Author's note: Thanks to katiclove for reviewing the previous chapter.

Chapter 6: Lover to lover

A month. That was how much time Layla had already given Warren. She hadn't heard a word from him. Not a peep. He could be dead for all she knew.

She was tired of being alone in their house. She was tired of being surrounded by things Warren had left behind. Hell, she was something Warren had left behind. She was tired of waiting for him to contact her.

'Magenta?' Layla called out, knocking on the door a second time. She needed some new advice. Preferably advice that directly contradicted the previous advice, because that advice sucked. Zach opened the door.

'Magenta isn't home. But maybe I will do? I can listen, at least,' he proposed. Reluctantly, Layla followed him inside. Zach took her coat and put the kettle on and motioned for her to take a seat. He talked – an endless stream of anecdotes, jokes and observations. He did everything he could to set her at ease. It had the opposite effect. Nothing was as it was supposed to be.

'Sorry, Zach, but this isn't working. I think I'll come back another time when Magenta is here,' Layla announced, getting to her feet. She was suddenly not even sure if Magenta would do. Magenta was great, but she could be a little too rational sometimes. I miss Will so much, Layla thought. Realising that she was on the verge of crying, she turned away from Zach.

'Hey,' he whispered. He sounded startled, but worried. It was nice. He was nice.

'I'm sorry,' she blubbered, blinking back her tears and facing him. He made a 'never mind' gesture that was somehow goofy. She chuckled.

'Stay for a moment. Have some tea. You don't have to talk about anything if you don't want to,' Zach suggested. She nodded and gratefully sat down again.

'Thank you,' she said.

'You're welcome.'

Zach handed her a mug of tea. She closed her hands around the warm mug and took a small sip. They smiled at each other. Slowly, Layla started to feel more like herself again. She was naturally a happy person. She always looked on the bright side. Feeling miserable and being this close to crying the entire time was wearing her down. She sighed.

'You know what the problem is? At first, I thought that everything would be fixed if Warren would just come back. But now that I've had time to look at our relationship while not really being in it, I can see everything that is wrong with it and I wonder how we ever even made it to the altar,' Layla explained. Zach didn't respond immediately. Not that a response was necessary. It was a relief to get it out.

'Maybe he isn't right for you?' Zach carefully put forward. 'You two are very different.'

'So are you and Magenta!' she protested. He nodded and stood up to get a tray full of huge chocolate chip cookies. He offered them to her. Layla accepted one and nibbled on it. Zach didn't take one for himself.

'Yeah, but we make it work. Before we moved in together Magenta explained to me the inner working of her mind. Magenta is not a touchy-feely person and she hates being vulnerable. She didn't want to have that talk, but she knew we needed to have it in order to survive as a couple. Now I know what she feels and thinks when she acts a certain way,' Zach informed Layla. With obvious pleasure, he selected a cookie from the tray and took an enormous bite.

'She adapted,' Layla summarised. Well, if that was what needed to happen, then her marriage was doomed. Warren was unchangeable. Unknowable and immovable. Zach shook his head, scattering crumbs everywhere.

'You're kind of missing the point. I adapted too. I wanted to get married. Magenta has zero interest in that. Do I want to get married more than I want to be with Magenta? No. So I compromised. If you keep wanting what the other person is unable or unwilling to give then you're going to be unhappy. Maybe that's what you were doing with Warren?'

He suggested it delicately. It was a thing to be handled with caution: the idea that Warren wasn't entirely to blame. Zach is right, though, Layla knew. Not when it came to the current situation, but she was certainly as responsible as Warren for their mess of a relationship. Neither of them was particularly good at communicating.

'You make a relationship sound like a negotiation,' Layla complained.

'Because it is. It's an ongoing negotiation. And you should probably renegotiate. Or…'

Zach stopped there and began to devour his cookie in earnest. It was gone within seconds. He ate another one. He was about to start on a third cookie when Layla impatiently interrupted his chomping.

'Or what? What were you going to say?'

Zach stared at the cookie he was holding with longing.

'Being with someone who's so unlike you can be hard. Wouldn't you rather be with someone more on your wavelength? Someone easier?' he recommended. He isn't exactly subtle, Layla thought.

'Someone like Will, you mean?' she guessed.

'I wasn't specifically suggesting him, but yeah.'

'Would you want to be with someone other than Magenta?'

'No.'

'I feel the same way about Warren.'