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When she looks all the way back, Sara is still none the wiser about just how Leonie has become such a fixture in her life. Was it ten years? Probably even more than that. She continues nursing her glass of martini - which seems to have a hint of vodka in it - at the bar, as she sees Leonie making her rounds mingling with other people also at the party, tracking her best friend with nothing more than her eyes following watchfully.
It is some sort of end-of-semester party being thrown by one of the student organisations, where Leonie knows nearly everyone - which explains how she seemed to flow naturally between a group of people and the next. In the times past, like during high school, in situations like these Sara would be more than happy to tag along and talk to people and stick by her best friend’s side. But as some things start nagging at the back of her brain, she has shifted her priority to something else, like filling her system with alcohol and watching Leonie from afar.
As she takes another too-big sip out of her glass, someone enters the periphery of her visions, while she continues looking at Leonie moving through the crowd of people towards a farther corner away from her. There she sees someone familiar - curly dark hair with olive skin and a sharp jaw line - David Schreibner, with a blond boy that is about the same height as him leaning into his side. That does not seem to deter Leonie though, as she approaches them, and Sara can see David pulling her into a one-arm hug and the blond boy raising his eyebrows while saying something to Leonie.
The jealousy in Sara’s system rears its head nonetheless, as he sees how Leonie laughs at something David said, and of course David has that sort of effect on her best friend. David is this boy from the film school in the city, who does things with the university’s theatre club and generally shows up in the university way too often to be normal, often with the blond boy in his vicinity (by the looks of things, that is David’s boyfriend?).
Leonie seems to get hung up on David somewhere along the way, and she often hears Leonie commenting how David seem to be glowing, or how Leonie more or less bounds over to David to make conversation with him, or how the two of them seem to be a bit close, or how David is one of the few people that manages to make Leonie laugh genuinely, or… so yeah, Sara is jealous of David for a multitude of reasons. She does not think Leonie has a crush on David outright, at least she has never heard of something like that, but it might as well have been a thing judging by how things are. Just as this thought presents itself, Leonie moves to lean against the wall next to David, seemingly intent to be there for a little while, and Sara cannot help but down the rest of her drink in a big gulp, unable to bear the jealousy that seems to flare as she sees that, tearing her eyes away to stare at the houseplant on the other side as she rests her head on her palm.
Leonie is a lot of things. A feisty personality that takes no shit from anyone, with determination that is not matched by many; a very organised person who does things well in her life - be it her own studies or any events she is involved in, as Sara was there to witness or even participate for too many times; a tough cookie that does not let on too much about what is going on in her head; has eyes that Sara could lose her soul in; long hair that are so smooth to run her fingers along; rare laughs that are music to Sara’s ears… shit, here she goes again with her internal monologue about Leonie. How can she put it? Well, she likes Leonie. Very much. Who is she kidding really? The jealousy she has surrounding Leonie is a dead giveaway of her crush on her best friend that has been brewing for a few years now.
It must have been around some time in the aftermath of the last ill-fated relationships Sara had back in high school, which was nearly two years ago now, when Leonie was there by her side to give her a shoulder to lean on and to keep her mind off things - and even taking her out to keep her entertained, just the two of them doing things together, much like they would but at a much higher frequency, as they hanged out with each other constantly. That made Sara realise a few things. The reason why she used to complain to Leonie about her various relationships boils down to a very simple reason - none of those people are Leonie, and that shit - she is in love with Leonie. The only issue is that she has no way to tell if her feelings are returned, with her certainty about it decreasing by the day, as both of them make more new friends in university, and Leonie growing to be a popular personality around some corners of the campus that everyone orbits around - and seem to be getting on really well with the David Schreibner , talented, objectively handsome, funny and all that.
“How’s things with Sara?” David asks out of the blue, cutting to the chase to ask Leonie as she is nodding at Matteo in greeting, who seems to be way too comfortable in David’s side to do anything that requires any more effort than that to interact with Leonie, instead leaning heavier into David’s side and blow at his own hair, muttering that he wants a smoke, squarely ignored by his boyfriend.
“What makes you think I want to talk about that?” Leonie shoots back, as she pops another handful of nuts into her mouth, having commandeered the little bowl of nuts in her hands as she circled from one group to the next, talking to people and letting them grab handfuls of it as they talk.
“Considering the fact that the love of your life is sitting over there by the bar by herself, and you’re here with me and my rat of a boyfriend.” He says, as Matteo protests with an offended hey by his side, headbutting David in the side of his head and earning him a yelp.
David continues as he rubs the side of his head. “The only way you could have made this even more obvious is if you held up a neon sign saying you want some advice on how to be gay.”
“And you have come to the best place for that.” Matteo pipes up, as he takes another swig of his beer and looking smug.
“Yeah, absolutely.” David deadpans, perfectly aware of his own history with Matteo, which sends Leonie laughing at the absurdity of all this as Matteo just wiggles his eyebrows at his boyfriend.
“So, still having bitten the bullet?” David redirects his attention back to Leonie.
She sighs with a slight shake of her head. They have had this conversation enough times that she knows how it would go - David would say that Leonie has nothing to lose, that she should just go and talk to Sara, and she would retort about how David is the last person to preach communication given he and Matteo were the worst people about talking back then, then David remarking that Sara obviously likes Leonie and all that; then Leonie would argue that Sara does not even go everywhere with her like they used to anymore.
Instead of falling into that routine again, she brings up the intramural she is organising for next month, piquing enough of the interest of self-confessed sports hoe that is David Schreibner that he lets the Sara-topic slide and instead talk about the various sport events that are coming up, as well as complaining about having to secure the sportsground time slot against the marching band of all organisations. David comments somewhere along the lines that he would have liked it if they had javelins too as he could use some practice to terrorise homophobes, while Matteo wandered off ostensibly in search of more beer, but probably really just being bored of a sports conversation.
They are talking about David’s film project when Matteo returns, handing a beer to David and leaning back against the wall next to his boyfriend and casually throwing out a comment.
“Sara was staring at you.”
“What?” She snaps, not because she wants to snap at Matteo, but rather out of the whiplash from Matteo getting involved in the discussion of Leonie’s love life, or the lack thereof. Comparatively speaking, of the couple, David is the one that is much closer to Leonie after all.
“Just thought you’d want to know. She also has a whole bottle of vodka with her that is already half empty.” He nods subtly in the general direction of the bar table while he takes a swig of his beer, as David does so too as if they are in sync, the disgusting couple that they are.
The comment, though, sends alarm bells ringing in Leonie’s head, as Sara is notorious for both (a) being a lightweight; and (b) drinking when something is weighing on her mind. So a Sara Adamczyk with a half-emptied bottle of vodka no less is possibly the worst case scenario. Leonie’s mind has already sprung into action of in search of what could have possibly caused this as nothing really seems to be out of the ordinary for her best friend , who seem nothing but oblivious to Leonie’s affections for her, and seemingly having been a little more distant lately for no obvious reasons.
She presses her half finished beer into Matteo’s hand in her haste, telling them both that she would talk to them later as she turns around to make a beeline for Sara. She hears from behind that David tells her to text, while Matteo’s attention has already moved on to the free beer he has received.
There is only one thing that is predominant on Leonie’s mind is Sara, as she walks straight up to Sara to find her much less sober than when she left her, slightly hunched over the table and with the bottle clutched in her group. Leonie sits down next to her, wrapping an arm around her like she always does and tries to pry the bottle from Sara. Sara’s grip is strong though, and coupled with her taller stature than Leonie, makes it not an easy task at all if Sara is not working with her.
“Come on Sara, you gotta stop drinking.” She says, nudging at Sara’s side while getting a hold on the bottle and wiggling it, trying to get it out of her hands.
On hearing Leonie, Sara whips her head towards her with glazed eyes that are droopy, indicative of how drunk Sara is, this is probably three quarters on the scale of how drunk Sara could get, and she leans closer as if she is inspecting something, and Leonie is holding her breath as Sara is getting so close . She just about has a few braincells remaining that helps her remember to snatch the bottle of vodka out of Sara’s hand as her grip loosens, though she is still engaged in a staredown with Sara.
“Do you know I always lose my mind staring at your eyes? The way the blue and green swirl together, it’s captivating.” Sara says with a hint of a slur, but otherwise sounding much more sober than anyone would have guessed looking at the half-drained bottle.
“Sara…” Leonie starts, as Sara drops her head onto Leonie’s shoulder, breaking the tension that was bubbling. “Ugh, I am dizzy.”
She has no time to process what in the world has just happened, instead she puts the vodka bottle to the side, trying to stand up and pull Sara with her, who is a bit more cooperative but her stature still makes Leonie struggle a little. Damn, she wishes she could have grown an inch or two taller. Eventually, both of them are upright.
“I’m going to bring you home. You’ve already had too much. I haven’t seen you like this in so long.” She mutters as she starts steering both of them towards the entrance, walking with much more effort necessary to move both of them and also push through the crowds of people, while Sara’s face lands at the top of her head.
From above her, Sara is still talking. “Do you know your hair smells nice.”
Leonie tries to resist the urge to scream from how Sara is making she feel with these sort of compliments that makes her want to hold her face and kiss her, and instead holding her nerve to navigate a few streets down to bring Sara back to her apartment to tuck her in before probably calling an early night for herself because she most definitely need to calm the fuck down after this, with her overtures of bringing Sara out and holding her hand and hugging her around the waist and cooking for her and everything all not really bringing Sara any closer to her, but to have her now saying things like these to make her yearn even more? Even for Leonie who usually is cool and collected, she is losing her mind over this.
Thankfully Sara grows a bit quieter as they walk the short distance down to where Sara’s apartment is, so she could focus on walking both of them in the dimly lighted neighbourhood. When they make it to the building, she does not even bother to wait for Sara to fumble for her keys, if she is even going to do that, and instead takes out the spare keys she has been given and unlocks the doors herself while Sara all but plasters herself against Leonie, snaking an arm around her and resting her head against Leonie’s.
They make it inside in one piece and Leonie deposits Sara in her own bedroom while she goes off in search of water. Surprisingly, Sara takes the offered cup without complaining and downing them in one go. When Leonie moves to take the cup back, however, Sara gets a hand on her wrist, holding her in place.
“Don’t go.”
“I’m just going to put your cup in the sink.”
“No.”
“Sara…” she starts, a drunk Sara is not really what she wants to deal with right now, especially when her feelings are surfacing tonight, and how the fire was further stoked by a drunk Sara who just says and does all the right things to press all of Leonie’s buttons.
“Stay.” Sara slurs.
While Leonie thinks she would combust if she gets any closer to Sara, there is really no winning when Sara is not really going to let go if she is set on something, so she reasons to herself that they have done sleepovers in the same bed when they were younger (they did!), so this is not really something that is entirely foreign, and she could do this, just one more time . Hell, she could probably sneak out when Sara has fallen asleep and come back to check on her in the morning. So she finally agrees.
“Okay.”
Sara clumsily scoots over on her bed to make room for Leonie, patting on the space and lightly pulling Leonie so she would get in. She joins Sara in bed, sitting next to her as Sara leans against her side. Sara turns and presses her nose and mouth into her hair. Leonie nudges her lightly.
“Go to sleep yeah? You’ve drank too much.”
She can feel Sara nodding next to her, then sliding down the bed.
“You coming?” Sara asks quietly, and Leonie slides down too, lying face to face with Sara. She looks like she wants to say something, but instead she just settles on a “good night” and closes her eyes, one of her legs touching Leonie’s. As soon as her back has hit the mattress, Leonie feels the exhaustion from the effort of bringing Sara home in one piece, as well as from her run earlier in the day and she slips into the blissful realm of sleep before she even notices it.
When Sara wakes up, the first thing she can feel is a thrumming headache pounding in her head. But there is also something that is different. Her bed seems to dip a bit deeper than usual, and now that her brain has caught up a little better, she is holding something, someone . Just as fragments of memory from the previous night starts flooding back into her mind, someone - Leonie, speaks up.
“You’re awake?”
Sara groans quietly as she cracks her eyes to see Leonie half on top of her, and her own arms circling around her best friend.
“Unfortunately.” She mutters. Leonie pushes the errant hair from Sara’s face, as Sara asks, “Did I do anything stupid last night?”
Leonie seems to take a second to process that question, but the answer she gets does not match the anticipation that she has just gone through. “Just that you drank half a bottle of vodka. Nothing dramatic.”
“Thank fuck.” She mutters, as both of them continue to ignore the very intimate position they are in, refusing to address the elephant in the room, until Leonie moves to crawl a little higher into Sara’s space, which quickens the pace of her heartbeats, until it dawns on her that she is reaching over to the bedside table to grab a glass of water and some painkillers for her. That does not stop her from looking like a deer caught in the headlights, she assumes, when Leonie seems a bit amused at whatever look that is on Sara’s face, waiting for her to wash down the painkillers.
“What?” She asks as she hands back the glass.
Leonie, who is now just sitting in front of her with her legs crossed, just shrugs. “Nothing. Just wondering if we need to talk.”
Sara looks at her best friend, seeing the rays of sunlight beaming through the window and accentuating her outline, and makes her eyes reflect and glow even more vibrantly than usual. She swallows thickly, wondering if she had unwittingly let out her secret, or if waking up cuddling with her gave that away without the need of words. “What about?”
“I don’t know.” Leonie starts, taking a deep breath, taking a glance at the window into the outside world before focusing back onto Sara. “For example, how long I have been in love with you…”
Leonie never manages to finish her sentence, as Sara pulls her into her lap and kisses her, her hands again finding their way around Leonie’s waist, like they are meant to be there, and Leonie’s hands fly to the back of her neck, holding her in place and kissing her back . It is almost as if Sara is dreaming. She ends up smacking her face just to check, when they pull apart, which draws a surprised laugh out of Leonie.
“Had to make sure I’m not dreaming.” She explains.
“If we are dreaming, whoever is out there playing tricks like these to us is going to have a problem with me because I have waited for too many years for this to just be a dream.” Leonie mutters as she approaches again, pressing a chaste kiss on the tip of her nose.
“Too many years huh.” Sara’s slightly mushy brain picks up on that.
“You heard me.” Leonie says with a roll of her eyes in typical fashion.
“We really need to talk about all this,” Sara decides, but before Leonie can get a word in, she continues “but,” falling back onto the mattress and pulling Leonie with her, “I do not possess a brain right now so let’s just sleep some more.”
Leonie chuckles but does not comment on it further, instead pulling the duvet up above the two of them and settling on Sara’s chest, holding one of her hands.
“We have all the time in the world.”