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Sterling stares at the digital alarm clock placed too perfectly symmetrical alongside the lamp and tissue box on the bedside table. Her head rests on her forearm, hand tucked under the pillow wedged between her head and the bedhead.
‘2:00 AM’, the clock blinks at her.
Her free hand’s fingers trace along her neck and a grin spreads across Sterling’s face as she feels tender spots reveal themselves.
Slowly, and with all the caution and care in the world as to not wake the sleeping body beside her, Sterling shifts onto her back, turning her head to watch as April fucking Stevens readjusts herself, a small frown on her face, to nestle comfortably into Sterlings side.
The smaller girl let’s out a deep breath and Sterling’s eyes light up as her heart flutters. She herself sighs and rests her head back on the pillow, deciding now is as good a time as any to reflect on what brought them here.
Her first year away from home had been, while an incredible opportunity to learn about herself and grow as an individual, a difficult time for Sterling. Without Blair by her side (though the two were constantly in communication over video call or text), Sterling found herself lonely. Not in the sense of being without people, she was in fact quick to find a lovely group of friends, yet Sterling found herself craving interaction with people who really knew her; knew how she ticked.
When an opening in her schedule finally allowed for Sterling to visit her hometown, she was on the next flight out.
Blair met her at the airport, the two hugging and openly weeping, their public affection enough to make onlookers share concerned glances. Once they had composed themselves and piled Sterling and her luggage into Blair’s car, a smirk slowly spread across the brunette’s face.
“You got a ‘someone’ in that fancy new world of yours?”
Sterling frowned and turned to face her sister.
“Don’t you think I would have told you already if I had? I know it’s difficult not being together twenty-four-seven, but for the love of the lord, Blair. I know the exact duration and pressure intensity of the last hickey you received. We share everything.”
“So you don’t? You don’t have anyone?”
“Was that not obvious?”
“I’m just curious, is all... by the way, April’s in town,” Blair bit the inside of her cheek.
Sterling stared for a second too long before rolling her eyes and huffing, sitting back in her seat properly.
“Blair,” Sterling warned.
“What?”
“April doesn’t want to see me-“
“I never said anything about that! Those were two completely separate sections of conversation. I did not say that they were related in any way.”
“You didn’t have to!” Sterling looked out the window, anxiously chewing her bottom lip, elbow resting on the armrest.
After a long pause, Blair spoke again.
“Bowser and I brought John Stevens in last week...”
At that, Sterling snapped into an upright sitting position, spinning to stare at her sister who was now devilishly smiling at the road ahead.
“How- What- What did he- When did you- You didn’t tell me- Does April know it was you? Have you talked to her? Did he hurt you? Are you okay?”
“One at a time, please, Sterling,” Blair said, looking more smug than the time she beat Ezekiel in a dance off that got way too out of hand at their senior prom.
“Bowser and I have been collecting some... ‘stuff’ on Mr. Stevens for a while now. I didn’t tell you because I thought it would be an interesting surprise to give when you got home. April knows it was Bowser and I, she was there-“
“April was there?!”
“Please don’t interrupt me.”
“Sorry...”
“It’s okay,” Blair couldn’t help the twitch of a genuine smile at the kindness and love between the sisters bubbling up so easily.
“He did not hurt me. And, yes, I am okay. Great actually. I hooked up with this really intense guy the other night-“
“Blair! Blair! I’ve heard this one already and I do not want to live through it again. Need I remind you of that conversation we had on boundaries?”
“Right.”
“Anyway... so, is April... is she mad at your or?”
“She was the reason we knew where he was. She... did a lot to get this arrest to happen.”
“Wow, okay...”
The details left Sterling in a gobsmacked state by the time they reached their parents house.
Deciding to show off their matured baby bird to the locals, Debbie and Anderson proposed dinner at The Club. Sterling showcased one of her signature confused pouts when Anderson threw Blair what she could only assume was supposed to be a subtle wink. Debbie quickly swept her blonde daughter off though into another room, insisting on showing her some new decor.
Sterling gave her second signature pout as she later walked into Blair’s room to find the girl putting on the final touches of an outfit that seemed much too impressive for dinner at The Club.
“Sterling, we’re hot tickets these days. Let’s act like it,” Was the only explanation the brunette offered as she insisted on Sterling changing into a lovely blue, floral dress she had picked out.
Dinner was lovely. Blair spent too much time on her phone, Anderson made some uncomfortable jokes, and Debbie tried almost too hard to be inclusive when asking Sterling about her dating life.
Many a familiar face passed by to greet the family and Sterling. Even Luke made an appearance, adorably speaking with such animation about the girl he had met in his new town that Sterling knew he had finally found someone who loved him as me as he loved them.
When the family began to settle, Debbie sucked in a breath, plastering on her mischievous smile,
“Alright, well, we better get a move on home. Early morning for us and all. Don’t be too noisy when y’all come back in tonight,” she said, pointing between the two.
Sterling looked to Blair.
‘We’re not going home with them?’
‘Nah, I thought we could finally get some legal drinks together!’
Sterling grinned at that before looking back to her parents.
They said their goodbyes and the twins made their way to the bar.
It felt devious to order and consume alcohol in a place they had grown up. The two made too many jokes about what their grandparents would think and Sterling was beginning to feel like her old self again; comfortable, confident, and genuinely happy.
Her ability to properly identify her feelings however seemed to be abruptly stunted as April Stevens entered the bar.
Wearing a neat button down shirt tucked into a skirt, Sterlings mouth went dry as she practically experienced flashbacks to the two’s debate on whether they should publicly date before promptly making out in the back of Sterling’s car.
“Hey, Stevens,” Blair said, standing from her stool to give April a hug.
Sterling’s mouth hung open as she watched the two, convinced her drink had been spiked and she was experiencing a very strange hallucination.
“Everything go okay at home?” Blair asked, still holding April’s shoulders, seeming to genuinely search the girls face for an answer.
April reached up and squeezed Blair’s wrists, nodding with a smile she seemed to be attempting to contain sitting on her lips.
Blair nodded before the two turned to Sterling who promptly sucked in a small bit audible gasp.
“Hi, April,” she offered, lamely waving before smacking her own hand down.
Blair chuckled quietly, a hand attempting to subtly cover her mouth in time.
April seemed to take in her own anxious breath,
“Sterling,” She curtly nodded.
Blair quickly broke up the awkward welcoming, suggesting a round of drinks. The three eased into casual conversation, narrowly avoiding the topics of John Stevens, the law, and their love lives.
Soon they became too excitable for The Club and decided to take their little party elsewhere. Somehow three became five as Hannah B. and Ezekiel joined them at a random nightclub they found themselves at, the music blaring tunes that reminded them of the time they had all lived in the same state.
Sterling’s eyes, with the confidence from a little alcohol, couldn’t seem to help but drift towards April. She watched as April truly seemed to let loose as the group danced, jumping up and down to the beat, her eyes closed, laughing and gently slapping her friends when they whisper-yelled things into her ear while making direct eye contact with Sterling.
“Talk to her,” Blair interrupted her sister’s staring, nudging her in the ribs as she continued to nod her head to the rhythm of the song playing.
“We’ve been talking all night,” Sterling argued.
“No, you’ve been in the same group conversation all night. I mean talk to her. Just her.”
“Blair, I don’t know,”
“Sterling, I literally arrested her father in front of her and she hugged me when we met up tonight. Do you really think you arresting her dad and trying to get her to hold your hand yonks ago is really going to keep her mad at you?”
“It might...”
“Well, only one way to find out.”
And with that, Blair not-so-subtly tripped and pushed her sister into the trio they had arrived with. The three split like bowling pins, Hannah B. knocking some poor strangers drink out of their hand, and April squatting slightly to catch and promptly stand Sterling up.
“Had too much to drink?” April chuckled, one hand lingering on Sterling’s hip, the other on her bicep. Sterling’s face went pink.
“No, sorry. Blair, she...”
“Say no more,” April smiled. Her gaze then shifted to her hand on Sterling’s arm, too much like it had those years ago, and she quickly yet casually withdrew both hands.
Sterling suddenly felt hot. She swallowed as she stared at April, seeing her now; her face was more mature somehow, more structured and defined. April was hot. Sterling knew that already but seeing her like this, slightly grown up and seemingly carefree; April was hot hot.
“When you grabbed my arm and yelled at me after the debate tournament I deliberately threw, I was so turned on that I gave myself my first orgasm in the utility closet.”
Maybe she had had too much to drink.
April stared.
“Oh?” Was all she seemed to be able to respond with.
Sterling took in a deep breath and nodded.
Then, as if God wanted to throw Sterling a bone (or as if Blair had bribed the DJ), the final nail was hammered into the coffin; Taylor Swift’s ‘Dress’ sang through the too-loud speakers.
Sterling watched April’s jaw clench as she breathed in.
“Maybe you’re not the only one who was... affected by that encounter,” Was the full response April was finally able to offer as Taylor’s breathy moans floated around the two.
If you asked her the next day, Sterling wouldn’t be able to tell you how the two made it from the dance floor, to a bathroom stall (in which Sterling way-too-hotly begged the phrase “please, take me to bed” as April kissed up her neck), into a taxi, and then to April’s conveniently unoccupied family home. She wouldn’t even be able to explain how they made it up the stairs and into April’s childhood bedroom.
Sterling let’s out her third signature pout as she contemplates this now. Perhaps her gears in her brain are shifting too loudly, because April’s head slowly lifts, moving to rest her chin on Sterling’s chest, gazing at the blonde.
“You awake?” She asks.
“Yeah, sorry. Did I wake you?”
April breathes out a small laugh, shaking her head. Sterling meets her gaze and watches as April drags herself closer, softly pressing their lips together.
“Are you okay?” She asks, and Sterling sighs happily, leaning their foreheads together.
“Of course,” she breathes.
The soft way in which they speak to each other soon leads to passionate and heavy kissing which of course leads to more ‘rolling around in the sheets’, as Blair would later coin it.
‘4:00AM’ the clock blinks at Sterling. Her gaze shifts to the bedpost next to it and a devious smirk graces her face.
Slowly and quietly, Sterling rises from the bed, lightly patters across to April’s old desk, picks up a pair of scissors, and she crosses back to the bed.
Sitting on the side of the mattress, Sterling carves ‘S.W’ into the wooden frame before returning the scissors to the pencil holder.
With that, she curls herself around April’s bare body under the silky sheets and finally falls asleep, a small upturn in her lips.