Borrowed Time

Chapter 174

Penny Elmwood being sick was possibly the most stressful thing for all of her friends, that was what Juliette had gathered from the frantic texts and calls between the group coordinating who could go over and check on her.

It ended up being her and Esme after cheer practice, which she was cool with, it'd be nice to see Penny's place, she'd never been over... Plus, Franstend was nice, she appreciated being there, holding Esme's hand, watching them go about what they needed to do until they came to a stop at a door.

Hello?

"This is it." Juliette looked at the small door, and then the store next to it... Right. Elmwood and Sons... Penny's dad's store.

"I always forget that Penny's parents own a store... I guess I just always think about Wendy setting your nose and shit and I assume that she's a nurse." Juliette said, which she felt was an underrepresentation of everything that Penny's mother had accomplished - she couldn't imagine going to war, let alone being a medic during it.

Esme shrugged at her, knocking on the door as they rocked back on their heels.

"Well, she is, she just also helps out at the store when she can." They were nervous, she could tell... But why... "Penny never gets sick, so fair warning that she's probably acting like a giant fucking baby about it." They explained, pulling a chuckle from Juliette. That was possibly the most hypocritical thing she'd ever heard in the entire world considering it seemed like the world was ending whenever Esme was sick.

"Okay, that is so rich coming from you... I thought you were going to take to the goddamn sea when you were sick earlier in the year." She reminded them, watching as Esme rolled their eyes, giving her a look.

You can't deny that I'm right.

"Who the fuck says, 'take to the sea?" Esme sighed, shaking their head as they did, a smile playing on their lips. Juliette leaned up, pressing a kiss to their jaw - the answer to their question was very obvious, but she was going to still let them ask it even though it was achingly rhetorical.

"Me. Right now." She pressed another kiss to their skin before getting off her toes. "Keep up, beautiful." Esme scoffed, shaking their head in a faux-offended manner as they looked at her... They were never very good at hiding the love they had for her, it showed through even when they tried to be angry.

"Okay, all I'm saying is that Penny is a thousand times more dramatic than me, but if her mom let her stay home today that means that she must be horribly ill because Wendy never lets her do that." They lifted the brown paper bag holding the container of soup that they'd had to walk around half the town for. "That's why we're bringing soup." Right, I know.

"Well, I gathered that."

"You are in a mood today, good God." They said, sounding more amused than anything else, which was what Juliette was hoping for - she was pretty sure she'd cry if Esme was mad at her.

"You love me." Juliette said, and Esme nodded, leaning in to press a soft kiss to her lips, making her sigh against them, any weird overstimulation feelings melting away... She was ready to enter a new place now. She was ready to take on an entire army if she had to - which hopefully she wouldn't, but who knew, right?

"Oh, I do. Very dearly. That does not erase the fact that you're in a mood." She shrugged... That wasn't any different from any other day, as it?

"I'm always in a mood." For a moment, neither of them talked, and then Esme lightly squeezed her hand.

Damn.  False sense of security.

"Is this because you've got a rehearsal tomorrow?" Esme asked, which Juliette thought was a very crazy thing to do - not asking the question, that was normal, but somehow getting the answer to said question on the first try - how did they even manage that?