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paige was mad at azzi.
it started in the late morning. they were lazing together in bed when paige told her she invited jess and lan over for a movie night. she felt a huff of breath against her neck before azzi lifted her head from her shoulder, blinking slowly, the haze of sleep still wrapped around her.
“fine,” azzi said. she dropped her head back down for a brief moment, pressing her forehead against paige’s cheek. then she got up, the blanket slipping off of her, and headed to the bathroom. paige listened to the muffled sounds of azzi’s footsteps against the carpet and sighed at the ceiling. azzi didn’t kiss her before leaving. that meant she was irritated.
paige pulled the blanket up and waited.
she heard the toilet flush, the tap run, and then the door creak open, and she looked up to see azzi in the bathroom doorway, her curls frizzy from sleep, t-shirt hanging off one shoulder. the morning light painted her skin golden, her shirt swallowed her frame, and she yawned widely, which made paige yawn too. paige stretched her arms out, beckoning her back into bed, pouting just a little bit to soften her. azzi paused and leaned against the doorway. she bit her lip, brows furrowing as she looked at paige thoughtfully. then she went back to the bathroom, ran the tap again, and crossed the room to the bed.
“hey–” paige scrunched up her nose as azzi flicked a few drops of cold water in her face. azzi giggled, softer than her regular laugh, voice still a little sleep-rough. she swung a leg over paige’s waist before she could retaliate, leaning down to kiss her, one hand braced on the pillow beside paige’s head.
paige pulled her in closer, an arm looping around her neck, another finding its way to her ass. she kissed her back in the curtain of her curls, slow, unhurried, forgetting what she’d been sighing about.
azzi pulled back after a moment to look at her. her eyes were still a little puffy, her curls falling forward around her face, lips slightly curved. paige reached up and traced her thumb slowly over her mouth, following the shape of it. azzi let her, staying still, that same thinking-look settling over her face—the one where she was deciding something, or just watching paige the way she sometimes did, like she was trying to drink in as much of her as she could.
"just waking you up," azzi said finally, soft against paige's thumb.
"mean," paige murmured.
azzi's smile deepened at the corner. she stayed there for another second, and then she settled herself back down under the blanket, her weight warm and familiar on top of paige.
outside the window, two birds were trading short sweet notes back and forth. azzi exhaled slowly through her nose, her shoulders dropping, the last of the tension from getting up draining out of her all at once. paige felt it go.
there were always two types of birds outside their window; the sweet ones that sang to each other in the early morning, and the other kind, the ones that squawked and rattled and made azzi groan into her pillow and pull the blanket over her head. today they had the sweet ones, thankfully. azzi's breathing evened out, slow and easy, her nose tucked back into paige's neck like she was considering falling asleep again.
“how late?” azzi said finally, the words mushed into her shoulder.
“like, eight or nine-ish.”
“hmm.”
“it’ll be fun,” paige said.
“hmm.”
paige slid a hand under azzi’s t-shirt, rucking it up to scratch her back lightly. azzi shivered, pressing closer, and paige smiled.
“sorry,” she said, pressing a quick apologetic kiss to the top of her head. “should’ve told you earlier. or asked first.”
"'s fine,” azzi said, pressing a matching kiss on her neck.
it wasn't entirely fine, they both knew that, but it also wasn't a big deal, they both knew that too, and that was enough for the morning.
soon, azzi would force herself out of bed first, getting up to make eggs the way she liked them before paige could complain about her adding too much spinach. paige would distract her as much as she could while she made them, hovering at the counter, wrapping her arms around azzi’s waist, kissing her cheek until azzi turned around to kiss her properly.
then paige would get shooed away to cut some apples and strawberries on the side, and she’d take her time with it to make sure she didn’t slice a finger off in the process too. azzi would make fun of her uneven apple slices but she’d steal one to snack on while the eggs cooked anyway. and by noon it would be mostly forgotten, a small friction smoothed out over the course of the day until they slotted together neatly again.
paige had decided early on when they first started dating, that it was one of her favorite things about them. that she could be annoyed with azzi and love her the same, that azzi could be annoyed with her and love her the same, the fact that both of them knew it about each other and that they’d always settle back to the same balance even if the scales temporarily dipped to one side or the other.
azzi peeled herself off paige's shoulder eventually, squinting in annoyance at the light coming through the curtains.
"gonna make eggs," she announced, and climbed out of bed.
"can you make me some too?" paige called after her.
azzi paused in the hallway. "...yes," she said, in a tone that said she'd already been planning to, and was now annoyed that it seemed like she was going to do it because paige had asked.
paige smiled to herself.
so it didn't start this morning.
it started this afternoon; they were at the grocery store getting snacks. their cart was almost filled to the brim, azzi’s coffee bear ice-cream sitting on top of a pile of quinoa chips and lightly-salted popcorn bags. a very pastel haul of items, in paige’s opinion.
“baby,” she called out, waving around the dark purple bag with bright yellow lettering in her hands.
azzi ignored her. she kept pushing the cart forward, occasionally picking up another pastel-colored bag, reading the ingredients on the back, then putting it back on the shelf.
paige jogged to catch up with her. “az,” she said, and tapped on her shoulder.
azzi turned around. “what?”
she held out the bag with two hands, straightening the edges. “takis.”
azzi looked at paige, frowning, and then at the cart filled with overly healthy snacks. “we’ve already got takis at home, though.”
“but we’re almost out.” paige looked at the bag of blue chips in her hands forlornly. the takis at home were the red ones anyway, so it wasn’t like they were doubling up on the same flavor.
“because you eat them all in one sitting,” azzi said, already pushing the cart forward again. the back wheel was wobbly and azzi let out an irritated huff as the cart kept veering to the side.
paige stepped in quickly, covering azzi’s hand with her own and shifting her out of the way with her hip to take over driver duties. she held the takis between her index and her thumb, not yet putting them atop their groceries, but not ready to let go just yet. “you sneak some too, literally every time. you always say oh those are so bad for you and then you dip into my bag, so don’t even play.”
"they give me a tummy ache," azzi said indignantly. "so no, i don't."
"yeah, because we eat the whole bag in one sitting together. that's why your tummy hurts."
azzi rolled her eyes, but in a softer way than she would if she was properly annoyed, probably because she knew paige was right. she reached out and yanked the takis from where it was trapped between paige’s hand and the cart handle without looking at her, dropping the bag on top of their growing pile of snacks.
paige smiled and azzi walked ahead of her, pointedly not smiling.
“but we’re gonna start portioning better,” azzi said, and paige nodded dutifully, following after her.
that was fine too.
it was also fine when azzi made her carry both reusable bags up the stairs even though they were roughly the same weight and paige was the one who suggested splitting them evenly. and it was fine when azzi claimed the shower first—not letting paige join her because we just had sex and i wanna actually get clean as her reasoning—and used all the hot water. which she knew and apologized for immediately with her chin tucked down and her eyes slightly guilty, making it very difficult for paige to be annoyed about the hot water.
and it was mostly fine when azzi spent the hour before jess and lan arrived on her phone with one-word answers to whatever paige was talking about and periodically saying things like i just think it would have been nice to know earlier when there was a pause in conversation, which paige acknowledged each time with a yes, you're right, you're completely right, i should have told you sooner, i'm sorry, which azzi accepted with a nod and then brought up again twelve minutes later.
so actually, none of it was that bad.
but it actually started two hours ago.
jess and lan had arrived with drinks, lan's laugh carrying through the door, jess telling her to be quiet, lan laughing harder at being told to be quiet.
paige and azzi had already set out all the snacks, spread out in bowls on the coffee table in front of the tv. but they spent some time in the kitchen first, getting the drinks sorted, and catching up with each other. lan had a story about practice that kept branching into other stories. jess had opinions about something she'd watched recently that turned into a whole separate conversation, that turned into a heated debate about whether or not there were bears in dallas, texas. azzi leaned against the counter next to paige, their shoulders touching as paige argued with jess, and paige leaned back without thinking about it.
"okay, are we actually watching something tonight or," lan said eventually, looking between all of them.
"yes," azzi said, straightening. she grabbed her drink from the counter. "i've been ready for an hour."
"you were reorganizing the snack bowls for an hour," paige said.
"i was getting ready," azzi said, and walked into the living room, trailing after lan.
paige watched her go, eyes drifting a little—because azzi was wearing shorts, and paige was very attracted to said shorts. jess watched paige watch her go, and then paige looked at jess.
"shut up,” paige said, her ears heating up, knowing what she probably looked like from jess’s point of view.
"hey, i didn't say anything," jess said, already smiling, and followed azzi into the living room.
and when paige went to the living room, cheeks probably still pink, she saw azzi waiting for her, hovering between the big couch and the smaller loveseat. azzi looked at the loveseat, then she looked at paige. she sat down on the two-seater, stretched her legs across both cushions, and smiled to herself when she saw paige’s eyes widen in disbelief.
and that was when paige was mad at azzi.
not actually mad, though, because she knew what azzi was doing. it was a very specific kind of pettiness that paige had learned to recognize, it came with an air of innocence like she didn’t know what the issue was and a small suppressed smile that said she knew exactly what the issue was, and was azzi's version of i'm still a little annoyed but i'm also not going to make it a big deal about it. a punishment and a peace offering at the same time, and paige accepted it, but she didn’t have to enjoy it.
she sat down on the big couch next to jess with a thump, and gave azzi a squinty glare, which only made the smile on her face stretch wider. and then she reached for the remote on the table to pick a movie that she knew azzi would absolutely hate, because she could be petty too.
"ooh, yes, this one," lan said immediately, pointing at the screen.
"perfect," paige said as azzi pressed her lips together, face twisting up in annoyance.
they watched the movie. or paige watched the movie with one eye and watched azzi with the other—the way she tucked her hands into the sleeves of her hoodie, the way she laughed under her breath when something funny happened, the way she glanced over at paige every time something happened that she wanted to react to together, reflexive and unconscious, then quickly turned away to hide her smile when she saw paige was already looking at her.
it was unfair in paige’s opinion; azzi all comfortable and cozy and soft under the tv light, scrunched up on the couch, wrapped up in paige’s hoodie, but not in paige’s arms. very unfair. and the movie wasn’t even that good.
and then azzi fell asleep.
which, actually, paige was almost impressed. she lasted quite a long time, longer than lan at least, who had her mouth open and was snoring on the armchair across from azzi—maybe lan had absorbed some of azzi’s usual movie-induced sleepiness.
but paige watched as the inevitable happened; azzi blinking heavier, her head tipping sideways until it reached the armrest and stayed there, the yawn that came soon after. by the time they were halfway through the movie, azzi had completely passed out, cheek pressed into the cushion, curls coming loose around her face as the hood of paige’s hoodie fell back. her lips were slightly parted, chest rising and falling slowly as her brows furrowed at a loud noise from the movie, before smoothening out again.
paige watched her for another moment before getting up.
“‘m getting a blanket, you want one?” she asked jess, who already had the throw blanket covering her lap.
jess looked at her confused, and shook her head. “i’m good, thanks.” and then she laughed at something happening on the screen because she’d been actually watching the movie, unlike paige.
paige went to the hallway closet, rifling through the sheets and blankets stored there before pulling out a nice fluffy purple one, big enough for two people. perhaps two people on a two-seater couch watching a movie.
she walked back to the living room, blanket in hand, and stood in front of azzi for a moment, mentally doing the math on how she was going to execute her plan. she got an arm under azzi's shoulders and azzi stirred, made a small unhappy sound, and paige paused to make sure she didn’t wake up, before she lifted her up a bit higher.
it was a slightly awkward fit; paige had to slip in under her almost diagonally with her back to the armrest, then unfold the blanket over them because she forgot to do it before.
but eventually azzi’s cheek found her chest, one hand loosely fisting paige’s shirt, and paige wrapped her arms around her, pushing the curls away from her face to get a better view.
under the dim light of the tv, completely asleep, unguarded, features smoothed out, azzi looked beautiful. she always looked beautiful to paige, but there was a different kind of beauty to her when she was sleeping—the small line between brows was gone, dark lashes dusting her cheeks, mouth soft.
and paige had a problem, a very specific compulsion that had chased her ever since she’d known azzi. which was that azzi asleep produced in her an almost overwhelming urge to do several things all at once—press her mouth to her cheek, bite her ear very gently, squeeze her nose, kiss the corner of her jaw, wake her up just to look at her properly, to have azzi look at her. because she loved the way azzi looked at her.
and she wanted to do all of these things but she did none of them, because she had years of practice at this point and enough self control to not wake up her girlfriend just to bite her ear.
instead, she settled for reaching up slowly, carefully, and hovering the pad of her thumb just above azzi's lips without touching, close enough to feel the warmth of them, the slight exhale of her breath. there was a sensation there, right at the edge of contact, the buzz of an almost. she traced the shape of azzi's lips without landing, but she thought she could still feel the softness. maybe because she already knew what it felt like against her thumb, against her mouth.
azzi didn't stir. her lips parted slightly and paige took her hand back, watching for a moment. then, she traced her cheek instead.
she wondered distantly if azzi could feel it somehow, if the almost of it registered somewhere in her sleep. if she liked it. she did know that azzi if woke up right now and saw paige doing what she was doing, she’d laugh, mumble “creep,” at her affectionately, then bury her face in paige’s shoulder to hide her blush.
paige looked up at the tv, a loud crash from it distracting her for a moment. then she felt eyes on her.
jess was watching her from the other end of the couch, the movie entirely forgotten, chin resting in her hand. when paige looked at her she pressed her lips together like she'd been caught, and then gave up on hiding it entirely. she mouthed at paige: so cute.
paige flipped her off.
jess grinned and mouthed it again, adding an awww and punctuating it with her fingers curving into a heart.
paige pointed at the tv. jess looked at the tv for maybe four seconds and then looked back at paige with the same expression. paige exhaled through her nose, which was as close to a laugh as she was willing to give her, and looked back down at azzi.
she was already looking forward to tomorrow morning, she realized, when azzi would blink awake and find her, and look at her.
tomorrow, paige would apologize properly, a real one, a sorry i do this sometimes, sorry i assume you'll just be fine with things, i know it annoys you and i'll do better. and azzi would say i know, and then i'm sorry for being grumpy all day, and paige would say you weren't that bad, and azzi would say yes i was, i know you hate cold showers, and paige would say okay yes, but that just means you owe me a shower together now, and azzi would laugh and then they'd kiss.
she pulled the blanket a little higher around azzi's shoulder and settled back against the armrest.