"The One" – Part 83

Summary and additional notes in part 1.

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews! There's some interesting convos in this part…

This is not related to my Degrassi timeline fics. (See my Author's profile for details!)

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Degrassi!

-oOo-

Simone rolled her eyes. "So you're only going to be Fiona's friend if she dates women? That's not bigoted at all," she quipped.

Tami shook her head. "I didn't say that!"

Simone gave her an appraising look.

Tami sighed. "I didn't mean to be so harsh," she relented.

"Well, you were," Simone pushed back.

"It's just that… Beth and Fiona's break up reminds me a lot of something I went through," she admitted quietly.

Simone raised an eyebrow. She was fairly certain she hadn't heard this story before.

"My junior year of college, I fell in love with this girl who worked in student government. She was the treasurer and I was newly appointed as secretary. We did everything together. I had no doubt that we would spend the rest of our lives together." Tami paused.

Simone softened a little. Clearly this wasn't easy for her friend to talk about, but it was a familiar story of young love.

"The summer after we graduated, I had to move back home to New Jersey and get a job. We wanted to get an apartment here in New York, but I needed to save money. Her family was well off, so she already had enough. Instead of getting a job she went backpacking through Europe with friends. She was gone for about a month. When she came back, everything was like it was. Her parents were okay with me staying with them, so I continued to work but was able to see her every day. We were about to make the big move when she started getting sick. I was concerned that she was throwing up so regularly. She was resistant about going to the doctor but I didn't put two and two together."

"Oh no," Simone said as she deduced where this was going.

Tami nodded. "She cheated on me with Richard, her childhood friend who had gone along on the trip."

"That's horrible. Did she have the baby?" Simone asked.

Tami took a deep breath. "She swore to me it was a onetime thing. I was so in love, I wanted to believe her. I promised to stand beside her, no matter what, and eventually we decided to raise the baby together. My family and friends were against the idea but I didn't listen. We moved to a crappy one bedroom in Brooklyn, but it was home. A few months later Richard showed up on our door step. He said he wanted to be involved and it was all downhill from there. Fast forward another couple of months and she moves out to be with him. They're married and live in Scarsdale now. They had another kid a few years back." Her voice was emotionless, but Tami wiped away a tear.

Simone pulled her friend in for a hug. "That's an awful story," she told her as they pulled away.

Tami nodded. She hated that she had been so young and naïve, but it was her truth.

"I'm so sorry you went through all of that," Simone told her. She could only imagine how painful that must have been. "But, Fiona isn't the girl you fell in love with. And Adam, isn't Richard," she gently reminded her.

Tami nodded again.

"Not all bi girls are going to cheat and marry men!" Simone laughed. The notion was ridiculous and she wanted to Tami to see that her experience couldn't be used to stereotype a whole group!

"I know that…" Tami affirmed. "I just had a kneejerk reaction when the break up happened, and it just spiraled from there. Now I don't even know how to make things right!" It was far easier to stay mad at Fiona.

Simone held out her arm. "Well then, be thankful that you have a friend like me."

-oOo-

"This cheese is awesome!" Adam declared before taking another bite.

Fiona laughed at the overjoyed expression on his face. They were at the wine bar and both had a glass of white wine. A waiter brought out a platter with various cheeses and crackers, and the two were enjoying what they placed onto their plates.

"You're so cute," she giggled. She leaned in and gently kissed his lips.

Adam grinned broadly. "Say that again? I didn't hear you," he joked.

She smiled knowingly. "I said you're cute." As she leaned in for another kiss she heard someone clear their throat.

"Hey Fiona," Simone greeted her. Tami was at her side with a neutral expression. "Adam, it's good to see you again," she added.

Fiona and Adam shared a brief look.

"Um, hey," she said awkwardly.

Simone smiled and gave her a hug. "I'm glad that you came," she told her sincerely.

Fiona nodded. "Me too."

Adam stood up and gave Simone a brief hug. Tami raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't mean to bombard you with emails this afternoon, but they're playing a secret show just for fans in Brooklyn next month! It's going to be epic!" Adam told her excitedly.

Simone waved him off. "No, I'm glad that you did! I wouldn't have known. I'm not on that fan listing," she insisted.

Adam smiled broadly. He was relieved that she didn't think he was a weirdo for messaging her so much!

"We have to go!" he exclaimed. Gregory was the only other Dead Hand fan he knew in the city, and he was going to be out of town that weekend!

Fiona watched their exchange, thoroughly amused. She turned to Tami. "They're speaking Dead Hand," she informed her.

Tami chuckled. "I surmised as much," she responded.

Adam and Simone turned to them.

"Don't mind us!" Fiona teased. She and Tami laughed.

Adam and Simone shared a look.

Tami turned to Fiona. "Can we talk?" she asked her.

Fiona nodded. "Sure. Lead the way."

-oOo-

Adam watched as Fiona and Tami settled on one of the couches by the back wall. He looked at Simone. "That's a good thing, right?"

Simone threw him a quizzical expression. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"Because after we got together, she called Fi a bitch on FaceRange," he said matter-of-factly.

Simone winced. She wasn't aware that he knew about that!

"Fiona feels terrible that Beth got hurt. I do too," Adam leveled with her. "She's doing her hardest to make things right, so if Tami's just going to shit on her, I don't think that's fair."

Simone had a wry smile. Clearly there was more to him than she realized when they first met! "Tami wants to smooth things over. A lot of her hostility towards Fiona was misplaced anger," she revealed.

Adam slowly nodded. "I hope that she does."

.

tbc

A/N: Oh man… That's a horrible story. Poor Tami :( It doesn't excuse her coldness towards Fiona though… Simone and Adam have been emailing? The power of Dead Hand! Lol! Hmm… So Tami and Fiona are gonna talk one on one? Interesting… And wow, Adam really knows what's up! ;-)

Reviews are like ice cream on a really hot day. Hint, hint :D

In the next chapter… there will be CAKE! And it will be posted on Friday!

Off-topic: Am also updating "The Wedding" later today!