started as a lie

37

the next morning, i woke up to leah stroking my hair.

"morning pretty girl" she said.

"morning my leah" i mumbled against her chest.

"you want to tell me what's going on?" she asked.

"hmm" i said.

"so basically, lily came out to her dad and he said some messed up shit to her. he locked her in her room and beat her. she came here in the middle of the night. she was wandering around london and recognised one of the girls and asked where we lived. she's brought a little bag with a few clothes in and she doesn't have her phone or anything. is it okay if she stays here for a while?" i said.

"yeah sure. is she okay?" she asked.

"i don't know. she's got a few bruises but she doesn't want to go to the police or to the hospital. she doesn't want to get sent back to manchester" i said.

the door opened and lily came in. i pulled the duvet up to make sure we were both covered.

"oh um sorry." she stuttered while walking backwards out of the door.

"it's alright lily what's up?" i asked.

"i was just going to ask if i could use the shower" she said shyly.

"yeah course. i'll bring you a towel in a sec" i said.

"thank you" she said and left the room.

"we better get up" i said while lifting myself out of bed.

"five more minutes darling" she said and dragged me back down. she buried her head in my neck and wrapped her arms around me.

"i love you so fucking much" she said.

"baby i love you more than you know" i said.

she started placing lots of gentle kisses against my neck. then she climbed on top of me and pinned my hands above my head while kissing across my chest.

"leah stop" i giggled.

"never" she laughed and continued kissing all over me.

she let go of me and rolled off me.

"now we should get up" she said.

she got out of bed and helped me up.

i put on some clothes and took a towel to the bathroom. i knocked on the door.

"lily i got you a towel" i said.

"come in" she said. i went in and put the there before leaving again.

me and leah got ready for training and then went down for breakfast.

i made some for lily as well.

she came down a short while later and sat with us.

i got a message from a number.

unknown: hey it's leo, is she safe?

me: yeah she's fine.

unknown: can i speak to her?

"lily, it's leo. he wants to speak to you" i said. she nodded and rang him.

"hi leo" she said.

"lily are you okay? are you hurt?" he said with panic clear in his voice.

"i'm fine i'm safe" she said calmly.

"when are you coming back" he asked.

"i cant. leo you know i can't. not with him, you know how he is" she said.