#bcastful

She missed her bakery. Maybe it was odd that being in Witness Protection didn’t make her as unhappy as not being in the place that she had built from the ground up. Daphne had worked hard on that place and she put everything she had into it only to never be able to go back. Honestly how was that fair? It wasn’t like she was the criminal all she’d done was walk in on her boyfriend doing something terrible. The kind of thing she still had nightmares about, but the real problem was remembering what her new name was. It was almost impossibly to remember that she wasn’t Daphne anymore and when she was in the house with her fake husband she wanted to be herself. Running a hand over her face she leaned forward against the kitchen counter. “Why do they keep coming over? I can’t stand when people just show up to try and make small talk.”

Erin’s lower lip wobbled as she sat directly opposite her ex. They’d tried to stay friends just because it was easier and because Erin’s daughter adored the other, but it was getting more and more difficult by the day. She just wanted them back and her heart wouldn’t stop beating for them. “I-” the blonde began, trying to say at least something about her feelings. “Being friends with you is way more difficult than I ever expected it to be. And I don’t want to be that person who ends our amazing friendship but I don’t think I can get over you. Not whilst you’re still around.

“What do you want, babe?” Jacob pouts, crossing his arms at Raff. “I don’t like it when you taunt me like this.”

“Oh no, please; I don’t trust straight people,” Ara joked, trying to mask her nerves with laughter. But it didn’t matter what she said; she knew they had to talk sooner or later. It had been a few weeks now since Birch had moved in with her, agreeing to pay a modest rent in exchange for a bright, spacious room in the house, and gradually the two had grown close—closer than Arabella had been to anyone in a long time, really.

But there had always been a tension in the air, too; not necessarily between them so much as between their secrets. And it was clear both women had plenty of those. Arabella would disappear on long walks every other day or so, checking in on Harry under the guise of needing some air; and for her part, Birch… Well, she existed. That in itself was odd enough.

Everything about her was uncanny, from the way she moved to the soft glow she seemed to emit when she was happy. Muggles most people didn’t seem to notice, but Ara did. And it should’ve bothered her, she knew, but… it didn’t. More than anything she was curious, although something told her the answer would threaten the very balance the two women had struck over the past few weeks.

Would she have to reveal her secret, too?