"I'm sick and tired of hearing about Derek and Savannah," Emily griped to JJ as she plunged into the ice bath in the physio room.

JJ laughed. "Yeah, they are sickeningly cute, aren't they?"

"You got the sick part right," Emily muttered. "They were making out in the library today. Like, show a little discretion..."

"When did you turn eighty years old?" JJ teased. "They're young and in love, give them a break."

"They're not in love," she scoffed. "They're horny kids."

"You're literally the same age..."

Emily huffed a breath out through her nose. "Yes, well, I'm not sticking my tongue down my boyfriend's throat all over campus."

JJ rolled her eyes. "Get off your high horse, Emily. Otherwise I'll start to think you're jealous."

"I'm not jealous!" she hissed. "I don't care whose throat his tongue is down, so long as it's not mine. I just don't want to have to see it!"

"Okay, Em, chill," JJ said, holding up her hands in surrender. "I was only kidding."

"Could you maybe not joke about me and another guy when I've got a..." She paused, looked about to make sure no one was eavesdropping before she finished, "A fiance? You know how rumours spread around here."

"You know," she said pointedly, "If this guy loves you so much, shouldn't he trust you? You always talk about how jealous he gets, but if Will was ever that controlling with me, I'd dump his ass so fast..."

Emily struggled to resist rolling her eyes. "Yeah, but this is a real relationship. You don't just turn and run the first time things get hard; you have to work at it."

A scowl crossed JJ's face. "What do you mean a 'real' relationship?"

She sighed, shook her head. "The whole high school sweethearts thing. It's a nice fantasy, but it's not real. It doesn't last."

"I didn't realize you were such an expert..."

Emily shrugged, offered a look of slight apology, but without any kind of genuine shame behind it.

"You want to talk about fantasy?" JJ snapped. "You think your relationship is so special and different? You can't even commit to being engaged because you know there's something so incredibly fucked up about this guy wanting to marry a sixteen year old. But you don't want to admit that to yourself because that would mean you're alone and you're so fucking terrified of not being wanted. And I get it, your childhood was messed up and it's sad that you're so desperate for love that you'll tolerate just about anything. But I'm not just going to sit here and let you be a bitch to me because of some kind of superiority complex when I've been by your side one hundred percent this whole damn time!"

And with that, she stood from her ice bath, cold water dripping from her now see-through T-shirt. She refused to make eye contact with Emily as she sloshed water over the side of the tub, climbing out and reaching for a towel.

"JJ..." Emily started, feeling sufficiently chastised.

"Don't bother," JJ interrupted. "Talk to me when you've decided not to be a judgemental bitch."

"Seriously, who does she think she is?" JJ demanded of the room at large. She didn't actually expect an answer, but she needed to say it anyway.

"Maybe she was just..." Will started to say, stopping abruptly upon seeing the scathing look currently being sent his way. "Sorry," he said meekly.

"Seriously, you should have heard her," she continued on as if he hadn't spoken, "Going on like she knows all there is to know about relationships, even though hers is..." She stopped just short of saying what she truly thought, shook her head. "She had no right to say any of it!"

"Why are you so bent out of shape over her opinion?" Will dared to ask.

She heaved a pointed sigh, rolled her eyes. "Because she's my best friend. She's not supposed to say stupid bullshit like that about you."

He patted the bed beside him, indicating she should sit, but she was far too frazzled to stop pacing. "Do you actually care if she likes me?" he asked.

"I care because if I can act like I actually like her shitty choices in men, she should at least do a better job of pretending for my sake."

"You sound like you you really hate this guy she's with..." he pointed out.

"Ugh," JJ scoffed. "Hate isn't a strong enough word. He's just...he's all wrong for her and she just doesn't see it." She finally stopped pacing, dropping unceremoniously onto the bed. "And the sad part is that there's a really awesome guy who's actually into her and she refuses to see how great they'd be together."

Will just smiled fondly down at her in silence.

"What?" she asked, elbowing him in the ribs.

He laughed, slung an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side so he could kiss her temple.

She was in the process of pulling him in for a deeper kiss when there was a knock at the door. JJ sighed in irritation at the interruption as she answered the door.

"Who is it, Cher?"

She kicked the door shut, hands full of a vase of flowers. "Special delivery," she replied, setting them down on the nearby desk and searching for the card.

"You got a secret admirer I should know about?" he teased.

"Shut up," she scoffed, rolling her eyes playfully. "They're not for me, they're for Emily. Her fiance is in the dog house..."

What followed was a silence that felt centuries long before Will broke it with an exclaimed, "What?"

JJ's eyes went wide. "Oh, shit!"

"Emily has a fiance? Like a ring and a proposal and everything fiance?" he pressed.

"Sort of... But, Will, it's a big secret! I'm the only one that knows, so you can't say anything to anyone or she'll know I told!" she pleaded.

"But Jayje..."

"Promise me!" she demanded.

"Okay, I promise," he conceded, but he did so reluctantly.