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The room had a warm feeling, not the uncomfortable, sweaty feeling, but the comfortable weight of warmth. Well, it was comfortable until one of them brought up first kisses.
They were lying in Elizabeth's bed, with the covers pulled up, buried under all the warmth.
"Have you ever kissed someone before?"
Elizabeth asked first, Charlotte felt her ears burn from embarrassment, do I lie?
"Uhm, why?"
The covers were ruffled, Elizabeth was sitting up, her ginger hair messy and unbrushed, but she still looked really, really pretty. Charlotte followed, her hair more flat and clean, the difference probably because Elizabeth had curly hair, and Charlotte had straight.
"Just curious." She responded, their eyes meeting for a second before she looked away, her cheeks turning a faint red under all the freckles.
She's so sweet.
"Will you make fun of me if I'm honest?"
It was silent for a minute.
"Why would I do that?"
Charlotte grasped at the covers, unclenching and clenching her hands, "I dunno." She whispered.
Idiot! Now you look stupid.
She scolded herself mentally, reaching up and rubbing at her eyes. This is so awkward. None of them spoke for several minutes.
"I don't think we've learned about any of this in school," Charlotte mumbled, "It's confusing." She can feel Elizabeth's eyes burn into her temple. She's always staring whenever Charlotte looks away, thinking she can't see her.
"So?" Charlotte glanced at Elizabeth, a little confused at her words, "So...?" She echoed, "So what? I mean, I've seen a few comics about it, I think I know what it's like." She twirled a curly ginger strand around her finger, her gaze dropping to the pale pink cover, "It doesn't seem too hard."
Her eyes trailed back onto Charlotte's face, a certain gleam in her sharp green eyes. It makes Charlotte's stomach feel all weird and tight, sick almost.
"Really?" Charlotte questioned, her voice dropping to a whisper.
"Really."
Charlotte was a little bit hesitant, well, it'd be her first kiss. With a girl.
Well, they are together. They just seem too nervous to remember.
"Can we try it?" The question Charlotte dreaded to hear, her eyes snapped back onto Elizabeth.
"W– What?" She could feel the redness spread from her ears to her face.
Now it was Elizabeth's turn to get embarrassed, more obvious, her face turning a darker shade of red.
"I just– It's okay if not, I know it's new to you," She quickly explained, shifting a bit closer to her under the covers.
"Micheal told me it's normal, and my dad did it too, with my mom." Elizabeth reached out, her hand trembling slightly as she took Charlotte's small, slim hand, "I just thought maybe...we could do it because it's normal for couples to like each other like that."
Charlotte glanced down at their hands, her face now a bright shade of red, feeling how Elizabeth slowly intertwined their fingers, "Do you know how to do it?"
Elizabeth nodded slowly. She didn't actually, but she wanted Charlotte to think she was cool.
Charlotte gave a small grin, her smile had always been pretty, and even with a tooth missing, she'd always been perfect in Elizabeth's eyes.
"You're really cool." Charlotte almost breathed, her voice so low.
"I know," Elizabeth replied, trying to seem like the usual strong, egotistical Afton everyone saw her as. But she couldn't. Not in front of such a sweet girl.
"Thank you." She squeezed the other girl's hand. Now it's gone quiet again, besides their soft breathing.
Charlotte was so close that Elizabeth debated if she could count every freckle and eyelash on her face with ease, wanting to peck and kiss at all of the marks she could see. How did it go again? What she saw between her brother and that random girl.
A hand on the cheek, or was it the back of the neck? Elizabeth groaned internally.
Just risk it.
Elizabeth raised a shaky hand, letting it gently slide up Charlotte's shoulder, before to the back of her neck, feeling the warm skin and soft, short strands of hair.
Her eyes are brown near the pupil, how pretty.
Elizabeth pulled Charlotte a little closer.
Now what? What did he do next? Was it something to do with words? What did that girl say... tongue? Gross.
Elizabeth swallowed all the saliva in her mouth, feeling how dry her throat suddenly got.
"Charlotte?"
"Mhm?"
"Is this okay?"
Elizabeth felt Charlotte slip her hand onto her upper arm, grabbing the edge of her sleeve, "Yeah."
Okay, this is it. Don't mess this up.
Elizabeth pulled Charlotte a little closer till their noses pressed together.
Awkward, how do people do this?
Elizabeth tilted her head slowly till their lips brushed. It sent a jolt up both of the girls' spines, and they gasped.
Oh my god, oh my god.
Charlotte pulled back, No. Elizabeth didn't try to pull her back. Just let her pull away slightly. "Sorry, I didn't... Just give me a minute.." She whispered her grip on Elizabeth's shirt like iron, not planning on letting go. Elizabeth watched as Charlotte squirmed around for a moment, squeezing her sleeve while the other free hand was somewhere else.
Elizabeth took this as a chance to get more comfortable, pulling away from the other girl as she pushed the covers away, moving to sit on her knees.
Charlotte watched, and her gaze followed every movement.
"Okay?" She asked, her voice dropped to a whisper.
"Okay." A sweet voice, Charlotte always loved it when Elizabeth spoke. Then she felt a hand on the back of her neck, pulling her in again.
The air between them was tense and awkward, and neither of them moved.
And when they did, trying to get closer, they bumped noses, and Elizabeth turned red.
"Sorry–" She whispered, but Charlotte didn't mind, "No, it's okay."
Elizabeth tried to pull away, but Charlotte grabbed at her shoulder, "Wait–" She didn't want her to pull away or be embarrassed. She didn't want her to try to leave.
"Keep going, keep going." Charlotte quickly said, "I don't mind if we mess up a little bit, it's normal, right?"
Elizabeth hesitated, opening her mouth to say something, closing it, just thinking.
"Right." She mumbles, quickly moving back to her original spot next to Charlotte.
Charlotte smelled of peach, her breath was sweet, Elizabeth couldn't help but inhale a little longer than usual.
"Now?"
Charlotte nodded quickly, leaning in a bit. Elizabeth leaned in, tilting her head a tiny bit to avoid knocking their noses again.
Charlotte glanced down at her lips, her face going red, "I love you." She whispered.
Elizabeth held her breath, close, and they were close.
"I love you too." She replied, her voice barely able to be heard. She's never really expressed love verbally before.
She's always kept it to herself, refusing to be seen as nice and sickly sweet like Charlotte.
But that's what she loves about this girl.
"Yeah?" Charlotte quickly moved her hand to be on Elizabeth's shoulder, letting her thumb gently massage her collarbone, "Mhm."
They both just stare at each other, so close.
Very close.
Then Elizabeth finally moved, and let their lips ever so gently, press against each other. And a bolt of lightning shot through her spine. So soft, so so soft. Charlotte's lips felt like pillows, marshmallows? Elizabeth doesn't know how to describe it. It felt heavenly.
Charlotte squirmed against her, trying to get her lips into a more comfortable position, sliding her hands up to tangle her fingers in Elizabeth's curly hair. She gently tugged on it, tilting her head and finding a more comfortable spot.
What do we do? What now? Do we pull away? But none of them wanted to, not even for air, Elizabeth tried keeping her breathing even through her nose. It was a little difficult.
That's when Charlotte pulled away, a small bit of saliva left behind, a small string between them, gross. Elizabeth turned her head, watching it snap, and wiped it off her chin. Charlotte quickly followed her movements, doing the same, before she turned back to Elizabeth, a small nervous smile on her face.
"Was... that okay?" She asked, desperate to know.
Elizabeth turned to look at her, wiping her hands on the sheets to get rid of the saliva.
"It was good," She responded, reaching up and brushing hair out of her face. "It was nice, the saliva was a little gross, but I... liked it." She whispered.
Charlotte nodded, "Okay, good, that's...good." She shifted and pushed up against Elizabeth's side, pulling the covers closer, "Could we do it again? Tomorrow, maybe?" She suggested, hopeful.
Elizabeth blinked, quickly turning to look at Charlotte, seriously?
Elizabeth hummed, turning away again, thinking, pondering, and assessing.
"Yeah."
She felt Charlotte jump up beside her, "Yeah?" She quickly said.
Elizabeth huffed, "Yes, we can. Let's just go back to sleep." She whispered, shoving Charlotte away and back down onto the bed, causing her to giggle.
"Okay, fine." She mumbled, turning onto her side to go back to sleep, Elizabeth following behind her.
"Goodnight," Elizabeth mumbled, her back pressed against Charlotte's, feeling her breath, it grounded her, reminding Elizabeth she lived, she didn't die.
"G'night," Charlotte whispered back.
It's fine, everything's okay. They'll go to high school together, college, and university, and they'll be there to watch each other graduate.
All because Elizabeth's father is locked away, her dad is locked away, and it's okay.
Everyone is safe. Charlotte is safe.
Everything's okay.