Brooke kicked her shoes off in the doorway, very aware that this was the first time that Anna would ever have seen her in jeans. She wiped her palms on them now, a nervous habit.“Hello, Nicholas,” Brooke offered, accompanying the sentiment with a closed lipped smile. She wondered, suddenly, if Anna had told him about the confusion with the text messages.
Anna bounced back and forth on her sock clad feet, looking between the two of them.“My two favorite people in one room. And for movie night.” Anna was all but yelling.“Okay, I’m going to go get the popcorn. Nick, will you come grab all the drinks? Honey-B,” Anna grinned, the sheer joy in her eyes made Brooke’s heart soar,“really, your only job is to dig through our basket of couch blankets and pick one for us to share.”
Brooke had been expressly forbidden from doing anything in preparation for the evening. Sure, she had packed a small bag for an overnight stay, and sure she had thought to bring the toys they had purchased on their trip, but as far as movie night went, Anna had made it blatantly clear that she was to show up empty handed and to let herself be entertained. It had taken everything in Brooke and two phone calls with Chris before she determined that she really wasn’t supposed to take even a single bottle of wine.
Nick dutifully followed after Anna, though he did wink at Brooke before he did so. Brooke set her bag down in the entryway and padded through the first little arch into the living room. There was only one little lamp on, the rest of the room already dark for their evening plans.
Besides meeting Nick, Brooke had only been given a quick tour when she dropped Anna off. They had both been entirely certain that if Brooke stayed any longer that she’d end up spending the night, and while they fully planned on spending most nights together, Brooke was insistent that Anna be afforded the opportunity to overshare with her pseudo-brother. This was the first time she was really getting to take in Anna’s apartment.
Brooke could sense Anna’s tactile nature in every fiber of the living room. The worn, oversized leather couch, the thick knitted throw pillows, the fuzzy blanket thrown haphazardly across the arm of a side chair. Even the color scheme felt like Anna, deep blues and browns, all warm and welcoming. It felt like home. Brooke's heart skipped at the thought. The thought of a home with Anna one day, of a place this welcoming. A mesh of both of their tastes, Anna’s warmth and Brooke's books.
“Okay,” Anna said, breaking Brooke’s train of thought. “I’ve got normal popcorn, I’ve got the best popcorn—that’s popcorn with m&m’s in it, of course. And I have Nick’s weird popcorn life choices.”
“Hey, don’t be mad at me, I have impeccable taste,” Nice countered playfully. He was carrying, rather precariously, hot tea for Brooke, and what appeared to be two iced sodas.
“And what are your weird life choices?” Brooke asked as she moved towards the basket full of blankets. It was a rather overflowing basket. She chuckled as she waded through all her options.
Nick huffed out a laugh. “Well, Brooke. I just met you, so I’m not going to walk you through all of my weird life choices or we’d never have time to watch the movie. But to sum it up, men who are significantly older than me, and popcorn with Goldfish in it.”
Brooke let out a laugh at that. “As long as you’re self aware, I suppose.”
That got both Anna and Nick to laugh. “Told you she was hot and funny,” Anna beamed. She sat the popcorn bowls down on the coffee table and plopped down on the couch, watching Brooke sort through blankets.
“Darling, I love you and this is not at all an insult, but may I ask why you have so many couch blankets?”
Nick grabbed his bowl of popcorn and sat down in an arm chair, his eyes bouncing back and forth between Brooke and Anna, very clearly filled with delight.
“Because,” Anna began, “they all have different textures and different weights. Sometimes you want thick”—
—“That’s what she said,” Nick tossed in quickly.
Anna rolled her eyes and continued, “sometimes you want fuzzy.”
“I hope she didn’t say that,” Nick added while making a face.
“Sometimes you want one for just your legs,” Anna just ignored him.
Nick let out a hum that sounded something like:“Ehhhh.” And then followed with, “At least get it to your waist.”
Brooke couldn’t help but laugh at his antics. The two of them were so familiar with each other. She wished that she had met him before their trip. But then, if she hadn’t seen those texts, who knows how long it would have taken her to confess her feelings. They might still be tiptoeing around the fact that they were both already head over heels in love with each other.
“I suppose your logic is sound,” Brooke concluded, finally selecting a blanket that felt the best in her hands. She was pleased that it seemed big enough to share with Anna comfortably.
She sat down on the couch next to her girlfriend and covered them both up with the blanket she had selected.
“No funny business while I’m in the room, please,” Nick shot them both a look, but he had turned most of his attention to getting their movie started .
Anna had let Nick pick what movie they watched as a group because he was apparently already pouting a bit about the fact that he was about to lose Anna to the love of her life and that his role as best friend was going to be reduced to occasional movie nights. Anna had giggled the whole time she had told Brooke the story earlier that day, but Brooke’s heart hadn’t made it very far past how casually Anna had used the phrase ‘love of her life,’ even if she had been mimicking her overly dramatic best friend.
As a result, however, Brooke had no idea what they were watching. She knew immediately however as Cate Blanchett’s voice filled the room. “The Lord of the Rings?” She asked, though she absolutely knew that was what they were watching.The Fellowship of the Ring, to be exact.
“The director’s cut,” Nick said, excitedly.
Brooke nodded, pleased with the selection. Fantasy was her favorite after all.
Anna groaned softly next to her.
“What’s wrong, Darling?” Brooke asked, her attention turning to her girlfriend.
