Part 2
They tell the others that they found their home and that they only have to wait for a final answer now before they can have all of them them over for a visit. Dot insists on throwing a NYE party the next day to celebrate, saying that it will also be a way to introduce all of their co-workers and acquaintances to each other.
So here they are, the next day, with their house packed of strangers and alive with laughter, music and the clinking of glasses.
Fatin has invited a few people from her job at the music studio, but thank fuck none of them could make it. She honestly cannot stand these people.
Leah has invited two colleagues from the publishing firm she is currently doing an internship at while writing her book, and the rest of the girls have also invited friends and friends of friends.
The party is in full swing and Fatin spent the last hour mingling with people, but now she needs her dose of Leah-time. She looks around the kitchen and living room, but Leah is nowhere to be found.
Eyebrows furrowed, she steps outside and sees Leah by the other side of the pool, facing the house. She is sitting on the edge, dipping her feet and sipping on a cold beer. She seems lost in thought and Fatin hurries by her side. She walks around the pool and takes a seat next to Leah, their knees touching.
“Hey babe, what are you doing out here all alone?” Fatin asks softly, “we said no one outside to avoid some naked strangers in the pool remember?”
“Just needed a moment,” Leah says with a wry smile. “I’ve been thinking.. what if we don’t get the house?”
“Hey,” Fatin gently reaches out to grab Leah’s chin and tilts her head just enough to meet her gaze, “we will get it alright?” she says confidently.
Leah nods, taking a slow sip from her beer, “I’m gonna be so disappointed if we don’t get it. I just can’t stop thinking about it.”
Fatin’s heart aches. She knows how much this house means to Leah – to them. She wishes she could magically take all of Leah’s worries and give them to someone else – to fucking Jeff Pedo Galanis for example.
“I know you’re scared baby,” Fatin says and places her hand on Leah’s knee, “but thinking about that right now won’t do you any good. And fuck man, if we don’t get it, we’ll keep looking. As long as you’re right here with me by my side, I think anything is possible.”
“You always know how to calm me down,” Leah murmurs, squeezing Fatin’s hand.
“I’m just that good,” Fatin jokes, earning a chuckle from Leah. “How about I make you my special pink gin and tonic, and we start the New Year surrounded by our friends?”
“Only if you promise to take care of me if I throw up, because beer and gin do not mix well together.”
Fatin raises an eyebrow, a smirk tugging at her lips. She leans in just enough to tease, her voice dripping with playful sarcasm. “Oh, absolutely baby. I’ll hold your hair back, rub your back... maybe even make you some soup if you’re lucky,” she says, her eyes glinting with mischief. “But if you throw up on me? I might just break up with you and move in with Dot instead.”
Leah narrows her eyes, “I hate you.”
“I love you more my love,” Fatin says before standing up; she offers her hand to Leah to help her up, which Leah gladly accepts.
“Thank you for cheering me up,” Leah leans over to give Fatin a gentle kiss before hugging her tightly. “Oh my god, it’s Amanda!”
Fatin breaks the hug to furrow her brows at Leah, who is looking behind her. “What?”
“Inside, talking to Rachel! It’s Amanda, my ex-girlfriend from High School!”
“What?” Fatin exclaims once more, but louder than intended; she whips her head towards the kitchen.
Sure enough, Rachel is talking to some blonde girl. Fatin briefly knows about Amanda. She only saw her once or twice in High School (Fatin never really mingled with non-popular kids prior to the island stuff and after the island, she only stuck with Leah) and she knows Leah dated her for a few weeks before Jeff “I only fuck teenage girls” Galanis came along.
“I should go say hi right?” Leah says, snapping Fatin back to reality.
“Why?”
“Because she is in my house and I haven’t seen her in over four years?” Leah says with disbelief, “Are you jealous?” she smirks.
“No..”
“I thought you were finally owning up to your jealous side.”
“Fine I am!” Fatin exclaims, “Isn’t she the first girl you ever slept with?” Fatin glances at Amanda like she is an opponent at a tennis match.
“Babe,” Leah laughs, “I just want to catch up with her really quick alright?” Leah says and pulls Fatin in for another hug, “plus the sex was terrible.”
“Why didn’t you lead with that,” Fatin says, earning an eye roll from Leah, “let’s go, I’ll come with you.”
“Jealous Fatin is adorable.”
“I am hot and sexy, NOT adorable!”
They laugh together and walk to the kitchen where Amanda is still talking to Rachel. Fatin can’t help but think that Leah has amazing taste in women, because Amanda is gorgeous; not that she’ll ever admit that to Leah.
“Hey guys, this is Amanda, Sarah’s sister,” Rachel grins at Fatin and Leah. Sarah was Rachel’s girlfriend. No one was shocked when Rachel introduced the group to her girlfriend 2 months ago, because let’s be honest, besides Martha, they’re all a little bit gay. What was shocking was that Rachel was dating a girl who was 5 years older than them. Not that much of a big age difference, but now that Fatin thinks about it, maybe Leah never met Amanda’s sister before because she was already off to college; so she never made the link between the two of them, “Amanda, these are my roommates Fatin and Leah.”
“Amanda, hi,” Leah says and Fatin rolls her eyes at the way Amanda’s face lights up when she sees Leah. Fatin could totally take her, or at least win in an arm wrestle.
“Léa, oh my god,” Amanda says with a sexy French accent and of fucking course, Sarah is French so Amanda is also fucking French. Fatin remembers Rachel mentioning that Sarah’s parents moved to the U.S. from France when she was 20 years old, so Amanda must have been about 15 years old.
“You guys know each other?” Rachel says as Amanda leans forward to kiss Leah’s cheeks.
Fuck, Fatin forgot about French people and their weird ass way of greeting each other. Is a fist bump not more common nowadays? A wave of hand maybe? Finger guns?
“Yes, Léa was one of my girlfriends in High School,” Amanda says with a smile. “She was kind enough to show me around on my first day.”
One of her girlfriends? How many girls did this sexy French girl date?
“Oh wow,” Rachel smiles, “I’ll let you catch up then. I’m gonna go find Sarah.” Rachel smirks at Fatin knowingly, no doubt sending her jealousy, and Fatin can only scowl at her as she walks away.
“How have you been?” Amanda says and keeps staring at Leah, like Fatin is not standing right next to her right now.
“I’m good,” Leah smiles, “and this is my girlfriend Fatin.”
“Fatin, hello,” Amanda leans forward to kiss Fatin’s cheeks and Fatin rolls her eyes at Leah’s teasing smile.
“Hi,” Fatin musters her fakest smile.
“How come you’re in New York?” Leah says before taking a sip of her beer.
Fatin could really use a drink right now.
“I own a record label now; specifically for French artists trying to make it in the U.S.”
“Oh wow,” Leah grins and puts an arm around Fatin, “Fatin works at a music studio!”
“Really? Well I’m looking for someone to help me out right now, so if you’re ever bored at your current job, let me know,” Amanda smiles at Fatin and Fatin resists the urge to roll her eyes. She would rather share a cab ride with the sweatiest man on earth on a hot day rather than work with Leah’s ex-girlfriend. “Here’s my card,” Amanda hands Fatin her card and Fatin half-heartedly takes it.
“Thanks Amanda,” Leah says, “That’s so kind of you.”
“Well, I figured since you have such amazing taste in women, she must be amazing at whatever she does.”
Damn she is smooth. Fatin gets why she must have had tons of girlfriends in High School.
“I’ll let you know if I ever need anything,” Fatin keeps her fake smile on and Leah squeezes her shoulder lightly.
Leah and Amanda catch up for a few more minutes before Amanda goes off to look for her sister.
“You never mentioned that your ex Amanda had a sexy ass French accent,” Fatin says while making drinks for Leah and herself.
Leah laughs, “Why would that even come up? I think I only mentioned her once. That’s how irrelevant she was. She was always better as a good friend.”
Fatin narrows her eyes, “Okay good.”
“Can you stop being jealous now?” Leah teases and snakes her arms around Fatin’s waist from behind while Fatin works on their drinks. “It’s gonna be New Years in fifteen minutes and I cannot wait to make out with you.”
“Fine,” Fatin rolls her eyes playfully and tilts her head back to kiss Leah gently before going back to their drinks.
They join everyone else in the living room and start swaying to the music. Fatin puts her hand on Leah’s neck and takes a sip of her drink.
A few minutes later, everyone starts counting down to midnight. Fatin and Leah both put their drinks down.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
“Happy New Year, babe.”
“Happy New Year baby,” Fatin replies before snaking both arms around Leah’s neck and kissing her softly. Leah quickly deepens the kiss and pulls Fatin closer by the waist. Fatin welcomes Leah’s tongue in her mouth, the sweet taste of gin, mixed with Leah’s perfume, making her head spin. They make out shamelessly for a few minutes before being interrupted by their friends who wish them a Happy New Year.
“Happy New Year fuck face,” Toni grins and hugs Fatin.
Fatin rolls her eyes but a small smile plays on her lips, “Always so charming.”
“How beautiful is Leah’s ex though? That must be killing you.”
Of fucking course Rachel already told all of the girls about how Leah’s ex is in their house.
“Bitch do you really want to start the year with my fist to your face?”
“Damn, that jealous huh?” Toni teases and quickly scurries away to avoid Fatin actually punching her.
Leah joins Fatin after hugging all of their friends, “What was that about?”
“Oh nothing, just wishing Toni a healthy and beautiful Happy New Year.”
--
Two hours later, it’s just the eight of them left in the house. The place is a mess, but they all agree that the cleaning can wait until tomorrow. Everyone’s a little tipsy, still riding the buzz from the night, and they’ve settled into the living room, lazily sprawled across the couches, nibbling on the last of the snacks.
“I can’t believe this is the last New Year we’re celebrating together,” Nora says, her voice quiet and a little sad.
Leah, lying down with her head in Fatin’s lap, looks up at her, a smirk tugging at her lips. Fatin absentmindedly plays with Leah’s hair, her other hand gently resting on Leah’s stomach. “You do know if we get the house, it’s only a twenty-minute drive from here, right? We can still celebrate New Year together.”
“We’re still going to miss you guys,” Fatin says sadly.
And Fatin really will. The way that they instantly clicked and got into a routine when they moved in together will always amaze Fatin. Sure, they developed some discipline because of the island, but it didn’t mean that this whole living together in an actual house in actual civilization would work. Everyone knew how to help around for everything. If one of them was cooking, someone else was cleaning up the kitchen. If one person was handling laundry, someone else was mopping the floor. There was always someone there to help, always a rhythm to the chaos.
They just clicked.
“We’ll miss you guys too,” Dot says and squeezes Fatin’s shoulder.
Rachel groans and flops back against the couch, clearly wanting to change the subject. “Okay, enough with the sad pity party. Can we talk about the fact that Leah dated my girlfriend’s sister? That’s fucking weird.”
Leah’s voice rises from Fatin’s lap, “It was ages ago!”
“She is very beautiful,” Martha smiles.
“She’s fucking sexy,” Toni adds with a scoff, earning herself a sharp glare from Shelby. “I mean, what? Leah’s ex? Where? When?”
Fatin rolls her eyes, but Dot grins at her, “Fatin, I’m surprised you managed to keep your jealousy in check.”
Rachel’s laugh bursts out before Fatin can respond. “Are you kidding me? She looked like she was ready to fight Amanda for a croissant in a busy French bakery when she walked in with Leah to say hi,” Rachel says, barely able to stifle her laughter.
“Ha-ha, very funny, Reid,” Fatin deadpans, squeezing Leah’s hand. She tries to hold back a smile but fails when Leah starts snickering beside her.
“Her accent is so fucking sexy too,” Nora adds dreamily, and Fatin can’t help but laugh. She remembers Rachel’s first words about Sarah before introducing her to the group: “Fair warning, her accent is sexy.”
“Eh,” Leah says nonchalantly. “It’s not that great.”
“Leah come on,” Martha said in disbelief, “I am straight and even I find her accent really appealing.”
“Did you guys ever French kiss?” Toni blurts out, and Fatin scowls while the whole room bursts into laughter.
“French kissing a French girl. That’s funny,” Shelby chimes in, a sly grin spreading across her face.
“Alright, fuck you all, I’m going to sleep,” Fatin says, gently lifting Leah’s head so she can stand up.
“Babe!” Leah laughs, grabbing Fatin’s arm and pulling her back down onto the couch.
“Come on, Fatin,” Dot teases. “We’re just messing with you. We won’t get the chance to do this regularly once you guys move out.”
“Fuck, you’re right,” Rachel says, her voice almost serious for a moment. “I’m still going to annoy the shit out of you in the group chat.”
“What, more than you do now?” Fatin teases, raising an eyebrow.
“Fuck you.”
“Name the time and place babe,” Fatin winks.
“You’d like that wouldn’t you, you sexy beast,” Rachel smirks.
“Alright, we all know that it’s actually time to go to sleep when Rachel and Fatin start flirting with each other.”
With a collective sigh, the group starts to slowly drift toward their respective rooms; wondering what the year ahead holds for them.
--
The next morning, Fatin and Leah are tangled in each other’s arms; sound asleep when Fatin is woken up by her phone ringing.
“Ugh, who the fuck is calling me so fucking early?” Fatin groans, removing herself from Leah’s arms as smoothly as possible; her hand searching for her phone blindly. She pulls it from the table and squints at the screen, her brain still foggy.
Chloe – Realtor
“Fuck,” she mutters, blinking a few times before answering. “Hello?”
"Hi, Fatin, Happy New Year! I am so sorry to call you so early but I have fantastic news for you. The house you wanted? The one you’ve been dreaming about? It’s yours!" Chloe says in one breath and it takes Fatin a few seconds to process everything.
Fatin’s eyes go wide, and she freezes for a second, processing the words. She slowly sits up in bed, her heart racing. “Wait—what? Are you serious?”
Leah stirs besides her and lifts her head, her eyes still heavy with sleep but curious. Fatin holds up a finger, signalling for her to stay quiet. The sound of the Chloe’s cheerful voice comes through the phone, clearly excited, so Fatin puts her on loud speaker.
“Yes! Congratulations! The sellers accepted your offer, and the house is officially yours!"
Fatin doesn’t know what to say. She just stares at the phone in her hand, wide-eyed, before dropping it onto the bed with a thud. She looks at Leah and, without any warning, she flings herself at her, practically launching herself across the bed.
Leah is laughing with happiness and Fatin cannot help but join her, hugging Leah with everything she can muster on this early morning.
“Hello?” Fatin hears from the phone and her eyes go wide once again. She quickly releases Leah, and picks the phone back up.
“Yes, sorry Chloe! Just got a bit too excited there. When can we meet to sign everything?”
“How about tomorrow at noon at my office?”
“Sounds perfect, thank you for everything Chloe. And Happy New Year to you too.” Fatin hangs up and looks back at Leah. Her face hurts from smiling so much. “We got the house! We got the house, Leah!”
“We got the house!” Leah shouts, her excitement bubbling over as she flings herself at Fatin, knocking her back onto the bed in a tangle of limbs, both of them laughing.
Fatin hopes that they are not being too loud because, firstly, she doesn’t want to wake up their friends, and second, she wants to enjoy this special moment with Leah and Leah only.
Fatin can’t stop laughing, her heart full. “Yes! Yes, we got it baby! Our dream house! Oh my God, we’re actually going to live there!”
Leah pulls back slightly, but stays on top of Fatin and stares down at her, her face glowing with happiness, “I can’t believe it. We got our dream house!" She leans down to kiss Fatin’s nose, then her forehead, then her cheek, and finally her lips, giggling through every kiss.
“We’re totally painting the walls purple right?” Fatin jokes.
“Only if you let me cook every day,” Leah jokes back. “Best New Year’s Day ever,” Leah whispers, kissing Fatin’s cheek.
As they lay there, tangled up together, Fatin can’t help but think that, right now, in this very moment, everything about their future feels right. Their dream house was no longer just a dream. It was real—and it was theirs.
--
Over the next few months, they settle into their new home and get acquainted with a new routine. Fatin gets more responsibilities at work and tries to juggle these two big changes in her life as much as possible.
Fatin is currently sitting at the kitchen table, her laptop in front of her, just like every night for the past few weeks. Fatin has been working non-stop; Long hours at the office, late nights at home, her laptop practically welded to her fingertips. She has been telling herself that it’s just a busy season, that things will settle down soon, but she isn’t sure who she is trying to convince.
She has been feeling the some tension growing between Leah and her, but tonight it finally snaps.
“Babe, can you take out the trash please?”
“I’ll do it tomorrow morning,” Fatin says, eyes glued to her laptop, her fingers furiously typing away, “I’m kind of in the middle of something.”
“Of course, it can wait. You’re always in the middle of something,” Leah says, her voice filled with sarcasm. Fatin fingers freeze and looks up; Leah is standing in the doorway, arms crossed, and her face tight with irritation.
“What does that mean? I have work, you know that,” she says with a tilt of her head.
Fatin sees Leah take a deep breath before replying, “I know that, but lately, I feel like I’m doing everything alone. We haven’t eaten a home-cooked meal in weeks because you don’t have time to cook anymore. I clean up every night. I do all the chores every day.”
Fatin is taken aback by Leah’s tone. Where is this coming from?
“Work is just a little bit busy lately. They expect a lot from me.”
“I get that, but Fatin, you’re never home, and when you are, you’re glued to that laptop. You’re not even present anymore. We’ve been living in this new house for three months, but for the past two months, I’ve literally been doing everything myself, and it’s exhausting.”
“What do you want me to do? Quit my job?” Fatin says, feeling her anger flare inside of her.
Leah paces around the kitchen and Fatin watches her intently. “I don’t want you to quit your job. I want you to care about us. I want you to care about me. It’s not just about the house. It’s about us—about being partners. But you’ve been treating this place like a hotel, and I’ve been the one stuck cleaning up the mess. For fucks sake Fatin, we haven’t had sex in three fucking weeks!”
Fatin freezes. She hadn’t even realized that. But still, Leah has to understand that Fatin has a job and a boss that expects a lot from her right?
“I’m just trying to make a good impression at work, my boss is very demanding and you know-,”
“Fatin, it’s not normal to work this much!” Leah screams and Fatin stares at her, “I know it’s all demanding but that doesn’t mean you can check out of your life. You’re here physically, but you’re gone, Fatin. I’m trying to build a life with you here, but lately it seems like you don’t even care. All that matters is your job. You wake up and the first thing you do is go on your work phone, and the last thing you do at night is check your work phone. We can’t go a single weekend without your boss calling you.”
Fatin just sits there, her chest heaving with frustration, but she doesn’t know what to say. She’s been so caught up in her work, so consumed by the idea of success, that she hasn’t realized how far she’s drifted from Leah.
“I’m sorry Leah,” Fatin says sternly, “but my job is very important to me. I am trying to make a name for myself in this fucking industry, and if working hard is what it takes, then I have to do that.”
Leah wipes her eyes, her anger clearly turning to sadness. It breaks Fatin’s heart to see her like this, but she feels like she doesn’t have the right to reach out to Leah and wipe her tears right now. “I can’t keep doing this, Fatin. I feel like I’m invisible. Like I’m just here to take care of everything while you’re off in your work bubble,” Leah says sadly.
Fatin opens her mouth, but the words stick in her throat. She wants to apologize, to explain, but the weight of her own realization is too much to process. She just feels tired— tired of being misunderstood, and tired of being so consumed by her job that she’s forgotten what really matters.
Finally, Leah speaks again, her voice soft but firm. “I think I’ll sleep in one of the guest’s bedroom tonight. I need some space.”
Fatin nods slowly, the realization of how toxic her work has become finally settling in. She knows she’s been neglecting Leah, but it’s hard to admit how much it’s hurting them both.
“I… I get it,” Fatin says, her voice small, regret filling every word. “I’m sorry, Leah. I don’t know how I let it get like this.”
Leah gives a small, pained smile but doesn’t say anything. She turns and walks out of the room, her steps slow and heavy. Fatin watches her go, the ache in her chest growing as she realizes just how far she’s pushed Leah away.
She just hopes she hasn’t lost Leah.
Later that night, Fatin lies in their bed, staring at the ceiling. She feels a knot in her stomach. She can’t stop thinking about the look in Leah’s eyes—the hurt, the frustration, the exhaustion. It cuts deeper than any argument they've had before. They have never had a fight like this before. Sure, there were times on the island where things got a little violent, but Fatin always attributed that to the generally fucked up environment, along with built up sexual tension between Leah and her.
Now, she is lying in their bed, fucking alone and miserable and it’s all because she didn’t know how to balance her work and her life. She didn’t realize how toxic her obsession with her job had become. She thinks about it and Leah is so right. It’s not fucking normal to work so much, all for a pretty shit pay. Her boss expects her to do everything lately while she just sits on her ass all day. Fatin was so fixated on making a good impression that she let her boss take advantage of her kindness and hard work without even realizing it.
But she knows now.
After what feels like hours, Fatin finally throws off the blankets off of her and heads to the guest bedroom Leah is currently sleeping in. She takes a deep breath, and then knocks lightly, her voice small and tentative.
“Leah?”
Fatin opens the door despite not getting any answer. She glances inside, and Leah is nestled under the covers, facing the other way, her back facing the door.
She doesn’t move when Fatin enters.
Fatin’s heart aches at the sight. She hates that it’s come to this, that she’s the one who caused this distance. She walks slowly toward Leah, sitting down next to her on the bed. She’s quiet for a moment, trying to find the right words, but nothing seems right. Finally, she speaks; her voice soft but steady.
“Leah… I’m so sorry. I—I didn’t mean to make you feel like you’re alone in this. I didn’t mean to make you feel like I don’t care about you.”
Silence.
Fatin knows that Leah is still awake because she always snores when she sleeps. It’s one of Fatin’s favourite sounds.
“I fucked up,” Fatin continues, “I’ll make it right, I promise. I just need you to know that you’re the most important person in my life, and I love you so fucking much. I hate that we are going to sleep separately today, but I understand why you’re doing it. I just…” Fatin takes a deep breath to prevent herself from crying, “I love you okay?”
Fatin leans forward and gently kisses Leah’s cheek, whispering a “Goodnight baby” before heading towards the door.
Right as she is about the close the door, she hears the faintest “I love you too”. Fatin smiles softly.
Maybe they will be okay after all.
She just has to fix this fucking mess, by all means.
--
Fatin is sitting at the kitchen table the next day, waiting for Leah to come home from work. It’s almost 6 p.m, so Leah will be home anytime now.
Right on cue, Fatin hears the front door open. She doesn’t say anything. She waits for Leah to put her bag down.
Leah walks into the kitchen a few moments later and Fatin gives her a small smile.
“Hi.”
Leah stares at Fatin, then at the kitchen table. “What is all this?”
Fatin has prepared dinner, and fuck, Leah was right. Leah is always right. She hadn’t cooked in ages.
Fatin has set up the table, going all in with the candles and the wine as well. She was a piece of shit and needs to make it up. Hopefully this is a good start.
“I made us dinner and thought we could talk?” Fatin says with the smallest voice.
Leah doesn’t respond immediately, and Fatin can feel the walls between them still standing tall.
“Okay.”
For the first time in forever, Fatin cannot read Leah’s face, and that is a real testament of how much she screwed up. How could she let this happen? How could she let the best thing in her life slowly slip away because of some fucking job that treats her like shit?
Leah takes a seat and Fatin tentatively takes Leah’s hand (she is grateful that Leah doesn’t push her away), gently brushing her thumb over Leah’s knuckles.
“I want you to know how sorry I am. I was an asshole. I’ve been so wrapped up in work, so focused on making everything perfect there that I completely ignored what was right in front of me. You. I lost sight of what really matters. And it’s you, Leah. It’s always been you. I’m so sorry Leah.”
Leah stares at Fatin, her eyes soft but still guarded. “Fatin… it’s not just about the work. It’s about us. About you being here with me. I don’t need you to fix everything; I just need you to be present. To see me. I’ve been doing it all alone, and it feels like you’re not even here. Like you’re not even trying.”
Fatin’s chest tightens at the rawness of Leah’s words. She’s never wanted to make Leah feel that way—never. “I know. I’ve been so stupid, thinking I was doing what was best. But I wasn’t. I wasn’t giving you what you need. And I can’t do that to you anymore. So I found a solution.”
“What do you mean?”
“I quit my job,” Fatin says.
“What?” Leah screams.
“I quit my job. I realized how fucking toxic that job is. How fucking toxic my boss is. It almost made me lose you in the span of a few weeks and if that happened, I don’t know what I would do with myself.”
“Fatin,” Leah says softly, staring into Fatin’s eyes and squeezing her hand, “Honey, I never asked you to quit your job, I just-,”
“I know,” Fatin cuts her off, “I know. I just didn’t realized how drained I was as well from all the pressure of work. It doesn’t make sense for me to be working so much while my boss does jack shit all day. I was frustrated without even realizing it and I brought that frustration home every day, which is fucked up on so many levels. I don’t like that version of me. So I quit. I did not do that just for you, but also for me and for us; because nothing is more important for me in life than you. And to be fair, I hate all of these bitches working there as well.”
“Are you sure about this?” Leah asks, a worried smile on her face.
“I mean, I already quit so it’s a bit too late,” Fatin jokes and feels relief wash over her when Leah laughs, “but yeah, I am sure. I’ll find something else eventually. I’m actually relieved.”
“Okay,” Leah smiles. “I’ll support you no matter what, even if it takes you months to get a job, because that’s what a partnership is all about. Full support.”
“Even if one day I cut my own bangs and it looks terrible?”
Leah laughs, “You would rock any kind of bangs, babe.”
“You, my love, have clearly not seen my sixth grade pictures.” They laugh softly together before Fatin asks nervously, “can I kiss you?”
“Baby, you don’t have to ask,” Leah says before leaning across the table to meet Fatin in a sweet and soft kiss, “I love you. And thank you for making this romantic dinner.”
“It’s the least I could do to apologize for being a massive asshole.”
“Yeah you were kind of a dick huh,” Leah says and Fatin smiles wryly, “I was so scared that I lost you. I almost went paranoid over this whole thing.”
Fatin heart breaks at this. She was fucking scared too but Leah must have felt even worse, scared that she lost Fatin to her work life.
“I’ll do anything to make it up to you,” Fatin says and raises Leah’s hand to kiss it softly.
“Well,” Leah says, a teasing grin playing on her lips, “I hear make up sex is amazing.”
“Oh I definitely intend to make up for all the lost sex,” Fatin teases, “I’m going to make you scream my name all night long.”
“I better eat this delicious dinner to get some energy then,” Leah winks before they both dig in and share a beautiful meal.
--
They eat dinner, just basking in each other’s presence contentedly and Fatin once again feels grateful for having an amazing girlfriend.
As she finishes putting the dishes in the dishwasher while Leah scrolls through her phone (Fatin insisted that Leah not do any chores tonight), Fatin puts “Nothing’s gonna change my love for you” on her phone, letting it play softly.
She walks to Leah, whose head snaps up when the music starts playing. “Can I have this dance?” Fatin asks with a smile, holding out her hand.
“Is that a High School Musical reference?” Leah teases before standing up and taking Fatin’s hand.
“Of course it is,” Fatin huffs before snaking her arms around Leah’s neck and putting their foreheads together. Leah grabs her waist and they both sway to the music, letting the words of the song echo through the house.
“Oh my god, babe,” Leah says suddenly, “you should call Amanda!”
Fatin leans back and furrows her eyebrows, “What?”
“She owns a record label and said she could give you a job, remember.”
Fatin’s eyes light up. Her girlfriend is a fucking genius. She had honestly forgotten all about Amanda, for obvious reasons.
“Oh my god, you’re right! I’ll call her tomorrow.”
Deep inside, it kills her having to call Leah’s ex for help; although is it really help if it’s for a job? Amanda is hiring and Fatin needs a job. It’s a two way street right? It doesn’t matter; Fatin would do anything for Leah, even call her annoyingly hot ex.
“Great,” Leah grins before leaning in to kiss Fatin softly.
“Should I be worried that you thought of your ex-girlfriend and her super sexy French accent during this very romantic moment?” Fatin teases when they break apart.
Leah laughs and slaps Fatin on her shoulder, “I told you, I don’t think the accent is that great.”
“No fucking way babe,” Fatin says incredulously, “even though I am so fucking jealous, even I have to admit that, not only is she sexy, but her accent is even sexier.”
“Hmm, maybe I’m the one who should be jealous?,” Leah says with a raised eyebrow.
“Please, she is so not my type,” Fatin scoffs before adding with a teasing grin, “She seems way too sane for me. I like my women a little crazy.”
“Shut up,” Leah laughs but leans forward to kiss Fatin gently.
“I must say though, you have amazing taste in women, and it’s hard to believe you found someone even hotter than Amanda to spend your life with,” Fatin teases.
“Ah yes, and I like my women very humble,” Leah jokes before pulling Fatin in for a hug.
They sway together for a while, just holding each other in their kitchen’s soft light. Fatin knows that she still has a lot to do to rebuild what’s been strained, but as long as Leah is here, in her arms, everything is alright.