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"I petition for the abolishment of alcohol."

"Quit yapping your trap and knock pack the ibuprofen," Kinsey commands before taking a massive swig of her black coffee from a hot pink mug that says, "Some people just need a High-Five to the face," on it.

Jade's disgust with her girlfriend drinking black coffee with no sugar is put at a standstill as the throbbing in her brain has all of her attention. Nausea makes her head spin in endless circles as the pervasive scent of alcohol on her breathe continues to make her feel dizzy. She would've opted for a quick brush of her teeth and a shower before coming downstairs, but the thought of standing on her feet for that long made her even more nauseous.

I'm never drinking any fucking thing for the rest of my life.

Kinsey side-eyes the brunette hunching over the kitchen bar cloaked in the largest black hoodie she owns. The blonde proceeds to pull back the hoodie from Jade's head to sneakily run her nimble fingers through the brunette's clump of hair.

The sight oddly resembles that of a dog being petted, but Jade doesn't care as the scalp massage gives her some sort of relief from the pounding headache pain.

Jade squeezes her eyes shut, melting into Kinsey's magical fingers playing in her hair.

She really knows how to work her fingers.

Jade remains motionless, hunched over the countertop with her arms folded as she questions all her life decisions up to this point. Concurrently, Kinsey keeps at massaging her beloved girlfriend's scalp while smirking fondly at the girl. Fucking amateur.

Her tender eyes scan the brunette in her entirety. The revelations from earlier this morning make Kinsey's head spin. She wants to act on it, but she finds herself in a stalemate when it comes to Jade. Kinsey never cared for the consequences of her actions until it came to Jade.

Would Jade be angry if she went out to find Zoe and as a result, the girl decided to expose those images? How would Kinsey help Jade then, if it was her fault? Would Jade ever trust her again?

Kinsey sighs deeply as a result of her endless thoughts, getting a side-eye from Jade, who peeks up at the blonde before hiding away in her hoodie again.

"I am genuinely curious, why this party?" Kinsey's eyes casually zone in on the brunette hiding in her cloak.

Jade sluggishly morphs out of her makeshift cocoon like a Transformer to give Kinsey a bold brow raise. "You're kidding?"

Kinsey returns the look with a brazen squint of confusion.

"No, I'm not. I know you don't like to believe this, but not everyone can read your mind. All I know is that you wouldn't just go to a party and get drunk off your ass just because Alex asked you to. If there's one thing that you're consistent in, it's refusing to be social especially when you don't have to. I know you would turn down that party in a heartbeat if it meant being in a space like that."

Jade maintains a solid stare at Kinsey.

Kinsey challenges her stare with an even more intimidatingly deadly brow raise.

Jade averts her eyes, suddenly biting the inside of her cheek. "I don't know what you're talking about," she strains, maintaining her composure while her eyes tell a different story.

Kinsey notices the way Jade's tongue starts swiping across the corner of her bottom lip until the brunette becomes aware and fights the action midway.

"Really?" Kinsey tilts her head to the side, displeased.

Jade sighs, cursing her conscience for the guilt she takes on for obviously lying to Kinsey, especially after all that fucking baggage she dropped on her earlier this morning.

Remembering the way she broke down sends chills down her spine. She had never told anyone about Zoé before.

"If I tell you, don't fucking make fun of me," Jade warns with her groggy voice and squinted eyes.

"Just tell me," Kinsey groans, slightly upset that the brunette would think that she would make fun of her just because. If it's really stupid, I'll roast the shit out of her.

Jade runs her hand across her face, "I went because Alex asked me to, but I also went because I don't want you to always have to spend time doing boring shit with me. I know that you're popular and you have friends that aren't me. You'd rather be out partying than staying home with me while I finish up a history paper and stuff my face with junk food. I wanted to be that girlfriend that was fun and lit for once."

"Number one, don't ever say lit again, little dork. That shit just doesn't sound right coming out of your smart person mouth." Kinsey directs, sarcastically tightening her lips together.

Jade rolls her eyes, dropping her head back down onto her folded arms on the countertop. Instead of hiding her face this time, she rests her head on its side, allowing her to view Kinsey sitting beside her on the next stool over.

The blonde looks gorgeous even though she slept in jeans and a t-shirt last night. Her messy, wavy hair falls on both sides of her face to compliment her beautifully tired eyes with faint bags decorating them.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry," Kinsey pleads, chuckling as she moves her hand from Jade's head to rest on the small of her back.

"Jade, I don't get lit like that. I never liked going to parties and I only went to them because of James most of the time." Kinsey feels a lump in her throat as she mentions her recent ex-best friend.

Jade doesn't respond but leaves room for the silence.

"Jade, one of the reasons why I liked you in the first place was because you weren't about that life. You didn't like to go to parties and you weren't extroverted and extra like most of my school friends are."

"That's a nice way of saying that I'm 'not like the other girls," Jade groans, suffering from her hangover symptoms while attempting to engage in such a deep, riveting conversation.

"Well, I haven't had much experience with 'other girls' so I wouldn't know, but I know that you're my girl. I know that you make me feel comfortable when I'm not a hundred percent every day. I don't have to put on a mask or a filter when I'm with you and that means much more to me than any other relationship I have with most of my 'friends' from school."

Jade blushes slightly, feeling the warmth of her face radiate onto her hoodie. She fights the smile that wants to overcome her face as she closes her eyes to avoid gazing into Kinsey's.

"Don't avoid me. Open your eyes," Kinsey demands, cupping Jade's chin with her gentle hand.

The blonde playfully tilts her head to match Jade's position. Jade feels like lasers are being pointed at her face, but it's only Kinsey staring at her. The pressure forces her to open her eyes. As her eyelids flicker open, she is met by Kinsey's arrogant smile and blindingly bright ocean blue eyes.

"When did you become so poetic? Is Kinsey going soft?" Jade teases, smiling gingerly at the blonde.

"I never did. I only speak what's on my mind. If you call that poetic then whatever," Kinsey scoffs, reverting to her true personality.

Jade lazily smirks through the headache pain. "That's my Kinsey."

"Damien, I swear if you hang up this phone, your assets won't be the only things you'll be losing!" Jacqueline Hill stipulates as she charges into the living room with her heels clicking at a quickened speed.

The girls snap their eyes in Jacqueline's direction, inspecting the situation with squinted eyes and narrowing brows. Kinsey lifts her head from the table calmly, monitoring Ms. Hill's every movement as the rage in her voice and annoyance on her face is vehemently evident.

Jade, on the other hand, rapidly picks her head up to her dismay and the throbbing on the side of her head.

Her heart starts quickening in pace as she processes what is going on. She wants to dissipate into an unknown universe.

She is not only embarrassed by her mother's intensity, but she is anxious about the situation with her father. It's obvious that her mother is speaking to her father about the messy divorce that's been in action for weeks now. It's been nearly three weeks since Jade was told by her mother about the divorce. Jade hadn't spoken to her father since and he hasn't reached out to her either.

He's only been talking to Melanie lately, probably because the older sibling had decided that she would move in with him in the apartment he is renting in the city. Lucky for Melanie, dad liked her more.

Melanie and Jade haven't spoken much either. It is difficult for either sister to get on the phone as this divorce continues. It's obvious that sides have been taken but their love for one another remains in their disconnection.

Jade doesn't like to dwell on how worthless it makes her feel because she doesn't have time to unpack why her father doesn't give a fuck about her. Yeah, she could call him, but for what. What could he say to make her feel any better about what happened? What could Melanie say to fool her into believing that he cares?

Her mother had been doing a better job of being a parent than him lately. No one should have to beg for someone to be their parent.

That's one thing that Jade's learned since observing Kinsey's parents.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. You stay on the phone until I have said my piece!" The older brunette woman declares, strutting into the living room area in her black pinstripe pantsuit. She gets far enough into the room to notice the pair of women staring at her.

Her face softens immediately as she eyes Kinsey and then Jade, silently mouthing 'sorry' to her daughter. Her minimally winged eye-liner and solid deep burgundy lipstick compile to create Jacqueline Hill's signature look. A look that is well put together. A look contrasting from the worn-out, fatigued figure the girls witnessed last night.

Kinsey slowly peels her eyes away from the sight. She's a mother. My girlfriend's mother. Totally not hot. Not hot.

Jade nods and drops her head back to her folded arms with a thud.

Kinsey bites the inside of her cheek, unaware of who Kinsey's mother is talking to like that or what is going on in general, but it's quite obvious to her that it bothers Jade. Kinsey sneaks in close to Jade's ear, whispering, "You wanna grab a bite down the street, then come back and do some more boring shit?" as she rubs the small of Jade's back. "How does a nap sound?"

Jade nods with her head still resting on the countertop. Kinsey gets the memo from watching the way the back of Jade's head goes up and down in the hoodie.

Kinsey rises from the barstool.

"Where do you think you're going?" Jacqueline inquires, making her way over to the kitchen bar, shutting off the phone call with one tap of her thumb. The woman's sharp brows and narrow cheekbones add seriousness to her persona immediately.

Kinsey halts, mid-stance and peers intently at the woman. "Um, well..."

There is an aura about this woman that makes Kinsey question whether or not she truly wants to go anywhere. Jacqueline straightens out her shoulders and strolls in the girls' direction. She appears to acquire a slight frown in the process, but that is simply her resting face.

"I think it's a bit impolite of you to run away with my daughter before I have the chance to speak you, her sleeping partner?" Jacqueline's natural frown develops into a teasing smile. "Jade hon, if you needed help falling asleep still, I could have hired Miss Edna again."

Miss Edna was Jade's nanny when she was five.

"Mom," Jade groans, "why do you have to say, partner?"

"Isn't that what it is?" Jacqueline squints her brows together, relaxing the corners of her lips again.

Jade sighs. Her headache and developing hunger leave her incapable of fighting. The light in the kitchen forces her back into the cocoon of her arms.

Jacqueline isn't quite ready to use the term 'girlfriend' yet. Jade and she had spoken about it before and Jade respected her mother's honesty. It's going to take a while to change someone's view on something they've believed in for so long.

"I appreciate the attempt Miss Hill, but I prefer girlfriend," Kinsey sternly intervenes, feeling the rising tension crawling across her skin.

"Fair enough. So, what are your intentions with my daughter?" Jacqueline quips, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Mother, I'm begging you," Jade muffles in agony from her weak position on the table.

Jacqueline lightly chuckles, biting the corner of her lip in mischief as she reaches her hand out for the handle of the coffee pot placed on the coaster beside Kinsey.

"To be quite honest with you, I've never had any intentions with your daughter in the first place," Kinsey frankly responds. Her face is seemingly unbothered as she observes Jacqueline.

"Mhm," Jacqueline hums as she shakes the pot of coffee a little bit.

"She just wouldn't leave me alone so I had to give her a chance." Kinsey shrugs, fighting a smile by smirking childishly.

"She can be a bit persistent, huh?" Ms. Hills agrees as she pours the agitated coffee into a solid black mug with a skull decal on it. As the coffee spills into the large mug, Jacqueline takes notice of the white decal in contrast to the jet black in the corner of her eye. She tilts her head quizzically as she lifts and turns the cup around to get a better view.

The mother sighs and places the cup down, shaking her head with a glance at her daughter hunched over in hangover pain in a black hoodie. She would lecture the girl about alcohol abuse, but she thinks that she's learned her lesson enough. She will talk later about bringing someone home in the middle of the night without permission, but that'll be a talk for a later day.

Jade is mortified that this conversation is even happening. Why couldn't she be sober when her recovering homophobic mother and her girlfriend are meeting for the first time?

"This," Jade pauses, momentarily hoisting her heavy head up to point her finger at her girlfriend and mother, "This is messed up and unfair." Her eyes snap back and forth between the two.

Kinsey smirks up at Ms. Hill, seeing so much of Jade in the woman nearly double their age.

You don't get a pass because you made Jade cry, but you don't seem too bad, Mrs. Hill.

"I don't think we were formally introduced, Kinsey. I'm Jacqueline Hill, Jade's mother." The mother exquisitely states, cupping the coffee mug in her hands. The woman drank straight black coffee just like Kinsey.

"I won't even ask how you know my name. I'll just hope it's cause Jade only says great things about me."

Ms. Hill smiles gingerly. This one isn't too bad.

"Trust me, she speaks very highly of you." Jacqueline ponders on the words that Jade used to describe this Kinsey crush in her journal.

"When'd she tell you she was gay?" Kinsey bluntly inquires, crossing her legs as she sits more comfortably on the stool.

Jacqueline blinks as she nearly coughs up the coffee she had just taken a sip of. "I-I guess it was a couple of weeks ago," Jacqueline stammers, burning her tongue a bit with the hot coffee.

"Mhm," Kinsey hums, "How'd you take that?" The blonde leans forward, resting her chin in the palm of her hand as her elbow rests on her knee. Her curious eyes gaze into Jacqueline's will no hesitation.

"Well... um, I'd like to say that I did the best I could," the woman nods off, thankful she's found the words. This feeling of shakiness is odd, especially when she's used to being so calculated in everything she does. Kinsey Scott's natural aura of confidence is unusual to the woman who's familiar with being surrounded by people who are slightly afraid but mostly intimidated by her.

Jacqueline Hill has met her match.

"Fair enough, all circumstances considered," Kinsey casually replies, centering herself back into the bar stool.

Jade becomes dizzy with how fast the strange conversation is flowing between the odd pair of blunt individuals.

"It, of course, wasn't an easy conversation to have. It was hard to fathom my daughter swinging the other way since I grew up in a household that didn't look too fondly upon such preferences."

"That's a nice way of putting it, but I wouldn't advise saying 'swinging the other way' too much if I were you. It's a start, Jacqueline, it's a start," Kinsey concedes, taking this casual conversation quite seriously.

Jacqueline nods, taking the advice into account.

Kinsey continues, "The phrase is a little tasteless, especially taking into account the many different ways people choose to identify themselves."

It seems Kinsey has been caught up in Jacqueline's vernacular.

Jade swears she has already died and been kicked out of heaven twice. This is the same girl who was afraid to string a couple of words together for a class presentation.

"Huh, that's a valid point. I never seemed to explore that perspective." Jacqueline squints in thought as she takes another sip of her coffee.

Kinsey's ability to hold such candid, plain-spoken conversations with adults is a result of her parents never conducting baby-talk with her. Kinsey has never been afraid of adults, especially when engaging in conversation with them.

"Okay, this conversation needs to be over now. I...uh, I need food, Kins. Let's go," Jade sanctions, rising from the barstool she's been sat in, torturing herself with listening to this conversation. She grips Kinsey's arm and hauls the blonde away from the counter in one swift movement.

"Bye mom," Jade announces, barely sparing a glance at her mother.

"Alright, bye. I'll see you later tonight. It was nice meeting you, Kinsey," Jacqueline communicates, nodding off the blonde as she nearly trips over her other foot.

"You too." Kinsey tilts her chin at Jade's mother as she is dragged through the kitchen down the hall.

"What was that?" Jade whispers aggressively.

"That was me and your mom having a connection," Kinsey whispers back charismatically.

"Stop. I'm already feeling nauseous so I'll actually vomit."

"Suit yourself."

"Funny enough, you've gotten her to open up more than I've been able to in eighteen years."

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Hello gems, I am back and at it. I've been working hard to complete this story before uploading anymore chapters. I've reached a point where I think I'm ready to push out chapters more often now. It's so exciting to be back. I missed you all and I hope that you all are well.

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Do you believe that Kinsey's logic about staying away from Zoé is valid? What do you think you would do in such a situation?

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How did you feel about Jacqueline and Kinsey meeting?

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I hope you all are taking into account the importance of your mental health. I hope that this story can be a break from the real-world to provide you some relief. Love you all. See you soon, babes! ❤️