Better Than Fiction

by Bet Milner

  Not that she was complaining. It was such a rarity for them both to be in the same city with a relatively free schedule. Danni had some shows but as they were recording, Starr had scheduled some much needed evenings off for his star client to relax. Funny that... Danni thought as she knocked gently on the brunette’s door.

  "Door's open!" Julia yelled from her place at the dining table.

  Danni came in and immediately kicked off her boots. "Don't you think that's funny?" She asked with a suspicious look on her face.

  Julia tore her eyes away from the script and looked at her girlfriend like she was crazy. "You know dear, you have to actually say things out loud. I still can't read your mind."

  Danni stepped closer and knelt down next to the raven-haired beauty. "Oh really? That's not what you said last night!"

  Julia took her glasses off knowing full well where this was heading as she herself was the one who started it. "Yes well, you always seem to have some version of me naked on your mind. That's just a given."

  Danni shrugged. It was true and she really didn't care if Julia knew it. "I meant, don't you think it's a bit of a coincidence that Starr just happens to have a recording studio right next door to where you live?"

  Julia laughed. "Honestly, not in slightest." She blushed just enough that Danni caught her and grabbed her leg before she could scuttle off out of the chair. "What?!" She squealed as she found herself squirming under the blonde's stare.

  "Called in a favor recently by any chance?" She was toying with her.

  Julia shook her head and placed a hand to her heart in mock shock. "I'm offended you would think me so calculated."

  Danni tickled her mercilessly. "Spill!"

  Between guffaws and snorts, because Julia was just too ticklish, she caved. "Okay fine! Oh my word you are so dense! It's taken you three months to figure this out! I might have spoken to Bella a while back and mentioned that the building next door was vacating and that it was a prime piece of real estate. Great sound proofing, convenient location..."

  "Is there anything you don't have your hands in woman?"

  Julia simply raised and eyebrow and dragged her lip between her teeth.

  That darn look is one of the reasons Danni was so completely whipped. They both knew it and the actress was not shy in the slightest about using her skills to her advantage. Except it was never acting if she were honest. Not unless they were playing one of their 'games.'

  Danni conceded knowing when she'd been outdone. She started stripping and walking to the bedroom which had become so familiar. "So what are you going to do about it?" She taunted feeling like she got once got in the last word.

  23

  The next morning Julia found Danni in the kitchen sat at the island with her headphones on and looking intently at the screen. It's a sight she'd become accustomed to over the past months. She despised the fact it will soon be over again when the second album launches and the next tour begins. Not that she doesn't want Danni to have her success. She knows all too well how lucky they both are to be following their dreams and she'd never think of taking it away from her. She crept up behind her girlfriend and was about to go in for a tickle when she noticed the screen.

  It wasn’t the DAW screen she was expecting, but a text Danni seems to be engrossed in. She can't help herself reading a few lines and then it hit her. Danni was reading a GwenAsh fan fiction. Oh she was going to tease her for this. She pulled off one of the headphones and whispered, "So last night wasn't enough you have to turn to fan fiction for more?" It was meant to be a flirtatious joke but Danni had noticeably prickled and looked extremely guilty.

  "Julia I'm so sorry... I didn't want you to find out like this I..."

  Julia cut in. "Relax Danni. I knew you read it since you and Tania introduced me to the whole thing how long ago? If it makes you feel any better, I might have read a couple too to ahem, educate myself." She winked and went to pour herself a coffee.

  Danni still looked like a guilty child with her hand caught in the cookie jar.

  "Yeah I know it's just, I wanted to talk to you about this before but we never really got the chance and then I totally forgot and then the other day I was looking for some lyrics on my laptop and I found this and knew I had to come clean."

  Julia paused with coffee mug midway to her lips. "Wait a minute. Are you telling me you wrote about us?"

  The color drained from Danni's face as she shook her head violently. "No! Oh God no! It was before... before we were together."

  Julia took a huge gulp of coffee not entirely sure how she felt about this revelation. The smile now completely vanished from her face as she tried to wrap her head around all the crazy thoughts swimming around in her mind.

  "Okay. You are going to need to tell me in plain english here because it's too early for riddles."

  Danni nodded. "Before we met, I mean long before, I was kind of into GwenAsh fan fiction as you know. But the story I wanted to read, the one I could see clearly in my mind wasn't anywhere. I didn't understand. It seemed so obvious to me that these two strong women would be great together and I erm, well I decided to try and write it myself. The story I wanted to hear."

  So far Julia was calm. This wasn't ringing any stalker alarm bells in her head, not just yet. She nodded slowly for Danni to continue.

  "So I started writing it and then I got a bit adventurous and started another one along the lines of 'what if...'" She groaned. "...what if it was Ash was an actress and say maybe, Gwen was an unknown rock star."

  Alarm bells went off in Julia's head as she processed this new information. Her heart banged and she spoke slowly. "I need to read it. All of it. I'm honestly not sure how I am supposed to react. I mean, I knew you were a fan and I suppose I can understand you projecting some sort of fantasy onto me."

  Danni cut in. "Yeah but you have to understand, this wasn't You. It was Ashra, your character. Like I didn't know anything about you then and I swear Julia, I never wrote another line after that night I met you in the hotel. Only the music, which, of course you know about."

  Julia wasn't angry. If she really thought about it and as the images of that first meeting in the hotel flooded her mind, she remembered the exact words she had said to Danni about people projecting their fantasies onto artists. She herself was guilty of that with Danni. Since the first time she saw that profile Picture of her in those tight leather pants, she’d certainly had her own fantasies. She poured herself another coffee and swung the laptop around to face her. Danni just looked on helplessly as her world came crashing down around her.

  It was a long story. Over sixty-thousand words. She knew Julia would be reading it for as long as she could stand it and she wasn't sure what to do. "Should I go and..." She began.

  "Sit." Came the monotone response.

  So she did. She sat and waited for her sentencing, occasionally stealing a glance to try and decipher the brunette’s facial expressions. Julia just wore a concentrated expression under her glasses making it impossible to know what was going on inside that gorgeous head of hers.

  After an hour and half Danni was getting antsy. She poured herself a coffee and considered sticking a shot of bourbon in it just to calm her nerves but it wasn't even ten a.m. Julia registered the movement and held out her own mug to be refilled without glancing up from the screen. Danni breathed deep and filled the mug. Okay, she thought. She hasn't kicked me out yet. There's still hope. She took her seat again on the couch and pulled out her phone for a distraction. She decided to message Reese.

  D: Hey, so remember when I was a total loser and started writing that story?

  R: Dude you’re still a loser ;P

  D: I know I am. OMG Julia is currently Reading it and I am so embarrassed.

  R: Whut?? I thought you gays had already come clean about everything.

  D: I totally forgot about it. I swear I just found it on my computer this morning. I’m a wreck. She’s gonna break up with me.

  R: Did she say that?

&
nbsp; D: No, not yet anyhow.

  R: Then chill your beans! It’ll be fine. I mean, the fact she’s okay with you sleeping with my girlfriend should speak volumes.

  D: Oh my god Reese! She wasn’t even your girlfriend then and way to go dragging that image back up! Now I feel even worse.

  R: Any time baby girl! Xx

  Another hour later and an unhealthy amount of time wasted playing solitaire on her phone, Julia finally spoke.

  "And how does it end?"

  Danni looked up sheepishly. "I don't know. That's why I never finished it. I couldn't see past the hook up and then I met you for real and I just cringed and felt like a pervert for objectifying you, I mean Ash, like that."

  Julia had a faintly amused look on her face.

  "You need to finish it. It's well written, succinct and plays like a script."

  "You aren't totally turned off and ready to run for the hills?" The hope resurfacing in her heart.

  The brunette ponders for moment trying to find the right words.

  "I should be. I wanted to be. But I'm an actress dear. I can put myself into all sorts of situations and I know how to distinguish creative license from fact. This here has the potential to be made into a movie and I just so happen to know a certain someone who would be willing to make that happen.

  But it needs a big Hollywood finish." She slowly rose from her seat and crept towards Danni seductively. "It's very flattering by the way. I enjoy being your muse..." She added as an afterthought, "but I am questioning my own sanity and whether or not I have some form of Stockholm syndrome from being with my captor for so long." She was teasing, a bit, but went in for a kiss anyway.

  "So we are good?" Danni mumbled through kisses.

  "We are good. But seriously, finish that story. Re-write it and change the names. Oh and if you need some more inspiration for the big finish, I'm willing to help you out with that."

  "You are honestly the most amazing person I've ever met Juju. How did I get this lucky?"

  Julia grinned. "I believe I am the one who got lucky dear. Now, about that particular prop Gwen used in chapter twenty-six... "

  24

  Danni's new album was done. It was much more political and feminist than her first one and she just hoped her fan base was ready for something so stark in contrast to the first album. Even so, she felt good about it. Better than anything she had written in the past.

  She was well aware that she would be stepping on a few toes but that was the point wasn't it? Julia had been right. She had been given a gift and a chance and she wanted to honor that by at least trying to get a good message across.

  It was in post-production and she only had one show a week now leading up to the new album launch. Starr had been clear that this next tour would be bigger than her first and she should take as much opportunity to rest as she could. But she just couldn't.

  Her mind was still trying to work out that 'big finish' Julia wanted her to write and she couldn't do that with said woman distracting her. She felt so much pressure, knowing that it would not only be likely turned into a movie, because she knew just what that woman was capable of, but the fact that whatever she ended up writing was going to set the standard or reveal what she really wanted from her relationship. It was too much to process and she needed to put things in perspective, so she flew back to Boston.

  Originally, she'd set out to write a tragedy, a cautionary tale if you will, about meeting your idols. Then she changed her mind as she got into the writing of it and planned to give the characters a happy ending. But she still couldn't work out just what that happy ending would look like. Not now she was dating the woman who inspired the story in the first place.

  Music, she could write. Music was wham bam, thank you ma'am and on to the next. But this story was basically her life with a few minor exaggerations. She hadn't noticed how many similarities there were before. If she were honest, maybe she had but pushed them out of her mind.

  Their relationship was so much better than the fictitious one she'd long ago crafted. Hell that would be one fluffy movie she would want to see! With that thought, a lightbulb went off in her head and she knew there was only one possible ending to the story, no matter how cliché. Hey, clichés are cliché for a reason!

  ~

  Julia was a bit annoyed. She'd just gotten off the phone with her agent who explained that the trilogy was being signed up for yet another crossover with new characters and more back stories. She wasn't under contractual obligation anymore but she was torn between her sense of obligation and her desire to move forward.

  She needed to get out. Do something fresh and exciting. She'd been moping a bit because Danni hadn't been around for the last few days because she'd gone home to visit Reese. She didn't begrudge it but she would have loved to go too if she were truthful with herself.

  Her apartment seemed empty without the blonde there. She just couldn't think about doing another stint as Ashra and then Danni going off on tour again. They would never see each other. It hurt so much. She sent a quick text to Bella and then began packing up a small overnight bag. Her phone vibrated it's response a few minutes later then she was out the door and impulsively making her way to the airport.

  Later that night as Danni stepped onto the stage, her stomach was in knots. It was her final show for the "A Taste" tour; her new album would launch next week and what she had planned for tomorrow was making her jittery. She hadn't heard from Julia since she left and she'd tried to call earlier to let her know she'd be back in New York the next day but it had gone to voice mail three times, making her all the more agitated.

  She'd thought of all the possible reasons her girlfriend wouldn't be picking up but she knew her schedule was open so her conclusion was that, either something had happened to her, her phone or she was pissed that Danni had chosen to spend the last few days in Boston. She hoped she was just pissed. She could totally handle that.

  Her eyes swept the crowds of fans and their banners not really paying much attention to anything until one caught her eye midway through the chorus of, He won't love you like I do.

  She read the sign.

  'So what are you going to do about it?'

  The sign disappeared as she sang the next line. She couldn't see the person who had held it up. Could have just been Reese fucking with her knowing what she'd got up to earlier that afternoon.

  Another one popped up in the same place and she read it.

  'I miss you like crazy'

  She still couldn't see who was behind the sign but her stomach churned with the possibility of who it could be. She wouldn't, would she? Moving into the second verse, her eyes fixed on that one tiny spot in the crowd waiting for a glimpse. One more sign.

  'Move in with me please Danni?'

  The sign popped out of sight and a small face she'd recognize anywhere appeared looking slightly worried.

  Danni cut the band off abruptly to the confusion of all in the jam packed venue. Her heart was thudding fast as she called the crowds attention.

  "Sorry to stop the show but this is kind of a big deal. See that woman there in the red shirt?" She pointed out Julia and the crowd whipped their heads around looking frantically everywhere in the direction she was pointing with curiosity.

  "Julia Jones?" Someone from the crowd called causing oohs and ahhs to go up.

  "Yes! Julia hot damn Jones!"

  Julia blushed and laughed at her sudden recognition in the previously anonymous crowd. She had no idea what Danni had planned but she'd hoped it would be good otherwise she'd just made a huge fool of herself.

  "I need you to get her up on stage. Any way you can... to hell with it... crowd surf her ass up here!" She grinned hard and couldn't stop the laugh at the woman's face as she was unceremoniously picked up and motioned forward by hundreds of unknown hands.

  A few copped a feel, pinching and slapping her ass but it was such an amazing rush that she didn't care in the moment. When she reached her destination to roars of applause
and was pulled up to her wobbly feet by two burly security guards, she quickly straightened her shirt and fist punched the air as she turned to the crowd. She'd never been on stage at a rock show and she understood now that buzz Danni was always talking about felt like. She was so happy for her. All those people there just for Danni.

  She turned to the blonde and bit her lip shyly realizing she was very publicly about to be either humiliated or embarrassed. Maybe she hadn’t quite thought this through.

  Danni shuffled on her feet looking more nervous but she spoke confidently into the mic.

  "So guys, I don't know if knew but Julia Jones is my girlfriend."

  The crowd roared and wolf whistled in appreciation and the stage floor rumbled with the stamping. The women on stage couldn't tell if it was their heart's beating in their chest or the vibrations from the crowd, but either way it felt amazing.

  She giggled into the mic and shook her head. "I had no idea she'd be here tonight... this is awkward."

  Julia's face looked worried. Danni quickly back tracked "no! Oh no not in a bad way... I hope I mean..."

  Someone heckled "make out already!"

  Danni heckled back.

  "Give me a second alright?” The crowd laughed and she continued once it had died down a bit.

  “So the thing is, she just asked me to move in with her with an awesome sign... the answer is yes by the way...but hold on... wait here one sec..." She dropped the mic and ran off stage.

  The crowd who had just started cheering began booing at the 'but' and Julia was left alone on stage while the masses started a clap chant of why are we waiting. She felt like a complete fool stood up there expectantly. She was definitely going to kill the woman if the angry mob didn't do it for her.

  Danni bounced back on stage, cheeks flushed and panting like a dog. It wasn't that she was unfit, she was just nervous but Julia had made a move first. She knelt down to pick up the mic but didn't get back up. Julia looked down and now noticed the box in Danni's free hand. Her heart fluttered.