Lou stood awkwardly by the door, unsure of how to say goodbye, not only to Mia, but to the unexpected afternoon they had spent together.

“See you soon.” Mia took a step in her direction, put her hands on Lou’s shoulders, and kissed her on the cheek.

“You asked her out?” Phil said. “Twice?”

“It’s been an eventful weekend,” Lou said. She was glad she had this evening with her friends to gain some perspective on her date with Mia.

“I did not see that coming,” Jared said.

“To be perfectly honest,” Lou said, “neither did I.”

The twins were staying at their grandparents’ tonight, so Lou couldn’t count on them to distract the conversation. It was just her, her two friends, and all the questions they would surely have.

“Does that mean we can be nice to her again?” Jared asked. “It’s been a bit awkward going to the Pink Bean.”

“Oh, stop it, Jared,” Phil said, while stirring something in a saucepan. “How did this come about?” They were all huddled around the kitchen island together, where Lou had sat many times since coming back from Brisbane. First to lament the breakdown of her relationship, then to vent over the return of Mia Miller in her surroundings, and now to tell them she had asked Mia out.

Lou could be completely honest with these two. Perhaps even more honest than she was with herself. “We had a pretty grueling chat during which she told me her side of the whole bullying story, but that’s not even really the point, although I’m glad I know about it. It’s just that, ever since then, since she sat in my living room and told me these things, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about her. I didn’t want to admit it to myself. Of course, I didn’t. But I’m attracted to her. And not just because she has the looks, which, let’s be honest, she does. But because she dared to look me in the eye, no matter how hard it was, and I saw that she was someone totally different to the bully I knew. And then we got chatting at a party and we hit it off and I was drunk and now I’m sitting here, after a wonderful afternoon in her company. So I asked her out. Again.”

“So this will be a real date, with all the intentions of any old regular date behind it.” Jared waggled his eyebrows.

“I’m not sure I know what you mean.” Lou smiled at her friend. Of course, she knew, but if he was giving her a hard time, she was surely allowed to give him one back.

“You’re not exactly a serial dater, Lou. And you just had a less-than-good experience with that Meredith. And, well…” Phil stopped stirring in his saucepan for a second. “You’re looking for, er, more.”