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simp-pony · 2 years

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Our Little Sunshine

Masterlist

A/N: this chapter was made with help from @somewillwin and @simp-pony thank you so much for the ideas 😆👀🥰💕

Previous chapter

Chapter III: Who wants Pizza?

—- one month before Lily’s first Birthday

"Bea, are you listening?" Bea hummed absently as she stirred the pot of food in front of her, or what she thought was food. It had been going good until something went wrong, But Bea wasn’t going to show that on her face while Poppy was looking directly at her on facetime.

The day started off in a rush, with Poppy whirlwinding through the house early in the morning, tearfully kissing Lily who just babbled and smiled while Poppy withheld her tears. It never got easier for Poppy to leave Lily behind, but Poppy had another someone to look forward to seeing at the end of the day and that’s what mattered to her. To come home and have Lily lift her arms up in a grabby motion a gummy smile her baby teeth starting to grow and Bea waiting to greet her with a kiss.

"Hmm yeah totally, we gotta eat the veggies and stuff." Bea turned to Poppy giving her a thumbs up.

"Yes, so they better be gone by the time I get home." Bea pursed her lips and looked towards Lily who was snacking on her cheerios while dropping some onto the floor for Bubbie to eat. Lily giggled at seeing Bubbie twirl in a circle for more treats. Bea smiled and turned back to Poppy who was watching as well.

“And what time is that Pop?” Poppy pulled her gaze away from their daughter and leveled Bea with a stern look. Bea felt a bit of sweat form but kept a brave face.

“So you can buy pizza again and hide the evidence later? I don’t think so Hughes.” Bea laughed and winked at Poppy’s face on her phone.

“Working smarter, not harder.”

“Just please finish the vegetables in the fridge, they’re spoiling and I worked really hard on growing them.” Bea hummed, it was true Poppy had the workings of being a corn farmer, their backyard was filled with vegetables and fruits that Poppy turned into homemade baby food. It was delicious too, Bea had tried it. Infinty out of 10.

Lily babbled loudly, her little hands smacking on the table as she sat in her high chair, giggling toothily as Poppy turned her attention back to Lily on the video call.

Bea placed a lid on the pot of mystery sludge and lowered the heat, sitting on a chair close to Lily who reached for her face holding up a cheerio for Bea.

“Awww for me, thank you Lily-bug.” Bea gently took the cheerio and chewed with a smile on her face. “Yummy!” Lily smiled back repeating the last word Bea had said.

“Omeee.” Bea and Poppy cooed. Bea pressed her cheek to Lily’s and Poppy screenshotted the image to set as her background, their faces squished together smiling.

"Tell Mommy we hear her loud and clear Lily." Bea urged Lily. Lily blinked as she looked curiously at the things behind Poppy, then smiled when she saw Poppy’s face.

"Maaabababa.” Poppy smiled cooing at their daughter.

“Mommy already misses holding you princess.” Poppy cooed into the phone as Lily gave her a smile reaching her hands out to Poppy’s image on the phone.

“Meemeeee!”

“Yes mommy, can you say mommy baby?” Poppy smiled wide, excitement on her face.

“Meemeee.” Bea chuckled while taking a video of this on the really expensive video camera Veronica had gifted them to take high quality videos. Her words being 'here to take videos of the baby, make sure you don’t look ugly it’s a waste of film' and you know what fair. But Poppy took offense to that, and now she had a whole thing about looking immaculate not that she’d ever not be. But anyways.

“She’ll say mama first Pops it's inevitable.” Poppy glanced over to Bea, a smirk on her lips, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes that brought back some memories.

“Is that a bet Hughes?”

“Bet or no I’ll win.” Poppy smirked, her head tilting up and Bea felt a chill down her back.

“Keep telling yourself that ” Poppy checked her rose gold Rolex and clicked her tongue. “My break is almost over. Remember, the vegetables Bea.”

“Yeah I got it on the stove already.” Bea looked back to the stove and kept her face straight as she watched the pot bubble over. The top of it rattled and steam was starting to whistle out.

“What is that noise?” Bea laughed nervously.

“Lily-bug, say goodbye to mommy.” Bea took Lily’s hand and waved to Poppy.

“Buuuubaa!” Bubbie’s ears twitched up, turning to Lily thinking his name was being called. Bea picked up Bubbie and brought him into view of the facetime call too. Lily giggled as Bubbie came into her sights, her free hand taking more cheerios and feeding Bubbie who gently ate from her hand.

“Bye Lily, Mommy loves you I’ll be home soon okay. Bye Bubbie, take care of Lily okay? And Bea-”

“Byeeee, yes the vegetables okay love you bye.” Bea ended the call and set Bubbie down and quickly went over to the pot turning the heat off and almost burning her hands. Bea turned to Lily who only found Bea running around funny as she giggled.

“Welp, who wants Pizza?” Lily raised her hands up and gave a joyful shriek that Bea took as a yes. “Alrighty then.” Bea lifted Lily into her arms, and settled her against her hip about to speed dial her and Poppy’s favorite pizza place when there was a doorbell sound.

Bea and Lily looked at each other then back to the front door.

“Uh oh, looks like Mommy already called the cavalry.” Lily blinked as she looked at Bea then grabbed her nose. “Mhm that’s mama’s nose good job lily-bug.” Lily cooed as she patted Bea’s face. Bea smiled, pressing a kiss to her chubby cheek and headed to the door.

Bea walked over to the front door and peeked at the peep-hole. Smiling wide at who stood at the otherside.

“Who goes there?”

“Open up boo!” Bea opened the door and smiled wide, Lily looked at Bea and turned to Zoey mirroring the wide smile with her own.

“Zoey!” Bea cheered.

“Eeee!” Lily mimicked.

“Give me my goddaughter! Look at how big you are!” Zoey took Lily into her arms smiling as Lily made grabby motions at her, giggling all the while. Bubbie had run to her feet jumping up and down to grab her attention as well. Bea smiled, snapping pictures and sending it to Poppy.

Bea ❤️: I wasn’t going to order pizza

Poopy 💍👰🏼😚❤️: 'll be home soon to make sure 🙂

Bea chuckled nervously at the emoji she got back, she would get her pizza one way or another. Zoey could be easily swayed by her daughter, she inherited Bea’s puppy eyes and Zoey was still not immune to it, and Poppy was starting to wane now that Lily learned from the best.

“Okay, not going to lie, I heard from the grapevine you were in trouble.” Bea chuckled, the grapevine being Poppy telling Chloe, who then told Veronica, who then told Zoey. Bea laughed nervously, she had thrown the whole pot away to get rid of the first sign of things going wrong. Now it was time for phase two.

“Oof, maybe so. Dinner is ruined. So I’m ordering pizza.” Bea rubbed her hands together and smiled when Lily copied the action giggling. Such a happy baby.

“Girl again? That’s like three times this month.” Bea pursed her lips, acting innocent.

“Well…I don’t know what happened Zo, the stuff in the pot was cooking just fine and then it wasn’t.” Bea speed-dialed her favorite pizza place until Zoey plucked it out from her hands, eyes still looking straight at Bea as she ended the call.

“Let me see it.” Bea looked completely chastised and poked her fingers together as Zoey rested Lily on her hip and an eyebrow raised at her. Lily looked from between them then rested her head against Zoey's shoulder looking at her mama.

“I threw it out.”

“Again?”

"Whaaaat? Noo, not again." Bea snorted and waved her hands, armpits sweating from the stare she could feel as she looked anywhere but at Zoey before she sighed defeated.

“Yes, fine. Again. We can laugh about my poor cooking skills later. Now food, Lily needs it.” Lily lifted her head up at her name letting out a tiny delighted shriek and Zoey rubbed her nose against Lily's with a smile, booping her little nose afterwards and walked into the kitchen.

“No pizza, I’m pretty sure Veronica mentioned something about vegetables hmm.” Zoey looked around and found nothing out of the ordinary but she did pass Lily back to Bea as she looked inside the fridge.

Bea backed away a bit and turned Lily towards her sneaking glances at Zoey's back to check if she'd turn around anytime soon as she whispered her game plan.

"Okay game time, you want pizza right?" Lily stared blankly at her for a bit then smiled doing a little jump in Bea's arms as she released a sound.

"ah!" Bea nodded in agreement.

"Ugh, I know it's so good, okay but in order to do that we need to work together okay?" Bea sneaked another glance at Zoey who found two bottles of Poppy's homemade baby food and inspected it.

Bea felt Lily pat her cheek and turned back to her.

"Aaamm." Bea smiled, pressing a kiss to Lily's chubby little hand and turned her around in her arms so they both watched Zoey.

"Excellent, now follow mama's lead. Like this okay?" Bea showed her the signature Bea Hughes puppy eye look and waited for Lily to copy. Lily copied it and Bea's heart burst, hugging Lily closer, rubbing her cheek on Lily's proudly, a little teary.

"Alright alright, jeez hold the ammo."

"Amaa." Lily kicked her little legs and waved her arms giggling as she and Bea stalked closer to Zoey just as she turned around.

"Girl, she has food right here-."

Bea hit Zoey with the most teary puppy eye and Bea glanced at Lily to see her lip wobbling too as she looked at Zoey eyes shiny.

"Zo-" Zoey recoiled, eyes wide and mouth agape.

"Oh no, you did not just teach her how to do that while my back was turned." Bea was about to break character but instead upped the pitiful look on her face.

"Zoey, look at her."

"Beatrice-" Bea pushed Lily forward to Zoey's face and Lily's face scrunched a whimper looking to escape her lips.

Zoey could almost feel her own tears surface at Lily's tiny pout and teary eyes. Then saw Bubbies on his hind legs also begging, a small whine coming from him.

"Okay okay! Call them." Zoey relented, taking Lily in her arms and holding her to her chest. "Don't cry little bee." Zoey rocked her goddaughter, rubbing her back and shooting Bea a small glare.

Bea only batted her eyelashes and kissed Zoey's cheek as she grabbed her phone to speed dial the pizza place.

"Thank you Zoey~"

"Mhmm." Zoey rose a brow and still gently rocked Lily from side to side. Bea caught Lily's eyes as she laid her tiny head on Zoey's shoulder sucking on her thumb. Bea gave a wink and a thumbs up and Lily smiled.

Their plan was successful!

Until it wasn't.

"She can't eat pizza?" Bea's jaw dropped. Then how were they going to celebrate their victory when her partner in crime couldn't enjoy the cheesy and greasy goodness of pizza?

"There's still food for the little bee, but adult Bea not so much. Girl there's legit only beauty serums in the penthouse for the butter, vegetables, lily's baby food, and an avocado." Bea blinked.

"There was an avocado in there? I could've made guac?" Zoey purses her lips and shakes her head.

"Girl, you need help."

"No, I need Pizza." Then the doorbell rang. "Oop there it is!" Zoey sighed and turned to Lily.

"Your mama needs help."

"Ah!" Zoey smiles and rubs her nose against Lily's own and goes to get the food Poppy has already prepared for Lily.

Zoey smiles as she places a baby bib on Lily as she's seated in her high chair, that writes 'I'm unBEElievably cute!' with a little bee in a crown. Very much on brand.

"I got the goods!" Bea returned pizza already in her mouth carrying the box over.

They had lunch together with Zoey feeding Lily, both taking pictures to save to their photo albums. And for Bea to send to Poppy as evidence that she was okay, and Lily was not starving.

"Oop it's time to go." Zoey looked at her designer watch and smiled at the small text notification from Veronica.

"You're not staying over?" Bea wiped Lily's mouth of baby food and set her on her hip.

"Uh nope, Veronica and I are going out tonight." Zoey smiled and gently squished Lily's cheeks who let out a delighted giggle and scrunched her neck at the tickles.

"Oh okay, have fun Zo, tell Vee we said hi."

"Here I'll take a picture." Bea and Lily posed for pictures that took more time than necessary but the pictures turned out really cute.

"Perfect! But um Bea, seriously clean it up. Poppy's coming home." Bea went rigid at the remembrance and looked at the clock. 5:30pm on the dot.

Then Bea heard the distinct sound of keys in the lock of the front door.

Bea's eyes widened.

"Scatter!"

"Girl, I have a date soon! I'm not dying." Zoey quickly and gently took Lily and walked to the front door while Bea ran to the kitchen and got to cleaning evidence.

"Baby, I'm home!" Poppy stepped out of her heels at the door and hung the keys on the hook slightly bending down to pet Bubbie who greeted her at the door and looked up to see Lily and Zoey.

"Welcome home! Lily missed you." Poppy's tired expression fell away, replaced by happiness as she threw her purse on the couch and took Lily in her arms and kissed her cute face.

"Mommy's home princess." Zoey snapped a few pictures and sent them to the Lily pics group chat.

Chloe 👱🏻‍♀️💃🏼: Oh! I bought that bib! They finally used it! 😍🥰 wait what's that green thing on her bib?

"So cute." Poppy kept pressing kisses to Lily's cheeks and forehead then rose a brow looking around for Bea.

"Where's Mama, Lily?" Lily only played with the necklace around Poppy's neck, her chubby hands tugging on it experimentally and then trying to put it in her mouth. Poppy gently moved Lily's hands off her necklace and Zoey handed her a teething key-set which Poppy took and gave to Lily.

"Where is Bea?" Zoey only pointed to the kitchen, her face neutral.

"Cleaning but anyways, goodbye Lily, auntie Zoey had so much fun with you today." Lily continued to gnaw at her key set but smiled.

"Baah!" Zoey gently pinched her little cheek and said her goodbye's.

"Thanks for coming to check on them Zoey." Zoey nodded, eyes still on Lily and made her giggle before turning to Poppy.

"Lily's in safe hands." Poppy smirked and Zoey raised a brow at her.

"Of course she is, because she's in mine right now." Zoey shook her head in amusement.

Bubbie jumped at her feet wanting to say his goodbyes. Zoey bent down to give him a little scratch on his ears and a kiss to his head.

"Of course, Bye bubbie, bye Bea!" Zoey hollered out and waited.

There was a small crash then Bea spoke.

"Byeeee!" Poppy sighed and looked at Lily, her face wondering how she had dealt with Bea's shenanigans for so long.

"Amaaa." Lily looked to the kitchen pointing her little hand in the direction Bea was.

"Yes mama."

There was another crash and this time Poppy and Zoey both winced as they heard Bea yelp.

"Mhm well, have fun with that." Zoey left with one more kiss to Lily's cheeks then left.

Poppy sighed and placed Lily on her hip giving one more kiss to her tiny head.

"Let's go see how mama hid the pizza this time." Poppy rubbed her nose on Lily's and then pressed a little kiss to it.

"Isaaa." Poppy smiled as she started walking to their kitchen.

"Yes pizza, good job princess." Lily smiled then rested her head down on Poppy's shoulder and stayed there. Poppy felt her heart melt and hugged Lily a little tighter as she caught sight of Bea jumping off the counter and onto the floor staring wide eyed at Poppy as she was caught.

"I'm home, Beatrice." Bea got up real fast and staggered a bit before smiling.

"Heyyyy bibi, welcome home." Bea grinned and walked over, pressing a kiss to Poppy's lips that she hoped would make her forget.

"Mm...I knew it." Bea backed up a bit and laughed nervously as Poppy raised a brow at her.

"Knew what bibi?"

"You got Pizza, I can taste it on your lips Bea."

"Whaaat? I don't-" Bea was cut off by the cupboard up top opening and a pizza box falling out and dropping to the floor. Bea, Poppy, and Lily all just stared at the box now on the floor, the pizza surprisingly still in the box.

Bea turned slowly back to Poppy and found her just staring pensively at the box then to Bea, her expression blank.

Lily patted Poppy's cheek softly, pressing a messy kiss on it and Poppy smiled softly pressing another kiss to Lily's head. There were just not enough kisses she could give to their daughter.

"Thank you baby." Bea smiled softly at the interaction, her heart full then turned to look at Poppy.

"Uhh I'd just like to say, I've never seen that pizza in my life and that you love me." Bea gave Poppy her signature charming smile and Poppy rose a brow, her lips twitching up in amusement causing Bea to grin.

"I do love you Bea." Bea smiled wide, Lily saw it and smiled too copying her mama and the but Poppy was going to say died on her lips. She would allow it today, but next time for sure she was going to give Bea a piece of her mind.

Poppy watched Bea goofily smile as she picked up the box and held it up like a wrestling belt. Until the pizza slipped out of the box and onto the floor.

"Noooooo!" Lily turned to Bea, her little hands reaching out to Bea.

"Aww you want to comfort mama?" Poppy felt her heart melt as Lily continued to reach out to Bea. Bea looked to Lily gently taking her from Poppy's arms and hugging her, Lily's small hands patted Bea's cheeks then puckered her lips moving up to try and press a kiss to Bea's cheek.

Bea leaned her head closer for a kiss, and smiled.

"Aww a comfort kiss for mama, thank you." Bea gave Lily a little kiss back on her forhead.

Poppy smiled and left the kitchen for a second, leaving Bea with Lily. Poppy got her phone in hand and dialed a number, the person on the other line picking up immediately.

"She dropped it again?" Poppy glanced over to the kitchen and saw Bea kneeling on the floor just staring at the pizza sullenly until Lily pressed another kiss to her cheek.

Poppy watched as Bubbie came from the kitchen dragging a large slice of pizza with him and sitting by her side gnawing at it. Oh lord.

"Yes, the usual order, Sergio."

"So you do love me!" Poppy looked to the kitchen again to see Bea peeking out with Lily looking at her.

"I do." Bea smirked.

"I love me too." Poppy's eye twitched.

"Serigo, cancel that order."

"N-no wait!"

In the end Bea had to resort to the combined forces of Bubbie, Lily and herself to get Poppy to agree to buy pizza again…and it worked!

#poppy min sinclair #fics #poppy x mc #AAA NOMI THIS IS ADORABLE #lmao disaster mom bea hughes tho Hahah

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simp-pony · 2 years

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Made some Poppy avatars👑

#poppy min sinclair #fanedit #this is sooo cuteee!#forgive me for being a noob tech but is this the kind of avatar that can speak or sth #lmao imagine her calling u ‘skank’ with thjs avatar

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simp-pony · 2 years

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In Spite Of Me (let’s drive)

(previous) Chapter IV (next)

Tags: sorta NSFW, post-canon, ooc.

Poppy tells herself that she’s being stupid. She feels like she’s falling into nothingness but also into something perfect, and she’s never felt like this before. But it’s absolutely against the rules to fall for Bee. They’re enemies. Or they used to be enemies. She doesn’t know what they are anymore. She can tolerate Bee, maybe even like her. But she can’t fall for Bee. She tells herself the words over and over.

this chapter is long 😀 sorry, i got a little too excited. oh, and there’s a NSFW scene, I’ll mark it with a little 🖤 in case you want to skip it. I have no idea where I’m taking the story after this, lol. We’ll see, I guess lmao. Anyways, I hope you like it!

It’s the sudden loss of the warmth against her side that makes Poppy stir awake.

Still a little dazed, she turns around and realizes she’s not in her bed.

Right, she’s still at the bed and breakfast. Bee slept next to her that night. She actually… liked it.

It’s a lot to take in. Poppy doesn’t really want to think about it as much as she wants to just sleep it all away. Unfortunately, they have to be on the road again in less than an hour, so that won’t be possible. Dammit, Bee.

She opens her eyes to find Bee hovering over her. She starts a little when Poppy looks at her, before breaking into an uncertain smile. "Oh, uhm. Hi. Good morning."

It’s the first time they wake up next to each other, Poppy realizes. Maybe that’s why Bee’s making such strange faces. "Hey."

"Hey," she whispers back.

"What time is it?"

"7 am. Were you able to get any sleep?" Bee asks, a little unsure.

"Not really," Poppy mumbles. Bee’s face immediately falls, making her feel a little guilty. "It’s okay. I always have trouble sleeping."

"Oh," Bee whispers.

"You…" she pauses. "You were a lot of help, though. Thanks."

Bee looks a little nervous about it, but she reaches over to tentatively take Poppy’s hand. Poppy lets her, which seems to surprise her. Bee gives her a gentle squeeze.

"It’s okay. You’ll get to sleep in the car."

"Only if I don’t have to listen to your crappy music," she bites, but in an almost friendly way. "Ska and country music? Really, Hughes? How old are you, 52?"

"No, Poppy," she rolls her eyes, smiling. "I’m from the midwest. And my friend is 52, so…"

"Your friend?" Poppy looks at her, frowning, still laying on the bed. "Who’s your 52 year old friend?"

"My aunt! We used to spend a lot of timers together when I was little. She was practically my best friend, and a lot of her music taste stuck with me," Bee smiles again.

Poppy gives her a pitying look. "Oh, little Bee, that is the saddest sentence I’ve ever heard."

It’s Bee who grabs a pillow and whacks her this time. "Shut up, Satan. At least I had friends."

Bee’s face immediately falls when she realizes what she’s said (despite it being true), but Poppy doesn’t mind. She’s learning to take Bee’s words from what they are now: no longer an insult.

Maybe she was right. Maybe they’re starting to become friends.

She ignores how light-headed that realization makes her feel.

"Your aunt?" Poppy snorts, hitting her back with another pillow. "That does not count!"

Bee immediately breaks into another sunshine smile. Shit.

"You only say that because you’re jealous!" she throws another pillow and misses.

Poppy whacks her again.

"Trust me, Hughes, I am not jealous of your weird little childhood!"

They both start laughing at the same time. What the hell are they arguing about, anyways? Maybe Bee was right about this too. They can’t be trusted around pillows.

"Come on, get dressed. We should get breakfast and leave this place soon," Bee tells her, offering a hand to help her stand up. Poppy takes it.

"Oh, thank god," she groans. "I don’t think I could stand spending another hour in this hovel."

"Uhm, rude much?" Bee frowns, scrunching up her nose in a way that almost makes Poppy think it’s cute.

"Oh, please, Hughes. Don’t act like you love crappy motels like this one," she rolls her eyes. "Not after experiencing two years of living in the upper east side."

Bee purses her lips… but eventually breaks into a smile. "Don’t act like you know anything about me, Pops."

Poppy glares daggers at her, even as she feels her cheeks heat up slightly. "I don’t! Well— Maybe… sometimes. Depends. Ugh."

"Whatever you say…" Bee giggles brightly, waving over her shoulder as she turns her back on her. "I think you like me!"

"Shut up," she growls, shoving Bee lightly. "Stop acting like a human headache."

"Sure, sure." Bee just shrugs her shoulders and grins. Insufferably.

Poppy her with a pillow.

Again.

Thirty minutes later (and already off schedule, to Bee’s dismay) they’re having breakfast together downstairs. They’re serving pancakes, coffee and orange juice. Not what she’s used to, but then again, this entire trip isn’t exactly what she’s used to either. You should try new things, Veronica told her once. Poppy wonders if she ever had something like this in mind when she said that.

Bee is looking at her nervously, opening and closing her mouth over and over again like a weird looking fish.

Poppy looks at her suspiciously, swallowing a bite of pancake and taking a sip of coffee.

"Uhm…" Bee starts, but immediately trails off.

"What?" Poppy remarks. "If you have something to say, say it. I won’t bite your head off."

It’s kind of a mean thing to say, considering how she’s snapped at Bee in the past. Poppy feels a little twinge when Bee flinches before nodding, but she can’t take it back now. It occurs to her a little too late that she could just apologize, but… Bee’s already talking by the time she realizes it.

"It’s just… it’s a little weird, isn’t it?" Bee says. "Waking up in the same room, having breakfast together, not actively trying to bring each other down… it’s… nice, I guess."

Poppy smiles. It’s a genuine smile, and it catches her off guard too. "…Yeah. I guess it is kind of nice."

And she means it. She knows that this is more than just ‘kind of nice.’ She knows that at some point, they should put it into words and define where they stand. But Bee doesn’t push it, and Poppy doesn’t add anything else.

It makes her think that maybe this is how they navigate around each other. Maybe they have their own little language where words aren’t required but meaning is still conveyed.

I guess spending two entire years studying every aspect of each other’s personality has its results.

They eat the rest of their breakfast as they chat casually, all soft laughs and careful grins, about nothing important in particular. And yet it’s the most sincere things between them have felt in two years.

"By the way, I’m in charge of the music today," Poppy says with a firm tone. "I don’t want to listen to any more of your early 80s music."

"It’s throwback!" Bee grumbles.

"You weren’t even born in the 80s!"

"It can still be throwback, Poppy."

"It’s a cry for help, Hughes."

"Ugh, whatever," Bee frowns, not serious at all. "You’re so mean."

"Yeah, it’s kind of my whole thing."

------------------

"SWEET CAROLINE," Bee yells loudly, pointing at Poppy to finish the phrase, expectation clear in her eyes.

Poppy glares at her, regretfully mumbling under her breath, “Bum bum bum.”

Whining, the other girl pouts at her.

"Lame!"

"Can we change the song?" Poppy grumbles, and Bee shakes her head.

"This is a staple on the road!"

Poppy goes to switch off the speaker. "Shut up. I said I was in charge of the music today, which you completely ignored. So, no more music."

"No!" Bee argues. "Please? I love this song. Can you turn it back to the beginning? Then you can pick the next song!"

Poppy has the beginning of an argument on the tip of her tongue, but then Bee looks at her again pleadingly and she relents, flipping the song back to the beginning and trying not to think about how much she wants to kiss Bee and make her really shut up.

(Poppy tells herself that she’s being stupid. She feels like she’s falling into nothingness but also into something perfect, and she’s never felt like this before. But it’s absolutely against the rules to fall for Bee. They’re enemies. Or they used to be enemies. She doesn’t know what they are anymore. She can tolerate Bee, maybe even like her. But she can’t fall for Bee. She tells herself the words over and over.)

It feels like drowning and flying at the same time, like slipping in and out of a dream every second that it lasts.

(God. What the hell is she doing?)

------------------

"You’re not actually considering applying to McDermots, right?" Bee asks her, a smile on her face as she turns down the car window.

They’ve been driving for around two hours now, talking to each other in an almost friendly way. Poppy can’t believe how much she’s opened up to Bee in such a short time, but the most surprising thing is how much she doesn’t mind it. It’s somehow… easy, talking to her.

She realizes she actually wants to talk to her.

"I mean, I don’t know," Poppy sighs. Everything is changing in her life and she doesn’t really know how to feel about it, "maybe it’s what I need. Funny, if you had told me six months ago we’d be having this conversation, I would’ve thought you were concussed or something."

"Pops, I’m the one who thinks you’re concussed right now."

"Oh my god, Bee. I’m joking!" she groans. "I can’t believe you’d think I was being serious."

"Huh. I kinda thought you were incapable of joking!" Bee smiles.

"I literally can’t stand you."

"And yet, you’re here with me. I wonder what does that says about you?"

"I think you might be right," Poppy grumbles, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I may have a concussion."

"Are you sure it has nothing to do with the fact that—" she trails off, looking at somewhere ahead in the road. "Look! There’s a carnival!"

Poppy looks to where Bee is pointing and, sure enough, she can see the huge ferris wheel in the distance and all of the other attractions coming into view not too long after.

"Mhmm," she replies. What else does Bee want her to say? Unless she’s planning to… "Don’t even think about it."

"Come on! Please?" she begs, realizing that Poppy has seen through her almost immediately. "It looks like it’s so much fun!"

"Weren’t you the one who berated me for being 10 minutes off schedule?" Poppy retorts.

"But…"

"I said no."

"Please?"

Bee looks like wounded puppy. It’s not going to work. Not this time. "Ugh, fine. It’s no use arguing with you, anyways."

Fuck. She forgot she has a soft spot for puppies.

Damn Bee and damn her stupid, bright smile and the way it makes her feel.

------------------

When they arrive, the first thing Bee does is buy herself some cotton candy. Poppy follows and pays for a wristband each, allowing them both unlimited access on all the rides and stalls.

"Hey, let me give you the money for those—" Bee starts, but Poppy silences her.

"Hush. You’ve been paying for everything so far," Poppy rolls her eyes. It’s starting to become a habit, "believe it or not, I’m not completely broke, Hughes."

Is she being… nice, right now? To Bee Hughes, of all people? It surprises her too how quickly she wanted to do this for her.

"But—"

"No."

Bee finally gives in (it’s not like she can argue back when Poppy uses that voice) and simply takes her hand, guiding her. They dot around from stall to stall, pausing often just to look around. Poppy thinks that Bee looks more carefree than she’s ever seen her. She hasn’t stopped smiling since they got here.

"What should we do first?" Bee asks her, looking at her like an excited child. "Oh, I know! We should play some games!"

Poppy smiles despite herself. "How old are you, answering your own questions before even pretending to wait for mine?"

"Hush! Let’s have fun! I want to win the biggest teddy bear in there!" she laughs, dragging her to the balloon and dart game.

"Remind me why should I go first when you were the one who wanted to come here in the first place…?" Poppy sighs once they’re there.

Bee just laughs again and gives her a little shove, handing her a dart. She knows Poppy is a terrible shot, though. She can’t even get a paper ball into the trash can. God, this is why she didn't make the basketball team in seventh grade. Not like anyone else in Belvoire knew, of course.

But she tries anyways, and hits zero balloons. "This game is rigged," it’s all she says before frowning and looking away in embarrassment.

"Oh my god, you really are fucking terrible!" Bee says with a chuckle, causing a bunch of nearby moms to look at her with a frown. She just shrugs and gives them an apologetic smile. "Here, let me try."

She takes the darts and hits all the balloons on her first try, winning the giant teddy bear that is roughly the same size as Poppy.

"For you," she says, a little sheepishly and hands her the stuffed animal.

"Oh, uhm. Thanks," Poppy replies, awkwardly.

She takes the bear and tries to take a step forward, but nearly topples over. The other girl starts laughing and reaches for the teddy bear again. Poppy looks at her with a frown.

"Yeah, that might be a little too big for you," she grins. "Let me carry it for you?"

"Whatever," she looks away. "What do you want to do next?"

An hour later, they did the ring toss, and the duck fishing and the guess how many jellybeans are in this bowl and so many other games. And Poppy lost them all. And by the end if it, Bee was carrying five more stuffed animals and a jar of jellybeans. "I think we should take these to the car or something."

Poppy smirks and looks over at Bee, who seems as if she’s about to collapse under the weight of everything she’s carrying. "Well, maybe you shouldn’t have tried to win every single prize."

"Ah, Pops, you know me," she winks at her. "I can’t resist the challenge of a good competition."

Soon enough, Bee runs to the parking lot and stores all the prizes she’s won in her car. When she comes back, she finds Poppy holding two giant hot dogs and offering one to her.

"Here," Poppy mumbles. "Figured we should have something to eat. Call it an early dinner, or whatever."

"Right," Bee smiles, genuinely happy. "Thank you."

They eat quietly, walking together and looking at the people around them. Bee smiles during the whole time, and it isn’t long before Poppy finds herself smiling too. She’s never done anything like this before. No, her parents were always too busy to do fun family activities like carnivals or amusement parks.

Tacky, it’s what they would call them.

They were wrong, Poppy thinks. This is actually a lot of fun.

And, as she looks at the girl walking next to her, Poppy wonders what else her parents were wrong about.

------------------

If Poppy could go back in time and do one thing differently, she would probably go back in time about three hours and whack Bee in the face with a pillow (she always finds one when she needs it.)

Why?

Because Bee is the reason why she is now standing in line, shaking in her (very uncomfortable, not suited at all for carnivals) stilettos, as she stares up at the Ferris Wheel in front of her. Or well… in front of her and Bee, who seems to be completely calm in the face of what Poppy considers to be the worst man-made contraption in the history of the world.

"Next up!" The Ferris Wheel worker calls, beckoning the duo to their seat… a flimsy plastic basket that’s painted an atrocious shade of yellow that seems seconds away from collapsing under its own weight.

"Uh… I guess this is really happening," Poppy stammers for what feels like the first time in her life. She gestures towards the swinging deathtrap in front of them, "This’ll be—" her voice cracks. How humiliating. She quickly tries to continue on, "…something."

Bee turns to look at her, preventing her from taking another step forward by placing a hand on her shoulder. "Poppy, are you scared of heights?"

"No!" she squeals and pulls them towards the seat before setting herself down gingerly on the chair. "Not at all."

Bee giggles to herself as she takes in the way Poppy clutches the bar that is now being lowered in front of them. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, Hughes! Stop asking so many questions!" she yells as the Ferris Wheel attendant goes back to the control panel of the massive machine.

"Okay, okay…" Bee smiles, closing her eyes when she feels herself being lifted into the air.

Poppy swallows the nerves as best she can, looking anywhere but below her — where all the people quickly shrink into tiny specks that are now barely visible. Everything is going well, all things considered, as long as Poppy keeps her eyes on the sky above and her hands clamped to the safety bar in front of them.

Time seems to move at a snail’s pace for her, it feels like it has been hours already, but as she glances over to Bee, then to the ground below, she realizes they are barely even a quarter of the way to the top. God, this is going to be a nightmare.

"You alright?" Bee asks her, now mildly concerned voice breaking the tense silence, "you’re looking a bit pale."

Poppy shakes her head, then promptly begins to nod, not sure what she is trying to get across aside from the fact she is terrified but also that she is probably maybe kinda totally not totally fine because she doesn’t want to embarrass herself in front of her former nemesis.

"I said I’m good, Hughes," she grits her teeth. "Now stop asking me."

Bee raises an eyebrow but doesn’t argue with her any further.

Poppy is already fixing her gaze back on the sky, ready to just spend the next forever trying to study the constellations between the frantic swaying of the chair beneath them, though she finds herself suddenly distracted by a foreign warmth against her right hand.

"Huh?"

She looks down, realizing Bee’s hand has somehow moved from where it had sat by her side to now rest against Poppy’s.

"Do you want me to hold your hand?" Bee asks her, looking between Poppy and their hands with something that almost looks like shyness.

Poppy feels her heart stop for a moment — then immediately looks away, frowning. Her cheeks are a little red, but she’ll blame the cold. "Do whatever you want."

She feels Bee grasp her hand, interlacing their fingers in a way that seems almost too intimate.

The Ferris Wheel continues its agonizingly slow rotation, the high-pitched symphony of carnival sounds fading to a distant hum with each passing second.

Now the main sound Poppy can hear is the sound of her own heart, which has not stopped its fast paced beating ever since Bee took her hand.

"You know you can just admit you’re scared," Bee giggles, a small smile lighting up her face, "I thought we were starting to be more honest with each other."

"Can you shut up for just five seconds?" Poppy grunts, her face heating up a little bit.

"Not really. I think I’m incapable of shutting up," Bee laughs. Poppy wants to punch her, but she is too scared to move.

"You’re the most insufferable person I’ve ever met."

"I think it’s the millionth time you say that to me, Pops."

"Well, I mean it," she whispers, closing her eyes.

Bee gently tugs on their interlocked hands. "You can scoot closer to me if that helps. You really look like you’re gonna pass out, Poptart."

Poppy wants to protest, though another quick glance downwards leaves her feeling a little too lightheaded for comfort. So she simply swallows her pride and nods, pursing her lips into somewhat of a pout before she shimmies a few inches closer to the other girl.

The Ferris Wheel keeps ascending, inch by inch, foot by foot, until they finally reach its peak. It’s probably a beautiful view, the carnival stretching out in all directions around them, though Poppy isn’t looking — too focused on keeping her eyes locked on the area just beside Bee’s head. She doesn’t want to be too blatant in her staring, though as Bee shoots her a wink, she realizes her attempts at being subtle are failing.

"You really should look around instead of just eyeballing me," Bee teases, "I mean, I know I’m gorgeous, but the view is pretty okay too."

She opens one eye and slowly looks around. Bee is right, the view is pretty okay. The world down below them, the people scattered like ants, the rides like miniature models and speckles of lights glittering all around. All over. It’s more than just “pretty okay.”

"Not so bad, huh?" Bee asks with a playfully mocking tone, making Poppy narrow her eyes. But Bee smiles, genuine and endearing.

Poppy’s heart twists sharply. "It’s not entirely awful."

Looking out at the twinkling stars that are starting to show in the sky, Bee sighs wistfully. "I had a lot of fun today."

Invisible, strong strings pull on Poppy as her face gets closer to Bee’s. "You’re so easy to please."

Blushing, a wide smile ticks up her cheeks. "I guess I am."

Something inside Poppy softens. The atmosphere turns light and easy going, and she realizes she isn’t as scared anymore. She still hasn’t let go of Bee’s hand.

She looks at the girl next to her, slightly in awe. Her curly hair is swaying with the wind, and her face has relaxed into the most content smile Poppy’s ever seen.

A loud bang interrupts Poppy’s observations. "Huh?"

"It’s starting!" Bee giggles, completely enchanted. "The fireworks!"

Poppy spares the rainbow-like bursts a brief side-eye, before returning her attention to Bee. Her eyes are glowing, swallowing up red, purple, and blue in an evergreen expanse. Her hand still holds Poppy’s; and she squeezes it slightly. Poppy feels the inexplicable urge to touch her.

Slowly, tentatively, almost regretfully, she brings her free hand to Bee’s face and turns her towards her. She watches the other girl smiles in surprise, and Poppy brushes some curls away from her eyes.

And then Bee —rags-to-riches, barn-house-charity-case, hero-of-the-people, Bee— goes ahead and brings her lips closer to hers. Poppy finds herself amazed, rather than pissed. The night is just one surprise after another.

And a second later, just like in the most cliché romcom to ever exist, they are kissing. Kissing at the top of a Ferris Wheel. With literal fireworks in the background. She can practically hear her old self’s fake gagging at how sappy it all is.

The kiss tastes like the fireworks. Like Bee’s cherry chapstick and icy cream-mint breath. Flaring, fizzing. Gentle yet hot. Spicy yet cold. The mix of sensation accompanies a high whistle and another loud boom, the sparks dancing behind Poppy’s eyelids.

They part, and golden brown eyes lock into her gaze, and Poppy feels lightheaded for a completely different reason than just a fear of heights.

"Not so bad, huh?" Bee asks her again.

"It’s not entirely awful," Poppy repeats, breaking into a small smile.

------------------

It’s around 11 pm when they get to where they’ll be spending the night —another bed and breakfast just up the road— and they’ve been purposefully avoiding talking about the kiss ever since they left the carnival. Bee has been talking the entire time, trying to avoid as many awkward silences as possible.

She is in the middle of telling a story about an unfortunate encounter with an angry hog when they get to the room and realize there’s a small problem.

There’s only one bed.

Of course, Poppy should’ve seen it coming. She whips around to look at Bee with suspicion.

"I swear I didn’t do it!" Bee quickly yells, a little panicked. "Hold on, let me go check downstairs. I’ll tell management there’s been a mistake."

Fifteen minutes later, Bee comes back to the room looking dejected. Poppy already knows where this is going. "They said they didn’t have any other free rooms… you can go ask them yourself, if you don’t believe me."

"No, it’s—" she sighs. "Whatever. It’s late, we should get ready for bed."

"Okay, I can take the couch if—"

"Don’t be stupid," Poppy interrupts her. "I’ll go take a quick shower."

Bee watches as Poppy disappears into the bathroom, holding clothes and toiletries to get ready for bed.

Once they’re both changed into their pajamas and settled on the bed, Bee yawns and looks at her phone. Poppy tries not to think about how they slept next to each other the night before.

The teddy bear is resting on the couch, along with all the other prizes Bee won in the carnival games. Just looking at it makes Poppy blush involuntarily. How annoying. What is she even supposed to do with a giant stuffed animal?

"We’re really behind schedule," Bee laments, interrupting her thoughts. "We might even have to drive for an extra day!"

Poppy lets out a sigh as she shifts around a little, trying to find an agreeable position. "And whose fault is that?"

"Ow, come on!" Bee’s eyes look at her in the semi-darkness. "You had fun too, admit it!"

"Quiet, Hughes. You’ve been talking my ear off for the past two days," she turns her back to her, staring at the wall instead.

"Mhmm. Still in denial?" Bee asks, amused. Poppy can’t see her face, but she knows Bee must be smiling right now.

How annoying.

"Shut up and put that phone away. You were just complaining about being behind schedule, so unless you want to waste anymore time, I’d suggest you shut your homely little mouth and sleep," she says, cold and demanding.

"You seemed to like my mouth well enough just a few hours ago—"

"Hughes!" she warns her. Bee shuts up, but Poppy can still hear her giggling.

"Goodnight, Poppy."

------------------

Two hours later, Poppy is tossing uncomfortably on her side of the bed. She barely suppresses a frustrated groan before quietly grabbing her phone and checking the time.

1:30 am.

She’s not getting any sleep that night. She can feel Bee struggling, too. It feels too intimate, too revealing, to sleep alongside each other like this. She notices all the little things she didn’t notice the night before: Bee’s irregular breathing cycle, the sound of her body shifting against the bed covers, the smell of Bee’s shampoo, only inches away from her face.

"Ugh…" she sighs, and looks at the girl laying next to her.

Bee’s back is turned, and Poppy watches her breathe for a few seconds before raking a hand through her own hair in frustration.

Poppy unconsciously brings her fingers to her lips and thinks about the kiss they shared that day. Lately, everything they’ve been doing feels so much more… intimate. It’s somewhat nice, but it’s also a little terrifying. Poppy has never experienced anything like this before. She’s used to being in control of the situation, but every time she’s with Bee, she feels herself losing power. The worst part is that she doesn’t completely hate it.

"Can’t sleep?" Bee’s soft voice brings her back to reality.

"Not really. You?" she asks, even though she already knows the answer.

"Nope. It’s weird, considering how incredibly exhausted I am," she laughs quietly. Poppy smiles next to her. "I have an idea, if you’re up to it."

Poppy raises an eyebrow, her hand reaching for the lamp on the nightstand. "What kind of idea?"

"You’ll see. I’d suggest you grab a hoodie, though."

Poppy frowns. "I don’t have any."

"Then borrow one of mine."

Fifteen minutes later, Poppy finds herself laying on a blanket outside in the middle of the night. The night air is quiet, and for a while Poppy lays still, listening to the sound of Bee’s breathing.

Bee insisted that they both apply enough bug spray, and despite the smell bothering her and the hoodie being two sizes too big for her, Poppy is actually feeling at ease.

It’s dark, and the flashlight that Bee is holding barely illuminated the path in front of them. They managed to get there in one piece after a ten minute walk, though. She can still make out the bed and breakfast in the distance, lit by some dim road lights.

"So your genius idea was to come outside and… lay on the grass?" she asks in mock irritation.

"You’re impossible," Bee laughs. "But yeah, this was basically my genius idea."

Little flickers of touch run between them. Knees, arms, fingers. In moments like these, it’s scary how easy Poppy finds picturing this being her new reality.

"I mean, unless you’re trying to get Lyme disease, I don’t really see the purpose in this."

Bee rolls her eyes and turns off her flashlight, letting the darkness surround them. "Just look at the sky, you idiot. I think you’re going to like it."

"The sky?" she mocks her, and Bee shoves her lightly.

"Come on, let’s do it together."

Finally, she looks up and the sight takes her breath away. Above her is the clearest night she’s ever seen. The night sky is sprinkled with hundreds of thousands of stars.

Her chest tightens and she looks over at Bee, who’s suddenly gone all quiet.

"Wow," Bee finally whispers. Poppy can’t help but agree.

"Yeah…" she sighs.

"I haven’t seen a sky like this in so long," Bee admits, her voice a little breathless. "It almost doesn’t feel real."

"Reminds you of home?" Poppy asks, despite herself.

Bee nods a few times. "Yeah. I mean, we’re getting closer to my hometown. I guess I just never quite realized how much of a home I left behind when I moved to New York."

"I don’t think I’ve ever seen a starry night like this one," Poppy whispers.

Bee smiles at her.

"My sister used to say that it seems like we had more of them there, in Farmsville. The stars, I mean," Bee laughs and spends one more moment soaking up the view before turning to fully face Poppy.

"It must’ve been nice," she murmurs, looking back at her. She means it.

"It was," Bee whispers, and reaches for her hand. Poppy’s fingers immediately interlace with Bee’s. "It’s nice being here with you too, you know."

The words tug at Poppy’s heart. Bee looks nervous, as if she’s not ready to hear Poppy’s answer to that almost-confession.

Poppy studies her for a moment, golden brown eyes seeming to crackle at the challenge. She’s searching for any kind of indication that Bee is lying to her, but all she can see reflected on her face is vulnerability. Maybe a few months ago, Poppy would have turned away with some cruel words and left, but she’s no longer afraid of what might happen between them. She just can’t put it into words yet.

(It’s kind of difficult now to muster hatred for the very girl who held her close at night, who won her a giant teddy bear and bought popcorn and drinks for her in one of the best not-dates she’s ever had, who helped make her so much less full of hatred in the first place.)

"I guess it is kind of nice," she says and her mind darts back to the conversation they had earlier during breakfast. The words they used were similar, but this time they carry a lot more meaning than before.

Bee looks at her intently and whispers, "You’re so pretty."

In a brief moment of weakness, Poppy finds herself staring at Bee’s parted lips. They look soft and there’s nothing she wants more than to kiss them right now, the overwhelming urge to do so only restrained by the last bit of rationality that her brain clutches onto in its confused state.

Instead, Poppy manages a little, "Hughes?" as the other girl turns and angles her body towards her.

Bee’s thumb is stroking the back of her hand where their fingers are still intertwined. Her other hand rests, warm and light, on Poppy’s bare leg. She’s also staring at her with affection and intoxication and something else swimming in her eyes.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you," Poppy says, the most sincere she’s ever been. "For today."

"I meant what I said before. I think we’re good together."

Her voice comes out a whisper, soft and husky in the space between them. What she says makes Poppy’s stomach do a little backflip and if the world wasn’t spinning before, it might as well be upside down after she realizes what Bee asks next. "Can I kiss you right now?"

And just like that, all aforementioned rationality escapes her. "Since when do you ask?"

————-🖤————-

Bee leans forward a little while Poppy meets her in-between. She smiles when she hears the little sound of pleasure that escapes Bee’s throat the moment their lips meet. She pulls her hand away from Bee’s and tangles her fingers in curly brown hair, tugging and scratching in places that draw out even more embarrassing sounds from Bee’s mouth.

Poppy groans into the kiss and places her hands on the back of Bee’s neck, angling herself so that her legs wrap around Bee’s waist so she’s practically straddling her.

They break the kiss for a second and Bee laughs under her breath. Poppy watches her, eyes adjusting to the sight of Bee Hughes under her, cheeks flushed and hair spread out in a halo around her head. Her lips are red and swollen, all traces of the cherry chapstick from earlier gone, and her golden eyes are shaded a different level of brown.

"You’re so beautiful," she whispers, admitting it out loud for the first time. Bee smiles and pulls her down towards her one more time.

Their lips meet again and again, and their breaths become more labored. Poppy couldn’t care less about the fact that they’re outside right now.

"Do you— Do you think anyone’s coming here?" Bee asks her, barely keeping her eyes open.

"I don’t think so," Poppy mumbles as she kisses Bee’s neck, her lipstick smudging as she presses her lips down harder on the spot and nips. It makes Bee blush and lean her head to the side to give her more access, her hands tangling into blonde hair.

She can see that Bee is trying to be quiet (she always asks her to be quiet, after all), but she can’t contain herself when Poppy’s hands wander up under her crop top and her teeth bite not so gently until she’s satisfied with the mark she’s left behind.

"Fuck," Bee groans, squirming underneath her as she tries to ignore the embarrassing amount of wetness collecting between her thighs. "Feels good."

Poppy smirks. "You like that?"

Bee’s too focused on getting Poppy moving again to do anything but nod, pulling her close until they’re kissing again, until she feels fingers deftly undoing the button of her shorts, until Poppy is going further, lips trailing down to ghost over the swells of Bee’s chest.

Poppy treats her body with a reverence Bee’s never gotten from her before, and she can do nothing but arch her back when fingers gently remove her from her crop top and jacket, leaving her exposed.

"Ah…!" Bee moans quietly when she feels the Poppy’s knee sliding between her thighs, pressing against her. She can’t help it as her head tips back in pleasure, and she’s breathless as she hears a voice in her ear.

"Don’t hold back, Bee,” Poppy draws out her name, making her moan again. "Not this time."

------------------

Poppy wakes the next morning with a sleeping Bee next to her. The sunlight streaming through the window illuminates half of Bee’s face and sets her hair alight, making it clear that it’s well into the morning, but Poppy decides that five more minutes is most definitely in the schedule for today.

Her body is sore, but as her mind replays the events of the previous night, she can’t help but smile and blush slightly. This is definitely new for both of them, but… maybe she could get used to it.

She checks her phone. 7 am. They should be getting up soon.

"Bee, wake up," she taps her on the shoulder gently. "We have to leave soon."

Absentmindedly, Bee reaches out to pull Poppy back towards her so that she can tug her down and wrap her arms around her waist. "Don’t go."

"…Okay," she sighs.

After a moment’s hesitation, Poppy pats her head, a little awkwardly, and slides her other arm over Bee’s back. They lay there like that for a while in the quiet of the room. Part of Poppy notes, distantly, that Bee looks really beautiful when she’s sleeping.

Poppy looks down at the girl holding her with something that looks a lot like fondness. And to think, only a few months ago — no one ever would have thought this could be possible. Waking up next to Bee Hughes and spending all day with her. And having fun with her, at that. What a wild world it really is.

And yet.

Something about this road trip has really fucked with her. Like, perplexingly so.

Lately, she can’t look at Bee without her heart fluttering weirdly. She keeps thinking about how safe and protected she’d felt in Bee’s arms the other night after she had that nightmare, how warm she’d been.

How this is the same girl she wanted to destroy just weeks ago.

None of it makes sense, really. But she’s had years of practice with avoiding feelings she doesn’t understand, so she puts all that strange and confusing stuff in a box at the back of her mind to deal with later. For now, she’s determined to enjoy whatever’s left of their trip.

She’ll figure out the rest later. She keeps repeating herself that.

Tagging: @siegeofasgard221b @ownagef @veenast @baexpoppy @simp-pony @camren-jenlisa-is-real @noone6252

#poppy min sinclair #poppy x mc #YAS ITS FINALLY FUCKING WEEKEND SO I CAN CATCH UP TO THIS #Bro you��ve been reading my mind or is it the unspoken clown to clown communication but AAAAAAH CARNIVAL DATES 😩😩😩#Ive always thought that its perfrct for them bc all the competitiveness u know #bea and poppy not backing down to win a stupid giant plushie??#sth like that #but uGh that ferris wheel scene #i swear when they hold hands like fingers interlacing and all #fuck the ferris wheel my heart was in a BLENDER #its like the ferris wheel suddenly goes all beyblade u know #but YAAAS they’re so sweet here and uGh #u write so mucho and so fast and imma print this all so like if i suddenly got stranded on an island i have this to read u know #ily #fics

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simp-pony · 2 years

Text

In Spite Of Me (let’s drive)

(previous) Chapter III (next)

Tags: post-canon, semi slow burn, potential NSFW in later chapters.

Bee frowns, entirely unconvinced and clearly still very concerned. In the silence that follows, Poppy turns back to face the ceiling, eyes closed, and pinches the bridge of her nose and breathes again, slow and shaky. In, and out. She does it three times before she feels a gentle hand grab her wrist and guide it away from her face. When she opens her eyes and looks back to her side, Bee’s worried face is hovering inches away from hers.

here’s chapter 3! kinda messy, super rushed, a little angsty, whatever. im not sure when I’ll be able to update again since the next few days are probably gonna be a little busy, so i wanted to post this one today. hope everyone likes it <3

huge thanks to @hallowdiamond for proofreading it for me 🥺❤️ you’re litch rally the best!

------------------

"So how far away are we from the hotel?" Poppy asks, shuffling uncomfortably in her seat. She’s more exhausted than she’d like to admit.

"Not far," Bee answers, turning down the volume of the radio.

They’ve been driving for hours now, but the hours seem longer now than they did earlier in the day. Of course, since Poppy isn’t driving, her mind is running a mile a minute about other things, about the future, and the past too.

It’s the first time all day that Bee isn’t trying to make small talk. Now that the adrenaline has passed, the past events are replaying in her mind over and over again.

Her mind darts back to the night of the Apoidea ball. She thinks about Veronica and Carter, siding with Bee and looking at Poppy as if they truly pitied her. The hurt, the rage, the overwhelming sense of betrayal she felt in those moments before the winner was announced were like nothing she had ever felt before. Never had she been so utterly blind to what was manifesting right under her nose. Poppy has always prided herself on her ability to read people, to know exactly what’s needed to make them do what she wants them to do. Even now, though she is starting to know better than to manipulate people without a care, she still likes to think that she understands what makes them tick. It’d been a shock to have that ripped away from her.

She looks at Bee and tries to make sense of everything she’s feeling. This is the same girl who took everything away from her, who promised to take her down and actually did. The same girl who warned her about an angry mob showing up at her door and made sure she was safe.

The same girl who humiliated her at the Bacchanalia and took revenge for her best friend. The same girl who found out about her most kept secret and didn’t use it against her.

The same girl who makes her smile despite herself and the only one who can keep her on her toes.

Bee Hughes. How does she actually feel about Bee Hughes? How can she hate someone so much and still want to be around them?

She knows that Bee wouldn’t fuck with her again. She knows that her feelings for Poppy are real and that she’d probably be willing to do anything to make her trust her. And if she looks within, she knows that she’s known this for weeks now.

But sometimes…

Sometimes, she has nightmares still, about Bee’s sweet smile twisting into a sneer, her laugh exploding into a cackle, and it's her own cruel words she said to Persephone Dalton that spill out of Bee Hughes’ mouth (Just wait and see what I do to your life. There’s one role you were born to play: the human sacrifice. You will never be one of us.) Sometimes she dreams about the things that Bee actually told her, too (I turned your friends against you because none of them liked you. We thought it’d be fun to ruin your life because you deserved it and oh my god how much fun it was to see you fall) until Poppy snaps awake, soaked in sweat and panting.

And sometimes, it’s just a little too much for her to bear. Sometimes it leaves her aching for some comfort she doesn’t quite understand. But really, there’s nothing to do then but to sit up and tell herself, over and over, that it was just a dream.

It’s always just a dream. There aren’t any more competitions and she doesn’t care about the T anymore and it’s over now.

She looks at Bee again. What are they even doing, right now? How can she trust her? How can they trust each other after everything that went down?

And, more importantly, why does she want to?

"Tired?" Bee asks her, bringing her back to reality.

Poppy nods, and looks outside her window. The sky is getting dark and there are barely any other cars on the road. She doesn’t like how uncomfortable she’s suddenly feeling.

"We’ll get there in less than an hour," Bee promises, reaching for her thermos flask and taking a sip of her coffee.

"Where are we even going?"

"We’re stopping at a local bed and breakfast run by a local beekeeper. It’s really quaint and they even have an option to sleep in a barn," she tells her. Immediately noticing Poppy’s panic, she adds: "don’t worry! I booked us an actual room."

Poppy looks at her incredulously. "What made you think I’d like this?"

Bee smirks.

"Oh, I didn’t think you would," she laughs. "But think of it this way: you’re getting the full ‘road trip with Bee Hughes’ experience."

"That truly doesn’t make it any better" Poppy grunts and closes her eyes. She can sense an oncoming headache.

"Yeah, yeah, you’re the one who agreed to come with me, though," Bee laughs again and Poppy rubs at her temples. "Besides, how fun is that? The owner is a beekeeper and my name—"

"—your name is Bee. Yes, Hughes, I get it," she rolls her eyes. "It’s just not funny."

"You are no fun," Bee pouts.

Poppy sighs. "Bee, I’m from New York city. I know that in your world this probably sounds like a really fun evening, but for me, this is worse than getting a Pap smear."

"You are so dramatic," Bee tells her, barely stifling a laugh. "Like, seriously, Poppy. I think you should’ve gone to an art school or something. You’re giving me major theatre kid vibes right now."

"That is the worst thing you could’ve said to me," Poppy says indignantly.

"Shut up, Poptart. Quit complaining. You promised you’d play nice, remember?" Bee gently nudges her with her elbow.

"I could actually murder you right now and no one would ever find your body," she squints her eyes.

Bee smiles at her. Poppy thinks it’s the most infuriating smile in the world. She hates how much she doesn’t hate it.

"You could, but…" she pauses, and makes eye contact. "You’d get pretty lonely without me."

Poppy hates that she’s right.

------------------

Yawning, Bee falls face first down onto one of the beds in the room she booked. Her things are splattered around, but she doesn’t seem to mind as she sinks her face into her pillow. "I am so, so tired."

"Did you really book two twin beds?" Poppy asks, looking around the room. It’s… quaint, to say the least. Bee was right to use that word to describe it. Poppy purses her lips as she tries to stop herself from making any rude comments. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah!" Bee smiles in understanding. She seems to notice Poppy’s awkwardness, but doesn’t mention it.

Poppy walks to her own bed and sits down. Bee follows her, standing a little short from the foot of the bed.

"Huh. I thought you would’ve booked at least a queen size bed."

Bee laughs, reaching for her suitcase and placing it at an arm’s distance.

"Aw, Pops, did you want to sleep with me?" she raises an eyebrow, clearly amused.

"No!" she’s quick to deny it, maybe a little bit too quick. It makes Bee smile. "I just thought that knowing you, you would’ve tried something like that."

"Don’t worry. We still have to spend the night in a hotel tomorrow. There’s plenty of time to— ow!" she squeals. "You can’t be trusted around pillows!"

"I can’t be trusted, period. I thought you’d know that by now, Farmsville," she smirks. "Now get out of my side of the room before I transition from pillows into something heavier."

"You really do love violence, huh?"

"Maybe you bring out the worst in me."

"Please," Bee snorts. "Weren’t you the one who told me I made you better at being you?"

"Same thing, really."

"If you say so."

"I do. Now shut up before I whack you again," Poppy yawns. "I’m gonna take a shower."

"Want some company?" Bee smirks. Poppy can’t tell if she’s being serious or not.

"Step foot into the bathroom while I’m there and I’ll seriously murder you."

"Fine, fine," Bee rolls her eyes and plops herself on her bed. "Try not to use all the hot water."

Poppy raises an eyebrow. Limited hot water? What kind of cheap hotel is this one, exactly?

Thirty minutes later, they’ve both taken (separate) showers and changed into their pajamas. Poppy is wearing an expensive silk pajama set while Bee is just wearing an oversized T-shirt and cotton shorts. Poppy tries to ignore the way it makes her feel.

The place doesn’t offer room service (shocking) so Bee had to step out to buy some food while Poppy was in the shower. They’re eating sandwiches quietly . The TV provides some background noise, but other than that, the room is filled with a pleasant silence.

Bee is the first one to break it. "Long day, huh?"

"Yeah," Poppy takes a sip of her diet coke. "Your car seats get really uncomfortable after a couple of hours."

"I’m pretty sure that’s something that happens with every car seat, Pops. Not just mine," Bee chuckles.

"No, I’m pretty sure I’m right," Poppy smiles with her. It makes Bee look away in embarrassment.

"Anyways, are you done with that?" she asks, pointing at Poppy’s plastic plate and now empty soda can.

She nods and hands them over. Bee throws them into the trash can before walking up to Poppy and sitting down next to her on the bed.

"I figured we should wake up by… 7:30 am-ish tomorrow, if that’s okay with you."

Poppy yawns again. "Yeah. Now, Farmsville, get out of my bed. I’d like to at least get five hours of sleep tonight."

"Fine," Bee gives her a nod before she’s overcome by a huge yawn of her own. "Goodnight, Pops."

"I’ll kill you in your sleep if you snore," she murmurs, her eyelids growing heavy.

"I’m already looking forward to it."

------------------

Then she finds herself sitting at her table at the Person to Watch gala. The lights are off except for the one illuminating the stage, leaving the room unnervingly dim.

That’s weird enough. Even weirder is the fact that, as she looks around, she finds that every single table around her is completely bare. Even her own. The plates are wiped clean, the champagne glasses are empty. There’s absolutely no indication that this room has ever been in use.

Completely lost, she looks at her phone screen. The date and time are definitely right, and the gala should be happening right now. So why is it like a fucking ghost town in here?

As if summoned by the thought, she suddenly hears the clicking sound of high heels walking towards the stage. The lights dim before turning themselves on again, and Bee reaches for the microphone.

Poppy sighs in relief. She stands up from her chair and gets closer to the stage. "Good, you’re here too. What the hell is going on?"

Bee gives her a funny look, like maybe Poppy’s completely lost her mind. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, why is there literally no one else here? Did we get the date wrong, or something?"

Bee breaks into a laugh. "What do you mean? Everyone else went home already. The real question is, what are you doing here?"

Her brow furrows when she realizes that actually, she has no memory of coming here. She has no idea of who won the award or what happened during the night. And if the gala is already over, why would Bee stay behind…?

"I… I don’t know," she says hesitantly. "Did I win?"

Bee lets out another laugh. "You? Oh, no. I won."

Poppy feels her stomach sink.

"What…?"

"Do you seriously not remember your little meltdown?" she asks, raising an eyebrow. She’s still smiling, as if everything’s alright between them. "Here, look at yourself."

She hands her a double sided compact mirror. Poppy looks at herself, and sure enough, her mascara is all runny and her cheeks are stained with tears.

"I don’t remember—" she starts, but Bee interrupts her.

"You went a little crazy over there," she laughs.

"I did?"

Something strange happens then. Bee’s smile falters a little, like a cracking façade, except somehow it reveals nothing about what’s underneath. "Yeah, it was a real shit show."

"What are you doing here?" Poppy asks her, still confused.

Bee lets out a chuckle and shakes her head.

"You should get going now. Your parents, er, I mean… your mom and Piers are waiting for you outside."

"What?" she can feel herself start panicking. "What do you mean—"

"You should probably check the T."

"My phone… I don’t know where I’ve left it," Poppy admits.

Bee takes her purse and reaches inside to grab something. "You can use mine."

She hands her phone over, which Poppy accepts with bafflement. Before she can say anything else, Bee is out the door.

"Farmsville!" she calls after her, peering out into the hall. But somehow, Bee is already nowhere to be seen.

Finally, she looks down at the screen.

The T’s latest submission is about her family. She feels the tears forming in her eyes, but she can’t stop reading. Every secret is exposed there for the world to see. The truth about her parents, about her mother’s affair, about her birth. And the worst part? Bee was the one who exposed it at the gala.

"No, no, no…" she sobs. "This can’t be happening."

And suddenly a wave of dread washes over her, spurring her into motion. Poppy hurries down the disturbingly-empty hall, turning corner after corner, only blind instinct guiding her steps until she finds herself outside, close to a fountain.

Bee is standing about ten feet ahead, her back turned to her as she watches the fountain.

"Farmsville, what the fuck did you do?!" she yells as she hastily makes her way over to the other girl.

Slowly, Bee turns around. Her expression is inscrutable. She looks her up and down, twice. Judging her. Poppy thinks she’s turning smaller under her piercing gaze.

Finally, Bee sighs and says, "Sometimes, we get what’s coming to us."

It makes her heart stop and her breath catches in her throat. She watches as Bee’s gaze flicks upwards, to look past her at something over her shoulder. She watches as her lips curl into a small smile. She watches as Bee Hughes walks away without another word.

She whirls around just in time to see her parents bearing down on her.

------------------

Poppy wakes with a startled gasp.

Hopelessly disoriented and unadjusted to the dark of her room, she shoots a hand out to the side to fumble for the lamp on her bedside table. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Except this is not her bed and this is not her room and oh right, she’s at some random bed and breakfast in the middle of nowhere. It’s three-thirty in the morning, according to the digital clock that is on the table.

Okay. That’s okay.

She manages to force herself to take three long, deep breaths before they dissolve into hiccuping sobs and Poppy clasps a hand over her mouth a second too late because she had also forgotten, for a moment, that she isn’t alone in the room.

And now Bee is already stirring, blinking the sleep away from her eyes. As soon as she regains her senses, she focuses on the girl on the bed besides hers. She leans over to touch her shoulder. "Whoa, hey, what happened?"

Poppy tenses, stubbornly refusing to meet her eyes. She can’t bear to see the concern on Bee’s face that she knows must be there. "Nothing," she mumbles. "Nothing happened."

She feels a hand on her cheek, soft but persistent as Bee turns Poppy’s head to make her meet her gaze. "Poppy, you’re crying," she says, soft and matter-of-factly. "What’s wrong?"

Poppy sucks in another breath, trying desperately to calm the hammering beat of her heart. Seeing, knowing and feeling Bee right there beside her, warm and so very very real, helps quell the fear nightmare-Bee induced. When she finally feels her heartbeat slow, returning to normal, she opens her mouth. "It was just a bad dream. Think nothing of it."

When she opens her eyes and looks back to her side, Bee’s worried face is hovering inches away from hers.

"Was it…" she trails off, hesitatingly. "Was it about me?"

As much as Poppy doesn’t want to admit that (a part of her refuses to show vulnerability in front of Bee — or even worse, let her know that she’s the source of it) she’s sure the expression on her face confirms what Bee’s already figured out. So she nods, shortly.

"Does it— do you get nightmares about that a lot?"

"Sometimes," she admits, "I do. About all the other shit too, like Persephone or the mob. But you… yeah. You’re always there."

She almost regrets saying the last part at the flash of guilt on Bee’s face. She knows now that it’s not really her fault. So she adds: "They’re not always bad dreams."

She means it. Sometimes she dreams about Bee saving her from the mob, or the two of them teaming up against Selene in the bathroom. She dreams about things she wishes she would’ve handled differently, too.

Poppy’s sure Bee’s opening her mouth to apologize (she does that a lot, even though Poppy is the one who should be apologizing) so she braces for it and gets her reply ready in her head. She’s caught off guard, though, when Bee says, "It’ll be okay."

"You’ll be okay," she repeats. “It’ll get better, and we’ll be here for you, Poppy. Chloe, Veronica, and I. No matter what your mind tries to tell you. I’ll be here for you."

Poppy’s at a complete loss for words. She just sort of… stares at Bee for a solid ten seconds, unsure of what to say. Bee looks back at her so calmly, patiently, that gentle smile of hers sending warmth flooding through Poppy’s chest. There’s that feeling again, she thinks. She can feel tears forming in her eyes again, but for a completely different reason. "Okay," she finally manages, as she goes to wipe them away as subtly as possible and completely fails.

The other girl laughs softly. "Okay."

Poppy closes her eyes. She’s finally starting to calm down, but…

And, as if she’s read her mind, Bee asks her gently. "Do you want me to sleep with you tonight?"

Poppy doesn’t have the strength to say any words right now, so she just nods instead. And before she knows it, Bee’s reached out and wrapped her arms around Poppy and pulled her close to her chest. Poppy stiffens for just a moment before she sighs and allows herself to relax into Bee, nestling her head on her shoulder.

There isn’t much room for the two of them in a twin bed, and Poppy thinks that Bee’s large figure might fall off the bed if they move around too much. So, she wraps her arms around her and holds her closer still. Just so she won’t fall off, she tells herself.

"Hmm," she mumbles into the soft fabric of Bee’s oversized shirt.

"Can I ask…" Bee starts, a little hesitantly. "Can I ask you what I did to you in your dream?"

Poppy takes a few seconds to breathe before answering her question. Her bodies are still flush together, comforting her. "We were at the gala again, except you exposed the truth about my father after you won."

Bee’s breath falters a little. "I wouldn’t— I would never!"

"I know," Poppy whispers. "I know you wouldn’t, Bee."

That seems to make Bee relax a little, because she tentatively brings a hand to Poppy’s hair and starts running trembling fingers through it. "Okay."

"Night, Bee," Poppy says, letting her eyes fall shut once again.

"Goodnight, Poppy," she hums in return, the smile in her voice clear as day.

Tagging: @simp-pony @baexpoppy @noone6252 @ownagef

#fics #poppy min sinclair #poppy x mc #IARA IM SORRY I JUST OPENED TUMBLR AGAIN AFTER LIKE A WEEK BEING IN A CAVE #by cave i mean my room and the shitty connection i have #BUT ANYWAY LET ME GO OOGA CHAGA ABOUT THIS #THE SOFT THE MOMENT THE ONE BED ONLY #that dream was such a nice touch because we barely see Poppy showing her vulnerable side #except for a moment in book 1 when we exposed her real father in the gala #and she legit begged and ranaway crying #this absolute hellspawn doing that really speaks volume about her real feelings toward her real father #then with all the moments in book 2 where we legit bullied her to goth phase #esp after the human sacrifice and all #always makes me wonder about how she really feels behind closed door when she's alone #despite her bravado and feral chihuahua ism in public #and yeah you captured it really well with the nightmare part and all #AAAAAAAAH #ily #please take care

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