Work Text:
the library is daniela's last resort.
she's been working on this assignment all day now, dreading it all week, and the four walls of her shoebox dorm room are starting to drive her crazy. the correct solution to this, she thinks, is a nap, and it is only by the force of far too many energy drinks and an impending deadline that she manages to haul herself to the library.
she settles herself into one of the few remaining seats, hard to find in the back corner, tucks her knees up close to her chin, and steels herself to spend the next few hours glaring at her laptop.
productivity is varied, to put it nicely. it's an improvement from just spinning in circles on her desk chair, but not by all that much. the library offers far more distractions, and far more annoying people who don't know how to read the millions of 'quiet please' signs.
regardless, she's working through the penultimate question when someone politely clears their throat beside her. she startles, spinning to face them.
"hey," it's the girl sitting next to her, crammed shoulder to shoulder in the limited remaining seats. dani had been doing her best to ignore them, honouring the mutual agreement to pretend it wasn't super uncomfortable. "do you mind if i use that plug? my laptops dying."
the girl smiles apologetically, two small dimples forming as she does. cute, dani thinks, the girl is cute, and then she nods, leaning back so the girl has space to reach the plug.
"thanks," the girl murmurs, and then she stretches across daniela. dani almost gets a mouthful of soft, dark hair, before the moment passes, and the girl returns to her work.
with little further thought to it, dani turns back to assignment, determined to conquer the final two questions.
daniela doesn't particularly care all that much for theatre. megan adores it, and dani has probably heard more scenes from megan's own renditions that from actual performances. but, she loves dance, and she's always the first to volunteer when the they need dancers.
as a result, whenever there's a production in the works, dani ends up spending a lot of time hanging around the theatre.
today, she's just lounging around, scrolling on her phone, waiting for megan to finish rehearsals so that they can meet manon for coffee. with any luck, she'll be able to convince one of them to buy, and then she can order herself a croissant as well. as a treat.
"dani!" megan calls, walking over to her, side by side with someone daniela doesn't recognise.
"finally," she complains, but megan either ignores or doesn't hear her.
"dani, hey. thanks for waiting." megan smiles, and daniela flicks her gaze over to the other person.
"oh! hey," the girl says, "you're plug girl. from the library!"
"plug girl?" dani says, somewhat offended, before she remembers. her assignment, the library, two dimples. the girl is cute, daniela thinks, and then some. "right. plug girl."
"i'm sophia," the girl introduces, offering her hand and everything. "thanks for saving me from academic despair."
dani snorts, shakes the proffered hand. "daniela. and you're welcome."
"sophia's in the theatre society," megan explains. "i've been meaning to introduce you guys, like, forever. i thought she could join us for coffee?"
and daniela's not exactly planning to disagree, but sophia smiles warmly, winks at her, says, "i'll pay," and dani decides that she might be her new favourite person.
"well in that case," dani grins, glancing over to megan. "you should have invited her sooner," she whispers, faux conspiratorially.
sophia laughs, bright, buoyant, and dani just watches her until they begin walking.
sophia: hey! this is sophia
sophia: megan gave me your number :)
daniela: heyyyyyy
sophia: it was super nice meeting you!
sophia: i was thinking
sophia: since you enjoyed the croissant so much, we could get coffee again tomorrow?
daniela: of course
daniela: megan and manon too?
sophia: just us :)
"are you enjoying that?"
around a mouthful of croissant, dani says, "shut up."
sophia laughs, hands cupped around her own drink, posture concernedly good. "i'm just saying, it's not going anywhere. you can slow down a little bit."
daniela swallows pointedly. "it might," she huffs. "you don't know its life."
this time, sophia's head tilts back as she laughs, and dani grins around her next bite, proud.
"and i'm the dramatic one," sophia teases.
daniela straightens up, meets sophia's gaze seriously. "there's no acting here, sophia," she says, voice grave. "this croissant is the only thing standing between me and certain doom. it's very serious."
sophia rolls her eyes playfully, wide smile betraying her. "so you're saying my bribery is working, hmm?"
"oh? that's what this is?" dani leans back, hand to her heart, wounded. "and here i thought you just wanted to treat me."
sophia leans forward, across the table. "oh of course," her voice is low, and it takes a moment for daniela to recognise the words past the sweet thrum of it, "only the best for you."
this close, it's easy for dani to notice just how pretty sophia is. honestly, it's hard for her to focus on anything else. there are gold flecks in her eyes, and her hair falls effortlessly to frame her face, and god she smells so good, and it's all the sort of shit you would say about a romcom protagonist, except sophia is here, real, in front of her, talking to her, and daniela has to think of something to say back to her.
"the best," she murmurs, under her breath, watching the way the corner of sophia's lip curls.
sophia nods emphatically. "the best for the best," she proclaims, winking, and daniela snorts, leaning back in her seat. (when had she lent forward?)
"and what exactly are you bribing me for?" she relaxes again, settling into her chair as she finishes the last bite of her croissant, licking the last remnants of the chocolate filling off her fingers.
sophia takes a moment to respond, and daniela raises an eyebrow, curious. sophia shakes her head, a quirk to her lips that daniela can't read. "your wonderful company, obviously. how else could i convince you to spend time with little old me." she bats her eyelashes, eyes going wide and round, innocent.
dani huffs, amused. "well i'm not complaining, but next time you could probably just ask."
sophia blinks, her face smoothing into something gentler, surprised. "i guess that works too, yeah."
coffee easily extends into studying without daniela really noticing, and soon she's meeting sophia every week, grabbing a drink and holing up in their corner of the library. sophia doesn't pay every time, but dani always has to distract her with a cat video to stop her.
"remember that seat," sophia laments, sighing dramatically. "that was where i asked you if i could use the plug." she clutches at her chest, draping herself over daniela like a damsel. "you didn't speak - so mysterious - but your eyes said so much. so romantic."
daniela rolls her eyes. "i nearly ate half your hair. hardly anything to swoon over."
"but dani!" sophia gasps, leaning further onto her, elbowing her - probably - accidentally in the side. "it was the start of something beautiful."
her voice trails off wistfully, and dani can't help but laugh, sophia jostled by the shake of her shoulders. despite this, sophia only grins at her, presses closer, hooking her arm through daniela's.
"okay, miss lovergirl," dani says, adjusting so that her elbow fits with sophia's. "some of us were a little more focused on their assignments than the weirdo next to them."
sophia is quiet, and when dani looks down she's already looking back. she's smiling, observing, and daniela can feel the tips of her ears turning pink.
"do you want to watch a film this friday?" sophia asks, and it startles dani out of… whatever was just happening.
"sure. you're place or mine?"
"no, like. actually go to the cinema." sophia looks away, down to where their arms are twined together. instinctively, dani links their fingers as well, squeezing once. "maybe we could get dinner together before?"
there's a weight to the moment that dani doesn't stop to inspect. "okay. yeah, that sounds fun. text me the details?"
a pause. a breath. and then sophia nods, and the moment passes.
sophia picks her up at six, sharp, with a knock on her door and a bouquet of flowers, presented with a soft smile.
"oh," dani says, a breath more than a word. she takes them reverently. "let me just -" she turns back to find anything that could remotely suffice as a vase, and sophia just hums easily.
"thank you," she murmurs, once she's returned. sophia just gives her that same soft smile that daniela loves.
"are you ready to go?"
quickly, she grabs her keys and her bag and steps out the door to join sophia.
sophia, she realises, is dressed up; subtly, but undeniably, easy elegance and coordination. she whistles appreciatively.
"damn, laforteza," she grins, "you clean up nice." the expression on sophia's face is distinctly smug, self satisfaction in every line of her face. "if i'd known this was the view, i would have proposed this ages ago."
sophia laughs, arching an eyebrow. "oh? i thought i didn't need to bribe you to hang out."
dani shrugs, winks. "it doesn't hurt."
it's instinctual, the way sophia's arm loops through daniela's, tugs her closer, as they fall in to step with each other. sophia glances over at her, face open, easy. "you look stunning, dani."
the words cut through anything else daniela had foolishly thought might be important at the time, and she nearly forgets to keep walking. sophia doesn't seem to think anything of it, leading them out of dani's building, onto the open street.
"okay, charmer," she says, her voice wobbling, bravado not quite carrying through. she swallows, exhales harshly. sophia glances over at her, and dani knows she's flushed red, but sophia says nothing. "where are we going then?"
sophia hums. "we have an hour and a bit until the film starts. so," she gestures widely with her free hand, "wherever the lady doth please."
daniela groans, tries to pull her arm away from sophia's. "if you keep talking all shakespeare, i'm leaving."
sophia tightens her grip on dani, already laughing, trying in vain to keep a straight face. "i'm in theatre society dani. what did you expect?"
dani rolls her eyes hard, letting sophia pull her back close. "whatever. the lady wants a fucking burger."
sophia's eyes are glittering, and she claps her hands together in finality. "then a burger she will have!" and she marches off, daniela helpless to follow.
"literally just one fry."
"no."
"dani. please."
"it's mine."
"i just want to borrow it!"
dani glares at her. "i do Not want it back."
sophia grins. "so you're giving me one."
"fucking hell," she murmurs, and shoves her plate towards sophia. "you," she points a fry at sophia accusingly, "are annoying."
unbothered, sophia takes a handful and makes a show of eating them, chewing loudly and licking her fingers clean.
dani watches her tongue flicker in and out of her mouth and forgets why she was ever upset.
sophia buys them a large popcorn to share, and a slushie each. when dani tries to pay for the tickets, she stages a mini wrestling competition right there in front of the poor cashier that dani has to forfeit to save her own pride.
she holds dani's hand through the whole film, even when they get slightly clammy, and she leans uncomfortably over the armrest between them just so she can rest her head on dani's shoulder.
they walk back after, and sophia drops her off at her room, with a gentle, "goodnight, dani." dani watches her leave, smiles at her when she turns back, just once, before she rounds the corner.
she doesn't remember a lot about the film, but she doesn't think that's very important.
dani: [1 image: a bouquet of flowers potted on her desk. they're wilted, clearly dying]
dani: :(
sophia: :(
sophia: i'll just have to buy you more
"you're welcome, by the way," megan says, sitting across from her.
daniela barely looks up from her lunch. "hmm?"
"for introducing you to sophia?" she elaborates. "you guys are like, glued together now. what would you even do without her?"
dani frowns a little, perturbed at the thought. "oh, yeah. right. sophia's…" she clears her throat. "sophia's great."
megan is watching her, normal, but there's something here that dani needs to hide. a secret, a shame; something that is hers and maybe sophia's as well, but no one else's. quickly, she diverts the conversation.
"if you want me to thank you, i'm not going to."
"oh, come on!" megan sighs, "not even a little bit of credit?"
"i mean, we did meet before," dani says, purposefully aloof. "in the library. i think we would have figured it out by ourselves."
megan rolls her eyes. "oh my god. fucking fated, or whatever. sophia's drama is rubbing off on you."
fated, dani thinks. fated.
daniela's first dance performance of the year falls on a thursday night. the past week has been gruelling, practising and practising and practising until she's doing the dance in her dreams. she's been so busy that she hasn't even had time to see sophia, let alone the rest of her friends.
backstage, she's nervous, picking at her nails, bouncing her knee. on stage, she's a force of nature, sweeping through the room, claiming every inch as her own, drinking in the applause and holding it close as she steps behind the curtain.
she's sweating, breathing hard, hair plastered to her forehead, and she's smiling wider than she can remember ever smiling before. the adrenaline rush will carry her for at least another hour, she knows, before she completely crashes.
"dani!" megan is racing towards her, bruising her way through the crowd at a record pace. behind her, her friends follow at a much more reasonable pace. “dani, you were so good!”
megan launches at her, hugs her hard enough that she stumbles backwards, and dani laughs. quickly, there’s a steadying hand on waist; sophia, already smiling, pride etched into her face. dani’s laugh catches in her throat, and she forgets about megan entirely.
“hey,” she whispers, like there’s a secret. “i didn’t know you were coming.”
sophia beams. “surprise!” she steps closer, twists their hands together. “i was never going to miss it. especially not when you’re so talented! i mean, obviously i knew you could dance, but…” she trails off, distracted by something for a moment. she shakes her head, face softening. “you were amazing, dani.”
dani flushes, uncharacteristically. “oh.” she knows she’s good, one of the best, and she’s confident about it. “thank you.”
“my dani,” sophia murmurs, pinching her cheek between two fingers. immediately, dani’s ears are burning bright red. from the look on sophia’s face – amused, endeared, pleased – it hasn’t gone unnoticed. “the most talented dancer in the world.”
and thank god that megan decides they’ve had enough private time, because dani blue-screens. even as megan introduces her to the group – some of megan’s friends, some of sophia’s – dani runs on autopilot.
my dani.
there’s no way in hell she's going to remember any of these people’s names.
sophia stays close all night, hand wound in dani’s, jacket draped over dani’s shoulders, proud smile purely for dani, as the group celebrates. they cram into one booth and lara (?) fronts the first round. dani’s distracted, but elated, and she’s more than happy to be supplied with drinks and food, firmly banned from paying for anything herself.
still, after an hour or so, she’s waning, words straying further from her brain, eyelids drooping. her head lands easily on sophia’s shoulder, neck exhausted with the weight of it, and sophia loops an arm around her shoulders, holding her close.
“tired?” sophia murmurs, cutting through the chatter of the group.
dani hums, nuzzles into sophia’s neck. “warm.”
sophia laughs, shoulder shaking, and dani whines. sophia pats her head apologetically. “warm?”
dani nods – badly, her range of movement seriously limited by sophia – and wraps her arms around sophia’s torso. “you’re warm.”
“cosy?” a new voice intrudes, and it takes dani a moment to remember there are other people at the table.
she sticks her tongue out at manon, about all she can manage in her exhaustion, and receives only a raised eyebrow for her efforts.
“you are half in her lap,” megan points out, and again dani is blushing. she glares at megan, who holds her hands up. “i’m just saying!”
“no bullying,” dani pouts. “that was the agreement.”
lara laughs. “girl, we’re buying the drinks. no one said anything about bullying.”
dani only frowns harder, turning to sophia for support; sophia, who is already looking back at her, glassy eyed, not fully present in the moment, something achingly tender in her eyes, a bruise that dani can’t afford to press right now.
“sophia?” she whispers, and sophia blinks, her expression clearing.
“come on guys,” she says, turning away from dani. it feels like a rip, a tear. “she worked hard today.”
they bicker a little, teasing, but dani barely hears it, stuck wherever it was that sophia had just been.
“whatever you say, sophia,” manon says. “you’re the one who has to deal with it, so you’re the authority.”
megan snorts. “the daniela authority.”
sophia turns back to her, and dani’s eyes snap to hers like magnets. she smiles, and the ache returns to her gaze. “the daniela authority,” she murmurs, lips quirking. “what an honour.” she brushes an errant hair out of dani’s face. “will you accept me for this role, your highness?”
dani blinks, laughs faintly, and nods. she doesn’t have the breath for a better response.
sophia smiles. "well then, as the officially appointed daniela authority," she casts her voice to the rest of the group, but dani can only look at her, "i think it might be past your bed time."
dani hums. "well then, seeing as your the authority," she leans back, bats her eyelashes at sophia, pouts exaggeratedly, "you should be the one responsible for taking me home, hmm?"
sophia's eyes darken, pupil's growing as she looks down at dani. her tongue pokes through her lips, wets them, and dani watches the movement closely. she sits perfectly still under sophia's observation, until sophia stands abruptly.
"yes. yeah. i'll take you home with me." she starts shooing dani out of the booth. "i mean. i'll walk you home," she smiles, strained, "in a normal way."
and then they're out of the door before dani can really react to that.
it's cold, night settling into her bones, and she draws sophia's jacket tighter around her shoulders. it wakes her, a little, and she glances surreptitiously over at sophia. "so. home?" sophia looks at her, smiles faintly. dani raises an eyebrow. "in a normal way?"
sophia shoves her, cheeks flushed, turning face to away to hide it. "shut up! it's. ugh. you-" she sighs, runs a hand through her hair.
dani grins, sidles right up to sophia's side. "it's okay, sophia. i know i'm very distracting," and she slips her arm around sophia's, winks at her. "you don't need to explain yourself."
sophia turns to her, watches her for a moment too long, before she turns away. "let's go, yeah? it's kind of cold," and she starts walking.
dani frowns, but says nothing.
in the morning, she'll be curled up against sophia, and it probably won't matter anyway.
sophia invites her to the fair. it's… something. something specific, but dani doesn't know what.
she spends thirty minutes picking an outfit out, then five more deliberating over whether she should take a jacket. (she doesn't. for some reason.) on the walk over, she nearly makes a detour to by some flowers, thinking it would be nice, but isn't sure she'll have time.
when she arrives, sophia's waiting, and with her is the rest of their group. dani frowns.
"you okay?" sophia asks, picking up on it immediately.
"yeah, i-" she glances at everyone else. "you invited everyone?" sophia tilts her head, a question. dani shrugs. "i thought it would just be us two."
a pregnant pause that dani can't parse, and then sophia seems to swallow her words. sophia shrugs. "yeah they, they all wanted to come as well."
it makes sense, dani figures, the fair had been advertised all over, and it looked like a lot of fun. it's not weird that all their friends would want to come. still, dani's disappointed, and suddenly she feels a little silly in her carefully considered, pointedly jacket-less outfit.
sophia squints. "is it… is that a problem?"
dani shakes her head rapidly. "no! no, of course not." she smiles. "the more the merrier!"
sophia gives her a strange look - which, fair, when the fuck has she ever said that before - but doesn't comment.
they wander around the fairgrounds as a big group, exploring, noting a meeting location for later, before they split off into smaller groups. sophia leaves with yoonchae and megan to queue up for one of the rides, and dani feels suddenly weird about going with her. instead, she stays back with lara and manon, heading off to find some food.
"what do you wanna get?" manon asks, and dani just nods in agreement with whatever lara says, following when they start walking.
she looks over her shoulder the whole way, watching sophia's receding back and barely avoiding walking into random people. by the fifth stranger manon has to apologise to for her, they stop.
"okay," manon says, firm. "what's up?"
dani blinks at her. "what?"
lara rolls her eyes. "you've walked into, like, twenty people. what's even behind you that's so interesting?"
from her tone, dani gets the impression that lara already knows the answer to that, so she just shrugs.
lara sighs. "oh my god," she mutters, and pulls her phone out, typing quickly.
"what are you doing?" dani says, slightly alarmed.
lara ignores her, keeps typing. "here." she flips her phone around, presenting the screen to dani.
to sophia
lara: PLEASE come get ur girl
lara: she's sulking like a little baby
lara: it's not nearly as cute to me as it is to you
lara: save me
"what? lara-" she lunges for the phone. "that's not-! you can't-!"
lara avoids her deftly, pocketing her phone before dani can get her hands on it. "listen, you might be more interested in walking into a pole than looking away from her, but i'm more interested in getting some good food than listening to you sigh forlornly every three seconds. okay?"
dani flushes bright red, from the tips of her ears down to her neck. she can't respond in any way that saves any of her dignity, so she just sighs, and accepts her fate. "fine."
manon claps her on the back. "that's the spirit! now let's go and get some fucking food."
sophia finds them less than two minutes later, by a food stall, flushed like she's been hurrying.
manon raises an eyebrow. "did you even go on the ride?"
sophia waves her off. "megan and yoonchae can figure it out by themselves." she turns to dani. "i heard you missed me."
she's smirking infuriatingly, and dani huffs, crossing her arms. "no. i don't even know where you'd hear that."
manon and lara are already walking off, and sophia steps closer. "really? because i have it on pretty good authority you were," she pauses dramatically, "'sulking like a little baby'." she grins widely, and dani struggles to be actually annoyed with her. still, she pouts, and sophia laughs. "yeah," she says, pinching dani's cheek, "pretty much like that."
dani flushes, tries to smooth her features into something intimidating, something sharp, but she knows the red on her cheeks betrays her. "whatever," she huffs, and sophia is just smiling down at her, "stop doing that."
"oh?" sophia smiles wider. "doing what?"
she points at sophia's face aggressively. "that! it's annoying. and stupid."
sophia bites playfully at her finger, then presses a gentle kiss to the tip of it, completely ruining any composure dani managed to build. she buries her face in her hands, and sophia laughs brightly.
"okay, okay," she pulls dani into a loose hug, letting dani hide her blush in her neck. "i'm sorry. i'll stop."
muffled, and lacking any of the bite she wants it to have, dani says. "you better."
"now, come on," sophia says, nudging dani, "i want to actually go on one of the rides."
sophia pulls her around the fair, hands linked the whole time, until dani recovers from her embarrassment enough to actually enjoy the fair. sophia makes her ride the rollercoaster, but lets dani cling to her the entire time. in return, she buys dani a tray of churros that dani insists they share, until they both have cinnamon all over their noses.
dani pays for nearly ten attempts at the target shooting game until she finally wins the plushie, handing it over to an amused sophia with a sheepish smile. sophia tucks it under her arm carefully, and carries it with her the whole night.
they end the night on the ferris wheel, in a carriage just for them, dani leaning into sophia's side.
"this would be, like, the ideal date," she says, gazing out at the stars. "don't you think?"
she turns to sophia, catches the immediate reaction before it's quickly smoothed over. disbelief, disappointment, and something painfully ironic. she frowns.
"what?"
sophia blinks, once, twice, and when her eyes open there is a weight in them that wasn't there before. "nothing," sophia murmurs, shaking her head. dani opens her mouth, because bullshit but sophia continues. "i just." she swallows. "i didn't take you for a fair type of girl, i guess."
she sounds unusually bitter, and dani has never seen her so closed off. she's all hard lines and tension, and she won't look dani in the eyes. dani doesn't know what to do, so they sit in silence until they're back on the ground.
"come on," sophia mutters, taking dani's hand, still not looking at her. "let's go find the others."
friday brings movie night. sophia's had gruelling rehearsals, and dani's assignments have been kicking her ass, and they both decide that a night in is much needed.
they settle in sophia's bed, sophia sprawled on top of dani, laptop resting on their legs. sophia is watching the screen intently, tucked neatly under dani's chin, making little noises under her breath as she reacts to the film. dani, contrarily, couldn't tell you a single thing that's happened so far.
all she can think about is the fair, and the ferris wheel, and whatever the fuck it was that she did to make sophia - sophia, open, easy sophia - all but slam the proverbial door in her face.
it had been one of the best nights dani can remember, wrapped up in fairground lights and sophia's laugh, highlighted with the way sophia's eyes sparkled every time she looked back at dani, dragging her to the next ride.
she can't think of anything that would have ruined it, soured it, like it had. she can only think of sophia, flushed, warm. sophia, knowing immediately something was wrong. sophia, rushing halfway across the fairground because dani missed her. sophia, brushing cinnamon off her nose, gently kissing the spot it had occupied.
dani hadn't wanted to spend the night with anyone else. she wouldn't, ever, she thinks.
abruptly, she's sitting upright, laptop falling off to the side, sophia jostled aggressively off her.
"dani?" sophia says, startled and confused.
dani turns to her, and feels like a fool. sophia's hair is tousled and her cheeks are flushed and daniela is in love with her.
"i'm in love with you," she murmurs, suddenly unable to comprehend any alternative, and the words seem to have a similar effect to electrocution on sophia.
"what?" her voice quivers but dani doesn't hear it, can't over the noise in her head.
"i'm in love with you," she repeats, louder, clearer, huffing incredulously. "i've been in love with you this whole time, and i didn't even notice!" she's gesturing emphatically, almost angry at herself. "i mean, it's so obvious! i-" she shakes her head, slumps back into the bed, voice quieter now. "how did i not notice?"
sophia is just sort of gaping at her, dani realises, staring up at her from where she had been dumped unceremoniously on the floor.
dani flushes. right. yeah. she's just told sophia she's in love with her. approximately five seconds after she had realised it. without even really meaning too.
"oh shit," she whispers, suddenly unable to look within a five metre radius of sophia. "i mean- i." she laughs nervously, running her hands through her hair. "it's like. not a big deal." she glances at sophia. "i mean, it is. or, like. maybe not. i don't- whichever you prefer. it can- yeah."
sophia is still staring, and trails off. there's very little, she realises, that she can do to salvage this situation.
"you…" sophia's voice is shaky, mouth opening and closing like a fish. "you're in love with me?"
she sounds sort of like she's going to cry, dani realises, and it aches. "yeah. i-" she winces, "i just realised."
"you just realised?" dani nods, chastened. "and you told me. immediately."
dani burns, ears a deep red. "i- yeah. i didn't really…" she swallows. "i didn't really think about it. sorry. i just. yeah."
sophia pushes to her feet quickly and jabs a finger in dani's face. "i can't believe you, you know?" dani sways backwards, slightly cross-eyed from looking at sophia's finger. "do you know how long i've been-" she clenches her fists, "how long i've been waiting? pining? yearning?" she's pacing now, back and forth in front of dani. "god i thought you were straight. straight! i was just," she shakes her head, "projecting, or something." she spits the words bitterly, as though they leave a rancid taste in her mouth.
"and then that stupid fair." she turns to dani, glares. "i mean, you were hanging off me all night, couldn't even cope for like, two minutes! and then you go and say it would be a good date? obviously! because it was one! it was a great date! that we were on! our date! you and me!"
she sighs, shakes her head. "months, dani! months! of- of figuring out how i was ever going to tell you, of if i even would! and you just-! you realise and then you just say it?!"
dani frowns, tries her best to follow the monologue. "so… you like me too?"
sophia laughs, softens instantly. "you stupid idiot," she mumbles, smiling in spite of herself. she stalks forward, cups dani's face in her hands. "you stupid, brave, annoying idiot."
she's in dani's lap now, weight solid on dani's legs, and dani isn't really listening anymore. there'll be time, later, to hear what she said, to whine about the insults, get flustered about the compliments. right now, she's leaning forward to press her lips against sophia's, hands tightening over her hips, tugging her closer.
sophia sighs into her mouth, melting into dani, looping both arms around her neck. dani slips one hand up the back of sophia's shirt, scratches gently at the skin she finds, and when sophia gasps against her mouth she licks into it, pressing forward greedily.
sophia lets out the prettiest little whine dani's ever heard, and she feels a little light headed and a lot stupid for not realising this sooner.
"fuck," she says, forehead glued to sophia's, panting. "fuck, i am so stupid." she presses little kisses to sophia's jaw, dazed. "i am so, so stupid."
sophia nods, breathing heavily, lips swollen. she's tilting her head back, making space for dani, proffering her neck and jaw freely. dani takes, greedily, biting playfully at sophia's earlobe before she licks down sophia's neck, tongue swirling over the rushing artery. it pulses under her, and dani grips sophia tighter.
"so stupid," sophia agrees, her voice a pitch higher, a league breathier, than dani has ever heard before. "so stupid. and i love you."
dani grins, lips curling against sophia's skin. "yeah?"
she adjusts her thigh, slips it between sophia's, and sophia groans, sinking into the contact. she nods. "love you so, so much baby."
and all dani can do is kiss her.
dani: so
dani: i did something
megan: was it sophia
megan: please tell me it was finally sophia
dani: …
megan: ?
megan: wait
megan: DANI
megan: DANIELA
megan: ARE YOU BEING SERIOUS???
megan: DO NOT PLAY WITH ME ABOUT THIS !!!!
dani: :)
"you liked me the whole time?" dani murmurs, in the quiet that follows.
sophia hums, and they're so close that dani can feel it vibrate through her. "yeah. from the very start. in the library."
dani allows herself a self satisfied little grin, smug and so, so happy. "i knew it was weird that you needed to use that plug specifically. there were, like, so many others around."
sophia laughs, completely unashamed. "maybe i just liked that one," she teases.
dani cranes her neck up to look at her, and smug curl to her lips. "maybe you just liked me."
sophia rolls her eyes, but she's smiling, flushed and relaxed beneath dani. "that too."
dani pecks her once on the lips, just because she can, then again because she likes the way it feels. "i'm sorry it took me so long to realises," she says, slumping back down against sophia's chest.
sophia tangles one hand in her hair, twists it gently around her fingers, lets it fall loose again. "it's okay," she replies, easy. "we're here now."
dani smiles. "i loved you the whole time," she says, "even if i didn't know it. it was still true,"
sophia hugs her tighter, presses a kiss to the top of her head. she says nothing, but dani understands, and relaxes against sophia.
they're here now.
megan: GUYS
megan: EVERYONE LOCK TF IN RIGHT NOW
yoonchae: why are you yelling.
megan: I DON'T KNOW?? DANI?? WHY MIGHT I BE YELLING DANIELA??
dani: dude i'm kind of busy rn pls stop blowing up my phone
megan: AND WHAT MIGHT YOU BE BUSY WITH???
sophia: hey guys! megan what's up?
yoonchae: she's yelling
manon: isn't she always
yoonchae: ^
lara: ^
lara: btw sophia i still have ur glasses from when you left them the other day
lara: want me to stop by and drop them off?
sophia: oh! thank you!!
sophia: maybe another time? i'm a bit busy atm
lara: np
manon: wait..
manon: you too?
manon: what are you busy with?
sophia: oh i don't think she'd want me to share
dani: no go ahead babe
sophia: [1 image: taken from sophia's perspective, looking down at her lap. she's lying in bed, sheets pulled up. dani lies on top of her, face tucked under sophia's chin. her back is to the camera, and it's clear she isn't wearing a top. at the bottom of the image, sophia's arm can be seen, wrapped around dani's waist.]
sophia: 👍
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