A/N: Takes place between 1/27/2014 & 1/29/2014. Feel free to leave a review if you'd like more of this.
She had just felt like it.
Really that's all it came down to.
In Maddie Heath's life she had learned quick enough to take what you could, when you could. You never knew when the chance would come again. And for Maddie, it was very rare that she was this lucky.
It was Sophie Webster that had made her feel lucky for the first time in a long while. And any chance that she could manage to keep hold of that feeling…well she wasn't going to miss.
She had first seen her on Christmas Day serving up the slop that they gave away to the deprived. Barely edible but then again it was better than anything her mum was serving up that day. But then again it had been enough that she had managed to get her mum out of bed. All she could talk about was Ben and how he wasn't there.
"He's been taken!" her mum had shouted again and again. It didn't matter how many times she went over it with her. "Ben's in foster care mum. He's all right," Maddie just repeated over and over as she hid anything sharp and tried to keep her away from her cell phone.
She was so knackered by the time that she made it to the shelter that she started to wish that she hadn't come at all. Still Joan had some money for her and it would pay for next month's electricity so she had to be there.
Maddie had seen the snooty older woman serving up potatoes up front. It was an easy opportunity for some fun. Maybe Santa Claus had brought her a gift after all. And Maddie was always one to take what she could.
Every year these posh ladies from the outlying areas came down and served slop to the desperate to make themselves feel better about their large Christmas dinners. 99% of the time you never saw them again. Such phonies they were and all. Maddie burned inside when she saw them looking down their powdered noses. Pity emoted from their eyes. She couldn't stand it.
And this woman looked exactly like everything she couldn't stand.
Maddie wasn't gonna pass up an opportunity to wind her up. No way.
She had taken notice of the dark haired lass that had been serving that day as well. She was the youngest of the group. Probably the same age as she was, Maddie reckoned. She laughed when Maddie had dumped the old bag into the trifle. Clearly she wasn't a stiff like the others were.
It was the eyes and hair that really caught Maddie's attention. Sophie Webster's (as she learned her name was) eyes were the most captivating blue. Maddie knew that she could get lost in them. When she came over to sit at Maddie's table, Maddie waited for a lecture. But all she got back was compassion and empathy. And kindness. Unlike everyone else in Maddie's life it seemed as if Sophie was real. She didn't back off, even when Maddie was such an ass. A part of her really wanted to let her walls fall that day. It was terrifying.
Regardless Maddie had tried over and over to poke holes. She had to do it. There's no way that such a pretty girl could be real. Wasn't possible. She had to have a flaw.
As hard as she tried, it was becoming harder and harder to deny that Sophie Webster was pretty perfect.
Of course she had nicked the purse.
It would have been foolish not to really. And she needed the money. It ensured that her and her mother would be able to keep a roof over their head for starters. As she emptied out the purse, she could instantly monetize its contents. She had a source who would giver her some cash for the IDs and Credit Cards.
She only kept two items.
The gold watch, which she was sure she could get a good price for if she waited for the right buyer, and a photo. It was a family photo that Maddie could only assume included Sophie, her mum, and her dad. But really all Maddie could focus on was the gorgeous green dress that Sophie was wearing. The girl had legs for days.
As she sat alone drinking some beer that she'd hustled, Maddie realized that not only was she turned on by the physical, but also by the push back that she experienced that afternoon. The brunette may be physically small, but she looked like she could thump her if pushed. She certainly wasn't a pushover, that's for sure.
And it was well hot.
Maddie had had to swallow down the desire in her throat. They were in public after all.
Maddie kept the photo under her pillow.
She pulled it out sometimes to look at. If she had a regular mum she'd worry about it being found.
But Maddie didn't have a mum really at all.
Maddie had heard the goss. You'd think that the down and out would focus more on their own problems, but like the rest of folks, they also tend to cluck around like old ladies sometimes.
It didn't take much digging. Once Maddie overheard that Sophie was from Weatherfield. Then all she had to do was ask around. When an old geeza had brought up two lesbian girls who helped at a shelter there a few years ago, then Maddie knew it had to be Saint Sophie. Joan even vaguely remembered the girl from a few years ago in Sheffield. She had been staying with her girlfriend, a blonde, at the time.
This wasn't the first time that Maddie had been around dykes. Usually though in Manchester they were a little more butchy then girly. Sophie was clearly the latter. No dungarees in sight.
Maddie chuckled to herself as she thought about how it must get under her posh mum's skin. She could just tell from watching their interactions on Christmas day that they must be going at each other all the time. Sophie's mum was a piece of work, but then again so was Maddie's.
Maybe she had more in common with Sophie Webster after all.
Maddie Heath was not gay. Not really.
Again it was all about opportunity.
Sure she had seen those girls. After having too much to drink, some girls were willing to make out with anything that was alive. Sometimes it was Maddie.
Often she even enjoyed it. More times than she probably wanted to admit to herself if she was being honest.
Over the next few weeks when she was alone in bed sometimes she wondered how soft Sophie Webster's lips were.
Even when she felt that she had Sophie pegged, the lass managed to swerve her. Maddie was honestly taken aback when Webster had stiffed her. It wasn't like the girl that she had imagined at all. It was damn near confounding really.
Still she figured it wouldn't hurt to see what Soph would do. Might as well test it, and it might get her closer to the gold watch or 50 pounds. So Maddie decided to try another tact.
"And you are pretty, well pretty" she had said softly.
Instantly Sophie's eyes lowered and her breath audibly hitched.
Maddie just grinned. She had found a way to worm in under her skin.
"You'll just have to grow on me some more," she said lowly.
Sophie didn't see her chuffed grin as she walked away. A lightness fluttered in her chest as she floated to the Rec Room.
For the first time in a long while Maddie Heath had scored.