Comfy Closets - Chapter 6: Chapter 6

After practice, I was exhausted from all the running and strain my muscles had to endure, not to mention the ache on my side that was still there from the fall. Glad that it was Friday, I trudged to my car, ready to have a nice warm bath and Netflix as company for tonight. I just wanted to erase the thoughts of Leah and Olivia, but they were quite stubborn, lingering like an annoying bee buzzing around your head.
Just then I got a phone call, recognising the familiar Bob Marley ringtone that Gia set for herself. She said I needed it to be able to handle all the excitement and energy she'd be bringing into our convos.
Proving herself right, she came out with a boatload of energy as I answered the phone. "ALY! YO ALY! WE NEED A GIRLS NIGHT, STAT!"
I distanced my phone from my ear for a second, having already expected the loud enthusiasm that was always guaranteed. I sighed into the phone as I got in my car. "Do we really have to tonight? I'm so tired, I really just want Netflix and my bed."
She gasped dramatically into the phone in mock horror. "You don't want to spend time with me? I am hurt, Alyssa Woods. HURT! My heart is melting with the lack of your presence, Al!"
"G, my body is so tired from training..." I whined helplessly.
A pause was heard through the phone before she tried to convince me further. "I have Netflix already up and loaded, three tubes of ice cream in the freezer and a good ass massage waiting for you here. Now are you coming, or will I have to eat all this by myself?"
There was no question on my mind now. "Yep! On my way," I immediately answered and hung up. She knew she could get me with ice cream. My one true love. And just like that, all thoughts of Olivia and Leah had vanished from my mind, albeit only for a couple minutes.
I quickly drove back home and packed the essentials, told my parents about my plans, and headed straight back out the door with a duffle in hand and my mindset on the dairy goodness that was going to end up in my tummy.
I got to Gia's place in no time as she was only a ten-minute drive away from my house. As I was knocking on her door, she came to open it in seconds and went to give me a hug, but stopped herself when she smelt the sweaty scent that I was sure was coming off me like tsunami waves.
She wrinkled her nose as she let me in. "Eck, you need a shower, like now. You can use mine. And be faster, I wanna open the tubs. Now, hyaaa!" she said, hitting my ass to hurry me up the stairs.
As I was walking towards it, I heard cooking going on in the kitchen, and so poked my head in to say a quick hello. "Hey, Mr and Mrs Finnegan! Thanks for letting me stay over!" I exclaimed before Gia started pushing me up the stairs, hearing two yelled hellos' in return as I walked further up.
I got my clothes from the duffle and took a good warm shower, staying in there for maybe too long. I dried myself and put my jammies on, got out of the bathroom and excitedly walked to Gia's room for the sweets waiting for me.
As I walked in, drying my hair with the towel, Gia was lying on her stomach on the queen-sized bed, scrolling through what looked like Netflix. She spotted me as I walked in and got up to sit cross-legged on the bed, looking my body over. "Are you still feeling sore from training? I can help loosen your muscles a bit."
Grateful, I walked over to her bed and face-planted into the soft blankets, sighing in relief as I felt like the bed was enclosing around me, embracing me in all its warm softness. "Yes, please," I tried to say, but the blankets had muffled whatever I said, making it sound more like 'mpfff pmemf'.
She got the message though and went to work on massaging my back, starting with my shoulders. She was really good at this stuff, and I took advantage of that fact whenever she let me. "So, we haven't really talked much in the past few days. What's been up with you?"
I realised then that she was right. I haven't had a real conversation with her for a bit and haven't even told her anything about what happened with Leah at school or at the coffee place. To be fair though, I felt like I needed time to process it before telling her or Ashton, but now that I have, I guess why not tell her?
The thoughts about Leah knowing have been bothering me for a while, and with what happened at soccer practise today with Olivia, I felt like I needed to let it all out and tell someone before I stressed myself even more.
I propped myself up on my elbows so I could talk, with her continuing to massage past my back and down to my calves. "Umm, yeah, I have to tell you something."
She paused her rubbing hands to look at me, concern written all over her face. "What happened, Al? Did something happen?"
I told her then all about the incident at the coffee shop, of how embarrassed I was and how I got the jacket from Leah. Leading to me mentioning how I returned it the next day and the flirting that she did that eventually made me conclude that she knew I was gay. The whole time, Gia listened intently while massaging my legs, and laughed when I talked about the embarrassment I had to go through at my workplace.
As I finished my story, she finished up the rubbing and lied down next to me, facing the ceiling and letting a moment of silence pass. I let the silence continue, knowing she was thinking about what to say after I spewed out all my worries and thoughts. Instead, I rested my head in the crook of my elbow, gazing at her as I waited for her answer.
Finally, she turned her head to the right to look at me. "I know you're worried about her outing you, and I understand that you're scared of what may happen, but I don't think she's the type of person to do that. She seems genuinely nice when I talk to her," she commented, her tone reassuring. "But, I don't know her views on that subject, so I can't say for sure what she would do."
I turned my head away from her, facing the headboard and trying to work through my thoughts about what she said, but she wasn't finished. "However, from what I gathered, with what you said about her reaction yesterday, I don't think she would do that to you."
Looking back her way, I gave her a puzzled look. "Why would you think that? What makes you so sure?"
She gazed back at me with knowing eyes and a smile as she stated. "Well, she likes you."
I paused, looking at her in disbelief for a second before I started laughing my ass off. "Y-you really th-think that the Leah Bennett is into m-me? Oh my god, that's too funny," I wheezed out as I continued to laugh until my stomach was clenching.
Gia wasn't laughing though. She was staring at my laughing form with a serious expression. She waited until I was done laughing at her comment before continuing. "Why is it so hard to believe? You're a beautiful girl, the most awesome person I know and a great ass friend. Who wouldn't want to be with you?"
I scanned her face to see if she was actually serious, and she was. I took in a deep breath and sat up, her following my actions so we were eye level. "I don't know, I just think she's way out of my league. I mean, the whole school adores her. And she seems straight, always dating guys only. I just thought I'd never stand a chance," I muttered towards the end, looking down at my fingers that were tracing the blankets' pattern.
I felt her fingers lift my eyes to meet her comforting ones, as if trying to reassure me that it was okay to feel like this. "I understand, I get it. Hell, you know how many times I've liked a guy that was way out of my league. I wish I could be with those guys, but they seem to always have girlfriends, dang it," she rolled her eyes, making me chuckle a little bit. "But, you know, this is different. You could always take a chance on it, see where it goes?"
I looked back down and fiddled with the blanket, nodding my head. "Yeah, I guess. We'll see where she takes it."
She turned back to her computer to scroll through again. "I'm just going to put this out there. If she ever does out you or hurt you in any way, I will personally b*tch slap her so hard, she wouldn't be able to get off the floor for a week."
I laughed at her comment, not quite sure if she would really do it if that ever happened. Well, she is my bestie, and Gia being Gia, I'd say most probably.
She suddenly popped up off her seat, as if she just remembered something. "I forgot the ice cream!" she yelled as she ran out the door.
Impatiently, I sat on the edge of her bed waiting, until she came back with two tubs of cookies and cream ice cream. My favourite. Handing me a spoon and a tub, we both dug in and moaned at the taste that melted on our tongues. "So good."
"I know right," I sighed, looking at the dairy goodness with so much love.
"Okay, now let's get this marathon started!"
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After six episodes of Gossip Girl, dinner with her family and three tubs of ice cream later, I was stuffed and ready to head to bed.
Gia switched off the lights as I got under the covers, cosying up into her blankets and hugged an extra pillow to myself. She came and joined me, turning to face the other side and called out a small goodnight.
I lied on my back facing the ceiling as I said my goodnight. Closing my eyes, I tried to drift off to sleep, but my mind wouldn't let me. The thoughts of what happened today with Liv still bothered me to an uncomfortable level. I thought I could handle not talking about it, but I felt like I needed to release it in order to let sleep take me.
Hoping Gia hadn't fallen asleep yet, I spoke out loud into the quiet room. "G? You awake?"
I heard a soft hum and heard her whisper back. "Yeah, I'm awake. What is it, hun?"
"Can I talk about something?"
In the light of the dim moonlight, I saw her turn her body around to face me, looking at me with curiosity. "Of course, anything. What's up?"
I turned my own body, facing her and settling into my pillow as I told my story. "Today, at soccer practise, there was a tumble that I was involved in with Olivia. You know, Olivia Farrow, my midfielder?" I saw her give a small nod in recognition, so I continued. "Well, we tumbled, and she ended up landing on top of me. We were lying there, catching our breaths for a while. She was so close to me, Gia, like right there in front of my eyes and I couldn't look away. I even had my hands on her hips and everything, and I didn't even notice at first. It was automatic."
I paused for a second, and so she chose that moment to talk. "What's the problem? Sounds like you like her..." she replied, unsure.
I shook my head as I continued, focusing on my fingers that were playing with the pillow's edge. "No, I don't think so. But the problem is that I think I crossed a line by holding her like that. It felt so intimate, and because she doesn't know about me being gay, I felt like I unintentionally took advantage of the fact that she didn't know. I know it's not really making much sense, but for some reason it's bothering me so much. And I think this is more of a problem because I'm not out. Like what if she knew about me, she wouldn't be willing to stay like that with me. But at least she would have that knowledge about me to act accordingly," I said, feeling myself getting upset the more I talked.
Putting a hand out to stop my fiddling one and drawing my focus back to her instead, Gia looked at me like she understood what I was getting at and gazed at me with sympathetic eyes. "But you can't tell her because you're not ready," she stated, saying what was on my mind.
I brought my focus back down to the sheets, knowing she was correct. "I don't know what to do. There's always a problem popping up that could be solved if I just came out, but I just can't do it. Not yet."
She knew I was referring to another problem from before, but she didn't mention it further, knowing it would only hurt me with the reminder.
She brought her hand out again to hold my own, physically reassuring me of her presence and support as she looked me in the eye. "When you come out, that is for you to decide. No other person should ever force you to when you don't think the time is right. It's your truth that you have the right to choose when to reveal. And so, don't let anyone or any incident pressure you into doing it, babe. When you came out to Ash and I, that was your decision and we love and respect you for making it and telling us. But when telling others, that is still your choice, and Ash and I respect you to not tell anyone until you're ready."
"With the thing with Olivia, you weren't intentionally trying to feel her up or anything. It was just closer than what you expected with a friend. And I know you. You wouldn't take advantage of a person like that, not in a million years. So yes, she doesn't know you're a lesbian, but you are a person who respects her boundaries. That has nothing to do with your sexuality. I know it gets confusing when it's applied to LGBT, but it's still the same in a sense. And you, my bestie, are the most trustworthy person I know. Don't let this stop you from taking your time."
I teared up as she said those touching words, my heart warm as I leapt forward to hug her with all I've got. "Thank you bub, for understanding me. You're the best." I said, getting a little choked up from the tears I tried to hold back.
She hugged me back just as fiercely as she chuckled a bit from the force of it all. "No problem, bub. Always here for you."
I retracted from the hug to wipe the tears that had fallen out, a relieved smile on my face. "Sorry about that, that just went really deep for a sec."
She grinned at me in humour. "Al, it doesn't count as a sleepover without a deep talk or two."