Ungodly Hour

A creak of the door. 

Jessica crept in, into the darkness and silence. And the solitude. She couldn’t figure out why she was on her toes, like it was reflex, some sort of muscle memory. A subconscious throwback to when there was someone else living in the same apartment. But the apartment was in that same sea of blackness; a distant thunder rumbled and the moon remained hidden by the storm clouds. 

Another creak of the door. 

Jessica reached for the light switch upon closing the door, a flick of it and brightness immediately swam into the room, swallowing up darkness’s dominance. 

She kicked off her heels, legs that tiny bit sore. Perfectly negligible, because soreness is part of life and if you put your mind to it, it could be negated— in the I don’t give a manner. 

She crossed the living room, chucked her bag on the couch and for a moment she felt this wave of sheer fatigue and vulnerability flood her, beyond the fact that she is returning home at almost 3am. 

Ungodly hour, they say. 

She could put a name to this fatigue but she didn’t want to. It would be danger zone, recollections that she really should not give a damn to. 

Was something out of place? Jessica scanned her apartment with a tinge of unsettledness, nothing seemed so though. Maybe it was the way those lousy pink fish swam in their little world made of water, chirpier than normal. That’s ridiculous, Jessica mentally laughed at herself. They would be out of her life sooner or later, they’d probably starve to death at the rate she was working overtime. 

She wondered why they didn’t leave her sooner rather than later. 

“You guys seem too happy. I’m not feeling terribly cheery today,” Jessica stared at the two fish swimming in their small tank, they nibbled at the fish food she threw in now and then, not looking particularly enthusiastic about being fed, “What? On a diet now are we?”

One of the fish did a flip, Jessica rolled her eyes, and said goodnight. 

She walked to her room and half a step into it she sensed it, smelled it and saw it. In the semi darkness, a figure in her bed and she would have screamed had she not sensed the familiarity. 

This is crazy.

Jessica didn’t have it in her to take another step forward. Not now, not just yet. 

So she leaned on the doorframe, her mind a complete blank for a moment as her eyes lingered on that sleeping figure. She cursed herself, cursed the chirpy duo swimming in their carefree world and cursed that woman lying in her bed. 

Tiffany, what the are you doing here?!

She yelled in her brain, light-headed from the scene in front of her. Impossibly surreal, and when she finally treaded over cautiously, it felt like a state of delirium. Tiffany, in bed, must be an illusion. 

Jessica hovered hesitantly beside Tiffany’s sleeping form, same as always, slightly balled up, her hair still a deep red. She lightly poked Tiffany’s arm that was outside the blanket— it was soft, warm and real. Jessica slumped on to the cold marble floor. 

Pink and fluffy indoor slippers laid harmlessly at the foot of the bed, Jessica was astute enough to guess that this wasn’t something worth celebrating. Either Tiffany planned this and hid her shoes somewhere to spring this shock on her intentionally or she came here in those indoor slippers, which wasn’t a good sign. 

Jessica tore her eyes away from Tiffany. She had been gazing at those beautiful lashes and perfect lips for too long and much too tenderly. Like there was some spell over her. 

Maybe it was magic.

Sheets rustled, Tiffany shifted and mumbled something. A sign that she was stirring, soon those eyes would flutter open. Jessica had gathered all of Tiffany’s sleeping habits in the time they were together; what Tiffany would do when she was sleepy or how she would tend to curl up at the corner of the bed especially if she was alone in bed. 

As it set in, Jessica looked around in panic, the idea of Tiffany waking up led to a powerful urge to hide herself and she wondered if the closet was an ideal place. Maybe she could be in it deep enough to figure out what was happening, and maybe by then Tiffany would have gone back. 

She just sat there, though, as she let her thoughts ran wild but physically not moving an inch. She laid her eyes on Tiffany again, this time not bothering about self-control. Barely any time passed before Tiffany eyes flickered open lazily— rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand and a gentle stretch. A twist of her neck and her gaze fell on Jessica who was illuminated by the light from the living room.

Tiffany smiled, like everything was normal. 

So normal that Jessica forgot that Tiffany wasn’t supposed to be here, in this apartment on her bed. But a part of her was secretly celebrating because somewhere in her, she had wanted this to happen. 

Tiffany miraculously back in bed, greeting her sleepily.

“You fed the annoying duo.”

Jessica didn’t plan on that to be her opening sentence, it somehow just happened, like Tiffany. 

Tiffany stretched and nodded, “They were starving,” she turned to the clock before pointing at it, “look, it’s past 3am. They’re turning nocturnal, like you.”
“Work, can’t help it. Besides, you don’t like fishes anyway. You got me to buy them because they were pink.”

Jessica spoke like the incident happened last week, the memory was fresh in her mind. Walking past some pet shop like place and Tiffany's attention drawn to the tank of pink fish on display. Tiffany hiding her face behind her palms and only looking out from the gaps between fingers timidly. Tiffany and her fish averse self but still insisting on getting them because they were in her color. 

Tiffany and her cute random moments. 

Like now, her head was resting on her drawn up knees, and tilted to one side as she pouted. 

“I’m just scared of their eyes, especially dead ones. I’m trying to make friends with them now, I talked to them before you came back!”
“Explains their jovial mood.”

Jessica got up, frankly speaking, something in her was brewing and it’s overpowering everything else. To be just this way with Tiffany, she could possibly push aside the real meaning behind why she was here. As she left for the showers, she felt a tug on the sleeve of her blouse. Tiffany was looking at her, with puppy eyes. 

“Jessi, can I stay here?”
“You’ve got your own house.”
“I ran away.”

Jessica deflated and reluctantly sat down on her bed. Tiffany’s fingers refused to let go of her even then. 

The way she held on was effortless, but somehow it hurt in an abstract way. 

“You ran away from your husband.”
“Literally...”
“Tiffany, we’ve broken up and you’re married. I’m not even gonna ask why you still have my apartment’s keys.”

Jessica sighed, she didn’t expect things to actually take on this turn. But she handled unexpected situations well, with a calm mind. Just like when Tiffany got married. Or when Tiffany suggested a break up. Being calm was her forte, might as well make full use of it. 

“I’m gonna take a shower. Sleepover if you want, it’s very late. I can sleep on the couch or something.”
“Why can’t we sleep together?”

Jessica stopped, she wasn’t sure if that was an innocent question or a double entendre. 

“We just can’t.”

Either way, the answer would be the same. 

When she stepped out of the showers, Tiffany was no longer on her bed and that fluffy pink slippers was missing as well. Jessica paused, regretting her heartless replies. She had never intended to chase Tiffany away. Was her attitude too cold? 

A sudden rush of blood, Jessica threw down the towel and resolved to bring Tiffany back this time. Not caring that she’s in a frumpy tee shirt and shorts that just went past a quarter of her thighs, she marched out of the room hastily, hoping that, perhaps, Tiffany hadn’t gone far yet. 

But Tiffany wasn’t far at all. 

Tiffany was nestled in her couch looking particularly tiny, turning to her when she entered the living room so abruptly. 

“Oh.”

Disconcerted by Tiffany’s presence, Jessica wobbled a little.

“Hmm?”
“Nothing,” Jessica turned and retraced her steps, uncertain steps, back into her room; she’d expect Tiffany to be more persistent about the bed, maybe marriage changed her. 
“You thought I left?”

Jessica was silent even though she wanted to say no instinctively, but she saw no point in lying or hiding. It was clear that Tiffany, was a married woman, and Jessica wasn’t foolish enough yet to start an immoral tango with her. 

“I know you hate sleeping on the couch.”

Tiffany’s quiet voice cut through the night air, a remembrance of their fights and threats of sleeping on the couch and of the intimacy when they cuddled right there, where Tiffany was seated. 

Jessica faltered. 

“Why are you doing this?”
“Doing what?”

Jessica spun around, a look of extreme exasperation was carved on her face as she thrashed her palms forward. 

“Being here, so casually. Sleeping on my bed, now it has your scent. And, you’re telling me you that you don’t mind the couch because I hate sleeping on it? Does these make sense, Tiff?”

Jessica rested a palm on her temples, a dull pounding had started at the side of her head. She needed sleep, badly. But then she wasn’t sure if a bed soaked in Tiffany’s familiar scent would drive her crazy. 

Crazy with want and longing, especially with Tiffany just outside her bedroom door. 

“I told you, I ran away.”
“There’s Sunny, there’s Yuri, there’s Sooyoung. There’s a billion people you cou-“
“I want to come here. Back home.”

Jessica’s rapid rattling of names was silenced by Tiffany’s confession of home. That this was home to her, inked in her heart with blood, permanently tattooed into her soul. The only place she thought of when she left. Jessica couldn’t even separate the multitude of emotions that was swirling in her. 

There was hurt, but it was complex. It was from pain, from regret, from joy and from a wistfulness that shouldn’t be there. 

Tiffany shifted uneasily. Her confidence had taken flight when Jessica started ranting in that calm tone of hers, and now, with her standing stiffly by the door without a single word, Tiffany wavered. 

“Am I not welcomed after all?”

It was tentative, almost whisper like, the way Tiffany said it. 

Jessica snapped back to reality, she had been lost somewhere in her heart or her mind. She needed sleep, it’s past four, in fact, almost five in the morning now. Ungodly hour, morals had no place here. 

“Get to bed,” Jessica held Tiffany’s gaze, and it would be a lie to say she wasn’t happy that Tiffany is home , “I’m tired. Come to bed.”

Tiffany caught the hint and bounced after Jessica into her room. 

 

“You look distracted.”

Jessica looked up from her phone to meet the owner of that serious tone of voice. Seohyun was looking at her with slight disapproval, her cup firmly in hand as she kind of confronted Jessica in the pantry. 

“Sorry.”
“Nothing to apologize to me for. It was a good thing you weren’t caught in the meeting, you looked out of it.”

They were friends but Seohyun had always been strict about things, especially since she knew Jessica took her work seriously. But Jessica knew that, for Seohyun to actually voice her concern meant that she really looked like her soul flew off. 

The reason behind it was clear. Tiffany had been texting her now and then throughout the day, like it was old days. Informing her of miscellaneous stuff like her lounging around the house or spilling coffee on a rug. Or even doing her laundry. 

Seriously. That girl. 

“Do you have to work late today?” 
“Yeah, but not very. I think I might be able to get home before my tank of pink fish starve,” Jessica laughed lightly.

Seohyun nodded with a smile and she left with a simple ‘good luck’ to Jessica. It was when Seohyun’s back turned, that she realized the joke didn’t make logical sense anymore. 

Tiffany was there, the annoying aqua creatures would no longer starve. But for how long this arrangement was going to last, she had no idea. 

A sigh escaped her lips as she twirled her phone between her fingers absentmindedly. The messages had just came in a while ago, Tiffany asking about dinner. She wanted to ditch work, for once, and maybe accompany Tiffany. But her head got the better of her as she rejected the invitation with excuses about work. 

As she strolled back to her desk, she recalled how they were in bed yesterday. Lying there like there was an invisible fence between them until sleep claimed her. When she woke up though, she found Tiffany tangled up in her limbs. 

She had felt no awkwardness about it at all, was that wrong? Jessica couldn’t decide.

Tiffany was going about things too normally, as if the break up, the marriage and the seven months in between this and that didn’t happen. And as insane as it sounded, Jessica loved it. It was like her life picked up from where it was last on the right track. 

But she wasn’t ready to go on a dinner date yet, not after just one night of having Tiffany back in her life and having zero idea of what actually drove her back to their home. 

 

1.30AM

Jessica got back home early, if it was taken relatively. 

She pushed open the door and was greeted by a brightly lit living room, TV blaring and Tiffany lying on the couch. The scene was too busy for Jessica to absorb and she stood frozen at the doorway, like she’s watching a scene taken out of a parallel universe, from the half opened door. 

“Jessi?”

Her name rolled out easily from Tiffany’s tongue, scrambled into her ears and soothingly caressed her into believing that no time had passed and nothing was wrong. Everything was right. This was magic. 

“Hello? Jessica Jung, why are you volunteering to be our doorway statue?”

Tiffany had walked over, leaning her hand on the door. Her smiling face way too close to Jessica’s. 

It was one thing to be receiving texts from Tiffany in the day, the true weight of it hit her when she saw Tiffany idly watching TV. Her heart wouldn’t stay still. 

“Have you eaten? Do you need a change of clothes?”

Jessica asked as she stepped into their home, but she hadn’t meant to ask that. She wanted to ask Tiffany why was she still here and for how long she was going to be here. And why did she run away. 

“I ate with pink-pink and pinky!”
“Gosh. Tiff, I told you those were horrible names.”
“Better than annoying 1 and annoying 2, you’re the annoying prick here,” Tiffany poked at Jessica’s back as she took off her heels and rotated her feet. 
“A1 and A2 is perfect. Like B1 and B2,” Jessica responded, deadpanned, as she started singing, “Bananas in pajamas are coming down the stairs. The Annoying One and Two are swimming everywhere.”

Tiffany burst out laughing at the ridiculous song that Jessica sang, it fused perfectly into the Bananas in Pajamas theme song, and suddenly A1 and A2 didn’t sound that bad anymore. Tiffany clung on to Jessica’s back as she continued giggling, a smug smile sneaked its way onto Jessica’s face. Maybe it was the night, somehow she didn’t care so much anymore. With the warmth on her back and the hands that hung lazily on her shoulders. 

Nothing mattered because Tiffany was with her, even though she had lost her for so long. 

She was lost but never gone. 

“I got you food! The take-out is in the fridge, just heat it up with the microwave!” Tiffany chirped beside Jessica’s ear, finally satisfied with that extended bout of giggling. 
“Wow, thanks. I think I only had two sandwiches the whole day, wanted to come home earlier.”

Jessica spoke without much thought, her guard was down and that slipped out. She felt the arms around her tighten and Tiffany’s face pressed against hers, a moment frozen in time. The familiarity, the peace and the love. In Tiffany’s arms, the possible hope that they could be what they once were. Jessica’s palm subconsciously gripped Tiffany’s arms on her like she was clinging on to her life. 

“Shower,” Jessica finally whispered. 

 

Weekends rolled around, and without realizing it, Tiffany had been home for around four days, integrating into Jessica’s life with complete ease. It was strange though, no one came looking for her and she seemed to be on a break from work. Her life now probably consisted of a leisure day at home watching TV, surfing the net or reading magazines and maybe trying to chat with A1 and A2 while hiding behind her fingers. 

Jessica wasn’t even sure if Tiffany took a step out of the house, she probably did. She didn’t like being cooped up after all, but Tiffany was behaving a tiny bit out of normal. Like a rash part of her had been left behind, there was this tranquility to her that Jessica didn’t recognize. The headstrong side was not to be found. 

Curious. 

Jessica eyed Tiffany as she cooked some omelete for their breakfast, it was most unusual. 

“Why do you still have to work on Saturdays, Jessi?” Tiffany called out, but her tone was not accusing like in the past, “Haven’t you got that promotion by now? Why are you working so hard?”
“That’s the only way I know how to live, I mean. You know, after all of that.”

The word hung in the air, open to interpretation. Jessica wondered if she shouldn’t have said it, she was getting too comfortable with Tiffany and had to constantly remind herself that Tiffany was another person’s wife. She was just conveniently here, just happened to be here. 

And she must ask about what happened soon. 

“Do you always have to work so hard?” Tiffany set the plate down, and Jessica found no malice in those gorgeous features. 
“I don’t know…” a shrug, and Tiffany pouted as she sat down. 
“Maybe you should think about it,” Tiffany paused as though she was carefully selecting the next words to use, “if that’s how it’s gonna be, in the future.”

Jessica poked at her omelete, which resulted in a light slap on the hand from Tiffany. The frown brought a smile to Jessica’s face, playing with food that was made by Tiffany was a no no. That didn’t change, at least. 

“Depends on what’s future,” Jessica chomped on some omelet, “ohh~ yummy!”
“Future uh…” Tiffany looked at Jessica like she was bursting to say something, but chose to keep it in instead, “with a someone I guess.”
“None at the moment.”

An obvious sigh of relief as Tiffany happily concluded the conversation and attacked her own omelet. Cute, Jessica thought, her lips curled up slightly. 

What was going on and why were they having this peaceful and suspiciously flirtatious atmosphere during breakfast were questions Jessica decided to ignore at the moment. They weren’t overstepping boundaries, and moments like this were too precious to be broken. 

“Can I ask how you managed to find that?” Jessica pointed at Tiffany’s pink top that has glittery stars with her fork, it was Tiffany’s, but it also belonged to the past. 

Tiffany giggled, Jessica could tell that she was proud of herself. Naturally, because she practically found a treasure chest. 

“I was bored, and I thought to, you know, explore? See what changed. And I found all those boxes labeled Tiff.”
“Snooper,” Jessica shook her fork in mocked disapproval, which incited more laughter from Tiffany. 
“You might as well put neon signs on it, you actually wrote my name in pink! Huge and so pink!”
“Well.. You didn’t take all those stuff back with you.”
“And you didn’t throw them away.”

They held each other’s gaze for a few seconds, before everything became too out in the open, they managed to shift their focus back to the food. Tension was in the air but it wasn’t unpleasant. It was tension that could be found in cheesy romance flicks, where both know there's something going on but simply choose to pretend that everything's normal. 

So they soaked in the tension and ate before Jessica left for work with a warm smile on her face. 
 

“Whyyy, Jessi~” Tiffany’s words slurred a bit, a sign that she had half a foot into the drunken territories. 
“What, why? My god, Tiff. I thought we'd just get a drink together, not get drunk.”

Jessica looked down at Tiffany who was lying on her lap and smiling goofily. She was glad that she got this private corner, and that she forced Tiffany to dress down instead of going for some glamorous plunging neckline black dress of hers. Tiffany used to be able to hold her alcohol well. 

“Tiff, are you pretending to be drunk?”
“…How’d you know?”
“DAMMIT. TIFFANY HWANG!”

Tiffany laughed as she snuggled into Jessica’s lap, her voice vibrating against Jessica’s thigh. Too intimate for their current status, they knew at the back of their minds. But somehow it didn’t matter, it was almost 2AM, after a dinner and a late night movie with Jessica. 

All of that was as if they were dating.

Tiffany got up from Jessica’s lap after much prodding on her , but immediately after she got up she threw herself on Jessica’s shoulders, unwilling to be apart from her. 

“Seriously, Tiff,” Jessica’s hand landed on Tiffany’s thigh, forces of habit. 
“It was fun, you looked flustered Jessi~”
“You didn’t know how many of those guys were trying to shoo me away so that they could hook up with you.”
“I saw,” Tiffany giggled as Jessica widened her eyes, “But your glares were like laser beam, girlfriend.”

It was a sensitive word, but Jessica knew that Tiffany was referring to how she called her when those guys advanced towards them. It still stirred something in Jessica, though. A mix of sweetness and bitterness. How foul. 

“Remind me that you’re now a prankster like Yuri, I’ll keep my guard up.”
“Awwww, but I’m so adorable!”
“You are but those two aren't mutually exclusive. You can be an adorable prankster,” Jessica smirked and grabbed Tiffany’s hand, “since you’re actually sober, let’s get home.”

Tiffany giggled as she stumbled after Jessica, out of the club and into the cool night. Staring at Jessica’s back as she hailed a cab for them kindled a sense of contentment in Tiffany. She felt it before, and it was back, like how naturally Jessica held her hand and laced their fingers together again. 

 

Truthfully, Jessica was bothered by the Tiffany’s casual use of the word girlfriend, maybe Tiffany was really affected by the alcohol in her system. But Jessica couldn’t help but notice how Tiffany was holding on to her hand really tightly, almost gripping on to it throughout the cab ride. 

Their hands never parted, even after they got down the cab and walked to the lift back to their apartment. Was Tiffany actually intoxicated and pretending to be not drunk? 

“Tiff,” Jessica looked down to their joined hands as they stood outside their door, indicating the inappropriateness of it. 
“What?”
“This,” holding up their hands Jessica waved them in front of Tiffany’s eyes.
“Holding hands, yup, self explanatory, ” Tiffany beamed innocently, yet totally aware of what Jessica is insinuating. 

Jessica shut her eyes for a few seconds, her thoughts were all jumbled up, maybe it was because how insistent Tiffany was but she found it in her to pry her hand away. She didn’t dare to look at Tiffany though, and simply focused on opening the door.

“Ouch!”

But Tiffany had acted swiftly, an angry hit to Jessica’s arm, before she stomp through the door into the apartment. 

“What was that for, Tiff!”
“A hit for the heartless you!”
“Heartless? You’re married, for goodness’ sake! This is almost an affair,” Jessica closed the door, the words she spoke cut into herself, it was something she didn’t want to admit ever since she saw Tiffany in her bedroom, “We’ve got a… history!”
“It doesn’t matter, I’m divorcing.”

Jessica was stunned, she knew something was wrong when Tiffany popped up, that was obvious. But divorcing was serious business, and the way Tiffany was so nonchalant irked her somewhat. Jessica massaged her temples, it was too sudden and too much for her. 

Tiffany folded her arms, as though she was challenging Jessica to have a response that could counter divorce. There wasn’t one, but still Jessica struggled to accept it. By saying goodbye to Tiffany then and subsequently receiving a cruel invitation to the wedding, Jessica had expected Tiffany to continue her life in bliss. As long as that happened, she could live with all of that. 

A heavy breath as Jessica calmed her emotions, although they were really threatening to break loose. 

“Are you serious? Have you thought it through? What about your Dad, have you-”
“It doesn’t matter,” Tiffany’s tone was cold, her eyes too determined. 
“Why?!” Jessica exclaimed, it was a ing divorce, not deciding whether to eat lunch at MacDonald or Wendy’s. 
“I love you.”

Three simple words, spoken like it was second nature to her. Tiffany’s steady gaze had such raw emotions in them, Jessica felt suffocated.

“No, Tiffany. You can’t. I- I can’t.”
“I married him because of you, Jessi.”

Then it hit Jessica. The husband had merely been the guy who was suitable to be a husband, nothing more than that. Almost like a tool.

It was truthfully, a bit scary. 

“You married him because you wanted to get back at me?” Jessica hissed, not raising her voice but it was harsh enough to not need volume, “To exact revenge? What sort of ed up is this?!”
Tiffany winced at Jessica’s tone, the harshness of it that wasn’t even present when she demanded a break up, “No-I mean, yes but, still no. It wasn’t that.”
“What was it, then?”

Jessica’s hands flew to her head, it was mind boggling, frustrating and painful. Tiffany married someone she didn’t even love, it was a marriage of convenience, and she was angry but not sure at who or what. Tiffany? The marriage? Herself? Or the husband?

Tiffany let out a sigh, maybe she shouldn’t have broke the news this way. 

“He had been courting me for the longest time, you know that. And I didn’t cheat, it happened after. I just thought maybe things could be easier, stress free, judgment free. Yes- I was stupid! But he seemed nice enough and he is good looking, I thought I could lo-like him, with our break up and all, but-” Tiffany groaned inwardly, it was clear that nothing she said was doing a decent job at mending this, but suddenly she remembered the real reasons that started this all, “You were working like we’d starve if you didn’t! We barely talked. You were so damn cold and ing hell, sometimes I felt like I didn’t exist even though we live in the same apartment! I was lonely, I missed you! You didn’t give a flying ! Even during break up!”

Tiffany glared at Jessica, tears stung her eyes, but stubbornly refused to flow. Those was her heartfelt words, words that she didn’t get to say during break up because Jessica had been too calm about it and she had been too prideful to admit those vulnerable emotions. But if Jessica had asked her to stay, she would have. The demand for a break up was merely a last desperate attempt to get Jessica’s attention, but she had failed to catch the sign. Tiffany was disappointed and heartbroken, at that point, she could see no other way out. 

Jessica read all of that between the lines. Suddenly, she didn’t feel so justified anymore, she felt like a loser. Why did she miss the hint? Why was she such a jerk? Did the feelings fade?

But they didn’t, because they were flowing through her veins right now, as she stared, spellbound by Tiffany’s tirade. 

“And. And! That Hara girl,” Tiffany pointed an accusing finger at Jessica, who held her hands up swearing innocence instantly, “No. It’s not about having anything on with her. It’s about you not kicking her advances away! It’s about you thinking it’s fine, telling me it’s fine when I told you it isn’t!”

Jessica’s face fell, she was defeated once again. She could have retaliated with the number of suitors Tiffany had, but she had always been too secured to even cared about those. Tiffany was going in strong and that rendered any possible retaliation from Jessica weak and laughable. 

Why hadn’t she done this during the break up, though? Perhaps things wouldn’t have boiled down to this if she had. 

“I never wanted to leave you, idiot.”

Tiffany’s torrential speech ended with a choke and a sob. Jessica stared at her feet, it wasn’t shame but guilt. Like she had let Tiffany down even though there wasn’t anything going on with ‘that Hara girl’. In more ways than one, she had betrayed their relationship by being neglectful. 

“I’m sorry,” Jessica muttered lifelessly. 
“What’s the point of saying sorry now? You should have held me back.”

Jessica stared at Tiffany blankly, it was then that the tears finally welled up in her eyes. With just a blink, they tumbled down from her eyes, right down her cheeks drawing a streak across her face. 

“Don’t cry,” Tiffany sniffed, “Jessi, don’t cry.”
“I’m sorry. Really, I-It was my fault.”

Pulling Tiffany into a hug, Jessica gave up on those thoughts of affairs and divorce. Her emotions were overwhelming her. What was all that when their love had been swimming under the surface all along, maybe they would just solve things as they come. 

“It wasn’t just you, I know I wasn’t the-”
“I missed you. I missed you, I missed you, I missed you,” Jessica mumbled into Tiffany’s neck, her voice broken and cracked, as her hand kept running down those deep red tresses, “I missed you. I missed you, Tiff.”

The helplessness, her love and everything she had for Tiffany poured into those words. Tiffany closed her eyes, losing herself in the moment and the hug. 

3.07AM.

The apartment was quiet. Jessica’s tears fell silently and Tiffany tightened their embrace. 

Right or wrong, was no longer their concern. 

“I missed you, too”