Work Text:
1.
the choir room is hot, the air conditioner is humming, and the choir members want to go home. it’s the hottest weather uranium has had in months, winter is all thawed out and spring is bloomimg. the choir is sitting down, trying to put together songs for their upcoming competition. “it’s too hot,” noel complains, dramatically putting his hand to his forehead. ocean rolls her eyes and looks up from her notebook. “i know, but we have to finish this ! just two more songs, and we can go home,” she says, trying to motivate her friends.
“for the love of christ,” noel says under his breath, then speaks up, “just put two ABBA songs and we can be done !” ricky nods before signing, “noel’s right.” ocean frowns unsatisfied. she sighs, “you guys can go, i’ll finish it myself.” noel smiles, “great !” he grabs his bag and walks out, followed by ricky, then mischa. constance looks to ocean expectantly, like she’s waiting for the other to ask for her help, but when the redhead nods to the door, constance says goodbye to ocean and penny before leaving.
it’s just penny and ocean left in the room. ocean’s waiting for penny to grab her things and leave, but she doesn’t. instead, she gets up and sits next to ocean. their shoulders are touching, and ocean can’t bring herself to make eye contact. “so, two more songs, right ?” penny asks. she’s helping, ocean thinks. it makes her smile. “yeah,” ocean says, looking up at the other. penny’s smiling softly, and she looks at ocean with bright eyes. ocean feels herself blush, and before she can do something embarassing, she looks back down at her notebook. “maybe an ABBA song is a good idea,” ocean laughs, and she flushes more when penny laughs alongside her.
2.
ocean tries hard not to stare at penny as the girl talks. the whole choir’s out to lunch, shoved into a booth. ocean, penny, and constance are shoved into one side, squished together with their shoulders touching. ocean’s sitting closest to the booth’s wall, across from mischa.
ocean isn’t really listening to what the group is saying, she’s just too focused on the feeling of penny’s arm against her’s. her skin is soft and pale, and it’s warm compared to ocean’s. she’s always cold, rain or shine, and the warmth radiating from the other girl feels comfortable. ocean feels her heart beat faster in her chest when their hands or knees brush together.
penny puts her hand down on ocean’s after drinking water. she keeps her hand on the other’s, unbothered, before noticing and moving it back to her lap without a word. ocean misses the warmth from penny’s hand, and she can feel the sensation linger like a ghostly touch. when ocean looks up at the other girl, she meets penny’s eyes, eyes that casted a sweet look. she’s smiling, her dimples and soft freckles a feast for ocean’s eyes.
she’s too beautiful, ocean decides, and she looks back down at the crumpled straw wrappers on the diner table.
3.
they’re crammed in the back of the van, on their way to a choir competition father marcus assures them has more than one school competing. because their van seating is alphabetical, she would be sitting between penny and ricky in the backseat, but ricky sits in front because its easier for him. so, its just her and penny in the back with mischa, constance, and noel in the front row and father marcus driving.
there was a middle seat between them, but penny fell asleep mid-drive and sleepily rested her head on ocean’s shoulder. if it were anyone but penny, ocean would have found it a little annoying but harmless.
instead, she’s freaking out in her brain because the other girl looks so peaceful. her mouth is opened slightly, and she breathes quietly. penny’s eyelashes are long and elegant, and she just looks so pretty, and ocean just wants to give her a kiss on the forehead and fall asleep too.
ocean looks away fron the girl, her face flushing red and her smile certainly lovesick.
4.
after the competition, which they actually ended up winning, the group is walking back to the van and celebrating their victory. ocean’s heart fills with pride seeing her fellow choir members cheer and smile. they’re yelling and cheering as they walk back, and penny slings an arm around ocean’s shoulder as they walk.
she smiles, telling ocean what good of a job she did, and ocean feels weak. the moonlight is dim, but from the streetlight she can see the gleam in penny’s eyes and the dimples in her cheeks. it casts a glow onto penny’s face, and in ocean’s eyes she’s literally shining, and if father marcus wasn’t there she would have kissed her in the middle of the parking lot.
instead, ocean congratulates penny and high-fives her. after they touch hands, the warmness of the contact stays on ocean’s palm.
5.
ocean is pleasently surprised when penny asks to study with her. algebra twelve is getting really hard, she explains, and with ocean’s help she won’t have to fail the upcoming test. she agrees to penny’s request, and it’s all she thinks about the entire school day. they’ll sit side by side in the library, knees touching and glances stolen between each other. she’s downright giddy during seventh period, smiling to herself so much that noel rolls his eyes and calls her a nerd.
when she gets to the library, penny is already there with her nose in a textbook. when she looks up, penny’s face brightens and she smiles, waving. ocean smiles and waves back, walking quickly to her. when ocean sits in the seat next to penny, she says, “thanks for helping me.” ocean looks at her, with her wide eyes and dimples, her long eyelashes and her squinting eyes. ocean wants to forget about studying, about their textbooks and math problems in favor of kissing penny in the middle of the library, something surely against st. cassian’s rules. she doesn’t, instead stumbling a pathetic, “of course,” and looks down at her notebook.
under the table, their knees touch. they stay touching like that until penny leaves, thanking ocean again, hugging her and leaving.
+1
penny is on ocean’s bed in her pajamas. its the first time she’s ever come over, but ocean’s parents are on vacation, so she decided it was a good time to have her over. they were watching a movie on her bed, but it got boring, so now they’re just talking, cuddled together. penny is resting her head on ocean’s, her arm around ocean, their legs tangled together. its far too romantic for two friends, but ocean’s not complaining. she’s not completely sure how they got into this position, but she doesn’t care.
“i’m glad we met,” penny says. ocean looks at her, and penny’s cheeks are dusted red, a soft smile on her face. “yeah, i am too,” ocean replies, taking penny’s hand in her’s. penny looks at her with sparkling eyes. “i really like hanging out with you. more than anyone, actually.” ocean feels her face heat up, and she decides she can’t be a coward anymore.
she lets go of penny’s hand and puts it on the side of her face. “i like hanging out with you , too,” she says before pressing her lips onto penny’s. penny hesitates for a second, and ocean is ready to pull away and explain how she misread the situation, how it was an accident, but penny kisses back, the corners of her lips upturned against ocean’s. it feels perfect, ocean’s worry melting away. penny pulls back from her, her eyes blown wide and her cheeks bright red. ocean laughs, and penny laughs, and they giggle all night, basking in the presence of each other.
in the morning, penny kisses ocean on the cheek before she leaves, and ocean is grateful she took a chance.