Corresponding Paths

[Stephanie Stark-West]

It had been more then a year now since Leigh and Tara had officially brought the Dinette. Stephanie Stark had been spending quite a bit of time there, when she wasn't working of course. Considering she worked with children however, she still managed to find a lot of free time. Most of the kids she worked with only took an hour or so, though sometimes she was with them for days, but she didn't complain, she did love kids after all. Makutu Dinette had been coming along quite well as far as Stephanie could tell. She was pretty sure she had tried everything on the menu at least once and she was a big fan of Tara's cooking. Often she just went there for breakfast, lunch and dinner, it was easy and she only lived in Obsidian Harbour anyway so she could pretty much walk there, it was like, five minutes from her house, though she had been known to just apparate right into the shop, she didn't do it very often however. Stephanie looked out of her window to note that it was getting dark and Leigh would surely be locking up by now. Steph had not shown up there all day today, because she was busy making preparations. She was planning to have a late dinner picnic with Leigh to celebrate the late year anniversary of the shop being one. Well, the shop had been around for longer then that, but it was renovated when the girls brought it and now it was more of a classy kind of place then it was originally. Not like a fast food joint and more like a cosy cafe. Steph rather liked it like that too.

Finally satisfied that everything was ready, Steph made sure she looked at least half way decent and headed out to make her way to Makutu Mall. She figured that they could have a picnic by the harbour or something. Steph wasn't really good at this, so she was kind of winging it, making it up as she went along, but hopefully she didn't stuff it up too badly. As she came closer to the Dinette, she noticed that the lights were still on, but that the door was closed, which meant that either Leigh and Tara were there cleaning up, or it was just Leigh. She knew Leigh was working today, she was usually always there, but seeing as she was the owner, she wasn't that surprised. She smiled at the thought and made her way over to the place and pushed on the door. It was unlocked. She made her way in and walked over to the counter. "Hey, I thought we might go and have a wine picnic after you are finished here. Sort of to celebrate the belated one year anniversary. What do you think?" She asked, bringing her hands around in front of her to produce the bottle of rather good red wine.
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[Leigh West]

Leigh was just closing up the shop. she had wiped down the tables and was now just putting the last of the float and takings in the safe. it had long been decided that it should be leigh who was in charge of the money whilst closing as she had a far more natural knack for it than tara who growing up had been lucky to have any money. things were staring to get busy with the shop and she and Tara were both working long days with the food preparation in the morning was mainly taras job, and the tidying up in the night which was her responsibility. it was certainly starting to feel like she didn't have a life outside the shop, into that she minded much as she had always wanted the shop, but a little bit of leisure time would have been nice.
Just as she was putting the last of it in the save she heard the door of the shop open and someone come in. Tara had left a good while ago. she really should remember to lock it when she left. she quickly locked the safe and put the usual locking charm on it just in case there was someone unsavoury in the shop. standing up she gripped her wand before she saw who it was. "steph" she said a little surprised that she hadn't seen her friend all day as she usually popped in at least once for something.
She she listened as Steph suggested they go on a wine picnic once she was finished a little surprised, trying to think of what the one year anniversary was she was talking about. It had been a long day and she wasn't quite at her most alert but then she get it, the one year annerversay of the shop. "That is a fantastic idea. I am just about done here." she said looking at the really good bottle of wine Steph was holding. "that looks like amazing wine too" she said around to make sure that there wasn't anything obviously wrong or out of place. a little relaxation especially with steph was just what she needed. she just had to remember not to get too relaxed Steph was a good friend, nothing more and as much as she wanted it to be more she really didn't want to spoil the friendship she had with the girl. "we have some of your favourite cakes left from today we can have too" she said heading over to the store room and taking the try out and picking up two glasses and her bag on the way back.

 

[Stephanie Stark-West]

Steph smiled as she watched Leigh quickly finished up. She was still working on it, but if tonight went well, she wouldn't be thinking of Leigh as just her friend any more. She had put a lot of effort into this. A lot of time and unreliable creative talent. Of course having little to no creative talent meant that it was slow going. She shook her head, refusing to think about it. All she wanted to think about was Leigh, it was Leigh's night and they were going to celebrate or Merlin help her she would attack anyone who got in there way. She was in exactly that kind of nervous and excited state, she honestly felt like she was going to burst with emotions, which was weird for her, she wasn't usually a very emotional person. Leigh had brought this state out in her, sometimes she hated it, because she often felt like she was going to burst, but then there were other times, also like now, where she was glad because she could feel the emotions running through her when she looked at Leigh, it was a strange new feeling, but she was enjoying it. "Those cakes do certainly sound amazing." There was simply no denying how much she loved those petite four things. Damn, Tara could cook!

As Leigh finished up, Steph grinned again walked over to her friend. "Great, great, there is this really great spot for a picnic overlooking the hill. It's nice weather out too, so we should be good." She said as she walked to the door and waited for Leigh to lock it. Once they were on their way, Steph filled the walk with small talk about how some of her kids were going, not giving away too many details because of the confidentiality, and managed to hover the stuff behind them so that she could link her arms with Leigh's. She was very nervous, but she hoped that Leigh would not be able to sense it. She didn't think she would be able to explain it right now. She was still working it out in her head. As they finally came to the place Steph had been talking about. She smiled, placed a blanket down, sat down facing the water and flopped herself backwards to look up at the sky. "I've just decided that I really need to do this more often. It's rather enjoyable." She flicked her wand at the wine and watched as it began to pour itself. "Gonna join me?" She asked, smirking.
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[Leigh West]

Leigh let them out of the shop and ensured that the door was locked whilst Steph waited for her. soon they had their arms linked whilst they appeared to wherever it was Steph had in mind. they walked neither of them unlinking arms and neither of them wanting to be be the first to do so. As they walked Steph was chatting about her class, and how one of the boys who always had trouble writing had finally managed to write his own name without help, and how the one girl was getting really exited because she was going to get a baby brother. Leigh listened, it was always interesting hearing how the children were going.
soon they turned a corner and an amazing view opened up before them. "wow Steph, this is such a good picnic area." she sad a little surprised at the effort her friend was going to to give her an enjoyable evening off. she had to bite her lip to distract herself from thinking things that she didn't wan't to think. Steph was a good friend and she didn't want to ruin that friendship by doing something impulsive. it took her a few moments to realise that Steph was rolling out a blanket on the floor she quickly went to offer help but it was too late, the rug was already out. watching Steph sit down she nodded when asked to join, "Of course I am" she said sitting next to Steph a little closer than she had intended as she felt her arms brush her friends and their feet were touching. "sorry she said mentally kicking herself as she shuffled away a little bit on the pretence of picking up her glass of wine and passing the other to leigh. looking at the view she took a sip. it tasted super fine "What sort of wine is this? It is really good" she asked looking around for the bottle but not being able to see it.

 

[Stephanie Stark-West]

Stephanie smiled when Leigh complimented the choice of picnic area. She grinned at her friend. "Well, I'm no amateur, I do a good job sometimes." She laughed and looked up at the sky. It was a beautiful sky and she could already tell that the sight was rubbing off on her a little. She was in such a good mood, which was a new thing for her. Since she had started hanging around Leigh more, she had definitely gotten better with her moods. She was definitely happy with that. She scooted over slightly for Leigh to join her and freezing slightly when Leigh's leg touched her own. "Oh, the wine, its... She turned her head away and blinded grabbed for the glass the Leigh held out to her, only to spill it all over herself, the blanket and Leigh. Her eyes widened in shock and horror as she looked down at her own clothes and then to Leigh's. Was she supposed to laugh! Was this funny! Wine is hard to get out of clothes! She threw her hand to her mouth to stop herself from laughing. "Oh! My gosh! I am so sorry, Leigh!" Steph said, moving to grab some napkins and try to sop up the mess she had made, but she seemed to be making it worse. Steph took a sip of the last dregs left in her glass and then burst into a fit of laughter. This was ridiculous. Of course she was going to stuff this up. Not surprising at all really. "Geez, Leigh. I am so sorry. I've ruined our party." She said sighing slightly and slumping back onto the blanket. She felt bad about it really, but she couldn't think of how to fix it either.

Sorry this is short.
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[Leigh West]

"you always do a god job" leigh said to her friend looking at her as she was looking up at the sky. she had spent enough time with tara in the cafe over the last year to have picked up some of taras artistic way of seeing things even if she hadn't picked up any of her talent for drawing or for that matter curry making. and she knew that the way the light was and how it was falling on her friends face was perfect. actually it wasn't the light that made it so it was just a pretty perfect surprise like steph knew exactly what she needed and wanted.
Steph moved slightly and ended up spilling the majority of the liquid everywhere. watching her friend fuss about with paper towels mopping it up she smiled trying to hold back a laugh but still ended up chuckling as she helped mop up as much as she could with the towels then vanished them once they were sodden with her wand.
As steph apologised and complained about the stains she shook her head "don't worry you haven'y ruined anything" she said before she gave her friend a light hug, that is what friends did right? you could hug your friend when they were sad, it didnt have to mean anything if you didn't want it to? tara did it all the time she hugged friends, customers, and anyone who seemed to be having a bad day. After a few short seconds that she wished were longer she let go "I know a easy ...of course" she said hitting her head slightly in both realisation and stupidity raising her wand again and muttering a charm. it was a very useful spell in the hospitality industry. the stain removal charm, it could get anything out of fabric or off benches and tables. she used it plenty of times a day at work. "see all better" she said. leaning back and taking a sip of her own glass of wine.

 

[Stephanie Stark-West]

Stephanie sighed at the sight of the wine and even after Leigh had cleaned everything up, she really didn't feel any better. She had been trying so hard to make this special and she was just ruining everything. This was the worst moment of her life... ever. Stephanie sighed and fell backwards. Lying on the grass, looking up at the sky for a few moments Stephanie could imagine that she would even have a chance with Leigh. The girl was too good for her. She had an amazing personality. She was funny, gorgeous, intelligent, witty, humble, so many things that Stephanie wasn't. She had been feeling confident before, but not so much now. Things just seemed to go wrong for her these days. She didn't know why. Now that Sloane and Sladen were coming here now, Steph felt as if she didn't have anything to herself anymore. Even though Leigh seemed to have managed to fix stuff, it never went right in the first place and Stephanie blamed herself for that. Sighing, Stephanie pulled herself back up and looked at Leigh. "Merlin. I'm really sorry Leigh. I wanted this to be special. Anniversary's are important... and we;l..." you're important and I needed an excuse to throw a little party because I like you. But she hadn't said that allowed and she knew it.

Steph shook her head. "Maybe this was just a bad idea. I shouldn't have bothered. I knew I was going to stuff this up somehow." She admitted, gesturing to the wine glasses. The mood was practically ruined as far as Steph was concerned and it annoyed her that she couldn't do something as simple as this for Leigh. She was the worst person in the world. Stephanie looked out at the harbour and closed her eyes for a little. Maybe she should just pack up and walk Leigh home. She didn't think this was really going to work out anyway. Leigh could be with hundreds of other people. Why would she want Steph. Steph was nothing special. Sloane was the genius, Speed worked up at the school and he was really good with animals and Sladen was good-looking and witty. What did Steph have compared to her siblings. Leigh could do much better then her. "Maybe, I should just walk you home?" She offered, though she didn't move, because she didn't actually want to leave. She had to give the offer though.
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[Leigh West]

Leigh could tell that Steph was not happy with the way the evening was going. Leigh on the other hand thought that is was a fantastic evening. and as steph lay back and looking at the sky leigh lay back too being careful not to spill her own glass. lying next to leigh she also looked up at the sky. it was still light but the sun had set meaning the sky was a fantastic range from orange on the horizon, to a navy on the top. there were also a few clouds making their way accross the sky there insides glowing silver. She turned so she was slightly on her side so she could see Steph, "this evening is special Steph" she said smiling.
however even that didn't cheer Steph up. "it was a fantastic Idea, it is exactly what i needed" she said sitting up again and reaching to put her arm around her and gave her a sort of awkward hug in a way she was fairly sure friends did if a friend was upset. "I don't wan't to go home yet, it is great here, you shouldn't be put off because of an accident, even the clouds have silver linings see" she said pointing up at them glowing in the sky. wanting to give her another hug but deciding that one was enough and she didn't want to make things awkward between them.

 

[Stephanie Stark-West]

Steph could quite obviously see that Leigh didn't want to leave. She wasn't so oblivious as to not pick up on something like that. She shook her head at the thought that she had ruined the evening. It was quite obvious that she hadn't. Leigh was enjoying herself and that was all that mattered really. She leaned into the rather awkward hug and smiled at Leigh again. "I'm sorry. I know I'm just being silly. Let's just enjoy this, yeah?" She asked, looking up at the sky as Leigh pointed to some clouds. She smiled at Leigh again and just sat looking at the sky for awhile. Why couldn't she just do what she had come here to do. This was perfect. Leigh would never forget it, Steph certainly wouldn't forget it. If Leigh rejected her, she would do it nicely, so why was Steph so scared. What did she have to be afraid of. The only thing she could think of was that things would get awkward between them if Leigh didn't share her feelings. Merlin, things were awkward now and nothing had happened yet. Maybe today wasn't quite going as she would have liked, but at least they both seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Deciding to throw caution to the wind, Steph looked over at Leigh before pushing her to the ground and covering her mouth with her own. This was a weird feeling. Steph had never done anything this bold before. She didn't know why, but she just knew that if she didn't do something now, she was never going to do it. This was her last chance and she just had to know. If Leigh pushed her away and rejected her then that was that, but, if Leigh reciprocated, maybe Stephanie would be able to breathe easier. She just wanted to have something that was hers and that she had gotten for herself. Her siblings were all fine and good, but they had their own lives, failed relationships and jobs. If anything, this was the one thing that Steph didn't want to destroy. Though her hands often spelled danger, she knew that with Leigh things would be different. If she could manage to get Leigh to accept her. Though, on second thoughts, maybe attacking her was not the best idea. But, nothing ventured nothing gained was an old saying in her family. Steph did live for strong family values after all.

Sorry about this Mia. I also wanted to move it along a little. Hope you don't mind!
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[Leigh West]

Leigh nodded when Steph said that they should just enjoy themselves "yep, there is no point crying over spilt wine. lets just enjoy ourselves" she said as she looked up at the cloud not realising she had spoken two idioms in a row. the clouds really were rather fantastic however the sky wasn't as fantastic as the girl next to her. leigh had just turned to look a Steph when the girl practically launched herself at her ooph she oophed as a bit of the wind was knocked out of her. it took Leigh a moment after she was on the ground to realise what was happening a moment to realise what was happening. she then wrapped her arms around her friend and kissed her back. although this move had been a little out of the blue she could tell that it wasn't a spontaneous too much to drink thing (other than the fact that half of stephs wine had been spilt), this moment had probably been planned.
when they eventually moved apart. Leigh tried to keep her expression serious. "Steph, Next time you want to do that. can i please have a little warning" she said trying to be serious but failing as a huge smile broke across her face. as she put her arms around steph again and kissed her, the little alcohol she had had making her feel a little less reserved about her expression than normal. "is that what this evening was about? you could have just asked before" she said mentally adding a question, I could have just asked before? it was slightly frustrating that something she had been thinking about for a while and trying to conceal was actually something so easy and apparently mutual. she looked at the girl beside her and bit her lip. once again a little unsure "Steph, do you think there could be an 'us' in the future some time" she asked, and by us she meant as a couple, like dating. she said realising that that was really what she wanted as long as Steph was comfortable with it.

 

[Stephanie Stark-West]

Steph couldn't believe that Leigh was actually kissing her back. In all honesty she had expected to be pushed away, slapped, something that told her she was being stupid, but the thought that Leigh might actually reciprocate had not entered the blondes mind. The twenty four year old had been living her life, recently, expecting things to go wrong, expecting that she would always be second best compared to her brother. The fact that Leigh was kissing her however, made her realise that maybe she wasn't so bad. They broke apart and Steph bit her lip, blushing slightly as Leigh spoke. When she looked up Leigh was smiling and suddenly they were kissing again. Steph was in a good place right now. Steph laughed slightly. "I know. I'm sorry. Fair warning next time, I promise." They had known each other for years as schoolmates, even though they had never spoken. Then they had met up again, purely by chance about a year ago. Steph had always liked the look of Leigh, but it wasn't until she started getting to know her that she started to like her more then normal. It was around this point that she had started trying to deal with her sexuality. Leigh had been a rather big part of that. Steph nodded at Leigh's question. "Well, I wasn't really planning on attacking you, that kind of came up later, but... basically... yeah." It was weird admitting it out loud, but now that she had, she felt better about it all. More secure.

When Leigh spoke again, Steph looked at her and nodded slightly. She moved closer and pulled Leigh into a hug. "I...I asked you out today sort of as a cover. I do want to celebrate and stuff, that's true, but... mostly I wanted to bring you here and maybe work up the courage to ask you out." She said, backing away from the hug slightly, but she was still holding Leigh's hands. "I would love for this to develop, I really would love that and I hope that you would too." She told Leigh squeezing her hands. She wasn't finished yet, she had to know. "But I have to ask, Leigh. How dedicated are you to this, because I am... difficult, at the best of times and we are going to have to really work at this. But I promise, if you are willing, then I am so in." Steph smiled, pushing a piece of Leigh's hair back behind her ear.
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[Leigh West]

well this day had suddenly gone from a normal, long day at work to a fantastic evening. she had seriously not thought Steph felt that way. "at least now it wont be quite the same surprise" she said smiling as Steph promised to give warning next time. she smiled, things were really going well for her life. She wasn't sure what to say. she knew they were both now standing on the edge of a metaphorical cliff where one step could send them spiralling in a different direction. but st the same time one foot wrong and they could fall in a disastrous direction. She smiled widely. "I think it went perfectly. even the attacking part" she said hugging her tightly making up for missed time. "I didn't know that is how you felt" she said holding her friends hand. as they broke away from the hug. "do you want to know a secret?" she asked smiling coyly. I have wanted to ask you out for a while, but was not brave enough to ask." she said, she hadn't been sure if Steph liked girls, and she didn't want to ruin their friendship by implying anything. she felt like a bit of a fool for that now. she shook her head as Steph said she was difficult and their relationship would require work, whatever difficult was she doubted it would be harder than trying to form a sisterly relationship with a twin sister at the age of eighteen who was herself hard work at times when you had never met them before. but somehow they had managed to do it. "I don't know what you mean by difficult, but if you are in then i am in too. and i think that is enough. We can figure the rest out from there." she said as Steph pushed a pice of her hair out of her face it tickled slightly. and leigh raised her hand and followed Stephs fingers with her own.

 

[Stephanie Stark-West]

Stephanie was well and truly beyond happy by this point. Today hadn't exactly gone in a way she had planned, nor had it gone in any real foreseeable way that she may have expected, but at least it had gone down the path she had wanted. In the end, Stephanie had achieved what she had come here to achieve, making Leigh her girlfriend, though that was such a lame term. There were so many more aspects to Leigh then just being her girlfriend. She was a woman all her own and she was not really in the zone for labels, Steph hated labels. Still, society called Leigh her girlfriend, but Steph was satisfied with calling her a lover. "That's true, although i could still spring it on you when you least expect it." She grinned. Getting it all off of her chest had been a great relief for the young blonde and she was indeed glad that it had all worked out for her. "I really am sorry about attacking you... I, uh, i don't really know what came over me." Steph admitted sheepishly, twirling the end of her hair through her fingers. "It wasn't exactly something i planned on happening." Though she wasn't upset about it either, after all, it had worked had it not?

Steph was glad that Leigh felt the same way, after all, this would have gotten awkward if she hadn't and Stephanie really was a notorious coward. "I nearly wasn't brave enough either, in the end, it was my body and not my mind that did the talking, my mouth just followed." She admitted again, finding it to be the whole truth. Stephanie smiled at Leigh and leaned over to kiss her one more time before moving out of Leigh's way, standing up and then leaning down to help up Leigh. Steph was tired of this scenery now, there was one more place she wanted to go, somewhere a little more private, leaning into Leigh's ear, Stephanie whispered, "Now that I've seen you in the clothes, how about out of them?" Maybe tonight, they could both figure out what they loved about the other, it was as good a way as any of finishing off this day and besides, Stephanie had just the place.

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