There was something that felt so quintessentially “roommatey” about celebrating Juliette’s romantic and sexual success. She liked a guy, she had a cute date, and it went so well, she stayed the night. After her breakup and the conflicted feeling she had to deal with, no one deserved an amazing night as much as Juliette. ”Thes news is definitely chocolate-worthy. Guid caw!” If Juliette was happy with her evening, what could complicate something like that?

>> ”But, I swear that I didn’t know this when we met, but… he’s Vanessa’s brother…”

So maybe that was a complication.

Rebecca’s expression was one of shock as lightswitches clicked in her head. Hot library guy. ”Oh my, Booker…” she muttered in disbelief. ”Hoo did Ah miss tha?” How many handsome librarians in their twenties could really be in New York? In hindsight, she should have put the pieces together way earlier.

If Juliette slept over at Booker’s apartment, it also meant she might have come across… Rebecca’s eyes widened. ”Oh boy, did ye end up meeting Vanessa?” The Bookman siblings had a unfortunate habit of entering the apartment at the most inconvenient times, as Rebecca could personally attest. Something told her if Juliette was bringing Vanessa, it was not because she saw the woman’s picture on a coffee table.

Vanessa knew who Juliette was from when she was dating Rebecca, which meant she knew Juliette was someone who would associate with a cheating, redheaded harpy. ”Ah hope tha didnae gae too badly…” Vanessa was not known for her subtlety or tact.

Rebecca quickly confirmed the fact that she knew Vanessa’s brother, Booker. It made sense; with the level of comfort they seemed to have with one another, Juliette would be much more surprised if she hadn’t come across him more than a few times. It also made her wonder a little if she’d ever had a talk with him like she’d faced with Vanessa.

With another click of a few gears, Rebecca pieced together the next detail of Juliette’s night. The brunette nodded, admitting that she had, in fact, had a very awkward run-in with her roommate’s ex. It had been an unfortunate road bump in their evening, but in some respects, Juliette was sort of glad that the talk was out of the way. She was glad that it had happened early on rather than having Vanessa’s thoughts and impressions of her get worse over time. It was likely better that they (somewhat) cleared the air.

”I mean,” Juliette shrugged as she leaned forward to dip a piece of honeydew in the chocolate fondue pot. ”It wasn’t awesome. It definitely could have gone better. She walked in on us… um… in an intense situation, and it was a little strange. On top of that, she assumed that I was a cheating whore because I kissed Booker while still dating Sam-” that still made her frown whenever she said it aloud ”-but I think we made some progress. She got the impression that I was there for the right reasons.”

She’d left off the part about Vanessa assuming that quality of her because of her roommate choices. She didn’t think that Rebecca needed that on her shoulders right that moment. She stuck the piece of melon in her mouth and chewed it awkwardly, having overestimated the size of her mouth. Her brow had furrowed as she chewed and thought. ”She did leave us alone afterward, so I suppose it didn’t end too poorly.”

As expected, Vanessa had found a way to interrupt Juliette and Booker’s romantic evening. The woman truly cared about and felt protective of her brother, but she also lacked the social grace to understand the time and place for a serious conversation. Ruining a heated make-out session was not the right time and place to accost her brother’s girlfriend.

”Good lord, she walked in oan ye making it? Ur… Ah hope making it,” she said, with a second possibility suddenly dawning on her. ”Oh nae, Ah hope she didnae interrupt ye tois… ye know.” Vanessa would not barge into Booker’s room, but not all sex was limited to the bedroom. Rebecca should know, as she was once upon a time intimately acquainted with the couch in the living room—a fact she was going to keep to herself.

Vanessa was ready to assume the worst of Juliette’s intentions due to the kiss that was technically Juliette cheating on Sam. Her roommate was too kind to bring it up, but Rebecca was sure she played a role in Vanessa’s judgment as well. The only silver lining was the ending, when Vanessa was evidently willing to believe in Juliette’s intentions. Vanessa did pride herself on being a smart judge of character, even if it took her a conversation to look past her biases. ”Ah’m glad she smartened up. Anyain coods see ye’d be there coz ye pure loch Booker.” Rebecca caught herself using Scottish slang, but in the context of what she said, a double meaning had her grinning. ”Weel, nae ‘pure,’ exactly.”

Almost on cue, Juliette tried to pop a chunk of melon in her mouth, but the results were less than successful. ”Ye daft lass,” she said, giggling. ”Tha’s clearly too big tae fit in yer mouth!”

If Vanessa had come into the room a good ten minutes later than she had, then she likely would have had a different view of the already awkward situation. Sure, things had been weird enough when she’d walked in on her and Booker, but if they had progressed any further, then Juliette could imagine the type of therapy she’d need in order to deal with it.

”No, thankfully, she was a few minutes too early for that,” Juliette shook her head and looked away, slightly awkwardly, as she tried to imagine how the situation could have been so much worse. She shuddered to think of the conversation that would have followed that.

And yet, despite the moments when Juliette thought that it wouldn’t, the night had ended well. Very well, actually. Vanessa had gotten the idea that Juliette was there for the right reasons, and she’d backed off from her interrogation. Sure, it had made things weird for a few minutes or so, but they’d found their stride again. The night had continued as if there hadn’t even been a mishap in the first place. ”Yeah, I think she got that idea…” Juliette nodded.

After a few months of living with Rebecca and generally being her friend, Juliette was starting to pick up on the Scottish colloquialisms that she often used without thought. There were, however, still a few sayings that she hadn’t caught onto. So when Rebecca called her feelings for Booker ‘pure’ and then laughed, Juliette simply rolled her eyes. ”Very funny,” she said dryly.

The two roommates moved on with the evening, and Juliette turned her attention to the chocolate pot. The piece of honeydew that she’d chosen just so happened to be far too large for her mouth, though, and she turned to her friend awkwardly. Again, she gave Rebecca a look as she teased her and then awkwardly swallowed. Finally, she muttered something under her breath about having experience with things like that before snuggling into the couch cushions.

The Fourth MC: Let It All Out, Sugar

Gawain was understanding of Rebecca’s request for space, though she could tell he was not necessarily happy about it. It was for the best; she was a mess with fresh new baggage from Agnes, and that was something she did not want to drag him into. He would want to be there for her because he was a good friend and a great person, but it would just remind Rebecca of just how great he was. Greater than someone like her deserved.

She was going to cry. She knew it was going to happen; there was a bundle of emotions lodged deep in her chest and in her gut and it would come out soon, but until that time came, she was just numb. Maybe she was so emotionally overloaded, it left her too exhausted to have the breakdown she was storing up.

Raine was still out of the apartment and would be until late at night. That left Rebecca to her own devices for a while, which was best. Gavin was in the apartment, but he was not nipping at her heels as she walked around like he normally did. The Bengal cat was laying on the couch, curled up on the spot where Gawain had left, like he too was morning how Rebecca could screw up something good by falling for something terrible.

She tried turning something on Binge, but everything fell flat. She turned on a comedian, but the jokes would not land with her. She flipped over to Grey for some trashy tv drama, but it was impossible to focus on plot points and the tone of the show did nothing for her mood. She left a British cooking show running on the tv, but she ignored it and moved over to the kitchen.

Gathering ingredients and moving around the space more slowly than usual, Rebecca started baking. It was one of her go-to activities when she was upset, and while it would not cheer her up, the familiar acts were therapeutic.

She baked and didn’t stop baking. When Jules moved, she left behind a treasure trove of chocolate, and Rebecca put it to use. Triple chocolate cake, chocolate macarons, chocolate caramel truffles. She even broke into the liquor cabinet and tried her hand at a chocolate martini.

Night time rolled around and the treats were cooling off, filling the apartment with chocolatey scents. Rebecca looked around the apartment, trying to figure out what to do next. She could read, but that would involve focus. Recording a video was out of the question when she felt walled off from her humor. Nothing felt like the right choice.

Well, not true. Breaking down felt like the right choice, but she just couldn’t cross that threshold. She stood in the living room, on the brink but confused. Was she just broken? What were all these feelings waiting for?