3:22 AM. Who in their right mind rings a doorbell at 3:22 AM? The doorbell to a children's museum, at that? Marten had a few choice words for the scoundrel who woke him up. Eyes narrowing, muscles tensing, he flung open the door and opened his mouth to lash out at the perpetrator. But as soon as he looked, his expression softened. "J-Julia?" he stared at the redhead in wonder. What was she doing here? Why didn't she tell them she was visiting? He soon realized it didn't matter. "Come in, of course!" he cried, moving out of the door frame to allow her in.
"Thanks, Marten." She smiled softly as she rolled her suitcase in behind her, already moving to sit on the familiar couch.
The brunette stirred from his slumber. "Marten…" he groaned groggily "Can ya keep it down? I'm tryin' ta…" his eyes fell on the all too familiar woman sitting on the couch "Jules?"
Eyes fluttering upwards, she gave him a nod of acknowledgement. "Cuke."
Marten had quickly returned with a cup of tea. Julia always liked having tea after travelling. And her visits were so common that at this point she didn't have to ask. However, there was one question that did require asking "So, what brings you to Moose Lake?" Marten asked, now sitting on the chair next to her, as Minnesota had already claimed the spot next to her on the couch (not that anyone was surprised).
She took a sip of her tea, and kept her eyes on the cup as she admitted "Well…I'm, uh, not exactly engaged, anymore…"
There were two voices crying "WHAT?!" at the same time. Marten's was of shock. Just three months ago Julia had dropped that bomb on them. And now…now the wedding was off. And she was in Moose Lake. Minnesota, on the other hand, was a bit ashamed that he sounded so happy about it. He tried, oh how he tried to pretend that this news wasn't causing him to feel elated. He was just happy Marten's voice overlapped his own.
"I was faced with an ultimatum." She continued, eyes still on the tea cup, her hands fidgeting. "He didn't like the idea of our adventures. Didn't want me getting hurt. Didn't…didn't want you two at the wedding…"
"Julia," Marten told her, his voice serious as he put a hand on her shoulder hoping it would comfort her "We knew that you getting married was going to change some things. You shouldn't give up your whole new life because he didn't want us there."
"That wasn't the choice he gave me." Marten wasn't even sure he heard her at first, the whisper was so low. Minnesota was still trying to register everything as she meekly glanced up towards the adventurer. "He wanted me to cut you out completely. It was you or him."
Suddenly, the pieces fell into place for Marten. He couldn't say Julia's choice surprised him. Assuming Cuke had also understood the surprising but admittedly not unforeseen confession, he knew he should leave the two alone, so he glanced at Julia as he announced "I'm going to head back to sleep before we open tomorrow. Try to get some rest, Julia." He gave her shoulder an affectionate squeeze, and then he was off.
As the door to Marten's room shut, Minnesota still hadn't pieced it all together. "I'm so sorry, Jules." He muttered.
"Don't be." She muttered quietly. So he didn't understand. She was kind of expecting it, if she was being entirely honest with herself. And she had given up what was sure to be a blissful (if not a bit boring) marriage for him. Sometimes she wondered if she had any decision making skills at all. "Any life where I don't get to see you is a life I don't want to live." She chuckled lightly, before sighing sadly and adding "I was so close to having what I always wanted."
With one sentence, she managed to break his heart. "J-Jules…" he tried.
"All I want…all I ever wanted…get married and start a family without giving up what I love. I really thought I had the chance…"
As the tears trickled down her freckled cheeks, Minnesota instinctively wrapped his arm around her, rubbing her forearm gently "Shhh…" he tried, despite the fact that simply seeing her cry broke his heart "It's gonna be okay. I promise. Let's get some sleep." She nodded, leaving the embrace to start making her place on the couch. Sighing, Minnesota knew he was too tired to argue with her. Instead, he simply picked her up bridal style and explained "I'm not making you sleep on the couch after what you just went through. You're sharing the bed and that's final."
She didn't try to argue. Cuke dropped her onto the bed and she climbed under the covers, not even bothering to wait long enough and pretend she was sleeping; she immediately wrapped her arms around him and used his chest as a pillow.
Cuke instinctively brought both of his arms around her, breathing in the sweet smell of her hair. It was his body's natural reaction at this point. This scenario was terribly reoccurring.
He moved one of his arms to start gently stroking one of her arms. He hated himself. He felt so guilty. He loved her. He loved every inch of her. She deserved the best of everything. And he was keeping her from having it. This was the problem. This…whatever it was they had. If he had any self control he'd stop it. He'd let her go. But every ounce of self control when it came to Julia was always used to remain friends.
And yet, despite all of the truths his brain was pointing out, he found himself repositioning his head to plant a kiss on her forehead. Which he immediately recognized as a mistake. Especially since those enchanting emerald green eyes fluttered back up at him.
And then, her lips were on his. And they were sitting, her legs wrapped around his waist. It had been so long, he forgot how absolutely intoxicating she was. He did, eventually, pull away. "Julia," he stared at her, "We can't do this. You were engaged 24 hours ago."
"And I picked you." She murmured, going in for another smooch.
He held her at arm's length. "Julia, I'm being serious."
"So am I." she replied, her tone evident of her argument. "Cuke, what do you think I meant when I said he made me choose between you two?" she asked, cocking her head to the side. "That wasn't 'pick love or adventure', Min. He knew. He knew I was settling."
"Settling?" Minnesota repeated, confused by the implication.
Julia shook her head, laughing humorlessly "You know, it's really obvious to everyone but you, isn't it?" she mused.
"What? What's obvious?"
Julia sighed, running a hand through her already messy tresses. "He knew I was in love with you, Cuke. He knew me marrying him meant I was settling for him. He didn't want you at the wedding because he was scared I'd run off with you. And that was a huge fight. He pointed out that you and I could never have what I had with him. And that was another huge fight. He told me if I wanted to be with him, that meant no more time with you. I couldn't do it, Cuke. I left. I picked you. I'd rather have…whatever this is with you then be married to any other guy."
"Julia," he repeated "We can't do this. I can't do this to you. You deserve a whirlwind romance, to be taken care of, not stolen kisses and cuddles and wondering if I'm alive or not."
Shaking her head, she moved to plant a small trail of kisses down his rugged jawline. "Min, choosing you meant I signed up for this. This is what I want."
He looked at her, guilt taken over all his features. Here he was, dragging this absolutely flawless human being down with him. He felt like he was going to be sick to his stomach. How could he do this to her?
"Minnesota." She spoke evenly, now moving to look him directly in the eyes. "This is what I want. No one but me made this decision. If I regret the decision, it's my fault. Okay?"
She always had a way with reading his expressions. Sighing, he agreed "Okay."