Falling Harder Than The Snow

"More whiskey first." Blake wasn't ready to talk about it. The whole purpose of tonight was to get her mind off feeling like a piece of shit.

"Let's see, this isn't a Blake lost a Magic tourney to some net-decking bastard. You wouldn't have brought whiskey with you in that case. This is worse than that."

"Nope, I won." That win had led to the kiss that was still on Blake's mind even after fucking Mitchell.

"Hmm, did you get another rejection letter to add to your collection?" Mitchell guessed. Blake was working on her first fantasy novel in her spare time, but it had been rejected by every publisher she approached. She was considering self-publishing but wanted to further refine it first.

"Not yet. I'm still waiting for a couple more of those. The First few were hard; now they're just expected." Blake shook her head.

"Have you shown it to Ori yet? I'll bet she'd dig it." Mitchell continued to investigate.

"No," Blake replied succinctly. She was nervous that Orianna would see the hero's evident influence from Ori and the character's relationship with the soldier woman. It was Blake and Ori's typical roles in their Pathfinder group. Blake hadn't found a way to work in the bard's trademark use of dance instead of song into the prose.

"Oh. This has to do with Orianna, doesn't it?" Mitchell struck with confidence.

Blake could no longer hold back the tears or pretend tonight hadn't happened. "I'm a piece of shit."

"Fuck..." Mitchell trailed off and then collected his thoughts momentarily. He got out of his seat and pulled on his boxers.

That was Blake's cue to grab a long T-shirt from her bag that served as her typical pajamas.

"What happened, Blake?"

"She kissed me." More tears spilled out.

"Shouldn't that be cause for celebration?" Mitchell knew about Blake's long-simmering crush on her best friend. "Shouldn't you be in her bed instead of mine?" That was a breach of protocol.

"There was no bed involved with you. You know what happened last time. It almost destroyed me."

"Yeah. Have you asked her why she ran?"

"I try not to discuss the worst day of my life."

"You should," Mitchell said with sincerity. "Do you not see how head over heels you both are for each other?"

"It's one-sided. Besides, I don't want Ori to think she owes me something for giving her a place to live while she gets back on her feet."

"Do you know why Orianna and I only dated for a few months?" Mitchell had dated Ori during the fall semester, a few months before the kiss.

"No."

"I couldn't compete with the feelings she has for you." Mitchell took a long drink to finish his whiskey. With a pained look, he grabbed Blake's drink and refilled it along with his own.

"She's fragile right now after Dante..." Blake shook her head as more tears spilled.

"So, you reject the poor woman when she finally summons the courage to admit her feelings?"

"I did say I was a piece of shit for a reason."

"I kinda agree with your assessment. This is the last one for you. I know you have debate tomorrow, and I have plans with Mike."

"He back home for the weekend?" Blake pounced upon a way to change the conversation as she sipped.

"Yeah, brought a girlfriend home to meet the parents, Cara."

"Wow, that's a big step."

The conversation fell into something decidedly more typical for the pair. There was a reason that Mitchell shared the co-best-friend role with Ori for the last decade. Blake eventually crashed on the couch, a common place to sleep after one of their trysts.

"You slept through your alarm," Mitchell complained as he gently shook her awake the following morning.

"Crap. I better shower and get dressed." Blake rolled off the couch and leaped to her feet, adrenaline pulsing.

"You're only five minutes late getting up. I'll make coffee while you shower. Drier's open if you need to de-wrinkle your debate-coaching chic outfit."

"Thanks."

Mitchell let her shower and get dressed before sliding a coffee in a travel mug to her. "I'm cutting you off, Blake." He was breaking a cardinal rule of their arrangement. The man was alluding to the sexual component of their relationship when they weren't naked.

"Why?"

"You need to figure out Orianna, and I'm done being your sex toy. I want what my brother has, and that won't happen with a relief valve."

"Okay."

"You can still come over with a bottle of whiskey any time. I will always be here as a shoulder to cry on, but leave the condoms at home." Mitchell came in for a hug. "She's really into you, too."

Orianna -- That night

"Ori. I thought you had plans with Avery tonight." It was why there was no Pathfinder. Blake stepped in and made a terrible attempt at concealing a wince. The pained expression faded as she leaned over to pet a very excited Lidia, who was joyfully prancing. Steele leaped onto the counter, looking aloof, but the cat was jealous.

"Carl and Molly are in town, so they went out with Tess's family." Carl was Tess's stepbrother with whom Tess had a great relationship.

"That's too bad. Not that their family's in town, but you were looking forward to time with Avery outside work." Blake's speech was quickened and rambling.

"Carl's visit was a surprise to them as well. So, how's Mitchell?"

"I..." Blake blushed as she sputtered for an answer.

"Come on. You weren't here when Lidia needed out at five this morning, and I'm sure you two still take out your frustrations in the same way." Orianna was pissed. It had taken her two months to work up the courage to kiss Blake again, and the woman ran away afterward.

"He's good," Blake said simply without elaborating.

"Am I damaged goods now after Dante?"

"No. No. It's not about that, trust me."

"It sure seems like it." Ori sniffled a little as she held back tears.

"Orianna, I don't want to be a rebound or for you to do that out of obligation." Blake shook her head.

"It wasn't..."

"Do you know how bad you wrecked me the last time we kissed?"

"No." Orianna lied. She'd gotten so scared the last time they kissed that she ran out and started dating a guy from her algorithms class the next day. Ori happened to run into him in the library and acquiesced when he finally worked up the courage. She knew there was no way that her mother would accept her relationship with a woman, and their kisses confirmed what Ori had been thinking for a while: that Blake was her destiny, which frightened her.

"It shattered me, Ori. I was a broken woman for months after we shared this perfect, mind-altering kiss, and you didn't seem to think it mattered."

"It mattered to me." Ori looked away as she fought tears.

"Then you wouldn't have been dating Dante the same day we woke up together in my bed." It wasn't anger in Blake's voice. This was resignment if Orianna understood it right.

"I..." Ori sputtered this time. She wanted to confess her panic or the knowledge that her mother would disown her if she dated Blake. If anyone in her family found out that Orianna had kissed a woman, seeing her mother's family in Malaysia could be very dangerous. She tried to summon the words to tell that to her best friend, but they weren't coming.

"It was a good kiss, spectacular even, but you're not ready for anything yet. Not before that jackass finally faces his day in court." Blake looked like she was on the verge of tears, too.

"How do you know I'm not ready? Are you in here?" Orianna tapped her temple. She was angry that her entire life was defined by a few videos she made in private with her boyfriend that he decided needed to be broadcast to the world after the breakup.

"I'm sorry, Orianna. Don't let me put words in your mouth. If you kiss me again, it's game over for me. I won't be a fling or trying something different. If you kiss me again, I want you to mean it." Blake declared. "With that out of the way, you want to grab some dinner? My treat tonight."

Orianna wanted to stay angry with Blake but could never do that for long with the woman she was convinced was the love of her life. "Okay, how about pizza?"

"Sounds great. We can go to the wood-fired place so you don't pollute my pizza with pineapple."

That was surprisingly all to the conversation. They were delicate around each other for a week, but staying angry at her best friend was hard. A week into November, Blake came to Ori with a proposition.

"Hey, Orianna, do you have Thanksgiving plans?"

"I have no family anymore, so no."

"Yeah, sorry. I should've thought that through."

"Still better than working retail during black Friday." Before the pandemic changed everything, Ori had to work 'Black Friday' that started Thanksgiving evening instead of on Friday. If there was one minor bright spot to COVID, it was a reassessment of those erosions of Thanksgiving.

"Well, I did something impulsive, and now I'm asking for backup." Blake blushed.

"What'd you do?" Ori gave her an accusatory glare, but it was broken, with a smile leaking out.

"Mitchell's family is going to Florida without him, several of our Pathfinder group don't have a place to be, and Jackson, Wyoming is too far to drive for the short fall break. I volunteered to host a friends' Thanksgiving and need help cooking."

"Did you invite Avery and Tess?" Ori asked hopefully. Maybe Avery could get a better read on Blake and help Orianna process her feelings. Even after Blake ran scared from the kiss, Ori couldn't stop thinking about her.

"They declined. Tess's stepmom just gave birth to her half-brother, so they're going to Rhode Island for the holiday."

"Good for her, but too bad they can't be here."

"Yeah. So, would you help me host? Everyone will bring a dish, but turkey, stuffing, potatoes, and sweets still need to be cooked. Doing all that the day of by myself will be hectic."

"On one condition," Ori answered with a smirk.

"That would be?"

"Let me add some Korean and Malaysian foods to the menu. I need to at least prepare rendang, kimchi dumplings, and kuih."

"It wouldn't be Thanksgiving if we didn't bring in a little from everyone."

"Deal."

Thanksgiving was stressful, especially when Blake's sister, Casey, and her husband, Tyler, decided driving down from Chicago for his family's Thanksgiving was a good idea. They took the other guest room and stayed for Thanksgiving with their friends. Tyler's family was celebrating on Saturday due to quirks in the work schedules of a couple siblings, but at least it was in town instead of halfway across the country where his parents now lived.

It shouldn't have surprised Ori that she and Blake flowed around each other perfectly in the kitchen. Casey helped set up the house and washed some dishes while the other two worked. It felt good to put the kitchen through its paces like they used to back in high school, and there was something special about how she and Blake supported each other.

"What's up with you two?" Casey asked covertly when Blake ran to get changed before people showed up.

"What do you mean?" Ori played innocent.

"Are you hitting that yet?" Casey asked, then giggled.

"Casey!"

"Oh, come on, seriously?" Casey rolled her eyes but continued undeterred. "Are you two the only ones that can't see how you look at each other? How you work together? How cute of a couple you would make?"

"I tried, but she shot me down and then went and slept with Mitchell." Ori grimaced.

"Are they still doing that? She thinks she's sneaky, but she's not. Don't give up on my sis."

"I'd complain, but I did something similar when we kissed back in college."

"You kissed in college?"

"Right before I decided to make the worst decision of my life and accept a date with the man that tried to ruin me."

"What are you two talking about?" Blake put on her dress in record time. It was likely intended to be more plain and comfortable than sexy, but nearly everything she did was attractive. The merlot-colored cloth made her bright eyes pop, and putting down her long, blonde hair made her stunning. It also reminded Ori of the prom dress Blake wore back in high school.

"I can't believe you two aren't scissoring each other yet." Casey would never be rated as shy by anyone. She seemed to prove it by making Vs out of each hand and mashing them together. "Come on, sis, kiss the woman!"

"Scissoring?" Blake giggled. "Is that the only thing you know about lesbian sex?"

"Yes!" Casey chuckled. "Make your coochies kiss!"

"Should I feel sorry about what Tyler knows about things in the bedroom?" Blake and Casey tended to egg each other on instead of de-escalating.

"I assure you, everything is great in that department." Casey laughed. "You two should be fucking!" She stomped off dramatically to her room to change out of her flour-bespeckled yoga ensemble.

"We should." Blake agreed with a nod. "Too bad I messed everything up."

Ori was curious to see where the conversation was heading, but the doorbell rang. Their guests had to be punctual for once.

Blake -- Early December

Orianna insisted on getting the Christmas decorations out and in place the week after Thanksgiving. Blake had been slow to get things out as the last couple of years hadn't felt the same without Grandma Cassie and Ori being here. She would begrudgingly get out the tree and decorations a week before the holiday. Tomorrow, Blake would be on a ladder helping to string up new lights on the house.

Ori's zeal for the holiday was infectious in the best way. The lights were another thing her dad loved to do around the house, but she hadn't had anything like that since her dad's final deployment to Afghanistan.

Getting out the decorations in the first place had come from a request of Blake's parents. Their Christmas decorations had been stored in Grandma Cassie's basement since they had moved to Wyoming. She had just gone down to inventory a few special boxes of lights and garland when Ori asked her if they could decorate. After dinner, they would decorate the house on a rare night off from Friday Night Magic for Blake.

"I know Mitchell invited you to family Christmas, but can I offer an alternative?" Blake had Broccoli Cheddar soup ready to dish out with a loaf of fresh sourdough when Orianna got home from a very hectic day.

"And that would be?" Orianna looked frazzled.

"I guess this would depend on your probationary period at work," Blake said. Orianna wouldn't have days off until she finished her probationary period.

"Funny you should say that. I saved the day at work and got called to the office. I get to move to first shift after the new year." Ori smiled proudly.

"Fantastic!" Blake cheered truthfully. She knew how hard Orianna had worked to get where she was and that the layoff did not indicate her skills.

It had taken several months, but Ori was slowly returning to the confident and smiley young woman that she had been since a month into moving here the first time. There was still a spark of darkness that had never been there before Dante had betrayed her. That would likely never go away. Time and therapy were helping Orianna, and Blake hoped that her presence for the woman was aiding in some tiny way.

"That also means that I get to take the last two weeks of the year off." Orianna's smile got wider. "So, what's option two?"

"Well, it's my parents' turn to host Christmas this year." It would be the first family Christmas since her parents moved to Jackson. Last year, Cassie and Tyler hosted in Chicago. "I don't want to drive alone in the winter all those hours. Would you want to come with me?"

"What about Lidia and Steele?" Ori looked concerned.

"Mitchell has volunteered to take Liddy to his parents. She'll get along with his family's dogs. I would take her with us, but there would barely be room between presents, decorations, and luggage. He'll check on Steele a few times, but Steele'll be a happy kitty if he has food, water, and fresh litter. There are some advantages of having cats."

"Sounds like a long drive."

"Tess and Avery are going the same direction until we get into Colorado, so at least we have somebody to convoy with and to have some fun with at stops." Blake tried sweetening the deal.

"Will we get to make Christmas cookies?"

"It's on the agenda."

"But will miss the tree lighting ceremony here," Ori complained. That was Ori's self-reported favorite holiday event.

"That's the weekend before."

"I'd much rather spend Christmas with you instead of Mitchell." Ori smiled. "This soup is amazing!" She took her first spoonful.

"Thanks, it's a Grandma Cassie special." Blake beamed. "How's the bread?"

"Fantastic. Grandma Cassie, too?"

"Nope, Grandpa George. You'll meet him in Wyoming this year." Blake wished she were taking Ori home as her girlfriend, but she'd wrecked everything after Orianna had kissed her. She'd have to settle for being the amazing woman's best friend. Lidia and Steele knew how vital the woman was, flanking her on either side of her typical seat on the couch.

Busy weeks at school and a crowded social calendar made December go by in a blink. Blake barely got a few chapters of her novel edited during that time but made a point to at least look at it every day so she didn't lose momentum. She wished she could get one more chance with Orianna. Maybe their story could be like the pair of brave women at the center of her novel.

Orianna helped Blake install a few IOT devices around the house so she could turn on the Christmas lights at home while they were gone. She also helped with a doorbell camera for the front door and a wired camera out on the back deck. Barking at and chasing a squirrel, Lidia did her part in testing the motion and sound detection.

A few days before they were scheduled to leave, Ori, Tess, Avery, Mitchell, herself, and the Pathfinder crew gathered at their house in lieu of the tree lighting for their Christmas party. White elephant gifts and laughter made the evening feel like Christmases had been back in high school. Though now there was wine, whiskey, and ride shares home for all but Tess and Avery, who crashed in the vacant guest room.

Blake had no idea how the two tall women made the twin-sized bed work for them, but they never complained. They were still sound asleep when Orianna and Blake got up and started working on breakfast. Orianna took the coffee grinder into the garage to get her caffeine fix without waking up their friends. Sizzling bacon was a better alarm than the loud whirring of coffee beans being ground to dust.

"Have you two seen the forecast?" Tess came out of her bedroom purposefully. She was only wearing panties and a short, dark blue T-shirt that didn't do much to cover the pink lace. The lightweight fabric of the T-shirt was tented by a pair of nipples atop large, perky breasts. Blake couldn't help taking a peek at her friend; she was hot.

"No, what's up?"

"They're predicting a huge snowstorm in Colorado at the end of the week." Avery was similarly attired to her girlfriend as she joined them in the kitchen. The fabric on both the ladies' crotches was sheer enough that Blake could see that Avery waxed while Tess had a patch of pubic hair dyed the same color as her Christmas-red hairdo.

Blake couldn't help imagining Ori dressed the same way as the two women as she checked on the biscuits. Her tight yoga pants were nothing to complain about, but just panties would be nice on her dancing-honed ass.

"How big are we talking about?"

"Large enough that Av and I will leave a few days early now." They had a wedding to be at in the southwestern part of Colorado. Tess's mother and stepfather were finally tying the knot. "I thought I'd give you a heads up if you two still wanted to drive to I-25 with us."

"When?" Blake questioned. She wanted to finally see her parents' house and fulfill her promise to Ori to bake Christmas cookies like they used to before Dante.