Compromise and Confessions

You and the girls have all made your way back to the apartment from Brooke’s gym. You and the three teenagers illegally squeezed into the back of Tanya’s pick-up truck, with Stella sitting on your lap to make more space to fit inside. Thankfully, it was a short drive back to the apartment, so the calculated risk of not getting caught by traffic cops paid off. After parking, you all make your way back to the apartment.

“That fancy car is probably Becca’s.” Tanya points out the ‘out of place for your neighborhood’ Rolls-Royce that’s parked along the street.

“There aren’t any police vehicles. That’s a good sign.” Stella jokes.

“Maybe no one’s reported it yet.” Cassie rides Stella’s joke.

“Maybe there’s just nothing to report.” Brooke tried to get them to stop joking about something serious.

“Maybe. Becca does seem like she can hide a body pretty well.” Stella continues to joke, disregarding Brooke’s attempt to stop making light of the situation.

“Don’t count Viv out. I’ve seen her freezer. She can keep a body in there if she needs to.” Cassie points out, as you all enter the apartment building.

“Yeah. Let’s not have dinner at Viv’s just in case she decides to serve liver with fava beans and Chianti.” Stella jokes, getting Cassie to laugh.

“Amarone.” Maddy interrupts.

“What?” Stella asks in confusion.

“Dr. Lecter pairs liver with Amarone, not Chianti.” Maddy corrects Stella, to even further confusion from your daughter.

“You’re both correct.” You clarify to Stella, before she could question Maddy’s correction. “You’re referencing the movie, while Maddy’s referencing the book.” You inform Stella.

“Oh! I didn’t know that they changed that part. Never read the book. Is it good?” Stella asks, and Maddy gives her opinion on the book, while Stella informs her that the movie is a classic and she should definitely see it. Maddy and Stella’s conversation continued until you all reached the third floor.

“I’ll check up on Viv and Becca. You guys go ahead and take your showers.” You tell them, and they all agree to that plan, before splitting up. Cassie is going with Tanya to her apartment, Stella and Brooke are going to yours, while Maddy goes back to theirs.

“Don’t eat any liver that Viv serves you alright?” Stella jokes, giving you a kiss on the cheek, before heading into your apartment with Paige.

With the girls having left the hallway, you ring Viv’s doorbell and wait for her to answer.

“Boyfriend!” Viv shouts upon opening the door, and going in for a hug.

“Hey~, girlfriend.” You greet her back awkwardly, knowing that you’re probably covered in sweat while she hugs you. “How are you and Becca doing?” You ask her, breaking away from her so that she doesn’t ruin her clothes.

“We’re… talking. Calmly.” Viv answers you.

“It’s a vast improvement from our last encounter. I guess I mean our previous last encounter. You know, before you and I got together last night. The one I told you about. Not the fight we had at the gym… and I’m rambling. Come in!” Viv adds before, pulling you into her apartment.

“Jay.” Becca greets you from Viv’s dining table.

“Becca.” You greet her back.

“How was your workout?” Becca asks you with a polite tone.

“It was okay, I guess. My whole body isn’t as sore as it usually is when it’s Brooke who trains me.” You tell her, and she raises an eyebrow at how you phrased your answer.

“Too much snu-snu will do that.” Viv jokes.

“Not what I meant.” You reply with a smile, knowing that Viv was only kidding.

“I assume it wasn’t Brooke who trained you this evening then?” Becca asks.

“No. I did chest and back training with Chad tonight. He told me that’s partly the reason why I’m not as tired, since I didn’t do a whole body workout.” You answer Becca.

“I guess meathead is good for something.” Viv teases.

“Hey now, he was actually a really good trainer.” You defend Chad, to Viv’s surprise.

“He must be. Last time I checked you were irritated the fuck out of him too.” Viv comments on your sudden face turn on Chad.

“He’s a lot more tolerable when he’s… making sense.” You tell Viv, who laughs at your description. “He and his date loved your food by the way. Thought you ought to know.” You inform Viv, who doesn’t humbly take it. Flipping her hair back with her hand like she expected as much.

“Where are the others?” Viv asks you.

“Showers.” You answer Viv.

“Aww~. You skipped your shower cuz you couldn’t wait to see me again?” Viv asks, before hugging your arm tight. You look at her and smile, as she’s smiling from ear to ear too. You look back at Becca who has an uncomfortable grin on her lips. You’re reminded that she’s also someone who’s developing feelings for you, and this public display of affection may be bittersweet for her. It wouldn’t even surprise you if Viv is actually playing it up because she knows Becca’s feelings as well.

“I actually just wanted to check if both of you haven’t killed each other yet.” You reply jokingly.

“Vivian and I have been very civil, for your information.” Becca tells you.

“I don’t doubt you’ve been civil, Becca. Viv on the other hand…” You reply jokingly, getting a loud “The betrayal!” from Viv before she slaps your arm. Becca seems to enjoy your teasing of Viv, trying to hide her amusement by covering her mouth with her hand.

“Vivian’s been immensely accommodating despite my earlier rude comment.” Becca assures you. “We even had some of her foie gras for dinner.” Becca adds.

“Fancy meal for my fancy guest.” Viv teases Becca.

“Believe me, it wasn’t my idea; but Viv insisted on cooking that particular dish, and I didn’t want to sound ungrateful.” Becca shares.

“You just casually keep fancy ingredients in your freezer?” You tease Viv.

“Fridge. I didn’t freeze it. Got a good deal from the Farmer’s Market and I thought it was worth experimenting on. I actually needed to cook it yesterday so it was still fresh, ~but… yeah.” Viv answers you.

“What about you, Jay? I assume you and the girls haven’t had dinner yet?” Becca asks you to try to change the subject, so that Viv doesn’t dwell on yesterday anymore. You give Becca a nod, confirming that her assumption is correct.

“I’ll have Frank buy some dinner for all of you, so you don’t have to cook.” Becca tells you. You were about to say that that was unnecessary, but it falls on deaf ears with Becca who starts typing onto her cellphone. Once she was done, all you could do was thank her for her generosity.

“Where were we?” Viv asks.

“You mentioned you guys had foie gras for dinner. That’s duck liver, isn’t it?” You ask Becca.

“Correct.” Becca informs you.

“She didn’t pair it with fava beans and Amarone did she?” You ask jokingly, unable to help yourself as the coincidence was too good to pass up.

“I didn’t know you had food knowledge like that!” Viv reacts in surprise. “I’m so wet right now.” Viv whispers into your ear. You don’t have the balls to tell her that you were just referencing Silence of the Lambs.

“She has told me to put lotion on or I’ll get the hose again.” Becca jokes back, having understood your reference, making you chuckle.

“What? Wait a minute… OH!” Viv reacts, upon realizing what Becca was referencing, and what you were apparently referencing too. “Amarone threw me off! Didn’t he pair it with Chianti?” Viv asks you.

“Only in the movie. He paired it with Amarone in the book.” Becca explains to her.

“You’ve read Silence of the Lambs?” You ask Becca.

“I have. I’m deeply fascinated by crime thrillers. Most of the few pieces of media that I consume revolve around the genre.” Becca informs you. You were already intimidated by her before, but her fascination with serial killers isn’t helping much in toning it down.

“You really are the Beccanator, aren’t you?” Viv jokes, immediately ruining the scary image you just had of Becca.

“Like the burger?” You ask teasingly.

“I AM NOT A ROBOT!” Becca fires back in irritation, after hearing you side with Viv. It’s the first time you’ve seen her flustered like that. It’s also probably why Viv enjoys teasing her about being a robot so much.

“Okay. We should stop, Viv. Also, you’re instigating again. Last time you provoked Becca, it didn’t turn out too well for you.” You remind her, and Viv immediately apologizes to Becca for the joke, as do you. Becca waves off your apologies immediately though.

“I’m the one who should apologize for being so thin skinned.” Becca remarks.

“Nah, Becca. We’ve been over this. I needed to be taken down a peg. I deserved what I got.” Viv tells her, to Becca’s appreciation.

“What have you guys talked about since you guys got here?” You ask them.

“A lot, actually. Something that we could have done earlier if I wasn’t so goddamn emotional yesterday.” Viv replies.

“Hey~, we wouldn’t have gotten tacos if you weren’t being emotional. Your emotions got us here, and ‘here’ is working out great if you ask me. I hope you don’t beat yourself up over it. No one’s blaming you, Viv.” You assure her.

“I agree with Jay, Vivian. Our spat led us here. To calmer heads… and to mutual agreements.” Becca assures her as well.

“Mutual agreements?” You ask Becca.

“Well~, Becca, Celeste, and I got to talking…” Viv starts to explain, taking you by surprise that they involved Celeste in their conversation. Then again, you guess Celeste would have some valuable insight as a mediator between them if they talked about their disagreement. “Celeste suggested that Becca help guide you in dominating me. Only if you’re willing of course!” Viv informs you.

“If I’m willing? Viv, it’s you who I’m concerned for. Are you sure that’s something you’re willing to go through again?” You ask Viv.

“I’m guessing Brooke explained everything to you guys?” Viv asks you.

“Brooke and Maddy did, yeah. I kinda had some idea when I tried to connect the dots myself, but Brooke and Maddy explained the picture to all of us after your outburst earlier.” You inform her.

“Right. At least everybody knows now.” Viv sighs, prompting you to hug her and apologize that she couldn’t tell what happened to her on her own terms. “No. Like I said before, I should have already told you. This is on me. For being such a drama queen.” Viv confesses. You hug her even tighter, telling her to stop beating herself up over these kinds of things.

“In any case, you’re saying you’d rather risk involving another domme into our relationship than try it… uh… what’s the word? Vanilla?” You ask Viv.

“Well~, it’s not just that. I realized that Hal didn’t know my feelings for him before. Celeste didn’t know my feelings for Hal either. I withheld that information from them and caused the brouhaha that it did. It’s different with you. You know I love you. Becca knows I love you. I’d like to think—” Viv started to explain, before you cut her off.

“I love you too, Viv.” You tell her sincerely, making Viv smile a wide toothy grin.

“That’s why we came to the conclusion that there’s nothing to worry about. Okay, not nothing. There’s always something to worry about. Not to mention that fear in the back of my head that I’d be that jealous bitch again that’s going to feel left out at some point…” Viv starts to ramble again, and you want to reassure her, but she stops you.

“... but I took that risk the moment I was sure I wanted to have a relationship with you. You had Stella, Cassie, and Tanya before we even got together. Brooke’s not far behind. Celeste made me realize that I’m the only one that’s placing these distinctions in my head because of my own fears and insecurities of the past. A past I told her I’ve moved on from.” Viv explains. “I have moved on. Moved on to something better. Someone better.” Viv assures you with a happy smile.

“I trust you. I don’t know why I do so much even though we haven’t known each other long, but I do. I trust that what I fear won’t happen with you. I trust that you won’t make me feel any less loved if Becca joins us as a domme…” Viv assures you.

“and maybe… your girlfriend too.” Viv adds.

“What?” You ask Viv.

“I like you, Jay.” Becca confesses to you.

You remain silent, unsure of how to respond to Becca’s confession. The app has basically told you as much, so it doesn’t take you by surprise. What’s keeping you silent isn’t shock, but the uncertainty of how to respond. You’re curious about Becca, sure; but replying that you like her too isn’t exactly the truth right now, and you don’t want to lie to her just to make her feel better.

“She knows that you know. No need to act shocked.” Viv tells you.

“It’s not that. I’m just—” You try to explain to Viv.

“Unsure of how you feel about me. I completely understand.” Becca interrupts you, and you look back at her. Becca gives you a reassuring smile. A smile that says you don’t need to pretend.

“Becca…” You try to explain, but Becca raises her hand to stop you from continuing.

“I haven’t given you much reason to like me back, nor any reason to think of me romantically; so you don’t need to explain, Jay. I must admit, my attraction towards you is shallow in comparison to your girlfriends, and mostly out of my own curiosity of your… abilities, to put it bluntly.” Becca admits.

“However, it’s… different from what I’ve ever felt for other people before. Man or woman. I can't even explain it myself. It’s that difference that makes me want to pursue something with you… if you’re willing.” Becca adds, the last few words difficult for her to deliver.

You remain silent as you weigh Becca’s words carefully. You remember just last night that she had a slightly higher Love Score than Maddy, and Maddy’s sure of her feelings for you despite that. However, you and her are on the same page based on what she told you.

Becca’s curious. Same as you. You’ve already considered pursuing something with her too, so considering a relationship with her isn’t exactly new to you. Now, there’s just an added wrinkle of it possibly complicating one of your existing relationships.

Before you could ponder further, Viv squeezes your arm to get your attention.

“When Becca told me she liked you yesterday, my immediate reaction wasn’t the most rational.” Viv tells you, embarrassed. “A part of me is obviously still afraid that I’m getting myself into another relationship that I’ll turn into a shitshow because I’m an idiot, but like I said… I trust you.” Viv tells you.

“It would be unfair for me to stop you from dating someone who likes you, when you have a set-up with your girlfriends that allows you to pursue new relationships. A set-up I benefited from. It would be unfair to both you and Becca if I suddenly change that just for her, just because I have a fear of repeating a history I tell myself I’ve moved on from.” Viv points out.

“Are you sure about what you’re suggesting Viv?” You ask her again, as you look into her eyes; and she gives you a reassuring smile.

If she reached this conclusion herself, then who are you to really question it? Still, Viv is the one that has a muddy history with this sort of thing. Something you’re hesitant to mix in with your other relationships too. Then again, once you buy ‘Normalized Polyamory’, would it even be a problem?

If you understood correctly, Viv’s previous issue with Celeste and her boyfriend was that she was feeling left out, or possibly jealous of how Celeste’s boyfriend was treating Celeste. If ‘Normalized Polyamory’ is in play, it shouldn’t matter. Right?

“I’ve said my piece. I don’t know what more I can say to convince you that I’m going to be okay with this… with you dating Becca and possibly domming me with her. Can I ask what you’re thinking about?” Viv asks you.

“What am I thinking?” You repeat Viv’s question.

“I think… I think it’s time I tell you something too.”