"Thank you guys for letting me stay for a few nights," Cecilia said, smiling as she placed Lily on the ground.

"Of course," Dad said, "I think of you as one of my own. You're welcome to stay as long as you need."

I grabbed one of Cecilia's bags, excitedly leading her to the staircase. "We can either have a sleepover-"

"Josie, I think you forget I have a child now," she laughed out.

I shrugged. "I don't care. She can join us."

Cecilia laughed and followed me upstairs, making me place her bags in my room. I bit down on my lip and fell back on my bed, leaning back on my hands.

Cecilia wasn't Cecilia. Even her laughs were a little broken, and her smiles weren't as radiant as before.

"You okay?" I softly asked, biting down on my lip.

"I still can't understand what exactly it was I did so wrong," she said, keeping her eyes lowered to her hands.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Cecilia. You're proof that you can literally bend over backwards, break your fucking back, and an easy man will still cheat."

She shrugged, shaking her head. "I-I guess I thought differently of him."

"Are you, like, seriously ending things?" I asked.

She sighed. "I don't know. I mean, we have Lily. It's not as easy when there's a child involved. And it was once."

"As far as you know," I deadpanned.

Her eyes met mine, making me shrug. "I'd trust him about as far as I can see."

She let out a heavy sigh and placed her hands in her back pockets, shrugging. "I-I don't know. I'm hoping I'll get some clarity, being away from him."

"Well, if you're looking to, like, forgive him, I'm not the person you need to surround yourself with," I muttered, lifting my eyebrows.

She laughed, nodding. "Yeah, I can see that."

I stood up, hooking arms with her. "Come downstairs. I made you some lemonade."

"You made lemonade?"

"Don't sound so excited," I deadpanned, earning a giggle from her.

We walked downstairs and saw Dad sitting at the piano, Lily sitting next to him. Cecilia smiled and walked over to the pair, pressing a kiss to Lily's cheek. "Grandpa Fred playing piano for you?"

I bursted out into laughter, earning Dad's eyes.

"I'm sorry, Grandpa and Fred in the same sentence makes you sound like you're, like, a thousand years old."

He rolled his eyes and stood up. "Well, Lily, it was nice knowing you."

I laughed, my laughter dying down when Henry jogged upstairs. His eyes lit up and he opened his arms. "I didn't know you'd be here so early."

Cecilia walked into his hug, grimacing at his obviously sweaty body. "Hi."

"Sorry," he laughed, "I-I'm sweaty."

"I wouldn't have known if you wouldn't have told me," she said, nodding up at him.

He shot her a sarcastic smile, walking over to me. "Cordelia and I are meeting for lunch."

"So I need to beat a bitch up today," I said, nodding up at him.

He laughed, shaking his head. "No. She apparently wants to talk. We'll see how that goes."

"Did you work out before to get a pump so she gets jealous?" I asked, folding my arms over my chest.

"N-no," he said, shaking his head.

"You definitely did," I muttered, brushing past him.

"Are you gonna tell her?"

"Tell her what?" He asked, following me into the kitchen.

"That you're swinging the other way currently," I said.

He laughed. "Beautifully said, Josie."

I leaned against the counter, lifting an eyebrow.

"If it comes up," he said, shrugging, "but I mean, I'm not going to go out of my way to tell her."

"I'd make her so jealous," I said, "show her every selfie of you and Zach, tell her how happy he makes you, tell her that he's not a conniving bitch that makes your life miserable. You know."

He nodded, opening the fridge. "I'm glad I don't take advice from you often."

"You probably should."

~*~

This was weird, to say the least.

The last time Cordelia had stood in front of me, I'd still at least halfway loved her. I'd felt some form of emotion, even if it was anger.

But now, I felt nothing towards her. Not even anger, which I was thankful for.

"You look great," she said, nodding as she took a sip of her coffee.

"Thank you," I said, "so, what is it that you wanted to talk about?"

She sighed, chewing on her lip. "I'm sorry, Henry. You never deserved the way I treated you towards the end."

I clenched my jaw, looking out the window.

"And I know I can't take it back, but I hope that an apology can maybe begin to bring us back together. Even as friends."

"Well, thank you for the apology," I said, "b-but I can't lie to you, I don't want to be your friend."

"You want more?" She confidently asked, and seemed confident that my answer would be yes.

"No," I just as confidently answered, "I've been fine without you in my life."

"Oh," she said, obviously taken aback, but attempting to hide it.

I nodded, leaning back in my chair. "Yeah."

"W-well, I'm glad you've been doing good."

I nodded, clenching my jaw.

"Is there a new girl?"

I chuckled, folding my arms over my chest.

"Seriously, you can tell me," she said, "what's she like?"

Bold of you to assume that you didn't ruin girls as a whole for me, I wanted to say, but didn't.

"He's awesome," I confidently said, nodding.

She knitted her eyebrows together, a smile tugging at her lips. "Huh?"

"He's great," I said, stirring my coffee around.

"Henry, that's not a funny joke," she said.

"It's not a joke," I chuckled, shrugging.

"You're gay?" She flat out asked, lifting an eyebrow.

In that instant, I felt myself turtle up. That was a reaction I'd yet to get from anyone else.

"I'm bi," I hesitantly corrected her.

She looked genuinely confused, her eyebrows still in a confused furrow. "What?"

I sat in front of her, completely unaware of what to say. I couldn't even tell what her reaction truly was.

"You're not bi, Henry," she laughed out, taking a sip of her coffee.

I bit down on my lip, shaking my head. "Why?"

"Henry, you're a sports fiend," she deadpanned, "y-you're, like, masculine. Macho. It just doesn't work. Being bi and being those things, they don't work."

I knitted my eyebrows together. "No, I think they do."

She tilted her head over, sighing. "You're just experimenting, Henry."

"No, I'm not," I said, "it-it's literally part of who I am."

"How come you weren't bi when we were together?" She deadpanned, "it's a phase, Henry."

I let out a chuckle, knitting my eyebrows together. "You're fucking unbelievable."

"I'm just saying, it doesn't add up," she laughed out, "you're gonna get disowned, Henry."

"By who?" I asked, folding my arms over my chest again.

"Um, your parents, your entire family, and the guys? Yeah, they're gonna eat you alive."

"Okay, well, the family has been accepting," I said, "I'm not expecting approval from everyone. I'm also not fucking worried about it. I don't care if you don't like it, or the guys don't like it."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm telling you, Henry, it is a phase."

"I seriously wish I was surprised," I muttered, standing up from my chair, "but I'm not. You're always going to be the same fucking person you were."

"Henry-"

"No, I thought you were genuine," I said, "I thought you wanted to apologize. I did not come out of my way to sit in front of a girl that broke my fucking heart only to get judged and told that I'm wrong about my own fucking sexuality."

"I'm not judging you, Henry," she said, grabbing my hand, "I just know you."

"No, you don't!" I exclaimed, "you never knew me! And you sure as hell do not get the pleasure of thinking that you do or ever have."

She looked up at me, a look of disbelief on her face.

"You know, I hope things go well for you," I said, ripping my hand away from her, "really, I wish you the best, but I don't want to hear from you again."

"You're overreacting," she said.

I threw my coffee in the trash can, opening the door and unlocking my car. I sniffled and opened my door, slipping inside quickly.

I hadn't lied- I didn't expect everyone to be accepting. But I'd only had good reactions so far, and I had no clue how to handle that one.

I clenched my jaw, pulling my phone out of my pocket. I dialed Zach's number, waiting on him to pick up.

"Hello, your car warranty has exp-"

"I'm coming over," I said, backing out of my parking space.

"You didn't let me finish my speech about your fucking car warranty."

"That's not on my mind right now," I said, "I'm coming over, Zach."

"I'll be waiting."

~*~

I leaned my head back and grabbed Lena's hips, thrusting into her at a fast pace. She moaned and gripped the edge of my desk, the side of her face pressed against it.

"Y-you haven't fucked me on your desk in too long," she giggled out, biting down on her lip.

I leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips, my free hand bunching up a handful of her hair. I pulled her head back and pressed a kiss to her neck, the sounds of her moans and our bodies meeting each other mixing and filling up my rather empty office.

"B-baby," she whispered, "I'm c-com-"

She was cut off by a loud moan, and her climax triggered mine. I fell against her with a groan, my forehead against her head.

She giggled, looking back at me. "Well that was nice."

"I'm gonna need you to show up at my office at late hours of the night every night," I whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

"I bet our chocolate covered cherries are melted," she said, looking back at me.

I simply looked down at her, earning a laugh. She fell forward on my desk again and I pulled out of her, pulling up my underwear and slacks. I gave her backside one last slap with my belt, making her laugh again.

Damn. Nearly thirty years have passed, and her laugh is still your favorite sound.

She stood up, pulling her tight dress down past her hips. She looked up at me as she pulled out my top drawer and dropped her underwear in them, smiling a cheeky smile.

I grabbed her face and pressed a kiss to her lips, pulling away from her after a few seconds.

"I gotta get you home," I whispered, pressing a soft kiss to her neck.

"Mm," she softly moaned, wrapping her arms around my neck, "I'll leave my car here and just come with you in the morning?"

"Yeah," I whispered, smiling when I saw goosebumps rise.

I pulled her closer to me by her backside, squeezing it.

"You know, I really have to thank Hero and Fran for the ass they provided me with," she said, "and, you know, the fat everywhere else-"

I looked down at her, letting out a sigh.

"I'm kidding," she said, flattening her palms against my chest.

I sat down in my chair and trailed my hands down her sides, wrapping my arms around her hips for a hug. I smiled and she raked her fingers through my hair, giggling.

"Do you miss my nineteen year old body?" She asked.

"You know, Lena, to be honest, I genuinely think you have always had the sexiest body I've ever seen."

"That didn't answer my question."

"No," I chuckled out, leaning back in my seat, "no, I don't. I fucking love your body. I always have. And I always will."

"Yeah? What about when I'm all wrinkly and stuff?" She asked, gripping her hips.

I smiled up at her. I remembered how when I was young, I always wondered how Abuelo Val and Abuela stayed together for so many years. I wondered how they hadn't gotten tired of each other, and I'd admired how they'd grown old together.

I completely understood now.

"You're always gonna be perfect," I said.

She giggled, pressing a kiss to my head. "Are we about to leave?"

"Yeah," I said, standing up, "let me just close these things out."

She grabbed her jacket and slipped into it, grabbing her purse. I turned off my computer and grabbed my coat, placing my hand in the curve of her back as we began to leave.

"Mr. King?"

I looked over at my door, knitting my eyebrows together. The man walking towards me was a familiar face, but not one I'd seen more than once.

"Hi?" I questionably greeted.

"H-hi," he greeted.

I walked out of my office, Lena timidly following behind me. I stuck out my hand, tilting my head over. "I'm afraid-"

"Ron," he said, firmly shaking my head, "Ron Grey. I'm sorry for not introducing myself before."

"It's no problem," I said, "I-I know you, we were in a meeting together not too long ago."

He nodded, but I could tell there was a sense of urgency behind his words and actions. I just wasn't sure what, though.

"Is there an issue?" I asked, shaking my head.

"Yeah, there is, actually," he said, nodding, "y-your son got my daughter pregnant."

"Come again?" I muttered, shaking my head.

"Your boy, he got my daughter pregnant," he said, his jaw set.

"I'm sorry," I chuckled, "I-I really think you're mistaken, Mr. Grey."

"I'm not," he said, shaking his head.

"There really has to be some kind of confusion," Lena said, "our-our son, he hasn't- he- there's no way. I'm sorry."

Hero had been falling apart at the seams- there'd, honestly, been no time nor motivation for him to impregnate someone.

"She's kind of far along," he said, his hand on the back of his neck as he let out a breath, "a-a few months now?"

I felt my stomach drop at that statement. I let out a sigh, rubbing my eyes.

"I don't know-"

I cut myself off, biting down on my lip.

He backed away from me, shaking his head. "Your son got my daughter pregnant."

He stepped into the elevator, making me let out a heavy sigh and look over at Lena.

"Jo," she said, shaking her head.

"It is not far fetched, Lena," I said, "he was wild and reckless. As shit."

"I don't think it's possible, Jo," she said, "seriously. He's been going through things for a while now."

"Yeah, and he didn't stop having sex until he got put in the hospital," I said.

"Jo," she said, "seriously. If he knew, he'd tell us."

"Well, we're going to see if he knows."

~*~

😳