Chapter Text
It started out because it made sense, hiding their relationship as they didn’t exactly know how to define what was going on between them. They had began as a sort of friends with benefits situation, Leah needing a stress outlet and Fatin being happy to provide one. Then the feelings came crashing around them, leading to a screaming match, which both of them won as they admitted there were feelings, strong ones at that.
So, the sneaking around their friends had since become for the thrill of it all. Both of them finding excitement at the idea of getting caught. It had become something of an aphrodisiac.
What was ironic was how bad they were at it. Fatin walked around in Leah’s clothes constantly (the stolen items made up around 35% of her closet, which is saying a lot because she had a great deal of clothes). Leah’s own closet was full of items that Fatin would pick out for her on her own shopping trips because she thought they would suit her (she was always right).
This development in their relationship was all over them, in the way they dressed and even in how they carried themselves. There was seldom a moment when one of their limbs was not touching a part of the others body.
It was even more surprising that the girls hadn’t caught on since they now all lived together after all of them deciding to move to the same state for college to be closer to one another. They were currently in their second year of university and resided in a re-purposed sorority house of sorts which fit all eight of them.
They had petitioned the college for the house on the grounds of ‘coping’ after going through the trauma that is being utilized in an experiment for some insane white lady. Nobody was going to say no to them after all they’d experienced.
The house had five bedrooms; Toni and Martha, Fatin and Dot, and Rachel and Nora all sharing rooms whilst Shelby and Leah had their own. Although, both of those solo rooms tended to have Toni and Fatin respectively as guests quite often. Most of the house was unaware of the latter.
They’re both busy, with Leah studying English Literature and Fatin studying Fashion and Design, but they always make sure to leave time for one another. It’s becoming increasingly difficult for them to do so with the added aspect of keeping it a secret from the nosiest group of girls anyone could encounter.
Fatin considers this as she paces around her room, waiting for an appropriate time for her to start walking to the English building. It’s Monday, meaning she’ll meet Leah at 1.30 after her Romance and Realism lecture and they’ll walk to the campus café for lunch.
She can feel herself buzzing at the idea of seeing her girlfriend again, even though she saw her only four hours ago. It’s almost embarrassing how much she craves Leah’s attention and presence. She’d worry about this obsessive outlook on the relationship if it wasn’t so mutual. Fatin is fully aware that Leah feels exactly the same way about her. It’s nice to not feel insecure in a connection for once and instead just bask in how into each other they are.
Fatin checks the time, and the clock has only moved three minutes since she last looked. 1.08, she can’t leave until at least 1.20 or she’ll be embarrassingly early and look like a loser with no friends, although she’s sure the English building has seen plenty of those.
She passes the time by looking around her room. On Dot’s side there’s a few band posters here and there but it’s kind of sparse in terms of decoration. Fatin’s side, however, is covered top to bottom with a myriad of different photos and other ornaments which she felt were worthy of being put on display.
She let out a small laugh as she evaluated the photos on the wall. The ratio of photos with Leah to those without was easily 80:20. She was still in awe that no one in the house had figured them out yet, that she knew of anyways.
There’s also all the letters that Leah wrote her over summer break, even though they both went back to the Bay Area and lived only 10 minutes from each other. Leah is a tortured artist who can’t express her feelings, so she wrote to Fatin. But not love letters, no that would be too vulnerable. She wrote her letters mainly detailing the mundane tasks of her day, facts which she would share with Fatin when they inevitably met up later in that very same day. Still, as silly as they were, Fatin cherished the letters, and she displays them on her wall unashamed that anyone who enters her and Dot’s room could read them.
Fatin realises she’d been staring at the wall for far too long when she hears her phone buzz from where it is on the bed.
Leah <3: hey where are you i’m outside?
Fatin: oh shit sorry ive been staring at the wall in my room for like 20 mins lol im omw
Leah <3: i think we’re spending too much time together because that is such a me thing to do, but hurry i’ve missed you
Fatin laughs at the message as she makes her way out the door and towards the square. Distracted by the thoughts of her girlfriend as she rounds the corner of the English building, she bumps into the person leaning against the wall on the other side.
“I know I said I missed you but that doesn’t mean you can attack me in the middle of campus,” Leah remarks but she wraps her arm around Fatin and gives her a gentle kiss on the cheek.
“It’s your fault you know, I was thinking about you,” Fatin admits as she circles her arms around Leah’s waist. “Besides my clumsiness, how was class today?”.
“It was fine, I’m still struggling with the assimilation into normal society, I thought it would be better this year because I know what to expect but being surrounded by loud strangers is still pretty overwhelming.” Fatin hums at this, knowing Leah’s issues with returning home were still particularly bad, even after 3 years. All of the girls had their own problems when it came to being back in the ‘real world’ but unsurprisingly, Leah found it the hardest to move on.
They discussed Leah’s day at length at the café, with her ultimately deciding to increase her therapy back to weekly. It was getting dark, Fatin noticed, but she didn’t want to interrupt her girlfriend’s passionate ramblings, enjoying the way her hands moved vigorously as she explained her feelings.
“Babe, we better get back to the house for dinner or Dot might murder you in your sleep,” Leah exclaimed as she checked the time on her watch and noticed that they’d been here a lot longer than usual.
“Oh please, she would kill you way before she would do anything to me. She couldn’t survive without me as her roommate,” Fatin teased.
“As if you would let anyone within three feet of me,” Leah retorted, “Remember the last time we went to a party and some guy just said hi to me and you basically pounced on him”.
It was true Fatin had somewhat of a jealous streak. It was another reason why it was so hilarious that none of their friends had realised what was happening between them. She couldn’t help it; she’d waited so long for Leah to be hers and she wasn’t going to let some frat boys get in the way of that.
Leah was laughing as Fatin pouted throughout the whole walk back to their house. She was still laughing as they opened the door but abruptly stopped once she saw Dot on the other side with her arms folded across her torso in a motherly ‘what time do you call this?’ stance.
“We said 7,” It was Dot that spoke first, with Leah and Fatin just guiltily looking at the floor.
“I know but-” Fatin tried.
“We said 7 at the latest” Dot interrupted. She was clearly not actually angry at them; she had just been worried. Which was usual for Dot, she had taken on the role of being responsible for all of them, even after the island.
“Dottie leave them off they’re only 20 minutes late,” Shelby called from the kitchen where she was presumably at the dinner table with the others. Dot scoffed at the use of the word ‘only’ being paired with 20 minutes but sighed and signalled the two into the kitchen anyways.
The girls were having the dinner that Dot made, with Monday nights being her cooking day. Each of the girls took one week day to make dinner for everyone so there was no wasting food in making eight individual dinners. This was with the exception of Rachel (hand), Leah (not allowed around knives), and Shelby (cannot cook to save her life).
They walked in and took their usual seats next to one another, with Fatin smoothing her hand over Leah’s thigh when they were seated. She loved seeing the taller girl blush but not be able to do anything about it around their friends.
“Fatin!” Leah jumps as Fatin attempts to bring her hand a little higher, testing the limits. Fatin failed to hold in her laughter as everyone at the table stopped the conversation they were having a turned towards the two girls. “Sorry, I just remembered that Fatin forgot to tell me about the date she went on last weekend”.
It was a lame excuse, most of the girls being aware that Leah hated when Fatin spoke in any detail about dates she went on. Although they weren’t aware that for the past nine months, it had actually been Leah on those excursions. No one cared enough to question her, however, all too hungry after being made to wait until they were all home to eat. Fatin’s hand returned to rest on Leah’s knee, not risking this time to place it any higher.
“That reminds me! Leah, I still have that girl from my philosophy class who wants your number. Can I please meddle and set y’all up on a blind date?” Shelby asks as Fatin’s grip on Leah’s knee becomes tighter. As fun as it is, there are downsides to keeping their relationship a secret. The biggest one being their friends who love to interfere.
“Is it really a blind date if they have both seen each other on your Instagram?” Toni questions and Shelby just brushes her off.
Fatin could almost punch the Texan, even though she knew it was irrational, she and Leah had made their commitments clear, and she had no doubt that Leah loved her. Still, it hurt to see her be propositioned by some indie-philosophy bitch who probably would have more overlap with Leah in their interests.
Leah struggled to find her words and it turns out she didn’t have to because next thing she knows Fatin is saying, “Come on Shelby, Leah doesn’t want to date some nerd from your psychology class-”
“Philosophy,” Martha corrected.
“Whatever,” Fatin rolled her eyes, “Leah’s seeing someone right now so she couldn’t go on the date anyways”. Everyone looks shocked at that admission, especially Leah.
“What? Why didn’t you say something?” Rachel says, a little hurt because she assumed her best friend would’ve told her something like this.
“It’s not serious, I promise. In fact, they’re kind of an asshole it probably won’t last much longer,” Leah responds as she kicks Fatin under the table. She’s annoyed that now all her friends think she’s been sneaking around on them, which is true but Fatin deserves the blame for that too.
“They’re not too bad if the sounds I heard coming from your bed room are any indication,” Fatin smirks as Leah glares at her. Great, now not only do her friends think she’s been lying to them (she has, but that’s beside the fact), they also have a slight insight into her sex life.
“Boy or girl?” Nora questions, curious as always for the facts of the situation.
“Boy,” Leah decides the option farthest away from Fatin. They won’t see through this elaborate joke if she strays them further from the truth, right?
The conversation moves on, with all the girls giving slight mocking jabs at Leah for having a ‘boyfriend’ here and there but mainly returning to discussing mundane topics.
“I’m going to kill you tonight,” Leah whispers under her breath.
“Looking forward to it,” Fatin returns as she looks at her girlfriend daringly. She knows however much Leah tries to resist her charms; she’s still getting laid tonight. The look she’s getting right now indicates she’s correct, with Leah pulling her teeth between her lips and looking at Fatin’s own.
“My room, midnight.” She confirms Fatin’s suspicions.
“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” Fatin smirks and resumes eating her food. She looks around the table, joining back in on the wider conversation, and realises she truly loves each and every one of these girls, flaws and all. Dot for her lovingly controlling nature, Shelby for her meddling ways, Toni and her outbursts, Martha and her overly optimistic attitude, Nora and her questions, and Rachel and her bluntness.
And Leah. She loved Leah. She hasn’t told her quite yet but it’s obvious in the way she acts, the way she moves. Everything she does is driven by her love for her girlfriend. Maybe when she finally gets the nerve to tell her, they’ll let their friends in on their secret. But for now, she grabs Leah’s hand under the table and squeezes three times to let her know she’s always there for her. They’ll spend tonight together, and Fatin will sneak back to hers and Dot’s room in the morning, and she’s okay with that. Really, she is. For now anyways.