Wednesday Morning
Carol can say, without a doubt, that this is the best Wednesday morning she’s ever had. Like, in her life. She rolls over in an unfamiliar bed, one with baby blue sheets and feather pillows that she can bury her face into, and encompass herself in the scent of Maria’s shampoo, a mixture of lemongrass and sage. She smiles into the soft fabric, and silently reminds herself to ask Maria about the thread count.
Carol yawns slowly, remembering the night before, and smooths her fingers to the warm body lying next to her. Just as she grazes a satin pajama top, strong arms wrap gently around her waist, dragging her flush against Maria’s chest. Carol flips, snuggling her cold hands in between their snug stomachs.
“Good morning,” Carol breaths, in reverence at Maria’s makeup-free face, blinking sleepily down at her. A lazy, irrevocably happy grin stretches across Maria’s cheeks.
“Great morning.” Maria replies, and Carol looks over her shoulder to read the alarm clock on the wooden nightstand. She groans, burying her face in Maria’s neck.
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news,” Carol’s voice is muffled, and Maria shivers at the feeling of warm lips tickling her throat. “But we need to start getting ready if we don’t want to be horribly late.” Maria runs her hands up Carol’s back, tracing her spine, slipping her fingers around to the blonde’s waist. Carol makes a soft noise and cover’s the brunette’s hand, pressing it more firmly underneath her sleep shirt.
“We’ll get ready soon.” Maria sighs happily.
- - -
Maria and Carol try to school their matching lovesick expressions to something more suited for 6:50 on a Wednesday morning, but it’s easy to forget about being discreet when Maria gives her that winning smile, Carol rationalizes. They drive in Maria’s car, sliding out inconspicuously in the back of the parking lot. Their pinkies graze every couple steps.
“See you at lunch?” Maria’s voice lilts in question, and Carol leans against her door frame, brushing her fingertips along Maria’s forearm down to her wrist.
“Wouldn’t miss it.” Carol grins, and pulls away to start down the hall, when-
“Carol! Carol, pull up your shirt a bit!” Maria whisper-shouts, eyeing the purple-tinted marks at the base of her throat. She feels a pull in the bottom of her stomach, and fights desperately to keep her face neutral. She knows she’s failed when Carol quirks a trimmed eyebrow, and her mouth twists into a smirk. She runs her short nails lightly over her own collarbone, tracing the bruises. Maria’s mouth runs dry, and she ducks quickly into her own classroom to hide her blush. Carol yanks her blouse up, and re-buttons the top of her collar.
- - -
School is much more bearable for Maria since the recent… developments. Ignorant students and coworkers are much easier to ignore when she has a hot blonde pulling her into the staff bathroom during planning periods and kissing her senseless.
“Okay, Carol, Carol,” Maria’s voice is short and breathy, Carol in between her legs against the wall, running her palms along Maria’s waist and hips, red mouth on her pulsepoint. She pulls Maria’s thigh up, snug to her own, and Maria jolts when Carol brushes a sensitive spot underneath her bellybutton.
Carol pulls away, face outwardly sheepish, but Maria can read her darkened irises, and their rich amber color.
“I think we should cool down a bit, and save this,” Maria slides her hand down Carol’s hip, admiring the curve, “for later. My house?” And Carol nods her head, wiping her swollen lips on her sleeve.
“Please.” Carol’s voice rasps with want, and the brunette shivers. They linger for a moment, drinking in each other’s presence, eyes wandering and meeting intermittently.
“Okay.” Carol laughs breathily, shaking her head to clear the fog. She smiles weakly, yet surely, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, and Maria stares, lovestruck, at her.
- - -
It’s a quiet Tuesday morning when it first happens. Carol is tucked peacefully into Maria’s chest, blonde hair splayed across a soft pink sweatshirt, and Maria is admiring her sleeping face. She feels a tug in her stomach, and writes it off at first as morning hunger, but it gets stronger, pushing bile into her throat, and she quickly throws off the bed sheets, (including Carol,) in favor of making it to the bathroom in time. Maria stumbles across the tiled floors, dropping to her knees in front of the toilet bowl and emptying her guts into the water. She feels a gentle hand rubbing her back over her shirt, and she looks up to see Carol’s sleep saturated eyes filled with concern, and her cheeks heat up.
“Eugh, Carol, you don’t want to see this. Please, this is so gross, I’m sorry, I don’t know what brought this on.” She turns her face away, and Carol brushes her hair back from her forehead before disappearing to the kitchen.
The blonde returns with a glass of cool water and a few napkins, and she hands the glass off before kneeling in front of Maria to wipe her mouth and stroke down her bicep, squeezing the muscle lightly.
“Why don’t you stay home today? I can call in, and you can get some rest, take some time to feel better?” And Carol’s voice is so soft, so loving, and her fingers are still tracing shapes into Maria’s arm, and Maria just stares for a second.
“You know, I could even supervise your class during my free period today-”
“I love you.” Maria interrupts, her voice soft but sure, and Carol’s breath hitches, stricken. She’s silent, eyes searching Maria’s for any insecurity, but Maria’s gaze is steady. And Carol doesn’t worry about the circumstances, the timing, the position, when she responds reverently.
“I love you too.”
- - -
Maria's sudden bursts of illness continue on through the week, and Carol offers to drive her to the doctor, but Maria refuses, trying home remedies one after the other, insisting that she knows the exact ways to extinguish a stomach bug. Carol’s days are uneventful, seemingly never ending, and she picks boredly at her cuticles as Maria’s students work on their midterm projects, when one girl- a short, blonde sophomore, raises her hand.
“Yes?” Carol inclines her neck, and the girl smiles a bit.
“Why are you subbing for Ms. Rambeau today, if you teach Astronomy?” She questions, tilting her head.
“Because I volunteered to help out during my planning period to give the sub a break. Do you need help with anything?” Carol glances at the student’s half-finished poster, nodding to the newspaper clippings.
“Um, I think I’m good for now.” the girl snips a letter out, and Carol shrugs, returning to her nail beds. She raises her head at the sound of whispering teenagers, but it stops when she looks up.
“You guys can talk, I don’t care.” Carol supplies, confused. But the whispers only continue throughout the class until the final bell rings. The kids pack up quickly, and Carol rolls her eyes at their gossipy glances. She locks the door to the classroom, waving to the janitor sweeping near the stairwell.
- - -
Carol all but races to Maria’s house to check on her, but Maria doesn’t answer her knocks, the car in the driveway absent. She slouches a little, and slides back into the driver’s seat of her Mustang, flipping her aviators over her eyes. She takes the highway to her apartment, and she tries to shake off the empty feeling in her chest as her key slides into the lock.