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“Princess, if you don’t hurry your ass up, I’m leavin’ you,” Nat calls from in front of her Jeep.
Jackie startles at that, waving goodbye to Shauna before running across the parking lot toward Nat. Nat snickers at her, twirling the keys in one hand. Jackie goes to open the passenger door, but it’s still locked.
“It’s your turn,” Nat dangles the keys before her.
Jackie’s eyes widen, and she brightens as she takes the keys, kissing Nat’s cheek. Much to her embarrassment, Nat’s face instantly flushes, and Jackie smiles at her.
“Thanks, baby,” Jackie unlocks the car and hops into the driver’s seat.
Nat takes a second to compose herself as she sits in the passenger seat, “Just don’t crash her.”
“I won’t,” Jackie says confidently, fixing her mirrors and adjusting her seat.
Nat just watches her quietly as Jackie’s in her own world. Now, her girlfriend still didn’t have her own license, but she was getting…better, Nat supposes. And besides, Nat’s hunk-of-junk can take a few hits. As soon as Jackie’s settled, she puts the car into drive and starts out of the parking lot.
Nat fiddles with the radio, humming along to a rock song as she chooses a song. She drums her fingers against her thighs as she stares out the window. It’s not a long drive to Jackie’s house, Wiskayok was a tiny town after all, so it should be fine.
Or, it’s fine until Nat hears the crunch of metal and snaps back to reality. Jackie jerks the car into park, bug eyes wide, and then gets out of the car. Nat follows her out, trying to see the damage. Her right bumper’s a little busted and scraped because of a fuckin’ curb.
“Jesus, Jack,” Nat murmurs.
“Fuck, sorry,” Jackie panics, “I can pay you.”
Nat squints her eyes at her, and Jackie picks at her cuticles, unable to meet her eyes. Nat sighs, pulling Jackie into a loose, one-armed embrace, and kisses her on the temple.
“‘S fine,” Nat shrugs, “just be more careful, okay?”
Jackie relaxes after a second, rapidly nodding, and Nat kisses her on the temple again. Jackie wraps an arm around her, murmuring another apology, while Nat holds her.
You’ve gone fuckin’ soft Scat, Van’s voice echoes in her head. Nat resists the urge to roll her eyes at her own thoughts and pulls away.
“Maybe you should drive,” Jackie says, still embarrassed.
“I can if you want,” Nat raises an eyebrow.
Jackie swallows, and nods again, and Nat sighs once more. She cups Jackie’s face, making her look at her. Jackie’s ears are red, and her eyes are flickering back and forth. Nat kisses her softly, then pulls back.
“It’s fine, Jack,” Nat assures, “you can practice another time.”
They return to the car, and Jackie’s quiet the rest of the drive. Nat doesn’t push her, keeping one hand on her thigh and tapping her fingers to the music. Jackie squeezes her hand as she pulls into the driveway before getting out. Nat parks the car and then follows her inside, whistling under her breath.
“Are you hungry?” Jackie asks, slipping off her shoes.
“I could eat,” Nat shrugs.
Jackie nods, rushing off into the kitchen. Nat’s a step behind her, leaning against the kitchen island and watching her girlfriend grab ingredients from the fridge. Jackie is a blur of movement, and Nat can’t help but grin as she watches her.
Jackie hums under her breath, a song that Nat vaguely recognizes but can’t place, as she starts to boil a pot of water, taking out a package of orzo. Then, she cleans two chicken breasts and begins breading them. Nat is content to watch, staying quiet as Jackie works.
“Can you turn the oven on?” Jackie glances up.
“Sure, Jack,” Nat moves over, setting the oven and then moving over to wrap her arms around Jackie’s waist.
Jackie squirms, “I’m going to get chicken juice on you.”
Nat’s laugh is soft but genuine, “I think I’ll live if you do.”
Nat kisses her cheek, then her ear lobe, before moving down to her neck. Jackie still squirms, and reluctantly, Nat lets her go.
“You’re a brat,” Nat teases.
“I have chicken hands!” Jackie protests, “Do you want dinner or not?”
“Sorry, sorry,” Nat holds her hands up in surrender.
Jackie, ever the most mature in the room, sticks her tongue out and Nat rolls her eyes at her. Still, she keeps her hands to herself as Jackie seasons the chicken before putting it on a pan and placing it in the oven. As Jackie washes her hands, Nat laments on her failed Pre-Calc test she took this morning.
Gonna have to ask fuckin’ Shipman for help, Nat tells herself, what have I become?
Jackie moves closer to her, placing both hands on either side of Nat and trapping her. Nat just looks down at her, raising an eyebrow.
“You need something, Jack?” Nat grins.
Jackie just leans in and brings their lips together. Nat moves her hands up to grab onto her hips, bringing her closer. Jackie bites down on Nat’s lip, and Nat tries to swallow the noise she makes. It, unfortunately, is a fail because Jackie giggles against her.
“I hate you,” Nat pulls back slightly, just to murmur the words.
“No, you don’t,” Jackie smiles and kisses her again.
Jackie presses as close as she possibly can, slipping her tongue into Nat’s mouth. They kiss slowly and gently just because they can. Nat moves her hands lower until she can cup Jackie’s ass with one hand, and when she does, Jackie fuckin’ whimpers.
This girl is gonna kill me, Nat groans, fuckin’ Prom Queen Jackie Taylor is gonna be the death of me.
Jackie pulls back, chest heaving slightly, as she cups Nat’s cheek. Nat just stares down at her, and she resists the urge to rip Jackie’s shirt off when she sees her half-lidded eyes.
“Tell me you love me, Nat,” Jackie whispers.
“I love you,” Nat says, and the words come as easy as breathing.
Jackie smiles up at her and kisses her again. They kiss for a while, soft and gentle, and Nat has never known a love like this. All of her past lovers have shown their love with claws and bites, but Jackie is the softest person she’s ever loved.
Nat thinks her heartbeat has been completely rewired, and now all it beats is JackieJackieJackie. Nat was always told that she wasn’t a person worth loving, that she was hardly a person worth knowing. All she knew was that she was scum underneath other people’s boots.
That is, until Jackie entered her life in freshman year in a short skirt that Nat still dreams about and a pretty bow tied into her hair. Nat thinks that before she even knew what love really was, she had loved Jackie Taylor.
JackieJackieJackie her heart sings and all she can taste is her cherry lipgloss. Nat could die a happy woman right now.
Until she smells the burning.
Nat pulls away all of a sudden, sniffing the air. It takes Jackie another second to snap back to reality, and she turns her head to see black smoke billowing out of the oven door.
“What the fuck?” Nat’s eyebrows furrow together.
“What did you set the oven to?” Jackie pulls away, immediately turning the oven off.
“Uh, 450?” Nat scratches the back of her head.
Jackie turns, glaring, as the smoke alarm starts screaming at them. Nat is torn between laughing and apologizing as Jackie opens the nearest door and then grabs an oven mitt. She snaps open the oven, to see the chicken breast on fire, and this time Nat can’t help but burst into laughter.
Jackie sprints outside with the tray, throwing it onto the ground and then hitting it with the oven mitt. Of course, the oven mitt catches on fire, and Jackie squeals, throwing it onto the pavement. Meanwhile, Nat laughs, clutching her side as she can’t catch her breath.
“Thanks for the help,” Jackie snarks.
Nat wipes the tears from her eyes, still laughing, “Yea-, yeah.”
Jackie scowls at her, but even she can’t keep up the facade as she rolls her eyes and laughs along with her. Her girlfriend walks over, wrapping her arms around the back of Nat’s neck and keeping them close.
“You love me,” Nat murmurs, finally regaining her breath.
“Unfortunately, I do,” Jackie teases.
Nat rolls her eyes and just kisses her again, effectively shutting Jackie up as the smoke alarm continues to blare.