sweet creature x jemily

nine

my entire body hurts. we love having a messed up back and knees😅

happy readings and stay safe besties! -salem🤍

TW: minimal swearing, mentions of homophobia
word count: 3466

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Rossi: "Piece by piece, my mother is being stolen from me." Dorothy Allison.

Carrie was sitting at the window still of the apartment. She was trying her hand at drawing once again. The teenager tilted her head and furrowed her eyebrows at the attempt of a realistic heart was staring back at her. Needless to say, Carrie hated it. The teenager groaned and tore out the paper before crumpling it and throwing it across the room.

JJ had taken two steps down the stairs as she watched Carrie. The blonde woman raised her eyebrows at the sudden outburst. "You okay? Or do I need to arrest the piece of paper?"

"Tara said that I should try getting into a new club at school to help make the transition easier. I'm trying to get a little bit better at art so I don't totally become a loner the first week at school," Carrie said and sighed heavily. The teenager threw her head back and groaned softly.

"Well, I'm no artist. I draw stick figures, and even then, they're horrendous. But what I do know is that nobody becomes an expert over night," JJ said and sat down across from Carrie. The teenager hugged her legs to give JJ more room. The blonde woman smiled over at Carrie. "Writers don't write their hit book over night. Do you think Picasso was an overnight sensation?"

"No. I know, you're right," Carrie said and sighed. "I just—I guess I just want to take care of myself. Emily likes to worry. She's already walking on eggshells about me transferring schools, and the whole moving here situation. I don't know why, even though it's been two months since I've been here. So I guess I just don't want her to worry about another thing. You know? She's already doing too much. I don't need to pile my lack of friends and me being a loner on her."

"Now look at you being sweet," Emily said from the top of the stairs. Emily was putting in her earrings as she descended from the stairs.

"How much of that did you hear?" Carrie asked as she was practically shriveling up. Emily smiled softly and situated herself between Carrie and JJ. The two of them shifting to give Emily some room. JJ's eyes softened as she saw Emily and Carrie together.

"All of it. And I just want to let you know that I always worry. It's one of my duties as your new guardian. Even if you decide to go out of state for college and never speak to me again, I will still worry. I want you to make friends in school, yes. But am I going to get upset if you don't? Never! I was a loser in high school. I didn't have any friends. I did a lot of things I wasn't proud of. So I learned to draw shitty drawings and rebel against my mom. Which, I'm not encouraging. I'm just speaking from past experiences," Emily said and stuck her hand out. The two women around her laughed as Emily shook her head. "But the point still stands. I'm always going to worry, Carrie. You don't have to shield anything from me. I knew what I was getting myself into. And I don't want you to ever feel like a burden. Alright?"

"Alright," Carrie said and nodded her head. Emily tilted her head and raised her eyebrows. Carrie sighed softly as she held up her pinky to Emily. "Bottled-up emotions become explosive."

"Attagirl," Emily said as she interlocked their pinkies. JJ couldn't help the smile that took over her face as Emily and Carrie both turned to her. "Well, Penelope is going to be coming by in a little bit. She offered to look after you while JJ and I are out."

"Where are you guys going? And you do know that I spend most of the time here without any supervision, right?" Carrie asked as JJ and Emily both got up from the window still.