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It was an unremarkable day when Frankie finally figured it out. To be honest, she didn't even know what day it was, only that it was a week day because she and Grace were huddled at the table working on orders for Vybrant.
"Grace," Frankie breathed.
"What?" the other woman replied, looking up from her computer.
"Has it occurred to you that we are dating?" Frankie bluntly asked.
"Ha! What in the world makes you think that?"
"This isn't funny. I'm serious. We live together, we work together, we grocery shop together. Hell, you're even my emergency contact."
"Frankie, that's because we are room mates and we own a business together, not because we are dating."
"What about the hot air balloon, Grace? You hate those things, but you got on that for me."
"That's because you're my best friend I thought you were going to leave with Jacob. I was being nice."
"That officer that came to the house thought you were my wife. I didn't correct him."
"My God, Frankie. That's because you insist on sealing a promise with a kiss on the forehead. As for you not correcting him, that's on you. I have no idea why you didn't." Grace was squirming in her seat now. The truth was that she could actually see how the officer had made that mistake. She had never put up a fight about the promise-kiss thing, and she didn't recall correcting him either.
"Graaaace," Frankie drawled. "You didn't correct him either. You even brought up Jacob. Have you noticed that I did not go to Santa Fe with him? Do you think that might have had something to do with you?"
Grace removed her glasses, gently pinching the bridge of her nose. "I don't know, Frankie. Honestly, I try not to think about our relationship because it confuses the hell out of me. I often wonder how we got here."
"That's kind of my point. Where exactly do you think 'here' is? Go ahead. Think about it for a minute. I'll wait." She crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat, watching Grace carefully.
Grace pursed her lips as her mind worked to put a name to their relationship other than "here." "Best friend" was more than "roommate," but it still somehow didn't seem like enough to describe the bond that she felt they shared. They'd come to depend on one another, they respected one another, and they loved one another. She knew that, but she also didn't feel like "dating" was the correct definition of what they were doing either. People that were dating did things that she and Frankie most definitely did not do, not that Frankie hadn't offered... "Oh my God!"
"See!" Frankie exclaimed. "You see it, don't you?"
"Yes," Grace sighed. "... and no. There's a line that we haven't crossed. We're somewhere in between best friends and dating, I think."
"What line?" Frankie asked.
"The one that only you have tried to cross, Frankie."
"Oh." Frankie said, thinking about the whispers of, 'Do you want me to do stuff to you?' 'No. Stop asking me that.' "Well, have you ever considered changing your answer?" she asked.
Grace thought about it. The truth was that she had considered it every single time Frankie had ever asked. That was exactly why she had told her to stop asking. She didn't want to lie to Frankie, so she didn't. "Only every single time you asked. It was so confusing, like when you start moaning when I rub your sternum. That's why I stopped doing that and why I told you to stop asking."
"Do you want me to do things to you?" Frankie grinned at her.
Grace sighed. "Oh, what the hell. Why not?" With that she got up and met Frankie, who had gotten up as well, halfway between their chairs.
"Are you sure?" Frankie asked, suddenly unsure of herself. "There's no going back from this."
"Good," Grace stated as she finally closed the distance between them.
When their lips met for the first time, their world shifted. Both of them, at 73 years old, finally felt complete for the first time in their lives. They were definitely dating.