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When eventually Joana texted back, it startled Cris. After waiting for over an hour for that damn picture, she had given up and had launched a movie on her laptop, phone long forgotten on her bedside table.
“Hurry!”
Along the one-worded text was a picture, but Cris frowned when her beautiful girlfriend’s face didn’t appear right away. Instead, she was greeted with a sight she knew way too well. Not thinking twice, Cris jumped out of bed, grabbing the nearest sweater she could find, and slipped out the door. Crossing her apartment quietly, as not to wake up her family, she threw on a pair of slippers before leaving her place. Everything was a blur after that, and all she could remember was climbing the stairs of her apartment building two by two, not caring about her lack of breath until she reached her destination.
Once at the top floor, she took a minute to catch her breath, leaning against the door she had opened oh so many times before. She hadn’t been there since... that day. Since Joana had left her stranded. She could still hear these two words echoing, she could feel the pattern of her necklace digging into her palm as she immediately gave it back to her and she cursed herself for the nth time since that day for not having handled the situation better.
Once her breathing evened out, she shook the memory off and opened the door. She had only seen her girlfriend in passing lately, both of them too busy studying to actually hang out. She couldn’t wait to tell her about how long the days had seemed without her and how much she had missed her, but everything she was about to say got lost at the tip of her tongue when she spotted her girlfriend. There she was, in all her glory, sporting her infamous jeans jacket and that half smirk Cris wanted to kiss off of her face everyday but couldn’t because they were constantly in public. She was surrounded by pillows and plaids and lit candles and Cris wanted to ask how she had gotten to the rooftop without alarming anyone. Seeing that Cris had yet to move or even just say something, Joana stood up and walked to her girlfriend.
“Hey there beautiful”
That seemed to snap Cris back to reality, and she smiled so big, wondering why oh why she had ever been scared of.. this.
“Joana, this is... wow.”
Joana smiled, caressing her girlfriend’s cheek, before letting her hands fall down the length of the blonde’s arms until she could intertwine theirs fingers together.
“I’m sorry. I suck at taking pictures of myself, so I figured I’d just show it to y...”
Joana let out a content sigh as Cris shut her up in the sweetest way. Their lips met in unison, as if they were meant to be, and for once, neither girl shied away from the possibility that maybe they were. They kissed for a couple of minutes, rediscovering each other’s mouth with every touch and every brush of a tongue. When they parted eventually, Cris quickly let one of her hand rest on the back of Joana’s neck to keep her close. Both panting, eyes still closed, they relished in the moment, in their moment, giggling once in a while when either of them bopped the other’s nose gently. When Cris opened her eyes at last, she found the purple haired girl already looking at her, with such adoration in her eyes that Cris was sure her heart had skipped not one but several beats. Trying her best to hide her blush, she enveloped her girl into a tight hug, breathing in that very peculiar smell, Joana’s perfume, that smell she had missed so much in the past couple of days.
“I missed you,” she confirmed in a whisper in the crook of her neck, sending shivers running down Joana’s spine.
“I missed you, too. So much.” Pulling away slightly, without ever letting go of her hand, Joana tugged Cris towards the little spot she had decorated. “I promise I won’t keep you long, you need to rest, and I have to go home. But I just couldn’t wait till tomorrow at school to see you.”
Cris sat down next to her girlfriend, both equally speechless and amazed by Joana’s affection. She opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, trying in vain to put into words her gratitude as she looked at the setting around them. Eventually, she beckoned her girlfriend closer by tugging at the collar of her jacket, and spoke the words she knew in her heart had never been more true.
“I love you.” She was so close, and spoke the words so quietly, that Joana felt them vibrating against her lips before she actually heard them.
“Cris, don’t...”
“I mean it, Joana. I’m not sure of a lot of things in my life, but i’m sure of that.” A single tear dropped down Joana’s cheek, and Cris smiled, cradling her girlfriend’s face and brushing the tear away. “I’ve been thinking a lot lately. What I feel for you is stronger and more beautiful than anything I’ve ever experienced. And I want to make this work. We’re both stubborn at times but we have big hearts to give. And I want you. And I know you want me.” Joana rolled her eyes at the last part, her obvious affection and the way she looked at Cris on a daily basis having gone noticed by pretty much everyone. She smiled before letting the blonde haired girl continue. “We just have to look past what hurts and build with what we know we already have.”
If Joana hadn’t been so in love with the girl facing her before, she certainly would have let herself fall right here and then.
“So I’m stuck with you for the rest of my life huh?”
Cris laughed freely, feeling the happiest she had felt in years, as she turned her back and settled in between her girlfriend’s legs.
“That’s a long time, don’t you think?”
As Joana slipped her arms around her girlfriend from behind and let her head rest of the girl’s shoulder, she realize that for the first time in forever, she wasn’t scared.
“If you’re in, I’m in.”