IT WAS PRIDE AND A PROMISE that brought her to their 35-year reunion. she had heard from a friend who heard from a friend that there was a lot of gossip going around about val and her career and her marriage. about how they all just knew that it was never going to last ⏤ that she was long overdue for a fall from grace. but she had promised the very few people she kept up with that she would go. not just to show them she was holding her head high, but to just get away and try and forget about how her life kind of was falling apart. maybe she was being a little dramatic but the smiles started to feel more forced every time she had to make the excuse that her husband couldn't get the time away from work to be there, and that's why she was flying solo. after what felt like an endless barrage of people and small talk, she excused herself to go get a drink. stepping up to the bar, she ordered a vodka tonic, leaning against the counter while she waited. she did a double take when someone else stepped up to the bar, a slow smile spreading across her face, "anna told me you weren't coming."

VAL WOULD SAY IT HAD BEEN A LONG WEEK but she didn't know any other kind. midterms, though, were certainly a special kind of hell. at least after finals she wouldn't have to witness the spirals or breakdowns ⏤ but now she had weeks of facing what seemed like an endless stream of pre-law hopefuls swallowing that bitter pill of realization that this might not be the path for them. it was always sad to see. needless to say, her office hours had been fully booked following the exams, teary-eyed students seeking her advice for how to help the material sink in or what they could do to help boost their grade before finals. by the time she left campus it was nearly ten and she was so hopeful that she would actually get a decent amount of sleep because that tired ache in her body was begging for her bed ⏤ but when she finally settled in and did that one last check of her phone she saw the notification from her husband. or, well. soon-to-be-ex-husband. and just like that, val was wide awake. grabbing a bottle of wine and two glasses, she peeked outside before crossing the lawns to the other's front door. val had barely knocked before the door opened. "i should have grabbed another," she said with a tired smile, "it's feeling like a two-bottle kind of night."

TORI: But everything was unrelated and I just wanted to explain myself in case you thought otherwise.