Free The Long Weekend by Clare Lydon

up.
    “Bit of a headache but okay,” was the outcome. “My tongue looks a bit manky, though.”
    Abby smiled, despite herself.
    “What you smiling about?” Kat asked, rolling over to view her lover’s grin.
    “How’d you know I was smiling?” Abby’s smile widened.
    “I just know.” Kat narrowed her eyes.
    Abby leant forward and kissed Kat once, twice, three times. Kat’s skin was hot beneath her and Abby’s blood rushed down her body to her very core. She ignored it, knowing it would go nowhere today.
    Surprisingly, Kat ran a hand absentmindedly up and down Abby’s side, caressing her body lightly.
    “So.” Abby sensed Kat was in a relaxed, receptive mood. “Are we going to talk about It ?”
    Kat looked her directly in the eye – she could hear the capital letter at the start of the last word.
    “It?” Kat was stalling for time and they both knew it.
    Abby curled her lip. “You know damn well.”
    Kat lowered her gaze and sighed. “I know,” she said quietly. “I’ll tell them today.”
    “But why didn’t you just do it last night?”
    The question hung in the air.
    Kat waited for the thud as it landed but it never happened. There was only silence and the sound of their breathing.
    Abby went for the slam dunk. “You had the perfect opportunity and you just took the funny joke. I don’t get it. You were made redundant, it’s not something shameful. You weren’t caught fucking the office intern like some people I could mention.”
    “I know, I know.”
    Abby threw her head back on the pillow in exasperation and stared at the ceiling. “I know this is difficult, but you have to at least tell them you’re unemployed. Then you can lead on to the fact you’re not feeling that great. But you have to tell them the first bit to begin with.”
    Kat’s face had turned the colour of concrete.
    Abby took her hand and kissed it. She then kissed the top of Kat’s head and felt her draw in breath, then her body shook slightly and she knew the tears had arrived, the ones that arrived most days now. Abby hugged Kat towards her and kissed her head again.
    “This will get better, but you have to want it to,” Abby said as she stroked her girlfriend’s back. “And you might want to can the tears unless you want to go down to breakfast looking like you’ve just gone six rounds with me. For one thing, your mates might beat me up…”
    Kat made a sound like a wounded animal underneath her, then shifted her body away. She lay still on her back and stared upwards before rubbing both eyes with balled fists.
    “I know you’re right and I will tell them today,” she whispered, peeking out from under her knuckles. “Promise.”
    Abby smiled her winning smile. “Good enough. Now go and freshen up and don’t forget to take your pills.”
     

Stevie
     
    Stevie opened her eyes just after 9am. She’d managed just five hours of unbroken sleep. Not even the wine had been enough to knock her out – she bet Kat hadn’t had any issues after the amount she’d drunk. Stevie knew they all worried about Kat, but maybe she had it right and they all had it wrong. Maybe the world was just that bit easier to deal with if you were sedated enough.
    Beside her, Vic slept on. Stevie knew change had to come. She’d truly willed it yesterday, but she’d been waiting for it to come naturally – and the Tash and Laura sideshow hadn’t helped.
    Stevie realised now that just waiting for something to change was wishful thinking. She was living in real life, not some marshmallow land where fairytales came true. If Stevie wanted this one to have a happy ending, she knew she had to make the first step. After all, the power was with her and had been ever since Vic threw such a curveball into their lives.
    Stevie winced again as she thought about it – time was dulling the hurt and betrayal, as was Vic’s relentless congeniality. But what never seemed to change was the utter futility of her actions. A college intern and as Vic