Chapter Eleven

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by TravyBearNLT

by TravyBearNLT

Bird's shift couldn't have ended sooner. By the end of her shift, she practically ran to the table that Marigold sat at. With two mugs of coffee in her hand, she sat down in the booth and slid one over to her friend. Marigold gave her a smile and wrapped her hands around the glass.

"Hey," Marigold said.

"Hey..." Bird said.

There was silence between the two of them. Marigold cleared her throat and began to talk.

"So...how have you been?" she asked.

"I've been good. What about you?" Bird questioned.

"Oh you know, just peachy."

"What're you doing here, in Ketchikan?"

"It was the only place I could think of to go after everything happened. The cruise really made an impact on me and I loved Alaska. And you, you also made an impact on me," she explained.

Bird blushed and smiled, looking down at the table. But then Marigold's words sunk in. After everything happened? What did she mean by that?

"Wait, what do you mean 'after everything happened'?" Bird asked. She knew she was pushing her boundaries by asking someone she barely knew personal questions, but she needed to know. She had been waiting months to have a chance to talk to her again and with the returned letter and the disconnected phone call, she didn't know what to think.

Marigold brought her mug of hot chocolate to her mouth and took a drink. With a sigh, she set it down.

"It's a long story, but I guess I owe you an explanation," she started.

"If you don't want to..."

She reached over and grabbed Bird's hand, smoothing her thumb over the top of it.

"I want to," she insisted and delved into the story. "It wasn't until high school that I realized that I was into girls instead of guys. I had a couple of girlfriends then and through college, but I always kept it a secret. My parents never knew, they just always thought I had a lot of friends."

Bird grabbed Marigold's hand, encouraging her to continue. She could tell this story was hard for her to tell.

"This cruise opened up my eyes. After I met you, I knew I needed to tell my parents. Even if I was convinced I wasn't going to ever see you again, I hoped that I could feel what I felt when I hung out with you that night sometime again in the future with someone else. I knew I needed to tell my parents because there would be a point at which I could no longer hide it from them. Better to tell them now than to wait even longer right?" Mari continued and sighed. "At least that's what I thought..."

A tear ran down Marigold's cheek. Bird's heart ached for the woman. She hated to see people hurting.

"We all sat down for dinner one night and I told them. I poured my heart out to the people who I have loved from day one of my life. And you know what they did? They didn't say anything. They got up from the table and started clearing the plates. I was in shock." She took another deep breath and carried forward with her story.

"For a few weeks after that, we didn't talk which is weird because I've always been close with my

parents. And when you called me and said you sent a letter and that it got sent back, I started getting suspicious. So I watched my parents closely. I caught my mom going through my mail and realized that she was the one who had sent back that letter. I confronted her about it and she blew up. She told me that it wasn't right that I was into women, that I needed to be with men. My dad heard us yelling at one another and came in and started laying into me too. That's when I knew I needed to leave."

Bird's heart skipped a beat. She can't imagine her parents doing that to her. Her parents would accept her and be happy that she was happy. Wouldn't they? Great, now she was starting to get nervous that they wouldn't accept her.

"So I packed up my bags, took all my money out of the bank and here I am. I came to the one place that I knew I could get a job and somewhere that wasn't unreasonably far from you. I didn't think Hoonah would be a good place to start out on my own," she finished and blew out a breath. "Now that I told you my sob story, why don't you tell me what you're doing here. Don't you live out in the woods with your family?"

"I do, but a week or two ago, my family and I made a trip here and I made the decision that I needed to go off on my own. When you came to Hoonah, you opened my eyes. I never considered that maybe I would like women instead of men. You opened that world for me. So I wanted to go out into the city and discover who I truly was," Bird admitted. "And look at us now. You're back and you're opening my eyes even more."

Marigold smiled that large toothy smile at Bird and began to lean over the table. Bird's heart began to beat faster and the breath flew out of her lungs when their lips connected. This time it was more than just a simple peck on the lips. It was an exploration. Bird followed Marigold's lips, learning every dip and curve in them. She pulled back once she realized where she was and blushed. Marigold was still smiling at her. She brushed a strand of hair behind Bird's ear.

"What do you say we get out of here and go explore the city?" Marigold suggested.

"That sounds great," Bird said.

They stood up and Bird held out her hand, starting to feel more confident in herself. Marigold intertwined her fingers with hers and off they went to explore the city.