I made lasagna

 

When Joshua and Laura woke up, neither of them knew how to start a conversation—or even whether anything needed to be said at all. The kiss had already spoken for them. They were both still confused, trying to make sense of feelings they had never imagined they could have. They had never looked at each other that way before, and now that everything had finally changed, it felt impossible to put any of it into words.

Joshua walked over to her, gently took her hand, and placed a soft kiss on it.

"I’m going back to sleep before my head kills me."

Laura simply smiled and nodded.

He headed back to his room.

The moment Joshua stepped inside, he was greeted by the mess left behind from the night before. One glance at the bed was enough to remind him that Jennie and Matthew had slept there.

Or rather... they hadn't just slept there.

His eyes widened. He immediately walked back out and knocked on Jennie's door.

She opened it a few seconds later, her hair still an absolute mess.

"What?"

Joshua crossed his arms.

"Jennie... did you guys have sex in my bed?"

She stood there in silence for a few seconds before bursting into laughter.

"Josh..."

"Don't even try to change the subject."

She laughed even harder.

"Okay... yeah, it happened."

Joshua rubbed a hand over his face.

"That's disgusting!"

"Oh, come on..."

"No, Jennie! You could've used the couch, the floor, literally anywhere else in this house! Why my bed?"

The more annoyed he became, the harder she laughed.

"Alright, alright. My bad."

The two of them ended up changing the sheets together, joking and laughing the entire time. Once they finished, Jennie went back to her room, promising never to do that again. Joshua finally threw himself onto the freshly made bed, and before he could even process everything that had happened the night before, he had already fallen asleep again.

Laura took a little longer to drift off. Too many thoughts were running through her mind all at once. Eventually, though, exhaustion won. The only person who seemed to have made it through the party relatively unscathed was Scott. Then again, at nearly two meters tall, knocking over their golden retriever of a friend wasn't exactly an easy task. Laura always joked that her biggest mistake was trying to keep up with his drinking despite standing at a very modest five feet tall.

Scott slept for a little while longer, but by around eleven in the morning he was already up. He took a shower, changed into something comfortable, and walked over to Megan's house next door. Before he even had a chance to ring the doorbell, Dusty started barking excitedly the moment he spotted him, immediately catching his owner's attention.

Megan appeared at the window, still wearing her bathrobe. She smiled as soon as she recognized Scott and opened both the front door and the gate for him.

"Hey, stranger."

Dusty practically exploded with excitement while Scott happily returned all the dog's affection.

"Megan... I'm really sorry about yesterday."

She let out a small laugh.

"I don't even know how to ask about the three of you disappearing together."

Scott burst out laughing.

"Whatever you're imagining... you're completely wrong."

She raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

"Joshua proposed to Marcela before that kiss with Harry you saw. After that, he completely lost it. Laura and I spent most of the night trying to take care of him, and this morning Marcela was the one crying her eyes out. Honestly, I don't even know if she'll remember half of what she did."

Megan's eyes widened.

"Are your parties always this... peaceful?"

"I promise I'll make it up to you next time... assuming you don't decide to stop hanging out with us after all this."

She smiled.

"I'll think about it."

Scott smiled back, completely oblivious to the flirting.

"I have a feeling there'll be another party in a few days to help everyone forget this one. I'll let you know... or maybe I'll just show up here again without warning."

"I'll be waiting. And I'll decide whether all this chaos scared me away... or made me even more interested."

Scott simply laughed.

"You were an amazing friend yesterday."

She smiled warmly.

"So were you."

-

He stepped closer, kissed her forehead, and headed home completely satisfied. In his mind, that visit had been a huge step forward.

Little did he know... for Megan, it had been an even bigger one.

Their golden retriever was still completely oblivious.

A little after two in the afternoon, Sunset had taken over the kitchen, preparing lunch. The smell of food slowly filled the house while almost everyone else was still resting. Scott took advantage of the quiet to catch up on some club business on his computer. Joshua and Laura were still asleep in their respective rooms, and the only real activity came from Jennie's bedroom.

She and Youn Jin were lying on the bed, laughing nonstop as they tried to piece together the previous night's events in chronological order.

"So... I actually kissed him?" Jin asked, sounding almost excited.

"You did!" Jennie replied, laughing. "But after that I went to bed. Matthew slept with me in Josh's room. I had no idea you'd passed out in here."

"There was no way I was climbing another flight of stairs."

The two burst into laughter.

"So... did you guys just listen to music?"

Jennie put on the most innocent face she could.

"Of course..."

Youn Jin narrowed her eyes.

"Uh-huh..."

They immediately broke into laughter again.

"Alright... something happened."

"So? How was it?"

Jennie covered her face with both hands.

"He's so sweet. It was amazing. He even texted me this morning to ask how I was doing. I honestly didn't think men like that existed in Josh's club."

"I don't think he's even part of the club. From what I heard, he was Sunset's friend... or maybe a friend of one of her friends."

"Well... that explains it."

Youn Jin sighed.

"Chad and I didn't even exchange numbers. I barely remember what we talked about. I just remember wanting to kiss him so badly. I don't even know if I said goodbye."

Jennie smiled.

"Relax. You'll definitely get another chance to see him. Or maybe he'll come looking for you before that."

-

While one bedroom echoed with laughter, the other woke up in complete silence.

Marcela slowly opened her eyes and pressed a hand against her forehead, feeling as though a truck had run over her.

"My head is going to explode..."

Sarah was already half awake beside her. She had decided to sleep in Marcela's room again to make sure she wouldn't sneak off in the middle of the night.

"I can imagine."

Marcela closed her eyes for a few moments, trying to organize the few flashes she still remembered from the night before.

"I barely remember anything... I remember Josh coming to talk to me, but I have no idea what it was about. Then I remember drinking, talking to a bunch of people, dancing... and waking up just to drink again. That's it. I don't remember anything that happened in the bathroom this morning. Why were you all there? Was it really that bad?"

Sarah took a deep breath.

"It was... but nothing that can't at least be fixed."

Marcela immediately turned toward her.

"What did I do?"

Sarah hesitated for a few seconds. She didn't want to dump everything on her all at once.

"The conversation Josh wanted to have with you..."

She took another deep breath.

"He had bought new rings. He wanted to try again."

Marcela's eyes widened in a way Sarah had never seen before. She shot upright in bed.

"Oh my God... did I say yes?"

Sarah gave her a small grimace.

"Marcela... I'm sleeping in your room."

The color immediately drained from Marcela's face.

"I... turned him down?"

Sarah simply nodded.

Marcela ran both hands through her hair in complete disbelief.

"How could I say no? Oh my God... if he was willing to try again, I... I should've at least talked to him. We spent months saying we wanted to make this work. I couldn't just..."

She stopped herself and lowered her head.

"Oh my God, Sarah... I ruined everything."

Sarah gently took her hand.

"You told him you weren't ready yet. You didn't mean to hurt him."

Marcela stayed silent for a few seconds, trying to process everything.

"Okay... okay... that's all?"

Sarah looked away.

"No."

Marcela immediately felt her stomach drop.

"After that..."

"You kissed Harry."

She froze.

Blinking a few times.

As though her brain had completely stopped working.

"...Which Harry?"

"Harry."

"The blond one?"

Sarah nodded.

Marcela collapsed back onto the bed and buried her face in the pillow.

"No..."

Sarah almost laughed at the reaction.

"Yes."

Marcela's voice came out muffled.

"I kissed him?"

"You did."

She lowered the pillow just enough to look at Sarah.

"Did Josh see it?"

Sarah slowly nodded.

"Right in front of him. Pretty much in front of the entire party."

Marcela buried her face again.

"Oh my God... I want to die."

Sarah waited a few moments before continuing.

"After that, he practically drank the entire bar dry. Scott and Laura almost had to carry him upstairs."

Marcela took a shaky breath.

"I did that to him..."

Sarah simply nodded.

"And somehow... this morning you managed to make it even worse."

Marcela slowly lowered the pillow again.

"No..."

"Yes."

Sarah let out a small laugh.

"You woke up before the rest of us, snuck out of the room, found the leftover beers in the cooler... and started drinking again."

Marcela's eyes widened.

"I started my day drinking?"

"You did."

She covered her face with one hand, utterly defeated.

"I'm a disaster."

Sarah smiled faintly.

"We're not done yet."

Marcela groaned.

"Sarah... please..."

"Joshua walked into the bathroom without knowing you were in there. He found you passed out inside the shower, surrounded by empty beer bottles. Since you wouldn't wake up, he turned on the shower to wake you."

Marcela closed her eyes.

"I remember cold water..."

"Then that memory is real."

Sarah continued.

"You woke up completely drunk. Said you needed to talk to him... told him you loved him..."

Marcela hid her face in her hands again.

"I said that?"

"Mhm."

"Oh my God..."

"Then you tried to kiss him."

Marcela went completely still.

"He..."

She couldn't even finish the question.

"No. He moved away."

Sarah smiled softly.

"He actually panicked. When you started taking your clothes off, he turned around and started yelling for me and Sunset."

Marcela's mouth fell open.

"I TOOK MY CLOTHES OFF?"

"You did."

"Oh my God..."

"By the time Sunset and I got there, he was already soaked, trying to keep you from falling over. He wouldn't even look in your direction out of respect. Honestly, he looked terrified of giving in, like you were some kind of forbidden fruit."

Sarah laughed.

Marcela had absolutely no idea what to say.

"At least... he didn't have to go through that alone."

Sarah nodded.

"While we were helping you get dressed again, you kept repeating that you loved him. Then you started asking for the rings back. You kept saying you wanted the ring."

Marcela's eyes slowly filled with tears.

"I remember that... vaguely..."

"Then Jennie showed up saying she'd slept in Josh's room with Matthew."

Marcela frowned.

"...Okay."

"You asked where Joshua had slept. When you found out he hadn't been in his room, you immediately assumed he'd slept with Laura."

Marcela closed her eyes.

She already knew what was coming.

"I fought with him..."

Sarah took a deep breath.

"You started yelling at him. You said a lot of things that honestly aren't even worth repeating. Scott heard everything from Laura's room, ran over, and explained that the three of them had slept there because he and Laura had spent the night taking care of Joshua after everything that had happened. Then he grabbed Josh by the arm and got him out of there."

The room fell silent once again.

Marcela stared at the ceiling for a long time.

She felt ashamed.

Ashamed for turning down the proposal.

Ashamed for kissing Harry.

Ashamed for confessing her love like that.

Ashamed of her jealous outburst.

But beneath all that shame...

One thought kept forcing its way back into her mind.

Laura.

Always Laura.

She tried to push the thought away.

Laura's room was the only bedroom on that floor with its own bathroom. It made perfect sense that they had taken Joshua there. Scott had been with them too. There had never been anything romantic between any of them.

They had been friends since they were children.

She knew them both.

Knew them?

Or at least she thought she did.

If it had been any other woman, she probably wouldn't have questioned it. She would have simply felt jealous and assumed the worst. But with Laura... doubt lingered. There were too many reasons why things might be different. After all, Laura was her best friend.

She was Laura.

The woman who had always been by Joshua's side.

The woman who knew him better than anyone else.

The woman who, years ago, had already made Marcela feel a quiet sense of discomfort she never dared admit—even though all she'd ever seen between them was respect and not the slightest hint of romance.

Or had it always been there, and she'd simply never noticed?

Had something changed while she was away?

Or was this nothing more than guilt speaking after everything she had done?

Had those feelings existed while they were married?

No...

Joshua would never have cheated on her.

She believed that.

She had to believe that.

Even so...

For the first time since returning home, the thought that Laura might one day become more than just his best friend crossed her mind.

And no matter how hard she tried to push it away...

The doubt refused to leave.

Joshua slowly woke up as the smell of food drifted through the house.

It was familiar.

He didn't even have to open his eyes completely to recognize Sunset's cooking. She had always been the one with the most energy after parties. While everyone else spent the morning trying to survive their hangovers, Sunset seemed to come back to life with every sunrise. Her joy was contagious—the kind of person who made everyone around her remember that life was worth enjoying.

Still lying in bed, he stared at the ceiling for a few moments.

The first thing that came to mind...

The kiss.

The kisses.

First, Marcela kissing Harry.

Then, almost as if his mind were trying to erase that memory, came the kiss he'd shared with Laura outside the bathroom.

He remembered her perfume.

The way she'd held his hand.

The water running over both of them beneath the shower.

The comfortable silence they had shared.

What the hell did I do?

He sat up and looked at his reflection in the mirror.

It wasn't regret.

Regret would mean wishing none of it had happened.

And he definitely didn't want to erase that moment.

His fear was something else entirely.

His fear was that he had ruined the one relationship in his life he couldn't bear to lose.

Until the night before, Joshua had always believed that whatever existed between them was nothing more than desire.

The kisses.

The nights they somehow always ended up together.

The intimacy.

Everything fit neatly into that comfortable little box where neither of them ever had to put a name to it.

But something had changed.

It wasn't exactly the kiss.

It was everything that came afterward.

The way Laura held his hand.

The way she stepped into the shower without saying a word.

The way she simply stayed because he needed someone.

Had she felt the difference too?

Or was it just the hangover clouding his thoughts?

He got to his feet, took a deep breath, and finally gathered enough courage to leave his room.

The moment he opened the door, he nearly bumped into Scott, who was walking back from the kitchen.

Scott smirked.

"Sleep well?"

"I did."

"Feeling better?"

"No."

They stood there in silence for a moment before laughing at their own misery.

"At least you remember what happened. You remember promising to buy Marcela a castle so she'd move out too, right?"

Joshua let out a tired laugh.

"Scott... shut up."

"Alright, alright..."

Scott paused.

"So... are you going to talk to her?"

Joshua answered automatically.

"Marcela?"

Scott simply held his gaze.

It took Joshua a few seconds to understand.

"Oh..."

He sighed.

"I don't know... I don't even know what we'd talk about. I've been thinking about it since I woke up, and I can't stop. There's nothing to fix..."

He hesitated.

"...At least not yet."

Scott remained silent.

Joshua spoke again, almost as though he were thinking out loud.

"It's not a problem...

Not yet.

But I know Laura.

If this becomes a problem for her...

I'll lose her."

Scott simply rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Then don't let it become one."

The two headed toward the kitchen.

As soon as they walked in, Sunset held out a spoon toward Scott without even turning around.

"Taste it."

Scott obediently took a bite.

"It's perfect."

"I know."

She smiled.

"I just wanted confirmation."

The three of them laughed.

Joshua and Scott leaned against the kitchen island while Sunset finished preparing lunch. Every now and then they'd hand her a spice, reach for a pot on the top shelf, or make small talk about absolutely nothing.

Talking about anything else was much easier than talking about the night before.

A few minutes later, Laura wandered into the kitchen, still half asleep.

"Good after..."

She stopped mid-sentence the moment her eyes met Joshua's.

He looked up almost at the same time.

Neither of them spoke.

For a few long seconds.

"Good afternoon."

Laura was the first to look away.

Sunset noticed immediately.

The jokes about Joshua and Laura being a couple had been part of the house's routine for months.

Everyone teased them about it.

The two of them always laughed, denied it, and played along.

For a long time, neither of them had seen any reason to answer differently.

After all...

They were just best friends.

And nobody needed to know they kissed.

The problem was...

Those kisses didn't feel so meaningless anymore.

Ever since Marcela had returned home, both Joshua and Laura had begun to notice an absence they had never felt before.

Somehow, without realizing it, they'd become dependent on one another.

Neither of them knew how to explain it.

And because they couldn't explain it...

They kept insisting they were still just best friends.

Laura blamed herself for kissing a man who was still in love with another woman.

She couldn't shake the feeling that she was only making an already broken story even more complicated.

Joshua, on the other hand, was convinced Laura would never see him any differently.

She had always joked that any girl who fell for him would simply become "the next victim of a broken heart."

In his mind...

Laura would never choose the biggest walking disaster she knew.

The silence was becoming awkward.

Sunset decided to break it.

"So..."

She glanced between them.

"What happened?

Did you two fight?"

They answered at exactly the same time.

"No."

Sunset narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Hmm..."

She decided not to push it.

"Lunch is ready."

She served a generous portion of lasagna alongside a fresh salad.

Without saying who it was for, she picked up the plate and headed upstairs.

Joshua watched her go, smiling to himself as the smell of the food filled the house.

Lasagna.

She had made Marcela's favorite meal.

He didn't need to ask.

He knew Sunset well enough to understand that the plate wasn't just lunch.

It was her way of taking care of the people she loved.

A few moments later, Sunset gently knocked on Marcela's bedroom door.

Sarah told her to come in.

When she opened the door, she found Marcela sitting on the bed, her eyes still swollen from crying.

Without saying a single word, Sunset placed the plate on the desk, walked over to the bed, and sat beside her.

First came the hug.

Only after several quiet seconds did she speak softly.

"I made lasagna."

That was all it took.

Marcela broke down all over again, wrapping her arms tightly around Sunset as the tears came back even harder.

Sarah watched quietly from across the room.

Sometimes...

Sunset knew exactly how to take care of people without saying another word.

She simply showed up.

She hugged them.

And somehow reminded everyone that even on the worst days...

There would always be a safe place to come home to.

 

Bonus Scenes

 

 

 

 

Hidden Scene +18

 

An alternate timeline. This scene is not canon and exists only as a "what if" scenario.

Alternate continuation.

Next post.