Sun Upon Dark Clouds

18: Hugs

It was one of those hours when Coley becomes emotional over literally anything. There was this one time when Coley started to randomly cry while eating a cheeseburger in McDonald’s after remembering about the time when she dropped all of her French fries when she just bought them in elementary school; despite being stared at weirdly by the other diners, she continued to weep as if she was in her own world. It was not actually serious, it was just that Coley was naturally a dramatic person, which was why she would sometimes cry when she wanted to feel melancholic even over the little things.

Like how the brunette was currently sitting on the floor next to the window in the living room with her knees curled up while she hugged them, making her look like a little kid who got lost in a mall after being forgotten by her mom. Some of her brown locks fell to her eyes as she leaned her chin on her knees and looked out through the window, imagining that she was in a sad music video while “Gone” by ROSÉ played in the background from the vinyl record player that Ghrae just bought from V Records.

Tears started to pool around her eyes as she stared at the dusking sky while letting every lyric from the song enter her brain and press her deep emotion button. Coley literally had never experienced a heartbreak from an intimate relationship; she only had s****l relationship but there were always no feelings involved in the activities that they did. She never knew the feeling of being heartbroken from a relationship yet here she was, crying over a song about being heartbroken from losing a lover. Soft sobs escaped the brunette’s lips as she let her tears fall down her cheeks while watching the sky turn completely dark while imagining that the sky was no different with her life.

While she was having her moment, Ghrae stepped out of the bathroom while wrapping her towel around her head as she stopped on her tracks and stared at the crying woman on the corner. She blinked multiple times while her mind debated whether to go and comfort Coley or just leave her alone since that was what she might want. Eventually, she thought of doing the first option as she stepped forward and was about to call the brunette’s name when she suddenly turned to look at her while sobbing.

Oh, she isn’t an ugly crier.

When Coley turned to continue her crying session—totally ignoring the latter’s presence, Ghrae decided to choose the second option as she quietly made her way to the bedroom.

After Ghrae was done putting on her clothes, she sat on the bed and waited for a few minutes as she thought that Coley might not be done with her crying session yet. The raven then looked at her reflection on the mirror and had a staring contest with herself. Eventually, no one won.

“Uh, are you okay?” Ghrae asked as she stepped out of the bedroom and saw Coley putting on her red plaid jacket.

“Hm? Yeah, why?” Coley replied as she turned to her with her usual charming smile that made her eyes disappear.

“You were literally just crying on the corner,” Ghrae pointed at the spot next to the window where she was crying at.

“Yeah, I was,” The brunette nodded as if it was no big deal. “The song was really sad so I cried, that’s all.”

“Uh, are you sure?”

Coley nodded with a broad smile on her face. Suddenly a thought appeared in her head as her smile was replaced to a smirk. She walked toward the shorter woman with a smug look on her face.

“Why? Are you worried about me?” Coley shoved her hands in the pockets of her jacket and slightly leaned her face forward.

“No, I was planning to comfort you,” A smile of amusement was replaced on the brunette’s face as she leaned back.

“Really?”

Suddenly, the shorter woman spread her arms wide as she looked at the taller woman, with a blank facial expression. The gesture made the brunette look at her with surprise as she opened her mouth to speak but no words left.

“Come here. Consider this as an act of comfort,” Ghrae said impassively.

Though there were no emotions evident in the gesture and words of the raven, the brunette still felt touched as she gladly leaned forward and wrapped her hands around the small body of the latter. She then felt Ghrae slowly wrap her arms around her waist as well as they both stayed in that position for a few minutes. With ROSÉ’s “On the Ground” playing in the background, the both of them did not bother uttering a word as they leaned on each other’s warm bodies, almost not wanting to let go. Coley was serious when she said that she was crying earlier because of the sad song and she was glad that she did cry otherwise she would not have the chance to be offered a hug by an angelic woman.

“Have you decided where to eat?” Ghrae broke the silence between them as she casually let go of the hug, unaware about Coley seeming to want the hug to last longer.

“Not really,” Coley answered as she raked her hair back with her fingers and looked away from her. She could not believe that she wanted the hug to last longer. “How about we take a walk and decide on the way?”

“All right.”

***

The lampposts alongside the open stores lit up the streets beautifully that seemed to give life to the dark streets. The brunette kept her hands in the pockets of her jacket as she walked alongside the raven who was casually looking around for a restaurant where they could eat dinner at. As they were walking by the sidewalk, a motorcycle suddenly accelerated toward them.

Coley widened her eyes as she immediately wrapped her arm around Ghrae’s shoulder and protectively pulled her to her chest, making the shorter woman stare at her face that was a few inches apart from hers in surprise. The motorcycle stopped right in front of them as the brunette looked at the driver with anger in her eyes. There was another person behind the driver as they both took their helmets off.

“Are you fu—” Before Coley could even curse the driver, the driver took his helmet off as they immediately recognized his face. “Noah, what the f**k?”

“I’m sorry, did I scare you two?” Noah chuckled.

The person behind him took her helmet off as her purple hair fell to her shoulders. She greeted the two women with a silent nod, which made Coley calm down.

“We’re going to eat out in Daddy’s Pizzeria in celebration of the amazing Margo,” Noah said and laughed when he felt the woman behind him punch his back. “Come join us.”

“What?” Margo uttered with her eyebrows furrowed.

“Sure, but how are we going to join you?” Coley glanced at his motorcycle that was obviously not capable to have two more passengers on. She noticed that his motorcycle was a bit smaller than her baby.

“The place is very close! Just take a right there,” Noah explained.

“Alright, see you then,” Coley said.

“Nice. See you!” Noah glanced at Ghrae and drove away before Margo could even protest.

They both watched the two take a turn at the end of the street until they both realized their position. Coley’s arm was still holding Ghrae across her chest that made them look like a clingy couple. The brunette’s mouth formed into an O as she slowly let go of the raven who had her lips pressed into a thin line as she stepped back. Awkwardness filled the distance between them as they avoided each other’s gaze.

“Let’s go to that pizzeria,” Ghrae said as she started to walk while Coley followed after.

Like what Noah said, they only had to take a right for them to see the pizza restaurant as they saw the huge flickering neon sign that said, “Daddy’s Pizzeria”, in front. Immediately, they saw the two inside through the glass wall as Noah waved at them with a grin on his face when he saw them. The both of them entered as they took their seats. Coley sat next to Noah while Ghrae sat next to Margo.

“Margo loves me too much that she only wants me as her friend, which explains why it’s just the two of us,” Noah said.

“You’re disgusting,” Margo commented, making him laugh.

“So, how long have you guys been friends?” Coley asked as she took a fry and popped it in her mouth.

“We’re basically childhood best friends,” Noah grinned. “In short, we’ve been friends before she had tattoos and piercings.”

“That’s awesome,” Coley responded in awe.

“You two are dating, right?” Margo asked as she glanced at both of the women.

“We’re not,” Ghrae flashed a small smile on her face. “We’re just temporary roommates.”

“Why temporary?”

“I needed a place to hide because bad guys hate me,” Coley answered, getting sick of answering the same question for the nth time.

“Oh, you do look like a delinquent,” Margo blankly said.

“A sexy one,” Coley decided to sugarcoat the purple-haired woman’s remark.

They laughed as they both waited for their food to come when the door suddenly opened followed by the familiar feminine high-pitched voice and footsteps coming to their way. The four of them turned to look as they looked at her with surprise.

“Margo! Happy birthday, bub!” The jolly woman who had long wavy bright red hair ran to give the purple-haired woman a hug.

“Nora, you’re here,” Ghrae and Coley noticed how broad the smile on Margo’s face as she turned to face the red-haired woman. It was their first time to see the gloomy woman smile.

“Of course. Did you think that I’m going to miss your birthday?” Nora grinned broadly as she lightly pinched the cheeks of the latter who did not bother about it. Suddenly, she turned to see who the other people were as her eyes lit up when they landed on the brunette who gave her a wink. “Coley!”

The red-haired woman left Margo as she ran to give Coley a hug—the same tight hug that she gave to Margo, which made the three of them look at them in surprise especially Margo. Ghrae turned to observe Margo while chewing on her fry as she noticed how Margo’s bright face was replaced back to her usual gloomy facial expression. The raven was not sure whether she could smell jealousy or not.

“Who knew you guys were friends too?!” Nora beamed as she looked at each of them. “Coley and I met in one of the towns I went to.”

“Are you seriously ignoring your brother’s existence here?” Noah asked in annoyance.

“What? You want me to hug you too?” The red-haired woman gave him a disgusted look.

“No, don’t,” Noah replied. He then turned to Ghrae as he gestured to Nora. “This is Ghrae, Coley’s roommate.”

“Hi! I’m Nora Farley, nice to meet you!” Ghrae smiled back as she shook the hand of the chestnut-eyed woman whose face resembled a bunny because of her teeth.

Nora then took a seat next to Ghrae instead of the three as they began to catch up. Noticing how Nora and Coley seemed to be conversing more, Ghrae could sense the jealousy of Margo who was seated on her other side.

This is gonna be a long night.