I did it, you wanker
Marlene had come into the bookshop and went straight to the books without going over to Dorcas.
Luckily it was busy, so Dorcas wouldn't see Marlene till she was at the counter, buying a book. Which gave her ample time to choose what book to get.
She looked up a list of popular lesbian books that Dorcas would likely recognise and realise Marlene was a lesbian from.
She looked for books on the list, and found a few. One of those being, The Miseducation of Cameron Post. Marlene had seen the film version of the book, which made her choose this book.
She walked over to the till, joining the queue. After around a minute, Marlene was next in the queue and Dorcas looked up to see her.
"Hi."
"Hey. I'd like to buy this."
Dorcas froze at the image of Marlene buying a book, "I thought you didn't read? Is it a book about football?"
Marlene shook her head, "Nope. Just a fictional book. I saw the film and it was good."
Dorcas nodded and took the book from Marlene without looking at the title.
"Would you like a bag?" They asked.
"Sure."
Dorcas remembered their promise they made a few nights ago and internally swore.
They grabbed a scrap bit of paper and a pen, as Marlene checked a message on her phone. Dorcas quickly wrote a small note and slipped into the front page of the book before putting it into the bag.
"Here you go."
Marlene took the bag, "thanks. I'll see you later."
"Bye", Dorcas smiled.
Marlene left the store and messaged James.
Marlene: I did it, you wanker
James: I'm so proud of you marls!! go get your bookshop lover!!
Marlene: 🖕🖕
She got onto the bus, and made her way to her apartment.
As she opened the front door, Sirius looked out from the kitchen.
"Where'd you go?"
"Your mum's house."
She heard Sirius' laughter from the kitchen as she ignored them to go to her bedroom.
She left the paper bag by her door, and pulled out the book to put it on her shelf. Joining her only other book, inverting the pyramid: the history of football tactics. She moved a few funko pops, football trophies, and photos of her friends to make room for it.
She left the bedroom and sat on the sofa, turning on the tv. Sirius joined her, placing a tray of brownies on the small table in front of them.
"Remus and Pete gonna kill you for making these while they're at work."
Sirius shrugged, "their fault for having a stable job."
Marlene snorted, and picked up a brownie.
"So… I saw you had a bag when you came in?"
"How observant."
"What'd you buy?" Sirius said, smirking slightly.
Marlene rolled her eyes and scrolled through netflix, "A book."
"You don't usually read", Sirius grinned.
Marlene sighed, "You talk to James too much."
Sirius shrugged, "what book did you choose, then?'
"Miseducation of Cameron Post."
They nodded in acceptance, "good choice. I didn't know it was a book."
Marlene shrugged, "apparently."
"Did they pick up on it?"
"I'm not too sure, but I'll buy another book in a couple of days."
♡♡♡
"Mary! Em! You in?" Dorcas shouted, as they unlocked the front door.
After a moment, Mary shouted back, "I'm in the lounge! Just got back."
Dorcas made their way to the lounge and sighed as they flopped onto the couch.
Mary raised her eyebrow, and paused from looking through her back in search of something.
"What are you doing here?" She asked.
Dorcas shrugged, "I don't know."
"Want some food? I was just about to reheat some leftovers"
Dorcas nodded and Mary got up to reheat some food.
Dorcas got out a book they had brought from the store and tried to focus on reading it. But their mind kept imagining Marlene, going to read her own book and finding the note.
Mary came back in, with two plates of lasagne.
Dorcas thanked her and started eating, their mind still drifting to the thought of Marlene and the note.
"I did it", They said, staring at the food in their lap.
"Did what?"
Dorcas shut their eyes and leaned further back into the sofa, "She came in and brought a book. So I wrote the note."
"What'd you write?" Mary gasped, sitting up straighter in her chair.
"I just wrote that I liked her and then I asked her on a date."
"Well… hopefully she reads the book soon." Mary said, which Dorcas wholeheartedly agreed with.
♡♡♡
"Back again so soon?" Dorcas asked as Marlene came strolling into the bookshop.
Marlene nodded and gestured to Remus who waved to Dorcas before pulling a book off a shelf and sitting down with it in his lap.
"How are you finding your book, then?" Dorcas asked, hoping Marlene had started reading it so she would have seen the note.
Marlene hummed, "It's great. Maybe I'll start reading more books that aren't just about sports tactics."
Dorcas' excitement slowly dropped. If Marlene had started reading the book, she should have seen the note. Unless she was purposely ignoring it, or maybe she just hadn't noticed it.
"Cas? You alright?" Marlene asked, as Dorcas zoned out into their thoughts.
Dorcas nodded, "Yeah. I'm fine. Are you planning on buying any more today?"
"Probably."
Dorcas smiled, "I'll leave you to it then."
As Dorcas left, Marlene pulled up the list of books on her phone and searched for some of them.
She soon found a book of Sappho poetry. Maybe Dorcas hadn't watched or read the previous book. But Sappho was extremely well-known and iconic. Even Marlene knew her, even without reading her poetry.
She picked the anthology up and brought it to the desk, where Dorcas currently sat.
Marlene headed over and placed the book on the counter with a grin on her face.
Dorcas smiled back and took the book, without looking at the title or author. To distract Marlene from seeing them write the note, Dorcas asked whether Marlene was going to stay in the shop with Remus or not. They ducked under the counter, where the bags were stored, to write the note out of Marlene's eye.
Marlene shook her head, "Nope. I've actually got football practice soon, I'll talk to James about you trying out when I get there. Of course, I'm going to stop by the cafe to buy a muffin first."
"Of course", Dorcas laughed as they finished writing the note and stood back up. They slipped it into the book before putting it into a paper bag.
Marlene took the handles of the bag and winked at Dorcas before waving, "Bye."
"Bye", Dorcas waved back.