Secrets

Real.

Cate let out a small smile at her friends. Cate Blanchett, their beloved friend who was supposedly dead and buried by her friends, was standing right in front of them. Before anyone could utter a word, everyone's attention was drawn away from Cate when they heard a thud sound and turning around, they saw that Sarah had fainted on the floor. Lily immediately sat down on the floor, slowly hiking Sarah's head on her lap. Laura and Taylor also knelt down and looked at Sarah, worriedly. But since it was only a faint due to stress and the sudden arrival of her dead friend, Sarah swooned.

After a few minutes, Lily let out a sigh when she saw Sarah opening her eyes and adjusting back to her surroundings. "Are you okay?" Laura asked, her voice soft. Sarah simply looked at her friend and gave a small nod. "Are you okay to raise your head?" Lily asked, still very worried. Sarah tried raising her head off of Lily's lap and when she wasn't attacked by another bout of fainting, she gradually sat up. Lily immediately took Sarah into her arms while Taylor cuddled up next to Laura.

Standing back up on her feet, they took Sarah back to the couch so that she could lie down. But since she was feeling well, she simply rested her head against the couch. Laura brought some liquid for Sarah to drink up and immediately served some food along with it. Once they were sure that Sarah was back to her healthy self, they all turned around to look at Cate. But they were surprised to see that Cate wasn't standing at the door, anymore. Everyone's brows immediately knitted together.

Taylor and Lily got up and checked the house for Cate, assuming that she must have wandered inside the house but there was no sign of Cate in the house. Lily and Taylor came back to the living back and closing the front door, sat back on the couch with their friends. Lily sat beside Sarah and took her girlfriend in her arms, Sarah immediately feeling better in her lover's arms. Taylor kissed Laura on the cheek before she cuddled up close to Laura.

"So. . ." Taylor tried to break the ice. Everyone looked at Taylor. Even though Sarah was physically present with them, her mind was miles away. "What the hell did we see, you guys?" Taylor's voice was on edge. "Was Cate really here or did we see her ghost?"

Everyone sat in silence before Laura decided to speak up. "Cate seemed so real." Her voice nostalgic.

Everyone was shocked to see their best friend after so long, especially after they themselves buried their friend. As Laura sat with her friends, she thought back to the the time when the door opened and it revealed a healthy and alive Cate Blanchett. Ever since her death and ever since they successfully buried Cate, Laura always dreamed of the day she would wake up from her nightmare and she would find Cate alive, laughing and making jokes with them. But that day never came until tonight when Cate herself showed up at their doorstep. As Laura thought back to Cate who let out a sly smile at her friends, Laura couldn't help but admit to herself that she had missed Cate so very much. Laura lowered her head and looked at her hand that was so securely held by her girlfriend. Looking up, she saw Taylor who herself was lost in her own thoughts.

Taylor couldn't believe that she was staring back at Cate at the front door. Taylor snuggled closer to Laura's side and resting her head on the raven-haired's shoulder, she began to think about Cate. After Taylor got over the fact that Cate was no longer an actress to her but her new friend, they soon became good friends and the five of them were very close to one another. But there was something about Cate that made her friends at ease around her. They all looked up to Cate for being both an excellent actress and also, for being a good human being and a kind friend to them. Taylor thought back to the times when Cate would always cheer her friends up. Whenever anyone was upset or they had a rough day, Cate would do a very simple thing for her friends: she won't do anything fancy or buy off their sadness either, she would simply take them for an ice-cream treat. Cate was the one who introduced a very trivial yet sweet tradition of having ice-cream whenever anyone was upset. And it worked wonders as well, no matter how upset they were, they would end up laughing and cracking up jokes with each other, while ordering ice-creams on a loop. Cate would just sit there, holding an ice-cream cone in her hand, with a small smile playing on her lips as she look back at her friends having fun and smiling again.