Page 103 of Breaking from Frame

Claire leans back into Jackie’s hand—it sends pleasant shivers down her spine. “Neither did I.”

“So let’s leave it in the dust,” Jackie says, a hint of excitement coloring her tone. Perhaps finally she’s begun to understand that Claire is in this, just as much as she is. “I’ll get Theo to lock it all up tomorrow. He’s staying the night.”

“Are we really doing this?” Claire says, gripping tight at Jackie’s waist.

Jackie nods. She’s a little breathless. “I’m all in it. As long as you are.”

When Theo sees them come out of the closet together, quite obviously ruffled and glowing, he lets out a squeal of delight so loud that Claire is sure the neighborhood dogs must be howling.

“Fuckingfinally,” he shouts, pulling them both into a hug before addressing the rest of the party from over their shoulders. “Okay, party’s over. If you’re staying, find a spot to crash. Everyone else, get the fuck out.”

Eventually people follow Theo’s instructions, though not without grumbling. While Jackie packs a suitcase Claire paces the kitchen like a woman possessed, full of manic energy. She’s a battery charged up by Jackie, full of lightning and love. NASA be damned, she could jump high enough to hit the moon. And Pete is still across the street, clueless through the most earth-shakingnight of Claire’s life. He’s going to come home to a whole new world, where Claire will be gone forever.

She’s ready for her new start.

The house has mostly emptied when Jackie drags her suitcase across the foyer. When she sees Claire, her smile is brilliant—as if she wasn’t expecting Claire to still be here. She practically runs into Claire’s arms, and Claire picks her up a little in a sweeping hug. She’s always tried to hide her strength, her height, her whole self to fit into a role—with Jackie, she doesn’t need to.

“Where do you want to go?” Claire says.

Jackie giggles in a giddy, girlish way when Claire sets her down that makes her want to do it again. “I think I need to see the ocean.”

Claire grins, pulling in Jackie—her girl, her sweetheart, herlover—until they’re close enough to share breath. Until she can press their lips together, losing herself in the softness of Jackie’s mouth again.

When they part for air, Claire smiles her first fully free smile.

“Santa Cruz?”

It doesn’t feel like a vacation, once they’ve stopped at Claire’s place to pack a bag. They hit the highway with the convertible top down, Jackie’s hair tucked under a headscarf and Claire’s curls blowing loose in the wind. The stars get brighter the further they get from the suburbs, and the wind is cool and bracing. Jackie is smiling full-stop, their hands are intertwined over the gearshift, and every few minutes she looks over at Claire like she can’t quite believe she’s really here.

No, it doesn’t feel like a vacation. It feels like, after a lifetime of being kept away, Claire is finally heading home.