Chapter Text
“I can’t believe we’re actually here!” Martha announced as she and Toni walked through the lobby of the resort they were going to be staying at for the next five days.
The two best friends graduated college a week ago and this was a post graduation present for themselves that they have been saving up for, with the help from Martha’s parents, since they were freshman. They saved all their money from summer jobs and work study to be able to afford it. It was just going to be some crappy hotel off the beach but then Martha’s parents surprised them both with the rest of the money to stay at this fancy resort. It started as a pipe dream but here they were, four years later, in Hawaii, just the two of them.
“I know, dude, this is insane,” Toni said as they rolled their suitcases up to the counter to check in. Toni tapped the bell that was sitting on the counter as if they were in some old movie which made Martha giggle.
The front desk girl came out from around the corner holding a stack of towels, setting them down on the counter before turning her attention to the two of them with a wide, friendly smile. “Hi, welcome, what can I do for you?”
“Hi,” Martha greeted with a smile just as wide and friendly. “We have a reservation for Blackburn.” The two thought about getting separate rooms but after being best friends for basically their whole lives and rooming together for the whole four years of college, they preferred to get one suite and spend the money on other things while they’re here.
The girl behind the counter typed something in the computer before looking back at the two girls. “Two keys?” She asked, which they both nodded in response. A few more clicks and then it was all done. She pulled out a packet with everything they needed to know about the resort and nearby attractions, tucked the two key cards into the little pocket on the inside, and held it out for Martha. “Okay, you’re all set, you're in room 607. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask. We hope you enjoy your stay.” Of course, it was just a speech they probably gave everyone, but it made Martha smile excitedly.
“Thank you so much,” she said, taking the packet from her and turning back to Toni. “Let’s go!” she nearly squealed with excitement as they walked over to the elevator. “What should we do first? I’m thinking we could check out the pools and then grab lunch? Or maybe we could day drink in the lazy river with that swim up bar.” Martha had done a lot of research before booking this resort for them and she knew everything she wanted to do while they were here.
“Dude, I need at least a twenty minute power nap before we do anything.” It was an 11 hour flight from Minnesota, which Toni slept through most of it but it was still a long ass flight all through the night.
“Okay, you can take a nap and I will check out the pools. How about that?” Martha says as the elevator stopped on their floor. They stepped out and started down the hall to find their room.
“Nah, it’s fine, I’ll go with you. You know I’ll get fomo if you go down first.”
This made Martha smile but they were quickly distracted when they unlocked the door and stepped into their room.
“Oh my god,” they say at the same time.
The room was huge and was nicer than any place the two girls have ever stayed at in their life. There was a huge bathroom with both a standing shower stall and a jacuzzi bathtub, a kitchenette with an L shaped counter that turned into a breakfast bar for them to sit at, then there was a large couch that broke up the room before the two large beds. And at the very far wall were huge sliding glass doors that led out to a balcony that overlooked the ocean.
“This is so much nicer than the pictures online!” Martha announced as she went straight through the room to take it all in. “Which bed do you want?”
“I don’t care, you pick,” she said, already dropping down on the couch and turning on the TV that was mounted on the wall across from it. “Ah shit, they have HBO here.” She was flipping through the channels quickly.
This made Martha roll her eyes playfully but she knew it was a habit Toni picked up from her dad ever since the Blackburns took her in back in high school. “Okay, I’m taking the window bed then,” she announced as she went over to it and set her suitcase on top of it. Toni didn’t complain so she took that as acceptance of her decision. She started pulling her clothes out of her suitcase and putting them away in the dresser.
“Why do you do that when we’re just going to pack it all back up in a few days?” Toni asked as she turned off the TV and jumped off the couch.
“Because unlike you, I don’t want to live out of my suitcase the whole time. And we both know all of your clothes are just going to end up in a pile next to your bed the second you try to look for anything.” They have never been on a big trip like this before but Martha had plenty of experience traveling with Toni between family trips and little adventures they’ve had together over the years.
Toni didn’t deny this accusation, but she also didn’t change this habit of hers and by the end of the first night, half her clothes are thrown about her part of the room as if proving Martha right. “So I love you, but if you have this whole week scheduled out, I’m going to have to fight you.” Her voice was sarcastic and Martha knew she was saying it with care.
“Toni, we’re not kids anymore, you can do whatever you want,” she said, looking over at her with a look that was similar to one her own mother had given the girls before. “But I do have a few suggestions if you’re interested. I looked up all the activities they offer and a lot of them look really fun.”
Toni, of course, knew this, Martha had been talking about it for weeks leading up to the trip. But she really does love Martha and she finds it endearing how excited she is for all of this. “So what’s the big thing on your to-do list? I know my main goal is to sit by the pool and drink as much as I can.”
Martha finished putting her clothes away and had all of her toiletries and other items set aside for later so she could store her now empty suitcase next to her bed. “Well I really want to go scuba diving. You have to take a three day course before you can go out into the ocean but I think it would be so much fun to swim with the fish and maybe see the reef. You can sit by the pool and watch me embarrass myself learning how to do it.”
“You’re not going to embarrass yourself,” Toni reassured her. “That sounds right up your alley though, you should totally go for it.”
“I read there’s this really cool club a few minutes from here, we should check it out one of the nights too.”
“Oh hell yeah! That’s what I’m talking about.”
Martha burst out laughing, “god, why do you always talk like a dad from an early 2000s movie?”
“Probably because you forced me to watch so many early 2000s movies growing up,” Toni said with a laugh of her own. Her phone rang from inside her pocket, announcing an incoming facetime. “It’s Shelby,” she said, as if asking Martha if she could answer it, which Martha nodded yes to.
Toni and Shelby met while they were in college and have been dating for a year and a half now. It’s sickly sweet and Martha is just happy that Toni has found someone who treats her like she deserves. This was probably going to be the longest Toni has gone without seeing her since they got together. The three of them were close and Shelby had a bad relationship with her family since coming out so she basically lived with them.
“Hey Bee,” Toni answers with a wide smile into the phone.
“Oh thank the Lord, y’all made it. I was starting to worry that the plane crashed into the ocean.” Shelby’s southern drawl could be heard from the phone speaker.
“It was an eleven hour flight, we just got into the hotel,” Toni said with faux annoyance. Martha knew that Toni actually loved how much Shelby worried about her. She told her one drunken night that it makes her feel ‘warm and fuzzy’ because she never had someone care about her that much before. To which Martha was offended by but Toni quickly said ‘besides you.’
“Well I’m glad you made it safe and sound. You know how I worry about you. Is Martha there?” She was used to this, Shelby was very good at including Martha in things to remind them that she was also her friend. In fact, it was Martha that introduced Toni to her after they had a class together a couple years ago.
“Yeah,” Toni said before passing the phone off to Martha.
“Hey, Shelbs,” Martha said once she had the phone in her hands, sitting down on her bed across from Toni.
“Martha, babe, I’m trusting you to keep an eye on Toni.”
“Hey!” Toni calls out with her hand out stretched but Martha just rolls her eyes and keeps the phone away from her.
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep her on a short leash and make sure she doesn’t have too much fun without you.”
“You’re a gem. I love you and hope you have lots of fun. Maybe you can even find yourself a little summer fling while you’re out there.” Shelby added with a wink which made Martha's cheeks go hot with blush. Toni and Shelby have been pushing Martha to try dating again after her relationship with her ex boyfriend, Marcus, didn’t work out.
“I don’t know about that,” she said in a shy voice.
“Keep an open mind. Okay, give me back to my girl before she explodes from lack of attention.” This had Toni roll her eyes with a scoff for Shelby to hear. ”Send me lots of pics and let me know how it goes. Love you, Martha.”
“Of course, love you too,” she said with a smile before passing the phone back to Toni. “I’m going to get changed,” she said quietly, mostly as an excuse to give Toni and Shelby some privacy to be as gross and mushy as they wanted to be without Martha there to hear.
She grabbed her bathing suit and cover dress before heading to the bathroom. The week before the trip, Martha forced Toni to go shopping with her to help her pick out all new bikinis and sundresses. Toni begrudgingly went along but in the end, Toni packed her same old clothes while Martha had a whole new wardrobe that she was excited to show off. She never had an excuse to go all out for something so she really wanted to make the trip special with new clothes.
Once changed, she went back out into the main room where Toni must have finished with Shelby because she was digging through her suitcase now (making a mess while she was at it just like Martha said she would) looking for her swim trunks and bikini top that was basically just a Nike sports bra. Sometimes it was laughable just how much of a stereotypical lesbian she was.
“I can’t believe Shelby doesn’t trust me to not go crazy,” she said but she could tell there was only fondness in her voice.
“She just loves you,” Martha pointed out as she sat down on her own bed and grabbed her phone.
“I know,” Toni’s voice was dreamy now. God, she was such a sap when she was in love.
Toni took her turn in the bathroom and Martha stepped outside on the balcony. She took a picture of the view before sending it to the family group chat to show that they made it to the hotel. Then she opened Instagram and posted it to her story. She didn’t have many moments to show off so she was determined to post everything they did this week.
“Killer view,” Toni said out of nowhere, nearly making Martha jump out of surprise.
“Jesus, you scared me.”
This made Toni laugh. “Come on, let's get our drink on.”
They make their way down to one of the many pools. There were four in total: one indoor, one for kids, one for everyone, and one for just adults. This was where Toni and Martha took up residence, claiming two of the reclining chairs with their things. Martha took off her dress and set it down on her chair next to Toni. Toni made quick work of getting them two strawberry margaritas before she laid out on her chair, sunglasses on her nose and phone in hand, probably already texting Shelby how much she misses her.
Martha took a drink of her margarita and looked around the pool. It was such a nice day out but there weren’t many people around. Probably on account of the fact that there were so many things to do around them between what was just in the hotel and everything around but also the ocean was right there. They decided to not go to the ocean today just so they wouldn’t have to deal with sand in the room for the entire time they were here. They’d save that for tomorrow or the next day. Plus, if Martha took the scuba diving course, she’ll spend a lot of time in the ocean after the three days.
“I’m going to get in the water,” Martha announced before getting up.
“I’ll be here,” Toni said with a smile before looking back at her phone. She didn’t blame her for not wanting to swim yet, it was a long flight and she knew she was tired. Martha was just too excited to sit still for long.
She went over to the edge of the pool and sat with her legs in the water for a bit, just enjoying the cool water compared to the hot sun beating down on her. It didn’t bother her when Toni was like this, they weren’t attached to the hip like they were growing up. They were actually very healthy with their codependent friendship and have learned to be able to enjoy things together but separately.
The sound of a diving board springing to life and a splash into the pool pulled Martha out of her thoughts. She looked up just in time to see who had caused it. A woman, probably about her age was coming up out of the water on the other side of the pool, running her hands over her face to clear the water. Her tight curls were dripping water and hanging into her face but with a pass of her hands, she didn’t seem to care. She watched as she planted her hands on the edge of the pool and lifted herself out, her back muscles rippling as she moved. She was wearing a black bikini that was drawing Martha's attention to the stack of abs on her stomach that flexed as she moved. Martha watched in awe as she walked onto the diving board, it was only a couple feet above the water, meant for amateurs to have a little fun, but when the woman dove back in, she could tell by her form that she knew exactly what she was doing.
Martha was never one to objectify or even really notice women in this way. That was Toni’s thing. Not that Martha ever had anything against the idea, she was very open minded but the opportunity just never showed itself. But holy fucking shit, this was the most gorgeous woman Martha has ever seen in her life. She couldn’t take her eyes off her as she came out of the water again, repeating the same routine of clearing herself of water and pulling herself out of the pool.
Something changed in Martha at that moment and she wasn’t sure what to do about it.