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“You know,” Jesse muses, stretching her arms over her head, “I think I wouldn’t mind living in a treehouse again.”
Petra glances at her, raising a brow. “You mean like your old one?”
“ Exactly like my old one,” Jesse confirms, grinning. She’s silent for a moment. “Okay, maybe a little bigger, and higher.”
The sky slowly shifts from a vibrant blue to a hazy, cloudy grey. There’s a slight breeze, but it’s hard to tell between the thick, surrounding oak trees and the leaves overhead.
Jesse and Petra are trudging through annoyingly overgrown underbrush, making their way back to their campsite. With Jesse taking the lead, Petra is more responsible for keeping any low-hanging branches from smacking them in the face. Her height makes that easy enough; she’s more likely to fall victim to it anyway.
“Just imagine waking up every morning with the sunrise right at eye level,” Jesse continues wistfully. “It used to be so nice. Walking up to the windows, looking out over the whole forest—“
“That sounds great, Jess,” Petra quickly interjects, her voice a bit strained as she pushes a bigger branch out of the way. “But I don’t know if we’d ever find a good enough spot for one.”
“Oh yeah?”
“I mean, the trees around Beacontown aren’t really good for those bigger treehouses. In my opinion.”
Jesse continues walking, silent for a few moments as she thinks of a response. “Yeah, they’re not giants like these.”
Petra doesn’t answer, assuming that’s the end of it.
“Guess we’d have to take longer trips to see the others, then.”
Petra grins at the notion. “We?” She murmurs, raising an eyebrow, a playful glint in her eye.
Jesse glances over her shoulder at Petra as she walks, her gaze soft. “Of course,” she answers. “Part of the reason I want a bigger treehouse is because I’m not about to live with all your weird trinkets and broken tools scattered everywhere.”
Petra blinks, taken aback. Not because of the comment about her badass trinkets, though. She wants to live with me? In a house? Like, a home?
Her heart begins to race. “Are you—”
Suddenly, Jesse’s foot catches on a root, obscured by the darkening sky.
“Woah–!”
Jesse instantly stumbles forward, her balance momentarily lost and her arms in no position to catch herself. Before she realizes it though, she feels an arm hook around her waist, quickly pulling her back.
The next thing Jesse knows, her back is pressed snugly against Petra’s front. Time freezes, the only sound being Jesse’s labored breathing. She can feel the warmth of Petra’s body against her own, the softness of her chest pressing against her back as the warrior holds her steady. She likes this.
“You good?” Petra asks in earnest, although Jesse can hear her smiling.
Jesse blinks, letting out a heavy sigh as relief washes over her. She clears her throat, taking a second to try and regain her composure. “Yeah… thanks,” she laughs, somewhat breathless, red dusting her cheeks. She tilts her head back to look up at her girlfriend. “Thought I was gonna fall into all those thorns.”
Petra looks down at her, caught off guard by the sudden proximity. Suddenly she’s warm, very warm, and her mouth stays open for a second longer than intended as she thinks of a response. It’s a challenge when you’re staring at quite possibly (most definitely) the sweetest, cutest, most charismatic girl you’ve ever met.
“Yeah, that would’ve sucked,” she manages.
Jesse laughs, and Petra is grateful for the darkness.
Her face turns a deep shade of pink and she abruptly (and very awkwardly) lets go, taking a step back. Jesse turns to face Petra in full, taking a second to brush herself off before crossing her arms with a curious yet amused look in her eyes.
Petra clocks that she’s about to say something important. “...What?”
“Did you seriously think that we were in a relationship just for us not to live together?”
Oh. Petra rubs at her nape uncertainly, “I…just thought it’d take more time, I guess.”
She’s never been the best at talking about this stuff—not that she doesn’t want to, but Jesse just makes it so easy to get flustered. She glances away, suddenly very interested in the dirt.
Jesse, meanwhile, watches her with growing amusement. “You guess ?” she echoes, tilting her head. “Petra, we’ve literally faced world-ending disasters together. You’re my girlfriend, and we already spend most of our time together.” She spreads her arms for emphasis. “What is it about a treehouse that freaks you out?”
Petra groans, dragging a hand down her face. “It’s not— ugh. ” She exhales sharply, then finally looks at Jesse again. “It’s not the treehouse. It’s just... living together. Like, officially.”
Jesse’s expression softens as she takes a step closer, her voice quieter but just as sure. “Petra, I want to live with you.”
Petra’s heart skips. Just a little.
Jesse shrugs, flashing a small, lopsided grin. “I mean, we already sleep with our bedrolls smushed together while we’re out here.”
Petra sighs. “I know, it’s just…” She hesitates, trying to find the right words. She feels like her heart is in her throat. “Living together is…it’s– it’s so permanent. It’s a whole thing. ” She gestures vaguely, as if that explains everything. “I’m not used to that, I dunno.”
Jesse watches her closely. Then, she takes another step forward and takes Petra’s hands in her own, her fingers warm. Petra watches Jesse’s smooth fingers run along her calluses. “But are you scared of that?”
Petra doesn’t answer right away. She could argue that she’s not scared, but that would be a lie. She’s faced all kinds of chaos without breaking a sweat, but this? A home, with Jesse? That’s new.
She could barely tell Jesse how she felt when they first started dating. Holding hands took forever. Gods, don’t even get Petra started on their first kiss. She was such a mess.
But Jesse is looking at her with that quiet certainty, the same look she always gives when she’s sure of something. When she’s about to make a leap of faith without a second thought. When she’s made up her mind.
Petra wants to be brave like that, too.
She sighs, squeezing Jesse’s hand. “I guess I’m more nervous than anything. I just… I didn’t think you’d want to rush into something like that.”
Jesse’s eyes soften and she smiles. “Who said anything about rushing? We can take our time, Petra,” her words are laced with raw affection, "I just know I want it to be with you. ”
Petra swallows. The words settle deep in her chest, warm and grounding. Jesse looks at her with love, care, a want so overwhelming that Petra feels like her heart might burst. She had loved Jesse for so long, so hopelessly, certain that her feelings could never be reciprocated.
Yet here she is.
Slowly, a smile tugs at the corner of her lips.
“Okay,” she says, voice quieter now, but steady. “Then… yeah. Okay. Let’s do it.”
Jesse visibly perks up, and Petra smiles at her fondly. Then, before she can process it, Jesse leans up and kisses her.
It's sudden, unexpected even, but far from unwanted. Warmth buzzes in Petra's chest and she melts into the kiss, squeezing Jesse's hands. She also leans down, pressing further against Jesse's lips, hoping to keep the shorter girl from having to be on her tippy toes. But Jesse never minds.
When they pull apart, Jesse’s eyes are glowing. “Okay. We’ll put a pin in it for now. But I really do like the idea of a treehouse.”
Petra huffs a small laugh. “Okay then.” She watches as Jesse takes a dramatically large step to go over the root she’d tripped over. “But only if I get to pick where we build it.”
Jesse scoffs, holding her hand out. “Don’t think I’ll find a good enough tree?”
Petra takes it gingerly. “Nope.”
Jesse tries to feign offense but ends up laughing instead. It’s always been Petra’s favorite song.
Their fingers stay loosely intertwined as they start walking again, with Jesse tugging Petra along. And for once, the idea of something permanent, of something that stays exactly the same, doesn’t seem scary to Petra at all.