Thief – 9:19A.M.
Just want to check in that one of the rooms you have upstairs that I’ve never been privy to is actually a guest room?
Given the way their last conversation had gone, and how things had been in the week since, Juliet shouldn’t be surprised. Shouldn’t feel upset.
But shedidfeel surprised, and much more than that, she was upset.
She’d given Darcy’s message a thumbs up, and that was all. Because it was all she’d been able to bring herself to do.
Darcy had nevernotslept in her bed. The first night they’d spent together, she’d passed out there. And, fine. If Juliet had really wanted to forcefully wake Darcy up that night, she knew she could have. She’d been surprised by Darcy’s prompt and deep sleep, but… she’d laid next to her and gone to sleep herself.
She was not only accustomed to it, shelikedit.
She’d even liked sleeping in Darcy’s bed in her apartment above the bowling alley. The old mattress and the soft, flannel sheets weren’t what she was used to in the slightest, but she’d slept like a baby next to Darcy.
And now Darcy was going to be here with her for a full week, and this was how it was going to be?!
Darcy, by her own admission, didn’t sleep well without Juliet. Fine, whatever, withoutsex, she supposed. Butwith Julietwas also a part of that comment. How was Darcy sleeping without her? It had now been almost a month since the last time. She both wanted Darcy to be able to have a normal, healthy sleep schedule but also…
But also, she liked that Darcy slept the best with her.
Fuck.
“She asked if I have a guest room,” she muttered, working her jaw tightly back and forth. The stress-clenching she’d been doing was not great for her.
Laura hummed, sounding not surprised at all. “And what did you do?”
Insulted, Juliet reeled back with a frown. “I, obviously, made sure the guest room is ready. I’m not a freak who’s going to mandate she sleeps with me if she sleeps here.”
The only thing that would make her unhappier than Darcy sleeping here in her guest room would be Darcy not staying here at all.
“Juliet.”
“What? What am I supposed todo?” She pressed, exasperation pushing through her, tying together with the frustration that had been simmering for days. Not at Darcy, but at… everything else. Everyoneelse. At Harrison, at her mother, at the label. She stood from the stool, pacing through the small room. “Even if I did tell her what was going on, then what?”
She felt like a caged animal, and turned to storm out of the studio, needing to not be so contained. Not with these far too big, tumultuous emotions taking hold of her, now that she was finally voicing the thought that had quietly existed in the back of her mind for days.
“Darcy and I – we might be in the same situation right now. But I can already see it, even if she doesn’t. I can see that it’s not… that she’s not going to be okay with the way things are. The way things have to be. Shehatespretending.” Desperation clawed through her, and she shoved a rough hand through her hair. “What we’ve been doing works so well for Darcy so far because she hasn’t felt like she’s being fake. But what happens if this gets deeper and she does feel that way? YouknowI can’t come out. Then it’s just… going to end.”
She came to a stop at the railing that overlooked the living room, staring down at her couch. Picturing so clearly in her mind when she’d had sex with Darcy, there. When Juliet had straddled Darcy while they’d been sitting there, kissing her for what felt like hours. The morning they’d sat and drunk their tea there, after they’d performed live together.
Things that had started to feelreal– because they freaking were – but… how long could that last? She’d wanted to exist in the bubble with Darcy for as long as possible, the bubble wherethey didn’t talk about those real things. At the very least, where Juliet didn’t talk aboutherreal issues.
She could hear Laura sigh softly, the sound loaded with understanding. “Isn’t it coming to an end right now? Without you actually trying to talk to her?”
While Juliet knew Laura was right, hearing the truth still felt like a punch right to the stomach.
“In my humble opinion, you don’tknowthat’s what would happen,” Laura pointed out, quietly. “You’re making a lot of assumptions.”
Juliet could feel herself frowning, wanting to refute Laura’s point even though she knew it was the truth. “Well,” she muttered, closing her eyes tightly, before she breathed out, “It’s easier that way.”
What if she did lay everything out for Darcy, and she still decided it was all too much to keep doing this?Thatwould be worse than what was happening now.
“Hey, at least you’re being honest.” Laura’s tone was gentle, laced with a light teasing.
“That’s something, I suppose,” she dryly drawled. She reached up, wiping her hand over her eyes just to make sure no tears had accidentally fallen. “So, how is your brother doing? You know, since you have bigger problems happening.”
Laura was normally back in L.A. by the beginning of January after her three-week holiday break. But right before she’d been planning on coming back, she’d asked Juliet for an extended leave after they’d received a possibly concerning health update on her brother.
