She wakes up and knows two things instantly.
One. She's laying on her side, arm tucked underneath her head, and the sun is shining right into her goddamn eyes.
The other thing she notices are the bed sheets. It's almost unbelievable how soft and smooth they are while still being warm. It feels like silk over her body and- Damn she's naked under the sheets.
Guess that's two and a half.
Last night comes back in a flash, and it makes sense that the bed sheets are so soft because they're not hers.
She went to a bar she normally never goes to. There was a beautiful woman. Smart and funny, and they made their way up to the girl's apartment after a few drinks. A few deep kisses later and-
Jessica gets off the bed as quietly as she can. She still hasn't looked behind her, but she figures the woman is still sleeping- even though with the way that sun is shining it can't be earlier than ten am. She finds her clothes on the bedroom floor. Is halfway through pulling her pants up her thighs when she hears movement.
Crap.
She was on a mission to get out as quick as possible. She's compromised now.
"Jess?"
Jess, jesus.
She can't ignore her. Can't do much of anything except turn around to face her.
Any excuse she was planning on making dies in her throat.
Dumbass, youforgothowprettyshewas.
The woman, Samantha, is sitting up in bed. It seems like Jessica wasn't the only one who fell asleep naked, and damn if her eyes don't wander.
"Heading out so soon? I thought maybe I'd at least get to make you some breakfast before you went." Her voice is like velvet, and it makes Jessica's mouth dry.
She just barely remembers that her pants are still around her thighs, and she finishes pulling them up. Her dumb brain has short-circuited and she's trying to make words and then Samantha stretches her arms above her head, and-
I'm fucked.
She forces her eyes to focus back on Sam's face. She's got a knowing smile, her hair bed mussed and her dark skin glowing in the sunlight.
"So, will you stay?"
And her voice has Jessica feeling that delicious burn in her thighs again, and remembering the way Sam's fingers fucked slowly into her last night before she got out her strap and fucked Jess into the mattress.
She's nodding before she even realizes it.
Jesuschristpullyourselftogether.
Samantha points her in the direction of the shower, and she takes a quick one, trying to rein in her all too present attraction to this woman. She thankfully finds some mouthwash above the sink and she checks herself over in the mirror before opening the bathroom door. When she gets out, she's met with the smell of pancakes, and she haphazardly throws on her clothes from yesterday and walks into the kitchen.
Samantha is cooking in her underwear and nothing else, and Jessica just barely refrains from balking. Instead she says "That was fast," and makes her way over to the stove, leaning over Sam's shoulder to see her flip a golden brown blueberry pancake.
"Yeah, I figured I'd whip up something good for you." Samantha turns, presses a quick peck to Jessica's wet hair and makes a few more pancakes before shutting of the stove. "Have a seat, have a seat." She ushers Jessica to the small table in the middle of the kitchen, and sits her down. Sets a steaming stack of pancakes in front of her.
She hesitates. "You didn't have to do this." She feels like she's been blindsided by all of this, she was supposed to be out the door already, leaving Sam with good memories of last night and nothing else.
Sam gives an easy smile. "Don't worry, I wouldn't have if I didn't like the sex."
Jess chuckles at that, relaxes more into her seat.
"You want coffee?"
"Please." She's honestly kind of tired and her voice is gruff and she can't help but wonder for the hundredth time what she's doing here; sitting, having breakfast with a woman she barely knows. It all feels a little too domestic.
A minute later and there's a cup of fresh hot coffee being placed in front of her. The smell alone makes her feel more awake.
"So, uh ..." She takes a sip of the coffee, glances at Sam over the rim.
"This is weird, huh?" Sam huffs out a laugh and rubs the back of her neck.
Jess just shrugs.
"I'm sorry, I don't normally ... do this often." She looks even more embarrassed at that, shifting a little in her seat.
Jess shovels a bite of pancake in her mouth and holyshitthisissogoodandshemadeitinliketwoseconds. She washes the bite down with coffee and looks at the beautiful woman across from her. "You're doing great, don't worry, really." Takes another bite, "This is good by the way."
"Thank you." Now Sam is the one to relax and she takes a few bites of her own stack of pancakes.
They make light conversation and it doesn't go into much depth, but Jessica already knows the basics from last night.
Samantha Parrington (nicknamed 'Valk'): a 28 year old general contractor who also co-owns a small business on the upper east side where she teaches and sells pottery. She's perceptive, and smart. Her family lives in Chicago and she moved here in her early twenties presumably for more opportunities, to experience different places, and mostly to get away from home. She-
Stop. Shemadeyoubreakfast, noprofiling.
Regardless, she is witty and gorgeous and although Jessica has to leave to go back to her own apartment and get ready for her shift, when Sam asks if she wants to do this again, there's zero hesitation.
This morning has been nothing but nice and simple- albeit slightly confusing- and Jessica could definitely use a little more of that in her life.
They exchange numbers, set a tentative date for next week, and then she's off, grabbing her leather jacket and impulsively kissing Sam goodbye all in one move.
Their date doesn't happen. Jess makes the excuse that she's busy and then promptly crashes on her couch to drink booze and lose at Call of Duty.
Her mind is at a crossroads. Yeah, she wants to see Sam again- she was sweet and kind and the sex was great. But she doesn't want to use her as some kind of stress reliever and no one comes out of a relationship with Jessica Jones- platonic or romantic- untouched by her world. Sam has a good life going, Jess recognized that right away. She's put together and organized where Jess is messy and still figuring her life out.
After everything got shaken up pretty bad again and she gave Alias to Malcolm, she found a job as a bartender. She's made new relationships with the regulars and her coworkers and it feels nice to talk to people about simple, mundane things again. She works full-time. It's a nice dive bar (which yes, that's an oxymoron if there ever was one) in east village and she's found a welcoming community there. They know who she is and what she can do, and she hasn't gotten shit about it yet but she's holding her breath.
Some days it's hard. Everything is too much and her lungs collapse and she wants to scream and drink til she passes out but she's been getting better and she doesn't want to start that shit again, it's just so much. On those days she thinks about all the shit she's seen and done, and she stands by the (voluntary) decisions she's made but it's hard to ignore the way thinking about it makes her head pound.
Most days, she's okay. She's building a new life for herself, trying to get better- be better- and some days are bad, but most are okay.
She lives quietly now.
Self-improvement comes slow but it's there. She doesn't know if staying away from Alias will be permanent, but the independence from everything she used to be allows her to mend and grow. Matt Murdock becomes one of her closest friends- although that's not saying much since she lost all of her old ones. She visits him on the occasions when he's not in some kind of trouble, and they talk and play cards with braille numbers and it's nice. She's not like him. Doesn't go out every night to fight crime in a red suit and horns, but she does what she can in her worn blue jeans.
So yeah, she's a mess trying to get organized but she's always been a fighter (she knows she'll get it together eventually) and she can't really figure out where Sam would fit into any of this.
Turns out she doesn't need to, because Samantha does it for her.
It's a few days after the day they were supposed to go out originally and Jessica has been trying not to think about it. She's not working today so she goes for a walk around the neighborhood, figures she can pull a Murdock and hop on a roof to scope out the area for any bad situations.
Her phone starts ringing. She's been sitting on the roof of some random corporation’s building for at least thirty minutes now, breathing in the city air and watching for trouble.
She fumbles to pull her phone out of her pocket and when she sees the name on the screen she almost drops it to the street below.
Hesitation grips her but she's quick to shove it away and then she's answering.
“Sam, what’s up?”
"I've got an ice cream sundae with your name on it, Brooklyn Nine-Nine playing on the tv, and an empty seat on the couch, what d'you say?"
She's speechless for a moment. "Y-yeah. That sounds good, I'll uh- I'll be there in 20."
"Good." She can hear Sam smile. "You remember where I live?"
Jess nods.
Silence.
"Oh, sorry I-"
"You just nodded right?"
They're both laughing lightly then, and when the call ends, Jessica is off the building in about two seconds, starts making her way over to Sam's apartment.
WhatamIdoing.
She's outside the door now and still doesn't know the answer.
Yeah, she's doing good on her own, and has a better sense of self than ever before, but having someone else in her life on an intimate level is something she figures probably won't hurt too much. So she knocks.
When Valk opens the door she's beaming, hair pulled up into a pineapple and curls adorning her head like a crown. The scarf wrapped around the back of her hair is silk and it looks so soft and Jessica just wants to reach out and touch it- touch her.
"Come on in beautiful." She opens the door wider, let's Jessica step in. She gestures to the coat rack, "Make yourself comfortable, please."
Jess hangs up her leather jacket and follows Sam into the kitchen.
"I just started making it when you knocked, didn't want it to melt an' all. Just give me a few minutes, yeah? There's beer in the fridge." She turns around to quickly peck Jess on the lips and then she's zipping around the kitchen.
Jess does grab the beer in the fridge, one for her and one for Sam, and goes into the living room to put them on the table in front of the couch, tries not to think about how domestic this all feels and how much she likesit. When she walks back to the kitchen, Sam is somehow already done and damn, "Making food real fast and real good. That's your superpower huh?"
Sam turns toward her, banana split in hand and a soft smile, "You caught me."
They find their way back to the couch. Jess is itching to touch her, but she doesn't know what this date means. Doesn't know what Sam wants out of this.
"Whatever you're willing to give me." Sam gives the sundae boat over, lets her hand linger on Jess's. "I'll take whatever you're willing to give me."
"I didn't..." Jessica sets the bowl on the table, turns so that they're facing each other, knees pressed together.
"I know. I figured you were thinking it." Sam folds her hands in her lap. "This isn't exactly normal, I know that. All we really did was have sex that night and I made you breakfast the next morning and maybe that's all you want from this, and I'll understand if it is. But I- I wanna see where this can go. Where we can go. If you're willing to give it a try?"
Jess doesn't know what to say, but she nods, clears her throat. "Yeah. Yeah. I'd like that."
Sam relaxes visibly, takes Jess's hand in her own, smiles wide. "That makes two of us then."
It feels like a weight off her chest now that they got that out of the way, and she can't help but admire how straightforward Sam is with her feelings.
The sundae is good. Like really good, and she tells Sam as much. They watch Brooklyn Nine-Nine cuddled up to one another, Valk's back against Jess's chest, Jess's arm wrapped around her, and if there was such a thing as pure comfort, Jess thinks this would be it.
She eventually has to get up to piss and when she checks her phone she sees it's already four pm. She declines Sam's offer to stay for dinner but when they make plans for their next date, Jessica knows she won't skip out this time.
The next date goes well, and so does the one after that. They find an easy rhythm together. When Jess isn't working she often finds herself in Sam's small ceramic shop, admiring her girlfriend's work. When there's a lull in customers coming in, she'll pepper kisses to Sam's neck, unintentionally (completely intentionally) distracting her. When she's teaching a class, Jess sits on a stool near the back and just gets enraptured by the way her hands move and mold the clay. The shop becomes a safe bubble for her, and she even befriends the burly co-owner, Korg.
Sometimes when Sam isn't working but Jess is, she'll come to visit her at the bar. Jess pours her a fancy new drink she just learned how to make. They make small chatter and she stays until Jess's shift is over.
About a year into their dating- which holy shit that's the longest Jess has ever held a healthy relationship- Jess decides to visit Matt.
Yeah, she visits Matt all the time but this time, this time it's for something really important.
"Jessica! What a nice surprise."
"I called you and told you I was coming an hour ago. But I'm glad you think having me over is nice."
He smiles and steps out of the doorway, gestures for her to come in.
She does, and promptly crashes on his couch.
"What's going on?"
She's sprawled out on his couch, so he sits down near the armrest and pats his lap. She scoots up and lays her head there, looking straight up at the ceiling as she sighs.
"It's ... about Valk."
He cards his fingers through her hair, "What happened?"
"Nothing, nothing. ... It's not about what happened, it's about what might happen?"
He breathes out a laugh, "You phrased that like it's a question, Jess."
"I know, I know. I'm a mess right now, Murdock." She folds her hands over her stomach, tries to think how she should explain this. "I want her to move in with me."
She doesn't even need to look at him to know the surprised 'Oh' face he's making.
"Jessica, that's great!" He moves one hand from her hair to tap her forehead excitedly.
"Wait, that's ... that's not all."
"Oh." His fingers settle back into her hair, "You're hesitant, why? I thought things were going good between you two."
She sighs again. "They are, they are. I just ... there's so many questions. So many what ifs, y'know? We've got a good thing going right now and I don't want to mess that up."
He ponders that for a second, "What does she say about it?"
"She hasn't said anything directly yet, but she's always complimenting my place and saying how relaxed it makes her."
"So what's the problem?"
"I just ... I don't want to make her move. What if something happens and she gets caught in the crossfire? I don't want her to feel like we can't keep dating if she doesn't want to take this next step."
"And have you told her any of this?"
She can feel him loosely braiding her hair. "Not really?"
"Jess."
"I know, I know. I'm shit with my feelings Matt, I know."
"Do you have a hair tie?" She takes the one off her wrist and hands it up to him. "You need to talk to her, she'll understand."
"I know she will, she's great. That doesn't mean I'll know what to say."
"What you just told me is a start."
She looks up at him then, eyes wide. "Matt, you're a genius." Jess springs up off the couch, arms moving frantically, excitedly. "You're right, of course you’re fuckin right! I just gotta be open and honest with her. This'll be good, it'll be okay, I hope."
He's shocked by her sudden energy to say the least, but he hides it well. "I... you're going now?"
"I need to, before I lose my goddamn nerve." And she's already walking to the door.
"Okay, well good luck, Jess. Tell me how it goes!"
"See ya! And thank you."
She closes the door softly for Matt, even though she's so excited she wants to slam it shut and skip down the halls.
She’s at Sam’s apartment rapping against the door in what feels like less than a minute.
“Coming!” Valk’s voice is muffled through the door but it makes Jess smile, still.
“Valk, it’s me, we gotta talk!”
The door opens and Valk is as beautiful as ever and Jess is tackling her in an urgent kiss.
Sam pulls away for air and chuckles, and damn if her voice isn't music to Jess’s ears, “What’s all this about?”
“Move in with me?”
Dumbassyouweresupposedtotalkwithheraboutit.
Sam blinks and stutters for a second, “I- uh yeah. Okay.”
And they stand like that for a second until they both break out laughing and Jess is draping her arms around Valk’s neck and pressing a kiss to the side of it before she nuzzles in tight.
“Your hair is braided.”
Jess breathes a laugh into the soft cotton of Sam’s shirt, “Matt was braiding it. I honestly forgot he tied it in there.” She detangles herself from Sam suddenly, “Fuck, I was supposed to tell you that you don’t need to say yes.”
“It’s okay, Jess. I want to, I really want to. I was just waiting to see when you’d ask.” She’s beaming, glowing, and Jess can’t help but wonder how in the hell she got so lucky.
Sam reaches to close the front door and then they’re kissing again, except this time it’s slower, more languid.
They come up for air and somehow they’re in the bedroom and Jess’s shirt is already off. “Oh and one condition. You bring your bedsheets with you.”
Valk answers with a hum of approval and a searing kiss.