"She told him before me." Dex scoffed. "She waited a whole day to tell the rest of us, but he gets to know as soon as she gets the deal. Why is that?"
"Ethan is our best friend." Darcy sighed, uninterested. Dex had met her and Marcus for lunch the day after he and Rachel had a heated argument. She hadn't called him since and he wasn't about to apologize.
"Dude, that guy stuck to her like glue." Marcus spoke up, taking a swig of his drink.
"Which is fine, but she's my girlfriend now, and I feel like I should be the first man in her life. She should have told me first." Dex shook his head and stared at the table.
"You're being so dramatic." Darcy rolled her eyes and put a hand on her pregnant belly. "Look at me. I was her best friend before anyone and do you see me complaining that she didn't tell me something sooner? No. Because I learned a long time ago that there are some things, that no matter what happens, Rachel will always have to go to Ethan for."
"Not something like this." Dex regarded Darcy with a little more respect. She almost sounded…serious.
"Ethan's a cool dude." Marcus added.
"He is." Dex agreed. "But I'm here for Rachel now. Here. In New York. She shouldn't have to go running halfway across the planet to find a guy to be there for her. I already am."
"Dex, you can't take it personally. Rachel and Ethan have been inseparable since the sixth grade. Even if you were Leonardo DiCaprio in all his youthful glory, she would still need Ethan in her life. It's always been the three of us." Darcy shrugged. "The sooner you accept that and stop dicking around, the easier it gets. Take it from the pro." She motioned for the waitress to get her another lemonade, crabby since Marcus had been diligently keeping alcohol away from her.
"Why doesn't she just marry him then, if they're so perfect?" Marcus asked the two, chuckling slightly.
"The same reason I don't marry Ethan," Darcy explained, "ew."
"I didn't even see Ethan as competition. But did I read that all wrong?" Dex suddenly became very troubled.
"He's so in the friend zone." Marcus assured his friend.
"Dex, she likes you." Darcy sat up a little straighter, focusing on the man she once was sure she'd marry. "But you have to face the facts of Rachel's life along with the rest of the relationship you two have. You can't ask her to forget the guy that took her to her first dance. Her first kiss. The first time she got drunk. Ethan was a part of so many of her firsts. Some people just come along with the ones we want. Ethan will be wherever Rachel and I are."
"Wait. Her first kiss? The golf course?" Dex replayed the conversation he remembered having with Rachel about how her first kiss was. But they had never actually discussed who it was with. "That was Ethan?"
00
"Ethan!" Rachel's voice echoed softly across the grass. "Come back here!" Instead of listening, Ethan appeared only to grab her hand and pull her further onto the putting green. "We are going to get in so much trouble!"
"But think of how angry Darcy will be when she can't find us." Ethan was already snickering. Rachel couldn't help but smile. Sleepovers at Darcy's house were a fairly common thing for the three teens to plan, but the late night walk through the woods surrounding Darcy's house, telling ghost stories, had been Darcy's idea. Rachel had clung to Ethan as they stumbled along the paths, hoping her mother would never find out about this. Darcy's parents would almost surely ground her if they woke up and couldn't find the kids.
"She should have found us by now." Rachel looked around the course, scared out of her mind.
"Relax, Rache. She'll show up." Ethan was studying the stars. "Do you think Tiger Woods knew he was good at golf when he was thirteen?"
"Who's Tiger Woods?" Rachel frowned. "Some sports person?"
"Golf." Ethan helped her. He smiled affectionately. "Stupid."
"Ugly." She taunted. He chuckled and then they heard the sound of Darcy's voice.
"Rachel!" she was close. Rachel breathed a sigh of relief and started to walk in the direction of Darcy's voice, but Ethan grabbed her and quickly pressed his lips to hers. She pulled away in shock.
"Just practicing. Darcy's next." He teased and ran off to meet Darcy who had stumbled out of the woods. Rachel stood still, fingers on her lips. He had stolen her first kiss. It was nothing like the movies. And she would never forgive him. But it would make for a good story.
00
"She was thirteen." Darcy waved it off. "But yeah. She was too scared to do anything like that with an actual guy. Ethan was like her first everything. He's the reason she's able to do anything cool whatsoever."
"Everything?" Marcus wiggled his eyebrows teasingly.
"Shut up." Darcy nudged him playfully. Then she noticed Dex's serious face. "I mean…"
"He was her first?" Dex's eyes went wide. "You're not kidding."
"Maybe you should ask her about it." Darcy grimaced. She tried to look anywhere but Dex's face.
"How many times?" he gasped desperately.
"I don't know! Ask her." Darcy held up her hands. "She had to learn on someone."
"Yeah, not with the guy that she's still more involved with than anybody!" Dex slammed the table. "I need to call her."
"You mean she hasn't called you?" Darcy raised her eyebrows.
"No. Should she have? We argued. I figured I'd give her time to cool off."
"Have you texted her?"
"I tried but the messages didn't go through and I didn't care enough to figure it out."
"I think you might want to call her." Darcy was holding back a smirk.
"Why?"
"She should be off the plane by now." Darcy started giggling. Dex jumped out of the booth and dialed Rachel's number as fast as he could. She answered through the third ring.
"Dex?"
"Rachel. Where are you?"
"London."