Back in Time: Belgium Part Two

The plane touched down at Washington-Dulles Airport. Mary realized that John was planning a trip to the beach in a couple of days, and it would be a perfect opportunity to woo him, whether Becca succeeded or not. She all but skipped off the plane, heading to the underground transportation which headed to the baggage claim.

Becca got off the plane. She had no plan, which was not good, given the strict time schedule she was on. John would be meeting her right outside security, and she wasn't sure if she could look him in the eyes anymore, at least for a while. She decided to just ask him straight-up, and then maybe down the line she could tell him what happened?

No, she needed to confess immediately, so Mary couldn't hold this over her head. But what if he broke up with her? It'd be just as if the text was sent, and she'd be stuck at square one.

The train arrived, which would take them back to the main terminal of the airport.

John's POV

I saw the subway train pull in, the fifth one since I got to the airport. My eyes darted between all of the people filing out of the car, looking for Becca or Mary. The last person left, and no dice.

Oh well, maybe they were on the sixth train. I pulled out my phone to wait for the next train, and saw a message from Becca, simply saying "Hey, I'm on the train right now, we need to talk."

Shit.

My mind immediately raced to all of the wrong places. She found a boyfriend in Belgium and was going to break up with me. She didn't feel the same affection for me that I felt for her after spending four months apart. She accidentally drank a potion which swapped her body with Mary's.

I don't know, the mind goes to strange places.

As my brain was running a million miles a minute, I saw the train pull in, and the first two people to file out were Becca and her sister. I ran up to her, picked her up, spun her around, and gave her a small kiss as soon as she passed out of the secure zone. She seemed to be happy, and she was a terrible actor, so I guessed what she needed to talk about was something small.

"Wow, cut it out, you two," Mary said flatly. "We're at the airport, not in your bedroom".

As soon as she started talking, I noticed Becca's face fall before it went back into a neutral expression.

I stuffed their luggage into the car, we all got in, and I drove them back to our hometown for break. They told me all about their adventures and how great of a time they had while they were overseas. I caught them up on everything that happened here, sparing any details with Chris, since it was likely a sore subject with Mary. We finally arrived at home, and I pulled into their driveway. Mary got out of the car with her luggage and went inside their house, but Becca stayed.

She turned to me and said, "Look, I know I've let you go on wondering what we needed to talk about, and I don't want to leave you waiting any longer. On the last night in Belgium, we all got drunk aside from Mary and...well...you know Carly?"

"Yeah...?" I said, prodding further although scared of what she may say.

"Well, she started kissing me, and then...like my life was in a really bad stop-motion movie, we were back in my and Mary's hotel room, making out on the bed."

Her voice started sounding like she was underwater. My surroundings zoomed in and out, fading out of focus as the words hit my brain.

Trying to form words, I asked in a very small voice, "How...how far did it go? Were you two...y'know...having sex?"

"No, Mary walked in, and I'm glad she did," she explained.

That didn't stop my feeling of shock, though. Rational thoughts were struggling to form, but I formed one, and spoke it.

"Why didn't she say anything?"

"Because...look," Becca said, turning my face to look at her again instead of at the out-of-focus treeline. "She said she was either going to tell you herself, or I should convince you to be in a polyamorous relationship. Make no mistake, I would never go off and date anybody else, but...what if you could date other people? Consider it some sort of payback for what I did."

My brain was overloaded, trying to process the words she was saying. Something about payback? No, I didn't want ****. Nobody deserved ****. Granted, I didn't deserve to get cheated on, but it wasn't anything major. Sure, kissing other people was still cheating, but it wasn't like they were fucking each other, like Chris and that cheerleader.

"Look...what you did...it really sucks," I began. "Even so...I forgive you."

"What?" she said.

"I was drunk before. Remember that party with the band that I went to my freshman year? Yeah, I was completely smashed by the end. I probably did some stuff that I would regret, but I don't remember anything. While being drunk isn't like a scapegoat, I'm willing to look past this event. I still consider kissing cheating, but we can work past it, like on the trip in a few days. It'll bring us closer than we've ever been before."

My thoughts were scatterbrained at the least, and most likely leaned towards incoherent, but I feel like I got how I felt out there.

"And I'm not necessarily looking for a polyamorous relationship myself," I continued, "But if it's what would be best for everybody, then I'd accept it."

She didn't say anything for a long time, so I decided to get out of the car and open the trunk. She ran out of the car, met me behind, and wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug.

"I promise...it'll never happen again," she said, as she started crying. "I love you so much, and if I was in that moment a million times, a million times I would choose you."

Call me a sucker, or too soft, but that moment instantly made me forgive her.