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Ava slowly climbed the stairs to Beatrice’s apartment. She's been spacing out ever since she left the flower shop 10 minutes ago. ‘Did I do something wrong last night? She just…left and didn’t even tell me’
She cursed at her muscle memory, as her crush’s best friend's door was already in front of her. The feeling of the welcome mat underneath her feet. The texture and slight crunch started to make her feel uneasy. She could feel the hardness of the reinforced wood on her knuckles as she knocked, the eerie, sun-lit hallway echoing with every little sound. ‘You got this Ava, it's just Bea. Your normal, amazing, beautiful Bea-’
Avas thoughts were tossed to the side as Beatrice opened the door, hair down, darker in color, looking somewhat wet. Wearing a loose pair of black pants, with her typical black button up shirt. Buttoned all the way, usual Beatrice style.
“Ava, what are you doing here?” Beatrice said as she ever so slightly leaned her head out the gap, with her hand propped on the ledge of the door.
“I’m here to check on you. You kinda just left without saying anything.” Ava responded. Gripping the flower bouquet that was hidden behind her back ever so tighter. The sound of the shower shutting off could be heard further into the apartment.
“Ava…I just…this isn’t the best time right now.” Beatrice hastily said as her face warped into a look of slight worry, as the sound of the door being opened could be heard in the depths of her apartment. Ava chose to ignore her. More concerned with what was happening between the two then to recognize there was unfamiliar company nearby. “Bea please. I thought we were having fun last night.”
“Yea…fun” she trailed off, refusing to meet Avas eyes. “Were you…Was last night not fun? You should have told me and we would have left and done something else.” Sadness and worry filled Avas eyes as her thoughts started to race. ‘So it was me. Fuck I messed this up. I shouldn’t have forced her to go to the bar. I should have known b-’
“Ava.” Beatrice's voice cut her off. “It's not that, it’s just-”
“Hey you, I was wondering where you ran off to. what's taking you so long?” A voice cutting through the air like an arrow. Piercing Avas ears, the sound echoing through the hallways between peoples respected homes. With each echo, Avas heart dropped further and further to the floor. The owner of the voice made her way into her eyesight. Slightly pushing Beatrice more into the door, forcing it open. All Ava could do was watch as the mysterious woman in the apartment wrapped her arm around her friend's shoulder. She couldn’t believe her eyes.
Ringed fingers caressing the shoulder her hand was resting on. Layers of silver perched around her neck. Long, diamond shaped earrings danced in the air as they moved with the bearer. Her dark, curly and seemingly wet hair curled around her face as it cascaded down her shoulders. Her clothes were ever so slightly wrinkled, like they were thrown to the floor and forgotten about for a while. The shine of her beautifully white and straight teeth almost made Ava turn away due to the brightness that radiated from them. Avas face contorted to a look of realization and slight jealousy.
“Hey there. I’m sorry…I didn’t know you were expecting somebody over?” the walking mystery said and her gazed flipped between Beatrice and Ava. “Don’t worry querida, I’ll get out of your hair.” The women had ducked away for what seemed to feel like eternity. Before she came back in view looking ever so slightly taller. She swore she saw the woman smirk at her as she laid a gentle but firm kiss onto Beatrice's cheek. “I had fun, Llámame alguna vez.” She whispered into Beatrice’s ear. Just seemingly loud enough for Ava to hear. The echo of those words bounced off the walls of the hallway and back to her, like they were taunting her. She was starting the hate this fucking hallway. As the woman was stepping out the door, getting closer to Ava with every waking second, she briefly stopped at her side. Ava silently prayed for her to keep going, go down the stairs and out of the complex so she didn’t have to see her again. Her prayers were ignored.
The same hand that had once rested on Beas shoulder was now on hers. The woman leaned in to whisper into her ear. “There is more than one friend in the world.”
And then she was gone. The clink of her shoes making contact with the metal stairs ringed in her head, the sound of the complex door opening and slamming itself shut brought Ava out of the trance she didn’t know she was in.
“D-do you want to come in then?” She sounded hesitant, small even. Ava could only nod, she didn’t dare make eye contact with Beatrice as she entered the apartment. Attempting not to accidentally touch her, as she walked through the gap in the door that the woman created. She was successful which she was grateful for. She rushed to take off her shoes, beforing racing to sit in her favorite chair in the apartment. Dropping the bouquet on the floor to the side. ‘Out of sight, out of mind.’ Ava thought. ‘I just need to talk to her and get out of here.’
Movement caught her eye, slowly, Beatrice made her way from the once propped open door to sit on the couch that was to Avas left. “What did you want to talk about?” Beatrice stalled. Ava could barely get the words out, she was still caught up on the person that was just in the apartment. ‘There is more than one friend in the world? What does that even mean?’
“Ava, hey.” Ava looked up and she looked at Beatrice with confusion. “I’m sorry, what?” Is all she could muster. “What did you come over here to talk about?” Oh. Yeah. That.
“I-” Ava started. “I came over to talk about what happened last night. Bea, you just left.” Her voice cracked. She was starting to feel the pit in her stomach grow, her heart beat starting to quicken. ‘Fuck Fuck Fuck, why am I getting upset about this? She’s her own person. She can hook up with anybody she wants to.’
“I turned around and you were gone. I figured you just headed to the bathroom so I waited. And then I got a notification that you arrived at home, and I-” Ava couldn’t continue. She wanted to escape.
They both sat there in silence, only making the tension in the room grow worse and worse with every minute passing by. Soon enough, the silence was finally broken.
“I let my own emotions take control of the situation. I misread everything that happened last night between us. I’ll make sure to not let that happen again.” For the first time in a long while Ava looked up at Beatrice. She locked eyes onto her.
She was sitting on the edge of the couch closest to her. Her elbows were rested on her thighs, once damp hair having dried and had been put up into her typical fashioned bun that rested on the base of her neck. ‘She must have put it up when I wasn’t looking’ Ava couldn’t see her face, as a certain person's hands were obstructing the view.
“Bea, what do you mean you misread what happened between us?” Ava whispered. She was unsure if Beatrice even heard her because she didn’t react, she didn’t even flinch. Head still in her hands.
“Bea?” She still didn’t respond. She kept repeating her name. Everytime without fail she was ignored. With time passing and no response she was starting to get fed up. “Ok fine, you don't want to talk to me.” she grumbled.
“Here.” She had felt the plastic that encased the flowers in her hand, she didn’t remember grabbing them. She witnessed Beatrice’s head shoot up as Ava carelessly tossed the bouquet onto the coffee table in front of them. “I got these for you.” She managed to growl before making her way to her shoes. She was starting to hate a lot of things. She hated how she didn’t notice Beatrice was slightly uncomfortable at the bar. She hated the app Beatrice made her download that got her into this mess in the first place. She remembered all those weeks ago when Beatrice pitched the idea of them downloading the app together, because Ava was too drunk to remember to text her that she had gotten home safely the night before, and her friend was starting to get fed up.
At the top of the list was the hallway. She didn’t want to go back out into that forsaken place, Not even for a moment. Especially not with everything that just occurred in it beforehand. She really hated that hallway now. The way every little noise would repeat itself in the tiny place. How it looked when the sunlight and the moisture in the air made the place look weirdly calming, particularly on the early mornings when Ava left Beatrice’s apartment. But the one thing she could never hate was Beatrice. She couldn’t ever bring herself to hate her. She would rather be bedridden like she was all those years ago than hate her.
“Ava please.” She could hear Beatrice behind her. She almost stopped. Almost. She bent down to put her shoes back on. “Ava…” She finally looked up. What she saw made her forget about her shoes almost entirely.
There sat Beatrice, her eyes were filled with sorrow as they looked at Ava. Tears were starting to pool in her eyes and they overfilled and started to spill onto her cheeks. Beatrice ran a hand over her head, pushing any wisps of hair back. Ones that inevitably stood back up despite her efforts. She looked broken…and lost. No matter how much she wanted to leave, Ava knew she couldn’t.
“What do you mean you misread what happened between us?” She was still resting on the floor, she knew she couldn’t get up even if she tried. Her anxiety started to grow, seeing her best friend in such a vulnerable state because of her made herself feel inferior. “I just…I thought there was something going on between us. But I was wrong apparently.
Ava slowly got up, making her way back to the cushion she was once sitting on. Imitating the stance Beatrice was in. But Ava was looking at her. She was waiting for her to continue.
“Last night was fun, don’t get me wrong. And then you brought up how you wanted to stop by the bar. I was hesitant at first because I never drank before. And yet you managed to make me feel the most comfortable in a place I avoided like it was the plague.” Ava chose to remain silent.
“We danced, I started to feel like I was letting myself relax for the first time in years. I was unaware if it was the alcohol or you yourself but I was starting to feel content with what we had at the moment. And when you stepped away to get us more drinks. and I look back and see you becoming close with some random patron at the bar. I’m not sure what happened to me. I let feelings take over me and I left.”
“Beatrice” Ava finally spoke. She was unsure of what to say. Where to start. “I thought we had something Ava. All the time we flirted with each other, all the looks we gave to when we thought the other wasn’t looking. All the-” Beatrice stopped, choking on the words that were trying to leave her mouth.
“All the times we almost kissed.”
Ava fucked up. She knew that already. She was starting to grasp on how badly she ruined this.
She left out a gasp that she was not aware she was holding. She let her head all into her hands. The weight of the situation was starting to crash down on her. Her heart was trying to break out of her chest through her sternum.
Her throat felt dry, her lungs were caving in on her, or that's just how she felt. Even if she wanted to speak she couldn’t. “Fuck, I’m sorry. I think it would be best if you just leave.” Beatrice made the move to stand. Not before a hand stopped her. Beatrice looked at her in shock and her hand was now resting on her knee, hoping to pause her from leaving. She needed to speak, and she needed to do it now.
“No. I’M sorry.” Ava managed to get out. Her voice almost failed her. Her hand steadily moved from its spot on the other knee to grasp her hand. Ava struggled to get her head up to look Beatrice in her eyes but she knew she needed to.
“Beatrice,” Ava started. “I never should have left you. I-”
“The person you saw was another drunk who wanted to chat, and I unfortunately let them. But all I could think about was you. I want to get back to you, I longed to. When the bartender gave me the drinks and was happy to bid the person goodbye cause I knew you were waiting on me. And then.” She choked “You know the rest.”
“Why the flowers then?”
“I brought them over to apologize. The minute I knew you went home my mind had been racing thinking over any little thing that could have made you leave. And when I got here, seeing another person in your apartment, I just-” Beatrice squeezed her hand, Ava worked up the courage to look back up. Brown eyes meeting brown eyes.
“Just what Ava?” Beatrice whispered.
“I wish it was me.” She finally let it go. All the months of pining for her best friend were now out in the open. Eyes closed shut and tears started to form. Warm, and soft hands were placed on her cheeks as she was being pulled forward. The feeling of warm breath hit her face before Beatrice’s lips made contact with hers.
The kiss was filled with hesitance. Unsure on how to continue. They pulled back, eyes fluttering open. Their lips soon connected with each other yet again. Each kiss getting more and more love poured through it. Beatrice being pushed back onto the couch, Ava swinging her legs to rest at her sides. Hands running up from where they were once connected to her neck, pulling apart at her hair. Beatrice's hands rested on her hips. Holding her in place as they kissed.
“Who was she?” Ava asked, trying to catch her breath.
“Somebody that I saw as I was leaving the bar. In sorts, I used her to get my mind off of you”
“Did it work?”
“Certainly not”
“Good, because I don’t want you to forget what we’re about to do.”