Chapter 34

"So... one finger is a sin?" Shawna's voice carried out the window easily in the surprisingly warm afternoon air.

"Apparently." Hope's voice followed it, and Marcus slowed on the steps.

"So... how many sins is it for all four-fingers?"

"You can't have all four-fingers, naughty." Hope told her.

"Oh... please... I want them..."

Marcus' mind covered the possible explanations as fast as it could, and kept coming back to one conclusion.

"Oooh." Shawna's moan made him fumble the keys, first time, and she was giggling furiously by the time he finally got the door open. Shawna was scurrying items off the table as he appeared, and Hope was giggling furiously, folding herself up on the couch. Both were more fully clothed than he'd expected.

"What... What's going on?" he asked, quietly, pushing the door gently closed behind him.

"N-nothing." Shawna assured him, with the sort of grin he'd become used to seeing in the morning.

"Princess... what... I heard..."

"What did you hear, Marcus?" Hope settled long enough to ask.

"Um... You... the two of you... um..." Hope's giggles threatened to get away from her again, and Shawna blushed furiously.

"It's not what you think, Marcus." Hope assured him, and Shawna stared at him frankly.

"And shame on your dirty mind for thinking it."

"Then tell me what is going on?"

"It's..." Shawna paused, fiddling at the table behind the couch for a moment. "You promise you won't laugh."

"Would I?" he asked, seriously.

"Probably not, no." she admitted, lifing a book from the pile. "This is what's going on."

"What is it?"

"It's..." she trailed off in a mumble, and Hope grabbed the book from her, tossing it across to him.

"Body Optimise?" he flipped a few pages open, reading recipes and food-lists.

"It's a diet." Shawna finally muttered, the grin long-gone.

"Right..." he closed the book, looking confused. "So... that still doesn't explain what was going on when I came in, and now I don't understand why you're upset now?"

"Just forget it Marcus." Shawna snatched the book back and headed off towards the kitchen, leaving Hope giggling uncontrollably on the couch.

"Can someone please explain where I went wrong on that one?" he called through to the kitchen, and Hope just giggled even more as Shawna came to stand in the doorway.

"Sometimes, you are the most infuriating man in the world, did you know that?"

"You've told me before." He agreed, understanding this wasn't the time to argue. "Why do you need a diet book? You look great." She flushed again, wiping her hands on her jeans and coming into the room properly.

"You don't look at me like other people do." She pointed out. "You don't look at me like the scales do, either. I topped nine stone some time this last week."

"It doesn't show."

"You don't want to imagine the tension in these gut-buster pants." She pointed out, and Hope's giggling started up again. Both of them paused at the couch, staring down at her, and she slowly gathered herself.

"Sorry." She muttered, but the grin didn't quite disappear.

"Honey, look... I want to get back on Depo, and... well I don't like feeling like a whale, either."

"You don't look like a whale."

"I feel like it, though."

"What happened to the yoga?"

"I didn't like feeling like a snapped elastic band, either!" she noted with some venom, and Hope suppressed a snorted laugh with some effort, earning another stare from Shawna.

"Well, OK." He sorted that information away over a few seconds. "So..." he began, and Hope's giggling started up again.

"What?" he looked down at her, setting her off again.

"I know what you're thinking." She giggled, and Shawna blushed and sat down beside her, reaching over her shoulder onto the table to grab the rest of her things.

"This is what we were talking about." She threw a chocolate bar on the table. "This diet has treats you can have during each day, called 'syns'. One finger of that is one syn."

"Oh!" Marcus nodded, suddenly understanding.

"So... what did you think we were talking about?" Hope finally managed, and both Shawna and Hope laughed out loud as he scurried off to his room, ears flaming.

"Hey." Tony reached out to wrap a hand around Lorraine's shoulder, but she turned a little, stepping away from him. "What's up? Is this about Yvonne?"

"Yvonne?" she mocked, adopting a look of mock confusion. "Oh, Hope's room-mate?" Tony just waited, patiently. "Brianna came and told me about that."

"Then you know I was trying to get away, right... that I didn't try and egg her on or anything."

"Yes, I know." She admitted, and he relaxed. "But it doesn't change anything."

"It... what doesn't it change?"

"Tony... it was so easy to believe. You never come see me sing, we don't really spend all that much time together that we aren't studying."

"Honey, it's a busy time, we're both working hard. The only time I'm not with you is rugby... we can't live in each others' pockets."

"I know, I need choir to get away from it all. When I finish choir, though, I come back and see you... when you finish rugby you're out with the lads, and then your off to the socials and... it just seems like you'd rather be with them than me."

"It's not like that."

"I... it doesn't matter if that's true or not, Tony. I feel like that... it was all so easy to believe that you were trying to get into Yvonne's pants, and it shouldn't feel like that."

"But I wasn't..."

"I know you weren't." she admitted, kissing his cheek gently. "But it was too easy to believe, and we shouldn't be like that. Goodbye, Tony." She turned away, crying to herself, and walked slowly away.