Part 22

"Hey mom," Brooklyn smiled giving her mom a call. It was her mom's half birthday and since Brooke insisted on celebrating her own, it was only right that she wished her mother a happy half birthday as well.

"Hey Brooke Brooke, how you doing? I miss you."

"I miss you too mom, you doing anything special today?"

Beyoncé bit her lip guiltily playing with her fingers, "nope. But I get to talk to my favourite daughter."

"Your only daughter but yep I'm the best. Guess what?"

"What?"

"They picked me for the music festival! I'm gonna have a piano solo."

"Brooke! That's amazing, you've been working hard for this"

"Thanks mom, do you think I'm ready?" Brooke asked a little insecure about the whole thing.

"They wouldn't have picked you if you weren't ready"

"I'm just... I dunno. Dad seems so sure I can do it but you're more honest than he is. He would've said I could do it ten years ago," Brooke rolled her eyes. It was nice to be believed in but he took it to the extreme. "Do you think I'm ready mama?"

"Brooke Brooke, I think you could run a whole damn orchestra if you wanted to. I don't know why you get so shy when it comes to music."

"I just cuz... dad, he works in this stuff and you know? You're basically an undiscovered musical genius. I'm worried that I'm just trying to copy you guys. What if I don't have any real talent? What if subconsciously I'm just trying to be like you guys."

"First of all you need to stop reading my psychology books," Beyoncé laughed. "And second of all, some things can't be taught, Brooke, and you've always had an ear for music. I've been watching you play since before you could reach the keys. It's not just me and your dad who think so, remember that music school thought you were a prodigy?"

"I guess," Brooklyn hesitated still not fully sure.

Beyoncé never really had to give Brooklyn pep talks. She was usually so confident in herself. Music seemed to be the one area where that confidence wavered

"You've been practicing and working on it?"

"Yeah mom." Brooke made a face like it should've been obvious.

"Alright then you're ready," Beyoncé said simply. "Believe in yourself, okay? And make sure you film it for me."

Brooke rolled her eyes. "Sure mom." She was embarrassing but it was sweet. "Make sure you get your half a cake today."

"What?"

"Buy half of a cake today."

"How am I supposed to buy half a cake? I either buy the whole thing or I buy nothing."

"Ok well buy the whole thing and just eat half of it then."

"You want me to eat a whole half of a cake by myself? What if it's like a 10 tier wedding cake."

"Why would you— You know what mom, happy half birthday I'm hanging up."

"Ohhhh that's why you called me," Beyoncé had genuinely forgotten Brooke did this. She'd started it a some years ago when one of the girls from her school did it. She'd skipped the last two years though, the year of the divorce and the year after that. So much had been going on Beyoncé hadn't noticed, but now she guessed the tradition was back.

"Yes mom, is nothing sacred anymore?"

"Sorry," Beyoncé laughed. "I will try to get a cake and if I don't I'll get one next time I see you."

"Alright, anyways I'm going out in a bit so I've gotta go."

"Okay be safe, I love you."

"Okay mom, bye."

"Bye," Beyoncé couldn't help smiling. Things were going well. Brooke was being her normal fun loving kid, who loved her and who she could have fun embarrassing and cheering on from the sidelines.

There was still the underlying issue that seemed to resurface whenever Brooke was in a bad mood. But overall things were okay for now. Which was why she felt guilty about her plans for this 'half birthday' she'd forgotten about.

Ryan sat on the plane, comfortably in first class of course. Beyoncé had bought her ticket, and Ryan sat back fighting off a panic attack.

It was crazy what she was doing. She barely even knew Beyoncé — well not barely but they'd only known each other for a couple months... maybe more if you counted their first meeting, months ago. Maybe this was fine. She trusted Beyoncé. This would probably be fine. Beyoncé went to see Ryan all the time. This was no different.

But this was different. Fuck. This was so different. This was insane. What if Beyoncé was a secret kidnapper? It wasn't like she could tell anyone where she was going. She was on a plane. A plane. A plane! And no one knew where she was.

She hated that she could see out of the window, all those clouds beneath her and no sign of civilisation. This was not right. She didn't belong here. She should've been somewhere safe on the ground right now. Beyoncé shouldn't have made her do this. She should've told someone where she was going.

"Hey are you okay?" A voice cut through all the noise from beside her.

Ryan jolted. Then took a breath... "yeah," she blinked a million times, trying to pretend like she was really fine.

"Are you sure?" The voice asked, forcing Ryan to look up at her. She was met with the warmest deep brown eyes. "I used to be terrified of flying." The woman admitted and Ryan stared at her for a moment too long. This woman was fine.

"I used to always have to have someone with me to keep me calm or I'd end up freaking out on the plane. It was so embarrassing."

Ryan looked around noticing she was alone. "H-how did you get over it?"

The woman bit her lip, dimples showing as she smiled guiltily. "A little edible goes a long way. I pop one just before my flight, make sure I'm always a little high by the time I get on the plane."

Ryan laughed. She hadn't expected that. This woman had to be like Beyoncé's age or older. She was so beautiful.

"You should try it some time," she nudged Ryan playfully.

"Maybe," Ryan bit her lip looking down. She'd always thought about smoking but the first time she tried it had made her anxiety so much worse, she was paranoid about everything for hours. It made her feel sick too. Ever since then she'd stayed away from it.

She noticed the woman was still looking at her. "Feeling better?" She asked.

"Mhm, thanks...?"

"Gabrielle," the woman introduced herself, eyes sparkling. "And your name beautiful?"

"Ryan," she felt herself blushing. "Thanks," she said before she went back to her phone. It wasn't a very long flight so she was content to just sit and wait for a while.

Time passed and then the seatbelt sign flashed back on and the pilot began to speak, "Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, we'd like to thank you for flying with American Airlines. We're about to begin our descent, and we hope your travel has been pleasant and wish you the best for the rest of your journey."

Gabrielle looked at Ryan raising her eyebrows, "you made it through the hard part."

Ryan nodded hoping the plane would land fast. This was the other part of flying that she hated. Her stomach felt every movement and she was all too conscious of when the plane hit the ground. That shake always felt worse than a rollercoaster to her. Nothing should move like that. It was unnatural. These things were like death traps.

As if sensing her anxiety, a hand placed itself in hers, and she already knew Gabrielle was trying to be nice. Her hands warm and soft save for the cool metal rings on her fingers. It was steadying nonetheless, having Gabrielle so close that she could smell her perfume.

And if smells had colours, this one would be red. Maybe it was the notes of rose, but it felt like it had more to do with Gabrielles energy. Ryan couldn't quite decipher it. It was enticing but precarious, like she was holding something Ryan couldn't quite reach, something maybe she shouldn't want to reach.

Then the plane finally stopped and people began getting off. Gabrielle dropped her hand, slipping something into her palm before she stood up clearly in a rush. "Well I've got to go, I have another flight to catch. But I hope I hear from you beautiful," her eyes raked over Ryan's frame slowly biting her lip.

Ryan blushed. She'd never been so obviously flirted with by a woman. Well Beyoncé was obvious too but it took Ryan a minute to catch on with her. She checked her hand and Gabrielle had written her number like they were in high school or something. It was cute. She definitely saved the number in her phone — Gabrielle sexy Airplane lady. The area code was the same as hers so she was probably flying for work or for vacation. Ryan could only wonder as she took off her seatbelt.

She got up after most people had already deplaned. She hated getting stuck waiting for people to move and the flight hadn't been so long that she needed to stretch. When she got up, she got her stuff and walked towards the exit before looking around the airport for her fine shit who hated being called that.

"Ryan! Wow you look gorgeous honey," Beyoncé pulled her into a crushing hug. Ryan just smiled feeling Beyoncé's touch take over her whole body. "I missed you," she said as the older woman's lips grazed against her ear.

They almost looked like a couple who hadn't seen each other in months. It took everything in Beyoncé not to lift her up and twirl her around. She really liked how Ryan melted into her body. They fit together perfectly. It was so damn magical.

"I missed you too." Ryans eyes trailed over her outfit. Beyoncé looked good in jeans. She pulled her in for a kiss, tugging her plump lips between hers. She wanted to keep going, and she would've if not for the crowded and noisy airport around them.

Beyoncé took her small suitcase, chucking it into the boot of her car before opening the door for Ryan to get in. As she drove she made small talk, asking about Ryan's flight and how she found it. Ryan's voice dried up a little as she answered. She couldn't exactly tell Beyoncé she'd taken another woman's number. She didn't even know if she'd use it. But it wasn't like her and Beyoncé were together anyway. Were they?

Instead she told Beyoncé how she hated flying and that she was lucky she'd done this for her. Next time Beyoncé would have to drive her.

"That's like an 16 hour drive princess," Beyoncé glanced over putting the car in park.

"You don't think I'm worth it?" Ryan pouted.

"If I drive you here, I'm not driving back. You ready to move in?"

Ryan chuckled as they got out of the car, taking Beyoncés hand as they walked through the doors. Beyoncé lived in a gated community but this house was a little bigger than the rest of the houses. It had five bedrooms, most of which were guest rooms now and seven bathrooms, not including an en-suite in the master bedroom, a study, and another 2 rooms.

"This place is so big," Ryan noted. She couldn't imagine living somewhere like this. It was just so fancy to her. Much nicer than the 2 bedroom she grew up in.

"Yeah I know, we never even use most of the rooms," Bey sighed grabbing the hair tie from her wrist to put her hair up. It had been bugging her for a while. "I wanted to get rid of the house and move but..." she trailed off. This was Brooklyns childhood home. She was never getting rid of the place where she'd watched her daughter take her first steps. There were even marks in the wall from measuring her height every year on her birthday up until she was 15 and thought she was finished growing so she was apparently too old to do that.

Ryan just nodded overwhelmed by it all. "It's really nice," she complimented noticing how put together it seemed. Everything had its own place and rhythm. The whole house was spotless as well, not like she'd quickly cleaned just before Ryan came. It looked like it was always like that, organised and tidy.

Ryan dreamed of living like that, in such a beautiful house. Her dorm room was always messy, at least her side of it was. Brooklyn wasn't that bad but she was nowhere near this tidy. She wondered if Beyoncé ever had regular house issues — a burst pipe, the AC not working, her furnace leaking. This looked so perfect, she probably only had to worry about making sure the lawn was trimmed to the perfect length. This definitely looked like the type of neighbourhood to judge you for not having the perfect length of grass.

Beyoncé's just thanked her. She had other things on her mind now, like how much she wanted to peel off Ryan's underwear and make her cry out in pain. Ever since spanking her, she hadn't been able to get that image out of her mind. And now Ryan was in her house, pretty and talkative as ever.

After making sure Ryan wasn't hungry or thirsty, she led her through to show her the beauty room Ryan had been asking about from their FaceTime calls. It was much bigger in person, adjoining the bedroom and attached to Beyoncé's walk in closet, which Ryan was also in love with.

"This is so perfect," Ryan gushed. That mirror with all the lights was calling her name. She even had a perfectly white sofa in there.

"You wanna get all dressed up in here so I can take you on a real date later?" Beyoncé raised both eyebrows letting Ryan know she'd already made the reservation.

"Yeah," Ryan threw her hair over her shoulder as they left the room.

Bey smiled and Ryan sat down on the bed. Beyoncé made her way between her legs. "I'm so happy you're here, Ry," she leaned down to kiss her and Ryan felt butterflies settle into her chest. Maybe coming here wasn't such a bad idea. The older woman always made her feel so special and warm inside.

She let her hands wrap around Beyoncé feeling the curves she couldn't hide beneath her clothing. Beyoncé pressed their mouths together, letting her tongue stroke over Ryan's lips. She just wanted a little kiss before dinner but Ryan's hands roamed to Beyoncé's ass and she pinched it.

"Mm you don't know what you do to me, honey," Beyoncé bit her lip pulling away slightly from the kiss.

"Show me," Ryan's eyes lowered and the older one raised a brow. She loved when Ryan got like this, bolder than usual, knowing exactly what she wanted.

"You gotta shower first."

"Damn you saying I stink?" Ryan sniffed herself.

Beyoncé laughed, "you were just at the airport, sat on a plane next to god knows who, since you wouldn't let me upgrade your ticket."

"I was in first class?"

"Exactly, you need to wash."

Ryan rolled her eyes making her her way to the shower, "boujie."

Beyoncé just rolled her eyes. Ryan was not the first person to call her that and probably wouldn't be the last. She lay back putting the tv on, waiting for Ryan to wash.

Not long passed before she felt Ryan's hands reaching beneath her shirt as if the skin beneath it belonged to her. She moaned from the contact. Ryan's hands were so soft, brushing over her bra strap as Beyoncé let her pull the top up and over her head.

"You're so sexy," Ryan said causing Beyoncé to blush as she was on top of her, in just a towel. Ryan bit her lip, eyes roaming over the stomach that Beyoncé usually tried to hide and the stretch marks that let Ryan know that she was real in that moment. Beyoncé was all hers.

Her fingers immediately pressed into the button of Beyoncé's jeans, opening and unzipping them as she eased them down the older woman's legs.

"Shit..." She grew a little intimidated when Beyoncé lay before her in just underwear, with all of her curves on display just for her. Ryan was so into her, she almost drooled at the sight. But then Beyoncé kissed her again, suddenly taking away all of the pressure. She pushed her lips against Ryan's and the 21 year old melted into her.

"Lie down sweet girl," Beyoncé instructed. If Ryan wanted to get her worked up, the least she could do was fix it for her. Ryan did as told letting her head rest against the soft pillows.

She let Beyoncé take control and Beyoncé climbed on top of her unticking the towel so her body was on display.

"You're beautiful Ry," she bit her lip seeing the naked girl beneath her. Ryan's skin was still a little wet, her boobs perky and nipples begging for attention.

Beyoncé pressed her lips to them, sucking tugging the flesh between her lips. Then she moved up to rest her pussy on Ryans face and turning around to spread Ryan's legs as well.

She leaned her face down between Ryan's thighs and started to plant kisses between her legs as Ryan reached her face up to lick between Beyoncé's legs above her.

They didn't stop for an hour, licking each other up, tasting the juices from between each other's thighs. Finally Bey rolled off of her, lying down beside her.

"Mmm" Ryan hummed. She was more than okay now.

"We should've done that before," Beyoncé said.

"Yeah, we gotta do that again."

"Definitely," Beyoncé breathed.

Then the doorbell rang and she frowned. She wasn't expecting anyone. Her and Ryan looked at each other, Beyoncé deciding to ignore it and hope whoever it was would go away. She'd been getting Jehovahs Witnesses lately, maybe they were jumping over the gate or something. She wasn't answering so she didn't care either way. But then it rang again and Beyoncé groaned hoping maybe they were just persistent.

A couple moments passed and then it was ringing and ringing and it wouldn't stop ringing. Whoever it was had a finger on the buzzer that refused to let up. Beyoncé groaned, knowing her car was out front and whoever it was clearly knew she was home.

She asked Ryan to stay in the bedroom while she threw on a robe to try and get rid of them. Then she looked through the peephole and a huge wave of irritation shot through her.

"Beyoncé I can hear you," the voice shouted through the door. Phone in hand, the blonde pulled open the door with a hand on her hip.

"Ah my lovely wife finally decided to answer"

"Ex wife," she corrected. This nigga would not leave her alone.

"Mmm ex wife, future wife, whatever you want to call it baby." Shawn said barging his way into the house.

"Please Shawn, just leave me alone. What do you even want?" Beyoncé rolled her eyes.

"Leave you alone? But baby, I just got here."

"Shawn this is harassment. You know I don't want you back."

"The sooner you stop lying, the sooner we can get this over with."

"Shawn seriously—"

"This is my house. You gon kick me out of my own house?" his voice raised and Beyoncé slightly shuddered.

"It's not yours anymore Shawn, remember?" she said through gritted teeth. He acted like he hadn't signed it over to her in the divorce.

His hand slid around her waist and she stiffened. "Dont touch me," she said freezing up at the sudden unexpected contact. But he didn't move.

"I missed you baby," he said trying to lean closer.

"Get off of me," she was trembling now, barely visible but she hated it and she hated herself for reacting like this. She wasn't scared of this man.

"Bey—"

"Fuck off Shawn," she pushed him off. "I'll call the police, you can't keep doing this." She still had her phone in her hand, fingers perched over that emergency services dial button.

"Bey?" he looked genuinely bewildered by her reaction.

"Get out of my house," she said and finally he listened backing up towards the door.

"You need to chill, I don't know why you're acting like this. We used to be married."

"And we're not anymore. Fuck off," Beyoncé slammed the door behind him as fast as she could, clutching onto herself against the door.

Ryan, who had started listening to the commotion when she heard shouting, quickly ran downstairs to find Beyoncé breathing heavily pressed against the door. "Bey? Baby," she ran to her putting an arm around her.

Beyoncé swallowed, wiping above her brows. "It's fine," she said rolling her neck. She just needed a second.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, it's just... my ex... he doesn't want to let go I guess," she sighed standing up running a hand through her hair.

Ryan frowned. That sounded worse than just not wanting to let go. "He's done that before?"

"Just once, it's usually just calls or sending me flowers, or gifts and crap wherever I'm staying," she rubbed her shoulder, walking over to the kitchen. Maybe it was getting more frequent.

Ryans frown deepened. "That's why you changed hotels?" Beyoncé just nodded looking away and busying herself. "Bey, have you reported it?"

Beyoncé sighed, "I can't..."

"You can't just let him get away with that. It's fucked up, he can't just treat you like that." Ryan didn't like that at all. She didn't like seeing Beyoncé like that. She was trying to act fine but she was clearly spooked.

"I know Ryan," she sighed again, opening up the fridge. "Can you pass me a glass? Do you want some?" she asked sliding the bottle out of the wine rack.

"Sure" Ryan placed two glasses on the counter — flute glasses. Beyoncé wanted to ask her to get bigger glasses but it wasn't that serious. She just poured and finished the glass, subsequently pouring herself another one. And then another one.

Ryan just held her glass between her fingers, waiting for Beyoncé to speak or say something else. "You still wanna watch a movie? We can watch a DVD?" She asked. The plan had been a cinema date and then dinner, but they'd probably missed the screening by now, and Bey didn't really want to go outside anymore.

"Sure," Ryan replied as Beyoncé went into the pantry to grab some popcorn to make on the stove.

She pulled out a saucepan and poured in some oil, Ryan hopping up on the counter to watch as she did.

Beyoncé leaned against the counter sighing as she waited for the oil to heat up, "it's Brookes dad." She bit into her lip. "He's been like that since we broke up. My lawyer told me to make notes of whenever it happens in case I ever want to report it."

She took another sip of her wine.

"Are you going to report it?" Ryan asked. "You obviously don't want him."

Beyoncé sighed, "I don't know."

"Bey..."

"I know but he's Brookes dad."

"That doesn't mean he can just come into your house and act like that."

"You think I should report it?"

Ryan gave a duh look. "Bey you were literally scared of him."

"I'm not scared of him—" she groaned. "I just don't want Brooke to know. She needs at least one parent she likes."

Ryan frowned. "Why doesn't she like you?" She finally asked. It made no sense to her, Beyoncé seemed like the perfect mother to have. She clearly loved her and she didn't do any of the shit her own parents did.

"It's not that she doesn't like me, I think she's just hurt by the divorce and I can't really change that..." she sighed trailing off. She really didn't know what Brooklyns whole problem was. They'd been divorced for two years so it was hard to believe she was really still upset about that. Besides, she'd said she understood it now. "You like salt on popcorn right?"

"Duh, I'm not a serial killer."

"Good," Beyoncé smiled, pressing a kernel into Ryan's mouth and then finishing up the popcorn, before taking Ryan into one of the bedrooms that she was trying to turn into a movie room. It was previously a regular double bedroom but she'd swapped out the bed for a big sofa, loaded it with cushions and set up some lights. There was also a mini fridge in the room filled with soda and the tv in there was the biggest one in the house, taking up almost an entire wall.

"This is cute," Ryan commented looking around the room. It was bigger than an average bedroom so it worked pretty well.

"Thanks, I think it needs more cushions though," Beyoncé shrugged. She'd spent time working on the room and even had movie posters on wall, and the cushions she had were all cinema themed. "Do you wanna pick out a DVD?" She asked nodding to the cabinet.

"Oh you were serious about DVDs. I thought you meant like Netflix or something."

Beyoncé rolled her eyes, "I like to be able to watch things without the internet thank you."

Ryan just smirked, flicking through the discs. It was cute. It was nice being in Beyoncé's space. She felt safe. Warm and safe. Beyoncé was right beside her.

———————[A/N]Everybody say happy half birthday Beyoncé. Thoughts on the plane ride? Gabrielle? Thoughts on Bey and her situation with Shawn? Ryan knows about it now, you think that's gonna affect anything?

Thank you all for the support and reads on my fics, it's really nice 💙