A Better Boyfriend (GirlxGirl)

Twenty-eight- Destiny

"There's a lot of bad in this life, but you make it easier," I said, after a moment.

Scarlet stood up from her sun lounger and came to sit down beside me on mine, stretching her legs out in front of us. She then rested her head upon my shoulder.

"You've done the same for me. I am forever grateful for you, Destiny," she said.

"I... I was scared I'd lose you at one point," I admitted, which caused Scarlet's eyebrows to furrow together.

"Why would you think that?" she asked me.

"I thought Chase had become your whole life, as though you wouldn't have any more time for me," I explained.

Scarlet's eyes widened slightly. The honey colour of them seemed lighter, more golden, in the sunlight.

"I will always have time for you, Destiny," Scarlet said. "You're a phenomenally important part of my life, and nothing is ever going to change that," she vowed.

"I'm always in deep thought about things like that...about the future," I said.

"I know, but you really don't need to worry, Dest. The future is bright. For the both of us," she assured me.

I hoped she was right.

Then again, I knew that as long as the two of us were together, we would be able to face it all.

"You want to dance?" I offered.

It had been the one way to get my spirits up that had never failed, aside from talking to Scarlet, of course.

Scarlet locked eyes with me for a moment and grinned.

"Of course, I do. To which song?" she asked, as she loaded up her Spotify.

"San Francisco. The Mowgli's," I replied.

Whenever I had been sad or struggling, that was the one song that almost always got me out of my bad mood.

Scarlet pressed play on it and the two of us stood up from the lounger, so we could begin to dance together on the grass of my back garden.

When she danced, she almost looked more beautiful than she did the rest of the time, if such a thing were possible.

I really needed to shake these feelings away. They were beginning to get out of hand. Well, I supposed nothing much had happened between the two of us, exactly. I was just struggling to keep them hidden away. It hurt to hide them but losing Scarlet would have been worse.

"What's on your mind?" Scarlet asked, as though she knew that something was bothering me.

She probably did, honestly.

We both seemed to have a sixth sense for this kind of stuff.

"I..." I trailed off. "Nothing."

Too much was on my mind was the honest answer to Scarlet's question, but I couldn't tell her that.

Scarlet studied my features for a moment, which made me want to blush. Thank goodness for concealer. I was hardly ever nervous or anxious, but recently I had been. And it was insane! I had been friends with Scarlet for years. Now was not the time to get all weirdly anxious around her, but I couldn't help it. I couldn't help the way that I felt. I had a feeling it wasn't going to change any time soon. In fact, my feelings for Scarlet got stronger each day. I turned my face away from her, then, as though it would give away too much. The song finished. It was time to go and do anything other than standing there awkwardly. Well, Scarlet wasn't awkward. For the first but probably not the last time, I was the awkward one.

"We should go back inside," I said, after a moment. It wasn't as though Scarlet was going to go anywhere too far. She seemed content to stay here, which was a good thing. After all, I had been the one who had suggested she stay here in the first place. I wanted her to like her time here.

Once we were back inside, I found my dad was watching something on the news about the election. God. It was everywhere. There were so many cars outside the prime minister's, too. It seemed there were far more than last year.

"How many bodyguards does he need?" I asked.

"Many, I assume they have an inkling that people haven't been too pleased with their decisions lately."

"When I rule the world, everything will change," I said.

Scarlet's eyes lit up with amusement, then, but also some admiration.

"I'd make you my second in command, of course," I assured her. "I think that we're due a change. This has been going on centuries now, after all, and what is it good for? So many people are struggling... things that should be being fixed are continuously breaking."

I knew I was being negative, but I supposed this was just a way for me to distract my mind from other pressing concerns.

I was distinctly aware of Scarlet's presence beside me, and how she almost hung on to my every word.

"It's June. It's too hot for June," I complained, sinking into the sofa beside my father. I was pleased to see him sober. It was a welcome change.

Scarlet seemed a little more at ease now, too, which I was thankful for.

"At least our money will be coming in soon," my dad said.

I supposed that was true too.

Scarlet glanced towards her phone and her eyebrows creased together.

"What's going on?" I asked her, suddenly curious.

"The hospital wants me to go in at some point to do a few more checks on me," she explained. "Make sure I'm all okay."

She had been alright for weeks now, but I supposed it was best to be on the safe side.

"We can get a bus there, if you'd prefer," I suggested, and Scarlet seemed to relax a little more.

"Damn. Is my driving that bad?" I asked playfully.

Scarlet's eyes widened, though, as though she was concerned that she had offended me.

"Relax, Scarlet, I'm playing," I told her, and she seemed to settle again.