The Girl In The Suit

Tasha

I'm getting bored of hanging around town with the rest of the girls without my Gabby here. I know she wasn't feeling too good earlier, so I say goodbye to the girls before heading into spar and buying a hot chocolate and a packet of Soothers.

When I'm at her house, I knock at the door. No reply. Her mother is probably at work and Pat is off being Pat.

I get the spare key from under the bin and I unlock it. I've always known where it is.

"Yo, Gabs!", I call. "Its Tasha! I decided to call over."

No reply again.

I walk up the stairs and I knock at her bedroom door.

"Gabs, its Tasha, I just brought some stuff for you."

I hear sniffling at the other side of the door. I push it open and I see her head down in the pillow crying. Badly. Whoever hurt her will pay.

"Gabby? Are you alright?" I set the hot chocolate and Soothers on her bedside locker and I sit down beside her on the bed.

"Its nothing. Really."

"Cmon. I know something's up. You can tell me anything." I rub my hand along her back.

She signs deeply. "Pat's the one who got Freddie hooked."

I raise my eyebrows. "Really? How do you know?"

She begins sitting up so I remove my hand. There's a bruise on her cheek, light, but I can see it.

"Jesus, Gab, who did that?" I stroke her cheek.

"Gemma. She went through Freddie's phone and saw all the texts between him and Pat about drugs and he was the one who got him started and also gave him the stuff he overdosed on. Anyways, Gemma wouldn't text or call so we met and she flipped and hit me. She then said to stay away from them." A tear falls down her cheek.

I stand up, and I feel furious.

"So, she drags you out of your sick bed, she shows you texts you had no idea existed and then she's pissed at you? I'm gonna kill that bitch."

Before I can walk out the door, Gabrielle pulls me back.

"Don't. It'll just make things worse."

I yank my hand from hers. "The first day I met you, I swore to protect you. And that's what I'm going to do."

I hand her the hot chocolate and the Soothers and I kiss her cheek before heading out of her room, down the stairs and back into the town.

I storm my way to Anne's house, because I know Gemma practically lives there now. I knock on the door a few times before Alison answers the door. 

"Hello, Tasha. Is everything OK?"

"Can I talk to Gemma outside for a minute please."

"Sure. Let me just get her."

I wait around 30 seconds before Gemma arrives at the door.

"What's up, Ta-"

I grab her arm and pull her outside. I have her pinned against the wall.

"Tasha, what's going on?" She looks a bit scared.

"Why did you hit my girlfriend over something she had no idea about?" I grit my teeth and push her into the wall a bit more.

"OK, maybe I overstepped, but she did say it was Freddie's fault he got addicted, which means she has literally no sensitivity to this stuff."

"There's no one more sensitive to drugs than my girlfriend. When her brother overdosed for the third time back around 1 year ago, her mother gave her the choice to stay with me to distract myself but she went because she was afraid her brother would die. That was on her 14th birthday. Yes, she did do weed for a while but she only did it 3 times, and I stopped her the fourth time. She knows better now. She would've done everything to try to stop Pat from what he was doing. She's the most sensitive girl I've ever met. She has the flu today so considering she got out of bed for that shit says a lot about her. Now, go and apologize to her. Anne doesn't need to come."

She looks at me speechlessly as I loosen my grip on her hoodie. Finally, she says, "OK, I will right now."

We walk back down the town without speaking for a minute or two.

"So,", I say finally, "did Freddie go in OK?"

"He did, yeah. Some tears between us but he went in without a problem."

"That's great."

When we reach Gabrielle's house, I open the door and we both go in. I know Pat isn't home yet because I don't smell any weed and there's no crappy rap music playing.

I go up to Gabrielle's room with Gemma following behind me. I open the door and I poke my head in. She's sitting up now.

"How're you doing, Gabs? I have someone here who wants to say something to you."

"Who?"

I open the door and reveal Gemma behind me.

"Hiya. Can I sit down there?"

Gabrielle rolls her eyes before saying, "Fine, yeah, you can."

She sits beside her on the bed and I sit at the other side of her.

"Look, Gabs, I'm really sorry. I've just been feeling a lot of stuff today and it feels way too weird not having Freddie around. I still shouldn't have done that. I doubt the last few years have been easy for you. I love my brother so much, and I think I'd do anything for him, but I blamed the wrong person. I'm so sorry. Are we good?" She spread out her arms.

Gabrielle smiles and accepts the hug. When they separate, she says, "Yeah, we're good. I'm sorry as well for the comment I made. I really don't know why I said it and I regretted it as soon as I said it. I know how hard the day when they go in is. I'm sorry."

"Its OK." Then, she steps up. "I should be getting back, Anne will think I've been abducted. I'll text later."

"OK. Talk later."

When we hear the door downstairs shut, I go under the covers of the bed. 

"Are you crazy? You have no pyjamas on and you could risk getting my flu."

I laugh and I throw my arms around her.

"If I am to get sick keeping my girlfriend company, so be it."

I give her a soft kiss. She stares at me for a few moments.

"You're fucking adorable."

"I know I am. But you're even more so."

She laughs nasally. "I love you, Tashy."

I smile. "I love you too, Gabby."

I kiss her again before we switch on Netflix and spend the afternoon watching One Day At A Time. Its all so perfect.