Archive of Our Own

Jolyne fucked up. She fucked up very bad on the most important day of her life. Well, one of them. It was not a big deal. It’s not like she’s been waiting for that day for about fourteen fucking years.

Jolyne has been waiting for this day for that day for about fourteen fucking years, and now she had to save it from being ruined.

Years and years ago, when her Dad and Noriaki just started dating, Jolyne made Noriaki promise that she will be a flower girl at their wedding. In her defense, she imagined that the wedding would happen in the nearest future, when she was still small and cute, not fourteen years later, when she was already an adult. Jolyne didn’t even mind that much that she was already nineteen years old, and would have to throw the flowers in front of her Dads. If she declined, Uncle Jean would take her place, and she liked him but not enough to give up her long-term dream.

Jolyne just wished that Dad and Noriaki got married when she was little, so she could come in a nice dress, throw her flowers, and eat cake. That would be all people expect of her. But now she was older, and she offered helping to prepare the wedding. And as the flower girl, she was responsible for all the flowers.

Good god, there were a lot of flowers needed! Bouquets for both grooms, flowers for centerpieces, flowers for decorations, flowers for the wedding arch. The venue was going to look so beautiful, covered with all the flowers. Well, it was going to, but not anymore, because the guy Jolyne found, stood her up. The wedding was tomorrow, and there was not a single flower ready.

“Fucking Romeo!” Jolyne screamed, throwing her phone on the bed. It bounced from a plush blanket and landed on a flour. The bastard was still not picking up.

“Yeah, that’s on you. I told you he was a dick.” Jolyne glared at her brother Jouta, who was sitting at her desk, all calm and collected. He stared back at her, unimpressed. Jolyne loved her little bro, but he was such a little shit sometimes. To be fair, he did tell her that Romeo was a dick. Maybe she still picked up a guy that he recommended because Romeo was cute. But that was not the point now.

“That’s not the point now!” Jolyne said. “What are we going to do?”

“We? That was your job. I’m pretty set with my responsibilities.”

“Oh, shut up. You just have to walk up the aisle and hand them the rings.”

“Yep. I’m nine. Also, do you know how long it took to perfect my walk?” Jouta pointed out.

“No idea.” Jolyne said, picking up her phone from the flour. “Okay. Shut up. Let me look up somebody else.”

After twenty minutes of googling and calling, Jolyne was ready to throw her phone again and smash it for good this time. All the stupid flower shops either didn’t do weddings, were crazy expensive, had bad reviews, or couldn’t do anything that close to the date.

“What about that one?” Jouta asked, showing Jolyne his phone. “Five star rating.”

“Let me see. ‘Gloria is the nicest person, we are happy with her work…’, ‘Everything was ready in three days…’, ‘The best flower shop in town…’. Okay! Let’s go there.”

“You’re not going to call them first?”

“Nope, if that Gloria is as nice, as they say, she will help us.”

“Why do you think so?”

“Because I will fall down on my knees in front of her and cry.”

A drive to the Costello flower shop only made Jolyne more mad. There was a traffic jam, because of course everybody decided to go to the same direction that she did, exactly when she was in a rush. Plus, Jouta didn’t stop whining all the way.

“I want to seat in front.”

“Wait another four years, loser.” Jolyne said, sticking out her tongue in the rearview mirror.

“You’re mean. I’m never going to act like this to Shizuka.”

“Me too, but that’s because she is a little angel. You are a menace.”

“Yes, she is truly the best of us.”

Technically, none of them knew how Shizuka would turn out, she was only two years old. But if Jolyne and Jouta had something in common, that was an endless love for their little sister.

At last, they arrived at the store. It was locked in a pretty cute, picture perfect brick building. When they walked in inside, they were immediately hit by that specific smell that only flower shops had. And, of course, everywhere were flowers, flowers, flowers. Jolyne knew the names of some of them, the rest was just a beautiful, smelly mystery for her. It must be nice and calming, she thought, to work in such a place, always surrounded by beautiful things. Jolyne marched up to the counter where she saw her.

The most gorgeous woman she has ever seen. She had dark skin and the most perfect brown eyes. Her hair were made into dreadlocks. She had a body of a Greek goddess, and Jolyne could write poetry about those boobs.

“Can I help you?” Asked the woman in a voice of a siren that was going to lure Jolyne to her death.

“She’s fucked up, and we need a lot of flowers for tomorrow.” Jouta said from behind Jolyne, who was still stunned by the beauty in front of her.

“What’s tomorrow?” The woman asked.

“My dads’ wedding.” Jouta answered again. “And she ordered everything from the guy she has never seen because her crush recommended him, and now they stood her up.”

“He’s not my crush anymore!” Jolyne finally woke up. “I’m actually single!”

“Girl, you’re a mess.” The woman said. “Why would you do that?”

“I guess those reviews lied.” Jouta said. He thought he was the only one who could criticize Jolyne. “You’re not very nice, miss Gloria.”

“That’s because I’m not Gloria. I’m her sister, Ermes. Gloria went out for a bit.” The woman said.

“Nice to meet you.” Said Jolyne. “Please, help us. We will pay whatever you’ll ask! I’ve been waiting for this day for years! I cannot disappoint Noriaki!”

“You can’t disappoint Papa, but you can disappoint Dad?” Jouta asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, he did divorce my Mom, I own him at least one disappointment!”

“Wait-wait.” Hermes said. “You say, your two dads are getting married? Not just one dad?”

“Yes.” Jolyne and Jouta said in unison.

“Why didn’t you say so at the beginning!” Ermes exclaimed. “Then, of course, I will help you. Anything for the fellow gays!”

“Dad’s bi, actually.” Jouta said. “And so is she.”

“Okay, good to know.” Said Ermes, slowly. “And what’s your name, bi girl?”

“Jolyne. And this is Jouta.”

“Cool, Jolyne and Jouta. Why don’t you tell me exactly what do you need?”

“Oh god, so much stuff. Let me give you a list.” Jolyne said, taking out her phone. She needed to focus. She needed to focus and work on the problem at hand, not to think about how hot Ermes was when she spoke so confidently in her deep voice, how nice it would be if she held Jolyne in her strong arms and pressed her close to her… Focus!

“So, we will need two bouquets, centerpieces…” And she proceeded to list an endless list of items that were either made from or required a presence of flowers. It was a long list, by the end of it Jolyne felt ready to cry.

Ermes listened to her carefully, then disappeared behind the counter and emerged back with a thick binder that she thrust towards Jolyne and Jouta.

“Okay, take a look, there are the samples of what we can do. Tell me what you think.”

Jolyne flipped through the binder. Everything looked pretty neat in her opinion, but neat wasn’t enough. It needed to be perfect.

“We need something like this, but with more purple and pink.” Said Jolyne, pointing out at the picture of a bouquet. “Oh, and the most important thing, absolutely no roses.”

“Why no roses?” Asked Ermes.

“Papa hates roses.” Said Jouta. “I don’t know why, but it’s a huge deal for him.”

Jolyne knew, but she was not going to traumatize Jouta, her own traumatic memories were enough. She just added. “Yeah, it’s not his piece of cake, so we’re not having those. Also, the arch needs to have, like, blooming sakura vibes, because we all are getting dressed in kimonos, because tradition. Can you make it look like it?”

“That’s a very specific demand for somebody who needs the thing done by tomorrow. Are you willing to pay extra then?” Asked Ermes. She didn’t say that they couldn’t do it, though.

Jolyne leaned across the counter to look directly into her beautiful, bottomless eyes and spoke in a low voice. “I am willing to get on my knees and polish your boots to get this done by tomorrow.” She went back and spoke again normally. “Yep, we’ll pay how much you’ll say.”

“We’re loaded.” Jouta nodded. “Also, did Jolyne mentioned that she’s single?”

Ermes swallowed and looked at Jolyne. “Alright then. Let’s get to work! Hold on.” She turned towards the back room and screamed on the top of her lungs. “DAD!!! WE HAVE A VERY RICH CUSTOMER HERE WHO NEEDS A LOT OF SHIT DONE!”

A short, gray-haired man emerged from the backroom and greeted them. Ermes explained the station to him and then turned back to Jolyne. “Give me your number.”

“My number?” Was Jolyne dreaming, or was it really happening?

“Yeah, we’re going to get to work, and we will need to ask you three hundred things to make this right. I’ll send you pictures and stuff to check if that’s what you want.”

“Ah. Sure, let me write it down.” Said Jolyne a little bit deflated. She was hoping, the Ermes was just as taken with her!

“And we want a deposit now.” Ermes added, not noticing Jolyne’s obvious yearning. Jolyne handed the money and a part of her heart to her.

When they got back, Noriaki’s car was already in front of the house.

“Shit!” Hissed Jolyne.

“What did you expect, that Papa will be at the park forever?” Jouta said.

“Yes, because I am that dumb! Please, don’t tell him where we were.”

“Your secret is safe with me.” Jouta agreed suspiciously easily.

Noriaki was in the kitchen, arranging a five star lunch in front of an unimpressed Shizuka in her high chair.

“Hey, guys!” He said, when they walked in. “How was your day?”

“Nothing much.” Said Jolyne.

“We went to see Jolyne’s girlfriend.” Said Jouta. One day. One day, Jolyne was going to strangle him.

“Really?” Noriaki perked up. “Do we know her? Is it that FF? She is adorable!”

“It’s not FF!” Said Jolyne. “And she’s not my girlfriend.”

“But she wants her to be.” Added Jouta.

Noriaki looked at him, suddenly serious, and adjusted his eyeglasses. “Jouta, it’s sound like Jolyne doesn’t want to share this information, is it true?”

“Yeah.” Jouta shrank under his father’s gaze.

“Then you shouldn’t do it. Please, apologize to your sister.”

“Sorry, Jolyne. I won’t do it again.”

“That’s better.” Noriaki nodded. “And Jolyne, if you like this girl, just tell her! Unless she doesn’t like girls?”

“Oh, she likes girls just fine.” Said Jolyne. She wondered what Noriaki would say if he heard Ermes call him and Jotaro “fellow gays”.

“Well then, just tell her! Remember what we’ve talked about. What is the key to healthy relationship?”

“Communication.” Said Jolyne and Jouta in unison.

“See, so just express your feelings to her. Even if you get rejected, at least you will know that you were brave and honest.” Noriaki said, before turning back to stop Shizuka from throwing her dinner on the floor.

“Fine, fine.” Jolyne said. “What did you do?”

“Huh? Ah well, I just went to the park with Shizuka, Jean and their little one. It was fine.”

“Are you ready for the big day?” Jolyne continued, moving closer to Shizuka. She used to be so chill, but now feeding her was the only way to have a chance to pinch her little cheeks. She was so cute, Jolyne wanted to squish her like a marshmallow sometimes.

“Oh yes! I am a little nervous even, like Jotaro and I have been together for forever.”

“Afraid you’ll forget your vows?” Said Jouta, nodding sympathetically.

“No, really, I just don’t like crowds. If it was just for me, we would have gone to a town hall and signed the papers. But now I am excited, actually, it will be fun to gather all our friends and family.”

Jolyne and Jouta nodded. They knew that a big wedding was mostly their Dad’s idea, he had the whole thing more or less thought of for the last five years. If only he thought about flowers, Jolyne thought. Which made her think of Ermes.

Ermes seemed so strong and tough, she didn’t look like a person who usually works in a slower shop.

Jolyne continued thinking about her all the way back to her mother’s house. Her parents divorced when she was very little, and she didn’t remember the event itself anymore. She still somewhat remembered feelings of hurt and sadness, but it was somewhere at the background of her mind. Jolyne knew that it happened, but now it seemed to her that her Mom and Dad always lived in two different houses, and she always had two moms and two dads. She thought that was awesome. She got twice as many birthday and Christmas presents, she had four people with different opinions and experiences to turn to for advice, and four people to give a talking to whoever dared to bother her at school. Jolyne had always been splitting her time between going from one house to another, and it never seemed weird to her until someone in her class pointed out. But what these losers knew, they wished they were her.

Originally, Jolyne planned to stay with her Dad and Noriaki until they got married, and then take Jouta and Shizuka to her Mom’s house while the happy couple went on their honeymoon. However, now she wanted to be somewhere where she could talk to Ermes and not to raise suspicion.

And just as well, as soon as she got home, she got a text. There were five different bouquets on the picture and the capture read “pick two”. They all looked identical for Jolyne. She called the number.

“Is there a difference between all of these?” She asked as soon as Ermes picked up.

“Yep, look. The top two have this really nice lilies…”

“No-no, no lilies. They have cats, that’s poison.”

“Okay, so then there is this one that has tulips.”

“No, that looks boring. The other two look cool.”

“Awesome. Good choice. Let me tell Gloria. I will send you some more stuff, so keep an eye on your phone, okay?”

“Okay.” Jolyne said.

Her moms were still not back from work, and she ate dinner alone before going to her bedroom for a quick, exhausted nap.

Phone ringing woke her up. Jolyne looked at her phone and saw ten missed messages from Ermes. She cursed herself immediately and picked up.

“Sorry, I fell asleep.” Jolyne said.

“Lucky you, I don’t think we will sleep tonight. More to the point, which centerpieces you want?”

Jolyne looked at the pictures sent to her. Now, these things had more personality in them, and it was easier to make her choice. Decorations were also not that hard to pick, the worst thing was the arch. Because of her very specific demand, there was no template for her to choose from, and it was hard to describe what exactly she meant. While they were discussing it, Jolyne’s Mom and Liv stuck her head in her room to say hi.

“Hold on a second.” Jolyne said to Ermes. “Hi Mom, hi Liv! I’ve already eaten! You guys can go ahead!”

“Oh, who you’re talking to?” Asked her Mom.

“Just a friend.” Jolyne said. “We’re a bit busy here, sorry. It’s a very important conversation.”
Her moms exchanged a knowing look.

“Well then, we’re not gonna bother you. Say hi to your friend.” Said Liv, and they both disappeared.

“Sorry about that.” Said Jolyne.

“I thought you had two dads.” Said Ermes.

“Oh yes, I do. I also have two moms.”

“How so?” Sometimes Jolyne ignored that question and many others. But that was Ermes, and she wanted to get to know her better, so she needed to share things with her.

“Well, my Mom and Dad divorced when I was like four, I think? And soon after that Mom met Liv, and Dad met Noriaki, and that’s how it’s been ever since. I live in both houses. Mom and Liv got married a couple of years later, after they met. And then Dad and Noriaki had two more kids, but they were weird about the marriage, and now it’s finally the time. That’s about it.”

“And your parents cool with each other?” Said Ermes.

“Yep, they’re like the best bros. I think it’s pretty awesome.”

“It is pretty awesome! You must be getting twice more presents!”

“I do! It is pretty cool! Some people don’t get it.” Jolyne sighed.

“These people are losers. Gloria and I only have Dad. Our Mom died when I was little, and Gloria was sort of my mom ever since.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.” Said Jolyne. This personal information was so delicate that she wanted to treat it with the utmost respect. “That must have been hard.”

“Yeah, losing your Mom blows. But I barely remember her now, you know? I think it was worse for Gloria. She had to be an adult way too early, and what for? I’m only disappointing her. Sorry, you probably don’t want to hear all that.”

“I do! I mean, if you want to talk, I’m willing to listen.”

“And why?”

Communication, thought Jolyne. “I don’t know, you seem cool. I wouldn’t mind getting to know you more.” She did it! To be fair, it was much easier to talk to Ermes on the phone, when she wasn’t there in front of Jolyne, making her all flustered with her gorgeous looks.

“Ah. You seem pretty cool also!” Said Ermes. “I thought at first you were a spoiled little girl, but I admire that you try to fix your mistakes and not running to your parents to fix everything for you.” Just now, it occurred to Jolyne that she could have asked her mothers for help.

“Ah well, I was a little spoiled, but then Dad and Noriaki adopted Jouta, and I got really into being a cool big sister. But not like on your sister level. I never had to raise him. Your sister seems great. Everybody wrote nice stuff about her in reviews.”

“Yeah, she’s the best.” Ermes sounded almost sad. “I wish I was not such a disappointment for her.”

“I’m sure you’re not. What is that you’ve done that is so bad?”

“Dropped out from college.”

“I mean, it’s not the end of the world. I’m taking a gap year, and I’m not sure if I even want to go to college.”

“Yeah, but it’s also how it happened that was bad.”

“What happened?” Asked Jolyne.

“Well… oh wait.” There was a silence for a few seconds, and then Ermes was back. “I have to go help Gloria with your insane arch, she thinks she figured it out. Let’s talk later, okay? We will be at the venue at five as we agreed.”

“Okay. I will be there.” Said Jolyne.

“As if you have a choice.” Said Ermes and hanged up.

It was already getting late, so Jolyne prepared her three outfits for the next day and climbed into bed. She couldn’t sleep, she kept having dreams about the wedding going horribly or some other random nightmare about one thing or another. When her alarm rang at four, Jolyne was even glad to get up and drag herself in the bathroom to do her hair before changing into jeans and hoodie and driving to the venue. She only stopped once to get coffee, and thankfully there was no traffic, so Jolyne was at the location at exactly five.

There was already a truck with flowers drawn all over it. In the truck stood a wedding arch, wrapped in plastic, and a bunch of boxes. As soon as Jolyne exited her car, Ermes emerged from a truck. With her was her Dad, whom Jolyne saw yesterday, and a blonde woman. She didn’t look at all like Ermes, but Jolyne had a pretty good guess at who she was.

“You must be Gloria! It’s nice to meet you, I’m Jolyne!” She said, thrusting a tray with four paper cups towards the family. “Thank you for making it, I got you coffee.”

“We are happy to help a person in need, especially when love and family are on a line.” Said Gloria and smiled. “So, let’s go and make this place beautiful, shall we?”

Jolyne opened the door and they set to work. The place was a simple community center but Uncle Jean and Uncle Muhammad, who were responsible for the venue, managed to turn it into a fairy-tale wedding location. Unlike Jolyne, they were better at making decisions, and everything was ready two days before. There was a room for the wedding itself, and then right next to it was a room for eating, drinking, and dancing. Jolyne showed it all to Costellos, and then they set to work. Jolyne helped as well, and they actually had everything was progressing smoothly. Mr Costello and Gloria turned out to be very pleasant people to hang out with, and it didn’t look like they had any resentment towards Ermes at all. Jolyne wondered why she would think anything like that about her sister.

Working next to Ermes was a teeny-tiny torture. Jolyne kept getting distracted by the way her muscles flexed under her skin, the way her T-shirt stretched over her amble chest. If she wasn’t so anxious about having everything ready, Jolyne would be sweating buckets.

In three hours they had everything ready and decorated. Jolyne could finally relax, she was so relieved, that she could cry.

“Thank you so much!” She said, shaking the hands with Mr Costello and Gloria outside. “I don’t know what I would have done without you. I don’t know what can I do to repay you.”

“I mean, you’re paying us.” Pointed out Ermes.

“Still!” Jolyne said. “Oh, do you want to come to the wedding? It should be very fun!”

“Won’t your dads mind that there are three random people at the wedding?” Asked Ermes.

“They won’t! I don’t have any plus one, and besides, there will be some people from Dad’s work that also can be considered pretty random, they won’t mind.”

“I will come just for free food.” Ermes said.

“I don’t know, we have to be in the shop.” Gloria said.

“Oh come on, we’ve just made enough money to cover a two week vacation! You need to take a break.” Said Ermes. “Let’s go.”

“Yeah, it’s really not a problem.” Said Jolyne. “My Mom’s been doing the sitting plan. I’ll tell her to add you.” Gloria wanted to say something else, but Jolyne shook her head. “I will tell her! Be here at noon! I’ll go take the bouquets to my Dad’s place, so see you soon!” And she ran back to her car before Gloria could argue more.

Jolyne couldn’t really tell what possessed her to invite them to the wedding. Maybe, she just didn’t want to let Ermes go just like that, maybe it was that Gloria truly looked tired, and it would be nice to invite her to eat and dance. Either way, now Jolyne had to explain to her mother why they had to add three people to a guest list at the last possible moment. It might have been a bit more of an issue than she said to Costellos. Still, it was done, and soon Jolyne was parking in front of her Dad’s house.

Jouta, still in his pajamas, opened the door.

“Morning, Jolyne!” He said loud and then whispered. “How did it go? All good?”

“Yep, all set up.” Whispered Jolyne back and then also spoke loud. “I’ve brought the bouquets! Where are the happy grooms?”

The happy grooms were in their bedroom, trying to wrestle Shizuka into her cute little kimono. Shizuka didn’t seem too happy about being forced to participate in a tradition, and kept trying to wiggle out from their hold.

“Good morning, Jolyne’ Her Dad said. “How is it going?”

“I’ve brought the bouquets. Do you need help?” She asked.

“Ah yes, if you and Jouta can change, so Shizuka knows we’re all getting dressed?” Said Noriaki. “She doesn’t like to be the only one, right, dear?” Noriaki said.

“No.” Confirmed Shizuka, shaking her head stubbornly.

“Consider it done.” Jolyne said.

Putting on a kimono by herself wasn’t that easy for a regular person, but Jolyne had a specific talent just for that. In twenty minutes, she had herself and Jouta all dressed up and ready to set up a good example for Shizuka. That didn’t work as well as they expected, so in addition Shizuka’s two older siblings had to do a funny dance to keep her happy, but the result was positive, and at the end all three Kujo children were dressed up and ready to go.

The same couldn’t be said about their fathers.

“Dear god, I need a day off after that.” Said Noriaki, dropping on a bed.

“I get you, a vacation would be nice.” Said Jotaro, falling down next to him.

“You’ll have a whole honeymoon for that!” Jolyne said. She had Shizuka in her arms, busy trying to undo Jolyne’s hair. At least she was distracted enough for Jolyne to hug her and pinch her cheeks. “Time to get ready!”

“Yeah, it’s a wedding day!” Said Jouta. He climbed on a bed and started jumping. “It’s a wedding day! It’s a wedding day!”

“It’s a wedding day!” Sing-sang Jolyne in sync with him.
“Weddin’ day! Weddin’ day!” Shizuka repeated after then and started clapping her tiny hands.

Three loud children was enough to motivate Jotaro and Noriaki to get up and start getting ready. In an hour, they all got into a big Kujo car, Jolyne squeezed in the backseat between a baby car seat and Jouta.

The guests were already arriving at the venue, a lot of cars were parked, but none of them was the Costello’s truck. Jolyne tried not to be disappointed. A sad sigh betrayed her, however.

“What’s with the long face?” Asked her Dad.

“Ah, nothing. My friend is not here yet.”

“What friend? I thought, FF couldn’t come because of her swimming competition.” Jotaro tried to navigate the car into a parking spot.

“It’s not FF, I invited another friend.”

“Do we know them?” Noriaki asked. His face suddenly brightened up. “Is that that girl you like? She’s coming?”

“You invited Ermes?” Asked Jouta. “No way!”

“I might have invited her, so what!” Jolyne said defensively. “It’s not even because of her, I just thought her sister might want to have some fun!”

“What’s the girl you like?” Jotaro said. “That’s the first time I hear about her.”

“Eh, we’ve kinda just met.”

“Okay, then check if she’s not a serial killer first.” Jotaro said in his usual flat tone. Jolyne looked in the rearview mirror, trying to determine if her Dad was joking or not. She couldn’t.

“Bring her over, so we can meet her!” Noriaki said. “And don’t forget, no matter how much you like the person, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to!”

“Oh my god!” Jolyne hid her face in her palms. “Jouta, get out, get out, please, let’s go inside already!”

They went inside to finish the last preparations before going down the aisle. Uncle Jean and Uncle Muhammad who were the two best men for her dads were waiting for them in the hall. Their flock of children must have been inside, except the youngest one, Sherry, who was strapped to Uncle Jean’s chest. Sherry hated not being held for more than a minute, so they had no choice, but to let her be a part of a ceremony.

Jolyne was getting nervous. She would have to walk the aisle first, with Shizuka in tow, and throw the flowers at the same time. When she stepped into the room, her heart was beating so fast, like she just ran a sprint. Jolyne stilled her nerves and started walking, Shizuka being a good girl, just like they rehearsed, helping her older sister throwing petals with her chubby fingers.

Jolyne threw a brief glance at her left, and that’s when she saw them: a gray-haired man in a company of two young women. Ermes was wearing an open shoulders dress with a nice cut, showing off just enough of her cleavage to make Jolyne blush, but not enough to make her stumble. Jolyne smiled and marched on.

A half an hour later she was in the bathroom, changed from her kimono to a party dress, fixing her make-up. She wouldn’t cry, if her Dad didn’t cry, but he did, and she had nothing better to do than to follow his example. The ceremony was so beautiful, the vows were short, but full of the right words, and maybe now Jolyne was happy enough that the wedding happened when she was already an adult.

And everything looked so beautiful! They made such a good job decorating the room; the flowers made it look like a place from a fairy-tale (a cute one, not a Brothers Grimm one), especially the arch. Jolyne wondered if she would be able to sneak it in into one of her rooms, just to sleep under it or just to chill.

Jolyne thought, that despite a minor setback, she did a pretty good job overall, and now she was ready to eat and dance, and drink, but not too much, not in a company of people who knew her from when she was little.

It was easier said than done. On the way to her table, Jolyne was constantly stopped by relatives and acquaintances of her parents. She didn’t particularly mind chatting with her four Japanese grandparents or with Great-Grandpa Joseph and Great-Grandma Suzi (although she had to really scream to make them understand what she was saying), but she didn’t care for her Dad’s colleague’s sharp observations about how much of an adult she was now, and how much she grew up. What did they expect, that she would be five all her life?

Finally, Jolyne managed to get to her table, where her dads already were looking lovey-dovey at each other.

“What do you think, Jolyne, did you like being a flower girl?” Noriaki asked. Jolyne just stuffed a full spoon of rice into her mouth, so she could only nod. “I think you two looked the cutest, walking with Shizuka.”

“It was nice.” Said her Dad, like he didn’t cry a half of a ceremony like a little girl.

After satisfying her hunger, Jolyne could start thinking about matters of a heart. She looked around the room, before she found out where the Costellos were sitting.

“I need to go to say hi to someone!” She said to her dads, and then sprinted to the other side of the room.

“Hi!” She said, after fighting her way through another wave of relatives and acquaintances. “Thank you so much for coming! Are you guys having fun?”

“The party’s nice.” Mr Costello said.

“And the ceremony was so beautiful.” Gloria said. “Have your fathers been together for a long time?”

“Oh yeah, fifteen years, I think. They’re just two weirdos who have a wedding in their forties. But I think it was fun, too.” Jolyne looked for something else to say, but nothing came to mind. “Oh well, thanks again, I’m going to do some… dancing now.”

“I could dance as well.” Ermes said, standing up. “I feel like stretching my legs.”

Jolyne smiled. “Let’s go then!”

They went to a dance floor where a few people were already dancing awkwardly. Jolyne started to dance, her movements fluid and confident; she knew she was good at it. If she was in a club, she would show these people a real good time.

Ermes joined her, moving in the same rhythm. At first, she seemed tense, and Jolyne smiled at her, encouraging, before spinning around. Ermes smiled, too, and gradually became more and more relaxed, until both of them were flexing, moving, swaying back and forth. It was amazing.

Jolyne liked to be on a move, liked to feel her body working, and doing it with another person always felt better. Soon, they were touching each other, just the light touches, to help with the movement, or to spin one another.

A song changed, this one was slow and romantic. More couples moved to the dance floor, including her dads and moms, and Jolyne saw Shizuka tug Jouta on the dance floor to make him stumble around with her. Jolyne stopped and wanted to sit down and wait for the song to be done, before anybody she barely knew invited her. But Ermes stepped right in from of her, and said. “Want to dance?”

“Yes.” Jolyne said, taking her hand, moving closer.

They ended up with one hand on a shoulder, one hand on a waist combination. They were so close that Jolyne could feel the heat of Ermes’ body, could almost feel her pressing next to her. As they danced respectfully apart, and Jolyne longed to close that distance, to get even closer. Why was Ermes blushing now, did she think the same thing, or she was just energized from the dance?

“I wanted to say… thank you for inviting us.” Ermes said. “Dad and Gloria truly needed a break, all they have been doing lately was work.”

“And you? Don’t you need a break, too?”

“Me? Well, I’ve only been helping in a store for a couple of months… I was in college before. It was fun. All my life, I wanted to get out of here, and here I am, back.”

“Can’t you go back to college?” Jolyne asked.

“Ha, I don’t think so, they kicked me out for good. We still have a loan, I don’t think we can get another one now.”

“I’m sorry.” Jolyne said. “That sucks.”

“Yeah.”

“What happened?”

Ermes turned her head left and right. “I don’t want to talk about it here. Is there a quieter place?”

“Yeah, come on.” Conveniently, the song was over, and it wasn’t at all suspicious that they moved away from the dance floor and left the room altogether. Jolyne lead Ermes to a small room which they used to dressing up and leaving all the spare clothes in. It was a tiny place, just a couch and a couple of chairs to sit on, but that would do the job.

Despite a possibility to sit in chairs across from each other, they both sat on a couch.

“It’s not really a long story. So, what happened was, Gloria came to visit me, and we were just chilling at a bar next to the campus, and I went to a toilet. When I came back, there was this jock bothering Gloria, and she tried to gently tell him to go away, because she is just too nice, but he wouldn’t listen. I told him to fuck off, but he didn’t, one thing led to another, and we got into a fight. I kicked his ass pretty good, I have to tell you, he’ll have real blue balls after that. However, the police were called and got us all. I thought that was bad, but I’d just explain the whole thing to the university board, and they will get it. How stupid of me! Turned out, that douchebag was from some old money family, who donated money to the college to build statues and stuff. So in the end, he stayed, and I got kicked out. I couldn’t think of anything else to do, so I went home, and I’m at least trying to help in the store. But it sucks. I was studying to be an engineer, and what I am now? I have talking to customers, and I’m not good with making all these arrangements.”

“Wow, that’s so fucked up!” Jolyne exclaimed. “Not you, I mean, you were totally right! If somebody ever did as much, as lay a finger on one of my siblings, I would fucking tear their head off!”

“I know, right?” Ermes said, hitting her thigh with a fist.

“Yeah! You shouldn’t feel bad about yourself, and for sure, your sister feels the same.”

“I don’t know, she tried to raise me to be good and responsible.”

“And you care about your family, see? That’s a cool thing. It’s not your fault that the other dude had money and connections.” Jolyne said. “Also, my Dad always told me that you shouldn’t just walk away when you see somebody in distress.”

“Your dad has some issues.” Ermes said. “I don’t think that you can help everyone.”

“But we can always help someone. Like you helped me to get everything done for today!”

“You looked cute throwing those flowers, yeah.” Said Ermes. “Who’s the little girl, your sister?”

“Yeah, that’s Shizuka.”

“I’m surprised, that her name doesn’t start with ‘Jo’.”

“Not for the lack of trying, honestly. None of us could think of something new starting with ‘Jo’. Besides, they call me JoJo, and then they called Jouta JoJo, and Dad’s nickname was also JoJo, so it was getting too confusing.”

Ermes laughed. “Jesus Christ! Yeah, you needed some diversity, for sure! But JoJo is a cute nickname.”

“You can call me JoJo, then.” Jolyne said.

“Can I? Why?” Ermes, still smiling, moved closer into her personal space.

“I just… would like you to. Just my family and friends call me JoJo, and I would like us to be friends.”

“Just friends, huh?” Ermes said, raising an eyebrow. “Nothing more?”
Jolyne’s heart started beating faster. “What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, just from the way you’re always ogling my boobs, I had an impression that you would like to be… really good friends.” Oh no. Jolyne had been caught. It was better to come clean.

“I mean… I would like to be roommates, for sure.”

“Do you want this gal pal to give you a kiss?”

“I wouldn’t say no.” Jolyne said, breathless.

Ermes wasted no time to grab her face into her palms and smash their lips together. Jolyne responded enthusiastically. The kiss tasted like a mix of lipstick, but that was the best thing Jolyne has ever tasted. She put her hands on Ermes’ shoulders to pull her closer. After a few moments, Jolyne felt Ermes’ tongue to press at her lips. She readily opened her mouth to let her in, sucking onto the invading tongue. Ermes pulled back and pressed a kiss behind Jolyne’s ear, which made her full body shudder.

“Good god, you’re so hot.” Ermes whispered. “I was ogling you, too. You look so good, and you’re so pretty when you whine. I want to make you all desperate and needy for me. Do you want to?”

“Do I want to? I couldn’t stop thinking about you from the moment I saw you, my god.” Jolyne said. “I’ve never felt that way before. Please, don’t stop.”

“Not planning to stop.” Said Ermes and pushed her on the sofa.

Jolyne fell readily, letting Ermes to hike up her dress, so she could fit better between her thighs, before she pressed down on Jolyne. Her body was as awesome, as Jolyne imagined. Ermes’ stomach was so toned and firm where it pressed against her, in a contrast to her soft boobs. Jolyne was in heaven.

Ermes took one of her hands and pressed it to her breast. “You can touch, I don’t mind. I know you want to.”

“Of course, I want to.” Jolyne said, baring her throat for more kisses. “Have you seen yourself? God, and you just walk around like this.”

“You’re the one to talk.” Said Ermes, kissing her again. Continuing kissing her, Ermes pushed her hand between Jolyne’s legs, feeling her there. Jolyne moaned at the firm contact, and Ermes pulled back. “You’re already wet, oh my god. I want to eat you out, can I?”

Jolyne wanted nothing more than this, but she tried to play cool, too. She smirked at Ermes. “I don’t know, can you?”

Ermes smirked back, before biting lightly at Jolyne’s neck. It was light enough, so it wouldn’t leave a mark, but Jolyne wished that Ermes marked her, wished for everybody to see that she was hers.

Ermes’ hands caressed Jolyne’s sides, moving higher to caress her breasts through the fabric.

“Mmm, you’re not too bad yourself.” Ermes said, as her thumb moved over Jolyne’s nipple. “Let’s do it again sometime, so I can take this thing off you?”

“We’ll see how good you are.” Jolyne said, despite wanting to say nothing but “yes”.

“I haven’t received any complaints so far.” Said Ermes and moved lower, until her head was between Jolyne’s legs.

She kissed Jolyne’s inner thighs gently, biting here and there, making Jolyne shiver and sigh. She tried to shift to give Ermes a signal that she was done waiting, she needed her where she was already throbbing with desire and soaked.

“Don’t be impatient.” Ermes mumbled and bit her, hard. She sucked on the skin, and Jolyne knew there will be a mark after. “That’s a little souvenir for you.”

Ermes moved to help Jolyne to remove her underwear, sliding it down her legs and throwing it on one of the chairs. Jolyne’s body burned in anticipation, and she moaned just at the feeling of Ermes’ breath at her folds. So close, so close.

Finally, Ermes’ tongue touched her, giving her a long lick from her opening all the way up, before Ermes stopped to such lightly at her clitoris. Jolyne jolted up and moaned. She wanted to squeeze her legs together, but Ermes only pushed them further apart. Her mouth was making Jolyne see stars, she couldn’t get used to the sensations. Ermes placed a few more broad licks, before switching to tiny bites all over Jolyne’s vulva and inner thighs. She would move to suck and lick firmly on Jolyne’s clit, before pulling back and blowing over it gently.

Jolyne threw her back in ecstasy, that was even better than she could imagine. She felt Ermes thumb at her entrance, teasing, rubbing all around it, its glide easy with how wet she was. Ermes licked at her clit again, and again, and Jolyne was so close. She felt her body go tense in the anticipation of release, she could almost feel it. And then Ermes suddenly pulled back.

Jolyne lifted her head, which was thrown back before, and glared at Ermes. “What the hell?”

“You’re too fast, do you think I will let you come that easily?” Ermes said. Jolyne couldn’t look away from her mouth, glistering with her slick.

“Isn’t that the goal? Come on, don’t be evil.”

“We will see about that.” Said Ermes. “Now lie back and be a good girl for me, okay?”

Jolyne wanted to glare more, but she wanted to be a good girl for Ermes more than she was willing to admit. Obediently, she relaxed against the sofa.

Ermes kissed from Jolyne’s knee to her pussy, before licking around her entrance and sticking her tongue inside. Jolyne moaned again and panted with need to feel Ermes more, to have her fingers inside, to have her tongue back at the clit, swollen with blood. She needed Ermes to fill her, to press all her buttons, to consume her completely.

Jolyne didn’t know how much time has passed with Ermes torturing her. All she could do was to scratch uselessly at the sofa and let out moans into the air. Ermes edged her twice more before her tongue returned to Jolyne’s clit, licking it firm and fast. Jolyne prayed that this time Ermes didn’t stop. She needed to come so bad. Ermes’ thumb was at her entrance again, rubbing hard, before slipping inside.

That was what did it for Jolyne. Her vision went white, as she felt waves and waves of pleasure coming over her. She shook through the orgasm, consumed by the ocean of pleasure. She felt a few tears slip from her eyes and down her temples.

With blurry eyes, she watched Ermes sit back and wipe at her mouth. “How was that?” She asked.

“What do you think?” Jolyne said, still breathless. “It was amazing.”

Ermes smiled wide. “Good. I told you, no one has complained yet.”

“Nobody has complained about my skills, either.” Said Jolyne. She just regained feeling in her limbs and she was ready for revenge. Ermes just raised an eyebrow at her.

Jolyne moved to sit up and gently pushed Ermes to lie back. Ermes huffed a laugh, but complied. Now their roles were reserved, with Jolyne on top, pushing Ermes’ legs apart. Jolyne felt Ermes’ firm muscles where she put her hands on her thighs, and she shivered at the idea of them around her head, Ermes sitting on her face, pushing her down. That would have to wait for a more convenient setting, however. Instead, Jolyne’s hand trailed lower, under Ermes’ dress, rubbing her firmly over her underwear. There was already a considerable wet spot there, and Jolyne smiled.

“Oh, did getting me off got you all excited, too?”

“Have you seen yourself? I thought, I would finish just from eating you out.” That was another thing to try in the future, Jolyne decided.

Jolyne pushed her hand into the Ermes underwear. She was pulsing and soaked, Jolyne licked her lips at the idea of this woman in her arms. She was here, so hot and so real, pliant for Jolyne to make a mess out of her.

Jolyne was losing her patience, she pulled back a little to take Ermes’ underwear off and throw in to join her own on the chair. Then she moved to push Ermes’ dress lower on her shoulders, until she could free her breasts.

As Jolyne expected, they looked divine, like a work of art, like a reason to leave. Jolyne couldn’t help herself, she placed her mouth on the left breast to kiss and bite every inch of it. It was unjust, however, to touch only one of them, and not the other, so her free hand moved to Ermes’ right breast to squeeze and caress it, her thumb rubbing firmly over the nipple.

Jolyne heard Ermes’ breath quicken, and she noticed that every time Jolyne pinched her nipple, Ermes’ breath would catch up at her throat. Jolyne wanted her to do it again and again. Her mouth and her hands switched places, and she could hear Ermes letting out a small “ah, ah”, as Jolyne’s fingers moved to caress her nipple again.

Jolyne could do this forever, but they needed to get a move on. There were not many, but still a few people who could come into the room, and there wasn’t even a proper lock to make sure they would not find Jolyne and Ermes there in their current state.

Jolyne pulled away from Ermes’ chest and admired her work for a minute. Ermes was covered in her saliva, and her face was all slack and flushed. Good, but Jolyne could do even better. She pushed her hand down again, caressing Ermes’ pussy with sure, firm strokes. Jolyne sent a prayer to every god she knew to thank them for her wise decision not to make her nails long for the wedding. That would fuck up with her current plans.

Jolyne let her fingers dance all over Ermes for a few more moments, before pushing two of them to rub hard at her clit. Ermes’ breath hitched again, and she let out a moan, so quiet, it was barely there, but it aroused Jolyne nevertheless. She rubbed at her clit harder, before sliding her fingers lower. Jolyne teased Ermes’ entrance, just pushing one of her fingers in to feel the irresistible clenching of the muscles before slowly pulling back. Ermes’ pussy was so hot an wet, and it was just sucking her in. Jolyne never wanted to stop.

Slowly, Jolyne pushed two fingers into Ermes. She stopped there for a moment, just to feel her around. Ermes was the one panting now, her neck all red. Jolyne didn’t know where to look: at her flushed face or at her breasts, which were moving rapidly up and down in rhythm with her breathing. Jolyne bent down to lick around a nipple before pulling back and starting to move her fingers.

She moved slowly at first, trying to get a hang of Ermes, to understand, how far to push, how exactly to crook her fingers inside of her, how far to spread them to make her writhe and moan under her. Soon, Jolyne had a pretty good understanding of what Ermes liked, and she started moving her hand faster and harder, with more purpose. Ermes was moaning non-stop now, and those sounds were a music to Jolyne’s ears. She pressed and pushed, and crooked her fingers just right at the right moment, and she could feel Ermes started to clench around her. Jolyne continued with her steady pace, moving her free hand to press on Ermes’ lower stomach, just above her pubic bone. That made Ermes clench around her harder, and one of her hands shot up from where it was fisting the sofa, to grab at Jolyne’s neck and tug her to her breast. Jolyne got the signal, and a bit at the nipple right in front of her. The position was a bit awkward, but it was so worth it. Immediately, Jolyne felt her clench rhythmically around her fingers, at it made Jolyne so excited, she was almost ready to go again. Instead, she moved her hand until Ermes released her head, and lay down to catch her breath. Jolyne withdrew her fingers slowly and moved her head up to place a kiss on Ermes’ hot cheek. Ermes turned to face to her, and they shared a few short, almost innocent kisses before pulling back.

“You’re amazing.” Ermes said. “Good god. Maybe, that was not the best place to do it.”

“Maybe not,” said Jolyne. “Your whole face is covered in my lipstick.”

“Yours, too.”

“Oh boy. Okay, let’s get dressed. There is a bathroom just around the corner, hopefully no one is there, and we can clean up.”

The plan worked; they managed to remove all lipstick traces from their faces by the time somebody else decided to use the bathroom. It took them another fifteen minutes to fix their hair, makeup, and cool down enough to go back to the reception area.

The party was still in full swing, and Jolyne was sure that no one missed their absence. Or so she thought before both her dads appeared out of nowhere in front of her. Judging by Noriaki’s flushed face, he drank his once-every-two-years glass of wine.

“JoJo! We couldn’t find you anywhere for the bouquet toss, where have you been?” Jolyne could see her Dad looking directly at her. Oh god, did he guess? Jolyne thought with horror. She tried to smile innocently. At least, Noriaki didn’t wait for her to answer. “Is this your new friend? Will you introduce us?”

“Sure!” Jolyne grabbed at that like a drowning man to a straw. “This is Ermes Costello. We’ve met just recently. Her family brought all the flowers, actually. And, well, Ermes, you can guess, these are my dads, Jotaro and Noriaki.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Ermes said. “This party rocks!”

Jotaro’s face softened. He was not exactly glaring at Ermes before, maybe only a little, but now he was looking at her like on someone who deserved his respect.

“It’s nice to meet you, Ermes! Thank you for your work, everything looks great.” Said Noriaki. “Why don’t you come for dinner sometimes? We would like to know more about you!”

“Yes, let’s do a dinner when we’re back.” Jotaro said, his glaring back at full swing. Jolyne sighed internally. Jotaro wasn’t the man to take the people she dated to the side to give them the “if you hurt my daughter” speech. He was the man to glare at them until they got the point.

“Okay! We will definitely do that.” Said Jolyne, grabbing Ermes’ elbow to tug her away. “We’re going to eat now, have fun!”

“Yep, I’m definitely hungry after…” Said Ermes, turning to see if they went far away for Jotaro and Noriaki to hear. “Never mind. Your dads seem nice. Where are your moms?”

Jolyne pointed to the other end of the room. “See, there is a woman in blue with brown hair?”

“Yeah. Your mom? The one in the suit next to her is the other one?”

“Yep! That’s Liv.”

“No more kids on your mom’s side?”

“Nah, they were good with just me.” Jolyne said. “Finally, food! I’m also hungry.”

They piled foods on their plates at the buffet before sitting down and pretty much wolfing it all down.

“Look,” said Jolyne, once they were more or less done. “I really would like to hang out more. Do you want to?”

“Just hang out?”

“Well, you know. Maybe we could learn more about each other and date even? It’s hard to plan that far ahead.”

Ermes smiled. Unlike all her previous confident smiles, this one was almost shy. “Yeah, I would love that. You’re like no one I know, I would like to know you more. We’re pretty swarmed with work next week, however. Are you free next weekend?”

“Well, I’m taking Jouta to school this week, but I will be free on Saturday, yeah. We could go get a coffee and then…”

“And then?”

“Dads’ house will be empty, if you want to stop by.”

“Oh, I will definitely stop by.” Said Ermes, taking Jolyne’s hand.