Just Imagine...

Truth be Told (Can I Still Call You Mine?)

Gwen had officially broken off the tryst, as she was calling it, with Owen.
She knew it would hit him hard, especially after what happened with Diane, but she just couldn't do this anymore. It was obvious that even though she and Owen loved each other, they didn't love each other in that way.
Not the way Gwen loved Rhys.
"It's alright, love," Owen had murmured with a very forced-looking smile when Gwen tried to explain herself while holding back tears, "I understand. This wasn't built to last anyway, I'll be fine. I'll move on."
"But what about Diane?" Gwen asked, "I know she broke your heart and I'm sorry to even bring it up but-"
"It's fine," Owen cut her off, though Gwen noticed his smile had slipped, "I'm fine. Better off without her, right?"
Gwen didn't say anything. Owen didn't look at all convinced of his words, so she just gave him a tight hug and a small, sympathetic kiss on the cheek.
"I really am sorry." She said softly.
And that was it. It was over. But there was more than just that on Gwen's mind tonight as she drove home from the hub.
The other thing she was mulling over was even stranger than her affair with Owen. In fact, it was scarier to Gwen.
It was Suzie and Sam.
The gentle kiss Suzie had pressed to Gwen's lips on the dock as she was dying, her life energy draining and going into Suzie's body. The way Suzie's long, dark, curly hair had draped over Gwen's cold, clammy cheeks. The way her dark brown eyes had sparkled with a strange sadness as she murmured "I'm sorry. I was just starting to think I could've liked you." before she stood and ran towards the end of the pier.
That, quickly being followed by a strange thumping, like a heartbeat, that Gwen soon realized through her daze was Sam's boots on the wooden planks as she charged after Suzie. It was the blazing anger in her emerald green eyes, the way her muscles rippled under tan, freckled skin and bright clothes, the way her long lion's mane of golden and red hair blew back in the ocean breeze. Gwen had heard her screaming at Suzie and heard the scuffling as they practically fought over her - not over her person, like two stags over a doe, but over her life and whether she was to live or die.
Sam was so powerful, so strong, so courageous, and Suzie was so pretty and smart and borderline insane. And not to mention NEITHER OF THEM WERE MEN.
That was the part that was messing with Gwen's head; Suzie was a woman, Sam was genderqueer, so why had Gwen regarded them both that day as if she were attracted to them?
Because she WAS?
"Oh God..." Gwen moaned to herself as she realized she had zoned out and was now pulling into the parking lot outside her and Rhys' flat.
She had a lot to talk to him about, and she wasn't at all excited.
"There you are." Rhys murmured when Gwen staggered in the door. He sounded worried, but he was smiling.
He was still happy to see her even after all the shit she'd put him through since joining this bloody awful job.
"Is everything okay?" Rhys asked, worry returning.
"No, no it's not," Gwen said, "Rhys... I just have to tell you this, okay?"
She took a deep breath.
"I think I'm bisexual."
She'd chickened out and said the easier of the two things first.
"Jesus, I thought you were gonna say you were cheating on me," Rhys laughed, and Gwen tried not to visibly wince, "that's fine, Gwen. I'll love you no matter what you are."
"You mean, you don't mind?"
"Of course I don't bloody mind. You think I'm one of those guys who thinks my girlfriend's cheating on me because she thinks women are sexy too? You should know me better by now. At least this also gives us another thing we have in common."
Gwen surprised herself by giggling at this.
"You mean besides our flaring tempers and addictions to all that reality television rubbish?" She asked.
"You say it like it's a bad thing," Rhys said jokingly, "what made you think about being bisexual anyway?"
"Umm..." Gwen felt her face getting a little hot as she realized she was going to have to at least tell Rhys that she found two of her coworkers - one of whom was dead, but she could leave out that bit - physically attractive.
"What?" Rhys chuckled, "that embarrassing, is it?"
"It's not embarrassing!" Gwen protested, "I just... a couple of my... non-male coworkers at my new job are... pretty?"
"Special ops, eh?" Rhys teased.
"Bugger off!" Gwen laughed. Rhys laughed with her before becoming serious again.
"I... have something to admit to you, Gwen." He murmured, and Gwen's blood ran cold.
"What is it?" She asked softly, trying to hide how nervous she was.
What was Rhys going to say? Had he been spying on her and found out about what Torchwood really was? Was he angry with her for lying to him?
"I swear it was only once and it won't happen again, I promise," Rhys said quickly, "just please, please don't be upset because it doesn't mean anything to me and I'm sorry about what I did. I'm not happy about or proud of it or anything. But... a couple weeks ago, when I was out with my friends? And I didn't come home until the next morning? Well... I woke up that morning in another bloke's bed. I think I slept with him."

Nobody was at the hub when Gwen arrived with the pizza.
"Hello?" She called, still hoping she wasn't alone even though all the lights were off and there was no noise, "anyone here? I brought the pizza... anyone?"
Silence. Gwen sighed, sitting down on the couch, which creaked.
"More for me, then." She muttered halfheartedly, opening the pizza box.
The warm, familiar smell of it hit her like a punch to the face along with a rush of memories from the past months - joining Torchwood, making new friends, lying to Rhys, her fling with Owen, more lying to Rhys, her mixed feelings of disgust and adoration towards Sam and her peculiar, asinine ways, realizing she might be bisexual... more lies to Rhys, even though she'd told some of the truth in coming out to him.
Gwen was crying before she'd really realized it, big sobs wracking her body and tears rolling down her cheeks. She shovelled pizza into her mouth as she did so, knowing it probably looked silly but not really caring.
There was no one else here anyway. Or so she'd thought.
A slight movement in the corner of her vision made Gwen glance to her left, and to Gwen's relief and annoyance, she saw Sam appear from the door to the cells with wet hair and a towel around her neck. For a moment, Gwen thought she saw a look of concern come over Sam's face, but it was quickly replaced by her usual expression of somewhere-a-bit-more-irritated-than-neutral.
Gwen rolled her teary eyes.
"Great," she croaked, "it would be you of all people, wouldn't it?"
"Uh, yeah," Sam said, "I was feeding Sapph. Y'know, the dragon that we're supposed to take care of? Just doing my job, y'know, as a Torchwood agent, the job you wanted to find out about so desperately you stuck your nose where it didn't belong and then got all tangled up in our shit."
Gwen tried to keep the scowl on her face, but she was too vulnerable right now and Sam's words had cut deep. She crumbled, lapsing into sobs again.
Sam blinked as she realized just how much of a mess Gwen really was and felt a pang of guilt for snapping at her.
"Listen," she muttered with a gentleness that even surprised herself, "if you want me to go, I'll go, and leave you to... whatever it is you're going through."
She turned towards the cog wheel door and was almost close enough to activate it when Gwen stopped her.
"No, Sam, don't go," she whimpered, "I... I don't wanna be alone. Even if you're the last person I'd wanna talk to about anything."
Sam snorted in contempt.
"Oh trust me, Gwennie, the feeling is mutual." She said, glaring at her over her shoulder. Then she softened, if only slightly, turning back to her. "So what happened?"
"Rhys cheated on me," Gwen admitted reluctantly, "well... not really. He got drunk one night and woke up in bed with a coworker."
Sam stared at her, then started laughing.
"It's not funny!" Gwen exclaimed.
"You're this upset over your perfect, clueless boyfriend having a drunken one-night-stand while you have been sleeping with Owen for the past... how long has it been again? A month?"
"How did you know about-?"
"Oh please, it's beyond obvious, sweetie. It's not like you'd have to be a mind reader."
"Tosh told you, didn't she?"
"What's it to you if she told me? I could've figured it out by myself."
"Yeah right."
"Hey, do you want me here for your pity party or not?"
"It's not a pity party, it's me crying and eating pizza and opening up to someone I never imagined myself opening up to."
Sam scoffed, folding her arms over her chest.
"You always gotta slip in a little jibe at me, don't you?" She hissed.
"So do you!" Gwen protested.
"That's beside the point! Shouldn't you be relieved over this? At least it means you and Rhys are even, you have something in common in your otherwise wonderful, perfect relationship."
Gwen stared at her, then felt herself smile involuntarily.
"You're right." She murmured. Then she started to laugh, and couldn't quite manage to stop.
Sam frowned, more out of confusion than irritation.
"I see, you've lost your mind, okay then," she muttered, "I'll leave you to your breakdown."
"No, Sam, wait," Gwen said through giggles, "th... thank you, I guess. For staying with me."
Sam actually looked touched for a moment before she scoffed quietly.
"Whatever," she mumbled, "I didn't do it cuz I like you or anything."
She turned away, but only because she knew she couldn't hide the faint blush creeping on her cheeks. However, once the cog wheel door rolled shut behind her, Sam gave up on fighting the shy smile that had been threatening to break her stony scowl, subconsciously twirling a strand of her curly golden hair around one of her fingers.
Back inside the hub, Gwen shook her head in exasperation, staring at the space where Sam had been only a second ago.
She wasn't angry with Sam this time. More... bemused.
"I know that's not true," she said, even though Sam wasn't around to hear her anymore, "you do like me. It's obvious. You like all of us. So... why are you denying it?"