Part 9 – In Which Ice Gets Bought and Stuff Happens
It turns out that it was a good thing that Rosie made Sophie start getting ready so early as before she knew it, hours had already gone past. Sophie had no idea where the time went but now she was standing in front of the mirror trying to decide whether to wear her hair up or down. She'd been standing there for a good twenty minutes now and every time she thought she had finally decided, she couldn't help but try it the other way again and then couldn't make up her mind.
Groaning in frustration she collapsed onto her bed, ruffling her new dress. It was a black skin tight thing that came to just above Sophie's knee and had cost her a little next to a fortune, another thing she could thank her sister for. As if on cue Sophie's phone went off informing her that she'd received a message from none other than 'Rosie'. Opening it she smiled seeing her sister had simply texted,
Wear your hair down xx.
Her sister was seriously uncanny sometimes.
Hair now sorted, Sophie moved away from the mirror to her pile of shoes in the corner. Oh God, now to make another decision. She'd never been this bad when it came to choosing what to wear. Usually when she went out on dates she'd just throw something together half an hour before. But right now she was truly nervous and fussing about, worried about whether Sian would think she looked nice or not.
Just keep it simple, she told herself. Alright, these ones. Sophie picked up her pair of black heels that she slipped on and expertly manoeuvred her way around her room in. It was as she went to grab her other handbag (the one she used for when she went out to town on Friday nights) that she almost stumbled on a book on the ground. Looking down at what she'd almost tripped on, Sophie picked up her prayer book and dusted tiny bits of invisible lint off it.
She adored this little book, she'd had it forever. When she thought about how for the past two weeks it had been in Sian's possession and not hers her heart swelled a little. It was like Sian had a little piece of herself with her that entire time. And the blonde hadn't just chucked it out, she'd held onto it even though she didn't think she'd ever see Sophie again. The guilt of how Sophie had treated Sian hit her again for the millionth time since she'd stopped trying to live in denial.
She wasn't surprised at how Sian had spoken to her after what SHE had said. But maybe this time Sian would give her a chance to explain. A chance was all she wanted. Well, not really, but she'd take what she could get.
Sophie slipped the prayer book into her handbag along with her purse and phone and headed for her bedroom door. She had taken so long getting ready that it was already 7pm so Sophie was late meeting Rosie and Jason at the Rovers. Thank God they only lived just across the way.
...
When she walked through the Rovers it was like the Pub she'd known since childhood had been completely transformed. She stared in awe at the decorations hanging from the ceiling and the lighting had given it an atmosphere of something out of a fairytale. The music was loud and there were already people bopping around on the 'dance floor' that had been set up for the night.
Somebody bumped past Sophie with a "sorry" as she had still been standing in the doorway (and a bit on the way) and she was brought back to reality rather harshly as her mind went berserk and she started to panic. What am I doing? She thought madly. I can't do this. How could she have thought this would be a good idea? How could she have thought that listening to ROSIE had been a good idea?
"Sophie, there you are," Sally greeted her daughter who looked like she was about to pass out at this point. "I didn't think you'd come," Sally told her sadly. "But I haven't seen Will here yet so I'm sure it'll be fine. You should try to have some fun tonight, eh? Maybe bag yourself someone else?"
That's exactly what I'm hoping for, Sophie thought nervously. "Um, yeah maybe. Have you seen Rosie?" She asked her mother.
"She was somewhere off with Jason, you know what those two are like," Sally grimaced. That was code for 'Rosie and Jason were all over each other in public like usual and Sally didn't like it'. Even after all this time their mother was STILL trying to come to terms with the fact that one of her daughters had married a Grimshaw.
They must have taken a breather from one another though because the next thing she knew Rosie had appeared out of nowhere and was trying to pull her sister into one of the more secluded booths (although Becky had suggested it, Steve had drawn the line at detaching the booths in order to make more space. "Not for ONE NIGHT" he'd argued and put his foot down).
"Rosie whatchya doing?" Sophie shouted to her sister over the music, concerned at the force Rosie was using to tug on her arm.
"Don't you want to sit down? Have something to drink?" Rosie said quickly, pushing her sister into the booth and then sliding in after her so that she was blocked in.
"No Rosie," Sophie stated. "I don't, I want to find Sian and talk to her before I decide this was a bad idea. Have you seen her?"
"I think you really should have a drink Sophie," Rosie insisted. "Really."
"Why?" Sophie asked the older girl carefully, not finding her tone comforting. "What's happened?"
Rosie exhaled deeply and took a swig of whatever was in the glass in front of her, despite it not belonging to herself. "Rosie?" Sophie questioned.
Rosie turned back to Sophie and blurted it out before she lost her nerve. "Sian'sherewithsomeone."
"What?" Sophie asked, genuinely not understanding what Rosie had just said since it had been so fast and jumbled.
"I said," Rosie repeated it more slowly and carefully this time, "that SIAN, is here with someone."
Sophie scoffed, "What do you mean here with someone? Not like, she's HERE here, WITH someone?" Rosie nodded sadly and watched as her sister went quiet before asking softly, "With who? Do I know them?"
Rosie didn't want to tell her but Sophie was going to find out anyway when she saw them together so replied dejectedly, "It's Ryan."
"RY-UN?" Sophie practically screamed.
"Quiet will ya," Rosie chided her sister. The music was loud, but not that loud. "Yes Ryan," she hissed. "I know he's the last person in the world you want to see right now, that's why I needed to tell you before you saw it for yourself and went mental or summat."
Sophie had her head in her hands, it seemed like her list of 'people she least wanted to see at the moment' was never ending these days. Ryan Connor least of all. Back when they were teenagers they had gone out for a fairly long time and it had actually gotten pretty serious too. But they were still only teenagers and let's just say that it hadn't ended well. After Ryan had gone off to Glasgow they both seemed pretty happy with the arrangement and never spoke again.
"Fuck my life," Sophie mumbled into her hands.
"What?" Rosie asked her.
To which Sophie looked up at her and said loudly, "FUCK MY LIFE!" before pushing a protesting Rosie out of the booth and heading towards the bathrooms.
...
Sian was hiding in one of the cubicles until her 'break' was over. It was only 7:30pm and Ryan was already fairly drunk and was being very 'hands on' with their dancing. And Sian could have sworn that she'd seen Sophie's sister give her an evil glare at one point too. Great. Just great. This evening was going to be so GREAT.
Sian heard the bathroom door open for the umpteenth time since she'd taken refuge and ignored it once again until she heard sobbing. Peering under her cubicle door, all she could see was a pair of very nice looking heels attached to equally as fetching legs.
As the sobbing continued Sian gave up trying to ignore it any longer and opened her cubicle door. She inhaled sharply when she saw who it was and Sophie herself did a double take, seeing Sian's reflection in the bathroom mirror.
"Sophie what's wrong?" Sian asked her with a worried look. She hated seeing the other girl upset.
"Nothing," Sophie sniffed. "Nothing's wrong." She wiped at her face to get rid of the tears, hoping her mascara hadn't run. That was the last thing she needed, to look like a mess in front of Sian. Well you're not doing too well in that department so far, she stated to herself.
Sophie looked at Sian standing there watching her. At some point since she had last seen her, the blonde's hair had changed from a messy ponytail to having it loose and styled in a way that Sophie could only describe as, well HOT was the first word that came to mind. Sian's short dress wasn't too bad neither.
Sian was having similar thoughts as she took in Sophie's outfit. Her black dress fit her in all the right places and down to such a length that it managed to show off Sophie's legs to perfection. The heels and her hair were what managed to top it all off though, driving her heart rate crazy. She probably thinks I hate her, Sian thought. I wish I did.
The staring match had gone on for a while now though so Sian thought she'd break the tension. She started to say, "You look–"
But it just so happened to be the same moment Sophie couldn't hold it in any longer and said heartbreakingly, "Ry-un?"
"What?" Sian had to ask, completely thrown.
"Of all the people in the world, Ry-un?" Sophie asked again, her voice almost failing her.
Sian furrowed her brow, still completely unsure what the hell Sophie was on about. "Soph, seriously, what are you talking about?"
Sophie's heart gave a little flutter at Sian's use of the nickname but she forced herself to ignore it. "Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about, Rosie told me she saw you here with Ryan."
"Oh," Sian acknowledged softly when it finally dawned on her. She'd forgotten all about Ryan as soon as she had seen Sophie.
"See," Sophie smirked. "You're not even denying it."
The blonde frowned at Sophie. "And why would I? I'm not the one who goes around denying relationships," she spat at her.
Sophie shook her hands in the air slightly saying, "I SAID I was sorry for that, please Sian just let me talk to you and I'll explain everything, just give me a chance."
Sian started to say, "Sophie I-" but Sophie never found out the rest because the bathroom door opened again and a very giggly and bubbly Tina stumbled in (she may have managed to get that week off but no way was she getting out of the 'dance' shift).
"Oh," she said when she saw them. "Not interrupting anything am I?"
"No," they both said a little too quickly in unison then looked at each other and away awkwardly. They had practically jumped away from each other when the door opened and now had as much distance between them as possible.
"Okay then," Tina replied, not very convinced. "Sian, Becky's looking for you by the way. She needs a hand getting some more ice or summat."
"Right," Sian answered and ran out of there quickly, seizing her escape opportunity. She honestly didn't know herself what she was going to say to Sophie but technically she was there at the dance with Ryan tonight so what could she do.
Sian found Becky behind the bar as usual and was informed that by some bizarre twist of fate ALL the ice in the pub had run out (there was a first for everything apparently) so Sian was to go down to the shops and get some more.
Sian was only too happy to oblige so grabbed the money and was about to head out the door when a drunken Ryan stopped her. "Sian! Sian Sian Sian, where're you going?" he asked worriedly in what could have been mistaken for a sober tone.
"Just to get some ice, don't worry, I'll be back soon," she reassured him.
Ryan straight away went to get his jacket saying, "I'll come with you, I can help!"
Sian giggled at his eagerness and clumsy movements. "No, you stay here," she told him, trying to hold in her laughter at his failing attempts at getting his arms into his jacket. "I won't be too long."
Ryan gave up in a huff and said, "Oookay," sadly. "I miss you already though."
Sian's face dropped and she mumbled something that may have resembled a, "Yeah, bye" before leaving.
To her word, she was back in what seemed like no time (unfortunately) and was praised as a hero and saviour for the ice she came bearing.
Much to her dismay though, because of all the effort and work she had put in that week, and that day, and for getting the ice (and partly because Becky was a little high off the atmosphere) Sian was given the rest of the night off ("No I couldn't" "Sian, I'm not taking 'no' for an answer, now go have FUN"), too which Ryan was very pleased about but Sian wanted to bang her head against a wall.
She hadn't spoken to Sophie since the (now second) bathroom incident but Sian saw her watching them the entire night. Her and Ryan. The party had been going on a fair while now and when they were dancing she would be looking at Sophie wishing it was her and Sophie would be staring back from her seat, a look that Sian could only describe as determination yet longing in her eyes.
If there weren't people around Sian would have gone over to her, cupped her face in her hands and kissed her right there, let Sophie know that she didn't want Ryan, only her. Why's that the only thing stopping you? The voice in her head asked. Why does that matter? She knew the voice was right. It shouldn't matter. In fact, she'd had enough of this. Fuck what she had said in the bathroom, she couldn't take it anymore, she was going to work up the courage right now to let Ryan down gently and then go over to Sophie and tell her she was in L-
"Sian?" Ryan asked for the third time.
Sian blinked at him, she had been completely lost in the blue eyes that were staring back at her. "Sorry, what?"
Ryan had stopped drinking for a while so was a little more sober by now. "I said I've got something to show you," he repeated to the blonde.
"Ryan does it have to be now? Listen I think we–" she had started to tell him, looking back and forth between him and Sophie.
But Ryan cut her off saying, "It'll only take a minute, come on," and pulled her towards the door that led to the alley outside.
Giving up with a sigh, Sian didn't protest any further and figured while they were out there she could 'talk' to him. Let him know she wasn't interested.
The door closed behind them and they found themselves alone (of course) in the chilly night.
"What is it Ryan?" Sian asked, shivering from the night air. She just wanted to get this over and done with so she could go back inside. Go back inside to Sophie...
"Here, I got you something," Ryan said pulling the something out of his jacket pocket and placing it into her hand.
Sian looked at what he had given her, it was a silver bracelet that was simple yet elegant, and had probably cost a lot. Sian frowned and told him, "Ryan I can't accept this."
"It's a present Sian, to let you know how I feel," he hinted, as if it wasn't clear enough already.
Sian looked at the bracelet then back to him, her forehead all crinkled up. "Ryan I can't," she insisted. "I'm sorry it's just–" but Ryan cut her off yet again, this time by capturing her lips with his, taking her by surprise.
Despite actually physically being there, Sian didn't know how it had happened but Ryan was kissing her. This isn't right, it just doesn't feel right, her head was saying, and it didn't. And then his hand started to travel up her shirt.
"Ryan stop," she whispered to him, but he didn't let go.
"Come on, I know you want this," he tried to recapture her lips again but she turned her head away and started to struggle out of his grip.
"No Ryan I really don't," she told him a bit louder this time. "Please let me go."
Ryan's grip on her turned to iron and no matter how much she tried, she couldn't pull free. Alarm bells were starting to go off in her head and Sian was panicking now. "I'm serious Ryan, get off meh!" she shouted.
"You've been leading me on all week," he scoffed at her. "Don't deny it."
Sian started to shout again but Ryan forced his mouth on hers to silence her, muffling the sound. She tried hitting him, kicking him, whatever she could to make him stop but he was just too strong. What happened next was a blur, and not just because she had started to cry, impairing her vision.
One minute Ryan was all over her, not letting go and the next he'd been pulled off and was lying unconscious on the ground, Sophie standing over him fuming and rubbing her hand.
...
She couldn't take it anymore. She had seen the two of them slink out the back into the alley and now her imagination was going wild as to what it was they could be doing out there. Alone. Getting up she went over to the door and was about to open it but stopped when she heard voices on the other side shouting. Sian's voice to be precise. And it sounded like the blonde was upset.
Pushing open the door slightly so she could get a peak, even though she knew she shouldn't, Sophie saw Ryan's back and what looked like Sian struggling to shove him off of her.
Without thinking she threw the door open and gave a bit of a shout (though they didn't appear to hear) and rushed over, turning a startled Ryan around and bringing her fist back so hard into his face that he fell over onto the ground and didn't get up or move at all.
Sophie was breathing heavily and rubbing her clenched fist absent-mindedly, staring at what she had just done. Then she looked up at the girl who had stopped crying and was now staring at her, wide-eyed in front of her. Sophie didn't know what to say so didn't say anything but after some intense staring on the blonde's part, Sian burst into tears again and grabbed onto Sophie's waist, stepping over an unconscious Ryan in the process, and buried her head in her chest.
...
Alright, there you go. I hope it was good and you enjoyed it and maybe you could leave a little review for me to help make me feel better for updating instead of doing my prac reports? :D No seriously, tell me what you think, it's always good to know whether I'm on the right track or if I'm doing too much of something annoying and need to change it. I'm not gonna be able to update for a while me thinks, but I'm working on getting another update going for my other fic so hopefully you'll be seeing me soon. Also not sure how many much more this fic is going to go for, I don't want to drag it out longer than what it's worth but I was wondering about maybe a sequel or something but it's up to you guys to let me know what you think and I'll definitely take all suggestions/ideas/thoughts into consideration. Laterz - devilsspy
