Work Text:
”You're kidding, right?" Liz questioned, her eyebrows raised high in disbelief.
"Do I look like I'm kidding?" Elle countered passionately, her perfectly sculpted face contorted with worry.
"No…and that's…concerning," Liz replied
"Monica sprained her ankle yesterday," Elle informed
Liz blinked once, then twice.
"Okay,"
"And our regional competition is this Saturday!" Elle exclaimed, making dramatic gestures with her hands.
"And?" Liz prompted for Elle to continue.
"And we need another person! We don't have time to rework all of our formations!"
Liz paused for a moment. Why exactly was Elle telling her all of this? It wasn't going to change her decision.
"So you need another person, there are plenty of people that go to our school." Liz said
"Liz, I need you." Elle admitted honestly, her voice sincere.
There was a beat of silence that was intended to be filled. Liz instead opted to—like The Cranberries—let it linger. It gave her time to snuff out her racing heart caused by Elle’s words.
"Liz please!" Elle begged, reaching out to grab Liz's hands in desperation.
Sitting on her living room couch with evening light filtering through the window, Liz observed both of her hands held in Elle's. Her mind became laser focused on how soft the blond's hands were. She felt Elle fidget slightly with one of Liz's rings on her index finger. The contact caused sparks to go off in her mind.
Liz needed to get a grip. She needed to stop focusing on how perfectly Elle's hands molded to hers.
"I…" Liz started, but whatever words she had intended to say died in her throat.
Fucking Christ, what was going on with her?
"Please, I'll never ask you to go shopping with me again." Elle bargained, squeezing her hands slightly.
That was tempting honestly. No more trips to the mall that always turned into Elle trying to give Liz a makeover.
One day they had spent an hour in a perfume store upon Elle's insistence that Liz needed to find her 'signature scent'. Liz still shuddered at the memory to this day.
"Elle, I'm not a cheerleader," Liz stated, leaving no room for argument.
Somehow Elle found the room, wedging her way into Liz's metaphorical space.
"Everyone can be a cheerleader! It's all about your mindset." Elle countered with a smile.
Liz snorted and felt Elle release both of her hands. Liz's immediate feeling of disappointment was quickly replaced with fond surprise when Elle lightly hit Liz's shoulder with the back of her hand.
"I'm serious! Cheer is all about your attitude!" Elle protested
"Elle," Liz stated seriously, giving the girl a look.
"Don't look at me like that! It is!" Elle insisted.
Liz could swear she saw a light blush appear on Elle's cheeks. Maybe it was her imagination, it had been behaving oddly as of recent when it came to Elle.
"And why does it have to be me?" Liz posed the question to Elle, tilting her head ever so slightly and letting herself stare at the blond.
Big mistake on her part, in fact that may have been the most idiotic thing Liz had ever done. Because with the golden-hour glow making Elle's hair look like liquid gold, Liz was too mesmerized to think about anything else.
"I trust you," Elle responded earnestly, her blue eyes softening as they bore into Liz's.
It was utterly shameful how Liz found herself immediately willing to do anything. If whatever it was meant getting to see Elle's gaze soften like that again.
Liz felt like Elle was taking a sparkling pink bulldozer and plowing through every single wall she had crafted so carefully. She had spent years being a closed book to almost everyone in her life. Now Elle was here wanting to read every page.
"Even if I did agree—which I don’t—I can't dance." Liz remarked
Elle clapped her hands excitedly, letting out a squeal that had Liz instinctively reaching to cover her ears.
"I can totally teach you to dance!" Elle offered with much enthusiasm, her smile wide.
How was Liz supposed to tell Elle that she couldn't allow that to happen? Teaching one to dance required said people to be in close proximity, for hands to occasionally adjust one's posture.
Thoughts of Elle's hands on Liz's arms fixing their position. Their bodies close and their faces closer. Elle wouldn't notice Liz spacing out, she'd be too busy innocently instructing her. But Liz imagined how guilt would form at the pit of her stomach.
Because Elle in her determined state would miss the way Liz's eyes stared. Stared at her friend's perfect nose and soft lips. That close to Elle, Liz might even catch a whiff of her friend’s scented lipgloss she always talked about wearing.
Liz knew that if she found herself in that position, she wouldn't be able to focus on learning to dance. Her mind would be filled with thoughts of Elle. Thoughts that Liz shouldn't be having about her straight best friend.
She had to remember that Elle was into guys, exclusively, If that reminder wasn't constantly on repeat in the forefront of her mind, Liz would get hopeful. Hopeful that perfect Woods comma Elle from Los Angeles would fall for a jaded Seattle girl like Liz.
"I don't know if that's a—" Liz began weakly, but Elle was quick to interject.
"Nope, no excuses!" Elle insisted with a shining smile.
"And what if I'm…allergic to learning how to dance?" Liz sarcastically proposed
Elle rolled her eyes at the comment.
"Then you should have an EpiPen on standby." She replied
"What's this about an EpiPen?" Liz's mom asked, coming into the room with a plate of freshly baked cookies
"I was just telling Elle that—" Liz began
"That Liz had suddenly overcome her adverse allergy towards learning how to dance and will no longer need an EpiPen." Elle finished confidently, sitting up straight with her shoulders held high.
Her mom snorted at this, which made Elle's triumphant face melt into one of confusion and curiosity. Liz was too focused on watching the way her friend's face moved to think of how her mom might respond.
More accurately, how her mom would respond with something embarrassing about Liz.
Shit.
"You know I tried to get Liz to take ballet classes when she was younger…" Donna started
"And that's the end of that story." Liz quickly chimed in, shutting down her mom's trip down memory lane.
"Aw, no! I wanna hear the story!" Elle urged her mother to continue.
It was so sudden the way words poured out of Liz's mouth. The fear her mom would regurgitate some humiliating tale from years past and the nerves she had already been feeling because of Elle's presence was doing something to her.
"Would ya look at the time. How many days away did you say the competition was? We should really get started ASAP." Liz rambled, standing up abruptly from the couch.
Damn it. Just like that, Liz had agreed to help Elle. She would have never imagined a year ago that today she'd be agreeing to become a cheerleader, even if only temporarily.
Elle and her mother shared a warm laugh at Liz's expression of nerves. Liz found herself wishing she could capture the feeling that washed over her when Elle laughed along with her mother. It felt so domestic, so right.
How disgustingly romantic of her. She really needed to get her shit together.
—❥
Liz had spent quite a few evenings in her driveway spray painting protest signs with the smell of canned paint filling her nostrils. In her younger years she would spend hours coloring the pavement in sidewalk chalk art. Her hands and clothes ending up covered in the colored powder.
Never in a million years had she thought the space would be used to teach her a cheer routine.
It was a late-summer Thursday afternoon and school had gotten out roughly an hour ago. Elle stood in a hot pink tank top and tennis skirt, enthusiastically holding out a pair of pom-poms.
"Here! You should practice with them." She suggested with an encouraging smile.
Liz hesitantly took the pom-poms into her arms. She didn't exactly know how she was supposed to hold them. Instead opting to hold the streamer-bundles like a makeshift newborn.
"Alright, I'm gonna run through the routine with the music and then we can break it up into—" Elle began to confidently lay out her plans, pausing as she glanced over at Liz.
The same Liz that was still cradling the pom-poms in her arms. Standing awkwardly in her sleeveless band tee and cargo shorts. She probably looked pathetic, a feeling Liz absolutely hated.
"I completely forgot to show you how to hold them!" Elle exclaimed, rushing over to take the pom-poms out of Liz's hands
She separated the streamers on one of the pom-poms, revealing the small plastic cylinder they were attached to.
"Here." Elle offered gently, her voice light.
Liz stepped forward towards Elle, wrapping her hand around the streamer-less space. She caught a whiff of Elle's perfume in the afternoon breeze. The scent made her thoughts start to soften at the edges. It smelled sweet with a hint of floral elements.
Great, now Liz was moving into analyzing perfume territory.
Elle did the same streamer-separation technique with the other pom-pom and held it out for Liz to take. Liz had to force herself to reach out calmly, wrap her hand around the plastic cylinder, and not completely melt at the gentleness that Elle was treating her with.
Taking the other pom-pom from Elle, she stepped back and refocused her attention to the CD Elle had brought with the routine track on it.
"So….what song are we humiliating ourselves to?" Liz asked, attempting to shift back into her usual attitude.
Elle crossed her arms and breathed out through her nose.
"We are not humiliating ourselves! We are expressing school spirit!" She insisted
Liz gave a humorless laugh.
"Expressing school spirit by dancing provocatively." Liz deadpanned, trying to remain emotionally unavailable.
Elle rolled her deep blue eyes that sparkled with humor. She bent down to insert the CD into her boombox.
"You gotta let yourself have fun, Liz! Half of dancing is feeling the energy," Elle lectured her.
"And what exactly is the energy of this piece?" Liz questioned, an eyebrow raised as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Elle gave her a teasing smile, her lips upturned in such a way that had Liz having to force herself to breathe.
"I'll show you the dance and you can decide that for yourself!" Elle announced before pressing the play button.
Her friend moved to quickly pick up her pom-poms before standing tall, waiting for her musical cue to begin.
Liz watched the girl perform a series of elaborate arm movements, jumps, and kicks with such effortlessness. Elle looked like she was having the time of her life, as if the moves were carrying her on a fun roller coaster.
It was utterly mesmerizing to Liz. Watching the way her friend moved about the outdoor space with such confidence. Sure, Liz was no stranger to self-assuredness, but this was different.
Liz couldn't take her eyes off of Elle—and to be honest—she didn't want to. Elle's energy was magnetic and it was drawing Liz in more and more by the second. She hated the stupid song blaring from the boombox, but none of that mattered when Elle was the one dancing to it.
The blond finished with a flair, holding her dramatic pose until the last second of the song.
Liz gave a few slow claps, lips upturning into a small smirk without her realizing.
"Yeah…there's no way I'm learning that in two days." She told her friend
"Well, not with that attitude you won't!" Elle laughed
Liz rolled her eyes, what an Elle thing to say.
"So! Let's get started." Elle declared
She stepped in front of Liz, enough space between them so they wouldn't collide. She began counting in eights slowly, while demonstrating their associated movements.
Liz was able to replicate Elle's arm movements pretty easily, especially at the slow pace her friend was doing them.
"Okay! Let's see how you look doing the first part," Elle insisted, now turning to face her.
Liz froze, suddenly her body was no longer under her control and wouldn't move a muscle.
"Uh…." Liz uttered, trying to find the words to describe why she did not want Elle to stand and watch her fumble through pieces of the routine.
"Liz…" Elle began, stepping close to the girl to put a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"We've all gotta start somewhere. When I was first learning how to do makeup, I was totally blush blind and my eyeliner was always so crooked! Now look at me!" Elle encouraged Liz, hand still resting on her shoulder.
Liz didn't know what to say, she didn't know what to think. All her mind could comprehend was Elle's encouraging voice and sincere words. It turned her nervousness that stemmed from fear of general embarrassment into the possibility of making a fool of herself specifically in front of Elle.
"You can't say I didn't warn you," Liz informed her friend with a guarded voice.
Elle gave Liz a confident smile as she bent down to press the play button on the boombox. Liz counted under her breath waiting for her cue.
She tried her best to remember the combinations of arm movements. For when she was supposed to hold her arms and for how long. It went well for the first 30 seconds, or as well as it could when Liz was the one dancing.
But then she felt her brain go blank and her body didn't know what else to do. Her face contorted into a look of panic before she forced it back into its usual emotionally detached state.
Elle paused the music and ran over to her with a big smile.
"You remembered like almost everything I taught you!" She cheered
Liz couldn't help but bask in her praise. She felt a small confident smile creep onto her lips.
"Consider that a reflection of your teaching abilities." Liz stated, she meant the comment to sound matter-of-fact but it came out a lot more…flirtatious.
Elle gave a small chuckle and Liz noticed a faint blush dust her cheeks. This time she wasn't imagining it, there was no way.
"Despite how fabulous you did…I do have a few small notes of constructive criticism." Elle spoke, holding her chin high.
Liz shrugged, setting down her pom-poms. She sat down on the curb and picked up her water bottle to take a swig.
"For starters, I'll admit you did a lot better than I thought you would." Elle sincerely stated, sitting next to Liz on the curb.
She felt their knees bump briefly and all of a sudden that moment of contact was all Liz's mind could think about.
She was quick to shove it away, scrambling for a clever reply to Elle's statement.
"Glad to know you had such faith in me," Liz teased, bumping Elle's shoulder with her own.
Shit, why did she do that? To her brain half a second ago it felt like the most natural thing to do. Now it simply caused her to again obsess over a millisecond of contact.
"I do have faith in you! Which is why I trust you'll take my criticisms well!" Elle insisted, repeating Liz's shoulder bumping gesture.
Suddenly Elle was speaking about Liz's arms during the routine, how they could be less floppy. All Liz was focusing on was her emphatic hand movements. She always did that when she got excitedly thorough about a topic. It was cute.
No, no it wasn't cute, she could not think Elle was cute. Thinking straight girls were 'cute' was a gateway into much pain and misery. Especially when said girl was your closest friend.
"Liz! Are you even listening to me?" Elle whined, giving Liz a look of exasperation.
"Uh…"
That's all Liz could manage to reply with.
"Here, I'll just show instead of trying to tell," Elle declared.
Her blond friend got up and she followed suit.
Elle instructed Liz to make a V motion with her arms in the air. When she did, Elle's face became pensive.
"I need you to be straighter." Elle critiqued thoughtfully
Liz couldn't help the loud snort of laughter that came out of her nose. What a way to phrase it.
"What…?" Elle asked innocently, her head tilting slightly to the side.
"Nothing," Liz breathed out with another small laugh
Elle's deep blue eyes went wide with realization. Immediately she was all embarrassment and apologies over the way her words came out.
Liz couldn't help the small smile that plastered on her face at Elle's embarrassment. Her flustered facial expressions had Liz's heart running at light speed.
"What I meant was that your arms need to be straighter and more firm in their movement," Elle explained, trying to move past her earlier phrasing.
She demonstrated, her arms going up in a perfectly cheer-like high-V. Liz followed suit to the best of her ability.
"Here, let me…" Elle began as she stepped close to Liz.
The blond placed her perfectly manicured hands on Liz's arm, forcing her elbow out of its slightly bent position. She repeated the action with Liz's other arm.
Liz tried her best to implant in her mind what her arms felt like now. That way she could know while practicing if they were straight enough for Elle's standards.
The problem with that though, was that all Liz could focus on was Elle's hands on her arms.
Elle moved her hands off of Liz's elbows and for a moment she believed herself to be free of the blond's adjusting. But then Elle stepped even closer, placing both of her hands on Liz's shoulders.
Liz hadn't noticed how she had squeezed her shoulders up until Elle moved them down, making the high-V feel less weird.
This close to Elle, Liz could practically count the girl's perfectly curled eyelashes. It didn't help that Elle had yet to take her hands off of Liz's shoulders, the skin to skin contact causing her brain to short-circuit.
For a moment, the two stood there, frozen in time. Liz found her eyes moving around rapidly. Looking up at the early evening sky and down at Elle's pink running shoes.
When Liz's eyes finally met Elle's, the blond was not staring back at her. It took a moment for the information to register in Liz's mind.
What was Elle doing? Why was her gaze slightly downcast?
Then it dawned on her…Elle's eyes had found their way to Liz's lips.
Why would she…?
No, there's no way. Elle was straight, she liked boys. If anything, she was probably mentally critiquing Liz's lack of lip gloss usage.
Elle seemed to catch herself and moved back quickly. Her blue eyes ran over Liz's arms and shoulders again to ensure they had adjusted to her liking.
"Fantastic, looks so much better! Now onto the next thing," Elle suggested vigorously
Liz shook her head lightly, as if to try and clear her thoughts.
"And that is…?" She questioned
"Your kicks…" Elle admitted, wringing her hands
"My kicks?" Liz repeated
Liz knew how to kick, she had even managed to do it on the right count too! What more did Elle want from her?
"Cheer kicks are supposed to be….well…cheerful," Elle stated wryly.
"Mine are," Liz replied.
"Your kicks are…aggressively motivated," Elle corrected politely.
She rolled her eyes at the disgustingly sugar-coated critique. This was going to be a long evening. Even longer if Elle kept getting in her personal space.
—❥
Liz was starting to feel like this was a hopeless endeavor. She really should have never agreed to Elle's plan in the first place.
It was growing late into the evening. Normally Liz would spend her Friday nights making mixtapes or working on her zines. Instead she was learning how to cartwheel in Elle Wood's front lawn.
"You've got the rest of the routine down! You just need to get this and then you're rose golden!" Elle encouraged Liz.
"You mean then I'll be golden," Liz corrected Elle's modified version of the phrase.
"Come to think of it…silver would probably look better on you…" Elle thought aloud, tilting her head pensively.
"Sorry, we can let a Cosmo quiz decide if you're a silver or gold girl some other time," Elle apologized, shaking her head.
Liz found it amusing how quickly the girl had gone deep into thought about jewelry. It seemed as if this was something she had thought about before.
The idea of Elle thinking of her made the metaphorical moths in Liz's stomach lose their minds.
"Okay, why don't we try again. I can help you and we'll go slow." Elle instructed her.
There was no way in hell Liz was mastering this cartwheel. But Elle was determined, and so Liz kept attempting.
She fell many times, and ended most of her attempts face first in the grass. Though, as the evening sky turned from orange to a pinkish-purple, Liz found herself getting the hang of it.
She stood near Elle, taking a long drink of water before going at another attempt.
"Liz….you've got grass in your hair," Elle giggled, looking at her.
Her friend pointed at where the grass was. Liz ran her hand through the respective section of hair.
"Ah…you didn't quite get it," Elle informed her with a small chuckle
She leaned over and gently brushed the blade of grass out of the front of Liz's hair.
Liz noticed Elle did not move away immediately.
"You've got another one, hold on," Elle told Liz.
This time, her friend tangled her fingers into the right side of Liz's hair. The touch was gentle. Liz wanted to run far far away from the vulnerability Elle was forcing out of her.
It felt undeniable that Elle spent a little too much time retrieving the blades of grass. She was probably just being thorough—yeah—that was it.
That had to be it.
Still, Elle's hand seemed to linger, tangled between strands of Liz's hair.
"Your hair is really soft," Elle commented quietly
Liz's eyes widened by an undetectable margin.
"What shampoo do you use?" Elle quickly asked, following up her compliment.
"Uhm…whatever my mom buys me…" Liz admitted, her ability to form a clever and witty response completely disabled.
She really couldn't have come up with anything else? What kind of loser admits that?
Elle laughed lightly as she extracted her hand from Liz's hair. she found herself wanting to trade her limited edition CDs just to hear Elle's laugh again.
Fuck, Liz was doing it again. Letting herself fall for her very straight friend. Wanting to trade her Nirvana CDs for this girl's laugh, a girl that wasn't even into girls.
"Why don't you try doing the cartwheel on your own?" Elle proposed, standing up abruptly.
Liz followed suit, and agreed with a nod.
She had gotten much better at the cartwheel and was almost feeling confident. Elle had done well to teach her the broken-down movements, then spent time putting them each together slowly. performing many clumsy assisted cartwheels with Liz so she could get the hang of it.
She had supported Liz's waist as she familiarized herself with the feeling of propelling herself through space. At one point Liz had accidentally kicked her in the nose, she had felt horrible.
"Shit! Elle are you okay?" Liz exclaimed, scrambling to get up from where she had fallen back after kicking her friend.
"I'm fine!" Elle insisted, holding her nose.
"Fuck, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to…shit I—" Liz rambled in a panicked voice
"Liz, please stop swearing. My mom might hear." Elle insisted, eyeing her front porch that her mom was arranging houseplants on.
"Fuck, sorry. I mean, I'm….I'm sorry for swearing and for kicking your nose." Liz stumbled through her apology, her brown eyes still wide with concern.
Elle stepped forward, removing her hand from her nose to show it appeared unharmed. She gave Liz a gentle smile.
"Accidents happen all the time. Just ask Bruiser! Sometimes he doesn't make it to the doggy door and pees on our floor. Unfortunately one time it happened on my mom's favorite rug. She had to throw it out." Elle rambled on, her smile growing wider at the mention of her dog best friend
"Really appreciate being compared to your puppy Elle." Liz commented sarcastically
"I'll have you know Bruiser is quite the grown up now. He's lived a whole two years," Elle corrected Liz with a proud smile.
Liz laughed at Elle's seriousness when it came to her dog's age.
"Let me guess…he's also a Gemini just like you?" Liz taunted, raising her brows
"He is!" Elle brightened, "wait, you remembered I was a Gemini?"
The blond seemed to soften completely at the idea of Liz remembering her star sign.
"Well you only mention it like every other day." Liz casually de-escalated the high emotional road the conversation was headed down.
Truthfully, Elle could have only mentioned her star sign once and Liz would have remembered it. She seemed to find herself filing away loads of information about her friend as if she were a particularly impressive band.
Liz knew Elle was technically not fully a Gemini but chose to continue identifying as one. She remembered the whole story being dumped onto her one night. Elle had prefaced the tale by saying it was her deepest darkest secret.
"Why don't we try again?" Elle proposed
And so they did, carrying out a few wobbly assisted cartwheels.
But as the evening wore on, Liz's cartwheels gained more confidence. She felt herself getting the hang of the stunt.
After a particularly successful one, Elle let out a squeal that Liz swore needed a noise warning beforehand.
"You did it!" Elle applauded.
"Well you helped," Liz pointed out.
"Barely! You basically did it all by yourself," Elle insisted.
"And I didn't die," Liz noted dryly.
"Exactly!" Elle cheered.
"Quite the low bar if you ask me," Liz stated
"As long as we stay clearing it," Elle beamed
Liz let out a sigh, how was she so optimistic all of the time? It was exhausting and completely irrational. Yet Liz found herself eased by her friend's optimistic behavior.
How many times was she going to have to tell her mind to get a grip before it finally listened?
"Why don't you try one on your own?" Elle suggested, stepping back to give Liz room
Now Liz stood tall, taking a deep breath as she readied herself. She moved in the way Elle showed her to, one hand landing first, leg moving off of the ground. She had this, this cartwheel was the one.
Or that's what she thought before her other hand landed on a small stone, causing her to lose her balance.
Liz fell flat on her back, hitting the ground hard. She felt the air forced out of her lungs from the impact.
Leave it to her to grow overconfident then immediately knock the wind out of herself.
Elle was hovering over her wheezing form in an instant. Liz, even in her breathless state was able to observe her friend's panicked face.
"Liz!" Elle called out in a panic, moving to shake Liz's shoulders
"Are you alive? Can you breathe?"
Liz found herself still wheezing, trying to catch her breath.
"Do you need CPR? I know mouth to mouth. Or at least I saw them do it in The Sandlot. My dad's watched that movie like a gazillion times with me so I'm confident in my ability to—" Elle nervously rambled on.
Oh no, no no no Liz could not, under any circumstances, let Elle give her mouth-to-mouth.
Not only because she definitely didn't need it from just having the wind knocked out of her. But also because that required Elle's lips to be on hers.
That was a thought Liz had aggressively forbidden herself from having.
"No," Liz wheezed out, beginning to catch her breath.
"Are you sure?" Elle questioned, leaning in closer with concern in her bright blue eyes.
"Pretty sure," Liz said weakly, regaining her ability to breathe.
Elle's face had uncertainty written all over its perfect features.
"You scared me, Liz," Elle admitted quietly.
Liz was caught off guard by the level of care in Elle's gaze. Sure, the girl was kind to everyone but this was different. Liz had never seen Elle with this look before.
"I'm okay, I promise," Liz assured her kindly.
Elle smiled, still leaning over Liz.
"We should probably get back to work. Considering the competition's tomorrow and all," Liz suggested awkwardly.
Elle gave a nervous laugh before pulling away, giving Liz space to sit up.
"Hey Li," Elle spoke softly.
Liz's heart began to quicken without warning.
"Yeah?" She breathed out the reply.
"Thank you." Elle replied with the most sincerity Liz had ever heard a person muster.
Well this wouldn't be good for Liz's whole 'do not continue to crush on Elle Woods' plan. It honestly seemed these past few days were designed to dismantle that plan.
"For butchering your routine and kicking you in the nose?" Liz jokingly asked.
"For being you and having my back in this," Elle answered honestly.
Liz felt herself growing more and more emotionally available by the second. So, decided to do what she did best, deflect with humor.
"Well, I'll always be a smartass," Liz told Elle with a smirk
Elle hit her shoulder lightly with the back of her hand.
"And I'll always be here for you," Liz found the words coming out of her mouth before she could stop them.
Despite all of her complicated emotions, she would rather have Elle present in her life than not. Against all odds, the blond had become someone Liz couldn't imagine her life without.
She was so royally fucked.