Archive of Our Own ^beta

Fatin needing coffee at nearly 7:30pm felt… weirdly on brand for her.  Honestly Leah hadn’t even questioned it when Fatin stopped the car on their home and asked her to get a coffee… even though they were ten minutes away from the apartment.  She’d just done it… she’d do a lot for Fatin without question, a whole lot worse than buying her a cup of coffee.

“What can I get started for you?”  The barista asked, and Leah squinted at the menu without needing to.  She knew at least one thing that Fatin would drink… or that she would drink if Fatin really didn’t want it.
“Uh… just a cold brew with caramel, if you wouldn’t mind.”  Leah said, and they nodded, keying it in before looking back up at her.

“What size?”  God, what size would Fatin want… it was 7:30 at night… so not large.

“Medium.”

“Anything else today?”  They asked, and Leah shook her head.

“Nope, that should be it.”

“Cool.  4.53.”  They said, and Leah dug in her purse, pulling out a ten and holding it out.  Their tip jar looked too empty anyways, a big tip was always a good way to end a night.

“Here, keep the change.”  She said, and they barista gave her a small smile as they dropped the bills and coins into their jar.

“Thanks.  It’ll come out down there.”  They said, jerking their chin towards the smaller counter at the other end of the store.  Leah smiled politely and nodded, taking a step away from the register.

“Thank you.”  She said, and she went to stand in front of the hand out bar, when she heard a voice call out from behind her.

“Leah?”  She raised an eyebrow.  They weren’t near home… who would know her?

“Yes?”  The second she turned around, she knew she made a mistake.  Because there he was.  Jeffery Galanis.  Five years later, and yet somehow… he didn’t look all that much older.  But she knew that she did, because she wasn’t a child anymore.  “Oh.  Shit…”  Leah muttered, and Jeff was up, and walking towards her and her fight or flight sensors were going off, and every last one was screaming Flight.  Flight!

“Wow, it really is you.  It’s, uh, it’s been a couple years.”  He said, and Leah took a couple more steps away from him, running into the counter just as a cup was set down.  She groped blindly behind her.

“Yeah, it really has.”  She got a grip on the cup and turned to the barista, trying to remain as calm as possible, because freaking out about this in front of this person was above their paygrade… or it would be free entertainment, either way.  “Is this mine?”  She asked, desperate to actually grab her coffee before her legs took over and started moving.  The barista nodded, not even looking up at her before they responded.

“Yeah.”

“Awesome, thank you so much.”  Leah said, knowing her speech was rushed as she snatched the coffee off the counter, speed walking towards Fatin’s car.  She just had to get there, to sit next to her girlfriend and have her calm her down, and she could avoid a panic attack.  Maybe she’d text her therapist, who knows, but she had to get away from-.

“Leah, wait up!”  He called, and Leah paused for a moment, she didn’t know why… maybe it was just the fear of being chased down by a man in a parking lot that was making her freeze… or maybe part of her was hoping that what he was going to do was apologize for what he’d done to her.

“What?”  She turned, and saw him grinning as he rested his hands on his hips, breathing a little heavily.  Okay, so he’d had to jog to keep up… good to know that she could walk that fast when needed, that was a really good skill to have.

“I just… haven’t seen you in a long time, I was wondering if we should maybe catch up.  I could buy you something to eat, or-.”  Leah felt a warm hand resting on her lower back and she looked over to see Fatin smiling at her.  Instantly, whatever had a painful grip on her lungs released, and she could actually pull a breath in.  Fatin .

“Hey babe, I was starting to get worried and-.”  Leah saw the exact moment that Fatin clocked Jeff, and it was obvious .  She went from smiling, open and happy to frowning, her brows furrowed.  The grip on Leah’s waist got stronger, and Fatin took a step in front of Leah, keeping her hand where it had been.

“Fatin…”  Leah tried, but Fatin wasn’t listening, she was too busy chuckling… the same chuckle she often gave before she tore someone apart.

“Oh, no fucking way.  Get the fuck away from her you sack of shit, or I will beat the shit out of you.”  Fatin snapped, and Leah felt a shiver go down her spine.  Fatin wasn’t protective in this way very often, but it never failed to make her weak in the knees.  There was just something about knowing that someone like Fatin was willing to get into a fight for her that just… drove her insane.

“I’m sorry, do I know you?”  Jeff asked, clearly confused.  Fatin let out a laugh, it was loud and rough and the farthest thing from genuine, but it got her point across, because Jeff seemed to shrink… God, she was so powerful , Leah loved her so much.

“No you don’t Jeffery , but believe me, I know you.  I know you very well, and that shouldn’t be something you're comfortable hearing from someone who carries pepper spray.”  Fatin said, her tone low and steady, steady enough that Jeff seemed to be afraid as he looked at Leah helplessly, like he was trying to figure out what she had said.  Over the years, she’d told the story of their ill-fated relationship a million times to Fatin, she knew every detail, she’d read every text, every shitty poem… she’d heard all the voicemails.  She knew everything , and her fresh eye had been a very important part of Leah’s healing.  Jeff had gone from her older ex boyfriend to her groomer after many years, and many long talks about Jeff’s feteshization of minors.  The healing part of it, having to hear all of that, it’d pissed Leah off at first… but now she understood.  And she knew it was working because that pleading, puppy dog look he had given her before simply made her feel physically ill.

“I… Uh…”  He stammered, and Fatin took a step forward, standing ever taller as Jeff walked backwards away from her, almost seeming to stumble.  Leah no longer had Fatin’s hand on her, but she still felt warm… she still felt safe.

“I know you broke my girlfriend’s heart.  I know you preyed on a minor, groomed her until you thought she was 18 and then slept with her and dumped her off the second you learned she was actually 17… although that really shouldn’t have bothered you, considering you first texted her about wanting to kiss her when you thought she was 17… god, you fucking ruined her for a while, did you know that?”  Fatin asked, and Leah made a noise of objection.  She didn’t feel that Jeff had fully ruined her… he’d clearly fallen right into her obsessive patterns, but she wasn’t ruined by him.

“I wouldn’t go that far.”  Leah murmured, and Fatin looked back over at her and stepped back, furrowing her brow before she pressed a kiss to Leah’s jaw.

“I would, baby.  I would.”  She murmured back, and before they could share any more of a moment, Jeff cleared his throat again.  God, why was he still here ?

“Who are you?”  He asked, and Fatin rolled her eyes before plastering the fake smile on her face again and turning to look at Jeff.

“Me?  I’m Fatin Jadmani, Leah’s incredible upgrade from your groomer ass.  We’ve been together for four years, so if you think you’re going to slide in and make her fall for you all over again, you’re wrong.  Honestly dude, you should be on some kind of list… I don’t know why you’re still allowed to make speeches at our old high school, you’re a pervert .”  Fatin snapped, and Jeff just looked right past her, right into Leah’s eyes.  It made her want to sprint away, it was like a world was colliding, and one world was so dead that she felt nothing, and the other was burning so bright…

“Leah, can we please just talk-.”  Leah cut him off and leaned into Fatin, breathing in her scent, trying to calm herself down.

“No, Jeff.  We can’t.”  Leah said, and Jeff raised an eyebrow, giving Fatin a sideways glance before looking back at her.

“Because of her ?”  He asked, sounding incredulous.  God, what was so crazy about that?  Fatin was kind hearted, loving and sexy as hell… everything Jeff had turned out to be the opposite of.  Not to mention, she was in love with her.  Hopelessly, helplessly in love with her and she only fell further every single day.  Fatin was her great love story, and that wasn’t going to change over some old man.

“Yeah.  Because of her.  And because I respect myself way too much to slide back into my old habits.”  Leah said, and Fatin grinned back at her, reaching back to squeeze her hand with pride.  Jeff, on the other hand, pulled a napkin out of his pocket and a pen and scribbled something down, thrusting it towards her.

“Here’s my new number, just call me if you ever change your mind-.”  Fatin took it before Leah even thought about it, and tore it into little pieces before crumpling it into a little a ball.  Damn… Yeah, that worked.

“Believe me.  She won’t.”  Fatin said, handing the shredded pieces back to Jeff before taking Leah’s hand.  “Come on, Leah.”  She said, and she pulled Leah to the car, holding her door open before getting in on the other side.  Leah still felt like her chest was going to explode even though he wasn’t there anymore, making her doubt… she felt nothing for him, and yet seeing him evoked such a reaction… It was embarrassing.

“Hey.  Thank you.”  Leah said, and Fatin nodded, leaning over to press their foreheads together for a moment before she spoke.

“Of course, I don’t want that fucking creep to be around you ever again… he really sent you to a dark place, and I don’t want you to go back there.”

“I don’t want to go back to that either.”  Leah said, and Fatin nodded, chewing on her lip as she gripped the steering wheel hard .  She wasn’t driving yet, and Leah was glad… God knows they’d be speeding down the highway.

“Sorry if I came off a little strong, I just-.”  She leaned over, gripping Fatin’s chin so she could press a quick kiss to her lips, quieting her down.

“I thought it was really hot.”  Leah said, and Fatin blinked at her, clearly surprised.  Leah had no idea why she was shocked.  Non-toxic protectiveness was a turn on for a lot of people, it wasn’t odd that it was for her as well.

“Really?”  She asked, and Leah nodded, stroking her thumb across Fatin’s cheekbone.

“Mhm.”

“Okay, I will keep that in mind.  And I won’t apologize for it next time.”  She said, and Leah nodded.  That was all she asked.

“Excellent.”  Leah sighed, settling more into her seat as Fatin actually did put the car back in drive.  She snuck her hand over onto Leah's leg, not letting go of her for the rest of the ride home.  It was comforting, everything Fatin did was comforting.