"Hey, guys." Barbra Jean walked in the front door of Reba's house, shocking everyone.
Reba and Brock jumped up from their seats on the couch. "Barbra Jean!" Reba cried.
"What are you doing here?" said Brock. "Shouldn't you be in Arkansas?"
Barbra Jean shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I should be… I just couldn't go and leave you and my best friend behind."
Reba rolled her eyes. "Oh, brother."
Barbra Jean ran to Brock. "Oh, Brock! I'm so sorry for everything that's happened! All that fighting, all those sleepless nights… they weren't worth it. I love you so much, Brock. If I had gone to Arkansas and left things the way they were, I wouldn't ever be able to live with myself. We belong together." She rubbed his chest and wrapped an arm around his neck.
Brock looked at her, then looked at Reba, who just shrugged. Barbra Jean leaned in to kiss him, but he put a finger to her lips. She gave him a confused look. He sighed. "Barbra Jean… that's where you're wrong. No, we don't belong together. At all."
Barbra Jean looked hurt immediately. Her mouth dropped open. "What?"
"Yeah, what?" Reba even looked shocked.
Brock took Barbra Jean's hands off of him. "Look, Barbra Jean, I know this hurts. I do love you, but this isn't how it's supposed to be. We don't have anything in common. We're always barking at each other. I mean, I'm not even happy. Are you?"
Barbra Jean was quiet. She looked down at the floor. "Well… no. No, I'm not. But…"
Brock shrugged. "Then what's the point of being married? Isn't marriage supposed to mean you are in love with and are happy with the other person? When you're married, you aren't supposed to always be fighting like a couple of immature teenagers. You are supposed to have stuff in common so you always have stuff to talk about. Face it, Barbra Jean—the only thing we ever had in common was a love of sex."
"Eww," Cheyenne interjected.
Barbra Jean rolled her eyes at her, then turned her attention back to Brock. "Brock, I love you! I do, and I'm willing to try and work through anything."
"But what if it doesn't work anymore?" asked Brock. "What if… what if I don't…" He looked at Reba, who was watching in pure shock and disbelief. He looked Barbra Jean in the eyes. "What if I don't love you?"
Barbra Jean's eyes filled with tears. "You don't… love me anymore?"
Brock shook his head. "I don't know if I ever did."
Barbra Jean slowly backed away. "When… when did you start feeling this way?"
"It's been awhile," Brock replied. "I just never did anything about it because—"
"Because WHAT Brock?!" Barbra Jean snapped loudly. "You lead me on for HOW LONG?! YEARS?! You lying piece of—"
"Barbra Jean!" Reba yelled.
"—stupid!" Barbra Jean fell down to her knees, unable to even think right now. "You liar! You are a liar!"
"Barbra Jean, don't you think you're overreacting?"
She looked up at him. "Wow, you really don't love me, do you?"
Reba walked over to Van and Cheyenne. She grabbed both of them and took them to the kitchen with her, closing the window once they were in there. Things weren't looking good and it simply wasn't any of their business.
Brock shook his head. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen."
Barbra Jean slowly stood up. "I can't believe this… I was supposed to be happy! We can work through this, Brock! I swear! I'll do anything!" She was on the verge of hysteria.
"What can we do?" Brock was raising his voice now. "Barbra Jean, I think that this marriage is unsaveable! I don't love you! You're not happy!"
"But I can be happy!" Barbra Jean cried. "All we have to do is fix this!"
"And how do you propose we do that?"
"I don't know! Won't you at least try?!"
"I AM TIRED OF TRYING, BARBRA JEAN!" She'd never heard his voice like this before. He sounded upset and angry and annoyed and hurt all at once. Once he saw the look on her face, he tried to calm his temper a bit. "Barbra Jean, I am. I can't try anymore. We both know where this is headed even if we do fix this problem. There's gonna be another one, and then another one, and then another one, and if we don't end this now… are either of us ever going to be happy again? Can you live like this anymore? Honestly… can you?"
Barbra Jean shook her head slowly. "I don't think I can be happy like this anymore, no. I really don't. But I can't imagine myself happy without you either."
Brock hated this. He really didn't want to hurt her because he really did care about her. He was not in love with her, but there was a connection that they'd built over the past six years that made them like best friends. Kind of like the one between him and Reba. That's the reason they were still best friends.
Brock walked toward her. "Barbra Jean… I know it hurts now. It's killing me too. And I don't know how… but I promise you, something good is going to come out of this. Someday, you'll find someone perfect for you with whom you have more in common with than just sex. You two will really be happy. You'll never fight, and you'll be together happily for the rest of your lives."
A tear rolled down Barbra Jean's cheek and she felt like she could vomit. "Can you guarantee that, Brock? How do you know anyone will love me? You can't."
He didn't know what to say now. He didn't know how he was doing this. He didn't know how he could do this, but it had to be done. Sighing, he responded, "No, I can't guarantee you that. But the chances are extremely high, Barbra Jean. You're beautiful. You're funny. You're so sweet and kind and nice and somebody is going to love the crap out of you. Somebody will just fall absolutely head-over-heels in love with you because of who you are. That person is your soulmate. You just haven't met him yet."
Barbra Jean half-smiled and wiped a tear away. "Do you… do you really think so?"
Brock nodded. "I sure do. And I hope we can stay friends. But this just isn't working. Okay?"
Barbra Jean just stared at him for a second. No, she wasn't okay. She didn't know if she'd ever feel okay ever again. But she had to be optimistic about it. She got up every ounce of courage she'd ever had and said, "Okay." She laughed.
Brock smiled and pulled her in for a hug. "Good."
She smiled into his shoulder. Right now, it did seem as though things may just work out somehow. They pulled away and looked into each other's eyes. He smiled at her. "I'm so glad we got this worked out."
She smiled and nodded. "So am I. Things will be so much better now."
"Yes, they will."
Their moment was interrupted by a sniffle from the kitchen and Cheyenne snapping, "Van!"
Brock turned around. "You guys can come back in here now."
Reba and Cheyenne walked in, followed by a very tearful Van. He looked at Brock and Barbra Jean. "You two… but… you two are gonna be happy! Even though it doesn't seem like it CHEYENNE HOLD ME!" He ran over to his wife and cried into her shoulder. She patted his back and shushed him.
Reba looked at the two of them. "So this is really it for you two, huh?"
Brock nodded. "Yep. It's over."
Reba looked down. "Wow. I guess… I guess it's for the best."
Barbra Jean nodded and sniffled. "Yeah, I think it really is." And she wasn't lying now. It all made more sense.
Reba smiled at them. "I'm happy you two got this worked out. Maybe now things will get better for both of you."
"Can you guarantee that, Mrs. H.?" Van tearfully asked, walking toward her. "Can you guarantee it?"
Cheyenne walked over to him. "Honey, you've been watching too many soap operas lately."
The atmosphere thinned a little bit, and in some way, they were all happy. All of them, for the first time in a long time.
OoO
Two weeks later, Brock and Reba had been hanging out a lot. It really seemed as if they were best friends again. Barbra Jean had moved into a house on the other side of town and she and Reba had been hanging out a little bit more. It seemed as though Reba had finally forgiven her for what she'd done. Barbra Jean had also refused to hold a grudge against Brock. They'd talked on the phone every night like two good friends do. Cheyenne had made Van stop watching soap operas. He was addicted to Gossip Girl now. It still made him dramatic, but it was at least a little bit more bearable.
One day, Brock came over to Reba's house. Jake and Kyra were gone. Reba was sitting on the couch reading a book. She looked up at him and smiled. "Hey."
Brock walked in and sat down on the chair next to the couch. "Hey, Reba. Do you mind if I come over for dinner tonight? I didn't sleep much last night and I'm pretty tired."
Reba nodded. "Sure. You're always welcome. What do you suggest we have?"
Brock shrugged. "I don't know. Let's go see what we have."
Reba and Brock walked into the kitchen and over to the food cabinets. He stood behind Reba as she looked through everything. "Well, we have spaghetti sauce, spaghetti noodles, parmesan cheese…" She giggled. "Why not spaghetti?"
Brock laughed. "Sounds great!"
Reba turned around and didn't realize how close he was. They almost crashed into each other. She looked up into his eyes. "Oops. Sorry."
They both laughed. "It's okay," said Brock.
Reba walked over to the coffee maker and poured a cup of coffee. Brock walked with her. Again she turned around and they had another accident, causing Reba to spill hot coffee on Brock's shirt. He yelled in pain. Reba gasped and set her cup down. "Oh, Brock, I'm so sorry!"
Brock held his shirt out from his body. "It's okay, just a little hot!" He looked at her and started laughing, which made her laugh too.
"Well, that's what you get for scaring me!" she said, laughing.
They both calmed down and looked into each other's eyes again. Brock wondered if what was going through his mind was also going through Reba's. Without thinking, he grabbed her and pulled her into a kiss.
She kissed him back for a moment, then pushed him away. "Brock, no, we can't…" Her voice trailed off as she looked into his eyes again. After a moment, she kissed him again. She ran her hands through his hair and he pulled her as close as possible, kissing her deeply. A few minutes later, she pulled away. "Do you wanna… go up to my bedroom?"
Brock looked her in the eyes. "Are you sure?"
Reba nodded. "Absolutely."
They kissed again, then held each other tightly as they walked upstairs. They had been each other's soulmates all along. Brock made a mistake once, and he was never making it again. This was how things were meant to be. And this is the way they would be.
A/N: This was just an idea that came to me. I hadn't written any Reba in awhile, so I thought, hey, why not? It's been floating around in my head for a few days. I hope you guys liked it! Reviews always appreciated! Thanks!