Disclaimer: I do not own Desperate Housewives or any of the characters. I do not own the song I named this fanfiction after either or its lyrics. No copyright infringement is intended.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

The smell of freshly brewed coffee filled the kitchen. Lynette slid one of the mugs to Gabrielle across the table and took the other one to her lips. The latina ran a hand through her dark hair and continued her narration.

"So then, when Carlos arrived, I told him what had happened – and he just didn't seem to give a damn!" she sighed harshly "He's always defending Ana. If she comes back late, it wasn't that late anyway! If she hasn't done her chores, well, it's just one day! Now I understand how you felt whenever Tom defended Porter and Preston"

Unfortunately for her, her friend was not completely listening. Her mind was elsewhere; and more precisely, it was stuck a few hours back. It is true what they say about everything looking different in daylight, and she had just begun to understand that phrase. Unlike the night before, Lynette could not stop thinking about how much of a mistake she had made. And the worst thing was not the mistake itself, but the fact that she had repeated it.

"Lynette?" Gabby nudged her "Bitching is not fun if you're not listening, I might as well talk to the wall then!"

Like a reflex, the blonde turned her head to her friend, not yet completely back in the real world.

"What?" she asked distractedly.

Gabby raised an eyebrow. Lynette was usually a good listener, so there had to be something weird going on.

"Are you alright?"

The mother of four finally snapped back from her musings and nodded her head.

"Yeah, sure. Why shouldn't I?"

"You seem absent" Gabrielle replied "Like there was something bothering you"

"No, I'm perfectly fine" she lied, having one more sip of coffee.

The brunette rolled her eyes and fixed her brown eyes on her friend, studying her face. Not for nothing were they best friends; she could read her like an open book.

"God, it must be something really big!" she exclaimed.

"No, Gabby, seriously. I'm fine" Lynette insisted.

The smaller woman pouted a little and took her friend's hand.

"Come on, Lynette" she said softly "You know you can tell me anything"

"I know. But it's something very silly. It was you who was supposed to let it all out"

"Well, it doesn't help me much if you're not even listening" Gabrielle pointed out in a singing tone.

"Touché"

Gabby put her mug aside and rested her elbow on the table, staring at Lynette. The blonde still had her head in the clouds, so it took her some time to realize that her friend was waiting for an answer.

"What?" she asked.

The latina chuckled.

"Gosh, Lynette! There must be something huge going on in that head of yours. I had never seen you so… miles away"

Lynette rubbed her forehead. She knew there was no use in trying to lie to her friend. If only she knew how to begin.

"Yesterday night, after the poker evening… something happened"

"Something bad?"

"No… well, yes. I… I had sex-"

"Another naughty visit to Tom in the dorm?" Gabrielle giggled.

The other woman shook her head.

"See, that's exactly the problem – it wasn't with Tom"

Surprise was written all over the little latina's face. However, she did not seem shocked or judgmental, but worried.

"Oh. I didn't expect that" she admitted "Who was it, then?"

"I can't tell you"

"I see. Did you guys go out after the game or something?" Gabby wondered.

Lynette stopped to think for a moment. Should she really tell Gabrielle about her little story with Katherine? No, that would not be a good idea. On the other hand, saying that they did not go out would already implied that it had to be with one of the girls… Therefore, she chose the other option.

"Yes" she lied.

"Hmm, I know how you must be feeling. Doing it with some random guy you meet at a disco is never a good idea"

"Well, he wasn't completely that unknown" she let out.

"Oh" Gabrielle did her best to hide her curiosity "And… was it too bad?"

Lynette bit her lip. She knew she would regret it, but that was something she desperately needed to get off her chest.

"Actually, it was the best sex I've ever had in my life"

Her friend almost choked on the coffee she was drinking.

"Really?" she exclaimed.

The blonde nodded, feeling awkward. Once again, she felt a stab of guilt.

"I'm so horrible! I feel like a slut"

"No, sweetie, you're not!" Gabrielle gave Lynette's hand a gentle squeeze "I kind of understand it – Tom is not here, you're feeling lonely… And well, as long as it's just once…"

As soon as she heard that, Lynette felt her cheeks becoming red. She was not that good at lying, let alone to her best friend. Gabby, of course, noticed that immediately and gasped.

"It's been more than once?"

"In fact, this is the second night we've spent together" she did not dare to mention that they actually had had sex four times "But it was only sex"

Right after adding that, she realized that that made everything sound even worse. The mother of four buried her face in her hands, feeling terribly embarrassed. Gabby rubbed her back with her small hand.

"It's ok, Lynette. We all make mistakes some time. And well, if it's only sex, then it's not too bad. Every woman needs to experiment around from time to time. But was it really so much better than with Tom?"

Biting her lip again, the blonde gave a nod. She felt awful, not only for what she had done, but just for saying those things about Tom. No, she definitely could not understand herself. Lynette loved her husband, she always had. They had never had any kind of problems and he had always been a great lover. Therefore, she just could not comprehend what was going on inside her own head.

"Wow!" was all the younger woman could utter "That's quite big for someone who's been married to the same man for sixteen years…"

"I know. I never thought I'd do something like that"

"No-one did" Gabrielle admitted "How did it happen?"

Lynette sighed.

"The first time was when we all went out together weeks ago. We talked for a while and connected pretty well. Then we danced and drank… and we ended up… well" she did not even dare to finish the phrase "And yesterday it was pretty much the same, except for the dancing part"

"Aha, there you have it!" Gabby exclaimed "Both situations have something very important in common – alcohol! I'm sure you wouldn't have done it being completely sober. We all do stupid things when we drink too much"

That gave Lynette a little bit of hope. She had not thought about it; could Gabby be right?

"Yes, that's true" she lit up a little "Why didn't it occur to me?"

"You see?" Gabrielle smiled "I know you very well; you have a lot of self control. You wouldn't do this kind of stuff unless there was something really wrong" she drank the remains of her coffee "And now tell me – who was it?"

"Actually, I'd rather not talk about it"

"It's alright. Whoever it was, I'm sure alcohol was the key. Tom seems to be a really caring guy, and you always say nice things about him. I don't think any other guy can be so much better than him. It's just the excitement of being a bad girl – and you're probably idealizing him because of the alcohol"

Lynette responded with a shaky smile. Any other guy… if she knew! In any case, she was sure that her friend had a point. She was not attracted to women. The two nights she had spent with Katherine were just isolated incidents. Gabrielle's explanation, simple as it was, could not be more right.

"Who knew you were such a great psychologist!" she joked.

Gabby giggled.

"People underestimate me" she grinned.

To be continued…