I Get Off

“Okay, so just run this by me one more time. I feel like I'm missing something.”

Aria rolled her eyes, turning away from the bathroom mirror to face Sonata. Despite Aria insisting that this was a serious situation, Sonata decided that now was the time to paint her nails, and so she was in the bathroom with Aria while her friend got ready for the night. Even still, with Sonata sitting on the toilet tank to let her toenails dry and occasionally heckling her, Aria was focused on the task at hand.

“I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you,” sighed Aria. “Look, it's like this: Adagio is mad at me because I did something dumb, and she thinks I did that dumb thing because I might still have feelings for Sunset.”

“You do,” noted Sonata. Despite the interruption, Aria continued on.

“So to prove to Adagio—and myself—that I don't still have feelings for Sunset, I'm gonna go talk to her. Wallflower is throwing a party, Sunset already posted about being there. All I have to do is go to the party, meet up with Sunset, talk things out, and everything will fix itself. I get over my issues with Sunset, she butts out of my life, and Adagio sees that I'm willing to work to fix our relationship. Win-win-win.”

“So you pissed off your smoking hot girlfriend in an attempt to show off to your toxic ex, and your plan to fix things is to go to a party that you know said ex is going to be at, alone, without your girlfriend, despite proving on multiple occasions that your ex clouds your judgment and forces you to make bad decisions?” asked Sonata. Slowly, almost as if stunned by the extremely accurate breakdown of events, Aria nodded. “Right. And somehow, I'm the dumb one in our relationship.”

“It's a good plan!”

“Ari, beb, it's a terrible plan. It's, like, the worst idea you have ever had.”

“Why? Why is it such a bad idea?” demanded Aria. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn't go to this party.”

“It makes you look desperate. It's going to put you in an emotional spot, and you make bad decisions when you're emotional. It gives Sunset tons of opportunity to take advantage of you, which is basically all she ever does nowadays.” Sonata counted off the many flaws in Aria's “genius” plan, shaking her head in disbelief. “You just had a fight with Ada a week ago, and now you're about to be sneaking out behind her back to go to a party that you know your ex is at. It's a terrible look. You're already on thin ice, and now you're risking what little trust Adagio has in you, all to prove a point that, deep down, you don't even truly believe yourself.”

It went quiet for a bit, and Aria found herself seriously rethinking her life's choices.

“I only asked for one…” murmured Aria.

“Aria, you were given God's gift to lesbians on a silver platter, and I swear if you fumble this bag—for the girl who left you—I will never forgive you.”

“I won't! Besides, you got it all wrong. It's not like I'm not sneaking around behind Adagio’s back or whatever. I want to tell her what I'm up to. It's just, y'know… She doesn't want to talk to me right now…”

“Gee, I wonder why.”

“Look, if you're so concerned about me, you could always come with,” said Aria, with an air of finality in her voice. It was obvious that, no matter what the facts said, Aria was going along with her plan. “You could be my safety rope, pull me out of hot water. Not that I'm gonna get in any hot water, because my plan is good and it's gonna work.”

“Can't. I've got my own plans,” said Sonata. “What, you think I'm doing my toes for fun?”

“I assumed your date had a kink.”

“You should talk. But no, it's not a date. If you must know, it's a dinner party, for work.” Seemingly content with the state of her polish, Sonata jumped up from the toilet and bumped Aria aside with her hip so that she could have a turn at the mirror to style her hair. “One of the companies I promote for invited me, there's gonna be like magazine editors and stuff. Super bougie, but it could be good for my career.”

“Fine. I don't need you anyway, I'll be fine,” lied Aria, so convincingly that she very nearly believed herself. “Good luck with your party thing.”

“Thanks, beb. And, like, you're sure I can't talk you out of this? Maybe we can go outside of her window and hold up a boombox like in those cheesy rom-coms?” suggested Sonata. Firmly, unflinchingly, irritatingly stubbornly, Aria shook her head. “Lord have mercy… Well, if I can't make you see sense, then good luck. Hope you know what you're doing.”

Sonata set off to finish preparing, leaving Aria alone with her thoughts. She wasn't used to Sonata serving as the voice of reason, so she didn't really know how to react when she raised some compelling points. Even still, despite all of Sonata's well-constructed arguments, Aria was determined. She had made this mess for herself, and she was going to clean it up.

“Yeah, yeah,” sighed Aria. “Me too…”

The thumping sound of party music guided Aria's path up the winding staircase, up to the topmost floor of the complex. As she made her way up, it dawned on her that she'd actually been there before. She helped Wallflower move into the place seemingly lifetimes ago. Despite that, she had next to no recollection of seeing the place until she made her way to apartment 546, and felt her hand tapping on the door. A short second later, the door swung open, and the host was there to greet her.

“Hey, Aria, welcome!” Wallflower was always awkward, a bit uncomfortable around others, and never was that trait more obvious than when she was attempting to hide it. Her forced smile was almost painful to look at, but it quickly faded into sheer, unadulterated panic. “Oh no, you came!”

“Uh… nice to see you, too?” Aria cocked a brow but didn't take it to heart. An old friend from high school, it was almost nice to see that Wallflower still had that unfortunate habit of eating her own foot whenever she was nervous. “Don't know if you remember, but you, like, invited me?”

“I know, but I didn't think you'd actually come! You never come to any of these parties! I was just trying to be nice…”

“So… am I uninvited or…?”

“No, it's not like that! It's just…” Wallflower looked left, then right, as if afraid of being caught, and whispered. “She's already here!”

“What, Sunset?” Aria rolled her eyes. “Good, I came here to see her.”

“Oh. You did? Why would you…? Oh. Oh, no. No!” Wallflower was clearly frazzled, but she soon stood up a bit straighter, adopting a confidence as flimsy as it was inauthentic. “Look, I know you used to call me a doormat, and I know we haven't been close like we used to be, but I still consider you my friend, and I would be a very, very bad friend if I let you go in there and try to get back with your ex, so I'm sorry, but I can’t—”

“I'm not trying to get back with her. Jesus, Wally, you're being even more of a spaz than I remember.” Aria stepped forward and essentially elbowed past Wallflower, who meekly stepped out of the way. “Look, I did something bad, and I just wanted to apologize and clear the air, then I'm out of here. I promise, no drama or anything like that at your super cool party.”

“Oh, ok.” Again, Wallflower paused, the gears grinding in her frazzled brain. “W-wait, you think my party is cool?”

Again, Aria rolled her eyes. She didn't have time for this.

“Yeah, sure, why not? Will you tell me where Sunny is now?”

“Hm… last I saw, she was doing shots in the kitchen.”

“Sounds about right,” sighed Aria. She strode down the short hallway, following the sounds of music into the party proper. It wasn't a huge gathering, only twenty or so people dancing and drinking. For Wallflower, though, it might as well be Coachella, and Aria was impressed with her old friend for not having a panic attack. People can grow after all, it appeared. “Alright, thanks for the invite, Wally. Catch you later.”

“Oh, ok, no prob. Have fun, and good luck!” called Wallflower to Aria, as she disappeared into the small swarm of partygoers. “And text me sometime! Don't forget about me!”

“Yeah, yeah, I won't!”

Unfortunately, being a better friend to Wallflower would have to wait a bit longer. For now, Aria was focused on maneuvering through the crowd, in search for the difficult figure from her past. Luckily, by the time she arrived in the kitchen, it had almost entirely emptied out, save for the one person she was looking for. Sunset had her back to her, boosting up to her tiptoes to grab a hidden bottle of tequila from the top of Wallflower’s fridge. When she reached, her crimson tanktop rode up a bit, giving Aria a glimpse of the pink, six-pointed star she had tattooed just above her hip.

“The star’s new, right?” It felt strange, for Aria to get the jump on Sunset for a change, but Sunset held her ground a lot better in these situations; she froze for just a second, before regaining her composure and pouring herself another drink. “It's cute. Ink suits you.”

“Thanks. I've got more, but they're in places I don't think Adagio would want you to see.” There was an all-too-familiar slurring at the end of every word, but it seemed to Aria that Sunset still had most of her faculties about her. Slowly, Sunset turned to face her ex, brow cocked at Aria. “Okay, now there's no convincing me otherwise. You're definitely following me.”

“This time, yeah. I wanted to see you.”

“Come to finish me off? Don't forget, I took judo in high school.”

“I just wanna talk.” Aria waited a beat for Sunset to respond, and when she didn't, struggled to find the words. “And maybe, y'know. Apologize.”

“You could've texted me,” remarked Sunset. “Unless you deleted my number again.”

“I figured a face-to-face situation was the right way to go.” Sunset rolled her eyes at that, and slowly began to walk away with her drink (and the rest of Wallflower’s liquor) in tow. “Come on, man, I'm really trying here. I know things haven't exactly been smooth sailing between us, but don't walk away from me when all I want—”

“Listen, if you want to air all our dirty laundry in the middle of whatsherface’s kitchen, then I'm down too,” said Sunset. “But given our history, I just assumed you'd want some privacy.”

“Oh. What do you have in mind?”

“Follow me.”

Without any further explanation, Sunset led the way through the party, with Aria following closely behind. Sunset, ever-confident in her presence, parted the crowd with each step, all the way to the living room window, outside of which was a sturdy iron fire escape. At Sunset’s behest, the two climbed through the window and onto those metal stairs, and up the last few steps to the roof itself. Contrasting starkly with the party below, this rooftop was deserted, serene, private. The only structures on the roof itself were the building's exhaust system, a power transformer, and a few electrical boxes. Sunset crossed the roof, kicking up gravel as she came to a stop beside the transformer.

“You said you wanted to talk,” said Sunset, leaning against the big metal box. “So go on. Talk.”

“Okay, so, let's just get this out of the way really quickly,” said Aria. “What went down at the club was fucked up. I shouldn't have hit you, no matter how upset I was. There's no excuse for what I did, and I just wanted to say… Sorry.”

“Apology accepted,” said Sunset. Aria's face twisted somewhat, earning a bemused snort from Sunset. “What's with that face?”

“I mean… I was kinda expecting it to be more work than that.”

“I've been hit before, by girls who hit a lot harder than you. That wasn't really what made me mad, anyway.”

“Man, I suck at this…” mumbled Aria. A bit louder, she continued on. “Okay, so it wasn't the slap that set you off. What was it, then?”

“You're joking, right? You show up at a party I'm having fun at just to flex your new hot sl—” Sunset seemed to catch herself before she let the word slip. “Sorry. I really don't mean anything by it when I use that word, but… The point is, you throwing your happiness in my face like that… it hurts.”

“But why? I feel like you made it pretty obvious where we stood,” said Aria. “Besides, you seem like you're doing pretty well for yourself.”

“It's… complicated. You got a light?” Despite having mostly quit smoking, on Adagio’s request, Aria still tended to keep a lighter on hand, and she casually tossed it to Sunset. Her brows went up a bit when, instead of a cigarette, Sunset pulled a joint from her bra and lit up. “Wanna hit?”

“Nah, I think I'm good.”

“What, too goody-goody to partake in The Devil's Lettuce now?” snickered Sunset. She took a pull on her joint, offering it to Aria with a wave and a song. “Drink the wine, my darling, you said.”

“Cute. Fine, whatever.” Of course, Aria recognized the song, and of course, it hit her deep in the heart, in places she'd never been hit before. Even still, she took the joint from Sunset and hit it quickly before passing it back. Sunset grinned before sliding down to the floor, where Aria soon met her. “So… you said it's complicated?”

“Duh. What about an ex is ever simple?” sighed Sunset. “If only it was as easy as us hating each other, then this would've blown over by now.”

“Seemed like you hated me plenty, going by our break-up,” noted Aria. Sunset shrugged, puffing her blunt idly as she collected her thoughts. “I still think about that night. I didn't think I'd ever come back from that.”

“Yeah, me neither.”

“You broke up with me, remember?”

“And what, that means it was easy for me? Breaking up with you was the toughest thing I've ever done in my life, Aria.” Sunset brought her knees up to her chest, her eyes darting away from Aria's as she spoke. Almost as if she couldn't bring herself to look at her. “I still wish we could've done things differently.”

“Wait, what? What do you mean?” Aria's heart skipped a beat, but she tried her best to keep her head on straight. “Do you… regret it?”

“We were both idiots. Just two dumb kids trying to make it through life together. I think us splitting up was the best move for us both, at the end of the day, but still,” sighed Sunset. “You were my best friend for the longest time. And the fact that when we broke up, you didn't once reach out to me… it kinda stung.”

“Well, you did sorta fingerfuck me in front of my parents and completely destroy my self-esteem, so that might've had something to do with it.”

“And there's my point. We both made bad decisions based on what we thought real life was at the time. Do you know why I flipped out on you that night?” It took a second, and a swig of liquor, for Sunset to compose herself, but she kept on going, despite the awkward tension of the moment. “It's because I'm bad at relationships. I always have been. I ran away from home, because I didn't like living with my parents. I poisoned pretty much every friendship I've had, because I just do stuff sometimes. I fucked things up with Twilight, and she left me for it. And I ran from you because, at the time, I thought you were trying to make me into something I wasn't.”

“I wasn't trying to make you anything.” Aria frowned, confused, but didn't address what was bothering her yet. Truth be told, she was very surprised to hear that it was Twilight who had left Sunset, rather the other way around. The idea of anyone dumping someone like Sunset, it just didn't fit into Aria's head, and that wasn't even addressing the idea that she had been trying to change Sunset. “I wasn't trying to ‘fix’ you or anything like that. I just wanted—”

“What you wanted, I wasn't able to give you at the time. And I should've just said that, but I didn't. Instead, I just wanted to hurt you, because I felt like you were hurting me. Once I cooled down, I wanted to reach out to you, maybe at least be friends, but I was too proud and stubborn.” With her joint mostly smoked and her cup empty save for a few chips of ice, Sunset resorted to taking a swig straight from the bottle—Daddy’s Cup, Aria remembered she would call it—to gain the necessary confidence. It made her a bit clumsy and unsteady in her speech, but it knocked the words free when it was clear that all she wanted was to hold onto them. “I wanted… No. I needed you to take the first step, because it'd be easier for me. And when you didn't, I guess I got a little bitter about it. Didn't help when I saw you moved on so easily. When I saw you and Ada in the club, and you basically fucked her in the bathroom just to piss me off… Well, mission accomplished, because it pissed me off.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, Adagio was pissed about it too,” admitted Aria. “So you two have that much in common, you both know I'm a moron.” Sunset chuckled at that, but then let the silence descend onto them. After a moment, Aria took the reins of the conversation once more. “Lemme just ask you this, Sunny. I asked it when we broke up, but, like you said, we were both pretty heated at the time. So lemme ask now… Did you ever cheat on me? Or was I just being paranoid?”

Sunset took in a deep pull from her smoldering joint, flicking the roach aside to let it burn out on the gravel. The seconds ticked on to a minute, and Sunset finally let out her smoke to answer.

“I'd go to Twilight's place whenever we fought, and we got pretty close. Sometimes, I'd smoke a bowl at her place, and you know I get kinda horny when I'm high,” said Sunset. She avoided Aria's gaze, but even from the side Aria could see what appeared to be remorse, shame. Drunken embarrassment ringing her cheeks. “We made out a few times, maybe I touched a boob. But… No. I never fucked her. Even back then, even as mad as I was, I knew I wanted to at least break things off with you first. If anything. You deserved that much at least.” It went quiet again, and Sunset sighed wistfully. “Does that change anything for you?”

“Guess not. Just kinda nice to know definitively, you know?” Aria paused, feeling a strange sense of calm descend into her. This was the Sunset she knew, the girl she loved all those years ago. Strong, bold, unabashedly herself. “And just for the record, I didn't move on easily. It was really hard for me. Matter of fact… some people say I haven't moved on at all.”

“Yeah, well, you made that pretty obvious. No offense, Ari, but you have the worst poker face I've ever seen,” snickered Sunset. After the two shared a laugh, Sunset lowered her head slightly to lean against Aria's shoulder. “That's honestly one of the things I liked most about you. You're so honest. So true to yourself, you can't hide it no matter how hard you try.”

“Do you think… Do you think we could maybe try this again?” asked Aria slowly. Sunset tensed slightly, but didn't respond, so Aria continued. “You said you wanted to at least try to be friends. I'd like that, a lot. I missed you, Sunset.”

“I missed you too. But with you and Adagio…”

“She'll understand. Just let me talk to her, she'll get it.” The tension from Sunset didn't waver, and Aria was beginning to worry she may have made a mistake. She hadn't exactly planned out the conversation, and it would be terribly in character for her to let her emotions steer her off of a cliff. “Are you okay? If I'm going too fast, then maybe not?”

“It's… It's nothing. You're right,” said Sunset after a second of thought. “Being friends, that sounds good. Really good, actually.”

Finally, Sunset smiled, and Aria let out the breath that she'd been holding in. For a moment of serenity, the two just sat there, enjoying the calm and the quiet. No fighting, no messy past, no conflict. Though this wasn't what Aria had intended for the night, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't satisfied with the outcome. The two enjoyed their moment together before a buzz from Sunset’s pocket stole the moment. She checked her phone and groaned, much to Aria's concern.

“You good?” she asked.

“Son of a bitch!” groaned Sunset. “My fucking ride just flaked on me. Getting a cab this late is gonna be so fucking lame…”

“Hey, don't sweat it. I'll ask Wally to borrow her car, I can drop you off.” Aria nudged Sunset up, pulling her from her frustrated little tantrum. “I'd probably want to drop you off anyway, since you've been drinking and all.”

“That's really sweet of you, Aria. Thanks.” On shaky, unsteady legs, Sunset stood up, and very nearly came tumbling down if not for Aria leaping up to catch her and hold her upright. “Shit, maybe that's my cue to bounce. Unless you wanted to hang around a little longer? I don't mind crashing in, like, a closet or something until you're ready.”

“Nah, I got what I came for. Let's split.”

It was a bit perilous, guiding a drunk Sunset safely down the fire escape, but Aria managed to do so with only a few heart-stopping incidents. Luckily, the trip down was a swift one, and Aria got Sunset back into the apartment with relative ease. The booze and weed seemed to be catching up to Sunset, and each step through the living room was more precarious than the last. By the time they made it back to the front door, Sunset was leaning most of her body weight onto Aria, who tried to keep the two on course. Luckily, Wallflower wasn't far from the door, her hands filled with pizza she had just had delivered.

“Yo, Wally, lemme borrow your car,” said Aria, doing her best not to be annoyed by Wallflower’s wide-eyed and aghast expression. “I need to get Sunny home, I'll be right back.”

“Um… You sure that's a good idea?” asked Wallflower. “I could call her a—”

“Relax, it's not what it looks like. I'm just being a good friend. Gimme your keys.”

“Well, if you're sure… Here, my hands are full, they're in my back pocket.”

Aria reached forward and pulled the keys from Wallflower’s pocket, and, with a promise to top off the fuel tank when she was done, made her way to the elevator. A quick trip down, and a few minutes to locate Wallflower’s car, and the two were off. It was a quiet ride, for the most part, and Aria sought to break the tension with some music; After flipping through the stations, she landed on her go-to destination for rock and roll. Almost too good to be true, she flipped to the station just in time to begin Halestorm’s Familiar Taste of Poison.

The two shared a look and rolled their eyes at the ludicrous coincidence, but they let the song play out nevertheless.

“Yeah, it's right here,” mumbled Sunset, pointing at the complex as the two pulled up. “3rd floor, Apartment 32A.”

“Alright, cool. Let's get you home,” said Aria.

Aria had to basically pull Sunset up and out of the car, once again letting the notably taller woman rest most of her weight on her shoulder as she led the way. Each step was tougher than the last, and Aria had to hurry to get Sunset in the elevator before she collapsed on top of her. The ride up was short, and the trek to the apartment, even shorter. Sunset had to fumble in her jeans for keys for a bit (even dropping her phone, which Aria grabbed up and slipped into her own pocket for safekeeping) but she managed to unlock the door nonetheless.

“Yeah, just toss me on the couch I guess,” slurred Sunset, pointing in the vague direction of the couch in the middle of her living room. Aria nodded and carefully maneuvered Sunset around the coffee table and to the sofa, where she gently set her down onto the cushions. “Thanks. You really didn't have to do all this for me…”

“Nah, it was nothing. Just making sure you got home safe,” said Aria. Sunset hummed in agreement as she swung her legs up onto her couch and reclined peacefully. “Well, it's been nice, but I better get Wally her car back. It's been nice, talking things out like that. Do you need anything before I go or…?”

“Just… I feel like I owe you. Not just for tonight, but for everything,” said Sunset. She sat up slightly, smirking at Aria as she did so. The energy in the room changed subtly, just enough to put Aria on edge. “Let me repay you for all the trouble.”

“You don't owe me anything. You don't have to—”

“I could maybe show you those tattoos I was talking about.”

It took a few moments for Aria to truly process what Sunset was getting at, and when she did, she let out a dry, tired little chuckle.

“You mean the ones that Adagio wouldn't want me to see?” asked Aria. Sunset nodded, and Aria just chuckled again. “That would be probably the biggest mistake of my life.”

“We've both made mistakes. What's one more gonna do, huh?” Sunset reached for Aria, who stood right where she was, arms crossed over her chest and brow cocked at the display. “C’mon, just one more time. For old time's sake.”

“You’re drunk,” noted Aria.

“Sure. And don’t forget, you smoked my weed. Maybe that's our excuse. Just one night, we're not in our right minds.” Sunset's voice was low and heavy, ladened with desire, almost desperation. Not at all what Aria had come to expect from her. “Come on, just once. I've been so lonely since Twi left me, and now you're back in my life…What Ada doesn't know won't hurt her.”

“Goodnight, Sunny. Just text me in the morning, okay?”

Aria made a few steps to the door, pausing when she felt a buzz in her pocket. A text, probably Wallflower panicking about the car, or maybe Sonata butting in to make sure Aria wasn't making any poor decisions. Ordinarily, she'd leave it be, but considering the situation, Aria thought it prudent to respond. She grabbed the phone from her pocket, perplexed by the unfamiliar device she held. In the commotion, she had forgotten that she had picked up Sunset's phone. She went to set it down, when her eye caught the name on the text. Aria didn't like to intrude, but the name was impossible to ignore.

Twi <3

Unable to contain herself, Aria powered on Sunset's phone and tried her old password; Unsurprisingly, it worked, and allowed Aria in to read the message. She looked it over once, twice, three times, feeling a mess of emotions wash over her. She was confused, she was betrayed, she was pissed off. And, when it was all said and done, Aria felt something new. An overwhelming sense of clarity.

It was complicated, she said before. Now, not so much.

“Sunset, I—” Aria turned, looking to Sunset for answers, and was met only with snores. Sunset had fallen asleep at some point, which suited Aria just fine. She set Sunset's phone down on the coffee table, shaking her head as she made her way out. “Later, I guess.”

As she left, Aria grabbed her phone, actually her phone this time, and quickly dialed Wallflower’s number. She originally had every intention of returning the car straight away but, given how she felt now, she had one more stop that she wanted to make.

Adagio twirled slowly, gracefully around her pole, the pop-rock sounds of Lissie’s Shameless floating through her apartment as she rehearsed her next set, dressed comfily in her pajamas. She knew the song well, knew every step and bounce and spin like the back of her hand. It wasn't so much a need for practice that motivated this, more so the desire for inner peace, stillness of heart, and most importantly, clarity. She phoned in for a replacement dancer for the night's marquee, she had canceled her plans for tomorrow, and now all she wanted to do was relax, and to feel herself in the only way she knew how.

There was a knock at the door, and Adagio decided she'd ignore it. She didn't give much thought as to who would be there at this hour, though as the knocking continued, an idea began to gnaw in the back of her mind. Finally, as the song petered out into silence, Adagio descended from her stage and slowly strolled to the door. She paused, hand on the doorknob, and took in a deep breath before pulling it open.

“Hey.” Adagio knew that it was likely Aria standing on the other side of her door, and yet she was still somewhat surprised to see her standing there. It was awkward, at least at first, but Adagio noticed that something was different about Aria, though she couldn't quite put her finger on it. “Can we talk now?”

“You can talk, if you like,” said Adagio. “I think I'll just listen for now.”

“Okay, fair. Well, let me just start out by saying that I'm sorry for what I did last week, at the club. It was stupid of me, it was unfair to put you in that position, and I'm so sorry I made you feel like I was using you.” Aria spoke with a steady assuredness in her voice that she didn't typically possess, and it deeply intrigued a somewhat skeptical Adagio. “I betrayed your trust and your love, just to prove a bogus point. You deserve better than that.”

“You're right,” said Adagio slowly. “I do. But we established that the last time we spoke. What changed since then?”

“I grew a pair and I went to talk to Sunset. Clear the air, settle some differences, and maybe work out the mess between us.”

“And?”

“We talked. We got to the root of our break-up, figured out what went wrong. We apologized to each other, kinda,” explained Aria. “We decided we'd try being friends. She had a lot to drink, so I took her home. Just to make sure she got there safely. And… She came onto me. She said what you didn't know wouldn't hurt you.” Adagio snorted at that.

“Right. Friends,” said Adagio, with a roll of the eyes. “And I assume if you're telling me about it, it's because you told her no.”

“Listen, I might be dumb, but I'm not fucking stupid.” Aria brightened a bit at the way Adagio snickered. “Point is, when I was leaving, I saw a text on Sunset's phone. A text from Twilight.”

“Her ex?”

“See, that's the thing. Sunset told me tonight that Twilight left her, but the text? If Twilight dumped Sunset, then somebody better tell Twilight that, because she doesn't seem to know. Their conversation, it was the usual check-in stuff. Kissy faces and everything. How much Twi misses her, and can't wait for her to get back.”

“So Sunset was lying.”

“Yeah, sounds like I wasn't the last girl she played. And that's when it hit me. It hit me that if she lied about that, then who's to say what else she lied about? Was she lying about being sorry? About wanting to be friends? And if she is, then why would she do that?” said Aria. “I realized that she doesn't want me back. She just doesn't want anyone else to have me, and she doesn't want me to have anyone else. So I decided that, if that's the type of person she is, then I don't give a shit what she thinks anymore. I miss what we had, and how she made me feel, but that person isn't who she is anymore. If she ever was.”

“I see. Sounds like it was quite an enlightening conversation you had.” Adagio crossed her arms over her ample chest, arching her brow at the transformed woman before her. “And what? You think just because you hashed things out with her that this makes up for that stunt you pulled?”

“No. No, of course not. But Sunset has been this… thing, standing over me. Poisoning me. Poisoning us. Now? Now, I say in no uncertain terms, fuck her. Talking to Sunset, and getting her claws out of me, it's the hardest thing I've ever done, and I'm doing it to be the best me I can be, for you. I love you, Ada. I'm not letting this messy bitch fuck this up for me.”

Adagio didn't speak for a while, keeping her thoughts to herself for the time being. She looked Aria up one way and down the other, appraising her with just her gaze. She kept her thoughts to herself as she watched Aria's unwavering expression. Never one to give too much away for free, it was quiet for nearly a full minute before she spoke.

“What you did at the club,” said Adagio carefully. “That really hurt my feelings. Not an easy thing to do.”

“I know, and I'm sorry. I'd never do anything to intentionally hurt you.”

“I know, sugar. Truth be told, I didn't exactly enjoy this time apart. I don't like being upset with you. But… I'm proud of you for facing your demons and putting them to rest.” Just when Aria began to smile, Adagio narrowed her gaze. “But if you think that's enough to get you out of the doghouse, you've got another thing coming.”

“Whatever I have to do to make things right, I'll do it.”

“Good. Because if you want to fix things between us, then you're going to have to do more than apologize. You're going to have to cook me dinner, too.” Despite herself, a grin broke out on Adagio’s face, that grin growing as Aria nodded eagerly. “Hm… I think I have a craving for tacos. With that delicious salsa you make.”

Aria blinked, tilting her head at Adagio. A few beats passed and, with a slowly growing realization, Aria found herself smiling, perhaps a bit nervously. She wasn’t sure exactly what she was expecting from Adagio. More shouts? The cold shoulder? A break-up speech? All felt like very real possibilities, but that’s not what she received at all. Quite the contrary, it was understanding. Patience. Humor. Love.

“I… That salsa, I told you.” Aria scratched her neck sheepishly. “It's, uh, store-bought.”

“Then I suggest you take your cute little ass to the store and buy some.” Finally, Adagio offered her arm and, like a starving man lunging for food, Aria took it in her own. “Come on, sugar, let's go shopping. And maybe then you can explain to me why you smell like pot.”

“Oh, that… Sunset—”

“You know what, put a pin in that, something just dawned on me. That Twilight girl, you wouldn't happen to know her number, would you?”

“Uh… No, but I think I can find her on Facebook,” said Aria nervously. “Why?”

“Hm. Just a bit unfortunate, you know? She’s innocent here,” said Adagio, baring her fangs and flashing a devilish grin. “I just think she deserves to know just what her girlfriend has been up to, don’t you think?”

“Just for clarity, sugar, Sonata was absolutely correct.”

Aria rolled her eyes, but didn't argue as she approached the couch. Hands full with hot chocolate, she needed a bit of assistance from Adagio, who grabbed one mug and guided Aria to a seated position without spilling any. Across from the couch was Sonata, chuckling at the pair from her loveseat. Though she admitted she may have been a little hard on Aria regarding her argument with Adagio, it came from a loving place. And now, with tensions tempered and the lovely couple having mended fences, things were back to normal. That meant she could get away with teasing Aria a bit about the whole ordeal.

“See?! I told you!” said Sonata. “I told you the party was a bad idea!”

“Hey, it worked out, didn't it?” said Aria. Adagio hummed, sipping her drink beside her girlfriend.

“Hm… Yes, I suppose it did work,” agreed Adagio. Aria perked up a bit, just for Adagio to send her tumbling with a little smirk. “It was still incredibly stupid to chase down your ex at a party while you're arguing with your girlfriend. That could have blown up in your face.”

“But it didn't.” Aria felt compelled to remind the court of this fact, despite her agreement with the assertion that the plan was flawed. She was just lacking alternatives at that point in time. “I took a risk, but I, like, grew and stuff. That's what matters.”

“Hm… Well, all's well that ends well, right?” said Sonata. “I'm glad to see you two back together. I missed you over here, Ada. This place has felt so empty without you.”

“We were only fighting for, like, a week…”

“I missed you too, Sonata. Thanks for trying to keep Aria in trouble, even if she's too stubborn to listen,” said Adagio. She and Sonata shared a snicker at Aria's expense, though the dancer did quickly amend herself. “I'm only teasing, sugar. I swear, I've nearly got it out of my system.”

“Well, can't say I don't deserve a little teasing,” admitted Aria. “You know what just kinda hit me? Twilight, she didn’t really deserve any of this. Feel bad for her.”

“I spoke to her after you tracked her down.” Adagio nodded her agreement. “She seems like a sweetheart. I gave her my number, and I’ll be putting together a little gift basket for her this weekend, if you’d like to help.”

“Sounds good. Well, look at that. Maybe we’ll end up with a friend at the end of this whole thing, after all.” Aria smiled, and cuddled a little closer to Adagio. Despite what she said to Sonata, she certainly agreed with her assessment; It was very nice to have the whole gang together again, even after a relatively brief hiatus. “Man, I’m getting kinda hungry. You guys down for some takeout? I’ve been craving Thai, and there’s a good spot just up the—”

Aria stopped, the ringing of her phone distracting her from the point she was trying to make. She had a sneaking suspicion she knew who was calling her, and a quick glance confirmed her fears. Sunny <3. It was inevitable, and yet, now that the moment was here, Aria wasn’t sure what to make of it. The call was sure to be intense, a very angry Sunset coming for blood. Maybe, if she endured enough shouting and abuse, she could calm the situation, and the two could someday be friends, after all.

“You need to take that?” asked Adagio. Aria smirked, swiping down on her phone’s screen. She shuffled over to her contacts, down the list, and to that name. Sunny <3.

Delete Contact.

“Nah. It was nobody.”