December 28.
Sophie sighed. This day was always going to be a bit rough. As she woke up, she stretched out her back, and slowly opened her eyes. They had spent two days talking about everything but what they were going to do today. Her every instinct was to just have it out, but she knew from experience that if Sian didn't want to talk about something you couldn't really force it.
Sophie smiled. She loved seeing her girl wake up in the morning.
"Hey beautiful" she said softly sitting up.
They were still in Sian's bedroom in Southport. The last few days had been much quieter than when they first arrived. As Sian recounted to Sophie later, apparently Sian's mum had taken Sian's warning seriously. Sophie was quite dead proud of the fact that Sian had stood up for her. Sian had told her in no uncertain terms that if she didn't stop trying to stir it and just accept that they were together that she'd be gone from her life forever. Sian's mum had given in and been civil for the last few days. Sophie was glad of it, because she had other things to worry about.
Sophie ran her hands thru her hair. She sighed as she sorted out what to say. A million responses went thru her mind but she couldn't settle on anything that didn't seem fraught with emotional peril.
"Stop it" she heard from the lass lying beside her.
"Whut?" Sophie asked.
"I can feel you fussing from here, you're working you'self into a state over nuthin,' " Sian said turning over so that she was facing her.
She just laughed nervously and suddenly couldn't figure out what to do with her hands.
"Babe" Sian said exhausted as her palm went to her forehead.
Sophie took a deep breath and pulled herself back together. This wasn't fair. She should focus on solely making her girl happy on her birthday rather than worry about old history.
"I'm sorry" she smiled leaning in while placing both her hands on Sian's cheeks. She pulled her, kissing her sweetly. She separated their lips after a moment and whispered "Happy Birthday".
They lay like that for some time, enjoying the close intimacy that they had always felt together. It was also a welcome opportunity for a lie in. They are on holiday after all.
The two ladies finally did rise and make an agenda for the day.
"I'm really not fussed Sophie" Sian protested.
"Well I am! It's the first time in how long that we can celebrate your birthday and there isn't some drama going on" Sophie said as she pulled on her jeans.
"That is true. There was me and Ryan…" Sian said remembering.
"Ew" Sophie stopped her Sian from talking by making a gagging noise. She didn't like to think on that too hard. "Then my dad getting booted by my mum" Sophie said remembering.
"Are they back together for good, or whut?" Sian asked while applying her lip-gloss in the mirror.
"Dunno. They've bounced back and forth so often over the years, I try not to get my hopes up," Sophie explained as she grabbed a top from the closet.
"We'll see Soph" Sian said with a shrug. She squeezed Sophie's shoulder as she passed her to grab some shoes. "I bet you didn't even remember this day when you were after that girl Jenna" Sian laughed as she pulled some boots out.
"I'd never forget it" Sophie said softly turning her face towards her girlfriend. She meant it. That date was etched on her mind.
"Babe, c'mon" Sian walked over and thru her arms around her. She pulled away nuzzling Sophie's nose. "Now I don't kiss serious faces," Sian said teasingly.
Sophie rolled her eyes. "All right!" she said as she giggled and nuzzled Sian right back.
They went down the pier but it was too cold to be much fun. Then they went shopping which basically meant that if Sian wanted something Sophie bought it.
It was too cold to enjoy the beach but the girls did walk down hand in hand. While Sophie had always felt that Weatherfield was her home, it was nice to not feel as if you were under a microscope. The street had a way of turning its glaring eyes your way that wasn't always subtle or compassionate. She liked being able to be a good example of being different but it wasn't everything about her. It seemed to be all that mattered to most of the straights on the street. That never made sense to Sophie.
Sian, on the other hand, didn't have the history that Sophie and her family did. Her girlfriend defined her and it wasn't fair. Sophie had known that the blonde was more than whomever she was attached to. Her girlfriend was feisty, opinionated and liked to argue. It was sexy when she got worked up about issues like politics.
But ever since her return to the street Sophie had noticed that she tended to bottle it. They used to walk the streets with heads held high, but now Sian couldn't wait to just get back to the flat. The only exception seemed to be when she was behind the bar at the Rovers. While Sophie knew for a fact that Sian was the prettiest bar maid, that was obvious, it was almost like she was holding court. She could manipulate and play those male punters for all their money. A younger Sophie would have gone blind with jealousy, but an older Sophie just watched and enjoyed the show. Her pockets would empty with phone numbers each night. All unsolicited but slipped to her none-the-less.
Sitting on a bench looking out at the sea, Sophie decided that now was a good time to speak her mind. Keeping it bottled up was killing her. She took a deep breath.
"Sian?" she whispered softly to the girl in her arms.
"Just five more minutes" Sian said not moving.
"I need to talk to you about somethin'" Sophie nearly whispered.
"What Sophie?" she asked looking up.
"Look I know that you said that you don't want to talk about it and I don't want to either, but I'm worried. What if we go back to Weatherfield and all anyone wants to talk about is what happened? Are we just going to hide from it forever?" Sophie said in a rush.
"Babe! Other than nosey Norris I don't think anyone's going to bring it up" Sian sat up and took Sophie's hands. "I honestly think that you've built this one event into more than it is," she said shaking her head.
"But it's just something that I spend every day trying to make up for because I know it's my fault and all…" Sophie said with her eyes in her lap.
"Sophie, what did I say in California? It wasn't solely your fault. We each made mistakes! What were we doing getting married at that age?! Your parents were right. We just didn't want to hear it" Sian said looking into Sophie's eyes.
"I don't like this idea of my parents being right" Sophie said smiling.
"Too right. But they were" Sian said chuckling. She went into her handbag pulling something out. "I've been waiting for the right moment," she said as she pulled out two simple gold bands.
They were simple and perfect with the date December 29th engraved on the inside. Sophie recognized them immediately. They had them special made without telling anyone all those years ago.
"You kept them," Sophie said softly in genuine awe. She had assumed that they'd been lost forever.
"These were the only things I kept. Everything else was burned or chucked owt," Sian said looking at them in her palm. "But I was thinking today while you were in the shower…Objects, like these rings, only matter because we give them meaning right? Like that photograph that you carry around in your purse aye?" Sian said pointing toward Sophie's handbag.
Sophie nodded. She still carried their engagement photo even after Sian had found it. Sophie still liked to pull it out and get taken back to that day of pure happiness between them.
"But we can change the meaning of these rings. Sophie we define our history, not Norris, not anyone else. Tomorrow can be the day that we make a promise to each other that December 29th is our date to remember everything good about us" Sian slipped the ring onto Sophie's finger and then the other on her own. "Isn't it one of the benefits of being who we are that we don't have to be like everyone else? As long as we remember the basics…" Sian finished.
"No Lies, No Cheating" Sophie said insistently.
"Trust and Faith" Sian insisted back. Sophie couldn't help but grin ear to ear as she looked into her beautiful girl. Both girls were dead giddy with excitement towards each other.
"Then it doesn't matter if we ever get married. We define ourselves Sophie. That's always been true" Sian said glowingly.
Sophie sighed. She put her hands to Sian's cheeks and pulled her in for a long languid kiss. After a few moments they pulled apart as a cold blast air hit them. They rested their foreheads against each other.
"I proper love you" Sophie said softly in between breaths.
"Can we get out of here?" Sian smiled with a wink.
They had. And after quickly begging off an afternoon tea with Sian's mum they had run upstairs. And that's when it all started.
Sophie quickly pinned Sian up against the door, gagging to have her body against her. She lifted the other girl's arms above her head, and leaned in until her lips were against her ears. The brunette whispered, "This is the second part of your birthday present, I'm yours, I'll do whatever you want me to." She started trailing kisses down the blonde's neck. Getting several appreciative moans in response, she moved her hands toward removing any clothing between the two of them.
"Well go on then Sophie Webster, you make me scream your name" Sian challenged her giving herself over to Sophie's dominance.
"Oh just you wait, birthday girl" Sophie whispered as she pulled Sian up and carried her to the bed.