A Better Boyfriend (GirlxGirl)

Ten- Destiny

As soon as I awoke the next morning, I dialled Scarlet's number.

"Hey! Happy birthday! What are you up to today?" I asked her.

"Hey, thank you," she said sleepily. I gave her a couple of moments. Scarlet had never got out of bed quite as early as I did and I supposed she probably did deserve a birthday lie-in, but I couldn't help being excited to talk to my best friend. "I don't think I'm up to anything much, I-"

"Perfect. I'm going to come and see you. We'll go get food," I promised.

I could hear the smile in her voice on the other side of the line, as she replied. "Alright, amazing. I'll see you soon."

"See you soon," I replied and ended the call.

I got myself ready for the day and then walked to Scarlet's house. It took a while, but it wasn't the longest walk ever. Furthermore, if I had some good music, the long walk didn't bother me in the slightest. At the end of it, I knew I was going to see Scarlet, and that was what mattered the most to me.

Okay, so I may not have been completely thinking ahead, because once I got to Scarlet's house and knocked upon the door, it wasn't Scarlet who answered.

"Destiny," Chase said. "Scar and I were planning on having a barbeque today. I didn't think you were going to show up until later-"

"I'm taking Scarlet to lunch," I said. "It's my treat."

"She'll be able to eat to her heart's content later, she doesn't-"

"Hey, sorry, I'm ready now," Scarlet said, as she reached the foot of the staircase.

Chase and I turned to her at the same time and I felt my eyes widen for a moment, but I quickly regained my composure. Scarlet looked so good.

"You look great," Chase said.

Damn right, she did.

"I'll just have a light snack. I'll have plenty of room for the barbeque later," Scarlet said, placing a kiss upon Chase's cheek before she walked over the threshold to stand beside me.

"Alright, see you soon. Bye. Happy birthday," Chase said.

Scarlet waved at him and smiled at me.

Chase didn't waste much time in closing the front door.

"You alright?" I asked her.

Scarlet released a breath that she looked as though she had been wanting to get rid of for a while.

"I am now," she said, forcing a smile upon her face.

Well, maybe it wasn't entirely forced, but either way if the way Chase and Scarlet had interacted this morning was anything to go by, it would indicate that not all was well in paradise.

She deserved much better.

I tried to disguise the longing in my eyes. This was ridiculous and Scarlet was like heaven.

I felt as though my own eyes were burning with my emotion, so I turned my attention to the pavement ahead of us.

"There's a cute Italian place round here. Want to go there?" I suggested.

"Anywhere sounds good right now," Scarlet said, and her stomach rumbled at that precise moment, giving away how hungry she must have been.

In response to that, the two of us walked into the local Italian place and Scarlet's eyes blazed with happiness, as she took a moment to look over all of the food on offer on the menu. Let's face it, Italian is one of the best culinary choices on this planet. Truly, a gift from the gods.

As we sat down and started to order, I realised that we were alone again. Well, sort of. There were other people in the restaurant, but there was no sign of Chase. At least, there wasn't right now. There would be later, at the barbeque that all of our friends were invited to, including Andre, who was totally going to want the gossip on everything that had been going on between Scarlet and I, but we would get there eventually.

Scarlet's eyes sparked with excitement, then.

"What's up?" I asked her.

"We have to get garlic bread," she said. "And prosecco," she added, seeming to decide it in the moment.

"Getting drunk midday?" I teased.

"No," she said.

"You could, though," I said with a sing-song tone.

"Chase would be annoyed at me," she replied.

It wasn't as though he didn't spend every Saturday night for the past two months getting drunk with his friends. He could deal with it, especially considering it was Scarlet's birthday.

"Fuck Chase," I said quietly.

"Huh?" Scarlet replied, her eyes blinking slowly in her bewilderment.

"Nothin'," I said. She didn't need a repeat of what I had said. It was probably best I kept that little comment to myself, in all honesty. "I said it was fuckin' hot, I'm very glad for this air conditioning," I said.

"Oh yeah, it is. Likewise," Scarlet said, starting to fan herself with her menu. When she got hot or slightly nervous or anything of the sort, really, her cheeks would grow slightly pinker, and it was cute. Scarlet would deny that, though, of course. She moved her slender hands together and I noticed that she had painted her nails an eggshell blue.

"I like your nails," I blurted.

Scarlet gazed down to them and smiled.

"Thank you," she said. "They sort of match your eyes," she added.

Well, now I was sort of blushing. It was good my concealer covered that up, for the most part.

After a few more minutes, the waitress came over to our table, so Scarlet and I ordered our bowls of linguini and garlic bread and prosecco and I smiled, as I patted the stomach that was going to grow in size over the course of the next hour.