A Better Boyfriend (GirlxGirl)

Forty-four- Destiny

"Yeah, I remember it," Scarlet said, with a small smile. "That was a lot of fun."

It was.

I had adored my childhood with Scarlet. I couldn't imagine it any other way.

"When I was little, I wanted to be an actress," I said, after a quiet moment passed by. "I was so sure I was going to make it."

"You could have, you know," Scarlet said.

She was flattering me. I honestly couldn't act to save my life. At least, I had never tried- to act, that is, not to act to save my life.

"I don't know," I said. "Spending time with you...those long summer days we spent when we were kids- they are my favourite memories."

"Being with you helped me so much when I was dealing with my parents," Scarlet admitted, then, and I suddenly wanted to reach out to her and wrap my arms around her. They should have been there for her more. I couldn't believe that anybody would ever neglect or abandon Scarlet, but they had. That made me angry. I knew she deserved so much better. It wasn't subjective. It was an objective fact. I hoped that she knew how much she truly deserved. She deserved the world.

"I guess I accepted the way that they treated me, eventually."

She shouldn't have had to.

"Scarlet, baby-"

"I trusted them," she said, her eyes watering a little, now.

I moved closer to her and wrapped my arm around her shoulders.

"When they were fighting, when they were yelling at each other or at me, I knew I had to be calm. I had to be the stable one, because everything around me was falling apart. I took it all. The only things that helped were spending time with you and writing. It was an escape. That was how I got so good at it. I had nothing else to do... They didn't want me."

"Fuck them. You're wanted. More than anything. I am so sorry that they didn't treat you in the way that you deserved, Scarlet. You're never going to have to feel like that again, as long as I'm around," I vowed. "I wish I could change the past to have secured a happier childhood for you, but I can assure you that the future will be better."

"My childhood wasn't all bad. I had you."

I felt my own eyes sting and threaten to leak with tears, then.

God. She made me feel so much. Happy or sad- she intensified every mood I experienced.

"The future looks bright," Scarlet said, after a moment. "I'm sorry for dampening the mood a minute ago."

"You didn't dampen the mood. Don't apologise. I'm here to listen to you. Always," I promised. I'd work hard to make sure she never had to feel that bad ever again. "Can I draw you?" I asked.

"Right now?" Scarlet spoke.

"Right now," I said.

Her cheeks pinkened a little, but she nodded in answer to my question.

I grabbed my sketchbook out from under my bed and turned to a brand-new clean page.

I moved my hand over the ivory-coloured paper and smiled.

Drawing had always been my happy place but drawing with Scarlet in the room with me was a new level of happiness entirely.

"What should I-"she started to say.

"You look perfect. Just stay still," I said.

I knew this was almost impossible. Scarlet fidgeted a lot to help with her anxiety.

"Hold onto my pen," I said, chucking it to her.

She caught it in her hands and clicked it every so often.

I picked up a pencil and began to sketch Scarlet.

I looked up to her a few times to help check that my observational drawing was on track and noticed when her lips curved into a sweet smile.

Dropping the sketch book for a moment, I moved over to her side of the bed and pressed my hands against her face as I brought my lips closer to hers to kiss her.

She tasted so sweet. I wanted more. It was like getting a taste of your favourite kind of candy and suddenly feeling insatiable.

I gently moved my fingers through Scarlet's hair, as I increased the intensity of our kiss. I didn't want to pull away, but I had to breathe at some point. We both did. When I pulled back, our breaths had quickened a lot.

"Going to finish your drawing?" Scarlet asked, with amusement dancing in her eyes.

"I was really distracted," I said.

Scarlet folded her arms across her chest. My eyes glanced down to it for a moment before I quickly made sure I was looking at her face.

Every inch of her was distracting.

She stood up from the bed and I felt my face drop.

"Where are you going?" I asked her.

"I'll be right back. I want some water. Want some?" she offered.

"Yes please," I said.

When Scarlet headed out of the room to go and fetch us some water, I realised that I was at peace. I didn't have to fight my feelings for her anymore. I could kiss her and do everything I had always wanted to and the miracle in that was that Scarlet felt the same.

Sometimes, I honestly still wondered whether I was dreaming, but all of this was so perfectly real.

I didn't want to have to ever think of a life where Scarlet wasn't so close.

Everything had been better since she had come to live with us.

I wondered if she felt the same way.

She soon returned to my room and placed two glasses of water down on my bedside table.

"You okay?" she asked me.

I was in deep thought, certainly, but I was more than okay.