Sequins and Shots - Book Three of the Café Latte Trilogy

Part Three: Chapter 6

Hi loves, hope you enjoy! I'm enjoying writing this part because it shows different perspectives on what happened in Fire and Freedom.

Love, Cam

♡ 

Part Three, Chapter Six

Harper

For a time, everything was oddly peaceful. I went to therapy. I went to HIV groups. Edward came with me at first, but after a while I felt ready and comfortable to do it by myself. He was right, of course. It did help.

Raven and I spent more time together, because Ross was going out less and less, and so we also went out less and less. Honestly, had it not been for Ed's drag shows, we probably wouldn't have gone out to the clubs at all, but I enjoyed going for the purpose of watching Ed's drag rather than going to keep Ross company while he avoided healthy coping mechanisms.

"You're not fooling anyone, you know," Raven told me one day, as we watched Sapphire sparkle her way across the stage. We were by ourselves; Jasper, Tom, Rory, and Cyri were currently absorbed in their final stages of the university application process, Ross was 'supervising' them, which mostly involved making snarky comments and keeping everyone supplied with caffeine, and Jenny and Lucie were on a date night elsewhere.

"Not fooling anyone with what?" I asked.

Raven nodded towards the stage. "Ed. You. Your endless dance around each other."

I blushed, and said, "I'm still proving to Edward that I can be a decent friend and good to myself, let alone anything else."

"I think you're both full of it," Raven snorted, and sipped her cocktail. "You should have seen him in the hospital, Harper. At one point Jasper asked him if he was okay, and he replied 'I'm irrelevant'."

My heart gave a horrible jolt at that. "God," I said, feeling a cloud of guilt descend. "I'm going to have to work really hard to prove that I can be a decent friend, fucking hell."

"That's not what I meant," Raven quickly interjected. "I just meant that... well, I don't think any of Ed's actions are just because you're friends. We all want you to be good to yourself, and heal, and make better choices. But... you and Ed have always been different, babe."

She wasn't wrong. We had always been different.

"We didn't work before," I said, my mouth feeling weirdly numb as I said the words.

"Well, no," she allowed. "But I daresay most relationships at nineteen don't work, and the second time you tried it came off the heels of Harper cheating on his boyfriend with you. Neither of you were in a good place."

"We're not in a good place now," I pointed out.

"I'm not saying fall into each other's arms," Raven mused. "I'm just saying... I don't think you two can go on ignoring your feelings for each other. Maybe now isn't the right time. Maybe you've got stuff to work on, and maybe that's a bad foundation for a relationship. But it doesn't stop you feeling the way you do, does it?"

"No," I acknowledged, and the music started to kick up a bit, Sapphire's dress sparkling as she twirled around. Ed and Sapphire were often so vastly different, especially when it was just Ed and me alone, but their laugh was the same. Loud, unapologetic, beautifully open and dazzling. Much like the person and the drag persona.

"I'm rooting for you," Raven said, surprising me. She shrugged when I looked at her. "What? I can't ship people? I think once you've gotten the twenty layers of bullshit out of the way, at your cores, you make a really lovely couple."