Work Text:
"Okay, let's go over it one more time."
Cynthia stood in Lydia's bedroom that Friday to rehearse. Usually they met at Cynthia's place because her father was out more than Lydia's parents. This time however, Lydia needed Cynthia over so she could ask her parents an important question.
That question being "can Cynthia accompany us to my surgery tomorrow?" which Lydia's parents agreed to without hesitation. They seemed oddly excited that Lydia had a friend aside from "those theatre boys" as they'd put it.
Cynthia and Lydia had been rehearsing for hours every afternoon that week but not for the theatre like they told everyone it was. Unfortunately, it wasn't the sweet lipstick sharing rehearsing they usually lied about either.
This time they were rehearsing what Cynthia would say should Lydia say anything incriminating under anaesthesia after her wisdom teeth removal surgery.
When Lydia had asked if Cynthia would be there for when she woke up from surgery, Cynthia expressed that she thought that was a terrible idea. She thought her presence would only prompt Lydia to say something that could get her in trouble. But Lydia had been persistent, she was convinced she'd say the wrong things regardless of whether she was there and insisting that she needed Cynthia there to deflect should she say anything dumb.
Obviously, Cynthia wouldn't argue with her. If Lydia believed Cynthia was needed to make sure their secret stayed hidden - that Lydia stayed safe - then she would be there.
Cynthia lifted her hand in mock salute. "Yes, ma'am."
Lydia shot her a sharp look very clearly to disguise her grin. She cleared her throat, standing straight. "What if I say I love you?" She asked like a teacher addressing her students.
"I say I love you too and I'm glad we're friends." Cynthia bit back a snicker at the irony. "Then I distract you, start a new topic."
Lydia nodded. "Good. What if I call you my girlfriend?"
"I laugh and say that just because your other friends are boys does not mean you have to label me as your only girl friend. Then I distract you, new topic."
Lydia prompted her with a flick of her hand. "And?"
"I comment about how silly the drugs make you." Cynthia put on a cutesy voice as though she were talking to a child and not her smokeshow girlfriend.
Lydia rolled her eyes. "Yes. What if I mention kissing you?"
"If it's a subtle mention, I kiss your hand and explain it's a theatre thing. And distract."
Lydia's brows creased together. "And if it's not? Or if I mention anything more than kissing?"
Cynthia squinted. They hadn't really gone over what to say should she mention more than kissing. Until then, Lydia hadn't expressed concern that she would let something like that slip. "...I push your parents out the window?"
Lydia laughed. "Close enough. Interrupt me. Stop me before I can put my foot in it. Just be louder than me."
"Right. Got it." In the beat of silence that fell between them, Cynthia let a grin erupt on her face. "So, have you been thinking about more than kissing me a lot since yesterday?"
Lydia's cheeks flushed red but her expression remained stoic. "Shut up, Zdunowski. Let's run it once more."
Once more turned into four more but Cynthia didn't mind. Any time she spent with Lydia was time well spent. Anything to make her more comfortable about the surgery tomorrow.
...
Lydia's parents and Cynthia had been waiting for about twenty minutes since they'd received the call that the surgery was done before they were taken back into the recovery room. Cynthia had been pacing the entire time. The surgery was still relatively new and Lydia had never been on any kind of drugs before. How did they know she wouldn't have a reaction? She could be dead and missing teeth.
Once Cynthia saw Lydia in the recovery room, she released an audible sigh of relief. Lydia was awake and dazedly looking around the room, one hand pulling at her lip as if to inspect why she couldn't feel it before the nurse swatted her hand away from her mouth. Lydia's face was swollen and her cheeks stuffed with cotton. Cynthia almost laughed.
Cynthia stepped aside as Lydia's parents approached her beside, letting them have their moment despite how she wanted to run into Lydia's arms.
Lydia's mother kissed her on the head and Cynthia wished she could do the same. It was Lydia's cheerful yet cotton-muffled voice that finally invited Cynthia's feet to move towards the bed.
"Cynthia!"
Lydia's parents stepped back, taking a seat in the plastic chairs on the opposite wall, preparing to await their daughter's dismissal.
Cynthia smiled at her girlfriend's wide eyes. "Lydia."
Lydia lowered her voice. "I need to tell you something."
Cynthia couldn't help but chuckle awkwardly, mentally going over all the rehearsing they'd done that week. "What is it?"
"I hate you." Lydia slurred through her swollen jaw.
Huh? That wasn't in the flash cards. Cynthia frowned. Surely that's just the drugs talking? But don't they say that the truth really comes out when you're incapacitated? Ouch.
But Lydia wasn't finished. "Well, I don't actually hate you." She mumbled. "I really like you. But I hate that you make me laugh because your jokes are so stupid."
Cynthia laughed in relief.
"Like you say the dumbest things and I think they're so funny but I shouldn't because they're dumb. So I can't laugh but I want to because you're funny."
Lydia's parents chuckled lightly from where they sat. Lydia's fingers made her way back to the cotton in her mouth but the nurse wasn't watching so Cynthia pulled her girlfriend's hands back to the sheets.
"Well, call me a banana, Lydia. I didn't know you found me so appealing ."
Lydia snorted, her laugh loud but messy through her numbness and cotton. "See! That's stupid! But I laughed! You aren't funny! Why are you so funny?"
Cynthia felt an odd sense of pride. Lydia thinks I'm funny even though she pretends she doesn't.
A different nurse came in with a cup of red Jello for Lydia and stayed to speak to her parents for a moment. Lydia ate her Jello like she was in a dream.
After a while of silent gazing at her empty cup, Lydia reached for Cynthia's arm.
"Cynthiaaaa," She drawled. "Can you pass me Mer-cuttio?"
Cynthia blinked at her. "What?"
Lydia reached her arms out and Cynthia followed her line of sight to her mother's handbag across the room. Poking out of the bag was the stuffed frog plush Cynthia had won for her at the Fall Fair.
Cynthia felt her cheeks warm up as she retrieved the toy and handed it to her girlfriend. "You named it Mer-cuttio?"
"Nooo, their name is Mercutio but their nickname is Mer-cuttio." She clarified as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Cynthia could only smile fondly as she watched Lydia squeeze the frog tightly into her chest.
Lydia was quiet again for the next few minutes, staring at the wall, no thoughts behind her drugged eyes, and Cynthia just let herself watch her.
Even drugged and swollen, Lydia was stunning. Her hair was a mess, falling out of its updo and sticking to her face and Cynthia wanted more than anything to fix it for her. To sweep the loose strands behind her ears and comb her fingers through it. She couldn't though and instead she just admired her, wondering how someone like her ended up with Cynthia of all people.
The next time Lydia spoke, her voice was raspy, as if her three minutes of silence had stolen the ability to speak from her. "Cynthia," She cleared her throat, a grimace of pain following. "Do you want to go to Frosty's later?"
Cynthia smiled at her gently. "I really think you should go home and rest, Lydia. Maybe another day."
"Nooo," Lydia whined. "But I want a chocolate milkshake."
Cynthia tilted her head in confusion. "You don't like chocolate milkshakes?"
"I do now because sometimes you taste like them and I like how you taste."
In a panic, Cynthia laughed loudly. "I don't know what you mean by that, Lydia!!" She yelled in a poor attempt to cover up Lydia's suggestion. Behind her Lydia's parents startled and Cynthia looked to realise that they weren't even paying attention. Cynthia sighed quickly followed by a gulp because now they were listening and she simply couldn't be sure what would come out of Lydia's mouth next.
"I want to ride you-"
To Cynthia's horror, Lydia stopped to toy at the cotton in her mouth once more. Cynthia pulled her hand away again, mentally pleading please let there be more to that sentence .
"-r motorcycle." She continued finally. "We can take it to Frosty's."
Oh thank god. Cynthia wanted to laugh but a shocked whisper drew her attention to Lydia's parents. She could only hope that they weren’t able to see her previous internal panic.
"You ride a motorcycle, Cynthia?" Her mother asked, shock on her features.
"Yes but!” Cynthia was relieved it was just the regular ‘girls shouldn’t ride motorcycles’ concern. “It's safe and Lydia's never been on it!" Yet another blatant lie Cynthia had told her girlfriend's parents.
They nodded and returned to talking among themselves.
Shortly after that, another nurse returned and dismissed Lydia. Cynthia could not have been more thankful.
...
Later that night, when the drugs had well worn off, Lydia asked Cynthia how it went.
Sitting on the floor in Lydia's room whilst Lydia rested in her bed constantly complaining about the pain meds wearing off, Cynthia leant back on her hands casually. "It went pretty well. You didn't say anything incriminating... that your parents heard."
Lydia's eyes widened slightly, the hand that was holding the ice to her jaw falling into her lap.
"Although you did almost say you wanted to ride me."
"What!?"
Cynthia chuckled. "Poorly timed cotton adjustment is all. You fixed it."
"Oh my god," Lydia murmured, her cheeks growing even redder than the ice had already made them.
"Also..." Cynthia grinned at her, slyly. "You think I'm funny."
Lydia groaned, throwing the frog plush at Cynthia. "Shut up, Zdunowski."
Cynthia caught the frog and released a dramatic gasp. "How dare you throw Mer-cuttio at me!”
Lydia froze, her eyes locked on Cynthia's. "I didn't..."
Cynthia nodded solemnly, placing the frog back on Lydia’s bed, before breaking out into a grin. "You did. I can’t believe you named the frog after me.”
“You were never supposed to know that!” Lydia collapsed back into her headboard, eyes drawn to the ceiling. “And you said it went pretty well. This is terrible.”
“Aw, doll, it could have been much worse.” Cynthia reached for Lydia’s hand, pressing a soft kiss to the back of it.
“I’m glad it wasn’t. Thank you for being there.”
Cynthia smiled a childish grin. “Thank you for having surgery so I could find out just how funny you think I am.”
Lydia pulled her hand out of Cynthia’s and reached for the frog once more. Cynthia managed to grab it first, crawling back on the floor out of Lydia’s reach.
“This time Mercutio lives!” She hollered, holding the frog close to her chest. It smelt like Lydia. Vanilla and now faintly of the dentist.
Lydia laughed. “Shut up, Zdunowski.”
Cynthia swelled with pride, clutching the frog like a trophy.
Now she knew Lydia didn’t actually want her to shut up, and that in itself was the best victory.