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Margareth braided her hair down and got in bed, tucking herself in the warm electric blankets and unlocking her phone in the dark, checking the uni group chat before she went to sleep.
They were talking about having pets, and when she told her friends that she was never allowed to have any, Nadia responded.
Nadia: You're in college babey
10:54 pm
Nadia: it's time to do everything you're not supposed to
10:54 pm
Margareth cracked a faint smile, replying.
Margareth: kinda in the process yeah
10:54 pm
↩ Margareth: kinda in the process yeah
Gretchen: hell yeah
10:55 pm
↩ Gretchen: hell yeah
Margareth: 😔✋
10:55 pm
↩ Margareth: 😔✋
Gretchen:✋
10:55 pm
Nadia: We should get you a piercing
10:55 pm
Nadia: A nip piercing
10:55 pm
Margareth did consider it for a whole five seconds, but when she actually thought about the actual mechanics of getting one, she winced audibly, cupping a tit with one hand.
↩ Nadia: A nip piercing
Margareth: i think that's a bit too extreme for me alzkalsla
10:55 pm
↩ Margareth: i think that's a bit too extreme for me alzkalsla
Nadia: That's the spice of it
10:56 pm
Nadia: No one needs to know ;)
10:56 pm
Margareth: p sure my girlfriend is gonna notice
10:56 pm
Gretchen: that's the spice ;)
10:56 pm
↩ Margareth: p sure my girlfriend is gonna notice
Nadia: baby that's the good part
10:57 pm
Nadia: I'm sure she's gonna love it
10:57 pm
↩ Nadia: I'm sure she's gonna love it
Gretchen: she's in this group she'll find out sooner or later
10:58 pm
S.H.: I can recommend a piercing place if anyone wants
10:58 pm
Nadia: I know a few places that specialize in the intimate kind of metal
10:59 pm
↩ Nadia: I know a few places that specialize in the intimate kind of metal
Gretchen: can you dm me
10:59 pm
Nadia: Sure baby
10:59 pm
Nadia: I'll send you the girl that did mine
11:00 pm
↩ Nadia: I know a few places that specialize in the intimate kind of metal
Annelise: if she doesn't i will 😳
11:01 pm
Of course. Margareth started wondering if introducing Anne to this group, a bunch of enablers, was a wise idea.
Margareth: of course
11:01 pm
Nadia: ooh getting more people to the club
11:02 pm
↩ Annelise: if she doesn't i will 😳
Gretchen: 👀👀
11:02 pm
Annelise: babe let's match 😳
11:03 pm
Annelise: i do one u do the other
11:03 pm
Marge let out a dry chuckle before typing in two letters:
Margareth: no.
11:04 pm
Gretchen: AKDJAKDJAKDJAKDJ
11:04 pm
Annelise: 😔
11:04 pm
Gretchen: i'm thinking about it lemme think about it
11:04 pm
Annelise: Gretchen let's do it
11:04 pm
Annelise: since my bestie won't 😔
11:05 pm
“Oh, the drama!” She whispered to herself, entertained by the situation.
Gretchen: damn 😔
11:05 pm
Nadia: Oh think about it 😏
11:05 pm
Gretchen: i'm thinkin i'm thinkin
11:05 pm
Margareth: I'll hold your hand but I'm out of it
11:05 pm
Margareth: don't break my fingers i have to play
11:06 pm
Annelise: i won't break your fingers i pinky promise
11:11 pm
‘You better not.’ She thought, yawning. ‘I just managed to play the first 30 seconds of la campanella without fucking up. ’
Marge locked her phone and plugged in the charger, ready to end the day and drift away to sleep.
~~
Gretchen’s DMs
Annelise: gretch
12:52 pm
Annelise: i bought i cute set of jewelry but they come in pairs so
12:52 pm
Annelise: do you want the other one?
12:52 pm
Gretchen: show em
12:54pm
Annelise:
12:57 pm
Annelise: It's a rose quartz
12:57 pm
Annelise: i heard you like rocks..
12:57 pm
Gretchen: hey.
12:58 pm
Gretchen: yeah those look good
12:58 pm
Gretchen: i'm not looking forward to the pain tho
12:58 pm
Annelise: ALSKALSLA
12:58 pm
Annelise: get someone's hand to squeeze
12:59 pm
Annelise: I'm TRYING not to think about it
12:59 pm
↩ Annelise: get someone's hand to squeeze
Gretchen: i'm bringing cass with me for that
12:59 pm
↩ Annelise: I'm TRYING not to think about it
Gretchen: probably better honestly..
12:59 pm
Annelise: which side u gonna do
1:00 am
Gretchen: right
1:04 am
Annelise: nice
1:05 am
Annelise: im doing left for one single reason
1:05 am
Gretchen: what is that
1:05 am
Annelise:
1:06 am
Annelise: heart side
1:06 am
Gretchen: oh my god
1:06 am
Annelise: jasdlaksjdka
1:06 am
She couldn't lie, Gretchen had thought about it before. She'd done some research, asked Nadia about her experience, the whole shebang. Maybe she just needed that last push.
Now she googled around for permanent piercings, inspired by the overly cutesy one Annelise picked. Who would've thought that the princess's childhood friend would be so much fun ?
Gold was her preferred color for jewelry, even if her mom told her that silver suited her better. She had no idea of what to pick, really. But then she saw it.
"Cass. Cassie. Are you awake?" she nudged the woman hugging her from behind.
"Hmmm? What is it?" she asked, groggily.
"Look. How ‘bout this one?"
Cassie squinted her eyes at the phone. "Oh my god."
"Right?"
"That's so stinkin' cute." she kissed Gretchen's cheek, almost missing her target. "Now go to sleep."
"Just let me place the order, just a minute."
"Mm-hmm. Fifty-nine. Fifty-eight. Fifty-seven-"
"Oh my god, you're the worst." Gretchen chuckled, feeling the strong, warm arms around her waist pull her closer.
Gretchen cleared her cart with an excited smile, before blocking her phone and going to sleep in the coziness of her girlfriend's arms with a happy sigh.
~~
Annelise shut the car door behind her and walked towards the white building, her thick wooden heels clopping on the flat stone path.
She rang the doorbell at the Pride, excited to meet her new friends again, trying to shake off the slightest bit of nervousness in her chest. She looked around at the huge fraternity house, the white greek columns standing tall around her, waiting. From the inside, she could hear various noises of people talking and laughing, mostly men, from what she could catch.
The door opened, and a tall, muscly dude with dark skin, dreadlocks, and an outgoing smile looked down at her. "Hey, what's up?"
Annelise grinned at him, making an effort to keep her eyes up. "Hi! Is Gretchen here?”
The guy nodded at her, turning around and yelling into the house. "Hey Cap? There's a girl here for you!"
There was jeering from the voices inside, and she could hear Gretchen jokingly scolding them.
"Man, shut the fuck up, I'm gonna go full drill fuckin’ sargeant on all of you next practice. It's a promise!" She laughed, and Anne covered her snorting with her hand at the scene. Gretchen was holding hands with a dark-skinned blonde girl who was, somehow, even taller than her, her very toned arms and abs coming out of a sporty crop top.
"Hey, thanks Austin." Gretchen high-fived the guy who greeted her at the door. "What's up, Anne? Not gonna chicken out now, are you?"
“ Wow , hii!” Annelise let out, in awe. “Hell no, I didn’t drive three hours to chicken out, also hi, damn, you must be Cassie!” She eyed Gretchen, impressed.
"That's me. Nice to meet you." Cassie greeted with a wave, while Gretchen just rolled her eyes.
“Sorry, I know we just met but let me just say, you look. So good. Gurl. Do you even lift?!” She joked, grinning and amazed.
Cassie laughed. "I can lift you , if you want proof."
“Oh my god! Yeah!” Annelise chuckled, excited.
"Damn, they never accept so fast! Okay, come here." Cassie opened her arms and picked her up with ease, bridal style, making Anne shriek and giggle holding onto her neck.
"I told you, she's fun !" Gretchen commented, taking out her phone to take a picture. "There, I'm gonna send it to you guys. Hold on, we're gonna get Marge next, yeah?" She asked, already typing with a mischievous smile on her lips.
Gretchen:
4:04 pm
Gretchen: we're on our way
4:04 pm
Margareth: What the hell
4:05 pm
Gretchen: ;)
4:05 pm
After Cassie carefully let Anne down, the three of them headed to her car, a cute little red Porsche Macan she was gifted when she was accepted into college.
“Hey Gretch, check out that little bag on the backseat.” Annelise said, checking her rear view mirror. When the blonde opened the little paper bag, she found a small white box inside, and in it the rose quartz gold jewelry they had agreed upon.
"Oh, it's the lil things! Cool."
Annelise laughed at the way she called the ‘lil things’, turning on the engine and heading to Hatysa’s with the help of her GPS.
When they got there, Marge and Hatys were already waiting for them in the front yard, talking to each other sitting on the first step of the front porch. Her house was lovely, mediterranean-style architecture with off-white walls and red roof tiles, and plants, many, many plants. Annelise wondered how the hell they kept all those cacti alive in the cold weather.
“Hii!” Hatysa smiled, squeezing herself on the middle seat next to Gretchen, a choir of greetings following as the two girls got in and closed the door.
“Hi Anne. Good to see you and Cass got along so well.” Margareth commented, a joke smirk on her face.
“With friends like these, how could I not?!” Anne smiled to herself, paying attention to the road.
"Did you see how pink she got?" Gretchen asked Marge.
"I have that effect on people." Cassie complemented, smirking as well.
“Pff.” Marge let out, while Hatys bit her smile, looking out the window, holding her girlfriend’s hand.
“Oh, you gonna drag me? Alright.” Anne said smugly, taking a quick glance at Gretchen. “ So , how did you two get together? Last time I saw you Cass wasn’t around.”
"Woof, that's a…"
"Gretch had to get the cold shoulder to notice anything." Cassie said, simply. Gretchen groaned.
"I was a dumbass, yeah. Can we no-"
" You said you deserved the dragging, sweet pea."
Gretchen opened her mouth to argue, but the nickname caught her by surprise and she resigned herself, looking out the window to hide her blush. Unfortunately for her, another pair of green eyes had already caught her reaction from the rearview mirror.
“I see… Sorry for asking. But I must say -” She started, smiling at Cass next to her, pulling the handbrake. “You really do have that effect on people.” She finished, winking at her.
"Hey." Gretchen pointed at her from the backseat. "You stop that."
“Stop what?” Anne turned around, feigning innocence. And then to everyone, she announced: “We’re here!”
The gang spilled out of the car, the couples finding themselves to each other's sides. Cassie gave Gretchen a friendly nudge, and she reacted by rolling her eyes with a fond smile on her face before holding her hand.
From the outside, the piercing & tattoo studio looked very much like what you’d expect from a piercing & tattoo studio. The one story tall building had black painted walls and big glass windows with a bunch of cool white drawn-on doodles on them, and neon tattoo signs on the inside.
It was the best rated studio in town according to Nadia, and Anne made sure to research the place before they got there. When they opened the door, a little bell rang, and they were greeted by a young, olive skinned woman in a tank top that showed off both sleeves full of colorful tattoos, and black side shaved hair. She had one septum and an eyebrow piercing, and her ears were adorned with jewelry. Upon seeing her, Gretchen and Cassie nudged each other with a whispered "oooh" , as their custom was with attractive women.
“Hi! I’m Anne! You must be Raven!” Anne grinned, waving at her.
“Hello there Anne! Yes I am. You have a booked appointment, right?”
“Uh, yeah, me and her.” She pointed at herself and then at Gretchen. “And they’re here for hand holding and emotional support.” She smiled, pointing at the other girls.
Raven laughed, leading them to the cashier, where they worked out the details and paid for their piercings.
“Kali is the piercer here, I’m gonna lead you guys back there, ok?” She said, walking the five of them down a short corridor and into another room with another lady waiting for them. She had less tattoos than Raven, and wore big round glasses and purple curly hair.
The room was just as big as the tattooing area, with a flat, thin cushioned sort of bed in the middle, the needles and equipment for the piercings already prepped up on a little metal table with wheels next to it.
“Hello guys!” She smiled, her voice had a thick english accent. “Which ones of you are Anne and Gretchen?”
Gretchen raised a hand in a sort of wave. "I'm Gretchen, that's Anne. The rest of them are just here to watch." She joked, with a smirk.
Kali chuckled, putting on rubber gloves. “Alright, alright. And who’s going first?”
Annelise and Gretchen looked at each other. “Rock paper scissors?” Gretchen suggested. “Whoever wins goes last.”
“Ok.” Annelise smiled, a little nervous. Both of them shook their fists in the air twice, revealing on the third time, Anne chose rock and Gretchen chose scissors. Anne sighed “You go first!” as Gretchen let out a "God damn it!"
Kali grinned at the scene in the background. “I promise you, it’ll be so quick you won’t even feel it.” She gestured at Gretchen for her to come forward.
She sat down on the recliner, unbuttoning her tacky patterned shirt as she laid down. She wasn't wearing a bra, as per usual. Marge looked away, leaning on her girlfriend and trying to keep it cool, and thank god for makeup, for she was most probably blushing right now.
"I'm going for the right one." she informed Kali, keeping her cool demeanor even with five people looking at her tits. The purple haired woman then proceeded to clean the area with a little cotton ball dipped in alcohol.
“I’ll ask you to stand up for me for just a second.” Kali told Gretch, focused on her job. When she did, she marked two tiny dots on her skin with a toothpick dipped in ink, and asked Gretchen to lay down again. “You good?” She asked, kindly.
"Peachy." she smiled. "It'll be quick, right?"
“Very quick!” She smiled reassuringly, grabbing the forceps and the thick hollow needle. “I myself have both of mine pierced. Only hurts for the first five seconds.”
"Okay." Gretchen breathed in through the nose and out through the mouth. "Someone come hold my hand."
Her girlfriend stepped right up next to her, totally looking at Gretchen's bare chest despite her familiarity with it. "There you go. Don't be too scared, now."
"I'm not scared." Gretchen defended, almost as a reflex. "I'm, y'know, excited."
Cassie laughed. "Oh, I'm sure you are."
"Breathe in and out, slowly." The lady asked, and Gretchen did what she said. When she asked her to do it again, as soon as the air left her lungs, Kali pushed the needle through with a swift movement, and Gretchen couldn't help but let out a loud "FUCK!" at the sharp pain.
"There you go, real quick." Kali said, just as upbeat as before. She closed the jewelry and spayed some more antiseptic on her nipple. "Now I'm just gonna put on a little bandage over it and you're done!"
"Ow. It really was quick. So when can I take it off?"
“Leave it for a couple of hours, then you can take it off and spray more antiseptic on it. You should clean it everyday with the spray, and I recommend wearing a sports bra while it’s healing.”
"Great, I do that most days anyway." she grinned, turning to the group. "Anne, it's your turn now."
Anne gave the group a nervous smile before biting her bottom lip and sitting on the edge of the recliner, her boots almost touching the floor.
“Can someone hold my stuff?” She asked, taking off her cardigan, and Hatysa held it for her, along with her sunflower t-shirt and her pink lacy bra as she took them off to the sound of a brief wolf whistle from Gretchen, making the room laugh and Anne roll her eyes, playing along. “I know, I know!” She smiled, brushing them off.
Kali smiled at the group of friends, bringing over clean supplies and changing her gloves.
“I’m doing the left one.” She told the piercer, and the girl hummed positively in response.
When she went on to clean the area, Annelise covered her smile with her fingers.
“Oh it tickles!” She shriveled back, and Kali couldn’t help but contain a small chuckle.
"Yeah, she's real ticklish all over." Gretchen piped up again with a little nudge at her girlfriend, who snorted a little at the sexual joke. Hatysa quietly puffed, covering her smile with her hand, while Marge grunted in disgust to herself at the comment.
Annelise squinted playfully at Gretchen. “Oh, shush you!”
Gretchen simply winked at her, to which she rolled her eyes, a corner of a smile on her face.
Kali did the same procedure on her, dotting her skin with ink and then having her lay down. Marge stepped forward and held her hand when she asked her to.
“Anne, you’re sweating. Relax.” Marge squeezed her hand and gave her best reassuring smile.
“I know!” She looked down at her chest, Kali was just about to put the needle through. “Shit, I can’t look.” Annelise covered her eyes with one hand.
“You ok? Do you want some air?” The woman asked.
“No, no, it’s fine. Let’s just do it.” She breathed, still covering her eyes.
“Ok. Breathe in and out.” Anne did what she said, and just like with Gretchen, when she asked her to do it again, she quickly pushed the needle through, making Anne shriek in pain and Marge grimace at the sight, the blonde crushing her hand on her grip.
“Ouch!” Marge complained.
“The worst part is done! Stand still for me, please.” Kali reassured her, hooking the jewelry on the needle and sliding it through, closing it with the little rose quartz ball. “You’re done.”
Annelise peeked down through her fingers. “Oh shit it looks pretty! Marge look!”
“It is pretty, I like the stone. But it kinda blends in with your skin tone from far away...” She tilted her head. “But it’s still pretty though!” She added.
“Hm. Yeah. But I’ll wear this one just as it heals so, no big deal.” Anne shrugged, getting up after Kali put a bandage on her and advised her about the aftercare. “We did it!” She grinned at Gretchen.
"Hell yeah!" she cheered at her, raising one hand for a high five.
“Marge, take a pic of us!” Anne turned around.
“Like… that?” She frowned. “Shirtless??” She pointed in the general direction of both of them.
“No one’s gonna see it! It’s just a keepsake!”
"We can cover the other one, it's fine." Gretchen shrugged.
“Alright.” She raised her eyebrows, taking her phone out of her handbag and snapping a picture of her friends showing off their recently pierced boobs, Gretchen hiding the other with her shirt and Anne hiding her other with her hand.
“There. I’m gonna send it to you guys.”
After dressing up and thanking Kali for her amazing work, the gang got back into Anne’s car, chatting and laughing about what had just happened.
“So, y’all wanna come to my place? We could watch a movie or something.” Annelise asked, turning back.
“That’s fine by me.” Hatysa said, and then turned to her girlfriend. “Bun?”
“Yeah, let’s go.” Marge smiled.
Cassie and Gretchen looked at each other. "Yeah, why not."
“Let’s go then! Oh, we could even bake a cake!” Anne grinned, taking her friends back to her home.
Soon as she unlocked the front door, a cute little yorkshire came running to greet them, excited.
“Hi Baby!” Annelise grinned at him, picking him up and kissing his little head.
“Oh my god that’s a puppy.” Gretchen gasped.
“He’s an old boy already!” Annelise grinned, looking at her dog and shaking his little paw before putting him on the floor, and he went running as quickly as he came.
“Mama, I’m home!” Annelise shouted as they ascended the white marble stairs, her voice echoing on the spacious two-story hall. Soon as they got to the second floor, one of the corridor doors was opened and a blonde, middle aged woman who looked like she was pulled straight out of a seventies teen movie smiled at them, holding a little teacup piggy in her arms.
“Hi honey! Hi Marge!” She beamed, showing off her perfect white teeth. “And who are these beautiful tall ladies?”
“Hi Mrs Herriot!” Marge smiled politely at her.
“My new friends!” Anne grinned. “Gretchen, Hatysa and Cassie.” She pointed at each one of them.
"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Herriot." Gretchen greeted, wide-eyed, and the other two girls took turns smiling and greeting Anne's mom with a handshake.
"Oh darling, I have to say, I love your hair!" She exclaimed in awe at Gretch, tilting her head to get a better view of the back. "My sister's hair used to be exactly like that when we were younger, I was so jealous!"
“Pretty right?” Annelise raised her eyebrows, smiling at Gretchen’s hair.
"Oh God, thank you!" Gretchen exclaimed, a bit sheepish. "It's kind of a pain to keep it up, but it's worth it at the end."
“I’m sure it is!” She beamed, and then turned to her daughter. "Well, I was just about to leave for my hydrogymnastics, I'll be back at around seven." She said while Annelise got Evangeline from her arms. "You have fun with your friends!" She grinned, wrinkling the corner of her eyes and walking down the stairs, squeezing her daughter's shoulder on the way.
“Ok mama!” Anne blew her kisses and opened her bedroom door, placing the piggy on the fluffy white carpet in the middle of her room. Her entire bedroom was pastel pink, the last bits of sunlight shone through the big curtained windows, tinting the place with a coral tone.
“Y’all can leave your stuff anywhere, don’t mind the mess.” She said, taking her boots off.
Hatysa scooped closer to Marge, whispering “Oh my god she has a pig!” And her girlfriend chuckled at her, scooping Evangeline up.
“Wanna hold her?” She asked, to which Hatysa responded with an excited nod, taking her from her arms and petting her head, whispering ‘hiii!’ and hearing a tiny oinc in return.
Gretchen looked around the room. She initially didn’t think of it as messy, but paying more attention she saw books, textbooks, a pair of roller skates, candles, all sorts of knick knacks everywhere. It reflected Annelise pretty well, as if her room was a tiny piece of her mind.
“ Super pink. So what’s the plan, now that we’re here?”
“You guys hungry? We could bake a cake and order a pizza.” She suggested, nonchalantly changing her shirt and bra into a comfy hoodie.
Gretchen was taken aback, but it didn’t stop her from taking a glance. “Ah, sounds good.”
After everyone agreed on the plan, the five of them got to work on the kitchen, each one assigned to a task, being supervisioned by Baby and little Evangeline napping together on a small pink bed on the corner.
“Hey, do you need any help with that?” Gretchen asked Annelise after seeing her struggle using her non-dominant arm to mix without perturbing her pierced spot.
“Ah, please! ” She rolled her eyes at herself, smiling. “The mixer is broken.”
“Yeah, no problem. So how’ve you been?” she asked, given that they hadn’t seen each other in a month.
“Girl, life has been pretty crazy lately.” She rested herself on the counter. “With college and the internship and the seventeen texbooks due next week.” She chuckled, a little nervous. “But I’m glad I managed to come home to Marge’s birthday and get to see you guys.” She smiled, contented, trying to cross her arms but failing with a small ‘ouch’ . “What about you , though?” She asked, her tone clearly indicating she was curious about her friend’s girlfriend.
Gretchen sighed. "You're really curious, huh? It's a long and dumb story, but basically I took Cass home for the holidays because her moms were on a second honeymoon and her brother and his husband were on their first one, so since we were all going home I invited her. And, uh, my mom teased me for finally bringing a girl home to meet them and I denied it like an absolute dick , and Cassie gave me the cold shoulder until New Year's. So then I realized we were treating each other like we were in a relationship already, I just wasn't owning up to it and really upsetting her. So yeah. Now you know."
Annelise blinked, completely invested in the story. “Oh, wow . That’s quite the narrative.” She shifted from her position, resting her elbow on the marble surface. “Do you feel happier now?” She asked with a corner smile, her hopeless romantic persona showing through.
Gretchen's expression immediately melted into a lovestruck smile, subconsciously turning to look at the subject of the conversation. "Yeah… Like, the last time I was in a relationship I was like, 12, and she broke my heart, so I disavowed them altogether. But it's just… nice to have someone to be with and that you can trust, and talk to them about anything, you know? It works out also because we're both sluts, so no one had to give up anything. I just get to have the romantic experience on top of it." she finished, a wistful smile still on her lips.
Anne’s expression changed from a cheeky, corny smile to a soulful laugh at the word ‘sluts’, joke-slapping Gretchen on the arm. “Glad to see you’re living the dream.”
"Didn't think it was my dream, but I'm happier than ever and she's happy, so." She shrugged. "And do you have anyone in your sights or are you still living the single life?"
“Oh!” Annelise chuckled. “Still single.” She shrugged, waving her hand. “I made a new friend though, I’ve been hanging with him a lot.” She then lowered her voice, her index finger between her smile. “He’s kinda cute.”
"Oooh, tell me more! Did you meet him at school? What does he do?"
"We got assigned to this philosophy group project together, he's in the same class as mine, that’s how we met. We're just friends though." She dipped a finger in the batter, tasting it. "His name is Joseph."
Gretchen raised her eyebrows. “Uh huh. Let’s put this thing in the oven.”
Immediately after closing the oven door, they heard the doorbell. “I’ll get it!” Marge got up from the kitchen stool and ran towards the door, while the others helped Anne set the table.
Looking at this unusual group of friends - her girlfriend laughing at Annelise telling a story about getting Marge drunk for the first time as the subject herself rolled her eyes and tried to hide her red face, holding hands with her laughing girlfriend - Gretchen had a moment of thinking about how weird the circumstances that led to this occasion were. One dumb late-night hookup led them to throw a coming out party for their friend, and then getting their nipples pierced together.
Whether she believed in fate or not, that the right people meet at the right time and all that shit, seeing all of them together and laughing and being happy gave her a push in that direction.