the eras of us ⎹ Lana Parrilla & Jennifer Morrison

Chapter 2

"I should... probably go back," Jennifer said after a few quiet minutes. Her eyes wandered to where the loud music came from — her bachelorette party. She could see that one of her friends moved the curtain aside to look for her. It didn't surprise Jen since she said she'd only go to the bar for another drink. But now? She doesn't know how long she's been actually sitting here with Lana; she lost track of time.

"Yeah, you should. It's your bachelorette party after all."

The blonde actress nodded before hopping off her barstool. "Do you wanna-," she stopped herself, looked around and still couldn't spot Bex anywhere.

"Have fun," Lana said with almost no emotion. "I guess I'll wait for Ginny to spill your secret when you're married."

Jennifer opened her mouth to reply, but eventually decided not to. In fact, she could feel how her blood pressure rose in anger — What right did her ex co-star have to be angry? They haven't spoken in two years, and even on the set of Once Upon A Time, they barely talked. "Your drink's on me," she simply said, made sure that the barkeeper knew, and then walked away.

Lana didn't react — she didn't even look after her, just simply watched how the alcoholic liquid moved around in her glass.

"Hey, there you are," Bex exclaimed and hopped on the stool next to her best friend.

"There I am?! Are you serious right now?"

"Why? What happened?"

The brunette couldn't believe how nonchalant the other actress was. Her dark eyes were wide open as she watched her order a drink as if nothing had happened. "Where were you?"

"What do you mean? I was right there where you left me."

"No, you weren't! When Jennifer asked, I-"

"Jennifer is here?" Bex was an amazing actress, but she could not fool her best friend. Again, a bit too nonchalant, she smiled at the barkeeper and thanked him for the cocktail she ordered. Lana watched her take a few sips, which caused Bex to look at her questioningly. "You still haven't answered my question, honey."

"Oh, I guess you already know the answer — and you also know that she is engaged!"

"I guess I do," the blue-eyed actress mumbled, while looking at her best friend contritely.

"At least you're honest about that."

"Look, it wasn't my place to tell you, okay? Ginny spilled the beans on accident, and I didn't want her to get in trouble. You know how bossy Jennifer can be."

"Oh, please," Lana murmured while rolling her eyes. "Jen is not bossy; she is shy and insecure, so she wants everyone to think she's bossy when, in fact, she's just... weak."

"Oh my, want me to call you 'your majesty' now? Cause that could've been a line of hers."

"Can we just go? Please? I really don't feel like hanging out at a bar where someone's throwing a bachelorette party — no matter who it is."

Bex smiled and shrugged. "We could ask to join them."

"Excuse me?!" the brunette almost spit out her drink.

"I know, it's bad manners to invite yourself to a party, but-"

"A bachelorette party!"

"Whatever," the actress smirked. "I bet they're having really nice food, and I do feel quite hungry, actually."

"Then just let us get some pizza — far away from here."

"Honey, I saw some really cute guys behind that curtain, and I am not leaving this bar until you talked to some of them — or one, at least. Appreciate that I'm so concerned about your sex life."