Missing [ST]

Eighty One

*Mature content*

Fourteenth of February: Valentine's Day

The perks of being best friends with someone for about eight years, was knowing when something was amiss.

It didn't take much to find out Tina was dating a guy; Leah actually got that information out fairly swiftly after her birthday back in November, so that wasn't a plausible explanation almost three months on for secretive behaviour.

She'd met the mysterious Flynn when he had walked into the vet practice one day requesting his mother's dog's medicine, and then experienced his many excuses, and returns, in order to see her flatmate.

Tina's choice in men was questionable, and it was funny how neither of them had been in relationships for very long. Flynn though, with his shaggy surfer haircut and genuine smile, was ridiculously nice, didn't speak about himself in an arrogant manner, and when he looked at Tina, it could be interpreted that he adored everything she had to say.

Flynn stayed over at the flat occasionally, but since he worked in graphic design and sometimes stayed in various cities for a week at a time, Leah didn't have to endure happy couple scenes when the man she loved could only be contacted on a virtual screen.

Steven wasn't really mentioned, definitely not recently, and it became particularly awkward when Tina had blatantly told Flynn about him, because Leah overheard conversations about Aerosmith that trailed off when she appeared.

They were guilty, caught red-handed, and her anger was reasonably bending the trust she had for them.

This strange behaviour had begun probably just a few days after Leah returned from Boston after New Years, and where she had confided in her best friend about the details of the trip and everything else about Steven, it was soon to stop after an average Thursday they were at work.

Apparently, Leah wasn't allowed to mention Steven anymore, but Tina could talk about him behind her back with Flynn, and that was just dandy. So it was no wonder her mood was sour the moment she returned home, because at least work could keep her busy, and conversations, ninety per cent of the time, were professional.

"I'm staying with Flynn for the rest of this week."

Leah slammed her car door shut. A full day in the past would have made her look forward to going home, but now home was a living nightmare, and she couldn't remember the last non-awkward conversation she and Tina had had outside of work.

"That's it?" She was rounding the front of her car, coat being shrugged on aggressively. "This is how it's going to be?"

Tina had cast her eyes on her phone, slowly dropping her bag on her shoulder.

"Uh, what's it?"

Leah stared at the innocently lifting face which had the audacity to look past her to the entrance of their residence parking.

"Are you serious?"

Tina shrugged, phone lowering to her side.

"Serious about what?"

With her car keys denting her palm, Leah had to control the urge to start raising her voice.

"Right, so, you're just gonna skip off into the sunset with Flynn and never talk to me again?"

Finally, she had expressed something that offered some sort of empathy to unlock the expressionless responses.

"C'mon, that's not fair." Tina frowned, flouncing her posture.

Leah ignored it, and pushed on.

"I know you're hiding something from me, and I know it's about Steven," she continued, spiteful with the guaranteed truth. "What, did you read something in the news? Is he, I don't know, married with another kid on the way?"