#gretchen x karen

[fetchen]

~ me when i remember i’m an artist and can draw fetchen making out if i want to <3

[rougecreator1]

NorthShore Nowheres // part 1

|| Poly!plastics x fem!reader (bit of Cady x fem!reader) (btw I myself am poly)

|| Warnings: loosely follows the movie musical, with reader being Aaron (slight dialogue changes to fit Y/N), light swearing

|| Summary: you're the leader of the NorthShore Nowheres biker gang/clique. The plastics take an interest in you, but so has Cady...

Requested by Anon!

Requests open!

~~~

The sound of your motorcycle filled the parking lot as you zipped through and parked in your usual spot, taking your helmet off and twisting your head slightly in a way that fixed your hair. For the plastics, who had been watching you from the side steps of the school, time seemed to play in slow motion. Watching as you flick your hair and get off your bike. Your walk radiating pure confidence. The girls shared a look with one another.

"We're all in agreement?" Regina asked her girlfriends, who nodded and looked back at you. Watching as you walked past them, heading up the steps and giving the school's polycue a wink.

~~~

You sat in AP Calculus. Not listening to a word Ms Norbury was saying as she stood at the front, hands on her hips and looking out at the rows of students. You simply folded a paper airplane and tossed it at some random kid next to you, making another stifle a laugh as you smirked. The student swatted the paper plane away.

"Y/N L/N." Ms Norbury gave you that signature warning look, which made you roll your eyes and she continued on with her lecture," Chapter one! Limits and their properties. What the heck are limits, you say? If I write out the equation..."

You started zoning out, hand on your chin and elbow on your desk as you stared at the board blankly.

"The limit equals 3." A voice from behind you spoke up, pulling you from your day dreams.

"That's right." Ms Norbury said, sounding surprised. " Let's try another one. Find the value for K for which the following limit exists."

"K equals -3." The girl says again.

"Damn, girl!" Some mathlete kid piped up.

You looked behind at the girl and smirked," Wow. Are you trying to make the rest of us look like dumbasses?"

"No- I'm- I'm not- trying to it's just sort of happening..." She replied, stuttering as she stared at you. Adorable. You laughed.

"Oh? Is that how it is? Okay. Well..." You leaned a little closer," challenge accepted."

You turned around, looking down at your paper with a sigh. The new girl on your mind. Reaching into your bag, you pulled out your pen then gently trailed your hand through your hair as you began working on your paper. Why did you sign up for AP Cal? This class was going to kill you.

Behind you, you heard something fall to the ground and looked to see Cady's pen. You bent down and picked it up, handing it to her with a smile before looking at the board again. You could have sworn you heard music coming from somewhere...

~~~

After school, you were outside with some of your biker gang. Just chatting and hanging out as you fidgeted with your phone. You happened to notice Cady watching you and gave her a small wave. Then turned your attention towards your gang again; when Cady almost got hit by the bus, your eyes widening slightly. You debated going to check on her. But she said that she was okay. Which made you sigh with relief from where you stood a bit away.

~~~

The following day, you and your gang sat at your usual lunchtable. Rough housing with each other, laughing and spreading gossip as you usually do. You glanced over at the plastics table, watching as Regina got up and walked away.

Karen and Gretchen were talking with Cady. "So, have you seen any guys you think are cute yet?" Karen asked.

"Oh, um- not a guy- but well actually there's this girl in my Calculus class." Cady responded.

"Ohhh, a senior! Who is it?" Gretchen replied.

"Ah, Y/N L/N." Cady replied, Karen and Gretchen shared a panicked look.

"You can't like Y/N L/N!" Gretchen said quickly.

"No, no bad, danger." The danger Karen said was loud enough to get your attention, you glanced at them in confusion then rolled your eyes and focused on your group again. Getting shoved by one of your friends who you playfully shoved back and smirked at.

"We're after her so you can't have her." Gretchen states, looking over at you and your gang's table," Crushes are off limits for friends that's just like the rules of feminism."

One of your friends in your gang wrapped an arm around you and started filming a TikTok. Instinctively you winked at the camera then laughed slightly and looked at your friend, who's name was Julia. But no one called her that, pretty much everyone referred to her as Jules. "Jules, girlie. What weird trend are you hoping on now?" You asked with your usual charming smile. Two things you had a reputation for. Being a bad girl. And then your charm, even if you weren't overly popular people still loved you. You just weren't Apex Predator worthy. Possibly like whatever was a few chains down from that, though.

"That one silent review trend. Featuring you." Jules pointed at you and you couldn't help but laugh.

"Definitely tag me in that." She nodded and you gave her shoulder a gentle pat.

~~~

At the end of the day, you and your gang hanged out at your usual bench. With you sprawled out across it and Jules laying across you. You guys were close friends, though there were rumours you were a thing. One of your friends made a joke and you laughed, though it was cut short as the plastics walked over. Regina with her arms folded, Gretchen and Karen following behind.

Regina's intimidation was enough to scare Jules off you (and the rest of your gang). They excused themselves as you sat up, watching the three in confusion. Once again you swore you heard music... with faint jungle sounds?

"Something I can do for you?" You folded your arms, a little annoyed Regina scared off your friends.

"You. Us." Regina gestures to herself, Gretchen and Karen," Date to the movies Friday night. Wear something nice." She looks you up and down, you glance at your baggy jeans and leather jacket before looking at Regina again.

"Is this you inviting me into your polycue?" If you're being honest, you have wanted them for a while. You just didn't want to risk making a fool of yourself. Regina's gaze tells you everything you need to know, so you nod." Alright. Friday night."

Regina smiles and walks over, kissing your cheek before looking towards Cady who had been watching. She beckons Cady over and then walks away from you. Gretchen and Karen linking arms as they giggle, Gretchen sending you a wink. Your face flushes and you look away, making a mental note to be extra careful. The last thing you wanted to do was piss off all three.

~~~

Feedback is welcomed! Probably going to make this a 3 part story (maybe longer depending), each part being about a half an hour chunk of the movie with extra bits added in between. Just so this doesn't become overly long, yk?

[meangirls4fetchen]

they're so in love 🤭

[noooooooop-e]

My *nsfw* Meangirls head cannons no one asked for ;)

x Fem! Reader

Characters: Janis Imi’ike, Regina George, Cady Heron, Karen Shetty, Gretchen Weiners.

Janis: Wants so badly to be a top cause she’s “such a bad ass” but is really a power bottom/pillow princess. (still a badass though). She will carry that to her grave. Low key (high key) likes to act like a brat. Will try to gain control but ultimately fold the moment a hand is placed on her waist. Enjoys being treated rough but would never admit it, you could put a gun to her head and she’d just shrug. Degrading kink. Deeply appreciates affectionate aftercare. *cough* masochist *cough* Pet names for her: Love, Hun, Butterfly, Cutie Pie*to annoy her*, shortie *cause of her height not ShAwTy*

Regina: Switch leaning bottom. Has a thing for punishment (wow so surprising). Will challenge and egg her partner on just so she can get the outcome she hopes for. Pet names for her: Reggie, Princess, Darling, Love, Bitch(an inside joke that became real)

Cady: Low key switch *leaning top when paired with janis or regina cause we know*. People pleaser. Can and will use her puppy eyes to get what she wants. Pet names for her: Love, Cutie, Honey, Bee.

Karen: Pillow princess, nothing else makes sense to me. Proud of it too. Very possessive but in a cute way. *like if someone flirts with her girl she will smile then kiss her partners cheek before gushing how much she loves her* Begs all the time even during the most inappropriate times. *She would definitely try to drag her partner away mid conversation* Touch starved. Pet Names for her: Pretty Girl, Karebear, Bub, Love, Sweetie, Princess.

Gretchen: Switch leaning bottom. Also touch starved. Loses it when being held by the waist or sitting in partners lap. Her cute smile and puppy eyes makes her partner fold. Pet names for her: Bebe*wink wink*, Love, Cutie, Babes, Darling, Amor.

[whatever-color-of-the-rainbow]

Karen: So you like cats?

Gretchen: Yeah.

Karen: *tries to impress her by slowly pushing a glass off the table*

[chaoticneutralsapphic]

who wants to be the

to my

theyre just so cute

[cm-elvnn]

Short cat gf and tall mouse gf we stan

[mushu730]

Karen Shetty x Gretchen Weiners head cannons

I love fetchen so I have to give yall something while I work on these requests

Karen and Gretchen are literally madly in love, like they know that the other is who they want to spend the rest of their lives with

Gretchen is bi. She always thought girls were pretty and had tiny crushes on them (especially Karen) but Jason is the first guy she’s crushed on and she ran with it cause of what Regina did to Janis

Karen is pansexual (Avantika said) and she’s always loved Gretchen. Like, I don’t think she really tried to hide it much

After the bus incident, the two of them spent a lot of time together because there wasn’t really anyone to follow around

They officially got together after the Spring Fling, and that was like the best night of their lives. They shared their first kiss that night. Gretchen was panicking really hard but Karen was happily to finally get her girl

They’re that corny couple that’s always holding hands and cupcaking in the halls. Janis and Regina hate it lovingly while Cady and Damien find it adorable

They go on mini dates to random places. The zoo, the arcade, the movies. Anything that comes to town, trust they’ll be there

Karen likes the fact that Gretchen is so small compared to her, she adores it. She makes fun of Gretchen sometimes but Gretchen doesn’t mind

Gretchen has panic attacks here and there, and Karen is always so patient with her. She’s there to calm her down, and help her relax after

Every time Karen puts herself down for being ‘dumb’, Gretchen is right there to reassure her that she’s not

(I read a fanfic on ao3 abt how Karen bites and I’m living for it) Karen is a biter, like majorly. Before they got together, Karen would bite Gretchen sometimes but not like she does now. Now that they’re dating, she bites her any chance she gets

She doesn’t do it hard, just enough to leave faint marks. Especially when Gretchens hair is in a ponytail or something of the sorts

Gretchens nicknames for Karen are “mama”, “amor”, “karebear”, “KK”

Karens nicknames for Gretchen are “Gretch”, “pretty girl”, “lovely”

[xx-alice-in-wonderland-xx]

”Don’t you dare doubt yourself or ever think your not good enough.” Karen & Gretchen (Fetchen)

I have been wanting to write something for my too lovelies and since I like angst and I’m in a mood I wanted to right this. No one requested this but I hope y’all fetchen or mean girls lovers will like this! (This is specific to the 2024 Mean girls Musical - Gretchen is played by Bebe Wood and Karen is played by Avantika) also I headcannon that Karen’s middle name is Meena, and I might make headcannons about Gretchen, Karen and their relationship!

It was a rainy day at Gretchen Wieners house. The two lovebirds of North Shore high were wrapped in a blankets and their limbs intertwined with each others. Gretchen had her head leaned on her grey headboard, her back against a pillow. On top of her was Karen, with her head on Gretchens chest, her head following the movement of her chest and she breathed in and out. The brunettes eyes stared lovingly at the girl infront of her, watching her with nothing but adoration as Karen examined her newly done nails.

“Seriously, who does your nails?” Karen mumbles, moving her head to look at her girlfriend. “I’ve told you baby, my mom.” Gretchen smiled, finding the raven heads lightheaded-ness adorable. “Ohhh.” Gretchen chuckled as she pressed her lips against Karen’s forehead, pulling her closer as Karen looked down.

“Baby? What’s wrong?” Gretchen asks, noticing Karen’s chocolate brown eyes avoiding her own. “Nothing Gretch!” Karen’s tone raises, an unconvincing attempt to hide her worry. Gretchens eyebrow raised and she gave the girl a look. “Seriously~” Karen says. Gretchen sighs and sits up, forcing the two to move out of their previous position. “Bubba why’d you do that?” Karen whines, her brows furrowed and previous fake smile disappearing. “Karen don’t lie to me, what’s wrong? I know you too well for you to act like you’re okay.” Gretchen says, her tone laced with worry and seriousness. “I…” Karen sighs, scared the truth would ruin or strain her and Gretchens relationship.

“Don’t I ever bother you?” Karen mumbles, her curly hair wrapped around her fingers. “Of course not, I love you.” Gretchen smiles, rubbing Karen’s head affectionately. “No. I mean how I forgot things? That I’m less… intelli- intellihe…” “Intelligent?” “Yeah. That. Less intelligent that other people. Like cady. Surely it bothers you.” Karen grumbles, grabbing a fluffy pillow with the letter ‘G’ on it and burying her face in the soft, green fluff. Gretchens heart sinks as she notices that certain parts of the pillow grow dark. She pulls the pillow away to see Karen’s nose and cheeks red in colour, and mascara down her cheeks, running along with tears, and grabs her hand, crossing her legs and putting their hands in the space between them.

“Karen Meena Shetty. Nothing about you bothers me. And I mean nothing. The time you defended me at that karaoke bar with a shitty comeback? Didn’t bother me at all. You know what I do think? I think it’s adorable. Karen no one is like you. You’re one in a billion.” Gretchen rubs her cheek, wiping away the tears. “Gretchen listen to me. Even Regina thinks it. She said I’m as dumb as a rock!” Karen yells. “Is it true? No. Even if it was would I care? No!”

Karen’s mouth forms an ‘O’ shape as tears blue her eyes, not allowing her sight to focus on the beauty in-front her. Gretchens arms open as she leans back on the headboard, her lips curving into an upside down ‘c’. Karen crawls over to her, sitting on her lap with her head on her chest, and her arms around her neck, kissing Gretchens bare shoulder and shutting her eyes. Gretchen giggles and plays with Karen’s hair, braiding it, twirling it around her fingers, or just pulling her fingers through it, carefully so she doesn’t hurt the precious thing she has. She would be dead before she ever hurt Karen.

Minutes passed and they still stayed like this, both happy to be in each others company. They didn’t need loads of friends. Ever since they got together they decided they didn’t even need Regina, or popularity. Aslong as they had eachother, that was enough for them. “Baby?” Gretchen mumbles. Karen hums in response, looking at her lover.

“Don’t you dare doubt yourself or ever think you’re not good enough.”

[ancentient]

there is NOT ENOUGH karen shetty x gretchen wieners on here, and every other platform (ao3). so here's my overdue contribution to the gay best friends to lovers of the 2024 plastics

only headcanons for now until i can write oneshots about them. (give prompts pls?)

# SFW | cutesy hcs

pre-dating! karen shetty x gretchen wieners

— karen always hangs at gretch's house after school

— sometimes it's just gretch having a full-blown rant session about guys and girls (mostly girls now)

— because gretchen wieners is bi! and starts to focus on girls more now that she dumped jacob

— also... gretchen probably has religious guilt

— and sometimes it's karen forcing gretch to do a tiktok with her

— gretch especially loves learning tiktok dances from karen

— they discovered that setting the a/c on the lowest temperature and cuddling is the best way to end a sleepover

— gretchen uses karen's arm as a pillow

— gretchen gets cold easily... so you know, back cuddles

— gretchen definitely likes karen's back cuddles

— but she likes it more when she's facing karen

— whenever gretch faces her, she overthinks whether to tell karen she's pretty because it might not be appropriate for the situation

— so karen initiates the praises instead; ranging from "you looked good with your shoes today" to "i like how you look at me"

— karen's voice slightly lowers when she's sleepy

— gretch accidentally calls karen "mamí" instead of "mamá" more than a few times

— and gretch plays it cool every time because karen doesn't seem to have heard nor realized it

— but karen DOES. EVERY TIME.

— one time it happened, they were with the whole friend group (regina, cady, janis, damian, aaron) and karen acted like she was busy on her phone to save gretchen the embarrassment

— the group still noticed though, the slip up and the acting; regina wasn't as surprised honestly

— ever since then they had been plotting to get them to realize their feelings for each other; regina and cady agreed to play their secret wingwomen, led by damian (regina gave up after the first few weeks because the two were just too hopeless)

— karen and gretchen don't realize their feelings until college

— speaking of college, they're roommates! (along with cady but girl's always at regina's place)

— still not dating at this point though, just having very normal homoerotic crises about their best friend

— it was driving gretchen absolutely maddd

— didn't help that karen was popular with the crowd

— as a result of overthinking, gretchen ended up ignoring karen; karen took a while to notice though

— by the time she did, gretch has curled up in her bed, all swollen up from crying all weekend

— karen had pink flowers to give gretchen that night

— karen dried gretchen's eyes first before confessing (my karen shetty gentlewoman, gentle giant agenda)

— karen only kissed her hand, knowing that gretchen was at a place where she needs to take it slow or else she'll get overwhelmed with things again

— that night, gretchen slept on karen's chest

— the gang arrived the next day to spot them cuddling, and took pictures for future purposes

well, that was longer than what i initially had in mind BUT IT HAD TO BE SAID.

i NEED more of them please im begging

[fetchen]

i see these two and be like “i’m so normal right now” (i’m lying)

[rougecreator1]

Hi! How are you doing? I was hoping I could request something with Poly!plastics x reader? After Cady gets brought into the plastics, the reader gets insecure and thinks that her girlfriends will replace her with Cady. She tries to hide it but after the three of talk about Cady on date night she snaps. How you end it is up to you, I was want Poly!plastics x reader to be endgame. Thank you 💘

Insecurities

omg im actually obsessed with this idea

|| poly!plastics x fem!reader

(i myself am poly)

|| Warnings: talks of insecurities, feeling leftout/replaced, some swearing, slight bullying of Cady (sorta?)

|| Summary: Reader feels left out when Cady joins the group: the girls don't notice right away. When date night rolls around and all they seem to talk about is Cady, Reader can't take it.

Requests open!

My requests are open, I'm just only writing when I have motivation to right now so it may take time for me to get to them. Like I think this fic almost took me a month to finish 🥲

~~~

To say you weren't happy about Cady joining the group would be... an understatement. You felt like all your girlfriends attention was suddenly on the new girl. You hate feeling left out and that's exactly how they were making you feel, even if they didn't realize it.

The five of you sat together at your usual lunch seat, Gretchen and Cady were talking, Karen was kind of just listening to them and occasionally throwing in some comment, Regina was focused on her cheese fries. You? You sat there awkwardly. Awkward around your own girlfriends because of Cady. The fact that none of them were even trying to talk to you. You couldn't take it.

You suddenly stood, holding your lunch tray. Which got their attention. You were about to leave when Karen called your name.

"Y/N? Where are you going?" Karen asked, a slight frown on her lips. You try to hide your insecurities and force out a smile, Gretchen narrows her eyes at you. She could always tell when something was off.

"I was just going to the bathroom." You state.

"With your lunch?" Karen looked confused.

You looked down at the lunch tray in your hands and then glanced at Cady, who was looking at you with concern while you were trying to hide the jealousy in your eyes.

"Oh, um, no I'm not hungry so I was gonna go throw it out then go to the bathroom." You quickly came up with a response, racking your brain for something that made sense. Though now you had to actually throw out your lunch and, truthfully, you weren't really all that hungry. So you felt fine with the lie.

Regina raised an eyebrow at you and seemed to share some look with Gretchen.

You ignored them and followed through with your lie. Heading to the nearest garbage, dumping your tray then putting the now empty tray with the rest before going to the bathroom. There you locked yourself in one of the stalls and sighed deeply, leaning against the back of the door.

Maybe you could have tried a little more to be social. But you didn't feel like you could connect with anything they were talking about. Cady had mostly been leading the conversation. You didn't quite know how to interact with her yet. The two of you didn't have anything in common, that you knew of. So it just always felt awkward to even try.

~~~

It was later that night, you and your girlfriends had planned a date that you'd been working on for months. You were excited it was finally happening. You were going to the theatres and then after all of you would dine at a fancy five star restaurant, all paid for by Regina though the rest of you did chip in what you could. Much to Regina's disliking. She loves spoiling her girls. fight me

As the four of you sat at the table, waiting for your food you found yourself just listening to the conversation again. Not being apart of it. They were talking about Cady. On date night. Fucking Cady. It made your chest twist and heart ache. You couldn't help but feel like in the short amount of time that Cady's been there she's replaced you. The feeling was killing you. You couldn't sit with it anymore. Before you could stop yourself...

"Seriously? Can't you guys shut up about Cady for one second? It's date night! This is supposed to be about us. Not her." You snapped, the table went quiet and their eyes were on you. Confusion quickly replaced with concern. Which then made you the confused one until you realized you were crying. When did you start crying?

"Oh my God!" Gretchen says, quickly reaching across the table and grabbing your hands. The four of you were situated so Regina sat next to you, Karen across from Regina, Gretchen next to Karen and across from you." We're so sorry, we didn't even..." She looks at Karen and then at Regina with a frown, clearly none of them had realized how you felt. Gretchen thought she had picked up on something weird earlier today, she didn't know if she had been overthinking that look you gave Cady but it turns out she was right. Gretchen sighs.

Regina drapes an arm around your waist and pulls you in close to her side, her nails trailing through your hair as she looks at you with a look you couldn't quite figure out. "Are you jealous?" Regina was always more blunt. Even with you.

"I don't... well, it's not really jealousy.. jealousy is definitely a part of it but it's like- I feel like Cady's replacing me." You try to explain your thoughts with a little struggle. There were so many going through your head that it was hard to jump on a single train of thought. So they all mixed together a bit when you spoke.

The three glance around at each other, seeming to have some silent conversation. Regina speaks up first. Her hold on your waist tightening a little but not in a way that was uncomfortable to you.

"Why the fuck would we replace you with her?"

You pause and blink, looking at Regina in confusion. You thought her and the others had been really close with Cady. You were so sure of it too. To hear Regina immediately dismiss the thought, it definitely surprised you. Were they not as close as you had assumed?

"What?" You reply, your confusion showing on your face. By now the tears had stopped flowing but the streaks remained.

"Why do you think we would replace you with Cady? We don't actually like her. We've been making fun of her." Regina states simply. That was news to you. They never really included you in their kittle schemes because they knew it wasn't your style, they respected that. Though sometimes you'd hear the stories.

"But you gave Cady those shoes?" Your head was beginning to hurt trying to figure all this out. If they didn't like Cady why was she even in the group? It didn't make sense to you.

"Because we thought it would be hilarious watching her try to walk in them. And it was." Regina shrugged, a slight smirk on her face as she glanced over at Gretchen.

Karen looked about as confused as you," wait. We don't like Cady?"

"Honey..." Gretchen looked at Karen with a soft gaze and rested one of her hands on her lower back, keeping the other in your hand.

Regina brought her focus back to you and kissed you deeply, hand moving from your waist to rest under your chin before she breaks the kiss. Smirking against your lips as she looks into your eyes.

"Better?" She whispered, you nodded your head. A blush coated your cheeks as you stared back into the blonde's eyes. She always managed to leave you speechless.

The rest of the date went by smoothly, your girls focused on making sure you were the center of attention for the entire date. Including you in conversation, always finding some way to touch you. By the time the four of you got to Regina's room, you were exhausted as you let yourself collapse onto her bed. Gretchen giggled as she watched you and was the first to lay down beside you, wrapping you in her arms and pulling you close. Karen came down on your other side, doing the same. Making sure her arms wrapped around both you and Gretchen. Regina took a picture of the three of you and posted it to Insta before joining you guys in bed. Fully laying herself on top of you with her arms around your hips as she planted a soft kiss to your jawline; which got a hum out of you in response. The four of you remained cuddled up with each other until you feel asleep.

Feeling much better than you did at the start of the day.

[meangirls4fetchen]

if they're not gay and in love then what is this🤨

[noooooooop-e]

me cause I didn’t mean to delete the poll I posted about Janis and Regina:

Me cause it was so close to being finished now the clock is reset:

ANY-FUCKING-WAYS

[erikahenningsen]

3 for gretchen/karen?

3. A kiss on the forehead

There are many things Gretchen would not recommend about being in love with your best friend.

For one thing, it's exhausting—it's not like a normal crush on someone you kinda know, someone you see around the halls and maybe in a couple classes. No, Gretchen spends time with Karen every day, sometimes all day, on the weekends.

Luckily, Karen is either oblivious to or doesn't mind Gretchen constantly sneaking looks at her, almost against her will, like her eyes are magnetized. Everything that Karen does is cute, which means that Gretchen is perpetually flustered. She's pretty sure she bombed a math test because she couldn't focus on studying when Karen was doing that cute thing where her tongue peeks out of the corner of her mouth while she concentrates.

Another—perhaps larger—problem is that Karen is naturally affectionate. She's handsy. It's no big deal to her to casually hold hands, or pounce on Gretchen with a hug, or press a kiss to the top of Gretchen's head. It makes Gretchen's heart rate increase with such frequency that it might be pathological at this point.

Most maddening of all, Karen is like this with everyone. And, okay, maybe she is more affectionate with Gretchen and maybe she tells Gretchen that she's beautiful or hot a lot more than she does with, say, Cady, but there is simply no way of knowing if it means something. Anything.

And it is driving Gretchen insane.

It's another such afternoon spent in Gretchen's bedroom making TikToks and impulse-buying clothes on Poshmark that Gretchen finds herself seated in her desk chair while Karen does Gretchen's eyeshadow—a particularly unique form of torture that involves their faces being close together for an extended period of time. At least Gretchen has to keep her eyes closed, so she doesn't have to battle against the urge to stare at Karen's lips.

"Okay, and... done!" Karen says with a final sweep of the brush. She sets aside the palette, and Gretchen opens her eyes and turns to look in the mirror. Her eyes look wide and bright, subtly shimmering with pink shadow.

"Looks great," Gretchen says. She turns back to Karen, who is still seated in front of her on the edge of Gretchen's bed.

Karen grins and gently rests her hands on Gretchen's cheeks. Before Gretchen can process this, Karen leans in, her face getting closer and closer, until she's close enough for Gretchen to feel her breath on her face and—

Kisses Gretchen on the forehead.

The next few seconds tick by slowly while Gretchen wills her heart to stop beating so hard. She really thought Karen was going to—

"Is something wrong?" Karen asks, frowning. "You're all..." She tenses her face and shoulders exaggeratedly.

"Oh, yeah," Gretchen says shakily. She forces a little laugh. "This is going to sound crazy, but I thought you were going to kiss me."

"I did," Karen says, now looking confused. She taps the spot on Gretchen's forehead where he lips had been with one finger. "Right here."

"I meant, um," Gretchen says, "on the lips?" It comes out like a question.

"Oh!" Karen brightens. "I can do that, too."

Gretchen is sure her eyes are comically wide. "What?"

"I don't know why we haven't," Karen muses, looking thoughtful. "This is the longest I've dated someone without kissing them."

Everything in Gretchen's brain screeches to a halt. "Karen, we... Do you think we're dating?"

"Well, yeah," Karen says. "You called me your girlfriend, so..."

Gretchen mentally searches her mind for when she apparently said this.

"Remember when we saw that lady outside your house, and you said I'm going to the mall with my girlfriend?" Karen recalls.

Gretchen does remember this. About a month ago, her neighbor had been walking her dog as they were getting in Gretchen's car and stopped to chat. Is that how Karen had interpreted that?

"Oh, I meant.... Like, my friend who's a girl. People say that sometimes," Gretchen says, and Karen's face falls.

"Oh," Karen says. She looks down at her lap. It physically hurts Gretchen to look at.

Then the confusion dissipates, and it clicks in Gretchen's brain. Karen thought they were dating. Karen offered to kiss her. Karen... likes her? Feels the same way?

"But..." Gretchen says tentatively, touching Karen's hand. "Do you want to be dating?"

"Of course I do," Karen says, like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "I mean, I've been dating you for a month, even if you weren't dating me."

Gretchen can't help but laugh. A giddy, happy laugh. A relieved laugh.

"Karen, I've liked you for so long," Gretchen whispers—it is still, technically, her biggest secret. "I would love for you to be my girlfriend."

Karen looks up, her entire face brightening, and she grins.

"Oh my god, yay!" she says, bouncing a little where she sits. "Should I kiss you now?"

She asks it so casually, as if it hasn't been all Gretchen has been fantasizing about for as long as she can remember. It's all Gretchen can do to nod.

So Karen leans in again, and this time, her lips meet Gretchen's.

[chaoticneutralsapphic]

karen: *talking about her favorite animal in the alphabet*

gretchen: