3/31 Instance: Shifting Roles

[tears~fall~like~glass]

timeline: after Pizza and Prejudice


Paige: It felt like hoooooours since Paige had heard from Rachel. She had paced their room a hundred times before flopping, exhausted, on the bed. What if something had happened to Rachel too? Paige sat up, running her hand through her blonde hair. She'd never forgive herself, that was for sure.

Rachel: Rachel dragged herself and what was left of the pizza and case of beer up to their room, blowing out a sigh as she kicked the door shut. She set the case on the floor, tossed the box of pizza to the bed, and made herself comfortable in Paige's lap.

Paige: "Rachel!" Paige wrapped her arms around her girlfriend, clinging to her and snuggling into her. "I was getting worried!"

Rachel: Resting her head on Paige's shoulder, she closed her eyes and muttered her explanation, "I stopped on the patio for a smoke and encountered Bobby."

Paige: "Awww, how is Bobberz?" She stroked Rachel's hair, running her fingers through it gently.

Rachel: "Well, he was kinda an ass," Rachel admitted. After a moment, she decided she felt somewhat bad for calling him an ass and added, "I mean, I don't think he was trying to be one, so it's fine."

Paige: "But... it's Bobby... why would he be a meanie to you?" Paige kissed the top of Rachel's head.

Rachel: She relaxed into Paige with a sigh, shaking her head, "It just had to do with Shaw, so I wouldn't worry about it."

Paige: "Why would he be a jerk about that?" Paige glanced down, throughly confused.

Rachel: Rachel had been hoping telling her not to worry about it would mean that she could avoid discussing it. Clearly, that was not the case. Taking a deep breath, she answered, "I told him I'd talked to the police today about Shaw, and he asked whether I did it."

Paige: "What?!" Paige gave her a dumbfounded look. "Why would he think that?!"

Rachel: "I don't know. Probably because I'm... Well, a criminal. Specifically, a murderer," she answered as if it was obvious. Because it was. In an attempt to somewhat get away from that topic, she added, "By the way, the police will probably call you at some point to follow up with my interview. You just have to confirm everything I told them."

Paige: "Well since you'd only have the truth to tell them, that isn't a problem. You made some mistakes in the past but you aren't a murderer." Paige hugged her protectively. "You're my Rachie." And she might have words with Bobby.

Rachel: "If by some you mean a fuckton and by aren't you mean are," Rachel replied as she uncurled to get up, pushing her hand through her hair before going to get a beer from the pack. After twisting the cap off with some difficulty, she gestured to the box with the bottle, "Pizza's for you. Well, what's left of it."

Paige: "What happened to the rest of it?" Paige watched her sadly. "Rachel... it's not like you're going to go out and kill people again..." Right?

Rachel: "Bobby and I ate some," she answered. Then, she took a drink and frowned down at the bottle, slightly disappointed she wasn't still doing shots of whiskey. The buzz from that had worn off a while ago, not that her mood had been improved by it. After another swig, she gave a shrug, bitterly offering, "I imagine that depends on who you talk to."

Paige: "I'm talking to you." Paige stared at her. This wasn't like her at all. "And I know you and how hard you have worked to get your life back into order."

Rachel: "Then, I guess it's a good thing you're not talking to anyone else because, apparently, everyone just expects me to go on some sort of killing spree," Rachel rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she glanced over to the window, biting back a comment.

Paige: "Or everyone is smart enough not to say stupid things like that in front of me because it's stupid. Of course you won't." Paige moved to sit beside Rachel, resting her head against her.

Rachel: "Maybe," she muttered, shifting to pull the pack and lighter from her pocket, tossing them to the coffee table.

Paige: "Rachel..." Paige took her hand, kissing it softly. "Talk to me..."

Rachel: Rachel found a spot to set her beer and laid back, shaking her head as she insisted, "There's nothing to talk about."

Paige: "There is.... you are so upset. And it can't be just Bobby being an idiot. You'd be upset all the time." She smiled at her.

Rachel: She managed a slight grin at that, insisting, "Just don't worry about it."

Paige: "You know I will... I care about you. I don't want to see you upset." She rested her head against Rachel again, getting comfortable.

Rachel: "Just... Don't. It's not a big deal," Rachel sighed, picking out a spot on the ceiling to focus on.

Paige: Frustrated that she had to talk about things but Rachel didn't, Paige just frowned and stayed silent.

Rachel: "Oh, don't even..." she incredulously muttered, pushing herself up to reach for her drink.

Paige: Blinking a bit, Paige eased back to look at Rachel. "Don't... what?"

Rachel: "Don't get all annoyed because I don't want to talk about something because you don't actually talk to me about anything," Rachel answered before taking a sip.

Paige: "Oh now you choose to read my mind? I do talk to you, remember? You made sure of that. When I didn't want to talk you pushed me until I did." Paige moved away from her to the pizza box instead to see how much they had left her.

Rachel: "Oooh, one time," Rachel scoffed as she drained what was left in her bottle, getting up to grab another. As an afterthought, she grabbed a second beer to offer to Paige because she was vaguely aware of the fact that she was being slightly bitchy.

Rachel: Moving to flop back down, she let out a sigh and reached up to scrub at her face with her bad hand as she held the beer out with the other, risking speaking again and hoping she didn't make things worse, "I just... I want to... sulk, I guess, and..." she trailed off for a moment, forcing out the words as she continued, "I'd rather you just..." Nope, she couldn't say it. "I'd rather not argue with you."

Paige: Paige tossed the beer onto the bed next to Rachel. "I tried that. Who is the one who started this argument? So you'd rather I what? Talking doesn't work. Being quiet doesn't work. You told me not to let you sulk, I try stopping you. " Ohhhhhh, so THIS was how men felt!

Rachel: "I never said I didn't start it," Rachel snapped. Despite opening her mouth to continue, she cut herself off, closing it again and shaking her head.

Rachel: After taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out, she debated whether Paige actually knew how lucky she was because she didn't think before she spoke to just about anyone else and tried again, falling back on the comment she'd held back, "My life might be in order, but I'm not."

Paige: Paige sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. "And why do you think you aren't in order?"

Rachel: "Because I'm just not. I'm not over any of it, and I probably never will be to some degree," she answered, irritably twisting the cap off her new beer, tossing it to the nightstand as she sat up.

Rachel: "And since Sebastian fucking Shaw had to make some smartass comment about how mourning appears to be fucking over, I punched him in a face and broke my damn hand. Then, he gets fucking taken by cannibals, except I'm the fucking suspect because I'm a murderer that punched him in his fucking face, which everyone totally feels the need to remind me of."

Rachel: Rachel paused to let out a shuddering breath, "And I really don't want to talk about it because I just spent part of my evening talking to Eddie about it."

Paige: Taken aback by the outburst, Paige didn't really know how to handle that. One did not simply just get over the murder of their spouse. Rachel was so hard to figure out. Unsure of what to do, Paige just stared at her, trying to figure out what she was supposed to do or say to that. She settled for just taking the beer from her and going to one of the drawers in the dresser.

Rachel: "Oh, and Eddie decided to make some comment about Bobby being a murderer, so I looked like a total bitch when I defended him. Then, I get back, and he's fucking asking me if I actually did get rid of Shaw... Like, I wouldn't have just done it in the middle of the club if I was going to," she continued, taking Paige stealing her beer as an opportunity to scrub at her face again.

Paige: Paige sighed and pulled out the bottle of cake vodka. She took a swig before moving back to the bed, offering the bottle to Rachel. This was no time for beer. "Did you smack him upside the head for being an idiot?"

Rachel: "No," Rachel said into her hands, peering through her fingers at the bottle and pulling a face. She was pretty sure she hadn't had any cake vodka since Christmas because the hangover had been terrible. After debating, she reached to take the bottle as she added, "He apologized though. More than once."

Paige: "Well he should. That's the most ridiculous accusation ever." Paige rested her head against Rachel's shoulder.

Rachel: Rachel stared at the liquid for a few moments and forced herself to take a small sip before offering it back. "Except it's not because killing Shaw was tempting before that comment."

Paige: She wasn't serious was she? Paige looked up at Rachel, trying to figure that one out. "But... why?"

Rachel: "Because he wanted to fuck you," she simply answered.

Paige: That caused a visable shudder. "Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!"

Rachel: Rachel just nodded in response to that, reaching to take the bottle back for another small drink because she supposed the vodka was better than nothing.

Paige: "So you wanted to kill him for that? Not just cut off his balls or punch him in the face?"

Rachel: "I did hit him in the face," she pointed out.

Paige: "But not because of me..."

Rachel: Rachel paused as she considered that. It had mostly been about Josh. "I wouldn't have been as irritated if he hadn't been trying to whore himself to you."

Paige: Paige leaned up to catch Rachel's lips in a kiss. "You said yourself half the guys here want to whore themselves out to me. What makes him special enough to punch?"

Rachel: "They don't touch you," she answered after returning the kiss, leaning heavily against her.

Paige: "Well, not on my hips at least." Paige mumbled, kissing Rachel again. She ran her fingers through the red hair, nuzzling Rachel softly.

Rachel: Rachel pulled back slightly to stare at her at that response, brow furrowed.

Paige: "Well I do occasionally let them work on my hair."

Rachel: "...Oh," was her only reply as she moved to set the bottle aside. Then, she decided Paige's lap was probably the best spot to be now that she wasn't nearly as annoyed as she had been and slid into it, resting her head against her shoulder again.

Paige: Paige kissed on Rachel softly, wrapping her arms around her. "But that's really it." Well and the occasionally dance partner to demonstrate.

Rachel: "I'd hope so," Rachel sighed and pressed a light kiss to Paige's neck since that's where she could reach with minimal effort. After a moment, she mumbled, "I'm sorry I'm a bitch."

Paige: "You aren't a bitch." Paige shivered at the kiss, kissing on Rachel again.

Rachel: "You know I am..." she replied, sliding her arms around her as she added, "Just a little."

Paige: "Everyone can be bitchy. That doesn't mean you are a bitch." Paige insisted, nuzzling Rachel again.

Rachel: "I'm just not one to you," Rachel muttered, turning her head to kiss her shoulder and closing her eyes, "...Usually."

Paige: "I'm very glad for that." Paige admitted, resting her head on Rachel's.

Rachel: Rachel remained silent for a while, worrying her lip. She didn't want to ask because it made her feel clingy, but she hesitantly did anyway, "I, um... Can we... You don't want to move, do you?"

Paige: "I didn't plan on it? Do you?"

Rachel: "No," she answered quickly, shaking her head. Letting out a breath, she more quietly, "No... I mean, not unless you want me to, but I don't really want to... or, um... I just... I should just stop talking."

Paige: Paige giggled just a little bit, tipping Rachel's head for a kiss.

Rachel: Rachel blinked at the kiss, taking a moment before returning it. Her gaze dropped back down after breaking it off as she forced herself to admit, "I just really want you to sit like this with me for a while."

Paige: "I can do that." Paige smiled, snuggling into Rachel again. At least until the circulation in her legs gave out.

Rachel: "Okay," she breathed with a small nod, settling back down and swallowing anxiously. While she was telling herself that admitting that hadn't been so bad, she wasn't actually convincing herself, though she also wasn't doing a great job at convincing herself she wasn't going to have a breakdown after that outburst. "I, um, I..." she started, finishing weakly, "Thanks..."

Paige: "Shhhh... I'm here." Paige nuzzled Rachel and settled back against the pillows with her, lazily playing with her hair.

Rachel: Rachel shifted slightly to make things more comfortable, though she was still half-laying on Paige. Closing her eyes again, she let out another ragged breath, finding Paige's fingers in her hair comforting. She tried not to think about why she found it so comforting and simply relaxed against the other girl, feeling relatively content despite her clinging.

Paige: Paige started to hum softly, kissing Rachel's forehead and getting comfortable. The rest could wait for another day. Right now, Rachel wasn't sulking and that was what mattered.