I went ahead and re-outlined more stuff which is why this chapter took longer to write, I keep not being happy with how things are going and having to rewrite whole sections. Anyway, the solution is almost always to write Shores having a breakdown, but not so much of a breakdown that he ends up performing surgery on himself or falling out of windows. Like I said, I've rewritten a BUNCH of stuff.
Emily felt sick to her stomach. She'd rewatched the security tape seven times now, and every time the intruder was Shores.
Why? She'd watched the tape, he hadn't stolen anything, but it was clear he was on a mission. Why hadn't he said anything to her? They'd been together an hour ago, there had clearly been something on his mind. Why hadn't he brought it up? What was Shores hiding and what did he know?
"Um, call Dani." She wasn't going to make any assumptions before she got Dani's advice.
Her brother picked up immediately.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Normally Emily would call him out for assuming that something was wrong, but this time he was right.
"I found out who broke into the lab."
"Who?"
"Shores."
"Damn… I bet those glasses he was wearing on Wednesday were some kind of spy camera. I wonder if his mom put him up to this."
"Or his partner," Emily said through gritted teeth.
"Is this a bad time to ask about your date?" Dani asked, sensing that his sister was becoming overwhelmed. With the multiverse behind them, Emily deserved a break. But their own universe clearly thought otherwise.
"It was fine. But this is more important. I need to know what Shores was doing, and what he knows. You're probably right about the glasses, I didn't even notice those."
"That's why I'm your guy in the chair," Daniel said.
"Yeah, I don't know what I'd do without you."
"What about Shores? Have you talked to him?"
"No, not yet. I don't know how to bring it up. He's hiding this from me on purpose. I just don't know how to feel anymore."
"Well, it's Shores. You've been friends forever, I'm sure that he has shit going on and you wouldn't want to jump to conclusions and freak out on him if it's something innocent. I think you just need to talk to him."
"What if he isn't my friend anymore? What if whatever is going on has severed those ties completely?"
"Don't jump to conclusions," Dani repeated.
"Yeah, alright, I'll talk to him soon. I just need some time to think."
"Em, you've had a long day and a long week, what you need is sleep. Get some rest and let tomorrow worry about itself."
Emily hung up, but she couldn't help worrying about the future. Her best friend, if she could even still call him that, was hiding something big from her. She wondered what he was doing right that second, what mess he'd gotten himself into. She wondered if he was sleeping that night, as she fell into a restless doze herself.
Shores hadn't slept much Saturday night, too busy setting dominos into place, trying to fix his tentacle problems, trying to reconstruct the camera glasses so the feed didn't go back to Oscorp, trying to do a thousand little things that didn't matter. He was working, frenzied and frantic, all the way into early Sunday afternoon when he finally broke down and called Basil to work out how to fix what he really cared about.
"I'm going to tell her everything," Shores said, sounding weary and defeated.
"Everything?" Basil asked, extraordinarily patient as he cleaned his cabin and walked Shores through what was either a breakdown or a breakthrough.
"Then again, why does she deserve to know anything? Of me, of you… I mean it's not my place to tell her all, why should I tell her some?" Shores was practically raving now.
"Darling," Basil said gently, "You can tell her as much as you like, about you, about me, about us. She's your best friend and if you trust her with our secrets then I trust her as well."
"You mean it?"
"I mean it," Basil promised.
"Thank you, Baz. You don't know how much it means to me, to have you in my corner."
"It's our corner, remember? We're partners."
"Yeah, partners." Basil could hear the smile in his partner's voice, as well as the weariness.
"You should get some sleep, dear. You can sort out our secrets when you wake up."
"Yes," Shores said quietly, not quite ready to end the conversation, "But then I'm gonna send you the feed from my upgraded glasses so you can see and hear what's happening."
"You'll be my little podcast," Basil remarked, a tad amused by the concept.
"I hope the first episode isn't a downer. I have a feeling it will not be the most pleasant conversation. But if we're going to salvage our friendship we need to do it now. Em has been my best friend for most of my life, I don't know where I'd be without her…"
"Sometimes friendships end or drift apart," Basil said, not speaking from experience at all.
"That doesn't make it any less painful."
"I'm sorry I can't help more," Basil said softly, leaning against his kitchen counter and musing about how empty the cabin felt now that it had known another. He wished he could take Shores into his arms and take all his agony away.
"You being there for me is enough," Shores said, too tired to indulge in any fantasies.
"I'm gonna text Emily about talking later and then take that nap. Is it okay if I call you after I talk to her?"
"Of course, just text me first. And I'll be watching the feed as well."
"Thank you for being my partner," Shores said, "Thank you for sharing yourself with me."
Basil hesitated, "There are things I haven't told you, dear. Things I want to tell you but can't tell you over the phone…"
"I trust you to tell me what I need to know in your own timing. You've been honest to me so far, and that means everything to me."
"You deserve the truth, Shores. You're the most open and honest person I know."
"To everyone but Emily…" Shores was bent over with exhaustion and guilt.
"But you're willing to open up to her too. Any true friend would understand."
There it was.
"I guess we'll see if she's my true friend. Talk to you later, Baz. Thanks for helping me clear my head."
"Any time, dear. Get some good rest."
"I will."
Shores hung up and flopped down on his bed, texting Emily: "Dinner tonight? There are some things we should have talked about yesterday."
She quickly responded affirmatively and Shores fell into a brief and restless sleep.
"I'm going to tell him everything," Emily said, on her second phone call to Dani in less than 24 hours. She'd likely call him later, too, him or Julian, or perhaps even Noah, depending on how her conversation with Shores went.
"Good, you've wanted to tell him for a while." Dani was supportive per usual.
"But I'm going to do it on my terms. I need to know what's going on on his end."
"I'm sure he'll understand."
"What would drive him to break my trust like that?"
"Who knows, Em? He's clearly trying to build it back. You can't assume the worst in everyone, Em."
"Why not? My best friend is a criminal, my date has casually messed with the fabric of reality, and I have more secrets than I know what to do with. No one is exactly what they seem. Why should I trust anyone?" Emily was paranoid, which wasn't unusual, and devastated that the one person outside of her family who had always been an open book was now cloaked in secrets and lies.
"Hey, that's not fair, Em. Trust is a give and take. I know you trust me, I trust you because you're honest with me. You're allowed to have your secrets but you can't be mad at Shores for doing the same."
"I guess, yeah. I'm still mad at him for breaking in, but I'll give him a chance to explain himself. And I'll tell him the truth about myself, as much as he needs to know. I might withhold some stuff, I don't know."
"That's your right," Dani agreed, "Just don't go into the conversation paranoid and distrustful or you won't be able to mend things."
"I want to mend things… We've been through so much together. I don't know who I'd be without Shores."
"I'm sure he feels the same."
"You always see the best in everyone, Daniel."
"You should try it sometime."
"Yeah, okay. Maybe I will."
