709. Chapter 709

She’s biting at the inside of her cheek again, but Maggie waits.

She knows it’s hard for Alex to ask for help, for advice.

So she just waits, writing in her journal and listening to her music.

And, sure enough, after a few more minutes of cheek-biting silence, Alex shifts closer to Maggie on the couch.

“Mags?” she asks. “Is it okay if I interrupt you a minute?”

“Danvers, you can interrupt me for as many minutes as you want,” Maggie smiles as she finishes her last sentence, presses pause on her phone, and takes out her ear buds. She sighs happily as she looks up to meet Alex’s eyes. “What’s up, sweetie?”

For good measure, she reaches for Alex’s hands, and Alex meets her fingers eagerly.

“Can I ask advice about something?”

“Anything,” Maggie tilts her head, relishing the way Alex looks when she’s thinking this hard, this fast.

“Okay, this… this is gonna sound really stupid and childish. You know what, I – “

“Danvers,” Maggie counters softly, rubbing her thumb over the back of Alex’s hand.

“Sorry. Um. So remember I told you about Vicky Donahue? My best friend in high school?”

A flicker of a smile passes across Maggie’s face as she nods, silent, waiting.

“Well uh, she… she added me. On facebook, I mean. Friended me. And, I don’t know, isn’t… isn’t that weird? Like, after all this time? And wouldn’t I be a bad girlfriend if I accepted it, or like, talked to her, or whatever?”

“First, no. You wouldn’t be a bad girlfriend, Alex. You’re allowed to have friends. You should have friends. Even if that friend is a not-quite-ex-ex that you used to be in love with that you didn’t know you were in love with at the time.”

A short pause fills the room before they both descend into an intense giggle fit. When they pause for breath, Maggie clears her throat, still smiling.

“But seriously, babe. What do you want to do? That’s more important than what I think.”

Alex squints at her before answering. “I mean… I’m curious. I know people add each other after so many years, you know, because why not, people figure, right? I’m just… I’m curious. To see how she’s doing, and to maybe get coffee or something, you know? It might be nice. And I… I know it was so long ago, but I feel like I owe her an apology, you know?”

Maggie nods quietly as Alex continues to talk herself out. “I mean, I know we were kids, and I didn’t know why I… but… you really wouldn’t mind? If I accepted, and maybe messaged her to say hi?”

Maggie shakes her head, this time with a broad smile forming.

“Sounds like you didn’t need my advice after all, Danvers,” she beams, and Alex pffts.

“Sometimes I like to think out loud,” she admits, and Maggie leans forward to kiss her lips soft and slow, with just a hint of sexy.

“I love when you think out loud,” she whispers, and Alex’s voice drops when she responds.

“Anything else you like me doing out loud?” she asks as she scoots closer to Maggie, her hands teasing at the hem of her shirt.

“Yes please,” Maggie grins again as her breath is lost in Alex’s mouth.