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Cherri sat side by side with Apo on the riverbank, watching her dunk her pan in the water. She was supposed to be panning too, but she’d grown distracted a while ago and had ended up just watching Apo work.
Even though they weren’t living together anymore, Cherri still found herself spending a large chunk of her time out with Apo. The house felt so empty now without her there. Cherri hated how much she’d come to rely on Apo’s presence in her life, something about them made her feel warm and safe in a way she’d never expected.
Apo was squinting at the contents of the pan (word above, that girl needed glasses), face scrunched up in a way that was unfairly adorable. Finally, she determined there was nothing of value and dumped out the silt. She closed her eyes for a moment, stretching her arms above her head in a way that showed off the prominent muscles in her arms and back and made Cherri’s mouth go dry.
“What’re you staring at?” Apo turned to look at her, expression curious and a little suspicious. Her cheeks slightly flushed from the afternoon heat and holy shit Cherri had to kiss this woman right now.
Cherri’s brain was running in circles and screaming, but she held it together as best she could. “Just thinking.”
“What about?”
“About the agreement we made the night Graecie started selling drinks.”
Apo flushed bright red, and Cherri had to scramble to keep her thoughts in order. “I-I didn’t think you remembered that.”
“You didn’t think I’d remember how it felt to shove you against a wall?” Cherri could feel her face growing hot as well at the memory. It was hazy, but she remembered it felt wonderful.
“I mean you were really drunk.”
“Well, this time I’m not.”
“And you want to…”
“If you’re up for it, yeah.”
“S-Sure!” Apo got to her feet, and Cherri followed, wasting no time sauntering up to her and finally pressing their lips to hers.
Apo was tall enough that Cherri had to stand on tiptoes, but it was worth it. Their lips were warm and tasted of honey and cinnamon, intoxicatingly sweet. Cherri couldn’t get enough.
Just like last time, it didn’t take long for the kiss to deepen, Apo tangling her hands in Cherri’s hair as Cherri bit her bottom lip, tugging on the back of her neck. “You’re so tall.” They muttered. “Why are you so much taller than me?”
Apo chuckled, the sound sending a shiver down Cherri’s spine. “Don’t worry, I can fix that.” Before Cherri could respond, Apo hooked their hands under her thighs and lifted her off the ground as though she weighed nothing at all, never pulling away for a moment.
Cherri’s mind went blank. Holy shit. Holy shit. What. How did this happen? And why didn’t she hate it? Suddenly her back was digging into the rocks behind her, and all remaining thoughts left her head.
Cherri’s hands tangled in Apo’s hair, tugging roughly on it in an attempt at any semblance of dominance over the situation. Apo stiffened, groaning into their mouth as she pressed somehow closer, the heat filling Cherri’s body like liquid sunlight.
Apo pulled away, and Cherri was unable to stop an embarrassingly high pitched whine at the loss. Apo laughed, sending a jolt of heat through Cherri’s entire body. “So, how do you like being the one against the wall?”
Cherri was unable to respond, her thoughts completely scrambled. She was completely helpless in Apo’s grip. She should hate this, why didn’t she hate this? Either way, she never wanted it to stop. She yanked Apo forward again by the hands in their hair, relishing in the choked whine she forced out of them as her fingers dug into their scalp.
She didn’t know how long they stayed like that before they had to break apart for air. They were both panting heavily, and Apo was looking at her with an expression that made her shiver. Their entire face and neck were red, their pupils blown out as they stared at her, embarrassment mounting on their face as the last several minutes caught up with them.
Apo buried her face in Cherri’s neck, heat radiating from her flushed skin. “So, uh, how was that?”
Cherri leaned into her almost without thinking about it, entire body slack in her hold. “I… yeah.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Cool.” Any confidence that Apo had seemed to be gone, leaving behind the adorably pathetic woman Cherri knew and adored liked just fine.
“I should probably put you down now.”
The words made her scrambled thoughts cry. Cherri tightened her grip, trying not to seem too desperate. “I dunno, I think the least you can do after all that is carry me back to Pity.” The howls of paranoia that would normally scratch on the walls of her brain were completely gone, replaced with a warm blanket of safety. Cherri decided now was not the time to unpack that.
Apo sighed, but adjusted her grip to better support Cherri’s weight. “Alright, fine.” Her words were irritated, but her tone was fond.
Cherri smirked, relaxing in Apo’s hold and enjoying her victory. She was definitely going to be up thinking about this tonight, but that was a problem for later.