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“Hey Chlo! I’m back. They didn’t have any of the oatmeal muffins left so I got you a blueberry I hope that’s…”
Red paused halfway through the door, glancing up from her key in the door lock at a pair of eyes on her. Normally Chloe was happy to see her; tonight seemed to be a different story. Her usually chipper roommate looked like a deer at the wrong end of an arrow, still as a statue in her swivel chair, a look of utter shock on her face.
Not realizing what was different about her for a few beats, Red straightened up in surprise when she finally worked out what was off about Chloe’s appearance.
“Are you wearing glasses?”
Red had never seen her roommate move so fast. She was out of her chair quick enough to leave it spinning in her wake, sprinting to the bathroom and slamming the door with a rattle. Shocked, worried, and confused all at the same time, Red set down her bags of snacks from downstairs, careful to make sure nothing crushed the muffins precariously set on top. Chloe appeared to be right in the middle of homework, her laptop open to a half-written paper. A blue glasses case sat by the lamp, though there was a light layer of dust across its surface.
“Babe?” Approaching the bathroom door, Red knocked cautiously. “Hey, are you ok?”
“Go away!”
Startled by the angry bark from inside, Red shook her head, leaning against the wood to hear inside. She couldn’t say for sure, but it sounded like Chloe was crying, sniffling pathetically and hiccuping through the tears.
“Chloe, what’s going on?”
“I said go away, Red.” Not expecting a full out snarl from her usually sweet roommate, there wasn’t any way Red was leaving this door now. She knocked again, this time with the flat of her palm.
“I live here too, Princess. I’m not going anywhere. So you better open this door.”
“Or what?”
“I’ll just pick the lock,” Red admitted. “You know I can.” Chloe was silent for a beat, then two. Red was about to knock again when the handle jiggled and the door opened a crack. “Hey,” Red greeted, careful not to stick her fingers in the door lest Chloe choose to close it. “What’s up?”
“Can’t you just leave?”
“Nope. So are you gonna come out and tell me what’s going on? Or are we doing this through the door?”
Chloe sighed, something crackling with snot and exhausted sounding. But she eventually opened the door all the way, revealing herself fully. Taking a long look just to make sure she wasn’t hurt (Chloe tended to get cagey when it came to injuries), the only thing different about her was the black frames settled on the bridge of her nose. Well…that and the ferocious glare Chloe was giving her. “Go on.”
“Huh?”
Furrowing her brows, Chloe actually bared her teeth a little. Red hadn’t seen her so angry; not even when they went back in time. This was rage; an emotion so unlike the soft, sweet princess Red had come to know.
“Say it. Get it out of your system.”
Red tilted her head in confusion. “Get what out of my system?”
“Four-eyes. Bottlebrain. Your royal nerdiness?” Red stepped back as Chloe circled her. “Oh, nice glasses, Chloe, they cover that really ugly part of your face. Hey, those totally suit you; they take attention away from everything else that’s dorky about you. Guess Fairygodmother couldn’t manage a bit of magic to fix your bug eyes, huh, Chloe? Whatever else you could possibly come up with, go for it. I’m your dartboard.”
“Chlo…” taking her girlfriend by the shoulders, Chloe’s eyes fell. Her body was tense, fists curled at her sides. She trembled and shook, her lips quivering dangerously. To Red, it almost looked like she was preparing to be executed. “I’m not going to make fun of your glasses.”
“Why not? Everyone else does.”
“Well I’m not everyone else,” Red insisted, kneeling a bit so she and Chloe were eye to eye. The tears were like glass, streaming down her face past the frames. Her heart ached at once, seeing someone she cared so deeply for in pain. And over something so small, no less. “Chloe, talk to me.” Reaching up her hands, Red wiped the tears away with her thumbs, careful not to knock the glasses off her girlfriend's nose. “You know you can.”
Chloe inhaled hard, seemingly trying to swallow her tears as she pursed her lips. “When I was a kid, I couldn’t see very well.” The Princess hiccuped, lifting a hand to wipe her face. “I didn’t realize how mean people could be; especially kids my own age. I was teased mercilessly for years over my glasses, cornered on the playground and called four-eyes and bug-face and so many other terrible things. They’re really stupid insults now, but back then it was so much more. I guess…some part of me never got over it. I was so sick of the teasing that I just stopped wearing them altogether.”
Red arched a skeptical brow. “Can you do that?”
“With my eyes? No.” Chloe chuckled a little, helping to ease Red’s heart (but only slightly). “I kept bumping into things and tripping without them. But I was determined to live my life like that. Kid logic, you know?”
“So what happened?”
“Well, my parents thought it was just a phase and planned to wait it out. But I almost walked in front of a car one time, so Mom got me contact lenses instead. I haven’t needed my glasses since and the teasing stopped.”
“So…why tonight?”
“I’ve had my contacts in all day,” Chloe groaned, rubbing at her eyes which (indeed) were a touch pinker than usual. “They really hurt but I needed to finish this paper. I thought I could get it done before you got back. You surprised me and I…well…panicked:”
“Hmm.” Red rolled a lip under her teeth, reaching out to adjust the glasses on Chloe’s face. They really did suit her, making her big doe eyes look even bigger and wider. “I think you’re cute with glasses.”
“You don’t think I look like a dork?”
“You always look like a dork,” Red laughed, wrapping an arm around Chloe’s waist and pulling her closer. “But you know…I do like you better without them.”
“Oh?” Chloe’s brows furrowed in sadness, but arched curiously as Red tugged at the drawstring of her blouse.
“I like you better with nothing on at all.”
“Red.” Playfully shoved away, Red didn’t realize how much she liked Chloe with her glasses on until she pushed them up with a finger, a few blue curls falling into her face. “I have to finish this paper.”
“That can wait,” Red insisted, grabbing onto the belt of Chloe’s jeans and tugging her backwards into her chest. “I can take everything off of you,” she whispered into her girlfriend's ear, playfully rubbing the skin of her stomach. “The glasses will be the only thing left behind. You won’t think of those insults anymore, cause you’ll be thinking of me instead. How bout that, your highness.”
Chloe huffed as Red kissed the crook of her neck in just the right spot, causing her to melt. “What do you think? Finish the paper later?”
“Later;” Chloe gasped, turning around and grabbing onto Red’s jacket. “Gods, Red.”
Letting her lips curl, Red gave her girlfriend a kiss, deep and wanting and…
“Wait.” Pulling away, Chloe held up her finger. “One condition.”
“Anything, boo.”
“We can’t break them.” Chloe tapped the edges of her frames with a smile. Probably the only time she’d ever smiled about her glasses. “Mom would kill me.”
“Deal,” Red agreed, pushing Chloe backwards as they fell down onto the bed. “I’ll be so gentle.”