Chosen Family Pt. 01

Author's Note:

This is a slow burn. I know I say that at the start of all my stories, but it's especially true here.

Inspiration for the core theme of this story came from the Chosen Family Podcast. They didn't invent the concept or coin the term, but their show is great, and their dynamic made me want to explore it more. That sent me down a rabbit hole that finally led to this story. That said, none of the characters here are intended to be reflections of Alayna, Mak or Ashley.

Huge thanks to TheNyxianLily for insightful feedback and suggestions, to 29wordsforsnow for feedback and much needed proofreading, and to Jane for introducing me to the Chosen Family Podcast and starting this entire thing rolling.

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Rose

Rose reached, found the hold, swung her leg up to where her hand had been and transferred her weight, pulling herself up and settling back away from the wall to survey the next pitch. This was the hard part. An overhang of rock broke away from the wall, jutting outwards nearly horizontally for two solid meters before coming to a sharp edge and climbing upwards again. There was a nice looking crack in the rock on the underside, she'd probably be able to get a good grip on that, but she'd be hanging from the ceiling while trying to find the next hold around that corner.

Her heart beat faster, little tingling pinpricks of excitement sweeping over her skin in a rush that Rose welcomed like an old friend. After so much anticipation, with the spot so close, it was hard not to rush upwards. Deliberately, forcing herself to be careful, she clipped her rope into the anchor just beneath the overhang and balanced on her toes while rubbing more chalk onto her hands.

Off to her right, the soft hum of Olivia's drone came in for a closer shot, and Rose flashed it a quick grin. So many people who commented on their videos thought she was some kind of fearless daredevil, eagerly rushing into situations like this - but they were wrong.

Inching her way up, shifting her center of gravity away from the wall and out into the open air as she navigated beneath the overhang, the fear that had been slowly building as she got farther from the ground rose and flooded through her. Her body's instincts kicked in, trying to warn her how wrong it was to be dangling from a cliff face forty yards up, moving into a position where her legs couldn't help supporting any of her weight anymore.

But far from shying away from it, Rose felt herself smiling wide - welcoming the fear and adrenaline surging into her. This was what she lived for.

She moved again, finding a grip in the crack and another along the side then lifting with her upper body and shifting with her core, bringing her legs up so she could push off the wall and swing them around the edge. The movement brought her body flush with the overhang, horizontal in space with her back to the ground.

Rose paused, savoring the anticipation. The more of these climbs she did together with her friends, the more she got used to dangling from high places like this. They claimed it made her do more extreme things to get the kick of adrenaline and fear she loved so much, but she preferred to think of it as empowering. Being able to do scary things she would have been far too frightened to even attempt a year or two ago.

Her excitement and eagerness both rose inside her to a fever pitch, until she finally gave in to them.

She leaned her head back, arched her back, and looked down.

It was disorienting - the ground appeared at the top of her vision like she'd fallen backwards, then flooded to fill everything. For just a flash, her body's instinct thought she was falling, and absolute panic choked her. She forgot about her harness and ropes, forgot she still had the rock gripped in her hands with adrenaline-enhanced strength, all rational thought was drowned out by terrified sirens screaming DANGER! DANGER! through every bit of her.

Everything was all so small down there. The trees that had towered above them on the hike up now shifted in the breeze, waving green little branches up at her. The stream that had rushed loud beside the path was barely a distantly murmuring line of blue winding lazily away. Barely distinguishable at the base of the wall was a group clustered together. Hazel belaying her while Olivia, Ivy and Alexandra huddled close together, probably watching the drone camera. It all emphasized just how far, far up off the ground she was.

But a second passed, and they were still tiny. Not getting bigger - she wasn't falling.

Just as suddenly as the fear had taken her over, Rose's excitement blossomed and burst, then combined with the fear to form some kind of thrill cocktail of adrenaline and endorphins. It was absolutely amazing! The universe seemed to take on a sharpness that amplified everything - her heart beating in her chest hard enough to burst, the sweetness of the air filling her lungs, the warmth of the sun combining with a refreshing breeze along her sweaty skin. The aching in her muscles, from her feet in their tight climbing shoes all the way to her forearms and fingers, which burned with the tight fatigue of constantly gripping and supporting her entire weight. The raw bite of the rock against her fingertips, skin scraped raw by the week out here despite her collection of hard won calluses. All of it seemed to come together inside her, pleasures and pains alike, to join the cocktail and add the rush, taking the thrill still higher.

Rose's gaze went out over the upside-down forest, absorbing it all in all the way to the distant mountains on the horizon, and felt a sense of belonging. Like she was one with it all, and if she wanted to, she could soar off and explore wherever her heart took her.

Later, the video would show she'd only hung inverted, gazing into the distance for a few seconds. As many times as she experienced it, Rose could never believe that. It felt like she spent days reveling in the high of the thrill. The rest of the climb felt easy. Like her body had become immune to tiredness and would do whatever she wanted it to, and the physics of the world were but a triviality. She swung her legs around the lip of the overhang, balanced, braced herself, then let go with one hand and brought it around the edge too, flexing her fingertips into a hold and lifting her body around. A bit of maneuvering and some lifting later, and she sat on the overhang with her legs dangling down over the side.

Soft cheers made their way up from her friends down below, and Rose gave the drone an enthusiastic wave, grinning wide and flushing with success. No matter how many times she tried to explain it to them, or put it into words for one of their videos, it never came out right. Sometimes she made it sound like the most intense feeling of her life, other times it sounded like some kind of tranquil peace, and she had no idea how to articulate that it didn't feel like a contradiction while it was happening. It was both, and whenever they complained she sounded crazy, Rose could only laugh and agree.

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Olivia

"She's insane," Alexandra breathed over Olivia's shoulder. "Can you get the view from her GoPro?"

"Yeah." Olivia clicked around on her laptop, importing Rose's GoPro as a view and synchronizing it up with the feed from the drone.

"Can you show both at the same time?" Hazel asked from over her other shoulder, and Olivia clicked a few more times so the drone's view of Rose hanging from beneath the overhang showed on the right, while Rose's point of view looking down was on the left.

"Like this?"

"Yeah," Hazel said, then whistled appreciatively.

"She's insane," Alexandra repeated, loud enough this time to carry across the campfire.

"I'm right here, you know," Rose called, trying to sound affronted but failing to hide her amusement.

Alex didn't back down for a second. "You're out of your goddamn mind!"

"You say that as if it's news to you," Olivia joked, earning a chuckle from Rose, Hazel and Ivy.

"Yeah!" Rose agreed. "And you also say it like you'd love me any other way."

Alex huffed, but she didn't try to deny it. "When I got up there, just thinking about trying to get around that overhang scared the shit out of me, never fucking mind looking down." She pointed at the screen. "Just watching that is giving me vertigo! You'd tell us if you had a death wish, right?"

Olivia and Hazel shared a quick grin around Alex's back, then quickly looked away before she noticed. Alex had gotten to the top fine, just like the rest of them, but she did so enjoy being theatric. And really, looking at the video, Olivia did feel the pit falling out from her stomach vicariously through Rose. It wasn't just the heights - after years of climbing, they'd all had that fear mostly conditioned out of them. It was the backwards angle that was triggering. Going over backwards like that usually meant something had gone terribly wrong, and when the rope caught them and swung them back to the wall, they could hit head first.

"Of course I don't have a death wish," Rose laughed. "It's just a bit of fun."

"Oh, of course! Fun, right, why didn't I think of that," Alex grumbled, then left her perch beside Olivia and went for the cooler. "More wine? Liv? Hazel?"

"Yeah, thanks," Olivia immediately jumped on the offer, holding out her glass with an eagerness that earned another round of laughs. "Oh, fuck off, all of you!"

Really, 'glass' was giving it too much credit. It was really a cheap metal camping mug with a flimsy fold-in handle that sacrificed all aesthetics for practicality, but after a week in the woods, anything containing chardonnay seemed like a golden chalice.

Not that she wasn't enjoying herself or anything. She was! Sure, she'd been skeptical coming to New Hampshire yet again, but Cathedral Ledge had more than lived up to its reputation. It was beautiful, there was tons of hiking and canoeing for the days they weren't climbing, and they'd managed to snag a campsite far away from any neighbors. The last of the day's sun blossomed over the trees to paint the sky gold, with deep reds and bright oranges flaming across the clouds. Their fire crackled merrily, smelling delightfully smoky, while her favorite people chatted about nothing around it. What's not to like?

Just... it would be nice to have a shower. A real one, with unlimited hot water and nobody nagging her to hurry up. Olivia shifted, uncomfortably aware of the layers of dirt, sweat, sunscreen and bug spray coating her skin, and not even wanting to think about her hair. One more night, then she'd have her wonderful shower tomorrow, and they'd all go to a party after that. Best to focus on that, and not the inevitable Monday morning return-to-work depression, when she'd wish with all her heart she were right back here, surrounded by her Chosen Family, no matter what they all smelled like.

She took a long sip of wine and let the dry taste linger in her mouth. Ahh - Sweet tranquility.

"Do you want a look before I turn this off?" Olivia asked Ivy, who was lounging in her camp chair with her back to the sunset to catch the light, her denim clad legs propped up by the fire and one of the five books she'd packed open in her lap.

Somehow, Ivy could always follow the conversation around her perfectly without her eyes ever slowing their progress down the page. "Nah, I'm good. I'll watch it when you're done editing."

"Cool." Olivia didn't bother asking Rose, she wouldn't want to see yet. The memory was still fresh for her, and she'd want to keep reliving it from her mind's eye, without recreating it on a screen. Olivia closed and slid the laptop back into its bag, then repositioned her chair next to Rose and stretched back into it like Ivy was for maximum relaxation.

It barely lasted a full second. Alexandra pounced like she'd been eagerly waiting for the opening. Which, knowing her, she probably had been. "So, are you finally going to tell us?"

Fuuuuuck. "Tell you what?"

"Come on Liv! You know what!"

Yes, Alex, I know ex-fucking-xactly what you want to hear. Doesn't the fact that I haven't talked about it yet tell you anything? Anything at all?

Olivia sighed and resisted the urge to glare at Alex, half wishing she had it in her to say that, and half relieved she didn't. "Drama queen," she muttered.

Alex made big puppy-dog eyes, trying for an innocent look that made her friends laugh, and even Olivia crack a smile despite herself.

"You've got it wrong. Stick your lip out a little more," Rose coached. "Not that much. Yeah, there. Now puff your cheeks out a bit. Great! Just like my students, now do the voice."

Alex pitched her voice high, like a kid begging to stop at the ice cream truck. "You promised you'd tell us before we left! I've been good and waited, but--"

"Oh fine," Olivia said, realizing she'd have to give her something or she'd keep nagging all night. And, in fairness, Alex really had held off pestering her longer than she usually did.

"Yay!"

"But only because you're so desperate for gossip that you channeled one of Rose's fucking imps."

"Hey! Those kids are adorable."

"They're goddamn demon spawn, each and every single one of them." Olivia glanced sidelong at Rose and grinned. "No offense."

"I think, technically, you just called their parents devils and not the kids," Rose observed. "And I have to admit, some of their parents do make my job harder."

Wow. Coming from Rose, that was basically a declaration of absolute loathing.

"Come on, spill!" Alex pressed. "Amy isn't really sick, is she? Did you get into a fight? Is that really why she bailed on coming?" Alex had sat forward in her chair, leaning in with her knees slightly apart in exactly the same way she did when she was resting popcorn on her lap watching some sappy romcom. The sight amused Olivia enough to overlook her using her love life the same way she treated all of theirs, including her own. Like a soap opera. Mostly overlook it, at least.

"It wasn't really a fight," Olivia told her enraptured audience. "We were cuddling, getting in the mood, and I guess I must have said something stupid, but I don't know what," she lied, then quickly continued. "Because she got all moody and withdrawn for an hour or two, then we watched a movie that was awkward as fuck, and she left promising she was fine and we'd talk later. When she finally called, it was just long enough to break up with me. That was literally the same day we left to come here. Talk about bullshit timing."

A brief glance at Rose was all it took. Of course, her best friend saw through the deception at once, and far from seeing it as a breach of trust, she probably guessed why she'd done it. Hell, maybe she'd somehow known all week. It wouldn't be the first time she'd been psychic like that. For the rest of them, though, the idea that she'd unconsciously offended her girlfriend badly enough to end the relationship seemed plausible enough. Whatever that said about her.

Their reactions were all over the place.

A comforting hand on her arm from Rose.

"That's awful! I'm so sorry," from Hazel.

"What a bitch," from Ivy.

And, "Dude, you suck at storytelling," from Alex. "You gotta set the stage, then draw it out! You can't just end it in three sentences."

"Alex," from Rose.

"Yeah?"

"Too much."

"Oh." Alex deflated a little. "Sorry."

Olivia gave Rose a quick grateful look, and Hazel asked, "are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, of course. I've been around you guys all week, it's been great. Plus, liquid therapy." Olivia took an appreciative sip of wine. "We'd only been dating for like a month anyway, not like we had this deep relationship. Don't worry about me, I'm fine. Honestly, it'll just suck going back to my vibrator again." That was actually true. Amy had been fun, and they'd gotten along well, but she wasn't about to lose any sleep over her.

It was just what she'd said while they were supposed to be cuddling that had her all messed up and confused.

Alex gave a laugh and Hazel and Ivy seemed satisfied that, if she was making masturbation jokes, she was probably okay. Fortunately, before they started wondering about the contradiction between Olivia's upbeat front and her spending all week avoiding the subject, Rose helped her again by guiding the conversation away. "How about you, Hazel? Have you had any luck with Mary?"

"Thank you," Olivia whispered softly to Rose, who smiled back warmly, sending a surge of warmth through her. Rose always had her back, always, and she loved her for it.

Hazel blushed and hung her head, like she was a student in Rose's class who'd forgotten her homework. "No."

Alexandra smirked. "She keeps getting nervous and backing out at the last second. It's really cute."

Hazel and Alex worked for the same company, but in different roles. Alex was a project manager who spent most of her time in meetings and managing timetables, while Hazel was a developer who kept her head down and attended as few meetings as she could get away with.

"There's this guy she's really friendly with! She keeps leaving with him every day at lunch. I think we were wrong. I think she's straight and she's got a boyfriend."

Alex burst into a fit of laughter. "You mean Keith? Dark haired guy, works in my department, looks a lot like her and is little taller than me?"

"Yeah, that's him," Hazel agreed glumly.

"You idiot, Keith's her brother! A fact you would know if you ever worked up the nerve to talk to her about anything less superficial than JIRA tickets and optimizing Java code."

Hazel, once she got over the surprise that her crush still had hope, got a goofy grin. "But she's so sexy when she's optimizing Java code."

Olivia and Alex both laughed, poking fun at Hazel for thinking tabs, correctly placed semicolons and matching brackets were sexy, at the same time as Rose smiled encouragingly. "You should take her to lunch. Something casual, just get to know her a bit better outside the office."

"But what if she turns out straight," Hazel worried.

"Then you'll have made a friend out of somebody you like already," Rose insisted, while Alex simultaneously said:

"She's not."

Hazel narrowed her eyes at her. "What makes you so sure?"

"You remember when I visited your floor end of last week?"

"Please tell me you didn't push her up against a wall and make out with her."

"Of course not!" Alex exclaimed, feigning indignance and pretending that wasn't exactly the kind of thing she'd do. "I would never get in the way of your future wife."

"Bet you were tempted, though," Olivia teased her, and Alex shot her a wicked grin.

"You woulda been too. Hazel's right, she is hot. She does this thing with her hair where she's got it combed over and she curls back up on the side like this," Alex demonstrated, tilting her head and quickly adjusting her hair beneath her hat, making eyes at Hazel as she did.

"That is a pretty gay look," Ivy commented, glancing up from her book long enough to take it in.

"It's not like that at all on Mary! Everything looks gay on Alex," Hazel pointed out.

"She's got a point there," Olivia agreed. From her nose stud and septum ring to her old school wide brim hat pulled back to show the slit in her eyebrow, all the way down to her leather Jeffrey Campbell boots she'd changed into as soon as she got her hiking boots off despite them being on a fucking camping trip, Alex could only have managed to look gayer if she'd had a rainbow cape. "Love the new hat, by the way."

"Thanks! I can get you one if you want."

"You think it'd work on me?"

"Let's find out," Alex took it off and tossed it like a frisbee over the fire to her. Olivia quickly pulled out her phone and opened the camera to use as a mirror. Hmm... not bad. She pulled it down to one side, and tilted her head back, snapping a few pictures for later. Yep. Definitely a keeper.

"It looks great on you," Rose said, and Alex agreed.

"I'm getting you one."

"Nope!" Olivia took it off and hugged it tight to herself. "Get yourself a new one, this is mine now."

"You bitch!" Alex laughed, and Hazel ran out of patience with the hat tangent.

"How are you so sure Mary's queer?"

"Oh, right! Well, just that when I got off the elevator and passed her desk, she gave me this look up and down like she was checking me out, then she met my eye and saw I'd noticed, and she got all blushy and hid behind her monitor. It was so cute! Then it was like she worked herself up, because she looked back around--" Olivia rolled her eyes while Alex went on, describing electricity and tension in the air in just a shared glance. So this was her idea of good storytelling? It sounded closer to something out of Ivy's crappy romance novels. "--And then, when she realized I was going to your desk, her expression changed. I swear, she gave me the most 'back off bitch' face I've ever seen in my life." Olivia had to take a big gulp of wine to keep from laughing her disbelief, but Hazel had big, hopeful eyes.

"You think she likes me?"

"Well, let me ask you. What happened after I left?"

Hazel's eyes got even bigger. "She came over! We talked about how we were gonna handle building the backend databases for a new app."

"There ya go!" Alex declared, as if the mystery of Mary's sexuality had been conclusively solved.

Olivia couldn't help herself. She leaned over and whispered in Rose's ear. "Bullshit."

"But look at Hazel," Rose murmured back. "See how much more confident she looks?"

Hazel did have a determined sort of glow to her eyes, which was good to see. She was one of the most caring and compassionate people Olivia knew, but too few others got to see that side of her because of her shyness. "Yeah?"

"Maybe Alex is stretching things a little, but isn't it worth it for that?"

Olivia sighed and, rather than pointing out how much more crushing it would be for Hazel if Alex was wrong and Mary wasn't into women in general, or her specifically, gave Rose's arm a playful little push. "Optimist."

"Cynic," Rose giggled.

Alex noticed them whispering together. "What are you two being so secretive about?"

"Just saying we should start our own support group," Olivia shot back. "Five lesbians on a camping trip together, drinking wine and bonding over why we're not getting laid. We suck."

"Um, speak for yourself," Ivy looked up from the pages of her book and held it up, pointing at the author's name on the cover. "I'll have you know, Naomi Novik is fucking my brain just the way I like it."

They all laughed, Olivia nearly spilling her wine because of how perfect it was for them. They always made her do this - feel like this - even when she was coming off a breakup feeling shitty and conflicted. Calling each other their chosen family had started as a joke, but this was why it had stuck. Trips like this, moments like this, feeling like she was surrounded by four sisters, not just four friends... Olivia shook her head, stopping herself before she went and got too sappy.

"Yeah, and we'll all be going to bed with some hot ladies after Kara and Michelle's party tomorrow night, right?" Alex said, a little note of menace in her voice that made her sound hilariously like a soccer mom reminding the team that only winners get pizza.

Olivia imagined Alex in full seductress mode pursuing whatever 'hot lady' struck her fancy, which only made her laugh even harder, while Rose leaned forward excitedly. If there was anything that got Rose more excited than her adrenaline junkie stunts, it might have been losing herself on a dance floor. "Kara said she's got a professional DJ friend of hers coming this time! They're turning their entire outside area into dancing!"

"Great!" Olivia intoned sarcastically. "Now I know where to avoid."

"I thought you liked dancing, Liv?" Hazel questioned, and Alex answered teasingly for her.

"Drunk Liv loves it. Sober Liv thinks she's too cool for it."

Not quite right, but close enough. When Rose got going on the dance floor, she radiated her enjoyment, and Olivia couldn't help loving being around her. Nobody could. Alcohol helped her ignore just how bad she was at dancing and let herself get drawn in like a moth to Rose's flame. If it was just her doing it for her own pleasure? No way. Much better to chill with Alex and all the party gossipers, as close to the bar as she could get.

"Whatever. As long as we leave here with enough time for me to spend an hour in the shower before the party, I'll be happy with anything."

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Rose

Rose struggled to keep herself awake, but her body kept crashing. Understandable after what she'd put it through today, and the entire week for that matter, but that was only half of it.

The sun had set and the stars winked down from between the trees, shining brightly and joining with the dancing glow of the fire to create a romantically magical feeling. Fireflies peeked out of the shadows like they were shy of the light, appearing like faeries at the corners of her eyes whenever the fire flickered away. The shifting wind floated the smell of the smoke all around them. Rose loved that smell. She'd been a firebug all her life, and if she'd had any energy left, she would have piled another few logs into the flames.

She was curled up in her fluffiest blanket, playing with the softness in her hands and enjoying the way they still trembled slightly even hours after the climb. Her body ached in the best possible way, satisfied with accomplishment.

God, she was going to sleep so well tonight.

Alex was nodding off too, and Olivia had her wine cup secured in her lap like she didn't trust herself to keep balancing it upright. Only Hazel and Ivy were still talking. Rose's focus was drifting in and out, but apparently it was about an unexpected plot twist their dungeon master had hit them with in the Dungeons and Dragons game they played with Olivia and some other friends.

"It must have been improv. It only came up because Dave rolled that perception nat 20."

"I thought that too, but now I'm not so sure. It just seems too big. I think he's had it planned for weeks and been sitting on it, waiting for the right time."

"No way! That's insane patience, how do you keep that to yourself?"

"No idea. Guess that's why he's DM and we're just players."

Rose smiled to herself. She loved how excited they got, and she liked watching them play when she could, but during the school year she was usually too busy with one thing or another. Maybe this would be the summer vacation she'd finally let herself get bullied into joining them. Maybe. But during the summer, they all had a bunch of trips like this one planned, and their game often had to take hiatuses.

The conversation would probably have been easier to follow if she didn't keep nodding off for a few seconds and missing exchanges. Or if she'd been focusing on their words themselves, but she really wasn't. Ivy and Hazel both had really pretty voices, and Rose liked the way they blended with the crackling fire and sounds of the forest. It was almost like a song where the lyrics didn't matter at all, and they just melded together to be part of the warm, relaxed feeling. Still, Rose was holding out for one more piece to make the night perfect.

"How many of them do you think we're going to have to carry to bed this time?" Amusement colored Ivy's voice, and a giggle slipped into Hazel's.

"At least two. Alex has been out for a good half hour already."

"I'm awake!" Olivia declared.

"Me too," Rose agreed, unconvincingly stifling a yawn as she did. At least she managed better than Alex, who gave a quiet little snore.

"Yeah, barely," Hazel chuckled. "You're only keeping yourself up hoping Ivy will tell us a story, aren't you?"

Ivy rolled her eyes, barely able to keep the amusement off her face, while Olivia sat up and gave a challenging "like you're not."

"Aren't you all too old for bedtime stories?" Ivy made a show of reluctance, the same way she always did, even while she stood up and approached the fire like a stage. She loved performing, and Rose loved enabling her passion as much as she enjoyed the stories themselves.

"No!" Rose and Olivia answered together, then Olivia went on. "Make it one we haven't heard in a while."

"A scary one," Rose added.

"Yeah!"

Ivy spread her arms and smiled. "Are you sure? You're not going to bitch about me giving you nightmares again, right?"

"No promises." Horror stories were Rose's favorite, especially from Ivy. She was a fantastic actress, and she created suspense and spookiness with her voice that was far more compelling than the cheap jump scares most movies resorted to.

"Remind me, have I ever told you about The Wendigo?"

She dropped her voice saying the name, just slightly, and added a touch of breathiness to it that made it sound like the wind. Rose shivered inside her blankets. "No."

"Great!"

Ivy settled into herself, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. Something about her subtly shifted, and no matter how many times she saw it happen, Rose could never quite put her finger on it. It was like she drew herself up, and she seemed to dominate more of their vision, except she stayed the same height the whole time. When she opened her eyes again, the quiet woman who so often stayed on the edges of conversation was gone, replaced by the Ivy who was calm and confident, perfectly at home at the center of their attention.

"It was a bitterly cold winter night, a long time ago. Snow was falling hard, and the wind buffeted it around, creating walls of white that battered at the hunting party, freezing them through their furs and making it impossible to see much beyond arm's reach."

As the story progressed, Rose felt herself joining up with the rest of them. Like she, Olivia and Hazel were some kind of instrument Ivy was playing. They gasped as one, shivered and got goosebumps, and hid themselves away in their blankets together. Especially at the parts where the evil spirit hunting the heroes appeared, making itself known as a chilling voice on the wind.

"Weeendigo." Ivy's whispered voice was wispy and ethereal, feeling like it was coming from all around them. "It drifted between the trees, partially indistinguishable through the storm and partially distinct in all their minds. Weeendigo." Rose buried herself into her blankets, her heart racing almost as fast as it had been while climbing. She exchanged a quick glance with Olivia, who was clutching her wine cup in front of herself like a tiny shield, and reached out for her hand.

One after the next, the adventurers fell, killed and consumed, until: "She tore herself away, leaving him behind even as the spirit overcame him, tears freezing on her cheeks as she tried to outrun his screams."

Rose unconsciously squeezed Olivia's hand, either to give reassurance or seeking it herself, but both of them were too wrapped up in the spell of Ivy's voice to notice.

"She kept going, on and on, all alone now in the dark and the snow but finally blessedly free of its presence. At least for now, even if it was only because it was devouring the last of her friends. On and on, trying to run but too tired to keep the pace through the ever-deepening snow."

Rose stole another glance around the fire at Olivia and Hazel, and even Alex was now awake and wrapped up into it too. It choked her up, just a little bit. Having them all together with her, sharing this experience like they were all 25 years younger at a slumber party.

"It was impossible to tell how far she went, the darkness and the snow made everything seem the same. Just one agonizing step at a time, the whole time straining for the dreadful sound on the wind, half afraid she'd hear it and half afraid to start hoping when she didn't. Every time the wind blew, it sounded like the name." Ivy breathed out slowly through her teeth. "Was that it? Or just the storm whistling between the trees?"

Ivy drew out the tension, describing images and imagined phantoms in the dark with a sadistic grin on her face in the flickering firelight, before finally taking pity on them and releasing it. "But finally, the trees opened up before her and she stumbled into an open clearing. There was finally something other than blinding white! Fires winked, small but inviting, calling to her. The village! Home!"

They all waited with bated breath, knowing something was bound to happen as she crossed the clearing, expecting every moment to hear the spirit's telltale call again... but no. She made it home, safe and sound. Rose breathed a sigh of relief, finally realizing how hard she was squeezing Olivia's hand and letting it go.

"And, as she was finally drifting off to sleep, surrounded by her family and loved ones, it came. Weeendigo. Drifting in like a whisper through the door, but distinct enough to make her sit bolt upright! Weeendigoooo! Louder, closer, and suddenly she knew. It had been there with her the whole time, following. It only let her go so she could lead it home."

Ivy's grin turned absolutely feral with satisfaction, and she gave a little bow. "Sleep tight, ladies."

It took them a second to recompose themselves, then Rose and Hazel burst into applause while Olivia exclaimed, "CHRIST! Ivy, you just couldn't let us have the happy ending, could you?"

"That's the story," Ivy said, still with that evilly happy catlike smile. "It's not my fault, I just tell you like it is."

"It was amazing. You're amazing," Rose said, cutting off Olivia's complaint about being traumatized by wind now.

"Yeah," Hazel agreed with her, and Alex nodded vigorously.

"I can't believe you didn't wake me up at the start! I thought it was part of a dream or something at first." She whistled her appreciation, then cursed. "I'm all worked up now! No way I'll be able to fall asleep again."

"I will!" Rose said, cheerfully. She picked herself up, still wrapped up in her blanket, and quickly ducked around to give Ivy a hug and whisper in her ear. "Seriously, you're fantastic, and I'm never going to stop telling you that no matter how much you deny it." Then, before Ivy could do just that, she turned to her tent and gave a wave over her shoulder. "Good night, guys!"

"You're not serious," Alex called after her. "You can just fall asleep after that? Have I told you you're crazy?"

Rose grinned to herself. Of course she was crazy. Where was the fun being sane? She lay down, sighing contentedly at the firm mat and layers of blankets that supported her like a cloud, and stretched out. Her heart was still beating a mile a minute, and when the wind blew outside, part of her subconscious linked it with the story and set her pulse racing again.

She couldn't have been any happier, and when she fell asleep, it was with a wide smile.

-------------------

Olivia

Waking up the next morning sucked. Driving back to Northampton sucked too, but by god, her shower was absolutely everything she dreamed it could be.

Picking an outfit for the party was hard. Parties at Kara and Michelle's place were always half chill house party, half raucous dance party, and finding something that spanned both moods was rough.

Of course, the family was no help. She sent a text out asking what everybody else was wearing, but Alex was being indecisive between three wildly different choices, Hazel always wore the same lame yellow sundress and flats to everything, and Ivy sent back a picture of herself in the same jeans and solid black t-shirt she'd worn crawling out of her tent that morning. Fucking useless! And of course, it was an hour before they were set to leave, which meant Rose wouldn't start thinking about clothes for another 55 minutes.

What did she even want tonight? A fun night out with the girls? A hookup? Could she dress for both? Something that said she was available for fun without seeming too desperate?

Olivia started with the hat she'd 'commandeered' from Alex - because how could she not rock that - and worked from there. She pulled out one long sleeve, button-up shirt with a collar she quite liked that matched colors with the hat, but the only thing that went with it were tight pants and a belt, and that outfit made her hot even in the winter. On a summer night like this, in a crowded party? No amount of AC would keep her from sweating through it. Very unsexy.

So, a dress it was. Sifting through her closet, Olivia wished, for the millionth time, she had anything that showed off her chest the way she wanted. Something that hit that magical cleavage zone at the sweet point between appealing and slutty. After trying the hat with four different candidates, she opted for the red-on-black one that felt comfortably light on her, then topped it off with her favorite leather boots and a bowtie around her neck, because there was only so femme she could stand to look at one time.

Olivia got some eyeshadow on as quickly as she could, wishing she had time to fix her lashes and brows, but Rose was already waiting by her car.

Rose looked hot. Really fucking hot, and it was totally unfair. She could pick clothes at random and look fantastic in them. Literally. Olivia had seen her do it. Tonight's outfit was a vest type top that showed off the definition in her shoulders and stopped a few inches above her belt to display a bit of her muscled abs.

"That's a new one," Olivia said, appreciatively.

"You like it?" Rose felt at the bottom, like she wished it came down lower. "I almost didn't buy it, do you think it shows off too much skin?"

"Well, you probably shouldn't wear it to work unless you want even more of your students crushing on you," Olivia laughed. "But it's fantastic on you. I love it."

"Thanks! You look great too. I really like how you've given Alex's hat your own style."

That made Olivia grin wide. Rose gave the best compliments. "Are we picking up the rest of them too?"

"Nah. Hazel is driving Ivy, and I think Alex is taking her bike."

"Guess she was serious about getting a hot lady in her bed tonight," Olivia joked. "She's pulling out all the stops." It limited what Alex could wear, but she had to admit, seeing her friend pull up on a fucking motorcycle was pretty hot.

Kara and Michelle threw the kinds of parties where it was pretty safe to assume women were there for women and men were there for men. That didn't exactly set their parties apart, though. Northampton was one of the gayest places in the country, so much so that a heterosexual couple holding hands walking down the street would be noticed. No, what attracted Rose and Olivia to their parties was the age demographics.

Between Smith College, Amherst College, UMass, and all the other schools scattered around the area, it felt like a lot of queer spaces were overrun with students ten years younger than them. It was awkward as fuck. Sure, they got a fair bit of graduate students who were really interesting to talk with, but there was only so many times Olivia could take getting whispered about like she was an old lady by kids with fake IDs and stay sane.

Kara and Michelle only invited people to their parties who filed a tax return every year, and everybody loved them for it.

They had a place right on the Connecticut River, tucked away in its own little bend away from any neighbors, that must have had a previous life as some Boston entrepreneur's family country estate. It was massive. A ton of bedrooms, and the downstairs had a big open space with a bar off to one side, as if it had been deliberately designed for parties. They usually had a bonfire down by the water, but Rose had been right. As they parked along the road and walked up, they saw lights hanging from the trees and tiki torches surrounding an area already full of dancers. Music blared from speakers mounted on the back porch - some kind of electronica crap that instantly had Rose squirming in excitement.

"Liv! Can I - do you mind?"

"Go ahead," Olivia said, then laughed as Rose immediately took off, already bouncing to the beat. "Have fun!"

"I will!"

It was even more crowded inside. Some people Olivia knew, a lot she was sure she'd been introduced to before but had forgotten their names, and a good amount of new faces. Good. At least the first thing out of some people's mouths wouldn't be asking where Amy was, followed immediately by fake condolences and gossip.

Well, at least mostly fake. Olivia spotted Kara across the room, doing her hostess duties behind the bar, chatting with Alex and a few others. She'd genuinely care. Plus, that's where the booze was, so it was obviously the best place to be.

-------------------

Rose

It never took Rose very long to lose herself in the music. Especially when the people around her were already into it, she could dive in and immediately get swept up into them. It was why she never minded being late to parties or tried to hurry anybody she was driving. Getting here after the crowd was already warmed up and vibing was perfect for her, like slipping into a warm blanket fresh out of the dryer.

She swayed, arms in the air, feeling everybody all around her as more than just physical presences. Like each motion everybody made together joined them into each other, and Rose was free to lose herself into them.

The music swelled, going from a song Rose didn't recognize seamlessly into a remix of David Guetta's Titanium, rising in intensity as the beat came faster, sweeping them up into a frenzy with it. How had she never heard of this DJ? She was great! Lights flashed, a mist machine showered over them and beams of light colored the air between dancers. Everybody started jumping, bumping into each other, letting themselves lean into and be supported by their neighbors.

Rose felt an arm come around her and rest for just a second on her bare midriff, obviously accidentally because it was quickly withdrawn, but Rose turned with it and found herself looking down at a shock of bright blue hair framing a nervous face. "Sorry--sorry!" She said, clearly embarrassed. "I was just--um--dancing and--" The music and people surrounding them made it hard to hear her, but Rose got the gist.

Rose focused, hoping not to miss any cues, and hoping the stranger's apparent shyness meant her emotions would look similar to Hazel's.

Maybe it was the masculine cut of her dyed hair, maybe it was the shy way her eyes met Rose's for a second then darted away only to be drawn back, or maybe it was just because Rose was in the mood to dance. She stepped into the stranger, taking her hand and putting it back in the same spot on her side, feeling a surge of joy at the way she gasped and her eyes went bright. "I'm Rose. Your hair is really cute, join me for a few songs?"

"Brittany," her partner introduced herself, apparently emboldened enough by Rose not thinking she was a creep to meet her eyes properly. "I'd love to."

And just like that, they became two, dancing around each other like joined leaves spinning together in a windstorm. Brittany was terrific! Her body had a flowing grace to it that seemed to go against the rhythm of the music, but the more Rose watched and matched herself to it, the more she realized how well it worked.

Rose tried to tell her that, but the words got swept away in the rising volume and swelling beat of the next song, and after a few more futile attempts to communicate, they both gave each other a laugh and went on with the dance.

They spun around each other faster, Brittany's hair flashing cool blue color, contrasting the flush of her face and merging with the general chaos of the crowd. It was like they were their own little island of calm in the sea of activity, and after another transition in the rhythm into a new song, Rose became aware that they'd attracted an audience. Even the DJ herself was watching them from up on the porch! Rose beamed up at her, trying to tell her with an expression how much she loved her music before getting drawn back to Brittany.

Rose breathed deep, trying to hold it all inside her. All the excitement and beauty, joy and exhilaration she felt within and around her. She let her consciousness fade away and the emotions take their place, reveling in them the same way she did with her excitement in climbing. Alas, it wasn't quite the same fever-pitch intensity - but hey, few things were, and this had its own flavor to it that made it distinctly fun.

The beat gradually slowed, transitioning gracefully from wildness to a more melodical, intimate tone. The dancing calmed with it, everybody catching their breath like they'd just run a race.

"You're a great dancer!" Rose told Brittany, then repeated it louder so she could hear. The mist swept over them again, followed by the swirling lights, making the shades of blue in Brittany's hair shine. "And I love that color!"

"What?"

Rose deliberately brushed her fingertips through Brittany's hair, following its flow as it swept over the top to fall over one side. "I love this!"

Brittany beamed. That look was a lot like Hazel! It was interesting to see, because the two dressed and presented so differently. "Oh! Thanks!" She had a wonderful smile - it reached all the way to her eyes and made her look like she was having a good dream.

"So, what do you do?" Brittany asked, then immediately bit her lip and stammered. "Sorry, I'm terrible at small talk."

"I teach middle school."

"Oh! What's that like?"

"It's great, I love it! I'm getting to the point where my first students I had when I started are applying to college, and it's so exciting!"

At least, Rose thought it was exciting. Brittany, however, lay a tentative hand on Rose's side to guide their dancing and changed the subject. "I just moved here for work. I'm trying to meet all the people I can. I'm really liking it here so far."

Her eyes were really pretty. Greenish around the edges, but golden near her irises. Rose thought fast, wishing she knew her well enough to tell what she was thinking, but starting to doubt her guess that she was like Hazel. Hazel would have been more interested in hearing the answer to the question she'd asked. Rose felt herself losing the thread. She was terrible at reading new people, and it was really frustrating for her after being around the family she knew so well all week. She was comfortable enough with them to read them like books without having to focus or think, and being unable to gauge Brittany's feelings from her beautiful eyes was like suddenly going blind.

"Where are you coming from?" she asked, guessing from Brittany changing the subject that she wasn't interested in more of her school talk.

"New York. Not too far away, but it feels super different here. Like, I'm used to taking the subway everywhere, this is the first time I've had to own my own car. Any suggestions on good stuff to do around here?"

Rose started telling her about Tunnel Bar, the family's favorite spot in town, but a surge of sound cut her off and the beat sped back into high-energy dance mode. Brittany said something that was also swept away, and they both said "What?" at the same time.

"I think I'm ready to get a drink," Brittany yelled. "You want to get one too?"

Rose deflated, disappointed Brittany didn't want to dance with her anymore. Still, she forced herself to keep the smile on. "No thanks, alcohol isn't really my thing."

"What? Oh - um - okay."

Brittany walked back towards the house, looking back over her shoulder a few times before passing the DJ and vanishing inside. Rose was about to throw herself back into the music, hoping to let it sweep away her disappointment, when she caught eyes with the DJ again. Had she been watching the whole thing? Her music was fantastic, Rose had already decided to go to every gig she played for the rest of the summer. Not knowing what else to do, Rose gave her a smile and a wave.

The DJ didn't return the wave. Instead, she adjusted a setting, then slid out from behind the soundboard. Was she? Was she coming for her? Rose started freaking out, half wanting to play it cool, half wanting to go hide. Fortunately, she was close enough that she didn't have time to panic too much.

"Hey, I'm Lydia."

"Rose." Don't gush. Don't be an obnoxious fangirl! She probably hates that. She-- but Rose's mouth bypassed her brain and kept right on going. "I love your music, it's amazing. When are you playing next, I wanna be there."

Lydia's laugh was high and musical, and it somehow seemed to complement the pulsing rhythm all around them. "Two weeks from now over in Amherst. I'll give you the details later. But I was going to say, I really like watching you dancing. It makes me feel like I'm doing my job right." Rose felt her insides starting to scream, and she fought to hold it down, but then Lydia asked, "mind if I join you for a bit?" and it came out in an embarrassing squeal of delight that had Lydia laughing all over again.

-------------------

Olivia

"Honestly, we were really just a terrible match. Like, I should have known the relationship was doomed the first time I went to her place," Olivia told the circle she'd joined by the bar, then took a deep drink. "This is really great, Kara. What did you say it was?"

"House Secret."

"Oh. Like, that's the name, or--"

"Like, it's both!" Kara laughed.

"At least tell me what the liquor is!"

"I'll tell you one of them is vodka," Kara said coyly.

Olivia raised an eyebrow. "One of how many?"

Kara shrugged, painting an innocent expression on her face. "Several."

Ah. That'd explain the tipsiness after only two drinks. Perfect! Olivia tipped it high, letting the bottom drain into her, then lay the empty cup in front of Kara. "Keep them coming, my love."

"What were you going to say?" Red Glasses asked from Alex's right. She'd been told her name just five minutes ago, forgotten it instantly, and so now she would be forever defined by her huge hipster lenses in Olivia's mind.

"What?"

"About Amy's place the first time you saw it?"

"Oh right! So, we were going to sleep over at her place, the house was all dark and we're fumbling around, bumping into the couch, trying to be quiet and not wake up her room mates. We got into her room and she turned on the lights, the first thing I saw was she's got a piece of driftwood right over her bed with Life Laugh Love on it. Enough said, right?"

Everybody laughed, Alex especially loud despite her already knowing that bit of trivia.

"That's really not nice," Kara admonished despite her own grin.

"You're such a mom!" Plaid Skirt fired back at her, drawing another round of laughter. It was a common joke that Kara acted like much less of a mom now that the kids were gone to college.

Olivia took a sip from her newly refilled House Secret. "Yeah, a hot mom who's trying to get me drunk."

"Trying?" Questioned somebody behind Olivia, before Kara's wife Michelle slid into the circle beside her. "Looks like she's succeeding pretty well."

Michelle had come to swap out bartending duty with Kara so she could go mingle, and after their transition, conversation drifted away from Olivia's lacking love life. Thank god. Now she could go back to the quest to find herself a rebound in peace. Maybe Plaid Skirt? She was cute, and she kept glancing in her direction. Or maybe Leather Jacket on her other side? Her hand tattoo was really hot. How far up her arm under the leather did it go? Olivia's fingers itched to trace along her skin and find out.

She repositioned herself right beside the bar next to Leather Jacket, making a mental note to surreptitiously figure out what her real name was again, and incidentally ending up with a good view out the window behind Michelle. Rose was there, right at the front of the mob closest to the DJ's setup, looking like she was having a grand old time with somebody in a cute collared shirt like the one Olivia had considered wearing. She'd gone with ripped jeans with it, which actually worked really well, but Olivia doubted Rose had even noticed any of that. Knowing Rose, she'd probably gotten as far as her masc presentation, blue dyed hair and pretty face, and needed to see no more to be attracted to her.

It made Olivia grin. Rose didn't exactly have a type, as such, but after a while, you could see somebody and intuitively know: yep, she's a Rose thirst trap right there.

For what felt like the hundredth time, Amy's shouted words at their breakup bounced around her head. It was bullshit. She was NOT in love with Rose. Rose had been her closest friend for years. She'd been more supportive of her through more shit than pretty much everybody else in Olivia's life put together. Of course she loved her, but as a friend, or a sister. If seeing Rose with her arms wrapped around another woman made her jealous, she would have gone insane years ago. If anything, there might have been a tiny twinge of jealousy for Rose herself, for finding somebody to hook up with tonight.

Fucking Amy. Just because there happened to be some overlap in the traits she liked about them both, it didn't mean she had some deeply suppressed longing for her best friend.

But, just like the other hundred times she'd followed this line of thinking to its angry conclusion, her mind refused to be satisfied and move on. So Olivia took matters into her own hands and gulped down enough alcohol to make her head spin.

Alex raised an eyebrow at her, which Olivia pretended not to see and turned her back to the window. Unfortunately, nothing interesting was happening. Leather Jacket was telling some lame story about what one of her friends - none of them knew - said to her other friend nobody knew. She really needed to read the room and stop with these tales, it was making it really hard to keep finding her attractive. Clearly, her subconscious had been onto something when it decided her name wasn't worth remembering.

In an effort to save her brain cells - the ones that hadn't been sacrificed to the goddess of booze, anyway - Olivia stopped paying attention to her and went over to talk to Alex. That opened up a spot in the circle, which started a chain reaction of people flux, plus a rush of people grabbing beers and asking Michelle for mixed drinks.

Alex hadn't ended up wearing any of the options they'd been messaging about. Instead, she'd gone with a formal suit and pants combination, complete with fedora, that made her look like the lead actor from a '50s noir film.

"Good evening, detective," Olivia teased her. "I didn't realize this was going to be a costume party."

"I see you've given up on Felicity already," Alex teased her right back. "What's it been? Just ten minutes?"

Felicity! Of course, that was it. "She got me with that tattoo of hers, but lost me when she opened her mouth."

Alex nodded wisely. "A terrible mistake for one such as her."

"So who's your target tonight?" Olivia asked, giving Alex's outfit another appreciative once over.

"Regina," Alex instantly replied, then gave a surreptitious point at the gorgeous redhead across the room.

"I remember her name!" Olivia exclaimed, causing Alex to hurriedly shush her. "How could I forget her?"

"I don't know! Maybe she was Firemane to you or something."

Olivia opted not to share that she'd actually mentally nicknamed Regina as Annapantsu after her favorite red haired YouTube singer. "Any luck so far?"

"She's been responding positively to my looks," Alex said, with a predatory grin, like looks and smiles from across the room were tantamount to stalking her prey.

"Anything I can do to help?"

"I think I'm good, but I'll let you know."

More people came and went, mostly unnoticed as background noise while they chatted about strategy, and whether Alex should go over to Regina or wait until Regina came over to talk to her first. But, after a few minutes, a distinctive shock of blue caught the corner of Olivia's eye. She seemed familiar. Where? Olivia took a quick drink to help her remember, then laughed as the rapidly diminishing self-analytical part of her mind pointed out how dumb that was. But it worked! She was Rose's blue haired dance partner! Take that, brain!

"You look like a girl who needs a drink," Michelle said to the dancer as she approached the bar.

"Yeah, you could say that," she said, glumly.

"Wanna talk about it?"

Olivia motioned Alex to follow her over so they could listen in.

"I accidentally bumped into somebody out there, and I thought she was into me. There was all this eye contact - hell, she even touched my hair! She's the one that started flirting with me! But then I asked if she wanted to come inside so we could hear each other talk and she just shot me down and I have no idea what happened."

Alex exchanged a look with Olivia. She hadn't told her where she'd seen Blue Hair yet, but that story was kind of a giveaway. A tale as old as time. They both started laughing uncontrollably. Blue Hair looked between them, clearly offended, but Michelle quickly leapt to their rescue.

"You were dancing with Rose, weren't you?"

Comprehension dawned. "Yeah." She looked between the two friends again, then cracked a smile. "That was seriously all it took for you to know who it was? I guess this means I'm not the first?"

"Try the hundredth," Alex suggested.

Well, if Alex wanted to toss Rose under the bus, it was probably Olivia's job to say something positive. But how to explain Rose without going into a big speech? "Yeah, don't take it personally. She just doesn't recognize flirting very well. If you let her get to know you for a few months, she'll be so perceptive of you, you'll wonder if she's a fucking mind reader. But new people? She's totally useless." Olivia shrugged, helplessly, and Alex continued.

"She's probably out there thinking the same thing as you, wondering what she did to mess it up and make you not want to dance anymore."

Blue Hair thoughtfully watched Michelle pouring alcohol. "You sound like her friends."

"Guilty!"

"I'm Brittany," she raised the glass Michelle handed her to each of them, and Olivia heartily clinked it with her own.

"I'm Olivia, and this is Alexandra." Snap decision. Fuck Leather Jacket - not literally - something about Brittany set her instincts bleeping. Olivia swept Brittany an elaborate bow, only slightly ruining it by jerking up again to prevent her glass tipping over. "And since our friend has fucked up your night--"

"She hasn't! It's fine, don't worry," Brittany tried to say, but Olivia continued.

"--let us show you a better time!"

Again, the understanding look with Alex. Perfect wingman, she knew what was up.

Brittany let herself be led away towards another circle with them. "Well, I did just move here, and I am trying to meet people."

-------------------

Brittany

Brittany had finally figured it out. It felt weird to say, but the party felt unusual to her because everybody else was treating it like it was perfectly normal.

She wasn't a stranger to queer spaces - far from it, NYC had tons. It was just like... a night out at a lesbian bar felt like an event. Like, it was a step outside society's heteronormativity, and she'd always felt pressured to make the most out of every time. Almost like it was a fleeting opportunity that needed to be snatched. This was different. It felt less like a gay party than a regular house party with a bit of music where the primary demographic happened to be queer people.

Like, at bars in New York, there'd always been this feeling in her gut that she needed to make something happen, because they were all strangers in a city with 8 million people and they'd never just happen to run into each other again. If she wanted to try to see somebody again, she needed to make an impression. And, hovering overhead like a vulture was the knowledge that there were literally thousands of other queer women within a ten mile radius. If she didn't come off as perfect, whoever she was talking to would just try somebody else.

Some thrived on it. It made Brittany want to rip her hair out.

The gay community here felt... well, like an actual community. Like, a group of actual people who all knew each other, not a swarm so big it was impossible to keep any individual identity. Walking around with Alexandra and Olivia and being introduced to their friends, the contrast was striking. Sure, there was the familiar social politicking and sexual tension and all that, but there wasn't anywhere near that same feeling of urgency. Tomorrow, these people wouldn't have vanished into the night, never to be seen again, so there was plenty of time to do things like talk to people and build friendships.

What a concept.

It should have made her feel more relaxed, especially now she'd lucked her way into meeting some cool people, but nervous butterflies still fluttered around Brittany's stomach. The more she saw, the more she wanted this. Wanted to fit in. But she was being so awkward, while Olivia and Alexandra seemed right at home!

Of course, it didn't help that they were both built like fitness models, and she... wasn't. Yeah, go with that as the understatement of the year. Standing next to them, practically drooling over them, Brittany felt like a tiny, starved mouse. Especially joining this most recent circle by the stairs leading to the second floor and getting introduced to their friends Ivy and Hazel.

Alex and Olivia exchanged a round of hugs with them while Brittany held back trying to get her shit together. Like, fuck! Was everybody in this town a semi-professional athlete? First dancing with Rose, whose body resembled an ancient Greek statue, and now these four? Each of them had forearms and hands that looked custom made to make her bits tingle and her mind go wild. It was all Brittany could do to string words together intelligibly while painfully aware of how attractive she found them, and hoping it wasn't too obvious.

But interestingly, despite all their similar obvious passion for the gym, they each presented themselves differently. Where Olivia and Alex had clearly put in effort dressing themselves up, Ivy and Hazel both gave off a different vibe. Hazel's sundress and flats felt simple and relaxed in a way that matched her cheerfulness well, and Ivy's simple t-shirt and jeans made her seem just as chill as if she'd been lounging on a couch watching TV.

And they were all looking at her now. Great! Brittany felt herself reddening, frantically trying to remember what they'd been talking about, but failing and giving up. "Sorry, what?"

"We were just curious how you knew Kara and Michelle?" Hazel asked.

"Oh! I used to tutor Jason in the city," Brittany explained, referring to Kara and Michelle's son at New York University. "They invited me when they heard I was moving here for work. Small world, eh?" She gave a nervous little laugh, cringed at her awkwardness, and kept going quickly to try to cover it. "I knew they were rich, but I never imagined all this," she gestured around them, taking in the entire mansion.

"Yeah, they actually got it pretty cheap because the old owners left it to fall apart. They've probably put more into repairing it than they paid to buy it in the first place."

"Wow, really? It's turned out awesome!"

"Tell Kara that, she'd love to hear it. Pretty much all the arrangements and decorations are her design," Olivia said, and Alexandra nodded.

"Yeah, we got introduced to them through Rose, and we've never been sure what we did to deserve them. It's not just these parties, they donate a bunch of money to help make local events happen."

"Wow that's--" Brittany felt like she was supposed to say something to that, but simply calling it great felt lame. But what else was there? "--Great!" Another cringe. For fucks sake, get yourself together, woman!

This wasn't her normal self. She was normally confident and relaxed, at least mostly, not tripping over herself and second guessing everything that came out of her mouth. It was like leaving her nice little introvert bubble of a comfort zone hamstrung her ability to function, and she absolutely hated how it felt. Still, what other options were there? She wasn't going to meet the friends she wanted sitting at home.

But it did get easier. The foursome had an easy familiarity to them that made Brittany feel like an invited guest rather than a fifth wheel. It was kind of disarming. Like, Olivia and Alexandra bickered and teased each other like a couple, and Brittany had assumed they were together until Alexandra started flirting aggressively with a new group joiner.

"She's been playing eye tag with Regina all night," Olivia whispered in her ear conspiratorially. Then she exchanged a meaningful look with Hazel and Ivy, and they quietly stepped back, leaving Alex to do her wooing without distractions.

"I should have guessed!" Hazel exclaimed, and Ivy nodded.

"An outfit like that, she had to be targeting somebody," Ivy agreed.

Brittany's curiosity was piqued. "Is that not her usual style?" she asked, making her three companions laugh.

"Does Alex even have a style?" Ivy wondered out loud. "She kind of does everything."

"Yeah, she's a chameleon. She does every lesbian look really well," Hazel agreed.

Olivia downed the last of her drink, burped loudly and said, "It's her superpower. Femme, butch, masc, leather, whatever. She can swap between them all faster than a TikTok influencer."

Wow, that sounded dangerous. Brittany looked back at the suit clad Alex, who now had her arm wrapped possessively around Regina, and tried to picture her in something like Olivia's dress. "So she goes with whatever she thinks her mark will like most?"

"Pretty much." Olivia flashed her a devilish grin. "What would our chameleon become to charm you, pray tell?"

Whatever happened to her face, it was embarrassing enough to make Hazel go "Liv! Are you trying to give her a heart attack?"

Brittany shook herself. As strange a place as this was, flirting was the same everywhere! Besides, she couldn't exactly be annoyed about Rose not noticing her interest, and then leave Olivia hanging. She deliberately looked Olivia up and down, trying to look like she was thoughtfully considering the question, then met her gaze and smiled bright. "She'd probably go with something a bit more casual. Maybe a dress, but a comfortable one, and it's gotta be my favorite color. Red, by the way. One that shows off how fit she is, so sleeveless to show off her arms, down off the shoulders too, and maybe just a bit of her chest. Add a stylin hat and a bit of leather up her legs, and she's got me."

It had taken them a few seconds to realize she was deliberately describing Olivia's look, but they got it when she mentioned the red, and by the end they were all laughing. Ivy especially found it hilarious, and Hazel gave her an excited little clap like she'd just given a performance.

Olivia beamed at her. "I knew I liked you for a reason!" She linked arms with Brittany and started walking them back towards the bar. "There's just one more important group to meet, then we can find a quiet corner just the two of us."

"Are you thinking of Jeff?" Ivy asked.

"Yeah. After all, if she's going to be spending time around us, she deserves to know what dorks we are. She's got to meet our dungeon master."

No way. It had to be wishful thinking, Brittany must not have heard right. This whole time she'd been worried about having nothing in common with these super fit amazons, and they could have been bonding over role play games?

"Um, Liv, he's over there," Hazel helpfully pointed the other direction.

"Wha--Right! Right, I knew that. Just let me get more booze and I'll be right with you."

And just like that, Brittany felt herself being pulled again, which seemed somehow symbolic for this entire wild ride of a night. "So--uh--you guys play D&D?" She asked.

"Yeah. The three of us with some of Jeff's friends. You'll like him, he's great. Well, I guess Alex technically plays too, but we always kill her off a few days into a campaign because she can never stop scrolling Instagram during sessions. We keep trying to get Rose to join but she's always too busy during the school year. Do you play?"

"Uhh--actually no. But I do play Final Fantasy 14, and I've always meant to learn! I love listening to Critical Role, I just never had a group willing to put in the time." Olivia was giving her a strange look. Like she'd just passed some kind of test or something, so Brittany went with it and fired her words back at her. "I knew I liked you for a reason."

"Isn't FF14 the one with catgirls?" Olivia laughed, giving her a teasing poke.

"Of course that's the first thing everybody thinks of!"

-------------------

Rose

Lydia's setup was different than any other DJ's Rose had seen. For one thing, she'd given herself a bunch of open space to work with, so her beer and random stuff like her phone weren't stacked precariously on top of sound equipment like most DJs Rose knew. Watching her work, she knew enough to ask fairly intelligent questions. At least, she hoped so. Mostly, she tried to keep Lydia talking, partially because she was really interesting and had a wonderful voice that Rose could listen to for hours, and partially to keep herself seeming any more like an idiot fangirl. Much better to be an engaging and well-informed fangirl!

They both swayed in time with the music, Lydia tinkering on her laptop while Rose snuggled into her from behind, watching over her shoulder and loving the warmth and closeness of having her arms wrapped around her.

"What you're doing with those settings?" Rose asked as Lydia adjusted something. "Are you turning it down whenever the song speeds up?"

"Yeah. My speakers and most of what I'm playing was designed with bigger crowds in mind, so I gotta adjust a bit. If I didn't, the sweet spot would be way over there--" she waved off into the river "--and all the music would feel like it was passing over everybody's head"

"But not the slower sections?"

"Usually it's the same, but this is a shitty quality recording." Lydia looked up to flash her a conspiratorial grin. "I really like this song, but the only free versions I can find are live, and I can't edit the last bits of background noise out without taking bits of the music too. So yeah, I gotta help it along a bit to make it sound good. Most of the songs I produce myself I don't have to babysit like this."

She made her own music! "Which were your songs?"

"Some of the remixes and the mashup vocals, like the Titanium one earlier, plus the originals like the ones we were dancing to just now. I play my own when I want to get down and enjoy myself a bit. Did you like them?"

"Oh my god yes!"

"Great! I'm definitely going to ask for feedback later, but right now I'm curious." She shifted something important looking on her laptop, then turned to give Rose her full attention again. "Your hands? May I?"

Rose unconsciously shied back half a step. "Oh, sure," she said, reluctantly letting Lydia take her hand and run her fingers all along her skin.

Rose had climber's hands, and she'd always been shy about them. Between the coarse rock she climbed outdoors, the imitation rocks at the climbing gym that were often even more rough and punishing, and free weights at the regular gym, her hands were more rugged than the average pair of work gloves. Lydia must have felt them while they were dancing. Not only were her nails a disgrace and her skin hard and rough with calluses, after the trip to Cathedral Ledge, she'd had to bandage up a few fingertips that were scraped bloody.

Lydia's hands, by contrast, were soft and smooth, and they felt wonderful as they gently explored. Rose shifted, completely thrown off. Somehow, she felt more revealed than if she'd been naked. At the same time, Lydia's touch was so nice, it was definitely having an effect on her.

"Are you into martial arts?" Lydia guessed.

"No, rock climbing," Rose quickly explained how she and the family all started learning to climb together a few years ago, and now they were touring around tackling as many big walls as they could.

"That sounds like fun. Wish I could watch you." Then, to Rose's complete astonishment, Lydia brought Rose's hand up to her cheek and softly brushed against it. "Your hands are beautiful."

The butterflies flapping around Rose's stomach went into a frenzy! It was all she could do to keep from hyperventilating. "You--um--you can. Watch us, I mean. We do a bit of filming. It's up on YouTube."

"Really? Awesome! What's your channel called?" Lydia grabbed her phone, unfortunately letting go of Rose's hand to do it, and passed it to her.

Rose frowned. This wasn't a web browser or YouTube app, it was open to Lydia's contact list. "What do you--"

Lydia reached over and hit Create New Contact. "Can you put it in the note area? After you put your phone number and socials?"

-------------------

Olivia

Things didn't quite go according to plan. Brittany was a smash success with the D&D crew, so Operation Find New Girl Some Friends was off to a great start. But afterwards, the first two private corners they tried to sneak into to make out in were taken by strangers. And the third one was taken by Alex and Regena. Olivia gave Alex a huge sloppy grin and a pair of thumbs up before rushing off to give her some privacy, but the fact remained that Brittany and her adorably kissable looking mouth remained unkissed.

A problem for later. Brittany caught sight of Hazel and Ivy again in the middle of a chatting circle, and helpfully guided them both over in the middle of somebody's story.

"I can't get a read on her. She swears she's straight, but then she gets on her Insta messages and she's like the thirstiest bi girl I've ever seen."

"She sounds like spaghetti," Brittany joked, quietly enough that she probably meant it to be just for Olivia, but a fluke of conversation flow resulted in it being dead quiet as she said it, and everybody hearing. People laughed, validating Olivia's assumption that the joke would probably have made sense a few drinks ago, but Brittany immediately blushed and shyly ducked out of the spotlight.

Olivia's buzzed mind attempted to make connections. Something to do with meatballs? Straight girls tasted best served with garlic and olive oil? They were much better when paired with Italian wine?

Finally, she gave up. "I've never heard that one before. What's it mean?"

"Oh - you know?" Brittany whispered back, making some hand motions that Olivia didn't even attempt to interpret. "She's like spaghetti - straight until you get her wet."

It took a few seconds to make the connection, but when she did, it just about killed Olivia. She doubled over laughing.

"I'm totally stealing that one," Olivia declared, while the girl she was pretty sure was called Felicity but wasn't confident enough to name out loud, continued the story they'd walked in on.

"Yeah, that's totally her. I swear, you should see her messages. She's got exactly zero filter. It's almost worth the awkwardness for how hot some of the things she says she wishes she could do to me are."

"How about you, Zuri?" Alexandra asked the next person in the circle. "Anything new in your world?" Wait - Alex! That meant her private, shadowy corner was open again! Still choking back laughter, Olivia glanced around, but just as she meant to point it out to Brittany, she saw somebody else moving in. Damnit!

"Actually yeah! I met somebody--"

"Are you okay?" Brittany whispered to Olivia, who was still gasping for air.

"Fucking spaghetti, dude," Olivia gestured in what she thought was a good impression of pasta bending under water, and cracked up all over again as she realized it was the same unintelligible motion Brittany had made before. "Fuck me, I'm sorry. I swear, I'm not usually this much of a drunken idiot."

But far from the consternation she was expecting, Brittany seemed amused. "Don't worry about it. Honestly, thanks so much for introducing me to all your friends."

Which, of course, started Olivia giggling some more while Brittany smiled, waiting patiently to be let in on the joke. "My friends," Olivia said, voice edged with sarcasm. "I've got my main friends, sure, but you know why Alex keeps using people's names when she asks them things? To remind me what their names are. Otherwise, I might accidentally call them out loud what I think in my head."

"And what's that?"

"Metal Head," Olivia nodded surreptitiously at Felicity, who'd opted for mostly steel loops and studs along the rims of her ears, nose, lips and eyebrows tonight, then nodded at Zuri next. "And Sheep Socks. You can't see them now, but she's really good at knitting, and she makes these super comfortable wool socks every Christmas."

This time, it was Brittany's turn to laugh. "I'm so happy to hear somebody else say that."

"Why?"

"Because now I know I'm not the only one who can't remember names to save my life."

Yeah, the warmth spreading through Olivia definitely wasn't just the booze. It definitely had a lot to do with the genuine delight at finding a kindred spirit that Brittany somehow managed to communicate with her eyes.

"--It was a great date," Zuri was saying. "We got Italian food, she ordered us a really nice bottle of wine, then we went and saw Barbie."

"Wasn't it awesome? We loved it, it was lots of fun!" Ivy gushed from the other side of the circle, Hazel nodding fervently beside her.

"Yeah! I've had Indigo Girls stuck in my head ever since. It left us feeling really hyped up and pumped for anything!" Zuri gave them all a meaningful look, leaving little to the imagination what kind of anything they'd had in mind. "So, I got her into bed, we started cuddling, clothes came off... and then..." she paused dramatically. "Then she spent the next hour crying about her ex."

"What the fuck!?!"

"No way!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Zuri laughed. "But we talked about it, and I know how much like coping it sounds, but I felt like we connected."

"Bonding over how much she misses her ex?" Alex sounded doubtful.

"Anyway," Zuri ignored her, "I'm seeing her again next week."

"Great! We can hear how that goes after Hazel's first date with Mary."

"Oh!" Zuri exclaimed, turning with the rest of the circle to Hazel, who was clearly not expecting to become the center of attention. "She's the one in your office you like, right? You finally asked her out? Congrats!"

"Not yet! Alex left off some details."

"Some kind of important ones," Ivy put in. "Like not being sure she likes women yet."

Alex waved her arms emphatically. "We went over that! She definitely does!"

"And not being sure she likes Hazel that way, even if she likes women in general," Ivy continued over Alex. "And not being sure she'd be into a workplace relationship, even if she likes Hazel."

"Those are pretty important details," Regina said, an amused eyebrow raised at Alex, who didn't back down for a second.

"You know what? You're right. I'll ask her for you, leave it all to me."

"YOU WILL NOT!" Hazel exclaimed.

"Somebody has to! If not me, it's got to be you."

"Just watch me!"

"You've got some dramatic friends," Brittany whispered again to Olivia.

"I definitely do," Olivia agreed with an affectionate grin at them. "But Alex wasn't really serious just now."

"She wasn't?"

"Nah. She's just trying to get Hazel fired up. Give her a little push to take the plunge, yaknow?"

"Oh, gotcha."

"But yeah, in terms of drama, you don't know the half of it." She backed them both a step outside the circle, giving them space to talk together. "See that group by the TV? Those are the Wine Dads. Like, they actually call themselves that, they've got bumper stickers and everything. Those men have drama that puts everybody else to shame."

"Seriously, though. I really like it. Like, how... normal it feels, I guess? If that makes sense?"

"Of course it makes sense!" Olivia declared. "Just... explain it to me anyway."

Brittany grinned her amusement at Olivia's drunkenness. "Like, back in New York with my friends there, it was always just me as the token lesbian. They're who I play Final Fantasy with still, and they're all great people, but I've never felt like I really fit. It's all guys, and they expect me to be just one of the bros or whatever. Sure, I had a few girlfriends, but even then it was just us."

Fuck. She glanced back at Alex, Hazel and Ivy as Rose's image swam across her mind's eye. Life without her family? Olivia shuddered, pushing the thought away. "That sucks." She wrapped an arm around Brittany, momentarily forgetting she was trying to seduce her and going for friendly and supportive instead. "Well, you're always welcome to hang out with us."

Brittany's eyes did the thing again that turned Olivia's insides to goo. "Are you sure? I don't want to intrude."

"Too late, it's already decided. You're officially adopted."

"Oh shit. Whatever shall I tell my parents?" Brittany laughed.

"That you've run away to join the circus. As you'll find out when you get to know us, it's not too far from the truth anyway. Now, if you'll excuse me, I gotta find the bathroom." Yeah, find was definitely the right word. Despite knowing exactly where it was, weaving her way between people without tipping over or getting lost felt like an adventure.

When she finished, Alex was waiting for her. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

Olivia cursed inwardly. It was so tempting to lie, and she might have done it if she'd felt like she could pull it off. But she didn't, and even in her state, that registered as bad. "Drunk," she admitted. "Am I bad?"

"No, you're fine so far - mostly just silly," Alex said, gently. "But you did just weave across a straight line like it was a maze."

Olivia looked back at where the rest were standing, and sure enough, there was a direct path right there that she'd inexplicably missed. Shiiiit. "Do you think I should go home?"

"I think you're probably fine, but you definitely shouldn't have any more. And you should probably not go home with Brittany tonight either."

"Whatever happened to all of us hooking up tonight! Or whatever you said yesterday," Olivia couldn't help teasing Alex, then quickly added when her expression turned worried. "I'm just fucking with ya, I get it. I don't want to fuck it up going back to her house and throwing up in her bed or something."

"Could be worse. You could get to her bed and cry about Amy all night," Alex joked back.

"Right! God, Zuri must be even more desperate than us." Olivia closed her eyes, knowing what the best choice was, but reluctant to say it. "Fine. Do you mind going to find Rose for me while I say goodnight?"

"Yeah, no problem."

"And thanks for looking out for me."

Alex waved her off dismissively. "Please, I'm just getting rid of you to eliminate the competition."

"Oh, fuck you, bitch! You've got Regina wrapped around your finger already, and you know it."

-------------------

Rose

Rose saw Alex coming and smiled to herself. That time already, huh? "I'm going to have to go in a second," she told Lydia, regretfully.

"Gotcha. It's about time for me to start packing all this up anyway," she waved at her setup and speakers. "I'll text you about dinner."

"Yeah, great," Rose nodded, waving Alex over, then realized what Lydia had said. "Wait, what dinner?"

Lydia smirked. "The one you just agreed to go on with me."

Fortunately, Alex saved her from having to figure out a response to that. "There you are! I've been looking--Oh!" Her eyes did that thing they always did when she was appraising fashion. "Nice."

"Thanks!"

"To think, Liv was teasing me about dressing like it's a costume party. Nice vest, Shane."

That's a new one. "Who?" She asked, and Alex gave her a look like she wasn't sure she was being serious.

"Shane McCutcheon? Christ, woman, we have to get you a Netflix subscription. Google her, the episode with her in a vest like that one will be the first image to pop up." And, apparently considering Rose suitably chastised, she turned to Lydia. "New friend of yours?"

"Yeah, this is Lydia," Rose introduced them, pointedly ignoring Alex's knowing smirk. "So, Liv?"

"Yeah, Liv."

"Is she bad tonight?"

"Nah, she's fine. Just a few too many, yaknow."

"Got it."

Rose followed Alex inside and was surprised to find their friend in the middle of a goodbye hug with the blue-haired girl she'd been dancing with earlier. She shook her head, amused. Small world. No doubt she'd get a detailed breakdown in the car.

Olivia's back was to them, and Rose was about to give a greeting, but Alex stopped her. She flashed Rose another quick smirk, then got right behind Olivia and whispered breathily in her ear "Weeendigoooo."

Olivia jumped about a foot in the air, spinning wildly and then cursing Alex for all she was worth when she finally realized her soul wasn't in mortal peril.

"Inside joke?" Brittany guessed, an eyebrow raised.

"Nah, they're just like that," Rose responded. "Liv will get her back soon enough."

Alex was whispering in Olivia's ear now, both of them eyeing Rose like foxes, then innocently pretending it was nothing. As Rose had expected, they'd barely gotten into the car and out onto the road before Olivia burst. "Let me see if I got this right. You dance with somebody, you caress her hair--"

"--It wasn't a caress! It was just a gentle touch--"

"--There's a word for that! It's caress!"

"--Because she couldn't hear and I needed to say I liked it."

"So dancing, plus slow gentle touches on her hair, plus compliments, plus skin on skin contact she clearly liked."

"It wasn't clear," Rose protested weakly.

"All that, and it still didn't register that she liked you?"

Glancing over, Olivia had her eyebrow raised so high it had vanished under her hat. "Well, Brittany ended up with you! That's a good thing. How did you like her?"

"She's fantastic. She's actually in need of some good gay friends, she's been othered all her life. I'm going to try to include her in things with us, see if she fits in."

"Good."

Olivia changed tones, started saying something, but then hiccupped and hid her face in her hands. "Fuck, I'm gonna be so hung over tomorrow." She tried again, imitating Alex's gossip queen intrigue. "So, what's this Alex told me about a DJ?"

"Lydia!" Rose glanced over again and gave Olivia a wink. "I think she likes me."

"Oh! You THINK she likes you?" Olivia's voice overflowed sarcasm, making them both laugh. "What did she do to get through to you? Toss you up against a wall and shove her tongue in your mouth?"

"Almost. She complimented my hands."

"Huh. Interesting." Olivia examined her own hands, which were similar to Rose's but not quite as beaten up. "Well, she's a keeper. I get to be your maid of honor, right?"

As they wound lazily along the dark, deserted roads toward home, Olivia got steadily quieter. Rose asked her what she should do for dinner with Lydia, and turned to find her with her head back, eyes closed, breathing steadily. Rose smiled and gently slowed her driving, easing her way into the turns to disturb her friend as little as possible until they finally pulled into the garage.

She half led, half carried Olivia up to their apartment, then into Olivia's room and laid her out on her bed. A murmured goodnight, and she was about to leave, but Olivia spoke behind her.

"She broke up with me because she was jealous of you," she said.

"Amy?"

"Yeah." Olivia coughed, turned over and cursed her imminent hangover again. "We were cuddling, being cute, and she asked what I liked about her. I thought she was just trying to be flirty before things got sexy, didn't really think about it, so I said... whatever, it doesn't matter. The point is, she said it was all stuff that was good about you, not her. Which was bullshit, and I tried to tell her, but... well, it doesn't matter. The point is she couldn't handle how close I am with you." Olivia shook her head, half angry, half hurt. "Like, can't lesbians just be friends? Can't we be roommates without everybody expecting us to fuck every night? I mean, like, if we wanted to fuck, we would have done it years ago. Why can't people understand that?"

Rose sat next to Olivia's sprawled out form on her bed and rested a comforting hand on her side. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah. I guess. Like I said, I'm really not that broken up about Amy herself. It's just that thing that's fucking with my head." She turned over to look up at Rose, face more full of hurt than her words let on, and Rose instantly pulled her up and wrapped her up in her arms.

"Hey, it's okay. It's just one bad breakup. Plenty of people understand us. Alex, Hazel, Ivy."

"Yeah, but how many serious, good girlfriends have we had? Either of us? What if--"

"Hey!" Rose said, forcefully, and Olivia jumped a little in her embrace. "It's okay! We just haven't found the right people. We will, and when we do, they'll understand us and love us for who we are."

Olivia sighed and yawned. "I know. I just... you know, get worked up when I drink."

"I know. It's okay," Rose smiled and squeezed her hand reassuringly. "I'm always here for you."

"I know you are," Olivia said, sleepy again. "And I love you for it."

Rose gently leaned Olivia back down, guiding her head to the pillow and slowly running her hand along her side, comforting her while humming the tunes to some of Lydia's songs. Gradually, as Rose rubbed her side and back, the tension drained out of Olivia's body, and her breathing slowed to a steady peaceful snore.

Quietly, Rose turned off the lights and closed the door, then crossed the hall to her own room. Poor Liv, she must have kept that to herself thinking it would upset her if she told her. Stupid, though if she was being fair, Olivia's concern wasn't irrational. Every romantic relationship Rose had ever had ended with her partner hating her. It was so consistent, she'd started internalizing the feeling as inevitable, and Olivia knew better than anybody how much it messed her up. God knows she'd had to pick up the pieces of her shattered emotions enough times. It was why she'd limited herself to exclusively casual flings for more than a year. Just fun that never got serious enough to hurt. It was safer.

The suggestion that she could ever lose Olivia like that? Even if it was just from a jealous ex-girlfriend, merely thinking about it made Rose sick. Never. She loved Olivia far too much to doom their sisterhood over something as dumb as sex.