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“There’s no timeline on coming out,” Tatum reminds her with an easy smile, interrupting Leighton’s panicked apology about not yet being out to her father. She knows this, but it’s comforting to hear. Leighton doesn’t realise her hands have been flapping about aimlessly, until she feels Tatum still them, refusing to let go until Leighton visibly relaxes.
In any other scenario, she would’ve kissed Tatum right there and then.
“I’ve got you.”
Leighton knows Tatum means every word. Somehow, the older blonde seems to understand her better than she understands herself at times. If asked, Leighton would firmly deny this, but it’s true.
Tatum picks up on Leighton’s anxiety before it ever truly has a chance to manifest itself, and always knows exactly how to comfort her. It always seems so effortless, too. In the company of their fathers, on their bizarre little double date, Tatum offers Leighton her hand to hold underneath the table. Even when Leighton squeezes hard, and suddenly, as her father begins joking about how private Leighton is about her dating life, Tatum’s composure never falters.
Leighton surprises even herself by coming out at dinner to her father, but she feels safe, in spite of how unsure she is of what Henry’s reaction might be. She’s more sure of herself than ever, and Tatum’s thumb is tracing gentle patterns over her knuckles, which helps. Tatum understands, and Leighton wouldn’t want anyone else there for support.
In spite of the panic that initially surged through her when Henry had spotted Tatum and her father (George, Henry’s much loved Alpha-Psi brother), Leighton feels surprisingly in control of the situation, as she announces that she’s gay and coincidentally dating Tatum. She later reaffirms that she is very much a lesbian - proudly so, but gay feels like a good way to get the message across.
When Leighton’s father excuses himself from dinner, with no real indication of how he feels, the pride evident in Tatum’s eyes fades into concern as she glances over at Leighton. Still, she knows Leighton well enough to know that she can fight her own battles, as tough as they might be, and knows better than to chase after her when Leighton then excuses herself.
Leighton can’t pinpoint how Tatum always knows what she wants. They haven’t been dating for long enough - sure, they have plenty of shared experiences, but she knows for a fact that what they both want doesn’t always align. Regardless, Tatum always seems happy to prioritise Leighton, proving to be incredibly considerate, in spite of what most people assume of her.
-
After a heartfelt conversation, with an overwhelming amount of support expressed by Leighton’s father, the Murrays return to the restaurant to find George attempting to pay for their dinner – much to Henry’s horror. Men.
Leaving the men to battle over credit cards, Leighton steps away in search of her favourite blonde. After scoping the bar, and thoroughly scanning the room, Leighton finds Tatum touching up her lipstick in the ladies’ room.
“Hey,” Leighton smiles, meeting Tatum’s gaze through the mirror.
“How’d it go?,” Tatum asks, turning around to face her. Leighton takes the opportunity to move closer, momentarily getting distracted by how kissable Tatum’s lips look before forcing herself to focus.
“Great,” Leighton eventually replies, offering Tatum a genuine smile, “and he definitely likes you, possibly a little too much, but we’ll circle back to that.”
“I’m so fucking proud of you.”
Tatum knew she’d be fixing her lipstick again the second Leighton walked through the door.
Leighton argues that sharing lipstick is one of the many perks of dating another femme, and Tatum can’t bring herself to object when Leighton borrows the way she does (pushing Tatum back against the counter and kissing her, hard). Tatum finds herself being hoisted up onto the counter. While she wonders when Leighton got so strong, she definitely doesn’t care enough to ask, as Leighton’s kisses trail down her neck.
It isn’t until Tatum moans against her, that Leighton reluctantly begins to consider that they might need to take this home. As much as she wants Tatum, especially after that, she knows they deserve more than a restaurant bathroom for their first time together. As hot as it might be, Leighton wants to take her time with Tatum, which she can’t do if they’re risking being banned from her father’s favourite restaurant.
“Let’s get out of here.”
-
Ridiculously competitive energy, and a connection founded on verbal sparring, leads to an incredibly gratifying experience in bed. Despite being determined to return the favour evenly (Leighton Murray is anything but a pillow princess), Leighton loses track counting somewhere along the night. In her defence, being topped by Tatum is not an experience that allows you to do a whole lot of rational thinking. She doesn’t want to waste it thinking about numbers (which is huge, for someone so talented at math).
Leighton’s thankful her roommates are out, as Tatum moans her name for the nth time of the evening. While the sound is legitimately music to her ears, and Bela would most likely be proud, she knows for a fact that Whitney and Kimberley would have some objections.
“Come here,” Tatum rasps out, after Leighton gives her two back-to-back orgasms that leave her thighs trembling.
Kissing her way up from her thighs, leaving a hickey or two in her wake, Leighton ends up at Tatum’s lips and kisses her properly before rolling onto her back.
She’s never been the clingy type, but everything about Tatum draws Leighton to her. She wouldn’t mind cuddling, is all, not that she’d ever voice that. The last thing Leighton wanted was Tatum thinking of her as some clingy freshman she needed to cut off immediately.
“I said, come here,” Tatum smiles lazily, pulling Leighton closer.
-
Tatum was surprisingly cool about Leighton’s interest in math. Although she’d teased her for having a nerdy side (which felt inevitable, and honestly, Leighton would’ve been concerned if she hadn’t teased her for it), Tatum assures her that her intelligence is very attractive.
She's busy powering through some math homework when Tatum returns from her shower, bending down to offer Leighton a quick kiss.
“Sure you don’t want to come and play, babe?” Tatum smiles up from where she’s tying her laces.
Leighton tries (and fails) not to visibly cringe at the idea, the flashbacks to her attempts at impressing Tatum on the court proving too much to overcome.
“I’m actually good!”
Leighton knows Tatum is well aware she has no interest in playing tennis now that she has her attention – which is reaffirmed by Tatum’s immediate laughter at her response.
Hell, if Leighton had known all she had to do to impress her was unleash her inner bitch, she would’ve never bothered sweating it out on the court in the first place.
“Would you consider being my ball girl, if you don’t want to play?” Tatum teases, earning an eye roll from Leighton.
“As a lesbian, I can’t say I’m overly enthused about balls.”
“Even if it means bending over for me?” Tatum smirks, which Leighton actually notices, as she finally looks up from her textbook blushing.
-
When Leighton confesses she’s having second thoughts about committing to Kappa, Tatum is nothing short of supportive. She even offers to accompany Leighton to the Kappa event she’s taking her mother to, which is sweet, even if Leighton would never subject her to that.
Admittedly, midway through the Kappa function was perhaps not the best time to announce to her mother that she was rethinking Kappa - but to her credit, she takes it incredibly well.
“So I hear there’s a girl?” her mother asks, in a new attempt at being a supportive parent to Leighton.
“Tatum,” Leighton nods with a smile. Having bonded with her mother over bitching about how fake the Kappa circle is (a mere 5 meters away from Kappa’s past and present), Leighton can’t help but think she’d love Tatum.
-
Her roommates made the whole ‘fuck Kappa’ sentiment annoyingly wholesome, by decorating the dorm with ‘Welcome Home’ banners – Leighton could sense they were pretty pleased she’d be living with them again next year.
Feeling celebratory, she takes Tatum out to a house party with the girls.
“Can you believe the shit they insist on?” Leighton scoffs, sitting on Tatum’s lap on the one bar stool they find. Whitney and Bela have already left to dance, and Kimberley’s talking to Jackson nearby. Tatum listens attentively, playing with Leighton’s hair as she speaks. “Straight or curly hair only - heaven forbid it be wavy!”
“So outdated!” Kimberley chimes in.
“You’re cute when you’re pissed,” Tatum laughs.
“No social media content that hints at not being 100% sober – definitely no solo cups in the background. God, imagine if they caught you smoking!”
Leighton’s eyes light up suddenly, in a way that might scare Tatum if she wasn’t so entertained. The next thing she knows, Leighton’s dragging her off the stool and out of the building.
“Respectfully,” she shivers, “what the fuck Leighton.”
Cold would be an understatement. Both girls have a tendency to favour fashion over weather appropriate, which Tatum regrets as they’re hit with an icy breeze.
Leighton ignores her, and approaches a guy smoking with his friends. She returns looking quite pleased with herself, clutching a cigarette and a lighter, which she passes over to Tatum.
They needed to move quickly - Leighton wasn’t afraid of many things, but Kimberley finding her smoking? Definitely one of them.
“Have you ever smoked before?” Tatum asks with a hint of amusement.
“Obviously not, but-”
“You want to smoke to prove a point about Kappa?”
“Yes. But if you don’t want-”
“Okay,” Tatum smiles. Cupping her hand to shield its flame from the wind, she holds up the lighter to the cigarette between Leighton’s lips.
Watching Tatum with the lighter, going along with her bullshit, Leighton realises she’s being a supportive unofficial girlfriend. Definitely not for the first time. Taking a drag from the god-awful cigarette, she thinks for a moment, before finally asking.
“Do you want to be my girlfriend?” She breathes, holding out the cigarette for Tatum to take from her.
“I think I already am,” Tatum laughs, accepting the cigarette, “but I do,” she confirms with a kiss.
Leighton frowns as Tatum takes a drag from the cigarette – she looks unreasonably hot doing so. She knows it isn’t a habit for the older blonde, given her commitment to tennis. But whatever Gwyneth Paltrow said, about finding a balance between tofu and cigarettes. It makes life interesting.
The twinkle in Tatum’s eyes, while stubbing out the cigarette, is all Leighton needs to know her girlfriend knew she would hate smoking.
“Why wouldn’t you stop me?” She whines, earning a laugh from Tatum.
“Couldn’t deprive you of that experience, babe.”
“I hate you.”
“That’s practically a declaration of love, coming from you Leight.”