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“No one hates you.” Danica’s words were automatic. She was still in shock. “I just want to talk about...” She gestured back toward the door. “Why Eddie is here?”

Kiera paused, her face blotchy as she met Danica’s eyes. “Well,youobviously hate me.”

Danica stifled an exasperated sigh. “I don’t, actually. I’m pissed, but I’m trying to understand what you were thinking.”

Kiera stared down into her hands, silent.

The silence was heavy and unsettling, a stark contrast to the turmoil Danica felt inside. In the four years they were roommates, and the fifteen years since, they’d been in dozens of fights. They’d had every kind of argument, from inane disagreements about air diffuser scents to all-out screaming fights. Danica paused, realizing that their worst fights had always been about Pete. Specifically, about how Kiera always claimed Danica was wasting her time with Pete.

Danica internally fumbled for some way to understand Kiera as she watched her friend shuffle through her makeup, the plastic cases clicking together in the quiet room.

“Did you do this to stop whatever is going on between Pete and I?” Danica asked as calmly as she could.

Kiera tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, catching Danica’s eye in the mirror. “You lied to me,” she said, her voice cracking. “You let me think that you were still with Eddie, and I saw you throwing that away for some fling with Pete.”

“But you didn’t stop when you learned Eddie and I were broken up. So, what do you have against Pete?”

“She’s always been your greatest weakness.”

Danica blinked, shocked. “That’s so dramatic and unnecessary.”

“You know I’m right. You see Pete and the entire world fades away, all of reality just ceasing to exist. I could see you do it again, and I thought you were doing it to Eddie, too.” Kiera zipped her makeup bag shut. “Tell me you wouldn’t have talked to Alex if you thought I was cheating on him.”

“Fuck Alex. I don’t care about Alex. I would have talked to you.” Danica asked, her tone defiant.

Kiera pushed past Danica in the doorway to throw her makeup bag and toiletries into her suitcase.

“Is that what this is? Is this about Alex’s affair?” Danica asked, her words coming out crueler than she’d intended.

“You lied to me!” Kiera snapped, her voice getting louder.

“I did,” Danica said, sighing. “I did. And that was fucked up. I’m sorry.” She paused, watching Kiera move two pairs of boots around in her suitcase to try to make them fit. “I wasn’t ready to tell you. I wasn’t ready to tell anyone.”

“Why?” Kiera asked, grimacing.

Danica sat down next to Kiera’s bags and said, “I felt like I failed.”

“So then why don’t you give Eddie another chance?” Kiera honestly looked earnest.

Danica scoffed. “Because I don’t want to, and you need to respect that.”

“Is this another one of your pride things?” Kiera asked, her tone almost smug.

A surge of fury tightened Danica's muscles, her body rigid and tense. “Excuse me?”

“I thought things were good with Eddie. You two seemed happy,” Kiera said. “Why would you throw that away because of Pete?”

“First of all, Eddie broke up withmea month ago. He said something was off, and that we weren’t right together, and you know what? He was right. And second, I’ve been happier this week than I have in… years, and you should be happy for me,” Danica explained, anger giving way to exhaustion.

Kiera rolled her eyes. “Being with Pete is like going to Neverland. No one has any responsibilities and you get to play pretend with her for a while. But she always drops you back into reality and then leaves again. Pete might be fun, but you could actually have a future with Eddie. He exists in the real world, and you’re letting him just slip?—”

“Stop.” Danica held up her hand to keep Kiera from continuing. “Just stop. I don’t want to be with Eddie. I don’t even want to be friends with Eddie. And I’m not some stupid woman who has let herself be whisked off to play pretend with Pete. I’m not dumb. I know that Pete and I don’t have a future.”

Kiera looked at her, her jaw clenched tight. “But you and Eddie could have a future. Alex and I aren’t happy right now, but we’re working through it. Relationships aren’t all sunshine and roses. They’re hard work.”

Danica stiffened, clenching and unclenching her fists. “I don't need a lecture on what relationships are supposed to feel like. You’re just miserable in your marriage and you want me to be miserable, too.”

A beat of silence made Danica instantly regret the cruelty of her sharp words.