I stare at the letters on the screen in silence. For a moment, I wonder if I sent a message to the wrong person. The reply I got wasn’t delivered in Reed’s typical horribly abbreviated and misspelled internet-English, so I glance at the top of the page again. The familiar profile picture of Reed and Trish holding little Patty hovers over his name. If that’s the case… then what the hell is going on? I glance at Lucy who also stares at the screen. She wears a strange, vacant expression as her eyes seem to focus on something past the phone. I shake my head and blurt out my words. “Nope, nope. Something isn’t right. I’ll figure this out.” I hastily type my replies: Reed S. [ ??? ] [ What do you mean? What’s going on? ] [ Is everything okay? ] I let the messages simmer for a few moments. Unlike before, there is no instant “Read” notification that appears. Instead, the words seem to suspend themselves in 5G thin air. I feel my heartbeat accelerate. Something definitely isn’t right. Why would they suddenly decide against meeting us, especially after all the progress we have been making?! I shake my head again in disbelief. “I’m gonna call him.” Lucy momentarily snaps out of her listless trance, reaching a hand over to me. “Anon, no. It’s-” I pull my arm away from her, using my thumb to close Faceboop Messenger and open the standard phone call app. Reed’s number is saved from when I called him while I was at the hospital; I scroll down a few entries in my call history to locate it, then tap it and click the small green telephone icon to dial. I hold the device to my ear, but it proves to be a fruitless gesture as there is no typical ringing sound. Instead, it goes straight to voicemail: “Hey, you’ve reached Reed. Brave of you to call in this digital age of text messages, but I assume you’re some sort of ancient fogie who doesn’t know how to operate a smartphone. If that’s the case, leave a message and I’ll make sure to get you some help in getting back to your old folks’ home so you don’t miss any more Matlock than you already have. Adios!” I click my tongue at his obnoxious voicemail message. Any other time I might get a chuckle out of it, but right now I’m not in the mood. I speak the moment the beep sounds. “Reed, it’s Anon. What’s going on, man? I… ugh… I understand we messaged out of the blue, and that it’s late, but what’s going on with your reply? We need to talk. Call me back as soon as you can.” I press the red phone symbol, ending the call. I turn to Lucy whose eyes are downcast. I can hear her teeth quietly chattering from behind her snout. She speaks in a shaky voice: “... They… they obviously don’t want to meet…” I place a hand on her shoulder, but she turns her head away from me. I try to comfort her. “No, Lucy. I’m sure this is just a misunderstanding. We’re gonna get to the bottom of this.” She takes a deep breath and turns to me, forcing a smile past her sad expression. “We… were able to reconnect with Rosa and Stella. That’s enough for me…” Damnit. God damnit. Why in the hell did Reed message that, and why did it have to be now?! Stupid. I shouldn’t have messaged him the moment we left Stella’s. Why didn’t I anticipate this?! HOW could I have anticipated this?! What the FUCK is he thinking?! “Anon, it’s-” Lucy tries to reach a hand over to my arm again, but I bring my fists down on the top of the steering wheel. She recoils slightly at my outburst, shrinking back. I don’t know how much I’m mumbling right now. I don’t give a shit. All I know is that I’m pissed off. I start the ignition and reverse out of the parking spot. As much as I want to lay on the gas pedal in my current blood-boiled state, I do my best to drive safely to get us home. I don’t want to wreck our car or risk hurting either of us just because I’m livid. The ride home is awkward and silent. I feel a twinge of regret for rebuking Lucy, but she’s not in a good state of mind right now, and frankly, neither am I. I want to know what the fuck Reed was thinking with saying that. I stew over the message as the street lights pass overhead in their hypnotic rhythm: I don’t really think that’s a good idea right now. We probably shouldn’t meet. Sorry. “Don’t really think”. “Probably”. “Sorry”. These non-committal, wishy-washy words stick in my craw as I mull things over. If Reed was actually pissed off at us, why wouldn’t he have removed me from Faceboop or blocked my messages? Barring that, wouldn’t he use harsher language? I know Reed isn’t exactly an overly argumentative guy, but he’s absolutely capable of dropping vulgarity-laden bombs when he’s worked up about something. Why would he message in such a way if he was actually upset? Granted, that’s not to say he’s not upset. Obviously something has either him or Trish worked up if they’re suddenly not keen on meeting with Lucy and I. But what could it be? Is it because we didn’t keep in better touch with them? I gave them the call from the hospital and apologized for standing them up for our date night, but… wouldn’t they understand? Was I supposed to give them progress reports as I stayed by my wife’s side and helped her overcome her self-harm and self-doubt with the shadows of her past? Considering Reed and Trish are the two largest shadows of her past, wouldn’t they be able to see it from my perspective? I let out a sigh and shake my head. I don’t think there’s much point in ruminating on the words right now. I’m not gonna have a good answer until Reed responds to me, either via text or phone call. We’ll just have to wait it out. We arrive home and head inside as the two hands of my watch meet one another pointing towards 12. Midnight is a fair bit later than we’d normally be up, especially on a work night, but at the very least we got things cleared up with Stella. I notice that Lucy is quiet and a bit slower than usual with her bedtime preparations, surmising that her behavior has to do both with our overall tiredness due to the hour as well as the blow we received. Still, I admire that she’s staying as strong as she is, despite our setback. I flip the lightswitch and climb into bed next to Lucy. This isn’t a night in which I’ll be putting any moves on my wife. As much as I love her and want to keep trying for that baby, we need sleep and we need to get to tomorrow so we can work towards solving our current conundrum. Though my eyes are closed, my mind continues racing. What, exactly, can we do here besides simply wait? If it comes to it, I suppose we don’t have to rush things. If they do need more time, maybe we can- Lucy lets out a whimper. I turn to her, unable to make out subtle details in the darkness, but I see the silhouettes of her hands come up to her face. I reach over to her; at my touch, her breath hitches. I brush my hand across hers, feeling the tears that are working past her fingers and down her arms. The sound of her quietly sobbing nearly rips my heart in two. I wrap my arms around her and she quickly reciprocates, burying her face in my chest as her tears continue falling. All I can do is cradle her, comforting her as I stroke her hair. “It’s okay, Lucy. It’s okay.” … No. It’s not. This isn’t okay. I’m going to get to the bottom of things, even if it means hunting Reed down and cornering him. On the bright side… I know where he works. — Both of us are exhausted the next morning. Lucy managed to finally find sleep after expending what little remaining energy she had sobbing into my arms. Once she drifted off, I didn’t dare move. I wanted her to get as much rest as she could. Of course, this sacrifice meant I woke up with sore arms from cradling her all night. Combined with my own poor sleep due to my racing mind, I find myself yawning a lot more than I normally would. Maybe a cup of coffee on the way to work wouldn’t be a bad idea. As we prepare to head out in the morning for our respective jobs, I glance at my phone’s Faceboop Messenger again. Still no reply, though the log does show that my messages were “Read”. He’s not messaging back and he’s not returning my call. I’ll give him eight hours; after that, I’m taking matters into my own hands. Lucy sees me staring at my phone. When I look up to her, I give her a very subtle head shake. She lowers her eyes before speaking softly. “... Thanks for… holding me last night. It was a rough night.” I step closer to her and put my arms around her again. “I know it was hard, and I’m sorry you went through that. But you let out your hurt in a healthy way. You didn’t preen.” She raises her eyes to meet mine. “You’ve really come a long way. I’m very proud of you.” She offers me a sad smile before nuzzling her head into my chest. “Thank you.” She grips the sleeves of my shirt. “... It still hurts.” “I know, honey. We’ll get through this.” We say our goodbyes for the day and head out to our respective cars. We had considered going down to one vehicle to save on gas and maintenance, but the convenience of two cars slightly outweighed the minor financial benefit such a decision would net us. Besides, Lucy’s commute to the church is incredibly short, so her mileage doesn’t add up very quickly. I feel a little bad having to separate from Lucy while she’s still sore, but she and I both agreed that she shouldn’t take more time off. She was also adamant that seeing her kids would keep her mind occupied. I wish the tedium of spreadsheet correction could do the same for me, but it simply can’t. I’m in for a day of continued backlog chipping and emotional broiling. As I arrive at work and take a seat at my desk, Bill promptly spins around in his office chair and beams about the largest, beamingest smile he’s ever given me. He doesn’t say anything, opting to simply shine his pearly whites in my direction. I’m not exactly in the mood to deal with him right now… but given the good events of last night, I figure he’s wanting to chat about what happened between Stella and Lucy. I hesitantly turn my chair towards his. “Good morning, Bill. How’s it going?” His smile widens further. “I have never been better.” “Yeah? Well, thanks again for hosting last night. Sorry things got a little dicey for a while, but I appreciate you stepping up and being supportive of Stella while she and Lucy worked things out.” “No, no, Anon. I should be thanking you.” I cock my eyebrow. “Uhh… for what?” His smile turns into a look of smug satisfaction as he intertwines his fingers together and places his hands behind his head. Leaning back in his chair, he clicks his tongue on the roof of his mouth. Oh no. He lets out a long breath through his still grinning teeth. “Well… let’s just say…” Oh no. “... that Stella and I had breakfast together this morning-” I abruptly raise a hand. “Bill. I’m gonna stop you right there. I’m very happy for you, but please immediately cease this conversation.” His smile turns into a pout. “B-but this was the first ti-” “Bill. Please.” Mercifully, he gets the point and, with a shrug, turns back to his workstation. Sorry, buddy. As happy as I am for you, I’ve got too much else on my mind right now. I withdraw my phone, glancing at the Faceboop app again. Still no reply. Setting my phone on the desk, I get started on pulling up spreadsheets when I hear Bill speak up again. “Uhh… Anon… thanks for helping Stella get right with Lucy.” I glance over my shoulder at him. “I did very little. Lucy was the one who put in the effort and mended her relationship with Stella. I only supported her.” I pause for a moment before speaking up again. “... Stella’s gonna need your support, too, buddy. Make sure to be a good boyfriend to her, alright?” He processes my words before nodding enthusiastically. “Right!” The next several hours go by at a glacial pace. While Bill and I are nearly caught up with the queue once again, I can’t stop agonizing over my current predicament. It’s a rare day when I actually long for Bill’s conversation, if for no other reason than to distract me, but I politely rebuke his prompts in favor of continuing to ponder my course of action with Reed. This is a particular band-aid that’s gonna get ripped off very soon, even if the wound is still bleeding. I’m just gonna have to talk to Reed in person; if he’s not going to reply to my messages or return my call, I’m gonna corner him. I can’t, and won’t do that at his home, mostly because of Trish and Patty. That would be incredibly rude and openly hostile to do so, especially since I’ve only been there the one time, but Kroaker… hell, I’ve got plenty of excuses to wind up there. Happening to see my good old buddy Reed who’s dodging my calls isn’t out of the ordinary at all. As the clock crawls towards 5 PM, I glance at my phone once more. Still no response. Letting out a sigh, I take the next step towards the inevitable, using the mobile device’s web browser to search up the phone number for Kroaker’s pharmacy. This’ll either be a quick call, or a very quick call. I’m not talking with him over the phone at this point… I just need confirmation. I click on the ten-digit number and the phone rings twice before a familiar, raspy voice answers: “Kroaker pharmacy, this is Reed, how can I he-” I hang up. He’s at work, and that means my next destination is set. Let’s just hope his shift doesn’t end at 5; given when I had bumped into him last time, he should still be on the clock by the time I get there. I grab my coat, power down my computer, wish Bill a good evening and head out to my car. As I move to place my key in the ignition, my hand freezes and a sudden realization washes over me. I’m about to do it again. I’m trying to go fix a problem for Lucy without letting her know about it. I can’t do this… not again. But… I can’t just let things go on as they are. If Reed really is hurting, I need to get to the bottom of it, not let the wound fester. I just… can’t do it behind Lucy’s back. I nod to myself and fire up the car’s engine, but before I bring the vehicle out of park I tap the Bluetooth-paired dashboard screen, bringing up Lucy’s number. I press it, hearing the tinny ringing of the phone echo through my car’s speakers. After a few rings, I hear her voice: “Hello?” “Hey, honey.” “Anon, what’s up? Are you on your way home?” I take a deep breath. “... No. Not yet. I… have to do something.” A pause. “... What do you need to do?” “I have to go see Reed. I have to figure out what the hell is going on with him.” I hear her sharply inhale, followed by another moment of silence. “... Are… are you sure? He still hasn’t returned your calls?” “No, and I don’t want us to be stuck in limbo waiting for him. He didn’t give us nearly enough information, so I want to get to the bottom of it today.” More silence. “... Are you going to their home, then?” “No, Kroaker. I called their pharmacy a few minutes ago and he answered the phone.” “What did he say to you?” “I hung up before he finished his intro. This isn’t a discussion to have over the phone at this point.” The line is silent for several moments. I can clearly visualize Lucy considering what I’ve said on the other side. I speak up again. “Lucy… I want us to be able to clear this up, but I won’t do this if you don’t want me to. I just want to talk to him and try to figure out what we can do to move forward with patching things up, but… this is your call. I did things behind your back before, and I don’t want to do that again. I’ll only go if you’re okay with it.” Another moment goes by before I hear her voice again. “... Okay.” “Okay. I’ll see you home in a little bit, Lucy. I love you.” “I love you too, Anon.” The line disconnects. I won’t keep her waiting any longer than necessary. It’s time to have a chat with Reed. Pulling up to the gargantuan form of the megacenter packed with groceries and goods of all varieties, my heartbeat quickens slightly. I’ve spent a lot of time across the day thinking about the myriad of ways things could potentially go down. Reed might smile at me and act like nothing’s wrong at all, only to quietly tell me to get the fuck out of his store… or he might just punch me in the nose. A world of possibilities lie before me, with the sole exception of one scenario: everything going perfectly and without a hitch. Something is wrong, and I’m gonna try to make it right. I take one last steadying breath before exiting my car and making my way to the massive sliding glass doors. The jets of fire being sprayed from the vents beyond the doors is welcoming given the increasingly chilled air outside. All the same, I have to squint slightly at the sudden and violent temperature shift while I pass through the portal. I collect neither a shopping cart nor a basket. I’ve got my destination locked in. Making a sharp left upon entering the structure, I see the large cut-out of a medicine bottle with the letters “Rx” on it suspended over the distant service counter. The imagery of a pill bottle makes me shudder involuntarily, recalling that nightmarish evening where I cradled Lucy’s twitching form in my arms as the ambulance sirens grew closer. I shake off the memory, regaining focus as I head in the direction of my upcoming confrontation. As I approach, I catch sight of the familiar orangish color of my old acquaintance, his posture hunched as he rests his elbows on the pharmacy counter. No customers wait in line; I suppose I have fortuitous timing. I step up to the counter and his half-lidded eyes lift to meet mine. “Good aftern-” He doesn’t finish the sentence, eyes widening as he recognizes my form. “Hey, Reed. Got a second to chat?” He doesn’t respond verbally, opting to straighten his hunched posture as he sizes me up. Though his face looks as neutral as it always does, my time with him in high school taught me to read his eyes for his genuine emotional state. Needless to say, they are awash with a venerable slurry of feelings, making anticipation of his next action nigh impossible. I sense surprise, anger, discomfort and despair wrapped in the singular, intense gaze he fires my way. About the only emotion I don’t sense from him is happiness. He’s not pleased to see me, and at this current moment, the feeling is mutual. Without breaking eye contact, he leans and calls over his shoulder. “I’m taking a break, Chase. Hold the fort, please.” The same compsognathus supervisor from last time begins to balk at Reed’s sudden request, but stops himself when he notices the current unfolding situation. While neither of us have thrown hands yet, the air between us still bubbles with electricity. Chase voices a meek affirmative and Reed steps out from around the counter, leading me to the familiar deli section dining area. He grabs a chair, spins it around and squats reverse on it, his legs flanking either side of its back. I notice his tail flicking back and forth rapidly, feathers bristling as it whips about. The gesture isn’t new to me: I recall seeing it on days when Reed didn’t study for a test and had no luck in acquiring the answers ahead of time. I scoot a chair out from behind its table and take a seat a few feet away from Reed, my back to the rest of the store. It feels as though the lights around us dim, creating a singular arena within which we’re about to battle. I don’t see anyone or anything else besides Reed. My blood pressure is jacked. I don’t want to fight him, but if it’s necessary to figure out what the fuck is going on with him, I’ll do it. He withdraws the e-cigarette from his jacket pocket and takes a long, slow drag, still maintaining eye contact with me. He holds his breath for several moments upon completing his puff before expelling the nicotine-laden vapor from his nostrils. Massive white plumes pour from his face before dissipating in the air around him. I don’t get the feeling he was doing it as a show of intimidation, but all the same it calls to mind that same childhood parade and the dancing dragon. After several awkward moments of silence, Reed finally speaks. “Pretty not chill of you to corner me at work like this, bro.” His emphasis on the last word makes my heart sink. He’s pissed, meaning this is going to be an uphill battle. As much as I want to clap back, antagonizing isn’t the foot on which I want to start this joust. “You didn’t leave me much choice, Reed.” He crosses his arms and straightens his back, his tail swishing authoritatively. “I could have security kick you out, you know.” I consider this for a moment before responding. “... Then why didn’t you? You coulda picked up the phone at the pharmacy counter and dialed them, but instead you came over and sat down with me.” His eyes flare for a moment before softening slightly. He lets out a long sigh as he brings his hand to his forehead. “I… yeah, I mean… I didn’t want to kick you out, but… come on, man. What the hell were you thinking coming to my work like this?” I turn both my palms face-up and raise my eyebrows, expressing my lack of options. “Again, you didn’t leave me much choice. What was I supposed to do, just wait until you felt like expanding upon your cryptic-ass message?” He crosses his arms again and looks down his snout at me in irritation. “Well, yeah. Why do you think I wasn’t replying yet?” I raise my voice a bit, being careful not to yell but emphasizing my frustration. “How the hell was I supposed to know?! For all I knew, you or Trish were hospitalized or something!” His eyes suddenly take on a menacing look, immediately making the hair on my arms stand on end. “Oh. Yeah. Wouldn’t that be bad, not knowing what the fuck is going on with your friends and not being given any updates? I couldn’t imagine how that must feel.” His stinging words make me wince. I knew it. I fucking knew that was the problem. I pinch the bridge of my nose, finally breaking eye contact with him as his words linger in the air. He continues. “You have no clue how upset Trish was. Hell, I was upset, but you know Trish! For her, it was five times as stressful and fifty times as explosive. We were literally about to meet with you guys for the first time in three years, and you both no-show with no word. We were panicking all night wondering what the hell happened, checking the news to see if there was a car accident or something.” I want to open my mouth and make excuses about how shook up I was, not being in a mental state to call them right then and there, but I hold my tongue. He lets out an aggravated huff. “At least you had the decency to call us the next day, letting us know she was in the hospital. So, there was that.” His eyes flash at me again. “... I assume she’s okay now?! Can you at least tell me that?!” My shoulders slump. “Christ… Reed, I’m sorry, man. I fucked up.” He rolls his eyes. “Yeah, no shit, Sherlock Hornes.” My temper gets the better of me and I speak a little harsher than I mean to. “Reed. Can you shut the fuck up for a second and let me talk?” He sharply inhales as he stares daggers in my direction, but doesn’t say anything. I fold my hands together and lean forward, addressing him with all the sincerity within me. “I’m sorry, Reed. Seriously. I messed up and didn’t consider you guys properly, and that’s on me. Just… let me explain what happened. I’m not making excuses, you’d be perfectly right to poke your finger at my recap and point out a hundred different places when I could have called you guys and explained this sooner, but I didn’t, and I’m sorry. Just let me explain.” He glares at me, reading my face to judge whether I’m bullshitting him or not. All I can do is weather his gaze and hope he’ll give me the chance. After several agonizing moments, he offers the slightest nod in my direction, granting his blessing for me to provide my story. I do so, detailing nearly every aspect of the past seven days to him. Reed follows my story with shifting expressions. He looks forlorn when I inform him that Lucy accidentally overdosed on my antidepressants just before we left for our date with him and Trish. He hangs on my words as I detail the next forty-eight hours, from the intense emotional pain caused by how close I came to losing Lucy to the immeasurable relief I felt when she woke up and gradually recovered. He listens thoughtfully as I talk through the dual therapy session that we had with my psychiatrist, using the opportunity to inform Reed of the struggles Lucy had been having. I catch a hint of a smile on his face as I bring up our viability test and our resounding good news, and he nods in approval as I wrap up the recounting with mention of our reunion with Rosa and Stella. I conclude the story with a sigh. “That’s it. That’s everything. And… like I said, I know this doesn’t excuse not reaching out to you and Trish sooner. I’m sorry. That was a shit move on my part, and I was a bad friend for not considering how you guys were feeling.” Reed hangs his head in contemplation for a moment before shrugging. “I mean… we’re not quite friends yet, right? I guess it makes sense.” I shake my head. “No. That’s not good enough. We were trying to rekindle our friendship with you, and I fucked it up. You and Trish deserved better than that.” He doesn’t meet my eyes, opting to stare at the floor between us. “... That’s… not the only thing…” I cock my eyebrow, unsure of what he means. “It was… hard, not knowing what was going on, but… it was worse… knowing it might have been my fault…” I scoot my chair closer to him, trying to encourage him to look back up at me, but he doesn’t. “Reed, what are you talking about?” He hangs his head lower. I barely notice a glint of light from the corner of his eye before he quickly wipes his face with his pharmacist coat sleeve. “Come on, man. We try to set up a meet-up between our women, and Lucy overdoses that same night. How am I supposed to not feel responsible for that?!” His voice quivers as he speaks. “For fuck sake, if she OD’d on your antidepressants, I literally handed those to you myself. But regardless of that, it was because of her pain from our high school disaster that any of this happened. You said so yourself.” He shakes his head, eyes still downcast. “I… I didn’t know why she was in the hospital when you called us. You didn’t say. But… I had a feeling… and I was right.” I reach towards him as he buries his face in his hands. My own hand can’t complete its journey to his shoulder, my physical gesture of reassurance incomplete due to the distance between our chairs. I simply lower my hand, giving him a moment to unburden his emotions in silence. He uses his sleeves to wipe away at his cheeks again, continuing to look at the ground. I finally speak up. “Reed, I don’t know how else to say this to you. None of this was your fault. None of this was Trish’s fault, either. I… spent a lot of time blaming myself for it, too. I was furious at myself while I was in the hospital waiting room. I was furious that I was so foolish as to keep the pills I didn’t even need laying around the house. I was furious that I pushed Lucy too hard, too fast, and overwhelmed her to the point where she felt she needed to do that. I was furious that I had failed her as a husband. Her… no, our father Ripley was the one that snapped me out of it. He did a lot to console me and remind me of how loved I am, but more importantly, he told me that beating the hell out of myself wasn’t going to do any good, and he was right.” Reed remains with his shoulders slumped, staring at the floor between us. I continue. “After all we’ve been through, Lucy has come out a stronger woman. She isn’t perfect, and probably never will be. Same goes for me. None of us will ever be fully rid of the scars from our pasts…” I absent-mindedly run my hands across my forearms as I say this, feeling the marred and pitted flesh beyond my shirt sleeves. “... But we can still heal. We can still grow, and we can still improve ourselves. Lucy wants to do that by reconnecting with you and Trish. She wants so desperately to be able to call you two ‘friends’ again, and so do I. We just ask that you give us that chance.” He begins to speak, slowly bringing his head up to face me. “That’s all well and good of you to say, but does Lucy actually feel tha-” His voice suddenly cuts out and the color in his face drains away. He looks beyond me as though he’s seen a ghost. I can’t help but turn and observe what’s got him so- … “... Lucy?” Standing just behind me is the slender figure of a pterodactyl woman with whom I am quite familiar. She gives me a soft smile and a gentle nod as she slides a third chair over and positions it next to me. Both Reed and I follow her with our eyes as she takes a seat, posturing herself for the conversation ahead. I stammer out the words. “I- uhh, I wasn’t-” She places a hand on mine. “I needed to come here, too. We’re a team, remember?” My ears grow red from embarrassment for not thinking to invite her along in the first place. I did it again, trying to handle things on my own. Sure, I told her I was coming here, but why didn’t I invite her? Her eyes calm my nerves almost instantly. She gazes at me not with resentment or bitterness, but with love and thankfulness. She speaks softly. “Thank you for doing this for me. I appreciate everything you’ve done… but these are my battles to fight.” She glances at Reed with an apologetic smile. “... Pardon my turn of phrase. I don’t want this to come across as a conflict.” Reed is snapped out of his trance, regaining his color as she shakes his disbelief away. “Um! None taken! I, uhh… it’s been a long time, Fang.” He blinks. “Err, I mean… Lucy. Sorry. Force of habit.” Lucy giggles. “It’s alright. I don’t resent the name, I just don’t really need it anymore.” She interlaces her fingers with mine as she says this. Reed hangs his head again. “So… how much did you overhear?” “Only the last few things Anon said. I saw you with your face in your hands and wanted to give you a hug, but then Anon started speaking, and… I didn’t want to interrupt him.” She gives me another loving smile. “I appreciate what you said, Anon, and, more importantly…” She turns back to Reed. “... I agree with his words. If you are feeling hurt by what we did or how we handled you after we didn’t come to the dinner we promised to have with you, I am truly sorry.” Reed fidgets in his chair, biting his lip as he fights back his emotions. Lucy continues. “I… also don’t want you to blame yourself for any of what happened to me. What happened was an accident, but it was still my fault and nobody else’s. I’m sorry that it hurt you, too.” Reed buries his face in his hands again, emitting his words in agony. “If Trish and I hadn’t fucked things up in high school… if we hadn’t pressured you with meeting up… none of this…” Lucy slowly inhales before replying, fighting back her own tears. “It’s not ours to know what could have or would have been. We only have now, and I thank God that He’s brought me to this exact moment, with Anon… and with you.” Reed lets out a sob. Lucy doesn’t pass up this second opportunity to hug him, quickly crossing the space between us and dropping to her knees to wrap his hunched form within her arms. I can only watch in astonishment as the woman I love comforts our old friend. She hadn’t heard him admit that he felt he was at fault for everything that happened with her. It was purely through her wisdom, intuition and empathy that she was able to reach that conclusion. And she instantly quelled his fear. Lucy… you really are incredible. After a moment, Reed nods as he leans back up, sniffling the remainder of his tears away as he wipes further with his increasingly damp sleeves. Lucy clicks her tongue and reaches into her purse to get him some tissues, but he waves a hand at the gesture. “Nah, too late for these sleeves, they’re already fuckin’ moist.” He gives a sly look to Lucy as he says this last word with emphasis, watching her visibly cringe. “Ughhh, you still remember how much I hate that word, huh?” He lets out a soft chuckle. “You might not go by ‘Fang’ anymore, but I still remember some Fang-isms. You still drown your dino nuggies in barbecue sauce?” Taking her seat next to me once more, she looks at Reed as though he’s grown a second head. “Obviously. What do I look like, some neanderthal who eats them plain?” She glances at me. “... Sorry, honey.” I shrug. “Not like I ever get to eat them, anyway, so the insult is baseless.” We all let out a decompressing laugh, feeling a heavy cloud lift from the sky above us. As silence returns between us, Reed lets out a sigh. “I’m… sorry for being an ass and not talking to you guys sooner. It was a feedback loop of me getting more upset and angrier the longer I didn’t hear from you, but I could have probably broken that silence by calling or messaging you myself, so I fucked up, too.” He shakes his head. “I don’t want there to be any resentment between us, and I do want us to be friends again. I really do. But…” He looks at the two of us with deathly seriousness. “... if you two thought I was peeved… Trish is a whole ‘nother level. She nearly went catatonic with how much she was freaking out. I…” He scratches the back of his neck and glances aside in embarrassment. “... I probably didn’t help that, insisting on us not contacting you since I was… feeling shitty about it and all. That’s how we ended up where we were last night when you finally messaged.” He looks up at us again, his gaze filled with sad truth. “She said she didn’t want to have anything to do with either of you ever again. And… well, I was kind of agreeing with her up until now. Lucy, I accept your apologies, and yours too, Anon. I want to make things right between us. It’s just a matter of… if I can talk Trish into doing the same.” He sighs once more. “I’ll do my best, but I can’t promise anything at this point. You know Trish, and you know how she can get. I’m… sorry, but that’s how it is right now. All I can do is give it my best, and if we do get a last try at fixing all this… it’ll probably be one shot and one shot only.” Lucy takes my hand again and squeezes it. I feel her tremble slightly, offering what little comfort I can by gently squeezing her hand back to offer my reassurance. If this happens… it’ll be for all the marbles. Reed didn’t say it out loud, but if we can’t mend things with Trish, he’s gonna be out of the picture, too. It’d be too awkward for him to try to remain friends with us if Trish actively wants nothing to do with either Lucy or I. We both take a deep breath. I speak first. “All we can ask is that you give us that chance with her. Let her know that we want to apologize in person, and that we want to make things right.” Lucy nods in agreement. “Thank you for doing this, Reed. You were always a wonderful friend in high school, and I’m glad to see you’re still a good man who’s willing to help when I need it.” Reed waves a hand dismissively, blushing slightly but clearly happy with the compliment. “Pssh, oh, come on now Lucy. You only say that cuz I let you copy off my homework.” She blinks before responding. “... Well, yeah, obviously.” We all let out a mutual laugh again before we stand and say our goodbyes. I glance in the direction of the pharmacy, seeing the once again overwhelmed compy supervisor chirping for Reed’s assistance with the catastrophically long and irate line that has formed. Reed reaches the counter, glances over his shoulder at us, and with a wink plants his hand on the countertop and slides across it. His tail nearly misses the brochure stands, but with a most likely purposeful flick it catches them and sends them clattering to the floor once more, eliciting another cry of misery from Chase. I can’t help but chuckle along with Reed and his stupid antics, getting a perplexed and amused look from Lucy in the process. “Why’d he do that? He made a mess!” I shrug with a smile as we start to head back to our cars. “Little inside joke is all.” We make our way home and fix ourselves some dinner, hopeful but nervous about the coming news. I didn’t think to ask Reed what time his shift was over, but I believe the pharmacy closes at 8 so he likely wouldn’t work much longer than that unless he had to do cleanup or other after-close duties. Even considering that, there’s a chance he won’t be able to talk to Trish about things tonight. I do my best to temper my expectations about the timing, and ask that Lucy does the same. To her credit, Lucy is handling things extraordinarily well. She did a phenomenal job with Reed, showing up out of the blue with an immediate olive branch extended, and managed to perfectly pinpoint what was going on and address it appropriately. I catch myself gazing at her as she sips down a spoonful of soup. She notices my lingering eyes and cocks her head inquisitively. “What’s up?” I reach my hand across the table; she unconsciously reciprocates by putting her spoon back in the bowl and taking my hand in hers, still peering at me in anticipation of my answer. I provide it: “I love you.” She draws in a barely audible gasp before her cheeks redden and a smile tugs on her lips. “Where’s this coming from all of a sudden? We’re eating soup and you bust out the romantics?” I keep gazing at her with love. “I know I’ve said it a lot of times now, but I really mean it. I’m so proud of you. How far you’ve come, how much you’ve been growing, how much you’ve been bettering yourself as a person.” I bring my other hand up to fully encircle hers. She does the same, resting her palm on the back of my hand as she listens to my words. “Before I left for the military, I asked you to improve yourself. When I came home… I didn’t see the improvement I wanted to see. Yes, you had developed into a wonderful woman who I wanted to marry and spend my life with, but I was disappointed that you had neglected your social life and that you had continued carrying that pain from our time in high school.” I glance down. “... I realize it was hypocritical of me to judge you for your burdens when I had my own from my deployment. I felt tremendous guilt over what happened with Weston, and I held onto that hurt a lot longer than I should have.” I look back up at her, seeing the tears welling in her eyes. “We both have our burdens, but together we’re both overcoming those burdens. And no matter what happens with Trish, I want you to know that I’ll always love you and I’ll always be proud of you. You may not have been able to do it while I was gone, but… you’ve fulfilled your promise to me.” “Anon!” Lucy dives around the table as she chokes out my name, throwing herself into my arms as she cries. She repeats my name as I cradle her in my arms, kissing the top of her head as her muffled voice escapes my chest. She sobs tears of relief and joy into my form, holding fast the man she loves, the man to whom she has fulfilled her promise. “I love you, Lucy. I love you more and more every day. I will love you until the end of time.” She forms the words through her stuttering breath. “Thank you… thank you…” It takes several minutes for us to regain our composure. I always want to hold Lucy in my arms, but my sudden monologue did interrupt our meal, so with a smile and a kiss she shifts back to her seat and we finish our now slightly cold soup. Every few moments her eyes flit in my direction, averting when they meet mine, closely followed by her cheeks reddening. Her sudden bashfulness makes my heartbeat quicken. We finish our dinner and I rinse the dishes before placing them in the dishwasher. As I load the last of them and dry my hands, Lucy approaches me and takes my hand in hers. She still doesn’t meet my eyes, but begins gently guiding me towards the bedroom. Her actions call to mind the vivid recollection of the first time we confessed our feelings for one another. We were still in high school, and it was shortly after my near-death experience with the dreaded bollard of Volcano High. My metallic nemesis had done a number to my sternum after I was beaned in the head by a soda can and sent rocketing down the several dozen steps leading up to the high school’s front entrance. My acrobatic descent was brought to a swift and violent halt by the iron rod, the half-sphere tip of which was thankfully not sharp enough to literally impale me. Still fuckin’ felt like it did, though. Lucy, who was still going by Fang at the time, witnessed my bungled audition for the Cirque du Saurleil and thought me dead. She gasped in disbelief when I stood, and facepalmed when I subsequently said “hello” to the concrete a second time. She threw an arm around my broken form and called a taxi for us, tossed me in the back, then hauled me from the taxi to a pharmacy near my apartment for various ointments, salves, bandages and other implements of hoodoo magic. She managed to get me up the stairs to my place, too, though given the inherent strength of pterosaurs and my manlet form at the time, this wasn’t a tremendous surprise. I got myself into the bathroom, examining the extent of my injuries. While nothing looked awful on the outside, my insides were spongy and agonized. The droplets of water from my shower were enough to make me wince in pain. I didn’t even have the clarity of mind to think about the fact that the pterodactyl girl on whom I had a huge crush was standing in my studio apartment while I was showering. After toweling myself off and dressing myself again, I hobbled out to my bed and plonked over, exhausted, beaten and forlorn. That goddamn slideshow. That goddamn Trish. She ruined everything for me. Sure, I listened to her side of the story in Principal Spears’s office as she cried her eyes out, blaming me for her actions and for “taking Fang away from her”. I even waited around and let Fang say her piece outside of the principal’s office before we left the building and I got to reenact that one song from that one anime by way of “tumbling down, tumbling down, tumbling down” the school’s stairs... but I was still pissed. That was some supervillain shit that Trish pulled, and her diabolical scheme cost me my high school reputation for a second time at a high school I transferred to exclusively to escape this specter. Of course… it didn’t turn out to be that big of a deal in the long run, but at the time it fucking sucked to be me. That is… until my mumbling managed to cause me to inadvertently confess my feelings for Fang. She took care of me, applying pain relief ointment to my tenderized back and torso. With her slender form so close to mine, I couldn’t help but mutter about how much I liked her, causing her to giggle and return the sentiment. Truth be told, my feelings had been building for her ever since she played her music for me in her bedroom, but this was the first time I vocalized it. I liked her. I loved her. She blushed heavily, averting her eyes in a rare show of meekness. She was always a strong-willed and sharp-edged woman, so seeing this side of her was wholly new, yet strangely fitting and comfortable. She went in for a kiss but inadvertently placed a hand on my recently demolished midsection, causing me to yelp in pain like a little bitch. Thankfully she didn’t judge me too harshly for the show of non-manliness and opted to simply lie next to me, falling asleep with me as I began the healing process. I lamented the next day about what could have happened between us if I wasn’t in such blistering pain, but I didn’t need to rush things. I knew how she felt about me, and she knew how I felt about her. We were dating. A month later, I was given permission to call her Lucy, and we shared our first kiss. She blushed the same way that day, too, showing me a vulnerable, beautiful part of herself that she would promise to show to nobody else from that day forward. I was hers. She was mine. Lucy leads me into our bedroom, stopping with me at the foot of the bed. She still doesn’t meet my eyes, her cheeks burning bright as she brings herself closer to me. At my touch, she shudders and draws in a sharp breath, but she does not recoil. I run my fingers through her hair and draw them across the tops of her wings; they flutter gently in response as I feel her heartbeat hasten through her chest pressed to mine. Her breath catches in her throat as she trembles. I lean back slightly, trying to meet her eyes to see why she’s so tense. She finally looks up at me, eyes wide with both longing and fear. Her words are broken as they tumble from her quivering lips. “If… if I can’t make things work with Trish… will you still… want to have a baby with me…?” Her words stab me in the gut. I pull her as close to me as I can in a tender embrace, feeling her shudder again. I had made the demand that if we were going to have a baby, we would need to work through Lucy’s problems and mend our friendships. I offered the alternative of us making other friends, but the point still stood in her mind: she’s worried that if Trish doesn’t want to repair our friendship, or if we fail at repairing it with her if she gives us the chance, that I won’t want to have a baby with her anymore. I fight back my own tears as I form the words. “Of course I will, Lucy. I love you so much, and I want to have a baby with you. If things don’t work out with Trish, that won’t change a thing. I still want to raise a family with you.” She lets out a tremendous sigh of relief before she brings her lips to mine, her fear melting away through our tender show of love. Not parting from the kiss, she begins disrobing me, and I follow suit with her. We find our way to the bed and share our intimacy with one another. We make love, our promises of togetherness and unity guiding our actions. We repeat to one another our love, basking in the words, feeling them wash over us in their warmth and truth. We share our eternal love, knowing one another only as one soul can know the other when they are bound forevermore. I lay in the darkness with my wife, the woman I adore so dearly, wrapped in her embrace as much as she is wrapped in mine. Our heartbeats steady themselves as we gaze into one another’s eyes. I gently slide my hand across her cheek, causing her to nuzzle into it as she draws in a slow breath. “I love you, Anon.” I give her a brief kiss before I reply in kind. “I love you too, Lucy.” She smiles and kisses me again. Encircled in each other’s arms and exhausted from the previous night’s lack of restful sleep combined with the day’s events, we slowly begin to drift off. Just before it can claim us fully, a sudden, pulsing buzz reverberates across the silent room. I blink the encroaching sleep away, noticing Lucy do the same. I slide out of her arms and out from under the covers, looking to the source of the sound: my bunched-up pants lying at the foot of the bed. Tentatively reaching into the pocket, I withdraw my cell phone. On the screen rests a notification of a received Faceboop message. I glance at Lucy who stares at me, eyes wide with anticipation and dread. I tap the notification, opening the app and the conversation to which the message belongs: Reed S. [ 9:33 PM ] [ She says yes. Tomorrow night, 6pm. See you then. ]