A/N:

and so it ends. thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to read, comment, give kudos, subscribe, etc this crazy little story of mine. it's been quite the learning process but your love helped keep me going.

that said, this will be my last multi-chaptered fic (at least for now). i'm set to graduate from college in december and I'm gonna have a lot of school things demanding my attention for the rest of the semester.

but with Twice's comeback in October(!!!!!) i'm sure i'll be at least adding something to my one-shot collection (which if you haven't checked it out yet, you should :P). maybe by the time i start writing full stories again, i'll be able to write something that isn't pure, mindless, fluff lol

**if you want, you can find me on tumblr at keiti33.tumblr.com. i reblog a lot of twice, red velvet, mamamoo, exid, snsd etc. basically i'm just a girl group trash blog.**

---------------

True to her assumption, it was just as hot, if not hotter, inside the house. Momo’s plan was to get to the fridge, get the rest of her alcohol, down it, and then try to keep her mind off the conversation that just happened. She didn’t want to think about tonight. This was supposed to be a good night and trying to decipher muddled signals wasn’t going to help.

She reached the fridge, yanking the door open and sighed in relief when she saw no one else had jacked her bottles. She grabbed her last bottle and one of her shooters, downing the latter in one gulp. Momo heard a snort from behind her and she turned to see Hwasa with an amused expression.

“Damn. Everything okay?”

Momo waved her off with the other bottle in her hand. “Peachy. Just felt the buzz wearing off and figured I’d remedy it sooner rather than later.” She gave the short-haired girl an up down and smirked. “Noticed you and Jackson were getting pretty cozy.”

Hwasa scoffed but her red cheeks betrayed her. “He’s completely -faced. It’s nothing.”

The blonde raised an eyebrow. “If you say so.”

Hwasa glanced around. “Where’s Mina? I thought you two would be glued at the hip all night.”

Shrugging, Momo opened her last bottle and took a pull. “Last I saw, she was outside on the deck talking with Kwon. I don’t always have to be with her, you know.”

She put up her hands in a gesture. “Didn’t say that. I was just curious.”

“Whatever. I’m gonna head back downstairs and see who’s there. You wanna come?”

“Sure. Just let me refill my own drink.”

 ----------------

Mina made her way back into the house, after being accosted by a very drunk Sana who went on and on about how cute her and Momo looked at the banquet. She finally made her escape, distracting Sana by pointing out Tzuyu who had been quietly sitting in a corner talking with Xiumin the whole night. She knew Sana had a thing for her and she figured it was the least rude way to get rid of her.

Once inside, she scanned the crowd of people, searching for a head of bright blonde hair. Disappointed when it became apparent Momo wasn’t around, she decided to fix at least part of the problem and headed towards the kitchen. It was significantly less crowded than earlier, granting her easy access to the counter where she noticed a couple bottles of liquor and beer. Mina perused the counter, wondering who would mind if she took a couple bottles. Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder and whirled around, coming face to face with Jihyo who smiled at the girl’s reaction. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. Looking for something to drink?”

Mina gave the older girl a sheepish smile. “Actually, yeah. I underestimated how much alcohol I needed tonight.”

“Well, you’re welcome to some of mine. Otherwise, the one on the left is Jackson’s and at this point, it’d be better for him if his alcohol was gone. The bottle next to it is Hwasa’s and I’m pretty sure the last one is Jo’s.”

Mina’s hand immediately went for Jo’s. She figured if anything, he owed her after his slip-up but rather than drinking it, she simply unscrewed the cap and dumped its contents into the sink, ignoring Jihyo's questioning eyes.

“I’ll take some of Jackson’s too. For his benefit, of course.” She grabbed Jackson’s bottle of rum and poured it into a cup.

Both of Jihyo’s eyebrows raised up. “You’re not gonna drink that straight, are you? ‘Cause there’s Coke and other mixers in the fridge.”

“Oh god no.” Mina shuddered. “I need to not be able to taste the alcohol. Thanks for telling me.”

“I got you, girl.”

Mina reached into the fridge and grabbed a can of Coke, cracking it open and filling up the rest of her cup. She cautiously took a sip and then nodded, satisfied. She turned back to Jihyo. “What have you been up to all night?”

“Oh you know, just schmoozing my way around. I had a drink earlier but I agreed to drive Jackson, Chaeyoung, and Sana back to campus,” Jihyo raised her glass. “So just water for me now.”

Mina nodded. “That’s nice of you.”

Jihyo just grinned. “More like it’s my way to not feel like complete the next day.”

The younger girl laughed. “That works too.” She took another sip before asking, “Have you seen Momo?”

Jihyo scrunched her face up in thought. “I think I saw her head downstairs again with Hwasa but that was awhile ago. So she could be anywhere. I’d check there first though.”

“Wanna come?” Mina offered.

Jihyo shook her head. “I would but I have to go round up my charges because who knows what kind of they’ve gotten into.”

“If it helps, Jackson was downstairs earlier. Come with me anyway. Then you can say bye to everyone too.”

The older girl pursed her lips. “You’re right. Let’s go.”

---------------

Momo leaned against the wall next to the stairs, chatting with Hwasa. She had finished her bottle awhile ago and it had definitely done the trick. Her mind was in a pleasant haze, her cheeks red, and the grin had yet to leave her face. Despite the fogginess in her brain, she was on full alert as she heard the sound of steps coming down the stairs and her stomach flipped when she saw who it was.

Mina beamed as she saw Momo and went right to her as Jihyo left to go find at least one of her people. “So this is where you went.”

“Yeah. It’s no outside but definitely cooler down here.” Momo turned back to Hwasa only to find that the girl had disappeared. Of course.

She leaned back into the wall and tried to focus on Mina. “How was your talk with Kwon?”

Mina shrugged. "It was alright. Until he got ‘distracted,’” she said, using air quotes. “You know how he gets when he sees a guy.”

Momo chuckled. “Oh yeah, I know. He’s ridiculous.”

A comfortable silence stretched out between them and just like the first day of school, Momo took the time to drink in Mina who seemed oblivious to her stare until she looked back at her. “What?”

Momo chuckled. “Nothing,” she pushed off the wall, closing the gap between them. “Just admiring the view.” Where the hell did that come from? Apparently her lips seemed to move faster than her brain at this point but she figured she had nothing to lose. If she ed up, she could just blame the alcohol.

Mina turned an adorable shade of pink and pushed Momo, giggling. “Okay you’re definitely drunk.”

The blonde’s lips curled up in a half-smile. “Maybe. But it’s the truth.”

Mina shook her head, willing the heat spreading across her cheeks to die down. “You’re ridiculous. It’s a good thing you’re cute.”

Momo cocked her head. “You think I’m cute?”

Realizing just how much of her filter she had lost in the span of half an hour, Mina's eyes widened and she quickly ducked her head down, avoiding eye contact.

Fueled by her liquid courage, Momo gently caught Mina’s chin and raised her head back up, matching her gaze. “Good thing I think you’re cute, too.”

She didn’t know how long they stayed like that but the moment was broken yet again, this time by Jackson’s slurred booming as he was dragged up the stairs by Jihyo.

“OH MY GOD JUS’ KISS ALREADY! YER UNDER A MISTLETOE FER GOD’S SAKE!”

Jihyo shot them an apologetic look as she continued to shoo Jackson upstairs. Mina was frozen while Momo looked up and discovered that yes, they were actually under a mistletoe. The grin slowly returned to her face and her gaze landed back on Mina, mouth still half-open and staring after where Jackson had been.

“So?”

Mina’s head jerked back to stare at Momo who had a soft smile on her face. The combination of the alcohol, her proximity to the other girl, and the possibility of kissing her had her head spinning and she just barely managed to stutter out a, “S-s-so?”

“I mean, it is a tradition. And I think it’d be a shame to break it.”

“You’re r-r-right.”

Momo slowly leaned in, drawing closer and closer to Mina’s face. A hand slid up Mina’s neck, cupping her jaw, but the blonde stopped just short of her lips. “Tell me to stop if you want me to.” she murmured, searching Mina's face for any sign of discomfort or hesitance.

Her eyes fluttered shut at Momo’s touch but she wanted to remember every single moment of this. She forced her eyes back open, sure her heart would beat right out of her chest any minute, and let out a shaky breath. “Please. Keep going.”

Not waiting a second longer, Momo brought their lips together and she could swear every nerve in her body was on fire. The feeling of Mina’s lips, sweet and soft, on hers made her knees weak; it was all she could do to keep upright and, desperate for more contact, pulled at the other girl’s waist bringing them flush against in each other. With her brain firing on all cylinders, Momo took a chance and parted Mina’s lips with a tongue running along the seam which earned her a sharp intake of breath. She smirked, proud of causing that kind of reaction but the tables were turned when she felt a bite on her lower lip and a soft moan escaped .

Mina felt her head spinning at the kiss. She whined- actually whined- as the kiss was broken but neither pulled away. Momo continued to pepper kisses, light and short, all over Mina's face that she chased every time; anything to bring their lips back together but the blonde playfully avoided her attempts until at last Mina captured her lips again. With foreheads touching and noses bumping, they kissed languidly until Mina finally had to pull away, needing to catch her breath. It was a futile attempt as the way Momo looked at her, like she was the single most beautiful thing that had ever graced this world, made her stomach drop.

Unwilling to give up contact, Momo pulled her into a tight hug and Mina tucked her head underneath the blonde’s chin. They stood there in silence, lost in their own world for a few moments before Mina nuzzled closer into her chest and spoke, “I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time.”

Momo let that sink in before her smile returned full-force and, murmuring into her hair, said, “Probably not as long as me.”

She felt the red-head smile against her chest. “We wasted a lot of time, huh?”

“I wouldn’t say wasted.” Mina looked up at the other girl who met her gaze. “I’ve always believed friends make the best lovers.”

Mina kissed her again, pulling away with a grin. “You wanna know something messed-up?”

Momo’s forehead scrunched as she warily asked, “What?”

The younger girl laid her head back on the blonde’s chest, breath ghosting against her neck and sending shivers up Momo’s spine. “The rest of our class had a bet on whether I liked you or not too.”

All Momo could do was roll her eyes and groan. “Of course they did. Why am I not surprised?” she pulled back to look down at her again. “So who were the winners?”

“Just Jo and Jihyo.”

“Ugh. Okay, I guess it's not THAT bad.”

Mina just laughed and pulled away, trailing her hands down to Momo’s to intertwine them. “At least something good came of it, right?”

The blonde brought their hands up and kissed them softly. “The absolute best kind of thing.” After a moment, her smile vanished and was replaced with a look of insecurity and hesitance. “You won’t regret this tomorrow, right?”

Mina released one of her hands and laid it on Momo’s cheek, hoping she could read her eyes. “I told you. You should give me more credit than that.”

The older girl covered the hand on her cheek and turned to kiss it. “When should we tell everyone?”

With a twinkle in her eye, Mina grinned. “They can wait till after winter break. I want time alone with you first. It’ll being away but I’ll have a good reason now to come back early.”

Momo decided that a goofy grin was just going to be permanently plastered on her face. “Myoui Mina is all mine.”

The blush of red Momo had come to love graced the other girl’s cheeks once again as she brought the blonde down for another kiss. “And Hirai Momo is mine.”