A/N: Remember when I said this was the last chapter? Yeah... not so much. Trust me, I'm as surprised as you are. But it's still almost done. I think this only adds one or two more chapters. Even if my brain is gonna scream that we get to thirty now...

Sophie watches as Karma slips through the door, disappearing into the house and she waits, just a beat, one look out the door at Amy who's just… standing there.

No, she's not surprised by that, not even a little. It is - mostly - what she'd expect. Amy rooted in her spot, like both her feet have gone right ahead and sprouted concrete toes and those toes have gone and gotten themselves a death grip on the sidewalk and yes, Sophie's so very aware that this whole toe metaphor is a bit weird (OK, more than a bit) but it is the perfect metaphor for the absolute fear (fucking terror) she's quite sure is rippling right on through every bit of Amy.

And no, she's not thinking of anything else rippling anywhere, especially not through or in or on or around Amy. Seeing her and Karma and Karma's hands and lips and thighs and, well, all of that has sort of (kind of) gone and killed any and all of those thruple thoughts Sophie had been having of late.

Mostly.

And yes, it is just mostly cause, well, she's only human. Human and frustrated (cause so close with Reagan but so fucking far and not, you know, actually fucking.) Plus, it is still Amy and she hasn't seen her in like a week and, apparently, it isn't just the heart that absence makes grow a bit fonder.

Not that she's thinking about that.

Much.

It does help - a bit - that it was Amy and Karma, which did drive some of the thrupling out of her mind. There was, whether she said it or not, a moment when Sophie felt a bit… betrayed, both for Reagan and for her, when she saw Karma all up on Amy and yeah, she knows Amy pushed her away (she saw) and she knows it was nothing more than a big mix-up, the kind of 'ha ha ha' and 'totes lols' and 'oh, we're gonna look back someday and we're gonna laugh and laugh and laugh and it's so going in my maid of honor toast at your wedding' thing that's like required for the plots of all of those stupid movies Karma loves so much.

But still…

Still, there was that moment, that split second when Sophie wondered just why the fuck she was there at all. Why had she come all the way to Amy's house to try and put Reamy back together again like some sort of supa gay Humpty fucking Dumpty, especially since, it kinda seemed like all the Queen's men (or, you know, all the Queen's Karmas) were already doing a bang up job of picking up all the pieces after the great fall.

And, really, who could blame her? Who could even wonder why she might have a moment (or, you know, two or three or all of them) of doubt? Sophie loved (loves) (present tense) Amy and she thinks the world of her (though, admittedly, it might be a slightly smaller world than it was a week ago) (like it was Jupiter and now it's Saturn or it was Neptune and now it's Earth and yes, she's aware that she skipped a planet in the size chart but, she kinda had to.)

(Even thinking Uranus makes her snort.)

But even with her planetary love for her roomie, Sophie's not dumb and, really, it's not like Amy doesn't have a long track record of doing stupid things to get over doing other stupid(er) things, and it's not like Karma doesn't have an equally long track record of… well…

Being Karma.

So, yeah, no one could blame her for that moment of doubt, that second of suspicion but, in the end, she got over it (mostly), not unlike she got over the whole Amy fucking Reagan behind her back bit (also mostly) and yes, that's 'mostly' read as: not really over it at all, but she knows that she will be. It's just gonna take a bit of time and a bit of distance (though, clearly, not one whole week's worth of either) and, maybe, a bit of the old Shane Harvey special.

You know the one. That's right.

Getting over someone by getting under someone else.

Though, in truth, Sophie's a bit more of a top so, maybe, it would be more of a getting over someone by getting more over someone else but, really, that's just semantics cause, in the

end, it's all the same thing.

Mostly.

And fuck all, she's realizing that there's just a metric load (slightly more than a gram, but less than a kilogram) of 'mostly' in her life lately.

Like, for instance, how she's mostly shocked - plus a bit amazed and a dash impressed and a whole fuckload (a smidgen bigger than just a load, in case you were wondering) confused - by Karma and her little speech.

As if - besides the length and the simplicity and the surprisingly total lack of Karma being a selfish twat - there was anything little about it.

"She's still standing there, isn't she?"

Karma's on the couch, her feet tucked up under her and she's doing a pretty impressive job of looking anywhere but at the door. Hell, if Sophie didn't know any better - and, really, she kinda doesn't - she'd swear Karma didn't even care.

She nods, which, of course, does no good for anyone - Karma's not looking, remember - and turns from the door, disappearing into the house, fading from Amy's sight. Not that the blonde was looking at her, and no, that's actually not a metaphor for anything. "Yeah," Sophie says, moving to the other end of the couch. "Just standing and staring and I don't know what she's thinking."

Ain't that the truth. And a far more common and relevant truth than Sophie ever realized and, like all the rest of this, that's going to take some getting used to.

She settles down onto the couch, one foot staying stuck to the floor like she's planning a quick getaway which, sort of, makes sense cause, no, this isn't awkward at all, both of Amy's besties just hanging out, in her house but, you know, without her.

"That figures," Karma mutters through a tiny laugh that sounds more like a snort albeit one with a familiar… twinge to it.

Sophie's snorted that snort. She's used that voice, she's adopted that… tone. It's code, sort of, her special 'Oh, Amy' sound. The one she uses any time Amy's done one of those stupid things or, more often, one of those other stupid things to get over the original stupid thing. Amy calls it her 'Elsie' voice, as in the one that's supposed to be a reminder that no, fucking a girl on neutral ground (the back row of a movie theater, just as an example) does not override the original fuck in your bed in your room.

You know, the one that made her think you were, you know, dating.

Just as an example.

(She's got a list of those examples, Sophie does. One almost as long as the Rules.)

Karma shakes her head and Sophie thinks that maybe (so fucking not maybe) she's got a list of her own. "Most people," she says, pulling absently at a string dangling off one edge of a throw pillow, "if I'd said that to them? Oh, it would have sunk in, you know? It would've slapped them right upside the head and gone straight to their heart."

Yeah. She's probably right. It would have worked that way. You know, for most people.

"I mean," Karma goes on, "I even did the dramatic trail off at the end." She tugs harder on the string and Sophie starts to fear for that poor pillow's life. "That was some seriously top shelf shit, right there," she says. "That was some hardcore best friending, I did."

It was. Sophie's gotta give her that.

Of course, it came not too far on the heels of her doing some hardcore 'mounting' and 'molesting' and 'lemme get all up on you-ing' too, but they don't need to mention that.

Like, you know, ever.

(And if now, with a few more minutes of distance and time and separation of church and state and all - and no, she's got no fucking idea what that means - Sophie's starting to think of that in somewhat less… 'ewwww' terms?)

(Well… Karma was less of a selfish shit. And she does look good.)

(Oh… for fuck's sake…)

"Most people," Karma says - and it's clear that she either hates silence or loves the sound of her own voice or, you know, both and since that's making Sophie listen and not think, she's just fine with, you know, either - "would've heard that and they wouldn't be just standing there, they'd be running. They'd be skipping or jumping or dashing or… driving. They would've already been halfway to wherever Reagan is before I was even back in the house."

Karma's got, Sophie has to admit, a point. Maybe even, you know, a good one. Because, you know, hypothetically, if Sophie was Amy and she knew Reagan was out there somewhere and wherever that somewhere was, she was being all in love with her and pining after her, wanting her to the point where even another pretty wonderful (and not just in bed) and kinda awesome (still not just) and fucking spectacular (OK, that part is in bed) woman who totally wanted her just wouldn't do?

Sophie's pretty sure she wouldn't be standing.

(And neither would Reagan, unless she liked it like that, you know, like maybe up against a wall with legs thrown over shoulders or, you know, something like that.)

(And… you know… hypothetically… Karma's got the kind of leg muscles that would work wonders for that…)

Rule # Something or Other that has to be established right fucking NOW: No more hypotheticals.

Yeah… cause a rule is gonna help.

But - totally not hypothetically - Karma's right. Most people would've gotten the point and most people would have realized that they were being stupid and letting all their mommy (and daddy) (and best friend that rejected her) (and first girlfriend that broke up with her) (and next girlfriend who turned out to not be quite gay but only after the breakup so, really, not quite so bad) issues block the path to the totes awesomest future she could have ever imagined.

"But," Karma says, that string wrapped tight around one finger (no metaphor needed), "that's the thing about Amy. That's the thing that makes everyone… and I mean everyone… fall for her."

"She's not most people," Sophie says, the words tumbling free before she even realizes she's opened her mouth and it's that moment - that very fucking second - when her eyes flick up to meet Karma's and, all at once, Sophie gets it. She gets Karma.

(And oh how that terrifies her.)

It's so fucking clear, she can't believe she's never seen it though, admittedly, she hasn't been around the redhead much. But how, she wonders, did everyone else - like Shane, Liam, and fucking Lauren - miss it? It's so clear, so crystal, so right there, floating on the surface, where even Karma can't hide it. The entire reason she just can't let go, even when it almost kills her and Amy both.

She doesn't want Amy. She wants to be Amy.

Even if she's never wanted any of it it or used it or even realized that she's got it, Amy's got everything - she is everything - that Karma's ever wanted to have or to wanted to be. Amy's got that something, like a power, like magnetism, like she's the fucking Magneto of the heart, that pulls people in and never lets them go. Amy's the kind of person who just…

Well…

She justs. She just spawns besties like flowers blooming in Spring (see: Karma) (see: Shane) (see: Sophie and Lauren even Liam if, you know, he hadn't been a douche.) She inspires such devotion, it's almost fanatical (see: Karma, again) (see: her) (see: Elsie) (please don't see her) and she brings out things in people that no one else can (see: Sabrina being gay) (see: Lauren being, you know, human) (see: the two of them, Karma and Sophie, sitting there on the couch, forgiving and forgetting cause, well…)

Cause it's Amy.

It's like she's the sun and they're all the planets that just orbit her and no, that's not a bad thing.

Mostly.

(Fucking mostly.)

It's not a bad thing except when it makes one of them do something stupid. Like, for example, pretending to be Australian and outing the straight girl. Or dating Mr. All Good and getting an ill advised tattoo (and no, Sophie's not wondering at all if Karma's got any more, you know, hidden ink.) Or pretending to be gay or pretending to be curious about being gay or getting upset that maybe someone isn't gay enough.

Or, you know, punching someone in the face in the middle of the eggs place.

Even if she had it coming. (Mostly)

Something like, for another example, hopping the first flight back home cause of some text messages that, really, if they'd been for you, wouldn't have made any sense at all.

Unless…

"You knew, didn't you?" Sophie asks and Karma just stares straight ahead, but she doesn't even bother asking 'knew what' cause this whole eye fucking… no… not fucking… this whole eye see you, you see me (see what Sophie did there?) moment, apparently, goes both ways. "You knew those texts weren't for you. You probably didn't know they were for me, but -"

"Sabrina," Karma says and oh, Sophie didn't see that coming. "I thought Amy meant to send them to her and she was probably drunk and just hit the wrong button because, well, Amy and phones…"

Sophie holds back a laugh (barely) cause, you know, been there, done that. "And that just killed you, didn't it?" she asks, taking great pains to make sure she sounds as judgment free as she can. "The thought of Amy and her and them getting back together."

Karma shakes her head and Sophie almost believes the denial. "I know it seems like that," she says, "I mean, I get it. Lord knows, my history… or at least Amy's version of my history… but it wasn't about that." She twists that string tighter round her finger. "I just… I imagined Amy, and her being so lonely or hurt or drunk or all of the above and she has a history too, you know?"

Yeah. Sophie knows.

"And I didn't want her to do that," Karma says. "I didn't want her to wake up in the morning and realize what she'd done… and what she tried to do… and then she'd be all regretful and beat herself up even more and then…"

And then there'd be one of those stupid things to get over the stupid thing and yeah, Amy might be the sun they all revolve around, but it's those solar flares you gotta watch out for.

Sometimes, they even burn her.

"And then I was halfway here," Karma says, "all sure and convinced I was going to do the right thing, and that thing was being a good friend, for once, and then I was three-quarters of the way here and I started thinking about those messages and about being the person on the other end of them… someone that made her feel all that."

Someone who lit the sun. Even if, really, the person on the other end wasn't the one who made her feel all that.

(Somehow, Sophie thinks that might have just made it worse.)

"And then I saw her," Karma says (and yes, that trip did seem a bit… rushed… to Sophie) "and she looked so sad and I've seen Amy sad before," she says, that string so fucking tight. "I saw her after I broke her heart and I didn't think she could ever look… more sad."

Or, you know, maybe Karma just didn't want to think she could.

"I was wrong," she says. "Not like that's a first or anything." Karma shrugs her shoulders, that string slowly unraveling from around her finger. "I'd never seen her so sad and… let's just say that I knew how she felt. And it was all so simple, you know? Maybe those texts weren't to me, but maybe they were meant for me. Maybe it was my sign, my chance to fix us both. And she'd go with it, she wouldn't fight it cause, let's face it, if it was me versus Sabrina?"

She's got another point there, Sophie knows. Hell, if it was Karma versus almost anyone…

Almost.

Karma swipes at her eyes with the back of her hand. "I never imagined it was Reagan. I mean, she was gone, you know?"

Yeah. Sophie knows. Again.

"But now," Karma says, "it's so… obvious. Like, I don't know how I never saw it. How did we all manage to miss that Amy was still into her?" She shakes her head, pushing the pillow from her lap. "And Reagan is… you know…?"

Sophie nods. Reagan is. She's so very you know.

It's Karma's turn to nod. "Good," she says. "And I mean that. I want Amy to be happy. I want her to be with someone who feels for her what she feels for them. That's all I ever wanted."

That, Sophie knows, is the first lie Karma's ever told her. That's so not all she ever wanted. She wanted to be that someone. Sophie can see it all over her face and hear it in her voice. That is Karma's one biggest truth. Deep down, where she doesn't really like to go, she always wanted to feel for Amy what Amy felt for her. She just couldn't.

Cause, you know, straight and all.

Or, as it turns out…

Mostly.

"I guess, I just…" Karma shifts, the pillow pressing into the couch between them. "I had a shit semester," she says. "And I guess I just thought… getting back to basics, you know. Back to what worked."

Or, at least, what worked for her.

"I thought it could be just that simple," she says. "I thought I would kiss her and now it would be there and it would all make sense and it would finally all be right." She tries to smile, like an 'oh, Karms, you so silly' kinda thing, but it doesn't really go with the tears in her eyes. "But it wasn't," she says. "There was no 'woah' and no 'I know' and it was like kissing Felix back in high school except a little better cause, well, Amy. But it wasn't…"

Sophie gets it. She gets it cause once upon a time, she didn't get it with Jerry King, in the back of his Neon, even though she tried. Sometimes, that door just doesn't swing that way, no matter how badly you might want it to.

Especially not when the poor girl is so obviously hurting - that shit semester, after all - and that pain is so clearly a burn from that torch she's still carrying for her latest flame.

"The texts were just an excuse, weren't they?" Sophie asks. "A reason to leave that wasn't the hurt you were feeling." Karma says nothing, but then, she really doesn't have to. It's all so very clear. Sophie almost laughs at the irony. "Something to run to, instead of from."

What goes around…

Eventually comes around and, if you're lucky, it doesn't hurt too much when it runs into you.

"What was his name?" Sophie asks. "The guy. The one that hurt you."

Karma shakes her head. "Amy always did say you were perceptive," she says. And see, totes clear as a bell. "Charlie," Karma says. "Her name was Charlie."

Oh yeah. Clear.

Mostly.

(Or, you know, not.)