Goddess

Goddess

–
The Best Laid Plans...
–

~Sarah~

Today was the day I would start a relationship with my best friend. Nearly two years of planning had gone into this decision and I'd worked out nearly every detail. Those were some hard years too; years of seeing her force smiles, years of hearing her cry in the night, years of seeing the heartache and longing just beneath the surface as she went from one unfulfilling relationship to the next. No more. This day, her eighteenth birthday, was the day I took all that pain away.

I love her... but as of this moment I couldn't really say that I love her romantically. We've kissed a few times in the past, back before she'd come out to me. I'd known she liked girls, and the stirrings I'd felt through those kisses were the first steps to me realizing that I did too. That was how I knew that, even though I didn't truly romantically love her now, I could easily see myself doing so with time. I would be with her for as long as she would have me, and guide her toward healthy relationships if I felt us growing apart.

“...rah?”

My eyes follow her fingers as they tuck a loose lock of dark hair behind an ear. Crystal blue eyes peer at me curiously as my eyes travel across her face. She's so pretty. High cheekbones, full pouty lips, a cute little nose, and flawless pale skin. Romantic love or not, kissing those lips, giving myself over to her completely as those piercing blue eyes look down into mine... the thought sends the butterflies in my stomach a flutter.

“Sarah?” she asks again, this time snapping my thoughts into focus.

“Hmm?”

I notice she's nervous about something, with a little embarrassment mixed in; she always had a lousy poker face.

“I have to tell you something important...” she says, lowering her eyes.

My heart skips a beat. Could she have been having the same thoughts as me?

“You can tell me anything, hon. You know that,” I encourage her, reaching out to give her hand a squeeze.

“Well... I know you've noticed there's been something different about me the past couple years. Something happened to me back then... and I realized something big.”

“I did notice,” I say, nodding. That was what had set this whole plan into motion.

“When I say big, I mean really big,” she continues, a blush creeping through her face. “Something that could tear apart our friendship if it goes wrong...”

She looks up at me and bites her lower lip, one of her most endearing qualities. My heart beats a little faster, I feel myself leaning forward slightly.

“Sarah... I... I'm in love...” My eyes drift closed, anticipating a kiss. “...with Juliet!” she finishes.

I freeze, lips pursed, heart thundering in my chest. Slowly, over what feels like a full ten minutes I lean back and open my eyes. She's in full blush, lip bite, tear rimmed eye mode and it's the most adorable thing I've ever seen but I can't quite appreciate it.

“W-What?” I manage in a breathless whisper. She doesn't hear me over her long sigh of elation.

“Oh goddess it feels so good to get that weight off my chest!” She takes in a long deep breath. “That's like, the first easy breath I've taken in two years!” she beams, her lip bite replaced with a crooked grin.

“W-What the hell do you mean you're in love with my mom?!” I finally manage, hands clasping and unclasping as if clutching at the shattered remains of my plan.

Her grin fades into a neutral expression.

“I never told you what happened two years ago to this day... on both the worst and the best day of my life...”

She took another long slow breath, and began to tell her story.

–
Nightmares and Dreams Come True...
–

~Jen~

'God you're so naive!' I walked a full hour in the rain, numb from shame and misery even more than the cold. 'As if I would ever want gutter trash like you!' I didn't even know where my feet were taking me until I was ringing the doorbell. 'A few little kisses and you were ready and willing to lick my boots, you're pathetic!' It took five presses of the button and two agonizing minutes before the door opened. 'Now everyone's going to know what a dirty little slut you are!'

“Oh, Jen!” she says, surprised. She's wearing a robe, I must have caught her before a shower. “I thought you knew Sarah was visiting her Grand...” she stops, smile faltering. “Oh god, you look half drowned, come inside, quick!”

She wraps an arm around me and leads me inside. I stumble along, realizing for the first time just how numb my body was. I can feel pinpricks across my skin as we step into the warmth of the living room but it's the look of fear in her eyes that really worries me.

“You're white as a ghost and your lips are turning blue, we've got to get you out of those wet clothes and into something warm! Wait here!”

I nod as she bustles off down the hall, my weary mind and body slowly processing what was happening around me. I clutched numbly at the hem of my shirt, slowly peeling the sodden cloth up and over my head, realizing as I did that I had put it on backwards in my haste. I bet they had gotten a kick out of that... Luckily, I hadn't bothered to button up my jeans during my escape, I wasn't sure if my unfeeling hands would have been able to get them undone. It's still a struggle to get the wet material down and the feeble remains of my strength give out. She hesitates for a second when she sees me, topless and bare-assed on the tile floor, numbly clutching at my half removed pants.

“Oh hon...” she whispers, setting an armful of towels on the sofa before making her way over to me.

I can't prevent the flinch as she gently takes my hands into hers and moves them out of the way. The gentle worry in her eyes settles my nerves though and I lean back and let her tug my pants the rest of the way off. With a grunt of effort, as she's a fairly petite woman, she helps me to my feet and we hobble over to the couch where she proceeds to swaddle me in fluffy towels.

“It hurts...” I whimper, the first words I've managed.

“It's the blood starting to flow again,” she says, gently kneading my arms and legs to aide the circulation. I shake my head.

“Not that...” I whisper, though it does hurt it's nothing compared to the much deeper wound in my chest. “She...” my eyes burn as tears return to them, something I didn't think was possible after how long I'd cried in the rain. “She...” I choke on the misery welling up inside me.

“It's okay, hon, you don't have to tell me if you don't...”

“She broke my heart!” I scream, the pain and shame turning it into such a wretched wailing sound that I couldn't believe was my own voice.

“Oh sweetie,” she says, pulling me into a hug, “girls at that age can be so fickle. I know it hurts but you'll get passed this.” I shake my head and try to pull away, the shame bubbling in my stomach.

“S-She humiliated me... she never even liked me. It was all... it was all a trick.” I felt her freeze against me, whatever placating words she was going to murmur dying on her lips.

“What do you mean?”

I close my eyes, not able to muster up the courage to continue while I looked into those warm brown eyes.

“She told me we were finally gonna have sex... for my birthday, ya know? I was so excited that I didn't see it coming. She had me put on a blindfold...” I choke on the miserable sobs rising up in my throat, I can feel her eyes on my face. I take a long shuddering breath and continue. “She had me lay there, naked and blindfolded while she teased me... did things to me. I... I had an orgasm and started begging for her to do more... and then they started laughing.” I feel her grip on the towels tighten and open my eyes to see a mix of horror, sadness, and rage swirling together in her eyes. “I took off the blindfold, her and two of her friends were taking pictures and recording me... they were laughing so hard and then... then she...” the words die off as she pulls me into a tight embrace, her own hot tears sliding down onto my neck. I give in fully to the misery and let the sobbing consume my thoughts.

“Do you trust me?” she asks after the worst of it has passed. I nod.

“I came here,” I whisper, too exhausted to explain any further. She nods.

“I'm going to take care of this,” she says, knuckles popping where she's gripping the towels.

She stands and walks behind the sofa to the kitchen. I stare blankly ahead, chest tightening as I hear her rifling through some papers and fidgeting with her phone before dialing a number. Every single key tapped feels like it adds a hundred pounds to my shoulders. Three rings.

“Hello Mrs Matthews, this is Juliet Lewis... yeah, Sarah's mom. I need to inform you that I am recording this phone call. What happens in the next few minutes is going to determine if severe legal action is brought against your daughter. Is Stacia home?” a slight pause. “Her and her friends, perfect. I need you to get their cell phones from them immediately. I've just been informed by a family friend that they've taken lewd pictures and video of another girl.” Another pause. “This is not a joke! And I can promise you that if even one of those pictures or one second of that video makes its way online we will pursue every legal action available to us!” The fire in her voice kindles the first bit of warmth in the pit of my stomach.

I can hear yelling from the other end of the phone, a pause, and then several more minutes of yelling back and forth between multiple people.

“I see...” she says quietly. A lump forms in my throat. “Nothing was sent out then, you're sure?” I let out a long slow breath. “I'll need to confirm that, of course. I can trust you to inform the other girls parents, obviously none of them should get their phones back until this is settled.” Another pause, and some committal noises. “I agree, it'll be best for everyone if we handle this without getting the authorities involved but we will retain the right to press charges, understood? Good, we'll set up a meeting with the other parents tomorrow.” A few moments pass. “I'm taking good care of her. Goodbye.”

She hangs up the phone and sets it down calmly, letting out a long slow breath before slamming her fists down on the table... and then again... and again, letting out a long wailing cry of frustration as she slams them down one final time, sweeping whatever else was on the table onto the floor in a rage.

“I'm so sorry this happened to you, hon... people... people can be so cruel.”

She wraps her arms around me from behind and cries into my still damp hair.

“T-Thank you...”

–

~Sarah~

For a good five minutes I sit in stunned silence after she pauses in telling her story, mopping at her eyes with the hem of her shirt.

“That fucking bitch!” I shriek. “The next time I see her I'm going to rip that pretty blonde hair out by the fucking roots! Ugh, I actually loaned that horrible cunt a pen a few weeks ago! I should have said 'sure thing!' and then rammed it into her damn tit! I'll...” Jen actually manages a small smile and a light chuckle through her tears.

“It's okay, I'm not mad at her anymore, she was just a stupid kid.”

“But...”

“She actually apologized to me after a while, a real one too, begged me to forgive her. I told her to do a bunch of charity work to make up for it and she actually followed through. It's in the past now,” she finishes, a distant look in her eyes as the smile fades to a neutral expression. A deep silence settles over us for a few minutes before I lean forward and pull her into a tight hug.

“I wish you'd told me... but I understand why you didn't.” She sniffles and returns the hug, nodding into my neck. Eventually I pull away and fix her with a stern gaze.

“Now what's this about loving my mom?”

“Uh... hmm... are you sure you wanna hear this?” she asks, adorable lip bite returning. I sigh.

“I think I have to at this point. You said it was the worst and the best day of your life, may as well here the best part to and get this over with.

“Okay,” she says, closing her eyes and collecting her thoughts.

–

~Jen~

She makes me soup and brings me warm towels from the dryer. For the first time since I got here I have enough sense in me to feel a little embarrassed as she strips away the damp towels and wraps me in the fresh ones. She doesn't seem to notice, looking as exhausted as I feel. Eventually she settles down next to me on the couch, setting a bottle of scotch and an empty glass on the coffee table.

“You don't mind if I have a drink, do you?” she asks. I shake my head.

“It's okay, I kinda dumped a lot on your plate.”

She shrugs it off and pats my head.

“Hey now, you know you're always welcome here.”

“If I'd went home... Dad... wouldn't have understood,” I murmured. She sighed, poured herself a glass, and downed it in one long pull.

“Yeah, Dick certainly does live up to his name on occasion.” she said, with a little snort of laughter. I smiled.

“You saved me... I don't know what I... what I would have done,” the tears threaten to return as the memories well up. She gives me a warm smile, picks up the bowel of soup, and offers me a spoonful.

“I think you've had enough tears to last you a lifetime, lets focus on getting some pink back in those cheeks.” I blush, giving her the desired effect and take the spoonful of warm chicken noodle into my mouth. “That's my girl,” she giggles, offering me another. This continues until the bowl is mostly consumed and I shake my head, turning down the last few spoonfuls.

She pours herself another glass of scotch and sips at it. I shiver, and nod at the glass in her hand.

“C-Can I have one of those? I remember it warming me up when we...” I freeze as she quirks an accusatory eyebrow.

“And just how often have you and my daughter been getting shitfaced on my hooch?”

“J-J-Just once! I promise! Sarah got really sick to so we never...” she stops me with a deep chuckle.

“Oh god, your face! Sorry, I couldn't resist! She told me all about it so relax. Every parent has to expect their kids will get into their liquor eventually.” She pauses, and the smile slowly fades from her face before she offers me the glass. “You've been through some rough business tonight, maybe it'll help.” I gingerly reach for the glass but she pulls it back at the last second. “Just don't make a habit of it!” I nod and take the glass and sip at the amber liquid, coughing as it burns its way down my gullet.

“Smooth,” I croak, taking another sip and coughing once more. Juliet giggles. It's horrible, but the heat it brings feels good. I lay back on the couch, finally feeling some of the tension drain from my body... and then the doorbell rang.

“Oh shit!” she yelped, hopping off the couch in a panic, hurrying over to the door to open it a crack, only to be pushed open the rest of the way by a tall, gorgeous woman in a leather jacket and pants.

“Nice robe,” the new arrival purred, reaching out to pull Juliet into an embrace... only to freeze dead in her tracks as our eyes met. “Oh hell, I was very damn specific on my profile that I'm not into threesomes!” she growled, gently pushing Juliet away.

“It's not what it looks like! She's my daughters friend!” she winced as soon as the words were out of her mouth.

“Yeah, that's not sweetening the pot any!” the woman said scornfully. “I mean, I appreciate that it's not a dude, but c'mon!” Flabbergasted, Juliet turned to me pleadingly.

“I'm sorry, I didn't know she had a date coming. I got dumped pretty hard tonight and came looking for my friend. Please, stay, I can leave.” I stumble as I stand, the towel around my shoulders coming loose revealing my bare chest to the stunned women. “Ah damn it...” I mutter as the woman, eyes lingering on me appreciatively for a bit, turns to glare at Juliet.

“Well, I have to say this is a new one at least, but I'm still not interested. Have fun you two, don't bother messaging me again.” With that, she's out the door. Weak-kneed, I fall back onto the couch and reach numbly for the scotch, downing the rest of it in two chocking swallows.

“Well that's a thing that happened...” Juliet murmurs, closing the door and shuffling back over to the couch.

She takes the glass from my hands, refills it, and takes a long pull. We sit in silence for a long time and for the first time since I arrived I take a look at my surroundings. The place is unusually spotless and the lights are dimmed. I look behind me at the floor to see the unlit candles that she had knocked off the table during her tantrum. Finally I turned to Juliet, hair expertly teased, sexy robe, and a touch of makeup on her face.

“I'm...”

“Don't say you're sorry, not after what you've been through tonight.” I nod, the silence stretches on a little longer.

“She was cute.”

“That she was...”

“It's a shame...” she starts to interrupt but I keep going “I'd have been all over that threesome if she was into it.”

After a moment of stunned silence she starts to laugh, and after a few moments of her deep belly chuckling I start to laugh too. It hurts, but at the same time I'd never felt anything so good in my life. Eventually the laughter dies down and I lean my head on her shoulder for another long relaxing silence.

–

~Sarah~

“Oh thank god,” I whisper, fearing for a second that the story was leading somewhere I really didn't want to go.

“Might want to hold off on that....” she says seriously. I swallow hard, then nod for her to continue.

–

~Jen~

“Sarah knows,” I say quietly.

“Hmm?” She sounds a little sleepy.

“That you're gay. Well, she hasn't come right out and said it but she's dropped some hints that she knows.”

“Ah,” she murmurs.

“She's, y'know, not gonna love you any less if you just come out and tell her.”

“I know.” I lift my head off her shoulder and look at her angelic face.

“I love you,” I say, words catching in my throat a bit. A smile quirks at the corners of her lips.

“I know, hon.”

I swallow, the light haze of alcohol giving me the courage to press on.

“First as the mother I never had... then...” I leaned forward and kissed her neck, for a moment I could feel her body accept it, then she stiffened and pulled away. I meet her stunned gaze, my face blazing with a mix of embarrassment and excitement. I bite my lower lip, searching her eyes for some glimmer of hope. “Then, as I grew up... you became everything I've ever wanted.” She's too stunned to stop me as put one leg over her, straddling her legs as I look down into her eyes. “So beautiful, so strong, so devoted... you became my Goddess... my sexual awakening.”

“Jen...” I shake my head.

Tears come, but not the bitter, heartbroken tears I'd shed all day; they were warm and full of hope. I lean my head down into the crook of her neck.

“I think... I think something inside me broke tonight. What they did to me... what they took from me... a part of me doesn't think I'll ever feel beautiful again and that scares me so much!” I pull back and look into her tear rimmed eyes. “That's why, if it's with you... if it's my Goddess... please... please show me that I can feel beautiful again...”

I lean down and press my lips to hers, watching as her eyes widen, then slowly, ever so slowly, they begin to soften. She blinks twice, then slowly closes her eyes, setting loose the well of tears as she begins to return the kiss. Her arms wrap around my body... and she begins the long slow process of putting the pieces of my heart back together again.

–

~Sarah~

A few minutes go by before I realize she's stopped speaking.

“Why...” the words don't even make it out before I realize I'm crying.

“You're upset.”

“Well of course I'm upset! You'd have to made of wood to not be affected by what happened to you!” She smiles and shakes her head.

“But you're not upset about... what I did. A lot of people would feel betrayed by that.”

“I...” I stop, finally realizing what she means.

Yeah, I probably should be upset about that. There's something in her eyes though keeping me from getting angry. It takes a few moments of gazing into those bright blue eyes to realize that it's hope. Something I haven't seen a lot of for... well... two whole years. It's what set this whole plan of mine into motion.

“Maybe I will be when the shock wears off... but for now, finish the story.” At this she blushes bright red and I feel my face heat up instantly. “Skipping the... y'know, of course!” She lets out a sigh of relief and nods.

“Okay.”

–

~Jen~

“This... this was a...”

“Please don't say mistake!” I gasp, just barely beginning to catch my breath. “You saved me...” I reach over and grip her hand. “I know it's not... quite right what happened, I'm not that naive. I'm young. You're a little drunk. I was heartbroken and vulnerable and emotions where running as high as I can imagine is possible. Someone could say either one of us took advantage of the other but... can we just not do all that?” I plead. She stares at me for a long while before sitting up, demurely draping one of the towels to cover herself. She looks pensive, but doesn't pull her hand away from mine.

“Okay,” she says finally, letting out a long weary sigh. I rise up too, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. “That being said you are young, and my daughters friend on top of it. This can never...” I dart in and kiss her, nothing fancy, just a quick peck on the lips but it has the desired effect of stopping her from saying the words.

“Nope, you don't get to say that either! Even though my only other experience was... horrible... unforgivable...” It's her turn to squeeze my hand reassuringly. “There was something more here, I felt it and you don't get to pretend that you didn't either.”

She opened her mouth to protest, saw the steel in my eyes, then closed her mouth and sighed.

“Again, that being said, there's a lot that doesn't sit right with me about this. You have to accept that.” I bit my lip and nodded. “This is just... so much to process and we've still got a whole mess more to deal with before you can really start to recover from what happened to you. I'm sorry,” she says, seeing my crestfallen look, “that's just the way it is.

I frown, it's a bitter pill to swallow.

“I do love you...” I whisper, an idea forming in my mind. She sighs.

“Jen...”

“Two years!” I shout, startling her from her rebuke.

“W-What?”

“In two years I'll come back for you with my emotional scars healed and some life and love experience under my belt!”

She looks into my eyes for a long while before a ghost of smile touches her lips.

“That's... surprisingly reasonable.”

“I've loved you since I've known what love was and in more ways than one. Two years is nothing if it means a chance at more of this.” If I didn't know any better I'd say she swooned a bit at my words.

“And that's... a surprisingly flattering,” she says demurely.

I reached out and tugged down the towel, drinking in the sight of her bare breasts for a quick moment before leaning in to kiss her again. Not quite a peck, not quite a deep loving kiss, but enough to let my feelings be known.

“For the road,” I say, raising my eyebrows suggestively.

“And there's the horny teenager!” she groans, shoving me off the sofa. We share a good laugh before settling into another easy silence.

“Two years... man, things are going to be awkward around Sarah after we get married. She's gonna have to call me Mommy!”

“Oh hell...”

–

~Sarah~

“And that's the story,” she finishes, leaning forward to give me a kiss on the forehead. “I love you Sarah, you're the best friend a girl could ever ask for. I don't know how things are going to change after today but I hope at least that never does. Now, I'm sorry to dump all of this in your lap and run but to be perfectly honest it's been two painfully long years without my Goddess and if I spend another minute without her I'm going shake apart at the seams!” With that, she stood from the bed and bolted out the door, leaving me in stunned silence.

“Well that's a thing that happened...” I murmur to myself.

All that time planning had been for nothing apparently, she'd had her own plan to fix things right from the start.

“Jen and mom huh, I wonder...” a loud squeal of surprise drags me from my thoughts. I make my way to the door and peer out around the frame.

“Two years, Juliet!” Jen shouts, removing the oven mitt from one of moms hands and taking it between hears. “I've dated twelve girls and two women. I was intimate with seven of the former and one of the latter. I've made my peace with what was done to me, forgiven them, and moved on. I've told my best friend, your daughter, the story of how we came together and made clear my intentions and she didn't object. Two years as I promised... and I was utterly miserable through all of them! I wish I could go back and slap that stupid kid upside the head and tell her one year would have been plenty!” Mom giggles at this, and I can see the joy written plainly across her face. “Please, Goddess...” Jen says, dropping down to her knees, “hold me and make me feel beautiful again!”

Mom's smile is utterly radiant as she looks down into Jen's eyes, then, sensing my eyes on her looks up to meet mine questioningly. I bite my lip, mirroring Jen's trademark gesture for a second before giving her a wide smile and nodding. She mouths a “thank you” before throwing her arms around Jen and pressing her face into her neck. Jen rises as they embrace, now a whole half a foot taller than mom and leans down to kiss her. I watch, tears of joy streaming down my cheeks as all of the worry evaporates away. I lean back into my room and close the door, giving the two of them their privacy.

Things were certainly going to change but that was a problem for another day. One thing was for sure though..

“I'm never calling her Mommy!”