Your Hand In Mine Ch 02

Author's Note:

If you're just joining me now you should probably go here first: http://www.literotica.com/s/your-hand-in-mine-ch-01

You know, when I started this little distraction project I thought it would be easy. I was very wrong. I'm finding Cassie's character quite hard to write. I can't really say why here without giving away what happens in this chapter, safe to say it's more difficult that I thought it would be.

All comments and criticism welcome, thanks for viewing.

WriterMonkey

Your Hand In Mine – Chapter Two.

Cassie was stood outside the Student's Union waiting for Darcy, she was cold but it wasn't raining, which considering it was early November in England qualified it as a nice day. Cassie lived over a mile from the campus and hadn't had chance to go home and change since her lecture so she was dressed in a pair of jeans that she thought made her bum look good, a purple t-shirt and her red coat. She hoped Darcy didn't have anywhere nice in mind for lunch or she wouldn't be able to afford it, plus she'd probably be underdressed. She knew she should have suggested where to get lunch so she could make sure she could afford it. Cassie checked her watch, one twenty five, still five minutes until Darcy was supposed to turn up, still chance to leave and make up some excuse. God, it would be embarrassing if it turned out she couldn't afford the place Darcy had in mind. What should she talk about? Should she try to be witty? What if they had nothing in common? Besides, they'd got everything in the wrong order, you were supposed to sleep with someone after you dated them, not the other way around. She'd just decided to leave and give Darcy some weak excuse when her phone buzzed. It was from Louisa.

Relax, deep breaths, you'll be fine.

Lou. X

Cassie quickly hammered out her reply:

Great timing, I was just about to stand her up.

As Cassie put her phone back in her pocket she heard someone call her name, she turned around and saw Darcy walking towards her. One less thing to worry about, Darcy was dressed casually too, she wore a denim skirt and a white sweater. Her long blonde hair spilled down over her shoulders and she was smiling. She was beautiful. Cassie wondered again what she'd done to attract Darcy. Some huge guy, easily six feet tall and almost as wide by the looks of him wasn't looking where he was going and bumped into Darcy. She stumbled, then swore at him. Cassie laughed, she could tell she was going to like Darcy.

"Hi, Darcy," Cassie said, she smiled, Darcy smiled back and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Hey, how are you?"

"Good, cold but good." Cassie said, and nervous as hell she added mentally. "You?"

"Yeah, I'm alright, had a long morning though, sat in a lecture theatre with a broken heater that was stuck on the inferno setting."

"Wow, that sucks!" Cassie said.

"Right," Darcy said, checking her watch, "we need to get moving, I booked us a table for two at Andiamo. That alright?"

Cassie's heart sunk and she tasted bile, it was some cosmic joke, it had to be. Or karma getting her back for the time she stole some chewing gum. Andiamo was a small Italian restaurant not far from campus, Cassie had been once before she remembered the food being good, the atmosphere being nice, the service being excellent and the bill being downright scary.

"Err, yeah, that's fine." Cassie said, trying to hide the fact that she really couldn't afford it.

"You sure?" Darcy asked, clearly not convinced by Cassie's performance. "Don't you like Italian?"

"No I love Italian food," Cassie said, it was true, she did, she just didn't like paying extortionate amounts for it.

"Okay, lets go then." Darcy said, Cassie could hear the worry linger in her voice.

Andiamo was busy when they got there, almost all of the tables were taken, most of them by important looking people wearing expensive looking suits. Most of the furniture was rosewood, the tables, the chairs the bar, even the podium by the door was rosewood. There were four booths in the centre of the room arranged in a two by two square and other tables arrayed around them. The bar was against the back wall, the wall behind the bar was covered in different coloured glass bottles. The servers were buzzing around looking harassed but from what Cassie could hear their perfect manners never faltered.

Cassie took a menu from the podium and saw that the prices had become even more exorbitant. She started thinking about what she'd have to do in the coming week to afford eating here today. Pizza night with Louisa would have to go, and she wouldn't be going out on friday either. Damn. Her foot started tapping as it did every time she got frustrated, she didn't notice it, but Darcy did.

"Cassie, what's wrong, you don't want to be here do you?" Darcy said, not hiding the hurt in her voice well.

Cassie took a deep breath, put the menu back and said, "I can't afford this place, Darcy." Her words fell out in a rush, she felt heat in her cheeks and stared intently at her shoes fearing Darcy's reaction.

"Table for two?" Cassie heard. It was a thick Italian accent.

"No thanks," Darcy said, "change of plans." She grabbed Cassie's hand, squeezed gently and led her out of the restaurant. "What about the coffee shop on campus?"

"Sorry, Darcy,-" Cassie started, she didn't know what she was going to say but as it turned out she didn't need to as Darcy interrupted.

"No need to apologise, if anyone should it's me. I only suggested that place to make you think I was sophisticated... It was silly of me."

Cassie looked over at Darcy for the first time since her admission, she could see the cogs going round in the blonde's head. Adjusting expectations maybe? Perhaps making a note to 'loose' Cassie's number after this date. Cassie mentally slapped herself, why was she being so insecure? This wasn't her, she never used to worry what people thought of her and now she was in a spin because she couldn't afford over priced pasta.

***

Darcy looked down at the tiny redhead worriedly, she knew she'd come off as presumptuous and possibly a little vain, but she'd just wanted to make a good impression. She just hoped she hadn't gone down too far in Cassie's estimation for embarrassing her like that. She'd wanted Cassie since she first noticed her in a music law lecture she attended six months ago. Darcy was studying Law and when she was told they had a guest lecturer speaking about copyright law and how it relates to the music industry she jumped at the chance. She had no real expertise in that field and while she had no wish to work in it she wasn't going to turn down the chance to learn something new. She'd noticed Cassie sitting at the back of the lecture theatre and felt the first pangs of attraction immediately. Cassie's lips were moving but she clearly wasn't talking as the people either side of her weren't paying any attention, she was clutching a pencil and scribbling furiously on a pad in front of her. Darcy figured she was one of the music students who had been invited to the lecture.

Darcy didn't see the redhead again until they met in the bar in the Student's Union, but she didn't forget her attraction. When she saw her in the SU her heart skipped a beat, Cassie was dancing with a few friends, her arms in the air and her body moving lithely to a cheesy pop song from ten years ago. When one of Darcy's friends came up behind her and put their hand on her shoulder and asked what she was looking at she realised she had been staring open mouthed. She saw Cassie leave her group and head to the bar, Darcy made a beeline for the bar too. Her memory went hazy after that, but she remembered with excruciating detail waking up in a strange bed, it was so not her, she didn't go around picking girls up in bars. She knew why it happened though, she'd spent the last six months idealising the little redhead and when she finally saw her again something snapped and it just happened.

Darcy realised they'd been stood still locked in their own thoughts for a while so she smiled at Cassie and started heading towards campus again. Darcy stole several glances at Cassie on the way, she thought the miniature redhead was stunning, if in a slightly unconventional way. And her eyes, Darcy could stare into their beautiful green depths for hours, she hoped she'd get the chance. Darcy liked that even when they were back on campus Cassie's hand never left hers, she'd dated girls who weren't confident in their sexuality and it could be a pain in the ass. She was happy to have found someone who would hold her hand in public.

***

Cassie held the door open for Darcy and led her into the crowded coffee shop, she noticed Darcy slip in front of her in the cue and pull her wallet out of her handbag. Great, now she thinks I'm a charity case Cassie thought to herself. She wasn't, compared to a lot of her friends, that poor, but it wasn't her fault if she couldn't afford to drop an entire week's food budget on one meal in some pretentious restaurant. Cassie wondered what Darcy's parents did to be able to give their daughter such an easy ride through uni. Maybe she was being unfair, maybe Darcy worked hard for her money, but for some reason Cassie doubted it.

The small cafe was packed with students but most of them were crammed together in a big group around only a couple of the tables, they'd get a table easily enough but they might struggle for chairs. Cassie liked the campus cafe, she wrote some of her best lyrics there, it was always busy, there were always people to observe but they were never crying babies or businessmen full of their own self importance, both of which were things that annoyed Cassie intensely.

"Hi, how can I help you?" Cassie heard the girl behind the counter ask. It was Hannah, Cassie was friendly with most of the staff, but Hannah was probably her favourite. She was medium height with a few excess pounds, she had curly brown hair and matching dark eyes.

"Yes, I'll have a medium cappuccino and a ham and cheese baguette please." Darcy said, "and whatever she's having as well." She added, indicating Cassie. At that moment Darcy was tapped on the shoulder by a man who she greeted as Daniel, Cassie was glad of the distraction, she needed to say something to Hannah.

"Don't mention the gig," she mouthed.

"Why?" Hannah mouthed back.

"Just don't." Cassie whispered adding a stern look for emphasis. "Small caramel macchiato, please, and a tomato and brie baguette."

Hannah nodded and started getting their order together.

Cassie had been pressured into playing a show by Karl and Louisa, who had become increasingly impatient of her reluctance to show off her musical talent. She had chosen to do it here as she hoped it would slip under the radar, it did not. The owner had been impressed by her demo CD and publicised the show extensively, hoping to make it semi regular if it drew enough customers. The gig was tonight Cassie was nervous as hell and the last thing she wanted was Darcy knowing about it, which was unlucky, because she did.

"So are you coming to the show here tonight?" Darcy asked as she led them to a table in the back corner of the cafe.

"Who, C Maywether?" Cassie said, stalling for time. She hadn't wanted to use her real name to try and hide the fact that it was her performance from people who knew her. She couldn't think of a decent stage name though so just decided to go with her last name.

"Yeah, my roommate got hold of her demo, apparently she recorded it in the studios here. She's really good, you should come."

Cassie's insides warmed at the compliment, she liked hearing them but she never knew how to take them. Her mind then skipped to the issue of how people were getting hold of the recordings, it was probably Karl or Louisa trying to publicise the show more. She made a note to verbally bitch slap them when she got home.

"I don't really like her stuff, plus she's not actually that good live, I plan to give it a miss." Cassie said, hoping her harsh words would convince Darcy not to go. Cassie was convinced she'd make a fool of herself and wanted as few people as possible to witness the impending disaster. "So what is it that you study?" Cassie asked, wanting to shift the subject.

"Law, I didn't really want to but what dad says goes and he wants me to take over his firm."

"So you have no choice in the matter?"

"Nope, given the choice I'd study architecture but that's not a 'real degree' so, here I am. I'm playing the long game, I may not be happy right now but I know I'll be more financially secure as a lawyer than an architect. "

Cassie knew what it was like to have disapproving parents, hers still didn't really accept the fact that she was studying music.

"And you study music." Darcy said, breaking the silence.

"And you are psychic." Cassie said with a giggle.

"I saw you at the music law lecture a while back, I knew you didn't study law so it was the obvious conclusion." Darcy said, Cassie noticed that Darcy's cheeks had gone a bright shade of red but she couldn't figure out why.

Cassie learnt a lot about Darcy during the half hour they had before she had to get to her lecture. She was the oldest of three children, there was her and Jason and Chris. She came out to her parents at fifteen, they were remarkably good about it, with one caveat, as long as it didn't effect her career. She knew Darcy dreamed of being an architect but knew she'd never get her way. She knew that Darcy had come from a fairly big family with lots of cousins whose names Cassie couldn't remember. By comparison Cassie had revealed very little about herself, it wasn't a deliberate attempt to withhold information, she just liked the sound of Darcy's voice. The realisation shocked and pleased Cassie, maybe Darcy would be the one to get her past Louisa.

***

It was half five by the time Cassie got home from her afternoon lectures, the first thing she did was walk through to the living room to find Karl absorbed in a cooking show after apparently deciding that he couldn't be arsed for his lectures. She stood directly between him and the TV, her hands bunched into fists and set on her hips. He leaned to his right but other than that didn't acknowledge Cassie in any way.

"Stop giving my demos away please." Cassie said, trying to restrain her frustration.

"I'm sorry, it was inconsiderate of me to try and help your music career." Karl said in a bored sounding voice, still watching someone dicing vegetables.

"I don't want a music career yet, Karl, that's what I keep trying to tell you."

"It's never too early to get your foot in the door, that's what I keep trying to tell you." He said, mimicking Cassie's tone.

"Darcy's going to be there."

"That's a very very good thing, Cass, musicians are attractive."

"Only when they don't trip over the stage or forget their lyrics or break a string."

"Well, that's handy then, because you're going to do none of those things. Now please can I get back to finding out how to make a vegetable curry?"

Cassie settled down in her seat on the sofa, she slid her shoes off and let them fall to the floor. Karl turned the TV off and shifted so that he was facing Cassie.

"I thought you wanted to know how to make vegetable curry?" Cassie said.

"I just remembered I hate vegetable curry. So, how was your date?"

Cassie recounted the date down to the most minute detail, then added the fact that she thought it was a disaster.

"So, she asked you to the show tonight?" Karl asked.

"Mmhmm."

"So, she asked to see you again, in a matter of hours no less, and you think it was a disaster."

"Well," Cassie started,

"No, Cass," Karl interrupted, "if anyone has the right to call it a disaster it's her. She told you her entire family history and got nothing in return. You turned her down when she tried to organise something, and she will think she's the one who fucked up with the restaurant thing."

***

"Hey, Darcy, how'd it go?" She heard as she slammed the front door.

"I don't know." Darcy said, not even trying to hide the fact that she was pissed off.

"Oh-oh, what happened, sweetie?" Andrea asked. Andrea was one of Darcy's roommates, they met in their first year and become fast friends. She wasn't exactly short but not tall either, she had shoulder length blonde hair and blue eyes.

"I just don't think she's that into me." Darcy said, she half sat half fell into the spare chair in the lounge and waved at Paul. Paul waved back but wasn't paying attention to the conversation, he had his headphones in and was either working or playing World of Warcraft. Darcy suspected the latter.

"It's her loss, Darcy, you're one hell of a catch, if she can't see that then she's blind. Or straight, wait, you are sure she's gay aren't you?"

Darcy blushed and nodded, remembering the amazing things Cassie did to her that night.

"We best go get ready, chick, we're leaving in forty minutes."

Darcy sighed and slouched even lower in her chair, she didn't want to go to the show any more.

"Come on, Darcy, you're acting like a lovesick teenager." Andrea said, giving Darcy a stern look.

"Helloooo," Darcy said, waiving her arms, "I am a teenager, I'm allowed to act like that."

"Shush, get ready, it's good music and caffeine, would you really rather spend your time feeling sorry for yourself?"

After much vacillating in front of her wardrobe Darcy eventually decided not to get changed, she was just going to a cafe after all, it's not like she was going on the pull. Though she was sure that Andrea would do her best to set her up with someone new tonight. She didn't want someone new though, she wanted Cassie. Darcy flopped down onto her bed feeling like crap. She'd barely heard a word of her lectures all afternoon, her thoughts were on Cassie and their date.

"Grow up, Darcy, for God sake." She said to herself.

She laid on her bed staring at the ceiling until Andrea and Paul knocked on her door and shouted "Come on Darcy, we're off."

Darcy sighed, grabbed her handbag and pulled herself off the bed and followed her friends out to Andrea's car.

The cafe was packed, busier than Darcy had ever seen it before. They stood just inside the door for a second until Andrea waved to one of her friends who had been saving them a table. She grabbed Darcy's hand and pulled her through the crowd, weaving through the human slalom course with some difficulty.

"Back in a sec guys," Andrea said once Darcy and Paul had sat down, she headed off in the direction of the end of the drinks cue which was half way to the door.

Despite the amount of people in the cafe it was quiet, each group talking at a whisper so the sound of commotion by the door carried across the room like a foghorn. To Darcy's surprise Cassie was in the middle of it, she was wearing a form fitting purple dress and looked stunning. Darcy felt a flash of anger, why had Cassie tried to convince her not to come tonight if she was going to be here? There was a tall guy standing behind Cassie with his hands on her arms it looked like he was holding her in place.

"Guys over here!" A dark haired girl with glasses called, she was sitting at a table not far from Darcy, she waved at them, the tall guy looked relieved. He guided Cassie to the table ignoring her repeated protests. When she sat down she slouched low like she was trying to disappear.

"What's wrong, Darcy? You look like you've been slapped." Andrea said as she set a tray of drinks down on their table.

"Cassie went to great lengths to convince me not to be here tonight, and she's sitting right over there." Darcy said, pointing to an increasingly scared looking Cassie who chose that moment to look around the room. Hey eyes settled on Darcy for a second then went wide before she tried to hide herself behind the tall guy.