Floating - RPFS (Demi/Meaghan), R

Written for aphrodite_mine for her birthday. :)

Demi spotted her almost immediately—which would have been meaningful, she thought, if she hadn't been actively scanning the set for that hair, those eyes, that smile from the moment she arrived. And she had to stop herself from sucking in her breath, from blushing, from doing anything that might get her into trouble like it had over the summer.

"So... what... exactly... are you trying to tell me?" Selena asked, and with every pause Demi could feel her heart being suffocated.

"Forget it," she said, and laughed. "I don't even know, really."

"Okay," Selena said, and they never mentioned it after that.

But looking at Meaghan made her feel it all over again. Free. As if she were floating. Demi remembered spotting her across the room when she went to the audition. (It was impossible not to see her, after all. Her beauty seemed to radiate.) And she had to command herself to stop looking, to stop wondering how soft her hair was, or how soft her lips were, or how sweet her mouth might taste... and then the casting director had called her name and she disappeared. Meaghan. Meaghan. It was all Demi knew about her, and truthfully, she never made any attempts to find out anything else. She had other things on her mind, which was what she tried to tell Selena that rainy night in July—

"I don't know if I could ever have a real boyfriend, you know?" Selena shook her head. "It's just, um... I think I like girls more," and the words slurred together when she said it and Demi cringed because it wasn't even true; it was such an understatement. And Selena obviously didn't want any part of it, so they spent the rest of the summer avoiding the topic.

But summer was over now, Demi reasoned, and she lifted her eyes just in time to catch Meaghan's, whose whole face brightened in a way that seemed to Demi to say more than just hey-I-recognize-you. Maybe hey-I-remember-you, or hey-I've-been-thinking-about-you, or hey-I-think-you're-pretty-and-I'd-like-to-know-you-better, or...

"Hey!" Meaghan said, and nothing followed it.

Demi grinned. "Hey. I remember you." (Understatement, again.)

"Yeah, you too." She laughed. I'm Meaghan," she added, and surprised Demi with a hug, and it was one of those good hugs, the kind that stays with you all day, and Demi could feel the softness of Meaghan's hair against her cheek and smell whatever fruity body splash she was wearing and feel every curve of the other girl's body pressed against her own, for just a moment. "So who are you?" Meaghan asked when they separated.

"What?" Demi laughed nervously. "Um, Demi. Demi Lovato."

Meaghan giggled and rolled her eyes. "I know who you are." Demi's stomach lurched for a moment—had Meaghan been asking about her?—and then she added, "I've seen your show. I meant, which part did you get?"

"Oh! Right. Mitchie. I'm playing Mitchie."

"Oh my god, that's awesome! I'm playing Tess. We're going to have a lot of scenes together. And"—she pointed to a trailer not far from where they stood—"we're sharing a dressing room too."

Demi stared dumbly at the trailer. "That's... that's awesome," was all she could think to say.

"Let's hope we don't end up hating each other like our characters," Meaghan teased.

"You know, I have a good feeling that that won't happen," Demi said, smiling, and she realized at that moment that she was probably flirting.

But Meaghan smiled back. Whatever they were doing, she didn't seem to mind.

They grew much closer in the weeks to follow, and it seemed the more Demi hoped her ridiculous crush would just go away already, it only got worse. It probably didn't help that she saw her costar in just a bra and panties on a daily basis. Meaghan wasn't very modest—Demi liked that about her. She liked everything about her, really.

"What's this?" Meaghan asked one day, snatching a necklace from the top of Demi's bureau. She looked a little more closely and laughed. "Oh, you have one of these too? Is this a requirement for working for Disney now?" She waved the promise ring in the air.

Demi blushed. "Um... Selena gave it to me, actually, after she got hers. I don't usually wear it," she added, wondering how defensive she sounded.

Meaghan put the necklace down and asked abruptly, "So, do you really think you're going to 'wait till marriage'?" She put air quotes on the final three words.

"I... don't know," Demi said honestly. "I don't know if I even want to get married."

"But don't you want to be pure and perfect for your husband on your wedding day?" Meaghan grinned.

"I'm not a pure and perfect type of girl," Demi responded, watching Meaghan carefully, trying to see if she could find a sign of something, anything, in her reaction.

Meaghan held her gaze, unflinching, and then her cell phone rang, signalling the end of whatever this might have been.

Most days were pretty mundane.

But one day, Meaghan burst into their shared trailer practically glowing, grinning so widely that her face seemed to be frozen in a state of eternal elation. "Party tonight!" she nearly shrieked. "Finally."

"What? Here?"

"Yeah. I just talked to Kevin. He bought all the beer and got us a hotel room. A suite, actually." Meaghan fussed with her hair in the mirror. "Oh my god, you don't know how happy this makes me. I need a release."

"But how did he..." Demi began.

"Stop asking questions!" Meaghan said. "Seriously, for someone who swore to me that she's not pure and perfect..." she turned to Demi and grinned. "It's going to be fine. Don't worry, no one at Disney is going to find out."

Demi wasn't about to say that Disney was the least of her concerns.

They helped each other pick out their outfits, as if they were going to some fancy gala instead of an impromptu party with a couple dozen underage cast members. It didn't make too much difference to Demi, really—it's not like she ever wore dresses. But Meaghan did, and this one seemed impossibly small and tight and clung to her in all the right spots and holy crap she could not stop staring.

Meaghan noticed. "I look pretty hot, don't I?" She giggled and Demi almost resented her because this was torture, seriously, and she would now have to spend the whole evening pretending it wasn't.

Once they got to the party, Meaghan's outfit seemed pretty silly. Mostly everyone else was dressed casually and weather-appropriately, and a number of jaws dropped when the girls entered the room. Meaghan owned it, though, greeting everyone with a curtsey and promptly asking for a beer. Demi watched in awe. Seconds later, Meaghan shoved a can in Demi's hand too. "This," she said seriously, "will make all your worries disappear."

A few beers later, Demi felt somewhat drunk and Meaghan, apparently, was already wasted. "Lessee what the guys're doing," she slurred, grabbing Demi's hand and pulling her over to the dining table, where they were apparently playing some kind of drinking game involving cards that was clearly too complicated for the girls in their inebriated states of mind. Meaghan sat down and patted the seat of the chair next to her.

"Meaghan, I don't think we can play," Demi said, laughing, but she sat down anyway.

"Whatcha guys doing?" Meaghan asked loudly, and no one bothered to answer. She leaned close to Demi and whispered, "I dun think they like me very much." Her lips just barely grazed Demi's earlobe and she shivered at the contact.

They sat for a bit in silence, the alcohol having mellowed them out. Demi wasn't sure how long they had been sitting before Meaghan grabbed her hand and placed it on the skirt of her dress. "I was stupid to wear such thin material," she said, sounding a bit more coherent now. "See how thin that is?"

"Um," Demi said, trying to ignore how hard her heart was beating. "Yeah. But... it's, um, a really nice dress." She didn't dare move her hand from Meaghan's thigh. She wondered how long she'd be allowed to keep it there.

"I was stupid," Meaghan repeated, and they fell silent again. Demi wondered if maybe she was cold, but then again, she didn't feel cold—she felt, actually, warm. And nice, really nice. Demi could feel her face flush as she realized that a similar heat was forming between her own legs, and she still didn't dare to move her hand.

As if she were reading her mind, Meaghan leaned close and whispered, "I'm really horny right now. If I don't make out with someone I might die." At that, Demi was positive her face turned bright red, but before she could think of anything to say, Meaghan added, "Your hand is on my thigh."

"I know," Demi whispered back. Something—the alcohol in her system, or plain old stupidity—convinced her that it would be a good idea to clarify, "I like it there." Immediately, she cringed. Of course, she had to go and say something completely idiotic. She braced herself, but then Meaghan surprised her.

"I prefer it here," she whispered, and pulled away the fabric of the dress so Demi was touching only skin. Fearfully, she looked up at the guys, but they were too immersed in their game to notice what was happening.

What was happening? Demi tightened her grip on Meaghan's leg. "What, um, do you want me to do?" she asked softly.

Meaghan brought her mouth so close to Demi's ear that at first she felt only her breath. "Touch me," she whispered.

Demi couldn't move for a moment, wanting to preserve this moment exactly as it was so she would never forget, and then thinking—the hell with it. She slid her hand slowly across Meaghan's smooth skin, trying to keep her touch as light as possible until she reached the fabric of her panties. Which were damp. She pressed and rubbed small circles and could feel her fingers getting sticky, and Meaghan whimpered, and then—Demi pulled away.

"I can't," she said, standing up.

"No, no, no..." Meaghan cried, reaching for her in desperation. Demi had already left the room and was pacing down the hallway when Meaghan caught up with her. "Demi! I'm sorry. I just, I had this feeling that you wanted to, and I wanted you to, and—I mean, why do you think I pretended to be so drunk? Why do you think I wore this dress?"

"I would have liked to kiss you first!" Demi nearly shouted. "I've never even kissed a girl."

"So... kiss me," Meaghan said. "That is, if you still want to..."

Suddenly it registered. "You wore that dress for me?" Demi whispered. Meaghan started to nod, but was interrupted by Demi's lips on hers, and hands on hips and fingers in hair and tongues tasting the insides of mouths.

"I think, maybe, we need to get a room," Meaghan said finally, giggling, but since they were too young to get one in the hotel, they held hands and walked back to the dressing room they shared, mutually undressing and discovering each other in the dark, not stopping until they felt they were floating. Free.