ᴛʜɪʀᴅ ᴘᴏᴠ

𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱

♛♛♛

Five more steps until her feet would be pointed to her front door.

Five more steps until her current happiness was taken from her.

Five more steps—

Her phone rang, interrupting her thoughts, and she reached for it, picking it up without checking at the caller ID.

"Hello?"

Gracie's husky voice was heard on the other side of the line, making her heart jolt with excitement.

"Hi, Gracie!"

She burst into laughter when she heard Trace yelling her name in the background.

The offer was enough for Hazel's eyes to dart towards her front door. A dilemma to not take another five steps was enough for her.

"Definitely." Hazel exhaled quickly, nearly breathing heavily. Trace clapped her hands happily in the background while Gracie laughed.

"No, I should be fine."

With that, Hazel hung up and looked down at her phone in a daze.

She was relieved to know that she would be spending some of her night away from home. Maybe she'd be able to stay out until they'd passed out.

Nonetheless, she planned to spend some time with her girlfriends. Having female friends who didn't despise you for no apparent reason was the highlight of her life.

Therefore, Hazel scrambled back into her car and began the journey over to Gracie's and Trace's.

♛♛♛

"I cannot believe how stunning this girl is." Trace said with her arms folded, looking straight into the eyes of Hazel.

She blushed and looked down at her fuzzy socks. Normally she'd were plain white ones with her air forces—because of work—but it seemed whoever picked her clothes out this morning decided on the fuzzy ones.

"You both are really beautiful," Hazel mentioned looking between Gracie and Trace. Gracie smiled and pecked her cheek once.

"Enough of this flirting, are we going out to watch a movie or—

"Out!" Trace screamed before anything else was said.

Both girls looked at her, amused expressions on their faces. "Yeah, we can go to the theatre." Hazel shrugged and smiled at the two of them.

Trace laughed and stood from her seat, quickly running over to the kitchen to grab her keys.

"Well, guess that's sorted," Grace said, rolling her eyes at her enthusiastic girlfriend.

"Let's go babies!" Trace yelled from the threshold. Both girls stood, Hazel, slipping her shoes back on and Gracie doing the same, walking out of the apartment altogether.

The drive to the theatre was rather fun. They carpooled with the windows down, singing and laughing all the way through. Trace's driving abilities appeared to be very identical to Julius's.

She sped like a madwoman.

Fortunately, Hazel had grown accustomed to it by this point with Julius. Still, she couldn't believe she was allowed to go 80 mph in a 50 mph zone.

Once they arrived, they quickly made it inside the theatre as it had randomly started to pelt.

"Shit! That came out of nowhere!" Gracie shook her arms around to get rid of all the water droplets, Trace also running a hand through her hair too.

Hazel dusted off the few raindrops that fell on her arms, but other than that she was fine.

Finally starting to look around the theatre, she became in awe. Everything seemed to be big. The popcorn, mini arcade, and general ticket-buying area all were huge.

On two large screens in the heart of the ticket-buying area, the dates and times of all films were displayed. The movie Twilight would be shown in thirty minutes, and Ocean's 8 would be shown in twenty minutes.

"What movie are we in the mood for tonight girls?" Gracie came in between Trace and Hazel, looping both arms through theirs.

"You can choose this time Hazel." Trace smiled and Gracie nodded.

Oh no, she didn't like this pressure. What if what she chose was boring and they hated it and all of a sudden wanted to never hang out with her again?

What would Julius pick?

Definitely not Twilight, that's for sure.

"Maybe Ocean's 8?"

"Ugh, yes, that's why we're besties Hazel," Trace exclaimed, striding towards the ticket counter with a wide grin.

"It's on us, Hazel," Gracie murmured over her shoulder, making her way over to Trace too.

Hazel's eyes widened, and like a volcano, her defensive side exploded. "No, no, no! Please, I'll pay," Hazel hurried over to the register, pushing past people attempting to reach the two girls.

She had placed her card precisely underneath Gracie's before she could tap hers, physically out of breath but mentally placid.

"Haze!" Trace exclaimed, dramatically raising her hands up in the air. While the other two gathered the tickets, Hazel merely smiled cheekily and walked up to the popcorn station.

The next fifteen minutes were spent complaining about Hazel's payment, three excessively popcorn boxes, and Hazel's entire bar of chocolate, as well as the fact that they were going to see a film starring Sandra Bullock.

"So, have you spoken to Julius lately?" Gracie was sitting beside Hazel, Trace on her other side, leaving Hazel to be the middle, in-between.

The advertisements were rolling, and they usually wasted an entire five minutes. Just by the mention of his name, Hazel was already tingling with sensations.

"Uh, yes, I had a sleepover at his place last night." She said subtly. Obviously, this was a bigger deal to them, as seen by the fact that they both gasped at the same time.

"You went to his house?" Trace's mouth was gaped open like a fish, Gracie wearing nearly the same expression.

"Yes...he came by my work yesterday night and I asked him if he wanted to get dinner, he said he was going to cook for me. So he lead me to his house and I ended up sleeping over." Hazel said in one whole go, her mumbling could've only made it so far.

She made sure to leave out the kiss. Her first kiss.

It was far too intimate. Between only her and him.

"And he cooked for you." Gracie seemed to be in more shock, exasperatedly breathless.

"Holy shit," Trace shook her head, chuckling like it was the craziest thing in the world.

"Did I do something wrong?" Hazel mumbled shyly, her hands nervously playing with the ends of her top.

"Oh, no," Gracie said and Trace smiled at her sweetly, taking her hand in hers.

"Honey, you've done nothing wrong, if anything, you're doing everything right."

Now she was confused. What the fly did that mean?

Gracie slid closer, her hand landing on top of Hazel's that Trace was holding. "Julius never lets anyone close to his personal life. He's never had anyone in his car–

"Or his house," Trace added, cutting her off briefly. Gracie nodded and looked back at Hazel, "Or his house." She repeated.

Hazel looked dumbfounded.

"So, it's just...surprising that Julius has somewhat opened this up...for you."

Wrapping their words around her head, she seemed to understand what they were saying. She knew that Julius was a very closed off person, she was definitely aware of that. But what they seemed to be saying was that he didn't allow anyone into his home, or personal life it seemed to be.

"But if that was true, then who was the man in his home this morning?" Hazel asked the question as if the two knew who she was talking about, and she realised that right after the words fell. "There was a man. He was talking to Julius but he left when I arrived."

The two girls exchanged glances as if they were holding a private conversation in their heads.

"Was he a blonde? Blue eyes? Cocky looking?" Gracie gave an exact description of the man, and Hazel nodded immediately when she realised she had successfully identified him.

"That's it!" She glowed with pride as if she had just accomplished something incredible.

The women, on the other hand, did not appear to be impressed. The atmosphere had changed, becoming tense.

"That's Jean Roy," Gracie said, Trace continuing after. "He's Julius's right hand–

"Business partner!" Gracie interrupted abruptly, which had a few people glance towards them weirdly.

"Yes, business partner," Trace looked into space with wide eyes, confusing Hazel by their sudden reaction.

Gracie cleared her throat and continued. "Yes, he's probably the only person that's ever been allowed inside his home, Julius doesn't trust any of his business partners but Jean is one of the few he tolerates."

Nodding slowly, questions swarmed her mind but one, in particular, had only made it out.

"Does he trust you guys?" She asked, looking in between them.

Trace smiled, pulling her into a side hug. "He must if he's letting us hang out with you,"

Gracie nodded, agreeing with her as she looped Hazel's arm through hers. "Even if he didn't, we'd still manage a way to be your friend."

"A secret friendship," Trace said, liking the idea.

Hazel giggled and glided between both the seat and her friends. All of the lights had dimmed to darkness on cue, and the opening credits were rolling in front of them.

Hazel sighed and stared at the screen with her eyes wide open, but her mind was elsewhere. Or, to be more specific, on someone.

♛♛♛

"Anne Hathaway is so hot."

The other two girls nodded in agreement.

"But did you see Rihanna," Gracie added making Trace swoon and Hazel purse her lips.

They stepped back outdoors, the chilly air cooling yet delicate against their skin.

"You do know you're the hottest woman I've ever seen right?" Gracie said, taking a step forward in front of Trace, wrapping her arms around her neck.

Trace blushed, looking flustered. "I know," She gushed. Gracie smiled back, leaning in and giving her a passionate kiss on the lips.

Hazel turned away, she took out her phone and took a few steps back to give them some privacy as it felt as if she was now in their bubble.

She adored the two girls. They were a dream come true for Hazel. Finally, she has her own girlfriends, just like the ones she's read about in novels and seen in movies–Ocean's 8, for example, was one of several feminine films, portraying the friendship that grew among all the women.

A few seconds later, Hazel heard her name being called. "Come on Haze, we're going back to ours." Gracie took her hand, while Trace walked in front, moving toward the car.

Once everyone was seated, Trace drove them back to their apartment.

Exiting the car, Hazel felt the dwelling feeling come back again in her chest. It was the same feeling she had before entering her house, except now she was alerted that she needed to go home.

"Do you want to have a glass of wine with us? It's our Sunday night tradition." Trace said, looking over at Gracie with a smile.

"I don't drink..." Hazel mumbled embarrassed. She knew that drinking was popular amongst her age, well, nearly everyone seemed to drink these days, but after all the drama with her parents, she doesn't think she'd ever even sip a taste of it.

"We've got soda and Juice, you don't have to have the wine," Trace assured her, now opening her apartment door.

Unsure, Hazel looked between the door and her car outside.

"Come on Haze," Gracie tugged her hand, and Hazle sighed, stepping inside with the two girls.

She followed Gracie inside the apartment, darting her eyes all around the place as they lead her to the kitchen.

"Trace knows how to make a really good Piña Colada," Gracie mentioned, sitting on a stool, Hazel follows. Trace nodded, already grabbing the pineapple juice and other ingredients. "Non-alcoholic, of course," Trace assured, smiling at her. Hazel nodded, figuring that it would be nice.

"Thank you," She smiled at Trace, who nodded and started putting everything into the blender.

Hazel stood there watching Gracie pour red wine into two wine glasses for the two girls, her mind wandering to how it tasted.

She had always imagined wine to have a sweet flavour. She wasn't sure, though.

"What does it taste like?" She blurted out, looking at the glass of wine intensely. Both girls stopped their movements, Trace glancing at her from over her shoulder.

"All wines taste different, red wine is made from red grapes, this one specifically is from France made forever ago," Gracie said, inspecting the bottle in her hands while sipping the wine.

"Which makes it even better," Trace said as she poured the cocktail into a tall glass for Hazel.

"Do you want a sip?" Gracie casually positioned her glass in front of Hazel, she stared at it as if it were an alien.

Trace then had placed Hazel's Piña Colada in front of her, a pink umbrella and a pink straw inside as well.

Hazel paused for a while to consider her thoughts. One sip won't hurt? It's just to resolve the curiosity...

"I might just try it." She mumbled and Gracie placed it in her hands.

She stared down at it, gulping heavily before bringing it to her lips and taking a light sip.

Hazel's face scrunched up, dropping the glass back on the table. "I do not like that." She muttered and the girls laughed out of amusement.

"Wines not for everyone. Either you love it or you hate it," Trace said, sitting up on the counter.

Hazel washed the taste down with the pineapple drink, she internally sighed from the absolute sweet taste. "This is so nice," Hazel hummed, slurping her drink.

Talk began between the three women, jumping from the movie they'd just seen, to the plans they had for the week, and then the attention was back on Hazel.

"So, are there any guys you're interested in at the moment Haze?"

Hazel blushed at the question, knowing full well that there was.

"Or girls," Trace added to her question and Hazel giggled.

"Only one, I guess,"

Both women looked over at her, curiosity swimming in their eyes.

"And who might that be?" Gracie's motions were sluggish as if the hour of wine had caught up with her. Her chin rested in her hand, her eyes wide and curious.

"Julius,"

Both girls' faces morphed into one of shock, hiding the fact they already knew the girl was falling for a man that was considered the Devil in disguise.

"Really?"

Hazel nodded solemnly and bit the inside of her cheek. "Please don't tell him, I don't know if he likes me back or–

Trace laughed, interrupting her sentence, following Gracie's sympathetic smile. "Honey, we may be drunk right now but knowing the Julius we do, he most definitely is falling in love."

Hazel's breath hitched, her heart halted and sped right up after. She looked away from them, into space.

"Falling...in love?"

"Mhm," Gracie placed her hand on Hazel's cheek, drunkenly twirling her little strands of hair. "With you, Hazel."

Trace jugged down the rest of her wine and placed the glass onto the counter, wriggling a finger in front of her face. "You just don't see it, but he is utterly skin-deep falling."

"With me?" Hazel said under her breath. Suddenly taking in this information.

"Trust us, Hazel," Gracie said, smiling at her warmly.

"But please don't tell him we said that." Trace winced, and the other two girls laughed away.

Hazel slept over at Trace and Gracie's that night, and for the first time in a long time, her mind was slightly at ease. Their words had calmed her down, and maybe, just maybe, her hopeless hopes could turn out to be hopeful.

But she won't know the real answer until she gathers the strength to tell him how she really feels.

And now that they're apart, she'll have the chance to work on the courage and willpower to tell her first, only, and truest best friend that she's falling in love with him.

Even if it meant heartbreak in the end.