"Uncle Joshua!?" Jonathan asked, his voice filled with panic. "Uncle Joshua! Get up! Please, please get up..."

"Oh my god," Viks gasped as she crouched down beside Joshua. "Steph, call 999! Now!"

"Uh, okay," Stephanie said, fumbling in her bag for her phone as Viks rolled Joshua onto his back and checked his neck.

"He's got a pulse but it's very weak," Viks said.

"What- what do we do?" Jonathan asked, unable to contain his sense of panic.

"Get a first aid kit," Viks said. "If it's a heart attack then he needs aspirin. Joshua... Joshua, can you hear me?" Viks breathed a sigh of relief as the middle-aged man quietly grunted in acknowledgement.

"999, what's your emergency?" Stephanie's telephone said, momentarily startling the girl and bringing her back to reality.

"Uhh... I need an ambulance. Now!" Stephanie said. "The, umm, Heavenly Talent Offices in W4. I mean W2! My bo- my friend, he's... He's having a heart attack."

"An ambulance is on its way," the 999 operator said. "Is he breathing?"

"I think so," Stephanie said as she crouched down beside Joshua.

"Give him space!" Viks hissed at Stephanie, who immediately jumped up, startled by Viks's sudden assertiveness.

"Keep him talking," the 999 operator said. "Make sure he keeps breathing. If possible, give him aspirin, it'll help to thin his blood."

"O-okay," Stephanie mumbled.

"The ambulance will be with you shortly," the operator said. "Make sure he stays conscious and alert until it gets there." Stephanie nodded, her panic making her unaware of how useless such a gesture was in a telephone conversation.

The next ten minutes seemed like ten hours for the four occupants of the spacious office, and when the paramedics finally arrived, Jonathan, Viks and Stephanie were almost hysterical with relief. Stephanie watched, transfixed with fear, as Joshua was attached to an oxygen mask and wrapped in a blanket, before being loaded onto a stretcher and being borne down the stairs of the office and into the waiting ambulance. As Stephanie followed Joshua, however, her panic turned into terror as she looked across the reception area of the agency and her eyes locked with those of Jamie-Lee Burke.

"Steph," Viks whispered, pulling the transwoman's attention away from her nemesis. "You should go home. You did good, okay?"

"O-okay," Stephanie whispered, but the more she withered under Jamie’s gaze, the less convinced she was- especially as Jamie was surrounded by the rest of the Angels, whilst Stephanie was very much alone.

“…What did you do?” Jamie growled at Stephanie, causing the latter’s jaw to drop.

----------

Jamie watched in horror as Joshua- the man who had given her a chance so many years ago, who had supported her through every step of a transition and who had been like a father to her- was wheeled out of his office on a stretcher, his body covered in a blanket and an oxygen mask covering his ashen face. Before Jamie had the chance to process her emotions, however, her attention was drawn to the top of the office’s stairs, and the three figures slowly descending them- the rearmost of whom caused Jamie’s blood to boil. Half an hour earlier, Joshua had been healthy, but after dealing with Stephanie’s problems, he was being taken away in an ambulance. It took no time at all for Jamie to put two and two together.

“What did you do?” Jamie snarled, startling her fellow transwoman.

“Jamie!?” Charlotte asked, shocked by the accusation.

“How- what- why has this happened?” Jamie asked, her eyes remaining fixed on Stephanie’s pale, shocked face.

“He- he had a heart attack,” Viks whispered. “Jamie, it’s hardly Stephanie’s fau-“

“Would he have had the heart attack if he wasn’t busy shovelling her shit?” Jamie growled as tears began to form in Stephanie’s eyes.

“It was at the very worst the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Charlotte pleaded. “He’s been overworked for months, you’ve said so yourself in the past.”

“So she decides to drop more work on him,” Jamie spat. “Knowing that-“

“STOP THIS!” Jonathan bellowed, silencing the entire reception area with his emotion-filled voice. “STOP THIS RIGHT NOW! He- he isn’t even at the fucking hospital yet and all you can do is fling accusations around! Well this isn’t happening! All of you, go home!”

“We- we had a meeting to discuss channels-“ Krystie said quietly.

“Well it’s been cancelled, okay?” Jonathan growled. “Go home! I’ll call you when I need you! IF I need you!” Silently, the women in the reception area all file out of the agency’s front door, none of them able to look each other in the eye as they got in their respective cars to head home. It was only once Jamie and Charlotte were on the road that the silence was broken.

“What the hell, Jamie?” Charlotte asked incredulously. “Here I was, thinking you’d actually changed, that you and Stephanie might actually stand a chance of getting along. Especially now, of all times! With Joshua in hospital, we should be united, not at each other’s throats!”

“Gah- I don’t know, I’m sorry,” Jamie sighed. “I wanted to be open-minded, I wanted to start to like Steph again, but I just went in there, seeing Joshua, then looking Steph in the face, I- I dunno. I’ll apologise to her later.”

“It’d be best for now if you two just stayed away from each other,” Charlotte said quietly.

“Oh, I agree 100%,” Jamie said. “Especially as we still have no idea what’s happening with our show…”

“Jonathan’s another person who we need to give a break,” Charlotte said. “He was deputy manager of the agency, that means he’s in charge now.”

“…And he couldn’t have picked a worse time to take over,” Jamie mumbled.

“Which is-“ Charlotte began, before being interrupted by her BFF.

“Which is why we need to be united, to support him,” Jamie said. “I know, I know… I promise, next time I see Steph, I keep my mouth shut, okay?”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Charlotte said, earning a snort of laughter from the two women as they approached their vast home.

----------

Immediately after walking through her front door, Stephanie kicked off her stilettos, took off her fitted suit jacket and collapsed onto her sofa, before letting out a long, anguished scream.

“Stephanie!?” Mrs. Abbott called from the kitchen. “Stephanie… What’s happened?”

“Every time!” Stephanie wailed as tears flowed freely from her eyes. “Every time I think things are going right for me…”

“Oh, Steph…” The distraught woman’s mother said, sitting down next to her daughter and giving her a long, comforting hug as she wept. “Tell me what happened, please let me know how I can help…”

“It- it’s Joshua,” Stephanie sobbed. “We- we were talking to the press, then he- he just collapsed… It’s all my fault! It’s all my…”

“Shh, shh,” Mrs. Abbott said soothingly. “How can it possibly be your fault?”

“I- I don’t know,” Stephanie moaned.

“Then it obviously wasn’t your fault,” Mrs. Abbott said. “You said he just collapsed?”

“Ye-yeah,” Stephanie sniffled. “They say it was a heart attack…”

“Well they can be brought on by anything,” Mrs. Abbott said. “Take it from someone who’s seen literally hundreds of people suffering from one.”

“Then it could have been me…” Stephanie wailed.

“NO!” Mrs. Abbott said firmly. “Listen to me. You are NOT to blame for this, no matter what you or anyone else thinks! You’ve been in such a good place lately, you are not letting this ruin it! I’m sure when- WHEN, not if- Joshua gets out of hospital he’ll greet you with that wide grin and loud laugh of his, same as he always does.”

“…I don’t know,” Stephanie moaned, before looking at her mother in confusion as the middle-aged woman shoved her phone into her palm.

“You know several people who DO know,” Mrs. Abbott said. “Your band. Call them round, they’ll help you out.”

“But- but Adeola will have gone to the hospital,” Stephanie whined. “To be with her uncle…”

“Then at the very least, call Kayla,” Mrs. Abbott ordered. “She’s not gone home to Southampton this weekend, has she?”

“I- I don’t think so,” Stephanie sniffled.

“She’s always been there when you needed her,” Mrs. Abbott said. “And you need her now. Three hours ago you had a smile on your face and a spring in your step, Stephanie. You WILL get that back. I promise.”

“It doesn’t feel like it right now,” Stephanie moaned.

“It never does when you’re depressed,” Mrs. Abbott whispered. “But you’ll get better. So will Joshua. You said you talked to the press, that went well, didn’t it?”

“Well, I- I guess,” Stephanie said.

“Then you’ve had a win today,” Stephanie’s mother. “So call Kayla, get her round here. There aren’t many days I’m willing to wait hand and foot on you and your friends, take advantage of them!” Stephanie giggled as she composed her text message to Kayla, inviting her around to her house. Fifteen minutes later, the two women were, as always, sat on the sofa gossiping and gaming, and desperately trying to make Stephanie forget about all of her worries- though both women kept one eye on their phones, waiting for news from the hospital about their manager.

----------

“We came as soon as we heard,” Nikki said, giving Jamie a hug as the blonde woman let her and Sarah into her home. “Katie and Lauren are on their way. Is there any news?”

“Not yet,” Jamie sighed as she led the young couple into the house’s vast main function room where Hannah and Charlotte were already waiting, along with many more of Joshua’s clients whose names Nikki didn’t know or didn’t remember. “Adeola’s at the hospital with him, so’s Judith, Joshua’s wife.”

“How did this happen, anyway?” Sarah asked.

“I don’t know,” Jamie sighed. “When I got there they were already wheeling him out on a stretcher… Only people who were there were Viks, Jon and…”

“…And?” Sarah asked.

“…And Stephanie,” Jamie said with a long, frustrated sigh. “I know it’s bad, but I still reckon if it hadn’t been for her pushing him to do an impromptu press conference, he wouldn’t have had his heart attack.”

“How- how is SHE feeling?” Sarah asked. “I mean, that must be a pretty traumatic thing to see…”

“Especially when people started having a go at her immediately afterward,” Charlotte interjecting, earning an angry stare from Jamie.

“I think she got a taxi home,” Jamie mumbled. “God, why does this always happen?”

“What do you mean?” Nikki asked.

“When Charlotte’s son was born, it was literally a week after my grandmother died,” Jamie mused. “Now Mary’s baby’s due any time now, and Joshua…”

“Don’t speak like that!” Charlotte moaned, tears welling in her eyes. “Last we heard he was still alive, and he’s going to stay that way. I refuse, I REFUSE to believe otherwise.”

“Either way, he won’t be back at work for a while,” Nikki sighed. “My grandfather was off his feet for a month after he had a heart scare a couple of years ago, and that wasn’t even a full-blown attack.”

“Yeah, but your granddad’s in his seventies,” Sarah reminded her fiancée. “Joshua’s 55, and he’s every bit as tough as he looks.”

“Who’s running the agency now?” Nikki asked. “Jon?”

“Yep,” Jamie sighed. “Poor guy nearly had a freak out in the reception area just a few minutes after finding himself in charge.”

“Wonder why,” Charlotte said in a snide voice that nearly caused Jamie’s blood to boil. “’Scuse me.”

“Oh- please tell me the two of you aren’t fighting too?” Nikki sighed.

“Ugh,” Jamie moaned as she led the young couple to a comfortable sofa, where the three women elegantly sat down with their knees pressed tightly together. “It- it’s nothing really. Well, it’s something, it’s this whole ‘Steph’ thing, Charlotte thinks I’m being too hard on her. Maybe I am, I dunno, but the evidence just speaks for itself. Okay, so maybe the heart attack WASN’T Steph’s fault, but you can’t deny she’s caused Joshua way more than his fair share of stress this last year… God knows she has me.”

“Definitely,” Nikki sighed. “If it wasn’t for this whole Steph thing, Joshua would’ve been able to focus on Constellation, rather than put out yet another one of her fires.”

“…But it was Dannii’s fault, surely?” Sarah asked.

“Oh, definitely,” Jamie said. “But if she hadn’t had anything to leak to the press…”

“I don’t think any of the Angels have any ‘dark secrets’, do they?” Nikki asked. “Or any of the other members of Out of Heaven?”

“Nope!” Jamie said. “Thing about being famous- as you two will no doubt learn some day- you really do have to be squeaky clean, whiter than white.”

“Even when you’re not famous,” Nikki laughed, before turning to her fiancée. “Remember how pissed we got at your nineteenth?”

“I’d be lying if I said I remembered ANYTHING about that night,” Sarah snorted. “Only time I’ve ever been still drunk the following morning. Remember my stepmother really tearing into me about it, though.” Nikki opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by the sound of her phone- and the phones of everyone in the room- alerting her to a new message.

“It’s from Adeola,” Jamie said. “Joshua’s in a critical but stable condition, they needed to operate to remove a blood clot from one of his arteries.”

“But he’s recovering?” Nikki asked.

“…Time will tell,” Jamie sighed. “Apparently Becca’s there with the family, so’s Viks. Guessing Jon’s still at the agency trying to get the hang of things.”

“And the rest of Out of Heaven?” Sarah asked.

“Who cares?” Jamie snorted. “Probably gone to stay with their families for the weekend.”

“Speaking of,” Sarah said, standing up.

“Whe- where are you going?” Nikki asked, surprised by her fiancée’s sudden departure.

“I said I’d help mum in the garden this afternoon,” Sarah said, before giggling. “I actually said WE’D help, but if you’re not feeling up to any physical exertion-“

“Give my love to Beverly,” Nikki said, bidding her fiancée farewell with a gentle kiss.

“Aah, you two are too cute!” Jamie sighed tiredly.

“I love her,” Nikki sighed as she watched Sarah’s pert bottom, wrapped in its tiny black skirt, retreat away from her. “I honestly, truly wouldn’t be who I am today if it wasn’t for her. I mean, obviously, I owe you a lot too, but Sarah… She is my soul mate.”

“So cute,” Jamie giggled. “Is she really going to do garden work in that skirt? Every time I set foot in our garden it’s like my tights get instantly shredded…”

“Mine too,” Nikki sighed as she adjusted her skin-tight legwear. “Kinda why I avoid our back garden like the plague, ours AND Sarah’s heh. Well, unless we’re sunbathing, anyway! Didn’t get to do too much of that this summer though, for obvious reasons…”

“Oh trust me, you will,” Jamie said with a giggle. “The bruising’s already faded, right?”

“Yeah,” Nikki whispered as she examined her blemish-free thighs through her translucent tights. “Still a little swollen, though…”

“That will go REALLY quick,” Jamie laughed. “You’ll be rocking the absolute tiniest lingerie and swimwear before you know it, guaranteed!”

“Not to mention ‘wearing’ things ‘in’ rather than just ‘on’,” Nikki said with a sly grin. “Artificial things, of course, and Sarah will be the only one actually ‘clothing’ me, but still…”

“You go, girl!” Jamie teased the blushing teenager. “Love having someone to have proper ‘girl talks’ with.”

“Umm, the rest of the Angels not good enough for you?” Nikki asked, earning a stuck-out tongue from her mentor.

“You know what I mean,” Jamie said, rolling her eyes. “Heh, you’re the only other person who knows what I mean, especially now you’ve got an ‘innie’ rather than an ‘outie’… God knows I’m probably never going to have this conversation with Steph…” Nikki sighed sympathetically- like Jamie, she’d tried to get to know Stephanie and had tried her hardest to like her, but if the events of the past week were anything to go by, those efforts were all in vain.

Nikki had taken the ultimate final step in her commitment to living life as a woman, whilst Stephanie had yet to take what was, in Nikki’s eyes, the first step. However, in her dealings with young transgendered people, Nikki had spoken to many young men and women who were confused about their gender identity, unsure about whether or not to fully commit to the life they had chosen. It had never occurred to Nikki that Stephanie- a woman a year older than her- might have been in the same situation as those confused, often frightened teenagers.

----------

“Any news yet?” Stephanie asked Kayla as the tiny blonde woman checked Facebook on her phone.

“Nope,” Kayla sighed. “Nothing from Addie OR Jon yet… Steph, I’m really, really worried…”

“I think everyone is,” Stephanie sighed as she browsed the games menu on her Xbox. “Never thought I’d hear myself say this, but I really don’t feel like gaming right now. We- we should be there, you know? Be there for Joshua, or at the very least for Addie.”

“Becca’s with her,” Kayla mumbled. “But I know what you mean… If you hadn’t called I’d probably have come round myself, heh. Don’t want to be alone today…”

“Lauren still in Scotland?” Stephanie asked.

“Yep,” Kayla said with a nod. “I’ve sent her text messages but not heard anything back yet. Almost wishing I hadn’t chucked Rob now…”

“You WILL find someone,” Stephanie said, giving the young woman’s hand a gentle squeeze. “Hell, it’s not like you don’t have guys flinging themselves at you left, right and centre!”

“I’ve told you before,” Kayla sighed. “I don’t want A guy, I want THE guy… If they’re flinging themselves at me it’s only because of my fame, not who I am as a person… God, feel selfish thinking about this, now of all times?”

“Sorry, shouldn’t have brought it up,” Stephanie sighed, before being interrupted by a knock at the front door.

“…You expecting something from Amazon?” Kayla asked.

“No…” Stephanie said, answering the door and gasping when she saw who was stood on her doorstep.

“Hi, Stephanie,” Sarah said in a soft, timid voice. “Can- can I come in, please?”

“What are you doing here?” Stephanie asked. “I thought we weren’t supposed to have any contact with each other?”

“We’re not going to resolve our differences by not talking,” Sarah said. “And we DO have differences to resolve.”

“Who is it?” Kayla asked, before also gasping at the sight of the brown-haired girl on Stephanie’s doorstep. “What- what do you want?”

“I want to apologise,” Sarah said. “For anything I said or did that made you- either of you- stressed, or upset, or depressed… This ‘war’ has gone on long enough.”

“…Apology accepted,” Kayla mumbled. “And if- if I said or did anything to hurt you, or, um, or Nikki, then I, um, I apologise too.”

“So do I,” Stephanie whispered. “Is- is Nikki with you?”

“No,” Sarah mumbled, her cheeks starting to flush with embarrassment. “Just me. I, um, I nearly brought my mum round, heh. Figured you might need help, I kinda heard what happened at the agency. Not just Joshua, I mean, but what Jamie said, what she did.”

“Ugh,” Stephanie spat. “What’d help the most is NOT hearing that woman’s name ever again!”

“Well, like it or not, we ARE all Heavenly Talent girls, even Jamie,” Sarah sighed as she followed Stephanie into her living room. “Much as she’s been pissing me off lately…”

“Oh, preach!” Kayla said, making the women all giggle.

“And for what it’s worth,” Sarah said, “I genuinely don’t know who told Dannii about you. I know it wasn’t me or Nikki. I doubt it was Katie. Lauren… I dunno. She was always close with Dannii, but recently…”

“That’s your Lauren, right?” Stephanie asked. “The black-haired girl?”

“Yeah,” Sarah said with a nod.

“I remember ‘our’ Lauren getting shit from Becca and Adeola for having the same name when our band first started,” Kayla snorted. “I- I’m sorry I accused you and Nikki of spilling to Dannii. It’s just- this whole ‘Constellation’ thing, you know?”

“Constellation are more of a competitor to the Angels than to Out of Heaven, aren’t they?” Sarah asked. “I thought their quote-unquote band was a duo?”

“It’s still competition,” Stephanie shrugged.

“And as you said,” Kayla snorted, “we’re all Heavenly Talent girls. What affects one of us affects all of us.”

“Ugh, please tell no one you said that,” Sarah laughed. “I don’t need to spend my free time making Musketeer costumes for your birthday next month! Was bad enough making all those kimonos for your brother’s Japanese party in July!"

“You have to admit,” Stephanie giggled, “it WAS fun wearing the geisha make-up, though!”

“Except when you had to touch your face for any reason,” Kayla snorted. “And it was JULY, couldn’t you have made the kimonos out of a slightly lighter fabric?”

“Danny wanted it to be authentic,” Sarah shrugged. “Think he was suffering more in that samurai armour, heh!”

“Good,” Stephanie said, earning giggles from the other two women. “Have you heard anything yet about Joshua?”

“Last I heard they were operating to remove a blood clot,” Sarah sighed. “Condition is critical but it’s a pretty routine operation. I’m sure he’ll be fine, he might just need to tone the volume down a bit, that’s all.”

“Meh, he’ll have, like, 999 decibels left,” Kayla shrugged, earning more giggles. “We were in the middle of a gaming session, want to join us?”

“I… I never really had a videogame growing up,” Sarah said with a grimace. “Mum’s kinda conservative, reckoned my time would be better spent reading, or practising for one of my after-school clubs. Plus… She kinda… Ugh, I’m not- I’m not saying this.”

“No, it’s okay,” Stephanie whispered.

“She kinda… Thought they weren’t very ladylike,” Sarah sighed. “I mean, I asked for an Xbox for my fifteenth birthday, all the kids at school were going mad about it as that Game of Thrones-style adventure game had just come out. Even Nikki spent ages playing it.”

“What, Skyrim?” Stephanie asked. “Yeah, I remember Danny getting me that for Christmas that year. Mum wasn't happy when she saw that 18 certificate on the front, especially as I was only fifteen at the time!"

“Yep,” Sarah giggled. “Mum took one look at a video of it and was horrified and that was the end of that discussion. Thought Xboxes were just for teenage boys who spend their whole lives wanking into a sock. Umm, no offence…”

“None taken,” Kayla said, interrupting Stephanie before she had a chance to speak and making her laugh.

“None from me either,” Stephanie giggled, sticking her tongue out at Kayla. “And for the record, I have NEVER wanked into a sock. OR a pair of tights. And strangely enough, your mum’s always encouraged me to pursue the hobbies I used to enjoy when I was ‘Steve’, with gaming basically being top of that list.”

“Oh, well, if it’s my mum’s professional opinion…” Sarah giggled, grabbing a game controller from the coffee table and settling into the sofa with her two friends to while away the rest of the afternoon playing videogames- though all three women kept an eye on their mobile phones for any updates on their boss’s condition.

----------

“Hi Beverly,” Nikki said as she walked through the front door of her fiancée’s house, kicking off her heels and collapsing into the sofa. “Isn’t Sarah here? Don’t see her car on the drive…”

“Hi Nikki!” Sarah’s mother replied from the kitchen. “No, I thought she was with you all day? How is Joshua, anyway?”

“Umm, out of surgery, which is something,” Nikki said. “Recovering in intensive care but they say he’s stable, so fingers crossed. Sarah said she was coming home to help you in the garden, didn’t she?”

“Sarah, helping me in the garden?” Beverly said with a laugh. “She knows full well that we hire a gardener, and I don’t think she’s even set foot in that garden in over a year.”

“…Oh,” Nikki said, her face falling as she learned of Sarah’s deception.

“Oh, um, I’m sure she’s back at your place,” Beverly said, immediately sensing Nikki’s worry. “Or at your friends’ new flat. Probably planning a special surprise or something. Your three month anniversary is coming up, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, on Wednesday,” Nikki said, smiling as she rubbed her nylon-covered thighs together. “Would’ve thought she’d wait until then…”

“Well, you know Sarah,” Beverly laughed. “She likes to make a fuss!”

“Yeah,” Nikki said in a flat voice. “I should, um, I should get back to my place, see if she’s there…”

“Oh, um, if she’s planning a surprise, that might not be the best idea,” Beverly said, bringing the smile back to Nikki’s face.

“…So she IS planning a surprise, then?” Nikki asked. “Huh, figured she’d have come up with a better cover story than ‘helping you in the garden’.”

“She’s probably just worried about Joshua, forgot her planned cover story,” Beverly said.

“Yeah… Yeah, that’s probably it,” Nikki said with a grin. “Wonder what the surprise is… Been ages since I last had a good pampering session.”

“You and Sarah have been practically living at the salon over the last few weeks!” Beverly laughed. “It’s a wonder either of you have any fingernails left!” Nikki giggled as she examined her immaculately-sculpted, crimson fingernails.

“Very true,” Nikki giggled. “They are constantly growing, though, which means that they do need constant care…”

“And besides,” Beverly said, “it’s the three month mark… You know how significant THAT is.”

“Yeah…” Nikki whispered as her imagination began to wonder just what surprise Sarah had in store.

Two hours later, Sarah walked through her front door with a smile on her face and was greeted by a long, deep kiss from her fiancée, which only served to widen her grin.

“You’re happy,” Sarah giggled.

“You’re back,” Nikki said with a smug grin, before Sarah another kiss. “So… Picking up gardening tools?” Nikki smiled sympathetically as Sarah grimaced, having been caught out in her lie.

“Sorry…” Sarah grimaced.

“It’s okay,” Nikki said. “Especially as I know where you REALLY were.”

“Really- you’re okay with it?” Sarah asked as she sat down next to her fiancée.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Nikki giggled.

“Well,” Sarah said, “I just figured the history between you and Stephanie-“

“Stephanie!?” Nikki exclaimed. “What- what’s Stephanie got to do with this?”

“…Where did you think I was?” Sarah asked nervously.

“Preparing a special surprise,” Nikki answered. “For my three months since SRS on Wednesday… You- you were with Stephanie all this time?”

“Yeah,” Sarah whispered, making Nikki groan. “Nikki, please try to understand, I didn’t- I didn’t want to lie to you, but with Jamie there, I- I just didn’t know what to do.”

“Go on,” Nikki said, breaking the awkward pause that filled the room.

“The way Jamie was going on,” Sarah said, wiping a tear away from her eye, “I- I just couldn’t stand it anymore. I know she’s your friend, I know she’s your mentor, but- but- ugh.”

“…She does make some valid points,” Nikki whispered. “Stephanie DID lie to us all, she made me feel really uncomfortable when the truth came out about her-“

“I assure you, she felt just as uncomfortable, if not more,” Sarah said. “She’s had people constantly judging her ever since she returned. I should know, I was one of those people.”

“So- so why are you now on her side?” Nikki asked.

“Just because I’m on her side doesn’t mean I’m not on yours,” Sarah said, squeezing her fiancée’s hand supportively. “You come first, always. But Stephanie’s in a lot of confusion, a lot of pain, even. You’ve helped so, so many kids over the last few years, haven’t you?”

“Well- yes,” Nikki said. “Stephanie’s hardly a kid, though, I mean, she’s older than me. Not by much, but still…”

“Does that mean that she doesn’t need help?” Sarah asked. “And I can’t think of anyone better to help her than you, Nikki. Jamie’s supposed to be her mentor but let’s face it, in that role, she’s failed.”

“I guess…” Nikki mumbled.

“I’m sorry,” Sarah sighed, resting her head on Nikki’s shoulder. “This- I shouldn’t have done this, at least, not without talking to you first.”

“It’s okay,” Nikki whispered. “I forgive you, of course I forgive you, and I always will.”

“Thanks,” Sarah sniffled. “You know… I reckon you and Stephanie have a lot more in common than you might think.”

“Apart from our genitals?” Nikki asked, making Sarah laugh.

“Being a woman’s about more than what you keep in your knickers,” Sarah laughed. “You taught me that over the last five years, remember? Got a good refresher on that from Steph today too.”

“Sounds like I could use a refresher as well,” Nikki mumbled.

“I didn’t say that,” Sarah said. “I’d never say that, I know how much this life means to you. So again, I’m sorry. If you’d rather I stayed away from Steph-“

“No, I’m not going to tell you who to be friends with,” Nikki laughed. “I- I just want you to trust me a bit more, okay?”

“Okay,” Sarah said with a tired grin, before kissing her fiancée deeply, making sure Nikki knew just how much she loved her.

As she laid in bed later that night, though, Nikki struggled to get to sleep. The transgendered woman had always felt that Sarah’s presence in bed next to her was a source of infinite comfort, but for the first time ever, it was making Nikki uneasy. She had always been honest and upfront with Sarah, and Sarah had always been honest and upfront with her, but Sarah’s actions in approaching Stephanie troubled Nikki greatly. As much as she tried to write it off as jealousy or paranoia, she still couldn’t shake the worry that her feelings for Sarah- or worse yet, Sarah’s feelings for her- had changed.

----------

“Ugh,” Stuart moaned as Jamie rolled over in bed and her long blonde hair flopped into his face. “Stop that… I know you’re worried about him, I am too, but please try to get some sleep…”

“Sorry,” Jamie moaned, sighing as she checked the time on her phone. “3:40… Still no news.”

“Joshua’s wife will probably be asleep too, like we should be,” Stuart grunted.

“Yes, I know,” Jamie sighed.

“And it’s tomorrow you should be unable to sleep,” Stuart said with a quiet giggle.

“Yes, yes, I know,” Jamie sighed. “Hardly the happiest birthday I’ll have ever had, even including last year…”

“Just means I’ll have to work extra hard,” Stuart said, gently kissing Jamie’s smooth, bare neck. “Though obviously any ‘extra hard’ present will have to wait a few weeks…”

“My parents always used to tell me off when I broke my presents immediately after getting them,” Jamie giggled.

“Same here,” Stuart laughed. “’Course, all my presents when I was eight were Barbie dolls or dressing up outfits…”

“Neither of us had the happiest childhood,” Jamie sighed.

“I remember you saying,” Stuart whispered. “What was it you said, ‘didn’t know who I really was until I was in my late teens’?”

“Didn’t even have any thoughts of crossdressing until I was well into my teens,” Jamie said.

“Not knowing who you truly are inside…” Stuart mumbled. “Remind you of anyone?” Stuart grimaced as his fiancée’s face screwed up into a frown, before the transgendered woman clamped a pillow over her face and screamed into it.

“Really?” Jamie asked incredulously. “Even here?”

“…Sorry,” Stuart mumbled.

“I guess you’re not wrong, though,” Jamie sighed. “And she definitely didn’t deserve the rinsing she got from the press.”

“Hell, no one does,” Stuart sighed. “Look, I- I’m sorry I brought her up, it’s just- you know? I have to work with her, and she and Becca have grown close too. Feel like I’m caught in the middle of a catfight, and I’ve had more than enough of those for one lifetime.”

“…Sorry,” Jamie sighed. “Just- just try to get back to sleep, okay? If we get the call from the hospital to go down there I want to be rested.”

“The call for Joshua or the call for Mary?” Stuart asked, making Jamie snort with laughter.

“Never rains, but it pours…” Jamie sighed as she closed her eyes and tried to get even the tiniest amount of sleep.

----------

“Feeling a little better this morning?” Stephanie’s mother asked as the brown-haired woman flopped into a kitchen chair. “You look a lot better than yesterday.”

“Thanks,” Stephanie said with a tired, snorted laugh. “What’s for breakfast?”

“’Good morning mum, and how are you today?’” Mrs. Abbott said in a mocking voice, making her daughter groan.

“Morning, mum,” Stephanie sighed. “Sorry, didn’t get much sleep last night, I kept checking my phone.”

“…And any news?” Mrs. Abbott asked.

“It looks like he’s gonna be fine,” Stephanie said, earning a sigh of relief from her mother. “He’ll be in hospital at least another week, though. And… That wasn’t the only reason I was checking my phone.”

“To see what reaction there was to your press conference yesterday?” Mrs. Abbott asked.

“Yep,” Stephanie whispered. “Hardly any websites reported on it…”

“They’re probably still writing up their story,” Mrs. Abbott shrugged.

“24 hours later?” Stephanie asked. “Maybe if they were putting it in a newspaper, but on a website…?”

“Well look at it this way, then,” Mrs. Abbott said, clearly frustrated by her daughter’s pessimism. “These kinds of newspapers only ever publish bad news, right? They only ever set out to tear down famous people like you?”

“Usually, yeah,” Stephanie snorted.

“So maybe no news is good news?” Mrs. Abbott asked. “They can’t report anything negative about you anymore, so they’re choosing not to report anything at all?”

“It’s a nice thought,” Stephanie laughed. “They’re probably just waiting for my next screw up so they can slaughter me again.”

“Well then it’s obvious what you need to do,” Mrs. Abbott said with a smug grin. “And that’s ‘not screw up’.”

“Easier said than done,” Stephanie snorted.

“Oh, I dunno,” Mrs. Abbott giggled. “You made a new friend yesterday, didn’t you?”

“Well- yeah, I guess,” Stephanie said. “She might be coming over again today, might be bringing Nikki with her.”

“Another transgendered girl?” Mrs. Abbott asked, smiling as Stephanie nodded. “Good, then that means another friend for you!”

“Hopefully,” Stephanie said.

“Who knows,” Mrs. Abbott laughed, “maybe this time next week you and that Jamie girl will be friends again!”

“I wouldn’t go THAT far,” Stephanie chuckled as she drank her coffee, before heading through to her living room and awaiting the arrival of her friends.

----------

Jamie forced a tired smile onto her face as she heard the unmistakable sound of her godson’s laughter coming from her kitchen. The smile remained on her face as she entered the kitchen to see the tiny boy being fed his breakfast by his father, though her smile began to fade when the boy’s mother stared at her with a neutral expression on her face.

“Morning, Charlie,” Jamie said as she poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down opposite the father and son.

“Morning, Jamie,” Charlotte replied. “You going to your parents’ today?”

“Umm, no,” Jamie replied. “Going to see them tomorrow, umm, you know, for my birthday…”

“I see,” Charlotte said, leading to an awkward pause that was broken by a loud, masculine groan.

“Really?” Keith asked with a long, drawn-out sight. “Whatever happened to ‘BFFs’?”

“That’s a good question,” Jamie said, earning an angry sigh from Charlotte.

“You know the answer,” Charlotte growled. “The closest thing I have to a father might be on his deathbed for all I know, my career’s just been nuked and my best friend is tearing apart the closest thing I ever had to a group of siblings!”

“What the hell did I do!?” Jamie asked, before groaning as Keith junior began to cry. “Sorry, sorry…”

“I’ll take him into the living room,” Keith senior whispered, picking up his son and leaving the two women alone in the kitchen.

“…I am sorry,” Jamie sighed. “I shouldn’t have raised my voice...”

“He’s a sensitive boy,” Charlotte shrugged. “It’s not the first time he’s cried, and it won’t be the last. Making Stephanie cry, on the other hand…”

“Ugh,” Jamie moaned, lowering her head to the table and allowing her long, blonde hair to splay out from her head. “I don’t recall ever actually making her ‘cry’. It’s not like she’s got the hormones for it, anyway…”

“Yeah, THAT isn’t helping,” Charlotte snorted, making Jamie moan again.

“What exactly do you want from me, Charlie?” Jamie asked. “Do you want me to apologise to Stephanie?”

“It’d be a start,” Charlotte whispered. “What’d also be good is you remembering exactly where you came from, exactly why ‘Jamie-Lee Burke’ exists in the first place. Because as I recall, when you were nineteen years old- not THAT much younger than Steph- you didn’t have any oestrogen in your blood either, and unlike her, I’m guessing you didn’t want any?”

“…I don’t regret it,” Jamie said as she stared down at her highly feminine figure, at the two tender mounds protruding from her chest, at her narrow waist and widened hips and at the soft, hairless legs poking out from the bottom of her dressing gown. “Becoming Jamie-Lee is the best thing that ever happened to me and if I had to do it all again, I would.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Charlotte said. “But can you honestly say that, if it wasn’t for me, you’d be a woman today?”

“…Probably not,” Jamie moaned. “I don’t know WHAT I’d be. I don’t even know if I’d still be alive…” Charlotte let out a long sigh at Jamie’s attempt to manipulate her emotions, but despite herself, she still sat down next to the transgendered woman and gave her a long, tender hug.

“We both owe each other a lot,” Charlotte mumbled into Jamie’s shoulder.

“THAT’s for sure,” Jamie chuckled. “What does this have to do with Steph, anyway?”

“A chronically unemployed man in his early twenties gets the opportunity to live life as a successful, rich woman,” Charlotte said. “But in order to live that life successfully, he must hide a secret from his closest friends. Who am I talking about: James Travis or Stephen Abbott?”

“…I don’t know,” Jamie conceded. “But once I committed to that life, I COMMITTED. Without hesitation.”

“Only thanks to help from me,” Charlotte said. “Pulling in favours with doctors to fast-track your hormone treatments, not to mention that healthy boost to your bank balance. A balance, I should point out, that’s currently bigger than mine.”

“I tried to do the same for Stephanie,” Jamie mumbled. “Who’ll probably be richer than either of us in a few months’ time.”

“But not everybody’s the same as you,” Charlotte whispered. “Hell, we, you and I, look almost identical, but you know we’re totally different people regardless of how we were born.”

“If you’d chosen Stephen Abbott for your ‘duplicate’,” Jamie whispered, “he’d probably have jumped for joy when he woke up dressed as a woman, rather than spend the first ten minutes panicking. Steph always said she’d crossdressed or dreamed about it from an early age.”

“It’s her life,” Charlotte said. “She’s entitled to live it however she wants. And the truth’s now out, she has nothing to hide. Her fans have accepted her. We’ve mostly accepted her. And Joshua’s accepted her. What better ‘welcome home’ present could there be than for him to see all of his girls- ALL of his girls- united?”

“United against Constellation?” Jamie asked.

“If that’s what it takes,” Charlotte shrugged.

“…Okay, okay,” Jamie sighed. “I’ll apologise to Stephanie, I’ll try to build a bridge, get to know her better. AFTER my birthday. On Tuesday.”

“Tuesday it is,” Charlotte said, giving Jamie another long, tight hug.

“When did you become the most sensible one of us, anyway?” Jamie asked. “Five years ago you wanted to wear a skin-tight red unitard on national television…” Jamie giggled as Charlotte blushed at the memory of her younger self, before letting out a long, happy sigh.

“It was about the same time I became a mother,” Charlotte whispered. “I want little Keithy to have as many aunts and uncles as possible.”

“…Still wish he’d been a girl?” Jamie asked quietly.

“Every day,” Charlotte sighed, prompting Jamie to give her a tight hug. “But I’ll love him no matter what gender he is, or what gender he chooses to be in the future. And besides, I can always try for another girl… God knows Keith and I are getting enough practice there!” Jamie gave Charlotte a playful shove as both women stood up and headed through to the living room, giggling at the sight of their partners playing on the floor with the tiny infant. The week had taken its toll on Jamie, as it had with all the other women, but after her talk with Charlotte- and the rejuvenation of her friendship- she felt ready to take on the world- even if that meant swallowing a large chunk of humble pie for Stephanie.

----------

“Hey,” Stephanie said as she opened her front door and greeted Sarah with a long, friendly hug. “Hey, Nikki…” Stephanie and Nikki both giggled awkwardly as they approached each other, laughing even louder as they shared a hug.

“Are we the first here?” Sarah asked as she and her fiancée followed Stephanie into her living room.

“Yeah,” Stephanie said. “Kayla will be here in a bit, Lauren- our Lauren- is still in Scotland, Becca and Adeola are obviously still at the hospital…”

“Any- any news?” Nikki asked.

“Still in intensive care,” Stephanie whispered. “But recovering fast. Addie says the surgery was a complete success. He may even be back at work within a month.”

“Good,” Nikki said softly. “And- and any news on how, umm, how Jon’s coping?”

“…Not yet,” Stephanie mumbled. “I’m going to see him tomorrow- the whole band is- see what we can do to help out. Joshua left some BIG shoes to fill.”

“Well, now that Jamie’s got her degree, she might be able to help a bit with the admin side of things,” Sarah said.

“Ugh, if you say so,” Stephanie snorted. “I- I’m sorry, I just don’t want to even THINK about her right now. This whole week wouldn’t have been as a big a disaster as it was if she hadn’t been such a total bitch…”

“…Hard to argue with that,” Nikki sighed. “Though you and I didn’t exactly help, either.”

“Maybe not,” Stephanie shrugged, before a grin crept across her face. “Doesn’t mean it’s too late to make up for it, though. Especially after what Sarah told me yesterday…”

“Okay…” Nikki said with a puzzled grin. “And what, exactly did Sarah tell you?”

“Just answer me this question,” Stephanie said, her grin widening. “Empire or Stormcloaks?”

“Ahh,” Nikki said, “memories. And… Stormcloak.”

“Me too,” Stephanie giggled as Sarah looked on in bewilderment. “Had to really, I WAS playing a Nord.”

“Argonian,” Nikki said. “God, I loved that game… Got my mum and dad to buy it for Christmas that year even though I was only fourteen. Advantages of being the only child- well, at the time, anyway- you get spoiled, heh. Plus mum and dad thought it’d draw my attention away from girls.”

“Which obviously worked,” Sarah giggled, wrapping her arms around Nikki’s slender waist.

“Shouldn’t need to ask which gender your character was, should I?” Stephanie asked with a giggle.

“Nope!” Nikki said, prompting a mass giggle.

“And you never thought to introduce Sarah to the wonders of Tamriel?” Stephanie asked.

“Ehh…” Nikki grimaced, letting out a light giggle. “Whenever we spent time together, we kinda- we kinda had ‘other’ hobbies.”

“…Ah,” Stephanie said, letting out a light giggle of her own. “God, you’re so lucky, having a friend like Sarah…”

“Having a fiancée like Sarah!” Nikki said, prompting another mass giggle. “But you’ve not exactly done bad yourself, I mean, you’re rich, famous, gorgeous and girly, all without the help of hormones, right?”

“If you say so,” Stephanie shrugged.

“I DO say so,” Nikki said firmly. “And… I’m sorry. If at any point I made your life hard, or stressed you out, or did anything wrong, I apologise, I really, truly do.”

“…And I’m sorry too,” Stephanie said. “I’ve not exactly behaved brilliantly toward you two over this past week. Friends?”

“…Friends,” Nikki said, giving Stephanie a tight, genuine hug. “Any time you want to have a chat about, well, girl shit, you just ask, I’ll always respond.”

“I will,” Stephanie said, letting out a tired giggle. “God, it’s so weird, you know? I mean, you’re a year younger than me, but you’re actually at the end of your journey and I’m not even at the start of it.”

“Well, like a very clever woman told me,” Nikki said, squeezing her fiancée’s hand, “everybody goes down their ‘journey’ at different speeds. You’ll get there eventually, Steph. Five years from now, I reckon you’ll be just as ‘inward’ as me, heh.”

“God, I dunno,” Stephanie sighed. “I pass out every time I have to have an injection, the thought of major surgery…”

“It DOES hurt, at first,” Nikki said. “But it’s well worth it in the end.” Stephanie smiled at Nikki’s tale, before leaping up as another knock came from the front door.

“Hey, bestie!” Stephanie giggled as she welcomed Kayla into her home with a tight hug.

“Hey, Steph!” Kayla giggled. “Oh, hey Sarah, hey Nikki!”

“Hey Kayla,” Nikki and Sarah said simultaneously.

“Soo…” Kayla teased. “What are we all talking about?”

“Right now?” Nikki replied. “The advantages of having a vagina.”

“You mean there are DISadvantages?” Kayla asked, prompting yet another mass giggle.

“3 months and counting, and I’ve not found any yet,” Nikki said with a smug grin. “Well, the dilation can be a pain, but it’s such a small price to pay.”

“19 years, 10 months and counting,” Sarah said with an even smugger grin than her fiancée’s. “No disadvantages whatsoever.”

“I think we might be making Steph jealous,” Kayla said as Stephanie let out a long sigh.

“Well she shouldn’t be,” Nikki said. “Because she’s no less a girl than any of us, right?”

“Right!” Sarah and Kayla cheered as Stephanie giggled and his her blushing face behind her long brown hair.

“Ugh, enough already!” Stephanie laughed. “Now that we’re all actually here, gaming session, anyone?”

“Well I guess we could,” Nikki said, producing a large shopping bag from next to where she was sat. “Or…”

“…Or?” Stephanie asked.

“Or,” Nikki said, “Remember I told you that any free time I had with Sarah- before I was transitioning, I mean- we used to have another ‘hobby’?”

“Yes…” Stephanie said, smirking as she correctly guessed the contents of Nikki’s bag.

“Well,” Nikki explained. “I figured that as we’re both size tens, and near enough the same height…” Stephanie gasped with excitement as Nikki produced from her bag one of the most beautiful dresses Stephanie had ever seen.

The dress was made of a red fabric that seemed to sparkle in the sunlight and rippled like a sand dune with every touch. It had thick shoulder straps, a square neck and a narrow, cinched waist, and ended in an asymmetrical knee-length skirt.

“It’s gorgeous,” Stephanie breathed as she gently caressed the soft material.

“It’s yours,” Sarah said with a proud grin.

“Wha- really?” Stephanie asked. “This- I should at least pay you for this, how much did it cost?”

“Altogether?” Sarah asked. “Maybe £11. £12 if you include the thread. Honestly, it’s fine. Call it a ‘peace offering’.”

“Ugh, SO jealous,” Kayla said as she also caressed the dress. “You could at least try it on, Steph…”

“Oh- right, yeah,” Stephanie said, gently taking the garment from Sarah and heading toward the stairs.

“Umm… Where you going, Steph?” Nikki asked, stopping the confused Stephanie in her tracks.

“Umm… Privacy?” Stephanie replied.

“Why?” Sarah giggled. “We ARE all girls here, right?” Stephanie blinked back a tear as a wide grin spread across her face.

“Thank you,” Stephanie whispered, her voice trembling with emotion. “But… If I’m going to wear a dress like this, I’ll need matching shoes, right?”

“Well, duh,” Nikki chuckled.

“And a dress this beautiful needs make-up to match, right?” Stephanie asked.

“I guess,” Sarah said, a wide smile spreading across her face.

“And your hair will need styling too, right Steph?” Kayla asked, leading to yet another mass giggle. “So maybe we should head up to your room… All of us!”

Stephanie squeaked with excitement as she led her friends up to her room, where she quickly stripped down to her bra and her thong. Standing before her friends in just her underwear, Stephanie suddenly felt very self-conscious. She’d changed costumes in front of the band before, but this experience seemed much more intimate, especially as she was the only one changing her clothes. The reassuring looks in her friends’ faces, however, served to strengthen Stephanie’s resolve, and within seconds, the three women had sat Stephanie down in front of her dresser, where her make-up was enhanced, her hair curled into a fancy style and her fingernails and toenails were repainted the same shade of red as the dress.

Stephanie took a deep breath as she stepped into the elaborate dress, holding her stomach in as Sarah zipped it up at the back. Despite being designed for Nikki’s measurements, the dress still fit her fine, even if the cleavage wasn’t as pronounced as it would have been had Nikki been the one wearing it. Stephanie giggled as Kayla attached a pair of matching sandals to her feet that had torturous 5” platform heels, before standing up and posing for her three friends, all of whom eagerly snapped her with their phones.

“Here we go again,” Kayla giggled.

“Getting a new dress every time I get depressed almost makes it worth it,” Stephanie chuckled, before handing her own phone to Kayla. “Can you get a few photos, please? Not for Instagram, just saved to my phone.”

“Sure,” Kayla said. “But our photos are all going up on Instagram, right girls?”

“Damn right,” Nikki giggled. “What do you want your photos for, Steph?”

“Just… Something I need to do,” Stephanie said, carefully sitting down on her bed and opening up her text messaging app after Kayla handed her phone back to her.

‘Hi Janet,’ Stephanie typed into her phone. ‘Hope you’re keeping well… I guess you saw the way the press dragged me through the mud this week. Just wanted you to know I’m feeling fine, my friends and family have really helped me through it. Even made a new friends too- one of whom made this GORGEOUS dress in the attached pic. Hope you’re doing okay. Love Steph xxx’

“Done,” Stephanie said, putting her phone back on her dresser. “Kinda feel a bit overdressed now, heh…”

“Well it’s lucky we packed more than one dress then, isn’t it?” Sarah asked. “You saw how big Nikki’s bag was…”

“There’s innuendo there, but I’m not going to make it,” Nikki retorted, sticking her tongue out at her giggling fiancée.

“I suppose those dresses were all done to your measurements,” Kayla sighed. “Not got any in, like, girls’ sizes?”

“Oh, like this one?” Sarah asked, reaching into her bag for a tiny silver-coloured minidress that Kayla excitedly took and held against her body, admiring her reflection in Stephanie’s full-length mirror.

“So cool,” Kayla sighed happily.

“It’d look even better on your body than in front of it,” Nikki teased, prompting Kayla to squeak with excitement as she stripped off her top and her skirt, before unclipping her bra and tossing it onto the pile of clothes on Stephanie’s bed. As she had done many times in the past, Stephanie marvelled at how comfortable Kayla was baring her ‘personal areas’ not just to her, but to the other women in the room. It was on such occasions that Stephanie felt the most accepted as ‘one of the girls’, especially as Nikki and Sarah also stripped down and changed into the dresses they brought along- in Sarah’s case, a shiny hot pink and red-coloured strapless bodysuit with a matching skirt, and in Nikki’s case, a calf-length indigo-coloured dress with lilac hints.

“I’m not breaking any laws by going topless in front of you, am I, Kayla?” Nikki asked, earning an angry glare from the tiny blonde girl.

“Hey!” Kayla protested. “I’ll remind you that I’m nineteen next month! Okay, I don’t look it, but that’s what these are for, right?” Kayla giggled excitedly as she held up Stephanie’s still-warm curling tongs, which Kayla’s hair was soon wrapped around, transforming her youthful bob into a chic wavy style.

“Gorgeous,” Stephanie giggled as she applied a thick layer of dark make-up to Kayla’s youthful face. “Even if it does add a decade to you…”

“I WILL punch you,” Kayla playfully threatened as Nikki and Sarah giggled. “What do I have to do to convince you that I am actually an adult?”

“An adult who’s playing dress-up with her friends?” Nikki teased, making Kayla laugh defeatedly.

“I guess so,” Kayla laughed. “Though I guess the two of you have, like, over thirty years to catch up on…”

“Oh trust me, Nikki’s NOT been wasting time there!” Sarah giggled.

“Speaking of,” Nikki grimaced as she reached into her tote bag, retrieving a long, pencil case-like washbag. “Can I- can I use your bathroom, please? Still have to do this SO many times a day…”

“Sure,” Stephanie whispered, letting out a happy sigh as Nikki left the room. “You know, I kinda feel guilty, ‘playing dress-up’ whilst Joshua’s still in hospital…”

“I think he’d be proud of us,” Kayla said confidently. “I think he’d take one look at four of his girls who don’t normally hang out like this, umm, well, hanging out like this, and I reckon he’d have that big, wide grin on his face, same as always.”

“I agree,” Sarah said as she adjusted the top of her bodysuit. “AND I bet that Spencer and Hall’s so-called Constellation won’t get the chance to hang out like this, I bet they wouldn’t be allowed!”

“Dannii doesn’t know what she’s missing,” Kayla snorted with a smug grin.

“Oh, I bet she does,” Sarah retorted. “It’s just that to some people, money and fame are more important than friendship.”

“Heh,” Kayla laughed. “If Spencer and Hall had made me the same offer eighteen months ago I’d probably have jumped at the chance. I would actually have done X Factor last year if I hadn’t got into Out of Heaven.”

“You’d probably have walked it, too,” Stephanie said. “Take it from someone who hears you sing every day!”

“I wouldn’t have got ‘this’, though!” Kayla said, gesturing to the three women’s beautiful dresses. “And I would’ve had to stare at Simon Cowell’s face every day. Some fame comes at TOO high a price.”

“Oh- that’s right,” Sarah said. “You’re an only child, aren’t you?”

“Yep,” Kayla sighed. “Mum and dad always tried for a second, but I was apparently a ‘miracle baby’, always destined to be alone.”

“I know the feeling,” Sarah sighed. “I mean, I have a brother and a sister, but they’re half-siblings on my dad’s side so I wasn’t raised with them. Nikki’s effectively an only child too, as her sister’s eighteen years younger than she is.”

“Well, I’m just glad I’ve got more sisters than I can count now!” Kayla giggled, before her face fell as the girls’ phones all bleeped to inform them of a new text message.

“Jos- Joshua?” Stephanie whispered.

“No,” Sarah said. “From Mary. Looks like our ‘family’s going to get another new member today!” Stephanie’s and Kayla’s jaws dropped as they read the text message, and after waiting for Nikki to finish dilating, the four women jumped into Sarah’s car, still dressed in their fancy clothes and make-up, and hurried to the maternity ward where their friends were already waiting for them.

----------

“God…” Jamie moaned as she leaned back into the hard hospital chair and tried to get comfortable. “Doesn’t it normally go quicker if it’s the second child?”

“Pretty sure it doesn’t work that way,” Krystie replied. “Would be nice to think that it did, though…”

“It’d be nice just to be able to give birth at all,” Jamie mumbled.

“Trust me,” Charlotte snorted. “If you’d done it once, you’d disagree… But I do kinda get where you’re coming from.”

“The old ‘pangs’ coming back?” Krystie asked her transgendered friend.

“They never really went away,” Jamie sighed. “Guess I can settle for being ‘coolest aunt’ for now.”

“Ehh…” Krystie grimaced as she saw a group of figures looming at the entrance to the waiting area. “May want to be another type of ‘cool’…” Jamie bit her lip as she saw Becca and Adeola slowly approach their area.

“Hi,” Becca said stoically as she sat down opposite Jamie, fixing the blonde woman with a cold glare.

“Hi,” Jamie replied.

“My brother not with you?” Becca asked.

“No,” Jamie whispered. “He- he had to see Jonathan tonight, something about your album.”

“My brother not with you?” Krystie asked Becca in a desperate attempt to relieve some of the tension in the room.

“We’re not joined at the hip,” Becca snorted in response.

“No, just at the pelvis,” Krystie retorted, making both Jamie and Becca giggle despite themselves. “Addie, um, how’s- how’s-“

“Recovering,” Adeola said, earning sighs of relief from Jamie and Krystie. “Doctors reckon he’ll be on his feet this time next week. I- I ain’t seen him yet, dunno if I could face it…”

“It’s understandable,” Jamie whispered, earning a sympathetic smile from the dark-skinned girl. “Becca, I- I know we’ve not seen eye to eye, but for now, for today… Let’s be friends, okay? For Mary?”

“’Friends’ is pushing it,” Becca grunted. “But there’s no need for us to be enemies. Truce?” Jamie smiled as Becca extended her hand, which the blonde woman eagerly shook.

“Friends,” Jamie whispered, before bristling as Stephanie, Kayla, Nikki and Sarah all entered the waiting area- and from their clothing, Jamie quickly deduced that they’d spent most of if not the whole day together.

Jamie took several deep breaths to try to calm herself at what she could easily have viewed as a betrayal. Nikki was her protégé, someone who had always turned to her when she was in need, and someone in whom Jamie could always confide, so to see her suddenly start to hang out with Stephanie- a person Jamie and Nikki had both badmouthed mere days earlier- made Jamie feel like hers and Nikki’s relationship was being trivialised, and this upset Jamie greatly.

However, the rational side of Jamie reminded her that she had resolved to try to make peace with Stephanie, and it was only logical that Nikki should try to do the same. Nikki was an adult, her own person- it wasn’t like she needed Jamie’s permission before seeking a peaceful reconciliation with Stephanie, and if anything, Jamie should be proud of Nikki for taking the initiative. Nonetheless, Jamie still felt a twinge of anger that she couldn’t shake. What she could do, though, was channel it in a less confrontational way.

“I am so jealous of those dresses,” Jamie said, earning giggles from all the girls as the new arrivals sat down. “Seriously. Sarah, I’m guessing they’re all yours?”

“Yep!” Sarah said smugly. “And no need to be THAT jealous, I mean, it IS your birthday tomorrow, and I have had the whole summer to work on special projects…”

“At this rate, it won’t just be Jamie’s birthday tomorrow!” Krystie said, barely suppressing her excitement.

“Oh, that would be so cool,” Kayla sighed. “An honorary aunt having the same birthday as her honorary niece…”

“Yeah,” Jamie whispered as she avoided Stephanie’s stern gaze. “Umm… And, you know, all her parents happy, and, umm, friends?”

“Yeah,” Stephanie whispered, biting her lip to keep herself from blowing up at the woman who had antagonised her over the past several months. “Is- is the other member of your band on the way?”

“I’ve texted her,” Kayla said. “Think it’d actually be quicker to get to London from Paris than it would from where she lives, heh.”

“Speaking of,” Charlotte asked, “is Zoe coming tonight?”

“Try and keep her away,” Krystie laughed. “She’s really grown close to Mary’s first since she started at our school, think she wants to scout her second baby ballerina, heh.”

“Unless, of course, Natasha takes after her dad?” Becca teased.

“Now THAT is too terrifying a prospect to imagine!” Krystie retorted, making all the women laugh as they anxiously awaited the newest member of their ‘family’.

Hours passed as more women joined in the vigil at the hospital, and despite both camps agreeing to remain civil for Mary’s sake, tensions still ran high between the Angels and Out of Heaven. Due to her need to dilate, Nikki periodically excused herself from the conversation, and as she was on her way back from her latest dilating session, Jamie took the opportunity to talk to her privately.

“Hey,” Jamie whispered to the brown-haired girl as she sanitised her hands.

“Hey,” Nikki whispered in reply.

“So…” Jamie said. “You and Stephanie?” Jamie grimaced as Nikki responded with a long, tired sigh.

“…That was Sarah,” Nikki said. “When she suddenly vanished yesterday. Obviously not doing any ‘gardening’.”

“She doesn’t strike me as a ‘garden’ person,” Jamie laughed. “But- but I’m glad you and Stephanie are getting on now.”

“Really?” Nikki asked. “Because I kinda worried that because we went behind your back-“

“Oh please,” Jamie sighed. “I’m 24, I’m not some teenager who gets mad every time- uh, no offence at that ‘teenager’ remark…”

“None taken,” Nikki said. “And you’re 25, it’s, um, it’s quarter past twelve. Happy- happy birthday.”

“Thanks,” Jamie said with a tired grin. “Doubt anyone will be up for partying after tonight, though.”

“I thought all old people just celebrated with a quiet night in anyway?” Nikki asked, earning a playful shove from her mentor.

“Don’t push it,” Jamie teased. “There are some things I WON’T forgive.”

“But Stephanie’s something you CAN forgive?” Nikki asked.

“…Yeah,” Jamie said with a smile as she and Nikki returned to the waiting area, where several of the women were already beginning to doze off.

Jamie had also drifted off to sleep at some point, as she found herself being shaken out of her slumber by Charlotte, who pointed to the entrance of the waiting area where a tall, exhausted-looking Dan Carter was stood with a wide grin on his face.

“My friends,” Dan said with a breathless voice. “It is my pleasure to announce the birth of Natasha Mary Carter at quarter past two this morning. Weight: seven pounds, twelve ounces.” The entire waiting area cheered happily at the news as everyone rose from their seat to congratulate Dan individually.

“Make sure she takes after her mother,” Jamie cautioned Dan when it was her turn to shake his hand and give the tall, athletic man a gentle hug.

“Like I have a say in it,” Dan retorted. “And happy birthday to you too! Hope you don’t mind if Mary and I skip your… What is it again, 41st, 43rd and 46th birthdays?”

“Like you have a say in it,” Jamie giggled. “And thanks. I’ll let Stuart know when I see him, surprised he didn’t make it in time.”

“Sure,” Dan laughed as Jamie made way for more well-wishers.

The ‘party’ soon dispersed to the hospital’s car park, where Jamie got into her car with Charlotte and took a deep breath before starting the engine and driving back to their vast home.

“You know,” Charlotte said, stifling a yawn. “I really am proud of you, Jamie, the way you acted tonight.”

“Umm… Okay?” Jamie replied.

“You sat opposite Stephanie for hours without a problem,” Charlotte explained. “This time last week you probably wouldn’t have lasted a minute.”

“You’re probably right,” Jamie laughed. “But- you know? It’s, like, a new day. Things are finally starting to look up.”

“Finally,” Charlotte whispered.

A short while later, the car arrived back at the vast house, where Charlotte and Jamie wasted no time in heading toward their beds, where Jamie found her fiancé already fast asleep.

“Seven pounds, twelve ounces,” Jamie whispered in Stuart’s unhearing ear, before gently kissing him on the back of the neck. “Night, sexy!” Jamie laid her head down on her pillow and was almost immediately asleep.

Jamie grunted the following morning as her phone bleeped to inform her of a new text message and woke her from her dreamless slumber. After rolling over to discover that Stuart was already awake, Jamie giggled tiredly as she reached for her phone.

“Can’t wait to tell me happy birthday in person?” Jamie rhetorically asked as she checked her phone, but her giggles soon stopped and her smile faded when she read the text message.

‘Need u all in 2day at 9,’ the message- which was from Jonathan- read. ‘All other appts and meets cancelled.’ Jamie took a deep breath after reading the message, trying not to work herself into a panic by speculating about what Jonathan’s news might be. She knew that Joshua wouldn’t be out of hospital already, and if the worst had happened, Jonathan would call people personally, rather than call them in for a meeting. Jamie came to the conclusion that it was a surprise birthday party for her- and, technically, for Natasha as well- but when she walked into her kitchen, the frown on her fiancé’s face hinted that whatever the meeting was, she wouldn’t be enjoying it.

“Hey babe,” Stuart said, forcing a smile on his face as he kissed Jamie. “Happy birthday!”

“Thanks,” Jamie said.

“Got a huge pile of presents in the living room,” Stuart explained. “Probably won’t get them all opened before we have to go, though…”

“Yeah,” Jamie whispered. “I got Jon’s text. Stu, what- what’s this all about? Is it good news?”

“No,” Stuart said with a dark voice. “Far, far from it…”

----------

Stephanie adjusted the waistband of her tights and straightened her plain, chic burgundy pencil skirt as she stepped out of the taxi and walked the short distance to the front door of her agency, trying not to smirk at the sound of her heels clicking on the hard pavement. As had been the case weeks earlier when Joshua had shown the announcement of Constellation, the agency was packed- so packed, in fact, that Stephanie struggled to find her bandmates in the crowd.

“Hey,” Becca whispered as she walked over to Stephanie, hers and Adeola’s strides shortened by their smart pencil skirts. “Have you heard what this is about?”

“…You mean you don’t know?” Stephanie asked, before turning to Adeola. “I figured you of all people-“

“I’ve got no idea,” Adeola said, her long legs jiggling nervously on her heels. “Just got the same text from Jon that you all did… Where are Lauren and Kayla?”

“They’ll be here soon,” Stephanie shrugged. Mere seconds later, Jonathan appeared at the top of the stairs, stepping out of his uncle’s office wearing a pained expression on his face. Silently, he led the crowd into the same studio where they had watched the Constellation announcement video, before putting a DVD in the laptop that had been set up and waiting for him. Immediately as the video began playing, the entire crowd gasped in shock.

“No!” Stephanie cried out as she saw the familiar face appear on the screen.

“Hi,” The face said with a wide, smug grin. “I’m Lauren McTavish, I’m 19, and I’m one of the stars in the new Constellation!”

“I- I-“ Adeola stammered as her former bandmate continued talking.

“Singing is my passion,” Lauren said in her thick Highland accent. “Ever since I was a kid I’ve been in choirs, I’ve taken part in singing competitions, I’ve always wanted to be able to sing professionally.”

“You got that chance, you traitorous cunt!” Adeola snapped.

“My main inspirations are bands like Atomic Kitten and the Sugababes,” Lauren continued. “I’m really looking forward to getting the opportunity to form a band with the other girls in Constellation. I really do believe that this will be my chance to break into the music industry.”

“You bitch,” Becca breathed. “You total fucking bitch…”

“I’m Lauren McTavish,” the Scottish girl concluded, “and this is my Constellation!” The entire room remained silent as Jonathan ejected the DVD from the laptop, before petulantly throwing it to the floor and stamping on it.

“I got that DVD by courier last night,” Jonathan explained, barely containing his anger. “Just after 10pm, while you were all at the hospital.”

“When- just- just- when!?” Adeola pleaded, tears trickling down her cheeks.

“Best I can tell, Thursday,” Jonathan sighed. “Lauren apparently contacted their agents, asked for an interview, got one… Yeah.”

“How- how could you let this happen?” Kayla- who Stephanie hadn’t seen at the front of the crowd- pleased.

“What!?” Krystie asked the tiny blonde girl. “You fucking well live with her! How could YOU let this happen?”

“Do we share a fucking bed? No!” Kayla retorted.

“Don’t you fucking well talk to me like that!” Krystie growled.

“You leave her alone!” Stephanie growled, standing between Kayla and Krystie.

“Oh, I think we all know now why Lauren defected,” Jamie sneered. “Maybe if her old band hadn’t been flying apart at the seams, she’d have stuck around?”

“You were just waiting for this, weren’t you?” Stephanie growled as she squared up to Jamie. “Anything bad happens in the agency and it’s automatically my fault? I bet you were the one who gave Lauren Spencer and Hall’s number!”

“You total, total cunt!” Jamie screeched, slapping Stephanie across the face hard enough to draw a trickle of blood in the corner of her mouth.

The entire room froze in a state of shock as Stephanie touched her lip and stared at the droplet of red liquid on her finger, before her face contorted into a look of pure fury and she threw herself at Jamie, tackling the woman to the ground and breaking the heels off of both of her shoes in the process. With a balled fist, Stephanie threw a punch at the supine Jamie, who blocked it with her arm before punching Stephanie hard in the abdomen, knocking the wind out of the brown-haired woman.

“THIS STOPS NOW!” Jonathan screamed roughly pulling the two women apart and shoving them away from each other, causing Jamie to again stumble to the ground on her destroyed shoes. “I didn’t call you here so you could tear each other to fucking pieces!”

“Then why did you call us here, Jonathan?” Stephanie snapped as she tried to get her breath back. “’Cause I thought Out of Heaven and the Angels weren’t supposed to be talking to each other and you put us in the same room to give us bad news?”

“Hey!” Adeola shouted at her bandmate. “You leave him alone, he’s doing a stressful job and doesn’t need you bitching at him!”

“Am I wrong?” Stephanie asked.

“I dunno, you’re not usually truthful!” Jamie spat, causing Stephanie to approach her again with a raised fist, only to be stopped by Jonathan.

“OUT!” Jonathan barked. “Everyone, out! Now! Any news, I’ll text you. Just get!”

Silently, the assembled women all filed out of the room, Stephanie holding a tissue to her still-bleeding mouth and Jamie carrying her broken shoes in one hand and clinging to Krystie’s supportive arm with the other. Without prompting, the crowd dispersed as soon as they left the agency, and when she was alone with Kayla, Stephanie let out a long, pained sigh.

“…Really?” Stephanie asked her petite friend. “You really didn’t know?”

“Really?” Kayla retorted. “You really just got in an actual fight with Jamie?”

“I- ugh,” Stephanie sighed, looking at the blood on her tissue. “She hit me first? And I- I just saw red, god, I’m- I’m still all over the place…” Kayla sighed sympathetically, reaching into her handbag for a fresh tissue which she handed to Stephanie.

“And no, I didn’t know,” Kayla sighed. “She didn’t come home last night, I thought she was delayed coming home from Scotland. Heh, she probably wasn’t in Scotland at all over the weekend.”

“…But she might be home now?” Stephanie asked.

“That’s a point,” Kayla mumbled. “She’s probably not going to be living there anymore, she’d need to move out her stuff…” Kayla looked at Stephanie, who nodded in understanding.

After flagging down a taxi, Kayla and Stephanie soon found themselves outside the large London flat where the tiny blonde girl resided, and gasped at the sight of several uniformed men removing items from the flat.

“What- what the fuck is this!?” Kayla screeched at the removal men. “Where’s Lauren?”

“I dunno, love,” one of them men, who was loading the items onto a nearby van, replied. “We just got given a key and a list of items and told to come down here and haul them out.”

“I want to see that list,” Kayla demanded.

“No can do,” the loading man said.

“I live here!” Kayla screeched.

“What, you the flatmate?” The loading man asked.

“Yes!” Kayla hissed.

“Huh, okay,” the man shrugged. “We should be out of your hair in about half an hour. If you want to go up, that’s fine.” Kayla scowled at the removal men, before shooting a foul look at Stephanie and heading up the stairs into her flat. Despite the anger in Kayla’s eyes, Stephanie followed as fast as her tight skirt and high heels would let her, and sighed as she saw Kayla slumped over her kitchen table, moaning softly into her suit sleeves.

“Kayla…” Stephanie whispered.

“I can’t believe any of this is happening,” Kayla moaned. “I- I just wanted to be a singer…”

“I know,” Stephanie mumbled. “And I- I’m sorry, Kayla. I feel… I feel like this is my fault, somehow.”

“I feel that way too,” Kayla said in a cold voice. “About me, I mean, not you…”

“Kayla,” Stephanie whispered. “If- if Spencer and Hall had offered you-“

“But they didn’t offer, did they?” Kayla moaned. “Lauren went to them, she stabbed us in the back… I thought we meant more to her?”

“Some people are only interested in fame,” Stephanie sighed. “And there’s still four of us… Ugh. Guess I’d better apologise to Adeola too for what I said.”

“Yeah, guess you’d better,” Kayla said bluntly.

“Can- can you come-“ Stephanie stammered.

“Take at least SOME fucking responsibility for your actions,” Kayla scoffed. “I- I just want to be alone right now.”

“Okay,” Stephanie whispered. “If- if you need-“

“Goodbye, Steph,” Kayla sighed, before slumping over her table yet again.

----------

Jamie let out a long sigh as she sat down in the driver’s seat of her car, before slumping over her steering wheel and bursting into a flood of tears. She’d seen red for just one brief moment of madness, but that one moment had undone all the progress toward healing that Jamie had accomplished over the previous days, and she believed, deep down, that the rift between her and Stephanie would never be healed.

“So much for the truce,” Charlotte said bluntly, making Jamie cry even harder.

“So much for being a BFF,” Jamie spat. “Twisting the knife on my birthday…”

“Obviously you’re angry,” Charlotte said.

“What was your first clue?” Jamie snapped sarcastically.

“…You acting like a violent thug,” Charlotte said, earning a look of pure fury from her BFF.

“Seriously, Charlie?” Jamie asked. “Do you remember when I nearly signed for Spencer and Hall three years ago? Do you remember how a certain someone reacted to that? By hurling me to the ground and trying to claw my eyes out?”

“I remember that person being a lot younger than she is today,” Charlotte spat. “And I remember her not having any commitments, not having a family. The way you acted today… Maybe it’s for the best that you can’t have any kids.”

“GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY CAR!” Jamie screeched, glaring at Charlotte with tear-streaked eyes until she acquiesced and left Jamie alone, sobbing in her vehicle.

After she’d had the chance to calm herself down, Jamie started her engine and drove away. Rather than head back to her home, and another confrontation with Charlotte, Jamie instead headed to the one place where she’d hoped she’d receive a warm, forgiving welcome.

“Jamie!” The transgendered woman’s mother said as she opened her front door. “Happy birthday… Is- is everything okay? Jamie, have- have you been crying?” Without saying a word, Jamie nodded and was instantly wrapped in a tight hug by her mother, who allowed her to cry her eyes out onto her shoulder. “Come in, come in… Where are your shoes? You didn’t drive here barefoot- well, in stocking feet- did you?”

“Long story,” Jamie moaned. “You- you know about Constellation?”

“The Angels rip-off you told us about?” Jamie’s mother asked. “Yes…”

“One of the girls from out of Heaven just defected to them,” Jamie sighed.

“Oh god, that’s just what you need,” Mrs. Travis spat. “Was it Stephanie?”

“No,” Jamie sighed. “Though that didn’t stop me from blaming her for it.”

“Oh- what?” Jamie’s mother asked. “Jamie… Have- have you been in a fight?” The middle-aged woman tutted disapprovingly as her daughter nodded, before bursting into yet another flood of tears. “I’d hoped when you’d, well, ‘changed’, that it’d mean you’d actually grow a bit of sense…”

“I just- I just-“ Jamie sobbed.

“I hope this fight was at least behind closed doors,” Mrs. Travis tutted. “Don’t want a repeat of what happened with Charlotte three years ago.”

“…I’ve fallen out with her too,” Jamie moaned, making her mother sit down next to her and give her another tight hug.

“You can’t afford to throw away the best friends you ever had,” Jamie’s mother sighed.

“I know, I know!” Jamie moaned. “I just- I just wish, you know? I wish things wouldn’t- wouldn’t suck so much… Last year’s birthday was bad enough as it is…”

“But things will get better soon,” Mrs. Travis urged her daughter. “Your boss will be out of hospital before you know it, your friend Mary will be giving birth soon-“

“She, umm, already has,” Jamie said with a chuckle. “Two this morning. Weight seven pounds… Some ounces, I can’t remember.”

“Well, perfect!” Mrs. Travis said. “A little honorary niece, or goddaughter who shares your birthday!”

“I’m not godmother, not this time around,” Jamie sighed. “After today I’d be amazed if Mary, or Charlotte for that matter, still wanted me to be godparents to the kids I already am for…”

“You’re not going to do anyone any good by feeling sorry for yourself, either,” Mrs. Travis sighed. “Have you opened any of your presents yet?”

“They’re all back at Charlotte’s,” Jamie sighed. “Can’t show my face back there, not right away, anyway.”

“Well we’ll just have to celebrate your birthday here, then!” Jamie’s mother said. “Is Stuart still at work?”

“Yeah,” Jamie sighed. “Because of that girl who left the band, he’s going to be doing ridiculous overtime the next few weeks. I’ll barely get to see him…”

“So make the most of it when you do,” Mrs. Travis urged. “God knows there were times when I barely saw your dad due to his work, so I made the most of every second we had together.”

“Yeah,” Jamie sniffled. “Where is dad, anyway? Don’t tell me he’s finally got a part-time job?”

“If by ‘job’ you mean ‘playing golf with his friends’, then yes,” Jamie’s mother said, making the twenty-five year old woman laugh. “I swear he’s working harder in his retirement than he did when he was at work, heh.”

“Well if he takes overtime on the course,” Jamie said, “let me know and I’ll pull strings, try to have him ‘fired’.” Jamie’s mother let out a light chuckle as she embraced her daughter, before heading through to the kitchen to prepare a special birthday dinner for her.

Three hours later, the front door of the family home opened and Jamie’s fiancé walked through it with a tired-looking expression on his face, which only slightly improved when Jamie greeted him with a long kiss.

“Hey,” Stuart said in as enthusiastic a voice as he can. “Happy birthday!”

“You’ve already said that,” Jamie said with a tired giggle. “But thanks anyway!”

“Hi Stuart!” Mrs. Travis yelled from the kitchen. “I hear you’re busy at work?”

“To put it mildly,” Stuart replied, before collapsing onto the sofa with his fiancée. “I’m sorry, but I’m not going to be able to stick around long, only barely persuaded Jon to let me head here for lunch. Why aren’t you at home? Charlotte’s home, I mean.”

“Ugh,” Jamie moaned, resting her head on Stuart’s firm chest. “Big, massive argument… I’m fine, by the way, after my fight?”

“Sorry, sorry,” Stuart sighed. “That was obviously all Steph’s fault, though.”

“…Are you just saying that to make me feel better because it’s my birthday?” Jamie asked, her lips involuntarily forming a pout.

“…Maybe,” Stuart mumbled, making Jamie groan with frustration.

“You too?” Jamie whined.

“If you’re going to hate someone, hate Lauren,” Stuart spat. “Steph doesn’t deserve all the shit you’ve thrown at her these last few months, she never did.”

“And what about the shit she’s thrown at me?” Jamie asked.

“Well obviously, that’s not deserved either,” Stuart said. “But you were in such a good place, you and her. Don’t just throw it away now.”

“Bit late for that,” Jamie sighed. “Guessing she didn’t leave a birthday card with you?”

“It would be a bit of a stretch,” Stuart sighed, giving his fiancée a comforting kiss on her forehead even as she felt herself grow more and more miserable. Facing the judgement of her friends had been bad, her mother’s disapproval had been terrible, but Stuart’s disappointment was intolerable to Jamie. And yet, as the family tucked into a hearty lunch, Jamie knew that Stuart was right. Jamie had taken a bad situation and made it infinitely worse with just one word and one action, and not just made it worse for herself, but for all her friends as well- and she knew that if someone had done to her what she did to Stephanie, she would find it almost impossible to ever forgive them.

----------

Stephanie grimaced as she touched her sore lip and inspected her finger for blood. It had long since stopped bleeding, but was still sore, and worse yet, had begun to swell. Stephanie could hide any discolouration on her skin with make-up, but swelling would be harder to disguise.

As she laid on her sofa feeling sorry for herself, Stephanie mused on how Jamie's open-handed slap could have packed such impact, even considering that Jamie had once been a man, just as Stephanie had been- or, in the eyes of some narrow-minded people, still was. Stephanie's thoughts turned to her Scottish former bandmate and how she could have so wantonly sold out the band she'd claimed to love. She wondered if there really was something she could have done, something she could have said to Lauren to convince her that she truly was her friend, but nothing came to mind. It was Lauren who had kicked Stephanie out of the flat that they used to share, it was Lauren who had distanced herself- but, as Stephanie was forced to concede, it was solely due to her actions.

Stephanie's self-pity was broken by an urgent-sounding knock at her door. After standing up and straightening her tights and the loose dress she'd changed into upon her return from the agency, Stephanie hurried to the front door, opening it to receive the shock of her life.

"Hi Steph," Lauren said in her unmistakable Highland accent. "Can I come in?"

"L- Lauren?" Stephanie stammered. "Why are you here?"

"I'm here on behalf of my new employers," Lauren said with a wide, confident grin. "They asked me if I knew anyone who'd fit in well in Constellation's band, and you were the first to spring to mind. There's a car waiting to take you to their offices right now. So what do you say... Partner?”