Chapter 23
Keira
As Keira approached Heath Park, she didn’t know what to expect. Amelia had been nervous at training when she’d asked Keira to meet her this weekend. But she’d seemed happier and more relaxed than she had been recently.
Maybe that’s what happens when I’m not around and making things complicated for her.
The sun shone down through a cloudless sky, with a light breeze rustling the bare branches of the nearby trees.
Amelia hadn’t said where they were going or how long for, so Keira had wrapped up warm, but the unseasonably warm weather meant she was taking off her coat just before she reached the park.
“Hi,” Amelia said when Keira rounded the corner.
Amelia looked radiant, like she was attending a professional photo shoot, rather than just going for a walk in the park.
Her hair cascaded down in waves, the light glinting off it as if it was weaved with golden threads.
She wore a thick woolly jumper, with the shirt collar poking out the top, and jeans with fluffy boots.
Keira was so distracted by her beauty she caught her toe on a fallen branch.
Keira stumbled and braced for impact, but she needn’t have worried. Amelia took one step forward and deftly caught her. The warmth of her hands radiated through Keira’s hoodie. She felt massively underdressed. Steadying her, Amelia looked deep into her eyes with a smile.
“Thanks.” Keira laughed. Amelia gave her sides a little squeeze before letting go and turned to walk down the path. Keira easily fell into pace alongside her. A comfortable silence lingered as the breeze tickled Keira’s exposed skin.
“I wanted to talk to you,” Amelia began, her voice wavering slightly.
“Okay?” Keira replied, confused.
“I wanted to make it clear that what happened between us…the way I acted…it wasn’t anything to do with you.” Amelia exhaled slowly, then continued.
“Amelia, you don’t have to keep apologising—” Keira said.
“Please.” Amelia stopped walking and touched Keira’s arm. “Please, let me finish.” Her tone was simultaneously determined and uncertain. Keira nodded, and they resumed walking.
“I’ve been doing a lot of self-reflection over the last few weeks. I’m ashamed of how I behaved. I’ve always carried around this…boulder…of my parents’ expectations of always doing what’s expected, always toeing the line.”
They walked past the outdoor basketball courts in the centre of the park. Keira had initially wondered if Amelia had brought her here to shoot some hoops, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
“I was never ashamed of you, though,” Amelia stressed, bringing her hands in front of her, and fidgeting with them. “I was scared of making a mistake, but…you, us, we were never a mistake. I was letting my fear stop me from being happy. You made me happy.”
They rounded the corner and headed towards a nearby cafe. Keira’s heart beat harder in her throat. She wasn’t exactly sure what was happening. Like she was finally going to reach a mountain ridge’s peak, revealing an amazing view or a bottomless crevice for her to tumble into.
“Sorry. I’m rambling,” Amelia said. Keira hoped that was a sign it was okay to talk now.
“Thank you, for saying all that. But it wasn’t just you. At the first sign of trouble, I ran away. Both literally and figuratively.” She chuckled wryly.
“I think you ran because I pushed you,” Amelia said, sounding sad. Keira wanted so desperately to reach out and take her hand, and tell her everything was okay. That they were okay now. She could stop beating herself up over this.
“Anyway, I…I wanted to show you how sorry I am. And how serious I am. About us.” Amelia continued.
Keira’s heart beat even faster. She felt like she couldn’t breathe.
“I have a surprise for you,” Amelia said.
They approached the outdoor tables at the cafe. A lone figure at one of the far tables, with their back to them, stood and turned around. Keira's eyes went wide.
“Sonia?!” Keira dropped her coat on a nearby chair and sprinted to her friend for a hug. She ran into her so hard she nearly sent them both flying.
“Hey, Keira,” Sonia said quietly into Keira’s ear, squeezing her tightly like she never wanted to let go.
A wave of emotions flooded through Keira, and she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Sonia was here. Not in another country. Not several time zones away. She was here.
Keira picked Sonia up and spun her around, much to Sonia’s chagrin.
“What’re you doing, you lemon, put me down!” Sonia half laughed, half commanded in her Canadian accent.
“Sorry,” Keira said, not sorry at all. “What are you doing here?!”
Sonia looked towards Amelia, then back to Keira.
“I figured it was time to come and see the city you didn’t shut up about when we lived together.”
“But how, why now?” Keira was dumbfounded.
“You’ve got your girlfriend to thank for it.” Sonia took a step back. Keira looked between Amelia and Sonia.
“She’s not my girlfriend, Son,” she said awkwardly, glaring at Sonia while scratching the back of her head and flushing pink.
Amelia took a step towards her and took both her hands. Keira felt that familiar spark of electricity as soon as their hands met.
“But I could be, if you wanted me to be. If you’d give me another chance,” Amelia said earnestly, gazing into Keira’s eyes.
“You’re…you’re serious?” She didn’t want to believe the butterflies in her stomach. Wanted someone to pinch her. Her best friend was here, and the woman she…the woman she could love… was asking her to be her girlfriend. This couldn’t be real.
“As a heart attack.” Amelia laughed nervously, her hands restless in Keira’s grasp. Sonia respectfully turned around and wandered further away.
“Keira, I adore you. You make the world a brighter and more magical place, and you make me believe in myself in a way that I didn’t think was possible.
I think we have something really special.
” Amelia’s voice caught. “And I would really like to be your girlfriend. If you’ll have me.
I think we owe it to ourselves to see where this could go. ”
“Like…a proper relationship. No hiding?” Keira asked, not trusting what was happening.
“I’ll shout it from the rooftops if you’ll let me.”
Keira’s brain short-circuited. She searched Amelia’s eyes, looking for some kind of contradiction. But all she saw was affection, longing, and apprehension.
Keira couldn't wait a moment longer. She used their joined hands to gently pull Amelia towards her. Their lips met in an instant. Fireworks exploded in Keira’s chest. She wrapped her arms around Amelia’s waist and pulled her even closer, pressing their bodies together as she deepened the kiss.
The feel of Amelia’s warm, soft lips on her own sent tingles throughout her body.
It felt like her feet were no longer touching the ground.
Amelia placed a gloved hand on Keira’s cheek as she gently nibbled on Keira’s bottom lip, and Keira nearly melted on the spot.
Eventually, their kiss slowed, and they broke apart. Breathing hard, they pressed their foreheads together and held each other close, as a songbird chirped in a tree nearby.
“Can I take that as a yes?” Amelia asked.
“Definitely,” Keira said, kissing her again, more chastely this time.
When they pulled apart, neither of them could stop grinning.
“Right. As I have jet lag, and you two have…better things…to do,” Sonia interjected, walking over with her bag, “I’m going to go back to my hotel. I’ll catch up with you soon, though, Morgan, yeah?” Sonia said, smirking at Keira.
“Tomorrow?” she asked hopefully.
“Tomorrow,” Sonia said, then her gaze landed on Amelia. The warmth drained from her expression as she stared Amelia down.
“Remember what I said, yeah?” Sonia said sternly.
“I know,” Amelia replied. Sonia nodded.
“Catch you later!” she said over her shoulder as she walked away.
“What did Sonia say?” Keira asked, puzzled.
“Something about breaking both my legs if I hurt you again.” Amelia laughed nervously.
Keira still felt dazed. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she tried to catch up with what just happened.
“So…what now?” she asked, worrying that somehow Amelia would tell her it was some kind of sick joke and take it all away again.
“Now…" Amelia's expression changed from warm affection to something more pressing, something burning. "…we go back to my place?”
Keira swallowed. Her body had craved Amelia every second they'd been apart. She didn't need asking twice.
“Lead the way.”
Keira picked up her coat and they walked towards Amelia’s car hand in hand, stealing glances, checking the other was still there, and that this was real. Amelia squeezed Keira’s hand. She wasn’t going anywhere.
Amelia
Amelia captured Keira’s lips as they stumbled through her bedroom door.
She pushed Keira up against the wall and trailed kisses along Keira’s jaw and down her neck, nibbling lightly on the bare skin she found.
Keira growled in her ear, clawing at the hem of Amelia’s jumper.
Now that they had given their relationship the green light, every second felt like too long to wait.
Amelia took a step back and ripped her jumper off, then placed her hands on Keira’s waist and kissed her deeply once more.
She was struggling to believe this was actually happening.
She grounded herself by sneaking her fingers under the hem of Keira’s hoodie and tracing small circles on her sides, eliciting a shiver as she kissed her way to Keira’s earlobe, nibbling on it lightly.
She slowly wrapped her fingers around Keira’s hoodie and dragged it up and off her muscular frame, then returned to kissing her full lips.
“I’ve missed you,” Keira said softly, before weaving her fingers into her hair and deepening their kiss. She spun them around and pinned Amelia to the wall, lowering her hands to the button at the top of Amelia’s jeans.
“Clearly,” Amelia breathed.