Chapter Text
Cruz changes her mind about the crazy sex when they get to the bedroom.
Aaliyah can tell because she feels it when Cruz changes her mind.
It's in the way her movements slow down. How they become almost cat-like in their precision.
It's in the gentle playfulness of her kisses and the way she's asking more than demanding with her tongue.
It's in her hands, how soft and gentle they are on Aaliyah’s cheek.
Even the way her thumb strokes Aaliyah's cheek tells the brunette there's nothing crazy about what they're doing. Not anymore.
"Hey,"
She pulls away and whispers. Her brown eyes alive and seemingly taking in all of Aaliyah.
She strokes her cheek still, softly and carefully. Like she wants everything about this night to be perfect. even something as small as the way she strokes Aaliyah’s cheek.
Aaliyah smiles.
She smiles from the very core of her being. She smiles and wonders if anyone in the world has ever felt as loved as she feels right now.
"Hey." she says back.
Cruz smiles back, "I love you." she says quietly. Almost a whisper. Like whatever she has to say is a secret. Like their love is just for them. Only for them.
"I love you." Aaliyah says back.
"Yeah?" Cruz asks like she still can't believe it.
Aaliyah takes her free hand and kisses the inside of it, "I love you."
She says again.
And she's willing to say it until Cruz believes it completely.
…
Sounds of someone busy in the kitchen wake Aaliyah up the next morning.
She immediately knows it isn't Amira because her little sister never cooks. In fact, she's horrible at it.
Also, the fact that Cruz isn't beside her is a huge tell.
She rises and walks sleepily to the kitchen. Rubbing sleep out of her eyes and stretching while she's at it like the multi-tasker that she is.
She finds Cruz just where she expected to find her, in the kitchen, busy preparing breakfast and humming something softly under her breath.
Aaliyah hovers in the doorway. Just taking her time to watch her.
Here, in the brunette's kitchen, making breakfast, her black hair pulled up on a hank of pony tail, swinging cheerfully as she checks on one pan after the other, she looks for the entire world like she belongs there. Like she's always belonged there.
The scene is so domestic, so fucking right that Aaliyah has to bite her lip to keep from smiling like some sort of idiot.
Cruz finally spots her and her eyes light up into a smile, "morning," even her voice sounds happy.
Aaliyah’s heart beats stupidly in her chest just from knowing that she's the one who's made the slim woman so happy, "morning." She says back and moves to kiss her. Cruz smells like powdered sugar and berries and vanilla and something so innately her that Aaliyah kisses her again.
Just because she can.
...
"I don't feel so good," Aaliyah whines out one day after what has been the best three months of her life.
It's like telling Cruz she's in love with her and hearing her say it back made the world a hundred million times better.
Also, she's going to need to start reading poems because she's shit at saying things romantically.
Not right now though. Right now she genuinely feels weird.
Actually, she's been feeling off for a few days now but she kinda thought it would just settle on its own.
But it doesn't, which sucks since Cruz is having five days off from tomorrow and Aaliyah already paid Amira in cash and pastries to cover for her for a few days.
And she's pretty certain this opportunity is never going to present itself again. She hates that she might waste it staying in bed, sick.
Cruz lies in bed so they're facing each other, "what's wrong?"
She asks running her fingers through the brunette's hair because she knows Aaliyah likes that.
Aaliyah closes her eyes, "I don't know. I just feel odd."
"Maybe you should spend the night," Cruz says after a minute.
Cruz doesn't say anything. The fingers in her hair feel heavenly.
"I can call Amira and tell her you won't be coming home. Some of your clothes are here so that won't be a problem."
"I don't want to be a bother."
"It's no bother. I want to take care of you. I like doing it."
The last part is said shyly and Aaliyah smiles.
"Okay." she says finally.
…
Just like with everything else she does, Cruz aims for perfection when nursing Aaliyah back to health.
She brings their dinner to bed and tells Aaliyah geeky science jokes that make her smile although she cannot for the life of her understand them.
After dinner she pops in Aaliyah’s favorite movie and runs her fingers through Aaliyah’s hair, just how she likes and it makes Aaliyah sleep even before the movie is done.
When Aaliyah wakes up in pain, she finds Cruz reading a book, painkillers and water by the bedside, just waiting for Aaliyah to need them.
And after Aaliyah has swallowed them, she rubs circles round the brunette's back which surprisingly does help with the pain.
She feels a kiss on her forehead and a whispered I love you before she drifts off.
Maybe this being sick thing isn't so bad after all.
…
It figures that just when Aaliyah starts getting into this being sick deal.
Just when she's hatching a plan of getting Cruz into a sexy nurse outfit even if she'll have to pout for hours; she gets better.
And really, it's like the world just doesn't like her because she gets better the very next day.
She just wakes up and doesn't feel bad anymore.
Her vision of Cruz in a sexy nurse outfit and glasses fades away and she almost cries.
Life can be so fucking unfair at times.
Why couldn't she be sick for just a little bit longer?
"Hey sleepy head."
Cruz who's just walked in from having her shower greets softly.
Her hair is damp, her towel covers only half her legs and for a moment Aaliyah forgets she's angry at her shitty luck, "hey," she licks her lips.
Cruz chuckles and rolls her eyes when she sees the look in Aaliyah’s eyes, "none of that till you get better." She kisses Aaliyah’s forehead.
"But I am better."
Aaliyah says honestly, already forgetting that just a few seconds ago she wanted to cry at not being sick.
Cruz regards her for a second, "you're not just saying that, are you?"
Aaliyah shakes her head.
Cruz is going to give in to her, she can see it in the way her eyes are getting darker.
She places her palm on the brunette's forehead, "you're really okay?"
"One hundred percent."
She bites her lip the way she does when she's considering something and Aaliyah almost jumps her that very second but she holds herself down.
Her restraint pays off when barely a minute later, Cruz kneels in front of her then slowly, with all her attention on Aaliyah, lets the towel fall off her body.
Aaliyah smiles; maybe life isn't so unfair after all.
…
Neither of them leaves the bedroom till almost midday because somehow, Aaliyah manages to convince Cruz to give her a massage.
It's meant to be innocent and short but Cruz keeps touching places she shouldn't touch if things are to be kept innocent and before Aaliyah knows it, she has the woman pinned to the bed and it's like they weren't at it just minutes ago with the way Aaliyah wants Cruz.
By the time they're done Cruz can't even walk and it's up to Aaliyah to fix them brunch.
Seeing as she is practically clueless when it comes to matters of the kitchen, she just comes back to the bedroom with a couple slices of bread, a jar of nutella and ice cream.
Cruz arches a brow when she sees her choices.
Aaliyah shrugs and settles comfortably next to her girlfriend.
At one point, some ice cream accidentally falls on Aaliyah’s chest and before she can do anything about it; Cruz licks it off of her.
That starts a game of licking ice cream and chocolate off of each other, which of course results into something more and by the time they're done it's four and they're tired and sore and have laughed so much their sides ache.
"wanna take a shower together after we nap?" Aaliyah asks lazily, her hands around Cruz who's on the verge of sleeping.
"Of course," she mumbles, "we'll go out for dinner after?"
Aaliyah kisses her neck, "Of course."
…
The rest of the days pass in some sort of blur.
They go to Cruz’s favorite building in the city and she takes what feels like thousands of photos of Aaliyah on the building's rooftop.
"Baby, that's enough."
"Just one more, I want to have as many pictures of this moment as I can."
"Fine."
"Well, smile."
"No."
"Please, love."
Aaliyah melts when Cruz calls that. Her girlfriend doesn't call her that often but when she does she makes it sound so special that Aaliyah’s heart just can't take it.
She doesn't smile though, because she doesn't want to appear as whipped as she actually is.
Cruz lowers her camera and makes a goofy face. Aaliyah laughs at her ridiculousness.
Cruz takes a picture of that moment.
...
Another time they go out for frozen yogurt because Aaliyah is craving it and later they go watch a movie that's in Spanish and Cruz whispers seriously wicked things in Aaliyah’s ears and although she understands nothing, she knows they're sexy just by the way they sound.
It gets Aaliyah so worked up that when they get home, they don't even manage to get to the bedroom before she's ripping Cruz’s clothes off.
"I actually liked that shirt."
Cruz complaints later,
Aaliyah just shrugs, "it was in my way."
...
Mostly though, they stay at home.
Cruz reads her books, while Aaliyah watches her movies on Cruz’s laptop, earphones on, her hands in playing with dark hair.
Once, Cruz tries teaching Aaliyah how to bake.
They have a deal that whenever Aaliyah does something right, she gets a kiss.
Soon the kisses turn into more than just kisses and before they know it, they're having sex on the kitchen floor.
Cruz mumbles out how unhygienic the whole thing is.
Aaliyah just laughs into their kiss and falls more and more in love with each passing second.
…
"What's wrong?"
Cruz asks from the bed where she's seated.
Aaliyah is packing some of her things, tonight is their last night together like this and she knows she shouldn't be acting like a brat.
It's not like she won't see Cruz most days but she just, she'd gotten used to waking up next to Cruz everyday and sleeping with her in her arms every night.
It's going to be a little hard going back to seeing her just sometimes.
"It's nothing."
She says because she's afraid her fears are childish.
Cruz places her book on the bed and moves to sit on the floor next to the brunette.
She sits Indian style, dressed only in an oversized tee shirt, her hair in a loose bun, her reading glasses on and even with how lousy she is feeling; Aaliyah smiles.
God she loves this woman.
"I love you." She says because she does and because she wants Cruz to know that she really really does.
Cruz smiles, "I love you too. And I have loved every single second of this week. I'm sad it's ending too.
Aaliyah sighs and takes Cruz’s hand, "I don't want it to end."
"It doesn't have to."
Cruz says softly like she's scared but not really.
Aaliyah’s heart beats wildly in her chest,"what do you mean, baby?"
Cruz looks away for a moment then looks back at Aaliyah, her eyes a little nervous, "I thought you'd like to... you know," she shrugs a bit, "live with me."
Aaliyah doesn't know what to say, not right now.
Cruz takes her silence as her no and her eyes fall, "it was just a suggestion, Aaliyah. you don't have to-"
"Don't finish that sentence."
Aaliyah says, gripping Cruz’s hand even tighter. Cruz’s eyes lift up, "Are you saying..."
"Of course I'm saying yes, Cruz." she pulls her in for a kiss, "Of course I'm saying yes."