"Sian?"
The blonde turned, and raised her eyebrow at who could possibly know her in this little tattoo store in the middle of Manchester.
"Sophie?" she asked as she stared, and the familiar face walked closer to her, a small smile etched on her lips and wide eyes taking her in.
"Hi."
"Hiya!" Sian couldn't help the grin that spilt her face, and slowly she leaned against the counter, cocking her eyebrow.
"Fancy seeing you here. It's been…what?"
"Five years," Sophie sighed. "Too long."
"Yeah…" Sian whispered, and for a moment conversation died, until Sian pointed at the bandage showing from the strip of skin that was her ex girlfriend's midriff. "You got a tattoo?"
"Yeah, came to remove the bandage today. Wanted to make sure it looks good. What about you?"
Sian grinned, putting a hand subconsciously to the back of her neck. "I already have a tattoo. I just came for a consultation for my second one today."
Sophie smiled back. Something about Sian was…off. Different. She was talking different, more formal; she was standing taller somehow; she was…prettier. But she was still Sian, Sophie knew that.
"So, what's been going on with you?" Sophie asked, and Sian was about to answer when she realized where she was, who she was meant to be meeting the next day, and she gestured to the door. Sophie followed, and they were on the street soon, facing each other at an awkward distance while they talked.
"I…I have a girlfriend. She studies in Leeds, she's coming back tomorrow. And you?"
"Oh I have a girlfriend too."
Sophie thought she saw the flicker of a small hint of disappointment in Sian's eyes as she said this, but maybe she had imagined it. Sian was in a relationship, now she had said so herself.
But that didn't stop her from moving forward a little closer, putting a hand on Sian's shoulder and smiling.
"I'm glad you're happy."
She didn't really think Sian would do what she did next, but she leaned up and kissed her, putting one hand on her cheek and the other at the back of Sophie's neck, tangling her fingers in loose curls at the nape of her neck. But she had pulled away before she was satisfied, before she got her fill, but in that moment she luckily remembered that she was unavailable, that this was wrong, that-
"This isn't right."
"I know," Sophie answered, "but…does it matter?"
Sian shook her head. It had been too long. And things felt too good, familiar. But she had a girlfriend, and Sophie was tempting, Sophie was safe, Sophie knew her better than Liea ever would.
Sophie was hers once, and she could be hers again.
"It doesn't matter."
Morality be damned, she had made her fair share of mistakes in the past. And maybe leaving Sophie had been one of them.
So she dived in again for a second kiss, because five years was a long time, and because having a girlfriend didn't necessarily mean she was in love with her. And because no matter how hard she tried to talk herself out of it, she was still incredibly in love with Sophie.
-0-
She found herself staring at the back of Sian's neck and smiling. Printed on it was a dainty little thing, a key with wings. And she slowly reached out and brushed her fingers against it. Sian smiled and reached back to grab Sophie's hand, pressing it against her skin. She rolled over on the mattress, sheets clinging to her, and she was absolutely beautiful in the light falling in from the window. In all her simplicity Sophie found herself staring again. She was beautiful, gorgeous in the way that she was staring back sleepily.
"Morning, " she rang out.
"Hi," Sophie answered, smiling softly. Sian crawled closer, rising up on her elbows and leaning down to kiss her, almost like butterfly, a gust of wind…
"I love your tattoo."
"Yeah?" Sophie grinned as Sian ran her fingers slowly down to her naked hips, circling the single heart with a keyhole in the centre. Sophie shivered involuntarily and bit her lip.
"I like yours," she choked out. Sian giggled, and curled her legs around Sophie's, pulling them ever closer.
"They match."
"Yeah…"
It was silent for a while as they stared at each other, before Sophie put her hands on Sian's tattoo again, the urge to kiss it growing. But she settled for kissing her long lost love instead.
She knew that later today she would meet her girlfriend, that she would probably never hear from Sian again, and that she would have to forget about her for the second time in her life, and that it would be more painful than the first.
But for now she was five years younger in a tiny bed with the love of her life and she was content to wake up in a pool of sunshine, with Sian's finger prints from the night before tattooed into her skin, like they had been so many years before.