Engraved

The minute Frank stepped into the house; Lily ran towards him and threw her arms around him, "God, I've missed you, so much," she breathed into his shirt.

Lily stepped back, and took his hands in hers. Within the second, her face registered with confusion, "Where's your wedding ring?" she asked, glancing at his bare hands. Frank felt the warmth of shame spread across his face.

Lily leaned into him, scrutinising his face. "Why… are you blushing?" Feeling Frank's palms get sweaty, she added slowly, "God, your hands are so sweaty. Frank, what's going on?" Her brow knitted in confusion.

Frank quickly pulled his hands away from Lily, as if burned. This fuelled Lily's alarm. "Frank, what's going on? You're scaring me, why aren't you wearing your ring?"

"I uh… lost it," Frank said evasively.

Lily glanced at Frank in shock. "You lost it?" Frank nodded. "Why did you even remove it, in the first place?"

Frank shut his eyes in distress. Dammit, what is she, a detective? He thought bitterly.

Looking crestfallen, Lily whispered, "You didn't… God, I can't even say it… Did you…"

"No! No, no, of course not Lily, no. I just… removed it because I wasn't sure how things were going between us, but then I misplaced it. I'm sure it's lying around somewhere in my luggage bag, I've just got to rummage around a bit," Frank lied hastily.

"So you didn't…" Lily pressed.

"No, I didn't Lily, I swear," Frank lied through his teeth.

"Right, okay, good, yeah, it's probably in your suitcase. Gosh, you scared me to death, for a moment," Lily laughed with relief. Frank smiled weakly.

"Right, well, I'm pretty beat, so I'm just gonna call it night, get some shut-eye," Frank muttered uncomfortably.

"Sure, I'll probably pop over to Phoebe's. Gonna update her that we're back together!" Lily said brightly. Frank smiled guiltily.

When Phoebe opened the door, Lily announced, "Guess what? Your role-model couple is back in business!"

Squealing with delight, Phoebe threw her arms around her friend. Lily saw a bright gold wedding band on Phoebe's finger.

"Oh my God, what the hell is this?" Lily cried in surprise. "Holy crap, did you have a shotgun wedding in Vegas? Who was it? Daniel? Marcus? Roy? No... it was probably Finn! Or was it Colin?" Lily guessed excitedly.

"Hey hey, slow down with the names, you're just making me sound like a slut!" Phoebe joked.

"Well…" Lily began, not disagreeing.

"Hey, don't you start with me, you little prude!" Phoebe laughed.

Phoebe leaned conspiratorially into Lily, "I'm gonna let you in on a little secret… I had a one-night stand at the Sledgehammer, and this morning, the guy sneaks out in such a hurry, that he leaves his wedding ring on the floor!"

"You slept with a married man?" Lily said judgementally. Phoebe put her hands up defensively.

"Calm down, woman, I didn't know he was married. He hadn't worn his ring all night. It was probably in his pocket, and fell out when we were… y'know, getting naked."

"My God, what an asshole, you must be so pissed at him!"

"Eh, couldn't care less, really, cuz I'm gonna sell his little ring to the goldsmith, and make me some dough," Phoebe said slyly.

"Pheebs…" Lily chided.

"Oh, c'mon, the asshole didn't even leave a phone number, so even if I wanted to return it to him, I wouldn't be able to," Phoebe whinged. Lily shook her head, smiling.

"And get this; the inside of the ring is engraved!" Phoebe said, pulling off the ring and passing it to Lily.

Lily's face blanched, and she dropped the ring on the carpet. She stared at Phoebe in wide-eyed horror, her mouth hanging ajar in shock.

Phoebe frowned, "What? What is it Lily?" she asked, worried.

"Oh God, I think I'm gonna be sick," Lily muttered, looking extremely pale.

"What? What?" Phoebe demanded.

"Phoebe, please tell me why in God's name you have my husband's wedding ring?" Lily spluttered.

"What? What are you talking about?" Phoebe exclaimed, bewildered.

Lily picked the ring up from the floor, removed her own ring, and passed both to Phoebe.

Phoebe saw both rings were engraved with identical inscriptions: "Lil' Buffet and F-Boy forever".

"Oh no," Phoebe sighed.