Defeat was the one word that played on Abbey's mind as Tré released her hand. Dena teetered on her 6 inch heels and giggled as she caught herself on the handle of her car door.
"I was in the area and I've had a bit too much to drink," Dena laughed with an accent Abbey couldn't place.
"What do you want me to do about it?" Tré asked with surprising anger in his voice.
Dena stumbled forward and placed her hand on his arm and he quickly stepped back with an agonized look.
Dena rolled her eyes and gestured, "Tré, I thought we were past this."
Abbey only had the vaguest idea of what was going on. She knew that Tré and Dena had been engaged and that only a few short months later, photos had surfaced of Tré with someone else.
"I haven't returned your phone calls in the last year," Tré reminded her, "I don't know why you think I'm past it."
"We just wanted different things," Dena slurred, a bittersweet smile on her feline face. Abbey gasped before quickly slapping her palm over her mouth.
Both Tré and Dena turned to her, then. Tré bit his lip and frowned with chagrin. Dena looked her over as if just remembering what she had interrupted.
"You're Abbey, right?" She asked shoving a manicured hand toward Abbey, which she awkwardly shook.
"Who told you?" Tré asked with an eyebrow raised.
Dena scowled then, "Just a little birdy." Realization hit Abbey, then.
"Ramona!" Abbey exclaimed under her breath. Tré nodded at her morosely before turning back to Dena.
"What do you want, anyway?" He asked cantankerously. Dena smiled smugly.
"I need a place to sleep tonight," She said simply, swaying from side to side precariously.
"No," Tré shouted, shaking his head insistently, "No way!"
"But, what if I crash," Dena whined, with her bottom lip sticking out, "It'll be your fault."
"Shove it up your a-," Tré began agitatedly before Abbey placed a hand on his arm. He looked down at her in confusion. She gave him a pleading glance. She didn't want Dena here even more so than he, but she knew he didn't need her on his conscience. He growled softly.
"You can sleep on the couch but you're out of here in the morning," Tré grumbled and started toward the door.
Dena squealed as if that was the greatest news she'd ever heard, kicked off her heels and threw them in the window of her car. Abbey hurried off after Tré, anxiety leaving her heart pounding. Tré sighed and unlocked the door. He started upstairs wordlessly, leaving Abbey standing awkwardly as Dena plopped down on the couch and began fiddling in her purse. She pulled out a lighter and pack of cigarettes. As she put the smoke between her lips, Abbey's breath caught in her throat. Abbey had been a smoker. Before. She had learned her lesson the hard way. She felt herself trembling as she fled up the stairs. Tré met her in the hallway, glowering with a blanket rolled up in his arms.
"She's… smoking," Abbey told him, her voice quivering. Tré rolled his eyes.
"I don't know how many times I've told her," He began before shouting down the stairs, "Goddamn it, Dena, put out the cigarette."
Dena cackled and continued to smoke as they came back down. Tré tossed the blankets down beside her and plucked the cigarette from her hand and tossed it out of the front door.
"You're no fun," Dena complained as she lie down on the couch, pulling the blankets over her. Abbey gaped at the two of them. She couldn't imagine Tré being the serious one. He shook his head and flipped the light off.
He continued into his room and she hesitated at the door. He turned and beckoned her inside. She reluctantly obliged as he kicked off his red Converses and sat on his bed. He took her into his arms, then.
"I'm sorry," Tré told her, his voice melancholy despite his obvious show of anger, before.
"Don't be," Abbey crooned, stroking his reddish-brown hair.
"I had almost forgotten about her and then she just shows up," He grumbled obstinately against Abbey's shoulder. She placed her slight hand on his routinely bristly cheek.
A provocative growl hummed in his throat and he placed his lips against her neck. Her pulse quickened and her eyelids fluttered closed as his soft, thin lips made their way to her ear. His hot breath left her skin pink in its wake. Her body reciprocated and they were face to face. As Tré's lips touched hers she remembered Dena's catlike face and pulled away.
"Tré," She whispered, "I'm not going to do this while your ex is in the house." He frowned at the reminder of Dena but nodded in ascent. She begrudgingly detached herself from him and sauntered from the room. That night, her sleep was far from placid. She dreamt that over and over, she was forced to witness Dena and Tré in the throes of passion.
She woke slowly the next morning, dreading the day ahead. She instantly noticed the absence of Tré's snoring from down the hall and her chest tightened. Warily, she shoved herself upright. With a shaky sigh, she began downstairs.
Meanwhile in the kitchen, Dena stirred Irish crème into a cup of coffee. Tré grimaced as he noticed her at the island.
"Don't look so happy to see me," Dena remarked sealing the cap on her bottle of alcohol.
"Are you seriously drinking?" Tré asked with incredulity, "It's 10:30."
"Poor Tré," Dena chirped taking a gulp of her doctored coffee.
"What?" He demanded his blue eyes sharp with aggravation.
"Your old age has made you boring," She chuckled vivaciously.
Tré's face flushed with anger.
"Y-yeah, well your old age has made you… a bitch," Tré rebutted badly. Dena stood then, smiling toothily.
"You know, I like it when you talk dirty," She breathed and threw herself at him. At that moment, Abbey walked in. She wasn't angry or jealous, she felt not exactly relieved but the dread she had held on to evaporated. She simply shrugged and turned to leave. Tré shoved Dena off him and started after her.
He touched her shoulder and she shrugged him off.
"Really Tré," Abbey told him blankly, "It's not a big 's… what I expected."
Tré was taken aback.
He shook his head, "I didn't want that. I don't want her."
"Sure," Abbey remarked dubiously and grabbed the phone from its crib before darting up the stairs.
Once inside the spare room, she dialed Autumn's number, her knees pulled tightly to her chest.
"Hey, I'm about to go on," Autumn answered in a rush, "Everything okay?"
"Oh. Well, never mind, then," Abbey began with disappointment.
Autumn picked up on her tone of voice, "I mean I've got a second."
"Well," Abbey explained awkwardly, "Things got pretty intense last night. Between Tré and me, I mean. His ex-fiancé showed up, though and just now I walked in the kitchen and she was kissing him."
Without hesitation Autumn asked, "Did he look like he enjoyed it?"
Abbey thought about it a moment and admitted, "Well, no."
"There you go," Autumn told her hurriedly. The phone beeped to indicate another caller. Abbey told Autumn good-bye and clicked over.
"Hello?" She asked into the receiver.
"Abbey?" Ramona's chiming voice inquired.
"Ramona, I know you told Dena," Abbey sighed, running her fingers through her short hair.
"She showed up there?" Ramona questioned distantly. Abbey was quiet for a moment. From downstairs she heard the muffled shouts from Tré and pealing laughter from Dena.
"Yeah, she kissed your dad, earlier," Abbey revealed expecting satisfaction on Ramona's part. To her surprise, Ramona growled in aggravation.
"I called to GLOAT," Ramona shouted into the phone. Abbey winced and covered her ear as Ramona let loose a string of obscenities into the receiver. Downstairs, the door slammed and Abbey's eyes widened.
"Ramona, I gotta go," Abbey muttered and hit end on the phone. She jumped up from the bed and hastened from the room. She stared at her feet while she ran, willing herself not to trip. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, Tré grabbed her midstep and pulled her against him, roughly. Once she was in his embrace, he pushed the hair back from her face and kissed her fiercely. His anger was emphasized in the force of which he kissed her, his fingers wound tightly in her brown hair. His early morning stubble stung against her sensitive skin, yet she welcomed it as his teeth grazed her bottom lip. They remained entangled in this manner, against the wall, for what felt to Abbey like hours, before Tré pulled back, his light-blue eyes blazing with emotion and his auburn hair mussed from Abbey's fingers.
"I'm going to promise you something," He told her, his thin lips pressed to Abbey's forehead.
"What's that?" She breathed, twining her fingers between his.
"I'll never be who you expect me to be," Tré affirmed, "I don't know if that's a good thing or not but-."
"Tré," Abbey cut him off, "Thank you." She placed her petite hand on his neck, which was warm with color. She looked meaningfully into his eyes and he gazed back down at her endearingly.
There was pounding on the front door, sending Dooder barking, instantaneously. Abbey and Tré both groaned botheration. They trudged to the door where Dena stood with mascara tears on her cheeks.
"My car won't start," She griped, her feline faced pulled back in an unattractive grimace. It turned out that she had left her lights on and had killed her battery. Tré had attempted to jump start the Mercedes, fruitlessly. Abbey sighed as Tré resolved there was no real solution but to drive to an auto parts store so Dena could replace the battery. So, they piled in Gypsy, Abbey begrudgingly taking the passenger seat, wondering why Dena didn't have someone who could do this sort of thing for her, but as Dena found endless things to nag about, the mystery was all but resolved.
Tré practically radiated annoyance as he explained to the salesmen the type of battery Dena's car required, since she, herself had literally no clue. Abbey was beginning to understand the dynamic of their former relationship. Abbey still found it odd that Tré had been the responsible one. Once back a Tré's, Abbey sat tentatively beside Dena on the hood of Gypsy, as Tré installed the battery into Dena's momentarily useless vehicle.
Though the circumstances weren't ideal, Abbey enjoyed watching Tré do things with him hands. She was watching him with admiration when Dena cleared her throat, less than subtly. She turned to look at her, slowly. Dena had calmed down and appeared almost bored.
"So, you know how into you he is, right?" Dena asked her, sharply. Abbey rolled her eyes. She found it funny that everyone kept telling her just how much Tré cared for her besides Tré, himself. 'Hasn't he though?' She asked herself, remembering their passionate moment, that morning. Finally, she nodded and smiled inwardly.
"I won't lie," Dena conceded, "I came here with bad intentions."
Abbey laughed bitterly. This much was obvious to her.
"I would've never guessed," Abbey told her sarcastically.
"I was wrong," Dena continued, she followed Abbey's eyes to Tré, who was nearly finished placing the battery, "When Ramona called me…"
She trailed off for a moment as if in thought, "I don't even want him back." Abbey was beginning to understand that despite all her issues, in the end, it was Dena who had left Tré. She scoffed then.
"You don't know what you had," Abbey told her simply.
Soon after, Tré got Dena's Mercedes running, none too soon for Abbey. Without so much as a real good-bye, Dena was backing down the driveway. By that time, Tré was due to pick up Frankito from Claudia's house. So they once again assembled inside Gypsy, Tré's arm draped over Abbey's shoulders.
Frankito was in a sour mood when he shoved his surfboard in the backseat. As he slammed the Gypsy's door, began on a tirade. It turned out that Claudia had begun seeing someone new and Frankito was not pleased. Abbey chuckled earnestly at Frankito's impression of what he described as a muscle-bound surfer.
"He actually tried to give me pointers on how to cross step!" Frankie exclaimed, his chin on the shoulder of the passenger seat, his lack of seat belt scaring Abbey to death.
Once they returned to Tré's house, Frankito headed straight for the practice room, muttering about a layback. Tré rolled his eyes and smirked as angry sounding chords seeped from upstairs. He sat with a sigh on the plush sofa and laced his fingers behind his neck. Abbey cautiously sat down beside him, pulling her knees to her chest.
"I'm sorry about this whole thing," Tré expressed, pulling her close to him.
"Why did she…," Abbey trailed off. She didn't know exactly where to begin with the multiple questions that plagued her mind.
"I met her a charity thing a few years ago," Tré initiated, staring off in thought.
"It all sort of happened fast. I was pretty hammered at the time. She sat down at the table next to Mike and me and just started talking. Five or six drinks later, she kissed me and before I knew it, we were spending almost every day together."
"She made me feel… young. She didn't really understand me but we had fun together. I mean, she wasn't exactly good for intelligent conversation but she could throw a bitchin' party." Abbey nodded attentively and motioned for him to go on.
"So, when the musical came out, I was high on life. I mean, obviously, the music was a big part but I was in the most serious relationship I'd been in since Claudia. I-I was happy," He faltered here. Abbey laced her fingers through his and squeezed his hand supportively.
"Before last show of the musical's tour, I bought a ring," Tré continued, his eyes closed in an agonized fashion.
"I gave it to her during 'When It's Time' and she said yes," He whispered, now.
"What… happened?" Abbey examined softly.
"I...I don't know," Tré muttered uneasily, "Everything was fine, then one day she just shoved my ring into my hand and told me it was over."
Tears welled in Abbey's eyes.
"You deserve so much better than that," She crooned, burying her face in his chest. He chuckled softly and stroked her hair. She pulled back to look up at him, a tear leaking from her glistening green eyes. Tré quickly swiped it away.
"Don't cry," He urged her, "Things are better, now. I… I've got you."
"You do," Abbey confirmed, smiling tearfully up at him. He smirked and kissed her lightly, that small exchange was enough to take away her breath. When he pulled away, his blue eyes were lustful. Without notice, he was on top of her, his arms on either side of her head, his breath hot on her face.
"Enough about that," Tré breathed fervidly, "Where were we?"