Nail Polish(One Shot)

Tomorrow

Damien turned down the radio as he pulled up the driveway to Saige's place. Glancing at the clock he saw he was a couple minutes early so he waited a beat before turning off the ignition. Kailey and Gina's cars filled up the right half of the drive so he pulled all the way up on the left. He wasn't sure if anyone else was coming to Saige's tonight. Damien walked around to his trunk and pulled out the drinks Saige asked him to bring; Dr. Pepper and Topo Chico. He also brought a small case of sugar free red bull just in case the movie marathon went really late into the night. Saige had requested everyone to stay on theme. Damien opted for spooky themed pajamas but he also added eyeliner and a faux dangly earring on one ear. Gina answered the door when he rang the bell. She, and later he saw her partner as well, was also wearing comfy Halloween pajamas with a cool smokey eye and dark purple devil horns.
"Hey Damien!"
Gina greeted him with a quick friendly hug and grabbed the case of Dr. Pepper to help him bring it in. Gina yelled out towards the living room where there was a soft hum of activity and chatter.
"Movie time!"
Gina and Damien walked deeper into the house to find Gina's partner Joey, Kailey, and Saige gathered around Saige's dvd collection debating what to watch. The tv was also open to the main menu with all of the streaming services, presumably if they decided to go that route. The group looked up from their contemplation. While Gina and Joey were in matching pajamas, Kailey and Saige opted for more of a literal costume. Kailey was dressed as a sort of zombie and Saige was more the classic witch. Both had on devil horns that matched Gina's; Joey's were green, Kailey's red, and Saige's black. They set the drinks down on the kitchen table and Damien said hello, giving hugs and handshakes. When he hugged Saige she held on to his arms when he went to pull away.
"Hold on, I've got something for you."
Saige dragged him by the arm into her bedroom. Wednesday looked up sleepily from their nap on the end of the bed but didn't seem to care enough to fully get up and investigate. Saige dropped his arm and walked up to her dresser. Turning around she had a pair of devil horns, this time in blue.
"These are for you."
"Oh wow, thanks Saige."
"And they are even adjustable so they should still fit that big head of yours."
Saige reaches up on her tip toes and pats the top of Damien's head playfully. Now that she is up close she can see his face even better. She places a hand on one side of his face as if to get a better look.
"Love the eyeliner."
She says it with a smile. Damien gets overcome with a wave of self-consciousness. It's been a while since he's been complimented in such an intimate way. He moves his head down to hide the red in his cheeks. This removes his face from Saige's hand.
"Aw shucks, you are too kind Saige. It still looked alot better when you did it for me but I wanted to try. Your whole look is super cool by the way. I'm glad Gina also wore pjs or I would feel woefully underdressed."
Saige brushes off that statement.
"Hey most people are under dressed when I am around."
She says with a smirk.
"This is true."
○○○
They had settled on a campy slasher trilogy. Classic, bloody, but still more fun and light then a demonic one filled with existential tread. Damien helped Saige move the snacks from her kitchen island to the coffee table. Upon re-entering the living room they find Joey on one end on the couch, Gina next to him in the middle, and Kailey laying sideways curled up with her head in Gina's lap. Saige throws a blanket for Kailey and one for Gina and Joey to share. Saige grabs a final blanket and settles on the loveseat on the side closer to the tv. Saige's longer couch is parallel to the tv where as the smaller loveseat is perpendicular. Damien goes to sit on the floor where the corners of the two couches intersect to let Saige have the loveseat to herself. Saige gives him a puzzled look.
"What are you doing weirdo?"
"I wanted to give you a little extra room Saige."
Saige pats the spot above him and next to her on the sofa.
"Don't be silly, I need a buddy for this."
Saige overly dramaticizes a pout. Kailey chimes in.
"Yeah Damien, I know I took the coveted spot of snuggling with Gina but I am sure Saige will hold your hand if you get too scared."
Saige huffs in faux offense and chucks a throw pillow at Kailey. Kailey borrows her head into the couch to avoid the hit but it still knocks her horns slightly askew.
"Might as well take them off for this anyway, so I don't accidentally stab Gina."
Kailey says leaning forward to set them on the edge on the coffee table.
"Gina thanks you for this."
Gina replies in a serious tone. After a beat of silence they all bust out laughing.
"Now c'mon Damien quit stalling, hit those lights and sit over here so we can start the movie."
Saige says tapping the spot on the couch incessantly.
Damien sighed and made his way over to turn off the lights and back to the couch to sit in the open spot. In the quiet moment Joey mutters.
"Why do I never get the coveted spot of cuddling with Gina?"
Gina pats his hand.
"Kailey always calls it babe, you gotta try to be faster than her."
This earns a good chuckle from everyone and a smirk from Kailey. Once Damien is settled in Saige starts the first movie. The scene opens on a group of teenagers telling scary stories around a fire pit. Damien angles his body towards the television, grabs one of the throw pillows, and places the pillow on his lap. Saige pulls the blanket onto her lap and scoots back to face the tv and rest her back against Damien. This makes Damien freeze for a split second before trying to relax and ignore the physical contact. It's not like he is completely not used to any physical contact at all. Courtney, Olivia, and Keith all have no concept of personal space. And it is clear, even though Damien is newer friends with everyone, that Saige's friends are also super platonicly affectionate. In fact, Saige herself has been touchy with him many times before; whether it be grabbing his arm, playfully shoving him, little hugs, or even the time she sat in the ball pit with him and Kailey for her anniversary stream. However, he hadn't cuddled up with someone on a couch like this to watch scary movies since his last relationship. He was sure that his reaction was because of that. If Saige noticed she didn't act like it, she simply pulled the blanket up to her neck and snuggled in. Damien decided to follow her lead, settle in, and enjoy the movie.
○○○
"Oh no no no, don't go in there girl, he's gunna find you!"
Kailey yells at the screen, pulling her blanket up over her nose. She braces herself for the bloody on-screen death. Gina has one arm wrapped over Kailey and one holding onto Joey's hand. At this point Damien and Saige are fully holding onto each other for comfort. Saige and Kaiely bury their heads into Damien and Gina at every jumpscare. The final fight scene comes to a close and they all seem to let out a collective breath they didn't know they were holding. The triumphant music plays and credits start to roll. Saige holds for a beat, sad to have to leave the warm cocoon of blankets, pillows, and Damien. But she hops up off the couch anyway.
"Thanks for that friends, you're all troopers for staying up for all three movies. Gina, I made up the guest bedroom for you and Joey if you want it."
Gina checks her phone and her eyes widen.
"Three am? Geez, yeah we're not driving back at this hour."
"Good thing we wore our pjs."
Joey adds. Saige walks them to her spare bedroom. In the mean time Damien tidies up the living room a bit, being careful not to make too much noise as Kailey is now fast asleep on the couch. Saige comes back after getting Gina and Joey situated and motions for Damien to follow her to her room. Once she shuts the door so Kailey can't hear she finally speaks.
"Well, now see Kailey has botched the sleeping arrangements."
"Has she?"
Damien responds with a quirked eyebrow.
"Yeah, see Kailey was going to have a slumber party with me and share my bed and I was going to offer you the big couch if you didn't want to drive. Which I really don't think you should because it is quite late. But Kailey is now passed out on the big couch and the loveseat is too short for you. I guess you could always take my bed and I could take the loveseat-"
Damien shakes his head and interjects.
"No way Saige, I'm not taking your bed while you sleep on the teeny tiny loveseat."
"Well then there's really only one solution Dames."
"What is that Saige?"
Saige raises her eyebrows for dramatic effect.
"Slumber party."
○○○
Damien and Saige both didn't feel like sleeping yet, probably because of the caffeine and residual adrenaline from the horror movies. They set up Saige's system and decided to play mario kart until they felt more sleepy. They played sat on the ground at the front of Saige's bed. Wednesday was grumpily laying at the foot of the bed, angry that Saige hadn't gone to sleep yet. Ghost was extra snuggly tonight and found a spot to nap by their feet. Despite the late hour, the game only seemed to energize them with lots of playful shoving, trying to cover each others eyes, and smack talk. After the rounds got into double digits Damien sighed and put his controller on the carpet.
"This doesn't seem to be helping our insomnia."
Saige smirked. He was right. If anything she felt more awake than she had early in the day.
"You're probably right, maybe if I turn out the lights it might be more helpful."
Saige goes to grab the controllers to put them up away from the cats. Damien notices Saige's nails. They are luminescent but dark.
"Wow I just noticed your nails, those look so cool."
Saige looks down at her hands instinctively.
"Thanks Dames, Courtney and I have been going to get them done together sometimes. So I have been really liking having them done all the time now."
"Aw that is so cute! Did you get these one's done or did you paint them yourself?"
"This set specifically I did myself. Partly to match my outifit and theme better and partly because my old set had a chip in it. Painting my nails has been nice because it is a time I am sort of forcing myself to focus on myself and be present in the moment."
"Wow that is really impressive, I really thought those were professional. That color is super unique too, like a black but sort of iridescent? I really like it."
A smile creeps up on Saige's face and she gets an idea. Will it help them get to sleep? No, absolutely not. But it would be very fun.
"I could do your nails, if you wanted."
She offers not fully making eye contact. Damien thinks about it for a moment. He does really like the look. And him and Saige would have cool matching nails, which is a fun notion. He knows Noah paints his nails sometimes but Noah is also really adventurous with his fashion in general. As much as Damien would love to experiment more with his fashion, the idea of putting himself out there like that is a little intimidating.
"Do you think I could pull it off?
"Oh my goodness, are you kinding me dude? It would totally work with your normal look. It is a little iridescent but black is a pretty neutral color, it shouldn't stop you from wearing whatever you want. Plus you will really encapsulate that inner emo that we all know is inside you."
Damien chuckles. Maybe it's the late night or maybe it's the company but he decides to go for it.
"Fuck it, I'm in!"
"Hell yeah Damien!"
Saige goes to grab her polish bottle. She also queues up some music to play softly in the backround. Saige sits crossed legged in front of Damien. He offers her his left hand first. She half holds it and half rests it on her knee and begins painting. It is an interesting sensation on Damien's nails. There is a coolness from the polish that is unlike anything he has ever felt. He is torn between experiencing that new feeling and experiencing yet another new form of human contact from Saige. It was odd to have her hold his hand and rest it on her knee. It made him anxious in a way that he hadn't felt since the begining of his last relationship. The fact that that feeling was coming up now though scared him. He really liked being Saige's friend. She had a way about her that both brought him comfort as well as kept him on his toes. He's sure it didn't help that he had rapidly become one of the only single people in his friend groups. Even his perpetually single best friend grew some balls and finally told Court how he felt. He tried to rationalize this feeling, telling himself he was probably just feeling left out. He's dated good friends before. Even other content creators. It's not like those relationships ended badly. He was still on really good terms with his exes. But he wasn't friends with them, especially the way he was before the relationships. He didn't even know why he was entertaining these thoughts. He didn't see Saige that way. She was his friend. Yes, a very pretty, silly, sassy, dorky, lovely friend. One he sought out to talk to, sit near, and joke with. Now that he thought about it, he even quite often talked ABOUT Saige when she wasn't around. Was he really coming to this realization right now? While she was doing his nails? Was he so delusional that he didn't realize his own feelings?
"You're pretty quiet bud, having second thoughts?"
Saige's voice brought him back to the present. Back to his hand delicately placed in hers.
"Sorry, no second thoughts. You know me, always thinking a million miles a minute."
Saige squinted at him, she could tell he was in his head but she decided not to push him. She instead focused on keeping their hands steady. The polish was looking really, really good on Damien. She knew he had been a little nervous initially on if he could pull it off; but boy oh boy he definitely pulled it off. It looked really pretty on him. Which shouldn't surprise her, she often found Damien quite pretty, as well as quite handsome. He was both a calming presence as well a major pain in her ass. But it was hard to stay mad at him, especially because most of her frustrations with him came from unimportant things, not actual mean or bad things he does. Damien was not an inherently mean person. In fact, out of the two of them, she was far more the confrontational one. Damien might over-think things sometimes but it came from a place of caring. She did appreciate that about him. She focused on her work. The polish really did suit him. It added this effortlessly cool aura to him she hadn't seen before. The eyeliner and faux earring only enhanced that. Shit was Damien hot?
"All done, want some makeup remover for the eyeliner?"
Damien nodded.
"Yes please!"
Saige grabbed some cotton rounds and the remover and sat back down. Damien's nails were still drying.
"Okay sit still and close your eyes."
Damien was apprehensive but obliged. Saige leaned in and very lightly began wiping off the makeup. It actually came off pretty easy. She paused for a moment to check if she had gotten it all. She was so close she could feel his breath on her skin. Damien's eyes flicked open and locked onto hers. Time stopped. Her heart was racing. She was acutely aware of how close they were to each other. The way their legs brushed against each other. Her eyes flicked down towards his lips just for a moment before returning to his gaze. There was something in his eyes she tried to place. Fear? Confusion? Hope? She wasn't sure. Unconsciously her hand came up and rested on his cheek. His breath hitched and he swallowed hard. Was this really happening? Neither makes any attempt to close the gap but they both don't pull away either. Damien breaks the silence first. His voice is hushed and quick.
"What are we doing?"
All Saige can think to say in reply is, to whisper back.
"I don't know."
He brings his own hand up to rest on top of hers. His hands are soft and warm. There is a subtle strength to his grip but also a gentleness. His nails seem to be completely dry now. Saige speaks again.
"Hey Damien?"
His eyes continue to perplex her but she thinks she might have pinpointed the emotions behind them. Want. And fear.
"Yeah Saige?"
"Can I do something stupid?"
"If you don't, I might."
Her hand on his cheek goes from a soft caress to a more deliberate hold. She slowly leans forward.
"Stop me at anytime."
She offers meekly. Neither seem to want to stop this though. He closes the already ever closing gap and just like that they are kissing. Damien and Saige. He pulls her in and she ends up in his lap. They hold onto each other with a balance of urgency and gentleness. Damien's hand slides up the nape of her neck and grabs a fistfull of her hair, careful not to pull too hard. Saige cannot decide what to do with her hands; constantly alternating from face, to arms, to chest, to back. Touching him feels like fire but not touching him is not an option. She hasn't felt this need to be this close to someone in a long time. This trust in someone to warrant her vulnerability. It was both a comforting relief and made her feel like a ball of nerves. She would be thinking ahead to what this means and how they move forward after this. But she can't. All she can think about is his hands, and her hands. In spite of his cautious personality, Damien did not kiss cautiously. More so determined, assertive, a boldness that normally shows through more in her personality. In turn, she simply followed his lead, not minding the temporary loss of control. His hands were in her hair, at her waist, on her cheek. He did not wander to more dangerous territory though. Neither one of them were ready for a step that big. A sudden knock at her bedroom door jolted them out of their trance and they both seemed to stumble backwards, dazed by what just happen.
"Hey Saige I saw the light was on, you still up?"
Kailey's voice asked from behind the closed door. Saige was speechless for a moment, her body still vibrating with adrenaline. Luckily Damien managed to speak up.
"Yeah, we're up. Saige just finished painting my nails."
The door opened and Kailey slipped in and went over to Damien to admire Saige's work.
"These look awesome Damien."
Damien smiled and thank her.
"Well I better get to bed, mind if I steal the couch from you Kailey?"
Kailey nodded in relief.
"All yours buddy, sleep tight."
Kailey gave him a quick hug goodnight and moved to Saige's makeup table to take her own eye makeup off. Saige looked up at Damien unsure of what to say, if she should even acknowledge it. He pulled her in for a quick but comforting hug, she sqeezed him a second longer than she probably should have with Kailey there. Before pulling away he let his hands rest on her shoulders, looked her in the eye and simply said,
"Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow."
Saige repeated it back in an equally hushed whisper. While Kailey was turned away he planted a quick kiss on her forhead and bid them goodnight. Both Damien and Saige laid down that night wondering what excatly 'tomorrow' would bring them.