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She needs to get her license. She needs to get her license. Oh, dear Lord in heaven, Alice needs to finally get her—
"And you know, I'm not saying any of this to...badmouth your relationship with Deb, we've had this talk, I know that," Bill laughs and Alice doesn't know why, "But you're my daughter. I want you to be safe, and careful, and happy, and I'm just not sure—"
"It's just a study date, dad."
Alice repeats it for the, what, seventh time since getting into the passenger seat of her father's car?
"Oh, please, I was young once, Alice! And that's what they always say! Just a study date, just a movie date, just a—"
"Dad!," Alice finally says, shaking her head and huffing out a disbelieving laugh, "Deb is not some scumbag guy. She's my girlfriend. We're going to Beanie's to study for finals together. I don't understand why you have such a problem with her!"
Bill should probably be silent for a bit, think about what his daughter said. Unfortunately for both of them, he doesn't.
Alice picks up her purse, pushes up her pink sunglasses and shakes her head to clear it: "Thanks for driving me, dad."
"I love you, Al-pal!"
Pause.
"Love you, too, dad," she reluctantly answers, before getting out of the car and closing the door.
Beanie's is pretty empty this time of day, Alice is glad to see through the window of the small coffee shop.
She pushes open the door and spots Deb almost instantly.
Deb, with her dumb yellow beanie and red flannel, sitting in a booth and facing the door, scrolling on her phone with a foam mustache on her face thanks to the iced coffee she's most certainly currently sipping on, because "It doesn't matter if I'm a cliché, Alice, this tastes too good to care."
Alice had laughed in her face then, and she's laughing now as she's nearing her girlfriend, who finally looks up from her phone and stands up with a grin.
"Hey, babe."
"Hi," Alice says quietly, taking Deb's hand and intertwining their fingers before giving her a quick kiss.
She doesn't wanna pull away, but...if Uncle Paul's girlfriend were to see them kissing for too long and tell Bill they're engaging in PDA, Alice would likely have to have the most uncomfortable conversation of her life, and she's not in the mood for that. Not today, not tomorrow, not anytime soon—it's almost summer, and the world is almost theirs.
"Sorry I'm late, my dad...well. You know him."
"Mhm. Still not a part of the Deb Fan Club, huh?"
Alice winces apologetically, but Deb keeps grinning. She always does. Sometimes, Alice thinks it's the only thing keeping her sane.
"No worries. Just gave me time to order."
She gestures towards Alice's side of the table.
"Oh, did you get—"
"—an iced hazelnut latte with sweet cream, cold foam and caramel drizzle, and a pain au chocolat, yes, of course I did. You're very specific about your Beanie's order, you know that?"
And, dear God, Alice is in love—she's known it forever, since day one and probably long before that—in love with Deb: Deb, poking her inner cheek with her tongue, pronouncing pain au chocolat like the pretentious art student she is (or will be, after they're done with these goddamn finals), looking at Alice like she's got the whole night sky in her eyes.
Sbe lets out a sigh as her hand finds her heart and she sinks into the green leather seat of the booth: "My knight in shining armor."
Deb chuckles, finally showing off her chipped tooth and dimples for a few seconds. And Alice wonders.
How can Bill Woodward hate this girl?
"Even tipped enough to make sure they don't spit in our orders!"
"Even more grateful for that," Alice says and reaches over to Deb's side of the table to pick up her notes, "You ready?"
"Oh, I was born ready."
"Yeah? Even for logarithmic and exponential functions?"
Deb presses her lips together.
"Let's maybe not start with math."
They study, and it works for a while. Alice quizzes Deb, then the other way around, Alice makes Deb order another pain au chocolat for her, then takes some notes and makes them all pretty and decorated, and Deb leans across the table and kisses her about it.
And when Deb, with smudged chocolate on her lip from stealing a bite, looks up from her notes at Alice, Alice hopes her girlfriend knows about the night sky she holds in her own eyes.