The Truth is Weird – Fresh Roses: Chapter 3 [FF]

*Links to earlier chapters in comments. Recommended to be read first*

Chapter 3 Kink tags (Mild spoilers): >!F – Solo, FF – Bath, cuddling, fingering, light dominance, dirty talk!<

# Chapter 3: The Truth is Weird

**Em**

“What’s wrong?” Sage asked as she drew a bubble bath.

Em looked over at her oldest friend and roommate while she got to work stripping down and trying on a few robes. “Nothing.”

“Yes there is, I can tell.”

Em was sure she couldn’t…could she? Em always made sure to keep her emotions in check and her face clear of them as much as possible.

“It’s Holly, isn’t it?” Sage asked.

“Am I supposed to be impressed?” Em asked.

“Don’t be a dick. You still like her?”

“I never said I-”

“Do you still like her, yes or no?”

Em let a bit of emotion crack along her face as she rolled her eyes. It had been two months since she met Holly and she had been having…feelings. They were frustrating. Something about Holly just made Em feel relaxed. She didn’t trust that feeling, though. Relaxation. There was always more to be done.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Sage said, “Just ask her out.”

“You know my job,” Em said, “And no, I don’t like her like that.” Em usually had a steady voice and it only seemed to slightly fail her as she said that, annoyed at how childish it sounded. “I just…I have to lie to her a lot and that makes me uneasy.”

Sage was quiet for a moment. “Well, yes, I definitely know your job,” Sage laughed. She held up a bottle of soap she’d just finished using to make the bathtub nice and bubbly. Em tied up her robe as Sage walked over, wiping her hands off and wrapping Em in a hug from behind. “Just tell her what you do,” Sage said, “I took it fine. So did Cedar. Just tell her the truth. And then maybe…”

“The money and the benefits helped make it a bit easier to understand for you guys,” Em muttered. Sage’s hands moved along Em’s tie and undid it. Em’s robe slipped open a bit, exposing her nakedness underneath in a thin strip. Sage held her close, resting her chin on Em’s shoulder. The two were the exact same height.

“Don’t,” Em said matter-of-factly.

“I’m not doing anything,” Sage looked at Em through the mirror and Em let herself take her friend in. She was beautiful, and always had been. Dark skin, hair, and eyes with a lithe figure. She ran her hands along Em’s stomach and Em put a hand on them to stop her.

“Rules,” Em said.

“Cedar!” Sage shouted right next to Em’s ear.

“C’mon,” Em muttered, pulling away. She leaned her back into the mirror and Sage stepped forward. Cedar, Sage’s husband, arrived in the doorway, took in the situation, and leaned against it to watch.

“Oh, are we fluffing?” Cedar asked.

“Don’t,” Em told him. He knew she hated that word.

“He’s here, happy?” Sage said. She leaned in and her lips pressed into Em’s. Em sighed in and held Sage’s waist the same way Sage was holding hers. Sage’s eyes were closed and Em’s were heavy but she eyed Cedar who just smiled at both of them.

The three of them had been at this for a while. Ever since Cedar started helping Em with her work, Sage got curious and eventually they had started playing around. Em didn’t harbor romantic feelings for them, nor did they to her. It was just physical fun added to their friendship. There were some rules though. Two to be exact. Cedar wasn’t allowed to kiss Em. And Sage *only* ever kissed Em, nothing more. Both rules were put in place by Sage.

The kiss ended quickly and Cedar walked in more but Sage put a hand on his chest and shooed him away. Em’s client would be there soon. Sage moved her hand along the front of Cedar’s pants for just a moment. “I’ll help you with that honey,” Sage teased him and Cedar looked a little embarrassed.. Em felt for Cedar sometimes. She and Sage were rather domineering women, but he seemed to enjoy his role.

“This?” Em asked before Sage walked away, “This is the truth I’m supposed to tell her. No thank you.”

Sage shrugged. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

Em thought about that as her married friends left. The worst? Well, Holy would never talk to her again. It then surprised her realizing that would be what the *worst* was. Not getting reported to the police or something more dramatic. Just losing her chance to be around Holly. Em put her robe back on and huffed as there was a knock at the door.

**Holly**

The last two months had been some of the happiest Holly had ever been, and the most confused.

She could hardly remember how she felt before meeting Em. That lonely girl, always so nervous.

Now things had changed. She had a friend, her neighbor. Holly couldn’t count the number of times she’d walked over from her apartment 800 over to 813. She’d usually just hang out with Em but occasionally Cedar would join them or sometimes Sage too, though Sage was usually in her room writing if she was around. Em kept odd hours and Holly made her own so she started just focusing on work if Em wasn’t around.

And, interestingly, as quickly as it had appeared, Holly’s little crush faded away. Of course, if only it had been as simple as having a crush and then not having one. The truth of the matter of Holly’s feelings were…weird.

Holly had never been attracted to a woman before. She had been attracted to a man before. That was the thing though. *A* man. Singular. A friend in college who she never ended up doing anything with. They had been close for a while and then when he had started dating someone their friendship made his new girlfriend uncomfortable and he ended up distancing himself. It had stung at the time, but Holly moved on, focusing on her artwork.

That was all she had ever done. Focus on her artwork. Over the years she’d been asked out a few times, and then more recently way more as she started working as a barista (what is it about making coffee that allures people to you?). She had always said no, not out of disinterest for a person, but a lack of attraction. She sometimes thought maybe that was just who she was and she was fine with that.

When she thought about it, with Em, she hadn’t really had a crush on her physically. No, it was something about the overall allure of Em as a person. Elegant, put together. Something she had thought was jealousy at first. And that was the weird thing.

Once Em had introduced herself, and the two of them had been spending time together – going to movies, relaxing at Em’s apartment, hanging out at the cafe – Holly’s crush faded on a romantic level. But on a physical level, her attraction to Em had become super charged. She Thought about Em constantly and the closer they got the more she thought about her friend in a way she shouldn’t have been. The rising closeness as friends slowly kept ratcheting up the physical attraction.

And yet these weren’t really romantic feelings. She didn’t know why, considering she’d had romantic feelings before. Close friendship + physical attraction should equal romance, right?

It was frustrating, and guilt inducing. And tonight, a Friday night in early October, she had it on her mind as she lay in her pajamas, face down in bed, trying not to move her hand down her body.

Most Friday nights she would be with Em, probably watching some trashy reality TV on Em’s couch. Em would make a very blunt statement not meant to be a joke but Holly would laugh because it was funny. Em was the queen of being funny on accident.

Tonight, though, Em was working. Being a florist apparently involved some late nights for tending to inventory and getting shipments. So Holly was on her own. She had been lying in bed with her laptop but soon her thoughts had drifted and Em had floated into them. Holly’s hand moved down and her body pressed towards the bed.

Em came into Holly’s mind’s eye. Her smile was rare, but beautiful when it arrived. Her hair was like silk, her eyes dark and mysterious. Holly humped into her hand, her mound pressing into her palm while her fingers curled and pressed on her sex gently.

“Mmph,” Holly breathed out. Her mind’s eye went down Holly’s body now. Large breasts and long legs on a slender figure. They were somewhat opposites in body shape. That somehow appealed to Holly greatly, she didn’t know why.

Holly pressed her fingers along her pussy lips through her pajamas. Her face felt hot. She felt the heat rise up in her throat, painting her pale body with redness. With it the guilt spread, and yet her hand rearranged so it was inside her pants, over her panties.

She was surprisingly wet already, though it shouldn’t have been a surprise. Lately she had often found herself falling into fantasy and then being surprised by the amount of her own arousal. As if she was trying to convince herself, *No, you couldn’t be having thoughts about your friend like this. You’re not getting wet like this because of that. It’s just a surprise!* Of course, she was kidding herself. Her fingers pressed into the cotton and her body jolted with the contact. Her mouth opened, head on its side and half of her face in the pillow. Some red strands of hair moved into her face and she didn’t have the energy to move them.

In Holly’s mind’s eye Em was now wearing a towel only. Once, Em had come over to borrow some cream for her coffee and had knocked on Holly’s door wearing just a towel. Holly had barely been able to form sentences. When Em spoke it was only more difficult, seeing as Em’s British accent made Holly melt that much more.

Now she remembered that moment as her hand moved side to side better. She wasn’t super practiced in masturbating and sometimes struggled to even find how to make herself feel good but tonight she was in the right rhythm. She humped her hand faster, gathering the blanket to make a more sturdy target. Her hand moved just right over her lips and clit. Her toes began to curl. The fantasy towel fell to the floor and…

*Knock knock knock.*

The fantasy fell apart and Holly groaned. *God damnit,* she thought. It was almost midnight, who could be knocking at this time?

**Em**

As with all her clients, Em’s client tonight went by a codename. Magenta (though her real name was Ruth) and as always Em went by Gold.

Em had been seeing Magenta for almost 8 months now. Most of that was communication and about 7 sessions. She had promised 10 when they first started as, like most of Em’s clients, Magenta was fully pro bono and one of the people Em contacted as someone deserving of some service.

Magenta was, all in all, a normal woman. Em didn’t always look for the most amazing, giving people Chicago had to offer. No, sometimes she just had her ways of finding good, kind people who were down on their luck in some way and deserved some support. Sometimes, Em thought, people just needed some connection, physical or otherwise.

That’s how their meetings started, actually. Magenta’s first two sessions the most the two of them did was kiss. Magenta mostly spoke about her life, how conservative her upbringing had been. Magenta had been married and was 33 when she finally came out, losing a lot of her lifelong bonds and family. It was a year later when she and Em first started talking. Since they’d been meeting, Magenta’s confidence had risen and she had become much more personable. From how she discussed it, she seemed to be growing a new network of friends of fellow late bloomer lesbians and had even gone on some dates.

Not all of Em’s clients had this drastic and noticeable of a change, and she couldn’t take all or probably even partial credit for Magenta’s life perking up, she just liked to think she was helping in some small way.

When Magenta came through the door, Em noticed how comfortable she was. She was wearing simple clothes as Em had instructed. Easy to remove. Without a word Em approached Magenta as soon as the door closed. Em’s robe slipped off and Magenta’s clothes made their way to the ground. Hugs were exchanged. Naked and warm, and a kiss or two, before Em took her by the hand and led Magenta to the bathtub…

Magenta’s hair was very similar to Em’s (seeing as they both had Chinese heritage that wasn’t too surprising) and Em almost felt like she was washing her own hair as she lathered Magenta’s. They were sitting in the bathtub, Magenta in the center and Em behind her, water up to their upper chests. Em was adding conditioner to Magenta’s hair as Magenta cooed in relaxation.

Em’s legs were outstretched around the woman’s, which was easy. Magenta had a thin frame and Em was a solid head taller than her. She was actually around Holly’s height. *Okay, so, five minutes,* Em thought, *About five minutes without thinking about Holly. C’mon pull it together.*

“It’s warm in here,” Magenta said a little later with the conditioner sitting and Em running soap and massaging hands over Magenta’s back. She rinsed the soap and leaned forward, kissing a scar along Magenta’s spine she’d never asked about before.

“Mmm,” Magenta breathed as the lips touched her. Em worked up Magenta’s back.

“You’ll appreciate the warmth soon,” Em told her, as her hands moved around to hold Magenta’s waist and pull her into Em more solidly. “Hey, remember last time when you were starting to tell me about that fantasy of yours?”

During their last session Magenta had wanted to experiment with more rough play, bordering on dominance. Em always had taken the lead in their interactions, in fact, she’d only ever done things to Magenta and Magenta had yet to try to reciprocate. That was completely fine with Em, it came with the territory.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Magenta said. She was getting coy. She always did this. Em’s hand moved up Magenta’s body under the water. They moved up her stomach and pulled her in so Em was lying against the tub and Magenta was lying against her. Her hands made their way up and cupped Magenta’s cute breasts. Em bit her lip, Magenta did too. Em was enjoying herself, but then wondered how Holly would feel like this, in her arms.

*Get out of my head Holly!* Em thought, thinking that getting irrationally angry would help. It didn’t.

“Sure you do,” Em said, moving one hand up and one hand down. Her hand found its way to Magenta’s thighs and grazed them harder than expected on her thighs. Magenta wriggled, splashing water. Before she could let out an apology Em’s other hand wrapped around Magenta’s neck but didn’t’ squeeze. “It was right before you asked me to choke you.”

Magenta loved dirty talk. Words seemed to turn her on as much as actions. Simply describing what was happening doubled her pleasure. “Remember…” Em said. Her hand found its way between Magenta’s legs and cupped her there.

“Ah!” Magenta let out in gratitude and along with that Em squeezed the sides of her neck very softly. Her hand on Magenta’s pussy started to rub gently. The water was ironically the enemy of wetness so she had to be careful to avoid unpleasant friction.

“Tell me the fantasy,” Em said, “Maybe we can make it come true.”“We…we can’t,” Magenta whimpered, eyes fluttering shut.

“Try me.”

“I want…” Magenta tried to speak but was enjoying herself too much. Em released her neck and held her around the midsection with her arm. As she did that Em used her legs to lace around Magenta’s and hold them open. She also nudged the bath’s drain and it started to lower in water. Luckily, as Magenta had noted, the room was warm and the bathtubs sides were heated, so the water leaving didn’t make them cold.

“I want to do for someone what you did to me,” Magenta finally admitted. As she did Em started rubbing her more purposefully. And yet she demanded more admittance.

“Keep going,” Em said, “Or I won’t.”

With a cry of equal parts pleasure and pleading Magenta whispered, “I want to help someone through their first time. Lead them. Maybe even…oh gosh…” the water was all gone and Magenta’s natural wetness was making the rubbing even better. Em kept detailed notes on how she discovered her clients liked to be touched, and she was recalling them with pinpoint precision here, making short work of the small woman. “ …maybe even be a little, you know, in control. Dominant. I just…ah…”

Em let up slightly as Magenta stopped talking. Magenta moaned in protest and finished her sentence, “I just watch you as you do things to me and I…I…I’m gonna…oh gosh…”

“Tell me,” Em said, “All at once.” She held Magenta closer. Magenta’s body tightened and pressed into Em’s hard.

“It would make me feel so good to do for someone what you did for me.”

“Cum for me,” Em said, hitting Magenta with the dagger of nibbling on her ear. Magenta’s eyes shot open, rolled back, and shut again. Her body caved inwards before bursting outwards, her climax making little splash sounds along the tub’s floor as she writhed about on the last bits of water left there. She held Em’s arm, cradling it like her most prized possession as it gave her the phenomenal release she’d been wanting.

When she came down, Magenta smiled softly and turned into Em who turned the water back on and plugged the drain with her feet. Em clenched her jaw and took a deep breath to ignore her own incredible arousal.

“We can roleplay that,” Em said after a little while, “Your fantasy.”

“No,” Magenta said, resting her head along Em’s chest, “Thank you but I want that to be real if I can ever manage it. I want it to be like us, you know. Something that’s, I don’t know…real. The truth.”

“The truth?” Em asked.

“You know my history. I find that, now, I gotta be true to everyone I care about. And that would extend to anyone I’m intimate with. Maybe it’s silly but it’s how I feel.”

Em smiled gently for two reasons. One, she was happy to hear how far Magenta had come. And two, she felt those words Magenta had said. Em was still parsing through the *feelings* aspect of her friendship with Holly but, as far as her job, Magenta was right. The truth was important.

“That’s not silly,” Em said, “I have some contacts. I’ll see what I can do.”

**Holly**

Holly huffed and walked to her door. Only as she approached it did she look down and realize her shirt she was wearing was thin and her arousal had her poking through it. She realized this a second before opening the door to see Em there.

“H-,” Holly quickly crossed her arms over her chest in embarrassment, “Hey. I thought you had to work late?”

“Hey, um,” Em started, “My, um, delivery guy called it an early night. I was actually if you had a few minutes?”

“Sure. Why?”

“Um…wanna just meet me at my place in like five minutes. I want to change anyways.”

Holly wasn’t sure what it was but Em seemed different. She was always so steady. Straight faced, barely cracking a smile or a frown, but right now her face was uneasy. She looked…nervous.

“Okay. Are you alright?” Holly asked.

“Yeah,” Em nodded, “There’s just something I want to tell you.”

# To be continued…

Thanks for reading Chapter Three of *Fresh Roses*. Chapter four will be available soon (hopefully next Sunday)!! **Before you go**, if you have any comments we love discussing constructive feedback and suggestions! And we’re not too proud to say we also love some good ol’ fashioned praise too :) Hope you enjoyed it!

Source: reddit.com/r/sexystories/comments/ugakur/the_truth_is_weird_fresh_roses_chapter_3_ff