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"We argue, we don't fight. Stay awake 'til the middle of the night."
Metal & Dust - London Grammar
Sophia and Manon never fight.
It’s not that they had any conversation about it. No, they never promised each other to never fight, they just never did.
Ever since they started this thing between them — after debuting, when the lines between friendship and romance started to blur— they have been very open with each other, which resulted in them never fighting. They sometimes bickered, sure, but it never goes beyond playful eye rolling and pretend offense. Nothing had ever reached a point where they had to get away from each other in order to calm down, or because it made the other girls uncomfortable to live in a house full of their tension.
Until today, that is. Because today was a bad day. Today, Sophia had woken up late, which is something that never happens. She’s actually always the first one to get up, even the one that sometimes has to wake the other girls up in order for them to not be late to rehearsals. But last night was Manon’s birthday, June 26, and so they celebrated until quite late. This morning, with the older girl’s arms carefully wrapped around her waist, Sophia feels like sleep has taken over her entire body and mind. It’s the best sleep she’s gotten in a while. She’s so comfortable like this — even with Manon’s soft breathing tickling her neck— that she doesn’t hear the damn alarm ringing. And of course, when she wakes up twenty minutes late, Manon is still sound asleep beside her.
So she has to rush getting ready, which she absolutely hates. However, she could get past it, if only that was the only unfortunate thing to happen today. But the Universe seems to be against her.
When they started dating, Manon and Sophia both agreed it would be wiser to keep their relationship quiet. Not because they feel ashamed or anything of that kind, but simply because it could jeopardize everything. Not just their careers, but the girls’ careers too, and their group altogether. So at first they didn’t tell anyone, not even the kats. But living in a house with four other girls and trying to get behind their backs is very much next to impossible. And of course, Lara being the perceptive one, was the first one to catch them. And after Megan walked in one night on Sophia and Manon locking lips, both girls agreed it was only fair to tell Yoonchae and Dani as well. It wasn’t a big deal because they knew the girls could keep that for themselves, especially because they asked them to not say anything to anyone, and they trusted them to understand the importance of keeping their relationship a secret.
That’s when they started being more intimate with each other inside the walls of their house. It was nice, to be able to demonstrate their affection without being scared of getting caught by one of the girls. It was so nice that it was even worth all the teasing they got (mostly from Megan and Lara…). What would be bad though, was if management found out. Because then, things would change on a whole different level, and they couldn’t afford that. Who knows what the execs would have them do in order to salvage their so-called “image”. So no, they couldn’t have that.
They have to be extra careful whenever they leave the house. Whenever they’re surrounded by people other than the girls or their close friends. Whenever they’re in the studio rehearsing or recording, or when they’re in a meeting. Or worse, when they’re doing interviews. Those are the moments where they pretend they’re just friends, bandmates, and not completely head over heels for each other.
And sure, it can get tiring sometimes, pretending their hands aren’t burning to touch each other during practice, or acting as if they aren’t in love during a team meeting. But Sophia and Manon both know there’s too much at stake. Loving in silence sucks, but it’s better than not loving at all. So they hold on to it. They keep their distance during the day when they’re out and about, and they make up for lost time at night, or whenever they have a day off (which has been getting quite rare lately…).
But there’s one thing about the world not knowing they’re together that neither Sophia nor Manon can do anything about, and that is people openly flirting with either of them. They managed through it for the first few months of their relationship, but lately it seems harder and harder — especially for Manon— to keep the jealousy at bay.
Tonight’s the night of the release of their second EP Beautiful Chaos, and after they’re done performing Gnarly, they all have to attend the after-party thrown by Hybe X Geffen. They’re right in the middle of it when Manon first spots Sophia talking to some guy near a corner of the room. She doesn’t think too much of it at first, because it’s become quite common in the past few months for strangers to walk up and talk to them. Their management team keeps reminding them it’s important to make connections in the industry, telling them “networking” is what will get them to true stardom. And Sophia, as the leader, takes that role very seriously. It does get annoying sometimes, having to put on a polite smile and talk to people when they’re not exactly in the mood to pretend, or when their social battery is running low. However, it’s part of the job. So they all do it, or try to at least.
But when Manon comes back from a bathroom break with Dani 15 minutes later and sees the man still talking to Sophia, she feels a flush of anger mixed with something else she can’t name —- or rather isn’t ready to name—rising in her chest. The guy is closer to Sophia now, even starting to invade her personal space. So manon decides to casually get closer, just to try and gauge the situation.
But when the man raises his hand to touch Sophia’s upper arm and starts to corner her between his body and the wall, Manon loses it. Now he’s way too close for her liking. And then, she catches Sophia smiling playfully at him, even laughing at something he says, and something starts to burn inside her. She doesn’t think twice as she practically rushes to Sophia’s side, gently reaching out for her arm, and interrupting the conversation “Hey, what’s up?” she tries to stay casual because she doesn’t want to create drama and raise attention from the crowd, but her jaw tenses ever so slightly as she looks up at the man. The latter, Jake as it turns out, introduces himself as a musician and Twitch influencer as he turns to Manon, flashing her an all-too-white grin. “And you’re Manon, right?”.
Right, she hadn’t even introduced herself “Yeah, that’s me. So what’s going on here?” she keeps her tone polite, but it lacks of anything friendly. Meanwhile, the girl beside her stays quiet, caught off guard by Manon’s sudden presence.
“Oh, I was just asking Sophia here for her number. You know, shooting my shot and all of that” Jake flashes Sophia a smile, one she awkwardly sends back, and Manon’s eyes slightly narrow at the guy as he keeps going “So, we could go out to dinner sometime, and then maybe go to my studio to make some sick beats together. What do you say?” He sounds way too excited about that, and Manon glances at Sophia as the latter starts to reply “Oh…no, sorry I can’t. You know, I’m quite busy lately and I don’t really have time to go out.” She shoots a brief look at Manon “We’re right in the middle of a tight schedule so…” Sophia’s decline is polite. Way too polite for Manon’s liking, but she thinks of course she’s playing nice, she’s Sophia.
Jake, however, can't seem to read the room as he lets out a little laugh and pushes on, brushing his hand down on Sophia’s waist now. “Oh come on, I’m sure you can manage to get some time off somehow. All I’m asking for is one night…your friends can cover for you, right?” He looks Manon up and down with a sheepish smirk as he says that last sentence and god it makes her want to punch him in his stupid face. Sophia doesn’t reply immediately, so he keeps going "Here, give me your number and I’ll give you a call” He takes his phone and practically pushes it into Sophia’s hands as he steps even closer. The Filipina is so taken aback that she can’t help but take the phone, in shock, but Manon feels her body tense up under her touch, and that’s the exact moment she decides to put an end to this.
This is the tipping point for her, so she takes a step closer to Jake, letting Sophia get behind her, protectively. She keeps her tone firm and cold as she speaks “Alright buddy, what don’t you understand in the word ‘no’? She clearly doesn’t want to give you her number, so kindly back the fuck off!” she then turns to Sophia, takes the phone from her hands and shoves it into Jake’s chest a little too hard, before tugging Sophia away towards the other end of the room.
The man is too stunned to reply or physically react, but as they step away, Manon can hear him scoff and mumble “What the fuck is wrong with her?”.
Before they can even reach the other corner of the room, Sophia, finally having come to her senses, harshly shrugs Manon’s hold off of her arm. The older girl turns to her in confusion, and Sophia speaks “What was that?”
Now Manon’s really confused “What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean, Manon! Why would you do that?” Sophia’s voice is so firm, and she actually looks agitated. Manon’s not used to seeing her like this and she furrows her brows as she replies “I- He was all over you Soph, he needed to back off!”
“But that was not up to you to decide!” Sophia’s tone sounds angry now, and Manon tries to think of a time she’s ever seen her like that, looking genuinely upset. She realizes she hasn’t. She’s never seen Sophia have so much anger directed towards another human being, directed towards her. As her brain is coming up with something to say, Sophia continues “I don’t need protecting, Manon! I was handling that perfectly fine!”
They’re starting to get more and more attention from the crowd now, Sophia’s loud voice turning some people’s heads, even with the music playing. So Manon quickly takes Sophia’s hand again before she can protest “Come on”, and starts leading her away from the crowd.
Because they can’t cause a scene in front of everyone, they can’t argue in front of people, strangers. That would be bad. That could jeopardize everything. And Sophia is very aware of that as she lets Manon lead her into their backstage room, the one in which they all got ready earlier that evening. As soon as they step in the room, Manon closes the door behind them and lets go of Sophia’s hand.
The younger girl immediately turns to her, still with fury in her tone “I can take care of myself, you know. I don’t need you to come to my rescue!” she crosses her arms.
“Of course I know that. I wasn’t trying to make you feel like a damsel in distress, I’m sorry” Manon keeps her voice calm, gentle, as she always does with Sophia. “I just- I was worried, Soph” she lets out a sigh “He was awfully close to you, it was bit inappropriate and you looked like you were uncomfortable so I- I didn’t think, I just had to tell him to back off, put him in his place” she starts rambling, not really knowing what she’s saying.
When she looks into Sophia’s eyes and she can’t read what’s in them, that’s when she knows something is really wrong. Manon can usually read Sophia like a book, knowing almost every thought that passes her mind, understanding every emotion: love, fear, passion, desire, hesitation. Communication through their gaze is a big part of their relationship, especially because they can’t freely talk when they’re in any work setting. But right now, as she stares at the girl in front of her, she can’t see anything. She can’t read her mind, can’t decipher her thoughts. When she looks into the boba eyes she’s grown so fond of, all she sees is a beautiful sea of profound brown, and it almost looks like a void. The realization strikes her as her words get stuck in her throat, and she starts dreading this conversation.
Sophia’s voice lacks the anger it had just minutes ago as she finally speaks, now replaced with something else in it. Something Manon can’t quite pinpoint. “Is that what it is?” For the second time, Manon’s brows furrow in confusion “You were worried, that’s it?” Sophia asks, and Manon slowly nods.
“So you weren’t jealous?” There it is.
“What?” the short laugh Manon lets out is one of disbelief.
“Tell me you weren’t jealous. Tell me that that’s not the reason why you rushed up to me, claiming me like I’m one of your belongings.”
Manon starts to feel lightheaded “Sophia-” she starts, but the other girl cuts her off “No. Say it. Say it and prove me wrong.” Sophia presses, she has stepped closer now, and Manon feels like she’s getting cornered.
Jealousy? Is she jealous? Well, she didn’t exactly feel great when that random dude walked up to Sophia, or when she started to laugh at something he said, or when he put his hands on her, or when last week a friend of Sophia’s pushed back a strand of hair behind her ear and the touch lasted a little too long. Okay so, maybe she was jealous. But isn’t it a normal feeling when you’re in a relationship and you see your girlfriend get hit on, and you realize she doesn’t immediately put an end to it? Manon’s only human. Jealousy is a human emotion.
She’s taking too long to reply and Sophia is losing her patience. “God, why can’t you just admit it, Manon?” she throws her arms down. “I know you’re jealous!”
“Alright, so what if I am?” Manon shrugs, and her tone has become urgent now. “Do you think it’s easy for me to watch you flirt with other people without ever being able to do anything about it? Watching you laugh at someone’s joke like it’s the funniest thing you’ve ever heard, or watching you let some random dude touch you as if you belong to him” she almost snaps, and lets out an ironic scoff shaking her head. She brings her tone down again, and lets herself speak from the heart “Loving you in secret is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life, Sophia…and I don’t know-” she pauses, and takes a breath ”I don’t know if I can keep doing this. Not if you expect me to just be okay with watching you be with other people.” She says at last, and looks into Sophia’s eyes again. This time, she can identify what’s in them: hurt. And she feels like that is a shared feeling between them, because her own heart is aching so badly.
“I don’t want to be with other people, Manon. I want to be with you.” Sophia tries to keep her emotions at bay, but Manon can see the tears begin to pool in her eyes “It’s not easy for me either, and I’m sorry it has to be like this, I know it sucks” Sophia lets a beat pass “But I trust you, Manon, and if you can’t trust me back then maybe…” she shakes her head as the words get stuck in her throat. She swallows, and forces herself to finish that final sentence “Maybe we shouldn’t be together.”
It’s barely above a whisper, but Manon hears it as clear as day. It rings in echoes in her ears, and she feels like her whole world is crumbling. She feels like her heart just dropped to her stomach, and it’s all too much. She’s not even aware she’s started to cry until she notices something’s wet on her cheek. For a beat, silence passes between them as they stare at each other. And just when Manon opens her mouth to speak, the door opens behind her, making both her and Sophia jump. Manon quickly wipes her eyes with the back of her hands before the person notices, but her shoulders relax when she realizes it’s Dani.
“Oh sorry, I didn’t know anyone was in here.” Daniela’s face drops as she reads the tension in the room, and her brows furrow “Is everything okay?”
Sophia is quick to reply “Yeah, everything’s fine. Alright, I gotta get back out there or Missy might start to hang missing posters” she rolls her eyes as she lets out a brief laugh, before brushing past both Manon and Dani to leave the room. And just like that, she’s gone. Manon’s impressed with how quickly Sophia recovered, with how good she is at masking her emotions and pretending everything is okay. Watching her, it’s as if nothing ever happened. Manon wishes that were the case. But it’s not. And she feels like the air is being sucked out of her lungs.
“Manz?” she almost forgot Daniela was in here “you okay?”. It’s a rhetorical question because Manon knows Daniela noticed something is off. But she shrugs her off anyways “Uh, yeah. Yeah I’m fine, did you need something from here or…?”
Daniela narrows her eyes at her, but she lets it go. She knows when her best friend is ready to talk, she will. So she doesn’t push her. “I was just gonna fix my makeup, wanna help?” she offers a small smile, taking the older girl’s hand in hers and guiding her to the vanity.
They spend the rest of the after-party apart, barely ever crossing paths. Manon steals a few glances towards Sophia, but she never looks back at her. She feels like she’s on autopilot mode, answering questions sent her way, laughing when the others laugh, hoping nobody notices her laughter never quite reaches her eyes. She stays right by Dani’s side for most of the event because she knows if she ends up alone for more than a few minutes, she’ll just take off and people will notice. So Manon tries her best to keep it together, even though it feels as if her world just fell into shambles.
Sophia decides to go back home with Yoonchae when their driver comes to pick the youngest up. She tells Yoonchae it’s because she doesn’t want her to come home to an empty house alone, and the other girl seems to accept that reason with a grateful smile. But deep down, Sophia knows it’s because she can’t spend another minute in that room pretending everything’s fine, while Manon is only a few feet away from her.
So they get home, and she tells Yoonchae to take a shower first while she makes them some tea. As much as she loves coffee, nothing can quite compare to a hot cup of tea for a sore throat. But she quickly realizes even hot tea can’t fix the tightness in her throat, the one created from unshed tears.
Sophia finally lets those tears out when it’s her turn to shower, letting the hot water wash them away. Whenever she closes her eyes, the conversation she had with Manon replays in her mind, and her stomach flips. But it doesn’t flip in the way it usually does when she thinks of her girlfriend. It’s not the usual butterflies she feels whenever Manon holds her hand or places soft kisses on her even softer lips. No, instead, her stomach churns. And the shower steam is letting room for very little air, so little that she feels like she’s suffocating.
When she comes out of the shower, Yoonchae is already asleep, headphones in as per usual. As she gets into bed, Sophia instinctively checks her phone, just to see if Manon had texted. No messages. Her stomach churns yet again.
Sophia doesn’t think she can ever recall a time where she felt that kind of sadness in her chest. It’s the kind of sadness that’s so deep it cuts through her whole soul. It makes her heart ache in a way that no physical wound can compare, no matter how deep it is and how much it stings.
They’ve never had a fight like this. They have never fought before, ever. And the worst thing is, Sophia has no idea how Manon interpreted her final words. She doesn’t know whether the older girl took them as an argument, or whether she thinks it was a breakup. To be honest, Sophia herself doesn’t know what she meant when she said those words. To some, it may have sounded like she put an end to it, but without using the exact words. But it wasn’t really anything definitive. She hadn’t really meant to say them, they were words hasted on the spur of the moment. She was too caught in her own messy feelings to think clearly before ushering them out.
She obviously doesn’t want to be apart from Manon, not ever. Every time the other girl is not around, Sophia misses her. That girl is the light of her life. And Sophia can’t live without her light.
But something stings deep inside of her. And she can’t just brush it off and ignore it. She feels betrayed by the lack of trust Manon seems to have in her. Because how could she ever think Sophia would be interested in someone else? Doesn’t she know how much she means to her? How much she loves her? It’s that lack of trust and faith that cuts deep, that ultimately pushed Sophia to say those painful words.
She sets her phone down with a heavy heart, puts on her headphones and opens her laptop to watch Disney Plus, telling herself watching her favorite Disney movie will at least bring her solace. Except with her girlfriend on her mind, she can’t quite concentrate on the movie. Her worry is so loud that it doesn’t leave any space for peace. Her thoughts distract her so much that she doesn’t manage to stop the tears. And she wallows in them. She ends up drifting asleep halfway through the movie, with the other girl still in the back of her mind, and tear-strained cheeks.
Manon reaches the final point. The one where she can’t take it anymore. She had noticed Sophia leaving with Yoonchae almost two hours ago, and all she wanted to do at that moment was follow them, follow her, and ask Sophia the meaning of her last words. But she couldn’t do that. Not just yet. As much as it hurts, she knows she had to let Sophia go. For now. She had to give her time. Get some distance so they can both process what happened. But this time apart hurts Manon more than she could ever put into words. She doesn’t want to think it’s over. But Sophia’s words, and even her own, suggested something painful that she can’t escape from. Despite all her efforts, Manon can’t stop replaying the moment in her head over and over again. Sophia’s crack in her voice when she pronounced the last words. The way she looked at her with pain in her eyes. The image is stuck in her mind. I caused this, it’s my fault.
It’s been two hours of Manon mulling over it, and the tightness in her throat hasn’t left since. She’s barely been able to participate in conversations, only replying with brief answers and letting Dani do most of the talking. But she can’t take it anymore, another minute she spends having to pretend everything is fine, and she might burst into tears right here and there. So she ends up asking her roommate to take her home. And of course, Daniela immediately accepts, knowing exactly what her best friend needs.
When they get home, the house is quiet. And they do their best to not make any noise so they don’t wake anyone up. Manon quickly showers and gets into bed, almost in a time record. She buries herself under her blanket –the same one Sophia gifted her for Secret Santa– but she already knows sleep won’t find her. It never does.
Manon always struggles falling asleep. Her thoughts have always been too loud, especially in the quiet of the night. It’s like constant ringing in her ears. And most nights, the ringing sounds so hostile. Words of self-doubt play like a tune in her mind, some nights even words of self-loathing. She won’t admit it, not to the girls, not to Sophia, not even really to herself, but the amount of hate she gets online does get to her sometimes. She tries her best to ignore it. And she actually does a good job at overlooking those comments when she’s going on about her day, when she’s too busy to check her phone. But at night, when she’s most vulnerable and there’s nothing else to distract her, it gets harder to avoid.
As she scrolls on her phone, through Twitter, Tiktok, sometimes even her own comment sections on Instagram, she sees them. The comments. They’re everywhere, she can’t escape them. People calling her lazy, scrutinizing her every move, questioning her dedication to the group, even questioning her blackness. People saying she can’t sing or she can’t dance, that she doesn’t deserve to be in the group, that she stole someone else’s spot. Every little thing she says, everything she does, or doesn’t do is subject to online discourse. People always seem to create narratives around her like it’s their full-time job. And those discourses take such magnitudes that she always ends up seeing them.
In the middle of the night, it’s harder for her to block it all out. And although she knows she shouldn’t – because these people don’t know anything about her, and what’s going on in her life– sometimes she believes them. Little cracks will start to dismantle the confidence she’s worked so hard to build. She’ll start to doubt her dancing again, or the way she sings a certain line. She'll stop participating in dance covers on tiktok for a while. And yeah, she’ll see some eyekons ask about it, notice how she’s distanced herself, and it’ll break her heart a little. But as much as she loves and appreciates her fans – the real ones– she knows she also needs to protect herself, and her heart.
That’s why she always has headphones on, because the music is louder than her thoughts, and it’s the only way to drown them. Manon has trouble sleeping almost every single night. Except for the nights Sophia is laying beside her, when their bodies are tangled. Sophia, as loud and energetic as she can get, is the gentlest person Manon knows. Her soothing presence is something that Manon craves. She calms her down just by being close.
She misses her right now, as she turns and sees it’s almost been 2 hours since she and Dani have gotten home. At one point, she even heard Megan and Lara come back, so it must be pretty late.
It’s the middle of the fucking night, and Manon can’t sleep, yet again. She usually ends up writing when she can’t sleep. Mostly poetry and lyrics, sometimes journaling, either on her notebook or on her phone when she doesn’t feel like handwriting. She puts her overwhelming thoughts into existence, and it helps her breathe a little easier.
But tonight she’s not breathing. Not really. Not without Sophia by her side to tell her everything will be okay. Without Sophia, she feels like her world is collapsing. She knows it’s dramatic, but it’s as if life lost all of its meaning.
Her breaths are becoming more and more shallow as anxiety rises in her chest, and she needs to get out of the room before she has a panic attack and wakes Dani up. So she locks herself in the bathroom and tries to calm herself down as she splashes cold water on her face. When she looks in the mirror, she almost wants to laugh at how pathetic she is. She looks like she’s on the verge of death, and she knows she can only really blame herself. Because it’s all her own doing. She wasn’t able to tell Sophia what she wanted, no, needed to hear. She couldn’t get the words out, not when she felt like she was put on the spot. But she needs to tell her now.
She gets out of the bathroom, out of her shared room with Dani, and walks through the hallway until she’s at Sophia's door. There, with her hand on the handle, she stops, hesitates. But still, she pushes the door gently open. She doesn’t want to wake anyone, she just needs to be close to Sophia again. She gets in the room, glances at Yoonchae– who’s sound asleep, headphones still on– and takes tentative steps towards Sophia’s side. When she gets to the bed, she stops. Sophia’s asleep, and she looks as soft as usual, but not peaceful. Her eyebrows are frowning in her sleep, and Manon’s heart breaks a little at the sight. She crouches closer to the girl, and gently reaches her hand to brush the frown off with her thumb, before softly pushing a strand out of Sophia’s face. The girl is clutching her penguin plushie so tightly in her arms, it’s almost like she’s trying to fill in an absence. Manon’s heart breaks even deeper, and she lets the words slip without even thinking.
“I’m sorry” her voice cracks when she whispers it. She’s kneeling next to Sophia’s bed, her head laying on the mattress, one hand still on Sophia’s arm, when she feels her start to squirm.
“Manon?”. A whisper. Sophia’s voice hoarse with sleep.
Manon looks up then, and offers her girlfriend a small smile “Hey. Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you”.
But Sophia’s already shaking her head and shifting in her sheets “It’s okay, come here”. She draws the blanket back and pats the space beside her, and Manon gets in.
They’re laying on their sides, face to face, staring in each other’s eyes. The dim light of the streets coming through the curtains is enough for them to make out the shapes of their features.
“I got so worried.” Sophia admits “Maybe it’s silly of me but, I was kind of waiting for a text…a good night or- or anything really…” she adverts her eyes, and tears are starting to burn again. “Do you know how hard it is to fall asleep without you beside me?” she looks at Manon again, and she can’t stop the tears this time.
Manon slowly reaches to wipe them off “I think I have a pretty good idea, yeah” she offers a small smile, but it quickly falters as she swallows before speaking “I’m sorry, Fifi. I never meant to hurt you. That’s the last thing I want, and I-” she pauses and tries to make sense of her thoughts “I do trust you. I never doubted you, it’s just…I’m just not as good at pretending as you are” Sophia frowns, and opens her mouth to speak but Manon quickly continues “I don’t mean it in a bad way. You always seem so composed, you’re so good at keeping it together, you never lose control even when things go south. And I admire you for that. I really do. Because I can’t do that” she shakes her head “I can’t pretend that I’m not in love with you. I can’t act like it doesn’t hurt to see you with other people. Not when it feels like my heart is being ripped off of my chest”.
Sophia takes a breath “Manzie, it’s not easy for me either. I literally miss you every time you’re not by my side. It physically hurts me that I can’t just reach for your hand whenever I want.” More tears run down her face “And a part of me will forever resent the fact that we’re being watched by the public eye, because it fucking sucks. But baby, you don’t have to pretend with me. Just come to me, talk to me, and we’ll figure this out together. You don’t have to keep these feelings all inside, not if you trust me”.
“I trust you.” Manon quickly nods “You’re one of the only people on this earth that I fully trust.” She lets a beat pass, and lowers her voice “I trust you with my life. I trust you with my whole heart and soul, Sophia. I do”. Sophia gives her the softest smile on earth, and Manon feels the weight of the world lift off of her shoulders.
“Then let’s move forward, together. I’m not letting this tear us apart.” Sophia replies and crawls into Manon’s arms, letting her head rest on the other’s chest. The older girl immediately wraps her arms around her girlfriend and presses a soft kiss to her forehead. “I love you, Manon, and only you.” Manon’s stomach stirs with butterflies at the words.
“I love you too baby, so so much”.
And just like that, they drift off to slumber in each other’s embrace. They’re both very much aware they still have things to unravel. But that can wait. For now, they’re relishing in finally being able to breathe easier.
They both wake up the next morning to a weight on top of them in the bed. Sophia opens her eyes first, alert at the sudden shift, and sees Yoonchae grinning up at her “Oh my god Yoonchip, you scared me!”.
The youngest girl is already laughing, prideness in her voice “You guys looked comfy” she smirks.
“So you decided to ruin that comfort and disturb our peace?” Manon’s hand is reaching for a pillow to throw at her, feigning annoyance. But she cracks a laugh at Yoonchae’s antics.
She does her best to make a small place between her and Sophia in the bed and urges the other girl “Alright, get in here or leave. No in-between.” The latter gets in immediately as she lets out a satisfied sigh.
“Well I’m in-between Maphinz right now. You guys are like…my parents.” Yoonchae giggles, and Sophia rolls her eyes but she’s already laughing, and Manon groans, but a smile is tugging at her lips.
As Manon watches Sophia on a dedicated mission to, yet again, rage-bait the Maknae, her heart flutters and she thinks yeah, this really is family.