Chapter one

Sophie swirled a chip through a blob of ketchup. She bit the top off, steam rupturing out into the cold air. Sian watched her. She watched her tongue flit out and lick the salt from her soft lips. She watched the muscles of her jaw clench and release as she chewed. She watched her blue eyes dart to her own and a coy smile pull at the corners of her lips.

'You're not havin' any,' Sophie told her, putting the rest of the chip in her mouth. 'I know that look.'

Sian rolled her eyes and let herself smile. 'I don't even want any,' she answered, nudging her friend's arm playfully.

The day was cold and there was rain in the air, wisping Sian's hair with light droplets. Her breath steamed out in front of her face as she turned her attention back to Sophie, who continued to eat, oblivious to the attention she was getting. But Sian had been paying Sophie rather a lot of attention lately.

'Ugh, where are they?' Sophie said suddenly, glancing up and down the street before looking sadly at the small collection of rapidly cooling chips she had intended on saving for her boyfriend.

They were waiting for Ryan and Lee, some sort of double date affair that had seemed like such a good idea at the time, but as it approached Sian found herself dreading it more and more. She didn't like Lee. She couldn't really see what Sophie saw in him. He was good-looking enough, sure. But it wasn't like Sophie to pick looks over substance. And substance, Lee had not.

'They said four o'clock,' Sian said, glancing at the time on the phone in her hand - 16:14. She sighed and jiggled her legs against the cold brick she was sat on. 'Lee probably had to wait in for an industrial-sized hair gel delivery,' she muttered.

'Oi!' Sophie said, jabbing Sian in the side. 'Don't even get me started on Ryan's hair,' she warned.

Sian opened her mouth to retaliate, but ended up nodding in agreement. They both had truly ridiculous hair. She sighed audibly.

'What?' Sophie asked.

'Nothin',' Sian answered, frowning in thought. 'Just ... lads. They're kinda stupid aren't they.'

Sophie laughed. 'Yeah,' she agreed.

Sian smiled back at her, flitting her gaze across every nuance of laughter in Sophie's face. Her skin shone and her eyes glistened and her hair was soft and not in the least bit ridiculous. But Sophie's gaze drifted past Sian and down the street, the sight it fell upon causing her to immediately jump up from the wall and smooth down her clothes and hair.

Sian felt a little part of her sink.

'What time d'ya call this?' Sophie demanded of the two boys who were now stood sheepishly in front of her.

'Sorry babe,' Lee said, leaning forwards and pressing a quick kiss to Sophie's cheek. 'Lost my phone.'

Sophie seemed to soften at the gesture.

'Yeah sorry,' Ryan added, directing his own apology to Sian, who shrugged indifferently as she stood up.

'S'alright,' she said.

'Can I have a chip?' Lee asked, noticing the polystyrene box in Sophie's hand as they all began to walk along the street.

Sophie raised an eyebrow at him. 'Er ... no,' she told him incredulously. 'I did save you some but you were late. So ... Sian ate them.'

'I did not!' Sian squeaked.

'Aw ... Sian!' Lee whined. 'I'm starving.'

Sian shot Sophie a glare, which Sophie merely grinned straight back at. Sian shook her head with a smile of her own and purposely knocked her body against her friend's.

'What's the plan then?' Sophie asked, turning her head up to look at Lee.
'Thought we'd go back to mine,' he said with a smile that dimpled his cheeks. 'My parents are out. We could watch a movie.'

Sian felt something cold and clammy grapple at her hand and looked down to find Ryan trying to grab it with his own. She glanced to her side to see Lee with his arm around Sophie's shoulders and her arm slipped around his waist. She sighed inwardly and opened up her palm to allow Ryan to slide his fingers in between her own.

Lee's house was small and smelt like microwave meals. Sian turned her nose up as soon as she got through the door, looking back at Sophie to see if she had the same reaction. But Sophie seemed unperturbed, stripping herself of her coat and shoes the second she got in through the door and steaming past Lee into the lounge as if she lived there.

Sian watched her go as she let Ryan help her out of her coat and hang it up by the door. 'Ta,' she said vacantly before padding off in search of Sophie. She found her on the sofa, her legs folded beneath her and her elbow resting on the arm. She smirked at Sian when she saw her, patting the space next to her. 'Lee!' she called as Sian tentatively sat down. 'Make us a brew!'

Sian laughed. 'You've got him well trained,' she noted.

'Lads are easy,' Sophie said with a cute shrug.

'You know they're only after one thing though,' Sian reminded her.

Sophie twisted her lips in disgust, 'Well, he can forget about it,' she said. 'I've taken a vow of chastity, remember?'

Sian smiled and nodded. 'Aye, I remember,' she answered, feeling oddly comforted. 'Does he know that?' she asked, jerking her head back in the direction of the hall.

Sophie turned her palms up to demonstrate lack of knowledge. 'Dunno,' she answered. 'If he likes me that much though, it shouldn't matter,' she speculated.

Sian scrunched her face up at Sophie's naivety. 'I'm not sure he'll see it like that.'

'Ladies,' Lee said, entering the room and presenting two cups of tea which he placed on the table next to the sofa. 'I trust you're finding everything to your liking.'

'Cheeky,' Sophie chastised, smacking him playfully on the arm before leaning up to press a swift kiss to his lips. Sian looked away immediately, feeling suddenly awkward.

'Budge up Sian,' Ryan said as he followed Lee into the room. He sat down next to her, forcing her to scoot along the sofa closer to Sophie, until her thigh was pressed against the younger girl's own. Lee looked momentarily crestfallen that there was no room for him, but decided to busy himself with setting up the dvd and drawing the curtains before settling into an isolated armchair on his own.

He flicked at the light switch on the wall behind him and the room went dark, the only light source now coming from the television. It glowed with electricity, casting a high beam of light on the carpet in front of it. Sian let herself turn her head to look at Sophie, the residual glow from the television illuminating her nose and cheeks, and shining in her eyes and glinting off her hair, making her shimmer with some kind of twilight radiance.

Against her leg, Sian could feel heat flowing freely from Sophie's body and she shifted in her seat, unsure why it was making her feel so uncomfortable. As the opening credits finished and the film began, Sophie leaned her body in against Sian, their shoulders and arms touching, and Sian felt like she was on fire. She was vaguely aware of the weight of Ryan's hand on her thigh, but the electric tingling of her skin and the erratic beating of her heart was enough to distract her from it.

She let out a quiet, shaky breath and tried to look back at the television, only to let her gaze drift directly back to Sophie within a few seconds. There was no denying it any more. If she had needed anything to convince her to finally admit it to herself, her veins were coursing with proof right now.

She was attracted to her best friend.

And she had to deal with it.

...