Archive of Our Own

“Hey there bestie! What’s the tea?” Grace saunters up to the little cafe Freddie asked her to meet at. She places her hand on her hip and cocks it to the side as she stares at an unresponsive Freddie. “Freddie?”

There’s still no response and she glances to where Freddie’s looking but doesn’t see anything out of the ordinary. “Alright now you’re freaking me out a bit, Fred?” Grace lightly touches Freddie’s arm.

“Oh, Grace! H-hi!” Freddie laughs nervously.

“Hellooo… Why are you acting so weird?”

“Weird? I’m not acting weird, hah, nothing’s wrong. Oh, shh! Duck!” Freddie tugs at Grace’s arm, succeeding in getting her to crouch next to the table.

Before Grace can ask, or cry out in surprise, Freddie is shushing her loudly and pointing to a little bookstore across the street.

There’s a rather tall woman, pale with long blonde hair, her face slightly hidden by a giant floppy straw hat. There’s a man next to her, dark skin, a little shorter and a rather magnificent beard, carrying several bags.

“That kind of reminds me of Hecate—” Grace gasps loudly, Freddie two seconds away from covering Grace’s mouth but she moves away, “— does that mean that’s Asterion? Please tell me that’s him. Aw, look at him! He’s so handsome as a human!”

“Isn’t he!? Aren’t they so cute!? Believe it or not this little outing was Hecate’s doing! Ok, I maaaay have prompted it at our every-other-day-tea-time, but she did ask for suggestions!”

Grace chuckles, “I’m sure she did.” 

They watch from a small cafe as Asterion fumbles his way through trying to open the door for Hecate only for Hecate to open it for him and Freddie and Grace give delighted murmurs at the cute blush that crosses Asterion’s cheeks.

After a minute of watching the doors and not seeing the two come out yet, Grace realizes she still hasn’t sat down and moves to a chair across from Freddie. She smiles softly at the look on Freddie’s face as Fred continues to watch the storefront that Hecate and Asterion walked into. So focused on Freddie, Grace misses the two walking out, Hecate taking bags from Asterion and him shyly giving her a kiss on the cheek only for Hecate to tug him forward and kiss him passionately on the lips.

“I love them so much,” Freddie sighs dreamily.

Grace chuckles, “They are great together.” She pauses and is content on continuing to watch Freddie, who starts to fidget the more time goes on. She is entirely aware of why, but she isn’t going to let Freddie know that. “...Fred.”

“Hmm? Oh! Sorry, didn’t mean to zone out on you. I also already ordered us drinks… ten minutes ago. Eh, I’ll give them another five before going to see what’s up. Maybe they’re busier on the inside.” Freddie rambles a bit more before Grace stops her.

“Freddie, what are you so nervous about? Come on, we’re besties, you can tell me anything.” There's a brief pause before a small panic wells up in Grace’s chest, maybe she doesn’t know what Freddie is nervous about. “Wait, you— you’re not moving out are you? Did I do something—”

“No! Gods, no. Funny you should mention that though. Uh, well… I may have kind of, sort of, implied…”

Freddie says something so quickly and softly that Grace doesn’t catch it, “I’m sorry, what?”

“So you know, my parents, always asking when I’m going to find someone, why I’m living with you. Why I’ve been living with you and not dating you. Why I’m not moved in with someone I am—was dating. How I maybe told them we were dating so they would finally stop asking. How the band is a waste of my time, I’m sooo much better than that. You know, I think they were just messing with me on that one because they funded half our shit. So anyway—”

“Uh huh— whoa, whoa, I’m sorry. What?”

“Yep, mhmm, they also invited us to dinner and are scary excited about making it ‘official’.” Freddie’s voice goes up in pitch near the end.

“I’ve been over for dinner plenty of times, for one. They love me, but what… official? I— Freddie…”

“I know, I know! I panicked, I’m so sorry. I was stressed from band stuff, and some school thing, and they wouldn’t stop asking! Please don’t hate me. We can stage like some massive break up—”

Grace reaches over and grabs one of Freddie’s hands. “Fred, it’s just one dinner, right?”

“I think— yeah? Wait, you’re… okay with it?” Freddie’s heart hammers in her chest, honestly she was expecting at the very least a humorous let-down and she’d figure out a way to lie more to her parents. Was there a tiny part of her that hoped for an out of the blue confession to make what she said real? Obviously. She is a hopeless romantic who may be in love with her best friend since forever, it’s fine. The casual acceptance is definitely preferable than anything more realistic. Freddie’s eyes squint as she takes in Grace’s posture and facial expressions, she knows Grace acts cool but she also knows how much of an act it can be. “You’re going to go freak out about it later, aren’t you?”

“Oh, absolutely, bestie. Or should I say, girlfriend?” Grace teases, though there’s a measure of tension in her voice.

“Definitely not with that tone,” Freddie chuckles. “You really don’t need to, Grace.”

“Uh yes, I do. I’m here to get us out of trouble.”

Freddie stares at her with a dead stare.

“Okay, so that’s usually your job, I know, but also, I am not about to make your parents mad at me. I love their dinners! If I suddenly ‘break up’ with you then what? I need home cooked food! Especially the way your mom makes the samosas!”

“If you wanted them that bad, you know I can make them,” Freddie says, only mildly offended.

“But then I can’t pout at your mother and have her give me all the extras. ‘Oh Mrs. Bandi, they’re so good, I’ll miss these when we go home.’”

“Nonsense, my sweet little one , we’ll pack these up just for you. Farishta doesn’t need them anyway,” Freddie rolls her eyes as she mimics her mother. “I don’t know why they don’t just ask you why we live together and aren’t together .”

Grace turns her head away, as if she notices something, but the red in her face gives her away.

“Oh my gods, they did ask you!”

Grace clears her throat, “Your mom called me a few days ago…” she trails off.

“I can’t believe this! No wonder she was so insistent this time…” Freddie sits forward in her seat, “wait what did you even say?”

“Nothing! I think…I’m not sure what she heard. I was walking home and it was a loud evening.”

“I can’t believe this…” Freddie slumps in her chair and leans her head back, “Ugh.”

Grace laughs nervously, “Um… well she may have also called me just before I got here too.”

Freddie sits back up and stares at Grace. “Hold on, you knew !?”

“Kind of wanted to see you sweat, if I’m honest,” Grace leans places her elbow on the table and places her chin on her hand, smirking. “Let’s call it payback for sixth grade.”

“Are you serious? I can’t— ugh fine I guess that’s fair,” Freddie pouts. 

“Hey, it’s better than my brothers trying to do something, right?”

“Your brothers love me, thank you very much. They think you’re an idiot. A loveable idiot, but an idiot. And I am the greatest drummer they know.”

“You’re the only drummer they know!”

“Still the greatest!”

“And you didn’t deny the idiot part.”

“Hey, I said loveable, didn’t I?” 

They both laugh and let a comfortable silence wash over them. The server comes and drops off drinks and Grace snags hers and starts stirring it to give herself something to do. “So, how do you want to do this?” The way Freddie laughs immediately cues Grace’s mind in knowing that she’s probably said something that reminds her of one of her many interests that Grace knows nothing about.

Freddie then shrugs, “Show up holding hands, kiss on the cheek, call you random pet names? Easy.”

“And if they question other things?” Grace asks, taking a sip of her drink. Of course it’s perfect. Fred knows what she likes.

“We just started dating as far as they know! That stuff takes time!”

“Uh huh…you know they won’t buy that. We’ve known each other far too long.”

“What? It still takes time! Just because u-haul lesbians are a thing doesn’t mean we subscribe to that! And you aren’t even a lesbian!”

“Freddie—” Grace laughs, “Sure, we’ll see where it goes. And just so you know, I think your mom is under the impression that I asked you out because you were being too chicken.”

Freddie places her hand on her chest, exaggerating her surprise, “Excuse me!? How dare!?”

Grace laughs again, standing and offers to help Freddie stand, “Come on, let's go home, honey . It’s getting cold out here.”

“Yes, dear.”

“Don’t you start that.”

“ You started it.”

“Fine, fine, but pick a different word.”

Freddie starts listing random ones and Grace is certain she’s picking all the worst ones on purpose.

On the walk home they exchange glances that range from humorous to nervous to something both are either too afraid or nervous to put a name to.

When they get to the door Freddie bounds forward and leans against it, blocking Grace’s ability to enter. 

“Well, this is me, thank you so much for that brunch date. Can’t wait to do it again.” There’s a pause and Grace grins and shakes her head but she freezes as Freddie leans down and their cheeks are almost touching. Freddie makes an exaggerated ‘muah’ sound and heads inside, laughing and shutting the door behind her.

Grace’s breath rushes out of her the second the door closes. “I’m so fucked.” She nearly bangs her forehead on the door, but rests her head on it instead, taking several, necessary, deep breaths before heading inside.

***

They don’t talk about it much the next few days and it's making Grace more nervous by the second. She’s tried to ignore her feelings for Freddie. She chuckles to herself, ignore? More like not act on, only she has to act on it now because the moment Freddie’s mom called her and her heart leapt in her throat when she heard Freddie had said they were dating and… 

Grace twirls her house keys in her hand as she meanders down the street. She needs to pick up a few snacks for Freddie…hopefully before Freddie realizes said snacks are gone.

Her thoughts are stopped by her phone ringing and she cocks her head in question as she sees Freddie’s mother’s contact info pop up on her screen. “Hey Mrs. Bandi, how are you on this fine morning?”

“Grace, my little one , you’ve made me so happy!”

“You know how I enjoy making you happy! Though, I admit this time I’m at a loss to how I managed it this time.”

“You and Freddie! She told me the wonderful news about you two finally getting together! You know, her father and I were so worried she’d be too chicken to ask you out and I thought maybe I was being too subtle bringing it up to you! Oh I’m so excited , I told her to invite you to dinner—”

Grace covers the phone quickly as all the air leaves her lungs and she wobbles slightly, catching herself on the fence she’s walking next to. “Oh, really?” Grace responds, glad the woman on the other line is more excited about talking than expecting a response from Grace.

All she can hear is the blood pumping in her ears. Her legs wobble and she’s moments away from sitting in the middle of the sidewalk until someone bumps into her. It knocks her out of the haze she’s in, at least briefly, and she finds a bench to sit on while her mind is somehow blank but also running with a thousand thoughts.

“Uh huh,” she responds, only vaguely aware of what’s being said. Dating Freddie? Fuck, she wishes. Freddie said they were? Could it be that maybe…? Does she dare hope? What situation did Freddie find herself in that she told her parents they were dating? Does she care? Does she use this situation as a test run or as a fever dream that maybe will help her get over Freddie? Clearly nothing else has worked.

She hears herself say goodbye to Freddie’s mom and her head is immediately in her hands and she’s taking deep breaths to steady her rapidly beating heart.

As she starts to lean back to breathe properly again, Freddie’s ringtone blares through her phone and Grace nearly chucks it across the street in surprise. “Freddie, hey! W-what’s up?”

“Grace! Heeeey, come meet me for brunch, I have uh, news!”

Grace is kind of glad she managed to play it off in front of Freddie, she has had years to do it, but this is… gods should she play this out normally or should she push them into silly ‘practices’ so they aren’t entirely awkward in front of the family? …I mean they know it’s a new relationship, awkwardness is expected right?

“Ugh,” Grace says aloud, ignoring the glare from a man passing her. She’s certain the awkwardness would be questioned…it’s what she said to Freddie a few days ago too. 

Grace’s thoughts continue like this until she gets home and throws herself on the couch, head thrown back and arms and legs splayed out. 

“Rough day?” Freddie chuckles from the kitchen.

Grace groans, “Something like that.”

Freddie comes over and sits next to her, far closer than she usually does. Grace absolutely cannot stop her heart from racing as she glances over with a raised eyebrow in question. Freddie grins, the tiny lip bite that appears and disappears just as quickly gives Grace pause as it plays to Fred’s nervousness. “So I was thinking, maybe we should get comfy with each other? Well more so than usual? So it’ll be all natural when we go to dinner.”

“What did you have in mind? We’re pretty comfortable with each other as it is.”

“Honestly that’s a really good question. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable and hopefully Ma won’t push us to be overly affectionate.”

Grace raises an eyebrow in jest, “Is kissing me that awful an idea?”

“No!” Freddie nearly shouts, then clears her throat, “—uh no, but, we don’t need to practice that, right?”

“I’m teasing you, Fred. Come on, let’s cuddle on the couch, we’ll be fine.” Yes a small part of her, okay a large part, is a bit let down by the ‘no’, but she’s starting to get into creepy territory and no one needs that. 

“You sure?” Freddie asks softly, like she doesn’t want to disappoint Grace.

“When have I ever let you down?” Grace pauses, “…You know what, don’t answer that.”

Freddie gently smiles and shifts so she’s sitting normally on the couch and pulls Grace to her side, both sighing softly as Grace gets more comfortable. “You haven’t, not when it matters.”

Freddie turns on their TV, flipping on something both of them find comfort in, and they watch for a while in comfortable silence before something occurs to Freddie.

“You haven’t told your brothers right?”

“Gods, no, absolutely not.”

“One less thing to worry about.”

***

Grace is absolutely not panicking. 

Not at all.

Okay that’s an absolute fucking lie.

Fuck.

Fuck.

“Hello? Grace? Is everything okay?” 

Shit, she forgot she panic-called Eros.

“Eros!? H-hey, sorry spaced out— nothing is okay. I’m panicking, please help.”

“I would be honored to help, with what exactly?” He says calmly, she is so glad she picked the correct person to call, just his voice alone starts to calm her down.

“Freddie. Fred, you know, my best friend, love of my life, she has no idea and her parents think we’re dating and I was like sure we can do that, no problem. I haven't been in love with you since we were children. We've got this. We’re fine, no practice needed. We should have practiced, right? What if they want us to kiss in front of them!? Do parents ask that? That would be weird right, we don’t need to worry about that.”

He interrupts before she can continue spiraling, “Grace, Grace, take a deep breath for me, okay?” She does. Several of them. “There you go, look, do you want advice or do you want to talk about something else?”

“Yes?”

Eros chuckles. “Look, you two have been through a lot. I’ve seen you two at one of my Mom’s parties and you seemed so comfortable with each other. Just brush your hand against hers when you think about it, wrap your arm around her waist when you want to be close, rest your head on her shoulder—well, maybe she’ll do that to you.”

“Hey now, don’t insult my height.”

“Heh, sorry, never again, and look, kiss her hand if you need to show affection. Grace, do all those things you’ve wanted to do in that pretty little head of yours. Treat her like this is you dating her and who knows, maybe she’ll see what she’s been missing this whole time.”

“…You think so?” Her voice sounds so timid that it makes her wince.

“Hey, I may now be known for the god of sex, but we both know who my mom is.” 

“Maybe I should talk to her…”

“Ouch.”

“I’m sorry! I just… I can’t freak out at home because she’s there and I’m sure now all our neighbors think I’m crazy because I’ve been pacing in front of the apartments for days now, and talking to myself. Gods, what if… do you think I should tell Freddie the truth? I should, right? It would be weird, wouldn’t it? Doing all those things because I actually do feel them and she doesn’t know? It feels a little… violating? Or— or, I don’t know.”

“Listen, if she finds out, she might feel more bad that she made you do this. Just be as PG as you can be without tipping off her parents that you’re not really together. But Grace…” He trails off.

“Yeah?” She sighs softly, worried about his next words.

“I don’t think you’ll have anything to worry about, okay? If it makes you feel better, if things start looking like you’ll have to kiss her, on the lips, then maybe say something then. She’ll probably still feel really bad but at least you’ll not kiss her without her knowing how much you actually mean it.”

Grace nods a few times before realizing he can’t see her. “Thanks so much Eros.”

“Anytime. Let me know how it goes, yeah?”

“I will.” She hangs up and sighs heavily with relief and heads back inside to get ready for their dinner date with a bit more confidence than she had when she walked outside.

***

Not too long after they moved in they managed to put up a curtain to separate Grace’s bed from the rest of the apartment  for whenever she needed to sleep or change. Grace finished getting ready at least fifteen minutes ago and is now spending that time pacing back and forth. She’s wearing a less worn jacket and she's got a little bit more makeup than usual. When she hears Freddie’s door, Grace nearly tears off the curtain from the top in her haste. She quickly tries to act casual, crossing her arms and leaning against one of the bookcases.

Grace barely suppresses a groan once she gets a good look at Freddie. It’s not too different from what Freddie normally wears, like Grace, the clothes aren’t as worn, but unlike Grace, there’s quite a bit more jewelry. Grace stifles a chuckle when she notices that most of it is something Freddie’s mom gifted to her, though a couple of the rings and earrings were a gift from Grace herself. The shine of lip gloss on Freddie’s lips has Grace biting her own.

“Ready?” Grace says, her voice cracking a little and she quickly clears her throat.

“As I’ll ever be. Oh man, I am suddenly very nervous, I am so sorry. Are you sure you don’t want to back out of this? I really can just face my mother and tell her the truth.”

“Freddie, trust me, it’ll be fine. Plus, I can be the bad guy if we need an out.”

“Grace, no. I can’t let you do that— gods this was such a stupid idea. I don’t know what I was thinking, dragging you into this mess and oh god, I’m so glad neither of us are dating anyone— you aren’t right? You didn’t start dating some new guy and didn’t tell me because I tossed this on you right?”

“Freddie, Freddie, hey.” Grace moves quickly and takes Freddie’s hand in hers. “Come on, Fred, really. It’s fine. I promise. We’ll let this play out and down the line, if either of us find someone we want to date, we can have an amicable break up. It’ll work.”

“How are you so sure? Also, holy shit I didn’t even think about long term, I was more worried about this dinner I—”

“Fred!” Grace places a hand on Freddie’s cheek and Freddie reaches up to take it, grounding herself.

“Sorry, sorry. I’m just…” 

“Not used to being the one getting us into trouble?”

“Hah, yes, exactly. How are you less of a basket case when we get into some weird shit?”

“I’ve got you.”

“…Yeah you do, don’t you? And I have you. Okay great. Thank you, I love you, let’s go fake date the hell out of each other.”

With a laugh they both head out, “Couldn’t have said it better myself.”

***

They enter the house with Freddie calling out to her parents that they’ve arrived, Grace quickly links their hands together right before Freddie’s mom rounds the corner to greet them.

“Oh, look at you two! So precious and beautiful. Come, Grace, I have some new recipes for you to taste to see if you like them!” Mrs. Bandi pauses to let Freddie give her a quick kiss on the cheek before stealing Grace away and into the kitchen.

“Okay, I’ll just be over here,” Freddie grumbles humorously. She turns to head into the kitchen also but is stopped by her dad’s laugh.

“You’ve made your mother very happy.”

Freddie groans and rolls her eyes. “I think that was Grace’s doing.”

“Now, now, Farishta, you have a part in this too.” He pulls her into a tight hug.

Freddie gives a nervous chuckle and pulls away with a light blush on her cheeks.

“Come, come, you know your mother is moments away from yelling at us to help in the kitchen.” He holds out his arm for her to take.

With a roll of her eyes, Freddie takes the offered arm, “She’s already finished everything hasn’t she?”

“Oh, yes, for the most part. But that means we get to clean.”

With a groan Freddie lets her dad lead them to the mess.

When they enter she watches as her mom has a plate full of goodies and is having Grace taste every one. Grace is her usual charming self and enthusiastically tasting every one without complaint. Even the ones that are far too spicy for her.

When Freddie chuckles at the clear sign that Grace is having a spice crisis, Grace catches her eye and sticks out her tongue. Freddie follows suit before helping her dad gather the plates and cutlery to set the table.

As it turns out, her mom still has the dessert to make and wants to get it in the oven before they sit down to eat. Her mom calls Grace over to help while Freddie and her dad continue to clean up the pots and pans that haven’t been cleaned yet.

When Grace moves past Freddie to grab something, she leans in, resting a hand on her back. 

Freddie glances at Grace, momentarily confused but with Grace’s wink, Freddie relaxes and leans into the touch.

Grace lingers a bit longer than would be normal and when she finally pulls away, she trails her hand slowly across Freddie’s waist before heading back to her task.

Freddie catches Grace moving around the kitchen time and time again and she always takes the path that means she’ll have to pass by Freddie every time, even when Freddie isn’t anywhere near what Grace needs.

And every time she’ll gently place a hand on Freddie’s waist as if she needs to be that close to move around her, or place a hand at the small of her back. Once she placed a kiss on Freddie’s shoulder and Freddie nearly dropped the glass she was cleaning. Another time Freddie was taking food to the table when Grace stops her and gently moves some hair out of her face, and the smile Grace gives her as her cheeks darken is going to stay with her for a long, long time.

If anything, Freddie is shocked with how well Grace is handling all of this. In fact so well that Freddie finds herself wondering if she’s dreaming. Because she has definitely had dreams like this before. 

She’s so lost in her thoughts that she jumps when Grace comes from behind her and gently presses against her back, wrapping her arms around Freddie’s waist.

“Hey,” Grace whispers, “How are you doing?”

“Me? Grace, you know you don’t have to do as much as you’re doing.” She feels Grace start to pull back but Freddie grabs her hand to keep her where she is. “I can’t say I’m complaining with how well it seems to be working. I swear I’ve never seen my mom so happy.”

“Freddie, please. This is nothing, I like doing it.”

Freddie nods, before realizing what Grace might actually be saying, “Wait, what?” She feels Grace tense up and shift, but before Grace can answer, her mom calls Grace over to taste the pudding she just finished preparing.

Grace gives Freddie a quick squeeze and stands on her tip toes as she leans forward enough to give Freddie a kiss on the cheek. Freddie stares after Grace, wide-eyed, her heart in her throat. Gods, please don’t be a dream, or don’t let me wake up.

No, Freddie, she’s just doing what you asked. Right?

…Right?

As Freddie sets out the last of the food, one of her cousins comes over and lightly bumps her shoulder, “You know, there was a time you used to be all about the pda, now you’re acting all shy and shit, what’s up with that?”

Freddie rolls her eyes and scoffs, “I was seventeen! I thought I needed to rebel and shove my sexuality in my parents' faces so they couldn’t deny it!”

“Except we all totally knew.”

“That’s the worst thing to say.”

“Oh, I’m aware, that’s why no one said it back then.”

“I know, I know.” Freddie sighs and her eyes catch Grace chatting with one of her aunts as they all start to gather around the large table.

“So what exactly has you looking so timid with a kiss… on the cheek at that.” Her cousin pokes her side with their question.

“Just nervous, I guess. It’s so… new,” Freddie grumbles, trying to come up with something that doesn’t just shout out that they’re pretending. How did she not come up with a story before this?

Oh right, she was too busy panicking over the fact that she talked the woman she loves into faking being her girlfriend instead of sucking it up and asking her for real.

“You’ve literally known each other since forever. I’m pretty sure you’ve known her longer than me.”

Freddie rolls her eyes, “Yeah, exactly! What if something goes wrong? What then? What if I do something stupid and she leaves and we could never be friends again and then I would disappoint everyone in the family because you all love her almost as much as I love her. And I— I don’t want to fuck this up.” She ends with a whisper. Hit with the sudden realization of how much she actually means what she just said and how much she’s definitely fucked up for forcing Grace into this situation to begin with.

Her cousin shakes their head and pats Freddie on the shoulder, “That’s what communication is for, Freddie.”

With a groan she lightly shoves her cousin, “Shut up and go bother someone else.”

They laugh and then very loudly say, “I will, but only after you tell me who asked who out and what happened.”

There’s a large gasp as Freddie’s mom sits in her seat at the table. “Yes, do tell!” She looks excited and Grace sits next to Mrs. Bandi as Freddie freezes and tries to laugh it off.

However Grace grins and there’s that teasing look in her eye that Freddie knows means trouble.

“Well, it’s not that exciting, if I’m honest,” Grace starts. “But I’ll admit I’ve been wanting to ask Farishta out for a while now and I was trying to get the courage to go through with it. This one over here walked in after class one day and immediately started ranting about… what was it? Classes of armor and weapon scales?”

Freddie looks mildly put out and corrects Grace, “Armor class and scaling weapons differently!” She continues her rant, bringing up the argument she had with a friend of hers a few years ago. She’s so into it again that she misses the way a soft smile appears on Grace’s lips and the immense affection in her eyes as she watches Freddie passionately argue about her dungeons and dragons.

She doesn’t see her mom give Grace an endearing look and doesn’t hear what she says that makes Grace turn red as a cherry tomato and shove forkfuls of food in her mouth to avoid answering.

Eventually her cousin cuts off her rant. “We get it, Farishta, you’re a huge nerd. Now let Grace finish telling us how she finally got you to fess up.”

Freddie squawks indignantly and Grace laughs with a shrug, “I thought it was cute and I asked if she wanted to go on a date.”

“That’s a lie,” Freddie pipes up, now getting into weaving their lie, “you asked if I wanted to go out. Which led to a fun bout of confusion for a few minutes.”

Grace pipes up, pretending to be Freddie, “‘Oh, sure! We can go get pizza or burgers. Ooooh there’s this arcade that just opened!’” She shakes her head, “I got really nervous and tried to laugh it off.”

Freddie nods, “I knew something was up then and tried to ask her again. She stood up with all this confidence and marched to me and grabbed my face and said, ‘No, I want to go out on a date with you. A real date date because I want to kiss you.”

Grace’s eyebrow raises at Freddie’s improv but with Mrs. Bandi’s squeak of excitement, she lets it stay that way.

“And did you?” Mrs. Bandi asks excitedly.

“Did I what?” Grace asks, having gotten a little sidetracked with looking at Freddie.

“Kiss her!”

“Oh! I— well…” Grace flushes and fumbles her words.

“If the tip of my nose and corner of my mouth count,” Freddie pipes up with a teasing grin.

“Fre—Farishta!”

“What? It was cute!”

Grace shakes her head and laughs, especially because as their stories continue she realizes they’ve both been telling stories they’ve told each other about previous relationships, with a few minor adjustments.

The dinner continues, luckily without much more push for more stories about their relationship, and Freddie truly relaxes the longer the night goes on.

As the food is put away and they all gather outside in the backyard to have some drinks and listen to music, dance, or play some games Freddie slowly becomes used to the small touches Grace leaves on her skin.

While they are sitting next to each other, Grace gently caresses her hand while talking to her cousins. Grace threads their fingers together and leans her head on Freddie’s shoulder when they go talk to a few of her aunties and uncles. Eventually they end back up with her cousins (it was honestly difficult to get Grace away from her mother).

Grace pulls Freddie behind her, leans back and Freddie wraps her arms around Grace in reflex. “You okay with this?” Grace whispers so the cousins don’t hear.

“Yeah, comfy.” Freddie murmurs. “Hey… I know I forced you into this but you’re taking this a lot better than I thought you would.”

Grace shrugs, “You’re easy to cuddle.” The tone in her voice gives Freddie pause, she’s known Grace long enough to hear the subtle shift in Grace’s voice when she’s trying not to say something.

“It’s… what aren’t you saying, Grace?” Freddie asks, she doesn’t want to make this any more awkward than she’s sure Grace thinks it is. “Are you sure this is okay? I feel like I’m taking advantage of you. I mean, I am, but I don’t want this to ruin us. Especially because I didn’t realize at first that this would have to be a recurring situation.”

Grace sighs and turns in her arms to face Freddie, “Come on, let’s go talk somewhere a little more private.”

Freddie chuckles, “You know nowhere here is private.”

“I know, but just off to the side of the porch will do. They won’t snoop too much if they can still see us.”

“Smart, I knew I liked you for a reason.”

As her cousins either cheer, thinking they’re going to go be indecent, or make noises as if Freddie’s in trouble, Freddie is led to the side of the porch where the light barely shines and no one needs to head to, but they can still be seen by everyone outside and even by a few that headed inside.

It takes a few moments for Grace to start talking and Freddie squeezes her hand in encouragement, “So I know you think you’re the one taking advantage but… the truth is, I am.”

Freddie huffs out a laugh. “Uh, yeah right. How? Free food? You’d get that anyway.”

“Hush you,” Grace lightly shoves Freddie’s shoulder, “I’m trying to be serious here.” 

“Sorry, sorry, continue.”

Grace keeps Freddie’s hand in hers, taking a small glance at the rest of the family only to laugh because everyone is not at all being subtle about watching them.

“I…” Grace starts but the rest of the words don’t come and Freddie smiles softly and leans down, blocking her family’s view of Grace’s face. She turns her head slightly so it looks like she’s giving Grace a kiss on the cheek. 

“Grace, what is it? Is it too much?”

Grace laughs nervously, “Hah, in a way. Okay, do what Eros said, it’s fine.” Grace mutters as Freddie looks at her in confusion. “Freddie, can I kiss you?”

“What? I mean, we don’t need to do that?” Freddie’s voice wavers from surprise and nerves.

“I—I know. But I want to, Freddie.” Grace says quickly, rushing it out, afraid she won’t say it otherwise.

“You—” Freddie pulls back, looking at Grace with furrowed brows before her eyes widen, “Oh. Oh. Ooooh.”

“Yeah…so the advantage… I— gods I’m so sorry. I’ve been— everything I’ve done tonight is because it’s what I’ve wanted to do for so long now and it works! Worked? Gods, no. I’m… we can break up our fake relationship in a few days or weeks if that’s what you want. I’m so sorry, I don’t want to make you more uncomfortable than you probably are. I just got really excited but also terrified and thought ‘hey, one chance!’ Which is—”

“Hey, Grace?” Freddie interrupts.

“Yeah?” Grace asks timidly.

Freddie leans down, gently taking Grace’s face in her hands. “I’m the one who rambles, remember? And I wouldn’t mind if this is the way you get me to stop from now on.” She pauses with enough room to give Grace the time to say no and when Grace lightly nods, she gently presses her lips to Grace’s.

Grace inhales sharply and grips one of Freddie’s wrists, lightly caressing the back of her hand. She gasps softly as Freddie pulls away, “Oh.”

“Yeah… wow. Um...” Freddie clears her throat to say more but a flash of light and her mom’s excited voice carries across the yard.

Freddie laughs and leans her forehead against Grace’s, “Want to get out of here and we can talk about it more at home?” She pushes back a strand of Grace’s hair.

“Talk or… talk?” Grace wiggles her eyebrows with the suggestion.

“Grace!”

“It’s a valid question!”

“You’re ridiculous. I can’t wait to real date the hell out of you.”

“Not if I real date the hell out of you first.”