Fic: Round Two, Jessi/Mal
Title: Conversational
Author: velvetandlace
Fandom: Baby-Sitters Club
Characters/Pairing: Jessi/Mallory
Timeline/Spoilers: Set a few years post-series.
Rating/Warning: PG - M-ish? Nothing explicit.
Disclaimer: I don’t own any of this and I’m not doing this for monetary gain!
Summary: How do you draw a line between best-friendship and something more? Jessi thinks she knows how; if she could just say it.
A/N: Just over 1000 words.
For mayhap, who asked for a family reunion and "silly-billy-goo-goos".
The Annual Pike Family Reunion: Chaos. Noise. People.
Jessi couldn’t help feeling a little overwhelmed (and even more than a little out of place; Mallory’s pale skin definitely ran in the family), and she was sticking to herself, curled up under a tree in the Pike’s backyard. She wasn’t lonely, not exactly - she was watching Mallory.
Mallory was talking to someone Jessi thought was an uncle. She was holding up a notebook and talking, her other hand gesturing so enthusiastically that it made the man’s glasses fall right off his nose. Jessi could practically hear Mallory’s apology, and she grinned. Mallory never had learned more coordination and was still the same loveable klutz Jessi had known since sixth grade.
They were a little older now - seventeen, almost-graduates! - and it was nice, Jessi thought, to have chances like this and think about time, and the changes they brought. Mallory was a little taller (statuesque was the perfect word, she thought) and her hair had relaxed into waves. The glasses and braces had disappeared a couple of years ago, and Mallory really did look pretty. Jessi especially liked the cleft of Mallory’s chin and the way her brow furrowed when she was writing…
But Jessi had always liked a lot about Mallory, and in the last few years it’d been easier to see that what she’d thought was best-best-best-friendship was really, well, love. She didn’t know what Mallory thought about that. She’d never asked and she wasn’t ready to, not yet, and it was all for one simple reason: Jessi didn’t know how to say it.
Languages were all about grace and emotion to Jessi, like dance. They were ways to express things, thoughts, emotions - and foreign languages were sometimes more like ballet than you’d think, because both of them said things you couldn’t get the English language to say. She’d taken a lot of language classes and she’d danced until her feet were bleeding, but she still didn’t know how to describe the sharp twists her stomach made when Mallory said her name.
“Jessi!” Mallory was heading her way, and Jessi stood up and smiled.
“Hey, Mal. Don’t stop socialising just because of me.”
“Are you kidding? You’re who I want to talk to. Want to go inside?”
Smiling, Jessi nodded her reply, and the two girls walked inside and upstairs together, leaving the cacophony of Pikes behind - or, at least, they tried to, before being accosted by eleven-year-old Claire Pike. “Where are you going?”
“Inside,” Mallory said, trying to brush past.
“No way! This is a family reunion,” Claire reminded. “You’re not allowed to go anywhere.”
“Tough,” replied Mallory, adding, airily, “Silly-billy-goo-goo.”
Claire’s lips tightened with anger, and Jessi held back in a smile as they walked past without another complaint. Some childhood habits would haunt people forever.
They finally made it upstairs. Mallory’s room was quiet and Vanessa-less, and Mallory flopped onto her bed, looking up at Jessi. “I feel like I haven’t talked to you in forever.”
Jessi laughed. “We talked at least half an hour ago!”
“It was too long. I have so much tell you!”
“What about?” Jessi asked, curiously.
Mallory waved a hand in the air, dismissive. “Well, I haven’t thought of it yet.”
“What?”
“I don’t know. It’s just… when we talk, I always think of a million things to say out of nowhere. And when I talk to someone else, I think, ‘I have to remember to tell Jessi about this later’, and I feel like if I don’t you right away then it might be gone forever, you know?”
Jessi frowned. “Kind of?”
Mallory laughed, a little, and shook her head. “I just like talking to you.”
“I know that.” Jessi let out a little sigh of relief, smiling again. This, she understood. “I like talking to you, too.”
When Mallory didn’t reply right away, Jessi glanced over at her. Mallory was fidgeting - a good sign she was nervous - and she was breathing a little rapidly, unable to rest her gaze on any one thing for too long. What was this all about?
After a long moment, Mallory finally replied. “That’s not what I meant. I meant… I don’t know how to say it! I just… there’s you, and me, and I think that sometimes maybe what we are isn’t-”
And all of a sudden, Jessi knew. She knew what this nervousness was about. She knew why she was there at the Pike’s that afternoon. And most of all, she knew that some things could never, ever be put into words, and that’s why there was a whole other language invented for this, more like dance than anything else, with bodies and hands, and most importantly…
Well. Most importantly, lips, so Jessi cut Mallory off in the middle of her sentence, kneeled in front of the bed, cupped Mallory’s face with both hands and kissed her. The kiss was confident (Jessi was always good at languages) and she felt Mallory’s mouth open under hers, and she could taste coleslaw and the sour-sweet of someone else mouth and breathing, of Mallory, and when Mallory’s hand gripped Jessi’s shoulder Jessi thought she really wanted to get fluent in this new language right away.
When the kiss finally ended, when they’d both gulped in enough air and were staring at each other in a thick silence tinged with awkwardness, Jessi shrugged and said “I know exactly what you’re saying.”
Mallory smiled, her face almost shining with hope. “You mean you…”
“I really do.”
Mallory broke into a grin and threw her arms around Jessi, and Jessi hugged her back, fiercely.
In the backyard, someone turned up the stereo and something crashed. An adult roared Nicky’s name and Nicky yelped in fright. But in the small bedroom upstairs, Jessi just held on tight, lost in a tight hug that said more than “I love you” ever really would.
Author: velvetandlace
Fandom: Baby-Sitters Club
Characters/Pairing: Jessi/Mallory
Timeline/Spoilers: Set a few years post-series.
Rating/Warning: PG - M-ish? Nothing explicit.
Disclaimer: I don’t own any of this and I’m not doing this for monetary gain!
Summary: How do you draw a line between best-friendship and something more? Jessi thinks she knows how; if she could just say it.
A/N: Just over 1000 words.
For mayhap, who asked for a family reunion and "silly-billy-goo-goos".
The Annual Pike Family Reunion: Chaos. Noise. People.
Jessi couldn’t help feeling a little overwhelmed (and even more than a little out of place; Mallory’s pale skin definitely ran in the family), and she was sticking to herself, curled up under a tree in the Pike’s backyard. She wasn’t lonely, not exactly - she was watching Mallory.
Mallory was talking to someone Jessi thought was an uncle. She was holding up a notebook and talking, her other hand gesturing so enthusiastically that it made the man’s glasses fall right off his nose. Jessi could practically hear Mallory’s apology, and she grinned. Mallory never had learned more coordination and was still the same loveable klutz Jessi had known since sixth grade.
They were a little older now - seventeen, almost-graduates! - and it was nice, Jessi thought, to have chances like this and think about time, and the changes they brought. Mallory was a little taller (statuesque was the perfect word, she thought) and her hair had relaxed into waves. The glasses and braces had disappeared a couple of years ago, and Mallory really did look pretty. Jessi especially liked the cleft of Mallory’s chin and the way her brow furrowed when she was writing…
But Jessi had always liked a lot about Mallory, and in the last few years it’d been easier to see that what she’d thought was best-best-best-friendship was really, well, love. She didn’t know what Mallory thought about that. She’d never asked and she wasn’t ready to, not yet, and it was all for one simple reason: Jessi didn’t know how to say it.
Languages were all about grace and emotion to Jessi, like dance. They were ways to express things, thoughts, emotions - and foreign languages were sometimes more like ballet than you’d think, because both of them said things you couldn’t get the English language to say. She’d taken a lot of language classes and she’d danced until her feet were bleeding, but she still didn’t know how to describe the sharp twists her stomach made when Mallory said her name.
“Jessi!” Mallory was heading her way, and Jessi stood up and smiled.
“Hey, Mal. Don’t stop socialising just because of me.”
“Are you kidding? You’re who I want to talk to. Want to go inside?”
Smiling, Jessi nodded her reply, and the two girls walked inside and upstairs together, leaving the cacophony of Pikes behind - or, at least, they tried to, before being accosted by eleven-year-old Claire Pike. “Where are you going?”
“Inside,” Mallory said, trying to brush past.
“No way! This is a family reunion,” Claire reminded. “You’re not allowed to go anywhere.”
“Tough,” replied Mallory, adding, airily, “Silly-billy-goo-goo.”
Claire’s lips tightened with anger, and Jessi held back in a smile as they walked past without another complaint. Some childhood habits would haunt people forever.
They finally made it upstairs. Mallory’s room was quiet and Vanessa-less, and Mallory flopped onto her bed, looking up at Jessi. “I feel like I haven’t talked to you in forever.”
Jessi laughed. “We talked at least half an hour ago!”
“It was too long. I have so much tell you!”
“What about?” Jessi asked, curiously.
Mallory waved a hand in the air, dismissive. “Well, I haven’t thought of it yet.”
“What?”
“I don’t know. It’s just… when we talk, I always think of a million things to say out of nowhere. And when I talk to someone else, I think, ‘I have to remember to tell Jessi about this later’, and I feel like if I don’t you right away then it might be gone forever, you know?”
Jessi frowned. “Kind of?”
Mallory laughed, a little, and shook her head. “I just like talking to you.”
“I know that.” Jessi let out a little sigh of relief, smiling again. This, she understood. “I like talking to you, too.”
When Mallory didn’t reply right away, Jessi glanced over at her. Mallory was fidgeting - a good sign she was nervous - and she was breathing a little rapidly, unable to rest her gaze on any one thing for too long. What was this all about?
After a long moment, Mallory finally replied. “That’s not what I meant. I meant… I don’t know how to say it! I just… there’s you, and me, and I think that sometimes maybe what we are isn’t-”
And all of a sudden, Jessi knew. She knew what this nervousness was about. She knew why she was there at the Pike’s that afternoon. And most of all, she knew that some things could never, ever be put into words, and that’s why there was a whole other language invented for this, more like dance than anything else, with bodies and hands, and most importantly…
Well. Most importantly, lips, so Jessi cut Mallory off in the middle of her sentence, kneeled in front of the bed, cupped Mallory’s face with both hands and kissed her. The kiss was confident (Jessi was always good at languages) and she felt Mallory’s mouth open under hers, and she could taste coleslaw and the sour-sweet of someone else mouth and breathing, of Mallory, and when Mallory’s hand gripped Jessi’s shoulder Jessi thought she really wanted to get fluent in this new language right away.
When the kiss finally ended, when they’d both gulped in enough air and were staring at each other in a thick silence tinged with awkwardness, Jessi shrugged and said “I know exactly what you’re saying.”
Mallory smiled, her face almost shining with hope. “You mean you…”
“I really do.”
Mallory broke into a grin and threw her arms around Jessi, and Jessi hugged her back, fiercely.
In the backyard, someone turned up the stereo and something crashed. An adult roared Nicky’s name and Nicky yelped in fright. But in the small bedroom upstairs, Jessi just held on tight, lost in a tight hug that said more than “I love you” ever really would.