sugar. spice. & everything not nice.

"I was a bit shell shocked when he told me."

/can laugh at it now, fingers tucking her blonde hair behind one of her ears

/eyes slowly drift to Bryan and AJ to answer the question in full

"It took me three or four days to really tell him how I felt. I needed those few days to myself to wrap my brain around it, and come to terms with it, I guess you could say."

/looks back to him, squeezing his hand, locked in on him like he's the only thing in her world because he is

"All I can really do is be there however he needs me, whatever way he needs me to show up. He has two really awesome kids already. One more just means there's another piece of him for me to love."

/eyes drift to Liv, who never looks at her, just looks down, then looks back at Bryan and AJ again

/slowly looks over at Jey, that smile widening, her hand sliding into his, fingers squeezing tight, head then dropping against his shoulder because hello warm and fuzzies

/lets her head rest for a second, slowly bringing it up, leaning deeper into Jey if possible

"It's hard to believe that was months ago. Wow."

/her face says it all though, smile wide as it can go, eyes with that 'he's my man' look in them, fingers woven in-between his proudly

"Things are really, really good. Really good. This guy makes it really easy to be happy."

/looks at this man like he holds the keys to her world, Usher might as well play 'YOU GOT IT BAD' cause she does

/draws her eyes back to AJ and Bryan, voice a little softer now

"In light of being really honest, I wasn't expecting Jey on decision day. I went into it knowing where my heart was, but also knowing what he had been through. If he didn't show that day, I wasn't going to hold it against him."

/doesn't take her eyes off them, just squeezes his hand

"Everyone saw my real time reaction when he showed up. For a few days after decision day I still couldn't believe it, but...there's not a day that has gone by that I'm not grateful that he did show up. He's shown up in every way ever since."

/looks back to him, lifting their hands to kiss him, purposefully leaving her gloss on his hand

"I didn't expect this. Honestly, I didn't know what I was really expecting coming out of the experiment. I just knew I was in a relationship that deserved answers on whether or not it was time to move on or try harder. Then, I was paired with Jey. I started feeling things I had never felt before. Things that I had forgotten how to feel because I stopped feeling them a long time ago. Seen. Heard. Understood. Safe when he was there, and even when he wasn't."

/pauses, laying their hands in her lap, playing with the watch on his wrist

"Are you sure you didn't write these questions yourself, Bryan?"

/smiles a little, laughing, the sound verging on uncomfortable because she is

/hands smooth down a wrinkle in her dress, eyes following her fingers as they chase the disruption in the fabric that clung to her every move

"I was...surprised."

/doesn't think, she just lets herself speak, dropping away the usual wall she'd hide her emotions behind

/she was known to do that and she has realized it, choosing now to face her feelings head on rather than hide from them

"Not because it's unexpected, I knew someday it might happen. I just didn't expect it to happen as soon as it did. It rocked me a little bit in the way that this person I had spent so much of my life with is now getting engaged to someone else not long after we ended things between us."

/looks down at her hands, fiddling with the moon ring on her finger, twisting it nervously like she does when she's sitting with her emotions

"That, uh...was unexpected."

/is visibly caught off guard, never expecting an apology nor ever wanting one for him because she's moved past it, but her eyes say what she won't just yet: she appreciates it

"Hearing him say that out loud is...a lot."

/shifts a little against the cushion, smoothing out the black dress she wore, ironically her and Kayla are wearing the same color

"I never expected it, you know? Most people never get an apology in a situation like this."

/looks right at him, giving him a little smile, one that doesn't quite reach her eyes but reaches far enough

Wild.