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Kate cupped Jo’s face in her hands and momentarily stopped returning the deep, breathless kisses they had been exchanging.
“What?” Jo sucked in a breath, feeling her cheeks get hot as Kate’s eyes flickered over her face. She still wasn’t used to the intensity that came with that beautiful gaze. Kate brushed a chaste kiss against Jo’s bottom lip without breaking eye contact and pulled back a bit. Jo untangled her fingers from Kate’s belt loops and wrapped her arms around her waist, keeping Kate from backing away any further.
“Just…” Kate cleared her throat and shook her head, smiling. Jo felt her stomach flip. She pushed up on her toes and kissed Kate again. “…Christ, Jo. What are you doing to me?”
“Me?” Jo almost laughed, heart rate speeding up as Kate's hands brushed her hair back behind her ears, fingers tugging playfully on a few strands after twisting them around her knuckles. “I don’t know what to do with myself when you look at me like that.” Jo let her own eyes role shut as Kate kissed her again, pressing them more firmly together as she caught her bottom lip between her teeth.
Somebody blasted their car horn rather aggressively as they drove past. It dawned on both of them, rather suddenly, that they were currently stood on a very public corner of two very busy streets on a bustling Saturday afternoon. And…they may or may not be a little day drunk from their brunch date.
“Whoops...” Kate giggled. Jo tucked her face into Kate’s neck to hide her shy mirth.
“How do you do that?” She wondered, pressing a gentle kiss to Kate’s cheek, squeezing her waist tightly in the circle of her arms.
“Do what?” Kate asked, breathing in deeply in an effort to slow her pulse down.
“Make me forget where the fuck I am.” Jo said. Kate wrinkled her nose, unable to take such a compliment. She nuzzled against Jo’s temple briefly. She took a full step back, finally putting some space between them. Jo let her arms fall away from Kate’s waist but picked up both her hands, squeezing affectionately.
“Home?” Kate asked.
“We ran out of tea this morning.” Jo remembered, looking frustrated by the fact. Kate grinned and pulled on Jo’s hands, tugging her close once again, unable to resist pressing a gentle kiss to her lips. She dropped one of Jo’s hands but kept ahold of the other one as she shuffled them both towards the crosswalk.
“Stop at the shop…then home.” Jo slipped her fingers between Kate’s and held on tight, trying and then failing to walk in a straight line beside her. “What a sight you are.” Kate laughed, lifting their hands to kiss Jo’s knuckles.
“Stop that, I need to think.” Jo huffed but didn’t pull her hand away. Kate kissed her fingers before letting their hands swing between them as they walked. “We’re probably forgetting more than just the tea.”
“Probably.”
It was even harder to concentrate in the shop with Kate staying so close to her, slipping her arms around Jo's waist from behind whenever she came to a standstill. Even when Kate gave her room to walk she was just off the side, dropping a hand into the back pocket of Jo’s jeans. Jo tried vainly to remember the things they said they needed to get for their long weekend holiday, which they planned to spend exclusively on the couch and in bed. As far away as humanly possible from their phones and the outside world, anyway.
“Which ones?” Jo held up two different kinds of crisps.
“Whatever you want.” Kate said, kissing her cheek, almost comically zoned out judging by her tone. Jo rolled her eyes and put both bags in their basket. Kate pulled on Jo’s pocket and tucked her firmly into her side, making them walk hip to hip through the next aisle.
“I don’t want to hear any complaining when we get back.” Jo teased.
“Me? Complain? Never."
"Uh huh..."
They spent a few minutes more ambling about, trying vainly to remember what fucking brand of laundry pods they had been using lately. They ended up giggling far too loud about how out of commission they both were after just a few rounds of mimosas. After checking out Jo slipped their bags onto one arm and looped her other arm through Kate’s, hustling them back onto the street and down the few short blocks to Kate's place. Well...it was basically their place at this point. But that's a conversation for another day.
“Gimme-“ Kate took the bags as soon as they were inside. “Go get comfortable.” Jo couldn’t help but swoop forward to kiss her then. Kate made an oomph sound on impact, as if hit, but kissed her back just as firmly. Something fell out of one of the bags when Kate tried to grab ahold of Jo's hips and they both pulled away laughing. “I said go on.” Kate dropped a kiss on her cheek.
“Put the kettle on, I’ll make coffee.” Jo said, shrugging out of her coat and kicking off her boots before heading upstairs.
She stole some of Kate’s joggers, rolling the waist over twice, knowing full well she was asking for some relentless teasing. But there was just something aggressively comfortable about the cheesy mundanity of it all… coming home, wiping her makeup off and washing her face, releasing her hair from its bun, tossing her bra in the hamper and putting on the cropped tee shirt she had slept in the night before. When she left the en-suite she found Kate bent over her dresser drawers, upturning piles of folded clothes in search of something. She burst into laughter as soon as she saw Jo.
“Oi! I was just looking for those.” She nodded towards the joggers.
“You snooze you lose.” Jo said unapologetically, strolling back out to the kitchen to make them some drinks. As if gently retaliating, Kate joined her on the couch a few minutes later wearing nothing but her knickers and Jo’s sweatshirt, hood popped over her head. “Unbelievable.” Jo laughed, pressing down on the plunger of the French Press she had let steep on the coffee table before pouring them both a mug. "Careful now. There's a shot or two of whiskey in this." Jo warned. Kate nearly burnt her tongue to hell and back chugging a few sips. "I said careful!"
“Baby... if that's what you think a shot or two tastes like, I'm putting a lock on the liquor cabinet." They laughed. "Are we getting old or are we over doing it?” Kate rubbed at her forehead, obviously starting to sober up a bit. Jo considered it, biting her bottom lip and trying not to laugh at Kate’s little pout as she slouched into the corner of the couch.
“Probably both.” She decided.
Kate hitched a leg up over the back of the couch and stretched the other one out across Jo’s knees.
“C’mere please.” She asked politely.
“Copping a feel on the high street not enough for you?” Jo wondered, turning on the TV and scrolling through Netflix until she found the series they had started the night before. They were technically on episode 3 but Jo had absolutely no memory of the plot so she started from the very beginning.
“Mm. I’ll never get enough of you.” Kate sighed, taking another sip of scorching hot coffee before leaving it on the side table to cool off some. Something in Jo’s expression softened. She leaned over and maneuvered herself to lay down against Kate, letting herself get tangled up in her arms and feeling progressively more relaxed with every kiss Kate dropped in her hair. “What’s this show about again?” Kate asked.
“I’ve no bloody clue.” Jo giggled, tipping her chin up to kiss the soft underside of Kate’s jaw.
“Start that up again and we’ll never find out.” Kate reached for her phone and looked up the show on IMDb. “Oh look! It’s a documentary.” Jo played with the draw strings on Kate’s hoodie as they laughed and tried to settle - but the tail end of their brunch buzz still had them both a little giddy, veering dangerously towards downright soppy behavior. Jo picked up Kate’s hand and set out to kiss all the lines on her palm and fingers. Kate let out a shuddery breath.
“Okay?’ Jo asked, lining their hands up to compare the size. Kate's fingers fell between hers. When she looked up Kate was staring at their hands instead of the TV, just smiling.
“Never better, sweet girl.” She answered after a beat. Jo inched up, changing their position just enough so that she could kiss Kate.
The coffee was a bit room temperature by the time they remembered it, but it had them both feeling perfectly warm and deliciously relaxed.
Kate dozed in Jo’s lap as she got sucked into the first episode of the show. It was a pretty good crime procedural all things considered, and not very triggering. Jo idly rubbed at Kate’s back and shoulders, occasionally let her fingers brush against her neck and cheek.
“I'll never understand American policing lingo.” Jo mumbled as one episode ended and another cued up.
“Different world.” Kate hummed sleepily. “You ever been?”
“America? No, actually. Have you?”
“We went to Florida one year on holiday when I was a kid. It was beautiful.”
“I think I’d like to see the mountains. Or the desert.” Jo admitted.
“Just say the word.” Kate said, pressing a kiss to Jo’s thigh.
“We’ve already taken two holidays this year, not counting all the day trips and weekends away.”
“There’s no cap is there?” Kate asked around a yawn, stretching and opening her eyes gradually before rolling over onto her back. Jo looked contemplative. She raked her fingers through Kate’s hair. “What’s going on in there, hmm?” Kate reached a hand up, running her fingers across Jo’s temple.
“I had never really left the UK before we got together. Well...there was a school trip one time, to France. But I had just lost Mum, so I wasn't really paying attention to anything. Anyway…I guess I’m just thinking about how much bigger the world feels now. In a good way.” Kate smiled softly.
“We’ve ticked off Portugal and Germany. You’ve shown me the most beautiful corners of Scotland. We found the best fish and chips in just about every region of England and seen the Welsh coast. Where else can I take you?” She asked.
“Anywhere." Jo shrugged. "Everywhere.”
“I’ll get us a map. You can throw a dart. We’ll travel till the thing looks like Swiss cheese.”
“Kate-“
“I draw the line at the poles, though. I want a tan, not frostbite.” Kate felt warm all over at the way Jo grinned.
“What will you do when you tire of spoiling me?” Jo asked, letting her head fall back against the couch.
“Die, probably.” Kate deadpanned. Jo snorted.
“What?”
“I mean by that time….we’ll be 97 at least.” Kate said seriously, rolling over and nudging Jo’s top up a little further so she could press her lips to the soft swell of her abdomen. “And I’ll be so saggy and grumpy you’ll be begging for me to wear real clothes around the house and sleep in the spare room or something.”
“As if.” Jo sighed, feeling her heart get fluttery as Kate kissed her way up her ribs. “I imagine at 97 I’ll be too blind and deaf to notice.”
“See? Symbiotic.” Kate grabbed onto the couch and tried to get herself upright without falling off or disturbing Jo. After watched her struggle like a capsized turtle for a moment Jo pushed up on her back until she was sitting up properly. “Fooling around in a retirement home is firmly on my bucket list Joanne Davidson, don’t go trying to talk me out of it.” Kate dropped a kiss on her forehead before standing up. Jo watched her take their empty mugs and French press to the kitchen, rinsing everything out and doing a little washing up. She watched her disappear down the hall briefly, popping in the loo by the sounds of it. Jo sighed and sank back down into the couch, trying and failing to focus back on the show.
When Kate returned she sat close, pulling Jo’s arm around her shoulders. Jo closed her eyes and pressed a kiss to the shell of Kate's ear, relishing the closeness and the tender feeling of the other woman playing with her fingers. “You are so precious to me.” Kate murmured, pressing a kiss to Jo’s forearm before tucking herself under Jo’s chin. “Never forget that.”
“Alright, what’s the goal here?” Jo feigned exasperation. “You surprise me with reservations at a fancy new restaurant first thing today. You get me drunk over a fucking delicious brunch. You’re promising me holiday on holiday and you're barely teasing me while telling me all these nice things. Are you trying to make me cry? Charm my pants off?”
“Is it working?”
“This is bullying.” Jo chided. Kate giggled merrily and pulled Jo’s arm more firmly around herself.
“I’m trying to get you so used to having nice things that you stop being surprised.” Kate admitted quietly. “That’s my only goal at the moment.” Jo swallowed hard at that.
“I don’t think you’ll ever stop surprising me, Kate.” She almost whispered.
“You deserve to just expect it, Jo. Nice things. Nice people. Nice places.” Kate's tone was so firm and sincere... Jo rapidly tried to blink back the tears pricking in her eyes.
“Maybe one day I’ll get there.” Jo cleared her throat, mildly horrified to hear herself choking up a bit. “But right now I enjoy being a little bit in awe of what happens every day.”
“It’s not a one-way thing, you know? You spoil me too.” Kate said.
“How’s that?” Jo wondered, slipping her hand out of Kate’s so she could stroke her hair again.
“Like this.” Kate gestured vaguely between them, rubbing her cheek against Jo’s chest. “I’ve never been this close to anyone, you know? Physically or emotionally. I’ve never been with anyone who'll forget everything and let me kiss them on the street in the middle of the day, rest of the sodding world be damned. When we're with other people you're always talking me up. You're always so proud of everything I do. You bring home flowers every Friday night. That kind of stuff... it's really special to me, Jo.”
“Am I allowed to call the father of your child a cunt?” Jo frowned. Kate laughed again, pressing a kiss to Jo’s chest.
“His new girlfriend persuaded him to try some therapy. Josh wants us to take a family vacation at some point. I’m trying to be nicer.”
“Still a twat.” Jo muttered anyway, stroking the nape of Kate’s neck. “And a wanker.”
“We grew up. We grew apart. We didn't know how to talk to each other and didn't care enough to do anything but hold grudges and hurt each other. Recipe for disaster, all that jazz. But it doesn’t matter. I don’t think about it anymore. I met you and I know what it’s like to be understood now. And cherished. You’re a gift.” Jo rested her cheek against Kate’s head, wrapping both arms around her, feeling Kate do the same. They fell quiet, holding each other close. It really was a gift. To know and be known. To trust. To feel. “Jo...we’re gonna have to start this documentary over again. I have no bloody idea what’s going on now.” Jo threw her head back and laughed.
“Daft woman.” She recovered, tilting Kate’s chin up so she could kiss her thoroughly. “I can’t believe I’m in love with you.” Kate feigned offense and dodged a second kiss.
“You better fucking believe it. Or else I’ll be taking my clothes back now.” She slipped a hand under Jo’s waistband. Unfortunately it was more ticklish than sexy, which provoked a rather undignified noise from Jo and set them both off laughing again. “You do wonders for my ego, really.” Kate kissed the crook of Jo’s neck and took great joy in the way Jo pouted as she slipped out of her arms and off the couch again. “Sweet or salty or a little of both?” Kate asked as she made her way towards the kitchen for a snack. Jo sighed and crossed her arms.
“Salty!” She called after her.
“Great minds, think alike. I need something to balance you out, sweetheart.”
“Have you and Steve been trying to trade pick up lines again?” Jo pulled a face.
“Ha ha. Thought of that one all by myself.”
“Let me feel your forehead. We may need to take your temperature.” Kate tried to suppress a laugh but she couldn’t get a return quip out. Jo looked quite pleased with herself when Kate returned with a bag of crisps and some sodas.
When the light bleeding into the flat from behind the curtains started to turn golden orange, Jo decided to fix dinner. Kate put on some music and tried to keep up with the rather complicated quiche Jo had decided to attempt after scrolling Pinterest for half an hour. Neither could remember who decided to pour them both a glass of wine - but when nightfall found them the bottle was empty, their quiche was a little overdone, and they were eating said overdone quiche while sitting on the kitchen floor. They were a little too dizzy to sit on the barstools.
“It’s good. It’s not quite what the recipe had in mind...but it’s good.” Kate said around another mouthful.
“We’ll have to try this again when we haven't been drinking away the day. Also with the correct number of eggs.” Jo said, chewing thoughtfully. "I still don't understand how all the potatoes got on one side, though. I think that was your doing."
“Maybe a bit less spinach next time? Or is it supposed to be this green?”
“I think we just have to accept that neither of us will ever be very talented in the kitchen, my love.” Jo sighed, feeding Kate a bite of bacon off the tip of her fork.
“We certainly don’t win any points for presentation. But hey, it’s not nearly as bad as the time we attempted ravioli.” Kate pointed out.
“Oh my god don’t remind me.” Jo looked legitimately embarrassed for a moment. "I just got the sauce stains out of the tile grout this week."
“We should also try that again sometime. Without so much wine involved. I’m starting to sense a pattern here, actually…” Kate winced. Jo giggled, covering her mouth as she swallowed another bite.
“We’re gonna have such a headache in the morning, Kate.” She groaned.
“Just the one? Between the two of us?” Kate teased, kissing Jo’s shoulder. “C’mon. Let’s clean this up and I’ll draw us a bath.”
“Oh just the one?” Jo teased right back, handing Kate their plates. Kate put them in the sink and then helped Jo stand.
“Two baths? That’s just wasteful, Jo.”
“Ah yes, my apologies.” Jo kissed her. “Go on then.”
“Five minutes.” Kate kissed her back before sliding out of their loose embrace.
“Five minutes or what?” Jo furrowed her brow.
“Or I start fooling around without you.” Kate called back from halfway up the stairs.
“Walking in on that? Not much of a consequence for me there!” Jo shouted, starting to give their dishes a quick rinse.
“Who said anything about consequences? I’m having a fucking lovely evening either way!” Jo bent over the sink, finding herself half delirious with laughter at her partner's antics. The water kicked on upstairs.
“Fuck it.” Jo said, shoving the leftover quiche into the fridge in the pan they had cooked it in. She left all the dirty dishes in the sink before racing up the stairs to join Kate.