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Denise tilted her head left and right doing her best to get a look at every angle of her face to make sure she hadn’t missed any spots or smudged anything after she had finally finished putting on her makeup after what had felt like hours.
The glittery light blue eyeshadow was finally sitting just right after having to restart and fix it three times. Three times! She was already shaky with nerves, and the effort it took to fix the eyeshadow only made her shaking hands worse. Not to mention the eyeliner! Ugh!
With a heavy sigh, releasing air she could now let go of after getting the hardest parts of her look done, she grabbed her mascara from its place to the right of the mirror. She leaned forward and started to apply the thick substance in smooth glides over her eyelashes, starting with the top and finishing with the bottom. The mascara closed with a slick pop when the lid was twisted back into place.
Next, and last, was the lipstick. Denise picked a neutral blush pink that was just enough to be noticeable and not take away from the meticulous work she had decorated her eyes with.
Admiring the final look Denise let a proud smirk play across her lips as she absorbed the final product of hours of hard work. The makeup sits perfectly, not thick enough to feel suffocating yet still providing an even toning layer to hide any discrepancies.
Her thick and curly, dark blond hair is finally behaving and staying in the half up style, pinned up with the strongest hair-tie she could find, bobby pins encompassing all of her hopes and dreams in their tiny metal fingers, and an atomically concerning amount of hairspray.
A sharp whistle startles Denise out of her absorbed daze. Through her mirror’s reflection she spots her eldest brother leaning against her doorframe, an eyebrow raised in an appraising gaze. She turns around in her chair to level an unamused glare at him.
“Looking good, are you done or are you actually planning on putting the dress on?” He huffs amusedly.
“Oh, screw you, Luke. I didn’t want to risk getting anything on it or ruining it,” Denise bites out.
“How are you going to get it on now that you are all pretty?” Luke inquires, a bland look painting his face as the tough saying ‘what were you thinking, dummy’.
Denise giggles and shakes her head at her brother’s naivety, “I can step into the dress then slide it up. It doesn’t have to go over my head.”
Luke tilts his head, confusion scrunching his face tightly, “will it fit? Isn’t the waist really small?”
Denise barks out a laugh, too amused by the visual of presented before her: Luke’s golden blonde hair flopping to the side his head tilted to, looking no different than two floppy dog ears not unlike Nancie’s retriever whenever they went to her house to help with any farm work.
“It has a corset back. All I have to do is loosen the string until it will fit,” she explains, a softly amused expression on her face.
“Oh,” realization blooms across his face, eyes widening and jaw dropping slightly.
Denise stands from her chair, stretching her arms above her head while rolling up onto her toes. Pops and cracks echo through the room from her joints and back. A guttural sigh leaves her as her body relaxes, limbs rag dolling to her sides. Striding across the room, she slides past Luke and out the door gliding down the stairs to the main floor.
Luke comes down after her, following her to the closet on the back porch. Denise opens the closet and grabs the large opaque pink bag off the rack. She shoves it onto Luke, forcing him to hold it up as she unzips it and pulls a light blue dress out. She removes the bag from the hanger and tosses it aside then replaces the dress still on the hanger back into Luke’s raised hand.
She sets to work loosening the ribbon on the back of the dress until it falls wide apart.
“Will you tie it back up for me, please?” Denise asks, wide blue eyes staring up at Luke, pleading.
“I’ll try my best.”
She hops a little in her brief excitement and strips off her shirt and shorts, tossing them alongside the bag. She takes the dress off the hanger and gingerly steps into it before pulling it up and slipping the straps over her shoulders.
She turns her back to Luke, “okay, just start slowly tightening the ribbon -and keep it neat! I don’t want it twisting at all.”
Luke nods his head even though she won’t see it. “I gotcha.”
He starts from the bottom and slowly pulls the ribbon tighter, untwisting it as he was asked to do. Once he reaches the top he tugs the loose strands tighter.
“Is that good or do you need it tighter?”
“It’s perfect.”
Luke huffs his approval and ties the ribbon into a neat and secure bow. He steps back and puts his hands on his hips, chest puffing with pride at his handiwork.
She turns around twisting each way, checking its security. When it doesn’t shift or slip, she nods her head in a sharp downstroke in her approval.
The light blue color complements her tan skin, making her freckles pop across her shoulders. The flower lace creeps over the straps and down the bodice to frame the breast and blanket the waist in a thin layer of white. A satin skirt flows to the ground, a layer of tulle covers the whole skirt and another layer accents it, framing the front in flowing fabric that starts short beneath the front of the bodice and reaches the ground at the sides in gentle waves.
Knock! Knock!
Luke and Denise both look down the hallway to the front door where the two sharp knocks originated. Denise perks up in excitement before she's holding up her dress and rushing down the hall to the door.
She pulls the door open quickly a smile breaking across her face.
"Andrea!"
A tall woman stood outside the doorway, wearing a deep burgundy dress with a slit splitting the skirt just above mid-thigh. Her broad shoulders are framed by the off-the-shoulder straps and modest breast. Her tan skin compliments the dress, the thick layer of freckles sprawling across her shoulders and neck are gentle accents branded on her skin.
Denise stepped aside, opening the door wider, "Come in!"
Andrea nodded and stepped inside. In her hands she held a small bouquet filled with forget-me-nots, dark red lilies, white roses, and some angel hair fern pieces to frame the flowers. The flora is wrapped together with white ribbon tied into a perfect bow. She holds them out once the door is closed.
"I got these for you." Despite her stoic appearance, her words are said shyly with her head tilted down to avoid eye contact.
Denise's smile softens as she takes the flowers from the taller girl, their fingers tips brushing before Andrea pulls her hands away as if burned. Denise brings the bouquet up to her nose, still looking at Andrea, and takes a quick different of the fragrance the floral arrangement gives off.
"Thank you, they're lovely." Denise holds out her hand to Andrea, "help me get them into vase?"
Andrea eyes the hand with a skeptical glare for a moment before she reaches her own hand out and intertwines their fingers together. She glanced up through her eyelashes at Denise then looks away again.
Denise grins and pulls Andrea to the kitchen to search for a vase. Luke peaks around the doorway and smirks before he disappears further into the house to leave them alone.
Denise pushes Andrea to sit in a chair at the dining table with the flowers resting in her lap as she rummages through one of the cabinets next to the sink. She pulls out a decorated crystal vase with a flared mouth and fills it halfway before bringing over to the table and setting it down in the center.
She takes the flowers and slips them out of the ribbon before placing them inside the vase. The ribbon is slipped over the base and settled in the center of the body.
Denise leans back and smiles, pleased by her work. She turns to Andrea and grabs hold of her hands.
"There, it's perfect," she places a kiss on the knuckles of each hand "let me go put my heels on and then we can head out okay?"
"Okay." Andrea affirms, a blush washing over her cheeks.
Denise rushes up the stairs, grabs her white heels and slips them on. Her journey back down the stairs is slower yet steady.
Andrea waits by the door to the house for her girlfriend. A soft look in eyes as she silently looks the shorter woman.
Denise stops in front of her, looking up at the taller woman's face through her eyelashes. Big blue eyes shining in the warm light of the entryway.
Andrea raises her hand and brushes her knuckles gently across Denise's cheek, the blond leans into the soft caress with fluttering eyes.
"You're beautiful." It's said so softly that Denise is sure that if she weren't standing as close as she was she would have missed it.
"I'm not the only one. I mean, look at you. This is the only time we get to see each other so dressed up. It feels special." Denise grins, blush engulfing her ears in bright red.
Andrea ducks her head, attempting to avoid making eye contact. Denise settles a hand under Andrea's jaw and tilts her head, as she ducks into Andrea's line of sight.
"I love you. Y'know that right? More than anything." Determination settles in Denise's voice as deep blue lock with deep umber.
"I love you, too," drifts in the space between them, resonating deeply in its rarity.
Denise raises her other hand, wrapping it around the back of Andrea's neck and pulling her down. Andrea follows willing until only a hairsbreadth left between their lips as they search each other's eyes.
Denise pushed the rest of the distance between them and connected them in a gentle brush of lips. For only a moment that felt like an eternity where only the two of them existed, they reassured their love through the steady movement.
Denise pulls away, making Andrea whine and chase after her. Denise rests her linked hands around Andrea's neck and strokes her thumbs beneath her girlfriend's ears.
She giggles at the display of smeared lipstick over pouty lips. "Let's get going before we're late."
Andrea hums in disappointment but pulls away as well. She turns around and opens the door, stepping aside to let Denise out first before following behind out into the chilled evening air.
The night has only just begun, but Andrea certainly can't say that she's waiting for it to end as she closes the door, grabs the blonde's hand and walks into the night beside the girl she loves.