired of no matter how many months went by, and then hopped off the bed. She cocked a brow at me, looking up in a way that always had the infuriating ability to melt something inside, and I offered her a hand.
"We promised to meet Savannah and them soon, so we don't wanna be late. Plus what if Wyatt and Eva show up first."
She paused. "Okay, but really, do you think they're banging?"
I shrugged, chuckling, the same thread of thought having been brought up before. "Honestly, I have no idea. They're both so weird, I don't get it. I don't even want to get it either though."
She nodded, laughing, and then accepting my hand to pull her up. "That you are right about, sir. Well, let's go then. For the safety of our little group, at least."
Then I was outside on the porch waiting for her, because somehow Stella always managed to take as long as possible to do the smallest things. I heard her reassure me she was only going to be another second, she swears, and rolled my eyes. The weather was balmy, the sun burning brightly in the sky and not a cloud to be seen. Swear was already beginning to bead on the nape of my neck. I ran my hand through my hair, thinking to myself I needed to get a haircut, and then a voice caught my attention.
On the sidewalk, by the bus stop, stood a guy. Tall and lanky, somehow managing to wear a blue plaid long-sleeved shirt in the heat, and glasses settled on his face. He was on the phone, the breeze carrying his loud, outdoor voice as he paced along the cement, hands waving wildly in the air as he talked.
"Mina- no, listen, babe- babe, listen to me. I'm being totally serious. I'm always totally serious, and I'm going to ignore what you just said because this is actually of critical principle. What- what do you mean? Of course it matters. How can you say it doesn't matter? I need to know. Can ducks love? Mina- no, listen, you gotta listen, because of course this changes everything."
I snorted, rolling my eyes at their ridiculous conversation.
"Oh my god, Reese, can ducks love?"
"What? Christ, I-"
I jumped at the sudden voice, seemingly materializing out of thin air, only to see that Stella had somehow appeared. She was staring at the guy pacing with concern etched across her face, brows furrowed in question, only to gaze up at me with wonder. "Well, can they?"
It took me a moment to compose myself, to absorb the girl in front of me, Stella Sandavol, asking me with all the sincerity in the world if ducks could love, looking more concerned about this philosophical question than I'd seen her look at anything else. And then I burst out laughing.
She jerked her head back. "What?"
I reigned myself in, grinning down at her as I grabbed her hand in mine and squeezed. "I love you, you know that?"
She seemed taken back by this, pausing for a moment before a flush burst out on her cheeks in a scarlet flare. Her head ducked, as she always seemed to do, and she squeezed my hand back. "I love you too," she mumbled, just barely under her breath.
A smile twitched on my face, and I used my free hand to cup her cheek, lifting her gaze, getting lost in it, before I swooped in to steal another kiss. I could feel her grin against my mouth, and when she leaned in, I wondered how lucky I could be to move in next to this girl.
Because somewhere along the line we'd gone from strangers, to enemies, to partners in crime, to matchmakers, to best friends. And somewhere along the line, I fell in love.
***
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT. i did it. i was not expecting that to be as long as it turned out but hopefully that is okay? i hope you guys like this? i tried to incorporate some of your ideas so hopefully it touched on something you liked out of bonus chapters! c:
this was supposed to be a yay we hit 1M!!! but then i was The Worst so this has actually become a yay we hit 1.5M!!! which is even crazier like what. i did not think that when i finished it, in only a couple of months, i would have 1M more reads than i did. like what. how. when. why.
WHY IS BECAUSE YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST! c: which is why i hope you like this! it was fun to write! also i hoped you like that little cameo in there~ if you DON'T know who that was at the end talking about duck love in the plaid, you need to go read my other completed story, once upon a bathroom stall, because parker.
that is all.
anyways, again, i would not be here if it wasn't for you guys. all of your reads/votes/comments honestly mean sooo much to me. like i know you're like gabby shut up everyone says that BUT ACTUALLY. you guys seriously always manage to make my day. you are THE BEST readers ever. and reese and stella will always be here whenever you need them!
if you guys have any questions about this story, i will do my best to answer them, so don't be scared to ask! other people might also be wondering so hey who knows. c:
also guys seriously. it's reese. with an s.
OKAY BYE AGAIN GOOD DAY!