Gabbi is my best friend. My best friend in the whole world! I’m always so happy to spend time with her, and we meet up several times a week to hang out even with our busy lives. We met in highschool, went to the same college, and now we have jobs in the same city. We used to live together, but Gabbi got a girlfriend and moved in with her. Sadly, they broke up six months later, and now Gabbi lives on her own.
       Even three months after the break-up, Gabbi has been dejected and lonely. Honestly, it breaks my heart to pieces seeing her like this. Which is why I’ve planned the best April Fools prank ever! I’m going to take her on a date, and show her just how wonderful she is. The best part is, it’ll be obvious that it’s a prank since I’m totally straight and she knows it.
       I asked her to clear her weekend ahead of time, and I’ve planned everything meticulously. Well, I left room for improvisation, since my plans have a way of backfiring spectacularly. But I won’t let my abysmal luck stat bring down this date! Which should be starting… Now!
       The time is 9:00AM, it’s a Friday, and both of us have the day off work. I shoot Gabbi a text letting her know I’m on my way, and I get in my beat up little Mazda.
       “You’re such a hard working car, aren’t you girl!” I coo, gently coaxing her out of the driveway. She’s an older car, and struggles to get moving. But once she’s been moving for a bit, everything is smooth as gold.
       I arrive at her apartment complex to see her waiting on the sidewalk. Rather than pull into the parking lot, I pull to the side and roll the window down.
       “Hop in loser, we’re going to the mall!” I grin, and am rewarded with a smile. I love it when she smiles.
       “Hey dork, good to see you too. Are we really going to the mall?” She asks, settling into the passenger seat.
       I let myself get distracted by her outfit for a moment before responding. She’s wearing a loose pleated pink skirt that goes to just below the knees, and a light green blouse. Her brunette hair is cute just below her ears, and it poofs out just a little bit. Her hazel eyes are framed by a pair of round glasses.
       In a word, she is absolutely adorable and I wish I was gay. Still, her question demands a response, and I am not one to disappoint. “Yeah, that’s our first stop. I figure we can do a little clothes shopping and get lunch at the food court. There is some flexible time after that, but at three I was going to take you to see that new movie you’ve had your eye on. Love in a Liminal Spaces, I think it was called?”
       She chuckles at my enthusiastic response. “That sounds lovely actually. Gosh, you’ve put a lot of thought into this.”
       I swell slightly with the praise. I have put a lot of thought into this! “Of course! You’re my best friend in the whole world, and I won’t see you being sad. Nope, going to do everything in my power to make today a good day!” Oh, I think I just gave away the prank in my enthusiasm. Shit, when she looks at me I feel like all my devious bones just melt and I start babbling. It’s a critical weakness, but I think the day is still salvageable.
       Gabbi giggles in response. “Aww, thanks April. Okay, I’ll let you drag me around today. It’s been a while since we did something this involved anyway.” The part unsaid is that we haven’t done anything like this since her.
       Gabbi’s ex was very threatened by our friendship for some reason. Didn’t matter that I was straight, the amount of time we spent together was greatly diminished while they were dating. Especially after Gabbi moved out.
       I’d never tell her, but I hated it when she was dating that woman. I got depressed, had trouble eating, and actually cried a few times when we couldn’t hang out. It was a difficult time, and I’m slightly ashamed to admit that I was happy when they broke up.
       The rest of the drive is spent swapping quips and chatting about nothing. That’s my favorite part about spending time with her. The way I can just be myself. Completely unreserved and chaotic. The way she laughs at my terrible jokes, the way I sputter indignantly when she compliments me. All of it makes me feel happy and safe. Gods, I really do love this woman. If I wasn’t straight, I’d date her in a heartbeat.
       “Alright, mall time! Anything you want before we start window shopping?” I leap out of the car, running around to open her door for her before she untangles her purse from the seatbelt.
       “Oh, thank you my lady.” Gabbi gives an exaggerated curtsy as she steps out of the car, which I meet with an equally exaggerated bow.
       “Of course, anything for you my lady.” I grin as I speak. I can’t possibly hide my joy at watching her blush at my compliments. Maybe I didn’t give the prank away after all.
       She clears her throat, shaking her head a bit to clear her thoughts. “Well, I think I might need a new bra. It’s been a bit since I last went shopping for one, and I think I’ve lost some weight lately.”
       The way she puts her finger on her chin while she thinks is just. Perfect. “Alright, step one is the bra shop!” I exclaim, standing beside her and holding my arm out. She stares at it for a moment, before blushing and giggling.
       “Oh, you’re being such a gentlewoman today.” She clutches onto my arm with her own, and lets me lead her into the mall.
       Being a Friday morning, the mall is very empty and very slow. A few people glance at us but none of their gazes linger. I can’t help but glance at us myself when we pass by the large mirror, and I’m honestly quite satisfied by what I see. Gabbi is her usual adorable self, and I’m not looking bad either.
       I wore my denim jacket today, and put my long brown hair in a ponytail, although a few rebellious strands have already broken free. Like me, my hair refuses to submit to conformity. I’m also wearing a pair of worn jeans, and a big pair of stomping boots. I love my stomping boots, as there is no better way to chase off annoying men trying to flirt with me. Honestly, as if I had time for that.
       Now, back to admiring my best friend as she rambles on about her sewing. Yeah, she sews. It’s adorable. She’s actually added a few patches to my jacket for me, and I still find myself idly tracing around them when I don’t have any other way to occupy my hands.
       “And here we are! The one stop bra shop!” I announce, gesturing with a flourish. I’m rewarded with a smile and a muttered “dork” before we begin perusing the wares of this fine establishment. I glance over the offerings as we pass, but none of them stick out to me. I don’t have the most bountiful of bosoms, so I tend to just wear sports bras, or on particularly lazy days just a tank top.
       Today was not a lazy day, and I picked out my nicest sports bra, and a matching pair of panties. Not that she’s going to see them, but it makes me feel more confident to be this put together.
       “Hmm, so many choices. What do you think of this one April?” Gabbi snaps me out of my very important straight person thoughts to show me a bra. It’s light pink, and the edges are covered in small white frills. My mind instantly conjures up an image of her wearing that bra (with matching panties of course), and if this was an anime my nose would have instantly bled.
       As it was, I’m fairly certain my face just went completely scarlet. I throw two pairs of thumbs up as I respond. “That is a very cute bra, and I think it is completely you!”
       She beams at me, flushing pink as she scurries into the changing room. Have I mentioned how adorable she is? I don’t think I’ve made that clear yet. Gabbi is easily the cutest person I have ever seen, and any girl would be lucky to have her.
       I wait patiently, spending my time imagining how she’d look in various bra/panty combos. The answer is always “cute and lovable”, but that’s hardly surprising given her default state of being.
       “Hey, can you get the employee for me? I have a question for her.” Gabbi asks, sticking her head out of the changing room. I studiously ignore the fact that I can see her scandalously bare shoulder poking out from around the door, and do as she asks. I also decide that I’m far too stimulated right now, and step outside for a moment to breathe.
       It’s not long before she comes back with a small bag, and a smile on her face. “Alright, where to next?”
       Drat, I was distracted and forgot to pay for her stuff. I’ll have to remember for next time. “Uhh, I figured window shopping? We can swing by the craft store as well.” I list off a few random places, and her eyes light up when I mention the craft store.
       Before I can even properly react, she grabbed my hand and started pulling me towards the aptly named “Needles and more”. I only realize my mistake about 40 minutes into listening to her babble about needle sizes, different types of threads, and the importance of having sharp scissors. At least, I think that’s what she’s been talking about. Every time she starts getting into technical stuff I don’t understand, I just focus on her smile and the mole on her cheek that moves as she smiles. Every 15 minutes I’ll have the realization that I’m stuck, but then she’ll turn around with that smile and I forget everything until another 15 minutes passes.
       Eventually I steer her to the register, and start tallying up her selections. “Gabbi, I’m getting this for you. I dragged you out here, and I want to spend this money on you okay?” She pouts at me as I insist on paying, but I have a secret weapon I haven’t used yet. I wasn’t expecting to pull out the big guns this early, but if anything she escalated first by pouting.
       I put my hand on her head, emphasizing the highest difference between us, and ruffle her hair a bit. I can actually see her mind short circuiting as I look into her eyes, and I turn around to pay for the crafting supplies before she has a chance to recover.
       “Gods, you two are so sweet together.” The guy behind the counter says, hand over his heart. “How long have you been dating?.”
       I’m about to protest that we’re not actually dating, when Gabbi gets her revenge by leaning her head against my arm, while simultaneously wrapping her arms around me, mumbling “no fair”. This naturally causes a short circuit in my own brain, and I spend the rest of the transaction staring at her.
       It’s only after we walk away that I realize it’s a good thing my brain died, as otherwise I would have completely ruined the prank. Yeah, definitely.
       “Let’s stop for lunch. I think I need to sit down for a bit.” I say, trying to ignore the fact that one of my arms has been completely taken by Gabbi. She’s been clutching me close since the craft store, and I’m worried that I broke her or something.
       “That sounds good. Can we get Chinese?” She peers up at me, and I think we both lose ourselves for a moment looking into the other’s eyes. I do manage a strangled affirmative eventually, and we awkwardly settle in for lunch together.
       After avoiding her gaze for the entire meal, and conversations all dying off after a few sentences, I manage to slip away to the bathroom to recoup. Things are not going according to plan. Or maybe they are? It’s really hard to tell, since I’ve forgotten at least half of the plan. I completely underestimated how completely adorable she is, and how prolonged exposure to her causes me to shut down completely. In the past I had developed a resistance to her natural charms, but it appears that those resistances have completely eroded in the time she was dating her.
       I take a few deep breaths, staring at myself in the mirror. “Alright April, game face. You can do this. It’s just a date. A date with your best friend. A date with the cutest person ever.” A platonic date of course. Which is the prank. Why was this a prank again? I feel like I’ve completely lost track of what I was doing today. Let’s see: Pick her up, go to the mall, bra shopping, craft store, lunch, later a movie, and after dinner in the park. Okay, that sounds like a date.
       But wait, why did I plan a date if I’m straight? I was cheering her up, that’s what I was doing. We’re friends, and friends do these sorts of things all the time. Yeah, alright makes sense. In that case, I’ve just gotta make extra sure the rest of our outing is wonderful. I’m sure I’ll remember which part was supposed to be the prank when I get there. I nod at myself in the mirror as I do some stretches. “Alright, showtime.”

       Another couple hours of window shopping and chatting happens, and I manage to hold myself together this time. Mostly. There are a few times when my brain goes completely empty. Like the time I decided to show off with a crane game and won her a stuffed lion. Honestly, she’s clutching to close like something precious, and it easily multiplies her natural cuteness to a dangerous degree. I can almost feel the hetrosexuality leaving my body.
       Existential crisis aside, we make our way to the movie theater with barely minutes to spare. We get a bag of popcorn and a drink to share, and settle into the mostly empty theater. Apparently this movie isn’t very popular, or maybe it’s just at the end of its theater run? Not sure.
       Love in Liminal Spaces is a romance film about two best friends who explore their love in unconventional ways. Both of them are asexual, and neither conform to gender norms. I find myself completely entranced by all the small ways they show each other love, and all the strange situations they find themselves in. At some point during a particularly stressful scene, I unconsciously reached out and grabbed Gabbi’s hand. I didn’t realize this until the movie was over, and our fingers had been completely entangled.
       Neither of us could make eye contact with the other, but we didn’t let go either. Honestly, her hand is warm and soft and if I could hold it forever I probably would.
       “That was a really good movie, I can see why you were so excited for it!” I exclaim, once we’re out of the theater.
       “Yeah, it’s a super feel good arthouse film!” She swings her arm, taking mine with it as our hands have yet to un-entwine.
       “I’m glad you had a good time.” I smile down at her, which, to my intense satisfaction, causes another blush.
       “I… I think I’ve really needed something like this. Thanks.” She says, avoiding my eyes. Honestly, she’s probably the cutest person in the world.
       “Anything for you. How are you feeling by the way? Up for some walking? We can go to the park, I think they have some live performances going on today.” Actually, I know they have some live performances. I studied this date intensively from all angles, although I can’t remember my original goal. Every time I look at her I forget everything else. I probably did it to spend as much time as possible with her actually. That makes sense.
       “That sounds lovely.” She smiles, giving my hand a squeeze. I thought I felt my heart get squeezed as well, but no matter, the show must go on.
       I drive us down to the park near my apartment, parking in my usual space since it’s only a short walk. We spend the whole way over singing duets to a playlist she made, and honestly I wish I had thought to make a playlist for her. Maybe next time… oh, a next time. I would love there to be a next time.
       I again move to open the car door for her, and she is much more prepared this time. She steps out, latching onto my arm right away. I give her a smile as my heart once again leaps right up to my throat, and we begin to stroll down to the part. Unlike earlier today, when neither of us could stop chatting, our walk is silent and comfortable.
       We make our way into the park, finding an empty stretch of grass to sit down on while a local band plays covers of popular songs. I sit down first, and she settles in as close as she can to me. I put my arm around her shoulder, basking in her comforting presence. Hours slip away like this, just quietly holding each other and watching band after band play.
       It’s just around sunset when she turns to me and speaks. “Hey… thanks. Today has been the best day I’ve had in years.” Her expression is completely unguarded, and I give a nervous gulp. Her expression looks… gay. Oh. I’ve seen her look like this before, and it was during those first couple weeks dating her.
      She looks up at me, a few strands of hair getting in her face. “You mean a lot to me. I’m sorry I pushed you away before, I really shouldn’t have. I just… Couldn’t fall for a straight girl.” She says, averting her gaze.
      My mind slows as I process the words coming out of her mouth. She’s falling for me. Or has already fallen for me. I’m straight… right? I think about dating her. Spending all my time with her. Doing silly little games and gestures for her. Waking up next to her. Coming home from work to see her. Having her sew little pride flags on my jacket.
       “Oh.” I breathe out softly. I can see the beginning of tears starting to form at the corners of her eyes, and the sight of that causes my heart to shatter completely. I love her so very dearly, why did I not see this? I brush a strand of hair from her face, and in doing so tilt her head up slightly.
       “I wanted to do something nice for you on April Fools day, but it was I, April, who was the fool all along.” I say with a smile. I am the fool. I’ve been in love with her for years, and never noticed.
       “What-” She starts to say, her face bright pink with blush. I lean in and kiss her, acting completely on instinct. Her lips are soft, softer than I ever imagined, and I have imagined many times what her lips would feel like. I keep it chaste, but once I pull back she gasps for air, acting like we just made out for minutes or longer.
       “April Fools. Turns out I’m not straight after all.” I say with a smile, feeling the crimson heat of blush across my entire face.
       “You dork.” Gabbi laughs, tears escaping from her eyes as she does so. I laugh as well, before she interrupts me with a kiss of her own. It’s somehow better the second time, and I find myself hoping for a third to compare against. My wishes are granted, and soon a fourth follows.
       By the time we separate, I’ve ended up on my back and have completely lost track of how many times we kissed. “How many times did we kiss?” I ask, desperately trying to separate one from another.
       “What do you mean?” She giggles, her breath tickling my lips.
       “I’m trying to keep track. Each has been better than the last, and I want to remember all of them.” I respond, bringing one of my hands behind her head.
        She blushes fiercely, averting her gaze in embarrassment. “You’re right.”
        I blink. “What?”
       “I said you’re right. There is no way you’re straight.” She declares with complete confidence, staring me directly in the eyes.
       “Hmm, I’m still not sure actually.” I say, pulling her in for another kiss, which feels like a blast of fireworks in my mind. We pull apart, and I can see it affected her as much as it affected me. “Nope, not straight at all. Very gay.”
       This causes her to giggle even more, before resting her head on my shoulder. “It’s getting pretty late.” She says, and I notice that the sun has completely set at this point.
       “Yeah it has. Wanna come over to my place? We can uh…” I trail off, having not thought this far ahead in my plan. Hmm, I know I said I was meticulous, but I am beginning to think I lost the thread of the plan somewhere.
       “I’d love to.” She says, somehow blushing even more fiercely than before, although I’m not entirely sure why.
       Our walk back is slow and meandering, in part because she insisted on staying as close to me as physically possible without tripping over my boots. After fumbling the keys, we get in my apartment and I end up scurrying around doing some last minute cleaning while she looks on in amusement. After I’m satisfied with the state of the living area, I set some water on the coffee table and we sit down on the couch together.
       Things are awkward for a moment, until she scoots in close to me, putting an arm around my waist. I put an arm around her shoulder, look down into her eyes, and suddenly we’re kissing again. Something is different this time. Her kisses are more… hungry. Passionate. Seeking. I can’t help but match her enthusiasm, and I find myself getting hot and flustered.
       Her hands snake under my shirt, and I give a shudder of pleasure as I realize what is happening. “Oh, right. That’s the thing we can do at my apartment.” I say, causing her to laugh from her position on my lap. How did she get on my lap? Honestly at this point that’s the least of my worries.
       “You’re such a dork. I guess I should make it explicitly clear what I want to do, right?” She asks, a mischievous glint in her eyes. I’m about to ask what she means by that, when the words shrivel and die in my throat. Gabbi reaches down, pulling off her shirt in one fluid motion. Well, it was a bit more awkward than that, as her left arm got stuck and her glasses were wildly askew when she finally got it off, but the effect on me was the same either way. Which is to say, any shred of hetrosexuality I thought I had is completely shattered. Gone. Poof.
       She is wearing the bra from earlier, and it turns out my imaginations from earlier today did not do it justice. The image before me is easily the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life.
       “Do you like what you see?” She asks, hesitant and shy. I dispel any worries she might have with my response. I kiss her, and keep kissing her, and at some point my shirt comes off, and I think she’s taking me to the bedroom now. Gods, how did I ever think I was straight?

*****

       It’s been a month since we started dating. It’s been everything I ever dreamed of and more. Scarcely a day has passed without us sharing a bed, and I’ve completely lost track of where my clothes are at any given time. Not that I spend all my time naked, just that our wardrobes have been spread across two apartments and at this point I’m afraid to try and separate them.
       “Hey, April?” Comes a sleepy voice from the blankets next to me.
       “Yes love?” I roll over, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her into a snuggle.
       A small squeak followed by a content sigh are the next noises she makes, before finally mustering the energy to respond. “My lease is up at the end of the month. I don't think I want to renew it.”
       “Mmh, that makes sense.” I say, running my fingers through her hair as she speaks. “What are you going to do instead?”
       “Well, I met this really cute girl, and I think I’m just going to live with her.” She says playfully.
       “Oh? Well, sounds like one lucky girl. You’ll have to introduce me sometime.” I tease back, kissing her on the neck.
       She squirms a bit until she’s turned around and facing me. “If that’s okay?” Her voice is a little hesitant, and more than a bit worried.
       “More than okay. If you weren’t going to move in with me, I’d probably move in with you instead.” I smile, kissing her cheek right on her adorable mole.
       “April, you’re such a dork!” She giggles. Fending off my onslaught of kisses with kisses of her own.
       “I am, but you love that about me.” I grin at her even as I push away the covers and crawl on top of her.
       She looks up at me, adoration and longing in her eyes. “Yeah, I do. I love you.”
       “I love you too.”

SilviaNorton

I hope you enjoyed the story! It's only my second completed work, but I have a lot of other things I'm working on. This was just a spur of the moment idea that I wrote down because I wanted to write, and this was the only thing on my mind. Also, I'm kinda sorta trying to figure out the best way to format my stories, so any feedback or suggestions are welcome and appreciated.