This series is a companion to my story Truth & Admiration.
My intent is not to offend, but this is a d/s lesbian romance with strong themes of nonconsent and reluctance. If that's not your bag, I understand and hope you will find another story to enjoy.
As always I hope you will enjoy the story, and that if you do you will leave a comment.
XOSNS
Dark-Haired Girl
When Leethie got back to the apt from Martha's Vineyard two weeks later, all of Miranda's things were gone and Good Will had taken their beds and other furniture. The coffee maker and most of the kitchen gear were gone as well, but where she had left the mug for Miranda there was a mixed tape and a note: a small heart, and below it, in Miranda's looping script it said "Cowgirl Hitchhiker."
Leethie had wanted to invite Miranda to join them on vacation. But Leethie had been afraid her parents would think it was strange or that Miranda would say no, so she hadn't invited her. She'd spent the two weeks at the beach missing her friend.
Before heading to the airport with her sisters, her mother helped her and her father pack the SUV and clean the apt, leaving her father to drive her home to Austin.
"Everything alright Leethie?" He'd asked once they were on the road and heading out of the city. "You've seemed sad."
"It's just a lot Daddy," she lied. She had been thinking about how few friends she had, pining for Miranda, who seemed to be the only real friend she had. Her mother and sisters had been grilling her mercilessly about boyfriends. Unable to explain her lack of romantic prospects, much less the reputation as a slut her one-night stands had garnered her on campus, she'd squirmed under the attention until her father had finally told them all to knock it off.
"I know everything is about to get started Daddy, and that I should be excited, but it just feels like so much is ending."
He'd given her a worried look as he reached over to squeeze her shoulder, having no idea what she meant, but neither had Leethie. She looked out at the cars and trucks as her father jockeyed and wove through traffic. But her mind did what it had been doing for the past two weeks, and drifted back to thoughts of Miranda.
***
The night they had spent in the little village had been sweaty and fitful. The two of them had twisted and turned on the little bed. The next morning Leethie woke up with a bit of a head but feeling energized. And after a frantic cold shower, she had felt fresh and excited for the day. At breakfast, the Germans gave her and Miranda looks and smiled knowingly, but had said nothing about Leethie's howling the night before.
Miranda had been subdued and focused on her tea, but when they began to look at the map and discuss how to get the two of them back to the train, she had joined the discussion and was the one who had suggested they could hitchhike.
And besides Leethie occasionally mocking Miranda's "pussy breath" and calling her a dyke, nothing was said or happened between them for the next two weeks as they worked their way further south. But in Portugal, they got stuck sharing a bed in a crowded dormitory in Lisbon. They had been out roaming the city most of the day and that evening ended up drinking and getting high in a park with a group of other kids from half a dozen countries. It was 4 AM by the time the group broke up. Doves were cooing as they climbed the long stairwell up the hill with a group of Spanish kids who were staying at the same hostel.
Miranda had been animated and laughing all night, and seemed to really like the Spaniards, but as they got close to the hostel they had all gotten quiet. The group split as the boys went to their bathroom and Miranda and Leethie went with the other girls into theirs. They crowded around the basins, smiling and whispering, all of them looking tired and disheveled in the mirrors.