Monique wasn't sure what to expect when she arrived at the address Barry had given her. It wasn't like she was expecting anythign crazy but an apartment just seemed so mundane. She ascended the staircase and paused at the door, clutching her purse strap as she lifted her fist to knock on the door just as it flew open and she was snatched inside before she had any clue what was going on. It looked like Barry because she had seen him in a hoodie before but she had never seen him wearing a pink one before.

He- she?- locked the door. His- her?- shoulders relaxed as they released the door knob. She, as Monique just went with what he, er, she was wearing, slowly turned back to her. "I know this must be super weird for you, but Barry told us you would be coming and I just couldn't wait to meet you!" Her eyes were shining. "Barry told us so much about you! I'm Jade, by the way."

Monique hesitantly shook her hand. "I-I'm Monique. He hasn't told me much about you yet, I'm afraid."

She rolled her eyes. "Of course not. Come on, sit down, I'm being so rude. Do you want anything from the kitchen?"

"No thank you," Monique said as she followed her into the living room. It was neat, not a total mess. There were weights in a corner and books on the coffee table among a few magazines. She turned to look at the paintings on the wall. Did an alter make these too? They're beautiful. She hurried to the sofa and sat down. The sight of a needle and small bottle of clear liquid on the coffee table gave her pause. She leaned forward a little to read the label. It was insulin.

When Jade returned to the living room she groaned, grabbed the needle and bottle then went to the back room. Monique crossed her legs and hugged herself. Just because she understood did not mean that what just happened was okay. She did want to meet the other alters but that was just too unexpected. She was not prepared to see a grown man wearing a pink hoodie, speaking and acting like a teenage girl. There had to be procedure- she had to have forewarning before something like that went down.

To her relief it was Barry who came back to the living room. He looked so worried when he saw her sitting there hugging herself: completely defensive body language. "I am so sorry about that," he said as he sat on the sofa next to her. "That wasn't supposed to happen. I gave her the light so she could take her insulin shot but you got here before she finished so, yeah. Are you okay?"

Monique just stared at him for a minute then shook her head. "I just wasn't expecting that at all. It was...um, shocking." She giggled nervously as she put a hand to her forehead. "Did you say she has to do insulin shots? Isn't that for diabetes?" This was just getting more and more confusing.

Barry nodded slowly. "Yeah, she has diabetes."

"Does that mean..."

"No, I don't have diabetes. She's the only one who has it that's why she has to take shots."

Monique just shook her head. "This is just so much confusion."

Barry moved closer to her. "I know and I'm so sorry. Meeting Jade that way probably didn't make it any better. Are you sure you're okay, Mo'?"

She nodded. "I'm okay, just feeling a little dizzy."

"I'll get you some water. Just relax." Barry gently squeezed her shoulder before going to the kitchen. He returned and offered her a glass of water.

After a drink she was feeling better so Barry showed her around. There was really only the living room, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. The dining room was more a space than an actual room. It was also a rather busy recreational space. There was a book shelf filled with books on various topics, a canvas she was pretty sure was where the lovely paintings at the front of the house were concieved and a mannequine which she assumed to be his. There were other things mingling together as well, but Monique got a headache trying to register everything she saw.

They returned to the living room where Barry proceeded to tell her a little more about their situation over a plate of fruit and sandwhiches, which Monique helped put together to calm her nerves. "So, I have the power to give the light to whoever I want to have it for however long. I'm the leader so I have to keep everyone happy, you know? After what happened someone had to take charge and make sure we could still function."

Monique nodded as she bit into an apple slice. "So you're kind of like the protector, huh? You make sure they don't get into trouble or get hurt or anything?"

"Yeah, that's it." He smiled at her as he adjusted his position on the sofa. "Can I ask you a question, Mo'?" She nodded quickly. "Why are you here? No offense, but you didn't seem like the type of person to just go along with something like this and it must be a lot for you to handle with your...handicap, I guess. Why did you decide to trust me?"

Monique looked at her hands then back to him. "It doesn't mean anything to other people when they bump into a stranger or hold the door for someone. When you helped me, that was the longest time I had spoken to anyone other than Terrence in a long time. I was going to let it end there, no contact, go on about my life like everyone else. If I hadn't seen you at the zoo that night I might have forgotten about you." She couldn't keep looking at him so she averted her gaze to her hands.

"I'm weak, I know that, that's why Terrence is so protective of me. Just speaking to someone like I'm doing right now, I get short of breath and my head hurts and all these things start happening to me...but when I saw you that night suffering by yourself while I had Terrence to protect me I knew I wanted to help you too. At that time I wouldn't have guessed what was wrong but I thought that if I was just there for you to have someone to talk to sometimes then I would be helpful."

Barry looked a little uncomfortable but he understood what was being said. She was a weak person trying to be strong for someone else because she couldn't be that for herself. "I appreciate that, really," he said. "Thank you for telling me that Mo'. You're a sweet heart. I can see why Terrence would want to keep you to himself."

At the mention of his name she visibly deflated. Barry didn't miss the change. "What happened?"

"He was waiting at my house when I went home to change my clothes. He asked me where I was going and I couldn't tell him I was coming to see you."

"Why not?"

"Because, Barry, he's convinced you're running a game on me. You missed the dinner and then the entire week you didn't call or anything. I told him you apologized about the dinner thing but after what you told me, I couldn't risk him asking about coming with me so I told him I was going to get groceries."

Barry rolled his eyes. "You're terrible," he said as he picked up a sandwich. "This is gonna be bad if you don't-"

Her phone rang. They looked at each other. Monique slowly fished her phone out of her bag. Why did she have to make things so much worse than they really had to be? Why not just tell him, have that fight and move on? But she was sneaking around behind his back now- it was beyond just a lie. She wanted to let it ring but that would surely just make it worse.

"Hey, Mo'." She had pressed the answer icon while debating the action in her mind. "How was your shopping trip?"

She switched the output to speaker. "I haven't gone yet," she said with forced calm. "I'm taking some time to myself for a while after that talk...you know."

"You're not still upset about that, are you? I told you I'd support whatever you decided to do."

"I-I know, but it just gave me a lot to think about. Can I call you back later?"

"Yeah, of course. I'll be here if you want to talk."

"Thanks, baby. I'll call you later." The call ended and she put the phone back in her bag. "This is probably the worse thing I've ever done but I just have this really bad feeling that if he met you now it might not end so well."

Barry narrowed his eyes at her as he bit into his sandwich then sighed. "Mo', if you're afraid of him meeting us then why even try? You can't keep lying to your boyfriend."

Monique shook her head. "I don't want to keep lying to him but I don't want the conflict either. It's just..." Her hands shook as she stood from the couch. "I should go."

"Mo'..."

"No, I...I should go. It's getting late. I'll call you tomorrow." As she turned and walked briskly to the door Barry followed. "I can't do this right now."

He grabbed her wrist and turned her back to face him. "Call him." She shook her head and tried to pull away but he wouldn't let go. "You can't keep lying to your boyfriend and if you're serious about this then you need to be honest with him."

Monique's chest rose and fell with each increasingly heavy breath she took. "No, Barry, I-"

"If you're lying to him then you're lying to me," he said. "Call him right now and invite him over. We're going to get through this together. I don't like to see you so upset about this."

She nodded as she covered her face with her free hand. Both of them were off, there was no excuse this time. She couldn't get out of it. Barry released her hand to go grab his coat and shoes. Monique focused on steadying her breathing until he returned to walk her out.


A/N: I appreciate all the comments, follows and favorites on this story! I'm glad so many of you are enjoying this story and I just love the feedback. I also like that some of you find Monique to be sweet or adorable. I wasn't sure how her character would be received but I'm glad that it was as such. Also, I was starting to think that Terrence was a jerk too but I thought it was just me. Thank you all so much for reading! :)