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Rachel knows for a fact that Chloe isn’t an idiot. Honestly, that’s what makes it so incredibly frustrating.
Chloe knows all kinds of things. She knows the periodic table by heart; she could probably recite it perfectly in her sleep. She knows how to calculate a tip in her head (not that she ever has the cash for it, but at least Rachel hasn’t had to bother with a calculator in months). She knows how to kiss a girl under the warm glow of a streetlight on opening night, knows how to kiss her so beautifully that girl starts to believe in childish things like magic, and friendship, and maybe even true love.
Clearly, she does not know how to recognize a date when she’s on one.
It’s not like Rachel’s been subtle about it, either. She asked her out for dinner and a movie, which is about as classic of a “date” scenario as there possibly could be. When Chloe said okay, Rachel even made a point of saying, “It’s a date, then.” She brought Chloe flowers, for fuck’s sake, and Chloe just seemed confused and had no idea what to do with them; Joyce ended up being the one to thank her and put them in water. She even did the classic “yawn and stretch” move in the theater to get her arm around Chloe’s shoulders, and Chloe only asked her if she was tired.
Does Rachel need to have a sign made? Write “KISS ME” on her forehead in Sharpie? How can Chloe be so smart about everything else but be such an absolute idiot when it comes to feelings??
Rachel sits on the same side of the table as Chloe at the restaurant and makes sure their knees keep touching under the table. She feeds Chloe bites of her dinner from her own fork and wipes away non-existent crumbs with her thumb. Chloe blushes and stammers but otherwise remains completely fucking oblivious. Rachel bats her eyelashes and breaks out all of her best pickup lines, and Chloe flirts back in that way she always does, that way where it’s obvious she likes Rachel back but doesn’t actually believe that Rachel likes her despite all the evidence Rachel piles at her feet. Rachel pays for dinner, just like she paid for the movie. She takes Chloe’s hand during the short walk to her truck, and Chloe has the audacity to seem genuinely surprised.
Chloe’s even more surprised when she goes to open her truck door and finds herself being spun around and pinned to it instead.
“What do I have to do, Chloe??” Rachel demands.
“…F-for what?”
Rachel groans. “God, you can be dense sometimes, you know that?”
“I mean, yeah, no shit, but wh–”
The kiss is brief - just in case she’s misread everything about Chloe and Chloe doesn’t actually want to be kissed by her - but deliberate. Rachel goes up on her toes and takes Chloe’s face in her hands and presses their lips together with such intention that surely even Chloe must get the message from it.
She pulls back, easing back down to her feet, and keeps her hands on Chloe’s face. Chloe blinks at her in total stupefaction for a few seconds, and then Chloe leans in and they’re finally making out. It’s messy and intense and borderline violent, and it’s everything Rachel’s been dreaming about since that one perfect moment in May right before her life imploded so thoroughly.
She leaves Chloe wide-eyed and breathless when she pulls away again, and it’s absolutely fucking beautiful. “For that, you unbelievable numbskull,” she pants, a little breathless herself.
A dazed little smile plays across Chloe’s bruised and tender lips. “Oh,” she says softly, chuckling in amazement. “Oh.”