Work Text:
Kaleidoscope Heart
Title: Kaleidoscope Heart
Pairing: Carly/Sam + Spencer
Rated: PG-13
Summary: Carly decides to come out to her closest friend.
Written for: ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=3){kind=small}
fishnetmom
The apartment is packed with kids from Carly's college. What was supposed to be a small winter break party had suddenly become a drinking party, end-of-the-year blowout. Carly isn't certain who brought the beer--Spencer never keeps any in the house specifically for this reason--but she suspects it might have been one of the several uninvited guests that fill her home. Pushing her way through the crowd, she tries to find Sam, assuming she is the one who told everyone about the party. When she finally finds her, it is obvious she too has been drinking.
Carly can literally smell it wafting off her body. She's so tipsy, she acts like she doesn't even care that her face is practically in this guy's lap. It bothers her further that the boy is doing nothing to deter her.
"Sam, get up."
Sam waves her hand as if to tell her to go away. That she can't be bothered. That she'd rather be blasted out of her mind than move off of the couch and the stranger's lap.
"Sam!"
The boy decides to speak.
"Hey, dude, chill. If she wants to lay here, let her."
He tops off his insensitive comment with a lecherous wink. Carly decides she is too pissed and too drunk to deal with this douche. With an annoyed huff, she tells the guy to fuck off. What the hell is he doing in her house anyway?
By some miracle, Spencer comes their way. As if Carly had sent some sisterly distress signal that reached his brain and he unconsciously chose to follow it.
"Whoa, bro, what seems to be the problem?" he asks the stranger.
It is more than obvious that he is pissing Carly off. Spencer's not afraid of some punk, especially when he has some alcohol in his system and his little sister needs him. Boldly, he grabs the guy by the back of his collar and shows him the door, warning him to stay the hell away from his sister and her friends and to forget their address. Luckily he doesn't threaten the police. Her immediately comes back to her and sees her stroking Sam's hair away from her face. She's sweating something awful.
"We should bring her upstairs," Carly suggests, grabbing her friend's feet while Spencer hoisted her up under her arms.
Carly tipsily made her way to the steps, wobbling on her heels. They finally make it to Carly's room and put her down as gently as they can, which ends up being not so gentle. It wakes Sam up.
"What the fuck is going on? I wanna go back to the party," she whines petulantly.
She tries to sit up, but Carly gently pushes her back down on the mattress.
“You really should go to sleep. You’re gonna feel like shit in the morning, so sleep while you can, ok?”
Carly tucks her friend in and makes sure she’s settled in for the night before she begins to make her way back down to the party with Spencer. She’s decides that tonight is probably not the night to tell Sam about her confusing feelings, even though that was one of the reasons for throwing the stupid party in the first place. All she wanted to do now was drink and sleep it off and try again during one of the school’s mini-holiday breaks.
“Wait,” Sam murmurs, sitting up on her elbows. “Will you sleep with me?”
Carly looks at Spencer.
“Why don’t you get us an ice pack and some water? I’ll stay with her.”
Finally left alone, the girls curl around each other. The thrum of the music was a nice sound, filling in any potential awkward silences and making the room vibrate. Carly resumes stroking Sam’s hair and forehead. It ached to be so close, close enough to touch but not close enough to kiss, to lick, to taste.
“Sam?” she asked the air, throat choked.
“Yeah?”
Fear of rejection simmered below the surface. Her eyes fill with tears.
“Sam, I love you.”
She burrows her head into Carly’s neck.
“Love you too. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had.”
Carly takes a shaky breath in.
“No, I mean, I love, love you. Love you like you love bacon.”
Sam feels herself sober slightly. Carly would not have said that if she hadn’t meant it. She wouldn’t tease her or make fun of her like that.
“I love you so bad it hurts that we aren’t together. That I’m not with you every second.”
Carly wipes her eyes with her thumbs, smudging her mascara, eyeliner, and shadow. Smudging the lines between her and Sam.
Sam leans up to kiss the top of Carly’s head and puts a comforting arm around her shoulders.
Spencer re-enters the room.
“Sorry it took so long. It’s a mad house down the—are you ok? Why’s she crying?” Spencer asks concernedly.
Carly sniffs loudly.
“Spence, I need to tell you something.”
“You know you can tell me anything.”
He hands Sam the glass of water and Advil and sits at the foot of her bed.
“Spencer, I’m a lesbian.”
She lets out a deep breath; it feels amazing to finally have her secret off her chest.
Spencer nods his head in contemplation. It’s not something he was expecting, especially since she had had boyfriends in the past and never mentioned a partner of the same sex while she was away at college. He doesn’t care though; he’s just glad she felt comfortable enough to tell him.
“If you’re happy, then that is the only thing that is important to me. Are you going to be ok tonight?”
Carly smiled weakly in relief.
“Yeah, I kinda just wanna be here with Sam for a while. Is that alright?”
Spencer got up.
“Of course. I’m gonna go downstairs and wrap this party up. You too stay cozy.”
He leaned over and kissed both their foreheads in a fatherly fashion. If there was one thing Carly could say about her brother, it was that he cared deeply for his family and their well-being. She felt as if a weight had been lifted off her chest.