Chapter Text
Coming out wasn’t planned. Okay, that’s not true. They always planned to do it, they just didn’t expect it to happen at that exact moment. Marlene was never one to shy away from conflict, she was always unapologetically herself. She had had to deal with prejudice for a long time; teachers who told her to get rid of or hide her natural hair, later when they told her to remove her rainbow wristbands and lesbian pride pin. She transferred to H. Dore College and got the chance to be proud of her body, and her identity, but that defensive nature never left her. She didn’t want it to (Dorcas didn’t want her to either, it was who she was.)
They had forgotten, though, that becoming famous or thereabouts had made it so that they had to be cautious. No more kissing on street corners, no more obvious dates. Nothing in public. No more being themselves. It was exhausting, but they had worked too hard to stop now.
Until it wasn’t their choice anymore.
They were careful. They stayed in their own home, and put on the gal-pal mask when out in public, or doing shoots, or meeting fans.
“Marls!” Marlene heard Dorcas calling her as she stepped through the door. Marlene didn’t think much of it, not moving her eyes from the lyrics she was working on.
“Marlene?” She looked up then, Dorcas was in the doorway and she looked distressed, her tone bordering on frantic.
“Baby? What’s wrong.”
Dorcas walked to her, slamming a magazine onto the table Marlene was seated at.
Marlene looked at the magazine for five long, agonising seconds. Her eyes widened, breath stopped and her heart beat out of control. The front cover was a photograph taken from outside of their apartment building, focused on a couple kissing, only half obscured by cream coloured curtains. It was clear that it was her and Dorcas. Dorcas had her arms around Marlene's waist, tugging her closer. Marlene had her hands in Dorcas’s soft, blonde hair. They looked comfortable on the cover, not knowing how their privacy was being violated.
“What’re we going to do?” Dorcas whispered, voice cracking.
Marlene pulled her into a hug, smoothing her hair and making soothing noises in her ear. “It’s okay sweet thing, we’ll figure it out.”
They did not figure it out. Well, they did, it just took a few hours, many, many tears and half a dozen phone calls to various people.