I Walk the Line ♤ (gxg)

chapter 23: safety

August nearly moaned at the feeling of taking her heels off.

"My God. I mean, I get it—fuck the patriarchy. But heels hurt like shit." August tossed the shoes across the room, letting her body fall backwards onto the bed and reveling in the ultra-soft mattress comforting her aching back. "Also, I'm starving."

Willow took off her blazer and rested it on top of the dresser, next unbuckling her belt that was starting to get tight around her waist from all the cookies she had eaten. "I'm not. Those macaroons were fucking delicious."

August listened to the jingle of the woman unbuckling her belt, and she looked over to see her long arm pulling the belt completely out of her waistband and setting it on top of the dresser. She then watched her untuck her white button-up shirt and kick off her shoes. Green eyes turned to stare at her.

"Come here," August whispered, patting the pillow next to her.

Smiling down at the beautiful girl laying in her bed, Willow strutted over and crawled into the space next to August who laid on her side. The woman laid on her side as well, facing the girl whose face was only inches from hers. She could hear her soft breathing.

"I have a question," August said in a small voice to the woman whose gaze pierced through her entire soul.

"Ask," Willow mumbled, trying to focus on the girl's words rather than her beautiful face.

"I just wanted to know..." August looked away, finding a loose string on the comforter and pulling it out. Twiddling it between her fingers, she resented the rabbit in her chest that was returning. She chewed on her lower lip, not really knowing how to articulate what she was feeling.

"Wanted to know what?" Willow quietly asked, watching the girl's every movements.

August gave a small sigh, rolling the piece of thread into a ball between her finger and thumb. "I just...want to know...what we are?" She was unsure of her words, not wanting to cause any awkwardness. She was also afraid that perhaps she had been delusional and that the woman would give a cold answer to confirm her lack of reciprocated feelings for the girl.

Willow just stared at the girl in front of her. She didn't know how to answer. Only six days ago she was nearly going to murder her. Six days ago she hated her and the burden she put on her and her gang, but now she found herself head over heels for the girl more than she had been with anyone her entire life. Willow was not a person who believed in love or romance, but there was something about August that made her want to.

"I don't know what we are," she began, reaching over and taking the girl's hand in hers. She ran her thumb over the back of her palm, feeling every bone underneath and every line in her skin. "And I don't know if I want to know." Her eyes flickered back up to August's to check if she responded, which she didn't. "I just..." She let her fingertips trail down her fingers and down her palm, letting them come to a slow stop at her wrist. "I don't want this to end," she whispered, biting her lip at how vulnerable she was being. A part of her wanted to run away from the vulnerability and retain a nonchalant attitude, but a bigger, much more powerful part of her stayed put in the state she was in, only because it meant she could touch the girl's hand the way she was.

"I don't want it to either," August whispered, her hand tingling everywhere the woman's roaming fingertips touched.

"August," Willow whispered, finally intertwining their fingers and looking the girl in the eyes. "I have never felt what I feel for you for anyone else in my whole life. Yet, I have never had so many reasons not to feel these things for someone as I do for you."

August felt her heart drop in her stomach. She was terrified that the woman would choose rationality over what she truly felt.

"But..." the woman trailed, her eyes falling to August's lips as she felt the intense desire to kiss them. "I have already gone too far with not listening to reason. I don't see why I should stop now."