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Everyone starts packing their bags, including Beidou’s roommate Yelan, the girl with the blue hair had it all figured out a while ago, not like the rest of them. Beidou’s friends are in a video call screaming for things they might need, Shenhe says ‘it's a cabin in the woods, just wear something nice’ and everyone laughs about it, they pack more warm clothes.
It’s a day before the trip and Beidou only has the bag of snacks ready. Yelan is scrolling through her phone on the other side of the bed, just drawn by the gossip and not because actually needs it. While the other one’s talk about their opinions, Beidou fills the first part of the bag with basic stuff, including her pajamas and thermal clothing. She says there’s also a lake and everyone starts talking about swimsuits, she keeps a couple of them in the bag.
The whole crew is excited, it’s the kind of trip everyone keeps saying they will do but the semester passes and no one does anything. In the end it wasn’t Beidou but Keqing the one that organized the trip, she rented the big cabin. Thankfully it had three floors, so the couples would stay on the last floor. Keqing had made a graphic weeks prior of where everyone would sleep, including the kinds of beds and who would be with who in the same rooms. Beidou had the drawing of the place in the refrigerator to keep in mind she had to share the bunk bed with Yelan and Shenhe would be in a bed next to them. Beidou didn’t know some of the people, maybe saw them in the LGBT+ committee Keqing did at the beginning of the year but they were also her friends so she invited them.
Beidou checked the names of the people she didn’t know, ‘Ningguang’ and ‘Sara’ in the room next to them. In the second floor there were only three beds, in the last one she recognized ‘Rosaria’ as the girl she dared to drink four shots of tequila at a party, Rosaria was Keqing’s roommate for the week. On the first floor were the siblings ‘Ayaka’ and ‘Ayato’, they were both her friends so no problem there. The third floor was for couples. Beidou knew Childe and Zhongli, and she had a class with Lisa so she knew her girlfriend Jean. The third floor also had three rooms and the last one had the name of the couple she saw making out on the couch at the party. The plan was more than fine by her, since there were more people, the place and the alcohol was cheaper. Beidou heard that Venti and Rosaria already had the alcohol covered, Zhongli and Childe had the sodas and other drinks to survive the weekend. Beidou, Yelan and Shenhe had the role of buying the food, they all had the list since a week ago and the day before the trip they did the shopping.
Maybe their chaos guided for Keqing’s ways of order were the ones to blame after everyone arrived at the cabin. It was a lovely place three hours away from campus, it had a small door in the back that when you opened it was easy to see the stone path to the lake. The only rule was to not get there drunk. Beidou thought the place was beautiful, with the big trees and the red cabin with big windows, not long after everyone unpack their things in their rooms Beidou went outside to see the place,she forgot to check the password that opened door to the lake so she walked around there, the yard was big enough to bring the extra tables they had and eat lunch or dinner outside, the place had a lot of christmas-like lights and in the other side of the cabin she saw swings, probably because it was the kind of place that families rented. She came back when she heard people opening the door and she followed Keqing and her friends to the lake.
That was when she saw Ningguang, her hair looked more gold outside, Beidou had a crush on her since the party but she tried to forget about it since then, Ningguang had a girlfriend then but now (if Shenhe was honest) she is single. Beidou introduces herself to Venti, Xiao, Rosaria and Ningguang now that they are all sober. She also hugged the ones she already knew, like the siblings and Childe and Zhongli since they all came there in different cars.
It didn’t take long for the ginger to dive in the water, followed by his boyfriend. Beidou went back to get her inflatable raft and tell her roommates that everyone was getting into the lake, Keqing and Ningguang got back with her, it was just small talk but Beidou needed to gossip about it to Yelan.
When the night came, not long after that, a small group started a fire by the cabin, it wasn’t really big but good enough for them to make marshmallows. Beidou saw the people from far away, she was in the kitchen making cocktails for her, Shenhe and Rosaria. The other ones were taking a shower, she was pretty sure Xiao took a bottle and went outside by the swings. She didn’t try to make Rosaria drink recklessly again but after the night she could consider her a friend, Yelan said it was because they were both drunk but Beidou didn’t mind.
It was 4 am when Beidou decided to go outside for one of the bottles, it was so cold she could feel it in her bones, she practically run, that’s when she saw someone on the wings, she knew it wasn’t Venti and Xiao since they were both sleeping in the couch, when she get near she saw Ninnguang just swinging quietly, lost on her thoughts, not wanting to interrupt her she tried to leave.
“Wait” Ning said “Come here, let’s sit in silence”
Beidou wasn’t the one to say no to a proposition like that and even if she was cold she sat by the other girl. Since the place was far away from the city they could listen the way the wind passed by the trees, Beidou figured it was the kind of place people bought just to make a small neighborhood made up by cabins only, she could also hear people playing on the place next door, and they stayed there for a couple of minutes.
“Did you like it here?” Ningguang asks.
“I do, it’s a dream come true, I honestly thought everyone would be passed out by now but they keep playing drinking games and I am shocked by how much they can take” Beidou says.
Ning laughs, “I don’t like drinking that much to be honest, but I loved the idea of coming here with friends, I do know most of them and people like you that I saw once but got good impression of”
Beidou smiles, especially because the other girl can’t see “So you remember me from the party?”
“I left early but you were drinking with Rosaria. I guess you both went too crazy because she said she didn’t remember anything from that night”
“Yes” Beidou says “I think I didn’t say more than a couple of words to you, thought, I never
would have guessed you got a good impression of me”
“You looked so... free, everyone was always so stressed out all the time, the minute we start school, but that day you made everyone laugh and drink and just had fun, we needed that"
"Oh" Beidou said, a bit confused of the perception the other girl had of her "that's a pretty way of described what happened"
Ningguang nodded, and they stayed silent for a while. It was peaceful, and Beidou hated how easy it was, how she was just a crush but this small thing was making her feel more and how easy it was for it to mean nothing for the other girl. Beidou didn't want to overthink it so she decided to say goodbye and go to sleep.
The next day passed by, in between games and food and small looks between the girls. When the night came everyone was also drunk but Beidou couldn't see Ningguang anywhere, after 5 am she could see some people sleeping in their rooms, some sleeping in the living room, the silence settled in the big cabin, when she was cleaning a bit the mess that everyone left.
There was this echo of a TV and Beidou decides to look for the sound. After some time she finds Ningguang cuddled in her bed watching an American program, she doesn't remember the name but she is sure it has 'girl' in it. She tries to close the door but she hears the other girl calling her name, so she enters again. It's still dark but the light of the TV shows Ningguang's face, she is smiling and signaling to sit next to her. It's cold, it's so early and the alcohol left Beidou's body a while ago.
Ningguang gave her a part of her blanket, they sit there watching that tv show, Ning gave her context and they laughed a bit about the situations, it was nice, but Beidou was too tired and before she realized she felt asleep.
It was past 2 pm when she woke up, Ningguang was cuddling her in her sleep, Beidou didn't dare to move, her arm was numbed but she didn't care. She just send a text to Rosaria saying "gay panicking", no context, she was sure that by then everyone else knew where the two girls were, she just got a response of "LOL praying for you". It didn't last long until Ningguang wake up, she first snuggled Beidou like chasing the warmth but when her brain understood what was happening she jump, surprised.
Beidou just smiled and said "it's okay" and gave her a kiss in the cheek saying "oh, you're cute", Ningguang's face was red as a tomato and she was beyond glad when Beidou left the room to go change.
They were shy, specially after they saw each other for the first time after it, they were alone in the kitchen everyone else were outside or playing video games in the living room which was next to that room, it was quiet enough, just the random scream of a friend mad because they lost a fame cut the silence. Beidou reheated the breakfast and Ningguang made coffee, they worked together in silence.
They sat by the counter and spoke about random things until their friends got in the house ready to make dinner. They keep eyeing Ning and Beidou like they know something they don't.
Beidou got up to help and Ningguang followed her, soon enough there were a bunch of things and a lot of alcohol on the kitchen table, Beidou stayed at the counter and stared at the beer in Ningguang's hands. She wondered how her lips would taste then, everyone started playing games, truth or dare and Uno, Beidou stayed in her place and Ningguang sat by her, offered her a beer and made the 'click' sound.
Beidou would describe it as a dance, after that moment, the warmth of each other's hands, they dance around each other when they are in the cabin, when they leave even on campus it feels like that too, Beidou finds it entertaining, until one day Ningguang gets into her room they were supposed to watch a movie with the others, Ningguang already knew her room, she help to chose the movie and put some food in front of the tv, there wasn't a lot of people coming, a couple of girls from the friend group so they weren't too worried. Ningguang said she would go and grab something and while trying to say goodbye to Beidou she kissed her on the lips.
Beidou stayed there frozen, confused, but Ningguang left like it was nothing. After a while she came back with soda and Rosaria, she looked calm so Beidou figured she should be too, they sat by each other and Beidou held her hand. Ningguang smiled. They figured it was a matter of time,