The City | GirlxGirl

thirty two ➳

Two months later, Jude found herself in the centre of Skylar's kitchen. A pot of steaming coffee sat on the marble counter. It was warm outside, but Skylar always kept the curtains closed, and with the lack of sunshine in the house, the room was cool. Jude's bare legs were home to more goosebumps than she could count, and the hefty sweatshirt that had once belonged to Skylar did little to ease the chill that crept far up her spine. With slow hands, she poured herself some coffee. Her palms hugged the Batman mug, and her skin warmed immediately. Sinking down into one of the kitchen chairs, she tried to steady her trembling lips, to slow her racing heart.

Skylar's home was decorated with a lot of grey. Grey paint, grey furniture. The only thing that stood out amidst the dark shades was Jude; her collection of floral dresses and colourful blouses sometimes made her feel like she didn't belong here. But Skylar always went out of her way to make sure she felt welcome.

Everything was messy. Jude wasn't necessarily neat, but she wasn't overly messy. She stood in the middle between the two, while Blair stood strongly at being clean, and Skylar sunk low on the messy side. Stray clothing lay everywhere, even in the living room and hallways. Sheets of paper that were most likely important were strewn across the kitchen table, inviting spills and stains. But Jude loved it. It felt like a home. It was lived in, and it was loved, and it was Skylar's.

A little over two months ago, Jude had never been inside of Skylar's home. She hadn't been invited-she definitely was not welcome then. And now, she had memorized every corner of Skylar's strangely undecorated bedroom. She knew which boards in the hardwood squeaked beneath their weight (the one right in front of the door, and the one on the left of the hallway that led to Skylar's room). The way she maneuvered herself around the house told the story of a girl who spent a lot of time there-enough time to figure out all of its secrets and customs.

As her laptop came to life on the table in front of her, the clock showed 9:34AM. That wasn't early at all by her standards, but by Skylar's, this was the crack of dawn. So she let herself enjoy the comfortable silence of knowing she was in the same house as her sleeping girlfriend, that she was safe, that she was accepted. She was going to need that reminder come a few hours from now.

The best writing Jude produced was on mornings like these. A cup of coffee at her side, which usually was forgotten and became cold, once she lost herself in the sound of laptop keys clicking and ideas running wild through her mind. Over the past month she had been making a small amount of money writing for an online newspaper, centred around Toronto's breaking news. The most exciting story she had covered was that of a train hitting a young trespasser. The paper usually focused on entertainment, and that morning, she found herself tasked with the writing of an article about the latest celebrity relationship drama.

Boring, but a start. The money wasn't enough to sustain her tiny apartment, so she kept her job at the bar three nights a week instead of five. Skylar visited often, but never touched a glass that was pushed her way.

Jude continued to write in silence for the next hour, until she heard Skylar's shrill alarm ringing out, loud enough to wake the entire neighbourhood. Even then, Skylar sometimes slept through it. Deciding that if Skylar wasn't downstairs in the next five minutes, Jude would wake her herself. But as she was sipping her lukewarm coffee, she heard light footsteps on the staircase, light footsteps in the hallway, and then a heavy arm landed around her shoulders.

"Am I interrupting?" was the first thing Skylar asked, noticing Jude's laptop open on a word document.

Jude made sure the document was saved-Skylar always laughed at her for this-and shut her laptop with a dramatic snap. Turning to the side, she met Skylar's warm eyes for the first time that morning, and felt herself slip into a dream-like trance that took over whenever she was in the other girl's presence. Those eyes, dark and deep, holding something back. But Jude knew that Skylar had knocked every wall she'd ever built down, that she was not holding, nor hiding, anything from her. She simply looked like that from years of practice at being guarded towards everyone she met.