Jordan and YFN were comfortably spread out on the couch, an array of snacks laid out on the blanket they were sharing. YFN hadn't told Jordan about her interaction with Lucy yet, and she was a little worried about doing so. The last thing she wanted was for Jordan to feel like she was less important. She still had no idea what was happening, and the fact that she was just on a spontaneous holiday sat in the back of her mind, but she kept it back there. She didn't have a job or worries, she knew that she might meet people along the way who would be meaningful in her life. She was already so close to Jordan that she couldn't imagine being back across the other side of the world from her, let alone whatever she had with Lucy. Was Lucy just looking for a quick fuck because she knew YFN was only here for 2 weeks? She ignored that thought, knowing that whatever was happening between them was far more than just a casual fling. But was it even possible to have more? And did they both want that?
She internally groaned. She hated overthinking things, it just wasn't her. She was much more care-free than that. She happily pushed all of those thoughts aside and reminded herself of her motto. Whatever happens, happens. As long as she maintained respect for herself and those involved, she would happily be involved in whatever this was with Lucy.
Jordan nudged her foot as she texted. "Luce said the dinner party's done and she has some gossip. Would you mind if she comes over?"
Yes, please. "Not at all."
"Excellent. She'll be here in 5."
The restaurant was much further away than that, so she knew Lucy must have already been on her way. Oh, she was excited.
Five minutes later, Lucy knocked and entered without permission. Jordan didn't seem phased, this must have been a common thing with them. Lucy found them in the living room looking quite comfortable on the couch.
"How's the food poisoning?"
"I think all of these snacks have made it worse, to be honest." YFN laughed.
Lucy's eyes widened at the amount of snacks covering the two. Jordan saw this and defended them. "Don't judge us, we're feeling our emotions."
Lucy laughed and gave a little leap over the couch to sit on YFN's free side. She kicked her shoes off and YFN lifted the blanket they shared, pulling it to cover Lucy's legs also. Lucy loved the thoughtfulness and stretched her legs out. Jordan threw a few different snacks over to Lucy.
"Are these sad or happy emotions?" Lucy asked.
"A bit of both," YFN shrugged. "Subject to change with your gossip."
"Ah," Lucy didn't have much gossip. She really just wanted an excuse to be around her. "Well.. when you left Leah asked me a few questions. She wanted to know who YFN was and where you were from, whether you two were in a relationship-" her finger gestured to the two of them.
"-wait," Jordan cut her off. "She was jealous?"
"Mmn.. maybe a little to be honest. And protective."
Jordan scoffed. "She has no right!"
"Oh I know, but feelings don't just disappear that quickly..." Her extended foot touched YFN's under the blanket which caused her body to flinch but Lucy noticed she didn't move away. Jordan didn't notice. "She still cares for you, Jords. You know that. She was upset, she just wants to talk to you. From our conversation she seems to miss your friendship."
Jordan was quiet.
"You know you miss her friendship also," YFN said softly as she leant over to squeeze Jordan's hand.
"Argh yeah, you're right, I do... but YFN and I have been talking a lot and I think I just need my space. I can't give her what she wants right now."
Lucy nodded. "Maybe you should tell her that.."
"Well I planned to tonight but I just couldn't. She took me by surprise when she came over and I wasn't ready."
"Maybe... maybe it would be easier to text? Face to face is better but I think she'll understand a text, Dory."
Jordan sighed and nodded. "I've been thinking the same to be fair. Can you help me?"
"You mean can I do it all and you proof-read?" YFN chuckled. "Anything for you."
Jordan gave an exaggeratingly toothy grin and tossed her phone over with a loud air smooch. YFN wrote out a message she thought would be sufficient. Lucy watched her little face concentrating as she quickly wrote.
Leah: Hey, I really appreciate you trying to have a chat with me tonight, and I'm sorry I wasn't really responsive. I'm not going to throw all of my baggage onto you, but you need to know the basics. The truth is that I really haven't been doing well after losing you and then deciding I had to leave Arsenal. Being left off the England Squad was the nail in the coffin for me. I played tough but it hit me harder than I realised, harder than anything has, really. I will always love you, you're an incredible human being and an even better friend. I did hear what you were saying tonight and appreciate that you want us to be friends, but I just can't give that to you right now. I don't have the capacity. I'm working on myself and will continue to do so. I hope when I'm a bit more healed and feeling like myself that you'll still want to be friends and we can go back to that. I miss our friendship.
I'm sorry I couldn't say all of this to you tonight, I'll admit I chickened out.
Take care of yourself Leah x
YFN read out the message to them both. God, she was good with words, Lucy thought.
Jordan also seemed impressed. "Can you add 'I'm really lucky to have some good friends around me' please? She'll worry otherwise. Well, she'll worry regardless but it'll make her feel better."
YFN nodded and added it in. She gave the phone back to Jordan who sent the message, then took a deep breath and threw her phone to the other end of the couch.
"I'm really proud of you, Jords," Lucy stated softly. The emotion in her voice was evident. YFN didn't like seeing Lucy upset and she brushed the back of her hand up against Lucy's under the blanket. They both twitched at the contact and then hesitantly hooked pinkie's together. They both smiled and relaxed.
"Thanks Luce," Jordan said, tired. "I feel so much better already."
The trio sat silently and continued watching their movie. With the stress of that burden now eased off her, Jordan fell asleep in minutes, her little body curled up in the corner of the couch, her mouth slightly open. The other two were very aware that their feet and pinkie's were still touching.
"Can we talk?" Lucy whispered to avoid waking Jordan. Her head was leaning back on the couch and she was staring at YFN like she had been for the past few minutes. YFN had been too involved in the movie to notice. She broke her eyes away and found Lucy's face. Lucy's face was welcome sight and she had a very vulnerable look in her eyes.
"Sure... this is my favourite movie. Do you like it?" She whispered, cheekily avoiding a deeper conversation.
"The Taming of the Shrew?"
YFN's eyes lit up. "Most people don't know that it's loosely based off Shakespeare. I'm impressed. You must be a hopeless millennial romantic like me."
Lucy just grinned, watching her get so excited about a movie.
"Plus, how attractive is Heath Ledger in this, hm?"
Lucy raised an eyebrow in question at her attraction to a man.
YFN grinned back cheekily. "Hey, I can admire a pretty person. Plus he's from Perth in Western Australia, just like me."
Lucy reached out with her free hand and touched the little dimple on her cheek gently. It was the complete opposite of the aggressive Lucy she'd seen on the pitch.
"I love this."
YFN's breathing started getting ragged and she had to blink and suck in a deep breath. Lucy grinned at the impact she had on her. YFN gestured to her grin. "And I love that."
They spoke at the exact same time then.
"I want to get to know you be-"
"We acted on lust."
Lucy was surprised but she nodded. "Yes, we did. Can you blame us?"
"No.. not really. I think it was more my fault than yours."
"Ohhhh no. No, you're not taking any blame for that. You can give that blame to me, or we can share it. I was flirting with you all night."
"I know.." she whispered. "I liked it."
Lucy took a risk and moved her hand to entangle their fingers completely. YFN covered the back of Lucy's hand with her second one and pulled it onto her lap. Lucy sucked in a breath. She wanted to feel her, taste her, make her moan and cry and call her name. She pushed the thought aside and cleared her throat.
"I'm only here for another week and a half."
"Jords said you were a writer? You can write, and travel. You can write, and stay. We can explore... this. I know it's selfish of me to even ask but I have contracts in England and Spain."
"I've never been to Spain."
"You'll love it, and you'll love Narla."
"Narla?"
"My little fur baby. She's a Westie." Lucy looked like a proud mum.
Her eyes lit up. "Oh, I want to meet her."
"Spain is great," she continued. "Tapas, good food, relaxed vibe, we're down at the beach most mornings or evening watching the sunrise or sunset."
"I miss good beaches." She stroked the back of Lucy's hand with her thumb.
"Well, they're not 'Australia good' but they they're pretty decent."
"To be honest Lucy, I have no idea what I'm going to do. Dory and I get along so well, and I know she has other friends, but I feel like she's leaning on me a bit at the moment and needs me. So I can't see myself leaving soon anyways.. I want to just stay and be there for her, you know? Plus Birmingham sounds interesting."
Lucy nodded slowly, thinking. "Well that's much closer than you going back to Australia. There's an airline that does direct from Birmingham to Barcelona and it's quite cheap also."
"You've been thinking about this a bit.."
Lucy gave a sheepish shrug. "Hopeless millennial romantic, remember?"
They smiled and played with each other's hands, leaning towards each other.
"We have no idea what this is.." YFN sounded unsure.
Lucy wanted to reassure her and so she opened herself up. "You're right, we have no idea what this is. All I know is that I can't get you out of my head. I've been thinking about you, and even dreaming about you since we first met. And I'm so thankful that you and Jordan are friends so that I get to see you. I want us to explore this.. whatever it is. I want to see where this goes, because I haven't felt this in a long time – no... scratch that - I don't think I've ever felt like this before, and I want so much more." YFN was staring at her with a vulnerable, empathetic expression, her lips partially parted. Lucy continued. "I want so much more now, I wanted so much more when I met you, and I definitely wanted so much more in that bathroom."
YFN's pupils dilated and she could feel herself getting excited. She squirmed in her seat and felt her cheeks redden. Lucy noticed this and felt YFN's hands press hers down further, closer to her core as she stroked her hand a bit more nervously. She assumed that YFN didn't know she had done this as she could see her thinking hard.
Lucy leant over to her and tucked a fallen strand of hair behind her ear. "Tell me what you're thinking.."
YFN sighed. "You've been really honest with me, and so I'll be really honest with you. I don't think I've ever been this attracted to someone in my life so I'm struggling to even think at the moment." Lucy chuckled and felt proud of herself. "My main concern is that I don't want Dory to be hurt or put out."
Lucy squeezed her hand in reassurance. "She's one of my best mates. I'll have a chat to her in the morning, okay?"
"A gentle chat, please." She pleaded with her blue eyes. "If she's at all put off or uncomfortable-"
"-then I'll let you know and we'll go from there." Lucy finished. "So.. let's have a date then, shall we? Tomorrow night?"
"I'm not sure if I can spend a night with you without lust taking over."
"What's the problem with that? We can save the drive and have a date at my house instead. I'll cook." Lucy knew it was cheeky but worth a try.
Lucy watched YFN roll her eyes but genuinely stop to think about it. She squirmed again and Lucy loved it.
"What time..?"