"Meredith?" Jaime called out, entering their apartment and tossing her keys onto the couch, along with her pajamas. "Meredith, we're back." There was no answer; the silence seemed to want to compensate for it, and became very loud and very thick. "Meredith?"

"Let her sleep," Lauren said with a shrug, tossing her own pajamas onto the couch and then falling onto it with a sigh. Jaime shut the door behind her, and looked at Lauren quizzically.

"Since when are you not mad at her?" she asked, sitting down at her friend's feet.

"I'm still mad at her," Lauren said, "But if I want a full-out fight, I'm gonna have to wait until she's completely rested."

"Lauren!" Jaime scolded, and then saw the childish grin on her face. "That's completely immature," she continued anyway, shaking her head. "It is not Meredith's fault, she blames herself already."

"She does, does she?" Lauren asked skeptically, raising her eyebrows. "Then why did she so adamantly say it wasn't her fault?"

"Because you were being accusative, and having one of your best friends yell at you is enough to make anyone defensive," said Jaime seriously.

"It's not my fault!" Lauren exclaimed in defense, sitting upright. "You saw how they were flirting!"

"Yes, I did," Jaime agreed, nodding. "But they weren't doing it on purpose, Brian got us out of the way, and nobody got hurt except his nose, so you bringing it up and making it her - their - fault really didn't help anything."

"Just because they weren't doing it on purpose doesn't mean they weren't doing it," Lauren stated loudly, and fell back, her sigh not echoing. "And I don't really want to fight. I was just angry that their little love-fest nearly got us killed."

"Like I said," Jaime clarified, "Nothing bad happened except fear and a little bruise."

"Should I apologize?"

"Yes." Jaime was certain. "And then she'll apologize and you'll hug and she'll probably admit she has feelings for him to you, like she did to me."

"What?!"

"Shit!" Jaime clapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes going as wide as Lauren's as she realized what she just said.

"When did she admit to having feelings for him?" Lauren demanded, somewhat angrier than before but mostly just curious. "And why did she tell you?"

Jaime shook her head, not removing her hand. She'd said too much.

There were four sharp raps on the door, and Lauren jumped up. "Who's that?" she asked, and then looked at Jaime, who shrugged. "You won't tell me?" she said slowly, and they both jumped when the raps interrupted Jaime shaking her head. "Alright, coming!" Lauren called, and bounded toward the door, yanking it open. "Meredith? Oof!"

Meredith had launched herself at her tiny friend the moment the door had opened. She was still wearing her pajamas, an old shirt and PJ pants, and she hugged Lauren tightly to her, almost panicked. "I'm so sorry," she said, nearly out of breath. "I'm so sorry, you were right, it's my fault, can we not fight anymore?"

"Okay!" Lauren choked out, trying to push the larger woman off of her, being squished against her chest. "You're forgiven, I'm sorry too! Now get off!"

Meredith released her at once, and as Lauren stumbled back, gasping for air, she slammed the door and took a deep breath, leaning against it and closing her eyes, tilting her head back until only her hair was between her and her support.

"What was that about?" Jaime asked, having moved closer to them as they'd embraced. "It was a rather speedy make-up. What brought it on?"

Meredith groaned with a mix of befuddlement and exasperation and regret, and slid down the door, bending her knees with it as her hair was pushed up and her butt down until it reached the floor. "I slept with Brian."

"WHAT?!" screeched Lauren, her eyes turning into saucers with chocolate milk in them, and Jaime put both hands in a temple form over her mouth and nose, going completely still. "WHEN DID YOU - WHY DID YOU - WHAT?! THIS COULD RUIN STARKID!"

"I'm so stupid," Meredith moaned, dropping her head to her knees. "God, I'm so stupid."

"WHAT HAPPENED?!" Lauren screamed furiously, stomping her right foot loudly on the floor.

"Holy shit, Mere," Jaime muttered, dropping her hand to cross over her chest, "I didn't think you'd actually do it."

"But we were drunk!" Meredith retaliated, seemingly to herself.

"Oh, you idiot," Jaime muttered pitifully.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!" Lauren exploded, her face having turned a very angry shade of red and her entire body quivering with her fury; she was livid. "WHAT DO YOU KNOW?" she shouted, her voice nearly hoarse, pointing an accusing finger at Jaime. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!" she said, her voice going up an octave as she swiveled to point at Meredith, who was still a ball on the floor.

"Lauren," Jaime started, her voice gentle, trying to get her to calm down.

"TELL ME!"

"We can't until you're quiet," Jaime tried to explain, but Lauren appeared not to hear her, glaring viciously at Meredith.

"YOU LIED TO ME!" she bellowed at the brunette on the floor, her red face going purple, and it looked like she hadn't breathed since she'd started screaming. "YOU SAID YOU DIDN'T HAVE FEELINGS FOR HIM! YOU LIED!"

"LAUREN!" Jaime yelled as loudly as she could, and the tiny one froze, and then whipped around to face her, her expression one of malicious betrayal.

"I'm sorry," Meredith muttered, mostly to herself.

"Shut up," Jaime advised, and then turned to Lauren. "Do you remember her second month here?"

Lauren did not respond; Jaime took it as a yes - if it had been a no, more yelling would have occurred.

"Well, she got really homesick and scared, and so she called Brian," Jaime explained. "And, because even if he didn't have feelings for her he still cared about her, he hopped on a plane and came out here. Remember?"

Lauren nodded curtly, her eyes flickering from the girl on the floor to the one in front of her.

"Well, he comforted her," Jaime said, and then glanced at Meredith, who was trying desperately not to start crying, "and then he brought up LeakyCon, from 2012."

"Where they kissed?" Lauren clarified, most of her anger having died as she realized she was in for a long story.

"Where they kissed," Jaime confirmed. "And remember how they were dating for, like, a week after that, and then split up because of the fan pressure?"

"Yes." So she was still mad, but not furious. If she had been over it completely, it'd've been 'Yeah'. Jaime knew her friend.

"Well, before they broke up, the fans had been writing all sorts of mean letters saying 'Brian should be with Lauren' or 'Meredith should be with Dylan' or things like that," Jaime said, and watched as Lauren's anger melted into shock. "And they broke up because they started feeling like they really shouldn't be together." She looked down at Meredith, whose shoulders had begun shaking. "Am I telling it right?"

"Y-Yeah." The word was thick and quickly spoken; she didn't dare elaborate. She couldn't break down completely, not here, not now…

"So, when he was comforting her, he brought it up," Jaime said, continuing to soliloquize. "But he said it all wrong. He said something like 'Because I should be with someone the fans like, not you'. And, of course, that hurt her feelings a lot more than necessary." Lauren nodded, signaling she wanted to hear more. "And even though he realized his mistake, every time he tried to apologize, he made it worse, like, 'I mean, because they said I should be with Lauren, and it ruined our relationship, which still wouldn't have lasted' or something along the lines of that."

"Fuck," Lauren whispered, and Jaime gave a half-smile in agreement before continuing.

"But Meredith forgave him. And then they went to a bar to ease the tension, and he ended up sleeping in her bed with some random chick from the bar."

"Fuck," Lauren repeated, and Jaime half-smiled again.

"Literally," she joked gently, and Meredith made an odd sound, somewhat like a cat being strangled. "Sorry. Too soon? Anywho, so, Meredith realized he probably would never have feelings for her, even though she still loved him, and so when he went home, she called me because she knew I liked Joey and I'd understand," Lauren smirked, "and told me everything, including how she wanted to be the one sleeping in her bed, if you catch my drift."

Lauren's mouth fell open into a little o, and she looked to the person in question on the floor. She seemed to take a moment to process it, and Meredith had become very still on the floor, like a statue of one of the weeping angels from Doctor Who. "So - okay, I get it," she said, her voice quiet and ashamed, "And I'm sorry for yelling. But what happened last night? You were supposed to come over for the sleepover."

Meredith raised her head, and Jaime nearly jumped out of her skin at how detached she looked; she really did look like stone, her skin was ashen and her face completely neutral. "We came to get my pajamas, and then his," she said, and her voice was completely emotionless; both of the other girls stared, worried and a bit freaked out by how wooden she'd become. "And then he opened a bottle of wine to celebrate getting on the show, and we… got drunk. And made a bet that involved us… sleeping together… with certain details that decided if I told him what his role is or not."

"Damn, Meredith," Jaime said, "How drunk were you? That's like the worst kind of sex, bet-sex."

Lauren gave Jaime a bemused look and she flushed red, realizing what she'd just said.

"And then I woke up this morning, and he was still asleep next to me on the floor -"

"The floor? Wow," Lauren commented. "Must have been wild."

"Shut up!" Jaime hissed, beckoning Meredith to go on.

"I tried to get into my room through the patio-balcony thing, but the paparazzi were waiting for something to photograph, because they'd followed us from the beach to the apartment, and when they saw me they started taking pictures." Meredith's voice was beginning to shake and her eyes were beginning to grow wet. "So I jumped back inside and closed the door, and that woke him up, and he called out my name and I - I panicked." She bowed her head in shame. "I ran for here and hoped he wouldn't follow me, and then I realized I left my keys here because I thought that surely one of you had taken yours, and since I was going to you guys anyway, and then you opened the door and -"

"We're all caught up, thanks," Lauren stopped her, holding up her palm. "And you didn't keep your end of the deal?"

"What?" Meredith looked at her blankly.

"The sex bet you made. You didn't tell him who he's playing."

"N-No." Meredith's face suddenly swelled with color and her eyes swelled with tears; not only her voice, but her whole body shook. "Because this is going to fuck up everything -"

"You've already done that part," Jaime joked, and Lauren smacked her stomach to get her to shut up.

"- and I j-just… I didn't want to face it right away, s-so… I c-came home." And the tears spilled over. "Telling him only would have m-made it m-more awkward, th-though," she sputtered, and closed her eyes, hoping it would be enough to keep the drops of saltwater at bay; it wasn't, and they still stained her cheeks. Jaime went to comfort her, but Lauren grabbed her elbow and stopped her, her face completely serious.

"Why? Who's he playing?" she asked, her voice a lot softer than her facial expression.

"M-my love interest!"

Nobody stopped Jaime this time from kneeling next to Meredith and putting her arms around her - in fact, Lauren did too. They simply held the trembling, weeping girl, and when each sob tore from her throat a small part of their own self-control tore, too, and they both were blinking back tears as they whispered soft comforts.