Chapter Text
Abigail had only been at the fair for a little over an hour, and already she was bored.
She had already beaten all the games they had that year, had already had her fortune told, and had already visited the petting zoo three times. Her dad was busy obsessing over his grange display—as if he didn't win every single year anyway—and her mom was off somewhere with Jodi gossiping about Yoba knew what. And Sam and Sebastian had disappeared at some point, probably back to Sebastian's house to take advantage of everyone being in town. So she was left to lean against the Stardrop Saloon and watch the tourists wander around, debating whether she'd be able to sneak off to the mines without her parents noticing.
"Why are you sulking like that?"
Haley suddenly stood nearby, arms crossed over her chest with a familiar smile—sharp but teasing—that Abigail used to see almost daily in the halls of their shared high school. It had been less than a month since that smile had started being flashed Abigail's way, but it still made her heart pound every time.
"I'm not sulking," Abigail fired back. "I'm planning my escape routes."
"The fair just started and you already want to leave?" Haley asked with an incredulous little laugh, leaning sideways against the saloon. Her bare shoulder scraped against the brick siding, her golden blonde hair framing her face, tanned from the summer. If Abigail was a pale moon, Haley was a bright sun. "That's uncharacteristically lame of you."
"It's all the same stuff as last year," Abigail sighed, her eyes reluctantly pulling away from Haley as she gestured to the tents set up across the square. "I can only beat the slingshot game so many times before it starts to get boring." Then she turned back to Haley with a questioning look. "What about you? Don't you usually come with Emily?"
"I wanted to find you," Haley replied as she met Abigail's gaze, her tone direct, almost defiant, like she wanted to dare Abigail to challenge her on it.
Ever since that day at Haley's house, when what was supposed to be just them listening to her band's new song had turned into the start of something new and a little uncertain, Abigail had felt like things between them were almost too good to be true. She and Haley had always been so different in practically every way, and as cool as she tried to play it, she still hadn't managed to completely convince herself that they could be... something, like the way Sam and Sebastian were, fitting together like they were never meant to be apart.
But Haley was a force of nature, and if she refused to let Abigail shrink away from the relationship between them, who was Abigail to ignore her?
Abigail leaned a little closer to Haley, letting her hair fall over her shoulders to shield her small, soft smile from everyone else. "You found me."
Haley's face melted into pleased affection as she took hold of one of Abigail's hands to intertwine their fingers, and Abigail tried not to completely dissolve into even the barest of her touch.
Then Haley's expression slowly slowly shifted into something a little more mischeivous. "I know a way to make this festival less boring," she offered with a playful lilt to her voice.
Abigail could practically see in Haley's eyes exactly what she had in mind, but still she feigned innocence. "I'm listening."
Haley's hold on her hand tightened, and then Abigail was being pulled around the saloon and toward her dad's store as Haley wove through the crowds. Abigail followed without a word as they ducked behind her house, more or less hidden from the rest of the fair, and let Haley push her back against the old faded siding with a sweet, victorious grin.
"You're right; this is less boring," Abigail breathed as she grabbed Haley by the waist and pulled her into a kiss, slow and thorough, tasting the cotton candy and funnel cake on her lips as Haley draped her arms around Abigail's neck, her fingers curling through purple strands of hair.
She moved to Haley's jaw, kissing down her neck and coaxing forward the breathy sighs that made an irresistible warmth pool inside her, before coming back up to meet Haley's mouth, their second kiss more desperate and careless than the first, hands reaching under shirts and trailing along ribs until they had to break apart to catch their breath, resting their foreheads against each other.
"We should probably go before someone finds us," Abigail panted, her fingers drifting to straighten Haley's necklace against the hollow of her neck, following them with one last press of her lips.
"Probably," Haley agreed, and then met Abigail's eyes with a hopeful look. "Come over tonight?"
Abigail didn't bother to hide her excited smile. "It's a date."
She linked their fingers again, this time taking the lead as she pulled Haley back out into the square.