Work Text:
Ainsley was sitting at the kitchen counter with her laptop and dozens of loose papers all around her. It was her first midterms back in school and she was determined to finish her papers before the Halloweekend began.
She is already wearing her costume despite it only being noon. She has on a sports jersey and a pair of jeans, but wrapped herself in plastic vines. “I’m the Ivy League” she had proudly announced to her girlfriend back in August when she first put it together.
Sophie walked through the door whistling Frosty the Snowman, only pausing the song for a moment to plant a kiss on the top of her girlfriend’s head as she made her way to the fridge.
“I love you but you can’t possibly be singing christmas songs already, it’s barely even Halloween,” Ainsley groaned glancing up from her laptop.
“It’s not my fault! There was a kid in an evil snowman costume at the library today and it’s been stuck in my head ever since.”
“You have your costume ready for tonight right?”
“Yep!”
“And I still don’t get to know what it is?”
“Nope, it’s a surprise”
“Well the party is tonight, how long do I have to wait?”
The blonde smiles and keeps putting away the groceries.
“I don’t have to wear a blindfold on the way there do I?”
“Don’t be so dramatic, I’ll show you when I put it on.”
“Mmm, ok fine.”
Ainsley got back to work and Sophie left her to it knowing she was trying to get everything done before tonight, but eventually the two found themselves laying together on the couch, Ainsley typing on her laptop and Sophie scrolling through instagram, but with their legs tangled up under a blanket.
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“Ok, I’m ready.”
Ainsley slowly cracked the door to their bedroom.
“Oh my god.”
There her girlfriend stood in an adult onesie of Scooby-doo, arms out at her side.
“Ta-dahhhhh”
“Oh my god, Soph you’re a dog.”
“I’m a dog!”
“10-year-old Sophie would be so proud.”
“I do it all for her... And also to make you laugh.”
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“It’s ok, we can pretend we’re doing the fashionably late thing.”
“We’re not fashionably late, we’re just normal late because we had to keep fixing your leaves.”
“Are you sure I have enough?”
“Yes, you have plenty, trust me.”
“Ok, ok, I just want my costume to be perfect. I want to make a good first impression on your cool new work friends.”
“They’re gonna love you. Besides, I talk about you constantly at work so the first impression has basically already been made.” Sophie takes Ainsley’s hand, leaving one on the wheel, and gently rubs the back of her girlfriend’s hand.
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“Oooh, ok I like the ghosts dangling in the window.” Ainsley remarked as they approached the house. All month they've been making a game out of rating their neighbor’s Halloween decor.
“Do they get the Sadler Halloween seal of approval?”
“We’ll see, but they’re on the right track.”
Sophie knocks and then shoots her friend Maggie a text to let her know they’re here. They can hear the music from outside, and right now Toxic by Britney Spears is echoing. “Sophieeeeeee,” the door opens and Sophie is pulled into a hug by the redhead in a fairy costume on the other side of the threshold. “And you must be Ainsley!” Ainsley finds herself also pulled into tight hug. “Sorry, I’m Maggie,” the woman says when she lets go, “call me Mags.”
“Nice to meet you.” Ainsley beams back, already relieved by the warm welcome.
The living room was covered in fake cobwebs and was lit by purple and blue glowing crystal balls positioned in the windowsills alongside some fake candles. “Oh my god Mags the decorations are even better inside,” Sophie fawns.
“Thanks! But the credit goes to Mike, he came over early and spent like an hour hanging all the webs.” Mike was another name Ansley recognised from Sophie’s work stories. “So there’s wine and cider on the table, and water in the kitchen. Help yourself to whatever, I’m gonna go find Mike and let him know you’re here, he was excited to meet you.” Maggie says pointing at Ainsley and as quickly as she pulled them into the house she was disappearing behind a couple dressed as Stranger Things characters.
“So that was Mags, the Director, and Mike is a Library Assistant like me. I think Kayla is supposed to be here somewhere too,” Sophie smiles. “Drinks?”
“Definitely.”
Ainsley gets a spiked apple cider, and Sophie pours a glass of sangria before they find Kayla on the couch. The three chat for a few and it becomes obvious that Sophie talks about Asinley even more than she let on. Her coworker knows everything from the fact that Ainsley is going back to school, to the fact that she and Sophie went to high school together and then lost touch for 7 years. But as Ainsley gets to know Kayla a bit it becomes less awkward for her. At some point, someone Ainsley doesn’t recognise starts to pull Sophie into the other room.
“Be right back!” She says giving Ainsley a comforting touch on the shoulder as she’s pulled away. But when Ainsley looks back to Kayla she realizes that her new friend has started talking to a group of guys. Ainsley awkwardly tries to wade her way into this conversation with a bunch of complete strangers by smiling and laughing when it seems appropriate.
Ainsley is only half paying attention to the conversation, and mostly thinking about weather or not the way she’s holding her cup looks weird when one of the guys turns to her, “So what’s your costume? Is that a superhero?”
“No, uhhh.” She glances down at her own costume, forgetting for a second. “I’m the Ivy League.”
“Oh,” the guy pauses, “yeah, I get it, cool.” Then he turns back to his friend who has started talking about the Lakers chances this year. Ainsley takes another sip of her drink to try make herself look less awkward while standing here listening to a conversation that she couldn’t care less about.
No more than 5 minutes could have actually passed by this point but it feels like an eternity since she arrived when she notices that Kayla has now also started talking to someone else. It’s starting to feel like highschool again. There was a reason she had never gone to parties back then, or ever really. She keeps taking sips of her drink, because what else is she going to do with her hands? She’s snapped out of her trance when she hears a familiar sound. Sophie’s laugh seems to penetrate through the loud music and chatter of the party and provide a brief moment of tranquility to Ainsley’s mind. Suddenly she remembers why she willingly agreed to go to a party full of strangers in the first place and turns to try to find the source of the laugh.
It doesn’t take long for Ainsley to make her way to the kitchen and cling onto the side of her girlfriend. Most of the discomfort she felt melts away when Sophie smiles at her and loops her fingers between hers. “Babe! This is Mike.” Mike is the definition of lanky and is dressed as Waluigi appropriately. He’s just as nice as Kayla, and as promised seems very interested in getting to know Ainsley.
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Sophie doesn’t leave her side again, but over the next half an hour they rotate between various groups of people and Ainsley finds herself explaining her costume over and over again. Luckily Sophie is much better at making party conversation than her girlfriend, so Ainsley can just stand by her side and sip her drink.
“I need to pee,” Sophie told a man whose name hadn’t stayed in Ainsley’s brain for more than 3 seconds after hearing it, “it was nice meeting you.” Ainsley smiles and gives the man a wave as she and her girlfriend make their way to the bathroom and close the door behind them.
Inside the bathroom is the quietest and brightest room she’s been in all night and immediately as they step in Ainsley realizes that she’s already buzzed from drinking that cider a bit too fast.
It feels nice to not have to squint through the dim light, and really nice to not have to think about if she’s giving off a resting bitch face right now. Processing her lack of sobriety she looks up at her girlfriend who is looking back, still holding her hand.
“Don’t you have to pee?”
“Nope, you just seemed off. I thought you might need a break,” Sophie says, placing her glass down beside the sink.
“I… you’re amazing, thank you.” Ainsley tucks her head into her girlfriend's chest and breaths the familiar scent of pine trees and lavender. “Why is this Scooby-doo costume so soft?”
“I think they’re meant to be pajamas.” They both can’t help but laugh as they stand there swaying in the little bathroom.
After a moment Sophie breaks the silence. “You know, we can leave if you want.”
“I don’t think we’ve even been here an hour.”
“Yeah but if you’re not having fun we don’t have to stay, I know parties aren’t really your thing.”
“No I am…” Ainsley starts, but can’t really find the right words. It happens a lot when she tries to express how she’s feeling, but Sophie never seems to mind giving her time to process.
“I was having fun. And I really want to get to know your friends, but there’s so many people here and I feel like I can’t focus on all of them at the same time so I just can’t figure out who I’m supposed to actually connect with and who I’m supposed to make party small talk with.”
“Ok,” Sophie slips her arms back around her girlfriend.
“And I definitely don’t want to leave yet because I can tell you’re having a good time.”
Sophie laughs and plants a kiss on Ainsley. “I have an idea…” But she’s cut off by a knock on the door. “Oh yeah, this is a bathroom.” They both laugh.
“Trust me?” Sophie asks.
“Always.”
Sophie takes Ainsley out of the bathroom, past a kind but rushed woman who dashes into the bathroom behind them making the two of them giggle again. They make a quick stop to refill their drinks and then grab Kayla and Mike who are conveniently next to each other, and head back to the kitchen. “Hey Mags can we go out on the porch, I’m getting warm.”
“Yes!” Mags responds with a clap. “Great idea!”
A few moments later the five of them are sitting in a circle of porch chairs chatting about who they think is going to win the vote for best costume. The rest of the night passes by peacefully. Mags keeps going between the house and the porch trying to be a good host, but the other 4 sit outside and enjoy the peaceful night. Eventually the party starts to spill out into the yard but Ainsley doesn’t mind now that she’s got a handful of people around her that she would consider friends.