Chapter Text
If somebody asked Milk a few months ago how her university olympics would go, she would never have guessed right.
She could guess she’d score many goals. She could guess she’d ditch one of the parties to sleep- it happened every year. She could even guess they’d smash every other team in football. But she would never, ever, guess she’d be holding the cheer captain for the Eagles on her arms, inside her bedroom, giggling like a little kid. She’d never guess that her last day of competitions would be the greatest from all her days of university olympics- even counting the years before-, because Love was kissing her face. Because Love was her girlfriend.
If somebody said that to Milk a few months ago, she’d say that person was crazy. But there she was, standing in her bedroom, holding Love in her arms, feeling the girl smooch to her like a kitten. Her own face was buried in Love’s hair, her mind filled with the strawberry scent the girl always carried with her. It was just so amazing that it was almost unbelievable. Milk had to actually hold Love tighter from time to time to be sure the girl was really in her arms and she was not dreaming.
It wasn’t even because she didn’t think she deserved that. Milk could be shy, but she didn’t sell herself short. The problem was she didn’t even know Love knew she existed. Milk did. She knew who the cheerleader was from the first day she went to a sports event. Love wasn’t even a university cheerleader yet, she was just a talkative new girl in the middle of the teams. Just like Milk, everyone noticed how beautiful she was. Love had the kind of beauty you could expect from romcom protagonists. She looked like she was somebody’s first love- and Milk could bet she actually was a lot of people’s first love through the years. But not only that. Beyond being as pretty as it was humanly possible, Love was also bubbly and chatty, always giving away smiles and making people melt around her. She called attention in the best way she could. Love was also clearly talented. During the first event she went to, she tried cheering with the girls from the Eagles’ team, so they could check how she went, and she absolutely crushed it. By that time, Milk didn’t know much about cheerleading, but Love made it all look so effortless and artistic that you’d have to be stupid not to notice her ability was above the average.
And she obviously hit right off the bat with Namtan, both of them being extroverts and flirty all the time. Being Namtan’s friend for about a year so far, Milk occasionally bumped into Love during events and parties, and she saw her constantly. Back then, Namtan was still single, since Love had entered university in the same class as Film. So they were unstoppable. Milk saw Love kiss every pretty girl on campus. And it was amazing how she didn’t even have to try. It was like those girls were drawn to her, all it took was Love flicking her hair, a bright smile or a wink, and they’d fold immediately. Milk was mesmerized by that. Not that she didn’t know how to talk to girls, she did. She also used to kiss at least one girl at every university party, even more when it was an Eagles’ party. Still, Love seemed to be a pro in that. And from what she’d heard, that was all Love did. After a few months, Milk saw Namtan lose her interest in parties completely. All she was interested in was one specific girl at said parties: Film. Who happened to be Love’s best friend. So in almost no time Milk noticed Namtan was closer to Love, always hanging with her- and Film was also there. They were inseparable at one point. Namtan was stupidly in love, and Milk found it funny how her friend switched from being the university’s bigger playgirl- even more than Love at that time- to the most loyal and sweet girlfriend ever. For a while all Namtan could talk about was Film, and she started taking the girl to their football practices, and even eventually joined the cheerleading team. It was cute. That was something Milk also didn’t expect from the future, but after it was done she was sure there was no other way for things to go.
That was kind of what she felt right now. Again, she wouldn’t have guessed this moment and this feeling a few months ago. But with Love in her arms, she thought there was no other choice for the universe. They had to be like this. Love fit perfectly on her arms, it was easy to lift her up, her head accommodated neatly into the shorter girl’s neck, her whole body was made to be entangled into Love’s.
“Hey!” Said girl was now smashing Milk’s cheeks, trying to call her attention. “What are you thinking about?”
Milk could only smile at Love’s face, scrunched like she was annoyed at something. That girl was always worrying in the middle of a cute moment of theirs.
“I’m thinking…” Milk looked around, as if she was trying to think of an answer. “That I’m so lucky.” She kissed the tip of Love’s nose, making her blush. Love blushing and becoming a real life strawberry shortcake was one of Milk’s favorite things in the world by now.
“You’re cheesy!” Love rolled her eyes, probably trying to look cool even being flustered.
Milk nodded, she wouldn’t deny that. Her smile was stuck on her face, unable to hold back. Love was staring at her, an ironic look in her eyes. Also, killer makeup. Milk noticed it was almost the same as the cheerleading makeup from two days ago, but a little more simple. And a lot more smudged. She wondered how she didn’t notice that last night…
“You’re staring in silence again.” Love frowned again. Milk knew she shouldn’t enjoy seeing her girlfriend annoyed, but she was just too damn cute.
“I’m sorry!” She exclaimed, widening her eyes. Then, she let her body fall sitting on the bed, scaring Love. The smaller girl tightened her grip on Milk’s neck, afraid she’d fall. Like Milk would ever let her slip from her arms. “It’s just that my girlfriend is really pretty, so I like to look at her.”
Love melted again, rolling her eyes and throwing her head back. She was just so cute. The cutest girl Milk had ever seen. And somehow she was there, giggling and smiling because of her. It was just pure luck. It was also luck that Milk could decide to peck Love’s lips whenever she wanted to. Like right now.
Well, that was if Love didn’t stop her, like she did.
“Hey!” Milk protested. What was the point of having Love as a girlfriend if she couldn’t kiss those perfect lips?
“Shh, calm down.” Love sat up straight and moved her hands to Milk’s shoulders. She was trying to look more composed- which was a bit difficult sitting on Milk’s lap with a t-shirt that was about three times her size. “You didn’t answer me. What are you thinking about? I want a real answer!”
“If I answer, can I kiss you?” Milk was decided.
“Yes.” Love grinned, brushing her nose to Milk’s. Even that felt like heaven. “But just one kiss.”
“Aw man…” Milk pouted, but she gave in- she always did, for Love. “I was thinking about how a while ago I would never guess you would be here with me.”
Love bit her lip, closing her eyes from happiness. Milk lost no time and kissed the girl in front of her, savoring their smiles clashing together. They were both so happy, giggling in the middle of the kiss. But Love was someone who liked to talk- Milk already noticed that even before they started hanging out-, so it wasn’t a surprise when she pushed Milk away again.
“Tell me more!” Love asked, looking adorably at Milk.
“What do you want to know?” Milk felt so important with Love’s curiosity, how the girl was eager to listen to her. She’d tell Love about everything and anything she wanted. She was able to do anything in the whole wide world if Love asked her with those dark boba eyes.
“Hmmm…” Love seemed not to know exactly what she wanted. Milk had noticed that many times she started talking to her like that, just blurting something out and after that deciding what she’d actually say. “Tell me what you thought you would be doing.”
Milk knew this was a slippery path. Love was excited and bubbly right now, but she had noticed that the cheerleader was easy to fall into a jealous feeling. During the last couple of days she saw it many times. All of those, Milk managed to get herself out of the situation, calming Love’s jealousy down and somehow reassuring her. So she took extra care of her answer, even if it wouldn’t be initially something that could create a problem.
“Oh, I’d probably be asleep! Or maybe I’d be at the handball game cheering.”
“What do I have to do with the handball game?” Love sounded almost offended, frowning her eyebrows.
“Well, you tired me yesterday.” If Love was good at flirting, Milk was good at saying things with the most innocent look possible on her face. And it always worked. Right now, Love blushed and squinted, trying to hide her face. “You’re the one who asked!”
“I didn’t think you’d say that!” Love shook her head, her reddish hair swaying to the sides. That hair was so vivid that it mesmerized Milk. She remembered it since the day she met Love, glowing through the field where the Eagles’ event was held. It wasn’t red. And it wasn’t orange. It was a colour that she could only describe as Love’s hair. This far, Milk could spot that tone of hair in any colour wheel, and she’d immediately relate it to Love. Or maybe to love. And the girl somehow managed to always make it have the same amazing scent of strawberry. Everytime they were close, Milk felt like she was drowning in a sea of strawberry juice. Or maybe soaking in strawberry rain.
“Milk!” Love exclaimed again. Milk shook her head, realising she was once more lost in her own thoughts. “Why do you keep dozing off? Are you sleepy?” Love’s tone changed from one question to the other, going from kind of annoyed to actually worried.
“Maybe I am.” Milk narrowed her eyes and nodded. Love still looked confused. “Maybe we should lay down.” She then fell to her side, dropping her head on the pillow. Love, straddling her, had no choice but to fall as well. As soon as they were both lying down. Milk adjusted her arms so she could hug Love better, pulling the girl. She giggled and started to sway her body, trying to get rid of Milk’s embrace. But Milk wouldn’t let her go. Not now, not ever.
“You’re naughty today.” Love eventually gave up and rested her head on Milk’s shoulder, grabbing the taller girl’s hand to play with her fingers.
“You were the naughty one yesterday.” Milk could play like this for hours. She was so amused at Love’s shyness. This girl, the girl who she had seen wrap anyone around her finger for years, the girl known for kissing everyone at parties, the girl who everyone swooned over, was shy on her bed because she mentioned them having sex the night before. Milk felt like she won the lottery.
“If you keep saying this, I won’t ever do that again.” The problem was, Love could tease back. Of course she could.
But Milk was now so comfortable, so used to being near Love, that she was daring and didn’t hold back from crossing a line.
So she flipped them, laying on top of Love, making sure their faces were just centimeters away from each other. It was a bold move, Milk knew that. She was herself flustered like hell. She could feel Love’s whole body under her, and just now noticed that the girl was using just that t-shirt and panties. Nothing else. So as soon as she lowered her body, it molded against Love’s. And it was no surprise how amazing it felt. Just holding Love with full clothes on was already one of the best things in the world. But this- this was new. Milk knew she had already kissed and marked Love’s body before; she knew her hands had wandered around it, touching and grabbing; she knew she had felt Love’s insides clenching against her fingers… but this was definitely more intimate than ever. And she knew Love felt that too, her eyes wide and her lips parted. She saw the girl hesitate for a second.
Before flicking Milk’s forehead.
“Auch!” Milk protested, rubbing her hand on her injured head. Love kissed her there, before going back to her fake angry face.
“Behave yourself. I want to talk to you now.”
Milk pouted for a second, trying to see if she could make Love change her mind. But Milk was discovering that that small girl was as petty as a child when she wanted to. So she sighed dramatically and rolled over, laying on Love’s side. The cheerleader immediately grinned and scooted over, placing herself inside Milk’s embrace.
“Now tell me. What are you thinking?”
That girl was going to be the death of Milk. She had no answer for that, but she knew Love wouldn’t accept that. The player sighed, trying to come up with something.
“I don’t know Love…” Just that brief start made Love start to frown, so Milk was quick to complete the sentence. “It’s kind of hard to think when you’re with me, you know?”
That seemed to do it. Love smiled lovingly and kissed Milk’s cheek. She felt her face burn with the contact. Milk wondered if she would ever get used to Love’s affection- and she secretly hoped she wouldn’t. This heated and fuzzy feeling was so good.
“Okay so everytime I say something I get a kiss?” She teased, glancing at Love.
“Yes.” The girl nodded, but her look was still mischievous. “But only if it’s something I like!”
She was so adorable. Milk squeezer her tighter before speaking again.
“Well, then I’ll have to pamper my girl…” That earned her another peck on the cheek. Milk could play this game. “Right now, I’m thinking about how cute you look with just a t-shirt on.”
Love flicked her again. But then also kissed her forehead.
“I’ll ask so you won’t use this to talk dirty.” Love nodded to herself, but Milk could see the girl was holding back a grin. “Tell me, what were you thinking yesterday at the party?”
“Oh Love, come on.” Milk looked at her, furrowing her eyebrows. “You ask me this and then expect me not to say something dirty?”
“Oh my god I didn’t know you were like this.” Love rolled her eyes and grabbed Milk’s chin. She was clearly amused by doing that, considering she did it many times since they started getting closer. And Milk liked absolutely any type of contact with Love.
“Okay, let me go and I’ll talk nicely.” Milk tried to say, with her cheeks squinched between Love’s fingers. She was small but that hand was strong.
“Good girl.” The look on her eyes showed that Love knew damn well what she was doing. But Milk sighed and decided to ignore that- at least her rational side. Her body was trembling with those words.
“Well I went to the party-” Milk held Love closer, feeling the girl snuggle against her chest. This was the first time, but she already loved lying like this. “Hoping I’d get a chance in line to kiss you.”
Love looked up at her, eyes wide. She seemed legitimately surprised.
“Don’t look at me like that. You know lots of girls there wanted to do the same.” Milk said. Now, she wasn’t jealous, it was just a fact.
“Hmm, were you jealous last night?” Love was definitely into that. And Milk couldn’t deny it.
“Of course! It’s not easy liking the prettiest girl at the party, you know.” She said that because it was true. Everybody wanted Love, everybody looked at her with hunger and adoration, every girl who got a chance tried to flirt with her. And as soon as she started liking the cheerleader, Milk also started to notice that movement a lot more closely. She knew Love had kissed other girls since they started… whatever. That was what Love did. Milk herself had kissed Aoey- an awful decision, she could tell now-, so it wasn’t a big deal. But as her feelings grew, the thought of Love kissing other girls, especially when Milk could see it, became more unbearable. That night when Love went to the party and she stayed at the dorms, Milk spent hours trying to fall asleep, rolling on her bed, worried and regretting not going. And when she did sleep, she had visions of Love kissing all kinds of pretty girls, smashing them against the wall, letting them lift her up, taking them to her bedroom. All of that, to be awakened by that drunk little cat who was as needy as ever. That was a great night.
“You’re charming.” Love was blushing, and Milk noticed she thought she just said that to make her smile.
“It’s simply the truth, Love.” She nodded, reassuring her. “You think I didn’t see all those girls trying to kiss you?”
For the way Love widened her eyes, she was actually surprised. She smiled nervously. “Well, I didn’t kiss them! I didn’t kiss them yesterday, and I didn’t kiss them the night before, I swear!”
Once more, Milk could only think she was too damn adorable for her own good.
“Love, you don’t have to tell me what you did and didn’t do.” Milk looked down at the girl, who was looking at her with pleading eyes, full of worry. She could notice that sometimes Love measured her words closely, as if she was afraid to say the wrong thing. It was cute, but it also made Milk feel a little worried about her. Milk never felt like that herself, she usually just said what she was thinking and feeling, and doing what Love did seemed to be so tiring.
“But… I don’t want to make you feel insecure.”
“Oh Love.” That girl had it too easy with Milk. She just had to flash that look and she’d fold instantly. Right now, she wished she could just hold her tight enough to make them merge into one person, so Love would never worry about that ever again. Because Milk didn’t. “How can I worry about that if you’re here in my arms right now?”
One more thing that Milk felt she was lucky about: she was good at making Love feel at ease. Just with that phrase, she felt the smaller body physically relax and saw Love’s smile come back to her face.
For like a second. Because Love frowned again.
“So you don’t ever get jealous of me?”
It was kind of difficult to make this girl happy sometimes. But it was all Milk cared about right now, so she didn’t mind.
“Oh I am! You can bet your ass nobody is going to wrap their arms around your waist tonight.” She frowned, making an angry face. Love seemed to understand who Milk was talking about, since she giggled and looked away, a little embarrassed. “But yesterday we weren’t dating, you know. And all those days before… I did feel uncomfortable seeing you kiss other girls, but it wasn’t my place to complain.” Milk was looking directly to Love’s face to make sure the girl was understanding what she meant. So far, it seemed to work. “I just had to pretend it was like one of the dozens of parties I saw you kiss other girls before you decided you liked me.”
Maybe it was risky, but it was the truth. Milk had seen Namtan go from one of the greatest womanizers on campus to the most tamed girl she had ever seen in her life. She changed completely in the last three years because she fell in love. But Love? She didn’t do that. She was never seen with anyone for more than two or three times. She wasn’t heartless, at least not from that Milk had heard. The rumor that went around was that she didn’t even let the girls have hopes, cutting them as soon as they started to show they were having feelings and wanting something more than just casual fooling around. She was honest with them, at least. But that was all. Love could kiss them, make out with them, take them home, but she didn’t date.
Well, at least until now. Now she was dating Milk. And Milk was being as honest as she could with Love. Even if it meant getting a crazy stare from that girl.
“What?” Milk asked, not sure if she said something wrong. She couldn’t understand this specific look from Love.
“You… You said you saw me kissing girls at other parties?” Now Milk could understand. Love was embarrassed. “I didn’t know you cared about me before…”
Milk grunted and squeezed Love’s cheeks, amazed at how adorable this girl could be. She was the most beautiful girl on the university team, cheer captain, a social butterfly and the greatest player in hook up terms. But she actually thought Milk didn’t notice her before? And she was shy because of Milk seeing her do her thing before? She could only giggle and tease her.
“Hey, stop making fun of me!” Love protested, but she had a bright smile on her face. “Come on, tell me.”
Milk relaxed again and sighed. Having a girlfriend like Love took a lot of talking. But anything was worth it.
“What about?”
“Tell me what you thought about me before! It’s weird to think that you had an impression about me before we knew each other for real.”
Milk just nodded. It was impossible to deny anything to those boba eyes. She had a feeling that was a recurrent thought on her head for the last few days.
“Well, I thought you were pretty!” She grinned at Love, who was finally patient and glancing with curiosity at her. “And I knew you kissed pretty girls. I knew you were the best cheerleader. Oh, I knew you were Namtan’s friend! So I figured you had to be cool. And you seemed cool, you know. From seeing you talk to everyone at parties and being kind to people every time they reached you.”
“Milk…” Love’s voice was like a squeal, her eyes bigger than the whole world by now. This time she was the one to steal a kiss from Milk’s lips, leaving the player flustered. She was comfortable with Love, but it was always special when she got a kiss like this.
With that reaction, Milk kept going.
“Not only that, you know. I’ve seen you speak about cheerleading for the freshmen for three years by now. And you were always so passionate. You know I don’t understand much about cheerleading.” Love chuckled at that. “But it was beautiful to see how much you liked it and cared about the team. And you were always kind and inviting to every girl who decided to try out, even if they had no experience. People talk, you know.” Once more, Love was looking around avoiding Milk’s eyes, blushing. “And I’ve only heard amazing things about you during these years.”
It felt good to tell Love that. Because it felt weird to have all those memories of her and all these things she thought for years about the girl and not tell her. Sometimes she felt like she was betraying Love’s confidence, hiding something from her. But until now, she didn’t see an opportunity to say all of this without it being weird. Luckily, they were truly connected, and Love had asked her exactly what Milk had been wanting to say.
It was also amazing to receive so many kisses when she was just being honest. Love grabbed Milk by the neck and kissed her on the lips, on her cheeks, on her jaw, everywhere. She covered Milk’s face in kisses before holding her head by the cheeks and staring into her eyes, furrowing her eyebrows. Milk furrowed her own as well, staring back into Love. She didn’t know what it meant, but Love looked cute as hell like this, so she just went along.
“You’re too cute.” She pecked Milk’s lips again and scrunched her nose one last time before letting them both fall again. Love nestled inside Milk’s arms, making sure her whole body was touching Milk’s.
“I feel a little guilty.” Love’s tone was soft and she started running her fingers up and down her girlfriend’s arm, the lightest touch possible. For a moment Milk wasn’t sure what the girl felt guilty about, but maybe it was for making her shiver and get goosebumps all over her body from that. But Milk knew better than mentioning that that was kind of turning her own. She would just get scolded again. So she just nodded, closing her eyes. She had to somehow hide that, and Milk knew damn well her gaze would give her away. “You knew who I was and you had all these opinions about me… But I only started paying attention to you a little while ago…”
Milk still didn’t dare to open her eyes. But she shook her head slightly, trying to find a trail of coherent thoughts.
“That’s not a problem, Love…” Those fingers were still on her, now running higher, all the way to her shoulder and collarbone. For what Milk from Love, the girl was aware of what she was doing. But again, Milk didn’t want to get scolded. “I’m still happy to be with you now. I’m glad we met at the right time.”
“But I’m not!” Milk couldn’t even respond to that properly. She would normally furrow her eyebrows or look confused at Love- because she was indeed confused. But she was too busy trying to control her own breathing to let her body react to anything. So she just let out a confused groan to keep the girl talking. “I feel like I lost time I could’ve had with you… I mean, three years not noticing how pretty you are? How funny? How caring?” She felt Love cup her cheek with her free hand, still caressing her with the other one. That made Milk open her eyes and see Love from up close. It was a confusing sight. Her smile was soft, her whole face following it. Milk could tell this was a face full of feelings, feelings directed at her. Warm feelings. But those eyes were dark and deep, full of hunger. Love looked like she adored Milk and wanted to eat her whole at the same time. And all of that made Milk unable to look away. Maybe even unable to move. Not that she’d ever want to move away from Love’s embrace. “I spent three years in the same university as you, even having common friends. How could I waste so much time when I could be near you, kissing you, touching you?”
Milk was still stuck into those eyes. She saw Love throwing her head back, allowing her hair to fall behind so it wouldn’t be in between them. Milk liked Love’s eyes, they were something that could make her give up on anything in the world. But Love’s hair was probably her favorite part of the smaller girl. It shined like she was an ethereal being. Love looked like a doll. Or a fairy. Maybe a princess. She just knew Love didn’t look like she was from this world, she had to be from some fantasy world that most people don’t have access to. But Milk somehow managed to have it. And she found Love there.
But Love’s hair out of the way was something she was glad about right now. And it didn’t really matter what world the girl had come from. Because right now, she was in this world. And in Milk’s bed. In Milk’s arms. Looking at her like she was the most precious thing in the world, Milk finally moved and wrapped her arms around the slim waist, pulling Love closer. They were almost the same thing now, their breaths synchronized, their bodies moving together, hearts pumping so loud they could even hear it. It was amazing, the best thing Milk had ever felt. Love was looking at her like she was the world. And right now, she couldn’t actually care about anything else in the whole damn world.
“So don’t waste any more time now.” She managed to say, before closing the gap between their mouths.