Chapter Text
It was a quiet, peaceful night when she was woken up by the intense buzzing of her phone on her nightstand. It was 2 am, and the name of the caller just made her heart skip a bit, “Suzie”. She tried to grab it quickly before the buzzing stopped, and then she answered, the voice on the other side was familiar, “Hey Jewels… I’m sorry it’s pretty late” Jewels heart felt a pang, because she knew by these few lines that her friend was not okay, her voice sounded weak, and congested, like she had been crying, “Hi Suze, no, don’t worry…is everything okay?” Suzie seemed to have taken a deep breath before answering, because she knew that she was about to break, by reaching out to her best friend this late, about something she already warned her it was bound to happen, felt like quiet and shameful surrender. And still…she knew that she was going to help her, and be there for her, she always was. So she responded, trying to get her voice as steady as she could and doing her best to hide the gravity of the damn that was about to break and spill all of its water “I need a ride…i came here with Marshall but things got a heated and now i have no way of getting home” Jewels couldn’t help herself from rolling her eyes, not at Suzie, but at the boy. “I´ll be there, baby, don´t worry”.
Jewels hated Marshall. She couldn’t for the life of her make sense of her best friend´s relationship with that boy. Suzie was bright, kind, smart, funny, and amazing; he, on the other hand, had nothing, he was boring, and plain and ordinary, and someone like that, landing a girl like Suzie, would have to be grateful with the universe, cause she was definitely out of his league, but this joke of a man never did anything for her, he was rude and didn’t appreciate her the way she deserved. It made Jewels boil getting to watch Suzie plan all these romantic dates, carefully construct the most perfect gifts for Valentine’s Day, or simply get all giddy and excited at the prospect of spending some time with him after school, for him to just do the bare minimum.
She still remembered the way he was always checking his phone the entire time that Suzie was lighting the candles for a perfectly homemade birthday cake, the way he called her “babe” like a reflex, not a feeling.
But this was not the issue at hand, now this boy had left her best friend alone in the middle of the nigth a little tipsy at a party without a ride home, and she was happy to be the one she called, she was happy to go get her and be there for her, like she always did. She quickly put on a hoodie over her silk pink pajamas and grabbed her keys. The place of this party was just ten minutes away from her home. When she arrived, she saw Suzie sitting on the sidewalk outside the house, the party inside seemed to be still alive and burning; but the girl on the sidewalk was dimmed, grey and sad, and Jewels wanted nothing more that wrap her in her arms, whisper in her ear that it was okay, tha she was here, and hold her until she felt like herself again, warm and loving, and perfect like always, her beautiful Suzie.
And that is what she did. She got out of the car and, without a single word, when Suzie lifted her gaze from the concrete beside her combat boots, she spotted Jewels in front of her, all cladded in her silk pajamas, hair a little messy from bed and her face a little puffy and adorable still, she got up and wrapped her arms around her best friends waist, rested her head in the girls chest, and started crying. Jewels rubbed her back in delicate circular motions and let the redhead cry it all out. After a few moments, they got in the car.
After a few minutes of driving in silence, they reached a red light, and Suzie´s hand reached for Jewels´. She was ready to speak now. “Marshall dumped me in front of everyone,” she said, her voice just beneath a whisper. She continued “It’s so stupid… I know he’s an asshole, but it still hurts. So much.” she was not looking at Jewels, she felt embarrassed, not because she felt judged by her, but because she knew the brunette saw it all coming way before she did and still, Suzie decided not to hear her, to dismiss her concerns, when she was right all along. Jewels, on the other hand, was a little confused about what to say; she knew that Suzie needed comfort and to feel heard and supported, she didn’t need to hear the rage, and all the ugly feelings she was hoping would set Marshall´s behind on literal fire. “He dumped you. In front of everyone?” Jewels shook her head, voice low but shaking. “That asshole doesn’t get to do that. You should’ve been the one to dump him, Suze. He didn’t deserve to be the one walking away, not after everything you gave him.” She paused; her voice softer now. “You gave him so much, Suz. I know it hurts, he never knew what to do with that, and that’s on him, not you, baby.” They decided that it was best for Suzie not to be alone in such a vulnerable moment like this, so they got to Jewel’s home.
Inside Jewel´s room, Suzie felt safe, all the pink and the glitter, the bows and the plushies, the princess bed and the vanilla scent, everything so unmistakably Jewels, it made her heart feel so full, so comforted in the presence of her and the memories collected over years of connection, this girl who was the most important person in her life, her Jewels. She got into a pair of white silk pajamas that matched the ones the brunette was wearing, washed off her face the remnants of makeup that had managed to survive the meltdown, and got into bed beside Jewels.
They held each other in bed, Jewels passing her fingers through Suzie´s ginger curls, feeling everything all at once: anger for Marshall and his pathetic existence, and all the love she´d been hiding for the girl in her arms. At first, it was little, a flutter in the stomach at the sight of Suzie´s dimples, the sound of her musical little giggles, then it escalated to staring at her when she was so focused on rehearsing her lines for the school musical, to just asking about whatever she was obsessed with that week, just to witness her precious eyes light up like the prettiest stars, she felt drawn in like a magnet, she wanted to be near, to get the attention of the redhead on her, to make her smile, make her feel loved, even if it just meant as a friend. She was so in love it hurt, it hurt not being able to set this feeling free.
But right now, in this moment, she was holding her in her arms, like she dreamt about often, and all she could feel now was that Suzie was peacefully sleeping on her bed, tangled in her, and she was content, still hurting, but not for long, she was going to heal, and Jewels would be there, always.