Falling Harder Than the Snow

A couple quick warnings, there are mentions of abuse in the story as well as the topic of revenge porn.

Additionally, this is in the Lesbian Sex category, but both the women are bisexuals and there is a male female sexual encounter as part of the story, so if that isn't your thing, this is your warning.

Blake -- Mid-September 9:30 pm on a Friday

Friday nights at the comic store were never as good as when Mitchell came along. Being an attractive young blonde, Blake got far too much attention from her fellow nerds, particularly the males who far outnumbered the women.

At least there were three of us this time.

The other two ladies were there as a pair with their boyfriends that deflected male attention and let them concentrate on the game. Mitchell consistently filled that role for Blake despite the absence of any romantic connection between them. He skipped out on the weekly ritual for a second date with Lindsey.

New guys at the comic shop liked to underestimate Blake at the booster drafts or constructed, and she often took the opportunity to stomp on them in their matches. She finished second tonight to a deck that had gotten extremely lucky in the pair of bombs he pulled from fresh booster packs. Blake probably shouldn't have taken the chase rare that didn't go with her white and red deck, but she was going to need it for constructed in the coming weeks, and it was cheaper than buying it as a single from the comic shop or internet. Splashing a third color wasn't the best idea with a forty-card deck.

"Hey, kitty!" Steele, a dark blue-gray-furred cat that was barely not a kitten, prowled the kitchen counter as Blake came in. He was an affectionate and goofy kitty, very much in the vein of the cats that her grandparents always had. Their old house wouldn't seem right without one of them haunting the place.

"You still have food? Water?" Blake checked his bowls on the way by. "And there's a cup on the counter that you haven't knocked on the floor. You're slacking!" Blake announced and gave him some attention before the beast bounded away.

Blake set her purse on the counter when her cell started ringing. She checked her smartwatch before rifling through the bag to find her phone with a smile on her face. It was the one name that would make Blake drop everything to reach for, especially since her best friend had missed their weekly Pathfinder campaign the weekend before. Their bard rarely skipped a week, and when she did, it was intentional. Blake needed her Orianna fix.

"Ori!" Blake smiled broadly as she picked up the handset.

"Help." It was a simple word that came out meek and frightened. That wasn't Orianna, at least not for the last decade. She was brash and confident wherever she went. The prom queen and head of the dance team rarely had anything that tamped down her swagger.

"What's wrong, Ori?" Blake's tone shifted immediately as her heart rate swelled.

"I... It's all gone to shit, Blake." Orianna said between sobs.

"Is it Dante?" Blake asked about Orianna's fiancé, whom she had always gotten a bad feeling from. Before tonight, it had convinced her it was because of the latent jealousy of the man. Something was screaming for Blake to pick up her purse and head to her car.

"It's everything. We're done. I'm staying at a hotel with Lidia." Lidia was Ori's young, bright, and energetic border collie.

"What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it... I just... I just need to see you, Blake. I know it's late, but I can't be alone, and I have no one else that will talk to me after..." Ori's voice faded out.

"I'm on my way." Blake checked the house was locked tight before jogging to her car.

"Tonight? It's too late and a four-hour drive. Don't you have debate tomorrow?" There were more sobs from Ori. Her best friend was in some sort of real trouble.

"You just said you needed me." Blake elbowed open the garage door and tossed her purse in the passenger seat of her small, reliable, hand-me-down car. "I'm on my way. Don't make me look up hotels that accept dogs and have vacancies."

"The La Quinta just off the highway, Rm 106." The lack of further arguments from Orianna compounded Blake's panic. She would need to resist her lead foot as she hit the interstate and sped north.

"I'll be there in four hours, Ori. Keep a light on for me."

"I will, Blake. Thank you. You don't know how much I need a friend." Ori disconnected after she said it. She didn't answer when Blake tried calling her back.

After a stop for gas and a large coffee, Blake called Mitchell, even though he was likely still on a date.

They should be out of the movie by now.

Blake texted SOS before calling him back when he didn't answer. That was their signal that this was something important and not for chitchat.

"Blake?" Loud music was blaring in the background as Mitchell answered. "This better be good. My date is going well. Really well."

"I know better than to abuse the SOS, Mitchell. Isn't it a little early to be at the clubs?"

"The movie ended, and Lindsey wanted me to take her dancing before taking her home." Blake could imagine his eyebrows bouncing suggestively.

"I need you to meet the debate team at South High in the morning." Mitchell's apartment was in the city while he and Blake taught in a suburban district. They worked for the same high school they graduated from six years ago.

"Ten a.m., right?" Mitchell didn't even argue. He had been on the other side of frequent favors, and the amount that he owed was piling up.

"Yeah, Sandy can ride with the team before she has to go to a funeral."

"Okay, I owe you. Have you called Mr. Yanko? Where are you going to be, Blake?"

"That's my next call," Blake answered one question before going to the next. "It's Ori." She really didn't need to say more. Orianna was her best friend and not-so-secret crush. The three of them had gone to the same college and shared an apartment before Ori moved north for a job opportunity following Dante.

"What happened?"

"I don't know yet. She didn't explain. Ori called me and just said, 'Help.'"

"Go, but don't get your hopes up and get your heart broken again. Especially not when you don't have an outlet." Mitchell sounded concerned.

"It's not about me," Blake seethed but kept her voice neutral. "Orianna needs help, and you know I would do the same for you. I have before."

"I know, Blake. You've got a great, if sometimes wayward, heart. How do you know this time is different?"

"She was sobbing on the phone and didn't even argue when I told her I was northbound."

"Shit..." Mitchell had to know how big of a warning sign both were. Orianna rarely showed cracks in her happy façade regardless of how much life batted her around. "Okay, text me when you get there and drive safe."

"Thanks, Mitchell. I owe you a bottle of whiskey when I get back."

"Yes, you do." Mitchell's words argued that he was forcing a happier tone.

"One more thing. If I'm not back by tomorrow night, can you check on Steele?"

"Sure, we're bros. But If you're not back, I'll catnap him and hold him for ransom of one bottle of the good stuff."

Orianna -- Several hours later

"Why'd I let her drive up?" Ori questioned as she pet Lidia, who was snuggled on the bed. A home improvement show was yammering in the background. Not only was she worried for Blake's safety, but as soon as the woman got here, she, too, would want nothing to do with Ori.

"At least you're with me." Orianna would be crying, but she thought there would be no more tears. Her body seemed to have no more to give. "Mom disowned me. I don't think she even wants to talk to me again." Ori couldn't blame her after what she'd done.

"My one love, other than you, of course, Liddy, I rejected her in the worst way." The ordinarily rambunctious one-and-a-half-year-old border collie was remarkably calm as if she could sense her adoptive mother falling apart.

Lidia's ears perked up after several quiet minutes. The black and white pup sat up, and her tail started wagging furiously moments before there was a light, tentative knock on the door. It was early morning, probably about the same time people would wander home from the clubs and bars. Even though it lacked the typical enthusiasm, the pattern was not mistaken.

"Coming." Ori smoothed her bedraggled hair slightly as Lidia pranced and whined next to the door on a sparse piece of tile before the room gave way to carpet.

After a glance through the peephole, Orianna opened the door to let in her best friend. Blake was a blonde with a soft, slightly round face, piercing blue eyes, and typically the most radiant smile, though that wasn't present now. She had a subtle pink lip gloss and a light touch with the blush on her pink cheeks. She was the first woman Ori had ever had a crush on, and why she knew she was bisexual.

The woman was the same, to the millimeter, height as Ori. They were barely below average height but by less than an inch. Blake out-massed her by a few pounds. Most of that extra bulk was contained in a pair of delightfully large breasts and a shapely ass to match them perfectly.

Blake stepped in and pulled Orianna into an immediate hug. Ori didn't return the embrace, but she didn't recoil from it, and the contact felt great.

"Are you okay, Orianna?" Blake looked worried as she closed the door behind her and stooped down to greet Lidia before the pup's whines got louder.

"No. I'm not." Ori walked back toward the queen-sized bed and flopped down on the mattress. "I can't believe you actually came."

"Of course I did. You sounded like you were in trouble. You would have done the same for me." Blake sat beside her, and Lidia thought the best place to put herself was between the two ladies. Her bestie scritched the pup behind the ears absentmindedly. "We've been best friends for over a decade. Has there ever been a dereliction of duties?" Even though Liddy had never met Blake, she had already warmed to her best friend.

"No." Even after Ori had broken her heart, Blake never stopped being a reliable friend. There had been some coldness, but never a lack of caring.

"So, what happened? I've been inventing the most heinous things on the drive."

"What I did might be worse." Ori couldn't look Blake in the eyes as she blew out a long sigh. If Blake drove four hours in the middle of the night, Orianna could at least explain why her life was shattered.

"It all started a couple of weeks ago when Dante and I got RIF'd at work," Orianna explained. Blake would know that RIF meant reduction in force, another way to say laid off.

"That would explain why you've been down during Pathfinder the last few weeks." Blake surmised. Their group had been playing Pathfinder together for a decade. Before Orianna moved to town, the group had played D&D but switched to Pathfinder when they got annoyed with fourth edition. Blake was the group's leader and a fighter. Orianna was a bard, and Mitchell was a wizard with an oddly high strength stat. They had other members outside the core group, but they rotated in and out to keep their group with five or six players and a GM. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I dunno. You were a counselor at camp, and we only talked during the games since you didn't have cell coverage during the week. Then the school year started and... Oh God! Didn't you have a debate meet to be at tomorrow?"

"Mitchell is covering it for me. You needed help, so I'm here." Blake laid a hand on Ori's shoulder. "This can't just be about getting laid off. That sucks, but this isn't just a sucky job prospect's call."

"No, but that was a stressor that started this non-stop shitstorm. I was getting interviews. I still hadn't found anything in town, but I have the inkling of a possibility back home." Back where they had gone to high school was the first place that Ori had considered being a genuine home since her dad passed away. "Dante was having less success than me and was starting to get angry."

"Did that son of a bitch hit you?" Blake had rage in her eyes.

"No. His abuse was the verbal variety. He got good at making me think I was the piece of shit that was holding him back."

"I'll castrate the fucker." Blake said softly.

"The line for that honor starts behind me." She switched subjects to something financial. "I have some savings built up. I wanted to buy a car, and Mom, losing her job when I was a kid, told me I needed a safety net. I'm so glad I didn't have a joint account with that bastard." Ori paused to shake her head as she held back tears. "Last weekend, Dante got drunk and laid into me with a tirade."

"I guess I had good reason to be worried when you missed Pathfinder." Blake looked as miserable as Ori felt.

"Yeah, me wanting to play was what set him off. I told him I was taking Liddy and leaving. I had enough. I kept telling myself he was going through a tough time and needed me. This was the last straw. That and he purposefully left the back gate open, hoping that Lidia would run off so he wouldn't have to buy dog food. He never paid for her care in the first place. I grabbed a suitcase, stuff for Lidia, and my laptop and moved in here." Ori explained, knowing that her story was about to get more painful.

"You did the right thing, but that doesn't sound like a call me late on a Friday a week later matter." Blake put an arm over Ori. "You should've called sooner."

"No, I was trying to be strong and was embarrassed. It got worse. I came back Monday to pick up my stuff from the house. And Dante was burning everything I owned that I didn't bring with me. He told me to come back, or things would get worse. That maniacal look in his eyes..." Ori stopped and sobbed. "The worst part? I actually thought about it, trying to convince myself that Dante was still that man I had dated for almost three years. We had a lot of good times together. Sunk cost fallacy, right?"

"What else did the bastard do? Surely, this hadn't just been simmering all week."

"He... he burned almost everything I had left from my dad." Ori sobbed, and Blake embraced her. "I have some stuff in a safety box home, like the flag they draped over his casket and his medal. All the Christmas decorations I have left are gone, though."

"My God, Ori. He's a monster."

"He got all my Pathfinder character sheets. I think those were the kindling." Ori had kept them as souvenirs from each campaign she had participated in. She'd played a bard in most. It was a little ironic, as she was the only group member that didn't play an instrument. "I had to call the cops so they could supervise as I looked for anything he missed."

"That must have been tough." Blake was blinking back her own tears.

"Very." Ori winced before she carried on. "I used the bastard as a reference on some of my applications, and he made sure that the interviews I had this week went poorly. I aced them but got rejection emails a few hours later. I have a friend at one shop, and I asked her to find out what went wrong so I could learn to do better."

"What'd she say?"

"She told me they loved me, but there was a problem with one of my references. Considering they were you, my former boss, and Dante, it was easy to eliminate the possibilities."

"Why?"

"With time to reflect, I've seen how Dante tried to control me. Maybe it was never as good as I thought it was." Ori shook her head. "I guess he was still trying to control me, or maybe it was jealousy. I keep trying to discern it."

"Did you just hear back from your friend tonight?"

"No. The thing that set me off was a call from my mom. A Friday night call was our weekly ritual." The ritual had started in college when Blake went to play Magic on Friday nights. It was the one nerdy activity Ori had never gotten into with her bestie.

Orianna could see Blake's knuckles turning white as she clenched her hands into fists.

"The jackass knew that all too well. I picked up the phone to yelling and screaming that ended in disappointment and Mom telling me that she never wanted to see a whore like me again." Ori broke down into sobs and tears again for several minutes. She was inconsolable, but Blake just waited with her steadfast patience. It was one reason why she probably kicked ass as a teacher.

"That makes no sense." Blake had tears in her eyes.

"That's what I thought until I saw the link Dante sent my mother and stepfather." Ori sniffed back tears. "He sent it to you, Mitchell, and the Pathfinder group."

"I haven't checked my email all night. I didn't have time between Friday Night Magic and driving north." Blake stated. "It's not like there's going to be a teaching emergency that couldn't wait until after the weekend."

"Delete anything you got from me." Orianna had scrubbed the materials pointed to by the links and changed her email password, but the dead links still felt like an invasion.

"What did the bastard send!?" Blake's fists smacked her thighs lightly to punctuate her sentence.

"Sex tapes we made and the naked pictures I sent him when we were dating. Why did I ever let him tape us?" Ori started crying again. She knew exactly why she had agreed to the videos and what she got in return for giving into one of Dante's fantasies.

"This isn't on you. We've all shared things with boyfriends and girlfriends we've been dating."

"He also posted them to all the porn sites he could find. I'm a porn star now, Blake."

"No, you're not. Revenge porn is illegal, Ori. We can fight this."

"I already requested a takedown from all the sites I could find. I might need a lawyer and with no job..." Ori trailed off for a moment. "Also the Streisand Effect." Saying nothing might let the videos get lost in a daily deluge of films added to the internet. Fighting it would call attention to its existence. "What if every future employer sees those videos? What am I going to do now?" She buried her head in her hands.

"Casey's husband passed the bar recently. He can help with the lawyer, but he's in Illinois. He'll have recommendations, though. You're coming home with me, Orianna. My grandparents' house is empty without a roommate and a dog." Blake gave her a slight, tentative grin. "That is unless you have other plans."

"Are you sure? What if your school district finds out that your roommate does porno?" Ori wanted to believe that Blake wanted her to come home with her, but she wouldn't be the woman's anchor when she was trying to fly.

"I'm very sure, and you're not a porn star. You're the victim of a guy I still want to castrate." Blake hugged Orianna close. "If they would fault me for supporting you after that, then I wouldn't want to fucking work there. Grab your stuff, and I'll take you home."

"No," Ori said softly.

"No?" Blake looked like she'd been slapped.

Ori cringed for a moment. That hadn't been her intention, but words mattered. "I want to go home with you, but there's no way I'll let you drive us home tonight, Blake. Let's get some sleep first. The hotel is already paid for. You can share the bed with me. We'll have to exile Liddy to the floor for the night."

"Okay, Ori. I can do that. Wait, she gets along with Steele, right?" Blake asked about her cat.

"Yeah, we visited Mitchell this summer while you played counselor, and they seemed to get along." It was odd that Blake had never met the pup, but her cat had.

Blake ten years ago -- Mid-December

"You up for Friday Night Magic, or are you still nursing a heartache, Mitchell?" Blake prodded her best friend as they hurried through P-Hall to get to Mrs. Q's English class. They were nearly tardy, but Mrs. Q was lenient with her best students. "My sister can take us, but we'll have to walk home."

"Is it a booster draft or constructed this week?" Mitchell was in more of a hurry. His English grades didn't allow him the same leniency.