Chapter Text
Serah’s hand trembled as she stood at the front door of Fang and Vanille’s cute little house. It was nice, nicer than Snow’s apartment at least. Small and quaint with plenty of space out back for a garden. They’d already started one by the time they all found each other.
She stood frozen, mind racing to find an excuse to stand there just a little longer. Had they painted the shingles since she was here last? And that little stone path leading around the side of the house looked new. She hadn’t spoken to Vanille in two weeks. Oh, those flowers in the shade under the willow tree were so cute! She’d have to ask what kind they were.
Faintly, Serah heard the TV switch on inside the house and nearly jumped out of her skin. Someone was home then. There was no guarantee it was Vanille, but she felt herself deflate anyway. Part of her, a stupid part, had hoped that the house would be empty, and she could just go back home, comforted in the knowledge that she’d at least tried. The thought made her clench her teeth, frustrated with herself for being so childish, and in the quick rush of anger and adrenaline, she finally rapped her knuckles against the door.
Serah flinched back from the door as soon as she pulled her hand away, as if she’d been expecting it to explode out at her as soon as she finally got up the nerve to touch it, but nothing happened. Of course it didn’t, it would take whoever was in there a couple of seconds at least to get up and get to the door. She noticed her hand trembling and lowered it to fiddle with the lacy bottom of her skirt.
A moment later, she heard the latch click and realized the sound of the TV had stopped. Her breath caught and she shoved down the sudden urge to run away, standing her ground as a pair of red pigtails poked around the half-open door.
“Serah!” Vanille sounded surprised. Serah thought she heard a hint of nerves in her voice, but she was probably just projecting.
“Hi Vanille,” she responded, attempting what was definitely a pathetic smile. “I’m back from my honeymoon.” Vanille was wearing a crop top, and Serah couldn’t help the way her eyes trailed down to the strip of stomach it showed off. Quickly, she wrenched her gaze back up, stretching her smile even bigger and faker.
Vanille didn’t seem to notice, too busy trying to twist her grimace into a matching grin. The conversation had died, and they’d only exchanged two sentences. But… Vanille wasn’t the one who knocked on her door. This was Serah’s responsibility, and she knew it, she was just being a big baby and trying to avoid saying the actual thing she’d come here for. She took a shallow breath to steady herself, then spoke.
“I’m here to talk about what happened, and apologize. I think you deserve more of an explanation for… all of that, but,” Serah glanced around at the empty street, then back to Vanille with an uncomfortable quirk to her lips. “Could we maybe go inside to talk about it?”
Vanille looked shaken, an uncertainty that Serah hadn’t expected slipping onto her face. She seemed to consider what Serah said, her gaze falling to the ground as she chewed on the inside of her lip. Serah felt her heart pick back up, whatever little burst of confidence she’d summoned to say all of that shrinking back to nothing. She’d never even considered that Vanille might just turn her away, and the thought scared her. She couldn’t keep losing people.
“Alright.” The word shook Serah from her thoughts. Weakness flashed across her face for a moment as she looked back at Vanille, who was smiling softly at her. It was the same smile she’d worn right as she left Serah in the bathroom two weeks ago, and Serah had to struggle to pull herself together long enough to smile back and walk into the house.
“Fang’s out right now,” Vanille continued as she shut the door behind them and skipped past her towards the kitchen. “Do you want some tea? I’ve already got the water heating.” Her voice was light again, no hint of whatever she’d been struggling with a minute ago. Serah knew it was all fake, but took a bit of comfort in it anyway. If Vanille was already playing a role, it was easier for her to pick one up too.
“Sure! Do you have any sugar for it?” Her own cute, cheery tone made her want to barf, but she smiled through it anyway. Vanille nodded and walked over to some cabinets above the counter, pulling down a little ceramic container with a small spoon and a bit of sugar inside. Serah took the dish from her and fiddled with it as Vanille walked back to the stove and went about preparing the tea. After handing Serah her cup, Vanille turned back and bustled around the kitchen, straightening things on the counter and sorting through the fridge as she slowly prepared her own tea. Serah couldn’t look away, transfixed by how fluidly Vanille moved. How had she never noticed before?
There was a pause as Vanille shut the fridge door and looked back at her, the interaction teetering between normality and honesty. Serah had an out. If she wanted to, they could stand here and drink their tea and talk about nothing, then Serah could leave and they would never mention any of this again.
But she didn’t want that, no matter how easy it would be. She needed something from Vanille, and she wanted to believe it was only forgiveness. Maybe that would be enough to get rid of all the thoughts.
“Do you wanna go sit in the living room?” Serah asked. “Then we can talk.” The words came out steady, but panic was starting to claw at her chest again. There was no more getting away from it. She had to do this. Vanille nodded at her, her smile weaker than usual, and led the way into her living room.
As Serah’s feet touched carpet, her pace stuttered, then stopped. Vanille continued, either not noticing her hesitation or ignoring it, and sat down on the couch. She immediately pulled a soft looking pillow into her lap, threading her fingers through its white fur.
Serah licked her lips and took a sip of her tea. It was still hot, burning all the way down her throat, but somehow, it centered her.
“I- I wanted to first say that I’m sorry,” she said shakily. It was hard to speak, but she had practiced this in her head so many times. She just had to get it out. “What I said to you, about how what happened to me back on Cocoon was your fault, that was so completely unfair and awful of me. It’s not your fault, and I’ve never believed that. I think... I think I was just trying to hurt you.”
Vanille hadn’t turned back towards Serah as she spoke, eyes fixed on the dark television in front of her. She couldn’t see her face or read what she was thinking. Serah didn’t even know what she would want to see. She just wanted Vanille to take her back, whatever that meant.
With a steadying breath, Serah summoned up just enough courage to walk forwards and stand in front of the small coffee table in the center of the room. Vanille’s eyes were dark, and she wouldn’t meet Serah’s gaze, even now that she was right in front of her. Her expression was blank, but it was better than not being able to see her at all.
“I also wanted to say that I haven’t told Snow, and…” Her breath was coming a little faster. “And I really hope you don’t decide to. I-I know it would be your right, if you want to, but please!” Serah was getting more frantic, a hundred scenes of Lightning’s- Snow’s horrified face, looking at her with disgust for what she’d done. Everyone would think she’s the worst type of person, and worst of all, they’d be right.
A soft hand touched her knee, and Serah snapped her eyes back up to Vanille. She hadn’t even realized she’d been staring at her feet.
“Serah, you’re going to break the teacup if you keep clutching it like that.” Vanille’s voice was gentle but distant, as if she really was more concerned for her cup than Serah.
“I’m not going to tell Snow,” Vanille continued after a moment. She sounded hesitant, but when she finally looked up and met Serah’s gaze, there was sympathy in her face. “It would ruin my life too, y’know!” Just for a moment, the normal, overly peppy tone was back, and Vanille flashed her a grin so wide it almost looked real.
“Thank you,” Serah responded quietly. “Thank you.” Then she paused, looking back at Vanille for some response to the other thing she’d said, her apology. Vanille returned her gaze, blinked, then sighed.
“Fang knows.”
“What?” Serah demanded, all other worries immediately forgotten. She didn’t even know Fang that well, she had no idea if the woman would go to her sister or Snow or, fuck, anyone else who had no involvement in this. Her breathing was getting erratic again, and she looked at Vanille desperately. “Why the hell did you tell her?”
Any pity that had been in Vanille’s eyes before was gone, she was looking at Serah as if she was a child having a temper tantrum. And what the hell? She had come to apologize, and when she got freaked out over something perfectly reasonable, Vanille had the nerve to look at her like that?
“We don’t keep secrets from each other, not anymore,” Vanille said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Serah glowered at her, setting her cup down on the coffee table a little harder than was necessary.
“This is none of her business! I fucked up, okay, I admitted that! She doesn’t need to know about it, she shouldn’t even care!” But her breath was coming too shallow, and as much as Serah wanted to continue her tirade, she had to stop to gasp for air. She noticed her arms were shaking, and wrapped them defiantly around herself.
“Serah…” Vanille sighed again, as if this was all so damn exhausting for her. Serah snarled at her, and Vanille leveled her gaze. “Serah. You left a hickey on my neck. She saw it as soon as I came out of the bathroom, then you were out a couple seconds later.”
Serah felt like she’d been punched in the gut, all of the righteous anger flowing out through her feet and leaving her with nothing but the slow, gnawing panic.
“Oh.”
“Yeah, oh.”
“I’m sorry, I-” But Serah didn’t know what to say. She was sorry, but thinking about this made her feel like a total idiot. She remembered sucking on Vanille’s neck, and she remembered feeling like she’d won something when she saw the bruise forming there. She even remembered Vanille wearing Fang’s tie around her neck when they cut the cake, but she’d been too focused on keeping up an act in front of Snow to put anything together.
“Fuck,” she groaned, raising her hands to her head. “Please, will… will Fang say anything?” Vanille shrugged, her brows drawing together slightly.
“I don’t know. She hasn’t told anyone yet, but she might. I don’t think she’d tell Snow, at least. I think she would consider that making things too easy for you.”
“I’m such an idiot.”
“Yeah, a little bit. For sure for doin’ that. But…” She trailed off and took a sip of her tea. Her fingers slowly started to work harder against the fabric of the pillow, and Serah found herself staring at their little ballet. “What you said, and what you just apologized for, that’s not really the point of what happened, is it?” A bit of vulnerability had slipped onto Vanille’s face, but Serah had no idea what she was talking about.
“What do you mean?”
“You cheated on your husband, Serah. That’s a lot more of a betrayal than snapping at a friend.”
Serah winced at the words, another image of Snow’s face after she’d emerged from the bathroom flashing through her mind. He had looked so happy to see her, made some dumb joke about the seafood being killer, then wrapped her up in the sort of hug that used to make her feel like nothing else in the world existed.
“I know,” Serah chewed on her lip, hesitating. “But that’s between me and Snow, alright?”
“It’s not though, is it?” Vanille asked, her eyes on the pillow in her lap again. “You did it with me, and I went along with it. It was as much my decision as yours.”
“It wasn’t!” Serah said, desperation to prove Vanille wrong coming in equal parts from concern for the other girl and wanting to avoid the topic. “I’m the one with the commitment, I’m the one that betrayed Snow. You don’t have any responsibility to him!” But Vanille just shook her head.
“He saved my life more times than I can count, and then I just go and fuck his wife? It’s my business too, you can’t get me out of this. He was my friend, Serah, and I did something real awful to him.”
Serah twisted the end of her ponytail around a finger, fussing with it anxiously as she tried to process what Vanille was saying. Alright, fine, it was her business, but what did that even mean?
“What do you want?” Serah finally asked. “You say you’re a part of this, so what do you want out of it?”
“All I want is for you to be honest!” Vanille giggled, back to all sunshine and cheeriness. Her rapid mood changes were starting to give Serah whiplash, and she tried to shove down a shard of irritation.
“What exactly do you think I’m lying about?”
“Welllll,” Vanille drawled. “For starters, why did you come here?” Serah stared at her, the question barely processing.
“Seriously? I’ve already said that like twice! I came here to apologize because I fucked up.”
“Mmmm, nuhuh.” Vanille shook her head, pigtails swinging back and forth in a way that made her look ridiculous. “You came here to apologize because you said something mean to me, but you keep trying to dodge around it when I bring up that we had sex. But see, I know you pretty well by now, and I don’t think you’d come here just to say sorry for hurting my feelings. I think you’d leave me a note, or text me, really anything so you could avoid the confrontation!” Vanille giggled, as if she hadn’t just cut Serah open as expertly as a surgeon. She was sweating, feeling far too hot in the chill of the AC.
“So, tell me Serah.” Vanille had her head tilted to the side, finger against her cheek in an exaggerated thinking motion. “Are you sorry that you had sex with me?”
“No.” The word dropped from her lips before she could stop it, pulling all the breath out of her lungs with it. Immediately, she slapped a hand over her mouth and her eyes started to well up, horrified with herself. Vanille’s coaxing smile seemed to eat up her entire vision, and she felt like she’d been wrenched from her body, watching herself from a foot behind.
“That’s alright, ‘s not like I’m mad or anything.” Vanille was making fun of her, but she didn’t care. She barely even heard it. “So what, did you get all attached to me, or was I just that good of a lay? I mean really, I barely touched you! I’ll have to have some words with Snow if your standards are that low.”
“Stop it. Stop it- I can’t.” Serah pressed her hands against her forehead, fingers combing back through her hair: gripping, pulling.
“You can hide it from everyone else, but there’s really no point keeping it from me.” Vanille’s hand ghosted against Serah’s leg as she spoke, urging her to voice all the awful thoughts twisting through her mind, up her throat, around her tongue.
“No…” It was weak, even to her own ears.
“Serah.” Vanille’s voice grew sharp, and Serah’s gaze snapped up, surprised. “Stop acting like a child and tell me what you’re thinking. Now.” And as fucked up as it was maybe being talked down to, like she was just a nuisance, was what Serah needed. She felt her mouth open, unbidden, and she started to speak.
“Fine! Fine! I’ll just say it! The entire honeymoon, every time he pushed me down, fucked me, every single time I started thinking of your face. I used to love kissing him, but for the last week I hated it, all his rough stubble, the way his mouth is too big for mine, so he ends up slobbering everywhere. I hate it and it’s your fault!” Her voice climbed and climbed as she spoke, ending in a high-pitched shriek. She felt the burn in her eyes, but the rest of her body felt distant, numb and cold as crystal. “And after- and after-”
“Serah.” As Vanille took her hand, Serah realized that it was trembling. She let the other girl pull her closer to the couch until they were only about a foot apart. “C’mon, tell me. I know you’ve gotta get it out.” Serah’s breath was ragged, but at Vanille’s command, more words started to bubble up.
“After he had finished, and I pretended to get off...” Serah’s voice was quiet, but at the way Vanille’s hand tightened around her own, she started to grow surer of herself. Vanille wanted this. She wanted to hear. Right now, Serah was so numb that the thoughts didn’t even carry any shame. This was what she needed. Vanille wanted this. So the words came, flowing far too easily.
“I would bite the pillow and touch myself to the way you sounded when you came. I wanted to see you in that dress again, just so I could rip it off you. Just so I can fill the fantasy in properly.” She took another step towards the couch, eyes fixed on Vanille’s, but oblivious to the surprised blush on her face. A hand reached out, running slowly along the edge of Vanille’s jaw.
“I barely got to touch your tits. I wanted- I want to play with them until you’re begging for me.” Her breath was getting ragged, panicked heat pooling together, coiling between her legs as she watched Vanille’s tongue darted out to wet her lips.
“Serah.” Vanille’s voice was calm, and she reached up to place her hand over where Serah’s lingered against her cheek. “Did you come here to fuck me again?” The combination of the words and the touch was enough to drag Serah back into herself, and she jolted back, realizing what she was doing. Her chest constricted and she found herself struggling for breath, but Vanille’s grip tightened on her hand, digging her nails in. Serah looked back at her, eyes wide, and whispered her answer.
“Yeah, I think I did.”
Vanille kissed her. Serah felt hands on her, pulling her into the other girl’s lap as lips pressed against her own. Her mouth was soft, so much softer than Snow’s, and that was all it took for Serah to give in.
Vanille had been right. This was what Serah wanted all along. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it since the wedding. No matter how much she told herself she just wanted to apologize, she’d only knocked on Vanille’s door for one reason.
“Fuck!” She jerked back. Vanille had bit her lip, hard, apparently catching Serah’s mind wandering.
“Pay attention, Serah,” Vanille scolded, bringing up a finger to shake in her face. “If you keep getting lost in your head like that, you’re going to give yourself a panic attack again, so just…” Vanille pulled her back in, kissing her deeply, then broke away. “Just pay attention to me.”
It was a very convincing argument, especially since the hand that wasn’t cupping her cheek had started playing with the bottom of Serah’s skirt. It was the same one she’d been wearing when she first met Vanille, her favorite outfit from years ago. She hadn’t even noticed when she put it on, but Vanille seemed to.
“This is really cute, kinda got the innocent schoolgirl thing, yeah?” Vanille hummed and let her hand slip down to the top of Serah’s stockings. “Dressing like this oughta make getting people to pity you when you start crying a lot easier, maybe I should try it sometime.” Serah’s hands tightened on the other girl’s shoulders at the words.
“Shut up,” her voice was breathless, and she could barely summon any anger at the remark. She couldn’t fucking think with Vanille’s hand on her thigh like that. It felt like the world had shrunk around them, and the only things left were Vanille’s touch, Vanille’s eyes, Vanille’s voice. An honest part of her knew that the feeling had started as soon as they’d kissed at the wedding.
“Aww, don’t wanna talk anymore?” Vanille was teasing her. Drawing her hand slowly up and down Serah’s inner thigh, pulling away whenever Serah’s hips jerked forward. This was different than last time. Before, Vanille had let her win, let Serah shove her against a wall and take her. She played with the thought of doing it again, pinning Vanille back and ripping off her clothes. But she couldn’t, not really. It was as if Vanille had grabbed her by an invisible leash, and she couldn’t do anything but whine and wait for the other girl to pull her along.
“You said you were imagining this your whole honeymoon?” Vanille asked. Serah blushed and tried to turn her head away, but Vanille’s hand held it in place. “I liked that, when you talked about how bad you want me. So c’mon, tell me more of what you were thinking about with your hand shoved down your panties.”
Fuck, those words went straight to Serah’s core, the heat between her legs becoming harder and harder to ignore. Vanille’s hand was still too far away, trailing teasingly down the seam of her stockings. She was waiting for Serah to get herself together enough to speak, and something in her didn’t want to disappoint Vanille.
“I kept- I kept thinking about what would have happened if you hadn’t let me push your hand away. If you had shoved me back against the stalls and fucked me. God I-” Vanille’s hand had slunk up, a reward, and Serah was losing concentration. But as she stopped talking, it retreated again, too far to give her anything real, but close enough to keep stoking the fire in her stomach.
“Go on, I know you’ve got more.” Vanille giggled. Serah knew it was fake, she saw the emptiness in Vanille’s eyes, but her breath was coming too fast to say anything. “Don’t be all embarrassed, Serah! I know how much you wanna prove you want me. You were doing so good just a minute ago.”
“Fuck, fine!” She wanted that expression on Vanille’s face again. The turned on, vulnerable one, it made her feel powerful. “You were so- You felt so-” She was struggling, the memory of Vanille against her fingers combined with how turned on she was now, she couldn’t concentrate! “Why the hell are you dragging this out!” she spat. “We both know you want to fuck me, just do it! Then I can tell you how fucking hot you are. Please.” Her voice trailed off, and she sat harder on Vanille’s lap, just to grind against her legs.
“You’re so cute!” Vanille laughed. “Wow, you had me fooled before, all aggressive and angry, but ya’ just want someone up your skirt, huh?” Serah blushed, turning away. She wasn’t a slut.
“It’s not like I’m sleeping around! I just want-” Fuck, she could feel the tips of Vanille’s fingers teasing at her panties. She whined, and Vanille pulled away again. Did she really have to say it? That was so unfair! But Vanille’s hands were folded in her lap, she hadn’t even bothered to keep a hold on her cheek. That wasn’t fair! It wasn’t fair to force her like this!
“I want you, please.” Still, the words came out far easier than Serah would’ve liked. Vanille beamed at her, drawing her hand up to finally touch her properly, even if only through the fabric of her underwear. It was just like- just like how Serah had teased her at the wedding. Was that what this was, some sort of twisted revenge? That was so fucked up! And- and…
Vanille had one finger tracing up and down her center, and Serah’s mind fogged whenever it got close to her clit. Vanille was looking up at her, waiting for something.
“More, please,” Serah begged. She’d wanted so badly to feel powerful, but there was something intoxicating about giving that power away, too. Vanille gave her an approving look and Serah’s heart jumped, but then the pressure of the finger against her was gone. “What the hell?” she hissed. Vanille didn’t bother to even acknowledge the complaint.
“Lay down. On your back. I’m gonna do it proper this time, alright? No more excuses that it doesn’t count!” Vanille sounded teasing, but Serah knew she wasn’t. This was revenge, again, but at least it was the kind of revenge that got her off. Still, following orders was easier than thinking, so she complied, shifting to the side as she moved to lay down.
Apparently, Vanille didn’t have the patience for that. Serah squeaked as the other girl rose to meet her and kissed her, taking control of the motion to shove Serah onto her back. Vanille was on top of her, kissing with less teeth than before, and it was so easy for Serah to let herself fall into her.
A leg pushed up between her thighs, and Serah rutted against it eagerly. Vanille had been toying with her for so long, it didn’t matter if it was embarrassing, she would take anything she could get. But again, again, Vanille pulled back, leaving Serah to grab at her and stare pathetically up at her lips.
“I really thought you might not come,” Vanille said, voice a little raw.
“What?” Serah murmured back.
“Thought maybe you’d be better than this, or at least smart enough to pretend you are.” Vanille was smiling, always fucking smiling, but she seemed honest for a moment, almost too fast for her to catch it, before her expression turned teasing and she was back to playing with Serah. “Guess you’re just too into me though, huh!” With that, she pressed her thigh up against Serah’s panties again, and it became a lot harder to think.
“Before, I let you take what you needed, but I don’t think I gotta take pity on you anymore. I gave you a lot of chances to run away, but you didn’t, so now I’m gonna make you face it!” she giggled. Serah groaned, trying to focus on the words while Vanille was grinding her leg against her. “So! Now I’m gonna give you what you need, but you’re gonna have to play along to get it, okay?”
“Oh- okay,” Serah stuttered, earning her another kiss before Vanille slid away.
Serah opened her mouth to complain about the loss, as some last grasp at dignity, but then Vanille settled between her legs and all she managed was an embarrassing squeak. Serah felt hands pushing her thighs apart as Vanille nuzzled under her skirt, breath hot against the damp spot on her underwear.
“Now! Here’s the rules.” Every word Vanille spoke sent a little shiver up Serah’s body. “You’re gonna tell me exactly what you want, or else I’m not gonna give it to you. So no more pretending!”
“I want your mouth!” The words tumbled out of Serah before she could stop them, her voice laced with desperation. Her eyes were screwed shut, but from the little huff of breath and following giggle she felt between her legs, Vanille seemed pleasantly surprised.
Then Vanille’s tongue pressed against her through her panties, and Serah could only manage to hiss “Goddess,” as her head dropped back against the armrest.
“You taste good!” Vanille commented idly, as if she was talking about the weather. Serah felt her hook a finger in her underwear and start to pull them down. She automatically lifted her hips to help, and Vanille shot her a slightly smug look that only made Serah’s blush worse.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have gotten you so worked up,” Vanille said. “Kinda wish I could’ve seen how wet you already were when you knocked on my door.” But she must not have been too concerned about it, because before Serah had a chance to think up any sort of rebuke, Vanille’s mouth was on her again. Serah swore, grabbing instinctually at the other girl’s hair.
“More… please more,” Serah gasped, but Vanille only stopped, pulling her face away to speak.
“More of what? I told you, you’ve gotta tell me exactly what you want.”
“Just fuck me!” Serah whined. “I want your fingers inside me and your mouth on my clit! I want you to fuck me until I can’t think, please.”
“Wow,” Vanille grinned up at her. “You’re better at that than I thought you’d be! Suppose you deserve this now.”
Serah pressed her free hand to her mouth to try to contain the embarrassing, high pitched noise she made as Vanille dipped her head back down. She took a moment to explore with her tongue, alternating little bites as she licked, before Serah felt a finger at her entrance. She bit the back of her hand, trying not to jerk her hips too obviously, but then Vanille’s mouth was against her clit and the last of her self control dissolved into nothing.
Serah ground against Vanille’s face as the other woman started to fuck her, quickly adding a second finger to join the first inside her. She wasn’t gentle or soft, but she was exactly what Serah wanted. She moaned as Vanille took her, the hand that had been covering her mouth finding a better use for itself clutching at the throw pillow behind her head.
Vanille’s fingers sped up, jolting Serah’s body back into the couch with each thrust. It felt so fucking good, so different from how gentle Snow was with her. Vanille’s teeth were on her clit again, and her mind was so blissfully blank as she ground forward against the other girl’s face, taking all the roughness she could get. She could tell she was already getting close. Maybe Vanille was right. Maybe she was already desperate for it the moment she’d stepped onto the front porch.
“More!” Serah begged, the word coming out breathy and desperate. Vanille slowed for a moment, before slamming her fingers back in, with a third this time, hard enough that Serah snapped her eyes open and shouted Vanille’s name.
She grabbed desperately at the other girl’s head, rocking her hips to meet her pace as she was fucked into the couch. She could feel her orgasm curling in her chest, growing faster than she could manage it. She didn’t want to, she wanted to cum hard enough that the rest of the world didn’t exist.
All it took was hearing Vanille whisper Serah’s name against her clit, and she was thrown over the edge. No coherent words came out of her as she came, but there was a hell of a lot of pleading and swearing. It just- fuck- it just kept going, and she didn’t realize she’d been forcing Vanille’s head to stay between her legs until she felt the second orgasm coming. Oh Etro, was she still eating her out?
But then she was blissed out as she came again, shuddering and oversensitive. This time she had enough good sense to shove Vanille away as soon as she could feel her hands.
It was another minute before Serah could speak, and she spent it staring at the wall, slowly coming down from the afterglow. Vanille moved on the other side of the couch, shifting away to do something. Serah didn’t look up, because she knew if she saw Vanille’s face then the haze would be swept away, and she’d be reminded of what, exactly, she’d just done.
Unfortunately, it seemed just the thought had the same effect. She blinked, hard, and started to steady her breathing. Some of her hair had come undone from her ponytail, goddess knows how, and she swept it behind her ear. Only then could she summon the courage to sit up and look over at Vanille.
Vanille wasn’t looking back. She was licking the cum off her fingers -a sight which sent another low pang of heat through Serah’s body- but her eyes were empty, and she wasn’t even bothering to wear the fake smile she had before. A moment later, she seemed to notice Serah had sat up, and the mask was back on.
“Hope that was worth the trip! I know it’s a bit of a drive to get here from Snow’s place.” Serah winced at the words. Oh right, Snow. She was going to have to go home and pretend everything was fine again and-
“Let me-”
“Nuhuh!” Vanille cut her off, shaking a finger at her. “No need to worry about me! You, little missy, need to go before Fang gets back. Plus, don’t you think Snow is missing you by now? You are newlyweds, after all!” Vanille’s grin was sharp enough to cut, and her last few words drove the blade into Serah’s chest.
Clearly, she wasn’t wanted here. Vanille didn’t want to sit through Serah’s vulnerability any more than she did.
“Yeah, alright.” Slowly, legs still a little shaky, Serah got up. She took her panties from where Vanille had discarded them on the floor and, a bit reluctantly, pulled them back on. The arousal left on them was cold and uncomfortable against her already sensitive core. She’d have to feel that all the way home. The thought made her stomach sink, because really, she deserved a lot worse than that.
Especially since she didn’t regret it.
“Um, Vanille?” Serah started. She didn’t know what to say, but she couldn’t just leave with that, she couldn’t.
“Yeah?” Vanille’s tone was flat. Neutral.
“I want to see you again, is that okay?” God, she sounded like she was asking someone out after a first date. It felt silly, given what they’d just done, but she meant it.
Vanille didn’t answer for a couple of seconds, and Serah risked a glance back at her to see the other girl’s hands on the same pillow she’d been fiddling with before.
“You know how this ends, right?” Vanille said quietly, and Serah caught a hint of emotion in her eyes, before she shifted her gaze down towards their feet.
“Yeah.” Serah flexed her fingers, straightening her skirt again. “I think I want to do it anyway.”
“Alright.” Vanille licked her lips, then looked back up at Serah, a little flash of humor in her face. “One more rule! You’re not allowed to fall in love with me, okay?”
It took Serah by surprise, and she let out a little snort before she could stop herself. That sounded like a line straight out of some overproduced drama series! Vanille was probably watching too much TV, because somehow, Serah didn’t think that was going to become an issue.
“Deal.” Serah managed a smile, then an awkward, “And, um, you’re probably right that I should be gone before Fang gets back, so, ah… Goodbye, I suppose. For now.”
“Goodbye, Serah,” Vanille returned, robbing Serah of any other excuse to dawdle.
With another strained smile, she turned and headed to the front door. Maybe she was just a truly awful person, but even with the guilt sitting heavy in the back of her mind, and the uncomfortable reminder of what she’d just done damp between her legs, Serah felt a bloom of happiness in her chest. The kind she thought she’d lost when she watched Lightning get ripped away from her.