A Better Boyfriend (GirlxGirl)

Twenty-seven- Scarlet

"Excuse me ma'am, you're too beautiful to be sunbathing out here all alone. Where's your permit?" Destiny asked in a kind of Southern American accent, as she joined me in the back garden.

I had been laying on a sun lounger, enjoying the warmth of the day.

"It's alright, miss. My permit is right here," I joked, holding out an imaginary permit.

"Everything seems to be good here," Destiny replied with a grin.

I put my sunglasses back down over my eyes and let them close.

Sensing Destiny settling on the lounger beside me, I turned in her direction.

"You going to vote in the upcoming election?" she asked me.

"Are you?" I returned.

"Probably not," she said. "I just binned the leaflet."

"Everything would be so much easier if we were under a matriarchy," I joked. Alright, I may have been only half joking.

Destiny murmured in agreement.

"Another rich white guy or...another rich white guy," she said. "Whatever shall we pick?" Her question was laced with sarcasm, and I knew she had a good point. That was essentially what it all came down to in the end. "It's basically another dick measuring contest," Destiny said.

"Don't put that image into my mind," I replied.

Destiny scoffed. "Hey, I'm the lesbian here," she said.

I supposed she did have a point. Again.

"I posted a chapter of my story up online today," I said, after a moment, in an effort to change the subject.

"Yeah? How did that go?" destiny asked, with curiosity reflected in her gaze.

"It went alright but I did receive some criticism in the comments and..." I trailed off. "That kind of hurt."

Destiny's expression became more serious, then.

"I think you're going to need to get used to it, Scarlet. You're sensitive but hey, not everyone is going to see you for being as amazing as I do. You can't let their criticism get to you," she reminded me.

"Writing has been my whole life...if people hated my writing, I'm not sure what I'd do," I said quietly.

Destiny wandered over to me and squeezed my shoulder reassuringly.

"Well, you don't have to worry about them. Focus on the good. I love your stories. I can't wait to read more, and I can't wait to read whatever you write in the future," she said with pure kindness in her tone.

I was so lucky to have her, honestly.

In secret, I had always craved someone who put me first. In my relationship with Chase, that had very rarely ever happened. With Destiny, it just seemed to naturally be the case. She was so selfless. She made me feel important.

I wondered what Destiny's secrets were. She always seemed to be in deep thought, lately. My mind wondered frequently about what was on hers.

Friendship was the most important thing in this life- having someone that cared about you. As long as I had Destiny, I knew that I was never going to be on my own. I supposed that knowledge was what made the breakup with Chase not hurt quite so badly. I knew that I was going to be alright because I wasn't alone.

Although, admittedly, I had bawled my eyes out in the bathroom on multiple occasions ever since Chase and I had split.

I knew that this was all for the better, but that didn't change the fact that breakups were always hard. A relationship meant that you formed an attachment to someone, and once that attachment was severed beyond repair, it could feel incredibly devastating and difficult to imagine what could possibly come next. The breakup with Chase, the accident- these were the things that made it difficult to sleep at night. In those moments when I had awoken during the night, I had found I wasn't the only one with difficulty sleeping, as Destiny seemed to toss and turn a lot, too. I wondered what was plaguing her mind.

I had to accept what had happened. Most importantly, I could not dwell on the past. I needed to focus on the present. The now. The relationship that I had with Destiny, and how untouchable our bond was. I had to take comfort in the knowledge that as long as we had each other, we had each other's backs, and we were going to be more than okay.

"Do you trust me?" I asked Destiny, after a moment.

"Always. Why do you ask?" she replied.

"I want you to know that you can...you can trust me with anything, Dest. Zero judgement," I said.

The corner of her mouth lifted a little in a smile, but there was something else visible in her eyes. She was being quiet about something, but I didn't have a clue what it was.

"And I trust you, too," I assured her.

The blue of Destiny's eyes seemed to warm in that moment, as though she felt a little more at ease.

"You're a source of stability in my life, Scarlet. Don't ever go forgetting how special you are to me," she replied.

I felt my heart warm at her kind words.

"Even though I used to be poor and a total dork?" I asked her.

She released a gentle laugh.

"I happen to be into dorks," Destiny blurted and then her eyes widened when she realised what she had said. "I mean-"

I chuckled and Destiny's eyes flickered with relief in the knowledge that she hadn't said anything wrong.

"That's good to know," I replied quietly.

"I loved your mind and how imaginative you were...I wanted to see the world through your eyes. I met you and I remember thinking I had to be friends with you, even when we were small," she said.

"Like destiny, Destiny?" I joked.

So many puns could be made with her name. It was hard to resist.

Destiny gently shoved me.

"I suppose you could say it was a little something like that," she said.