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“Come on love, you’ve got to speak to me at some point!” Suki sat across from Eve with her arms folded, ensuring she didn’t meet her girlfriend's pleading eyes. Suki knew full well that those eyes would be the one thing that would break through her currently stubborn mindset.
The night had been wonderful. Their first pride together, Suki’s first pride ever. They’d watched the parade before meeting Eve’s friends for drinks in Soho and partying the night away, celebrating their love and enjoying their newfound freedom together. It was nice to fit into Eve’s circle with such ease, to be surrounded by other people who loved and appreciated Eve like Suki did. It was a special night up until now.
30 minutes prior
“Before we get the tube, I’ll just nip in here and grab you some painkillers” Eve gestured to the small shop they were passing.
“Eve, I’m fine. I just want to get home”
“You’ve been hopping around all day long, dancing and waving those crutches about ready to behead anyone who dared come too close” Eve chuckled at the memory. She loved watching her girlfriend embrace pride, but after her mosh pit accident, Eve was determined to take better care of her. “I’ll literally be two minutes”
Suki offered a small sigh of defeat, reluctant to appear too ungrateful “Fine, but be quick. I’ve waited all night to have you to myself and you're delaying it”. Suki teased as a grin beamed from Eve’s face. She quickly darted into the store, looking like she was set to partake in an episode of supermarket sweep. Suki rolled her eyes as she caught sight of a group of drunken guys approaching, slurring their words and fumbling around. She was a little tipsy herself, but these guys were way beyond that point.
“You alright there love? Need one of us to carry you home?” One slurred as he approached.
“I’m fine” Suki replied bluntly. As much as she wanted to ignore them, it would only make it worse.
“You sure my darling? I’m very strong, you’d be in safe hands” His mates were jeering him on from behind as he got even closer to Suki, swiping at her crutch “Here let me take these for you”.
“As I said, I’m fine. Please leave me be” Suki yanked her crutch away and spoke more firmly now, determined to show she wasn’t to be messed with.
“Don’t be like that. You look like you could do with a nice strong man to sweep you off your feet” Suki grimaced. The guy was so close now that she could smell the alcohol coming off his breath, she tried to back away but he continued to stumble closer.
“Trust me, the last thing she needs is a man, let alone a drunken letch” Eve interrupted as she emerged from the store, quickly making her way to her girlfriend’s side, slipping one arm around her waist as she placed the other in front of her, an attempt to prevent the guy coming any closer.
The guy burst out into laughter “Oh you’re not one of these are you?” He pointed at Eve but directed his question to Suki, shaking his head “What a waste of a beautiful woman”
Eve saw red at his comment, gripping him by the collar of his shirt and pinning him up against the shop window “The only waste round here is you. Waste of space” Eve sneered as Suki tugged at her arm, eager to just get out of here.
“Let go, Eve, he’s not worth it” By this point the other guys he was with had begun to chant “Fight!” over and over and Suki was experiencing ever-growing anxiety at the situation, trying to push Eve off whilst also keeping the guy pinned to the window herself with one of her crutches was proving difficult and pretty ineffective. The chaos was soon interrupted though when the police who were stationed further down the street noticed the commotion and broke it up, placing the guys in the back of one van and Suki and Eve in the back of another, much to Suki’s dismay.
Now
“I told you I just wanted to go home but you insisted on going into the shop. I was handling that guy fine before you came out, fists in tow” Suki knew Eve was only trying to do right by her but Eve’s methods weren’t always the most beneficial.
“He was all over you and you’re not exactly in a position to fight him off yourself, I hate seeing men like him, like Nish, letching over you. Treating you like you're there for their pleasure”
Suki softened a little, she knew Eve’s intentions were pure and she loved how protective her girlfriend always was of her, she couldn’t stay mad at her for that. “It’s just not how I envisioned my first pride, hauled up in the back of one of these”
“It’s kind of fitting though, isn’t it? Considering two years ago we were in this exact position before we embarked on our ‘enemies to lovers’ love story” Suki couldn’t help but smile at the remark “Do you remember that night?”
“How could I forget?” Suki shook her head slightly but a smile was spread across her features as her mind drifted back to that night
“What was going through your head?” Eve was keen to know. Suki was such an enigma back then, It was hard to ever grasp what she was thinking, but strangely Eve quite enjoyed that about her. Suki had always kept her on her toes and that would hopefully never change.
Suki sat silent for a moment as she tried to gather her thoughts “Well, I remember thinking you were the most infuriating soul I’d ever come across” Eve mockingly held her hand to her heart as Suki laughed to herself “But I also remember thinking your energy was enticing. I knew that I was drawn to you, and deep down I probably knew it was because I found you incredibly attractive, I just couldn’t admit it to myself at that time”
“Really? That soon? I never would've guessed you were attracted to me at that point. I just assumed you hated me”
“I never hated you, I couldn't” Suki assured, sighing as she continued “I just hated that you could be who you wanted to be so unapologetically, you made it seem so easy. I couldn’t understand it, in the same way I couldn’t understand Ash” Suki’s smile had faded now, sadness dawning over her features as she thought about her daughter and how she'd treated her over the years. “You just didn’t care about what anyone thought, me included. Though I found that intriguing, I envied it. And I hated that you could see through me. In that van that night, it was like you were looking straight into my soul, I didn’t know how to handle it. It was like you could see something in me that no one else could, myself included, and that was so scary” Eve loved it when Suki opened up to her like this, she loved being able to see this side to her girlfriend that not many would know even existed.
“Well look at you now, every day you become more and more unapologetic over who you are. I know we’re nowhere near the end yet but every day I see you making progress. Look at today.. your crutch alone has more glitter on it than every drag queen in Soho combined” Suki chuckled as she caught sight of her sparkling crutch. “And you got that lovely message from Ash” Suki smiled as she remembered the message she woke up to this morning
Ashneet: Happy Pride Mum. Enjoy your day with Eve! And on the subject of pride, please know that I’m so proud of you, always. I can’t wait for the day I get to celebrate with you both properly🏳️🌈❤️
“She doesn’t know about our ever-growing track record with pride and police vans!” Suki quipped before her expression turned serious again “That message meant the world to me though, for me today was a celebration of her as much as it was of us” They both sat smiling, knowing that to be entirely true. Suki was proud to have a daughter like Ash and she wanted the world to know it. “So go on then... What were your thoughts on me back then? In the back of that van?”
“Just the clean ones or?...” Eve’s joke was met with a signature eyebrow rise from Suki “No, truthfully... I think I knew at that point that you were something quite special. I didn’t buy into the act everyone else was falling for, I could see there was more to you, deeper reasons as to why you were the way you were. I wasn’t joking when I said I was magnetically drawn to you. The next day in the caff Stace had already sussed that I fancied you” Suki’s eyes widened at the confession as a blush rose to her cheeks, she never knew Eve’s attraction to her was so instant or that it was obvious enough so early on that someone else had already picked up on it. “I do have an apology to make though” Eve was met with a look of confusion from Suki “Well when my foot touched you and you pulled yours away, I told you that you couldn’t catch gay… now here we are” Eve gestured to Suki’s crutch as Suki erupted into laughter
“I wouldn’t have it any other way” She beamed. “Besides, my foot came back for more a few weeks later, you were what was contagious”
“At that lunch in Walford east?!” Eve exclaimed as Suki nodded her head shamefully, they hadn’t ever actually spoken about this. “So you did know what you were doing!”
Suki laughed “Of course I did. I may not have known how to handle being gay but I certainly knew how to flirt. I just didn’t expect you to go in all guns blazing a few hours later and try to kiss me”
Eve shrugged bashfully “I knew what I wanted and I went for it. What can I say?”
“Well in hindsight I’m very glad you did” Suki admitted as she played with the bottom of her blazer before confessing, “You showed me who I was, allowed me to go on that journey of self-discovery whilst supporting me the whole way through. I’ve truly never been happier than I am now” Suki looked up to see Eve smiling, admittedly looking a little embarrassed “You said to me that night in the van that ‘I didn’t seem to like myself’, and you couldn’t have been more right. But I do now, and that’s all down to you, Eve. You make me want to be a better person, you make me feel worthy of love”.
Eve’s heart felt like it could burst at Suki’s words, she loved this woman more than she thought possible and though their journey had been tough, it was all so worth it given the place they were in now. Suki was always worth it. “Well you’ll never love yourself anywhere near as much as I love you” They both smiled at one another, their eyes glistening with love. Eve pulled out her phone and began fiddling with it, quickly finding what she wanted. Intrigued to see if Suki remembered it too.
‘The dog days are over’ by Florence and The machine began playing out of her phone speaker as Suki grinned, instantly recognising it.
*AUTHOR NOTE: At this point I’d recommend playing the song yourself as you read along, for the nostalgia and added effect!*
“Now I really do feel like I’ve been transported back two years” Suki bit down on her lip “You know, on the notion of confessions. I actually added that song to my playlist shortly after that night and shamefully thought about you every time it played”
Eve let out a laugh in shock “Seriously? All that time I was questioning if you hated me and you were harbouring all these secret thoughts”
Suki displayed a mischievous smile “And they’re just the PG ones...” Eve shook her head in disbelief, Suki’s teasing side never ceased to amaze her
“Come here” Eve gestured for Suki to come and sit on her lap and her girlfriend happily obliged, using the aid of Eve to help her up given the current state of her foot and the boot that encased her leg. Eve linked her arms around her waist as she looked up at her “There is no one in this world I’d rather be hauled up in the back of a police van with. Roll on pride in years to come when we’re both in the back of one of these things with our matching glittery Zimmer frames in tow”
Suki threw her head back in laughter at the thought “That might just be the most romantic thing you’ve ever said to me Miss Unwin” Suki smirked as she leant down and kissed Eve, it began as soft pecks but as usual for them, her tongue was soon pushing her girlfriend’s lips apart as the kiss deepened and they found themselves lost in one another.
Eve reluctantly broke the kiss apart “If we’re not careful we’ll end up getting charged for public indecency” Suki chuckled at her comment as she buried her face into Eve’s neck, peppering it in kisses before she found her ear. She gently sunk her lobe between her teeth before purring into it,
“You think that’s bad? you’re not ready for all the illegal things I’m going to be doing to you when we’re home” Eve shut her eyes at the comment, trying to keep her composure and further hating on that drunken letch even more for delaying such activities.
“You’re unreal” Is all Eve could muster in her momentary state of sexual frustration. Suki pulled her face up to meet Eve’s, both their eyes full of lust for one another. They lent their foreheads together, their noses brushing against the others as they savoured every sense.
The beauty of each other, Eve’s ocean blue eyes and Suki’s dark sparkly ones, locked together.
The scent of one another, Eve smelt like fresh sandalwood tones whilst Suki’s scent was a mixture of sweet Jasmine and Vanilla.
The touch of one another, faces nuzzling and hands exploring.
The sound of one another, heavy breathing and soft moans escaping their lips.
And best of all, the taste of one another, their tongues slipping in and out of each other's mouth, their kisses so intense they had to stop every now and then for air.
Suddenly they heard the doors being opened and quickly pulled themselves apart, Suki slid herself off Eve’s lap so she was now sitting beside her instead. They sat like deers caught in headlights as they remained flustered from their exchange and Eve quickly stopped the music that was still playing from her phone.
“Ladies” A female officer greeted them this time, she wasn’t there previously. “I hear some drunkards tried to ruin your night?”
“You could say that” Suki quickly shot back “As well as your fellow officers here” Eve tried to suppress her smirk, she loved Suki’s attitude.
“Well my apologies, you’re free to go and enjoy the rest of it in peace” The woman smiled before adding “And you’ll be glad to know that them lot in there will be spending the night in a cell for drunk and disorderly behaviour.. I’m sure you’ve heard the commotion coming from their van”
Eve and Suki sat oblivious, they’d been so wrapped up in one another that they actually hadn’t. Still, karma prevailed. Eve helped Suki down the van steps as Suki caught sight of the rainbow flag pin on the female officers uniform “Us ladies have got to stick together” The officer smiled
Suki offered her a smile in return “Thank you”
“And because my colleagues here decided to taint your celebrations, I’d like to give you a lift home”
“Oh no it’s -“ Suki began to protest
“I insist. Glittery crutches aren’t the best accompaniment for tubes and you’ve already had to deal with one rowdy bunch tonight”
“Well, if you’re sure then we’d really appreciate that. Thank you” Eve smiled as they began to follow the officer to her car, she lowered her tone so only Suki could now hear her “I’m not going to turn down the offer of a quicker journey home.. we can pick up where we left off, I’m holding you to those teasing threats of yours now” Eve winked and Suki smirked in response, both were eager to get home and continue the celebration of their love for another way into the night.
As Suki sat in the back of the car, her hand entangled with Eve’s, she smiled as they drove past all the rainbow decorations that filled the streets. Pride had exceeded every expectation and more and Eve continued on the daily to do the same. Love really does win.