The First MC: Cure for a Broken Heart

It was a quiet night in Rebecca’s apartment. She was with Agnes and happy, but they had their own lives outside of their relationship. Not every free night had to be spent together, and that was healthy. They were still working out all the bugs that were keeping them from true healthy relationship status, (including the big bug that was River,) but they were working on it.

Quiet nights enjoying her own space were important. Rebecca was a notorious social butterfly, but everyone needed nights to themselves. She was lounging on her couch with Gavin sitting on her stomach, making the perfect platform to rest a book against. Rebecca jumped from genre to genre with ease, and lately, she was on a romance novel kick. She considered that, with her relationship starting to work out and the drama hopefully settling soon, she was ready to get lost in the more fictional drama in the lives of characters.

Setting a glass of wine down on her coffee table, Rebecca heard the buzzing of her phone vibrating against the wood. She anticipated a possible text from Agnes, who was out with friends from work, checking in on her quiet night at home. Just because she enjoyed the occasional “me-time” sessions, did not mean she did not love when Agnes’s name flashed across her phone.

This time, it was not Agnes’s name, but Juliette’s. Rebecca quirked an eyebrow, wondering what one of her best friends was messaging her for so late in the evening. It was not an intrusion, but Rebecca was curious. Maybe it was a call for impromptu plans, but something in her stomach felt off as she opened the messaging app on her phone.

Hey I know this is sudden but something really bad happened and I don't have anywhere to go

Do you mind if I come over? I'm sort of already on my way

I'm really sorry if I'm intruding

Rebecca’s quiet night alone suddenly sounded like the least important thing in the world. She quickly swiped from letter to letter, sending out a reply.

You’re not intruding. Never. I’ll see you when you get here. We can talk then, if you want.

Rebecca was up on her feet and rushing into her own room. “Me-time” was also a “no pants” time, which could be an inappropriate way to greet her upset friend. Rebecca was already wearing a comfortable heather grey tank top, so she put on purple plaid pajama bottoms to upgrade herself to clothed status. It was almost midnight, so Juliette would understand the bedtime attire.

It was a sudden shift to go from relaxation mode to best friend hostess mode, and the longer she was waiting for Jules to appear, the antsier she became. It was apparently a bad night for Juliette, even if Rebecca was unaware of the reason. Maybe it was the kind of problem she might need wine to deal with? Wine was usually a safe bet. She set out a bottle of red, a bottle of white, and a bottle of blush, just to be safe. It was hard to tell what Juliette needed when everything was still vague, but above all she needed comfort.

Chocolate! Chocolate was comforting, right? Rebecca had recently had some chocolate cravings for… well, nature reasons, and the apartment was surprisingly well-stocked in the wake of those desires. Before she realized it, she had nervously left out fudge-striped cookies, M&Ms, dark chocolate truffles, and her most recent exciting find, chocolate-covered potato chips. There was even ice cream in the fridge, if necessary.

Looking at her coffee table, Rebecca nodded to herself. ”Yep. Ah overdid thes.” She considered putting some of the snacks away, but before the idea led to action, there was a knock at Rebecca’s door.

Rebecca was sure she crossed the gap between her living area and her front door in two leaping steps. She opened the door, taking a brief moment to make sure it was actually Juliette on the other end before she threw her arms tightly around her friend. The look on that lovely, tragically defeated face demanded it.

”It’ll be okay,” she promised quietly. She was still not sure what “it” was, but they would get through it.

The taxi ride was all too long. She hated sitting in the back of the car, trying to wipe the tears off of her cheeks while the driver gave her worried looks from the front. Not a word more than what was necessary was shared between the two, but it was clear from the looks that she was flashed that the driver was a little put off by the sobbing woman in the back of his vehicle. Still, even that wasn’t enough to make her be able to stop crying.

The yellow car pulled up in front of her friend’s apartment building. With a deep breath in, Juliette gathered all the courage she could, paid the driver, and stepped outside. The night air was bitterly cold and unforgiving.

For the entirety of the ride, she’d been putting off checking her phone. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to take it if Rebecca had other plans or any sort of reason why she wouldn’t be able to take her that evening. She didn’t have a backup place to go at 11 pm on a Monday.

However, she knew that she couldn’t just walk upstairs if she’d gotten a text telling her not to come. She stood there on the street, her bag in hand, and closed her eyes for a minute. Only after she had time to prepare for the worst, did she take out her phone.

You’re not intruding. Never. I’ll see you when you get here. We can talk then, if you want.

Her brown eyes closed again and she raised the phone to her forehead, quietly thanking whoever was pulling the strings for a good outcome. She let out another breath and walked forward. As much as she wanted to just stop and sit for a while again, nothing would get better if she didn’t get somewhere warm and friendly.

With a new resolve, she walked into the building and through to the elevator. She stood at the back, letting a few others file in after her. The tears, thankfully, had stopped, but she still garnered a few concerned looks. Juliette consoled herself with the fact that she would soon be in the presence of one of her best friends, and she would likely never see those people again. (It wasn’t like she was going to stay there long, right?)

The elevator reached Becca’s floor, and Juliette stepped out into the hallway. She knew by heart which one she was looking for, despite only having been there a few times. It didn’t take her long to find it, but it did take her a few seconds to knock.

Her hand was poised and ready, but she’d stopped. Why had she stopped? She’d gotten the go-ahead, and she was safe, so there was no reason to. She just knew how much it would bring up if she started to talk about what had happened. There was nowhere else to go, though, and she was going to have to talk about it either way.

Without even realizing, she was already knocking at the door. She waited a few seconds, and suddenly she was face to face with the redhead. There was a brief pause where they stared at each other, then they were hugging.

Everything that Juliette had done to stop the tears had been for nought, it seemed. They started up again as soon as she was in the embrace of her friend. Really, there was no reason for it, but there was also all the reason for it, and there would be no stopping them at that point.

>>”It’ll be okay,”

”Thank you,” she replied quietly. There was too much to thank her for separately, so it was all encompassing. One thank-you to cover all that she had just done for her.

Juliette was in bad shape. The moment Rebecca snaked her arms around the woman’s waist, the tears began to flow freely. She had been crying before, surely, and Rebecca had loosened the floodgates back up.

It hurt Rebecca’s heart to hear her friend like this. She could feel teardrops dotting her shoulder and Juliette’s body seemed to tremble in her arms. Whatever she could do for Juliette, she would, even if that was just offering a shoulder to literally cry on.

Feeling the sting of empathetic tears forming in her own eyes, Rebecca rubbed Jules’s back comfortingly, giving her a moment to just let it out. They would have time to talk. Getting to bed early was a secondary concern; if necessary, she would call out of work for both of them in the morning. ”Ah’m here. Ah’ve gotcha, Jules,” she assured her friend.

Once she felt like they had stood in her doorway for an acceptable amount of time, she loosened her grasp on Jules, but kept one arm around her waist. ”Come in, please. We can talk, if yoo’re up fur it.”

She led her friend into the apartment, moving through the open floorplan from the dining area through her small recording space and into the back corner, where the living area lived. Regaining awareness of her environment, Rebecca noticed the chocolate treats and wine laid out on her coffee table. ”Oh. Richt. Ah jist had a few snacks it, an…” she tried to explain, before sighing and admitting the truth. ”Ah panicked an’ grabbed all th’ chocolate in th’ apartment.” It sounded like a very silly thing to do when she admitted it out loud.

Taking a seat on the couch, Rebecca left a spot open next to her for Juliette, unless she wanted to take the loveseat for herself. Something bad had clearly happened, so she wanted to be in hugging range if needed.

She considered asking what was wrong, but she wanted to give Juliette the time to come to that on her own. Instead, Rebecca just wanted to show support and let her know she was safe and welcome. ”Ah can make up th' cooch fur ye if ye need. Ah've slept in it plenty, sae Ah know it's comfortable.” Rebecca was not about to go through life with an uncomfortable couch, after all. ”Jist... please, make yerself at haem, Jules.” She leaned over to where her friend chose to sit and rested a hand on her knee.

They hugged for a good while, for which Juliette was grateful. As much energy as it had taken to get there, the companionship was exactly what she needed in that moment. She knew that if she had gone much longer, she would have been in a far worst state. Silently, she made a mental note to do whatever she could to repay Becca once she was feeling better. She so owed her.

When the hug finally broke, the tears had almost stopped. Juliette breathed a deep breath and wiped the last of them from her cheeks, finally feeling like she could breathe again. The evening had been so surreal, and only now did she feel like things were starting to feel grounded again. Only now did it settle in and she realized that things would be okay in a while. She just needed time.

She followed Becca into the apartment, having dropped her bag near the door. It looked the same as it always did, only there was a massive array of chocolate and alcohol set out on the table, clearly meant for the two of them to have while discussing things. She raised a hand to her mouth, actually a little shocked that she would go through all that trouble when she'd just dropped in on her quiet night alone. Rebecca really was an A+ friend.

She wanted to thank her and express all the things that she was feeling, but words weren't coming all that quickly to her. Mostly, she was just focusing on keeping herself together and the tears at bay. They still wanted to come, despite having been stopped a little while earlier. She would have assumed that she would have cried them all out by then.

The loveseat seemed like the best place to sit down, so she did so, appreciating her friend's hand that was placed on her knee to comfort her. They had reached the moment where they would talk about things. Rebecca did deserve as much, seeing as Juliette had just come into her apartment, a complete mess, and made her drop everything to give her support. She was even offering to make up the couch, as if she wasn't already doing everything perfectly.

"I..." she started to speak and then stopped, taking another moment to catch her breath and think through what had actually happened that night. "I broke up with Sam. I was... it was a little explosive," she said finally, thinking back to the events of that evening. The actual breakup had been smoother than she would have imagined, but what had happened before had shaken her up. There was still a lot that she hadn't even processed in the whirlwind.

It wasn't as if the breakup had completely blindsided her. Somewhere deep down, she knew that it wouldn't last forever, and after Booker, she knew that keeping things from Sam like that was wrong. She almost felt bad that she had let it go that long and let the blame fall mostly on him. Maybe that was part of why it hurt so much.

The chocolate buffet was unquestionably overkill, but after the night Juliette had, maybe overkill worked. The reaction it earned was enough for Rebecca to decide she made the right choice. She smiled half-heartedly at the hand Jules brought to her lips, but there was still more she had to do to get her friend back to a better place.

They took their places on the two available seats, and Rebecca prepared herself for whatever might come next. She was not waiting long, and Juliette explained. It did not come out all at once; she seemed to catch herself after the first word, finding the strength for the rest.

She broke up with Sam. Wow. So that was a lot to process, since she had known Jules for the better part of a year now, and that entire time, she was with Sam. This was going to be something to work through, and the longer she thought on it, the more complications came to mind.

This was going to be hard for Juliette, so it was important that Rebecca did not push too hard or make her more upset in her time of need. She took a breath to focus herself and reached for a wine bottle. A glass of wine would be a good start. ”Okay. Sae… ye an’ Sam. Over. Okay.” She repeated the sentiment to reaffirm that she was properly understanding where they were. There was no judgment, and barely any concern. She just wanted to understand before moving forward.

”Sae ye ended hings, then?” Based on Juliette’s brief explanation, it sounded like she had to make the choice to end things. Juliette was a level-headed woman, and while Sam was by no means a bad guy, she was aware of the stumbling blocks the relationship encountered along the way.

A secondary thought hit her, based on Juliette’s wording. Hesitantly, she asked, ”Um… by ‘explosife,’ dae ye mean figuratife, ur...” Her voice trailed off, but she substituted words for a “pyew” sound and an accompanying sunburst hand gesture. ”Jist, ye know, wi' yer mutation, it's probably worth askin',” she admitted weakly. It was worth knowing if her workplace was going to have a solar flare-sized hole in it.

Sitting on the couch felt better than standing or sitting in the cab had. So much better. She was with her friend, able to talk openly in a supportive environment, and there was chocolate and wine that could be grabbed when they were ready for it. Rebecca was true blue.

She’d worked up the courage to tell her what had happened that evening, and now that she’d said it, she felt a little lighter. It was almost as if she’d been trying to bottle in the fact that it had happened since she’d left, and now that she was able to admit it, a weight had been lifted from her. There was really something to be said about friendship and what it could do for the soul.

”I ended things,” she nodded, beginning to fill in the gaps. She didn’t really want to go into detail or recount the whole tale right off the bat, but she was willing to answer questions. It was easier to talk now that she’d gotten the largest bit out of the way, and she was feeling more and more like herself every minute.

>>”Um… by ‘explosife,’ dae ye mean figuratife, ur… Jist, ye know, wi' yer mutation, it's probably worth askin',”

Juliette smiled weakly at the idea but shook her head. It was a fair question, considering her mutation dealt with explosive light blasts, but that was not the case. She almost wished it was. They might have been able to deal with that if that was what had happened.

”Figurative,” she answered through a sniffle, ”he… um… did I ever tell you about his night terrors?”

Sam’s night terrors weren’t exactly public knowledge (they could be heard through the walls, but people had learned not to ask questions), and Juliette didn’t tell just anyone, but Rebecca was one of her closest friends and confidants. If she would have told anyone, it would have been her, but only for support or advice. In that moment, she just couldn’t remember if she had before.

”His ex-wife, the dead one… she showed up at the mansion, and he… he lost it.” Juliette stopped there and looked down at the couch, taking in small breaths and she unloaded the experience. ”Do you think that we could open that wine now?”

Rebecca had been there for friends through breakups before, but it was never easy. Everyone invested so much time and energy into making relationships work, and when they fell apart, it could be a real sense of loss. This was the first friend dealing with a breakup after a serious relationship, and it was Jules. She was a great friend—honestly, a best friend. Rebecca had to be the kind of friend she would need after that kind of heartbreak.

It was a small silver lining that Jules was the one to end things, but did little to change the pain she was feeling. Just because someone chose to end a relationship did not mean they wanted to, or that they were ready to deal with the loss. Sam was… a complicated man. Not bad, but complicated.

It was also fortunate that Juliette did not blow up her new ex-boyfriend in a burst of light. Some mutants could have control problems in moments of high stress, and as a Teacher at the Mansion, she had to be prepared to recognize and handle those situations.

Rebecca nodded solemnly when Juliette mentioned Sam’s night terrors. ”Aye, nae th’ gory details, bit Ah remember.” He was a man with a dark and troubled past, and occasionally he would drown that past out with alcohol. Night terrors were an unfortunate side effect of everything he had dealt with.

When Jules elaborate further, Rebecca was left with more questions than answers. Sam’s dead ex-wife showed up at the Mansion. If a sentence like that was going to make sense, of course it would involve the Mansion. It was the bizarre circumstance that could only happen in a place where superheroes congregated.

Apparently, Sam “lost it,” which had Rebecca worrying her office might have experienced a new Ice Age, but she kept those thoughts to herself. Her office was a secondary concern. She did look Jules over, but she seemed in one piece. No visible frostbite or fresh wounds. ”My God, ur ye okay?”

Jules asked for wine, and Rebecca was already in the process of filling her glass. ”Of course, hun, anything ye need,” she promised, sliding the glass across the smooth wooden surface of her table. ”He didnae… yer okay, richt?” No visible wounds did not mean “no wounds,” so she had to ask. Sam would not hurt her on purpose, but it was sounding like he was not in his right mind.

Rebecca confirmed that she knew about Sam’s sort-of-ex-wife, so Juliette didn’t need to explain it all again. She was especially thankful for that fact, considering the fact that it really wasn’t something that she wanted to recount right then. It had kept her up for countless nights before that, and the thought of talking about it now… well, it made her sick to her stomach.

She had, unfortunately, given her the wrong idea about how Sam had reacted to the situation, though. He had been intense and well, scary, but he hadn’t hurt her. Juliette knew that he would never purposely hurt her. There had been a few times that he had nearly done it accidentally, but never on purpose.

Thinking back, there had been so many warning signs, though. The night terrors, the drinking, the ice children, his past. They had all accumulated and had begun to weigh down on her until she couldn’t bear it anymore. Alexandra coming back had just been the last straw. Maybe, that was why she had found herself so drawn to Booker; someone without demons or a drinking problem. The thought of that simply made her look down at the couch and shake her head. She should have ended things before that.

”I’m okay. Physically, anyway,” Juliette told her. It was good to get that cleared out of the way first. Physically, she was fine. It was her mental state that had taken the real blow. ”Any damage he did… he did to himself.” She rubbed her eyes as she tried to get the image of him stabbing himself out of her head.

Juliette took the wine glass that she was poured and nodded a thank you to Rebecca. She felt bad about dropping in like that, but it was obvious that Rebecca was a stellar host. Staying on her couch sounded incredible at that point.

”Thank you… for doing this,” Juliette sighed after a sip of wine. ”Tonight was just… well, I’m sure you can probably imagine.” She closed her eyes and shook her head again. Things were going to be different from that point forward. That much, at least, was very clear.

Rebecca had some understanding of what it was like to love someone with demons. Agnes had the kind of childhood she would not wish on her enemies, let alone the woman she would always love. The repression, the abuse, and the exorcism were all memories Agnes had to carry with her, and Rebecca was there for her when things came back into the forefront.

The ghosts of Agnes’s past did remain mostly in the past, and she had worked her way through them. Occasionally, there were rough patches, but she was not haunted, carrying the weight of her memories with her. Sam had not reached that point, and it could be emotionally taxing to watch someone you love but cannot pull out of the darkness they live in.

It was good, at least, that Sam did not get physical with Juliette. She doubted he would ever do something like that if he was in control of his actions, but seeing his ex-wife back from the dead would be a valid reason to lose control.

There was pain, and there was damage, but it was directed inward. Sam Johnson, the bearer of the weight of the world and all its sins. Rebecca only knew the man as a fellow member of the X-Men, but she was still disheartened to hear he was dealing with his trauma through self-harm. ”Ah’m sorry… that is hard tae hear. Cannae e’en imagine whit it was loch fur ye…” Juliette did all she could, and she was always going to be the woman who saved others, but no one could save Sam from himself besides Sam.

The thanks for offering her place was utterly unnecessary. Rebecca would have offered her home to a friend in need, but this was Juliette. She would take a bullet for Juliette. (If not for her magnetic abilities, she very well could have at the gala.) ”Please, nae thenks. Ye woods hae done th’ same fur me.” She genuinely believed, in her times of need, Jules would drop anything to be there for her. It was true blue friendship, and it was a boon for the both of them. ”Ye’ll be stayin’ as lang as ye loch, an’ Ah’ll nae be hearin’ anything mair abit ye ‘introoding’ oan me.”

Rebecca reached into a bag on the table and pulled out a chip coated from top to bottom in chocolate, popping the snack in her mouth. ”If yer tired, Ah can get it ay yer hair. If nae, Ah propose wine, chocolate, and Binge—whitever ye feel loch watching.” Juliette had an exhausting night, so Rebecca wanted to give her the chance to ease through the rest of the night and maybe let her brain take a small break from everything that happened.

Talking about what happened only made images resurface, which were as uncomfortable as they had been when she’d first witnessed them. Seeing Sam… well, she was doing everything she could to not picture it again, but she knew that it was seared into her mind, and she would probably never be able to look at him the same way again.

There were still questions that she had, mostly about how on earth his ex-wife was alive and why she had turned up at the mansion without any idea what was going on. Still, she knew that a few unanswered questions weren’t a good enough reason to put herself through more torment. Maybe someday they would be answered, but she was okay if that day wasn’t anytime soon.

She had wanted to be there for him, to help him get through things. More than anything, she wanted to be able to save him like she did people in the hospital, but it had turned out to be an impossible task. Sam was too far into his funk that the only person that could get him out of it was him. By staying there with him she was only hurting both of them. Still, she felt rather sick thinking back on the way that things had ended.

Juliette gave Rebecca a sad nod, revealing that she would, in fact, have done the very same for the redhead. She would have dropped everything if she called to say that something was wrong, because that was the kind of friendship that they had. She knew that when she was ready, she would be able to tell Becca the rest of what happened without fear of judgement. Plus, there was a couch there for her. If there was one thing that she hoped from that night, it was that she and Rebecca would never lose touch.

”Wine, chocolate, and Binge sounds amazing,” Juliette said with a small smile, tucking her knees under her so that there was room on the loveseat for Becca to sit down. She’d been told to make herself at home, so she did so, pulling a throw blanket off of the back of the little couch so that she and Becca could sit under it and be a little cozier. There were some liberties that had to be taken while Binging, no matter the circumstance.

She took a large sip of her wine and then set it down on the table, allowing Rebecca to control her own television. The night had certainly taken a turn for the better thanks to her friend. She knew that it would be a while until she was feeling alright again, but she also knew that she would make it through.

The Second MC: The Good and Bad of Girltalk

Dinner with Agnes had not gone as smoothly as Rebecca hoped, because she had not been hoping for an argument that would drag everything out in the open and expose the problems the girls were still struggling with from their past and present. Rebecca loved Agnes and was sure they both wanted things to work, but they were still stuck in many ways spinning their wheels trying to move forward.

Needless to say, they canceled their hotel reservation for the evening, (and as a reminder of their growing status as regulars there, the hotel front desk manager waived the cancellation fee.) They were too emotionally exhausted and the argument was still raw. They needed space to process the things they said and the truths they had to accept.

Still, the last thing Rebecca wanted to be after all that was alone. Fortunately, she did not have to be, thanks to recent changes in her life. When Juliette broke up with Sam, she came to Rebecca’s apartment and asked to stay for the night so she could get some space from the Mansion. She still worked at the school, but Rebecca understood how it could be challenging living a hallway away from Sam after everything they went through.

Juliette stayed for a few nights, which was becoming a few weeks, and honestly, Rebecca could not be more pleased. Best friends could run into friction living together, but they had avoided any major incidents up to that point. Juliette was conscientious and respectful, and beyond the struggle of living with someone so attractive platonically, they seemed to coexist in the same space peacefully. The idea of her friend moving out would be almost disappointing now, especially on nights when Rebecca could use a friend.

Rebecca pushed open the door to the apartment and saw Juliette in the living room. She should have called or texted ahead that she was coming home, but she was still too in her feelings to think clearly. Her arms had plastic bags draped at her elbows, filled with fruits, marshmallows, angel food cake bits, and of course, wine and plenty of chocolate for her fondue pot. Her cheeks were tear stained and her eyes were still shimmering with water. She had been recalling the fight on the ride up the thankfully empty elevator.

”Jules, Ah’m nae sure if thes is a ‘thing,’ noo, bit Ah need it tae be a thing. Please.”

A few weeks ago, Juliette had found herself very suddenly without a place to stay. Of course, the decision to move out had been a voluntary one, but she really wasn’t looking to continue living across the hall from her ex-boyfriend, especially if they were going to be seeing other people or if she was going to be seeing him drinking again. It was only salt in the wound.

She’d gone back to her room, intent on staying there for good and getting out of Rebecca’s hair, but going back was too hard. She’d stepped into her room, taken a look at her things, and decided that she wasn’t going to be moving back anytime soon. So, she’d gathered her things and her cat and lugged them all to Rebecca’s apartment, where she’d received the invitation to stay as long as she liked.

In all honesty, the place was starting to feel like home. Juliette was well used to living on the road and moving from place to place every few months, but she’d enjoyed being able to put down roots in New York. It still felt good to move and start fresh like she’d done with her mom growing up, but it was awesome to be able to move somewhere that she already had friends and was going to be living with one of her closest ones. All around, it was a good situation.

Other than the fact, of course, that Rebecca was drop dead gorgeous, and seeing her in just a towel on a regular basis had been something that she needed to wrap her head around.

That wasn’t to say, however, that Juliette didn’t feel bad about intruding on the redhead’s space. While she was letting Juliette essentially move in, it was still her apartment, and she was doing a lot for her. The brunette felt an overwhelming need to help in whatever way possible in order to make up for it, and since she couldn’t cook, she had taken to cleaning… almost obsessively.

She had headphones in her ears as she passed the vacuum over the carpet, keeping an eye on Bijou and Gavin as they licked each other. Having already met in the shelter, the cats got along like a house on fire, and being back in the same place had only deepened the bond. Rebecca and Juliette even went as far as to suggest that they were “cat lovers”.

Out of the corner of her eye, Juliette spotted the door opening. It was strange to see; from what Juliette remembered of Rebecca’s schedule, she was supposed to be out with a friend all night. If she was coming in that early, then something must’ve gone very wrong.

Quickly, she took the headphones out of her ears and clicked off the vacuum, walking to the other side of the room to greet her friend (and now roommate). As she approached, she could see the tear stains and water that welled up in her eyes. Yes, something very bad had just happened. Juliette gave her a sad look and took the items from her hands, dropping them down on the counter before really giving her a good look.

”Becca…” Juliette breathed, her brow furrowed apologetically as she pulled her friend into a hug. She so, so owed her for when she’d done the same thing for her, so Juliette was resigned to being the best possible friend for her. Whatever had happened, she was going to be there for her. ”It’s a ‘thing’ now,” she replied as she stroked the woman’s red hair.

Rebecca walked into the scene of Juliette vacuuming, (because once again, she was a stellar roommate,) and the cats enamored with each other on the couch. On any other night she would make a comment on Bijou and Gavin’s longstanding love affair, but that was not the night for cute comments about their cats. She had too much on her mind, and she was struggling to see how she would be happy again any time soon.

Like a true friend, Jules was on top of things when she saw Rebecca’s face. The brokenhearted redhead was pulled into a hug. She needed that hug more than just about anything. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she felt the soothing presence of a hand stroking her hair. ”Thenk ye,” she whimpered.

The fondue pot did not take long to set up. Rebecca could not remember what encouraged her to make the purchase, but it was, in her opinion, worth it. Some days, there was a simple pleasure in dipping meat and bread into melty cheese, or nights where everything had to be covered in chocolate. She had two Styrofoam containers of savory Portuguese food ready if she ever felt truly hungry again, so it was clearly chocolate’s turn to steal the show.

Rebecca set the skewers and tongs down on the living room table next to the fruits and marshmallows and cake bits, each set on a little plate. The process of setting things up was done quietly, because Rebecca needed to gather her strength to talk about her night. The only words she spoke during the process were to Gavin, who had every intention of stealing a marshmallow.

With the chocolate hot and melted, Rebecca could finally take a seat on the couch. Juliette had grabbed the wine, so she poured herself a glass almost to the brim. She took a sip before setting it down; it reminded her of the wine at the restaurant, and the night was flashing in front of her eyes.

Juliette had to know now. There was no way she would allow Rebecca to wallow in misery without talking about it. ”Agnes and Ah… we hae bin seein' each other. We've bin... havin' an affair.” She winced when she said the word. She was so willing to accept that she and Agnes belonged together, she was glossing over what they were doing to River. What they had done to Nessa.

She looked to Juliette with pleading eyes. She made a mistake, and all she could hope was her friend might not judge her too harshly.

The roommates set to work on setting up the fondue pot and the various items that they had to dip into the melted chocolate. It really looked amazing, but she wished that they could have been enjoying it under better circumstances. It hurt her heart to see her friend like that, but she knew that there was nothing that she could do to fix it other than be there for her when she needed her to be.

She grabbed a bottle of wine from the cupboard, a nice red, and set it down on the coffee table with two glasses. She watched with slightly wide eyes as Rebecca poured herself a very large glass, but she didn’t say anything. If she was going to get through the evening better while intoxicated, then she wasn’t going to argue with her.

After pouring herself a glass of wine that had considerably less wine in it, she took a seat next to her stoic friend. Rebecca was usually pretty chatty, at least with Jules, so seeing her only speak minimal words to Gavin was worrying. Something had obviously gone very, very wrong if she wasn’t going to chime in on the fact that the cats seemed to be working in cahoots to get their marshmallows off the table.

The chocolate was more than a little alluring, but her friend was far more important. The floodgates were closed for the moment, but Juliette was fairly certain that once they were opened, they would be in for a pretty intense chat. Rather than digging into any food and giving off the impression that she was more interested in it than her hurting friend, she turned on the couch to face her, wine glass in hand, and waited patiently until she started talking.

>>”Agnes and Ah… we hae bin seein' each other. We've bin... havin' an affair.”

Juliette said nothing for a minute as she blinked, digesting the information. Agnes was the infamous ex that she knew Rebecca still had feelings for. She had admitted to kissing an ex who was engaged at the sleepover a few months back, but Juliette had all but forgotten about it. She hadn’t realized that it had gone even further than that.

The pieces were clicking into place; the late nights out with friends, the secrecy about who exactly she was seeing, and the fact that Rebecca seemed to be dating someone, even though she was single. Juliette hadn’t pressed for the information, since she knew that the redhead was an adult who could make her own decisions. Still, she had been curious all along to know who was taking up so much of her time.

Her engaged ex was taking up her time. Juliette hardly had a leg to stand on, considering the Booker incident, but it was still a lot to take in. She wondered if that was the reason that she and Nessa had broken up.

Those thoughts were kept entirely to herself. She was there to be a good friend and a good friend she would be. Judgement would not be passed, and she would be supportive no matter what. She owed Becca that at least.

”Okay,” she nodded slowly, still processing everything. She met Rebecca’s mismatched eyes and put a comforting hand on her leg. ”No judgement. I promise. You can tell me anything.”

Admitting to an affair was a terrifying prospect because most people had a knee-jerk reaction to hate cheating in all its forms. Hell, Rebecca was usually one of those people, but her recent experiences reminded her that context matters and not all situations were equal. She regretted her choice, but she wanted to believe she made a mistake by rushing in and letting her love and need for Agnes justify what she was doing to River.

Juliette could have scolded her or judged her, but she chose to take a moment to process Rebecca’s news. There was a knot in her chest as she waited for words to break the silence. The tension released immediately at the touch of Juliette’s hand on her knee. She did not lose her best friend, which was a sigh of relief. ”Okay. Thenk ye.” It felt good to breathe again.

After a night of miscommunication and arguing, it was refreshing to know someone was going to hear her out. For the first time since River’s phone call, Rebecca’s appetite was slowly returning. They did have chocolate after all. She speared a strawberry on her wooden skewer and dipped it in the bubbling chocolate, coating it evenly. ”Sae it's a lang story, but i'll try catchin' ye up.” It had certainly been a busy half year or so.

”Ye know Agnes was engaged when Ah cam back, an' ye know Ah kissed 'er. We tried jist bein' friends. Ah hud Vanessa an' River was back. But... we feel back intae it. We cooldnae stop.” They tried to deny what was happening more than once, but they failed every time.

”We waur gonnae laeve uir relationships, but... Agnes cannae lae River. Nae yit.” It was not Rebecca’s place to say anything about why Agnes could not leave. River’s addiction was her own private issue. ”Bit Ah understood. An… we jist started datin’ in secrit in th’ meantime. It was gonnae surprisingly weel,” she admitted, finally popping her chocolate-covered strawberry into her mouth and chewing. Recounting the emotionally taxing journey her and Agnes endured required a delicious treat, and the strawberry fit the bill.

Once her mouth was free and clear of the sweet, fruity tastes, she sighed. ”Until tonecht, at leest.”