Work Text:
“SAGE!”
“SAGE!”
Brooklyn marched towards where she knew all the patients were held, her heart beating faster than it ever has before. She doesn’t know why she calls out, she doesn’t expect the other girl to hear her. But it’s all she can do.
“What’s going on here?” a nurse stopped her.
“I’m- I’m looking for someone.” Brooklyn tried, breathless, panic setting in.
“I know you must be very worried but trust me it’s better for everyone if you let the doctors work here.”
Brooklyn didn’t like what she was hearing, she looked past the nurse trying to get a glimpse of something - anything that could hint to her that Sage was okay.
“Let me see you.” the nurse said, gently pushing Brooklyn’s arm down to better inspect the gash on the inside of the girl’s bicep.
Brooklyn instinctively looks down and grabs her arm.
“Oh,” she breathes out, heart still pounding in her chest, “I didn’t realize.”
“We’ll get this treated before an infection sets in.”
The nurse starts pulling Brooklyn towards her, then directs her gaze on Bohdi and Aliyah.
“You two, back to the waiting room.”
she turns to Brooklyn,
“You, come with me.”
As she wraps her arm around the girl and begins leading her away Brooklyn speaks up.
“I need to find my friend, Sage, I have to know if she’s okay.”
The nurse could hear the distress in the young girl’s voice and felt for her.
“I’m sorry, once we get this cut taken care of we’ll see about finding your friend.”
Brooklyn finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“Thank you.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“SAGE!”
“SAGE!”
Sage scrunched her brows in confusion, was that her name being called? She started to stir in bed, attempting to sit up, when a nurse walked in.
“Hi sweetie, how are you feeling?”
Sage, brows still furrowed, nodded her head at the nurse.
“Fine, I guess...Was somebody out there calling my name?”
She looked up at the nurse in time to see her give a silent chuckle.
“Yes actually, there’s a young woman here who’s very insistent on seeing you.”
Sage felt her stomach drop a bit.
“She’s here?”
The nurse mistook her shy question as one of concern.
“Oh yes honey, but don’t worry she only has a little scratch she’ll be cleaned, bandaged, and sent off in no time.”
The nurse proceeded with checking her files on her tablet as Sage held an internal battle with herself. On one hand, she was pissed. On the other hand, she was pissed, yet concerned. Initially she thought Brooklyn was here to see her, to grovel for abandoning her.
No way would Sage accept that. She knows she deserves better than someone who throws her aside when it’s convenient. But now knowing that Brooklyn was a patient, what happened to her? Was she in Reform and Sage just didn’t see her? Was she already injured and that’s why she didn’t come find her?
The dancer had a lot of questions, but she wasn’t so sure she wanted to give Brooklyn a chance to answer them. Even if it was a mistake, a misunderstanding...it hurt.
Sage had been left waiting all afternoon, searching for her, and was exposed to something she never wants to relive. The yelling, the pushing, the fighting. It was horrible! No. She needed time.
She couldn’t help the part of her heart that still ached at the thought of Brooklyn needing medical attention.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dissonant
What the hell does that even mean? If there’s something medically wrong with her why wouldn’t the nurse say anything?
Brooklyn’s mind was going a mile a minute. She didn’t know what to think.
“Excuse me!” she heard behind her.
She turned around and saw a nurse hurriedly walking towards her. Before she even had time to wonder what was going on the nurse spoke up again.
“Are you a friend of Sage 5? Were you calling out for her earlier?”
Brooklyn lit up.
“Yes! Yes, that was me! Is she okay? What happened to her? Can I see her?”
The nurse put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
“Calm down hun, Sage is fine. Well, not totally. There was a riot in the Reform Sector and she was caught in the middle of it, ended up with a nasty bump on her head. She came to us half passed out but she says she’s feeling much better now.”
At the news Brooklyn stopped breathing. Not fine. Riot in Reform Sector. Sage in Reform Sector. Waiting for her. Riot. Head wound.
“Half passed out?!” Brooklyn nearly screamed.
The nurse cringed.
“You know what I shouldn’t have even said that, it doesn’t matter anymore. She got shoved, and fell, and hit her head, but there’s no permanent damage.”
The nurse cringed again, she really needed to emphasize something else.
“But she’s okay! She’ll have a bit of a headache for a while but with rest, fluids, and little to no bright lights - she’ll be back to normal in no time! I didn’t mean to give you a heart attack.”
The nurse chuckled, amused by the obvious affection the young girl was showing for her friend.
“Please let me see her.”
That was the only thing on Brooklyn’s mind. See Sage and apologize. See Sage and make sure she’s okay.
“Right this way kiddo.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sage looked up as she heard the door open.
“Look who I found!” her nurse said excitedly. She moved to the side so the visitor could walk in.
Brooklyn.
Sage just stared at the girl, not letting her face give anything away. She herself didn’t know what to feel.
Brooklyn looked...scared. Sage’s eyes softened for a moment, seeing how dirty and rumpled her jumpsuit was, noticing the pout on her lips and the kicked puppy eyes.
Snap out of it!
Her face hardened.
“What are you doing here?”
The nurse sensed the tension and finally took it upon herself to leave.
Brooklyn stayed rooted to her spot. Turned to stone by the glare being sent to her by the dancer.
“I had to know if you were okay.” she said quietly.
Sage’s eyes narrowed at that.
“Oh, so you care now?”
Brooklyn stopped breathing for a moment. Where was her Sweet Sage?
“Of course I do. I always have.” The singer couldn’t speak any louder than a whisper, subdued by the glare and the weight of the situation.
“Could’ve fooled me. Your actions earlier say otherwise.”
Sage crossed her arms and looked down. It was hard staying so mad at Brooklyn when she looks so sad.
“Sage I-” Brooklyn went to explain but was cut off.
“ No!”
Sage took a deep breath, her eyes beginning to water.
“You weren’t there! You invited me out and then abandoned me! You told me you’d come get me and you didn’t! I waited for you.”
She went to take another breath, shuttering a bit this time.
“Sage-”
“I waited all afternoon for you. Mags kept asking if you forgot or if you went ahead without me and I couldn’t believe that. He said it so casually but I couldn’t believe that you would do that to me. That you’d forget me.”
Sage paused to keep the tears from falling.
Brooklyn’s heart broke at the sight.
“We went to look for you in Reform and you weren’t there. You were just gone. When the riots started I-”
Another suppressed sob,
Another blow to Brooklyn’s chest.
“I was so scared. I was separated from Mags, I didn’t know where to go. It was just pure chaos wherever I looked.”
The singer winced at the other girl’s words, hating herself for not being there for Sage, hating what she had to go through. Alone.
“I was slammed into almost every surface I passed, shoved onto the floor, and grabbed by The Authority when Mags tried to lead me out. If it wasn’t for him jumping in to get me loose, I could be locked up right now.”
Sage paused, letting her emotions take over. Everything that happened today, everything she felt and experienced came rushing back.
“I didn’t even do anything!”
Brooklyn knew Sage needed to get this all out. She didn’t dare speak. She took every word in, focusing on her breathing and controlling her suddenly blurry vision. Sage needs this moment, she wouldn’t let herself cry right now.
“Authority just started grabbing and beating people, they didn’t care who was who. I was knocked down and hit my head. Mags told me to run and I did.”
Sage’s voice dropped, cracked just the tiniest bit - and Brooklyn’s heart along with it.
“I can’t believe I did.”
The singer moved a bit closer, ever so slightly towards the dancer. The need to be near her, to comfort her, was too strong.
Sage’s eyes found hers and she found herself stopping once again
“We never would have been in that situation if we weren’t looking for you. Were you even there?”
Brooklyn could only look at the floor, ashamed.
“I thought so.”
There was silence for a moment. One girl trying to find the right words, and the other trying to control herself from saying the wrong ones.
Screw it.
“I don’t deserve this.”
Brooklyn’s head stayed down.
“I know.” she whispered, so quiet Sage barely heard it.
“I don’t deserve this treatment. I was open and honest with you and you abandoned me.”
Sage finally let a tear escape. She stared down at her sheets uselessly trying to suppress more from falling.
Brooklyn took this as her window. She moved closer until she was standing right by the bed.
“You’re right. You don’t deserve this. I don’t deserve you. But you deserve to know what happened. I just want to explain, not to try and make excuses, I promise. Then you can decide, and if you still want to, then I’ll go. All I ask is that you hear me out.”
She got it out quick, afraid of being shut down.
Sage lazily looked up at her, a troubled look on her face before she nodded.
“Fine.”
The singer closed her eyes for a moment, reopening them and focusing on the other girl.
“I was excited. So excited to hang out with you after lunch. I couldn’t stop thinking about you being jealous and us talking through it so easily. I couldn’t have been happier in that moment. Leaving you in the studio, smiling at me like that...there’s nothing that compares to that feeling.”
Brooklyn smiled sadly at the memory, eyes trained down on the white sheets
“I was getting lunch, that part is true. I was talking with Aliyah when Apollo and Bohdi came rushing in saying they had something they needed to show us.”
The singer nervously played with her dirty overall sleeve, hands fidgeting trying to keep herself grounded. Sage’s eyes briefly follow her movement before focusing on her face.
“I figured I still had some time, and they looked really freaked out so I went with them. They took us to the Archive and told us they found old plans for two other cities. Long story short, they wanted to go to the shield to see if it was true. If there really was another city out there.”
Brooklyn could see the curiosity in Sage’s eyes, but knew not to get her hopes up.
“The first thing I said was that I had plans with you, and I said we could meet them back at the Archive in minutes. They insisted there was no time.”
The singer swallowed tightly, knowing what came next wouldn't help her case.
“I froze on the spot, I hesitated. Aliyah knew that I was thinking of you and said she’d catch up with me at dinner. I didn’t want to be ‘brought up to speed,’ I wanted to go. I wanted to see it.”
Something dark flashed in Sage’s eyes, but Brooklyn spoke before she could be cut off.
“I know that’s selfish. I have no excuse for that. I was curious and everything was so intense in that moment, I only had seconds to choose and I chose wrong. I know that.”
She stepped closer to the other girl’s bed, slowly. She gently sat down on the side, relieved when she wasn’t rejected.
Eyes never leaving Sage’s she began again.
“I chose wrong, Sage. I made a mistake. The only reason I’m here right now is because Apollo got hurt and they don’t ask questions here.”
The dancer looked down, gathering her thoughts before angrily speaking.
“So you heard I was here and thought you’d do damage control?”
Brooklyn’s eyes widened.
“What? No! No, when Aliyah went to sign in for Apollo I saw your name on the sheet and my heart stopped beating. Sage, I had no idea why you were here. 3 seconds earlier a nurse mentioned the riots but we were out deep into the woods, we didn’t know any of that happened.”
Understanding took over Sage’s face, but only briefly before she steeled herself.
“So what do you want, Brooklyn?”
The singer took her time with her response. What did she want? Sage. Well duh.
“I want you to know that I messed up, and I know that. I don’t want you sitting by yourself wondering how someone could ‘forget you’ or ‘abandon you.’ Yes, I missed our date, or at least what I was hoping to be a date before I messed up, because I wanted to witness something out of my own curiosity.”
At this, Sage looked away from the other girl.
Selfish.
“But it wasn’t because of you, or because I thought seeing the shield was the better option. I can honestly and truthfully tell you that I didn’t put any serious thought into my decision, and yes that sounds worse but it’s the truth. I want you to know that. I want you to know that I am sorry, whether you forgive me or not, I’m sorry.”
Brooklyn felt the wetness on her cheeks and knew she lost her battle with keeping the tears at bay.
Sage turned back to her, heart breaking at the sight of the other girl crying. She could see that Brooklyn was sorry, that she knows she made a mistake. Why couldn’t she get over it?
Mags looked at her with urgency, pushing a Authority away.
“Sage, run! RUN!”
She swallowed, throat tight, Mags’ voice ringing in her ears.
The sounds of fists colliding with bodies, bodies falling all around her - on her. Trapped, scared, alone. Her friend hurt and just out of reach. Her freezing instead of helping him like he helped her.
I can’t believe I ran.
Brooklyn could see the war in Sage’s mind. She wanted to give the other girl time to think, to absorb all the information and work things out for herself.
This isn’t about me, she thought to herself,
This is about her.
The dancer was struggling. She was so mad, but at who? All of that information about the shield... if any of that was true, that would be huge!
I can’t blame her for wanting to go.
She looked up at Brooklyn when she realized she hasn’t been speaking for a while. She slowly nodded her head, urging her to continue.
“My entire life I’ve been by myself. I never had to think about what I did affecting someone else. If I wanted to go somewhere I went. I never had any friends to check in with or any appointments to keep. I liked it that way, honestly. It was free, easy.”
Brooklyn smiled sadly, looking down at her fingers and tugging on the skin of her other hand.
“But when I met you I couldn’t help myself, I had to know you, get close with you. There was this pull that I felt deep in my gut that I couldn’t shake.”
Her sad smile turned genuine. The thought of what she felt for Sage, of telling this to the other girl, momentarily distracted her from their current situation.
She looked up at the dancer, serious once again.
“I’m learning. I thought I could just be confident and sweep you off your feet and we’d be fine, but I was naive. I didn’t think I’d mess up, but old habits die hard as the old world said. I’m sorry.”
Sage looked deep into her eyes and found nothing but the vulnerable truth. Could all of this excuse what happened?
What even did happen?
Brooklyn didn’t come get her, yeah, but did she cause the riot? Would the riot have still happened if Brooklyn was there? Would it have made a difference if she was there with her?
The more Sage thought about it the more ridiculous she realized she was being.
How could I blame her for something she had no control over?!
Brooklyn was opening up to her, but she couldn’t ignore the hurt of being left there waiting for a girl that wasn’t coming.
However, it wasn’t her fault that she was in the hospital right now. Brooklyn didn’t shove her over. Brooklyn didn’t hit her in the head. Brooklyn just made a mistake, and Brooklyn was owning up to it - without being asked to.
Sage quickly realized that it had been several seconds and neither girl had said anything. Looking at the singer all she saw was patience, and a bit of fear in her eyes.
Suddenly she was reminded of something.
“What did you say earlier, about us dealing with my jealousy?”
Brooklyn couldn’t hide the confusion on her face.
Why is she bringing that up?
“Uh- I said we talked it through and solved the problem easily. I was proud of us for that.”
“Yeah, that. I had a problem and after some initial teasing you heard me out, respected my feelings, and put them above your ‘need for freedom’ or whatever you called it. We did the right thing. We didn’t fight or shut each other out, so it’s my turn to apologize now.”
Brooklyn shook her head and went to protest.
“Brooks, stop. I’m sorry. You deserve this apology. I wasn’t fair to you when you were fair to me. Yes, you messed up today, but I technically messed up before and you didn’t call me on it at all. You saw my insecurity and you understood me.”
Sage was genuinely smiling for the first time in hours.
This feels good, feels right. We’ll be okay.
“You were doing something you thought was innocent, probably not even thinking anything of it other than having fun, yet you didn’t think twice about not doing it again because I was bothered by it. I messed up in not telling you myself and instead gave you the cold shoulder. Today you messed up by not keeping your promise of a date. We’re both sorry and that’s okay.”
All Brooklyn could do was stare at the other girl, mouth agape.
Her expression quickly changed to confusion.
“What? You’re seriously fine now? I swear you were ready to cut me out of your life forever two minutes ago!”
Sage winced and let out a nervous laugh.
“Yeah I was mad, I wasn’t thinking clearly. Everything you said really opened up my eyes to the fact that I was being too harsh on you.” she said with a shrug.
Brooklyn shook the puzzled look off her face and tried to find the right words.
“I missed our date and because of that you were put in a dangerous position and got hurt. How is that not my fault?”
Sage giggled.
“Brooks are you trying to get me to be mad at you again?”
Brooklyn quickly shook her head and let out a breathy laugh herself.
“Nope, just genuinely confused here.”
The dancer grabbed her hand and held it tenderly. Brooklyn could only focus on the small circles Sage drew with her thumb on her skin.
“We’re humans, Brooks. We make mistakes.”
My Sweet Sage, Brooklyn thought.
How’d I get so lucky?
“You couldn’t have known the riots would happen, and there’s no way I could expect you to somehow prevent it even if you were there. I was just upset with you for ditching me and blaming you for everything was easier.”
She sighed before confessing something herself.
“In all honesty, I’m mostly mad at myself. I ran and hid instead of helping Mags and I feel awful about it. I took it out on you and that isn’t right.”
Brooklyn squeezed her hand gently.
“I’m so sorry Sage, I really am.”
The other girl squeezed her hand back, a big smile spreading on her face.
“Stop, it’s okay! We’re just dumb teenagers, right?”
Brooklyn matched her expression, never being able to resist a smile herself when the dancer’s was so bright.
“The dumbest.”
The two girls laughed together before Sage spoke again.
“Now that that’s out of the way, I’m gonna ask you something again...What do you want Brooklyn?”
Brooklyn’s smile turned into her signature smirk and Sage could already tell what was coming.
“You.”
The dancer let her head drop as she attempted to hide her blush, the laughter of the two girls mixing together - filling the room.
“Come on! I’m being serious, and don’t you dare say you’re serious!”
Sage held up her finger to Brooklyn’s mouth, anticipating the protest before it happened.
“Okay, Sweet Sage. Seriously? I was being serious. But because you won’t accept that I’ll tell you what goes along with it.”
Both hands linked together, eyes locked on each others, the two girls were in their own world.
“Please do.”
Brooklyn took a breath, ready to be more vulnerable than she has ever been before. It was a scary thought, but with one soft flick of her thumb Sage blew all of her insecurities away.
“I want us. Together. I want you and me side by side making mistakes and growing together. I want to be there for each other through it all. I want you and I to be partners, equals, and whatever other word out there that means two people being each other's closest person.”
Brooklyn could feel her confidence grow as she spoke. Sage’s breathy giggle at her last sentence only encouraging her. No way was she holding anything back now.
This is it, she thought.
“I want to face the world with you, to experience everything with you. To talk about our days together. To share excitement, sadness, laughter, tears, and stories. I never knew that I could feel so strongly about a person, but I’m falling for you, Sweet Sage. Though, this time I’m sort of hoping for a reaction.”
A nervous chuckle escaped the singer’s lips and she briefly cast her eyes downward in embarrassment.
Sage only gripped the other girl’s hands tighter, slowly pulling her in until their faces were almost touching.
“I’m falling for you too.”
Before Brooklyn could register what the other girl said her lips were captured in a tender kiss, Sage’s hand resting on her neck to keep her close.
Their heart rates sped up, matching a beat from one of Bohdi’s songs. Sage wanted to dance to it, Brooklyn wanted to write lyrics for it.
The kiss lasted a while, both girls so wrapped up in it they didn’t pull away until the need for air became too much.
“Now that’s the reaction I was hoping for.”
Brooklyn said with a signature smirk.
“Oh shut up!”
Sage playfully shoved the other girl, who dramatically fell backwards against the bed. Brooklyn slowly sat up after a moment, a dopey smile on her face.
“Now, I have a question for you, miss.”
If Sage had a dollar for every time Brooklyn made her giggle she’d be able to build her own city.
“And what’s that?”
The singer grabbed her hands again.
“Despite everything that happened today, you still want to try with me. You accept me and have already taught me so much about growing up than anyone. You’re so mature and honest and good. I don’t deserve you, and I don’t want any objections on that.”
Both girls laughed again, enjoying their happiness as their hearts try to go back to a normal beat. Brooklyn’s, however, only sped up.
Brooklyn tightened her hold on Sage’s hands and leaned in impossibly closer, bracing herself for the question
“After what I discovered 10 minutes ago I really need something to go right so, my Sweet Sage…would you like to be my girlfriend?”
Sage sat there, too shocked to say anything.
Brooklyn took this as hesitation.
“It’s okay if you don’t want to label it, I’m totally fine with that!. I just can’t imagine not having you by my side. I want to hold your hand, and kiss you, and talk to you. You’re all I think about all day, and yes, all I dream about. If the whole ‘girlfriend’ thing freaks you out, it’s cool we don’t have to fig-“
Brooklyn gets cut off from her ramblings by Sage’s lips crashing against hers.
This kiss is different from the previous. Rather than soft and giddy, this kiss was passionate. Their lips moved together perfectly, Sage pressing in more, a dance that Brooklyn was too ready to follow with. Her hands moved from Brooklyn’s hands, up her arms, through her hair and around the other girl’s neck. Brooklyn could only pull her in tighter, closer.
When even that wasn’t enough she let herself out of her comfort zone and allowed her tongue to begin tracing Brooklyn’s lower lip.
Holy shit, they both thought.
Unable to stop her smile, Brooklyn slowly began pulling away.
Her smile only grew when Sage, eyes still closed, chased her lips.
“Hey, I need an answer, babe,” the singer said with a smile.
Sage opened her eyes and gave one of her own smirks.
“That wasn’t enough?”
Brooklyn smiled back, rubbing the other girl’s waist where her hands had traveled during the kiss.
“Never, but we can continue once I get some verbal confirmation.”
While lost in thought, wondering what she did to deserve being this genuinely happy, Sage realized something Brooklyn said in her speech.
“Wait what did you discover 10 minutes ago? You were at the shield hours ago.”
Not letting up easy, Brooklyn shook her head.
“Not important right now, give me an answer.”
Seemingly as stubborn as the other, Sage was unrelenting as well.
“Yes it is, you said you needed something to go right. What didn’t go right? You were being checked out earlier weren’t you? Was everything okay?”
Sage, growing increasingly worried, started breathing faster. Her hands flew from Brooklyn’s neck, skimming all around the girl’s upper body - inspecting her.
“Everything’s fine, I’m fine! Sage, seriously it was just a scrape on my arm it’s nothing. There was something I saw in my file but I don’t know what it means, I wanted to figure that out before I went around talking about it.”
Brooklyn spoke like it was final.
It was not final.
“5 seconds later you’re already being a hypocrite.”
Sage shook her head, letting her newfound smirk take over. There was no animosity in her tone. She wasn’t being accusatory, she was just letting Brooklyn know she was honoring their agreement.
“What happened to dealing with things together? Being there for each other? I’m in this with you, you’re not going through anything alone - even if you think it’s nothing.”
The dancer tried to harness everything she felt into her eyes, attempting to be serious and get the other girl to open up more. But Brooklyn was being, well... Brooklyn.
“Aww, see how mature we are! We’re already learning and growing together!”
Sage could hear the deflection in her voice, trying to change the topic with a cute joke.
“Yes Brooks, we’re honest to Gaia adorable. Now get back on track!”
The smile on the singer’s face faded a bit, replaced by a somewhat sad one.
“When I gave the nurse my name and my file came up, she got this look on her face. Pity, shock, I’m not sure. I just didn’t like it. When I asked what was wrong she blew me off and I didn’t like that either.”
Sage couldn’t resist a choked laugh at Brooklyn’s annoyed eye roll.
Don’t give her an out, this is serious!
She steeled herself, grateful the singer seemingly didn’t hear her laugh.
“She said it was nothing but I didn’t buy it. As soon as she left to deal with an emergency I grabbed the tablet, plugged in my name and saw…I’m dissonant.”
Sage’s breath caught in her throat.
Oh.
Brooklyn continued nervously,
“I-I don’t really know what that means but I know it can’t be good. If it’s on my medical file there’s something medically wrong with me right? Why wouldn’t the nurse tell me there’s something wrong with me?”
The more Brooklyn talked the more freaked out she got, reminded of what she was dealing with before Sage’s nurse found her.
Sage, on the other hand, kept her calm. She could help, she knew she could. She moved closer to the other girl and tightened her hold around her.
“Hey, Brooks, breathe okay? Slowly.”
Sage’s hands began soothingly rubbing Brooklyn’s arms, she breathed with the other girl a few times before continuing.
“Listen to me, there’s nothing ‘wrong’ with you, okay? Nothing. I know what dissonant means, and I can tell you if you want, but it’s not really pleasant to hear.”
Brooklyn just nodded her head.
“What I want you to keep in mind is that my Gran Chyra is dissonant, okay? So whatever else I say just go back to that fact.”
Brooklyn gave another nod.
“When babies are born they test them for any...abnormalities. If they find something they don’t like, something that they don’t want passed down into future generations, they label that child as dissonant. It basically means that because of a complication in your genetics you can’t reproduce, or they won’t let you - I don’t really know the details.”
Why don’t I know the details?! How is this helping her?
Focus Sage!
Brooklyn, on the other hand, was silent. She couldn’t speak, couldn’t think. She heard everything Sage said, every word.
I can’t have kids.
Sage regained her focus and listed off the rest of what she knew, trying to recall everything that was explained to her years ago.
“They usually send dissonants off to the mines when they’re 18 seeing that as their ‘service to the community.’ But in Gran Chyra’s case they made her a Crash Guardian instead. Lots of dissonants get placed elsewhere, raising abandoned or orphaned children or...I don’t know what else - but Gran says there’s more! I can ask her for more information if you want. Brooks?”
When she received no reply, she looked at the girl worried. “Are you okay?”
Brooklyn just sat there, hands now gripping the sheets rather than Sage’s waist. Noticing her knuckles were white Sage grabbed the other girls hands and caressed them, attempting to alleviate some stress.
“Brooks, tell me what you’re thinking. I’m here for you.”
After a few moments Brooklyn found her voice.
“I’m dissonant...I can't have kids.”
Sage continued to softly rub the singer’s hands and offered a sad smile, keeping silent, knowing the other girl was going to talk again.
“I didn’t even know it was something I wanted. I had never thought about it, ever, but now that I am...I won’t get to make that choice for myself when the time comes. I won’t get to make that decision with someone I love in the future when we talk about extending our family. I won’t get to have a family.”
That’s where Sage had to cut her off.
“Brooklyn stop, you do get to have a family! Look at my Gran! She has like 50 kids!”
Sage’s heart felt lighter when Brooklyn cracked a smile.
“Listen to me Brooks, when and if the day comes that you decide you do want kids, it will be your decision. I can’t predict the future, but I know you’ll get what you deserve...and you deserve everything good in this world.”
She reaches up and wipes a stray tear off the singer’s cheek.
“Sage?”
“Yes?”
Brooklyn took a deep breath, wiping her own tears away before staring into Sage’s eyes. She tried to express everything she felt, everything she wanted Sage to know but couldn’t find the words to say.
“Will you be there?”
The question hung in the air for a moment. Brooklyn knew it was fast, to be talking about the future when she hasn’t even gotten verbal confirmation that Sage wanted to be her girlfriend. But she didn’t care. This was a moment of vulnerability, a shared truth she had been too scared to utter out loud, were it not Sage sitting right in front of her.
Sage understood. The speed of things didn’t scare her, as much as it probably should. Instead it reassured her, that Brooklyn was in this as much as she was. Brooklyn wanted to imagine a future with Sage by her side, andSage understood that. Whatever this connection was, it was strong. She’s not sure like was powerful enough to describe it.
The dancer leans in, letting their noses brush, just breathing in each other for a bit. She eventually presses further and steals a kiss. She pulls back and Brooklyn leans in for another. Their lips connect again, again, and again, until they’re both smiling so much they’re just bumping teeth.
With one final kiss, lasting a touch longer than the others, Sage pulls back and waits for Brooklyn to open her eyes.
“You can count on it, girlfriend.”
Sage doesn’t care how many times she’ll have to say that word in the future, she’ll never stop if Brooklyn smiles at her like that every time.