The Key to Anchor Lake ✓

50 : Blaire

I love her I love her I love her.

I'm in deep. But, by the looks of things – by the feel of things – so is she. She knows the darkest things about me, the worst slivers of my history, and she's still here. And I am infatuated with her.

"I've fallen in love with you too," she says, hiccupping on the last word when she starts to cry and fans her face. "This is hormone-induced crying, I swear. I'm not this sappy and pathetic."

"I don't think you're sappy and pathetic."

She starts to full on ugly-cry, not that anything about her could ever be ugly, her face all scrunched up, nose wrinkled and running, eyes streaming. It's like I turned a tap and set this off, powerful waterworks that have her gasping for breath until I gather her in my arms and she sobs into my shoulder, soaking through my sleeve.

"It's"—sob—"the"—sob—"baby," she says. I try not to laugh.

"I know, I know. It's okay."

"And I"—sob—"really love you"—sob—"too."

I hold her, swaying her, until the tears subside from sobs to sniffles and she hides her face behind her hands.

"Don't look at me."

"Don't be ridiculous," I say, letting my laugh out this time.

"My face is a mess."

"You think I care?" I try to prise her hands away. "Sukie, you've seen me cry way more, and way worse. And, by the way, I just confessed my love for you. I'm not going to run away at the sight of a snotty nose and red eyes."

She lowers her hands. Her cheeks are wet and blotchy red, her hair damp where she's wiped her tears into it, a pinkness to her eyes. So I kiss her, my nose pressing into her damp cheek, and I hold her like I'm never going to let go.

*

The time does come, eventually, when I can't stop yawning and it's time to go home. She has an early start in the morning, and I don't have a change of clothes, else I might have been tempted to stay. But it's time to go, time to call Elizabeth.

"Don't. It's late. I'll drive you," Sukie says.

"No, don't worry, it's fine. Elizabeth said she'll come out."

"She probably didn't think you'd stay here until ten."

"She's a night owl."

Sukie pushes my phone away and wraps a cardigan around herself and says, "Get in. I'm driving. Might as well eke out every minute I can."

"Okay, if you insist." I roll my eyes and get into the passenger seat, in the car that smells like her.

"I insist. It's literally a two-minute drive, anyway. And five minutes on the doorstep." She grins, flicking on the high beams when we leave town behind and crawl up that winding road to Elizabeth's.

I wish the journey was longer. All too soon, I spot Taighmartin, and it's time to go. Sukie kills the engine and gets out after me, following me to the doorstep.

I don't open the door. We stand there together, nothing else needed except this moment under the moonlight, a pale beam illuminating her glowing cheeks. My fingers find hers, lacing together. I look down at our entwined hands and I feel like an overexcited schoolgirl, catching up on all the milestones I missed.

"So. We're official now?" I ask.

"Yes."

"Seeing as you're my official girlfriend," I say, "would you like to go on a proper date? Not book club, or snatched moments while you're at work. Like, a real date. Just you and me."