Holly Lindsey hadn't been back to Springfield in years, but when her daughter called and asked her to come, she agreed.

Now, waiting to see Blake, she was a little uneasy about it. They had a much better relationship than they did when Blake was growing up—and, if she were being really honest, up until well into Blake's twenties—but being in Springfield was an emotional minefield. There were so many memories there, ones she tried not to think about.

They weren't all bad, granted. She had had some wonderful times there, but there was a lot of grief and trauma, too.

She was excited to see Blake but she was also hoping to escape quickly, and ideally unscathed and mostly unnoticed.

Blake met her at the airport and they went to get Holly checked into her hotel. Almost immediately, they ran into Olivia.

Holly and Olivia used to be friends but Holly had lost touch with her almost immediately after leaving Springfield. Now seeing her for the first time in years, she was struck by just how much she'd missed Olivia.

Blake was chatting about the book she was writing and then said "And Olivia's got a bit a tumultuous relationship herself…"

Holly noticed the look Olivia shot Blake, the "Can you NOT, please?" one.

"We should grab lunch and talk about it," Holly said.

"Let's get room service instead; my treat," Olivia said.

Once they were settled in Holly's room, she said, "If I've learned anything, it's that you need to be able to move on. I think every problem I've ever had stems from the fact that I was never good at letting go before. I clung to everything and everyone well past the point where I should've moved past it. Obviously that's much easier said than done, but everything ends, one way or another. And if you're still stuck in the past, you're going to miss out on what's ahead of you."

"I have to go," Blake said, practically running out of the room.

"She was always a strange child," Holly said, rolling her eyes.

She turned to Olivia. "Your turn, though. Tell me about this tumultuous love."

She could tell that Olivia was weighing what to say and where to start.

"Do I know him?"

There was another pause and Olivia bit her lip and said, "Her."

Ohhhhh, Holly thought. Yes, that makes much more sense. She caught Olivia's gaze. "Well. What's tumultuous about it?"

"I thought I met the love of my life but Natalia left me…which tends to happen. Then she came back but she's pregnant with some man's baby."

"Do you still love her?"

"I've never loved anyone this much."

"Isn't it wonderful when that happens? But it doesn't help you figure out what to do."

"No," Olivia said with a wry smile. "It's not helpful at all. I do have to say you're taking this better than just about anyone else in my life."

"Should I pretend to be shocked? Clutch my pearls and say that this is just what happens if you try for this particular kind of love?"

Holly looked down at the carpet, weighing her options and then said, "I can do that, if you want me to. But I think what I'm going to do instead is tell you what happened after I left Springfield. You're the first one from my life here to hear it."

There was a knock on the door; their lunch had arrived.

They set up the food and Holly continued, popping a french fry in her mouth.

"So after I left, I went to Europe for a while. I wanted to try and find Fletcher, or at least that's what I told people. I didn't try very hard, and I decided to start in Italy. And instead of Fletcher, I found Victoria. I met her at a cafe; she was reading Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed, which happens to be my favorite book. So I told her that, and she told me to join her. I did, and we sat there and talked for hours. The waiters were so annoyed with us."

Holly could feel the smile overtake her face as she talked about Victoria. She wondered if Olivia realized she had the same giant smile whenever she talked about Natalia.

"I could've stayed there with her for days. She was so interesting and smart and she was doing the same thing I was doing—just spending time going wherever she wanted and doing anything she pleased. I couldn't remember the last time I'd had that much fun with another person. I was smiling and laughing and it felt like a life-changing day. And I almost didn't talk to her, because in general, when you see someone who's reading in public, they don't want you to talk to them. They want to be left alone to enjoy their book."

She paused and took a bite of her sandwich.

"Sometimes I think about how close I came to missing out on her. I'd never considered that I might be bisexual before. But almost immediately, all I wanted to do was be around her. I wanted her, which was such a new experience…and a terrifying one. I had such a narrative about myself; you probably had the same one. Holly is confused and fucked up; she keeps falling for unavailable men who are horrible for her for one reason or every reason, right? But then here's Vic and she's just…lovely. And while it threw my life into upheaval and made me reexamine everything about my life up to that point, it also made me so much happier. I didn't have to pretend with her. I didn't have to deny parts of my life. She just liked me the way I already was. I didn't have to be anyone else. It took me by surprise but it was the best gift of my life."

"I can't believe Blake didn't tell me!" Olivia said. "It would've made me feel so much better about Natalia and then I could've…I don't know, called you. Or emailed or something."

"She doesn't know," Holly said, biting her lip.

"Why didn't you tell her?"

"Would you want to hear about your mom's sex life?"

Olivia made a very over the top face of disgust and Holly laughed.

"See?"

"Fair point. But I would've liked to know that my mom was happy. That she finally found someone who would love her the way she deserved to be loved. I think Blake would be really excited for you. I'M really excited for you. I mean, God, Holly, you look so much lighter. You look like you've finally figured out how to…I don't know, how to exist in the world like you deserve to take up space and to be happy. So where is she? Why didn't she come with you?"

"She's back home. We've settled in Ireland, at least for now. She wasn't happy that I was going to come back here without her, and she's been hurt that I haven't told Blake anything about her. About us, really; we've been together for years now."

"Does Victoria know…?"

"About…?" Holly gestured wildly. "All of that? Yes. She knows everything."

"And she understands?"

Holly laughed. "I don't even really understand it, so no, she doesn't either. But it's not something she uses as a weapon. It's hard to explain, but I think you may know from your own experience."

Olivia nodded.

"Anyway, the point is…when you find someone who feels like they're your home, for lack of a better word, you need to protect the relationship. If you love her, you can figure the rest of it out. The situation is complicated but it doesn't sound like the love is, if that makes sense."

"Thank you," Olivia said, hugging Holly. "And you should take your own advice. Go home. Maybe take Blake with you. I think she'd benefit from having a stepmother."

"Oh, God, can you even imagine?"

"You married? Happily married for a change? Yes. Yes, I can."

"So can I," Holly admitted, smiling.