“Guess she still has that stick up her ass”

Despite the loud music, Bette was able to hear what was said about her and raised a challenging eyebrow at the women.

Emma watched the exchange with a rising panic, her eyes shifting back and forth between her girlfriend and her friends. She quickly hooked an arm around Bette’s and leaned against the brunette’s slender frame.

“Can you believe this party?” She burst out, desperate to dissipate what would surely turn into an uncomfortable situation. She knew that Bette and her friends disliked each other, the former accusing the group of being immature and dense while the latter didn’t bother to hide how uptight and “un-fun” they considered Bette to be. Still, Emma couldn’t deny herself the selfish desire for the most important people in her life to get along.

“Yeah” Lena, the most tolerable of the four, nodded her head as she looked around the room in awe. She held up the drink towards Bette in cheers before bringing it to her lips, the glitter on her face sparkling with the numerous lights blinking around the bar. “Bette must really love you because Keith would never do this for me”

“Neither would Steve” Maggie said with a roll of her eyes as she took a sip of her own drink.

Emma smiled brightly as she turned her head to look up at the brunette, a dreamy expression on her face.

“She really does”

Her eyes dropped to Bette’s plump lips as her eyes darkened with lust, the brunette’s apparent thoughtful gesture seeming to have a sensual effect on the redhead. She leaned in ever so slightly as her eyes met Bette’s for a brief moment, her hungry gaze beckoning the brunette closer.

With an affectionate smile, Bette closed the distance but pressed her lips instead to Emma’s temple and rejected yet another kiss.

“Aww you guys look so cute” Oblivious to the disappointed expression on her best friend’s face, Maggie gushed over the couple.

Bette then decided to keep up the pretense if only to spare Emma’s feelings and rested her head against the redhead’s, a soft smile on her face. She slipped an arm around Emma’s waist as her eyes instinctively searched the crowd and her breath caught in her throat, her heart painfully skipping a beat.