Afterwards: An "After" Fanfiction

Chapter 9: Temporary Fix

A/N: It's a long one! But it's important :) Enjoy!

It had been three days since Hardin left. Tessa had not yet received a reply to her text, and it was as driving her certifiably insane. "I was thinking about giving Luke a call." The frustrated blonde declared to Steph as they sorted through the latter's closet. "But I decided that I'm not petty enough to run to Luke just because Hardin is being difficult."

The other sat back on her bed, crossing her pajama clad legs. "You call having a guy you're dating spend a week with his ex 'being difficult?' I call it 'cancelled.' You should call Luke."

Tessa folded another pair of ripped jeans with a sigh. "First of all. Why am I doing all the work here? When you asked me to help you organize your closet, I thought that meant you'd be helping too, not sitting in your pajamas watching Netflix while I do all the work."

"But you're the Sagittarius. Don't they like to organize things?" Steph groaned as she grabbed a bucket of popcorn.

"That's Virgo. Go ahead and look it up." The blonde frowned, spotting the little black dress she had worn on the night she and Hardin hooked up. "Second of all...I'm not dating him."

"I'll say you're wrong to both of those but let me see if I can at least prove this horoscope thing." Sticking her tongue out, Steph reluctantly took out her phone to prove her friend wrong. But after a few moments, her eyebrows rose and her mouth fell into a frown. "You just might be right about everything. If I were you, I'd dig out that business card."

Tessa caught the sudden change in tone and crossed the room to join her friend on the bed. "What is it?"

Pulling the phone to her chest to hide the screen, Steph shook her head. "I know you said you're not petty but you might want to reconsider. At least for tonight."

"Just show me!" Tessa lunged for the phone, which slipped out from Steph's hands easily enough. With a victorious grin she eyed the page in question, but quickly became just as sullen as Steph had. "Oh...well fuck."

Now more heartbroken than upset, Tessa handed the device back to Steph as she stood to clear her head. The post made to Molly's Instagram, showing her and Hardin smiling while walking a dog in the park, made her stomach churn. She had known he would be visiting her. But it wasn't until she saw the photo that she actually considered he might be enjoying it.

"That doesn't look like he's breaking up with her in person to me." Steph added quietly, but the point had already been made. "Look...I know Molly. She's a pretty manipulative person and it probably isn't as rosy as she's making it seem."

Tessa sat with her chin in her hands. The two sat wordlessly for a few minutes until Tessa finally leapt up from her spot. "Fuck it! I'm texting Luke." She dug out her own phone and began furiously messaging the older male. "Great. He said he's free tonight. Tell Eugene to meet us at the same place as last time." 

As Tessa began packing clothes into Steph's closet with a newfound energy, Steph nervously cleared her throat. "Um, slight problem. I called things off with Eugene."

It took a while for the words to register in Tessa's frantic brain. "You WHAT?" She pulled her phone out again, nearly going white as she read a new message from Luke. "No, you have to come! I'm not going alone."

Steph shrugged. "Sorry, I literally can't. Tristan found out about the arrangement and she said she'd leave me if I kept seeing him, so I stopped."

"You said she would be supportive!" Tessa slapped a palm to her forehead. "What am I supposed to do now, you're the one who roped me into this whole thing and now you're not even doing it with me. He said he'll have a limo pick me up from your place in ten minutes, what do I do?"