Chapter 8

"I don't know, Bri... she's... she plays the role a lot, I think. She spends so much time being the party girl that we don't often get to see her being herself. Hope says she was a completely different person last night."

"She'd just had a break-up, of course she was subdued."

"It's not just that... we've seen how Marcus changes when she's around, Hope says he does the same thing for her."

"So how do we get her to see that?"

"You could stop pushing her into it."

"Well she's not going to go on her own."

"No, but you're both so stubborn she'll dig her heels in just to spite you, and you'll keep pushing just to try and prove a point."

"I am not stubborn!"

"Right..."

"I'm not."

"Soul of diplomacy, really, aren't you?"

"Normally, yeah."

"What about that waiter last week, when you complained about the service charge?"

"It didn't say it on the menu."

"It did, he showed you it."

"Not the menu he gave us."

"It was the menu he gave us, you just didn't look at that menu."

"I didn't order from that one."

"We both had children's meals... how many children pay the bill?"

"We aren't children! We just didn't want to eat that much."

"And how long did you spend telling him?"

"A few minutes..."

"Twenty minutes."

"I begrudge paying a ten percent service charge when they're already being paid for the job. All he did was bring the food out... wow, have a bonus."

"See, stubborn."

"Just because you were too mealy-mouthed to say anything, letting the world walk all over you."

"Mealy-mouthed!"

"Oh, please don't rip me off... oh, alright then, I wouldn't want to cause a scene. Would you like my coat while I'm at it? The ear-rings are nice... want them?"

"Nobody forced you to take me with you. I didn't realise I was such a disappointment."

"Disappointment... honey..." Briana slowed, seeing the tears in Elspeth's eyes. "You aren't a disappointment." She reached for the shorter girl, but her arms were pushed away.

"Mealy-mouthed?"

"You... you wouldn't say boo to a goose, El, but... that's you. It's frustrating sometimes, but it's not that important."

"I'll stand up for the things I think are important... one pound forty extra for dinner isn't that important."

"It... I don't like people taking advantage of you."

"They weren't. The dinner was good, and the waiter got just the right balance between making sure we were alright and not intruding. He earned the tip."

"You'll stand up for the important things?"

"Always."

"Are we that important?" She smiled, and this time stepped into the hug.

"Yes, yes we are... yes you are." Briana leant forward, toppling them both onto Elspeth's bed, holding her arms above her head.

"Are we... that... important, yet?" Elspeth's head darted forward, her lips opening and pressing eagerly, all the answer Briana needed.

"That's the first time I've had make-up sex with a girl." Briana muttered, as they lay wrapped up in each other and the blankets. "First time with anyone, actually."

"First time I've had sex with anyone." Elspeth giggled, snuggling in tighter and running a hand up the smooth skin on the outside of Briana's thigh.

"Thank you." Bri kissed her forehead, gently. "That makes it even more special."

"It felt special. We feel special."

"Well, we'll not feel this special if Shawna clumps back in on us again... we should get up."

"I know, but I just don't want to move, right now."

"Don't want to or can't?"

"A little of both. I don't know if I trust my legs."

"You said that when I kissed properly for the first time.

"And I was right... imagine how much longer it's going to take me to find my feet this time."

"You're a nut, you know that."

"I'm a cracked nut now..."

"You know, I don't think I've ever heard it called that before." They kissed again, softer, gentler than there previous exertions, then began the slow, reluctant process of getting up. "Did Shawna say when she was going to come back and spoil our fun?"

"You know... you should lighten up on Shawna a little. She's not that selfish, or... malicious."

"I don't think she is... but there's a big streak of conceit in her that'd block a motorway. She's thoughtless, she's not selfish."

"She's not thoughtless, not all the time. She was really concerned this morning that she's gotten in the way of Hope and Marcus. Well, Marcus, really."

"The one thing I give her credit for is that she cares for Marcus." Briana pointed out, wondering where her other stocking was. "Of course, it's Marcus, so that's not difficult, but she does care for him. I just wish I could understand why she won't go out with him — he's practically begging."

"She really does only see him as a friend... she wants sexy and handsome and... I don't know what she wants, but Marcus apparently isn't it."

"I didn't think he was that bad, really. I mean, he needs to do something with his hair, and god knows he could dress a little more adventurously than black jeans, black t-shirt, black boots... but..."

"Well, I have to confess, he does nothing for me, either."

"So what do you look for in a guy, then?" Briana laughed, stretching out in her underwear across the bed.

"Boobs." Elspeth quipped back, without thinking. Briana tensed, sitting up.

"Oh, balls blast and buggery! Bri, I... you know I was joking."

"I know..." she acknowledged. She reached for her skirt, but Elspeth's hand got in the way, and when she tried to reach around it, Elspeth continued to block her.

"I'm trying to get dressed."

"I know, but I want you to look at me first."

"El..."

"No, Briana Richardson, you'll bloody well look at me!" Briana's eyes snapped up.

"What happened to 'mealy-mouthed'?" she managed a slight grin.

"She stands up when it's something important. I don't want my not thinking to come between us."

"It won't, this is between me and me, El."

"Bullshit. That's not your boob now, it's mine. You've got two for the price of one, and I'll take that deal because the packaging is incredible, and the customer service is fucking incredible."

"You really are a nut." Briana smiled, but there was still a note of hesitancy about her.

"Bri... would we have done what we just did if I'd been bothered by it? I chose to do this with you because of who you are, and part of who you are is someone who's gone through that. It can't have been easy, but I don't want to change you. Who knows what you might have been like if it hadn't happened."

"Probably," Briana managed, after a grateful, tender kiss, "too much like Shawna for comfort."

"Really?"

"Really... it took something like this to bring me back down to Earth."

"Is that why you're so hard on her?"