Page 22 of The B Side

Darcy snatched her hand away from it, shooting her sister a glare. “Mind your own business. Rearrange your bouquet for the millionth time. I give you permission.”

“I can multi-task,” Blythe shot back. “And, as I’m doing so, I’m going to take it upon myself to call you out. Remember how much crap you used to give me about missing Colton when we were away? And we were gone for far longer stretches than a few days,” Blythe pressed. She flicked her gaze to Emerson, nodding her chin toward Darcy. “Tell her I’m right.”

Emerson pressed her lips into a thin line, wincing, but otherwise acted like she didn’t hear Blythe.

Blythe gently nudged her foot. “Emerson! I know you can hear me. Now, tell Darcy I’m right. Because I know you know it.”

Emerson gave up on reviewing the sheet music in her hands – like she didn’t already have it all memorized anyway – before she heaved a sigh, looking at Darcy with big, apologetic eyes. “Ah… you did give Blythe crap.” She darted her eyes back at Blythe. “Happy?”

Blythe folded her arms over her chest, a cat-ate-the-canary smile blossoming over her face. “I am, indeed, pleased. Now, to take it one step further: you used to give me so much shit for wanting to make sure I got to have my phone call with Colton, and… hmm. Who has been here for days now and is a little mopey when your girlfriend is busy…” Blythe reached up and tapped her chin. “I’m wondering who that person could be. Do you know, Emerson?”

Affronted, Darcy shot her best friend a warning look.

Emerson’s eyes narrowed in sympathy before she glanced at Blythe and whatever resolve she’d been holding onto crumbled into dust. “I, uh, if I had to hazard a guess, I suppose I’d say… Darcy.”

“Traitor!” She accused. The most affronting thing, really, was that she could tell from the look on Emerson’s face that she was amused by Blythe right now!

Blythe was victorious. “Why yes, the answer is Darcy. Thank you for playing.”

Darcy couldn’t have rolled her eyes harder if she tried. “Okay, well, everything regarding my relationship with Juliet is in a whole… flux right now. You and Colton were, as always, perfect. It’s different.”

She expected her sister to come back with something mirroring the same energy, something energetic, volleying back and forth with her. She didn’t expect Blythe to drop down on the other side of Emerson on her couch, as she stated, “Colton and I don’t have a perfect relationship, you know.”

Darcy merely tossed a look back at her, riddled with disbelief.

Blythe lifted her hands up in defense. “I’m not saying it’s not a really great relationship. But… there are reasons why we’ve been together for over ten years and haven’t gotten married, you know.”

“No, I didn’t know.” Leaning heavily back against the couch cushion, Darcy felt those words echo through her. “How did I not know that? I mean… I literally lived with both of you for years.”

Blythe didn’t even blink as she returned, “And during that time, I didn’t officially know you were a lesbian; I only found out because of some gossip.”

Darcy reached up, pushing a hand through her hair, her mind spinning a bit. “I guess I’ve always felt like we were – are – really close. What kind of issues did you and Colton have?”

Blythe scoffed. “I’m not going to run through the list of bad moments we’ve had the night before our wedding. That really feels like a recipe for disaster.”

Darcy pursed her lips before letting out a sigh of acceptance. “All right, fine.”

Her sister’s voice gentled slightly. “Darce… you and I are close. But we both know that talking about – about the hard stuff isn’t our strong suit. Not with one another.”

“It’s probably the childhood trauma,” Emerson stated, knowingly.

Darcy couldn’t help but laugh, tossing her head back against the couch as she turned to look at her best friend.

“Is everything okay with you and Juliet?” Blythe asked. “If we want to get into talking about real things together. Seems like a good place to start.”

Darcy’s stomach tied into knots as she tapped the end of the pen rapidly down against the paper in her lap. “I mean.” Blowing out a deep breath, she affirmed – yeah, it wasn’t easy for her to tap into serious emotions with Blythe. She felt like she was putting them on her sister’s shoulders, when she already had enough going on. “A lot of times, I feel like my relationship with Juliet is kind of perfect.”

Not necessarily in a silly, fairytale way.

They pushed one another when it came to their music. Juliet could be possessive and reserved. Darcy could be stubborn and idealistic. They both met fire with fire when they felt passionate about something.

But they never took things too far. They always put one another first. And Juliet had become the person Darcy could open up to. The person she did want to discuss emotions with, good or bad.

“I think I’ve felt like the only thing that wasn’t perfect about our life was that we weren’t able to be together publicly.”

It was the first time she admitted that out loud.

She’d never wanted to put it on Juliet, because she’d known they had to be that way throughout Juliet’s contract with Copper Canyon. It wasn’t her fault.