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Noelle couldn’t sleep. Too much had happened today. The whole thing with her mom, hearing Dess’ guitar again, Susie saying she’ll take her to the festival (what if she didn’t mean it in the way Noelle thinks she means it? What if Noelle makes a fool of herself?!)…
Ugh, it was just too much! She didn’t like this!
She checked her clock. It was 1 in the morning, far later than when she usually stayed up. She considered watching TV or writing some blog posts, but couldn’t manage to get herself up off her bed to grab her remote or sit at her computer. Her legs felt wobbly, thinking back to when she was on the couch with Susie.
“Noelle…”
Ugh, it was almost like she could hear her voice. She couldn’t get her mind off of when Susie offered to watch Blood Crushers with her. Just the thought of sitting next to her, eating snacks, holding her and burying her face in Susie’s shoulder during the scary parts…
“Noelle? Hello?”
She couldn’t stop thinking about her! That gorgeous, rough voice just ringed through her ears, keeping her up. She wanted Susie so bad. She wanted to go on little dates, and have sleepovers, and kiss her, and —
“Noelle!”
— Ugh, she was so obsessed with that big dumb lizard! It was embarrassing! It was almost like she could really hear her, just outside her bedroom. She huffed, grabbing a pillow and squeezing it.
“Noelle, I can see you’re awake! Seriously, it’s cold out here!”
…
Noelle was beginning to consider that Susie’s voice was, in fact, not in her head. She turned to face the window, and - lo and behold - there Susie was, clinging to the window as she could slip off of the roof at any second. Her right hand was clenched, seemingly holding something that she was pressing against the window frame. It was too hard to tell what, though.
“S- Susie?! What’re you doing?!” Noelle yelled, before covering her mouth and beginning to whisper, “Why are you here?”
Susie knocked on the window with her knee, and Noelle shuffled out of bed to open it and let her crawl in. As Susie made her way into the room, she fumbled around with the curtains and got stuck in them for a moment. Noelle stepped back and quietly giggled, watching as Susie got caught in the fabric, obviously trying her best to go against her nature and not rip them. She didn’t wanna ruin Noelle’s stuff.
Then Noelle noticed something drop out of the lizard’s claws and onto the floor. She squinted, getting her phone and turning on the flashlight.
“… It’s some flowers,” Susie blurted out, scratching her stomach a bit, “To, uh, make up for earlier.”
“Oh! Oh, wow..! Aw, Susie, you didn’t have to!” Noelle squealed, picking the bouquet up and rushing to turn the lights on in the room so she could see them better.
“You looked really disappointed earlier when I ate that flower. I didn’t realise you liked eating them too, haha…” she shrugged, trying her best to seem nonchalant, “So, like, yeah. There you go. A whole bouquet to snack on.”
Noelle blinked at her, then looked down at the flowers again. They were pretty. She wasn’t much of an expert on flowers, but there seemed to be… narcissus, maybe? She didn’t recognise any of them besides those, though.
“Thank you, Susie,” she blushed, biting her bottom lip as she looked up at the larger girl with wide eyes.
The two of them went quiet for a moment, just staring at each other.
“Is that all you wanted to come here for?” the doe asked, tilting her head.
“Uh… uh, no, no, I wanna…” Susie coughed, averting her gaze to the carpet, “I need to ask something.”
“Y- yeah? Go ahead.”
“Tomorrow… At the festival…”
“… Yeah?”
“Are we going as friends?”
“…”
Noelle didn’t respond. She knew what she wanted to say, but her mouth wouldn’t move.
“Sorry, this was stupid, I’ll go back home-“ Susie started mumbling, turning towards the window.
“I don’t wanna be your friend,” Noelle blurted out.
Susie turned to face her again, looking hurt. Noelle squealed, tightly squeezing the bouquet.
“As- as in I want to be more..!” Noelle shrieked out, words coming before she could properly think, “I want to be more than friends with you, and I’ve thought this for a really long time, and I kept wanting to kiss you today but I just kept getting nervous, and—“
She dropped the bouquet, falling into a kiss as Susie grabbed her waist and pulled her in. Her stomach swirled as she began to stand on her tippy-hooves to reach Susie’s snout.
“That- that felt good,” Susie pulled away, looking at Noelle with a bug-eyed stare.
“Yeah…” Noelle breathily responded, before grabbing Susie’s hands and pushing her down on her bed.
Susie awkwardly kissed the girl, obviously inexperienced and unsure of what to do. She held Noelle’s hips to get her to sit on her lap, which just made the two of them even more flustered. They kept taking short breaks to stop and stare at the other, eyes filled with a warmth that neither of them had seen in a long time.
“I like this,” the lizard mumbled breathily, kissing Noelle’s cheek and holding her close for a hug.
“… Me too,” the doe giggled out, kissing the girl’s neck in response.
Noelle was shocking herself with how forward she was being. Something about seeing Susie so awkward and sweaty and cute because of her just seemed to flip a switch she’d never known was even there.
Susie’s tail began to wag, and she flopped down onto her back, taking Noelle down with her as Noelle laid her head on Susie’s chest.
“Can I sleep here tonight?” Susie asked.
“Only if we get you out of here before my mom wakes up,” Noelle responded.
“Cool, thank you,” Susie began to stroke Noelle’s hair, “Are we girlfriends now?”
“… I don’t know. I think maybe just go for a few more dates and see how we feel?”
“That’d be nice…”
Noelle quickly pranced off the bed to turn the lights off again. By the time she got back, Susie was already half-asleep. Susie looked at her with half-lidded eyes, reaching her arms out for Noelle to lay back down on Susie. Noelle smiled warmly, going back to her spot.
Susie yawned, squeezing Noelle gently.
“Are you falling asleep?” Noelle asked, nervous hands holding her face.
“Shh… N- no…”
Susie’s eyes began to struggle to stay open. Noelle kissed the girl’s forehead.
“Go to sleep, Susie.”
“Yes, ma’am…”
Within a minute, Susie was out cold and all Noelle could hear was her snore. Noelle cuddled up next to her and set an alarm for 6:30 so they’d wake up before her mom.
There was a lot to think about. How would she tell her mom? Would Kris be happy for her? What if Susie loses interest? She began to panic a bit, heart racing. She’s never had a girlfriend before! Well, there was a thing with Catti, but that doesn’t count! What if everyone judges them?
Susie’s sleeping form squeezed her again, releasing the tension in Noelle’s body. She breathed in, and stared at Susie’s face as her expression changed from anxious to calm.
“Thank you, Susie”, she softly kissed the girl once again, burying her head in her neck as she began to fall asleep, “My hero...”
Susie’s tail wagged a bit at that. Noelle smiled.
She liked this.