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Oom had been sitting at their usual corner table for twenty minutes and now watching Bam and Lena queue at the counter, and the queue was not moving at all.
That was fine. Oom had time. She was thinking of ways on how to tease this couple who is not a couple right beside her, she had Jayna sitting to her left whispering into Ginny's ear like they were in middle school passing notes.
Oom was about to tease them when she saw it.
A guy had stopped in front of Bam and Lena. He was tall, a little fidgety, and he had the very specific energy of someone who is about to do something brave or dumb and was already regretting it. He was looking at Lena. He was talking to Lena.
Oom focused all her attention to them.
Her first instinct was to get up. Her second instinct was to sit back down because Bam was right there and Bam was already giving the man the most politely bored expression Oom had ever seen on another human face, and honestly that was almost enough.
But Lena. Lena was doing the thing she always did when she was being asked out and didn't want to be rude about it, which was to smile in a very gentle, slightly pained way and say what that sounded like a no but in so much kindness it took the person a moment to realize what had happened.
She turned to Jayna.
"Look at that," Oom said, nudging Jayna's shoulder with hers. "Lena's getting asked out again."
Jayna stopped mid whisper and both she and Ginny turned to look at the counter.
"That's the second time this week," Jayna said, already grinning. "And it's only Tuesday."
"Miu says she's already on her way," Ginny added, scrolling through her phone. "That guy better make himself scarce before she walks in."
They watched the guy blink, nod a couple of times like he was still hoping the conversation might turn around, and then quietly excuse himself.
Oom was quiet for a moment.
Then she sat up straighter.
"Okay," she said slowly. "You know what? I bet 5k that if Miu gets jealous enough, she'll finally ask Lena to be her girlfriend."
Jayna's eyes went wide. "Ohhh I like that," Jayna said. "I raise. 10k, she skips the girlfriend question entirely and goes straight to a proposal."
"Do not bet on our friends," Ginny said flatly, not even looking up from her phone this time. Then she turned to Jayna and gave her a look. "And where are you getting 10,000 from?"
Jayna's grin went just slightly sheepish. "Well," she said, "5 from me and the other half from you?"
Ginny stared at her.
Jayna stared back.
Oom watched this happen with quiet fascination, mildly curious if either of them had forgotten she was sitting right there.
Before the staring contest could reach its natural conclusion, Bam and Lena arrived at the table with their orders, setting drinks and small plates down and pulling out chairs.
"I could feel the mischief from the counter," Bam said, sitting down and pointing very directly at Oom. "What did you do?"
"Nothing," Oom said. "I was sitting here being a very proper third wheel."
"She and this one," Ginny said, tilting her chin toward Jayna, "were placing bets on Lena and Miu."
Lena, who had been unwrapping her straw, looked up immediately at the sound of Miu's name.
"What about Miu and I?" she asked.
"That the two of you are cute!" Oom said, without missing a beat and without blinking.
Bam turned to look at Oom like she is trying to decide whether they are stupid or just very committed to a bit.
"Thanks?" Lena said, looking genuinely unsure of what to do with that.
The topic moved on. Lena started talking about the pastries she had ordered, explaining that she had tried this one last week with Miu and that Miu liked the filling but not the bread so she ended up eating the sides and Bam is nodding along while glaring a bit at Oom who's full on beaming and then Miu walked in.
She walked straight to the table. She greeted Lena first. She sat down beside Lena like there was nowhere else in the table.
Lena, without even pausing her sentence, reached over to put a straw in Miu's drink. Then she pushed the brownie closer to Miu's side and broke a small piece off and held it toward her.
"Did you eat anything on the way?" Lena asked.
"No," Miu said, taking the bite.
"Miu," Ginny said, raising her voice just slightly. "Good to see you too."
Miu looked up. "Oh. Hi everyone."
Oom and Jayna shared a look across the table that was so full of satisfaction it was nearly audible.
Bam was still staring at Oom. Her expression had shifted from trying to figure out what Oom was thinking to having already figured it out and finding it exhausting.
Three days later, the same group meet up for dinner.
The restaurant had been Oom's suggestion, but more like a command. She had sent the address in the group chat with the message "dinner here, friday, 7pm" and nothing else, and because Oom sometimes can be intimidating and no one is really opposed on meeting up, everyone simply replied "okay."
Miu and Lena arrived first and stood in the mall building hallway to wait. They were into their own small world and without seeming to notice their surroundings. Lena was telling Miu about her week, gesturing a little there and there, and Miu was listening to Lena attentively, which also looks like she was hanging into every single word and trying to look like she was not.
Then a woman's voice called out from behind them.
"Lena! Oh my gosh, it's been so long!"
A woman came walking toward them, arms already open. Lena turned and there was a brief second of surprise on her face before she smiled and stepped into the hug.
Miu watched this.
She did not say anything. She picked up her phone and tried to look busy while she told herself, quietly but firmly, that Lena was allowed to have other friends. Lena had many friends. That was a good thing. It was a good quality in a person. Miu was very glad Lena had it.
"Miu, I don't know if you remember her," Lena said, turning back. "This is Orm. She goes to the same country club we do. She plays tennis there too."
"Ahh," Miu said. She thought. "No." Then she smiled but a bit awkwardly.
"Hi Miu!" Orm said. Her tone was warm and completely genuine, which somehow made it worse.
"Hi," Miu said, still smiling, still staring at the arm that Orm had not removed from Lena's waist.
Lena and Orm started talking, about not having seen each other at the club and Orm explaining that she had been busy with her master's, and Miu stood there in her very friendliest expression, but in reality she looked like someone who was doing advanced math in her head.
She checked her phone again. Their friends were already five minutes late. She sent three separate messages to the group chat.
Orm said goodbye a few minutes later. As she left, Lena turned to Miu and said maybe they could play tennis again sometime because it had been a while, and Miu pressed her tongue against the back of her teeth to stop herself from asking whether Lena wanted to play because Orm would be there. She managed not to say it. It was close, but she managed.
Ginny replied in the chat that they were stuck in traffic. Bam replied right after that they were almost there.
Miu had just convinced herself to breathe normally again when she noticed a man looking at them, particulary at Lena.
He was standing maybe four meters away and he was looking at Lena the way like he is window shopping. Like he was still deciding. Miu felt cold and very impatient move through her chest, and before she had thought about it too much she reached out and pulled Lena closer to her side.
The man's eyes moved from Lena to Miu. Miu held his gaze for exactly two seconds and then he looked away and moved along.
Lena, who had not even notice the man at all, felt Miu's hand on her back and laughed a little without knowing why, a small surprised sound, and her cheeks went pink. She didn't say anything. She just leaned into it by instict.
Miu stared straight ahead and wonders if she had almost picked a fight with a stranger over nothing.
Their friends arrived shortly after.
Inside the restaurant, Oom took over the ordering with practice, as if she had memorize everything already. Jayna and Miu both complained. Oom told them to trust her. Ginny and Bam exchanged the look and sighed.
"I'll taste everything first," Lena said to Miu. "So you know what you're okay with."
Miu immediately stopped complaining.
They waited for the food and talked about their week. When the dishes arrived there was the usual chaos of reaching across and trading plates. Lena would try and turn to offer Miu a bite before she had even finished her own. Miu would pretend to consider it and then eat it without much of a fight.
Jayna kept talking to Ginny with food in her mouth and Ginny kept telling her to chew and swallow first. Oom and Bam were mostly quiet but the kind of quiet that had a lot going on underneath it, where they would look at each other and then look away and seem to have had an entire conversation without a word.
Then the desserts arrived. And with the desserts came a woman in a chef's coat who came to check on the table.
"Good evening, everyone," the woman said pleasantly. "Are we enjoying the food?" She glanced around the table, and then stopped when she got to Lena. "Oh! Lena. I had no idea you were coming tonight."
Lena looked up. Her face broke into delighted smile. "Lingling! I thought this restaurant looked familiar. I didn't realize this was yours."
"It has been so long since you last visited," Lingling said. "We have carrot cake on the menu now."
Lena beamed. "You remembered! That's so sweet."
"Everyone, this is Lingling," Lena said, turning to the table. "She owns this place and she's the head chef, and as you have all just experienced, she's very very good."
Lingling said hello to everyone. Everyone said hello back.
Miu smiled while her brain is brewing some thoughts. Lena liking carrot cake felt like a secret. Most people knew Lena didn't eat carrots. The fact that this person knew that Lena liked carrot cake specifically, and even remembers it, felt like someone threw cold water in her face.
Like a saving grace, her phone rang. She apologized, excused herself, and stood up to step away from the table to take the call.
She did not hear Lena tell Lingling that she had run into Orm outside. She did not hear Lingling say, in the casual way, that her girlfriend was so busy with her master's and she's proud of her.
She came back to find Lingling gone and Lena waving at her urgently from across the table, patting the empty seat beside her.
"Come back, come back," Lena said. "You have to try this."
She held out a fork with a piece of carrot cake on it. She was looking at Miu the way she sometimes did in these small moments, like everything else at the table was slightly out of focus.
Miu sat down and took the bite.
"Well?" Lena asked.
It was very good. Miu hated that it was very good. "It's fine," she said.
Lena laughed, because she knew what Miu's "it's fine" meant.
Across the table, Oom sat back in her chair with the expression of someone deeply pleased with herself. Jayna caught her eye. Jayna was equally pleased.
Lena drove Miu home after dinner.
The road was mostly quiet. "You should just stay," Miu said for the third time in ten minutes. "It's an hour and a half to drive back. That's so far."
"I stayed last weekend," Lena said.
"So? Is it a problem?"
"It's not a problem," Lena said. "I'm just a little worried your parents will think I'm imposing too much."
Miu looked at her. "Lena. My mother bought snacks for you automatically now. She does not think you are imposing."
"I know but-"
"You are their favorite daughter-in-law," Miu said, and made little quotation marks in the air with her fingers. She said it lightly, but slightly nervous. she meant it as a joke, obviously, but still a bit worried if Lena will have a negative reaction.
Lena went quiet for a moment. Then she laughed, soft and warm.
She reached one hand out from the steering wheel and held it open between them.
Miu took it.
A few minutes passed in easy silence before Lena's phone buzzed on the center console. "Can you check that? It's probably Bam or one of the others saying they're home."
Miu picked it up. She read the name on the screen.
Bow.
She knew Bow. Bow was Lena's friend, the very tall, very pretty one with a long term boyfriend that Miu knew about and was completely unbothered by. She was very unbothered by Bow. She thought about Bow a normal and reasonable amount.
She opened the message.
hey, r u free tomorrow?
Miu looked at the message. She looked at it for maybe a second too long and then set her expression back to neutral.
"It's Bow," she said. "She wants to know if you're free tomorrow."
"Oh, that's sudden. Does she say why?"
The second message had already come in. Miu read it. "She says she misses you."
"Aw, tell her I miss her too and we can reschedule. I'm not free tomorrow."
Miu's fingers paused over the screen. "You have plans on tomorrow?"
"Yeah?" Lena glanced over briefly. "You were asking me to stay over, remember? By the time we actually fall asleep and wake up it'll be noon and your mom will make us eat lunch. Unless you want me to go after that?"
"No!" Miu said, louder than she intended.
Lena startled slightly and then laughed, the sound filling the car.
"No," Miu said again, more measured. "Your whole day tomorrow is mine."
"Of course," Lena said simply, and squeezed Miu's hand before she put hers back on the steering wheel.
Miu's parents were still awake when they got in, sitting together on the couch. Miu's mother heard the footsteps and looked up, and when she saw Lena, her face had kind of automatic warmth smile.
"Lena," she said. "Are you staying the night?"
"If that's okay," Lena said.
"Of course it's okay." Then stood up and envelopes Lena for a hug.
Miu watched her mom fuss over Lena the way she always did and her dad ask Lena about her week and Lena answer with real interest and ask him back. The three of them moved into easy conversation the way they always did.
She stood in the side and thought that the only thing missing was for this to be what it looked like. The thought of bringing home Lena as finally her girlfriend and all her loveones will be in one roof together. She thought that for the hundredth time and then packed the thought away.
They said goodnight to her parents and went upstairs.
"You can use the washroom first," Miu said. "I'll get the pajamas."
Lena disappeared into the bathroom. Miu sat on the edge of the bed.
She had been friends with Lena for seven years. Actual, real, close friends for five of those, and for the last stretch of time, the kind of close that did not have a proper name. The kind where you knew someone's schedule without asking, where you showed up at each other's bad days without needing an explanation, where you could sit in a room together doing nothing and feel better for it.
She had started to think, recently, that maybe Lena felt the same way about her. Not just as a friend. The way Lena looked at her sometimes. The way Lena touched her arm when she was talking, or found her hand in a crowd, or turned to her first in a room full of people.
She thought maybe. But she wasn't sure. And maybe was a terrifying place to stand.
She wanted a sign. She had been asking the universe for a sign. A clear, obvious, unmistakable sign, because she wanted to be sure. 100% sure.
The bathroom door opened.
Lena stepped out in a towel.
"Sorry, was I too long? I felt a bit sticky so I just took a quick shower," she said, walking over to the bed to pick up the pajamas Miu had set out.
Miu looked at her. She did not say anything.
Her brain said quite a number of things. Her mouth said nothing.
"Awww, are you sleepy now?" Lena said, and then she moved a few steps away, and then she put on the pajamas. Right there. While Miu was looking.
Miu stared at a point slightly above Lena's head and thought about absolutely nothing.
"Bubbie." Lena crossed back over to her and poked her cheek. "Stop zoning out. Go wash up. Or do you want me to come and do it for you?"
Miu stood up without a single word, walked into the bathroom, and closed the door.
She stood at the sink and ran cold water over her wrists for a full minute.
When she came back out in her own pajamas, Lena was already in bed on her usual side, which was technically Miu's side, but Miu had stopped arguing about that around six months ago. And she was frowning at her phone.
"Everything okay?" Miu asked, climbing in and automatically settling against Lena to look at the screen.
Lena tilted the phone so Miu could see better. "Jayna and Ginny are dating, right?"
"Ginny won't confirm it but obviously yes. Why?"
"Jayna's asking if I can help her."
Miu read the messages. Her eyebrows went up slowly. "She's asking you out."
"Calm down," Lena said before Miu could say whatever she was about to say. "She says she's nervous about taking Ginny on a proper date and she wants to do a test run first. She wants to see how it would go."
Miu read the messages again. "I can give her a reason to run" she said.
Lena ignored this. "Isn't it sweet though? She just wants to be perfect for Ginny. Maybe we can take her out. Show her how it's done."
Miu went still. "We" she said.
"Yeah, us," Lena said. "I mean, all she needs is an example, right? We can just show her."
Miu stared at the ceiling and tried to understand what was happening. Was Lena asking her on a date. Was Lena asking her to pretend to be on a date. Was there a difference right now. Was Jayna going to be there. Why was Jayna going to be there.
"Okay," Miu said.
Lena looked at her and smiled, then leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. "Thank you. Goodnight."
Miu lay there in the dark and thought about whether she wanted to thank Jayna or block her number.
She woke up before Lena.
At some point during the night they had shifted, and Lena had moved in close and tucked herself against Miu, one arm around her waist. Miu looked at her for a long moment in the morning quiet.
She thought Lena looked very peaceful. She thought Lena's eyelashes were unreasonably long. She thought a lot of things that she was not going to say out loud.
She pressed a small kiss to Lena's forehead.
Lena stirred. Her eyes opened slowly, unfocused at first, and then she found Miu's face and something in her expression settled.
"Good morning," Lena said, voice still thick with sleep.
"Morning," Miu said.
Lena stretched, her whole body lengthening, arms going up over her head and then flopping back down. Then she curled herself back in toward Miu and closed her eyes again.
They lay like that without speaking. Lena traced a slow, absent pattern along Miu's arm. Miu combed her fingers gently through Lena's hair. The sounds outside were soft. Neither of them moved.
Miu's phone buzzed on the nightstand.
She reached over without disturbing Lena and looked at the screen. It was a text from her brother.
bring your wife down for lunch. mom doesn't want to go up there.
Miu sent him an extremely expressive emoji.
"Bubbie" she said quietly.
"Mm."
"Do you want to eat?"
"In a while."
Miu looked at her. "My brother says mom made lunch."
A short pause. Lena opened one eye. "What did she make?"
"I don't know yet."
Lena considered this. "Let's go?" she said, and sat up.
Lunch was at the table with Miu's family, which consists of minutes Lena in deep conversation with Miu's father about something to do with cars and racing, which was apparently Lena had opinions about that Miu's father found very agreeable.
Miu sat next to her and ate her food and watched this happen.
Lena's phone buzzed on the table and Miu picked it up without thinking, Lena glanced over and nodded without interrupting her sentence.
Miu looked at the screen.
The message was from Oom.
She read it.
She read it again.
hey lena
you're like the best kisser in the friend group right
can you help me improve
maybe show me how
Miu set the phone face down on the table careful not to accidentally crack the screen, which has been very tempting to do after reading that message.
Her brother looked at her from across the table with a smile.
Miu put a spoonful of food in her mouth and chewed it and thought about absolutely nothing, especially not what she was going to say to Oom the next time she saw her. She thought about this so hard that she accidentally deleted the messages.
After lunch, walking back upstairs, Lena asked her what Oom's message had been.
Miu had a small internal debate. "Something about Bam, I think," she said. "Maybe she got shy about it."
Lena nodded slowly. "I'll check on Bam."
They went back to Miu's room. Lena sat on the bed and watched Miu pace one very small circle and then sit on the chair by the desk instead of the bed, which was unusual enough that Lena noticed it.
Lena tilted her head. Miu looked like she was thinking about an idea that was bothering her in a quiet way.
Lena shifted on the bed. She pulled her knees up and said, in a small and deliberately sweet voice, "Do you want me to stay again tonight?"
"No," Miu said.
Lena blinked.
"Oh," she said. "Okay. I can leave before dinner then-"
"No." Miu turned to face her. Her expression had shifted. There was something in it that looked a little like frustration and also, underneath that, one that looked a lot like a decision. "I mean yes. I mean." She stopped. "Let's go on a trip next weekend."
Lena stared at her. "Suddenly?"
"Yes. Just you and me." Miu looked at her steadily. "Anywhere our passports will take us."
Lena laughed, confused but not unhappy about it. "Okay, I guess I should go home to pack then." She stood up, stretching. "Should I bring clothes for hot weather? Cold? Do I need a bikini?"
Miu's brain went offline for exactly three seconds.
"Paris," she said. "Let's go to Paris."
Lena's whole face opened up. She stood there looking at Miu a smile "Okay," she said. "I'm leaving now. Bye. Love you."
She kissed Miu on the cheek, closer to the corner of her mouth than a normal cheek kiss really landed, and then she was picking up her bag and walking out the door.
Miu sat on the chair and held her own cheek and stared at the wall.
She stayed like that for quite some time.
Across the city, Lena arrived home, hugged her mother at the door, and told her parents that Miu had invited her to Paris. Her parents told her to pack well and be careful. Her father asked if it was cold there this time of year. Lena said she would check.
In her room, she called Bam on video.
"Hey," Bam said.
"First question," Lena said, setting the phone against her pillow and lying back. "Are you and Oom okay?"
Bam's expression went immediately wary. "What did she do?"
"Miu said she sent some messages but they got deleted before I could read them."
"It's probably another one of her bits," Bam said. "Don't worry about it."
Lena nodded, "Okay," she said. "Second thing." She looked at the ceiling. "Miu invited me to Paris."
Bam waited.
"Do you think," Lena started slowly. "Do you think she might, I don't know. Do something? Like, propose?"
Bam opened her mouth, closed it, and then said very carefully, "Do you want her to?"
"I mean." Lena turned on her side toward the phone. "We've known each other for seven years. We've been together for months now. It feels a little early maybe. But it's Miu. If it was Miu I wouldn't mind."
"Right," Bam said carefully.
"Although, to be fair, we haven't even kissed properly yet," Lena said. "So maybe that's the more realistic expectation."
Bam looked like she was holding back. She pressed her lips together for a second and then said, "When did you two become official again?"
"Bam!" Lena looked genuinely offended. "How do you not remember this? January 15th."
"Right," Bam said. "Yes. January 15th."
"You were there when we exchanged rings. Well, technically you were not there, but you knew about them."
"I knew about the rings," Bam agreed
"Okay so," Lena said, sitting up. "Maybe not a proposal. But maybe a first proper kiss in front of the Eiffel Tower? That's romantic, right?"
"That's extremely romantic," Bam said.
"I should wear something good then." Lena was already mentally going through her wardrobe. "Come shopping with me tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow," Bam said. "Yes. Fine."
Ginny drove them to the airport on the day of the trip. Oom had wanted to come. Jayna had also wanted to come. Bam had sent a single message to the group that said "absolutely not, you two have done enough" and that had settled the matter.
Ginny walked them in, squeezed them both once, and told them to check in regularly and to please have a good time.
"You are both very overdue for a good time," she said, which was a layered statement that Lena smiled at and Miu took at face value.
The airport had other plans.
Their luggage was missing. Not delayed. Not in the wrong terminal. Missing. The staff at the counter was apologetic in the smooth, practiced way of people who had delivered this kind of news many times before, and they could offer a report number and a tracking reference but they could not, at this time, tell them where the bags were.
Miu stood at the counter with her jaw tight.
Lena stood next to her and put her hand on Miu's back.
"Hey," she said quietly. "We still have our hand carry. Everything that really matters is in here."
"I planned this," Miu said. "I planned everything."
"And we are still here," Lena said. "In Paris. Together. The rest is just logistics." She moved closer and looked up at Miu. "Okay? Let's sit down, I'll call the insurance line and you can call your dad, maybe he has advice on dealing with the airline."
"This was supposed to be special," Miu said. "For you."
Lena looked at her for a long moment.
"For us," she said. "And it still is. Miu. We are in Paris and I am with you. That's already everything."
Miu was quiet.
"Now," Lena said, "the way I see it, you have already spent enough money. So now it is my turn. And I saw there is a Chanel store on the map."
Miu made a sound that was not quite a protest.
"We can buy some new clothes and we can still go everywhere you planned," Lena said. "Come on."
"Lena, that's too expensive-"
"Miu."
"Let me pay at least-"
"No, it's my turn."
"It is not your turn-"
"It is absolutely my turn, you have been paying for everything-"
"That's because I want to-"
"And now I want to-"
They were still debating it when they walked into the store, and when they walked out, and for most of the walk back to the hotel, and neither of them actually won because the store clerk had discreetly put the transaction through on Lena's card while Miu had turned to look at a display and by the time Miu realized it was done.
She complained about this for fifteen minutes and held Lena's hand the entire time.
The restaurant that Miu had researched and selected specifically because its reviews mentioned that it was not a tourist trap and had very good pasta and salad, was closed.
The lights were off and there was nobody inside.
Miu looked at the sign. She looked at it for a few seconds.
"Okay," Lena said.
"I checked," Miu said. "I checked the hours. I wrote them down."
"I know."
"It said-"
"I know," Lena said. "Listen. This is what we're going to do. We walk until we find a block with multiple restaurants and we go and read the menus outside each one and we pick the one that looks best. We order something small. If we don't like it we go somewhere else. It's fine. It's actually a little fun."
Miu looked at her. "You don't have to keep being nice about everything going wrong."
"I'm not being nice," Lena said. "I genuinely don't care that the restaurant is closed. I care that your face has been doing this," she mimicked a small, unhappy expression, "for the last ten minutes and I want to fix it." She bumped her shoulder against Miu's. "Also. Can I feed you while we eat?"
Miu looked at her for a beat. "Yes."
"Then nothing is ruined," Lena said simply.
They walked until they overheard a group of other tourists mention an open market a few metro stops away and they both looked at each other at the same moment and pulled out their phones and went to find it.
They spent the rest of the afternoon at the market, eating things on small plates that they passed back and forth, standing at counters or sitting on low walls, talking about how tiny the food portion is but still so costful. Miu bought something with hazelnuts because Lena mentioned offhandedly that it looked good. Lena found a stall selling macarons and tasted three different ones and fed each one to Miu before she ate a single one herself.
It was, despite everything, a very good afternoon.
They napped at the hotel after, both of them falling asleep faster than expected and waking up in the early part of the evening feeling rested. They washed up, changed into the new clothes, and went out again without any particular destination in mind.
They walked. They stopped to look at things without pressure. Miu took pictures when Lena wasn't paying attention and Lena pretended not to notice. They talked about the restaurants back home and the trip Bam was always talking about taking but never actually planned and the time Oom had started a new hobby and then simply abandoned it midway and acted confused when people brought it up.
They came to a small park, the kind that existed between blocks, just a few benches and some old trees but somehow with a very good lighting coming through them.
Lena slowed down.
She stopped walking.
Miu stopped beside her and turned to look.
Lena was facing her. She had an expression that Miu had not seen before, or maybe had seen and not known what it was. She looked a little nervous, which was unusual because Lena was not often visibly nervous. Her hands moved slightly at her sides.
"Hey," Lena said. "Can I... um."
She looked at Miu. She looked away for a second and then back.
"Can I kiss you?" she asked.
The sounds of the city continued somewhere at a distance. A breeze moved through the trees above them.
Miu's eyes wide and gave Lena a shy smile and said, "Yes"
Lena moved toward her slowly, like she was in no hurry and had all the time there was. She raised her hands to Miu's face, cupped her cheeks gently, and tilted her head. She paused with barely any space left between them and looked at Miu's eyes, not asking anything, just looking, and Miu nodded even though Lena hadn't said a word.
Lena closed the distance.
It was a soft kiss, unhurried and careful. They stayed in it for a moment and then separated, both of them a little breathless, both of them looking at each other with the slightly dazed expression of people who had just done something they had been thinking about for a long time without admitting it.
Miu reached out and took Lena's hand.
They stood there for another few seconds, smiling and not quite saying anything.
Then they started walking again.
Miu thought: that's the sign. That is the most obvious sign in the history of signs. I am going to ask her tomorrow in front of the Eiffel Tower and it is going to be perfect.
Lena thought: finally. Finally. And it was just as good as she had imagined. Their first kiss had been perfect.
Back in Bangkok, Bam sent a message into the group chat that did not include Lena and Miu.
So Lena thinks she and Miu are already dating
She thinks they have been for months
Oom replied with three consecutive exclamation marks and then: i KNEW it. i have always known it
Bam replied: No you didn't
Oom replied: i knew it in spirit
Jayna sent a string of emojis.
Ginny replied: what do you mean she thinks they're dating
Bam explained about January 15th, the rings, what Lena had told her on the phone.
Bam: Does Miu know any of this, Gin?
Ginny: no. Miu isn't sure if Lena likes her back and the Paris trip is her plan to officially ask Lena out
Oom: this is the most incredible thing that has ever happened
Jayna: i contributed to this. this outcome has my fingerprints on it
Ginny: you and oom contributed a 5k bet and some very irresponsible scheme.
Oom: the bet was a gesture of faith
Bam: I hope they figure it out without anyone getting hurt
Ginny: same
Oom: they will. they're idiots but they're idiots who love each other
Nobody disagreed with this.
Miu did not sleep very well that night, which was unusual for her. She lay in the dark listening to Lena breathe beside her, as she ran through the next day in her head.
She had a plan. By tomorrow evening, if everything went reasonably well, she would ask Lena to be her girlfriend. She would do it in front of the Eiffel Tower, which was admittedly a cliche, but she knew that Lena loves romantic moments and what Lena wants, Lena will get.
She was nervous, really nervous, which was different from her usual feeling. She was the kind of person who could walk into a difficult meeting or a hard conversation without her hands shaking. But this was Lena. Lena was different from everything else and had been for a long time, which was maybe the reason it had taken this long.
She closed her eyes and finally fell asleep somewhere near two in the morning.
The second day started better than the first.
The restaurant that Bam had recommended had an address that actually existed and food that was very good, the kind that made you stop talking between bites. Miu and Lena ate slowly and argued about which dish was better and shared bites across the table and ordered an extra pastry to split just because.
The museum was everything it was supposed to be. The shops were good. At no point did anything go missing or close unexpectedly or any mishap at all.
By evening they were walking toward the Tower, and Miu could see it ahead, lit up the way it always looked in pictures, which she had always assumed was a slight exaggeration and turned out not to be. There were people everywhere. Couples, mostly, the way Paris in the evening is mostly couples, leaning against the railings and sitting on the grass and taking photographs with their arms around each other.
She watched Lena look at the Tower and felt something in her chest that was almost painfully fond.
Lena's eyes moved to her.
"What?" Lena said, smiling a little.
"Nothing," Miu said. "Come here."
She led them to a spot where the crowd thinned out a little, not entirely private but less surrounded, and she stopped and turned to face Lena.
Lena looked at her. Her expression shifted, became a little quieter, like she understood that something was about to happen.
Miu took in a deep breath, "Can I say something?" Miu asked.
"Yes," Lena said.
"I have admired you," she started, "for a long time. Before we were even friends. I used to see you from across the room and think that whoever got to know you was going to be very lucky." She paused. "And then I got to know you, and I found out that you are funnier than I expected. And more stubborn. And that you have opinions about things I never would have guessed you had opinions about."
Lena laughed once, softly.
"And somewhere in the middle of all of that," Miu continued, "I stopped thinking of being close to you as something that happened. I started wanting it. I wanted to be the one you called first. I wanted to be there for the small things, not just the big ones. I wanted to be the reason you turned your head in a crowd." She looked at her steadily. "I am a little possessive. I know that. I know I can be confusing and sometimes I hold things in too long instead of saying them. It will not always be perfect. But if you give me the chance, I will spend every day making sure you know exactly how important you are."
Lena was very still. Her eyes were bright.
"Lena," Miu said. "Will you be my girlfriend?"
The silence lasted only a second.
But it was the strangest second.
Lena's expression went through several things in quick succession. Touched. Happy. Confused. Something that was calculating in a quiet, almost careful way.
"Miu," she said slowly.
Miu waited.
"Are you asking me," Lena said, each word placed with care, "to be your girlfriend. Right now."
"Yes," Miu said.
"Right now," Lena said again.
"Yes, Lena, If you-"
"Miu." Lena looked at her, and her voice was very gentle, "I thought we already were."
The Tower was still lit up behind them. Somewhere nearby a couple was laughing at something. The breeze was cool.
Miu's knees did feel weak that they had not done before.
Lena caught her by the elbow.
"What?" Miu said. "How. When."
"January 15th," Lena said.
Miu stared at her.
"You brought the rings," Lena said. "You told me you wanted to be with me forever. You said I made you feel like you could breathe properly."
"I," Miu started. "I did say those things."
"Yes."
"And I did bring the rings."
"Yes."
"Lena." Miu pressed both hands flat against her own cheeks, which was a habit she had when she was overwhelmed and had nowhere useful to put the feeling. "I saw those rings and I thought they were perfect for us. I said those things because I meant them. I didn't know that counted as-" she gestured vaguely at the air between them- "that."
Lena looked at her for a long moment.
Then she started laughing.
A real loud one and Miu looked at her and then looked away and then started laughing too, and they stood there in front of the Eiffel Tower laughing at each other like two people who had just discovered something that was both wonderful and completely absurd.
"Are we," Lena managed.
"Yes," Miu said.
"Stupid?"
"Almost.. certainly," Miu said.
They laughed for another moment, subsiding slowly into smiles that stayed.
Miu touched her own cheeks again, lightly this time. "Okay," she said. "Okay. Can we agree that I already had the chance and simply didn't know it, and we start over from right now? And from right now I will treat you exactly the way I should have been treating you, properly, intentionally, every single day?"
Lena tilted her head. "Miu. You have been doing that already."
"Lena."
"I mean it. You have been making me feel like this for months and you didn't even know you were doing it. Imagine what it will be like now that you're actually trying."
Miu looked at her. She felt very many things at once and did not have a clean word for any of them.
"Can we do it properly still?" Miu asked. "Can I ask you? I want to ask you. I have been rehearsing."
"You want to record a video?" Lena teased.
"No, Lena-"
"We can ask the couple over there to film it-"
"Lena."
"I'm listening."
"Lena," Miu said. "Will you be my girlfriend?"
Lena smiled. The Tower was behind her, the city was around her, and she looked at Miu the way she always looked at Miu, like the sunshine that she needs in her life.
"A hundred percent yes," she said.
"Good," Miu said. "Now ask me."
Lena raised her eyebrows and laughs. "You want me to ask you."
"I want to say a hundred percent back. Ask me."
"Miu," Lena said, absolutely delighted by this, "will you be my girlfriend?"
"A hundred percent," Miu said. "Yes. Absolutely. Without question."
Lena laughed again, softer this time. She took a step closer to Miu.
"Now," she said, "I've been very patient. I have been patient for months, in fact, which you now know was even longer than I thought. And I kissed you yesterday in that park and it was wonderful but that was me doing the work." She reached up and tucked a piece of hair behind Miu's ear. "So I'm just going to stand here," she said, "and let you do the math."
Miu looked at her. Slightly confused, then figured it out after a few seco
She took the half step remaining between them, put her hand along Lena's jaw, and kissed her.
It was different from the park. The park had been tentative and careful and new. This one had something behind it, all the months of almost and the seven years of before that, the rings and the sleepovers and the nights on the couch and the thousand small moments that had been something other than friendship for longer than either of them had been willing to say.
When they separated, they were both very quiet.
"You owe me months of that," Lena said, eventually.
"I know," Miu said.
"I'm going to collect."
"I know," Miu said again, and she was smiling. "I know."
Lena took her hand and they stood there for a little while, looking at the Tower, not in a hurry to go anywhere.
After a while, Lena turned to her. There was something in her expression that was mischievous and warm at the same time, a combination that Miu knew very well.
"Ready?" Lena said.
"For what?"
"Three seconds," Lena said. "I'll count."
Miu understood, somehow, exactly what she meant.
"One," Lena said.
"You're going to make this a competition," Miu said.
"Two."
"That's so childish, Lena."
"Three."
And at the same time, like a sentence they had been finishing for each other for seven years without quite knowing the words, they both said it.
"I love you."
And then they both started laughing.
Later on
Lena was on top of Miu, pressing soft kisses along her neck. Then she stopped.
"Wait. Miu, we shared a bubble bath just last month, and you still didn't realize we're together?" Lena asked, and Miu let out a pained groan.
"I didn't!" Miu pouted.
"Did you think I do that with just anyone?" Lena pressed.
"We were in bikinis. It was basically like being in a pool. Besides, you told me you and Bam used to take baths together all the time," Miu defended herself.
"I said we shared bath bombs. As in, the product. I bought them in bulk. So that's why you were being too shy," Lena explained.
"Will you stop teasing me already?" Miu huffed.
Lena was about to lean in again, then she paused.
"What about your parents? Did they think we weren't dating as well?" Lena asked.
"Lena, I don't want to think about my parents right now," Miu said.
"But your dad-" Lena started, and Miu glared at her.