Here's to Another Year

[butterflyfactor]

Layla had found herself suddenly grateful for her excess of time on the island. It allowed her, two days before the fact, to pull together a fairly elaborate mystery starting with an unsigned missive in a mail box in the morning. It lead the protagonist on a lengthy trail across the island's various locals, forced said protagonist to interact with the island's various locals, and finally planted the protagonist at the foot of a bonfire piled high and burning brightly on the beach only to be faced with their closest friends and a modest array of food and drink. There was also Scrabble.

The sky was just starting to purple on the horizon as the sun set, which meant Madrox would be arriving imminently. Unless, of course, Layla's planning hadn't been perfect.

If there's one thing knowing the future would have been really goddamn handy for, it's planning a surprise party. Even with the attention I've paid this thing, there's no guarantee he'll come walking out of trees right on target. Because without knowing, you're just guessing. As if I'm not a poor enough candidate to host a gathering of superheroes, I hate the fact that I don't know how it's going to go, not for sure. But when Jamie does show up, I'm at least going to succeed in not letting all that uncertainty show.

She felt relief when she saw him, instead of the smug pride she would have preferred, but smiled with everyone else and said, "Surprise."

Comments

[howmanylives]

"Maybe it will. Between them, maybe it will," he said, thoughtful. Sean, he thought, had more to lose than he did, at least as far as Theresa was concerned. "I don't know that I'll get passed it, though, you know? She said it was none of my business, but... I'm still allowed to have an opinion, regardless of whether or not she wants to hear it." He paused a beat, then added, uncertainly, "Right?"

[drownondryland]

"Of course." Meredith shrugged, resisting the urge to reach out to him. "Of course you are. You care about her. It's not your business to tell her what to do, but to have an opinion on it? That's what friends do." She hesitated, worrying at her lower lip, drink almost forgotten. "We want what's best for each other. I don't know how to get past it either, but it's... it's what she wants."

[howmanylives]

"I can barely look at her," he admitted, quietly enough that he could've just been thinking aloud. His fingers curled tightly around his glass. "I don't know, it's like... It's like it's not her anymore. I can't reconcile the Theresa I knew with this... this woman, this defeated woman. She's capable of forgiveness, I know she's capable of forgiveness and understanding where someone else might walk away, but she's a fighter, Meredith. She doesn't settle for someone because they're normal, and she sure as hell shouldn't settle for a man like that."

[drownondryland]

Meredith shook her head, looking down at the sand. "For half a man like that," she corrected, quieter now. She wanted to glance over, find Theresa for herself because Jamie said he couldn't, but she turned her head toward him again instead. "You're right, she shouldn't. And I don't think a decent man would do this. I think she can do better. I sure as hell wouldn't stand for it. But she might not think it's settling. Or maybe she just thinks it's worth it."

[howmanylives]

Jamie knocked back the rest of his drink in one gulp, smacking his lips together once he'd swallowed.

"I have a gift," he said, "to be able to look at the big picture, make decisions that someone with a better moral compass than I wouldn't dare. I've done some... dubious things in my time, but... I knew they were wrong deep down. I don't know that she feels that. I don't know anything about her anymore, not if she goes through with this. It's... unsettling."

[drownondryland]

It would have been simple to tell him to get to know Theresa, then, as she was now, but Meredith knew better than that. It wasn't that easy, not if Theresa wanted to make it hard, and it didn't make it any less unnerving, not knowing who someone was anymore when they'd mattered so much. Nothing about this was easy; nothing about it made sense.

"She's still there," she said. "Somewhere. She can't have changed completely. I wish I knew how to fix this. I wish I understood this. I mean, I know what it's like to love a man who goes home to someone else. Even if he loves you, too. It's... I don't know how that's something that can make anyone happy. And I know it's not the same, but I can't see how it's all that different either."

[howmanylives]

"Meredith, she left me for sleeping with another woman," he said, turning towards her with an excited gesture, his brows furrowed in angry confusion. Remembering just where he was -- and more importantly, who could be within earshot -- he lowered his voice before speaking again, stepping in closer. "And now she's off getting engaged to a man who's maintaining a whole other relationship with a guy. Did they ever even break up?"

[drownondryland]

"Theresa and Brad?" Meredith shook her head. "Not that I know of. She's never seemed anything less than thrilled with him," she said. "If anything ever happened, she never told me, but she probably thinks I'd tell Sean. I don't know, you're right, it doesn't add up." The conflict of interest had never seemed to be that big a deal until now, but maybe that was just because she'd always been every bit as much in the dark as the rest of them.

[howmanylives]

A muscle in his jaw twitched as he ground his teeth together, and he held onto his glass so tightly he thought, for a moment, it might shatter. With a sigh, he forced himself to relax.

"If such a thing were even possible here, I'd start investigating into mind control," he said, only half-joking. "I'm not used to being stumped."

[drownondryland]

"I would have broken up with him in a heartbeat," Meredith said, shaking her head. "There's love and then there's... I couldn't do it. I couldn't. I don't know how she does." She still felt that, at the end of the day, it was Theresa's decision, but that didn't make it one bit less baffling. "But, I mean, she's here. She wants things to be right between you. That has to count for something."

[howmanylives]

"If she really wanted to make things right between us..." said Jamie with a scoff, rolling his eyes even as he trailed off. He threw his free hand up in the air in a quick, hapless gesture. "I don't know. I don't know what she's getting out of this -- polyamory only works if everyone involved gets something, you know? Financial security, emotional stability... But there's absolutely nothing there for her except half a relationship with a complete idiot. It can't sustain itself. It's gonna crash and burn, and by the time she finally gets out of this mess, she'll have alienated everyone who actually cares for her."

[drownondryland]

Meredith shook her head. "If that's the case," she said, "there's not a lot we can do — and no reason we should let her decisions ruin your birthday." She'd stick around for Theresa as long as Theresa would have her, whatever the others thought, even if she wasn't sure what she thought, but she couldn't be sure that would be for long. Theresa had shown no real sign of trusting her before; it didn't seem likely that was going to change.

[howmanylives]

"Already taking care of that," he said, a hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, though his posture was still stiff -- Theresa wasn't a problem he could so easily dismiss, much as Meredith had a point. "I, uh, figured there wasn't any point in keeping my relationship a secret anymore. We're... We're telling people. Or I am. Slowly."

[drownondryland]

"Really?" Meredith smiled, grateful for some small piece of actual good news. "About Layla? That's good. Great, actually." In some way she found hard to describe or explain, she was proud of him, though that seemed the wrong word for it entirely. "I mean, you two have nothing to hide." She could understand wanting to wait, though; she'd taken plenty of time herself, telling Theresa, though that had been wholly different.

[howmanylives]

"Yeah, I'm realizing that," he laughed, even if there wasn't much amusement in his voice. "Pays to have a little perspective on what constitutes a truly unconventional relationship. Suddenly a little time-travel doesn't seem all that bad."

[drownondryland]

Meredith huffed out a laugh. "Around here, it seems downright ordinary." Even she had a little of that in her relationship, sort of, if she thought about, which she mostly didn't. Things were confusing enough at times as it was.

[howmanylives]

"One could make the argument that just about every conceivable permutation of what constitutes a relationship is ordinary around here," he said with a roll of his eyes. Sighing, though, he shook his head. There was no need to get back on that topic of conversation, especially when it was already all he could think about anyway. "But yeah, I figure there's nothing to be ashamed about. We're two consenting adults."

[drownondryland]

"Who seem happy," Meredith said, glancing over toward Layla. That was the important thing in her book, which was just one more thing that made this business with Theresa so conflicting. She honestly just wanted her to be happy, but though she'd seen firsthand she was, it was hard to believe now. "It was sweet of her to throw you this party."

[howmanylives]

"She sent me all around the island... Cooked up this whole elaborate mystery for me to solve," he told, the fondness in his voice surprising even himself. His teeth pressed to his lower lip in an almost bashful smile, and he ducked his head to hide it, feeling a little self-conscious about it all despite what he'd just said not moments before. "She's really quite remarkable."

[drownondryland]

"I would think so," Meredith said, smiling a little wider at his reaction. "She certainly seems it." She'd have to talk to her herself sometime, she decided, but any girl who could do that for Jamie, both the mystery and making him sound like that, had to be something special. If nothing else, they'd come a long way in a year. "I really am happy for you both."

[howmanylives]

"Me too, which, I don't need to tell you, is really saying something," he replied, lifting his empty glass in a sort of toast. "At any rate, she makes up for everything else."