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It started as a joke.
Rumi couldn’t remember who suggested it, just that they had all thought it was a genius idea. The paparazzi had gotten obnoxious. They couldn’t walk down the street to get boba without it making front page news. So, they thought, why not give them something to talk about?
They took turns holding hands in public. First, it was Rumi and Zoey. Mira walked behind, body blocking the view of their clasped hands like she was trying to keep it a secret. The paparazzi went after it like a fish to bait. Rumi could feel the moment they thought to spin it as more than platonic. She had to suppress a smile. She couldn’t wait to see the front page of the tabloids in the morning.
Huntr/x Trio Turned Romantic Duo?!? Mira Left In the Dust?
They got into a routine over the next couple of weeks. It felt natural to Rumi. She loved how Zoey’s hand felt in hers. She loved the thrum of her heart beneath her touch, or how she blushed when Rumi leaned in to talk quietly in her ear. It was a thrill, that was all. They were playing a part. It didn’t matter that Rumi found herself reaching for Zoey’s hand when they were alone, or that she climbed into Zoey’s bed when she had a nightmare just to listen to the calming sound of her heartbeat.
When it was time to switch up the script, Rumi couldn’t understand why she felt disappointed. It wasn’t real to begin with, and they were still friends, but even a fake breakup made her heart feel like it was shattered into a million pieces.
A million pieces that Mira was to pick up. The next phase of their plan was to focus on Mira and Rumi. They walked down the sidewalk together with Mira’s arm around Rumi’s shoulder. Zoey walked several lengths behind them, a frown on her face. Rumi barely noticed the flash of the cameras as Mira leaned down to whisper in her ear, her lips just grazing the flesh there. Rumi closed her eyes and took a deep breath to still her racing heart. The gossip magazines went wild.
Heartbreak to Rebound!?! Rumi Says Bye-Bye, Zoey, Hello, Mira!
She found the company of Mira just as comforting and natural as with Zoey. Playing the part of a couple in public bled over to their life in private. She was a method actor, at least that’s what she told herself every night as she lay awake and stared up at her ceiling, thinking of her two best friends in the neighboring rooms. She couldn’t help but wonder if they were thinking of her, too.
When it was time to initiate the final phase of their plan, Rumi wasn’t sure if she’d be able to survive it. They needed to kick it up a notch. They needed to do it bigger, bolder. So, the next time they went out, they went out hand-in-hand with Rumi in the middle. Zoey held her left hand while Mira held her right. They confidently strutted down the sidewalk, all smiles. It wasn’t until the paparazzi appeared that Rumi’s confidence began to falter.
It’s just an act, Rumi thought as she swallowed hard.
They had paused in the middle of the sidewalk. Mira looked at her expectantly, a small smile on her face. She quirked her eyebrows, a subtle ask of are we doing this? Rumi nodded, her cheeks ablaze. Mira leaned down and captured Rumi’s lips in her own.
Rumi thought she might pass out.
When Mira pulled away, her cheeks a bright pink, Zoey tapped on her shoulder. Rumi turned to the other side. Without any cue, Zoey leaned up and kissed Rumi, as well, her hand coming up to cup Rumi’s cheek tenderly. The cameras flashed away, but Rumi was oblivious to their existence. All that mattered were the two women at her side. She looked between them, her face ablaze.
“Let’s go home,” she said, her voice wavering.
“But the plan-“ Mira said.
“Forget the plan,” Rumi said, cutting her off.
Rumi let go of their hands and turned back to their building. She moved as fast as her feet could take her. She could just barely hear Mira and Zoey calling after her over the rush of blood in her ears.
“Shit, shit, shit, shit,” Rumi repeated under her breath as she ran up the stairs. She flung the door open to her room and landed face-first in her bed. She knew they had to be just behind her.
How could she be so stupid? How could she have ever thought it could just stay a joke?
“Rumi!” Zoey called from the living room.
“Rumi, come on,” Mira said.
“Did we do something wrong?” Zoey asked.
Rumi buried her face in her pillows and let out an indecipherable string of groans. She was acutely aware of both of their eyes on her from the doorway. When she didn’t look up, she could feel the bed dip as someone (Zoey. Definitely Zoey. Rumi could never forget the smell of her shampoo) sat down beside her. The other (Mira. It was so obviously Mira, she would always recognize the feel of her skin against her own) sat down by her feet.
“Rumi,” Mira said, her fingers ghosting over Rumi’s calf, “talk to us?”
“We’re sorry if we scared you,” Zoey said. “I didn’t give you much time to react to Mira’s kiss before I just dove in and smooched you like an idiot.”
“If you weren’t okay with that plan you could have told us,” Mira said. Her touch turned firm as she squeezed Rumi’s calf reassuringly.
“It’s not that,” Rumi said, voice muffled by the pillows.
“We don’t speak pillow,” Zoey said. She leaned forward to yank at the pillows grasped in Rumi’s hands. Rumi resisted only for a moment before letting Zoey yank them away.
“Want to try again?” Mira asked.
“It’s not that,” Rumi groaned as she flipped onto her back to stare at the ceiling.
“Then what is it?” Zoey asked.
“I don’t want to say,” Rumi said, pointedly not looking at either of them.
“That’s not fair,” Mira said and crossed her arms.
“Yea! You can’t run away and brood and expect to get off that easy!” Zoey said, whapping Rumi with one of the confiscated pillows.
Rumi sat up and glared at Zoey, but a smile played on her lips. She yanked back one of the pillows and swung it back at her. Zoey dodged out of the way, knocking Mira over in the process. Mira yelped in surprise, but quickly caught on, grabbing a pillow to defend herself. Instead of walloping Rumi, she chose to swing at Zoey.
“Hey! Whose side are you on?” Zoey yelped indignantly.
“There are no sides in a pillow fight!” Zoey said with a grin, reeling back with her pillow to swing again. This time she aimed at Rumi.
Rumi let out a laugh as they swung pillows at one another. They wrestled around on the bed, faces red from laughing and arms sore from deflecting and returning blows. Rumi’s bed had turned into a giant ball of blankets, plushies and throw pillows. Mira sprawled on the bottom of their human-pile, Rumi laying cross ways across her stomach, with Zoey resting on top of both of them, legs and arms splayed every which way. They breathed heavily, breaths falling into sync without even trying. Sweat dripped down their brow and each time they looked at one another they broke out into more giggles.
“I think I’m in love with you,” Rumi said in a moment of silence.
“Me?” Mira and Zoey asked in unison.
“Both of you,” Rumi said. Before they could reply, Rumi felt the words spilling from her without thinking. “Everything about the joke we were pulling…it didn’t feel like a joke. It felt right. It felt natural. It felt like something I’ve wanted and needed my entire life, like a puzzle piece falling into place. It was seamless. It was easy. When it was just one of you, it was magic. When it was both…” Rumi hesitated. “When it was both of you it was like something that was missing from me was finally filled in. I don’t…I don’t know if I want to go back.”
“Then let’s not,” Mira said.
“Yea, let’s not go back,” Zoey said.
“We love you, Rumi,” Mira said.
“We love each other,” Zoey said with a nod.
“Why would we ever want to break up something that feels like this?” Mira asked.
“I thought you all would laugh at me,” Rumi said, “or think that I’m silly for taking the joke too far.”
“I would be lying if I said I hadn’t been hoping it would end up like this,” Zoey said with a laugh.
“You, too?” Mira asked.
“Was I the only one that was worried?” Rumi asked incredulously.
“Honestly, I’m just surprised it took us this long,” Zoey said.
The trio fell into another fit of giggles, their hearts thrumming in a beautiful harmony as they finally gave into something that felt as natural as breathing.
Three is Not a Crowd! Huntr/x Unite in More Ways Than One!