AN AWKWARD SILENCE settled over the living room as Kurt made his second demand of the night. Lindy stiffened in the seat of the couch, feeling an urgent desire to remove herself from the circumstances before it became they became any more tumultuous than they already had.
Krist got up from his seat nervously, looking up at the staircase and announcing that he was going to go check on Frances. Lindy began to get up too, suggesting that she join him, but Kurt grabbed her arm and pulled her back down.
"No, stay," he instructed. His fingers were soft against her skin, a gentle reassurance that she needn't run away. Despite what had happened to him, he appeared to have total control over his emotions.
Once it was only the four of them left in the room, Courtney spoke, except she spoke directly to Lindy with a feverish glare that matched her cold tone and made it clear that she was displeased with Lindy's very existence.
"So that's why, huh? Kurt tried to kill himself because I wouldn't give him a divorce? I love how he thought about Frances before doing that."
"You're wrong. It had everything to do with that I failed you as a husband and I have to live with that everyday," Kurt responded bitterly. His jaw was taut, the muscle there moving dangerously.
Courtney was unfazed by Kurt's surprisingly heartfelt confession. She pressed on, adamant that both he and Lindy pay for the consequences of their secret relationship, all while forgetting about the one that she too had partaken in.
"Do you really think I'm just going to let this happen?" Courtney said snidely. Lindy could see a flush rising in her neck, an angry red color that was spreading to her face.
"Well, what about Billy Corgan, Court? How's he doing?" Kurt retorted lightly.
Courtney bared her teeth like a rabid animal. "That doesn't make what you did any better!"
"It doesn't. Because our relationship wasn't meant to be. For Frances, yeah, but . . . not for us."
Kurt's voice drifted as he finally said aloud the same thought that he had mentally faced for not only months, but years.
"If you're so concerned about Frances, then maybe you should consider the idea that you're not safe for her to be around," Courtney spewed. "After today, I'm not sure that you're a responsible guardian."
The threat had not been made for Lindy, but yet she felt the toxic blow that it delivered as if it had been. Courtney had certainly hit below the belt. Kurt had already suffered through almost losing Frances once, and to potentially lose her again would be a death sentence. A death sentence all over again . . .
His face blanched and Lindy felt his body go slack as Courtney served her verdict. Lindy shot a malicious glower Courtney's way. Now, she finally felt that she had been personally involved in their fight. Anything that would hurt Kurt's already fragile mental health was something she would readily fight against, even if that something was the notorious Courtney Love.
"How could you say that to him?" Lindy hissed. "After everything that he went through today? Don't you ever claim again to care about his well being if you're going to walk around saying that!"
This calling out of Courtney's behavior seemed to shame her; she glared but said nothing, obviously smart enough to know when she had been trumped by someone else's valid point that rested above her own. Lindy knew this wouldn't have stopped her from engaging in a physical fight, but it was enough to shut her up.
