Chapter 6
July 10th, 2015
"Janis."
Janis looked up from her drink to see Damian standing several feet away, holding up his phone. "What do you want?" Janis groaned.
"Cady called. She's worried about you."
Janis scowled into her beer. "Why's that?"
"She said she called you twenty minutes ago to tell you that she couldn't make it to dinner, but your Snapchat icon showed that you were still here."
"She looked me up on Snap map?" Janis raised an eyebrow. "That seems a little... unnecessary, to say the least."
Damian rolled his eyes. "Not the point. Let's just get you home, okay? She'll be off work in an hour or so, and you guys can celebrate your anniversary then."
Janis sighed. "Yeah, okay. I know it's not her fault, she needs the money to finish college, but..."
Damian held out a hand, and Janis took it, sliding off her barstool.
"I called an Uber, it's waiting outside," Damian said, leading her gently toward the door.
They piled into the car, Damian helping support Janis as she wobbled a little on her feet.
"Are you drunk?" He asked as he pulled the door shut.
"Maybe a little," Janis mumbled, glaring at Damian when he gave a disappointed head shake. "What? I was at a bar."
Damian gave her a searching look. "You were going to do it tonight, weren't you?"
Janis turned to face the window. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't do that."
She sighed, meeting his eyes in the reflection of the dark glass. "Yeah. I was. I'm not going to now, though."
"Why not?"
"She left me at the bar. The mood is officially killed."
"For the love of God, Janis," Damian groaned. "She didn't want to abandon you. You know that. You're just making excuses because you're scared."
"Fuck off."
"I'm just saying, Jan. It's been two weeks. Grow a pair already."
Janis twisted back around to face him, a sharp retort on the tip of her tongue, but before she could speak, the Uber driver called back, "We're here."
"Thanks," Damian said, pressing a twenty into the driver's outstretched hand. "Keep the change. You deserve it after having to listen to my child whine for fifteen minutes."
Janis flipped him off, stepping out of the car and slamming the door.
She trailed after Damian as he hurried up the stairs to her and Cady's apartment. "Slow down," she grumbled as he practically shoved her through the door. "Ow, fuck," she muttered as she stumbled. "Why's it so dark in here?" She reached over and flipped on the light.
"Surprise!"
Janis screamed and whirled around to see Cady, Aaron, and the ex-Plastics arranged artfully around the kitchen island. "The fuck is happening?" she squeaked, a hand over her heart. Damian had a hand over his mouth in an attempt to stifle his laughter at the look on her face.
"Hey, babe," Cady said casually. "How are you?"
"Caddy..." Janis gaped at her girlfriend. "This- this is a surprise party?"
Cady giggled and nodded. "Happy anniversary," she said, stepping up to Janis's side and wrapping her arms around her neck.
Janis stared down at her for a long moment before letting out a small laugh. "Happy anniversary." She kissed Cady firmly on the mouth.
Regina cleared her throat. "Can we open up the booze now?"
The room was filled with laughter and chatter as Regina continued to pour drinks for everyone. Damian caught Janis's eye from across the kitchen and mouthed grow a fucking pair. Janis flipped him off, but less than a minute later, she found herself standing on a chair and tapping on her wineglass with one of her many rings.
"Hey everyone, I'd like to make a toast," she began. The chatter died down as all eyes turned to Janis. "To Caddy," she continued, nodding at her girlfriend, who smiled back. "For throwing this amazing surprise party. But the thing is," Janis stepped down from the chair and began pacing, speaking conversationally. "Caddy does not hold the monopoly on surprises." Everyone exchanged glances but kept quiet. "You see, a few years ago, I met this girl. And I kind of fell in love with her." Janis made eye contact with Cady, who was clutching her wineglass, looking apprehensive. "And a certain blonde-haired bitch found out and locked me and Cady into a closet together, where I proceeded to tell her about the girl. And Cady's miracle advice, and I quote, was to 'just fucking kiss her already'. So I did, and we've been together ever since." Janis stopped her pacing. "But then, two weeks ago, something happened. A certain group of people decided to stop trying to control the love lives of certain other people." She let her eyes roam over the faces of her friends, all of whom had caught her drift and were in varying states of excitement. "And so I've been thinking, you know, that I'd kind of like to marry this girl that I've been in love with since high school. And I was wondering," Janis pulled the ring box out of her pocket and opened it, sinking to one knee in front of Cady. "I was wondering whether she might feel the same way."
Cady's hand was pressed to her mouth, tears streaming down her face. She didn't look all that surprised, but the look on her face betrayed pure happiness all the same. "This girl," she started, voice breaking. "This girl would love to marry you." She extended a hand, and Janis slipped the ring onto her finger. Cady laced their fingers together, then gave a sharp pull, dragging Janis to her feet and straight into a passionate kiss.
The rest of their party took that as their cue to release all the built up squeals they'd been repressing during Janis's speech. Janis thought she heard Regina shout something about more booze, but it was lost in the chaotic gay happiness radiating off of - well, pretty much every person in the room.
Janis smiled down at Cady - her beautiful Cady. All through her life, Janis had been fighting to keep her place in the world, confused by rules that seemed to change every day, but here, right now - this felt right. She was home.