Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Lena wasn’t saying her neighborhood was dreary.

It was just… bland. Not very vibrant. Looked kind of lifeless… okay, maybe she thought it was dreary. So since she had moved there, she had made it her mission to brighten up the place. It got boring, seeing all of the rows of brown and gray houses that lined the streets. Every car that whizzed past her was the same shade of black, and every window she could look through showed furniture that all looked so similar it was beginning to blend together. Of course, this isn't to say that the people there weren’t interesting. They all lead meaningful and ever-changing lives, Lena just couldn’t help but wish the outside matched the inside. So she had decided to do something about it.

She had gotten the nickname ‘Lemon’ from her friends around the neighborhood, because of her passion for bright yellow clothing. She stood out a lot, but it was nice to stand out. Capturing people’s attention made her feel good- even if it wasn’t her goal. Her intent was something she would never admit to anyone else. The girl that lived five and a half blocks away from her apartment (yes, she counted) was the one that she really wanted the attention from.

This girl- how to even describe her? She was like a whirlwind of personality. She was a bit loud, and kind of messy, but she always laughed the most and smiled the brightest. That smile… Lemon always felt herself drawn in. It always ended the same- they would lock eyes but she would whip away in a panic, trying to hide her red face. This girl was getting on her nerves with how often she entered Lemon’s thoughts. This girl would always ask everyone what her name was. All who met her would quickly learn to prepare to shout out the answer whenever she entered a room. At least it was a good conversation starter, but that word never left Lemon’s tongue, much less her mind. It repeated in her head, day after day, all she could hear was-

Lemon’s internal exposition was rudely interrupted by her phone’s loud buzzing. It read out:

MESSAGES
Priyanka: Lem, come over :(( I’m lonelyyyy :(((((

Yup. That was her. The girl Lemon couldn’t keep out of her thoughts. She opened her phone to see a lighthearted selfie in her texts, taken from a very low angle. Even though her mouth was turned down in an exaggerated frown, the mischievous sparkle in Priyanka’s eyes made Lemon’s heart flutter. She was such a dork… but it wasn’t like anything else could possibly be better. She typed out a quick response:

Be there in ten💖

She hit send before she got nervous and deleted the heart emoji. It wasn’t like Priyanka would take it as anything other than platonic, right? Whatever the case was, Lemon didn’t need to worry about it. She glanced outside, it must have just started raining in the past few minutes. It filled her with a little bit of excitement, rain was refreshing and breathed life into the neighborhood. Everything always looked less boring when it glistened in raindrops. It also meant that if she wore her boots, she could splash in puddles. She pulled on a sweater and slid in her socks to the front door, pulling on her rain boots and her coat. All of those were bright yellow, of course. Before she skipped into the hall, she grabbed her umbrella from a hook on the wall and closed the door behind her with an enthusiastic slam.

As soon as she stepped outside, Lemon opened her umbrella above her. The awning let her do this without getting wet, which was very convenient for her. She turned theatrically on her heel in the direction of her destination, and started walking. Of course, it didn’t really look like walking to anyone but her. It was like she was dancing to some sort of invisible music, but she couldn’t hear anything but the pattering of the rain over her racing heartbeat. Every time she saw a puddle, she stepped over to it and stomped in it, sending droplets flying out in a spray around the shape of her shiny rubber boot. It was her little rain routine, instantly invoking a sense of comfort and familiarity as she strolled past the trees, buildings and fences.

However, this almost trance-like routine was stopped in its tracks when she saw the girl ahead of her.

Unlike others Lemon had passed, this girl was not holding an umbrella. And from what she could see, she was not happy about it. Her hair might have once been bright pink, but it was now dark magenta and trailed alongside her in dripping wet pigtails. All of her clothes were absolutely soaked, and she walked quickly, almost stomping with every step. This person looked very angry about her circumstances. However, Lemon still wanted to help. Why not? It was a nice day. Priyanka could wait a little longer. She walked up to her, holding her umbrella over her head. She looked up at it in confusion, then back to Lemon’s face.

“What are you doing?” While she talked, she took the opportunity to squeeze water out of her hair, pouting her lips in frustration when it still hung limp by her head.

“I’m helping… probably. I mean, if you wanna be wet, be my guest.” As Lemon expected, the soaked stranger stayed put under the relative safety of the umbrella. However, she didn’t think that she would just start crying… which of course she was doing. Oh no. How was she supposed to help? She didn’t even know what was wrong.

“Sorry,” she sniffled, “I’m just. Overwhelmed. Ugh.” She was rubbing their thumb back and forth on the hem of her drenched sleeve, and wiping her tears with the other hand.

“Well… where exactly are you going right now?” Lemon felt rain dripping down on her exposed head, but it didn’t really matter. This was more important, she could always dry off later.

“I was supposed to be going to my friends house and I did and it was great but I have to take three buses to get back home and I forgot where the second one’s stop was so I’ve just been wandering around trying to find it and I haven’t found it and it’s been half an hour and I don’t know where I’m going.” She said the entire sentence in one breath. Impressive. But promptly after, she started crying even harder. Lemon got an idea, it might not be a good one. But it was an idea. And besides, what else was she supposed to do?

“Uh… I’m walking to my friend’s house right now. Do you wanna come with me? We could probably get some towels or something and help you dry off.” She nodded, and Lemon slowly started walking towards the one place that felt more like home than home did.

As the two of them strolled under the cover of the bright yellow umbrella, Lemon could feel the girl beside her slowly getting closer. They brushed hands once, twice, three times… and nobody could be sure who moved first, but their fingers intertwined. She could feel her face heating up, and glancing over at the other girl, it looked like she wasn’t alone.

Chapter Text

They finally found themselves standing at the entrance to Priyanka’s house. The two of them were still holding hands, but Lemon had to let go in order to knock on the door. However, she hesitated. This stranger had no idea what she was in for, did she?

“Hey, just a heads up… my friend is um… a lot. If you need, I’ll tell her to tone it down, but I just wanted to warn you.” The girl nodded, but Lemon wasn’t sure that her warning would suffice for what was probably about to happen. She took her umbrella down, it was probably best to keep it out of the way.

She raised her fist to the door, knocking on it in an oddly specific pattern that was a secret code just for the two of them. She braced herself, glancing at the girl next to her who was giving her a very weird look. I mean, nobody would know why she was standing like that until-

“LEMON!” Priyanka swung the door open, tackling her friend in a hug that just about pushed her over. Unfortunately, it was raining, meaning that Lemon’s rain boots did not have a good hold on the slippery stoop. She started falling backwards, and would have caught herself if not for Priyanka’s hold on her. They both landed on the ground with a loud THUD, knocking the wind out of her lungs.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lemon could see the stranger beginning to panic.

“Oh my god, are you guys alright?” Her hands were clasped around her mouth, very clearly in shock. Priyanka climbed off of her dazed friend, offering her a hand to help her up. Holding her hand with an iron grip, she pulled Lemon into a tight bear hug.

“We’re just fine,” the blonde replied with a smile, moments before Priyanka pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. It was obviously meant to be friendly and platonic, she often used it as a show of affection to her friends. However, this didn’t mean it didn’t make Lemon’s head spin. She could feel her cheeks heating up, save for the spot where Priyanka’s cool lips had pressed against her soaked skin. She looked up just in time to see the stranger look crestfallen- oh no. They had held hands under an umbrella, hadn’t they? Lemon just had to hope she didn’t think that she was leading her on. She said nothing and resumed a neutral expression though.

“So,” Priyanka began, “What's with pinkie over here? Did you just bring a random cute girl to my house?” The stranger’s eyes widened when she was called cute, but kept silent. Lemon wasn’t even sure what she could say, ‘I found her and just decided we could help her’? No way. She was right about this not being a good idea.

“Uh…” It was hard to focus simply because she didn’t know what to say, much less after a kiss that made her heart pound louder than her thoughts.

“It doesn’t really matter. I trust you, Lem. Come on, let’s get you two inside, you’re both absolutely soaked.”

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While the stranger was busy changing into dry clothes in the other room, Priyanka pulled Lemon onto the couch to ‘have a talk’. She looked serious… but also oddly nervous. It was rare to see her like this, she couldn’t help but wonder what was wrong.

“Lemon,” Priyanka began, “What were you thinking bringing her here?” Lemon’s heart sank. Priyanka never said her name with such force and intensity. This really must have been a mistake.

“Look, Pri, I-” She began, attempting to redeem herself. However, the words she aimed to say just would not let themselves be said. “She looked… I don’t know… almost, like, ugh. I don’t know.”

“You can’t just bring cute girls to my house and not tell me! The place is a mess, and I barely have anything in the fridge! What do I do now, order a pizza? Should I change my clothes too? Is this too informal?” Ohh. That’s what she was nervous about. There she goes, already head over heels with another girl. She’s hopeless. But to be fair, it wasn’t like Lemon was any better. She just wished that she was one of the girls that got noticed too…

“Pri, relax. You’re not going on a date with this girl. We don’t even know her name!” She placed a reassuring hand on Priyanka’s leg, trying her best to smile. “Well, you’re not going on a date with her yet. I might just beat you to this one. She’s cute.” Lemon watched as Priyanka’s face turned from panic, to wide-eyed, to a signature smug smile. She pulled the blonde closer. Oh no. Lemon could only hope it wasn’t possible to see her undoubtedly reddening face.

“I’m taking this as a challenge.” Oh god… as if she needed more challenges in her love life. She opened her mouth to protest, but was cut off. “Whoever kisses her first wins. The loser takes the winner out to a restaurant and pays for all of it.” Oh. Whatever happens in this, Lemon would get to take Priyanka out to basically a date…

“Accepted.” They shook on it, and if it was even possible, she felt her face get even redder. God, she was glad for Priyanka’s cluelessness.

Or maybe she wasn’t.

Chapter Text

As usual, Julia was right in the worst possible way. She suspected that the stranger was more than just friends with the person whose house she had now found herself inside. So when she walked out of the bathroom to see the two of them on the couch together, it proved everything she had thought to be correct. The blonde was practically sitting on the taller one’s lap, face flushed, eyes darting around the room like two tiny birds nervously flitting back and forth in the sky. The brunette had obviously been teasing her in some fashion, a calm smug grin resting easily on her face. 

Great.

“Oh hey,” the brunette began, “We were starting to wonder if you were coming back out. Sorry they’re kinda big… but you do look cute in them!” Of course, she was talking about the clothes. An oversized shirt with sleeves that completely covered her hands and then some, along with some baggy sweatpants that practically swallowed her. Oh well, at least they were dry. She couldn’t say the same about her hair though… 

“Thanks. So, do you guys have names, or am I just gonna have to mentally catalog you with your hair colors?” It was going to get repetitive quickly, and while it would have been best to talk with them a bit more, Julia just needed some names to call them by.

“Oh! Well, I’m Priyanka, and this is-” The newly titled Priyanka was cut out by the other girl, the stranger who seemed to be a lot more short-tempered than her friend.

“Lena.” She flashed Julia a smile, and it made her heart flutter all over again. No. This couldn’t be happening, she’d seen! The kiss… the close contact… there wasn’t a platonic explanation for any of this. Julia couldn’t afford to get her heart crushed. 

“But you can call her Lemon.” 

“No she can’t! That’s supposed to be- ugh.” Priyanka looked up at the other girl with what could only be described as pleading puppy eyes. “Fine… she can call me Lemon too.” It kind of made sense. Lemon seemed sweet one moment and sour the next. 

“Do you have a name? Or are you just gonna be a random guy wearing my clothes?” Asked Priyanka, who shot a dazzling grin at her. Butterflies swarmed in her stomach. 

Oh no.

Not both of them! Julia couldn’t afford to like both of them. One was bad enough, but two crushes? That was just ridiculous. She’d barely had any crushes in her life, getting two in the span of ten minutes was just out of a stupid book. Next thing she knew, there was going to be an overcomplicated love triangle. Wait- wasn’t she asked a question? Right. She needed to compose herself. 

“Uh… I’m Julia. Julia Boxx.” As soon as she said her last name, she got The Look from both of them at the same time. Curiosity turned into shock turned into smug glee. Just great. 

“You are begging for us to call you Juice Boxx, aren’t you?” Lemon snickered, as if her nickname was any better. Just wonderful, as if she needed her childhood moniker to haunt her in the form of cute girls. How much harder was this going to get? She just shrugged, trying her best to stay as nonchalant as possible. She couldn’t afford to get attached… She needed to bury this hatch once and for all. 

“Sure. So… how long have you been together?” She just needed that confirmation. She just needed the proof that they were too close. Too close for her to get involved. To her surprise, they looked at her funny. Priyanka seemed incredibly confused, and as for Lemon? Her face was beet red, and she bit the corner of her lip in unmistakable embarrassment. 

“What are you talking about? We’re not together.” Priyanka answered without a lick of hesitation. 

Oh. They aren’t dating or just friends. They’re a pining gay and an oblivious idiot. As if this could get any more cliche. 

 “Why? Are you interested in us?” It looked like Lemon was about to say something, but got cut off again by her far more energetic friend. “Well let me tell you, this one is a lost cause. She’s got a-” The blonde pushed Priyanka’s face away, hand across her mouth.

“Shut up! She doesn’t need to know!” After just a second, she pulled her hand away with the speed of greased lightning, shaking it vigorously. “Eww! Don’t lick my hand, that’s disgusting!” Priyanka laughed, sticking out her tongue in Lemon’s direction, making her recoil. 

“She’s got a marble collection!” What a weird thing to be embarrassed about. 

“I think that’s actually pretty cool! Can I see it?” Juice watched as her new found acquaintance’s face turned from anxiety to pure delight. She smiled, about to respond, when-

“That’s not the embarrassing part,” Priyanka began, before the girl next to her started singing ‘Mary had a Little Lamb’ to drown out the impending sentence of doom. Hey, that’s what Veronica Sawyer sang when she was trying to ignore what JD was saying in Heathers! Wait- no. No time for movie references. Focus, Juice. “Can you let me talk?” She poked Lemon in the side, the resulting surprised squeal giving her just enough time to finish. “She names all of her marbles.” 

That’s actually really cute. This girl’s kind of a dork… and it’s pretty adorable.

“Oh my god, Priyanka! I told you she doesn’t need to know that!” The blonde pushed her friend into the armrest of the couch, before taking a deep breath and standing up. “I’m gonna go get your spit off my hand. Juice, please don’t let her put her legs up on the couch and take my spot.” She walked off to the bathroom, the side of her arm just barely grazing Juice’s sleeve. Just like before, the warm touch of her skin made butterflies bloom in the shorter girl’s stomach. 

Just great.

Chapter Text

For Lemon, the rest of the day went by like a blur. It was just casual chit chat, introductions and small talk with Juice and Priyanka. Nothing noteworthy, especially not when all she could think about was that stupid bet that she had agreed on that morning. Whoever kisses her first… jeez. Only Priyanka would make that sort of bet before she even knew a girl’s name. But now, things were getting confusing. Did she like Priyanka? Juice? Both? Can she like both? What would they think about her liking both of them? Do either of them like her? Why did Juice have to ask if they were together? Too many questions. None of them with answers. And the two cute girls on either side of her all day long didn’t help her already befuddled brain. 

She watched from the dining table as the clouds drifted across the pink and purple tinted sky outside of the window. The patch in the middle where the colors mixed… it kind of looked like Juice’s hair when it was finally dry. It was kind of hard to believe that it had already become evening. It seemed like just a few minutes ago she had just seen the stranger in the rain for the very first time. She watched her smiling reflection in her glass of lemonade (Priyanka kept it in the house solely for the pun) and sighed at how quickly she had become nostalgic. 

“It’s getting late,” Priyanka mentioned, setting her cup of tea down on her coaster. “Juice, do you want me to drive you home?” The other girl nodded, standing up from her chair and actually pushing it back in. Looks like someone here actually has manners now. “Alright, grab your stuff and we’ll head out. Lemon, you wanna come with?” 

“No thanks.” She needed a break from all of this. Besides, she needed to get back at Priyanka for telling Juice about her marble collection. 

“Alright,” She said, heading out the door with Juice in tow, “Just don’t get jealous when I tell you about how we made out in my car! Bye!” The door closed shut before Lemon could even manage to respond, so she rushed to the window to see the two of them getting in the car. Priyanka opened the door for Juice theatrically, letting her climb in before closing it behind her. Of course. She wouldn’t even be surprised if her friend had said ‘m’lady’ as she did it.

As she watched them drive off, she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy. The strange thing was, who was she jealous of? Priyanka, for doing Juice a favor that will most likely get paid back, or Juice, for getting to spend time alone with Priyanka? It was strange, to like two people. Especially when those two people spend as much time together as they did. Strange, but weirdly exhilarating. A rush of something new and fresh, that she’d never experienced before. 

Mushy feelings aside, she needed to start planning her revenge. Priyanka had embarrassed her in front of a cute girl they had just met, so it was of the utmost importance that she got her back. It would be best to do something petty, but relatively harmless. And Lemon had just the idea…

She studied her handiwork, impressed with what she had managed to do. Who knew that Priyanka had so many socks? With this many, it was the perfect retaliation. Every single sock had been randomly assigned to a sock with a different pattern, and then folded up together. However, that wasn’t the truly evil part. A single sock had been taken out of the mix entirely, leaving it’s matching partner all alone in the drawer. And where better to put a random article of clothing than behind a potted plant? She could probably use it as sock blackmail, Priyanka never checks behind her plants. She wouldn’t ever know until Lemon tells her! Perfect. 

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Checking the time on her phone, she sighed. They’re still gone, I wonder what’s taking so long. It’s been over two hours. She opened her messages app to send a quick text over, just to make sure everything was okay. Just as she started typing, the front door unlocked. 

“Oh my god,” Priyanka shouted from the front hall, “I feel like I drove all night!” She trudged into the bathroom, clearly exhausted. After a bit of the sound of running water, the door opened again with its signature creak and she flopped down on the couch next to Lemon. Exactly how it was supposed to be. “Who knew that someone could mess up on remembering their own destination so many times?” 

“Wow. I’m really glad I live close enough to you to walk. I do not envy her.” She watched as Priyanka grabbed the remote, turning the TV on to whatever dumb sitcom was playing at the time. “I guess I’m grabbing snacks?” 

“Can you get me popcorn?” Yup. Back to their normal routine. 

“I’m taking that as a yes, I am getting snacks.” She stood up to walk to the kitchen, sliding a packet into the microwave and pressing a few buttons before scampering back over to the couch. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to miss whatever the heck was going on in the show, she didn’t want to miss any of this. Their time together. As much as she enjoyed it, Juice coming over had really messed with the two of them being able to hang out. She pressed into Priyanka’s side, this time letting the frenzied butterflies in her stomach fly freely as her friend instinctively draped her arm around her shoulder. She could feel her heart racing, pounding in her head. This was exhilarating, but at the same time it was pure bliss. She could stay like this forever.

The microwave went off. Oh well. At least it was Saturday- they had tomorrow to do it again. 

She grabbed the bag of popcorn, pouring it into two separate bowls as steam rose upwards. She snagged one and popped it into her mouth as she strolled back over to the couch where Priyanka had moved to lie down and cover all of it. 

“Pri, let me sit down. I’m not gonna drop these bowls.” She really didn’t want to spill this popcorn, it was still steaming and the last time she dropped it, things didn’t go well. 

“There’s space. You just sit like a straight person.” Priyanka grabbed one of the bowls, scooping a handful into her mouth. “It’s not my fault if you can’t sit gay,” she added with a mouth full of popcorn.

“Ugh, fine.” She carefully maneuvered herself around Priyanka’s legs, finally getting comfortable. Getting up was not going to be fun with how tangled the two of them were. “Is that lesbian enough now?” The other girl simply nodded, distracted by the show and shoveling popcorn into her mouth. 

Although the two of them had finished their popcorn long ago, they still sat in the same position. Thank god for side tables, otherwise they’d still be stuck holding their bowls. But god, was Lemon tired. They had already gone through 3 episodes of whatever nonsense was on the TV, and Priyanka seemed to be paying quite a bit of attention to it. However, most of Lemon’s time was spent staring into her friend’s annoyingly beautiful eyes, and she was growing a bit weary of it. She felt her eyes closing one… two… three times… and she wasn’t quite sure what had happened next.

When she woke up, she could tell it hadn’t been long. It was still dark, and she was still on the couch. But something had changed… she couldn’t figure out what it was until she felt a warm movement across her head, shifting her hair to one side and brushing it back to its original state again. For a brief moment, she felt panic sink deep into her stomach. What if it was some horrifying monster? But then, she remembered where she was. She slowly opened her eyes, to realize that she had not just shifted around to lean on the armrest, but she had been pulled onto resting her head on Priyanka’s chest. The rapid pounding of her heart from her utter fear had turned into rapid pounding of her heart out of the fact she was sleeping on the chest of the girl she likes. She was even playing with her hair! It would have been relaxing if not for the fact that her face was heating up like a stovetop. Of course, she didn’t dare to move an inch. But with the adrenaline rushing through her body, it wouldn’t be possible to go to sleep for a while. 

“Pri?” She looked up to see her friend still watching the TV intently, but she turned to look down at her with those sinfully gorgeous eyes reflecting the light of the screen. 

“You’re cute when you’re asleep.” What. Holy crap. This cannot be taken as platonic. No way. No way could she be saying this as just a friend. Oh my god. Lemon said nothing, too shocked to be able to reply. She tried to say something, maybe ‘thank you’  or ‘you’re cuter’ or something stupid like that, but her words tied up in knots like headphone wires left in a pocket for too long. Whatever the case was, the butterflies in her stomach were full out pigeons in a fistfight at that point. She tried to go back to sleep, thinking it would be hard, but the fingers gently combing through her hair made it so much easier than it should have been. She snuggled close against Priyanka’s chest, her heart slowing and her breath again becoming steady and slow. A faint smile traced her face as she drifted off once more.

Chapter Text

Lemon knew that something wasn’t quite right when she opened her eyes. She just couldn’t seem to place it. It was morning, and she was laying in bed. That might be the problem, because she never remembered going home last night. So the conclusion had to be that either Priyanka had taken her home in her sleep, or this was not her bed. She felt around for her stuffed animals, only to feel something entirely different that was definitely not a plushie. The panic of not knowing what her hand was touching gave her the strength to open her eyes completely, only to see Priyanka’s sleeping face less than a foot away from her own. Yup. This was not her bed. Without thinking, she pulled her hand away from Pri’s stupidly soft cheek, not realizing her mistake until it was too late.

“Lemon,” Priyanka yawned, “what time is it?” Great. So much for trying to get out of her bed before she noticed. She rolled around to glance at the bedside table, checking the clock.

“It’s eight thirty. Question, why am I in bed with you?” She sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes and pushing her tangled hair out of her face.

“You were out like a light. I couldn’t wake you, so I just carried you to bed with me. You’re teeny, so it wasn’t a problem at all. Why, is that so much of a bad thing?” Ugh, it was like she could read her mind. Yes, it was absolutely a bad thing! Lemon couldn’t afford to get attached like this to the only person who wouldn’t notice her!

“I guess not. Means I don’t have to walk to your house again today.” Her only goal was to seem as nonchalant about this as possible. It probably wouldn’t make a difference with how oblivious her friend was, but she wanted to be careful all the same. “I’m gonna go get ready. Are you gonna stay here, or…” Her question trailed off, as she watched Priyanka run her hand through her bedhead, yawning. God, why did she have to be so beautiful? It was getting in the way of so much these days.

“I guess I’ll get up. I’ve got things to do, and people to woo.” What a dork. Lemon hid her smile behind her hand, standing up and walking over to the dresser to get her clothes. Man, why did she have so many feelings today? She needed a walk to clear her mind.

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Once she was dressed and all ready for the day, she glanced out the window to check the weather. It was still raining… her favorite.

“Pri, I’m going out for a bit! I’ll be back in fifteen.” Without waiting for an answer, she donned her coat and boots. She reached for her umbrella, realizing it wasn’t on its usual hook. It must have been put in the closet amidst all the chaos of yesterday. She’d just take one of Priyanka’s. She grabbed the navy blue one closest to her, and slipped out the door.

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She returned, only a little bit soaked, to an unexpected treat. The sweet smell of chocolate chip pancakes wafted throughout the apartment. How kind of Priyanka, her pancakes were always amazing. “Aww, you made me breakfast? That’s so sweet!” She called out, putting the borrowed umbrella back on its stand. Oh hey, there was her umbrella! Pri must have realized her mistake and taken it out of the closet while she was gone. As she pulled off her raincoat, a reply rang out from the kitchen.

“Who said that these were for you?” Ugh, not again.

“Hey, don’t do this again. Last time you made pancakes for just yourself, you made as many as you make when there’s two of us, tried to eat them all and got sick.” She rolled her eyes, sliding off her boots to see someone she did not expect at the dining table. Surprise surprise, it was Juice. She seemed to not notice Lemon’s presence, continuing to shove forkfuls of pancake into her mouth. “Oh. I guess they aren’t for me, huh?” The pink-haired girl looked up, slowly lowering her fork.

“Sorry… were they supposed to be? I just sort of showed up and she gave me some.” She continued eating anyway, still staring kind of awkwardly into Lemon’s eyes. “They’re really good,” she noted while she chewed.

“Priyanka,” Lemon began, turning to her friend busy in the kitchen, “Do you know why she’s here? Because I don’t.” She snagged a chocolate chip out of the bowl, popping it into her mouth and savoring its bitter sweetness.

“She accidentally took your umbrella, so she came back here to return it.” She poured another circle of batter onto the sizzling pan. Man, this umbrella really was causing a lot of trouble. But no matter how problematic it was, she couldn’t help but have doubts about how accidental it really was.

“I really don’t think you’re being honest with me here. What really happened?” It was like a gust of cold blew into the room, Priyanka’s panic was almost a physical presence. An unfamiliar one, compared to how easygoing she usually was.

“Alright, alright. Hear me out, okay? I didn’t have any bad intentions, but, maybe-I-kind-of-took-it-with-me-when-we-got-into-the-car-and-snuck-it-into-her-bag-before-she-left.” She strung the last part of the sentence together in a single word, trying to push it all out in a continuous breath. Lemon was a bit confused- no, very confused. Was she trying to frame Juice for stealing? “Okay, listen. I did it so she would come back to see you. I didn’t know that you’d be staying overnight, I was planning on just directing her to your house, but uh… that didn’t work.” Before Lemon could even respond, she pushed a plate of pancakes into her hands. “Go eat these. At the table, I mean. Go do that.” She just stood there, gobsmacked. There would be only one logical reason for doing what she did with the umbrella, and it would be she was trying to set the two of them up. But that would go against their bet… this made no sense! She walked over to the table in a confused daze, sitting down in the chair right next to Juice.

“Uh, hi. Sorry about the umbrella thing, I think I might have thought it was mine. Mine is bright pink, though… it was a hectic night, I guess.” She chuckled, finishing off her pancake. “But, I did bring you something to apologize. There was a store I found on my way here, so I got something for you.” She reached into the pocket of her hoodie, pulling out a little purple see-through bag with a drawstring. She held it out to Lemon, who quickly realized what was inside. Marbles! Maybe Priyanka telling her about the collection was a blessing in disguise.

“Oh my gosh, these are beautiful!” She put down her fork to take the bag, spilling the marbles into her palm. They made the little click-clack noises against each other as she rolled them around in her hand, bringing her a little bit of familiar calm in the chaotic whirlwind of the past weekend. “Thank you! Can I- can I hug you?” Juice nodded rising from her chair, and she wasted no time getting up and throwing her arms around her… friend. Yeah, they were friends now. It was no big bear hug from Priyanka, but she tried her very best to show her gratitude with how tight she squeezed her. It felt way easier than first hugs usually were- it was like they had already hugged a million times. The way that Juice embraced her so casually… It was like at that moment, they clicked. But all good things have an end, and Lemon eventually let go, the strawberry candy scent of Juice’s hair fading away faster than it had been noticed. They both sat down, albeit a bit hesitantly, and started eating some more pancakes.

The silence between them was broken by Priyanka in the next room. “Lemon, can I use your phone to call somebody? Mine just died.” Of course it just did. When was the last time Pri actually charged that thing?

“Sure, knock yourself out!” She replied, devouring the last of her pancake shortly after. Glancing out the window, the clouds were back to light and fluffy as the sun shone through. Aw man, no more puddles for her. It would all be okay though, it was Spring, there would always be another rainy day.

When Juice had finally left once more, (after double checking that no umbrellas that didn’t belong to her were in her bag), Lemon decided to relax on the couch for a bit while Priyanka took a nap in the bedroom. She had stayed up so late last night watching tv, she needed all the rest she could get. Lemon scrolled through her phone absentmindedly, until a notification showed up at the top of the screen.

MESSAGES
Juiceyyyyy💖💘:
Hii!

What.

This name was NOT in Lemon’s contacts- how did it get there? With multiple heart emojis, no less! Wait a second. Priyanka took her phone. At this point, she wasn’t even that surprised. So, she sent a reply.

Lemon:
Hey! Did Pri give you my number????

Juiceyyyyy💖💘:
Yeah, she did :p Anyway, I have a question for you :)

Lemon:
Ask away 🥰🥰

Juiceyyyyy💖💘:
What are their names?

Juiceyyyyy💖💘:
The marbles I mean

Lemon:
Oh! Okay uh lemme make a list

Juiceyyyyy💖💘:
Wait do you have one named Jenna

Juiceyyyyy💖💘:
I need to know

Juiceyyyyy💖💘:
For science

Lemon:
Omg I do!

Juiceyyyyy💖💘:
Oh my god I love you

What.

“I love you”, already? Oh my god. Lemon knew that it was platonic. It had to be… but with her rapidly growing crush, all of the platonic context in the world wouldn’t be able to stop the butterflies from once again flooding her entire being. She needed to stop herself- distract herself, something. Right, the marbles.

She reached into the pocket of her sweater, pulling out a large bright yellow marble with slightly darker swirls that resembled the sun a little bit. She closed her eyes, rubbing her thumb across its smooth surface. Recalling when she first got it, how Priyanka pressed it into her hand, an unspoken promise of understanding. Pri may not have shown interest in the collection, but she had added to it anyway, showing that she got Lemon. And that was the best feeling in the world. As long as that marble was in her pocket, sitting where she could easily feel her entire world in the palm of her hand, she would be okay. Nostalgia aside, she snapped a picture of it.

Lemon:
Here she is, Jenna Marble!!

Juiceyyyyy💖💘:
Ohhh my god she’s so pretty :OOOO I love her 💕

Lemon:
I know right? The prized member of my collection 🥰

Juiceyyyyy💖💘:
Omg I wanna see the rest of the collection so bad!!! Can I see it sometime?

Lemon:
Sure 😊 You can come to my house sometime!

Juiceyyyyy💖💘:
Is that a date?

Lemon:
If you want it to be 😉

Oh no, why did she send that? Was that too forward? The winky face might have been too much. Agh, now Juice knew she was flirting with her! Why did she have to be such a useless lesbian?

Juiceyyyyy💖💘:
I’ll take you up on that offer then <33

Oh. Alright, this might not be so bad. Everything just got a lot more confusing, but all this might just be the most fun she’s had in a long time.

Chapter Text

Alright. The day had finally come. Lemon had texted Juice the directions, cleaned up the house, organized her entire collection one more time just to make sure the two of them could go through it as smoothly as possible, and she was pretty sure everything was all set up. She was set up too, she made sure that her outfit was perfect, her hair was perfect, and her makeup was perfect. Everything was perfect. She just had to keep it that way. But no matter how perfect everything might be, there was no way of telling how this date might go. So she had to give it the best fighting chance it had. Everything would be okay if she just didn’t keep messing with it. But the urge to go and touch up her lip gloss one more time just to make sure it looked as nice as possible was unforgiving. What if Juice didn’t like her room? What if she accidentally did something weird? What if she said something wrong? What if… what if… what if. Worst case scenarios ran through Lemon’s head like toy cars on a never ending track, whizzing so fast they made her head spin. Alright, breathe. Everything would be fine. She reached into her pocket, feeling for Jenna. As soon as her fingers touched its smooth surface, her jitters stopped being so apparent. She spun the marble around in her hand, trying to focus on anything except what might go wrong. Okay, she could do this. She just had to breathe. And in that moment, when she finally felt confident about this date again, she heard a knock at the door.

She hadn’t even realized she was pacing around in circles until she stopped, suddenly getting very dizzy. Alright, she just had to find her balance. She stood as still as she could, eyes squeezed shut and arms out to the side, until the world stopped rotating. She stepped to the door, inhaling deeply before opening it.

Woah.

Lemon thought Juice was beautiful. She already knew that from the moment that she saw her. But wow, did she look incredible. Her usual pigtails were down, leaving her wavy pink hair to sway in the Spring breeze by her waist. She was wearing a denim skirt, and Lemon could see a glimpse of a Kingdom Hearts t-shirt underneath her light pink jacket. Okay. She had to take a minute to remember how to breathe. Only then did she notice the bouquet of flowers that Juice was cradling in her arms. Oh, right. She was supposed to greet her. Unfortunately, trying to talk while speechless never ends well.

“What kind of flowers are those?” Seriously? What kind of flowers are those? A pretty girl shows up at Lemon’s door, and all she can say is what kind of flowers are those? Oh come on. How much more awkward could she have been?

“They’re hyacinths! I found this old flower language guide, and it said that they mean ‘your loveliness charms me’! I couldn’t have picked a better way to describe you myself!” Lemon could feel her cheeks heating up rapidly, why did Juice have to be pretty and sweet? It wasn’t fair to her delicate little lesbian heart! Oh no, what was she supposed to say?

“Oh.” Lemon wanted to scream at herself? Oh? Just oh? She was going on a date with a girl who just told her that she was charming and lovely and all she said about it was oh? “Beautiful.” Oh no. She said that out loud, didn’t she? Okay. It was getting really hard to not look like a fool now.

“I know, right? They smell great too.” Juice pushed the bouquet into her arms.

“Oh yeah, the hyacinths are pretty too.” Juice made a tiny little squeak noise, freezing up. Ha, who was a flustered lesbian now? One point for Lemon! “Why don’t you come inside? I need to put these flowers in some water.”

As she snipped off the ends of the stems with her kitchen scissors, Juice watched her intently. It was strange, somehow such a mundane task looked almost wondrous with how carefully she stared. Lemon felt her heart beat in her chest a little faster when she realized that’s how she acted around Priyanka. No matter if it was the most boring thing in the world, if Priyanka was doing it, she could watch it happening for hours. If that’s how Juice really felt about her…

“So, when can we see the marbles?” She smiled, seeming genuinely excited to view the collection. “I wanna know about all of them!” She scooped up the bits of cut-off stem and started organizing them on the shiny marble counter. A moment later, they were in the shape of a heart. It looked a little lopsided, so Lemon scooched one upwards just a bit to make it more symmetrical.

“As soon as I put these in a glass, we can go see them.” She grabbed one from the cupboard above her, pouring water in it and gently lowering in the flowers. Perfect. “Okay, let’s go!”

She pulled out her huge cardboard box, separating the other smaller boxes inside it out on the bedroom floor. “Alright, which ones do you wanna see first?”

“Do you have any pink ones?” Man, she really liked pink. Not that Lemon could complain, it would be her color too if she couldn't have yellow.

“Yup! I’ve got a whole box of them right here.” She opened one of the smaller boxes, and watched with glee as Juice’s eyes widened. “What do you think?”

“These are all so pretty!” She reached towards the box, looking back at Lemon for permission to touch them. Once she nodded, she gingerly pulled out a hot pink one, flecked with white swirls. “Ooh, I think I like this one the most! What’s their name?” She stared at it intently, taking in all of its patterning.

“Oh, that one is Chrysanthemum! But I call them Chrissy when I’m lazy.” Lemon couldn’t hide her giant smile, nobody had seemed so interested in her collection before. All of these thoughts that she had stored away in her mind for so long, someone finally wanted to hear them. It wasn’t just fun, it was relieving. Like she was a dam, finally being able to spill out all the water she had blocked from the dry stream of everyone else for so long.

“That’s such a pretty name! There was a kid’s book named Chrysanthemum, I used to read it when I was little.” The way she looked at the marble, studying it, holding it so gently, it made Lemon think about the first one she had added to her collection. She had felt so special, like this marble was made just for her.

“You can keep it if you want.” She wanted to make Juice feel special too.

“Really?” She squealed with excitement, clutching the marble in her fist. “I wouldn’t wanna take from your collection… but if you really wanted me to have it I would be honored to! Thank you!” She scooched a little closer, throwing her arms around Lemon in a tight hug. She still smelled like strawberry candy, the Fancy Filled ones that only ever show up in a Halloween basket. Maybe it was her shampoo. She pulled away a little bit, close enough that Lemon could count every single freckle on her face. She had to admit, her heart was racing. She had been meaning to ask a question this whole time, but she hadn’t. Come on, it was now or never.

“Juice?” She finally met her gaze to see a smile so warm that it made her head get a little fuzzy. “When you asked me if it was a date, if this was a date. Did you mean it in the sense of a meeting kind of date, or a…” She couldn’t get the words that she wanted out. ‘Date date’ just sounded a little bit like the opposite of what she wanted to say.

“Lemon. I showed up at your house, brought you flowers and told you that you were charming and lovely. You called me beautiful and said that it was a date if I wanted it to be with a winky face emoji. What do you think this is?” Juice chuckled, as if she was absolutely enamored with how oblivious Lemon had been. Because man, had she not realized how much non-platonic context there was to this.

“Okay then. Tell me what you want this to be. And then I’ll tell you what I want it to be.” Alright. It was happening. The big moment.

“I want to go on a date with you.”

“Ditto.” After staring at each other in a moment of utter silence, they both burst out laughing. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! That was so ridiculous!” Lemon giggled, covering her mouth to hide just how hard she was smiling.

“No,” Juice assured her, “it was absolutely perfect.” She leaned against her shoulder, pressing herself into the crook of the blonde’s neck. Her cheek was warm, sending shivers down Lemon’s spine. “Ditto’s a cool Pokemon.”

It was hard to tell what had happened, but Lemon found her eyes slowly opening to the sound of rain drumming loudly against the window. Juice was still leaning on her, snoring softly. It was a peaceful scene to behold, finally letting her head stop spinning to enjoy the tranquility. Juice’s weight against her was comforting, like she was pressing all of Lemon’s worries so deep down they were unseeable. She didn’t have it in her to wake up this girl on her shoulder. So she started moving, very carefully, sliding her other arm under her legs. Ever so gently, she lifted Juice up, carrying her bridal-style. She didn’t stir at all. She was breathing slowly and contentedly, as if she was wrapped in happy dreams.

It felt wrong to lay her down on the couch. So Lemon didn’t. Luckily, there was a beanbag chair in front of them that would be perfect for this occasion. She gently lowered Juice onto the beanbag, watching as she shifted around to make herself comfortable. Just for good measure, she tucked one of her favorite stuffed animals into her arms, sighing with relief when the smallest of smiles crept across her face. She looked at home. Which meant that it was time for Lemon to get to work.

Scouring through her collection, she carefully picked out a selection of her favorite marbles. She grabbed a pink mesh bag, and dropped all of the marbles into it one by one. She pulled the drawstrings tight, but not before slipping in a note folded into a neat square.

Alright, now everything was set. Just the way it needed to be. She would wait for Juice to wake up, give her the bag, and send her safely on her way. She followed through with this for a few minutes, listening to the rain pattering against her bedroom window until she was interrupted by the buzzing of her phone. She picked it up to check her notifications, eyes widening when she saw what was on the screen.

MESSAGES:
Priyanka: Tv night at yours right? I’ll be omw soon :)

Oh no.

Chapter Text

Lemon could feel her panic rising and falling in her chest as she tried to figure out what to do. Priyanka was coming over now. Juice was still asleep in her bedroom. She hadn’t told Priyanka about the date at all- how would she react? Especially now that she and Juice were kind of a thing. What if Pri got jealous? She had to warn Juice. She had to figure something out. It took about 10 minutes to get from Pri’s house to Lemon’s, how much time did she still have? She checked her phone. Her stomach sank as she read the line of text underneath Priyanka’s message. 

Sent 9 minutes ago

Oh. Oh no. Curse her phone for not giving her the notifications on time! This was the one time she needed to see it when it was sent! Priyanka would be at her door any minute! She rushed out the bedroom and closed the door behind her, as quietly as she could to not wake Juice. She had to fix this. She had to keep things right-

The doorbell rang. She was here. 

She opened the door to see her standing there with a plastic container in her hand. She must have raided the custom vending machine for yellow Skittles again. Lemon’s favorite flavor. 

“Lemon? Why do you look so dressed up?” She walked in the house, eyeing the vase of flowers on the table. “Those weren’t here before. What’s going on here?” 

“Uh, I guess I just felt like looking nice. And I… wanted some flowers.” Lemon’s lies were weak. Priyanka could see right through her, and she knew it. But her stomach sank all the way to her feet when she saw Pri walking towards her bedroom. 

“Why is your door closed? It’s never closed.” She walked over to it, grabbing the handle and pulling it open, revealing a sleeping Juice with a loud creak.

Lemon looked down to see yellow Skittles all over the floor. 

Pri stood there in shock, and Lemon felt guilt press down on her like the world’s worst weighted blanket. “Juice? Lemon… Why is Juice sleeping in your room?” She stepped backwards, arms lifted to her chest like she didn’t quite know where she was anymore. Lemon watched with panicked concern as her best friend’s mind raced, trying to figure out what was happening. All of a sudden, she regained her composure and stood stock still. “Were you two were on a date?” 

Busted. 

“Yeah.” Lemon wasn’t really sure what to say. But something about this felt… wrong. 

“Oh, that’s great! I’m so happy for you.” Priyanka smiled, and Lemon watched as her hand lifted from her side for just a second, as if reaching out, before falling back to her side again. This wasn’t right. None of this was right. 

Lemon knew Priyanka really well. She knew the normal things about her. What she liked, her hobbies, things like that. She also knew Priyanka’s mind better than most. She knew when smiles were happy ones, and she knew when smiles were used as a defense. This was not a happy smile. Priyanka must have been more intent on wanting to date Juice than Lemon had thought. 

“I don’t feel good all of a sudden. I’m gonna go get some water.” Lemon stood in one place, paralyzed by her overwhelming guilt. She saw Priyanka open the fridge, pour water into a glass, and… look down at the heart made out of cut stems on the counter. The fist at her side tightened, and she walked out of the kitchen, leaving the water glass untouched on the table. “I need to go home.” Lemon heard the rustle of the beanbag chair in her bedroom. Juice was awake now. Priyanka walked towards the door, and Lemon found her legs again. 

“Pri-” The front door opened and closed faster than Lemon could process, and Priyanka was already gone. Lemon was left there in the front hall, arm outstretched, reaching for someone who wasn’t there anymore. 

Juice stood there in the doorway, watching and silent. 

-------------------------------------

“I didn’t think she’d take it that badly.” Lemon sat there on the couch, hands wrapped around the back of her neck, hunched over. “She knew… she knew that I liked you. I don’t understand. Was this really such a bad thing to do?” 

“Lem,” Juice patted her back, “I don’t really know what to tell you. I can’t tell you what she’s feeling.” Lemon looked up, into Juice’s sparkling eyes filled with kindness. Her eyes, and her, radiated warmth like stars. But Priyanka radiated warmth like a fireplace. Like home. Lemon cursed under her breath, wishing she didn’t have to choose. Did she make the wrong choice? “But I can tell you this. I like you, and I want to be with you, and unless you think that this is a mistake, I don’t think that it is.” 

“I know.” Lemon pressed herself into Juice, letting Juice’s hands sink slowly into her hair. The neatness of her appearance had been long forgotten as a priority. “I just… I want to make both of you happy. I don’t want to lose either of you! I’ve never seen her like this.” She paused for a moment. “I think that I crushed her.” Before she could stop herself, she felt warm tears rolling down her cheeks. Unable to hold back any longer, she pushed out a half-sob, half-whimper, covering her face with her hands. “I care about her too much to hurt her, but I don’t know what I did to hurt her in the first place.” 

“Neither do I. I know how much she cares about you. I don’t know what happened to make her leave all of a sudden like that.” Juice wrapped her arms around Lemon, trying her best to comfort her. 

“Neither do I.” Lemon sniffed, attempting to regain her composure again. “We have to make sure that she’s okay. It wouldn’t be right if we didn’t.”

-------------------------------------

The two of them paced back and forth in Lemon’s living room, staring down at their phones. 

“Just got a text from Scarlett. It didn’t work.” 

“Who else called?”

“Rita, Boa, Kyne and Kiki. None of them got an answer.” Lemon’s phone dinged again, and she sighed at the text. “Jimbo just called too. No response. Apparently she’s been declining them.” She bit her thumbnail instinctively, before shaking her head and wiping it on her shirt. This wasn’t the time to ruin her manicure. “Can you call? It might work.”

“I’m afraid that it’ll make it worse. You should call. You’re the one person she might answer.” Juice suggested, and Lemon nodded. She was nervous, but Juice was right. Priyanka’s never missed a single call from Lemon in all the years that they’ve been friends. She clicked on Priyanka’s picture in her phone, and brought it up to her ear. One ring… two rings… three rings… four… five. Nothing. And then she heard something that gave her a bit of hope.

“Hey!” It was Priyanka. But she sounded so… chipper. This wasn’t right. “You’ve reached Priyanka! I can’t come to the phone right now, or I don’t want to talk to you. Please try again later! Leave a message at the tone! Or don’t. I’m not your mom.” It beeped, and Lemon took the phone away from her ear. It occurred to her that she had never heard Priyanka’s voicemail greeting before. 

“Nothing?” 

“Nothing.” Lemon shook her head, and another tear rolled down her cheek. It had been on and off crying since Pri had left. “This has never happened before. She always answers my calls. This isn’t right.” 

“We should go see her.” They said in unison, and looked at each other for a second with bitter understanding. Priyanka might not want to see either of them at all. But they had to try. Lemon needed to make sure that she was okay. 

She needed to make things right again. 

Chapter Text

“It’s raining,” Lemon observed, looking out the window at the puddle-lined streets below, “oh god, she ran home in the rain! I didn’t even see her bring an umbrella!” She ran from the window into the front hall, frantically pulling on her boots. “Did you bring one, Juice?” The other girl shook her head.

“It was sunny outside when I got here.” She grabbed her coat from the hanger it was resting on, pushing her arms through as if her very life depended on it. It was official, the two of them were panicking. “I hope she’s okay.”

“We’ll share my umbrella.” Lemon paused for a minute, unlocking the front door to hold it open for Juice. “And… me too.”

-------------------------------------

Lemon grabbed Juice’s hand, trying her best to secure the umbrella over their heads as the two of them half walked, half ran to Priyanka’s house. On a normal day, both of them would have had to put a lot of effort into not going straight through the puddles. But this wasn’t a normal day. They paid no mind to it, going as fast as they could. Juice kept slipping on the wet sidewalk, but Lemon caught her every time. The wind blew against them, turning the umbrella inside out over and over as they tried their best to stay dry under it.

All Lemon could think about was Priyanka. Priyanka, whose smile made her stomach erupt in a frenzy of butterflies. Priyanka, who always knew what to say in every situation. Priyanka, who flirted and teased and flustered her without batting an eye. Priyanka, so quick to make friends and make sure that everyone felt welcome. Priyanka, who loved easily and took love gracefully. Priyanka, who Lemon cared about more than anyone else. She couldn’t let this happen to her best friend.

“Lemon! The umbrella!” Lemon suddenly became quite aware that her hand was empty. Juice was behind her, hood pulled over her head, staring with panic at a bright yellow spot in the road. A car raced past, crumpling the umbrella in the street. That umbrella… so many things had happened because of that umbrella.

When she held it over Juice’s head, and when she and Juice held hands for the first time under its shelter. When Juice had to come back over with a bag of marbles as an apology gift for taking it by accident. When she and Priyanka got caught in a rainstorm, and ducked into the first store they saw to buy an umbrella together. When Priyanka kissed her on the cheek for the first time to say goodbye after pushing it into her hands and refusing to take it to go back to her own house.

“It’s okay! Come on, we’ve gotta keep going!” It was just an umbrella. As important as it was to her, Priyanka was even more of a priority. She reached for Juice’s hand, and the two of them kept running, as fast as they could, to Priyanka’s house.

-------------------------------------

Lemon had a key. She’d had the key for years. Priyanka trusted her with it, and she had used it well. But it didn’t mean that her hands didn’t tremble as she pushed it into the lock. It didn’t mean that her stomach wasn’t filled with fear as she turned it with a loud click, that would surely alert Priyanka that Lemon was here. It didn’t mean that she didn’t feel a little sick as she opened the door to the front hall.

“Pri…yanka?” Her mouth instinctively felt its way around the nickname, a search for familiarity, but she knew in her heart that it wasn’t the time to use it. She didn’t even know if Priyanka wanted her here at all.

No response.

They stood there for a minute in the hallway. It was quiet, and there weren’t any lights on. Any light that would have come through the window was dampened severely by the rain, and the darkness was suffocating.

They both turned their heads towards a soft sound coming from Priyanka’s room. The door was closed, she might be in there. Juice walked towards it, but paused when Lemon grabbed her hand. Priyanka might have not heard them. Lemon didn’t want to scare her.

There was another pause, where nobody said or did anything.

“I know you're out there. Just come inside already.”

Lemon hurried towards the door, the permission from Priyanka making her panic finally bubble to the surface. She twisted the knob, swinging the door open wide. But she stopped in her tracks when she saw the state of the room.

Like the rest of the house, the lights were off. The smallest bit of light came in through the bedroom window, just enough to illuminate the bed in front of her. Priyanka sat there, in the middle, clutching her knees to her chest. Lemon had never seen her look that small. It took her eyes a minute to adjust, but she soon realized that there were tissues surrounding her, littering the sheets. By the looks of it, she had been crying for a while.

“Pri…” All of Lemon’s reservations were gone. She rushed towards her friend, wrapping her arms around her like Priyanka always did for her. A bit of relief washed over her when Priyanka leaned into the touch.

“I knew you’d come back,” Priyanka whispered, and Lemon felt a warm tear fall onto her shirt. “I don’t know why you keep doing it.”

“Doing it? Doing what?” Lemon held onto her a little tighter.

“Making it so hard for me to get over you.” Lemon felt her heart stop for a moment. “Every time I think that I’m finally going to move on, you do something that makes it all start over again. I don’t know how I’m supposed to be happy for you like this.”

“Get over me? Makes it start all over again? What?” She blinked, hard. Trying to ignore the tears in her eyes. Was she really about to lose her best friend?

“You’re dating Juice now.” Priyanka said it like it was the most miserable truth in the world.

“I’m so sorry- I knew you liked Juice, but I didn’t know it was this important to you…

“Lemon. Please.” Priyanka took a breath, and Lemon could only prepare herself for the worst. “Yes. I had a crush on Juice, but…” Here we go. Lemon had better savor this last moment holding her friend. “I’m in love with you.”

“What?”

Lemon could feel the world spinning around her. Priyanka was… in love with her? That couldn’t be possible. Could it? Was this a dream? Would she wake up in a minute, to a world where she could understand everything again?

“For years. I’ve been in love with you for years.” Priyanka sat up a little straighter, as if a massive weight had been taken off of her shoulders.

“That doesn’t make sense! If you were… in love with me, why did you set me up with Juice? What about giving her my number? The umbrella? The bet?”

“I tried to set you up because she was the first person I had seen you like! I knew you liked her. And I wanted you to be happy, so in order to make myself get over you, I pushed you more. I made that bet with you because I know how competitive you are, and it might make you actually try to date her. It was selfish. I just wanted us both to be happy, and… here we are.” She seemed almost defeated, having poured her heart out for Lemon to see. As if expecting everything to go downhill.

“Pri,” Lemon began, unable to will her words to come out of her mouth.

Priyanka looked up at her, and the years that the two of them had spent together flashed before her eyes. This was the person she had wanted to give her everything to. The person she still wants to give her everything to. This was her chance to show Pri her everything.

“I’m in love with you too.”

Her words poured out, and so did her tears. Not in a bad way, really. All of the years she had spent thinking that it would never work, that she should just move on, those years weren’t in vain. It was real, Priyanka loved her more than she knew. And she was crying, letting all of her love out, crying in Priyanka’s arms together in the dark. And Priyanka was crying too, and she didn’t quite know why, but she hoped it was the same reason.