I can't believe how long it's been since I updated this thing! Thanks to all who reviewed even when it wans't being updated. Guess I've just been lazy! Ok, here's the chapter i promised would be full of drama. Hope it lives up to expectations.
Disclaimer: I don't own any BSC characters.
As Claudia and I stood on Kristy's doorstep, we were still discussing Jay.
"He's so handsome and charming, and athletic and cute…" Claudia sighed. "He's so, everything." she added as she pressed the doorbell.
We heard someone call inside "James, can you answer that?"
The door opened.
"Hi, you must be – Stacey?"
My mouth dropped. "Jay?" I asked.
At that moment Kristy came to the door as well. She put her arm around Jay's waist. "I see you've met my husband."
"You could say that." Claudia said. I didn't say anything. I couldn't. As for Jay, he looked almost as horrified as I felt. Kristy ushered us all inside, but Jay drew back as she entered the living room. He grabbed my arm and whispered as Claudia headed in
"Don't say anything. Please. After this weekend, then we can talk." I followed Claudia in without looking at him. All around me, everyone was chatting furiously, catching up on all the years they'd missed. I sat in an armchair, watching it all. Well, watching Jay mainly. He seemed so confident, gliding around the room, mingling with his guests, just as I'd seen him in New York at parties with me. He was totally sure I'd keep his secret for him, let the weekend go on uninterrupted, but I wasn't sure if I would. Could I sit quietly by while my boyfriend played happy families with his wife in front of me? I tried to catch Claudia's eye, hoping to get a chance to discuss it with her. As Kristy came up beside Jay – I couldn't think of him as James – Claudia glanced up at last. She stood and then said, "I think I'll go get some fresh air."
I jumped up hurriedly. "I'll join you!"
Outside, I paced up and down the path to the front door. "What am I supposed to do?" I demanded.
Claudia stood on the porch, watching me. "I don't know, Stace." She said quietly. "Maybe you could just mention it to Kristy? Then it's up to her whether she – "
"But what if she doesn't believe I didn't know? That he was married?"
"That who was married?" I whirled around. Abby had joined Claudia on the porch. Claudia looked at me.
"No one. Don't worry about it." I said.
Abby frowned. Then she sat down on the porch steps and said "This isn't really working out like we thought huh?"
Claudia nodded. "Maybe we're just too different." She offered. Abby sighed.
"Maybe. I guess I was just hoping it would be just like back in school again. I think I thought that if…" She trailed off.
"If what?" I asked.
She sighed again. "That if we could be like we were before, maybe everything else would be like it was before too."
We looked at her, unsure of what she meant. She smiled slightly.
"I'm not making any sense am I?" she said.
"Not really." Claudia commented.
Abby shook her head. "I don't understand myself either these days."
"What's wrong?" I asked, noticing for the first time that Abby didn't look particularly well or happy.
Abby smiled. "I'll tell you if you tell me," she offered.
I paused. Everyone was going to find out sooner or later weren't they? I might as well start explaining now. I took a deep breath.
"See, I've sort of met Jay - " I paused, then corrected myself. "James before. Um…we were kind of dating. I didn't know he was married," I added quickly. "Let alone to Kristy."
Abby looked at me. I braced myself for the barricade of whys, whens and hows. But she didn't say anything. She just nodded slowly.
"Well?" I asked, sure she was just holding back to be nice. "Come on, tell me what a horrible person I am."
"Stacey." She began. "You're not."
"Huh? But I slept with a married man!" For some strange reason, I felt even worse now that Abby wasn't yelling at me. I guess I wanted some sort of punishment for what I'd done.
"Stacey, you didn't know he was married. If you had known, then yeah, that would be an awful thing to do. But you're just another innocent victim how I see it. James is the horrible one."
"Abby's right." Claudia put in.
I shrugged. "I still feel…responsible though."
Abby nodded again. "I guess that's normal. So, are you going to tell Kristy?"
I paused again. "Jay asked me not to."
Abby looked at me sternly. "You can't let him decide."
"But I don't want to ruin this weekend for Kristy." I protested.
"Ok." Abby said, "And don't worry, I won't say anything."
I nodded, feeling slightly relieved at having told someone else.
"So," Claudia started. "What's up with you?"
Abby didn't say anything. She looked at her hands for a while then looked up at us.
"I have breast cancer." She said quietly.
Claudia and I didn't say anything. Suddenly my problem didn't sound so big after all. Finally Claudia broke the silence by asking,
"What's your…um…"She seemed to be searching for the right word.
"Prognosis?" I supplied.
Abby looked at her hands again. "I don't know. I have an appointment with my doctor when I get home. He should be able to tell me more then."
And at that Abby, strong, cheerful Abby burst into tears. I sat down and put my arm around her. Neither me nor Claudia said anything. Nothing seemed adequate. We sat in silence for a long time, then Abby said
"I feel so bad that I can't cope with this. I'll be making dinner, or in a meeting at work or something and I'll have to run and lock myself in the bathroom to cry."
"Abby, if I had cancer I wouldn't even be attempting to make dinner or going to work." Claudia said. "I'd be at home curled in a ball under my blankets all day. Crying's normal. It's not a sign of weakness. I wouldn't have come to this reunion either."
Abby looked up at us. "But when my grandmother was being diagnosed with cancer she organized a party, without telling anyone what was going on."
"You are not in competition with your grandmother, Abby." I said as gently as I could.
Abby shrugged. "See, I told you guys I wasn't making any sense these days." And with that, she got up and walked back inside. Abby never did like talking about serious stuff.