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Shaking her head, Fe made a chopping motion with her hand. “Nope, no men.”

“Can we also say no cooking, either?”

“I might take some lessons.”

“That’s a great idea.”

“Would you come with me?”

“Yes, obviously. What about Halle?” Fe shook her head again. “She’s an amazing cook. I don’t need her showing me up.”

“Good point, although does that mean you think I’m crap and aren’t threatened by my culinary skills?”

“Yes.” They stared at each other for a second before laughing. “Let’s be honest, we didn’t get Mum’s cooking skills.”

“Was Dad a good cook?”

Looking sad, Fe deflated slightly. Lydia wanted to kick herself for bringing him up. It was clearly still a sore issue for her sister. “I don’t remember.”

“Sorry,” Lydia mumbled.

“No, if you have questions, Lyds, ask them. My therapist thinks it’s a good idea to talk about him. I’ve kept everything so locked up, it’s not good for the old grey matter.”

“I don’t really have questions,” Lydia began. “But if you ever want to talk. I’m here.”

“Speaking of. Are you going to ask Halle out or what?”

“How is that ‘speaking of?’”

“I couldn’t think of a segue to get us on the topic, so I just jumped straight to it.”

“I don’t know if we should be talking about it, sis.”

“Sure, we should. I just don’t want any sexy details,” Fe gagged. “You’re my actual sister, and Halle is as close to one as it gets. I don’t need to know about body parts mushing together or anything.”

“Ew, stop talking.” Lydia threw her last bit of muffin at Fe.

“Come on, tell me. One second you were staunchly against the idea and now you’re thinking of asking her out. What changed?”

Blowing out a breath, Lydia pondered on the question. “Well, first I stopped feeling like a crazy person. I have Halle to thank for that. She was the one who got me in front of Elise. I’m feeling so much better in myself, mentally, on these new pills.”

“That’s great, Lyds. And I know I didn’t help with the whole Halle situation.”

“No, you didn’t. But we’re past that. I suppose I realised I didn’t want to be someone who missed out on being with a great person out of fear. And that’s what it came down to. Halle has always supported me. I just wouldn’t let myself see it. And I was terrified that she would leave.”

“Why?”

“Maybe I have some dad issues of my own,” Lydia laughed, humorlessly.

“Your experience with dating didn’t exactly help though, Lyds.”

“True. Halle has been a constant in my life. Even if I put the possibility of us ever being more out of my head, she’s someone I rely on.”

“You two have gotten close quickly?”

“Yeah. It’s crazy to think we both distanced ourselves for years, but it has taken, what? Weeks for us to become close friends.”

“Ugh, I feel so shitty, Lydia. You guys could have been together ages ago.”