Secrets and Lies ||mildie/sillie||

Chapter 16

Later that morning, Sadie woke up alone in Millie's bed, and wandered downstairs to find Kelly in the kitchen. "Morning Sadie, Millie's out the back" she said, with a genuine smile.

"Morning, thanks" replied Sadie, stifling a yawn. She made her way to the French doors, picking her way carefully over the still sleeping bodies of the guys, and watched as Millie played with Ava in the garden. Sadie noted how happy Millie looked, smiling and laughing, she clearly loved Ava dearly and gave her random hugs and kisses whenever she caught her. She watched as she picked Ava up in her arms and rested their foreheads together, before putting her down and tickling her. Millie glanced up and found Sadie was watching them, she suddenly looked self-conscious and unsure of herself, clearly feeling vulnerable from last night's events. Sadie's heart dropped, she didn't want to have this effect on her, so she quickly made her way outside and, walking up to Millie, grabbed her hand and gave her a reassuring smile. Ava ran up and stared at Sadie, who decided to crouch down to her eye level, pulling Millie with her. "Hey, I'm Sadie, remember me? I'm Millie's friend."

Ava looked at Sadie and Millie holding hands and giggled, "Millie girlfriend" she stated, before running off again.

Millie dropped Sadie's hand in shock, looking awkward, "I, uh..." She was interrupted by Sadie grabbing it again and pulling her up so they were standing. Leaning in she gave her a gentle kiss, it was over in seconds, and when she pulled away Millie looked calm and had a shy smile on her face.

"Millie's girlfriend?" said Sadie, looking her in the eye, "I like the sound of that."

Millie just blushed and looked down. She was finding it hard to let someone into her life, so unaccustomed to trusting someone other than her family and close friends. Sadie was breaking down all the walls she'd build up to protect herself, making her feel so vulnerable, but looking back up and meeting Sadie's adoring gaze washed away that feeling in an instant, leaving behind a sense of hope that was growing all the time.

Kelly had been watching them from the house. Sadie introducing herself to Ava, Millie being afraid of the idea of a relationship, Sadie making her feel at ease. She smiled as she locked eyes briefly with Sadie, grateful that she was there, helping her daughter learn to trust again.

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By the time they went back inside, the guys had all woken up and were wolfing down the full English breakfast that Kelly had prepared. "Man, these breakfasts are reason enough to move to England" stated Gaten between mouthfuls, causing the rest of the gang to laugh.

"You girls hungry?" she asked, indicating the food that was still left.

"Yeah, I'm famished" replied Millie, loading up her plate. "Sadie? You want some?"

"Yeah...maybe not as much as you though" she said smiling, indicating to Millie's plate and smirking at the mock offence on her face.

"Hey...is there any left?" asked Gaten hopefully, his plate literally licked clean.

"Nope" replied Millie, putting the last piece of bacon on her plate and sticking her tongue out.

"So, what are we going to do today?" Noah asked, when all the plates were clean. "Anyone got any plans?"

Everyone shook their heads. "Honestly, after last night, something quiet would be nice" said Finn. Millie looked at him, almost apologetically, "no, it's not your fault" he said, taking her hand.

"How about we go for a walk somewhere? Just get out of here and chill out, get some fresh air" suggested Noah.

"Yeah, sounds good" replied Finn, "where shall we go?"

"See where the road leads us" said Caleb mysteriously, everyone else just shook their heads and chuckled.

"I'm going to have to give it a miss" said Sadie, "I really should show my face at home, mom's pretty relaxed as long as I text, but, you know." She saw that Millie looked a little disappointed, and secretly hoped it was because she wanted to spend more time with her. Looking at her she said "you could come...if you like."

Millie's face broke into a grin, "y-yeah, that'd be good...really good." Her face went red as she realised everyone else was watching their interaction, her mom smiling at the pair, so she glared at them to stop and got up to leave the room. "I'm going to get dressed, Sadie, do you want to borrow some clothes?"

"Oh, yeah, that'd be great, thanks" she replied. They left the room together, leaving Kelly and the boys exchanging knowing grins.

"We're gonna head off now aunt Kelly, we'll see you soon" said Finn.

"Alright, you boys take care" she said, "and, boys?" They all looked up expectantly, "thank you, for last night." They all smiled a small smile as she pulled each one into a grateful hug as they left.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~*

"Mum, we're off now" Millie informed Kelly.

"Milllliieeeeee?" they heard from the doorway.

"What is it little bean?" asked Millie, smiling.

"Huggle!" Millie held out her arms and picked her up into a tight hug. "No, Sadie" she said, pointing.

"Oh...ok" said Sadie nervously, copying Millie's actions. Ava and Kelly waved them off as they made their way to Sadie's house in the next road.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Even though the journey was short, Sadie noticed a change in Millie. "Are you ok?" She nodded and gave a small smile, but Sadie was unconvinced. "Are you nervous?" Millie nodded again, this time much more believably. Sadie smiled and took her hand, "I understand, but my mom's really nice, I promise...and if she likes you even half as much as I do, well then, she's...she's going to love you." They'd stopped walking at this point, having reached Sadie's front door, but her comment had taken things to a level Millie hadn't been expecting and didn't know how to deal with. Unable to find the right words to respond with, Millie did the only thing she knew would convey how she felt, she pulled Sadie's hand and, using her other hand to grab her waist, brought her close enough to kiss her softly. A kiss that Sadie readily returned...and then some.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~*