the eras of us ⎹ Lana Parrilla & Jennifer Morrison

Chapter 1

"I can't believe you really brought me to a bar," Lana said as she threw her blazer over the back of a chair before sitting down.

"Why not?" her best friend asked. "It's been ages, honey, and maybe you could—"

"Oh no, Bex!" the brunette sighed. "Don't tell me this is about me and finding someone to date because, guess what? I am not interested."

"Hello, dear," Bex smiled at the waiter who just approached the two women, totally ignoring the complaints of her best friend. She even ordered for both of them — Tequila. "Thank you, love," the actress smiled at the waiter, before looking at Lana again.

"Oh, so I can't even choose my own drinks? What else?"

"Calm down, okay? I never said that you have to find the love of your life tonight. But a little fun is never wrong, right?"

"Are you—" Lana squinted her dark brown eyes a little bit. "Are you trying to—"

"Get you laid? Yes — and maybe the cute waiter is just the right guy for that. He really seemed to like your outfit."

"Forget it."

It wasn't long until the handsome waiter, who Bex guessed was in his early thirties, returned to their table with two glasses of Tequila. Now Lana also seemed to notice how his eyes lingered on her cleavage for a bit too long. The brunette didn't plan to look sexy or whatever, but her black skin-tight top, which hugged her curves in all the right places, seemed to attract that attention — or maybe it was the push-up bra under it.

"Cut it," Lana mumbled. She knew Bex wanted to point that out and convince her to flirt. It made her ex that whole Tequila shot, and earned her a laugh from her best friend.

"You act like I brought you to hell, honey. It's a bar with a cute guy — a lot of cute guys."

"Yeah, and I thought we were having a girls' night. Sorry for looking forward to that..."

"Darling, we have girls' nights almost every night."

Lana snorted, mumbling something like "Sorry I'm such a burden to you," which caused the other actress to reach over the table and grab her hand. This gentle touch seemed to calm the brunette a bit down.

"Do you want another Tequila, honey?"

"Yeah, but I'm gonna get it myself."

Bex smirked while watching her best friend going over to the bar to order another drink. This evening would end up good — she could feel it.

"Hey, what's going on over there?"

The barkeeper turned around to face the actress and then followed her eyes to one of the private rooms you could rent to throw parties. "Oh, there is a bachelorette party going on."

"Oh god," the brunette rumbled in her deep voice. "I feel the urge to warn the bride."

"Why? Do you not believe in marriage?"

"Been there, done that — and no."

The man raised his left eyebrow in amusement but didn't respond to her statement. Instead, he asked her what she wanted to drink, and the actress just simply replied with, "something strong." The barkeeper nodded, and while he prepared her drink, Lana let her eyes hover over to the rented room. Loud music came from behind the thick curtain which substituted as a door. She could hear people cheer and wondered what they were doing in there. 'Probably some disgusting bachelorette games,' she thought. But still, her eyes lingered on that dark blue curtain, which someone shoved to the side to go over to the bar. 'Oh my god,' it shot through her head as she saw who it was. Her blonde hair was pin-straight and long to her elbows. A little light blue dress hugged her curves, and Lana couldn't believe that it was really her.

"Jennifer?!"

"Lana?!"

"What- What are you doing here?" Jennifer couldn't believe her eyes. She was only a few meters away from her old co-star and could still smell her perfume — that damn perfume. Her dark hair was long and wavy — gorgeous!

"What are you doing here?!" Lana returned the question, equally still in shock. The two women just stared at each other in silence for a moment — none of them knew what to say or if this was even real right now.

"What can I get for you?" The Barkeeper broke the silence and reminded them that it was, in fact, real life.

"Oh, um- I'll have.. something strong."

"You too? Damn, what did that show do to you?"

Lana and Jen looked at the smirking man who began to prepare the same drink he prepared for the brunette a few minutes prior.

"So," the blonde actress started and took a seat on the barstool next to her ex co-star. "You still haven't answered my question."

"Bex brought me here to get laid."

"Wha-"

"It was her plan, not mine," Lana said quickly. "But what are you doing here? And what were you doing behind the curtain? I heard there is a bachelorette party."

Jennifer swallowed hard, then nodded. She was thankful that the barkeeper handed her the strong alcoholic liquid, which she took a large sip from. "It's so... weird."

"What do you mean?"

"This," the blonde gestured. "All of this, it's- it's so fucking strange. Why are we here? Why did Bex- Wait, did she know I was here?!"

"Why would she?"

"I don't know. Where is she anyway?"

Lana was about to point to the table she left a few minutes ago, but the chair in which her best friend had been sitting was empty. Perplexed, she looked around but didn't spot her anywhere.

"Did you lie to me?"

"No! Why would I lie?"

"Well, I don't know!" Jen said a little louder and in a high-pitched voice. Her eyes lingered on her ex co-star's face, almost piercing through her gaze.

"Do- Do you think I planned this?" the brunette asked, slightly offended and slightly amused. "Jen, you really can't be thinking that I- I mean, how would I even know you're here? How would I know that you were invited to this- this bachelorette party?!"

The blonde actress didn't answer. Her pupils moved in slight panic until she tore her gaze away from Lana and back to the alcoholic drink in front of her.

"Oh my god," the brunette whispered, while also staring at her own drink, before taking a large sip. "You know," she started after a few quiet seconds, her voice deep and more calm than before, "you could've said something."

"Why? 'Once' ended, and we never spoke again. It's been a few years..."

"Two. It's been two years, and you still could've- I don't know, let me know or- or let anyone else know."

Jennifer cleared her throat, nodded slightly. That was enough for Lana to know that something wasn't right. "Your best friend knows." She spilled the secret eventually.

"What?!"

"I told Ginny a few months ago, and apparently she couldn't keep her mouth shut," the blonde explained. "She felt bad and told me that my secret had slipped out when she and Rebecca talked."

"Your secret," Lana repeated. "Who are you marrying? Do I know him? Is he famous?"

"He's not. His name is Marcus, and we met a few months ago when-"

"You met a few months ago?!" The brunette almost spit out her drink. She tore her gaze away from her alcoholic beverage and looked over to Jennifer again. "When did he propose?!"

"If you know, then you know, okay? It felt right with him. I love him, and he loves me and-"

"After how many months?" She still wanted to know.

Jennifer sighed and took another sip of her drink. She knew how this would sound to anyone — crazy. She already had that talk with her family, which couldn't understand either how you could agree to marrying someone after "three months."

"Barkeeper?" Lana waved her hand, pointing to her empty glass when the man looked at her. "I need another one."