Issues [Frollie]

Epilogue

“This is a horrible fucking idea.”

“Management is going to shut it down before you can even hope to pull it off.”

“Shut it down? More like they’re going to put you back in the hospital, Molls, if you actually try and do this without telling them first. I have a feeling it’ll be a more permanent state this time, too.”

The couple in question only blinked several times from where they sat, staring up into the incredulous faces of the very concerned friends that stood over the sofa upon which they sat and rained words of caution down upon their heads. There was a long silence after that final sentence, as Mollie’s hand absently toyed with the strands of Frankie’s hair and the younger girl shifted her body so it slumped even further into Mollie’s side, her head nearly pillowed on the other girl’s shoulder.

Then, “So what should we do?” Frankie asked playfully, glancing up at Mollie from beneath her lashes as her gaze flickered between those blue eyes. Her thumb absently stroked over the back of the older girl’s hand as she spoke, revealing her excitement in that affectionate fidget, and the other girls in the room instantly vanished in the space it took for her to smile at her partner. “I suppose I could just turn around and snog you in the middle of the interview… I think that might get the message across.”

“No,” Una protested instantly, waving both hands. “I don’t want to have to look over in the middle of the question to find you two groping each other at the end of the sofa. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it’s not as if there’s a whole lot of room for the rest of us there.”

“Can we please not talk about groping today?” Vanessa asked exasperatedly, rolling her eyes heavenward with a profound amount of weariness showing in her features. “Just for a change? I think we’ve all had enough now.”

Mollie rolled her eyes, too. “You guys are never going to get over that, are you? It was one tiny little incident – no one even caught it on camera! I don’t see what the big deal is.”

“That’s because you weren’t the one watching your two best mates fiddling around in the middle of a radio show,” the other girl pointed out in a flat voice, lifting both eyebrows. “I’d like to see how you two would manage if you looked over to find two of us doing that. Especially since our seats were right next to each other – that was just cruel, Molls.”

It was true that the two girls had recently become somewhat impatient with the strict rules and regulations that governed their public lives. After almost six months of being together in secret, the tediousness of having to feign interest in other people and at least give some semblance of pretence when going out in public – which was becoming far more frequent than retreating to privacy – was beginning to wear thin to the point where it was a danger to have them next to each other in any setting whatsoever. The moment that they actually got close enough so that their hands could touch or their eyes could meet without three other heads in the way was the moment that nearly gave them away completely. They were only a few quickening heartbeats away from revealing their relationship in any and all situations that presented themselves.

Frankie’s smile was almost nostalgic as her lips curved up and she nodded absently. “That was a good day, wasn’t it?” she murmured in a low voice, glancing back at Mollie once more as her eyes glinted with the memory. Their fingers tightened just a little bit more as she shuffled closer to the older girl with a sigh of contentment falling from her lips.