Page 14

FOURTEEN

Aditi

Aditi nervously smoothed out her dress as she waited in front of the theatre for Lena. This felt like a date. A first date even.

It wasn't but that didn't stop her from being so nervous. What if Lena had changed her mind and stood her up? It would be understandable, who hung out casually with their ex?

Then again, Lena wasn't flakey. She liked commitment and held her promises. Some would call her rigid but Aditi thought of it more as reliable. Lena was someone she could rely on, someone rockfast and steady. The kind of person one could build a life with.

Aditi's hand went up to her stomach where she could feel her shifter mark through the fabric of her clothes.

She shouldn't have put so much stock in it.

She didn't even realise when she started caring about traditions and fate because she sure as hell didn't when she was a teenager.

Her mother had been so, so, so upset when she came back with a tattoo through her bear mark.

It was a proper slap in the face to fate, a refusal to comply.

When did she lose that rebellious streak inside of her?

She pushed the thoughts away when a taxi arrived and Lena clambered out of it which always looked a little funny and endearing since she was so tall. Like a baby deer who wasn't quite used to its legs yet.

Aditi raised her hand and waved, ecstatic when Lena sort of waved back. She was wearing nice trousers and a shirt with buttons that she only put on for special occasions like weddings, funerals, ... or dates.

Hope rushed through Aditi like a gust of hot air. If Lena was dressing up nicely, did that mean this was more than just a friendly-date? Or was she reading too much into the situation? Maybe Lena was simply not comfortable enough to wear her usual graphic shirts anymore.

If that were the reason for the button shirt, it was the opposite of a good sign.

Before she could overthink it, Lena was right in front of her with her hair sticking up slightly. "Have you been waiting long?"

"No, maybe five minutes or so. You're actually here earlier than expected, it's still twenty minutes until it starts."

"I knew you'd already be here," Lena said as she checked her watch. "I should've set off even sooner."

For someone who was perpetually late and disorganised, Aditi was touched and charmed and she felt so very special. There were very few things that Lena really genuinely cared about but she'd always been one of them.

“You look nice,” Aditi said against her better judgement.

Lena ran her hand through her short hair, messing it up which made her look even hotter. “Thanks. So do you. But you always look good.”

Heat rushed up to Aditi’s cheeks and she felt that tingle in her stomach, the one that she only ever got with Lena. She ignored it and turned her attention back to the theatre.

"Shall we grab a drink first?" Aditi suggested, doing everything she could to stay neutral and casual and friendly. A drink before a show was normal, lots of people would be doing it. Maybe not people who had come on a non-date with their ex but that was because most people weren’t gluttons for punishment.

They headed inside and Lena presented their tickets, the ones she printed out and folded into meticulous perfect squares. Aditi always found it so adorable how Lena could be such a scatterbrain in one part of her life and so neat in others.

"Oh, I should probably pay you back for the ticket," Aditi said, realising their finances were separate now so it did matter whose bank account the money came out of.

Lena shrugged. "It's fine. If you hadn't come along, I'd still have had to pay for two tickets."

Aditi could've argued that someone else could've gone along, although she wasn't sure who. Alix wasn't good with blood or murder and Maria was heavily pregnant. She supposed that in the time they were broken up, Lena could've made a new friend but that was unlikely to be the case.

"Thanks," she said instead, wondering if this was Lena being thoughtful or Lena being practical. It was hard to tell sometimes.

Once they reached the lobby, they joined the queue for the impromptu bar. There wasn't a whole lot of choice so Aditi ordered some cider, just to take the edge off. She was well aware that wasn't necessarily a good idea but one problem at the time.

The woman behind the bar set the drinks down and held out her card machine. "Separate or together?"

Aditi hesitated, her thoughts flitting back to their meeting in Dragon Roast, to Lena's hard cold voice when she said to charge it separately. Then again, this was a very different situation. They were on better terms and Lena was paying for the tickets.

"Together," she decided, especially when she saw Lena reaching for her phone. Maybe it was the wrong decision, and paying for drinks together wasn't magically going to make this a date, but Aditi wasn't going to be the one to point it out.

The woman behind the bar didn't give them a second thought, naturally unaware and uncaring to what was going on. Aditi completed the payment and took her drink so they could move out of the line.

"Thanks for the drink," Lena said with a lopsided smile.

"You paid for the tickets, it's only fair," Aditi replied as casually as she could, shrugging for good measure, like this whole thing wasn't making her heart race. So what if she was here with her ex? Friends could go out for an event, she did that all the time with Alix.

She didn't want to kiss or touch or hold Alix's hand the way she wanted to with Lena, but that was kind of irrelevant. Feelings didn't make something a date, intent did.

A date was something two people decided on together, something they planned ahead of time, something for just the two of them because they wanted to spend time together.

Fuck . Was this a date?

Lena nudged her in the side. "Aditi?"

"Yes?"

"I was asking if you wanted to grab our seats."

"Sure, good idea." Aditi nodded, still a little dazed.

Why did she think coming along was a good idea?

Who was she kidding? She was still desperately in love with Lena and every missed kiss and moment she needed to restrain herself from reaching out was like dribbling lemon juice in an open wound.

It wasn't going to kill her but who knew how long she could bear it?

Lena counted out the rows until they got to theirs and pointed out their seats, the ones at the end because it was much nicer not to have to crawl over people's lap to get in and out.

Without discussion, they settled in their seats. Aditi on the left, Lena on the right, just like how they always did it. She didn't even think about the lack of conversation until the lights went out and she realised that with anyone else, there would be this considerate chair dance.

Not with them. They knew how they fit together.

Aditi felt the urge to take Lena's hand but that would be inappropriate so she trapped them under her leg.

Not. A. Date.