Fic: where the love light gleams

[aquila1nz]

AO3 Link | where the love light gleams (1505 words) by Aquila
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Riot Women
Rating: General
Warnings: no warning given
Relationship: Kitty Eckersley/Beth Thornton
Characters: Kitty Eckersley, Beth Thornton, Inez, Jess Burchill
Additional Tags: christmas, mistletoe

Summary:

Beth has a small freak out.

It’s Inez who sets it off, dancing around behind the bar with a sprig of mistletoe. She has of course held it over Chloe’s head half a dozen times already, before Chloe announces “Oi, you, I’m trying to work here, go hassle someone else” and plants an extra big one on her to take the sting out of the words. Inez moves in on Jess and plants a sloppy kiss on her cheek, and a more gentle one on Miranda’s. Then she digs out a yardstick and attaches the greenery on the end so she can go ambush pairs of punters from a distance.

Kitty, also working the Christmas Eve shift, makes a note to steer well clear of her, she has her reasons for avoiding such shenanigans. She watches as Inez targets the regulars sitting near the bar, with greater and lesser levels of success.

When she reaches the back corner where the rest of the band are hanging out, Kitty heads out on a glass collecting round. Inez hangs the mistletoe over Kam and her latest fella first and they oblige, slightly awkward but laughing; Nisha and Grace are next and they make a slight show of it, setting off a round of hoots and hollers from both the band and the younger crowd across the way.

When Inez reaches Holly where she’s sat next to Yvonne, Holly gets a mischievous look and stands up and goes round to face the codger in the booth behind her. He’s a regular, always really into the Scrabble on games nights, and about 100 years old, and looks like all his Christmases have come at once when Holly busses him on the lips. He does a half bow to Holly and she does one back and everyone is cheering now. Inez moves on to Yvonne, Jess has arrived to take the seat on the other side of Yvonne in the last minute and Yvonne rolls her eyes and leans in and kisses Jess on the cheek, Kitty is sure Jess is blushing which she definitely didn’t do when Inez had done the same thing earlier, interesting.

As Inez reaches Beth Kitty makes sure she is right there, she knows in her bones that Beth would be uncomfortable being pressured into kissing anyone who she doesn’t know well. She can run interference, let Beth kiss her cheek or play the fool so Beth doesn’t have to do anything at all.

She puts her hand on Beth’s arm, about to ask quietly how Beth wants to handle this. But Beth stiffens as she realises attention is now turning to them and rears back, all horrified. “No, get away from me.” And then she’s on her feet and turned on Inez, with the full command of her teacher’s voice. “This is not appropriate, someone will get hurt.” And then to Jess “ I can’t believe you’re letting this happen.”

As she looks around and realises the pub has gone quiet and everyone is looking at her she blanches and makes her escape, straight out the side door of the pub.

Kitty grabs Beth’s coat off the back of her chair and follows her out.

Beth is shaking, leaning forward over a purple picnic table and Kitty can hear her taking short fast breaths. She carefully wraps the coat around Beth’s shoulders, avoiding touching her otherwise, then rounds the table so she’s facing Beth, talks her through slowing and deepening her breathing.

Beth eventually whispers on what sounds like a sob, “I hate making a scene.”

“You know you didn’t have to do anything, I could have kissed your cheek, or we could have just said no, right? I’d never…”

Beth nods. Her eyes are still staring straight ahead but she’s gripped Kitty’s hand.

Kitty thinks she should be reassuring Beth, telling her she can talk about anything, but it’s not advice she’s ever been good at taking herself, so she just waits to see if Beth wants to talk more. After a minute she realises just how cold it is in the evening air, and Beth’s hands are very cold from where she’d had them planted in the icy dew on the table top. She leads Beth further up the alley, pulls a key from her pocket and lets them into the garage, their practice space. It’s still cold, but more sheltered than outside. She gets Beth settled on the sofa, goes to pull a chair across from her but Beth keeps hold of her hand, pulls her down to sit next to her, leans in against Kitty’s shoulder, so Kitty wraps an arm around her and leans in too. Eventually Beth lets out a large sigh.

“I do know I could have just said no, it was just a bit of fun, and you’d never have pushed me. It just, it reminds me of when I was younger, the end of year staff parties always seemed to have mistletoe and the male teachers getting progressively drunker and more pushy about using it. It was always awkward and I couldn’t really make a fuss because some of them were my bosses and so I just let it happen and I hated it.”

“Oh Beth.”

“I got older and fatter and they stopped doing it to me, and once I was senior staff I was able to change the format of those pre-Christmas celebrations and it died down. I don’t think they’re still doing it to the younger teachers, though that’s only what I can see at the all staff party, the official ones.”

“Bastards,” says Kitty, because she doesn’t really know what else she can say. She tightens the arm round Beth’s shoulder, feels Beth’s breathing has evened out now she is talking.

“It was just kisses, nothing like what you’ve been through, I just got blindsided by it all.”

Kitty can’t hug Beth any tighter so she brings her other hand up to cup her face, looks directly at her. “It might just have been kisses but you didn’t deserve that and I’d castrate the lot of them for laying a single lip on you.”

Beth laughs a watery laugh, bumps Kitty gently with her shoulder. “Not sure I’d want the band watching our first kiss anyway,” she jokes.

Kitty runs with it in relief. “Yeah, they can keep their nebs out…” she trails off. “Is that, is that something you think we’ll have?” Probably Beth is just joking, returning the flirting Kitty is forever aiming at her, as she does from time to time.

But Beth is looking at her very seriously. “Maybe yes? When I’m not all tears and mucus?”

Kitty feels like she could get up and dance, or sing a solo, but she contents herself with stroking Beth’s face and saying “I’ll have you know I’d kiss you mucus an’ all any time you offered, babe.” The bashful smile Beth gives her back is priceless.

They sit there a bit longer, but it’s getting colder and eventually Kitty sits up straighter. “Do you want to go back in, or do you want me to grab your bag and tell Jess I’m finishing early and I’ll drive you home?”

“I’ll come back in and get my bag, but then let’s go.”

They stand and Kitty starts to walk out and then Beth pulls her back by their still linked hands and reaches for her with a whispered “Can I?” and they are kissing. Beth tastes of salty tears and the G&T she was drinking earlier, she’s warm and soft and Kitty wants to melt into her, to never ever let go. But she doesn’t want to overwhelm Beth and they do need to breathe so she backs off and they are smiling at each other at very close range and hugging, holding each other close and the possibilities ring through Kitty like the chimes of bells.

When they walk back in, still holding hands, the younger members of the group are up by the bar and Holly and Yvonne are just heading off, so the only gauntlet Beth really has to run is Jess who gives Beth a hug and says “Inez says she’s sorry, she’s upstairs seeing to the babies, but I know she feels really bad that she pushed you too much.”

Beth minimises it of course. “Tell her it’s fine, it just brought back some bad memories, but I’m going to steal Kitty away a bit early if that’s all right.”

Jess turns to Kitty “Yeah, that’s fine, it’s quietened down. Have a good Christmas both of you. Tell Tom and Fearne hi.” Kitty can see she’s noticed their hands, is trying to ask her a half dozen questions with her eyebrows without Beth seeing, as Kitty retrieves her own coat and bag but she just smiles back smugly and returns Jess’ Christmas wishes and they’re out the door and walking towards the car hand in hand and Kitty is very, very grateful that Inez was being a menace with that mistletoe.