Borrowed Time

Chapter Seventy Three

Did it make any sense at all to be afraid of going downstairs to eat Thanksgiving dinner with Shelby's family?  Of course not, she'd done it for years... But every year she had the same worry and it was mostly because of Shelby's aunt Darlene... She always had something to say about her appearance, about how she'd gained weight, lost too much weight, how her hair was flat, how her skin was broken out... She didn't want to deal with it again.

And looking in the mirror?  She knew which one Darlene was going to press on... She'd been eating more since she started dating Esme... Gianna had said that she should view it as 'finally eating enough', but she didn't want to do that.  God, this dress had looked nice a week ago...

"Shelbs?" Juliette called, waiting a beat for her response.

"Hm?" She peeked her head into the room before stepping inside. "Yeah, what's going on?" Juliette grimaced, standing sideways as she looked in the mirror... God, did she always look this bloated?  Maybe it was just from the plane yesterday but she felt like she looked fucking terrible.

"How does this look? I feel like it's pulling in my stomach, and I don't want to give Darlene another chance to say something, I'm still recovering from last year." Juliette said, and Shelby sighed, pulling Juliette's hands away from her stomach before she stepped in front of the mirror, easing her down to sit on the edge of the bed so that she couldn't look in it anymore.  Bastard.  How else was she supposed to judge her own appearance?

"Well, if Darlene wants to say anything about your appearance, I can comment right back on hers." Juliette appreciated the sentiment, she really did... But that wouldn't work.

"Darlene's beautiful though..." Shelby thought for a moment and sighed, nodding... Exactly.

"Maybe she is." Yeah. "But she doesn't need to know that."  Oh... God, that was kind of funny.

"That'd be so mean." Juliette paused, nudging Shelby lightly with her shoe as she did. "At least let me record it." Shelby let out a chuckle and nodded, turning to the mirror herself.

"Oh, obviously. I'd like the recording though."  Obviously.  That'd be the whole point of recording it.

"I'd take it on your phone."  Now, that might have seemed selfless, but it wasn't.  Shelby's camera was better, and Juliette didn't want to sacrifice the quality of it just for ownership.

"Perfect, we're on the same page." Shelby placed her hands on her shoulders... Okay... "Seriously though... You look amazing, dude." Juliette grimaced, feeling her skin crawl at the compliment... She wasn't in the right headspace to accept kindness.

"Thanks. So do you..." Juliette squinted, trying to figure out where she'd seen Shelby's dress before, and then it hit her.  She'd seen it in her own fucking closet. "Is that my fucking dress?" She asked, and Shelby paused for a moment, looking caught... and then looking pleased with herself.

"Hm? Oh, yeah."  Bastard.  So smug.

"What the hell, dude?" She sighed, and Shelby shrugged, smirking at her... Why was she smirking?  She was a thief.

"I'm holding it for ransom until you give my 'I <3 Dilfs' shirt back."  Oh.  Well, if that was the case then she was never getting her dress back because that had become a favorite shirt of hers, it was perfect for sleeping in... Shelby would just have to deal with that.

"So it's a hostage situation." She joked, and Shelby nodded, looking deathly serious.

"Mhm."  Huh.

"Well..." Juliette looked Shelby up and down and sighed, shaking her head... No one had ever looked as good in a dress as Shelby did in hers. "Shit, it looks better on you anyway..." Shelby looked down and then back at Juliette, almost seeming confused with what she said. Why?