Quick chapter, from both POVs. Why am I posting this today? There are literally 84 files of actual work in my office right now. I think I'm spoiling you people.

Enjoy


Bo woke up with a pounding headache, and she silently cursed herself for forgetting to close the curtains the night before. She looked at the clock – 8:30a. She slowly dragged herself out of bed. She needed aspirin. And coffee.

She made her way downstairs and halfway down heard talking coming from the kitchen. When she walked in, Kenzi and Dyson were sitting together, eating cereal.

"Is there coffee?" Bo mumbled, her eyes immediately finding the coffee pot. It was half full. She walked over and grabbed a mug.

"Bo, we need to talk," Dyson said.

Bo put her hand up in a 'stop' gesture, pouring her coffee with the other hand. She padded to the fridge and grabbed some cream, stirring it in quickly. She took a sip and closed her eyes as it washed over her tongue. Ahhh…maybe it was the placebo effect, but who cared, she felt better already.

After a second sip, she turned her attention back to Dyson and Kenzi. "Is this an intervention?"

"Yes," Kenzi answered curtly, having another spoonful of cereal.

Bo nodded, taking another sip.

"Bo, look, Kenzi has been filling me in on last night," Dyson said.

"Mmm," Bo said, continuing to drink.

"That's all you have to say? Seriously? Seriously?" Kenzi spat. "Dude, I am majorly pissed at you right now. I don't know what's going on with you lately, but you're on some kind of crazy self-destructive streak. You work insane hours. You refuse to break up with Rainer. You're cheating on him by kissing Lauren. You're fucking yourself over and you don't even seem to care –"

"Shhh…" Bo said, wincing. "Dial it down a little, let's all exercise our inside voices."

"NO. Bo, it's no secret that I'm no big fan of Rainer, but what you're doing to him –"

Bo cut Kenzi off. "Rainer isn't an issue anymore." She drained the last of her coffee and went for another cup.

"—what?" Kenzi asked, her voice at more of a normal level.

"I broke up with him."

"When?" Dyson asked.

Bo looked at her watch. "About five or six hours ago."

Dyson and Kenzi sat silently, obviously surprised as Bo continued to drink her coffee. "Alright, that's your first issue down. What's the next one?"


Lauren woke up slowly. Her thoughts felt delayed, like a TV screen just slightly out of sync with the sound. The events of the night before were flashing through her mind. The trial. The drinking. Talking to Bo. Kissing Bo.

Kissing Bo.

She needed to feel bad about it, to feel guilty. Bo had a boyfriend; despite her conversations with Bo the night before, despite knowing that Bo wasn't happy with him and didn't love him, despite knowing that the relationship probably wouldn't last, with or without her, she knew that she had crossed a line. She had added and abetted cheating. It was despicable. It was wrong.

So why didn't she feel guilty?

Rainer is a dick, she told herself. He doesn't deserve Bo.

But was that true, really? She thought back through the conversation with Bo the night before. Rainer was Bo's boyfriend. He fell in love with Bo. Bo didn't fall in love with him. He tried to progress their relationship, to take it to the next level, and Bo had rejected him, but let him keep his hope alive. So was he really a dick?

No. He was a guy with terrible luck.

Lauren sighed and reached for her phone – a text from Vex, chastising her for not coming out with him the night before. She looked at the time and saw that it was 8:30. Vex wouldn't be awake yet. She texted him anyway.

Get up and come over. I need to talk to you.


"You broke up with him last night?" Kenzi asked.

Bo sighed. "Yeah. I had to. I just…I couldn't keep doing it to him. I realized last night that what I was doing was awful. I mean, I knew that, I guess, but I just…I had to end it. No one deserves what I was putting him through."

"Wow. All this just because you kissed Lauren? Chick has some magic lips," Kenzi commented.

Bo laughed and then winced. "Ow. Don't make me do that. No, it wasn't that. Before…that…we were talking, and drinking, and I don't know, I just kind of realized it. When I was telling her about him it was like, I started realizing things that I hadn't admitted to myself yet, you know? Like the other day at coffee, when she was telling me about Nadia –"

"Coffee?" Dyson cut in.

"Who's Nadia?" Kenzi asked at the same time.

Ah, shit, shouldn't have kept talking. Bo gave a noncommittal wave of her hand. "Nothing, never mind."

"Oh no, no, no," Kenzi said. "Back it up. You and Lauren went for coffee? How many dates have you been on?!"

"None," Bo answered. "We met for coffee about a work thing. We were going over her testimony for the trial."

"And was this Nadia a part of the trial?" Dyson asked.

Bo sighed. "No…Nadia is Lauren's girlfriend."

Kenzi drew in a deep breath. "Bo…what…the…hell…"

"Was. I meant was her girlfriend. They broke up."

"When did they break up?" Dyson asked.

"After," Bo cleared her throat, "after we had coffee."

"So, let me see if I have this right. Stop me if I get something wrong. You took Lauren out for coffee 'for work'," Dyson said, using air quotes. "She tells you she has a girlfriend. Based on what you two talk about, she decides to break up with her girlfriend. How am I doing so far?"

Bo looked at her mug, running her finger around the brim.

"Then, you all spend time alone, drinking, last night. You talk to her about Kevin. Based on that conversation, you kiss her. You then break up with your boyfriend."

"That's…fairly accurate," Bo answered.

Dyson sighed. "What are you doing, Bo?"


Vex arrived at Lauren's house, looking tired and grumpy. "This better be something good, love, or I'm out."

"I kissed Bo."

"I'm in. Go on."


"So are you two together now?" Dyson asked.

"No. We're…nothing. We were just drunk. It didn't mean anything."

"Bullshit," Kenzi said, slapping her hand on the counter.

"Ow," Bo said, wincing at the noise.

"I don't care that it was just one kiss, it didn't mean nothing! It –"

"Wait," Dyson said, cutting Kenzi off. "What was that?"

"What was what?" Bo asked.

"That face you just made. When Kenzi said 'I don't care that it was just one kiss,' you made a face. What was that?"

Bo tried to look innocent. "There was no face."

"There was a face. What was that?" Dyson answered.

Bo sighed. When it was clear the conversation wasn't going to move on until she answered, she said, "alright, fine. There may have been…more than one kiss, strictly speaking."

"Son of a bitch, are you kidding me right now?" Kenzi spat. "How much more?"


"I don't know, maybe twenty minutes? I wasn't exactly timing it."

"Oh my GOD," Vex said. "This is…my mind is…when you have a crush on someone you really don't mess around, do you? Did you sleep together?"

"Of course not!" Lauren said, slapping Vex on the arm. "What kind of person do you think I am?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, you're right, you're far too virtuous to sleep with someone who has a boyfriend. Much better to make out with her for a half hour in her place of employment."

"…alright, I guess you have a point," Lauren said, slumping back in her seat.


"I just, I don't even…what the hell are you doing, Bo?!" Kenzi exclaimed.

Bo sighed. "Look, I don't know, alright? But I'm hung over, and I just broke up with Rainer, and can I please have a pass for that, just for a little bit?"

"Are you and Lauren dating?" Dyson asked.

"No. Last night was just…I don't know, it was just something that happened."

"Have you talked to her about it?" Dyson pressed.

Bo looked at her watch again. "In the last four hours since I got off the phone with Rainer? No, I haven't talked to her about it."


"You have to call her, love," Vex said.

"I know. But I just…I don't want to burst the bubble yet. I know we aren't together. I mean, she isn't even single. And when we talk about it, it's going to be this whole regret thing, and pretending it didn't happen, and awkward, and I just…I just want to preserve it. Just for a little bit. I'll be an adult about it later. For now I just want…I just want to hold on to it for a little bit."

"Oh, sweetheart," Vex said, brushing the hair off of Lauren's face. "You're so fucked."


Your feedback ups my desire to write faster. Just sayin'.