Work Text:
It was a crisp cool day in early December when Stede fell apart.
She’d been dating Ed and Izzy for 7 months now and it was coming up to their first Christmas together. Navigating their newfound dynamic hadn’t always been smooth sailing, especially towards the start, but Stede had finally started to feel that they had finally settled into something stable. It just figures that something would come along and mess things up all over again.
It had all started almost exactly a year ago when Stede had finally snapped at her Father, who had again been asking when she and her husband Mark were going to finally have kids, or as he’d put it “Produce a worthy heir.” God she’d been in such a fit of rightful indignation that she’d only realised what she’d said after the words had already left her lips.
“Excuse me for being the disappointment in the family! No matter what I do I am never going to be good enough for you, all because I’m not a boy.” Her chest had heaved as she’d finally vented all of her pent up frustration at him. “Well guess what father?” she’d practically snarled “You’re never going to get that male heir you so desperately crave because I’m fucking Gay”
Everything had changed after that. She’d summarily been disowned by her father and lost her job as an office clerk at his Law Firm (because of course a daughter of his wouldn’t ever be a real lawyer). The Divorce from Mark had at least been easy. He’d been understanding and even a bit apologetic when he admitted that he’d fallen in love with someone else a while ago and just hadn’t known how to approach this whole mess. He’d left her with a sum comfortable enough to keep her afloat and a studio flat in the city. He’d kept the main house out in the country since he’d never been happy in the rush and chaos of central London, but the townhouse out in the Peak District had far better suited him. Additionally it was the property that had enough for his two Partners, Doug and Evelyn.
Stede was happy for him, she really was, but even so she’d been left feeling adrift and unmoored for a while post divorce. That was up until she’d discovered The Revenge.
The Revenge is a small Queer owned cafe, bookshop and antiques store, filled to the brim with every kind of knickknack imaginable. There were always fresh cut flowers from the florists around the corner in a vase by the till and the drinks on offer were all themed around different books in some way. She’d fallen in love with the place the moment she’d stepped through the door on a cold, wet day. So it on;y stood to reason that she’d fall in love with the store’s two owners as well.
Ed and Izzy made for a stunning pair that were diametrically opposite to each other. Whereas Ed was tall and lean, with a waterfall of grey-black hair that shone like spun silver which contrasted beautifully with her gorgeous warm olive skin, Izzy was short with a stocky powerful build and hair kept meticulously cropped on the sides and quaffed on top.
The two of them couldn’t be more different but they just worked so well together.
Ed was the one that came up with the most creative ideas for where to take the business. She was charismatic and so easy to get along with but didn’t always have the best attention span or memory when it came to things that didn’t catch her interest. It was inevitable that Stede would get swept up in her and fall hopelessly in love.
Izzy however was quieter and more reserved, suspicious of anything new and unexpected. She’s the planner out of the two of them, preparing for every eventuality and helping to temper some of Ed’s wilder impulses. At first she and Stede had butted heads, much to Ed’s amusement, but eventually Stede had earnt some respect and approval from Izzy over an issue with their Landlord that Stede had helped to resolve.
After a bit of miscommunication and a few mis-starts, the three of them settled into a relationship together, all learning to deal with each other's quirks and idiosyncrasies. It had been a glorious few months, with Stede spending more and more of her time at the cafe, learning how to operate the coffee machine until she was confident covering shifts when needed. She doesn’t need to work exactly. But she finds that she’s never been happier than puttering around the store with the loves of her life.
It was the busiest time of year for the store, as she was finding out the hard way. She was having to spend more and more time in the store helping to deal with the rush of customers getting last minute gifts and stocking fillers. It left her feeling more wiped out than usual, especially since Stede had taken to waking up earlier and earlier to relieve some of the stress on Ed and Izzy, they’d been doing this for years already, they deserved to have a bit of a break now that she was there to help out. It was exhausting work and left her feeling utterly wiped out by the end of the day but it was all worth it to get to see Ed and Izzy all bleary from sleep as she woke them up in the morning with breakfast in bed and a hot mug of drink.
It was clear to see how much her help has helped to relieve some tension from their shoulders though. The other members of the crew that helped run the store kept saying how much better both Ed and Izzy were this year compared to last.
“Was it really all that bad? They’re both so lovely normally, I just can’t see it being as bad as everyone is saying it was” Stede looks over to Lucius for confirmation in one of the few free moments they’ve had all day. “Yeah, you should have seen Ed last year. Fucking hell I thought she was going to lose it, I think someone nearly called police when she screamed at Izzy. Something about threatening to cut one of her toes off? It was insane ” Lucius snarks as he practically inhales the iced vanilla latte that his boyfriend Pete had brought him earlier. He eyes Stede consideringly “Have you three sorted what you’re doing for the crew party yet?”
Ah, Yes. The crew party. Ed had brought it up to her before and explained that it was a yearly tradition for the shop, Izzy had clarified that they have always shut the store for one full day in the run up to Christmas to allow the whole crew together and decompress. Most of them didn’t have family, or at least family that they were close to. So it was their opportunity to get together and celebrate the holidays together. It was such a really sweet idea and Stede had been immediately on board with it, but with the recent rush she hadn’t realised just how quickly it would sneak up on her.
“We’re all sorted! I think. But uh, when is it again?” she queried. Lucius looks incredulously over at her “Stede! Really? It’s this weekend!!!” Stede throws her arms up in exasperation “I know, I know!!! I just forgot, it’s been a hectic week!!” She sags and reaches to rub a hand over her face, suddenly utterly exhausted. “I have everything sorted and everything’s all booked but its just, ugh.”
Stede sighs and perches on the counter, letting herself hunch over a tad “It’s been a lot and I want to be there for Ed and Izzy, they’ve done this on their own the last few years, I just thought it’d be nice to let them have a break , I Just-” The bell on the door chimes and second wave of customers pours in the door putting a decisive end to their conversation.
As the days before the party tick onward, Stede feels worse and worse, all her joints ache constantly and just when she thinks she’s finally settled down in bed, sleep continues to elude her. Ed and Izzy have been getting increasingly concerned
By the time the morning of the party rolls around she wakes from a fitful sleep to find cold empty spaces on the mattress where Ed and Izzy should be. As Stede goes to sit up and find her partners, a sharp pain slices across her abdomen and she collapses back to the bed. The pain is worse now than it had been at any point in the last week and there’s a damp sensation between her thighs as she slowly starts to realise exactly what was wrong.
Stede pulls herself into a foetal position and wraps her arms around her stomach in a fruitless attempt to relieve some of the bone deep aching pain from the cramps. She knew that her period had been due soon, but everything had been so much recently that she hadn’t had time to prepare for it’s arrival. They were always painful, but the added stress from all the extra work she’s been doing has just made it so much worse.
With a sob she clutches at the bedsheets and lets herself crumple, god everything was ruined now. She’d be out of commission all day now. All the plans they’d made of going to the crew party have gone flying out the window.
She wonders if she’ll be able to convince Ed and Izzy to go without her, it wouldn’t be fair on them to miss out just because she isn’t feeling well she muses, she’s always been a burden she wouldn’t want to trouble them with looking after her when they should be out having fun instead.
The door to the bedroom slams open and a panicked looking Ed flies into the room interrupting her spiralling thoughts.
“Stede love, I heard you crying, are you alright?” she soothes, before freezing at the sight before her. “Oh sweetheart…” Ed walks over to the side of the bed and lean over to press her forehead to Stede’s. Just being close to Ed is almost enough to make her feel better, up until a new cramp rips through her causing her to cry out.
“Shhhh it’s ok, you’re alright, we’ll help you through this ok?” she leans back after planting a firm kiss on Stede’s cheek before hollering at the still open doorway “Oi! Izzy, get up here!! Stede’s not feeling well”
There’s a distant grumble as Izzy makes her way up the stairs with her morning coffee still in hand. She stops in the doorway, takes one look at the scene before her, chugs her coffee and takes charge of the situation. “Right. Stede love, let me help you into the shower so we can get you all cleaned up, that should at least start to make you feel a bit more human hmm?” she rasps, before walking to set her mug down on the side table and start easing Stede up off the bed. “Ed, whilst I look after Stede a sec can you strip the bed and put those sheets straight in the wash? We’ve been needing to change the sheets soon anyway. Whilst you’re downstairs can you make up a hot water bottle and get the painkillers. We won’t be too much longer after that.”
Ed stands with only a slight wince as her joints creak from being crouched by the bed for so long. She helps Izzy lift Stede into a standing position and opens the en-suite door before placing a parting kiss on both Stede and Izzy’s cheeks before heading back into the bedroom to begin stripping the bed.
Izzy gently begins to remove Stede’s sweaty bed clothes before easing her into the shower which is already set at just the right temperature. The borderline scalding water helps to finally ease some of the ache low in her stomach, and the little circles that Izzy rubs into her temples chase away the stuffiness and headache that Stede hadn’t even realised was building. Stede’s a bit out of it at this point so she can’t make out any of the words but she leans into Izzy as she murmurs reassurances into her ear and cleans the thin streaks of blood from her thighs.
Time gets a bit fuzzy for a while and Stede only really comes back to full awareness when Izzy has already changed her into fresh pants with a pad already in place and one of Ed’s soft linen pajama sets. The fabric is soft and dark even if the bottoms are a bit oversize on Stede, but the faint scent of Ed and the stronger smell of their lavender laundry detergent is comforting. They had apparently already made their way downstairs and onto the larger plush sofa.
Stede blinks vacantly up at Izzy as she takes one of their soft fleece throw blankets and pulls it around Stede’s shoulders before heading off to the kitchen to make a quick call. Ed comes up to them and tucks the Cat shaped hot water bottle against Stede’s abdomen before passing over a fresh water bottle and a couple of ibuprofen tablets. She doesn’t say anything else, just smiles lovingly before sitting to curl around Stede and rummage for the remote that had fallen somewhere into the crevices of the sofa.
“Thank you. Love you so much” Stede manages to whisper, tipping her head against Ed’s shoulder and nuzzling as Ed finally finds the remote and turns the TV on to an old favourite film. As the sounds of the opening to ‘The Princess Bride’ begin to fill the room Stede turns to look at Izzy who is walking back over. “The party…” she yawns ”you two should go still. You’ve put so much hard work in… You shouldn’t have to be stuck here looking after me” Stede snuffles slightly and resigns herself to spending most of the day alone.
Izzy gives an almost offended huff as she takes up her seat on the opposite side of Stede to Ed, leaning in to wrap an arm around Stede’s shoulders.
“Nah, we’re not going, Iz has already called Lu to let him know” Ed pipes up, shuffling in closer to press firmly against Stede even as she turns to pay more attention to the film.
“Why not? You’ve been looking forward to this for at least a month” Stede’s too tired and sore to be truly incredulous but she hopes she gets the meaning across regardless.
“Because we’d rather spend it together you twat” Izzy ribs affectionately. “We’ve done that bloody party every year for the last 5 years and it always ends up the same. Lucius ends up shitfaced and making out with Pete and Fang and we all have to pretend that we don’t see Olu and Jim making those fucking goo goo eyes at Zheng and Archie. Everyone already knows they’re all a thing but they won’t admit it yet. I will miss Swede’s singing but there’s always New years.”
Izzy readjusts the blanket to cover all three of them and presses a firm kiss to Stede’s temple as they settle into a lazy doze, drifting slowly to nap together on the sofa as the film plays on “and anyway, this time of year is ‘bout family huh? Don’t know why you’d think we’d leave you out. You’re family now, you’re stuck with us, now rest up, we can always have a party another time.”
Stede’s eyelids finally drift shut and she slips into a more restful sleep, surrounded by her loved ones and filled with love and adoration. It comes easily and they spend the day just getting to relax and recover, before the dawning of a new, brighter day.