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♫ 22 (over s∞∞n) by bon iver ♫
Standing outside of Krista's house, it felt like returning to the scene of the crime.
It was here where everything began falling like dominoes. But Greta knew that Julien was staying here. And she knew that he'd much rather sleep in the place he once called home instead of here with his friends.
At least, that's what she believed.
And when the door opened, she grimaced at the sight of her brother, Danny, being the first thing she'd seen here. Though, she would've thought that seeing him was better than seeing Krista.
"Please don't tell me you two are still dating?" She asked worriedly.
But the taller, dark-haired sibling scoffed at her. "You think I'm gonna pass up on Krista when she's got an ass like that? You're crazy, Grets."
Her face knew nothing but horror and disgust before she pushed her older sibling to the side. "Is he here?"
"Uh- Who are we talking about?"
Greta stormed through the entryway and through the living room at first before giving Danny more answers. "You know damn well who! Your buddy? My ex? Where the hell is-"
"JULIEN! YES!!"
She huffed, and her eyes rolled their way over to Danny, who only looked to her with a coy shamelessness as they both gathered the sound of a woman's vocals reaching such a high pitch above them. She walked up the stairs with caution, bracing herself for whatever she had expected to see.
Some moans were blended behind EDM noise. And from what very little could be seen behind the cracked opening of the bedroom door, Greta seethed at the sight of some slender-looking woman with dark hair that cascaded down her bouncing back.
But she opened the door despite being induced by the nauseous sight of it all. Any regular girl would be enraged at the sight of some other woman riding out their ex-boyfriends, especially their ex-fiances. But after enough instances, Greta had gotten used to it.
The two of them sleeping with other people had been some sort of pastime between the two. Whenever one did - which usually began with Julien - the other would find a way to pay them back twofold.
But now that they were in the middle of their break, Greta could only imagine just how many girls Julien brought into this bed. And in doing so, she was only urged to think back on that one decent month she had throughout it all.
The month spent belonging to Eli.
That was over with, now. Greta knew she needed to stop thinking about it. Instead, she walked over to the Bluetooth speaker that played the music. And picking it up, she turned the music off completely, careless of the jolt the poor girl made as Julien hurried to toss her off.
"Greta, what the fuck!?"
She didn't look at him first. Her eyes loomed over to the girl with cold disdain as she tossed the weighty speaker in her hands. "Get your clothes and get the fuck outta here before I break your kneecaps with this thing."
With her minidress and heels in hand, the girl was gone without putting her clothes on. Then, she glanced back down at Julien, bracing his enragement. "What the fuck's the matter with you, huh? You can't just barge into this room and act like we're still a couple!"
"Okay, first of all, we're still a couple. We're just on a break, alright? And if we weren't, then you should've stopped sending me those fucking 'yellow' texts months ago!"
She chucked the speaker at his covered-up body, then walked over to shut the door. But with the smell of sex and Chanel perfume still lingering in the air, Greta resorted to opening up the bedroom window to air things out instead.
Then, at the sight of his open pack of cigarettes, Greta took one to her lips, but not without giving one over to Julien. She lit them both up, and though their bodies were too far apart, their exhaled smoke reached out to combine with one another through thin clouds until finding refuge towards the ceiling.
Greta looked down at first, unsure of what to say or how she'd begin it.
Dwelling on better memories, her mind traveled to distant spaces. They all felt so faint now. With so much time spent thinking on Eli and their future together, thinking of Julien and the past she had with him had lost a bit of its grandeur.
But this was it. It was all she had now. If this slipped through Greta's fingers, too, then she didn't know what she'd do with herself.
Looking up, she could feel the way Julien's eyes placed themselves upon her. And she knew she couldn't keep silent for too long. "Were you serious about what you said last time?" She asked. "Y'know, about being ready?"
His British accent gave way to the resign he felt. Climbing himself out of the coolness impacted by the nicotine, he soon shook his head. "Nothing's changed for me, love." He told her. "What happened to that guy?"
Then, Greta shrugged. "You were right. I don't do complicated."
At first, he chuckled, then she followed with her own. Things eased themselves out now, and she stepped over to sit at the edge of the bed before dabbing some of the undone ashes into what appeared to be a makeshift ashtray on the nightstand.
"I'm sorry," She said to him. "I feel like the whole time we've been together, I tried to force you to be this other person when I should've known better."
But he countered. "No, you did what you thought was right. I shouldn't have cheated on you."
"You shouldn't have slept with my professor."
"I know."
"But maybe... I dunno, maybe I shouldn't have put my things into perspective over yours."
"I'm not following."
She turned back to him, finishing what was left of her cigarette before blowing out the smoke from her lips. This time, she faced him. And grabbing his hand into her grasp, she examined his touch thoroughly, recalling just how nice it was to be felt by him.
"I'm done changing you, baby. But I still want us to be married. So I was thinking... Maybe... Would an open relationship be something you'd be interested in?"
And to that, Julien scoffed. A bewildered gaze was set upon Greta as he tried to study the claim in her face. "What, you're serious?"
"Look, I don't care who you do it with. A part of me never did. I guess the thing that scared me the most was wondering if just one of these girls was going to be one to keep you away from me."
"And what about you?"
"I don't care about me."
Then he sighed. "Greta, I don't know if something like that will work between us."
"It has to," She protested. "Just make sure that I'm the one you come home to. We can make up rules and everything as we move along. But I want to make this work. I want us to go back to when things were simpler."
"And you call this simpler?"
"I call it a compromise." Before she knew it, frustration set in. She looked away from Julien and stood back up, feeling but a sliver of regret for coming here now.
Just when she thought that things between them could get good again, she didn't expect such resistance on his end. But piling herself together, she stood from the bed and from Julien's touch. Walking back over to the door, she could hear the restlessness he made trying to get up and put some clothes on.
Then, before she could reach the knob on the door, her hand was yanked, pulling her back some. The closeness she felt between Julien was mesmerizing, and she stared up into the green hues of his eyes. Instantly, his lips plastered themselves onto hers.
And tasting the familiar nicotine tinge on his wet lips, she surrendered herself into his hold. It was nice, not as good as she remembered, but it was enough. It had to be.
"Marry me..." He whispered to her.
And smiling back up at him, she bit her lip and nodded. "Of course."
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