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“It’s so annoying District 10 clashes with Zara Blue what are we going to do?!”
“Maggie, we’ve seen District 10 a few times, we should definitely see Zara Blue.”
“Yeah fair, I just wanted to see District 10 too. Can you believe we’ve been coming to Summerlands Fest for 10 years now Danvers?!”
“10th anniversary!” Alex cheered as she put one hand up for a high five, which Maggie quickly returned.
Alex and Maggie were making their annual road trip to Summerlands Fest. They had been coming since they were in high school and although the best friends were pretty much inseparable as it was, this was always their non-negotiable of the year, booking in their vacation days as soon as they returned from the previous year’s event. They had everything down to a t, the best route and time to set off to avoid all the traffic and the queues; what to take to make an enjoyable camping experience; what not to take so that they weren’t carting more stuff from the car to the campsite – certainly learning from the first year they came when Maggie was nearly lost underneath her backpack, Alex buckled over at the sight of her.
“Who are you looking forward to seeing the most?” Maggie asked.
“Definitely The Boxes” Alex responded almost immediately.
“Oh yeah me too!”
Little did both girls realise they were each looking forward to seeing The Boxes the most as it was the first gig they both went too together, back when they were 14 and (secretly) falling in love with each other, even if they hadn’t quite realised at that exact time, 12 years later both of them still believing their love was unrequited.
…..
By the time Alex had come to terms with being gay and had told Maggie (after realising she had fallen in love with her), Maggie already had a girlfriend, and when she went, another came along and so the pattern was set, a string of semi-serious relationships for Maggie, which always seemed to end on not the best terms. Maggie could get any girl she wanted, Alex thought, why would she be interested in her best pal who had been in the friend zone for years, she was no match for the beauties Maggie regularly attracted and if she was honest, she was too scared to even say anything to Maggie anyway. Even in her bravest moments when she could almost gather the courage to say something, she couldn’t let herself for fear of her feelings not being reciprocated and losing Maggie altogether. Alex had had a couple of girlfriends herself, nothing much serious, her heart was never in it and no one could ever match up to Maggie, so she just lost interest. She was happy enough, or would have to be happy enough, being single, but having Maggie, even if just as a friend.
Little did Alex know, she was the only beauty Maggie wanted to attract. Maggie had been in love with Alex for all these years, but at first Alex hadn’t come out, still maintaining she was straight, so Maggie never shared her feelings for not wanting to lose her best pal. Then, Alex was suddenly gay but by that point Maggie had learned that she was, in her own words, shit at relationships, she just couldn’t seem to make them work. She would meet someone, they’d get on great for a while, the sex would be fantastic and just as Maggie was starting to think that she could see a future with someone, all be it a future where her heart would never be fully in it because it belonged to Alex, every girlfriend would break it off, usually something about being emotionally unavailable, or her job getting in the way and more than once, because she was accused of being in love with Alex, which she couldn’t even deny to their faces.
However, Maggie felt like something might be changing between the two of them recently. They were both currently single and the tension between them seemed more intense than ever, it couldn’t just be from Maggie, she was feeling it from Alex too, she was sure. It had seemed like Alex had been on the cusp of saying something a few times over the last year or so, Maggie hadn’t wanted to push, but she couldn’t help feeling a little bit of hope rising.
……..
“Just another 5 or so miles to go, and then we’re back, 5 days of fun, sun, beer and bands!” Alex exclaimed.
“Woop woop!” cheered Maggie.
It took them around 45 minutes to get through the little bit of inevitable traffic at the site, parked up and make the journey from the car to the festival entrance to pick up their wristbands, then on to their preferred camping area.
“Ooft” Alex exclaimed as she chucked down her huge backpack with several items hanging off it.
“Right, let’s get these tents up and our shit in them so we can go explore” said Maggie.
The two girls began the process of unravelling their tents and beginning to put them up, Alex was busying herself with her tent when she heard a ‘hmmm’. She turned and looked up at Maggie who was standing holding some tent poles and pegs looking slightly confused.
“What’s up Maggie?”
“Well, I’m really regretting not doing a test run of my tent this year…”
Alex looked at her, waiting for more information.
“Seems half of the poles are missing” she continued, slightly exasperated, as she rubbed her temples.
“So…your tent won’t go up?” Alex questioned.
“Nope” Maggie replied as she chucked the remaining poles to the floor, the frustration evident in her voice.
“Oh” was all Alex said.
“Oh indeed, and it was all going so well with the traffic and getting here in record time. Guess I’m bunking in with you then Danvers.” She gave a cheeky grin as she finished her sentence and looked at Alex.
Alex just stood and stared at Maggie, processing what she had just said, and that little grin at the end too. She was going to have to sleep, in very close proximity, with Maggie Sawyer, the unrequited love of her life. She was too gay to deal with this, and apparently still processing and completely unaware of the look on her face.
The girls always took a tent each so they could sprawl out a little, sleeping on the floor for 5 days is uncomfortable enough, never mind having to share that space with someone. However, for a second Maggie had been quite excited to share a tent with Alex, maybe it would help work out this tension between them, maybe this could be the weekend for it, they could snuggle in the tent together. That thought was stripped from Maggie’s mind only seconds later though, as she saw the look on Alex’ face after suggesting they share, Alex looked really awkward, ‘she doesn’t feel comfortable sharing with me’ Maggie thought to herself, ‘so much for there being something growing between us, what were you thinking Sawyer, of course she’s not into you’.
“Oh, its ok, I’m sure I can make this work, with a bit of creativity, duct tape and the bits I’ve got” Maggie scratched her head whilst assessing her tent, quickly trying to backtrack on her previous statement. “I can try and buy some new bits tomorrow when the stalls open, one of them is bound to be selling camping gear”.
Alex caught the forlorn and slightly embarrassed, she thought, look on her friend’s face and realised Maggie had mistaken her own concern about being close in the tent for not actually wanting to share. That’s the last thing she wants Maggie to think, she wants to sweep her up and tell her that it’s the only thing she wants, to be close to Maggie, for the rest of their lives. She can’t quite build the courage to tell her that, but she takes a small leap.
“Don’t be silly, of course I want to share, we can have Summerland snuggles” Alex finished with a wink.
Maggie beamed up at Alex, full dimples on display, and just like that, they were back to their normal banter, edging on flirting.
The girls continue to set up Alex’ tent, which will now be their tent, and get all their stuff unpacked, both secretly preening at how domestic it all seems, even if it is only a tent, in a festival site, for a few days.
“Just like home” Alex beams, and Maggie’s stomach flips at the notion and how happy Alex seems.
Maggie emerges from the tent first and reaches back to give Alex her hand to pull her up and out. Alex just wants to hold Maggie’s hand all of the time.
……
They go out an explore, having arrived early most of the stalls and entertainment don’t open until tomorrow morning, before the bands kicking off later in that day, but they can still get their bearings and the bars and food trucks are open. Maggie suggests a couple of drinks at one of the more interesting bar set ups, as Alex marvels, as she does every year, at the amount of effort and preparation that must go into these temporary structures. After a few drinks they head back to the tent, via a noodle stop off to quell their hunger, both wanting to get a reasonably early night, so they are ready to go full on festival in the morning.
“Ready for bed then roomie?” Maggie jokes.
“Shouldn’t that be tentie?” Alex jokes back.
“Nerd”
“Your nerd” Alex blushes as she realises what that might have sounded like.
Maggie tilts her head to the side, just looking and smiling at Alex for a short moment, before pushing Alex into the tent “yeah you are” she says a little more softly than she meant to.
“Oi Sawyer!” Maggie hears from Alex, now lying in the tent after having being pushed in, “get in here” she shouts as she yanks Maggie’s hand, pulling her towards her and into the tent.
“Oooft!” Maggie lands with a bump on top of Alex, and did she…yeah her hands are on Alex’ breasts.
There is a short uncomfortable moment from the two of them, before they both burst into a fit of giggles.
After a moment Maggie passes Alex her sleeping bag over and they both start getting themselves ready for sleep, each turning their backs as they changed into their sleeping shorts and tees, neither sure why, as they had seen each other change hundreds of times, but something was feeling different today. They both snuggled down into their own sleeping bags, ensuring a little bit of space between them before saying their goodnights.
Alex knew she wasn’t sleeping tonight, how could she with Maggie, beautiful Maggie right there.
As it turns out, Alex did get some sleep that night, but not until after she listened to Maggie’s soft breathing for a good half an hour, imagining what their life could be like if they were together, before sleep finally came.
…….
“What time is it Danvers?” Maggie said sleepily as she woke up.
All she got back in response was a grunt, which she chuckled at.
“And good morning to you too” she joked .
“Maggieeee, you know I don’t like mornings!” Alex whined.
“But this morning, you get to wake up with meeee” Maggie teased as she then began to tickle Alex, she knew Alex wouldn’t be able to hate her for it, no matter how much she tried.
Alex tried to wriggle free whilst protesting, Maggie again landing on top of her, Alex’ hands on her wrists. They both stared at each other for a charged moment, before Maggie swept a stray piece of hair from Alex’ face and behind her ear.
“Come on grumpy, let’s go explore again” Maggie smiled sweetly at Alex, before jumping off her and starting to get herself ready for the day.
Alex lay there, still, for a few moments, recovering from the tender touch of Maggie, she could feel things changing, she was sure of it, but then self-doubt crept back in and she pulled herself together and also began the process of getting herself ready for the day.
…..
15 minutes later and they were all wet-wiped, dressed and had cleaned their teeth.
“Right, first stop, caffeine!” Maggie stated as they started to head towards where everything was going on. Alex hummed in agreement.
Once they had picked up their coffee the girls took a slow wander around some of the ‘streets’ and had a look at what the stall holders had to offer, this was all part of the charm of the festival, it wasn’t just all about bands, it was the crafts, the clothes, the services and the street performers and activities on show. They browsed for 15 minutes or so before Maggie really started showing an interest in a particular piece of jewellery, a hand crafted silver bracelet with an intricately detailed owl pendant. Alex watched as Maggie turned it over in her hands and tried it on, before placing it back down again.
“That’s cute” Alex mentioned.
“Hmmm” Maggie said, slightly absent mindedly, then, “it reminds me of my grandmother” she finished with a reminiscent smile.
“You going to get it?”
“Nah, it’s too much”
“Treat yourself?”
“I can’t I spent all my money on the ticket here, I’ve only got a little bit of spending money, I need to save if for important things Danvers” she said with a sad tone to her voice, “like beer and burgers” she tried to joke. It in fact was more to do with the money she had spent on something a couple of weeks ago, but she couldn't tell Alex about that yet.
“Well, you know, you are important too Maggie” Alex said sweetly.
“Are you trying to make me blush” Maggie joked, as she walked away towards the next stall quickly, keen to avoid Alex spotting that she was in fact blushing and wasn’t quite able to deal with how amazing Alex was and how she could just say the right thing in the right moment.
Alex hurried to catch up with Maggie, as they continued to meander around the site, before the bands commencing in the early afternoon.
After consulting their festival app to check what their planned line up was and which stages they would have to be at and when, they went about the rest of their afternoon, catching a few new bands they had heard good things about, seeing some favourite singers and finishing off the night watching the main stage headliner, Zara Blue.
“She is awesome live!” Alex exclaimed.
“Yeah, I’m loving this, definitely the right decision to come watch her” Maggie replied.
Zara Blue continued with a few more of her famous bangers, before slowing it down a little bit and playing a ballad.
The whole field started swaying, a number of people holding up their phone torches to create a light display, it was all very atmospheric.
“Phone torches just don’t have the same feel as lighters, remember when everyone used to hold them up instead, technology ruins everything” Maggie said, quite matter of factly.
Alex looked at her and just smiled and the little crease she had on her brow at her mild annoyance at the torch situation, ‘Maggie was so freaking cute!’, she just couldn’t help herself, she slung her arm around Maggie’s shoulder and pulled her into her for a tight side squeeze.
“I love you” she admitted, although she knew she was safe and Maggie would only hear it as a friendly declaration.
“I love you too” Maggie admitted, as she wrapped her arms around the taller girl’s midriff for a cuddle, wishing she could say those three words under different circumstances.
They stayed like that until the end of the song, reluctantly pulling apart when the up tempo last song of the night started playing, the tension between them almost unbearable.
….
After the set had finished, the two friends decided they weren’t ready to finish their night yet and head straight for the silent disco tent, Maggie exclaiming how much fun they had had in there the previous year, Alex quick to agree. They spent the best part of 2 hours in the tent, dancing away to old school classics, pop hits and a lot of ‘cheese’, just being in the moment and not caring how silly they may have looked going absolutely crazy to 90s dance tunes that reminded them of being young kids.
As they walked, rather sweaty and dishevelled from all the dancing, back towards their tent, Alex’ thoughts turned to sharing a tent with Maggie again. The previous night had been ok, no real disasters, no accidently kissing Maggie or waking up on top of her or blurting out how beautiful she was and how in love she was with her, but Alex was worried again, what if she couldn’t stop herself. As if almost sensing what Alex was thinking about, Maggie spoke.
“Oh crap! In all the excitement of today I totally forgot to go to the camping stall to see if I could get some extra bits…sorry Danvers, but I think you’re stuck with me again” she finished with a grin.
Maggie would never admit it, but the thought had crossed her mind at least a couple of times during the day, to go to the stall, but she just really wanted to share with Alex again tonight.
“Sure Sawyer, you ‘forgot’…how very convenient” Alex lifted her fingers at forgot, to playfully suggest it might not be the full truth.
“Oh, erm, no, really, Alex I did forget” Maggie stumbled, ‘shit, she’s caught on’ she thought to herself, a blush raising from her neck up ono her cheeks.
Alex just looked at her, “I’m joking Maggie, anyway, I don’t care if you go to the stall, I’m happy sharing…I, well, I, it was nice having you there last night” Alex just about managed to get out.
Before Maggie could say anything, Alex was already halfway into the tent, calling for Maggie to follow her in, Maggie quickly followed.
“Oosh, its warm in here!” Maggie stated.
“Ugh, I know, and I’m a hot sweaty mess from all that dancing” replied Alex, “I think I’m just going to open out my sleeping bag tonight, far too hot to get inside it.”
“Excellent idea” Maggie agreed as she follow suit, opening out her own sleeping bag, essentially creating one big bed cover with the two sleeping bags.
“Well I don’t know about you, but I’m done in, I’m ready for sleep” Alex yawned out, as Maggie chuckled at her getting under the covers.
“I thought you were too hot for the sleeping bag?” Maggie questioned.
“Oh yeah, far too hot to get inside and be trapped in there, but I need something over me to help me sleep, need to be cosy y’know”.
“I see” Maggie said as she too got under the cover, they were now essentially sharing a bed, a very basic one, but a bed all the same. “I had so much fun today” Maggie continued as she wriggled a tiny bit closer to Alex, who turned over to face Maggie.
“Me too” Alex replied softly with a sweet smile.
The two girls were face to face, only centimetres between them. It would have been so easy to reach out and brush that strand of hair from Maggie’s face, or to stroke Alex’ face.
Alex quickly started drifting to sleep, Maggie watched her for a few tender moments, before turning round and curling up tight.
…..
The next morning Alex started to wake fairly early, she was still half asleep but she couldn’t remember feeling so comfortable sleeping in a tent previously, it was so soft and warm. Something moved next to her and suddenly Alex was much more awake.
‘Oh…OH, I’m snuggling Maggie’ she thought to herself as she realised her body was pressed up against Maggie’s back, and her arm was draped over her stomach, Alex’ face tucked into Maggie’s mane of hair. She started panicking for a moment, ‘was Maggie awake, was she uncomfortable at Alex’s hold? Would Maggie question her on it? Would she guess her true feelings?’
Everything whirred through Alex’ head in a millisecond, before she felt Maggie shift a little again under her. Alex realised that Maggie had her hand over Alex’ arm that was draped over her body and was clutching on. Maggie made a sleepy contented hum as she snuggled back in towards Alex, still asleep.
That settled Alex’ nerves a little at the situation and suddenly she had never felt more comfortable in her life, a sleeping Maggie in her arms. Alex took a moment to look at her best friend, the love of her life, before settling back down for a precious few moments, not wanting this to ever end.
……
Alex woke up again about half an hour later, smiling as she realised her and Maggie were still spooning. However, she decided that as much as she was enjoying it, a sleeping Maggie presented her with the opportunity to head out on a quick errand to pick up something she had had her eye on since yesterday morning. She quickly pulled herself together and made her way out whilst shooting off a quick text to Maggie, feeling slightly brave, she smiled as she typed it out.
…….
Maggie turned over, not quite ready to wake up yet, needing a few more minutes’ sleep, she snuggled into the body next to her and threw her arm over their body…oh so she thought she was going to do. When she felt a cold empty space where she thought Alex was, she was disappointed. Maggie was sure she had been snuggling earlier, and it had been the most comfortable she had been in a long time. ‘Alex must have gotten up early and didn’t want to wake me’ she thought, before a more concerning thought crossed her mind. ‘Oh god, what if she woke up and realised I was snuggling with her and felt uncomfortable’. Her mild panic was short lived though, as she picked up her phone and found a text from Alex.
Danvers: Morning sleeping beauty ;p just nipped out for a little mooch, will grab some coffees on my way back. Thanks for the snuggles last night ;)
Maggie smiled as she read the message, realising Alex must’ve enjoyed the snuggles too. She quickly decided that this was her chance, whilst Alex was out, to set up her surprise.
Weeks ago Maggie had bought her and Alex VIP experience tickets for The Boxes back in National City, later in the summer. She knew they were going to see them at Summerland and Maggie thought this was the perfect time to tell Alex, so they could go and watch them knowing that in only a matter of weeks they would be watching them again and meeting them afterwards.
Maggie grabbed the tickets, which had almost bankrupted her, from the hidden pocket in her bag. She had already tied a ribbon around the envelope and written a little message on the back for Alex. She placed the envelope sitting up on Alex’ camping chair, in anticipation of her getting back soon with the coffees, before retreating back into the tent, leaving the zip open just enough so that she would be able to see Alex’ face as she opened the envelope.
…..
“There was a young lady who couldn’t take her eyes off this yesterday” said the stall holder as he handed the purchase over to Alex after wrapping it, “and incidentally it seemed you couldn’t take your eyes off her” he winked, “would this be for her?”
As Alex looked at him, she could feel her face going bright red, “well yeah, I mean, she’s just my friend but she said this reminded her of her grandmother and I just wanted to treat her because she wouldn’t buy it for herself because she wanted to keep her money for more important things but she’s important so I just, well…” Alex tailed off after realising she had been rambling at a hundred miles an hour to the friendly man behind the stall. She gave him a shy smile.
“I’m sure she’ll love it” he said confidently, with a knowing smile.
“I hope so…Thanks” Alex replied as she gave a small wave and started to make her way back to the tent, carefully tucking the present into her pocket, via a stop off at the coffee truck, picking up two black coffees for herself and Maggie. She was excited to give the gift to Maggie, she was going to do it as soon as she got back, she was a little nervous too, hoping Maggie wouldn’t think it too much.
…..
As Alex arrived back at their camping area, she was surprised not to find Maggie up and chilling in one of the camping chairs, ‘surely it was too warm to still be sleeping in the tent’. As she got a little closer she could see that something had been placed on one of their chairs, a dressed envelope, with her name on it. Alex looked around for who might have placed it there, before putting down the coffees and picking it up.
Maggie had smelt the coffee arriving and was peeking out with a smile, wanting to catch the moment quietly for herself before she moved out to see Alex.
Alex turned over the envelope to open it and a huge smile formed as she realised who it was from, handwriting giving it away.
‘For the VIP in my life….’
“Maggie?” She called, wondering what was going on. After getting no response she continued to open the envelope.
A gasp involuntarily escaped Alex’ mouth as she realised what it was, Maggie quietly looking on, enjoying the unfiltered reaction of Alex. As Alex was turning the tickets from front to back, not quite believing or understanding what was going on, Maggie decided it was time to come out of the tent.
“So, what do you say? Fancy it Danvers?” Maggie tried to say as confidently as possible, trying to hide her slight nervousness at the situation, concerned Alex might catch onto her feelings with such a grand gesture.
Alex looked up, “Maggie? What’s….I mean…I don’t…did you buy these? For me?” she managed to trickle out, still a total look of surprise on her face.
“Well, I mean I was kinda hoping we could go together?” She joked as she grabbed the back of her neck and rubbed up and down nervously.
“Oh, god, yes, of course, no, I didn’t mean are they both for me…of course I’d love to go with you, but I mean…did you re-mortgage your house to buy these?!”
“Close enough” Maggie laughed, “but no, really, you’re important to me Alex, and I wanted to show you and do something special.”
Alex looked at Maggie for a moment, before pulling her into the tightest hug possible. The tension had almost become bearable between the two girls over the last couple of days and they both too this opportunity to hold on tight to the girl they loved.
After a moment Alex pulled back a little to look at Maggie, staring for a moment before tucking a small strand of hair behind Maggie’s ear. Maggie felt her whole body tingling at the gentle touch and couldn’t take her eyes off Alex, stunned into silence.
“You’re important too Maggie” Alex breathed out, before doing the bravest thing she felt she’d ever done. Alex took her hand that had been playing with the bottom of Maggie’s hair since tucking it behind her ear, and moved it up to stroke her cheek, leaning in she closed her eyes and felt Maggie meet her lips. The kiss was hungry but gentle at the same time, the result of years of needing each other, but years of wanting to show their love for each other too. Alex’ hands were cupping Maggie’s cheeks and Maggie had placed her hands gently on Alex’ waist, pulling her in a little, and keeping her steady. It lasted a few moments before both girls were so overwhelmed, they pulled back to check it was all real.
“Wow” was all Maggie could manage.
“Yup, mhmm, that” Alex stumbled, before collecting herself and taking a deep breath “wow!”
“Can I do that again?” Alex asked shyly.
Maggie didn’t say anything; she just gave Alex a huge smile before moving her hands from Alex’ waist to wrap them around her neck and pull her in for another intense kiss.
When they broke apart again, Maggie peppered Alex’ face with gentle kisses.
“I could do that forever” she admitted, “I’ve been wanting to do that forever”.
“I bet not as long as I have” Alex challenged.
“I’ll take that bet” Maggie replied with a grin as she took Alex’ hand and gently guided her inside the tent, picking up the fallen Boxes tickets as she did.
“Maggie Sawyer, you could at least buy me dinner before you take me to your bed” Alex quipped.
That earnt her a gentle shove from Maggie.
“Danvers! Oi! …One, I was just suggesting we get comfy and maybe snuggle” she said, as she ran her hands up and down Alex’ arms, “and two, we’ve already been sharing this bed for the last two nights!”
“I know, snuggle monster” Alex smiled as she gently pushed Maggie down and cuddled into her.
“Oops, yeah sorry about that” Maggie said with no real conviction.
“Pssh, you’re not even sorry”
“Nah, I’m not, you’re comfy Danvers” Maggie laughed.
“Good, because I intend there to be a lot more snuggling now”
“Yes Ma’am” Maggie joked as she pulled Alex in tighter.
As she rolled into Maggie’s embrace, something stuck into her side and Alex suddenly remembered what she had been about to do when she had got back to the tent, before the whole ticket and kissing shenanigans. She pulled the gift wrapped bracelet out of her pocket gently and silently placed it in Maggie’s hand, looking up to watch her reaction.
“What’s this?” Maggie queried.
“Just open it” Alex smiled.
Maggie did as she was asked and pulled out the hand crafted silver bracelet with the owl pendant.
“What…”
“Maggie, I want you to know that you are important. You are very important to me, my VIP you could say” Alex said sincerely and confidently as she took one of Maggie’s hands in hers, stroking the top with her thumb. “And I just wanted to get you a little something to show you how much, and I know it’s not much and I know it’s no VIP tickets, but…” she looked up at Maggie who was chuckling and shifting so that she could sit up straight, Alex following her, “I’m rambling aren’t I?” Alex asked.
“Yes, but it’s cute” Maggie admitted, going in for another quick peck on the lips, “and Alex, this is amazing! It’s not a competition, in fact this means so much to me that you noticed and remembered and even went back out to get it”.
Maggie smiled at Alex before cupping her cheek and gently pulling her in for another longer kiss.
“Anything for you Maggie” Alex whispered after they pulled apart.
“And you Alex”.
……
The girls enjoyed the rest of their festival, particularly The Boxes and made their way back to National City as girlfriends, both agreeing they didn’t want to waste any more time on being friends or casually dating.
Only a few weeks later, they shared I love yous, during their VIP experience, cringing at themselves afterwards as they both admitted they had been falling in love with each other since the first time they came to see the band all those years ago.
Three years later, as they stepped up for their first dance at their wedding, the familiar notes of The Boxes started playing.