It was a nice morning, very cold, just how Sophie liked it. Ash, her German Shepard, also loved the cool weather. Sophie walked on the path through the park, watching Ash galloping through the field. She stopped to sniff the ground and Sophie sighed when she started rolling in what was probably a pile of turds. She bathed her dog quite often because of this.
"Ash!" Sophie called. Her dog looked over, her face too overjoyed for someone that was rolling in poop. Ash got to her feet and went careening toward Sophie, barely managing to slow herself down in time. Ash was still young, about two years old, and she was a lot to manage. If she didn't get enough time outside, she would wreck everything in the house. Sophie had tried putting Ash in a crate, but she'd pouted for almost a week afterwards.
Sophie groaned when she saw the streaks of lumpy brown on Ash's fur. "Ash…" If Ash was on a leash, she would be pulling on Sophie's arm the entire time. Sophie lived in an apartment right next to the park so she just had to get Ash into the park. Ash was well trained in coming when she was called. "No more rolling in poop, please girl." Ash just wagged her tail. Sophie sighed. The dog took off again.
Sophie watched Ash as she walked, completely unfocused on where she was going. If she had been paying more attention, maybe she would have heard the person coming up behind her. Then again, the person was cruising so fast Sophie might have heard them, but it would have been too late.
Either way, Sophie ended up on the ground, flat on her back after twisting in midair. The breath rushed out of her, and she gasped. The person who'd landed on top of her yelped as they'd fallen and their head was now right against Sophie's.
And oh shit, she was beautiful. She had long, curly, dark brown hair, light brown skin, and teal eyes that glittered like sea glass. Tear stained, puffy eyes. The girl pushed herself up off Sophie's chest, wincing.
"Oh shit, oh my god, I'm so sorry." The girl said.
"It's okay." Sophie told her, sitting up too. The girl's eyes widened.
"There's blood all over you!" She exclaimed.
"I don't think it's mine." Sophie looked at her hands which were just a little scraped, and then looked at the girl. The girl's hands were covered in blood, and her left arm had many thin scars. The girl scooted away from Sophie, wiping her hands on her shorts. Sophie got to her feet and offered the girl her hand. The girl took it, and Sophie pulled her up.
As soon as she put pressure on her left foot, her leg gave out on her and she fell again. "Shoot are you okay?" Sophie started to panic. "Is it broken? Shoot, do you need a hospital? I don't have a car, but I can call my friend-"
"No!" The girl said loudly, shutting down Sophie's spiral. "No hospital. I'm okay."
"You don't look okay." Sophie commented, earning a glare from the girl. "Sorry." She said immediately. "My apartment's not far, I may have something to help your ankle there. And I know that sounds super creepy and stuff but I promise I'm not a freak." She looked around to call for Ash, and found the dog rolling again. "Ash!" She called. "Stop rolling in poop!" Ash looked up at Sophie with what could only be described as a smirk on her face.
Despite that the girl was clearly very upset about something, she cracked a smile at Sophie's shout. Ash came running over, and Sophie had a moment of panic where she thought Ash was going to run right into the girl. But thankfully Ash stopped and sat patiently beside Sophie. Sophie held her hand out to the girl again and hauled her up to her feet. She wrapped one arm around the girl's waist and pulled the girl's arm around her neck.
"Sorry this is really weird." Sophie said, her cheeks burning. She wasn't used to having girls this pretty this close to her.
Get a hold of yourself, Sophie. This girl needs help.
"Ash come." Sophie said as she walked. "Heel." Surprisingly, Ash listened to her and trotted along at her heels the entire way through the park. They moved slowly, but eventually got to Sophie's apartment building.
"How much further?" The girl asked, pain in her voice.
"I'm on the second floor so not much." Sophie said. "Again, I promise I'm not a creep. I hope you aren't one either." The girl snorted.
"That depends." She muttered.
"On what?"
"Nevermind."
Sophie opened the front door, whistling for Ash to come. Ash stomped into the building, and Sophie hissed for her to be quiet. "Don't wake anyone up, Ash. Come on." Sophie got the girl to the first step and leaned against the rail.
"Okay, step with your right foot when I step with my left. I'll go up with my right and help you bring your left up, okay?" The girl nodded, and stepped with Sophie, cringing when she had to put weight on her left foot. Sophie helped her up the stairs, one at a time. After what felt like hours they made it to the top. Sophie's room was room 203, and was not far from the stairs. Sophie led the girl over to the door and unlocked it. She helped her inside and brought her over to the couch. She lowered the girl on the couch, returning to the door and closing it.
Ash had followed them in and was about to jump on the couch when Sophie called, "Ash. Box. No poopy dogs on the couch, you know this." Ash gave her the saddest puppy eyes and she slowly crept away from the couch towards her crate. "Don't roll in poop and you can go on the couch." Ash sighed, and Sophie closed the crate behind her.
Sophie turned her attention to her guest. "I'm going to go get some bandages and see what I can do for your ankle." Sophe told her. She nodded. "Just relax for a little bit." Sophie rushed off to her small bathroom, grabbing bandages from under the sink. She hoped the girl's ankle wasn't broken and it was just twisted really badly because she had no idea how to help with that. Sophie grabbed some cotton balls and rubbing alcohol and returned to the living room.
"I'm really sorry about this." The girl said.
"It's fine, really." Sophie said. "I got some stuff to clean the cuts. Is your ankle broken?" The girl shook her head.
"No, I don't think so." Sophie breathed a sigh of relief. She put everything down on the couch beside the girl, sinking to the floor. "I'll help clean the cuts on your legs and you'll get the ones on your arms and hands?" The girl nodded and grabbed some cotton balls and poured rubbing alcohol on them. Sophie took the supplies from her and did the same, cleaning any scrapes she found on her legs. On her left leg, she had many scars.
"What are these from?" Sophie asked her, glancing up and meeting the girl's teal gaze.
"The scars are from when I fell into a full length mirror a few months ago."
Sophie felt her heart ache. There was more to that story. She doubted the girl had just "fallen" into the mirror. Whatever had happened to the girl, she was sure it wasn't good. Sophie finished cleaning the cuts in silence.
"Try to keep weight off your foot." Sophie told her. "I'll bandage up your big cuts and then I'll go make breakfast." The girl nodded. Sophie bandaged her up quickly, and then rushed to wash her hands. She quickly grabbed a fresh shirt and changed so she wouldn't be sitting with the girl's blood all over her. She was running behind her usual schedule and would have to make breakfast quick. "How do pancakes sound?" She called.
"Sounds good." The girl responded. Sophie grabbed her pancake mix and got to work. The pancakes didn't turn out as fluffy or as round as Sophie would have liked, but they still tasted good. She got maple syrup out and made a simple strawberry sauce. She put pancakes on a plate and brought them over to the girl.
"I have strawberry sauce and maple syrup as well." Sophie placed said objects on the coffee table in front of the couch. The girl's eyes lit up and she immediately poured more syrup than pancakes on her food and plopped three huge spoonfuls of strawberry sauce on them. Sophie smiled.
The girl devoured the food ravenously, like she hadn't eaten in days. When she was done, she wiped her face off on her shirt. "Do you need a change of clothes? I have some shirts that might fit you."
The girl glanced down. "Uhh, yeah that'd be great thanks." Sophie put aside her food and went to get the girl another shirt. She took a simple black one and returned to the couch.
"Here." Sophie handed it to her and took the girl's plate to the kitchen while she changed. Sophie waited a few minutes before returning. She sat on the couch next to her. "So… why were you out running in the morning?"
"Oh I- I uh, kind of had a panic attack." She said. "I freaked out and ran out of my house."
"I'm sorry." Sophie said. "What usually helps you when you have one? Do you need me to do anything?" The girl shook her head. "I'm Sophie, by the way."
"Biana." The name fit her. Sophie met Biana's eyes and found herself lost in them for a moment. "I uh, I like your flags." Biana said, gesturing to the wall Sophie's tv sat on. It had as many of the pride flags as Sophie could find. (Minus the ridiculous straight flag)
"Thanks. It took me a while to collect them all, but I love having them there." Sophie said.
"I wish I could do that."
"Why can't you?"
"My parents won't let me." Biana said. "I came out as Lesbian a few weeks ago and my life has been hell since then. They won't let me talk to any of my friends unless they're boys, and they won't let me leave the house except for school." Biana sighed.
"Can't you just move out?"
"I don't know how to." Biana replied quietly. "I've lived there my whole life. I don't know what to look for in an apartment. I haven't ever had a job and I don't really know if I have any good characteristics for one." Biana looked up at the ceiling. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't tell you all of this."
"No it's okay." Sophie said softly. "We all need to talk about these things sometimes. And if you can't do it with your family, you need to find someone else."
"Thanks." Biana whispered. Sophie hesitated, before scooting closer to Biana. She gently took Biana's hand in her own and met her eyes.
"It's not a problem." Sophie told her. Biana smiled, but it was sad. She took a deep breath.
"And then when I was able to talk to my friends again, I told them that I had come out and…" Her voice broke. "They didn't want anything to do with me anymore. I felt so alone. I started writing my feelings in a journal and it… kind of helped. I was feeling better but then my dad found my journal. And found out that the church visits and prayers weren't working. And he was so mad… that's why I ran out. He was yelling and I just got scared so I ran." Revulsion coursed through Sophie's body.
"I'm so sorry Biana." Sophie said after a pause. "No one should have to go through that."
"It's fine. I'm used to it."
"It's not fine. And you shouldn't have to be used to it. You can't go back there."
"I don't have anywhere else to go." Biana said to her.
"You can stay with me." Sophie responded right away.
"What? No. I can't help you pay rent and I'll just suck your money. I don't know how to get a job."
"I can help you with all of that." Sophie said. "Biana. You can't go back there. Please. Let me help you."
Biana pursed her lips and considered for a long time. She looked up at Sophie. "Okay."
The word was an agreement that she would leave behind her past. That she would move forward. Sophie could feel that Biana was unsure, but she also knew what Biana felt like, and she would make sure Biana never felt unwelcome ever again.
A/N: Well I hope this didn't suck. It's not beta read so there's probably a bunch of mistakes. It was also probably repetitive and if you lasted this long, thank you so much for reading. I didn't mean for this to get this long, but it was super fun to write. I've written fanfictions for Keeper of the Lost Cities before, but I've never posted them. This was written for Lesbian Day of Visibility. I'm also better at multi-chaptered fics so if you have any tips/feedback, I would love to hear it.