When your video chat finally connected, your phone screen displayed the gleeful faces of both Sarah and Benny, presumably lounging on the couch as they grinned at you. Despite your foul mood, you couldn't help but smile at their visible excitement, your previous woes and anxieties momentarily forgotten as you waited for them to explain the source of their exuberant joy.

"Hi, babes!" Sarah greeted you. "We have some news that Benny really wanted to share."

"Huge news!" Benny added, earning a quick side eye from his wife.

"Normal news. I'm just happy 'cause he's happy, but-"

"You're pregnant!" you blurted, not putting much thought into your interruption.

Their smiles dropped almost instantly as they blinked at you, questioning your mental clarity with just one look. Their dejected stares were harsh but admittedly deserved, as Sarah had always told you that she did not want kids until she was at least thirty. Upon remembering this fact, your smile also faded as your expression shifted into one of embarrassment and regret, but the damage was done. They could only sigh, shaking their heads at you in clear disappointment.

"So... this is why we didn't ask you to guess," Benny finally said. "Because we knew you'd come up with some dumbass idea like this."

"Benjamin!" Sarah swiftly smacked her husband's arm and sent him a glare. "She clearly is already aware that that was a dumbass idea. You don't have to point it out."

"Sorry, I'm just truly astounded by how clueless she gets sometimes."

"Me too, love. Me too. I mean, do I even look pregnant?"

"No! And that's what's crazy to me– how did her mind even go there?"

Your embarrassment twisted into irritation as they openly discussed your perceived lack of intelligence. On a normal day, it wouldn't bug you all that much, but today your nerves were worn down due to your tussle with the older Bartell sibling, so you intervened with an agitated huff.

"Okay, okay– I'm fucking stupid or whatever! We get it. In my defense, many couples see pregnancy as 'huge news'. Also, I can only see you both from the neck up so I can't see anyone's pregnant or not pregnant stomach. Okay? Great! What's the huge news then?"

The couple shared a quick glance after your minor outburst.

"Uh, hey, (Y/n)– you doing alright, bud?" Benny asked, genuine concern visible across his features.

Unwilling to get into things yet, you tried a smile. "No, yeah. I'm fine, I'm fine. Sorry. Don't know what that even was. Seriously though, what's this huge news?"

The couple's excitement from the beginning of the call returned at your question, but you knew Sarah inside and out, so it was easy to spot her micro-expressions: the slight furrow of her brows and the unease in her barely narrowed eyes. She'd definitely picked up on the fact that something was wrong and that you were lying because she knew you just as well as you did her, and she'd probably press you for the truth as soon as an opportunity to do so presented itself. For now, though, it seemed she was going to go along with your charade the best she could.

"Benny almost fell for one of those timeshare scams at my work party, I helped him avoid the scam, and then he turned around and fell for another, more expensive scam!"

"You did not need to air that all out," Benny grumbled before perking up yet again. "What she's trying to say is that we bought a boujee cabin across the country!"

Your smile faltered slightly as you waited for them to continue, but they only beamed at you expectantly. "...that's it? That's the news?"

"Huge news!" Benny corrected you.

"But that's not... um, okay. So the huge news is that you got scammed... and you bought a cabin on the other side of the country?"

"A boujee cabin!"

You closed your eyes as you processed the information being fed to you, nodding slowly. "So this is what I have to look forward to if I get married: getting scammed into buying a property I neither want nor can probably really afford. Cool. I am just... thrilled for you guys."

You sent him a sardonic smile, and Benny began to sputter an incoherent defense while you and Sarah struggled not to laugh at him, both of you sharing secret smiles as he buried his head in his hands.

"I told you, love. It's not the win you think it is," Sarah cooed, rubbing his back soothingly while you giggled at their silly exchange.

"I shoulda known she'd react this way. James reacted the same way earlier."

At the mention of your other best friend, your mind drifted back to your fight with him and your laughter came to a subsequent pause as your smile dropped yet again. You tried to fix your face but you were too late, and this time your friends wouldn't let the shift of expression go ignored.

"Okay, babes- what's going on tonight?" Sarah questioned gently. "You seem down. Did something happen between you and Jamie? Cause when we called him he also seemed tense when you were brought up. He's been weird about you in general lately, but I haven't had time to really talk to you or him about it in depth."

You gnawed on your bottom lip anxiously for a moment, trying to decide where to start. You still weren't fully sure what had happened between you and James today, nor where things went wrong, but you felt no more confident in explaining why things had been rough between you and him for the past couple of months either.

"We had a fight," you finally said, your voice tight and thin. "We'd sorta already been having one in a way, but it all came to a head before you called. If you just called him and he seemed weird, then it probably happened right before you guys talked."

Benny nodded. "Yeah, we called James right before we called you. He didn't give a damn about the cabin either!" Sarah shot him a look and he mumbled an apology before continuing. "But he was notably quite... well, I don't know what he was exactly when we brought you up, but he was certainly going through the motions over something. What was your fight about?"

"I didn't know you guys talked about me on your calls," you murmured dryly in a sad attempt to stall the conversation from getting too deep or painful. Even though you'd been waiting for weeks to find a time to call Sarah and discuss everything, you had emotionally shut down after the fight. Vulnerability was definitely not one of your current strengths.

"Nice try," Sarah responded, face stern. "Of course we talk about you– you're our best friend. And you and I talk about him too, so I'd say it's fair. Anyway, we're not breezing past this, (Y/n). You and Jamie haven't ever had a fight that's affected you both this much or been this serious. The last time it got close was right after the kidnapping, right?"

"Well... adults have arguments sometimes, right? So it's not a big deal," you argued quietly, not even convincing yourself of your claim. They sent unimpressed looks your way, and you figured you might as well just finally get into it. "Okay, yeah. That was when it all started, but things have been progressively getting rockier between us. We yelled at each other, Sarah. Me and James just yelled at each other."

Her eyes widened at your words, and Benny winced– further affirming that this was in fact a big deal. You felt your stomach begin to churn anxiously as your mind began to circle through different ways you could quickly mend things with James.

"Should I text him and apologize? I'm gonna text him," you decided, your fingers moving to minimize the face chat and go into your messages app to draft up your confused sorries.

"Wait– wait, don't," Sarah interjected. "Let's get into it before you do anything. What was your fight about?"

You paused as you considered the question. What was your fight about, really? Your alleged disregard for your safety, your new relationships, or maybe your recent distance from James? It felt like it was all of that, but also so much more. God, when and how was it that things started going downhill so fast?

"Did I tell you that Piper Greene is around again?" you asked, figuring you could start there.

"Oh? That's icky. Right?"

"Well..." you chuckled nervously, and her brow quirked up dubiously. "He's my friend now and I hired him– Jamie wasn't a fan of that choice. I also hired that Oakley guy– once again, Jamie wasn't exactly a fan of the decision, but then he also conducted a private investigation on him which made me upset. Oh, and things with Angel got... questionable– and I'm not even sure why that got to Jamie, but it did. So James is unhappy, to put it lightly, and things have been somewhat less normal than usual, you could say."

Your tone was deceptively light and uncaring, but that unfortunately garnered more concern from Sarah and Benny as they gawked at you.

"Babes," Sarah sighed. "What?"

"You're doing the thing where you try not to take serious situations seriously," Benny added. "You're a chronic minimizer when it comes to yourself."

"He's the shrink and my opinion holds no professional weight, but as someone who knows and loves you, I have to agree, (Y/n). Also, I'm reinstating texting in this friendship because clearly your life has become too eventful for these once-a-month calls to cut it. Jesus."

"I know, and I'm sorry for not updating you," you apologized. "I guess it all felt too big to text, if that makes sense, and also... I don't know– it's kinda embarrassing. I feel like a petulant little kid every day and I have James' voice in my head all the fucking time affirming the feeling. I didn't wanna bug you with what felt like little tantrums or moments of stupidity," you admitted, lip beginning to quiver as tears once again threatened to fall from your eyes. "I just– I feel so stupid all the time."

Sarah's expression softened as she nodded along attentively, taking a moment to process your feelings before sharing her thoughts and opinions. Her demeanor felt more like that of a therapist than sarcastic and playful Benny's did sometimes, and her consistent quickness in understanding you did help boost your spirits a bit. You missed her like crazy.

"I wish I was there with you so bad," she frowned, echoing your thoughts. "This all seems so overwhelming to deal with on your own. Do you wanna just get it all out? You can tell me everything that's gone down and then we can all figure out your next steps together. Benny'll even pitch in with actual psychiatric advice! Maybe..."

"If I don't then I'll just feel like I'm third wheeling without a real purpose!" he confirmed cheerfully.

"You are," you confirmed, a soft smile playing on your lips as the couple chuckled at your jab.

"There's our girl!" Benny beamed. "At the cost of my pride, maybe, but it's a price I'm willing to pay to see that smile. Now spill."

And spill, you did.

Somehow, without shedding any more tears, you told the couple in detail nearly everything that had gone down with James since you last spoke to them. You tried not to spare any details when it came to his and your timeline, talking about everything from his almost jealous behavior to the strange touchiness and sentimentality that he'd been showing you, and you finished up by explaining your fight in more depth,

You did not, however, go into immense detail concerning your interactions with your other friends, as you didn't feel like airing out all of their private business was necessarily fair to them– especially after James' actions with Oakley. You shared the basics– the new boundaries you had with Angel, Oakley's constant pursuit of your heart despite your insistent rejections, and your recent closeness with Piper were all disclosed to them– but some things (secret superpowers and breakdowns, mostly) were left unspoken. Maybe you should've spoken up more about Angel's concerning codependency and Oakley's strange outbursts, but the last person you'd shared those things with was James, and the sour taste that conversation left in your mouth left you hesitant to address such topics again so soon.

You also notably left out your incredibly recent discovery concerning Piper, due to an intense bashfulness you'd never felt before when it came to talking crushes. It was a bit pathetic that you were chickening out after weeks of mentally promising to explore your feelings for him with Sarah and Benny, but this was kind of huge for you– and you still had strong feelings for James too. This conversation was already long-winded and confusing enough without getting feelings involved, especially ones that felt so... high school.

No matter how much you knew the pair on the other side of the screen loved you, it was so embarrassing. You'd have to hope that your long yet slightly incomprehensive recounting of what was somehow your life lately would be enough to satiate the couple. Currently, it looked like it was, as they were stuck fuming over a certain dig made towards you just before you had entered your call.

"I'm trying to figure out where he got the fucking nerve to say you making friends was equivalent to seeking male attention?" Sarah seethed, visibly trying to retain her already fiery disappointment in her brother. "He sounds like our dad. Ooh, you should've told him that– that would have shut him up for sure."

"I don't know if that would've made things better between us, Sarah," you pointed out with a small smile.

"As much of a dick as he was, I'd have to agree with (Y/n) here," Benny sighed, concealing his frustration a bit better than his wife. "It's not bad at all to feel angry, but I think you'd regret trying to hurt him in your anger if you said that, the same way he likely regrets trying to hurt you in his. That being said, I do think that Angel and Oakley are both exhibiting some concerning behaviors, and you might benefit from being a bit more wary of them. Also... maybe we should be a bit more wary in general."

"He's right," Sarah nodded with a sympathetic smile. "I'm not in any way saying Jamie went about things the right way, but you have been making some sort of questionable choices. Leaving your window open when the Rowan issue was still at large? Not freaking out at all when Oakley laid his hands on you? I'm glad you've been able to place boundaries with Angel, but you've really got to put up more of a defense. You're not invincible, and acting like you are could lead to serious consequences."

"I know, I know," you groaned, frustrated with yourself at the mention of your clear carelessness. "I know I should be. And I will be. I'm seeing them both soon outside of work and I'll try to keep my guard up. I mean it. But still... the way that Jamie's gone about it makes me feel so moronic and helpless. And he's right in a way– I really don't have a clue what I'm doing with all these new relationships, despite what I tell them and myself."

You rested your head on your table and groaned again, internally chastising yourself as you thought about all the times you'd recently leapt into situations thoughtlessly.

"Hey! No brooding." Benny's stern voice caused you to lift your head to face your camera in slight surprise, never having heard him sound so authoritative towards you. "That actually worked? Haha, nice. Whatever– what I'm trying to say is that you have no clue what you're doing in your relationships the same way that everyone at some point has no clue what they're doing when they start branching out from whatever their 'normal' is. You've been living 'James-world' since– well, pretty much since the day you met him– so now that you're finally moving outside of who you were inside of that crush, you're inevitably gonna fumble around a bit. It's not fun for you and you're bound to make mistakes, but they're not mistakes that make you any more or less immature or stupid than the rest of us. You're just a late bloomer, and that's not a crime!"

"And also– you're not unintelligent!" Sarah added adamantly. "So don't listen to the part of yourself that's saying that. Naive and a bit too trusting? Sure– for now. But you're still a smart, intuitive young woman with multiple skills and talents, (Y/n). You graduated business school at an accelerated pace and you run an incredibly successful small business."

"And you're a botanical expert!"

"And you're a botanical expert. So please don't take our advice as an affirmation of your inner doubts. You should work on your flaws, but you should simultaneously recognize your strengths."

Your cheeks heated up as you struggled to accept their kind words. Since Gran Gran's passing you weren't great with compliments or words of affirmation, as they weren't granted to you often. Sarah was always your biggest cheerleader, but she just wasn't around as much– but it was safe to say that today both she and Piper had your love tank fuller than it'd been in a while with their sweet words You couldn't let James' words or your inner doubts take away from that.

Their sentiments also forced you to come to a realization that you never thought you'd have to come to, or even want to. It wasn't just their words– most of today's events as well as your recounting of the past few months had helped, too– but regardless, there wasn't any denying it anymore. Not if you truly wanted to grow into a wiser, better version of yourself.

"I think it's time for me to try to get over James," you announced with a sad smile. "And maybe also keep some distance from him for a while."

It was a bittersweet decision, one you felt self-assured in while still feeling woeful about all you were giving up on. But you couldn't keep on letting James' doubt in you fester and grow into your intense dislike for yourself, and that couldn't happen until you removed him from the crush pedestal. Your mindset just wasn't healthy when you were sitting around waiting for him to notice and choose you, and now it was threatening to hurt your other relationships.

Besides, how much longer could you really keep following James around like a lovesick puppy without ever having your feelings returned? That would only serve to wear you down emotionally and cause you to grow resentment towards him, which wasn't fair.

You'd miss his company, his smile, his laugh– and you knew that you couldn't just lose feelings in a second. But space from him was what you felt you needed to grow into a better version of yourself. He'd left things in your court anyway, so when you felt ready, you could see if he was willing to reinstate a close friendship again.

It was ironic, when you thought about it, that after James had claimed you were pushing him away for others, now you actually would be. Except you weren't doing it exclusively for others, but also for yourself, and there was something both empowering and devastating about it all.

Sarah sighed, wearing a similar smile as you. "It makes me sad to agree with you, but I do. I don't think he's allowing you to become your own person for whatever reason, and I think some distance will do you both good. And you have other friends closeby now to occupy whatever time he used to fill."

"He was hardly filling my time at all, lately..." you mumbled, pausing when a notification popped up at the top of your screen: a text, from Piper.

11:24 - love doctor 🌱

- Yo yo yo ‼️

- There's a few days we can do the farmer's market

- You pick one and lmk

- [attachment sent]

- My bad for texting so late I was being an academic weapon and lost track of the time💪

- The price of being an overworked genius ig

As you clicked on the attachment revealing the farmer's market flier with its location and dates, the corners of your mouth quirked up subconsciously at the reminder of your future hangout. Before you could catch yourself in the act, you spotted Sarah and Benny eyeing you suspiciously from the top corner of your screen. Oh boy.

"I feel like the heart eyes you're making aren't directed at me," Sarah observed matter-of-factly. "I'm hurt and also intrigued."

You attempted a frown. "I don't make heart eyes for anyone, okay? I just got a text."

"From?"

"Nosy, nosy." You failed to bite back your smile again, realizing how similar you sounded to the man texting you. Still, you weren't one to keep Sarah entirely in the dark, so you tried to answer her nonchalantly. "It was just from Piper."

Benny broke his short vow of silence as his eyes practically bugged out of his head. "Piper's texting you at this hour?"

You peeked at the clock on your phone, confused. "Yeah, and?"

"You are so clueless about these things, (Y/n). He's being-"

"That's slutty," Sarah interrupted accusingly.

"Well– yeah, actually. That is pretty slutty of him. What's going on there, is he– wait are you texting back?"

Yes, you very much were– and you didn't see any issue with that. You lifted a finger to momentarily silence the nonsense coming from their side of the call so you could focus on responding.

11:27 - you

- omg am i contributing to you being overworked???

- i can cut your hours if you need

- even tho you're only working like two days we can still work something out

- i will actually die if i find out i am making my employees lives harder in any way

11:28 - love doctor 🌱

- Don't worry I thrive under intense pressure and being overbooked!

- Turns out working two jobs while in big boy school is insane

- But i am both the unstoppable force and the immovable object and also I need to make livable wages!

- It's cool tho

- Cause Im the greatest mind of our generation

- U think kafka ever sat around doing nothing

- No

- He was up all hours of the night using his brain

- For slightly unhealthy reasons yes

- But I'm better than him anyways so it's different

- Sorry franz fly high 🕊️

11:29 - you

- you rn: ☝️🤓

11:30 - love doctor 🌱

- 😐

"Oh my God. She likes him," Sarah claimed with total assurance, reminding you that you were still on call.

Your eyes snapped to their little corner of the screen– their wicked little corner of the screen where they both were grinning and snickering deviously at you.

"Unbelievable," she laughed. "He was your little nemesis when we were babies, but now how the tides have turned."

Benny gasped. "No way you knew each other when you were little kids too! I didn't quite understand how you both knew him earlier but I had a hunch! How come I've never heard about this guy before tonight? This is too good."

"It's like she said earlier, he just moved back and he was kind of irrelevant as soon as he moved away in middle school. Damn, his younger self would be ecstatic if he knew after all those years pining fruitlessly."

"He liked her?

"Mhm– real bad. Oh, and she's ready to get over James now too."

"True. Piper's perfect opening. God, this is better than TV honestly."

You glared at them both as they went on with their little comments, waiting for them to let you actually get in a word. It took a while, but as soon as they shut their loud mouths for more than a single second, you cut in.

"Okay, okay, okay! Yes, I have a tiny crush! It's not a big deal and I'm not gonna do anything about it! I just realized today, that I still have feelings for Jamie. Also, Piper told me he wasn't into me the day I gave him a job. So we're just becoming good friends."

"I don't know, babes... late night texting is so slutty," Sarah insisted, chuckling at your bashful expression. "I think it's good! You deserve to have a fun new crush after chasing James for so long, and to feel butterflies again for someone who might feel the same way. Besides, from what little you've shared today, Piper seems like a good guy now. And honestly, if you like him even when Jamie's sending you weird romantic signals, then he's gotta be pretty fucking great. I see no harm in this."

You forced your lips into a firm line, not wanting to get your hopes up too high. You didn't think that a new relationship was necessarily what you needed, especially not when you still held feelings for James. That would be indisputably shitty of you to put a partner through. That being said, your crush on Piper was maybe a lot bigger than what you'd led on. And it wouldn't hurt to see where things went, especially as you began to let go of your feelings for James.

"I'll let whatever happens, happen. But I really am okay with just being friends with him, cause he is fucking great. And now that I have more than three, I can confidently say that friends are pretty nice– even when the relationship is rocky." You didn't fight the smile that found its way to your face as you thought about Piper, and you shared your future plans with the couple on the phone. "Piper actually asked me to go to the farmer's market with him, which I'm really excited for."

Sarah shared a soft look with her husband before addressing you. "Me and Benny love the farmer's market up here. When is it?"

You clicked the flier again and actually read the dates, only seeing one you could attend, except... you hummed as you thought about your options.

"What's wrong?"

"Well, I'm busy for the first couple of dates, and the only one I think I can make–" your voice got caught in your throat, and you elected to simply screenshot the flyer and text it to Sarah.

Her eyes roamed the screen, softening when they paused on the date she knew you were referring to. "Ah. Gotcha. You can't reschedule things to leave a different day open?"

You shook your head. "They're days I have stuff planned with Angel or other shit, and the only date after is the night of the gala. I'd feel rude canceling on any of them."

"Maybe you can find a different market–"

"I think I'll do that day."

"Are you sure, babes?" she prodded gently. "You haven't even spent that day with me or Jamie these past three years."

"I'm sure," you answered with a resolute nod of your head. "I think it'll be nice to not spend the day alone for once, and Piper always seems to lift my mood even when I'm extra down. Besides, I think Gran Gran would be glad to know I'm spending the day with him. She'd probably smile and tease us both, honestly."

"She certainly would," Sarah smiled. "But, damn– you must really like this man."

"Maybe," you admitted with a shy grin that Benny and Sarah called out giddily, like they were the ones crushing on him.

You wrapped up your call shortly after, all of you being hit with waves of exhaustion at the late hour, and after saying goodbye you quickly completed your night routine. You habitually made sure to text Angel a quick goodnight text complete with an 'i love you', but you found yourself texting Piper for much longer once you'd crawled into bed, fighting off slumber until you couldn't anymore, your phone still in your hand when you'd dozed off.

Today had been rough, but you had hoped the things you'd learned about yourself were indicative of a brighter future and good things to come.