Please, Miss (GirlxGirl) ✔️

47 | aftermath

I awoke groggily, squinting as sunlight shrouded my vision. I lifted my head, noticing the right side of my bed was deserted. A flash flood of imagery from earlier that morning swirled through my mind and I sighed, pulling myself up as I adjusted to the brightness. Glancing at the clock on my bedside table, I noted that it was just after eleven. I hadn't slept in so late in a long while.

I dragged myself from my bed, heading down the hallway and into the kitchen where Alex was stood, still dressed in the old clothes I'd given her last night. She was facing away from me, stirring a mixture of some sort in a glass bowl and staring distantly out the window.

"Morning," I said, to which she turned around with a smile. Admittedly, she looked better than yesterday; her eyes were still worn, cupped by two dark rings beneath, but she looked slightly perkier. Her hair was brushed and tumbled down her back, her face was a little brighter.

"Hey," she replied, leaving the whisk in the bowl and turning around to face me, leaning against the countertops with her arms folded. "Sorry, I wanted to make you some breakfast to say thanks for, well, you know, but to be honest your cupboards are a little bare," Alex added with a small chuckle. "Anyway, I decided on pancakes. You do like pancakes, don't you?"

I nodded, taking a seat at the table and lifting on leg so my knee was pressed into my chest. "Pancakes are great. You didn't have to do this though."

Alex pursed her lips with a small nod. "I know, but I wanted to. I'm really grateful for everything you did for me last night. I don't know what I would have done without you, honestly..."

"It was nothing," I pushed, and she turned back around to continue stirring the pancake mixture.

As she did, my mind ran through the nights events. Now thinking about it, I felt slightly awkward I'd had to help her undress herself, that she'd sat naked in the bath while I cleaned her, but I didn't regret it. She needed help, and I gave it to her.

I was lost in thought for another few minutes before Alex snapped me from it, placing a plate and cutlery down in front of me and pushing a number of pancakes onto it. She did the same for herself before taking a seat opposite me.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, unsure of whether I should be edging back into Patrick territory or steering well clear of it.

She shrugged, chewing a mouthful of syrup-soaked pancakes. "I don't know," she offered eventually. "Still in shock I think. I just can't believe that I never knew after all this time. I mean, he had a completely double life. A different name, a different job, different girlfriends. It just makes me feel so shit about myself, you know? Like I meant nothing."

"Well fuck him, okay? I know it's hard but don't let him ruin your life. What's done is done and it's really awful, but he's gone now and all you can do is get on with your life and find someone better. You deserve way more than that slimy little bastard anyway."

Her lips curved upwards as I spoke. "I don't know, I feel like I always attract the wrong people..."

"Like me?" I asked, my tone supposedly light and teasing, but I actually wanted to know the answer. A part of me wondered if she wished she'd never met me, that her life would be so much simpler without my presence. I hoped not.

"No, not like you, Evie. You weren't the wrong person, it was just the wrong time." Her face was composed as she stared at me, and I wished I knew what on earth she was thinking.

"Right, yeah," I agreed quietly. "Listen, maybe we should do something today, go somewhere, take your mind off everything that happened yesterday?"

Alex sighed quietly with a shrug. "I don't really feel like going out today, actually. I think I'll just stay here, if that's okay?"

"Course," I nodded. "Whatever you want." Just as I lifted my fork to take another bite of my pancakes, my phone began ringing in my bedroom. I frowned, wondering who it could possibly be. I rarely got calls, especially not early in the morning. I excused myself from the table, rushing down the hallway and into my bedroom, picking up the phone from my bedside table. The caller ID told me it was Melissa.