"You LOVE her?" Alexis's voice goes up an octave.
"I do," Joel says simply. "I love her very much."
Alexis looks at me. "And you?"
"I'm in love with him," I say quietly. "I have been for five years. I know this is weird and uncomfortable."
"Weird?" Alexis stands up abruptly, running her hands through her hair. "Weird doesn't even begin to cover this. You're my best friend. He's myDAD. I—I can't—I need a minute."
She practically runs up the stairs, and seconds later we hear her bedroom door close.
I look at Joel, my heart sinking. "That went—"
"About as well as expected," he finishes. He pulls me into his arms. "Give her time. She just needs to process."
"What if she doesn't come around?" I'm trying not to cry. "What if I just lost my best friend?"
"You won't." He kisses my forehead. "She loves you. She'll come around."
But he doesn't sound entirely convinced.
The next two hours are torture.
Joel and I sit on the couch, not talking much, both of us listening for any sound from upstairs. I keep starting to stand up, wanting to go to her, but Joel gently pulls me back down.
"Give her space," he says. "She needs to process this."
"What if she hates me?" My voice is small. "What if I just destroyed the most important friendship of my life for—"
"Don't." Joel cups my face. "Don't finish that sentence. This isn't a mistake. We're not a mistake."
"I know, but"
"No buts." He kisses me softly.
I nod, but my stomach is in knots. I pull out my phone, staring at it, willing Alexis to text me something—anything—but there's nothing.
Finally, around eight-thirty, we hear Alexis's door open. Footsteps on the stairs. I grab Joel's hand like a lifeline, my heart pounding so hard I can feel it in my throat.
Alexis appears in the doorway to the living room, her eyes red like she's been crying. My chest aches seeing her like this, knowing I put that look on her face.
"Lex—" I start, but she holds up a hand.
"Let me talk first." She comes in and sits in the chair across from us again. "I just spent two hours on the phone with my therapist—yes, I called her on her holiday, yes she charged me double—trying to process this."
Joel and I wait, and I'm pretty sure I've stopped breathing.
"Here's the thing," Alexis continues. "This is weird. Like, really, really weird. My brain doesn't know what to do with the image of my best friend and my dad as a couple. And the age gap, well, I'd be lying if I said it doesn't make me uncomfortable."
My heart sinks. This is it. She's going to ask us to end it.
"But," Alexis says, and it's the most beautiful word I've ever heard. "I also spent two hours thinking about you both. Dad, you've been alone since Mom left. Not dating, not even trying, just... existing. And Nina, you've been settling for guys who don't appreciate you, who don't see how amazing you are."
She looks between us. "And then I thought about how you both looked when I walked in. Scared, yeah. But also... happy.Really happy. I haven't seen either of you look that happy in years."
"Alexis," My voice cracks.
"I'm not saying I'm thrilled about this," Alexis continues. "And I'm definitely going to need more therapy to deal with the mental images. But—" She takes a deep breath. "If you two makeeach other happy, if this is real and not just some weird holiday fling, then I'm not going to stand in your way."
