“Another prom?

” Alyssa asks in disbelief, eyeing at Kaylee and Shelby’s twin smiles as they sip on
their fancy glasses of orange juice.

They are sitting inside the blonde’s house, enjoying the first tickles of the summer. Outside, the
sun is too hot to be bearable, but in the comfort of the kitchen, the atmosphere is nice and
pleasant, often ornamented by the soft giggles shared between the three friends.

“Another prom”, Kaylee confirms, grasping her metallic straw between her fingers, “A perfect
one”.

Alyssa looks at Shelby almost as if asking for help.

“I mean, our prom was… disastrous. A homophobic mess. Sorry about that, by the way”.

The brunette makes a dismissive gesture with her left hand, prompting her friend to continue.
They have asked for forgiveness enough times already. All their confrontations, although decisive
for the development of their friendship, have been left well behind after long, painful
conversations. They were ready to move on.

“And Emma’s prom was… gorgeous and very much inclusive, but none of our classmates actually
went, besides me, Kaylee, Nick, and Kevin. I think that two years away from intolerant parents
added to a few profiting semesters in party colleges are enough for our Edgewater youth to accept
an invitation to an inclusive prom”.

“Also, they want to get drunk”, Kaylee adds, her blue eyes now fixed on her long, manicured nails.

“Also, they want to get drunk”, Shelby concedes, and shows Alyssa her most pleading look, “Oh,
come on Aly, it will be fun! It will be just a small party. We can organize it all by ourselves and even
put on music that we actually recognize”.

The dark-haired girl tilts her head to the side, seriously regarding the situation.

“But who could cover all the costs? You know the insane budget we managed for the first prom,
and I don’t think that a bunch of Broadway actors would be in to open their wallets for yet another
one”.

Kaylee smirks now, with a sparkly glint growing brighter in her eyes. Alyssa knows that look, and
she does not necessarily like it.

“My father. Well, his credit card, really. He had it coming after the whole not-so-secret-cheating
stunt he pulled with my mom last year. She’s still making him pray three times a day, I suspect only
to make him crazy”. Shelby puts a light, careful hand on top of her best friend’s shoulder, but the
blonde seems truly unbothered. “And I told you, we will deal with decorations ourselves. We now
even have the assistance of your girlfriend’s carpentry skills”.

Alyssa tries not to smile too hard at the mention of her favorite blonde. She also really, really tries
to suppress the flash memories of the girl working on a new project with a slight frown dancing in
her brows, and her steady hands caressing the wood, and light droplets of sweat-

“Alyssa, focus! Where’s your girlfriend, anyways?”

The brunette blinks rapidly before her mind is allowed to function again.

“Oh, she’s at her grandma’s. She’s helping her fix some broken cabinets”.

“See? My point”, Kaylee insists, her white smile widening across her features, “We have all we
need. Say yes, Aly. We will have so much fun!”

Deprived from any quick argument against the big, clearly celebrated project, Alyssa agrees. It only
takes her the brief sound of Kaylee and Shelby’s excited screams to start regretting her decisive
words.

The three girls speak for a while more, filling in all the big chunks of information they couldn’t send
each other through the text messages they shared during the whole year. The blonde chatters
about the perks of studying design before going into detail as for how absolutely depressed she
was the first month after she and Nick irremediably broke up, the long-distance relationship being
too difficult to handle. Shelby speaks a tad lower, expressing concern about her grades but
gratitude towards her new medical school classmates who seem to understand her so well. As for
Alyssa, she’s practically coaxed into telling that yes, law is definitely her thing and yes, Emma is
crushing her music major, indeed, and yes, everything between them is going super well even
though they can’t their faces every single day.

There is a brief pause that follows as Kaylee stares at her empty glass with a slight smirk.

“I just don’t get it”, she breathes, and Alyssa narrows her eyes almost in anticipation, “I mean I do
get it. You like girls. That’s pretty cool. I just don’t get what’s so… attractive about us. I can
recognize when girls are hot, of course”, she continues, pointing at herself. Her friends roll their
eyes and choke a slight snort. “But when I see them… I just don’t feel it, you know? Like, in my
body”.

The shortest brunette needs to make a conscious effort not to burst out laughing in response to
the blonde’s speech.

“Well, I think that’s called being straight, Kaylee”.

The girl huffs, clearly not convinced.

“Well Shelby has been straight, too, yet she has had a good time with some girls this year!”

Alyssa rises her eyebrows in a spike of amusement.

“Kaylee!”, the tallest brunette protests, “Those were all dares…well, almost”.

This time, the dark-haired girl does tilt her head up to let out a scandalous chuckle.

“I’m just saying! I feel kind of felt out! I mean, am I missing something?”

Alyssa’s smile brightens up all her face. A year ago, she couldn’t have even imagined Kaylee
actually whining about not liking women. She couldn’t have imagined being like that, so full of love
at the thought of her girlfriend, so comfortable with friends that she believed would never accept
her. She feels better than ever, stronger, steadier. She’s ready to face whatever is to come.

The organization of a whole impromptu prom included.

“Don’t worry, Kaylee, you aren’t missing anything. I’m sure you have fun with your men”, Alyssa
concedes, sipping into her glass of cold water.

“Of course”, Shelby chimes in, mischief entangling with her tone, “I mean, who needs several
rounds in bed when you have the husky smell of an Axe cologne”.

Catching the sudden outrage of Kaylee’s expression and the soundly explosion of Shelby’s
laughter, Alyssa can’t help but to feel truly glad of being back home.

Emma stands quietly on the rich grass surrounding her porch. Her eyes are set on the fresh
bouquet of flowers she prepared making use of her grandmother’s plants, pointedly hiding away
from the oldest woman’s sharp stare.

She’s so, so, happy.

The warm, late afternoon sun is caressing her neck almost tenderly. A soft summer breeze insists
on playing throughout her blonde curls. The sight of the house where she spent most of her
teenage years –where she was always, always welcomed- fills up her chest with a mixture of
melancholy and sheer pride.

She’s been through a lot, yes. But she has also achieved so much. So many roads shine openly in
front of her- college, new friends, the hint of a gig that could finally mean affording to buy good
sushi at least twice a month- that she can’t help but to enjoy the palpitating feeling that it has
finally gotten better.

Not to mention that she’s still going strong with literally the most beautiful, generous, intelligent
woman she’s ever-

Emma feels soft arms encircling her waist in an affectionate gesture. A second later, the smell of
an enticing, very much familiar scent overwhelms her senses.

A soft smile spreads throughout her features.

“Hello, beautiful. Finally meeting the sun?”

The blonde chuckles lowly, enjoying the warmth of her girlfriend’s body pressed against hers.

“We knew each other already; I’m just trying to mend our relationship now”. She turns around,
her bright grin only growing dopier at the sight of Alyssa’s face. “Hi, love”, she whispers, and leans
forwards to plant a soft kiss on the shortest girl’s pouty lips, “I missed you today”.

Alyssa claims for another kiss as soon as the blonde finishes speaking. This time, she holds her
girlfriend’ silky cheeks close, eager to maintain their blissful contact. When she pulls away, she
giggles both at the butterflies spiraling in her stomach and at the lovely sight of a very dazed
Emma.

“I missed you, too. I really wanted to come this morning but my mom insisted on us preparing all
that food… I guess she wanted us to bond a little more. She almost cried when I told her I missed
her cooking”.
Emma tilts her head in affectionate amusement.

“It’s okay, babe. She’s just excited to have you back. I mean, I know that I would”.

Alyssa rolls her eyes in pure tenderness as the blonde uses her free hand to caress her jaw.

“Luckily for you, we are only thirty minutes away”, her eyes finally dart down to Emma’s colorful
bouquet, “Are you going to put those in a vase, or-?”

The blonde’s eyes widen in recognition.

“Ah, no, this is for you, babe”, she declares, and hands her masterpiece to a visibly swooned
Alyssa.

“My, my, Nolan”, the brunette mutters, appreciating her girlfriend’s work as a light blush begins to
heat up her cheeks. “One would think that you are flirting with me”.

Emma laughs this time, clear eyes full of life as increasingly golden rays highlight her soft
expression.

Four years.

Four years and Alyssa still feels like she could melt at the sight of her girlfriend oozing pure joy.

Given the awed gaze she receives from her girlfriend; she cannot help but to think that her
unbidden emotions do find their match.

“I don’t know what you mean. This is all clearly, very much platonic”, Emma answers back, stealing
another kiss from her girlfriend’s lips as if to make a point.

The brunette looks nothing else but delighted.

“How was your day with the fantastic duo? Did Kaylee go through another fifteen-minute speech
about how much she does not miss Nick?”

Alyssa grasps her girlfriend’s hand while gifting her a soft smile.

The sun is setting quickly, and as much as she’d love to spend some time with her under the light
of a fairly unpolluted sky, the brunette has promised her mother that she and Emma would spend
some family-dinner-quality-time with her.

“Oh, I think that she’s finally over Nick. She came up with a brand new idea now, though”, she
explains, pulling her girlfriend towards the house.

“Oh?”, Emma muses, suddenly curious.

Alyssa waits for the blonde to open the door.

“A new prom”.

“A new prom?!”, the Emma asks, her fingers still squeezing her girlfriend’s.

“I’ll tell you all about it at dinner”, the brunette answers, and her eyes brighten up at the sight of
her girlfriend’s grandmother, “Hi, Mrs. Nolan!”.
Emma and Alyssa do have to rush a bit not to make Mrs. Greene wait for more than she can
handle.

Nevertheless, they enjoy of quite a blissful night.

Alyssa hums to herself as she uses children scissors – the only pair she could find in the mess that
was Shelby’s garage- to shape a ton of deep purple pieces of wrapping paper into orchids.

Just at her side, Kaylee huffs loudly as her own hands tries to coax a bunch of rugged strands of
fabric into becoming some sort of a star.

The brunette tries, for the seventh time in the course of the long, long afternoon, to shallow a
chuckle tickling at the base of her throat.

On the opposite side of the table, visibly less distressed, Shelby measures some long pieces of dark
tulle fabric to make sure that they fit at least in an acceptably fashionable manner against the
white walls of the ridiculously large room.

The blonde sighs in annoyance, and Alyssa takes it as a sign that she has had enough with trying to
be creative. They have spent many hours trying to put the unprompted prom on point as they
discovered, much as the dark-haired girl had guessed, that putting a party of that magnitude
together in a few days was quite difficult, not to say downright nuts. Sure, they had settled for a
significantly smaller celebration, only inviting young adults from Edgewater and surroundings, but
the number of self-imposed responsibilities is still intimidating.

At some point during the preparations, Kaylee had gotten so pissed off due to the insistent noise
of all her former school classmates trying to do something that she sent them to fulfill tasks which
obliged them to be anywhere but near her best friend’s garage. As a result, while the rest of the
guests retrieve alcohol, music, and lights, the blonde can enjoy the comfortable, familiar silence of
working with her closest girls.

And yes, that includes Emma.

“How’s your girlfriend doing out there, Aly? Isn’t she dehydrating or something? It’s damn hot
today”, Kaylee complains, bringing her hands up to tighten up her ponytail.

The brunette hums again, instinctively raising her gaze to unsuccessfully find the figure of her
girlfriend throughout the window.

“I think she will be fine. I’ll bring her a bottle of water, anyways”.

“Right? Be a good girlfriend, Aly!”, Shelby adds, a playful smirk stretching her lips.

Alyssa rolls her eyes good-naturedly, reaching towards the fridge behind her to gather some liquid
for the blonde.

“I am a good girlfriend! I’m not the one who asked Emma to cut wood in the middle of the
summer!”, she claims, fixing an accusatory glance on Kaylee’s figure.
“She’s the only one who knows how to!”, the blonde protests, finally giving up on her work, “I’m
sure you’d agree with me on the fact that it is insane to think about giving any our ex-classmates a
tool. They’d hurt themselves, and most importantly, us!”.

Shelby laughs, resting her hands on her hips, feeling the faint hint of a breeze caressing her back.

Damn, it is hot.

“Let’s look for your Emma and all take a break”, she suggests. “We still have, like… seven hours”.

The three of them know that seven hours is way, way less time than what they need, but, well.

A break is a break.

Emma smiles softly as the faint sound Alyssa’s mellow voice reaches her ears.

Well, she is kind of whipped. What about it? Her girlfriend is the most beautiful woman in the
entire world, after all.

The blonde sands a dangerously sharp edge.

And they are building something beautiful, too. She adored her own prom. Her heart got to beat
joyful in sheer freedom there, and Alyssa’s voice was finally heard, not to be silenced every again.
Their love shone so openly and bright under the flash of neon lights, and so did everyone else’s, no
matter who their chests were filled with.

And now she gets to experience that all over again, this time with the new support of the ex-
classmates that once rejected her.

It feels like turning pages.

The blonde sighs as the voices coming from the garage become silent. She grasps the rusty axe
Shelby gave to her almost with an apprehensive expression and glances at the piece of wood she
carefully placed on the floor.

Then, with the ease of years of practice, she delivers a flawless blow.

Emma takes some time to brush off the fine layer of sweat that begins to cover her forehead. The
temperature is clearly rising.

In a last attempt to cool down, she leaves the axe aside and reaches down with her hands to take
her white t-shirt off by its hem.

After placing the garment neatly on top of the only chair she brought outside, she puts herself into
work again.

Kaylee’s mood suddenly goes up again, her mouth already watering as she thinks about the mango
beverage she’s about to order.
“Hey, Nolan, come with us to- uh…”

At the sound of her friend’s voice dying out, Alyssa rushes to take a glance at her girlfriend, too.
When she spots her tiny figure, though, her throat runs dry as well.

Emma is shirtless but for the black sportive bra hugging her skin, strong arms and toned body in
full display under the heat of the afternoon sun. She’s clearly focused on her current task, which is
to deliver blow after blow with the axe firmly grasped by her steady hands in order to cut a
particularly sturdy piece of wood in two.

Her back, glistening, has redden due to the harshness of the unforgiving sunlight, and the usual
softness of her features has left place for a calculating, stern expression.

She looks hot, plain and simple.

A few thoughts gravitate around Alyssa’s mind at that exact moment. Most of them are echoes of
her own voice murmuring something similar to holy fuck, and fuck yeah that’s my girlfriend! High
five!

The dizzy moment is only broken after Shelby’s voice startles her.

“O…kay. What is going on here?”

Emma’s stare snaps up, finally taking in the girls’ presence before her. Her eyes light up visibly at
the sight of her girlfriend, and her mouth curls into a toothy, bright grin.

“Hey babe!”, she greets Alyssa, and then decides that she shouldn’t boast her favoritism so
openly, “Hey girls…what’s wrong? Where are we going?”

The shortest brunette smiles big, big, a boost of pride spreading through her body as she raises
both a playful and threatening eyebrow targeted towards Kaylee.

“Nothing baby”, she mutters, approaching the shortest blonde slowly, subtly rejoicing in the sight
before her, “Kaylee here want us to take a break. You must be tired too”, she ventures, and Emma
never stops smiling.

Just behind them, Shelby sinks a sharp elbow deep into the tallest blonde’s ribs, who winces in
pain as she snaps out of her shock.

“Alyssa will fucking kill you”, the brunette murmurs, staring at her best friend pointedly, and at
least Kaylee has the modesty to blush.

“I don’t know what you are talking about”, she argues back, tilting her chin up in fake defiance, her
gaze softening as the pair of girls in front of her seemingly get lost in their own rainbow-y world.

Shelby rolls her eyes, but does not comment on the situation further. As she eyes her friends, she
quickly discovers that she needs to intervene before she has to witness a moment too sweet for
the sour taste of the stifling warmth penetrating the afternoon.

“So, Nolan, where did your abs even came from?”, she asks bluntly, and watches with amusement
as the blonde flushes deeply under Alyssa’s heady stare.
“Huh… I just… got into carpentry? It calms me down when I’m nervous”.

“And serves as an interesting workout routine, apparently”, adds Alyssa, now visibly more
collected.

Shelby merely hums in response, now feeling droplets of sweat sticking uncomfortably against her
nape. As she reaches up to stretch her sore muscles, she spots Kaylee looking at her with curiosity
dancing in her eyes.

Before she can ask, the blonde sighs in renewed annoyance.

“Alright. Congrats Emma for being ripped and congrats Alyssa… well you know why. Now let’s go
before any of us melts here. We need to come back in a while if we want Shelby’s garage to look at
least barely decent by tonight”.

The rest of the girls comply happily. The shortest blonde finally leaves the axe aside to take her
girlfriend’s hand with a dopey expression, and the couple starts walking towards the nearest café
with their features tendered under the force of sheer love.

Some steps behind, Shelby shakes her head in honest affection. They truly deserve to have that.

“You know”, she hears at her side, as Kaylee rests her arm around her shoulders, “I think I get it
now”.

The brunette doesn’t really know why, but she feels her own cheeks heating up slightly under the
strange light playing inside the blonde’s eyes.

The third prom turns out to be a success.

Well, it’s not as visually stunning as the second one, and it doesn’t boast the large budget of the
first, but Shelby’s garage is decorated nicely and what’s more important – diversity ornaments the
place in the most beautiful of the ways.

The fabric and paper decorations turn out to look way better under a dim, purplish light, and they
definitely become much more interesting under the weight of tons of sweet strong drinks. The
music is upbeat and nice, a good mixture of old classics and new hits that Kaylee supervised
personally three times.

Everybody seems to be having a good time. The four prom-hosts have even witnessed the worst of
Edgewater’s ex-jocks dancing with every single queer attendee without even batting an eyelash.
Impressed, Alyssa had made a point of whispering Emma how proud of her she was at some point
in the night. In return, the blonde had stared at her girlfriend with melting tenderness to tell her
that they have both done it.

Now, it is way past midnight. There’s only a few hours separating the starry night from the
inevitable raise of the morning sun. Loud beats have left place for a softer, smoother melody, and
the deeper lights have allowed for partners to dance with each other in the middle of the room
without a care in the world.
Emma is holding Alyssa close by her waist. She can feel her warmth, her sweet scent, her breath
tickling against her neck. Her hands tighten against the soft fabric of the short, sexy, champagne
dress the brunette decided to wear. The blonde can barely hold in all the love she feels for her girl
at that moment. She feels it spilling, her eyes watering, her pulse trembling.

Against her, Alyssa’s chest irradiates pure joy. It all comes down to that. All the fear, the tears, the
screaming, the brunette would do it all over again, every single painful step, if that meant being
able be held by her girlfriend in that way, as if the world was senseless past their delightful bond.
The brunette smiles softly, letting her fingers tangle in blonde curls.

“I love you”, she murmurs, only because her heart begs her to say it.

Emma pulls away under the desire to meet her girlfriend’s eyes.

“I love you”, she answers back, and eyes her gestures almost reverently, “You were right. This is
nice”.

The brunette smiles mischievously, still swaying at the rhythm of the music.

“Always am, darling”.

She is rewarded with a slight, affectionate chuckle.

“Of course, love”, Emma answers. Then, she spends some moments regarding the decoration
around them, reflexive, “We did a great job. I guess all those hours of hard work and listening to
Kaylee screaming at the rest of the Edgewater population payed off”.

Alyssa smiles brilliantly, her left hand moving down to play with her girlfriend’s dark bowtie almost
absent-mindedly.

Emma’s modern, three-piece back suit is doing wonders.

“Well, I had fun”, she muses, bringing her other hand to grasp her girlfriend’s toned arm for good
measure.

She sees the change of light in the blonde’s eyes, the way in which her shoulders grow straighter,
and her mouth parts just slightly. There’s an unmentioned change of energy that Alyssa always,
always loves.

“Oh?”, Emma asks, in a mixture of light flirting and true confusion, “How so?”

The brunette hums, suddenly more perceptive. She leans on her tiptoes to kiss her girlfriend
deeply just because she can, and because she likes it how the blonde’s steady digits press
insistently against her ribs.

“The carpenter”, she murmurs against her girlfriend’s lips, trying to keep a smile at bay, “was kinda
hot”.

Emma lets out a deep, throaty laugh before pecking Alyssa’s pouty mouth almost as if trying to
ground herself.
“Well, the carpenter may be up to take you back home at this exact moment”, she answers,
growing impatient around the multitude of people still swaying in the room.

Alyssa does not need to be told twice.

“What about your grandma?”, she asks, her breath stuttering as she feels her girlfriend’s breath
approaching her neck.

“We can use the barn. I left it ready so it is livable now”.

Alyssa thinks about asking her girlfriend to provide with all the details about the secret renovation,
but her fingertips are already tingling with excitement. The lights have faded into a deep, neon
blue, and the music has turned into another nostalgia-inducing tune.

“Let’s go, babe. We can come to help clean in the morning”, she murmurs instead, and takes
Emma’s hand to eagerly lead her out of the garage. On her way out, her eyes catch the sight of
Kaylee and Shelby dancing quietly with their gazes tangled on each other. The brunette raises her
eyebrows almost impressed, but the warm heat of Emma’s hand squeezing her wrist vanishes any
further thought from her mind.

Instead, she rushes to spend the rest of a very memorable night with her gorgeous, caring, very,
very much strong girlfriend… all by themselves.

Shelby is actually blushing.

Kaylee’s floral, obviously expensive perfume is making her feel a bit dizzy.

Or it is probably the only two cups of cheap booze she could handle before deciding that she’d
rather stay sober.

The blonde squeezes her shoulders tighter, all of the sudden, and Shelby doesn’t know whether to
loosen her own grasp on her best friend’s waist or to pull her closer against her chest.

Kaylee makes that decision for her. She pulls away only slightly to stare down at the brunette, but
keeps her hands firmly pressed against her nape.

“Shelby”, she murmurs, and it sounds like a hushed confession.

The shortest girl stares at her friend with her gestures hardened by the hint of anticipation.

“Yeah?”, she whispers back.

There’s something going on. There’s a connection burning through their bond, a palpitating feeling
that is making her lick her lips in a nervous gesture.

Before her, Kaylee looks unusually calm, unhinged. Her transparent eyes shine with the sparkle of
a secret she has just unveiled.

“Would you let me take you to my house?”, she asks softly, her blunt nails – when did she cut her
nails, anyway? - tracing uneven patterns on her friend’s skin.
Shelby’s mind shuts off for a second. Her breath catches on the base of her throat and her deep
blush spreads further, warm and nice everywhere it can reach.

“I… what about the prom?”, she asks dumbfounded, unaware of the fact that her previously
moving feet have been put to a halt.

Kaylee smiles, and a wave of affection makes the brunette’s stomach backflip. She feels soft
fingers caressing her check, her jaw, her chin.

“Let’s close up. There isn’t much people left, anyways”.

Shelby thinks about it only for a second. She analyzes the blonde’s open expression, her
expectation, her patience, the way her hands are still pulling her in almost as if unable to stop
themselves.

“Yes”, she answers, and Kaylee smiles in a way the brunette is absolutely sure she hasn’t seen
before.

As she feels soft lips pecking her collarbone in relieved gratitude, Shelby thinks about writing
Emma and Alyssa a thank you note for agreeing on building the new prom.

“Another prom?”, Alyssa asks in disbelief.

Also,

Emma’s carpentering works wonderfully for her mind… and her body. Alyssa loves her girlfriend
very, very much so. Kaylee discovers something really interesting and Shelby is just glad to spend
some time with her friends.