ย ย ย ย ย Eve looked up from the newsfeed she was scrolling through on her phone. Part of her clenched with apprehension inside, but the rest just found it surprising Kate had approached her. Was this the moment she was supposed to be melodramatic and flounce off in a huffโฆ? If this were a teenage drama show featuring oversexed superheroes she probably would. Except that, it wasnโt, and it wasnโt as simple as Eve turning her back on both her former teammate and closest female friend. Besides, Eve wasnโt as angry as before. She wasnโt sure she could ever be that angry againย โโโโ angry enough to leave in a crackling storm of brimming tears, angry enough to reject the spot on Guardians of the Globe, angry enough to feel like her broken heart was going to burst out of her chest and plummet all the way down to the earth as she took flight. Mainly because the shock had time to wear off and sheโd had time to think about everything with the luxury of hindsight.
ย ย ย ย ย A kind of dull sense of inevitability and acceptance had taken the place of her anger. If she was honest with herself, she wasnโt surprised Rex had done it, only crushed. Not too long before she walked in on him in the act, he had practically made a song and dance out of his fragile masculinity to let everyone, including Eve, know about it. After being with him for so long, giving so much of herself to that relationship, she just hadnโt wanted to believe he would really stoop so low. But Rex had, and their relationship would never be the same. What made everything extra shocking was the person he cheated on her with! That had made it worse. Eve never thought anything could leech into her tightly knit friendship with Kateโฆuntil she caught all three of her with Rex.
ย ย ย ย ย โ Oh, hey, โ Eve replied, not unfriendly, even with her recent reticence. It was technically the first time they had run into each other since the Guardian of the Globe tryouts. โ I was actually going to head backโฆbut yeah, we can. โ
ย ย ย ย ย It took a moment for Kate to continue, but she obviously had given this some thought, absolutely miserable and squirming with it. Eve listened and waited as Kate worked on mustering up the courage to summon the words she wanted to say, fixing Eve with an emotionally charged stare that scraped the surface of pleading without fully going there and loading the bullet. She came pretty close though. โ Kate, โ Eve murmured. There was an undercurrent of sadness held in Eveโs softly firm voice. โ I donโt hate you. After what happened, I just โโโโ โ Eve faltered haltingly, full mouth set into a frown. She was strong. She had kicked villainous ass six ways from Sunday without breaking a sweat since she was eleven years old, but she wasnโt made of stone. โ It was too painful to be around you. The both of you. โ The statement was out before she could think any more about it. Being upfront like this, Eve didnโt feel righteous, just mostly drained, bit by bit.
ย ย ย ย ย ย Eve sighed, pushing her thick hair behind her ear. โ I donโt blame you for Rex cheating. โ She hadnโt planned to discuss her love life, yet here they were. โ RexโฆRex did what he did because he was an insecure dick, and now itโs all over. I wish it hadnโt happened the way it did, butโฆyeah. Of course. I donโt want us to not ever be friends again. Iโm just not ready for that right now. Seeing either of youโฆwell, it still hurts. I know why he did it, stupid as his reason was. But with you, I didnโt ever expect it. Sometimes, I just wonder why, โ she broke out and finished.
Kate wasnโt sure how to approach Eve. Which was why they hadnโt talked for so long. She wanted to give the other time to herself, not wanting to PROVOKE her or anything and make matters worse. She hated how everything went down and all she wanted to do was fix things between them, but even she knew that wasnโt something that could just happen overnight. It was something they had to do gradually and slowly build up to. This was the first step into that. She didnโt think things would go smoothly, after all, look how things ended up with Rex. But this was different, Eve and Rex were completely different people. Not to mention the way she felt for them was completely different as well. The sinking feeling of GUILT welled up inside her when she saw Eve. As much as Kate wanted to be sorry about what happened, the fact of the matter she wasnโt. A part of her felt bad about that, like she was betraying all the years of friendship because of the feelings that she held for Rex. But that wasn't what they were going to talk about, this didnโt have to do with her feelings for Rex or his relationship with Eve. She fucked up, she hurt her closest friend and she needed to OWN UP to her actions.
She bites down on her bottom lip as she stares at Eve, not even sure if she wanted to talk to her, but she knew she couldnโt avoid her forever and neither did she want to. This wasnโt going to be any easy conversation but it was one she felt like they NEEDED to have. Because if they never talked about it and couldnโt get past it, she knew sheโd lose her closest friend and she didnโt want that. She could feel her entire body stiffen when Eve called out her name. Not entirely sure what sheโd say or how sheโd react. Because this was different from any other fight or argument than theyโd had in the past, this was PERSONAL. Something that couldnโt be forgotten and brushed aside so easily. I donโt hate you. She could feel herself sigh inwardly in relief. Even if they couldnโt be friends right away to fix this instantly, just knowing that Eve didnโt hate her was a huge relief. It was a step in the path to recovery for them, and for now, that was enough.
Kate wasnโt entirely sure how this conversation would go, and she could tell it wasnโt something Eve really wanted to go into a lengthy discussion about. It almost felt weird talking about Rex with Eve, because it wasnโt something theyโd ever done, not like this at least. Sure theyโd nag to each other when Rex was being...well Rex. But this was something even beyond what either of them thought he was capable of doing. Even if Eve didnโt blame her for Rex cheating, she was still part of the problem. She had foolishly listened to him and believed him knowing that there was a chance he was lying. But it was an opportunity and a risk she still took regardless, and she might not have as much fault in the matter, she was still to blame in some way. She was the one he cheated with, and the fact that they were so close only made the matter that much worse. She bites back the notion of saying if she could go back and change things she would. She knew thatโd be a LIE, and neither would it change anything that happened or magically fix things between them so she resigned to nodding her head in agreement.ย
โI know, of course, I donโt expect anything right now. I just ---โ Thereโs a pause. I missed you? Was that the right thing to say? Because that was what she felt. She missed her friend, missing having her around and missed how things used to be. Of course she knew things could NEVER go back to what they once were with what happened. Still, she hoped theyโd eventually be able to move forward from this and be friends once more. Sheโs a bit taken aback that Eve wants to know why, why sheโd done it. Sheโd kept whatever feelings she had for Rex all these years buried deep down so neither of them would notice they existed and partially in hopes that if she did so, theyโd just go away eventually and someone would come along and make her FORGET they existed. But the moment she had an opportunity to be with Rex, even if it was no strings attached she got swept up in the moment and let her hormones drive out whatever conscious thoughts she had about how that was the LAST THING she should have done.
She wasnโt sure if she should even admit to Eve about her feelings for Rex, because did it even matter at this point? It wasnโt like her and Rex would get together, itโd just be too messy and she didnโt want that. It already felt like sheโd betrayed Eve by sleeping with him, but dating him too? She wasnโt sure if they could ever be friends if that happened. โI guess I got SWEPT UP in the moment. I WASNโT really thinking, honestly.โ She said with a sigh, dragging a hand through her short hair. It wasnโt a complete lie, but she just didnโt want to confess her feelings to Eve when it finally felt like they were bridging the gap between them. Perhaps down the line when they were closer again she might bring it up, but right now it felt too insensitive to say it. Not to mention she felt uncomfortable bringing up given the circumstances.
