Popular (tv series) Fic: Clarity: Chapter 6/13 - Your New Aesthetic
Title: Clarity
Chapter 6: Your New Aesthetic
Author: emotionsovrflow
Rating: M, to be safe
Feedback: Always welcome
Disclaimer: I do not own Popular or it's characters. I do not own Jimmy Eat World or their music. The only thing to which I can lay claim is the arrangement of the words herewithin.
Author's Notes: See Chapter 1.
Thanks to everyone who has read this and also to anyone who has taken the time to comment.
As always, thanks to GilmoreRos who has been a fantastic beta.
Link to Chapter 1 - Crush
Link to Chapter 2 - Table for Glasses
Link to Chapter 3 - A Sunday
Link to Chapter 4 - Lucky Denver Mint
Link to Chapter 5 - 12.23.95
6 - Your New Aesthetic
Three. That was the magic number, right? Three dates, and sex was customary? Brooke wondered if Sam had heard of this rule and if she was expecting something to happen tonight. They were at the end of their third date, and that was only if you didn't count any of the times they had spent together around the house, just the two of them. They had seen a movie earlier and now they were in the driveway to their house, parked in Brooke's car, ten minutes into a fairly serious make-out session.
The blonde practically growled as the tip of Sam's tongue traced along the roof of her mouth. Well, if you'd stop moaning like a whore in heat, maybe Sam wouldn't expect anything. Brooke couldn't help it though. Sam made her feel things that she'd honestly never felt up until now. She had heard that expression before and only now, parked in the driveway to their house, did she truly understand what it meant.
All thought left Brooke's mind as Sam lifted her hand to rest on the blonde's left breast. When Sam started to gently massage and press her weight into her hand, Brooke pulled away with a sudden intake of breath. Both girls were speechless for a moment, gazing at one another, panting lightly.
"You ok?" Sam asked, her hands up as if someone had a gun pointed at her. "Sorry if I crossed any lines there."
Brooke was surprised by the length of time it took her to produce a response. It seemed she was having the hardest time trying to get her brain to do anything useful. Just as surprising was the response she finally came up with.
"Do you want to go up to my room?" She would have slapped herself on the forehead if she weren't terrified into a state of paralysis.
"Oh," Sam said, looking like a deer caught in headlights. "Uh... Yeah. We could do that."
Never one to rescind an offer, Brooke led the way as the girls got out of the car and made their way inside. Once upstairs, Sam stood in the middle of Brooke's bedroom, shifting her weight from foot to foot. Brooke walked over to her desk and turned on the small lamp so they weren't in complete darkness, although she wondered to herself if it would be better if they were.
Sam finally broke the silence with, "I kind of feel like I've never been in here before."
Brooke turned around to look at the brunette. Sam was looking around the room, seeming as if she were soaking in every last detail. "What do you mean? Of course you have."
"I don't know. I mean, I know that I have been here before, it just feels different this time."
Brooke couldn't help but agree and nodded. Although the room wasn't any different, they had never been in this particular situation before, and Brooke still wasn't sure she was all that comfortable with it. They had kissed and had started taking things just a little bit further physically over the past week or so, but this really did feel different somehow.
"I don't quite know what to do with myself, Brooke. And you're being awfully quiet," Sam said, shaking the blonde out of her thoughts.
"I'm sorry, Sam. Here, let me take your jacket." After placing the article of clothing on a nearby chair, Brooke turned to face her date. Taking in a breath of courage, she advanced on the other girl and reached her hand around to the back of Sam's neck. "I had a really great time tonight," she said before kissing her.
As was the case with most of the kisses they'd shared lately, it wasn't long before both girls were making noises beyond their control. Pulling away, Brooke placed her hands on Sam's shoulders and gently pushed her back and down so she was sitting at the foot of the bed. In one swift movement, Brooke pulled her shirt over her head and knelt in front of the brunette. Reaching up, she cupped Sam's cheek in her hand and lured her down into another hungry kiss.
Now on autopilot, Brooke started unbuttoning Sam's shirt, which quickly found its way to the floor. Getting up, she placed one knee on either side of Sam's thighs and rested her weight in her lap. Finally breaking their kiss, Brooke leaned back and undid the clasp in the front of her bra. Slowly, she peeled first the left then right cup away from her body, revealing herself to Sam.
Sam reached up to caress the blonde's left breast as she let her mouth find its twin. Brooke's nipples responded immediately as did the rest of her body and she started to rock in Sam's lap.
As wonderful as this all was feeling, Brooke felt the need to take a more active role and pushed Sam so she was lying flat on her back. Brooke kissed her hard on the mouth, pressing their bodies together. After enjoying Sam's lips for a while, she decided to explore other areas, working her way along the brunette's jaw line to her ear and neck. Venturing further, Brooke wondered when Sam's bra had come off, because she certainly didn't remember it happening. Not that she minded, of course, but still.
Sam's bra and its mysterious disappearance moved themselves to the back burner as Brooke dragged her tongue against Sam's hardening nipple. Long fingers worked their way into blonde hair and the name "Brooke" was spoken with breathless desire. Taking this as encouragement, Brooke moved down along the side of Sam's torso, tasting her ribs and hips. Licking around the outside of Sam's belly button, Brooke grasped the waist of the brunette's tight jeans. She worked her fingers along the material for a moment, coming to a rest on the button. Smoothly, she popped it open.
"Brooke." She didn't think she would ever grow tired of hearing that. Reaching one hand around to the small of Sam's back, Brooke grasped the zipper in the fingers of her other hand.
"Brooke," Sam said again as her fly was slowly being unzipped. "Brooke, stop."
All of Brooke froze, except for her head, which shot up to look Sam in the face. "What?" she asked.
"I said stop. Or at least…" Sam paused, panting. She shimmied herself onto her elbows. "Or at least just slow down for a second."
Brooke sat up, suddenly feeling very embarrassed and very vulnerable and very naked. She started frantically looking around for her shirt, a pillow, anything to cover her bare breasts. "I'm sorry, Sam. I thought this was what you wanted."
Sam, noticing that Brooke seemed to be simultaneously floundering and turning progressively darker shades of red, reached her hand out to lightly grasp the blonde's hand. "Brooke, calm down. Please." She scooted closer and brought her other hand up to cup Brooke's cheek. This seemed to set the blonde at a bit of ease, as she stilled her movements and looked up into the other girl's eyes. "You have nothing to be sorry about. Things escalated kind of quick just then, and I thought we should maybe put the brakes on for a second."
Brooke turned her quickly blushing face away from Sam's, the brunette's hand falling away from her cheek. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to go so fast. I just thought this was what you wanted. I've really liked spending time with you these past couple of weeks and I didn't want to mess everything up."
"And you thought that this was necessary to avoid messing things up?" Sam's eyebrows came together, her face showing confusion and, making Brooke's breath hitch a bit, affection and caring.
"I had heard about this rule or whatever about the third date so I thought you might be expecting us to…" Brooke trailed off, her eyes dropping to look at anything but Sam.
So many thoughts crossed Sam's mind. On the one hand, for Brooke to think that she would need to have sex with her to keep her interested was absurd, and mildly hurtful. But on the other hand, seeing Brooke's shoulders slump and her arm come up to cover her breasts, she realized how the wrong reaction from her could be much more hurtful to this fragile girl.
"Brooke…" Sam started, gently. "I think you spend too much time worrying about what other people expect from you. You say that this is what you thought I wanted… is this what you wanted?"
Brooke looked back up at Sam, seeing her leaning back on her hands, making no attempt to cover herself. Not even as Brooke's eyes lingered on her flat stomach and small but amazing breasts. She felt a pang of jealousy. Not because of Sam's body, although, the brunette could really make anyone jealous in that department. Brooke realized, however, that Sam was right. She always had a nagging voice in the back of her brain that was constantly in fear of disapproval, and it seemed to her that Sam just never had to deal with that.
"I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about… being with you. I think about it a lot actually." Brooke paused and looked at the bedspread. "I guess I don't know what I want."
Sam sat up and looked around for a moment, before reaching down to the floor. She came back up and offered the item in her hand to the blonde. "Do you want to put your shirt back on?"
"Thanks," Brooke said as she took the shirt and slipped it on over her head.
Sam watched the blonde dress. Brooke let out a heavy breath after the article of clothing was covering her again, and it was as if Sam could see a weight being lifted off of the blonde's shoulders. "Do you want me to put my shirt back on?"
Brooke looked up at her. "It's up to you. Whatever you're comfortable with, Sam."
Sam leaned forward and slid her fingers around Brooke's wrist. Tugging gently, she lay on her back and drew Brooke down with her, wrapping the blonde's arm around her waist. They both seemed to let out the same breath as they settled into the bed and each other. "I'm comfortable with this," she whispered as she traced her fingertips up and down Brooke's arm, lightly rubbing small circles into her skin.
They lay like that for a while. Not moving or talking, just laying together. Finally, Sam broke the silence. "Brooke, I don't want you to think you need to act a certain way or do anything in particular to try to keep me around. I just want you to be yourself. And I would never want you to do anything that makes you uncomfortable or anything that you aren't certain you really want." Brooke shifted on top of Sam and looked up into her eyes, seeing nothing but sincerity.
"I've thought about having sex with you too," Sam continued. "And I really do want to. But I don't want us to do it because it's what we think we should be doing. I want it to just happen naturally. I think when the time is right, we'll both feel it. This didn't feel like it was the time. Not to me anyway."
Brooke dropped her eyes once again, staring Sam directly in the chin. "No. I guess it didn't feel quite right. I'm sorry, Sam. I guess I freaked out." She leaned up and kissed Sam softly on the lips. "Thanks for being amazing and understanding and stopping and thinking for the both of us."
"Well, someone has to do the thinking around here. Don't worry, baby, I'm looking out for you."
At hearing Sam call her "baby", Brooke wrapped her arms tighter around the brunette and snuggled in closer, feeling protected and cared for. She traced her fingers along Sam's stomach, feeling her muscles flex and twitch under her skin. She asked, "Is this ok?"
"Mmm," Sam hummed. She craned her neck a bit so that she could kiss the blonde on her hairline. "This is definitely ok. I'll tell you if it isn't. But thanks for asking."
"I want to thank you for something, actually." Brooke laid her hand flat against Sam's skin and rubbed it up and down, across her ribs, back towards her belly button.
"For what?" Sam asked softly.
Brooke took in a deep breath. "For being brave. For telling me how you felt about me that day. And more recently, for being calm when I freak out."
"You've been pretty brave too, you know." Sam brought her hand up to Brooke's face, tilting it so she could look her in the eye. "You decided to give us a chance. You kissed me first. You're more brave than you know, Brooke. I know you think you aren't sometimes, but you are."
"Sammy," Brooke whispered. She leaned up and kissed Sam. It wasn't rushed or desperate. It was soft and slow and caring and everything that both girls were feeling right in this moment. When they pulled apart, Brooke looked into Sam's eyes and felt her own sting with the threat of tears. Swallowing to keep them at bay, she said, "be my girlfriend."
It wasn't a question, and it wasn't a demand. It was a soft, simple request and it made Sam's heart jump in her chest. "I'd love to be your girlfriend, Brooke. Be my girlfriend back."
Brooke smiled and kissed her again. "Of course I will."
"See," Sam hugged her tighter, "you're totally the brave one."
Chapter 6: Your New Aesthetic
Author: emotionsovrflow
Rating: M, to be safe
Feedback: Always welcome
Disclaimer: I do not own Popular or it's characters. I do not own Jimmy Eat World or their music. The only thing to which I can lay claim is the arrangement of the words herewithin.
Author's Notes: See Chapter 1.
Thanks to everyone who has read this and also to anyone who has taken the time to comment.
As always, thanks to GilmoreRos who has been a fantastic beta.
Link to Chapter 1 - Crush
Link to Chapter 2 - Table for Glasses
Link to Chapter 3 - A Sunday
Link to Chapter 4 - Lucky Denver Mint
Link to Chapter 5 - 12.23.95
6 - Your New Aesthetic
Three. That was the magic number, right? Three dates, and sex was customary? Brooke wondered if Sam had heard of this rule and if she was expecting something to happen tonight. They were at the end of their third date, and that was only if you didn't count any of the times they had spent together around the house, just the two of them. They had seen a movie earlier and now they were in the driveway to their house, parked in Brooke's car, ten minutes into a fairly serious make-out session.
The blonde practically growled as the tip of Sam's tongue traced along the roof of her mouth. Well, if you'd stop moaning like a whore in heat, maybe Sam wouldn't expect anything. Brooke couldn't help it though. Sam made her feel things that she'd honestly never felt up until now. She had heard that expression before and only now, parked in the driveway to their house, did she truly understand what it meant.
All thought left Brooke's mind as Sam lifted her hand to rest on the blonde's left breast. When Sam started to gently massage and press her weight into her hand, Brooke pulled away with a sudden intake of breath. Both girls were speechless for a moment, gazing at one another, panting lightly.
"You ok?" Sam asked, her hands up as if someone had a gun pointed at her. "Sorry if I crossed any lines there."
Brooke was surprised by the length of time it took her to produce a response. It seemed she was having the hardest time trying to get her brain to do anything useful. Just as surprising was the response she finally came up with.
"Do you want to go up to my room?" She would have slapped herself on the forehead if she weren't terrified into a state of paralysis.
"Oh," Sam said, looking like a deer caught in headlights. "Uh... Yeah. We could do that."
Never one to rescind an offer, Brooke led the way as the girls got out of the car and made their way inside. Once upstairs, Sam stood in the middle of Brooke's bedroom, shifting her weight from foot to foot. Brooke walked over to her desk and turned on the small lamp so they weren't in complete darkness, although she wondered to herself if it would be better if they were.
Sam finally broke the silence with, "I kind of feel like I've never been in here before."
Brooke turned around to look at the brunette. Sam was looking around the room, seeming as if she were soaking in every last detail. "What do you mean? Of course you have."
"I don't know. I mean, I know that I have been here before, it just feels different this time."
Brooke couldn't help but agree and nodded. Although the room wasn't any different, they had never been in this particular situation before, and Brooke still wasn't sure she was all that comfortable with it. They had kissed and had started taking things just a little bit further physically over the past week or so, but this really did feel different somehow.
"I don't quite know what to do with myself, Brooke. And you're being awfully quiet," Sam said, shaking the blonde out of her thoughts.
"I'm sorry, Sam. Here, let me take your jacket." After placing the article of clothing on a nearby chair, Brooke turned to face her date. Taking in a breath of courage, she advanced on the other girl and reached her hand around to the back of Sam's neck. "I had a really great time tonight," she said before kissing her.
As was the case with most of the kisses they'd shared lately, it wasn't long before both girls were making noises beyond their control. Pulling away, Brooke placed her hands on Sam's shoulders and gently pushed her back and down so she was sitting at the foot of the bed. In one swift movement, Brooke pulled her shirt over her head and knelt in front of the brunette. Reaching up, she cupped Sam's cheek in her hand and lured her down into another hungry kiss.
Now on autopilot, Brooke started unbuttoning Sam's shirt, which quickly found its way to the floor. Getting up, she placed one knee on either side of Sam's thighs and rested her weight in her lap. Finally breaking their kiss, Brooke leaned back and undid the clasp in the front of her bra. Slowly, she peeled first the left then right cup away from her body, revealing herself to Sam.
Sam reached up to caress the blonde's left breast as she let her mouth find its twin. Brooke's nipples responded immediately as did the rest of her body and she started to rock in Sam's lap.
As wonderful as this all was feeling, Brooke felt the need to take a more active role and pushed Sam so she was lying flat on her back. Brooke kissed her hard on the mouth, pressing their bodies together. After enjoying Sam's lips for a while, she decided to explore other areas, working her way along the brunette's jaw line to her ear and neck. Venturing further, Brooke wondered when Sam's bra had come off, because she certainly didn't remember it happening. Not that she minded, of course, but still.
Sam's bra and its mysterious disappearance moved themselves to the back burner as Brooke dragged her tongue against Sam's hardening nipple. Long fingers worked their way into blonde hair and the name "Brooke" was spoken with breathless desire. Taking this as encouragement, Brooke moved down along the side of Sam's torso, tasting her ribs and hips. Licking around the outside of Sam's belly button, Brooke grasped the waist of the brunette's tight jeans. She worked her fingers along the material for a moment, coming to a rest on the button. Smoothly, she popped it open.
"Brooke." She didn't think she would ever grow tired of hearing that. Reaching one hand around to the small of Sam's back, Brooke grasped the zipper in the fingers of her other hand.
"Brooke," Sam said again as her fly was slowly being unzipped. "Brooke, stop."
All of Brooke froze, except for her head, which shot up to look Sam in the face. "What?" she asked.
"I said stop. Or at least…" Sam paused, panting. She shimmied herself onto her elbows. "Or at least just slow down for a second."
Brooke sat up, suddenly feeling very embarrassed and very vulnerable and very naked. She started frantically looking around for her shirt, a pillow, anything to cover her bare breasts. "I'm sorry, Sam. I thought this was what you wanted."
Sam, noticing that Brooke seemed to be simultaneously floundering and turning progressively darker shades of red, reached her hand out to lightly grasp the blonde's hand. "Brooke, calm down. Please." She scooted closer and brought her other hand up to cup Brooke's cheek. This seemed to set the blonde at a bit of ease, as she stilled her movements and looked up into the other girl's eyes. "You have nothing to be sorry about. Things escalated kind of quick just then, and I thought we should maybe put the brakes on for a second."
Brooke turned her quickly blushing face away from Sam's, the brunette's hand falling away from her cheek. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to go so fast. I just thought this was what you wanted. I've really liked spending time with you these past couple of weeks and I didn't want to mess everything up."
"And you thought that this was necessary to avoid messing things up?" Sam's eyebrows came together, her face showing confusion and, making Brooke's breath hitch a bit, affection and caring.
"I had heard about this rule or whatever about the third date so I thought you might be expecting us to…" Brooke trailed off, her eyes dropping to look at anything but Sam.
So many thoughts crossed Sam's mind. On the one hand, for Brooke to think that she would need to have sex with her to keep her interested was absurd, and mildly hurtful. But on the other hand, seeing Brooke's shoulders slump and her arm come up to cover her breasts, she realized how the wrong reaction from her could be much more hurtful to this fragile girl.
"Brooke…" Sam started, gently. "I think you spend too much time worrying about what other people expect from you. You say that this is what you thought I wanted… is this what you wanted?"
Brooke looked back up at Sam, seeing her leaning back on her hands, making no attempt to cover herself. Not even as Brooke's eyes lingered on her flat stomach and small but amazing breasts. She felt a pang of jealousy. Not because of Sam's body, although, the brunette could really make anyone jealous in that department. Brooke realized, however, that Sam was right. She always had a nagging voice in the back of her brain that was constantly in fear of disapproval, and it seemed to her that Sam just never had to deal with that.
"I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about… being with you. I think about it a lot actually." Brooke paused and looked at the bedspread. "I guess I don't know what I want."
Sam sat up and looked around for a moment, before reaching down to the floor. She came back up and offered the item in her hand to the blonde. "Do you want to put your shirt back on?"
"Thanks," Brooke said as she took the shirt and slipped it on over her head.
Sam watched the blonde dress. Brooke let out a heavy breath after the article of clothing was covering her again, and it was as if Sam could see a weight being lifted off of the blonde's shoulders. "Do you want me to put my shirt back on?"
Brooke looked up at her. "It's up to you. Whatever you're comfortable with, Sam."
Sam leaned forward and slid her fingers around Brooke's wrist. Tugging gently, she lay on her back and drew Brooke down with her, wrapping the blonde's arm around her waist. They both seemed to let out the same breath as they settled into the bed and each other. "I'm comfortable with this," she whispered as she traced her fingertips up and down Brooke's arm, lightly rubbing small circles into her skin.
They lay like that for a while. Not moving or talking, just laying together. Finally, Sam broke the silence. "Brooke, I don't want you to think you need to act a certain way or do anything in particular to try to keep me around. I just want you to be yourself. And I would never want you to do anything that makes you uncomfortable or anything that you aren't certain you really want." Brooke shifted on top of Sam and looked up into her eyes, seeing nothing but sincerity.
"I've thought about having sex with you too," Sam continued. "And I really do want to. But I don't want us to do it because it's what we think we should be doing. I want it to just happen naturally. I think when the time is right, we'll both feel it. This didn't feel like it was the time. Not to me anyway."
Brooke dropped her eyes once again, staring Sam directly in the chin. "No. I guess it didn't feel quite right. I'm sorry, Sam. I guess I freaked out." She leaned up and kissed Sam softly on the lips. "Thanks for being amazing and understanding and stopping and thinking for the both of us."
"Well, someone has to do the thinking around here. Don't worry, baby, I'm looking out for you."
At hearing Sam call her "baby", Brooke wrapped her arms tighter around the brunette and snuggled in closer, feeling protected and cared for. She traced her fingers along Sam's stomach, feeling her muscles flex and twitch under her skin. She asked, "Is this ok?"
"Mmm," Sam hummed. She craned her neck a bit so that she could kiss the blonde on her hairline. "This is definitely ok. I'll tell you if it isn't. But thanks for asking."
"I want to thank you for something, actually." Brooke laid her hand flat against Sam's skin and rubbed it up and down, across her ribs, back towards her belly button.
"For what?" Sam asked softly.
Brooke took in a deep breath. "For being brave. For telling me how you felt about me that day. And more recently, for being calm when I freak out."
"You've been pretty brave too, you know." Sam brought her hand up to Brooke's face, tilting it so she could look her in the eye. "You decided to give us a chance. You kissed me first. You're more brave than you know, Brooke. I know you think you aren't sometimes, but you are."
"Sammy," Brooke whispered. She leaned up and kissed Sam. It wasn't rushed or desperate. It was soft and slow and caring and everything that both girls were feeling right in this moment. When they pulled apart, Brooke looked into Sam's eyes and felt her own sting with the threat of tears. Swallowing to keep them at bay, she said, "be my girlfriend."
It wasn't a question, and it wasn't a demand. It was a soft, simple request and it made Sam's heart jump in her chest. "I'd love to be your girlfriend, Brooke. Be my girlfriend back."
Brooke smiled and kissed her again. "Of course I will."
"See," Sam hugged her tighter, "you're totally the brave one."