A/N: A bit of fluff that was inspired by the "Life After Street Life" episode which featured Sophie and Maddie helping out with the soup van. You don't have to have seen it to read this, however I suggest checking it out, at least the section with Sophie/Maddie. It's interesting seeing these girls outside of a "Coronation Street"-esque setting. Anyway here you go. As always feel free to Review or PM me if you'd like more of this.
Sophie got off the phone.
She looked across the front room to see Maddie and Simon playing some game with soldiers and shooting and whatever. It had never been her thing, but she loved seeing the two of them go at it as if life and death were on the line.
"On the left...The Left…" Simon shouted pointing at the screen laughing.
Sophie smiled as she watched them from the kitchen. It was probably the most laughter she'd heard from him in awhile. Upon reflection, she shouldn't have been surprised that her girl friend got along so well with Simon Barlow. They were both children of absent of neglectful parents. Parents who chose addictions over their own leading them to be flung from pillar to post. Simon wasn't that far from being in care himself. Thank god for Leann, Sophie sighed. She didn't always understand the woman but she at least respected her for taking Simon on. He wasn't even her own flesh and blood.
Maddie hadn't been so lucky.
Sophie knew that there were demons from her girlfriend's past that chased her. Nightmares in the night that left her shaking. Scars on her body. Broken bones that hadn't healed properly. She had learned how to soothe her after their first week of nights sleeping together. Sophie knew not to ask for fear of the emotional barriers that her girlfriend was an expert at quickly constructing. She would wait for her girlfriend to tell her in her own sweet time. Until then she had learned to gently rub her hips while nestling into her body. It seemed to do the trick.
She was startled out of her revelry by a knock on the door. Looking at her watch as she headed to the door, she ascertained who would be coming to collect their son. Of course Maddie and Simon's eyes never left the screen as they decimated zombies or summat.
Sophie opened the door to a weary Leanne Battersby-Tilsley-Whatever.
"Hiya! Here to collect" Leann said with a rare smile.
Sophie opened the door wider with a grin in return. They both stepped into the front room.
"Hey! You'se two will have to pause saving the world for now" Sophie laughed as they both groaned.
"Well don't be too happy to see me" Leann said deprecatingly as Simon got up to collect his bag.
"We'll just pick up our game another time Sy" Maddie said giving his hair a slight ruffle.
"Just promise you won't play without me?!" Simon pleaded anxiously as Leann paid Sophie.
"I promise" Maddie said grinning sincerely as she kneeled down to shake his hand.
"You better mean it" Simon demanded.
"I always keep my promises to those I care about" Maddie said genuinely to the youngest Barlow.
"So who was on the phone earlier?" Maddie asked.
They had finished up tea and were watching something on the couch. Snuggled in together, Sophie liked to play with her girlfriend's strawberry blonde hair.
"I told you that I was looking for somewhere to volunteer. Well that was the people from the soup van, they said I could help this weekend" Sophie explained.
"On your time off?! Sometimes I don't get you" Maddie said exasperatedly. "Aren't I enough of a charity project for you?" she asked folding her arms across her chest.
"Oh trust me babe, you're a handful! A cute handful" she pecked her on the cheek "but Eleanor put me onto them and said that it's a good way to help."
"Well you're still mad though" Maddie said cheekily. "I better go with you though, you might come home with another messed up bird and I ain't sharing you" she laughed.
"You're free too. We just hand out sandwiches and see how folks are getting on" Sophie explained.
"Oh I remember the soup van. Used to steal all sorts whenever it came thru. Easy pickins it was" Maddie said with pride.
"Well if you come with me you can't just nick stuff" Sophie said irritated. She still hadn't managed to get Maddie to see that petty theft was morally wrong.
"Nah, I'll just catch up with some of my old mates" she said cheerfully. Sophie noticed that she perked up at the prospect.
"There won't be any trouble will there?" Sophie asked worriedly.
She knew that Maddie had dealt with some pretty rough characters in her past life. Many of them wouldn't think twice of cutting you up for a few quid. Or even worse if you were a girl. Sophie shuddered when she remembered how cut up Maddie had been the night she got jumped. It had taken more than a week for the cut across her face to heal up. Luckily it had healed up all right without leaving an awful scar. It could have been so much worse.
Another part of Sophie worried that reconnecting with old mates might not be the best thing after all. Sure Maddie had told her that as long as Sophie was here in Weatherfield, that her life would stay there as well. She knew what the meaning of that sacrifice meant. It had nearly made her heart burst from her chest. Them being in the middle of Roy's Rolls was the only thing that stopped her from taking her girlfriend right then and there. She had made up for it that night with her tongue to be sure.
But still she worried that perhaps Weatherfield would prove to be a bore. I mean sure occasionally there were murders, fires, and punch-ups, but most of the time the biggest excitement was guessing who threw eggs at Norris's paperboy. Sophie loved the domesticity that they had been living in. It was a comfort that she had not felt since Sian. But she also knew that despite social services and her age, Maddie was not necessarily required to stay. It made Sophie insecure in a way that she tried not to show in front of her mum. She clung to Maddie at night partly because it felt good, but also to know that the girl would have a reason to stay. Sophie had to make it clear that she keep her safe, warm, and fed. But she also feared Maddie's tendency to run off at any time. What if she got a more tempting offer?
Maddie reached her left hand over and entwined it in Sophie's while moving her right to caress her cheek.
"Stop worrying" she said softly. "There's no way that Charlie Checkers can convince me to leave your fit bod behind" she said quietly. Sophie leaned her cheek into Maddie's hand, craving more contact, as she lightly sighed.
"I promise" Maddie said as she leaned in and brushed Sophie's lips languidly. They stayed that way enjoying the time that being alone afforded them.
Sophie was the first to break away. She tipped her head back and giggled like a school girl.
"Who is Charlie Checkers?" she asked in between short chortles.
"What?! His name is Charlie and we would always play checkers" Maddie said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Sophie launched into another giggle fit as her girlfriend looked at her as if she was daft. Maddie got up taking her tea cup with her.
"Y'know I think that you really have gone bonkers you dozy mare" she chuckled as she went into the kitchen to put the kettle on.
Sophie stayed on the couch laughing to herself as Antiques Roadshow started on the telly.