Chapter Text
(December 26th)
The first to fall asleep was the first to awake the next morning, though when they opened their eyes at first, they almost jumped and fell out of the bed. It only took them a fraction of a second to remember that they were back in LA, visiting their best friends, and staying at the Boonchuy’s house, currently lying right next to the sweetest, kindest girl they’d ever known.
They’ve had tons of sleepovers before, not so many just with Anne and themself, but it was still really enjoyable! And even though their cheeks were now flushed a light pink from being so close, it was still totally 100% platonic! They were going to have a nice, fun, friendshippy time here with Anne and Sasha!
A small part of them mentally slaps their face, telling them not to lie to themself anymore, but they just told it to shut up.
They look back at the girl who was still peacefully sleeping, splayed across most of the bed and snoring. They remember the comforting sound of her snoring from sleepovers long ago, often missed after they moved away.
Now, some might not be able to sleep to the sound of snoring right next to them. Marcy, on the other hand, finds comfort in it, because to them it reassures that their cr- BEST FRIEND is there. She’s really there.
Inside their brain, they groan and slap their face again.
They give a quiet sigh and close their eyes, drifting off comfortably into a light sleep.
- - - - - -
The following days were amazing, they both loved to be around each other again.
But Anne somehow felt.. Different, around Marcy now. She couldn’t put it into words, but she knew that all she wanted to do was hug them, hold their hand, and pull them close, never letting them go.
It wasn’t until they were watching a show together and the main two characters kissed that she figured it out.
“ Oh ..” She breathed out softly.
“Did you say something, AnnaBanana?” Marcy looked at her from their spot on the couch, giving her the sweetest smile ever, and she thought she could melt right then and there.
“Oh, umm, no.. I just realized something,” Anne looked away, trying to cover up her now flushed cheeks.
“Alright then,” They took her hand and played with it, resting their head on her shoulders. Anne was glad Marcy couldn’t see her face now, because it felt as hot as fire.
Marcy, however, was also having a hard time hiding their blushing. They’d realized their own crush on Anne years ago, but being here with her now.. Just made them so, SO happy, and it was difficult to not tell her.
Maybe one day .. They thought, but when they saw Anne’s reaction to that kiss scene and just how red her face looked, they couldn’t help but wonder. Was Anne thinking of someone right then? Part of them hoped it was them, but the other part told them that it was a selfish thought, and there was no way Anne felt the same way towards them.
Maybe one day .
Aside from that, watching television together was a warm, familiar feeling, for both of them. Anne smiled like a love-struck puppy as Marcy comments on anything and everything about the show - whether it’s the dialog, how it’s written, or just telling her fun facts.
Halfway through, though, Marcy seemed to realize they were ranting again.
“Sorry.. Still have a habit of commentary on shows.. Heh..”
“No, no, please keep going! I like it!” Anne immediately replied honestly, a light blush spreading across her cheeks, but smiling genuinely like the kind girl she is.
And for Marcy, it was having Anne there with them, sitting on the couch and cuddling watching TV together. They continued to go on about the show’s lore as they watched it, and they couldn’t help but notice Anne sometimes smiling at them. This was interesting..
- - - - - -
(December 27th)
“Do you wanna go on a walk?” Anne asks after breakfast. She has to work a shift at Thai Go later that afternoon, but they still have some time to kill beforehand. She’d been officially working there for a few months, now getting paid regularly as an employee! Her parents had let her take yesterday off to catch up a bit more with Marcy, but now she had to return to her regular schedule.
“Yeah, sure!” Marcy said eagerly. They put their dishes in the dishwasher, tying their now shoulder-length hair into a ponytail and headed into the bathroom to get changed out of their pajamas.
After they were both ready and had on jackets and such, they headed out. Anne usually jogged, but she decided to take it easy with Marcy and just walk. After a short while, she noticed them trying to catch their breath.
“You okay?” She turned her head to face them with worry.
Marcy decides to be dramatic. “My back and legs hurtttt, AnnaBanana. How do people go on walks regularly!?”
“Oh no, are you ok? Do we need to head back?” Anne’s poor sweet heart worries she might’ve pushed them too far, oblivious to the dramaticness Marcy is portraying.
Sensing this, Marcy breaks their act. “No I’m fine,” They smile at her. “Just not used to walking a lot since I usually sit around and do art most of the day.”
“Oh okay. Let me know if this is too much for you, alright?” She takes Marcy’s hand and intertwines it with hers, squeezing it softly.
“Alright.”
And they walk hand-in-hand in a comfortable silence for most of the way back home, both probably overthinking things, but it’s nice, and they're both there together. And isn’t that what really matters?
- - - - - -
(Later that day)
Some afternoons, Anne has to work at Thai Go, so Marcy hangs out with Sasha in the meantime. It was good, since they haven’t hung out with just the two of them in awhile. They liked to go and get boba and just talk, discussing anything, really.
“So, how’s being back in LA going?” Sasha takes a sip of her boba and leans back into the chair at a nearby boba shop.
“It’s AWESOME!” Marcy practically shouts, and realizing this, settles down. “Heh..”
Sasha lets out a warm laugh, smiling at them. “I’m glad! And how’s being with Anne~” She sing-songs Anne’s name to tease them.
Marcy blushes, trying to cover it up by taking a long sip of their boba. “Good.” They deadpan.
Sasha gives them a knowing look, almost snickering.
“You’re gonna tell her soon, right?”
“Tell her wha-” The realization hits Marcy, who almost chokes on the boba. “Uh- I, well- no.”
“Why not? C’mon, Marce. You’re gonna have to tell her someday.”
“But what if she doesn’t feel the same way..” They say vulnerability. “And what of because of this, I ruin everything- our friendship, and she doesn’t want to talk to me ever again, a-”
Sasha interrupts them before their worries get any worse. “There’s no way she doesn’t feel the same way.”
“How do you know?” Marcy asks, raising an eyebrow.
“Oh gosh, let’s see,” Sasha starts listing off the ways on her fingers. “The two of you have always been pretty touchy, but she still loves to hold your hand, even now. I’ve caught her staring at pictures of you before, and-”
She cuts off to look at Marcy, who now looks like a tomato, and tries not to laugh.
“And the way she looks at you just screams she’s in love with you.”
“..Really?”
“Yeah, and you need to tell her before it’s too late.”
Marcy looks down at the table, sighing.
“..I.. I’ll try.”
- - - - - -
(December 29th)
The smell of fresh pancakes drifted throughout the Boonchuy’s house. It was peaceful and calm, at least up until a yelp came from the kitchen.
“Aaaah!”
“Marcy!” Anne rushes forward, grabbing the frying pan that is now on fire and tossing it into the sink, instantly distinguishing it.
Marcy blinks before coughing a bit at the puff of smoke coming from the sink. “Oops.. thanks.”
“No problem, dude.” Anne laughs lightheartedly. “Still can magically set things on fire, huh?”
“Guilty as charged,” Marcy holds up their hands. “The poor pancakes though..”
“It’s all good, we were out of batter anyway, and we still got most of them made.. Aside from those two. I mean, unless you want to eat them.”
“No no! Please, they’re so burnt!” They laugh.
“Okay okay, just teasing you.” Anne smiles. “On the other side, though, you’re pretty good at cooking!”
“Until I ‘magically set things on fire.’”
“But you didn’t at all until now!”
“True..” Marcy considers until their stomach rumbles. “Can we eat now? I’m starving.”
“Yes please.” Anne says as they both get their plates and stack a huge amount of pancakes on it. Surprisingly, they can eat most of them. Guess they were really hungry after all!
- - - - - -
(December 31st)
A few days had passed and it had almost been a whole week since Marcy got there. They and Anne were currently in her room, waiting for Sasha to get there for a small New Years party/sleepover they were having, just the three of them, Anne’s parents, and Domino.
“Oh I forgot! I got you something.” Marcy races over to their suitcase across Anne’s room, digging through it and pulling out a small bag. They’d forgotten all about it, too distracted the past week to remember to give it to her.
Anne just watches from her bed, and Marcy comes over to sit next to her, handing her the bag. “Awe thank you, but you didn’t have to get me anything, Mar-Mar. You coming here is enough, you know.”
“I know, but I wanted to.” They fiddled with their hands, looking nervous.
Anne smiled and opened the bag, taking out a small ornament with a drawing of her and Sprig, Polly, Hop-Pop, Bessie, Microangelo, and Frobo. Her eyes welled up as she set the bag down, caressing the ornament like it was the most fragile, beautiful thing in the world. “Marcy..”
“I-if you don’t like it-”
“It’s perfect.” She sniffled, wiping stray tears away with her sleeve, and turning to hug the other person. “Thank you so, so much.”
Marcy leaned in to the hug, rubbing Anne’s back. “I know you miss them..”
“I do.” Anne pulled away so she could face them. “But now.. It’ll be like they’re here with me in the Christmas season.” She smiled, making Marcy’s heart feel like it was melting, even in the winter.
She stared at the ornament in warmth, pulling Marcy into a side hug.
A moment later, Anne blinks. “Awe man..”
“What's wrong?”
“I already mailed you your present.”
“Oh. That’s okay!”
“You’ll just have to call me when you get back, alright?” Anne nudges them with her elbow.
Marcy sighs. “I don’t wanna go back, AnnaBanana. I like being here with you and Sasha.”
“Hey, no being sad!” Anne chides lightheartedly. “We still have more than a week!”
“Yeah, you’re right,” They rested their head on Anne’s shoulder, smiling gently. “Still have more than a week left.”
“ And ,” Anne added, “I could try to visit you during spring break? And there’s always summer break, too..”
Marcy gasped as they realized just how long summer break actually was, memories of the past summers together flooding their mind. “You’re right! And I’d love it if you'd come visit me sometime.” Their smile was now big and full of joy, making Anne smile, too.
- - - - - -
Soon after, Sasha arrived, the three of them squealing and laughing like years ago, except this time with no manipulation, thank goodness.
Eventually they sat down at the table, ready for dinner. Mr and Mrs Boonchuy were across from each other on one end of it, Anne, Sasha, and Marcy on the other. They all quietly talked to each other - one side more so - and started eating.
Sasha sat next to Anne, who was across from Marcy, and raised her eyebrow at them. Seeing this, Marcy just about froze, fork halfway to mouth; they knew exactly what Sasha was trying to tell them.
Shaking their head, they mouthed “No!” Which in turn only made Anne look at them and Sasha questioninly. Sasha admitted defeat and changed the subject. Well, they still have more than a week left .
“Oh, so I was wondering if either of you wanted to visit that old park we met at sometime this week?”
“Oh-my-frog I almost forgot about that park!” Marcy quickly exclaimed.
Anne smiled at the person across from her, seeing their excitement and joy. “Yeah, we should totally do that!”
“Awesome!” Sasha smiled as well, remembering the time she had first met the two. While she was remembering, she couldn’t help noticing the way Anne and Marcy kept staring at each other “secretly,” or so they thought. The other didn’t seem to notice, though, and she internally snickered at both of their obliviousness.
After they finished dinner, they headed up to Anne’s room to watch a movie. Anne didn’t say what movie it was beforehand when they asked her, but when Marcy saw her turn on War of the Warlocks, their eyes glimmered and they squealed. The other two giggled lightheartedly seeing their excitement for this movie still.
“I hope you still like War of the Warlocks?” Anne raised a brow playfully.
“YESSS!!” They exclaimed. They’d all watched it together without falling asleep at a sleepover just before Marcy moved away, and to say it made them happy was an understatement; they were practically over the moon.
“Good,” Sasha said this time. “Y’know, from what I remember, it actually has a good plot.”
“Yeah! I thought it might be fun to watch it together again. And we have some time to kill, considering it’s only 6:30.” Anne quickly checked the time, then glanced over to Marcy again as they bounced and flapped their hands, smiling warmly.
They all quieted down as the movie started, quietly whispering to each other throughout parts of it and taking a quick break not even halfway through as they were getting hungry again, deciding to go get some popcorn from the kitchen.
- - - - - -
Three hours later after the credits came on, they all got up and stretched, checking the time again only to find out they still had a while to go before midnight, so they just decided to hang out in Anne’s room and talk, trying not to fall asleep even though they were all pretty tired. Even though they had mostly caught up before, they found there were still some things to talk about; Driving (And how it was going for them,) Marcy wanting to start a webcomic and their idea for it, College, Anne looking into becoming a herpetologist and Sasha wanting to get a Psych degree, stuff like that.
They also talked about visiting each other and when, since they definitely wanted to, especially since the next coming years would be hectic for all of them, and they wanted to make up for lost time.
Soon, it was almost midnight (For them at least,) And they went downstairs to celebrate with Mr and Mrs Boonchuy. They counted down, screaming “Happy New Year!” And laughing together.
A little while after that, they decided that it was too late and they were all tired, so Anne, Sasha, and Marcy headed back up to Anne’s room to crash.
It didn’t take any of them long to fall asleep, happy and content that they all got to spend time with each other.
- - - - - -
(January 2nd)
It’d been about a day after Sasha had gone back home after their sleepover, and Anne and Marcy were still tired after waking up this morning, yawning and just lounging around the house. Currently they were on the living room couch, Mr and Mrs Boonchuy having gone to Thai Go already. Anne had a shift later, but for now she could just chill with Marcy in their PJ’s and watch cat memes on her phone.
They were sitting next to each other, though one looked more nervous all of a sudden. “Everything okay, Mar-Mar?” Anne asked the other person.
“I love you,” Marcy randomly blurts out, unable to keep it in any longer.
“I love you too, Marbles..” Anne tried to upkeep her smile, pushing down the awful feeling that creeped inside her, since those three little words had taken on a different meaning for her recently.
“No, Anne, I love you,” Marcy repeated, this time with more emphasis. They scooted a little closer to her, taking a deep breath.
Anne’s eyes went wide, her breath catching in her throat. Marcy likes me back!?
“ Oh ,” Was all she could muster out then, until her brain finally processed this after repeating Marcy’s words over and over again in her head. She felt giddy, and excited, smiling uncontrollably. Marcy likes me back .
Marcy’s eyes searched her expression, they looked afraid, starting to ramble.
“I’m sorry, I don’t expect you to feel the same way, I’m sorry I brought this up, I just couldn’t keep it in any longer while looking at your beautiful face, and-”
“Marcy,” She breathed, cupping their cheeks gently. Marcy let out a small squeak, their eyes growing wider after realizing what was happening. Their eyes seemed to sparkle, pure adoration written on their face.
“ Oh .”
“Can I?..” Marcy nodded, and Anne took a second to gather up her courage before pressing her lips softly against theirs.
When it ended, they both quietly gasped to themselves, taking in the feeling. Anne smiled warmly at Marcy, letting out an “I love you too, Marbles..” Marcy felt their eyes tear up a bit, the realization was still dawning on them.
After a moment of just staring at each other, Marcy gathered up all the courage they had before quietly asking her a question, to which Anne could not hear. “Could you repeat that again please?” She asked with the kindest voice Marcy thought they’d ever hear.
They took another deep breath. “Do you wanna be my girlfriend?..”
“Of course!” Anne just about shouted, then winced as she realized how loud she answered. Marcy blinked, taking in the answer, before grinning in pure joy as they pulled Anne into a hug, to which Anne happily hugged them back without hesitation.
Suddenly, Anne burst out laughing for some reason. Confused but unable to help it, Marcy caught the giggles too.
“Sorry, sorry,” Anne tried to get out without laughing any further, to no avail.
“Why are you laughingggg!?” Marcy jokingly accused.
“I don’t know,” Anne could barely get out in-between giggles.
Marcy fake pouted, making Anne laugh even more. They tried to keep a straight face, but soon they started giggling again.
They both fell onto the ground, clutching their ribs that were now hurting while trying to catch their breath. Eventually, they could stop laughing and just smiled at each other; no words were needed, they had each other and that was enough.
- - - - - -
(Awhile later before Anne’s shift at Thai Go)
They went back up to Anne’s room to get ready a few minutes later after Sasha texted that she was on her way to the Boonchuy’s house. Anne and Marcy had already eaten breakfast beforehand, so they didn’t have to worry about that. They raced back downstairs as soon as they heard Sasha ring the doorbell, and took off on their adventure to the nearby park.
They walked around for a bit before deciding to sit down at a bench and watch some younger kids play. Not too long after, Anne leaned closer to Marcy and whispered in their ear. “You wanna tell her?”
“Tell her what? Ohh, okay. You sure?”
“Only if you want to.”
“Alright, what are you whispering to each other about?” Sasha laughed lightheartedly, she couldn’t hear what exactly they were whispering about, but she was pretty certain something happened.
“ItoldAnneIloveherandthenshekissedmeandnowshesmygirlfriend,” Marcy blurted out quickly, blushing very hard all of a sudden.
“Wait, what happened? Can you slow down please?” Sasha couldn’t keep the giggles out of her voice, she heard Marcy pretty well, but wanted to make sure that’s what actually happened.
Marcy stalled, looking back at Anne, who smirked and declared proudly, “I am the great Marcy Wu’s girlfriend now.”
Sasha gasped, turning back to Marcy, “Yess you finally told her!” She looked back at Anne next, “And you kissed them! And now you’re dating!” Finally, she looked back at Marcy again. “I told you Anne felt the same way.”
“Wait, you knew !?” Anne accused them both jokingly.
“She figured it out first!” Marcy pointed at Sasha, defending themself.
“Because you’re not subtle about it!” Sasha shot right back at them.
They all ended up in a giggling fit before Sasha spoke back up, smiling. “Seriously, I’m happy for you both.”
The other two smiled back before Marcy reached out and booped her. “Thanks, Sashy.” And when Sasha reached out to boop them back, they ran away, making her gasp dramatically, then trying to boop Anne, who in turn only booped her and also ran. They started a booping war, laughing and chasing each other throughout the park.
- - - - - -
(January 7th)
The following days flew by, the trio had mostly hung out together, but when they weren’t, it was either Sasha and Marcy hanging out, talking and laughing, or Anne and Marcy cuddling, giggling, and giving each other kisses. Sasha (And Mr and Mrs Boonchuy when they told them, too,) thought they were adorable and deserved all the happiness.
But then, just like that, winter break was over, and that meant Marcy had to go back home. Well, home to where they had moved. To them, though, home would always be here with Anne and Sasha.
They all promised to call and text each other more, and to make an effort in traveling to see each other. And as they said their goodbyes and made their promises to each other, they knew that everything would be okay.
- - - - - -
(Eight years later)
It was the end of November, and Anne and Marcy were in their house, decorating their new Christmas tree. They had (painfully) waited until Thanksgiving was over to get one, but now that it finally was, they allowed themselves to decorate practically everything Christmas related, and the tree was the final thing left.
“Aww, Marce look!” Anne finished digging out the box of ornaments, revealing the one Marcy had made her eight years ago. They walked over to their wife, placing a hand on her shoulder as they looked over it.
“Oh my frog..” They smiled.
“Remember that winter?” Anne looked back at her, beaming. “That’s when you finally told me you love mee,” She playfully teased and gave them a little shove.
“Yep, I remember that,” They giggled, watching as their wife put the final ornament in the middle of the tree so they could see it every time they walked by. She stepped back, turning around a little so she could hug her wife and give them a little kiss on their cheek, looking back at the tree afterwards.
Marcy hummed in content, standing there for a minute before reminding her about their plans for the day.
“We should probably head out now if we want to meet Sasha on time..”
“Right,” Anne kissed their cheek again before gently pulling them over to the door where their coats were. “Wouldn’t want Sash to think we ditched her.”
They walked out of their house, holding each other’s hand while doing so to go meet Sasha at the little park they’d met at so long ago. They might’ve been a tiny bit late, but that was fine. They had all the time in the world.