Chapter Text
Jess sat at her desk at Fox and sighed. She really needed a new job and without Kayla there anymore to keep her company, the job seemed even more depressing. They had been dating for a year after Kayla had left, but Jess still found no success in finding a new job.
Jess opened her drawer and smiled at the photo of Kayla that she kept in there. Looking at her girlfriend always helped calm her down when she was feeling bad at work. She quickly shut the drawer when she heard someone walk up behind her. She looked around. False alarm, it was just Rob from the next cubicle over walking past to get his lunch. She took a deep breath and slightly shook her head, getting out her own lunch, which was leftover chicken from the night before.
A text from Kayla made her phone buzz.
Hey babe, how’s your day going?
Jess happily picked her phone up.
Hey Kayla, I just started eating the lunch you packed me :)
Kayla sent a picture of her lunch with Same .
Jess sent back a thumbs up emoji. Then she opened her Candy Crush app to play while she waited for Kayla to text her back. It was a challenging level and she kept trying to beat it until her alarm on her fitbit went off, reminding her to go back to work.
She didn’t see Kayla had texted her right back until she turned her phone back on to check the subway times at the end of the workday.
Do you have a second to talk about something?
“Shit,” Jess mumbled under her breath. She hit the call button and continued to tidy up her workspace while she waited for Kayla to answer the phone.
At the last second to answer, Kayla’s voice came through the phone. “Hey.”
Jess sighed in relief when Kayla answered. “Hey, I just got your text. What’s up?”
Jess could practically hear Kayla shake her head. “Oh, it’s nothing.”
“You sure?” Jess asked, “It seemed important in your text.”
“No, it’s fine. I overreacted, but it’s all good. Do you want me to pick up dinner on the way home? I’m leaving now,” said Kayla, quickly changing the subject.
“That’d be good,” Jess smiled, then she said under her breath, in case someone heard, “did you want to spend the night again?”
Kayla grinned, “Maybe, but I’ll have to pick some stuff up for work from my apartment in the morning.”
Jess signed off for the day and got in the lift to go down to the ground level, “Sure, are you driving? Maybe we can have breakfast out somewhere on the way to work?”
Kayla grimaced, “Ah, I was thinking I’d take a taxi.”
Jess frowned, “That’s expensive babe, I thought that’s why you kept your car.”
Kayla paused for a long while, “Hey um, I need to go, someone just called for me. See you tonight.” She hung up.
Jess was concerned by the abrupt ending to the call. She quickly texted Kayla.
You o.k?
The elevator dinged to announce its arrival at the ground floor. Jess got out and began her short walk to the subway station. Kayla had seemed stressed on the phone and Jess wanted to do something nice for her girlfriend after a long day. She stopped at the liquor shop and purchased a bottle of wine for the two of them to share at dinner. When the alcohol was bought, she made her way home to meet Kayla. She let herself in the door and changed out of her work clothes before Kayla arrived.
Kayla knocked on the door but then realised it was unlocked. Jess came out in her track pants and tank top and whistled appreciatively at Kayla’s dress. Kayla blushed a little and then greeted her girlfriend with a kiss. Kayla pouted when Jess ended the kiss. Jess took the brown paper bag from her girlfriend’s hand.
“Are you okay? You never answered my text,” said Jess as she looked inside the bag to see what food Kayla had chosen for them.
Kayla pulled her phone out of her handbag and checked it, “Oh I didn’t see. Yeah, I’m fine.”
Jess gave Kayla a look before returning her attention back to the sushi that was inside the bag. She figured that Kayla knew what she was doing and if she needed help, she would ask Jess.
“I got us some wine to share.” Jess smiled.
Kayla’s eyes lit up at the surprise. “You did?”
Jess lifted up the bottle to prove it. Kayla beamed.
Jess pulled the sushi out of the bag and dished it up onto plates for them to share. She placed them on the table and then poured the wine into glasses. She handed Kayla her glass with a kiss before she sat down and waited for Kayla to do the same.
“How was your day?” Kayla asked, taking a sip of her wine.
“It was good. I got a nice compliment on the shirt you gave me,” said Jess.
Kayla smiled, “I knew it would suit you.”
Jess blushed.
“But I notice you’re not wearing it now,” pouted Kayla.
Jess threw a piece of sushi at her, “I showered, I wasn’t going to put it back on.”
Kayla batted the sushi away before it hit her dress, they both watched it roll onto the floor.
“That was expensive,” said Kayla.
Jess rolled her eyes, “It was not.”
Kayla shrugged, “Still, don’t waste food.”
“Learn to catch better,” teased Jess.
Kayla playfully rolled her eyes at her girlfriend before they fell into a comfortable silence while eating. They talked a little more about their days and the week yet to come before they cleared their plates and snuggled on Jess’s bed. They ended up falling asleep in each other’s arms and woke up to Jess’s alarm the next morning.
Jess woke up first and turned off her alarm, running a hand through her messy curls. She nudged Kayla’s leg with her foot to wake her up. Kayla slowly blinked her eyes until she was awake.
“Did you drive?” Jess asked.
Kayla yawned and mumbled, “No, I told you I couldn’t.”
Jess was confused. Kayla was more open when she was half asleep, she hadn’t said that she couldn’t before. “Couldn’t?” she clarified.
Kayla nodded, “‘t’s at the shop, remember?”
“You didn’t say that before,” Jess poked her arm playfully, “why didn’t you tell me? I could have helped.”
Kayla woke up a little more, realising that she’d said as much as she had, “Oh, it didn’t seem important.”
“I’m good with cars babe,” said Jess, “maybe I could have saved you some cash.”
Kayla shrugged, “It’s fine.”
Jess sighed and got out of bed to get ready for the day. She changed into her clothes while Kayla dozed in and out of sleep. After her teeth and hair were brushed, she gave Kayla’s cheek a kiss. Kayla woke up enough to pull her in for a kiss on the lips. Jess responded.
After a few minutes Jess finally pulled apart, “You need to get ready for work honey.”
Kayla moaned but got out of bed.
“Nobody warned me that dating you would be like having a teenager,” joked Jess.
Kayla’s back was turned to Jess as she pulled clothes out of her drawer, otherwise Jess would have seen the hurt look on Kayla’s face. The younger woman got dressed quickly and then ordered a taxi before going to brush her teeth and hair while she waited for it.
“Do you want a ride to work?” Kayla asked through her toothpaste.
Jess understood most of the words and nodded, “Yes please.”
Kayla nodded and retreated back into the bathroom.
Jess went to the kitchen and grabbed two muffins out of a paper bag that she’d bought the day before. She offered one to Kayla as they both grabbed their bags and headed out of the door.
A few weeks later, Kayla got promoted at work. It was a big promotion and she was debating whether or not she should even take it. The company was paying her less money than she originally started with, but the job was better.
Jess had been working in the industry for years longer than Kayla had, and yet, Kayla was too nervous to ask her girlfriend for advice on what to do. She only had a few days to think about taking the job before they wanted a final answer from her. She spent the whole day at work that day stressing about it and making mistakes that she wouldn’t normally make because of it.
Her girlfriend had texted her during lunch, like every day, but Kayla had unintentionally ignored her. She had too much on her mind to even think about looking at her phone. She knew Jess was probably worried. It wasn’t like her to not text back. But suddenly, texting back didn’t seem as important anymore.
Her phone rang at the end of the work day but she missed it because she was in the bathroom trying to calm herself down. She went straight home without calling Jess back, or even noticing that her phone had a missed call on it. She lay on her bed as soon as she got home and tried to relax so she could think clearly about the decision she had to make.
She accidentally fell asleep and was woken up two hours later by a very concerned Jess banging on her apartment door. She muttered a couple curse words while getting out of bed, trying to fix her work clothes that she had fallen asleep in. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door to Jess, who was very worried. Jess let herself in the apartment.
“I’ve been worried out of my mind,” Jess said. “Why haven’t you been answering your phone? Have I done something wrong?”
Kayla instantly shook her head. “Of course not.”
“Then why haven’t you been answering me?” Jess asked. The annoyance in her voice was becoming clear.
Kayla wanted to tell Jess about her recent work problems, but she felt shy and insecure. She was an adult now and needed to figure these problems out for herself now. She shook her head, mumbling something about how it didn’t matter and walked away from Jess to give herself some space.
Jess was hurt and wasn’t sure if she should stay or go. Something was clearly up with Kayla, but she didn’t seem willing to share. And she’d really hurt Jess.
Kayla heard the door shut behind her and turned around to see Jess had left. She whimpered, she knew she’d hurt her girlfriend but her mind was too muddled to know what to do. Instead she just sank to her knees on the floor and cried until her eyes were puffy and her head hurt. This promotion was supposed to be a good thing, but all it had done was hurt and mess everything up.
She must have found her way to bed somehow because she woke up, still in her work clothes, the next morning to her phone ringing. She answered it timidly.
“Hey Jess,” she said shyly.
“Hey,” Jess’s voice came through and Kayla’s heart hurt because she missed the sound of it.
“Are you okay?” Kayla asked, knowing that it was her fault if Jess was hurting.
Jess ignored the question, “I’m guessing you’re not. Is it okay if I come over now so we can talk?”
Kayla didn’t really want to talk about her work problem, it was something she was supposed to know how to deal with. But she also didn’t want to lose her girlfriend over this, so she nodded, then spoke, realising that Jess couldn’t see her, “I think so.”
“Okay, I’ll be there soon,” said Jess.
They hung up. Kayla felt like she’d been hit by a truck after all of the crying she’d done. She got up and showered while she waited for Jess so she could hopefully feel a little fresher. It wasn’t long until Jess showed up at her door, waiting to be let in. Kayla stepped aside and let her girlfriend in.
“Hi,” Jess said softly.
“Hi,” Kayla said back.
“What’s been going on?” Jess asked. They found themselves sitting on the couch. At that moment, Kayla wanted to tell Jess about her insecurities of being younger and needing help, but she decided against it. Knowing that she was the reason for their small fight, Kayla decided to tell Jess about her work problems.
“I got offered a promotion at work,” Kayla admitted.
Jess didn’t react. After a few moments she said, “And you were so upset because?”
Kayla sighed.
“A promotion is a good thing honey,” Jess said, taking her girlfriend’s hands, “I don’t understand.”
Kayla let Jess squeeze her hands comfortingly, she sighed again before talking, “It is, it’s a really good job,” she said, “but they’re offering me less money than I make now, and I don’t know if I should take it.”
Jess thought for a second, “Did you ask them to negotiate the salary?”
Kayla shook her head, “I didn’t know I could.”
Jess smiled, “Of course you can. They might say no, but you deserve this promotion, and they want you. So it’s worth a shot. If they say yes, then you get the best of both worlds.”
Kayla nodded, “That makes sense. I was dumb.”
Jess gasped and shook her head, “No! You were stressed, it’s hard to think clearly when you’re stressed like that.”
Kayla nodded, “Kay.”
Jess took a deep breath. “You know, Kayla, it really hurt me when you shut me out. I was really worried and I was only trying to help.”
Kayla looked down, accepting fault. “I’m sorry, I should have just explained why I was so stressed. It wasn’t fair to shut you out.”
Jess nodded. “It’s okay.”
“I’ll do better and not shut you out,” Kayla promised.
Jess nodded, “Good girl. It’s really important that we communicate.”
Kayla nodded, then scooted a little closer to Jess, requesting a hug. Jess happily obliged. For the rest of the day, they snuggled on Kayla’s couch.
Kayla was browsing online on her laptop while she waited for Jess to finish showering. She got too absorbed in what she was doing and didn’t hear when the water in the bathroom stopped running.
“Hey babe?” asked a freshly washed Jess as she scruffed her hair with a towel, walking up behind Kayla, who was seated on her couch.
Kayla quickly slammed her laptop shut, not wanting Jess to see what she’d been researching.
Jess raised an eyebrow, “You good?”
“Fine,” said Kayla quickly, “did you want something?”
“I was just going to ask if you wanted some wine, but now I want to know what you were doing on your laptop,” said Jess playfully.
“Wine sounds good,” said Kayla, ignoring Jess’ second question.
Jess picked her glasses up from the coffee table where she’d left them before her shower and put them on. She draped the towel messily over the back of Kayla’s armchair.
“Well, you were either shopping for a present for me or looking at other girls online,” said Jess matter-of-factly, “otherwise you wouldn’t care if I saw what it was.”
Kayla put the laptop down and got up to pour them some wine, “No, I wasn’t doing anything private,” she said, “you just startled me.”
Jess hummed and sat down on the couch while she waited for the wine, “You know I know your password, right? I can just look and see.”
Kayla finished pouring the wine and carried the glasses back to Jess, sitting beside her on the couch, “And I know you trust me and I trust you and that you don’t need to spy on me.”
Jess kissed Kayla on the lips as a thank you for the wine, then she nodded in concession, she did trust Kayla and she was sure that she wouldn’t lie.
Kayla had decided to spend the night at Jess’s once more. They had cuddled together and had fallen asleep in each other’s arms. But when Jess woke up, Kayla wasn’t in bed with her. Jess frowned and got out of bed, on a hunt to find her girlfriend. As she looked around her small apartment, she found Kayla outside talking on the phone to someone. She looked upset and frustrated and Jess wanted to help.
Jess silently slipped outside and wrapped her arms around Kayla’s waist from behind. She stood on her toes to rest her chin on Kayla’s shoulder and whispered into the ear that wasn’t using the phone, “You okay, babe?”
Kayla had jumped slightly when she realised that Jess was behind her but then relaxed into her girlfriend’s touch. She gave a slight nod.
“Listen, I’m just going to have to call you back,” Kayla said.
Jess could tell from her tone that Kayla was barely keeping it together, she gave her a comforting squeeze. Kayla hung up the phone and turned around to hide in her girlfriend’s arms.
Jess rubbed Kayla’s back some while she took some deep breaths. She then pulled away, clearly looking distressed.
“What’s going on?” Jess asked, “Who were you talking to?”
Kayla shook her head, “It’s nothing, I’m fine.” She turned to go back inside.
Jess grabbed her hand to stop her from leaving, “No you’re not. You’re upset and you’ve been acting evasive for days. We need to talk about this.”
A single tear escaped Kayla’s eye at the confrontation, but she nodded, she needed help.
Jess led Kayla by the hand back into the apartment. She sat her down on the couch and then made them some tea, knowing that holding the warm cup gave Kayla comfort when she was upset.
Jess sat down cross legged on the other side of the couch, giving Kayla a little space in case she needed it, “Tell me what’s been going on with you, babe.”
Kayla nodded and took a deep breath. “I’ve been struggling to find an apartment for the last couple of weeks because my apartment is being sold. I can’t seem to find a decent apartment and I need a place to live by the end of the week.”
Jess felt confused and a little hurt. Why didn’t Kayla come to Jess if she was struggling so much? She had thought they had agreed to be more open with each other when they had talked about Kayla’s promotion at work. Jess wanted to help Kayla but instead, it only felt like she was being left in the dark, time and time again.
Jess took a deep breath, pushing the thoughts away. Kayla was struggling. She didn’t want to upset Kayla even further when she knew the perfect way to solve the problem.
“Move in with me,” said Jess.
Kayla looked surprised. She didn’t say anything.
Jess suddenly felt insecure, she waited for Kayla to speak.
“I..really?” Kayla asked.
“Yeah,” smiled Jess, “We spend so much time at each other’s apartments anyway, we might as well live together.”
“Such a lovely way of putting it,” giggled Kayla, ““we might as well”” she quoted.
Jess nudged her, “You know I didn’t mean it like that.”
Kayla nodded, “I know,” she thought for a moment, “Are you sure that’s what you want?”
Jess nodded eagerly, “Of course I want my girlfriend to live with me.”
Kayla hesitated, “You don’t think I’m too childish?”
Jess frowned, “No, of course not.”
Kayla looked down at her tea cup, “But you always have to take care of me.”
“Of course, you’re my girlfriend. You take care of me too,” said Jess.
Kayla shook her head, still looking down, “I don’t mean like that. I mean, you’re so much older than me and you know how to do things that I don’t. Like, with the promotion and my car and now this.”
Jess’ face softened, “Kayla,” she said before shuffling closer, “we’re a team. I don’t judge you for needing help sometimes, I need help too.”
Kayla nodded shyly.
Jess worried, “Do you really think I’m so much older than you?”
Kayla shrugged, “Not like, inappropriately. I just feel like we don’t have an even playing field.”
Jess squeezed Kayla’s hand, “It’s not a game, it’s a relationship. We both have our strengths and weaknesses. And that’s okay, we balance each other out, we’re two halves of a whole.”
Kayla leaned into Jess.
“I wouldn’t want you to be just like me,” said Jess, “why the hell would I want to date myself?”
Kayla smiled, “I don’t know, you’re pretty great to date.” She leaned in and kissed Jess quickly on the lips.
“So, that’s a yes? You’ll move in with me?” Jess asked.
“Of course, I will.”
Jess beamed and Kayla leaned in again, kissing Jess on the lips once more. Jess pulled her in and Kayla took the spot on her lap as they kissed.
Kayla all but threw the last box of her belongings on Jess’s, now hers, living room floor. They had spent the next few days packing and transferring boxes to Jess’s place. It made Kayla happy to see them moving forward with their relationship and it made her even more happy that it was Jess of all people who she could share her life with.
Jess went to the fridge and paused before opening the door, “I got you a moving surprise.”
Kayla looked up from her box, “You did?”
Jess nodded excitedly, she opened the fridge and pulled a six pack of beer out.
“Beer?” Kayla sounded slightly disappointed, “you always give me beer, honey.”
Jess laughed, “No, I’m just moving it out of the way.” She leaned down and pulled out the real surprise, she carried it over to Kayla and set it down on the coffee table beside her.
It was a cake, with “Welcome Home” inscribed in the icing.
Kayla stood up to kiss her girlfriend a thank you with tears in her eyes. “I love it.”
Jess grinned and hugged her, “Welcome home, baby.”