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Unfortunately, I don’t make it out of the bar, but I manage to make it to the bathroom so I'll consider that a success. Quinn pushes open the door, confirms that no one else is in the bathroom, and flicks the deadbolt, locking us in. When Levi built Blue, Quinn and I told him to double the number of female bathrooms he originally intended to have and right now I thank God that he listened to us.
Gripping my shoulders, Quinn gently pushes me down onto the couch in the powder room. Letting my head fall back, I give myself the green light to cry. Streams of tears fall out of the corner of my eyes and disappear, wetting my hair. Quinn wraps her arm around my shoulders, pulling me
into her side. She rests her cheek against my head and takes a deep breath.
Wait for it…it's coming…wait for it…
"Quinn, you're scaring me," I say in a hoarse whisper, not moving from the cocoon she has me wrapped in.
"Mmm…why's that?" she mumbles softly.
"You're supposed to say something smartass and funny,” I say, my voice cracking. “Something to make me laugh or cry harder. Why aren't you saying anything?" I rub a finger across my eye, removing the excess moisture, and push myself up so I can look at her.
This isn't like Quinn. Don't get me wrong, she'll comfort me and I'm sure that tomorrow you'll be able to find us curled up on my couch watching The Notebook and eating an array of junk food, but right now I expect her to be telling me to ‘buck up’ or ‘put on my big-girl-panties.’ I assume she’d say that he’s just a guy and there are tons of fish in the sea. Why isn’t she telling me that?
"Harley, I—” Someone bangs on the door, jiggling the handle to the bathroom. Quinn slides her arm out from behind me and stands, leaning into the door. "This bathroom is occupied. Go away!" she yells, turning back toward me. "Now where was I?"
"There's more than one stall in there! Open the damn door!" The angry voice outside stops Quinn in her tracks and she spins on her heel, marching back to the door, hands on her hips.
"I'm takin’ a shit. Now take a hint and LEAVE!" Quinn seethes.
"Seriously?" The woman laughs, and Quinn's eyebrows rise in shock. People don't usually talk to Quinn like that, so I'm sure it caught her off-guard. "That's all you've got? You're taking a shit? That's about the wor—"
"What the hell do you want?" Quinn asks, flinging open the door. I can't see who it is because the couch is positioned so that the open door is blocking my view, but I can tell by the way Quinn straightens her spine and then cocks her hip that she isn't happy.
Just as Quinn moves to slam the door, a woman flings her arm out, stopping it from shutting. "Wait!" she says frantically. "I need to talk to Harley!"
What? Who the hell is that? I sit up instantly and my whole world tilts violently to the left. My hands grip my head tightly, trying to stop the spinning. Fuck me, I didn't need that last shot. Standing slowly, I give myself a few seconds to get my bearings and I walk to the door. My heart stops—literally fucking stops. What is she doing here?
Quinn notices the look of panic on my face and positions herself in front of me.
"You have thirty seconds to say what you have to say, or I'm going to have to throat punch you." Quinn's face is stern, her eyes narrowed and lips tight.
The woman's eyes widen. "Throat pu—" She shuffles back and looks at me. "Did she just say throat punch?" I nod once, examining the woman in front of me who has won Tyson's heart. She's classically beautiful…perfect, in fact. "What's a throat punch?"
"Avery," I whisper as I step around Quinn, who is eyeing me warily. I reach my hand out hesitantly. "You must be Avery?" Some of the horror leaves her face as she slides her delicate hand in mine.
"You know who I am?" she asks, dropping her hand down to her side.
"Uh, yeah." My eyes flit nervously around the room and I take a deep breath. Damnit. I do not want to have this conversation. "Tyson has told me about you."
Her eyes widen in confusion and she crosses her arms across her chest. "He has?" I nod my head because that seems to be the only thing I can do tonight. "We haven't even met, so how did you know who I was?"
I shrug my shoulders. "I just put two and two together. I've seen you around the hospital, and I remember him saying he's really glad the two of you work together." I offer her a timid smile, which she returns. “I just never really knew who you were, and then I saw you guys at the, uh, at the bar—" I wipe my hands nervously on my thighs before continuing, "—and I just sort of knew it had to be you."
"Okay," Quinn interrupts, shoving me to the side. Her hand snaps out and she yanks Avery into the bathroom and locks the door. She walks to the sink, steadies herself, and leans forward to slip off her stilettos. Standing up, she rolls her head and stretches her arms like she's about do some hot yoga or something.
I can't help the laugh that bursts out of my throat. "Quinn…what the hell are you doing?"
She pushes past me and says, "You're obviously too nice and too drunk to handle this situation, so I'm going to handle it for you." Avery sucks in a sharp breath and takes another step back. I purse my lips and shake my head at Avery, trying to reassure her that Quinn won't do anything, but she doesn't look convinced.
"Alright." Quinn cracks her knuckles. "No hitting above the neck—I just had a facial. And no hair pulling, because that shit's just not cool," she says, pointing her manicured finger at Avery.
Reaching out, I grip Quinn's arm, spinning her around. "Quinn, you don't have to fight Avery. It's okay." The amused smile falls from my face as the words leave my mouth. A warm feeling crawls up my spine and tears clog my throat when I realize that it's true. This is okay…I will be okay. All I've ever wanted is for Tyson to be happy, and if Avery makes him happy, then that's what I want.
Fingers snap in front of my face, pulling me from my thoughts. "Remember our freshman year when I found Ben kissing Allison in the parking lot?"
"Yeah," I reply. Where is she going with this?
