Chapter 252

Kylie blinked. "What are you doing here?"

Emilia lifted the bag in her hand.

"Bringing food to my apparently very busy best friend."

Christian’s mouth twitched.

Kylie glanced at the bag, then at Emilia’s face. "Oh." Her face heated up.

"Oh?" Emilia repeated. "That’s what we’re doing now? Oh?"

Kylie pressed her lips together.

Christian glanced at the pot.

Kylie had already turned away from the stove, and she was looking at Emilia properly now. There was a little colour in her cheeks, and her hair was pulled away from her face in a loose, untidy style that made it obvious she had not dressed for company.

She looked comfortable. Not merely physically comfortable, either.

There was a looseness in her shoulders that Emilia hadn’t realised she had been missing until she saw it.

Kylie looked like someone who had been allowed to put something heavy down.

And perhaps that was why the sight of Christian standing behind her had unsettled Emilia in the first place.

Kylie had been so quiet the night before. So careful about what she said. So determined to keep Emilia at a distance from the place where she had seen Ben.

And now she was standing in her kitchen, cooking with a man who had held her through whatever she had been unable to say.

Emilia’s throat tightened. She set the pastries on the nearest counter.

Kylie glanced at Christian. He was already watching her, his expression quiet.

Kylie lifted one hand to his face and brushed her thumb over his cheek. It was a small gesture, but an affectionate one.

Christian turned his face slightly into her palm.

His eyes softened.

Kylie gave his cheek one final, gentle rub before slipping out of his arms. "Don’t burn my food," she told him.

"Yes, ma’am."

Kylie stared at him for a moment.

He caught her hand before she could turn away and pressed a brief kiss to her knuckles.

He let her go.

Kylie walked toward Emilia. Emilia barely gave her the chance to take the last step. She dropped her arms around her best friend and pulled her into a tight hug.

Kylie made a small, surprised sound. She laughed against her shoulder.

Emilia held her tighter.

For a few seconds, she didn’t say anything.

She simply stood there with her arms around Kylie, pressing her cheek against her hair, breathing in the familiar scent of her shampoo and whatever perfume she had put on earlier.

It was ridiculous how much relief could fit inside one embrace.

She had been worried all night.

She had imagined Kylie alone in her apartment, sitting on the edge of her bed and pretending she was fine. She had imagined her refusing to talk about Ben because she didn’t want to make the situation real by giving it words.

She had imagined a dozen terrible things, each one more unreasonable than the last, and had hated herself for not being able to do anything except wait until morning.

Now Kylie was here.

Warm, breathing, and holding her back.

She pulled back just enough to look at Kylie’s face, but kept both hands on her shoulders. "Are you alright?"

Kylie’s smile faded. For a moment, she seemed to consider the question.

Emilia knew that expression, too.

"I’m here," Kylie said.

Emilia’s fingers tightened around her shoulders. "That wasn’t what I asked."

"I know."

"Kylie."

"Emilia." Kylie looked at her for a long moment. Then she sighed tenderly. "I’m okay."

Emilia didn’t move.

Kylie rolled her eyes, but there was no real irritation behind it.

Emilia brushed a loose strand of hair away from her face.

"I’m not asking you to fall apart," she said, more gently. "I’m asking whether you’re alright. And if the answer is no, you don’t have to give me a more convenient one."

Kylie’s eyes flickered.

Behind her, a spoon tapped against the side of the pot.

Neither woman looked away.

Then Kylie reached up and caught Emilia’s hand.

"I’m not entirely alright," she admitted.

Emilia’s chest ached. "Okay."

"But I’m not—" Kylie stopped, searching for the right words. "I’m not where I was last night, either."

Emilia nodded slowly.

Kylie smiled faintly.

Emilia squeezed her hands. "Did you sleep alone?"

The question came out before she could decide whether to ask it.

Kylie’s gaze flickered toward the kitchen.

Emilia followed it.

Christian had returned his attention to the pot, though the corner of his mouth suggested that he could hear every word.

Kylie looked back at her. "No."

Emilia waited.

"I wasn’t alone," Kylie clarified.

"I can see that."

"Emilia."

"What? I’m trying to understand the situation."

Kylie gave her a look.

Emilia gave her one right back. Then, because they were who they were, Kylie laughed.

Emilia felt some of the tension leave her shoulders.

Emilia pulled her into another hug, this one less desperate than the first.

Kylie wrapped her arms around her waist and tucked her face briefly against Emilia’s shoulder.

They stayed like that for a moment.

"I’m still upset with you."

Kylie nodded solemnly. "I assumed."

"You deliberately refused to tell me where you saw him."

"I did."

"Which means you knew I would be worried."

"I did."

"And you decided that was acceptable."

Kylie considered this. "When you put it like that, it sounds terrible."

"It was terrible."

Kylie nodded again. She took Emilia’s hand and dragged her into the living room.

Emilia followed.

They settled onto the sofa, Kylie tucking one leg beneath herself while Emilia placed her bag on the coffee table.

"I told him about Ben."

Emilia’s expression softened. "Christian?"

Kylie nodded.

"Last night?"

"This morning, actually. After we got back from the boxing ring, I wasn’t ready to talk about it. He didn’t push me." Her fingers picked at a loose thread on the cushion. "But I told him this morning."

Emilia studied her face. She picked the mention of a boxing ring, but pushed it aside first. "And?"

Kylie glanced toward the kitchen.

The occasional clink of a spoon against a pot drifted into the living room.

"He listened."

Emilia’s heart grew bigger. She knew her best friend. She knew how easily Kylie could turn a painful conversation into a joke, and how quickly she could dismiss her own feelings before anyone had the opportunity to make her explain them.

So Emilia waited.

Kylie swallowed.

"I told him what happened when I was eight. I told him about my father, too."

Emilia swallowed.

She had known there were things Kylie had never fully explained, things she had carried for years without allowing anyone to see the full weight of them.

Kylie let out a breath.

Emilia looked down at their joined hands.

For a second, she couldn’t speak.

She remembered being younger, sitting beside Kylie while they talked about everything and nothing. She remembered the things Kylie had laughed off, the stories she had told with a shrug, the way she sometimes spoke about her father as though his words couldn’t possibly reach her.

Emilia reached into the bag on the coffee table and pulled out a pastry.

Kylie stared at it. "That’s mine."

Emilia took a bite.

Kylie gasped. "You absolute traitor!"

Emilia chewed slowly, looking her dead in the eye. "Tell me more about Christian. I’ll give you one then."

Kylie snatched the remaining pastry from her hand. "Keep your voice down."

Emilia grinned.

"I’m not perfect." Kylie hesitated. "But I’ve never felt this way for no one. I think I’m falling in love with him."

Emilia froze.

The pastry in her hand stopped halfway to her mouth.

Kylie watched her.

Emilia slowly lowered the pastry. She blinked a couple times in shock, and pressed a hand to her chest.

Kylie raised a brow at her. "Stop staring. You’re staring at me like I’ve announced I’m pregnant with triplets."

"My best friend has just announced that she’s falling in love, and you expect me to have no reaction?"

"I expect you to behave like a normal person."

"I am behaving like a normal person."

"You should take it as a compliment that I’m telling you."

"Wait, are you pregnant too?"

Speechless, Kylie grabbed a cushion and hit her with it.

Emilia shrieked, laughing, and caught the cushion before Kylie could strike again.

"Fine! Fine. I’m sorry."

Kylie shook her head, but she was smiling now.

Emilia set the cushion aside and took both her hands. "Okay. I’m going to be serious."

Emilia’s face softened.

Kylie looked down at their hands. "I’m scared, though."

"Of course you are."

Kylie looked up.

Emilia squeezed her fingers.

"Being happy doesn’t mean you stop being afraid. It just means you have something you want to protect."

Kylie swallowed. "What if I mess it up?"

"Then you talk to him."

"What if I hurt him?"

"Then you apologise."

"What if he hurts me?"

Emilia’s expression became serious.

"Then you decide what you need to do to protect yourself. Loving him doesn’t mean you have to accept everything he does."

Kylie stared at her.

Emilia brushed her thumb over Kylie’s knuckles.

"You can love someone and still have boundaries. You can want them and still tell them no. You can forgive someone and still need time to trust them again."

Kylie swallowed, nodding nervously.

"And you can be happy with someone without owing them every part of yourself," Emilia added. "You don’t have to become a different person to make a relationship work, Kyls. You just have to be willing to let someone know you."

For several seconds, Kylie didn’t speak. Then she leaned forward and hugged Emilia again.

This time, Emilia hugged her just as tightly.

"You’re my favourite person in the world," Kylie murmured.

Emilia smiled against her hair. "Even when you have your dream female child."

Kylie pulled back and cupped Emilia’s face between her hands. "I’m sure you would also be her favorite person."

Emilia’s expression softened completely. "Oh, sweetheart."

She pulled Kylie into another hug before either of them could say anything else.

Emilia pressed a kiss to Kylie’s temple.

Kylie laughed into her shoulder. "Love you too, Em."

From the kitchen, Christian called, "Breakfast is ready."

Emilia closed her eyes. "He is interrupting our bonding time."

Kylie smiled. "Our bonding time has been going on for years. He can have ten minutes."

Emilia pulled back to stare at her. "Ten minutes?"

Kylie shrugged. "I’m feeling generous."

Emilia looked toward the kitchen.

Christian appeared in the doorway, drying his hands on a dish towel. "Should I come back later?"

"Yes," Emilia and Kylie said together.

He looked between them. Then he nodded. "Understood."

He disappeared back into the kitchen.

Kylie dissolved into laughter.

Emilia joined her.