She hated the fact that her eyes burned. It made her inwardly cringe but the tears wouldn't stop. Maddie Heath had always prided herself on her tough exterior. She could give as good as she got. All it took was one goddamn brunette to ruin her.
And that made her angry too.
She should have listened to her instincts. If some gorgeous hot looking ex-girlfriend wanted to make a move on her girlfriend, well she'd have to get through Maddie to get her. But Sophie's lies had taken her out of the game. It was hard to plan your next move when you didn't know where you stand.
It's a generally accepted fact that if you don't settle anywhere, then you can't risk losing it. Maddie had allowed herself to believe that this fantasy life was real. She should have known better. In her position it was never good to want things.
And Sophie Webster had made her do just that, she thought bitterly.
She jumped up at the sound of a knock on the door. Sitting up like a shot she instantly chastised herself.
"Mads! Can I come in?" Sophie said hesitantly.
"I don't think so" Maddie shouted. She had moved to the dresser mirror and of course she looked minging. Her hair was a matted mess as well. There was a heavy sigh outside the door.
"C'mon just let me explain" Sophie said forcefully but softly.
Maddie gathered herself together. She needed to get herself together. If she was going to go down then she'd go down fighting. Maddie Heath was better than this soppy behavior.
She leaned over and unlocked the door. Then she backed up and sat down on the bed.
Their bed.
Sophie opened the door and slipped in. She closed the door behind her and leaned up against it. They looked at each other for a moment. Neither knew how to start, but each could see emotions twitching underneath the surface. Maddie had never been very good at hiding her emotions with anything other than anger. Being with Sophie had changed that and she didn't like the idea of sliding back into that kind of bitchy demeanor. On the other hand, Sophie seemed to be waiting for it.
"Well...out with it" Maddie demanded impatiently. "If I need to find a new place to live then I should start now before it gets dark" she said angrily. Sophie visibly flinched at the words and Maddie hated herself for that. And then she hated Sophie for making her hate it.
Sophie finally moved and sat down beside her. Maddie became super interested in the floor. She felt a pair of hands enclose her cheeks and pull her face up. The younger girl wanted to fight against it, but the look that she saw in Sophie's eyes took all the energy out of her. She let herself submit as her girlfriend leaned in and settled their foreheads against each other.
"You're not going anywhere. I've told you that I love you. That I want you to be safe and fed and dry. That has not changed" Sophie whispered softly.
Maddie shrugged Sophie off.
"I wouldn't blame you. If some gorgeous blonde bombshell ex-girlfriend came back for me then I'd dump some kid street rat…" Maddie said as she shrunk in on herself.
"Maddie...that's not what happened..." Sophie insisted.
Maddie turned towards her with a face on her.
"Then why did you lie to me?" Maddie asked the question that had dominated her mind.
Sophie visibly took a moment to compose herself. Looking away out into blank space, Maddie could see the gears turning.
"I'm sorry. I should have told you what I was doing but I knew that I had to see her...and I didn't want you to stop me" she paused. Maddie turned back toward her girlfriend. Sophie didn't often struggle for words. A trait that both her mum and Sophie shared was the inability to not shoot off your gob. Maddie imagined that it was a Webster genetic trait. They all tended to be loud and shouty if necessary. This is why it made sense to see Sophie struggle this way. It was very unlike her girlfriend.
"What happened? What did she say?" Maddie asked sounding more worried than angry.
Sophie laughed shakily.
"Well she wasn't too happy. I'm lucky that I didn't get a slap really or a telling off. But…" Sophie sat up and curled one leg under her and turned facing Maddie directly. "I think that it was more her dealing with her own baggage. She didn't understand how I had moved on from what happened" Sophie shrugged.
"Soph, I still don't even understand what happened in the first place" Maddie replied.
"Look, it's not a thing I like to talk about because it shows the worst part of me. I don't want you to see that being my girlfriend and all" she shook her head and grinned. "But I promise you that I will answer any questions you have about the whole horrible history... however there are two kebabs that are getting cold and I'm starving babe" she finished with that smile that finally broke Maddie's angry resolve. Slowly she turned back towards her and looked in those gorgeous blue eyes.
"I just can't lose you Soph" she sighed leaning in to Sophie's shoulder. The brunette enclosed her arms around her pulling her closer.
"You are the one that I love. No one else. You better believe me" Sophie whispered and kissed the top of her girlfriend's head.
Kevin noticed the cold shoulder that he was receiving from his youngest daughter. He didn't like it but he knew from past experience that whatever she was stroppy about would blow over. For once he decided to not get all loud and shouty about it. Even this old man could learn from his past mistakes. It had been a week since he had seen his daughter's ex Sian Powers out on the cobbles. Clearly, something had happened but neither Sophie or Maddie were willing to talk to him about it.
It bothered him as he went to open the garage that morning. Stuck in his own head, he was surprised to see that Luke had already done so. The young man was already deep under some cars undercarriage as he strolled in.
"Already going? I thought it was my turn to open on the rotor?" Kevin stopped in front of the car Luke was working on.
"Eh! I just thought I'd come in early since I was staying at Steph's anyway" Luke said rolling out from under the car and standing to face him.
"Well you'll be leaving early then. I can't pay you overtime" Kevin replied. Luke nodded in understanding. Kevin asked if it had already been a busy morning.
"Not too bad" Luke said as he followed Kevin to the backroom for a brew. "Uh Kev, a lady did stop by and drop something off" he said as he reached into one of his jumpsuit pockets. Kevin nodded and took the envelope. He read the name on the envelope.
"This isn't for me" he said.
"Yeah she dropped it off for Sophie. Said she was an old friend but didn't know where Soph was staying" Luke explained.
"What did she look like?" Kevin asked as he turned the envelope in his hands.
"Gorgeous blonde. In fact I tried to pull her last week at the Rovers but she wasn't having it" Luke grinned. "Seemed a bit full of herself really" he finished up as he poured himself a cup of tea.
"I doubt it young man" Kevin chuckled to himself "she just knew that you were trying to punch above your weight" he finished grinning.
"Whatever old man" Luke smirked as he headed back out into the car.
Sophie heard a soft knock on her door. She asked who it was and unfortunately it was her dad. Still a bit pissed about what had happened a week ago she had barely spoken to him. She knew that it hurt him that she wouldn't just let it go, but it had dragged up old baggage that she had about them.
Maddie and her had spent a long night talking over things. It felt good to be able to share baggage for once. In the end Sophie felt that it had made them stronger. Still the kebabs had gotten cold so they ended up leaving the house to get fish and chips. The night had ended on the same park bench that a few hours earlier Sophie had sat on with Sian. It all seemed to turn out to be a good evening after all.
"C'mon Sophie!" he shouted impatiently.
She could tell by the tone in his voice that he'd reached the end of his tether. Sophie went to open the door. Crossing her arms, she still couldn't help being a bit stroppy.
"Whut do you want?" she said leaning against the door frame.
"This was left at the garage for you" he said as he held out an envelope. She took it looking at the envelope.
"Who left it?" she asked. She didn't recognize the handwriting.
"Accordingly to Luke, it was her...Sian Powers" he said lowly.
"Really?! Did she say anything?" Sophie asked surprised.
"Don't ask me! I'm just the messenger" he said as he turned back around. Heading back downstairs he turned around toward his daughter. "Sophie? Are you okay?" he asked.
Still staring at the envelope she looked up at the sound of her name.
"Yeah dad. I'm fine" she said genuinely and smiled. It was the first smile that she'd given him in days. Her icy mood toward him had thawed at last.
Turning into her room she closed the door. Sitting on her bed she opened up the envelope. Out spilled an old picture that Sophie guessed was taken at her 17th birthday. She vaguely remembered that Ches had taken it before things had blown up with her mother. Shaking the envelope open a small gold ring fell out onto the bed. Picking it up Sophie examined it in her hand as if it were an artifact of antiquity. It was the engagement ring that Sophie had bought for Sian with money that she didn't really have for a wedding that she didn't really want. Sighing she dropped it back onto the bed spread. Lastly she took a piece of paper out of the envelope. It said simply in elegant script: "Since you have moved on, it time that I did too. Love, S xxx"
Sophie smiled broadly as she ran her fingers over the words. She lost herself for a moment in the past, easily remembering the best of times. Despite the way that everything had gone down in flames, Sophie had loved her. However a part of her had never believed that they would last. Even in the picture she was looking at now, a part of her had thought that she didn't deserve her girlfriend. Then she had gone and proved it.
The sound of a door slam took her out of her revelry. She looked at the time and knew it was her girl. A shout from downstairs confirmed it. Gathering herself together, she headed downstairs leaving the letter and its contents behind.
And she never looked back.
A/N: This has been my number one prompt/request and it has taken me a while to sort out. So I hope that you like it.
If you'd like a Maddie-less version of this kind of scenario (that is certainly longer!) go check out Getting Serious. Otherwise, this is it. Feel free to leave a review! It is the best fuel to keep us poor writer's going. Enjoy the holidays!