It had been one really rough week for Allie. Working seven nights in a row wasn’t unusual for Allie, but it was the first time she had reached the seventh day feeling as exhausted as what she was.
To make matters worse, one of the girls had called in sick last minute, which on their second busiest night of the week, just set Allie into an awful mood a soon as she stepped behind the bar.
The patrons of the bar had been rowdier than the usual Thursday night crowd, and she had called the bouncers over to break up two fights before it was even six PM, and she just had a feeling that the night was going to spiral downwards.
What made this week even worse was that Bea had been away visiting her grandmother in New Zealand. She had taken Debbie along with her, which meant that she had been alone in the house all week—if Allie was honest, it was depressing the hell out of her, and she wished she had taken up Bea’s offer to go with them.
When Bea had left the previous Thursday, she had been hesitant to go, knowing that Allie didn’t fare well on her own. Still, Allie had done everything to convince her that she would be fine—this had meant agreeing to call her at least twice a day, which Allie had already planned on doing.
The only thing Allie hadn’t factored into this was how hard she would find it to sleep without Bea by her side. Since they had started dating six months ago, they had spent a total of zero nights away from each other. The familiar scent of Bea on the right side of the bed helped a little, but she still felt at a loss knowing the other woman wasn’t there.
The only thing that had kept her from total collapse at work was knowing that by the time she got home, Bea would be there waiting for her. The redhead had told her that their flight was getting in at six PM, and Allie had advised Bea to go straight home, not wanting to bring Debbie into the bar, it wasn’t the best place for a fifteen-year-old. Even though she knew it would be late when she got in and that Bea would most likely be asleep, she was just excited to cuddle up to her girlfriend, knowing that for the first time in a week she would sleep soundly.
Walking around the bar, Allie expertly picked up the pint glasses, stacking them on top of each other and weaving in and out the crowd that gathered around the stage. Despite how busy they were, Allie’s favourite nights to work were their Thursday open mic nights. She had always had some connection with music, even played the guitar herself when she was in her early teens, so she loved hearing the raw songs people playing.
“Oi! Watch it!” a guy said as Allie’s shoulder clipped his.
Allie mumbled her apologies as she walked back towards the bar. Once behind the bar again, she stacked the glasses in the washer and sent it off on its cleaning cycle before she started to wipe the bar down.
“Can I get a pint?”
Allie looked up, seeing the guy from a few minutes ago and she refrained from rolling her eyes. “Sure thing.” She slung her cloth over her shoulder and picked a pint glass up, pulling the lever expertly. “Do you sing?” she asked, nodding towards the stage.
“Nah, just here to support a friend.” When Allie put the pint on the bar, he forked over the cash. “Can I get your number?”
Now Allie had to try her hardest not to roll her eyes, this was the only part of the job she hated—she knew the guy would either accept no for an answer and walk away, or he would just harass her until she was forced to threaten the bouncers or cops on him. She wasn’t in the mood for the latter. “I’m taken.”
“I’m sure he won’t mind.”
Allie rolled her eyes and sighed, “She,” she corrected. “She is waiting for me at home, and I’m perfectly fine with that.”
The guy shrugged his shoulders and picked up his pint. “Your loss, sweetheart,” he said before walking away.
“It really isn’t,” she mumbled to herself.
The next hour passed by without incident, Allie stayed behind the bar serving pints and mixing up a few cocktails for a group of girls that had come ten minutes ago. She hadn’t served anyone since the group of women, so she took the free time to send a quick message to Bea:
Hope you and Debs are home safe. My shift finishes in five hours, so don’t wait up for me.
As she pushed her phone into her back pocket, she walked back out onto the floor to pick up more glasses, leaving Mon and Lou behind the bar. As she weaved between the tables, picking up empty glasses on her way, the guy from earlier managed to corner her at the back of the room.
“Hello again, pretty lady,” he slurred, he put his hand on the wall behind Allie, trapping her.
“I told you. I’m taken,” she deadpanned. She tried to duck under his arm, but he moved quicker than she could, using his body to block her. “Come on, man, let me get to back work.”
“I think,” he leaned into Allie’s face, “We should get out of here and go back to my place.”
Allie had honestly had enough, so she dropped the three glasses she held, wincing as they broke at her feet because she would rather pay to replace them then let this guy get in her face. Placing her hands on the guy’s chest, she used all the force she could muster and pushed him back. “Look, man, I said back off.”
The guy stumbled, but when he regained his balance, he charged towards Allie, pinning her to the wall, his forearm against her throat. He moved his arm and grabbed her face, his nails digging into her cheeks and planted a wet kiss on her lips.
Allie squirmed under his touch, and she raised her knee, hitting him in the crotch. As he doubled over in pain, she raised her knee again, hitting him in the face. “I told you to fuck off!”
The man stood up straight, wiping his now bleeding nose with the back of his hand. “Fuckin’ bitch,” he yelled, he balled his fist and punched Allie, hitting her eye.
Allie fell back from the force of the punch, sliding down the wall. She lightly touched her eye, wincing at the pain. Before the guy could assault her again, two security guards hauled him back. She stood up, kicking the broken glass to the side and made her way back to the bar.
When Lou saw the slowly bruising eye, she grabbed one of the ice packs, throwing it at Allie, who caught it and put it straight on her eye, wincing at the cold. “You okay?” she asked.
“I’m sick of pricks like him thinking they can take what they want,” Allie said through gritted teeth. Allie turned to the back of the bar, inspecting her eye in the mirror along the back wall—a small cut under her eye, and it was already bruising, she was in for a field day when she got home.
“Look,” Lou said, “It’s winding down, why don’t you get yourself home?”
“You’re already one person down,” Allie said.
“Call it a favour.”
“Are you sure?”
“Just cover me one day, and we’ll call it even.”
Allie didn’t need to be told twice. She gathered her belongings from the locker room and headed out to her car, thanking Lou again as she walked through the crowded bar. When she exited the bar, the two bouncers on the door asked how she was. She kept it brief, telling them that it wasn’t the worst she had ever received at the hands of a customer, but she was happy to be going home.
Despite being happy that she was going home, Allie was still in a bad mood. The drive from the bar to the house was driven in silence, and a part of her brain wished that Bea wouldn’t be there when she got there—she didn’t want to explain how she ended up with a black eye, because she knew that Bea would never leave her side again.
If Allie was honest with herself, that was one thing she loved the most about Bea—she was fiercely protective. It was never in a controlling or manipulative way, but in way that she didn’t like seeing those she loved hurt. Allie knew Bea had been through a lot, most of her life had been spent under the thumb of an abusive husband—but she’d fought hard to get out, so hard that it had almost killed her, but she had survived. She was the strongest person Allie knew, to go through all that and to bring up an incredible daughter, well Allie classed that as a superpower of some sort.
By the time Allie arrived back at the house, her bad mood had subsided a little, but when she saw all the lights in the house turned off, she was relieved that maybe Bea and Debbie had got an early night—at least that way she wouldn’t have to explain her eye until the next morning.
Walking into the house, she dropped her keys in the bowl at the front door and kicked off her shoes to the side. Making a beeline for the kitchen, Allie knew she needed to get something cold on her eye to bring down the swelling, so she pulled a bag of peas out the freezer, holding it to her very painful eye.
Allie stood in the dark kitchen for a while, so deep into her thoughts that when Debbie came running into the kitchen a few minutes later, Allie almost screamed.
“Jesus, Deb,” the blonde said, holding her hand on her chest—she could feel her heart pumping faster than it should be.
Debbie flicked on the light switch, illuminating the kitchen. “Aren’t you supposed to be working–” The teen’s sentence cut short when she saw the bruise on Allie’s eye. “Mum is not going to be happy,” she said.
“I was hoping you’d both be asleep,” Allie said quietly, she hated that she admitted that out loud.
Debbie opened the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water. “She missed you, you know,” the teen admitted. “Actually wouldn’t shut up about you.”
Allie’s heart warmed at Debbie’s words, she knew Bea loved her, but she always wondered to what extent. Bea hadn’t been the only one with an unpleasant past, and Allie was still waiting for the other shoe to drop—for Bea to up and leave her for someone far better.
Their relationship had gotten off to a rocky start, neither of them wanting to admit much about their past. Allie had been the first to open up, and she had expected Bea to run off like most people—a history of heavy drug addiction and prostitution wasn’t the first thing people looked for in a partner. Somehow Bea had seen past that, seeing Allie for who she was now rather than who she used to be.
“Is she still up?” Allie put the peas back in the freezer.
“Yeah, she’s in the bath.”
Allie told Debbie that she’d be back down for a late dinner shortly before she turned to the stairs, taking them two at a time. As she walked towards the master bedroom, the room she and Bea shared, she could hear faint singing. The blonde smiled sadly, knowing that Bea only sang when she was in a happy mood, and Allie knew that her appearance was likely to ruin that.
Standing in the threshold between the bedroom and bathroom, Allie took a minute to admire her girlfriend. Even sat in the bath, with bubbles all around her, Allie couldn’t help but stare at Bea—she was beautiful. When Bea sat up, the bubbles rolled down her back, and that’s when she saw it—the clingfilm taped to her shoulder and a tattoo sitting underneath.
“Is that what I think it is?” Allie said.
Bea turned quickly, for a split moment, thinking an intruder was in her house, but when she saw Allie standing in the doorway, she visibly relaxed.
“I thought you were visiting your grandmother, not tattoo parlours.”
Bea tried to think of a quick retort to Allie’s statement, but her words fell short when she saw the cut and bruise on her girlfriends face. “What the hell happened?” Bea stood up to get out the bath, wanting to tend to the wound, but Allie quickly closed the distance between them, putting her hands on her shoulders and easing her back into the bath. “Who did this to you?”
Allie pressed a quick kiss into Bea’s hair before settling herself on the side of the bathtub. “I’m fine. It looks worse than it is.”
“Who did it?” Bea repeated.
“If I tell you, will you calm down?” When Bea nodded, Allie chuckled. “I was collecting glasses, and some guy cornered–”
“Where were the bouncers? They’re there to keep you safe,” Bea rambled.
Allie raised a brow at Bea, waiting until she stopped speaking. “As I was saying, some guy cornered me, and asked me out,” Allie saw Bea physically deflate. “But I told him I wasn’t interested, so he got physical. I gave as good as I got, trust me, he walked out of there with a broken nose.”
“Really?” Bea twisted so she could prop her arms up on the side of the tub, resting her head on her forearms as she looked up at Allie.
“Really,” Allie stressed.
“You’re sure you’re fine?”
Allie ran her fingers through Bea’s curly locks, “I’m sure.”
Despite Allie telling her how fine she was, Bea could see that she wasn’t. She had spent years hiding behind fake ‘I’m fines’, and she could spot someone doing it from a mile away. Not wanting to push Allie into talking about her bad night more, Bea reached up, placing her hands on either side of Allie’s face and pressing her lips onto the blondes in a gentle kiss, both of their eyes slipping closed. Allie ran her fingers up and down the exposed skin of Bea’s forearm, happy to finally be touching her no matter how innocent the touch.
Bea pulled back, watching as Allie’s whole demeanour changed, the bad mood slipped away slowly, a dopey, shit-eating grin gracing her face. “Better?” she asked.
Allie nodded, leaning down to press a quick kiss on Bea’s nose. “Definitely, but I’d feel a whole lot better if you’d let me join you.”
Bea repeated her earlier actions, shifting up to meet Allie’s lips with her own. The kiss was quick, but Bea’s hands stayed in their place. “That sounds like a wonderful idea.”
As Allie tried to stand up, she stayed rooted on the side of the bath, Bea’s hands holding her in place. She saw a mischievous look flicker Bea’s dark brown eyes, and then she bit her lip. “Bea, no.”
“Allie, yes,” Bea said quickly. Shifting upwards again, she placed a kiss on the corner of Allie’s mouth followed by three more kisses along the prominent jawline. The redhead could feel Allie trying to pull away, but she pushed blonde hair behind Allie’s ear and kissed just under her ear, knowing that Allie would melt at that one touch. Taking advantage, knowing that Allie wasn’t paying enough attention, Bea yanked the blonde forward, pulling her into the tub fully-clothed.
Allie splashed about, trying to find which way was up, but all she could see was mountains of bubbles obscuring her view. When she finally found her ground, she saw Bea laughing hysterically—god she loved her laugh. Pulling her legs into the tub, Allie sat cross-legged across from Bea, she couldn’t even be mad at the woman because she would have done the exact same if the roles were reversed—instead, she used her hands, splashing water and bubbles up at Bea.
Bea used her arms to shield herself from Allie’s attack, splashing back when she could. Allie used Bea’s lack of vision to her advantage, grabbing both of the redhead’s legs and pulling her forwards, resting the legs over her own.
Bea squealed as Allie pulled her, her hands finding the side of the tub to regain her balance. The redhead loved how comfortable she felt around Allie, after years of fearing whether or not she was doing the right thing, she was content in her new-found sense of self.
Her hand found it’s way back to Allie’s cheek, the pad of her thumb gently brushing over the small cut under the blondes eye. “I’m sorry you got hurt.”
Allie leaned into the touch, pressing a kiss to Bea’s palm. “I’m better now you’re here.”
Three hours later, Allie was waiting for Bea to climb into their bed. After their bath, Allie had ordered pizza for everyone, and they had let Debbie pick a cheesy movie to watch while they ate.
Debbie had sat in the one-seater chair, her legs slung over the sides, her body twisted in a way only a teenager would find comfortable, and she had her plate full of pizza rested on herself. Bea had resigned herself to the bigger sofa, sitting with one leg tucked under herself, while Allie took up the rest of the sofa, her head resting on Bea’s bare thigh.
Allie hadn’t cared for the movie Debbie picked, she had seen it way too many times before, but she was content in spending time with her girlfriend and her daughter, so she had laid there, slowly dozing off.
Bea had been the one to wake her up, she had all but dragged a very sleepy Allie back up the stairs, letting her drop straight into bed. The redhead had gone into the bathroom to brush her teeth quickly, and when she returned, Allie was almost fast asleep again. She climbed into the spacious bed, Allie stirring at the movement.
“Hi,” Allie said softly as she closed the space between her and Bea. She draped her arm across the redhead’s waist, resting her head on her chest.
Running her fingers through blonde locks, Bea couldn’t help but smile—she didn’t think she would get a love like this, not in this lifetime. Allie coming into her life had been accidental, she had fought against the blonde’s feelings in the beginning, thinking she wasn’t worthy of any love but Debbies, but now Bea couldn’t imagine her life without Allie.
“Why did you get it?” Allie asked.
“Get what, love?”
“The tattoo.”
Bea had to be honest—she hadn’t set out on her trip to get a tattoo. It was only when her grandmother mad mentioned the date that she had decided it was time to change the meaning of the day.
“On Friday, it was exactly five years since I almost died,” Bea explained, “So I decided that I didn’t want the day to mean something so sad anymore, so I went full mid-life crisis and got my first tattoo.”
“What did you get?”
“Debs chose it. It’s a seahorse.”
"Did you know seahorses like to swim in pairs? They link tails, so they don’t lose each other.”
Bea pulled the younger woman in tighter, “Funnily enough, that’s the same thing Debbie said when she chose it.”
“Smart kid,” Allie murmured.
Bea rested her head against the headboard and sighed. She was lucky, so goddamn fortunate that someone like Allie had walked into her life. “I love you, beautiful girl,” she whispered, leaning forward to press a kiss into Allie’s hair.
“I love you, too.” Allie shuffled a little, looking up at Bea. “Thank you for coming home to me.”