Level the Playing Field

Divulgence.

A/n: Uh oh. Tw// mentions of assault, nothing too heavy. Enjoy ☺️

"It's me. I'm the one who's been telling Annita about you and Jude." The confession comes on Friday night during the trios very tense watch of Civil War. Celine doesn't take her eyes off the screen once but Sadé hears her loud and clear. Tears flow freely down her cheeks. Sadé faces the screen once more. The tension in the room has been palpable since the minute she stepped foot in their flat. Mikayla, ever being the voice of reason, has been trying to get them all together again. Sadé, on the other hand, has been ignoring every message of apology from her but Mikky, her sweet Mikayla, isn't like that. She couldn't ignore Celine like Sadé has, so for her sake, she reluctantly agreed to have Celine over for their weekend movie nights like they always have. They haven't spoken a word to each other since she arrived, in fact, this is the first thing she's uttered since being here.

"Okay." Sadé responds coolly, completely engrossed in the scene of Bucky fighting Steve.

"Okay?! No! Not okay! Why?" Mikayla is bewildered, she's not sure if it's because of her nonchalance or Celine's confession. Maybe both.

Celine chokes on a sob; "I heard her talking about how distant Jude has been with her to her friends and I just... I offered to tell her about Sadé and him if she'd make sure I- we were invited to all their events because of Sean." She curls in on herself after the confession.

"Celine... that's so low." The disappointment in her voice is clear as day. Celine cries harder.

Sadé thinks it's so funny that just the other day while aimlessly scrolling on TikTòk she saw a video of a woman ranting about the dangers of male- centered friends. She had immediately thought of Celine, but quickly tried to shake the thought from her mind. I'm just being dramatic. Now she's realizing she wasn't.

"She told me to make sure you came to the game night thing and to make sure you keep talking to Trevor. I don't know if she thinks that you liking someone else means you'll leave Jude alone or she and Trevor are planning something." She hiccups pathetically after her admission.

"Sadé..." Mikayla calls to her cautiously.

"I'll be in my room."

**************

Jude [7:20 pm] : Are you going to force me to confront you in front of everyone on Monday? Because I will.

Jude [7:25 pm]: Keep ignoring me Sadé, I swear I'll do it.

Sadé [7:26 pm]: Jude, leave me alone.

Jude [7:27 pm]: I have, now it's time to talk.

She immediately goes to disagree remembering Celine's confession and how she's still in the living room.

Jude [7:28 pm]: I have some explaining to do, I owe you that at least.

And what can she say? She has always been curious.

**********

She pointedly ignores Celine and Mikayla on the couch as she heads for the front door.

"I'm going for a walk Mikky, I'll be back soon." Sadé's out the door before she hears her friend's response.

Jude is seated alone on one of the benches in the third row of the stands in a wife-beater tank and some simple shorts. The field is brightly lit and seems so much bigger without twenty-two bodies occupying it. Sadé comes to a stop a few feet away preferring to remain standing. She sucks in a subtle breath at the obvious way he scans her entire body. From her box braids to her t-shirt, to the black biker shorts and her feet clad in slides. It hasn't rained for a couple of days now and the weather is really warming up.