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"Why did I think this would be a good idea?"

"Because you care about me very, very much."

"Oh, yeah. That's it," Jade breathes heavily as she completes the last two reps of the box jumps. "I swear I haven't moved my body this much since I was three, as in three years old!"

Every word comes out exasperated from Jade's lips as she tries so hard to maintain her breathing rhythm. The brunette is mentally deciding if she should worry about her heart beating this fast.

Kinsey chuckles as a drop of sweat drips down from her faint widow's peak to the surface of her dark eyebrows. "Ay, you're doing pretty good though. Besides, your ass is looking great if I do say so myself." The blonde pulls up the O.K. symbol with her fingers with the cheesiest smile aimed at Jade. She just couldn't help herself.

Jade catches Kinsey's wink in her direction as she jumps backwards off of the shortest cubed box. Her blush from the interaction is dampened by the flush in her face due to the intensity of the workout. Her stray baby hairs wisk away in different directions, framing her small face.

I don't think my heart should be beating this fast.

Jade decided that their first stop of the early morning would be Kinsey's favorite CrossFit gym in the area. Jade remembers the time Kinsey pitifully explained that she had to stop going to this particular gym because she could no longer afford the monthly fees. Once Jade looked into it, she wondered how anyone who didn't have a stable job could afford these fees. Luckily, Jade never uses her allowance for much of anything besides her all-black clothing collection. She decided to book a session with one of the trainer's Kinsey used to work out with during her sophomore year when she was working to be the captain of the football team. Tommy Holden, the owner of Xtreme CrossFit, played with Coach Ronald in high school. Kinsey met the trainer through Coach Ronald. It goes to show how long the offensive coach had been looking out for young blonde.

Jade surely listened to what Kinsey had to say and she most definitely had the money to do this for her. It felt nice to take care of Kinsey for once since it's always felt like Kinsey was always holding her together, especially these days.

"You always say that crap. I swear you have a strange obsession with ass. It just doesn't seem healthy," Jade sighs before mustering up the strength to jump onto the box again. With a huff she elevates herself to the top of the wooden box again.

I fucking despise exercise, but I fucking love the blonde chick over there. Only if I could say that shit out loud.

Kinsey jumps backwards off of a larger, taller version of the cubed wooden box, "No, I'm just obsessed with your ass."

"You sure do know how to make a gal feel special, don't ya?" Jade sarcastically prunes at the dumb-ass compliment. She narrows her eyes as she prepares to jump back off.

Kinsey finishes her final rep, landing back on the heels of her feet comfortably like a world-class gymnast landing a vault routine. Her hands rest on her hips as she takes in steady breathes to balance out her breathing. She watches Jade beside her silently, enjoying every second of the moment. Relishing in the way Jade's hair is tied up into a messy bun and the way her skin flushes with a red tint. Kinsey had always found Jade's focused, working face attractive as hell. With sweat added to the mix, the brunette appeared ethereal in this poorly lit gym.

As Jade prepares to hop down, Kinsey notices the way she loosens her limbs too early before landing. Kinsey quickly steps in as Jade lands wobbly as expected. Her arms wrap around Jade's waist from behind, holding the brunette up and preventing her from possibly spraining her ankle.

Jade breaths heavily, "Thanks." She turns her head over her shoulder to Kinsey, melting in her touch and the steady laser blue gaze. The touch she's been craving for the past couple of days nearly emulsifies her body. The touch that no one else could replicate, most definitely not Zoé.

"Yeah, no problem," Kinsey casually breathes out, softening her embrace on Jade's body. Her head instinctively rests in the nook of the brunette's neck from behind, ignoring their combined body odor to appreciate their proximity. A proximity that makes Kinsey nearly lose her perfect balance.

"Ay, girlies! We were gonna do another set of bear crawls to close out the session, that's if it's aight with the both of ya?" Tommy spiritedly hollers from across the sparsely filled CrossFit gym. None of the other gym rats lose focus in their own workouts as the greatest pop hits of 2013 blasts throughout the entirety of the gym.

There are a few people in the warehouse/gym this early in the morning on a Saturday, but they seem too focused on their own workouts to mind the girlfriends being girlfriends.

Jade accidentally trips forward and Kinsey takes this as a signal to release her arms from around her. Both girls feel a thrust of wind shoot in between them, warping around their bodies as they detach. It's cold and disturbing, making them miss each other's touch.

Weren't they still in a weird place? Wasn't Kinsey still upset with Jade?

Kinsey fidgets with the baby hairs sticking to her sweaty nape as she recuperates. She hopes that no one saw her basically go weak at the feeling of Jade's skin touching hers. Last thing she wants is Miss Cindy, her previous 57-year old CrossFit buddy to think that she's gone "soft". The hardcore older woman could keep up like no one's business.

Lucky for Kinsey, Miss Cindy is busy executing pull-ups on the other side of the gym right now. She has been working hard to beat her personal record of forty reps. To say the elderly woman with a mop of white, curly hair on her head is jacked is a severe understatement.

Kinsey and Miss Cindy met when the young, obnoxious blonde made a snide comment about someone's "Grandma" being in the gym. She was quickly confronted by Miss Cindy and coerced into a push-up contest, to which she lost by a mere margin of thirty push-ups. Miss Cindy completed thirty more push-ups than the then, future captain of an all-boy football team.

Kinsey not only learned about strength here, but the importance of humility.

Jade nods as Tommy approaches them. Her legs suddenly feeling weak, not from the intense two-hour leg-focused workout but from relishing in the way Kinsey's breath tingled across the skin of her neck.

I knew this girl would be the death of me. I'm literally a bitch in heat.

The man who stood at an inch or two above Kinsey's height strolls up to the pair with a wide grin, emphasized by the chevron shaped mustache running across his thin upper lip. He briefly strokes the lump of hair with his fingers almost instinctively. The deep lines outlining the sharp structure of his face makes him appear widely attractive. A dimple pokes out of his right cheek as he prepares to speak.

"I miss that kind of love. If there's one thing I'll tell ya, it's that you shouldn't take it for granted." Tommy smirks, nudging Kinsey's arm with his elbow.

Kinsey rolls her eyes but Jade stiffens, finding herself stuck on the word choice.

The fuck's everyone's obsession with saying that fucking word out loud?

"For fucks sake, Tommy! Give me ten for being a fucking softie," Kinsey jokingly snickers but to Jade's surprise, Tommy gets down and pops out ten quick push-ups with way too much ease for her comfort.

"Wish she would listen to me like that," Jade sighs under her breathe. Kinsey raises her brow and pushes her tongue against her cheek while staring at Jade quizzically.

The brunette bites her lip in sudden shyness at the intensity of Kinsey's stare.

Tommy simply chuckles at the slight bickering, finding their youthfulness refreshing. Only if Ron and him could have taken his own advice. What could have been lingers on Tommy's mind as he instructs the girls on the final exercise.

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"This is pretty counterproductive don't ya think? Why would I eat a shit ton of pancakes after I worked out for two hours straight," Kinsey attempts to reason, sitting across Jade in the diner's ruby red leather booth. Their lengthy, outstretched legs entangle in one another's under the shaky table. The decaying leather squeaks against their bottoms as they shift in the peeling, geriatric seats.

"You know you fucking love pancakes. Don't even act like you're not enjoying this," Jade warns, rolling her eyes.

Kinsey smiles, always finding it amusing when she can rile up the brunette for some stupid reason.

I do love pancakes. And Jade.

Jade carefully slices through her pile of plain buttermilk pancakes, squinting her eyes because of how serious she takes this process of cutting to be. The expressions on her face switch with every second as she cuts through the pancakes methodically. Her brow rises while her teeth grind in tension as she approaches this like a surgical procedure.

Kinsey notices but ignores it. She classifies it as another one of Jade's OCD-like tendencies.

"You remember our first date?" Kinsey randomly mentions while aggressively stabbing into her large stack of blueberry pancakes with her fork. Her metal utensils scrape against the white plastic plate as she pierces through the daunting layers of fluffy pancakes without hesitation.

Jade finally raises her eyes from her skillful work with the stainless steel fork and knife to feed herself one bite. The carefully sliced piece of fried batter drenched in maple syrup travels into her mouth successfully. To which she smiles while chewing, forcing a smirk on Kinsey's face at how adorable she looks excited about her small accomplishment.

"The so-called date where I found out you were trash at bowling?" Jade swallows, delicately wiping at the corners of her mouth with the napkin laid out in her lap. She half-smirks at the memories, especially at what happened after they finished bowling. That make-out session remains to be one of the hottest to date. Her legs shift beneath the table, causing them to further rub up against Kinsey's.

The blonde's face straightens out, "Really had to bring that up?" She crosses her arms baffled at Jade calling her out on her athletic shortcomings in the very serious sport of bowling.

Jade chuckles lightly, noticing some of the homemade syrup stuck to the right side of the blonde's lip. She points it out by mirroring Kinsey and pointing to her own lips, showing the blonde where the mess is on her face. Kinsey widens her eyes as she brings her hand up to her own mouth. She ultimately finds the mess and doesn't bother to use her napkin, but instead runs her tongue in a circle across her lips to rub off the mess.

Out of habit, Jade mentally notes how the old version of her mother would've reacted if she ever did anything like that in her presence. The thought gives her shivers. But the other side of Jade, oddly finds the nonchalant move attractive.

Fuck! Is my period coming or something? Why the fuck am I such a hornball for her?

"Yes, I absolutely had to mention it. That was when I realized that you were fucking human. It was the first time I realized that this fucking annoyingly, talented girl was mortal. Realizing that you were mortal made it easier to talk to you without burning up inside like a house on fire. Maybe I thought I had the smallest chance." Jade uses her forefinger and thumb to show the smidgen of a chance she thought she had.

Kinsey raises her brows, "So, you knew then?"

"Knew what?" Jade licks her drying lips unconsciously.

"Knew that you liked me," Kinsey clarifies, licking her lips unconsciously since observing Jade do so.

Jade scoffs, looking off to the side, gazing out at the sparse parking lot through the huge windows of the diner. She mumbles "I don't think I should say this..."

Kinsey's shoulders drop, encouraging the brunette to reveal more with her gradually widening, eager eyes.

Jade draws in a breath, "I knew that I liked you since the first time I saw you at the party... when I got a chance to look at you up close after the game. Obviously, the whole female football player thing made you stand out but... but once I saw you in that parlor room I was shook to the core. I wondered how someone could be so attractive yet terrifying. Like why was I scared of you getting any closer but also, why did I want you to get closer?"

Jade's body shrinks as she becomes more vulnerable. Her eyes waver, trying to look away from the girl that always makes her feel nervous, in a good, exciting way. These are thoughts she assumed she would take the grave.

"Well shit," Kinsey chuckles with the widest smile on her face that Jade has ever seen. The blonde averts her widened eyes as she grins widely in the direction of the windows in astonishment.

"Don't clown me," Jade begs, feeling embarrassed. She pouts her lips while covering her reddening face with her hand.

Kinsey's grin widens, if that was even possible, "So, you're "non-gay" ass had been simping over me since then? Damn, I wish I would've known earlier."

Jade shakes her head in shame before raising a brow and tilting her head at Kinsey, smiling. "Why?"

Kinsey smiles endearingly and points her fork at Jade, "Y'know... I purposely went into that room that night of the party because I thought you were cute, just sitting there like a fucking goth statue, reading a book as if you couldn't give two fucks about what was going on in the real world."

Kinsey pauses. Jade doesn't try to speak up as she processes the blonde's words.

Cute? A statue? Like as in art? I know that I looked insanely pathetic and sketchy. What'd she see in that?

Kinsey starts, "I admired that shit because I gave too many fucks about everything at the time, even if it didn't seem like it. I let the outside world get too much in my head. Once I met you... you gave me a break from real life. You made me experience what it was like to actually sit down and smell the fucking roses. That's why I always looked forward to bumping into you in the hallway, just to fuck with you. It was kind of refreshing almost."

Jade relives the moments they shared before confessing that they liked one another. It was a truly tumultuous journey. The banter and fervent tension between them within those two months could have forecasted their future relationship in hindsight.

"It all makes sense now. So, you were an extreme dick because you liked me?" Jade sarcastically places a finger on her chin.

"Ay, I wasn't that bad. I treated you like royalty in comparison to everyone else." Kinsey reasons before stuffing her mouth with another forkful of pancake.

"Oh, yeah," Jade nods, "That one time you threatened to kiss me if I didn't get out of your face was one for the books. I guess you were only less of a bitch to me."

Kinsey mentally cringes at that moment. Now, why did I say some stupid shit like that?

"Yeah, a bitch that was trying to figure out why this small, nerdy brunette made her feel things she'd never felt before." Kinsey shifts forward, resting her elbows on the barely screwed-down table.

Jade blushes at the thought of Kinsey feeling flustered by her presence. Outwardly, the brunette makes this cheeky, mocking expression instead.

Kinsey rolls her eyes and reaches over the table to place her hand on top of Jade's. She distracts herself by extending her long, warm fingers over Jade's hand, playing around with them. Her own form of coping with her sudden vulnerability. She finds different ways to bend and stretch the delicate fingers absentmindedly as their eyes lock.

The subtle touch leaves Jade helpless to Kinsey. Her mind goes blank, unable to recall what they were talking about merely seconds ago.

Her eyes are too caught up in reading through the ice of Kinsey's cerulean eyes. Her heart inflates dangerously at Kinsey's tender gaze.

"How did it feel to 'smell the fucking roses'?" Jade inquires as she regains her train of thought. She has had enough time to process Kinsey's confessions to their fullest capacity by now.

Kinsey loosens her hold on Jade's fingers, drawing her eyes up toward the ceiling as she ponders. She looks back down at Jade.

"Uh, it was new, almost foreign. It felt so wrong to have the luxury of feeling that way though. You made me feel comfortable about opening up, not only about my sexuality but my... issues. I felt like I could relax around you. You made me feel like it was okay to be myself rather than Kinsey Scott, the big persona. I've opened up to you so much more than I have to my own parents." Kinsey runs her hand through her loose locks running down her back.

Jade nods with a soft smile, "And you made me feel comfortable being Jade, the homosexual mess of a person who is still trying to figure shit out."

"Don't do that poetic shit." Kinsey pokes at the inside of her cheek with her tongue, sassily glaring off to the side.

"You know you like it," Jade coos, "I'm your little goth nerd, remember?" Jade purses her lips at the blonde, ultimately poking her tongue out playfully.

"Yeah, but I guess my little goth nerd has upgraded to being my impressively, attractive dorky girlfriend." Kinsey leans in and Jade follows suit as they challenge each other with the flames in their eyes. Their lips merely a few inches apart.

Jade blushes, shyly glancing at Kinsey as if it was the first time she had met the girl. "So, that means you're not breaking up with me?"

"You and I both know that I couldn't do that. You have too much of a hold on me. I've accepted full simp status." Kinsey rolls her eyes at how pathetic that sounded, but it is true. She has come a long way from the girl who couldn't commit to anything besides football. The girl who didn't give a fuck about people's feelings and only fucked guys to prove something to herself. The girl who thought it would be better to suffer in silence. No matter how much Jade hurt her, Kinsey can't imagine letting go just yet.

"I-"

"I'm not completely over it yet, and I think we have more to talk about because we can't let that bitch get away with this shit," Kinsey quickly interrupts, inching her way farther from Jade back into her seat.

Jade silently nods, accepting the condition. She is just grateful that she can continue to call Kinsey hers.

Also, the brunette thinks it's about time to cut ties with the person who has had a grip on her for so long. It's about time she takes the next step in her life. And she owes that to Kinsey but mostly herself.

Jade bites her bottom lip as her eyes scatter across the room. "Kins, I have something to show you."

Kinsey's heart tanks, immediately praying that there isn't another picture of Jade out there somewhere. Her mind can only resort to the worst-case scenario. The blonde watches intently as the brunette leans over to her left to shuffle through her black skull-painted backpack. The backpack Jade had with her the first time Kinsey drove her home.

Kinsey's narrow eyes fixate on Jade, shifting with every slight movement.

Jade quickly slips out a bright neon blue folder from her highly organized bag. Kinsey squints at the piece of flimsy plastic, utterly confused.

Now, why would the cops print out the naked pics like that?

Jade silently slips out a packet of papers and places it on the sticky, unsanitary diner table. Usually Jade would mind her property being coated in a sticky substance, but she didn't care about that now. All she cares about is showing Kinsey how much she means to her.

She pushes one particular piece of paper across the table with her fingers splayed on top of it in a spider-like grip. Kinsey skeptically peers at the singled-out document being nudged in her direction. The blonde has never tried to read over something so quickly before. Her hard, inquisitive eyes scowl at the sheet as she interrogates every word on the page.

At the top reads, KBPD Incident Report Form.

Kinsey catches a few words here and there but what gets her is the handwriting a few rows down.

(Complaint Against (Name(s)): Zoé Abrams

(Description of incident: Zoé Abrams on several instances violated sexual harassment laws by continuously threatening the victim, Jade Hill, with the intention to expose semi-nude/nude images of the victim on the internet. She has done so and has exposed non-consensual images of Jade Hill to the internet for a community of her peers to view. She admitted to posting the images through text exchanges with the victim. The victim also has proof of communication that illustrates the longstanding questionable character of the perpetrator through threats, harassment, and stalking.)

Kinsey nearly chokes on her spit, but her mouth immediately goes dry. Her eyes well with tears almost instantly. Not only is she proud of Jade, but that piece of paper reminds her of the one that was filled out for her when she was about ten. She hadn't looked at that paper since she was fourteen.

The blonde bites her bottom lip harshly to fend off the tears and raw emotion. She stares blankly at the paper, causing concern in Jade.

Fuck, did I manage to find a way to fuck things up again? Jade thinks. Her palms moisten at the anxiety.

Her eyes narrow in at the way Kinsey tears up over this piece of paper. She didn't know how she expected Kinsey to react, but she most definitely didn't expect her to cry.

Jade wants to believe that Kinsey feels so strongly about her decision to report Zoé to the police, but the brunette is more intelligent than that. She suspects something else. There is something that Kinsey isn't telling her and she is bound to figure it out soon.

But for now, Jade gives her the space to process everything the same way she did when she presented the report to her own mother the day before filing.

Jacqueline Hill was petrified, to say the least. Long story short, the mother had experienced another round of heartbreak. The girl she genuinely assumed was Jade's best friend was inflicting pain on her daughter this entire time and she had no clue. She was completely clueless about what her daughter was going through. How could that not make any parent feel pathetic?

After the mother's momentary shock, the older brunette immediately went into momma bear mode and demanded revenge in any way possible. Anger seethed through her skin as her blood boiled endlessly at the thought of Zoé. She mentioned telling Jade's father and that is where Jade stopped her. The brunette wanted nothing to do with her father anymore.

And that is why Jade went to the station two days ago, meeting with Mr. Scott instead to write up her report. Jade had realized that her relationship with Zoé continues to ruin her life like a parasite sucking the life source out of its host. Jade decided it was time to cut ties with this lethal intruder. It was painful but that is what she was willing to do for the girl she loved, Kinsey Scott.

The brunette hesitantly walked into the station, having only been there twice before, looking for Mr. Scott. She dodged her father's office ever so diligently, knowing that if she ran into that man she might've changed her mind.

Once she got into contact with a bewildered Mr. Scott, Jade told him everything. And by everything she means everything. She wanted to make sure that Zoé had no chance of recovering from what she did to her. Mr. Scott was simply infuriated by all that Zoé had put Jade through but unfortunately, he knew that not all of Jade's testimony would help in her case. Jade didn't take pictures of her injuries or receive texts from Zoé admitting to the violence she inflicted on her. It would be harder to prove Zoé's guilt if he included those instances in the report so he decided to leave it to the threat of sharing explicit images without consent since there was proof of the photos.

Ultimately, Jade gave up Zoé's name on the condition that Mr. Scott keeps everything under wraps from his own family, Jade's second family. Even from Kinsey.

Jade didn't feel strong at all. She felt... mixed emotions about ending one chapter and being open to the next, unpredictable chapter of her life. A life without her father, Zoé, and the impending sense of doom she's felt for too long.

She just wants things to be okay for once. Just okay.

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How are we feeling now? Tell me your feelings after reading this chapter!

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How do we feel about how Kinsey and Jade are dealing with the aftermath of the party?

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How do we feel about Jade turning on Zoé?

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I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! Stay on the lookout for more as this story continues to progress and my babies continue to mature (they grow up so fast 😭). Thank you for reading and don't forget to vote, comment, and give me a follow if you'd like! Love y'all and see you in the next chapter! ❤️