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With a triumphant yell, Kelley dropped the heavy box she was carrying and lifted her arms above her head, arching her back in an attempt to release some of the tension in her muscles. She turned around where she stood at the top of the steps and looked down at the steep flight below her that she’d mounted for about the twentieth time that day.
“Damn,” she remarked loudly, already feeling the soreness in her arms. “Forget lifting, we should call Dawn and tell her we’ve found a new workout!” Kelley shouted towards the open door of the apartment. She was met with silence, but chuckled at herself nonetheless as she leaned down to push the giant box through the door.
Kelley knew she probably shouldn’t be sliding the box across the newly done hardwood floors, but the ache in her arms discouraged her from trying to heft the heavy box again. It was only a few rooms anyway. Pushing it ahead of her, Kelley dodged a stack of books and maneuvered around the mountain of training gear piled up in the hallway, past the door to the bathroom and into (what was going to be) the bedroom, where Kelley’s box joined the countless others sitting idly on the empty floor next to an empty bedframe.
Kelley slid the box into an empty space against the wall between two others, then stood back, appraising her surroundings with weary eyes. Still so much work to do, Kelley thought, rubbing at her eyes tiredly. She pulled her hair out of its messy bun, put it back up, stretched her arms, and walked back to the landing in front of the front door. She peered into the kitchen, and then into the dining room, both empty. It was eerily quiet.
“Chris?” Kelley called out as she took a few steps into the kitchen. Music blared softly from the radio they’d left on the marble countertop, but the forward was nowhere to be seen. Kelley checked the dining room again to be sure, then stepped back out to the main entryway.
“Christen?” Kelley called again. Her voice echoed off the freshly painted walls, sound bouncing off the high ceiling and back down to her. Still no answer. Kelley frowned, furrowing her eyebrows. She walked down the hallway towards the living room, wondering if Christen was in the office in the back.
Kelley ran her fingers along the wall of the hallway, walking slowly and looking up at the ceiling above her. Everything was so clean, so fresh and new. The emptiness, the novelty, the amount of work to be done was terrifying and Kelley felt herself getting overwhelmed; then she thought about the end result, how long she’s wanted this and how much it would all be worth it -- that calmed her down immediately.
Kelley passed the living room, then did a double take, peering in through the doorframe with a grin.
“There you are.”
The room was empty, save for a few storage bins stacked in the corner and, in the center of the room, Christen was sitting on a particularly large box, leaning back on her hands, lost in thought. She started at Kelley’s words, turned at the sound of her voice. She looked somewhat surprised, then her expression dulled.
“Hey, Kel,” Christen responded with a half smile, tone flat. Kelley immediately sensed something was off.
“You alright?” Kelley asked, leaning against the doorframe. Christen nodded, attempting another smile.
“Yeah. Just tired.”
Kelley nodded.
“Same. Just hauled the last box up, though! Now we just have to unpack them all. And put everything away. And get all the furniture up the stairs. And decorate. And try not to go insane or pass out from exhaustion in the process.”
Christen laughed sharply.
“No big deal,” she deadpanned. Kelley chuckled.
“Right. No big deal.”
They were silent for a few moments, and Kelley stared across the room out the big window set into the wall opposite from her. The sky outside was grey and clouds masked the normally stellar view of the skyline the apartment offered.
“I can’t believe this is all happening,” Kelley murmured, thinking out loud. “We actually have our own place. We’re actually moving in.”
“Mhmm,” Christen replied, but it was distant, and Kelley looked back down at her. She was staring at the floor now, and Kelley felt a familiar jolt of concern in her chest.
“Hey. You sure you’re alright?” Kelley asked concernedly, stepping forward towards Christen who turned her face away from Kelley towards the window, but not quick enough that Kelley didn’t detect the glimmer of tears in her eyes. “Chris,” Kelley sighed, closing the space between them and crouching down in front of Christen, who still had her face turned away from Kelley, refusing to meet her gaze. Tears had escaped her eyes and were running down her face. Kelley gently gripped Christen’s hands where they rested on her knees, looking up at her from where she crouched. Christen finally looked at Kelley, then laughed tearfully, turning away again and freeing one of her hands to hastily wipe at her tears.
“It’s stupid,” Christen said, shaking her head. Kelley scoffed, squeezing her hands.
“I’m sure it’s not. Really, what’s goin’ on?” Kelley urged gently.
“I always get emotional about moving. You know that,” Kelley smiled softly and nodded as Christen paused; it was one of the things she found most endearing about Christen, truth be told -- her sensitivity, her sentimentality, the way she assigned meaning to even the most commonplace of things.
“But, I don’t know,” Christen continued. “It’s different this time, you know? It’s always been temporary, before, in the grand scheme of things. Never this big or permanent.”
Christen’s gray eyes were still tearful as she looked down at Kelley, who softly smiled back up at her. She nodded.
“I know,” is all Kelley said. “I know.” She could tell Christen had more to say. Christen stared at her lap, at her and Kelley’s hands clasped together, before laughing tearfully again and turning her head again, looking back out the window.
“It’s just, like, a lot of emotions at once, and it’s really hard to process and I just--” a quiet sob escaped Christen then, interrupting herself, and her face fell. Reflexively, Kelley closed the gap between them, pulling Christen into her, wrapping her arms tight around her body. The floodgates now opened, Christen cried for a good long while into Kelley’s shoulder, while Kelley ran her fingers through Christen’s hair, pressed kisses to the top of her head, and said nothing, just let her cry. Kelley knew it was what she needed.
Eventually Christen’s tears subsided, and Kelley’s shirt was damp at the shoulder but she couldn’t care less. Finally, to Kelley’s surprise, Christen laughed.
“God, I’m such a mess,” Christen mumbled into her shoulder, before pulling back to look at Kelley shyly. Kelley just smiled, taking Christen’s face in her hands, gently brushing away the residual tears with her thumbs.
“Yeah, but a beautiful mess,” Kelley replied. “My beautiful mess.”
Christen giggled, then sniffed, becoming serious again.
“I’m so happy, Kel. I really am. This is all I’ve ever wanted. It’s just so overwhelming. It’s just…” Tears filled Christen’s eyes again, and she smiled, fighting to keep her composure. “Yeah. It’s overwhelming.” She laughed, and Kelley laughed with her.
“I know, Chris. It’s incredibly overwhelming. It’s insane, if you really think about it. I mean, we bought an apartment. We’re moving in together. We’re basically combining our lives. We’re gonna have to, like, pay rent and clean the house and do taxes and shit. But you know what?”
Christen smiled softly. “What?”
Kelley gently bopped Christen on the nose with an index finger.
“It’s all gonna be so worth it. You know why?”
“Why?” Christen’s smiled widened.
“Because I love you so much. And you love me, last time I checked at least.” Christen let out a tearful laugh, nodding. “And whatever happens, we’re in it together now. And we’re gonna take care of each other, no matter what. Okay?”
Tears were escaping Christen’s eyes again, but she was smiling ear to ear. She nodded vigorously.
“Okay.”
Kelley grinned.
“Good. Now,” Kelley stood up, pulling Christen up with her. “I don’t know about you, but I could use a nap.”
Christen sniffed, wiping the last of her tears away on her sleeve.
“As great as that sounds, Kel, may I remind you we have exactly zero pieces of furniture in this apartment right now?”
Kelley waved her hand dismissively.
“Technicalities,” was all she said before grabbing Christen’s hand and leading her out of the room.
“Kelley, what…? Where are we going?” Christen giggled uncertainly as Kelley wordlessly led her down the hallway, shooting a sly grin over her shoulder. They dodged the stack of books and the mountain of their combined training gear, and stepped onto the soft carpeting of the bedroom floor. Kelley crossed to the corner of the room where the empty bed frame stood, stepped over the metal siding and into the empty space in the center.
“You’re such a dork,” Christen scoffed, but followed suit anyways. Kelley just grinned as she sat down smack dab in the middle of the empty bedframe, pulling Christen down with her. Kelley lay flat on her back, wrapping an arm around Christen’s waist and pulling her in towards her. Christen rested her head on Kelley’s shoulder, tucked her head under Kelley’s chin, and suddenly the impending unpacking, the furniture moving, all the work ahead just slipped away. As far as Kelley was concerned, it was just her and Christen and this empty bed frame and nothing else in the world.
“I guess it’s a good thing we got the extra thick carpet then, huh?” Christen mused, and Kelley laughed, pressing a kiss to Christen’s head. They fell into silence then, and Kelley closed her eyes, taking in the scent of new carpet and fresh paint and Christen’s hair. Kelley felt an overwhelming sense of peace, like finally everything was the way it was meant to be.
“Kel?” Christen’s voice, soft as it was, roused Kelley from her dozing.
“Hmm?” Kelley replied, shifting onto her side so she could look at Christen. She found those gray eyes she loved so much already looking back at her.
“I just realized something,” Christen said, tracing patterns into the carpet with an index finger.
“What’s that?” Kelley responded, smiling at her girlfriend.
“Every other time I’ve moved -- to Stanford, to Florida, to Sweden, to Chicago -- I’ve always been alone. This is the first time, y’know,” Christen paused, just looking at Kelley, smiling. “I’m not alone.” Christen finished. Kelley grinned, and reached forward to tuck a stray strand of hair behind Christen’s ear.
“And you’ll never be alone again, ever. From now on, it’s us, always. That’s a promise.”
A whole slew of emotions passed across Christen’s face at once, but Kelley didn’t have time to process any of them before Christen leaned forward, connecting their lips softly. Kelley cupped Christen’s face, deepening the kiss, feeling everything all at once: the softness of Christen’s lips, the warmth of her skin and the rough fibers of the carpet against her face.
After a good long while, Christen pulled back gently, only to wrap her arm tightly around Kelley’s waist, and pulling her impossibly closer.
“Love you always,” Christen mumbled, and Kelley could feel her smiling against her skin.
“Love you always,” Kelley replied with a grin, feeling weightless.
A comfortable, content silence fell over them then, there on the floor in the middle of the empty bed frame, and Kelley tangled her legs with Christen’s and closed her eyes once more, feeling the effects of all that box-carrying hitting her all at once. Right on cue, Christen yawned loudly, and Kelley stifled a laugh.
Christen’s warmth against her, and the gentle rise and fall of her breathing under Kelley’s arm started to lull Kelley to sleep. Kelley was about to doze off when Christen’s voice pulled her back to consciousness.
“Kel?”
“Hmm?”
“Isn’t the mattress being delivered in, like, half an hour?”
“. . . You might be right about that.” Kelley replied, then waved her hand in the air vaguely. “They can just put it against the wall or something. Or on top of us. It can’t weigh that much. We’ll be fine.”
Christen giggled, brushing her lips against Kelley’s jaw. After a moment, Kelley opened her eyes, looking down at Christen who already looked peacefully asleep against her shoulder.
“Hey, Chris,” Kelley said softly.
“Hmm?” Christen responded, without opening her eyes.
“If you get lonely, just wake me.”
Christen smiled.
Minutes later, they were both fast asleep.