Chapter Text
Daniela was the one who kissed Sophia first.
A fact that not even the most trusting person would believe if they ever hear about the situation.
Sophia was the one who listens more. The one who steps back first. The one who hides her feelings and people pleases just to avoid conflict.
Daniela was the one with a boyfriend.
Daniela thought that she was safe, after all, Sophia isn’t one for conflict.
She was wrong.
This whole charade started small. There was never a true start, it’s like it’s been woven in their friendship when it began.
Lingering touches. Daniela leaning too close when she laughs. Fingers brushing and not moving away.
Sophia never initiates. She just reacts. With soft smiles, shy glances, quiet questions of really? tucked behind her eyes.
Daniela thinks it’s cute and continues making Sophia Laforteza’s life trickier because she never acknowledges anything.
She doesn’t notice the way Sophia memorizes her. The way she admires her.
This was harmless, until Daniela decided it was time to see just how the cookie crumbles
Daniela, the one with a boyfriend, was the one who started the ruse first.
After Daniela finished ranting about how her boyfriend didn’t like her cropped baby tee showing off too much skin and his kisses feeling like dog slobber.
She perks up with a statement, staring at Sophia over the driver seat. Sophia had on a fitted black long sleeve and grey sweats. Hair unkempt and in disarray, eyes droopy. She looked ready for bed.
“We don’t have to tell anyone.” Daniela says with her eyes peeking through her lashes. Hazel eyes looking almost green under the small illumination of the car light.
She has her seat leaned back all the way, positioned in a way that showed off her stomach. Wearing a yellow baby tee, likely the one her boyfriend was complaining about
Sitting in Sophia’s car at an empty mall parking lot near midnight. Daniela called, after her boyfriend ticked her off for the millionth time and needing to get away. She knew Sophia would answer
The windows of Sophia’s car fogged slightly from the cold.
Sophia blinks and casts her sleepy eyes to Daniela’s. “Tell anyone what?”
Daniela rolls her eyes playfully as if Sophia’s missing the obvious . “This.”
Her hand slides into Sophia’s. As she gathers herself from the leaned back seat.
Sophia’s breath catches. On time with the click of Daniela’s seat being pulled back to its original position
She sits up straighter and turns to face Daniela fully from the drivers seat.
“You’re seeing someone,” Sophia says quietly.
“It’s not serious,” Daniela replies too quickly. Eyes darting away and back.
It is serious. How could it not? They just beat the three month cycle.
Sophia knows that and counted.
But Daniela reaches over and squeezes her hand and smiles like it’s a joke instead of something demeaning to all three of them.
“I’m not pressuring you,” Daniela says, softer now, eyes softening, plump lips forming a line. “It’s just us. Just a kiss. If you hate it, we forget it ever happened.”
She says as if it’s a totally normal thing to say to your bestfriend and while being in a committed relationship.
Sophia’s throat tightens, her mouth suddenly dry. Forgetting has never been something she’s been good at, especially when it comes to Daniela. She still remembers what she was wearing and what she smelled like the first time she saw her.
“You’re dating Jonah,” she says again, but her voice is weaker this time, dried up. Looking at Daniela, then down at the cup holders . The way Daniela is staring at her makes her feel. Feel too much. Life comes at you fast, one second your bestfriend is complaining about her boyfriend… the next she’s asking you to kiss her.
Daniela’s eyes search her face. Lips forming a small pout“And I’m here with you.”
That does something to Sophia. Daniela was weakening her morals, one pout at a time. Her eyes are fixated on the plastic Dunkin cup that she forgot to throw away.
Sophia thinks of all the things that could go wrong with this ludicrous proposition. She could lose her bestfriend, the one that makes her forget all her problems, the one that makes her laugh the loudest, the one that makes her—
Her thoughts are cut short when Daniela shifts. Slow enough to stop if Sophia pulls back. Her hand comes up, hesitating near Sophia’s cheek like she’s asking permission without words. Eyes locked onto Sophia’s profile
“This is a bad idea,” Sophia murmurs stiffly.
“Probably,” Daniela whispers back with a hint of humor. Eyes locked on Sophia’s lips
Sophia could still turn away.
She doesn’t.
She looks at Daniela, clearly now. She doesn’t realize she’s leaned towards her until Daniela comes closer.
Sophia doesn’t move. Daniela’s over the center console, the invisible barrier has been broken. Daniela’s eyes are closing and hers are still open, it’s like everything is slowing down. Yet, Sophia remains.
Then, Daniela’s lips touch hers, tentative at first, testing. Sophia goes rigid immediately, every alarm in her body going off. This is wrong. This is messy. This is going to hurt. This is so soft. This is so plump-
Daniela starts to pull back.
And that’s when Sophia breaks.
Her hand grips the front of Daniela’s jacket and she kisses her back. Teeth clashing.
Not tentative. Not careful. Almost… spiteful. Saying her feelings without verbalizing it, hoping Daniela gets the message
It’s months of swallowed feelings and silent jealousy and pretending she doesn’t care who Daniela flirts with at parties. It’s a kiss for every time Daniela has chosen someone else but still looked at Sophia like she was home and knowing she’d be waiting.
Daniela makes a small, surprised sound before melting into it, one hand sliding into Sophia’s hair, the other steadying herself on top of the center console.
Sophia bites too hard and Daniela makes a gruntled sound, hand tightening in Sophia’s hair.
Sophia pulls away first startled by the sound, breathing hard, eyes wide like she’s startled by herself. Hands bracing the seat
“That,” she says shakily, “was not a good idea.”
Daniela’s lips are swollen, her smile slower now. Less playful. More aware. Eyes blown to just the pupils
“Maybe not,” she admits.
Sophia’s gaze flickers, searching Daniela’s face for doubt, for regret.
There’s none.
“You can’t do that and then go home to him,” Sophia says quietly.
She feels guilty
Daniela tilts her head. This sends a sharp pang to Sophia’s chest.
“I’m not doing anything. I asked.”
“That’s worse.” Sophia mutters, eyes darting back to the Dunkin cup.
Silence hangs heavy between them.
Daniela reaches out again, brushing her thumb over Sophia’s lower lip like she’s memorizing the shape of it.
“So,” Daniela murmurs, “do you want to continue or not?”
Sophia swallows.
She should say no.
She doesn’t.
“Just a kiss,” she whispers, like she’s negotiating with herself.
Daniela smiles, dimples on brand. Sophia swallows
And when she leans in again, it’s not cute anymore.
It’s the beginning of something neither of them will be able to pretend is casual.
Sophia wakes before her phone’s alarm. She laid still, on her twin sized bed. The mushrooms on her bedsheets being pulled so tight they didn’t resemble mushrooms anymore. Thick weighted blanket sitting on top of her…
The sky outside her window is that pale gray-blue that belongs to the space between night and day. Her beige colored room is quiet except for the low hum of her fan and the steady rhythm of her breathing. Her mind keeps twisting to the night before, her class, and… Daniela
For a moment, her mind is blank. Then the memory of the parking lot returns like when the shower water turns cold after using the hot water for too long.
Inside her small car. The dim glow of the streetlight piercing through the windshield. The leftover dunkin cup.. the faint smell of vanilla wafting around her
Daniela’s breath brushing her mouth before their lips met.
That thought has Sophia pressing her face deeper into her pillow, inhaling slowly. Feeling the heat rise up throughout her body.
She should regret it. She had kissed her bestfriend, okay. Not so bad. But, she kissed her bestfriend who has a boyfriend. She can’t even make rational arguments against doing that to him. Other than the fact that he’s the bare minimum, she doesn’t want to talk down on him.
Regretting it would make things simpler. Cleaner. Something she could hold onto like a rule, like I did it once, now I don’t want to do it anymore!
Instead, what settles in her chest beating throughout is something far less cooperative. A restless anticipation. When can she get her next fix?
God, she feels like an addict.
The thoughts get cut short when her phone lights up on the nightstand. It’s far away to tell the letters on the screen, but she knows exactly whose notification it’s from.
The glow cuts through the quiet room. Sophia watches it for a few seconds before reaching for it, as if touching it too quickly might confirm something she isn’t ready to admit.
Daniii <3:
hey u awake?
The message sits there, casual and small, but Sophia feels it like a ripple through still water. The silly contact she made for her feels like a joke
Of course Daniela is awake. And of course she’s the one who texted first.
Sophia sits up slowly, dark hair falling across her shoulders, the morning air cool against her skin. Her other hand plays along the freying ends of her pajamas.
And she types back.
fifi :p :
Yes.
The reply barely sends before the three dots appear again.
Daniela has always been like that quick, instinctive, moving before most people finish thinking.
Dani <3:
did u sleep?
Sophia lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding and leans back against her headboard. Outside, a car passes somewhere down the street, tires whispering against pavement. She listens for more sounds to ache her talking mind. Since when did it become hard for her to respond to a measly text?
fifi :p :
A little.
Daniela doesn’t reply back as fast this time. Long enough that Sophia’s mind starts filling the silence with images she doesn’t want to dwell on.
Yet she can’t stop herself from seeing Daniela leaning across the console. Daniela’s hand in her hair. The feeling of her hair being tugged on, the way jet
The phone buzzes again.
Daniii <3:
i keep thinking about u and the way u bit my lip ;)
Sophia stares at the screen. Fingers gripping tight on the edges
She lays her head back down as the heat blooms slowly behind her ears and travels across her cheeks
The memory feels sharper now, like nails on a chalkboard
She types a response, deletes it, then types again. Opting for a one word reply, can’t go too wrong. Doesn’t show much of what she feels and what she doesn’t
fifi :p :
Please.
The reply comes immediately.
Daniii <3:
it hurts :(
Sophia exhales softly. A smile creeping. She feels relieved that Daniela has a reminder
Yet she still feels like she’s drowning.
By the time she reaches campus, it was brighter nos.
Students move through the walkways in small groups of collective noise with backpacks shifting, shoes patting, conversations overlapping, the air alive with the ordinary rhythm of the day.
Sophia spots Daniela almost instantly. Seeing her has her tightening her straps on her backpack.
She’s leaning against the metal railing outside the communications building, one ankle crossed over the other, sunlight caught in the loose halo of her curls. Wearing a cropped baby tee and too low waisted baggy jeans.
An outfit other everybody can appreciate
She looks gorgeous. And nonchalant.
Sophia slows slightly as she approaches.
Something inside her steadies and tightens at the same time.
Daniela looks up. Hazel eyes glinting rivaling the sun.
Their eyes meet. Sophia keeps walking, feeling like she’s being swallowed whole Neither of them speaks right away. Last night sits between them, she knows Daniela’s thinking of it too. But reaching her now, she can’t tell if she’s changed her mind. She feels her palm sweating and heartbeat thudding in her ears
Daniela’s face still remains neutral, looking her up and down slightly. Curls framing her face.
Then, like Daniela senses her nerves creeping. Smiles up at her slowly.
“Well,” she says, pushing herself off the railing, “this is awkward.” Putting a playful pout on her glossy lips.
Sophia looks down for a moment and lets out a quiet laugh. Tucking a stray hair behind her ear, a nervous tick.
“You’re the one who suggested it,” Sophia says in a manner that she thinks is jokingly, but really comes across strained
Daniela steps closer. Not touching Sophia. Just near enough that Sophia can feel her.
“You regret it?” Daniela asks, tone teasing. Like she knows Sophia definetly doesnt.
The question is light, but there’s something sharper beneath it.
Sophia meets her mischievous gaze. “No.” Said sharply
The cadence has the hazel eyed girl smirking lightly, a dimple jutting out.
Something pleased flickers through her expression, quick as sunlight across water.
“Good,” she whispers out. “Cause you’re really good at that,” eyes flickering down plump lips
Sophia folds her arms loosely across her chest, trying to gather some kind of composure around herself. Starting to play with the strings of her unzipped hoodie.
“Daniela, we can’t be obvious” Sophia doesn’t know what she’s saying, why is she continuing and adding on.
Daniela tilts her head, curls shifting softly around her face. “You think I’m obvious?” Hands on her hips now
“You’re terrible at subtle.” Sophia’s lips now jut into a straight line. She looks at Daniela and is confused why she’s so so lol amused
Daniela grins. Both dimples now proudly showing
“But it makes it fun.”
The word lands wrong in Sophia’s chest, like a pebble dropped into a still lake.
Fun. Right. That’s all it is to her. Just something to get high off of.
As if what happened last night was a game they’d invented together. Like it was monopoly and she was the one monopolizing
A group of students passes by, their conversation spilling around the two of them, forcing a small distance between them. Normal space. Normal morning. For two normal friends.
Except the tension between Sophia and Daniela still feels charged, magnets trying hard to repel each other, but too charged
They start walking toward the building.
Daniela falls into step beside her easily, their shoulders nearly brushing. Halfway down the hallway, Daniela’s hand grazes the back of Sophia’s. It’s definitely not accidental.
Another one of Daniela’s fleeting touches that feels like a spark against dry skin. She doesn’t pull away.
Daniela glances sideways at her.
“You’re quiet,” she says.
“I’m thinking.”
“That’s never good, you’re a pessimist.”
Sophia exhales softly, annoyed huffing sounds.
“We need rules.”
Daniela lets out a small laugh, the sound bright and careless. “You’re making rules already?” Face dropping to shock
Daniela studies her with amused curiosity, examining an unexpected puzzle that’s named Sophia.
“Okay,” she says in a lighthearted. “What kind of rules?”
Sophia keeps her voice low as students pass around them.
“No flirting with me in front of people.” She rattles off
Daniela nods, “Harsh.”
“No texting me when you’re with him.”
Daniela’s smile flickers, dimming slightly at the edges.
“And?”
Sophia hesitates. The last rule sits heavier in her chest.
“If this gets messy,” she says quietly, “we stop.”
Daniela watches her for a long moment.
“You think you’ll be the one stopping?”
Sophia doesn’t answer. Because the truth is, she doesn’t know. Daniela steps closer again, lowering her voice.
Giving Sophia an out by saying, “You worry too much.”
Sophia’s eyes flick down just for a second to Daniela’s mouth. To which the girl catches immediately.
Her smile returns, slower this time, like a secret unfolding.
“Relax,” she whispers. While the other girl’s pulse knocks softly against her ribs.
“This’ll be fun, okay?” Daniela now says seriously, “it’s just us taking care of each other… in a different way?” She says as if it’s the most logical explanation
Sophia nods once. Unable to find the logic between the words, why does she need this type of “care” when she’s got another to her disposal?
But her thoughts are cut off when Daniela turns toward her class, stepping away.
Before she goes, she glances back over her shoulder. Hips swaying confidently. Sophia hates to see her go… she loves to watch her leave
“See you tonight.”
Sophia watches her disappear into the crowd. And standing there in the middle of a perfectly ordinary morning, she realizes something .
She never agreed to tonight, nor does she have a clue on what’s unfolding tonight.