The Lonely Streets

6-Tiffany's Past

I woke up the next morning and automatically looked to the side of me, expecting to see her there after her promise last night. Only....Tiffany was nowhere to be seen. I shot up in bed, the quick movement giving me a short dizzy spell while my heart ached at the possibility of being faced with another day of looking for her in the cold outdoors. I didn't think I could do it again, not because of the temperature or the time...just because each time she disappeared it hurt me. After Jessica, I didn't need to be hurt any longer. I really didn't wa-.

So Tiffany came into the room after I assume using the toilet, scratching her head while yawning. I lay back down while holding in a relieved sigh at her showing up. My heart would surely stop beating one day from all the overreactions I gave the poor thing. She was still here...it was all fine, all good. I wouldn't have to brave the weather just yet.

I gave a shy smile as she slipped back into bed, her eyes showing their pretty crescents. "Good morning" she said while tucking herself back into the warmth of the covers.

"Morning." I replied, stretching my arms above my head to rid myself of the aches I had accumulated over the night. I didn't really know what to say after that, I guess we didn't know each other well enough for the conversation to be constant and flowing.

When I heard her clear her throat awkwardly, I tried to make it comfortable again with a question I had been wondering since I saw her sleeping last night. It had stayed in the back of my mind until now, and I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask it to help to get rid of the atmosphere.

"Hey..." I said to get her attention. "If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?"

When I met her she looked my age, but then when I saw her easily becoming cute, I wondered whether I had got it wrong. I mean, I hoped I hadn't. Unfortunately, hope meant nothing.

"Seventeen" she answered like it was nothing but it certainly was something. I sat up again, suddenly very uncomfortable at having a minor in bed with me. It wouldn't matter if I was straight, but....y'know. Other than that, I had another burning question in mind to ask her.

"What on earth are you doing on the streets at your age Tiffany?" I asked firmly, wanting a good and reasonable answer or I wasn't going to be particularly impressed. She didn't say anything but her mood clearly changed as she too sat up, lowering her head and playing with her fingers nervously."Well?" I pressed, my voice hardening in authority.

"I....I ran away."

Oh my....

Well, this just got a whole lot more complicated.

"From your parents?" I asked, increasing the distance between us by shuffling away until I just decided to stand beside the bed instead. It's not that I would have tried anything with her, but if I was her mother I wouldn't want to think my daughter was in bed with a stranger who was also a lesbian. It just wouldn't feel right.

Tiffany shook her head to answer my question. " I don't know my parents, they could be alive or...." An orphan? I folded my arms as I felt my heart clench. This poor girl didn't have parents.

"Then...from a relative?" I pondered, hoping she really did have someone out there that could show her the love she had missed from her parents. Maybe there was a misunderstanding between her and her family member, making her run away over something silly. Maybe I could take her back and they could work it out..?

"From the orphanage." was her final reply before she began to cry. So she was an orphan. Jesus Christ. Poor, poor girl. At her age I was so different. Love flowed through my family home, the whole of my family gathering on special occasions like Birthday's and Christmas yet Tiffany had nothing like that in her life