by Aidan Wayne
Chapter Seventeen
HEY, DANA’S phone read when she got off work Wednesday evening. Are you out of work yet?
Just getting on the bus now. Should be home in like half an hour.
Good. I’ll see you soon!
Dana smiled down at her phone before putting on her Pandora station and plugging in her earbuds. Easiest way to pass time on the bus, she’d found. She was looking forward to getting home and changing. She liked Tower of Terror next after working Fantasmic, but she hated the fact that she had to wear tights. Dana was positive that there didn’t exist a pair of tights that actually felt comfortable.
Once the bus dropped her off, Dana set off for her apartment at speed. It was a nice evening, a bright moonlit night that was pleasantly cool. Maybe Ashlee would be up for going on an evening walk or something. She’d seemed a lot better today and had seen Dana off to work.
Dana climbed the very familiar steps to her apartment and unlocked the door, stepping out of her shoes and throwing her keys back in her purse. When she looked up, it was to see Ashlee peeking her head out of the bedroom door.
“Dana! Welcome back.”
“Thanks. How are you feeling?”
“So much better, oh my god,” Ashlee said, coming into the hallway. “Are you going to get changed?”
“Yeah. I want out of these tights.”
Ashlee giggled. “You might as well just put on your pajamas. It’s already seven o’clock. Where else do you have to be?”
That was a good point. And while it was a nice evening, she and Ashlee could go on a walk tomorrow too, just as well. “Okay, yeah. I think I’ll do that.”
Ashlee smiled. “Go ahead and get comfy. Meet me back out here when you’re done?”
“Sure.”
Dana went into the bedroom and changed out of her skirt and peeled off her tights, before pulling on her nice, baggy pajama bottoms. She unbuttoned her blouse and, after a second of debate, took off her bra too, before putting on her pajama top. Ashlee wasn’t going to care. And that was another positive thing about being comfortable with Ashlee now: also being comfortable enough to walk around “dressed down” without having to worry about… well, being uncomfortable.
When she left the bedroom again, it was to see Ashlee standing in front of the kitchen counter and holding out an… apron?
It was super cute too; dove gray and white polka dots, with light purple accents in the form of a top pocket and a ruffly bottom. “What’s this?”
“It’s for you.” Ashlee grinned. “I looked on Amazon first, but they didn’t have anything that stood out? But then I thought about searching for something on Etsy and they had such great stuff, and this one basically had your name on it.”
Dana came over and took it. “Wow,” she said. “Thank you. What’s this for?”
“I wanted to do something nice for you,” Ashlee said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Since you’re always doing nice things for me.”
“Well, thank you,” Dana said again. “It’s really nice.”
“It’s only the first part. You haven’t had dinner yet, right?”
“Um. No?”
“Great. Put on your apron. We’ve got some cooking to do!”
Ashlee proceeded to pull out a children’s cookbook—but one that was in Spanish, and then she opened it to a specific page.
“I thought we could make this together,” she said, pointing out the recipe. “I google translated most of it, but I also made Javier help me with some of the harder bits. So we have an English version in case the Spanish one defeats us. I got the ingredients and everything. I made sure Javier helped me with that.”
Dana saw the counter was all set up. She looked back to Ashlee, who shuffled her feet. “I thought it would be, you know, fun. And give you a challenge. Sort of?”
“Wow,” Dana said, smiling. “Yeah, okay. That does sound fun. Sure.” She tied on her apron and smoothed it out—it was so cute—and set the cookbook on the counter so that she and Ashlee could bend their heads over the recipe for a simple paella. The fact that it was for kids made it easier for Dana to understand, and she was pretty sure she’d be able to get through the recipe without needing to look up translations.
The recipe wasn’t too complicated, which helped. It came together fast (another nice thing, since Dana was hungry), and Dana hung her apron over a kitchen chair once the food was ready. The two of them went to sit together on Dana’s bed, plates in their laps, to watch a Food Network show—something they both had a fondness for.
Once they were done, Ashlee went to put the used dishes and cutlery away, then came back to sit next to Dana on her bed. She moved as close to Dana as she could get, and Dana took the hint, slinging an arm around Ashlee’s shoulders.
“So?” Ashlee asked. “Was that okay?”
“It was great,” Dana said after a long second. “You didn’t have to do all that.”
“I wanted to. You deserved it.”
“Thanks, Ashlee.”
Ashlee shifted just enough so that she could tilt her face up to kiss Dana’s cheek. “You’re welcome.”
Dana smiled and turned more fully to kiss Ashlee on the mouth. Ashlee kissed back, pulling Dana in. It was only several minutes later that Ashlee moved away. “Let me get changed into my PJs,” she said. “So we can both be lazy and comfy.”
Dana chuckled. It was eight thirty. “I won’t stop you.”
Ashlee stood up and walked the few feet to her own bed to where the short-and-tank-top set she had left on her pillow from that morning was lying. Dana watched her pull off her shirt and then reach around to unhook her bra before she could really process what was happening. She opened her mouth as soon as she realized—“Ashlee!”
Ashlee turned around, frowning in confusion. “What?”
“I—you—” Dana floundered. She and Ashlee had both been careful about changing without the other in the room or going into the bathroom to change. Dana first had done so because she hadn’t been comfortable changing around another person, and then had kept it up out of habit. She’d assumed Ashlee had been doing the same.
“Oh!” Ashlee said, dropping her hands so she was standing there, facing Dana in just her bra and shorts. “Does it bother you? I’m sorry, I—” She grabbed her discarded shirt and held it in front of her. “I didn’t even think about it. I just, I’m, you know, I’m comfortable with you so I just—”
Dana swallowed. “No, um. Don’t apologize. It’s… it’s okay. I don’t mind. I just didn’t think… um….” She flushed, uncertain of what she actually wanted to say. “I… you don’t mind?”
Ashlee shook her head. “I mean, not really? I sort of was careful when we, you know, um, first met but, Dana, I’ve spent basically my whole life changing around other people. Dance costumes, quick changes, shared dressing rooms, all that stuff. It’s not a big deal to me. It was,” she added quietly. “But it’s not anymore. But I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”
“You didn’t,” Dana said again. “But it is a little weird now.”
Ashlee smiled ruefully. “Yeah, a little. But I can still go into the bathroom.”
“How about—” Dana cut herself off.
“Yeah?”
“Um, you can… you can go ahead, if you want to. I just—I’ll look over here.”
“And you really don’t mind?”
“I… I think it’s something I’d like to be comfortable with. Even if I might not be ready yet?”
“Dana,” Ashlee said, picking up her pajamas. “It’s okay. I’ll just change in the bathroom. Be right back.”
She left the room, door closing behind her. She was out again moments later, throwing her clothes in her hamper and sitting down on her own bed. Dana felt a loss at the distance and wished she hadn’t made things awkward.
“Sorry,” Dana said. “For being weird.”
Ashlee shook her head. “There’s nothing to be sorry about. I should have, you know, thought about yo
u. It’s not just about me feeling comfortable, it’s about you feeling comfortable too, right?”
“Yeah,” Dana said. “Thanks. I mean it when I said I don’t mind, but I guess….”
“Yeah?”
“I guess I mostly feel bad that I wouldn’t be able to, I don’t know, reciprocate, I guess.”
“What do you mean?”
“Being able to walk around in PJs around you is a big deal to me,” Dana admitted. “I don’t, um, I don’t tuck when I’m dressed down. You’ve noticed.” She knew Ashlee had. At first—and she had cared—and then later, when she didn’t.
“Right. Yeah.”
“So that’s about as personal as it gets for me. But I don’t think I’d be up for anything else. At least not like, casually.”
“Casually?”
“Like you did, all not-thinking-about-it. I’d be thinking about it. About what I was doing.”
“Oh.” She watched Ashlee ponder this. “Well, I guess it comes down to if you want to or not. If you don’t want to change around me, that’s cool. If you do, that’s cool too. And I might change around you a little more either way, if you don’t mind it. It can be annoying to have to go into the bathroom to change every time.”
Dana giggled. “Okay.”
Chapter Eighteen
IT KIND of sucked that Ashlee wasn’t spending the rest of November getting ready and training for Mickey’s Christmas parades or park shows, but she tried to focus on what she did have instead. She still had being a face character and hanging out with Maya (and learning dances from her too), and Disney itself. While Thanksgiving had been uneventful—she and Dana had both spent the whole week and weekend working—things quickly shifted over to getting ready for Christmas, and that was something Ashlee was absolutely looking forward to.
Christmas was always Ashlee’s favorite holiday. It was fun and food and family, and decorations and presents and treats. The former was obviously more important than the latter, but the latter obviously made things better.
She wasn’t going home for Christmas, though. She’d already made that decision back when she’d first applied for the fall program. She wanted to fully experience Disney and the program, and that meant for Christmas too. She was already going to be working for the actual day; she knew that for sure—most people tried to get it off, so cast members who were available to work did so. And honestly, she was sort of looking forward to it. Call her ridiculous, but the idea felt sort of magical.
Dana wasn’t going home for the holiday either, and that was another thing Ashlee was looking forward to. She hadn’t ever had a “someone special” for the holidays. It would be a new experience. And, she hoped, a good memory.
They already had things planned out. They were both working Christmas day—Ashlee an afternoon shift and Dana a night one—but Christmas Eve they were both off at three, so home around four or four thirty. They were going to make dinner together, and drink (homemade) hot chocolate and watch silly hallmark Christmas movies and exchange gifts. And the nice thing about the next day was that neither of them had a morning shift, so they could stay up late together if they wanted.
Ashlee was really looking forward to it. And the closer the day got, the more excited she became.
“Okay,” Maya said plopping down next to her. “You are actually grinning so much that you’re starting to freak me out.”
“Oh stop,” Ashlee said. “Like you haven’t gone on and on and on about what you and Bolin are going to be doing, and how he got lunch reservations for Christmas day and how magical and amazing it’s going to be.”
“Got me there.” Maya sighed before taking a long drink of water. “So,” she said when she came up for air, “what’s this smile for?”
“Nothing new,” Ashlee said. “It’s just that I can’t wait to go home and see her and spend the rest of the day with her.” She twisted her fingers together. “Hopefully the night too.”
That was something else Ashlee had been thinking about a lot. Not even sex, because she didn’t think she or Dana was ready for that yet. But sleeping together in the same bed was its own sort of intimacy, and Ashlee wanted that. She liked cuddling with Dana awake. She wanted to know how it would feel to fall asleep with her. And not from across the room.
“OMIGOSH, THEY’RE so cute,” Isabella said, squeezing Dana one last time before letting go. She immediately took out her studs and replaced them with the studs Dana had given her for their gift exchange; a Mickey symbol decorated to look like it was wearing a little Tower of Terror uniform. Dana did have to admit they were ridiculously cute.
“Are you kidding?” Dana asked. “You’ve only been talking about wanting a Tower of Terror keepsake for ages. And you love earrings.” She’d been scouring Etsy to find something Isabella would like, and the earrings were perfect.
“Thank you,” Isabella said again, before pointing to the little wrapped box she’d given Dana. “Okay, now open yours!”
Dana unwrapped her present. It was a set of those folding silicone measuring cups.
“Thank you.” Dana smiled. It was a practical present, but she was a practical person. Isabella knew her well. “These will be great to use. Easy cleanup. And I can take them back home with me and they won’t take up any space at all.”
“And I got them in purple, of course.”
“Of course.”
Isabella grinned at her. “Did Ashlee’s present finally arrive?”
“Yes, thank god,” Dana said. “Which, considering Christmas Eve is tomorrow.”
“I guess that’s what you get from ordering something from Ukraine.”
“She’s basically obsessed with this artist, though. She’s shown me her work like half a dozen times.”
“Was she dropping hints, you think?”
Dana shook her head. “I don’t think she’s the type to do that. I think she just genuinely wanted to share the artist’s pieces with me. She does that a lot. We’re both Etsy addicts at this point, so we share our favorites. And it certainly made it way easier to find a present. I hope she likes what I got.”
Isabella rolled her eyes. “Dana, you just said that this lady was one of Ashlee’s favorite artists ever. Of course she’s going to like it.”
“But what if I got it in the wrong color? Or she wanted earrings and not a bracelet?”
“Dana.” Isabella put her hands on Dana’s shoulders. “The bracelet was literally in Ashlee’s favorites. You showed it to me, remember? She’ll like it.”
“I hope so.”
“She’ll like it,” Isabella said again. “What do you think she got you?”
Dana shrugged. “I don’t know. She already got me a present, like, less than a month ago.”
“And she put a present addressed to you under the little tree that you guys set up. Meaning she got you something.”
“Yeah. But it doesn’t matter. Maybe she got me another baking thing.”
“For Christmas?”
“Hey, you got me a baking thing,” Dana pointed out.
“Okay, one, we set a ten-dollar limit for gifts. Two, I am also not your girlfriend.”
Dana laughed. “And my real present is going to be getting to spend the night with her and to cook together and watch dumb movies and drink hot chocolate. I don’t care what physical gift she gets me.”
“You are the sappiest sap. No one would peg you for it, but you are the sappiest.”
“Oh, like you’re any better with Eddie.”
Isabella shrugged. “Okay, fine, you got me there.”
“THAT WAS great,” Ashlee said after dinner, when she couldn’t eat any more food.
Dana grinned. “Good to hear. And good for you! You did do half of it.”
“Well. More like a quarter.”
“Hey, help is help. And you made the dessert.”
Right. Dessert. Ashlee had saved a little bit of room for that. She’d made a custard. It had been a lot of stirring and was setting in the fridge now. She had nev
er made it before, but it was fairly simple (just time intensive) and the spoon had tasted delicious. “It still needs a little more time to set, I think,” Ashlee said after checking it.
“That’s cool. Did you want to do presents? Or another terrible movie?”
“Presents,” Ashlee said immediately. They’d amassed a little pile between friends, family, and each other.
Dana laughed. “Sounds good to me.”
They moved from the kitchen table to the living room area, where they’d put a little tree that Ashlee had bought at the supercenter. Underneath it were the presents that Dana and Ashlee had gotten—less the gifts that they’d just exchanged with friends person to person. Ashlee was going to be skyping her family tomorrow after she was done with work, and she’d be opening their presents to her then on camera—she was pretty sure Dana was going to be doing the same at some point tomorrow too—but there was still a little pile of presents aside from that.
“Hey,” Dana said to Ashlee. “Would you hate me if I suggested that we open our presents to each other last?”
Ashlee shook her head. “I like that idea.”
They took turns opening up packages or cards, setting their prizes down in their own little piles. Ashlee had gotten a Rapunzel sunburst pendant necklace from Maya, some really nice chocolate bars from Neil and Javier, and an Amazon gift card from her manager. Among Dana’s presents were some Chinese candies and snacks from Meiying, and a spice bundle set that Eddie, Bolin, and Isabella had all gone in for. Dana had mostly made baked goods as presents to give out to people.
She and Dana each took a piece of chocolate before they picked up the gifts they’d gotten for each other and exchanged them.
“You open yours first,” Dana said, poking Ashlee with her toe.
“Okay,” Ashlee said, setting the box in her lap. It was beautifully wrapped. “Did you wrap it yourself?”
“Are you kidding? It wouldn’t look half as nice if I’d done it.”