Surprise Return

“SURPRISE!”

“What the—”

“~I’M ~BACK!”

“Wha-What are you doing here? You didn’t tell me you were coming!”

“That would defeat the purpose of a surprise now, wouldn’t it?”

“Sorry! Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad you could visit! You’re always welcome here.”

“Did’ya miss me?”

“Of course!”

“Really? Even though it’s been, what, two weeks since we last saw each other?”

“Honestly, with everything that went on since you left, it feels like it’s been months.”

“It’s always nice to see you again, Celeste.” You add, before walking past your apartment’s threshold to hug Celeste.

“I missed you too, Baby-J.” Celeste replies, before returning your hug, which prompts you to hug her even tighter.

“Maybe it’s just me, but your welcome wasn’t this warm the last time I was here.” Celeste jokes, looking at you with widened eyes as she seems genuinely surprised with how tight you’re hugging her.

“To be fair, the last time you were here, we haven’t partied together yet.” You joke, making Celeste laugh.

“Oh, please. Don’t remind me.” Celeste says while chuckling and covering her face in retroactive embarrassment of how that night went.

“What? You’re not the one who got drunk and had to be piggy-backed by their girlfriend out of the club to their car.” You reply, getting Celeste to laugh more heartily.

“Crap! You beat me to it!” Celeste says in reaction. “Fair warning, I’ll never not lord that over you when we go out to party now.” Celeste adds jokingly.

“As heated as that night got with the game, getting drunk was well worth it when I look back at it. It was a fun night.” You tell her, trying to weaken her potential ribs of you in the future by saying you own up to your embarrassing behavior.

“It definitely was. I had a lot of fun that night.” Celeste agrees.

“In more ways than one.”

“Oh! Where are my manners!?” Celeste says in reaction, suddenly turning around after hearing a person behind her make a cryptic remark. “I completely forgot to introduce you!” Celeste says in realization.

“Jay, this is my boyfriend, Hal.” Celeste says, gesturing towards the man that you just noticed was standing awkwardly behind her. “Hal, this is my cousin, Jay.” Celeste introduces you.

Hal immediately offers you his hand for a handshake, which you immediately take, while greeting him with a “Nice to meet you.”

You can’t help but size up Hal during the handshake. Hal is not at all what you expected him to look like. You tower over him with your 6’3” frame, and even Celeste is taller than him even when she’s wearing flats. You only knew of Hal through his shared history with two of your girlfriends, and his reputation definitely painted him to look a lot more differently in your mind.

You half-expected him to look more built. For some reason, you thought his look would be someone more akin to Chad’s brother, Brad. Instead, he looks like a mild-mannered guy. His lanky frame also confuses you, since you know he’s a food magazine writer similar to Celeste, so him looking like he doesn’t get enough to eat doesn’t compute in your mind. You can’t help but feel… generally unimpressed.

‘THIS is the guy Viv and Celeste both fell in love with?’ You can’t help but ask yourself.

“Jay.” Celeste says through gritted teeth, and elbowing you on your side to snap you out of your train of thought.

“Oh! Sorry! Come in! Come in!” You invite them inside the apartment. Hal just thanks you for the invitation and enters your apartment first, but Celeste gives you a look that screams ‘What the fuck was that?’, and you can only mouth an ‘I’m sorry’ to her.

As you follow them inside your apartment, you can’t help but wonder why your initial reaction towards Hal was like that. You were never bothered by the idea of him before.

‘What the fuck was that?’ indeed.

“So~, what’s with the empty nest? I half-expected to be hearing sex noises from outside before I even rang the doorbell. Sorta disappointing that it’s just you here. No offense.” Celeste asks after noticing that it’s just you at home right now. Something that wouldn’t have shocked her the last time she was here. However, knowing what’s transpired in the short two weeks since her last visit, she knows how far you’ve come along in expanding your number of girlfriends already.

“Stella and Cassie had a date night and didn’t come home last night. Tanya’s spending the day with her daughters, Brooke’s at the gym, Maddy’s just across the hall at her grandparents’ place—” You answer her, before taking a pause after seeing Celeste’s confused look. “Oh! Right. You haven’t met Maddy yet. She’s, um, she's my new girlfriend.” Jay explains, and Celeste just rolls her eyes and a look that could only mean ‘Duh’.

“You added another one since our phone call?” Celeste asks, as she looks at you with accusing eyes. You can only guiltily smile and shrug your shoulders as a response to her obvious rhetorical question.

“Anyway, Viv and Becca are at the restaurant preparing for tonight.” You finish answering Celeste’s original question before immediately coming to a realization. “Oh! That’s why you’re here! You’re attending Viv’s Grand Opening later!” You ask.

“Yup!” Celeste replies enthusiastically. “I’m so happy we got an invite!” Celeste continues with obvious giddiness.

“I’m just happy she called us at all.” Hal chimes in with a laugh that only he and Celeste shared.

You know Viv’s history with Hal and Celeste by now. Though she and Celeste made amends during Celeste’s last visit, you also know how heartbroken she was over Hal. You know that fact more than anyone. Viv wasn’t just heartbroken, she was filled with unwarranted self-doubt because of what she went through with Hal.

Despite wanting to support Viv in her decision to begin that process of truly moving on from her past with Hal, you can’t help but ask yourself if it was really smart for Viv to invite him this quickly, and inviting him to such an important event for her.

“Okay, you need a better poker face. What’s your deal?” Celeste asks in a serious tone.

“What?” You ask guiltily, unable to hide your reservations with your facial expressions.

“It’s alright, Celeste. His concern is valid.” Hal tells her, while putting a hand on her shoulder.

“Look, I’m sorry if I’m showing a bit of apprehension with Viv inviting you, Hal.” You immediately say in apology. Hal gives you a warm smile and gestures with his hands that he completely understands why you have apprehensions.

“I’m just worried for Viv.” You add, making it clear to both of them why you reacted the way you did. Celeste immediately crumples her face to one of annoyance after hearing you voice your concern. “Look, I know Viv’s a grown woman who can decide for herself when she’s ready to do something…” You start to say, hoping to explain where your concern is coming from, before pausing to gather your words.

“But…” Celeste urges you to continue.

“But you guys know she can be a glutton for punishment. You guys probably know that about her more than anybody. Including me.” You add, making Celeste and Hal look away in embarrassment. “She likes putting up a front that she’s okay, which we all know she’s incredibly good at doing; but when her walls are down, she can’t hide how **** she actually feels.” You finish your thought, with Celeste and Hal immediately reacting with a sigh of defeat.

“We know.” Celeste tells you after a brief pause.

“I’m just afraid that—” You start speaking again, before Celeste raises her hand for you not to finish your thought. For some reason, the gesture reminds you of Becca.

“We know.” Celeste says with a more somber tone, causing an awkward silence to envelope your group.

…

“So what do you want us to do? Are you uninviting us to the opening? Is that it?” Celeste asks.

“What? No! That’s not what I—” You immediately shout in a panicked reaction.

“Then, what? You just wanted to welcome us to your home and then immediately make us feel unwelcome for kicks?” Celeste berates you.

“Celeste.” Hal says consolingly, putting his hand back on her shoulder after Celeste moved closer towards you menacingly.

“No, not ‘Celeste’! This is bullshit! Viv personally invited you! I know he’s her boyfriend now, but who the fuck is he to make that decision for her? Even we didn’t fucking do that—” Celeste starts to snap back at Hal, before the latter takes you all by surprise.

“****.” Hal says calmly, which immediately gets Celeste to stop.

“I-I’m sorry. I got heated. I didn’t mean to—” Celeste starts to apologize, before Hal stops her by putting a finger atop her lips to shush her.

“It’s okay. I understand how you feel. We both do.” Hal assures her, and Celeste’s shoulders relax after hearing Hal’s words. “But like I said earlier, his concerns are valid. You think I don’t have the same worries for Viv as he does?” Hal then asks.

“You’re right. I’m sorry.” Celeste continues to apologize, almost sounding like a wounded puppy.

‘Jesus Christ. She’s like clay in the palm of his hand. Who the fuck does this guy think he is controlling Celeste like this?’

‘Wait… What are you getting angry at him for? He’s on your side!’

‘What the fuck is going on with you?’

“I’m sorry for just blurting out the ‘s’ word out of nowhere by the way.” Hal says, snapping you out of your introspection. “I don’t often use it in the open, and only say it in front of a select company; but from what Celeste has told me, our… proclivities… aren’t alien to you anymore.” Hal adds. You give him an embarrassed shrug to confirm his assumption, and Celeste immediately covers her face in embarrassment.

“Oh, come on, Celeste!” Hal says, putting his arm around her shoulder. “He’s dating Viv and Becca, remember? Imagine how freaky they get.” Hal adds jokingly, and you have to stifle a chuckle of amusement.

“See that? At least my little show of authority made him a bit more comfortable with me.” Hal continues with a chuckle, before glancing at you to check if his assumption was anywhere near true. You give him a polite smile, as you do find his playfulness with your cousin somewhat endearing.

“And all it took was for you to embarrass me in front of my cousin.” Celeste says sarcastically.

“That’s a small price to pay, love.” Hal jokes.

“Not so small once I get you alone, I assure you.” Celeste says threateningly, despite her poor choice of words.

“That’s what she said!” Hal immediately jokes with the same level of enthusiasm as Michael Scott, and you can’t help but start laughing. Celeste leers at both of you for your shared immaturity, and Hal just gives her a shrug as if to tell her ‘hey, you’re the one who’s dating me’ and then you give her the same shrug to say that you’re not above picking on low hanging fruit either.

“Oh, can the both of you grow up!?” Celeste half-heartedly barks at you and Hal, but she’s unable to hide her smile. You and Hal decide to exasperate her further by doing a jumping high-five and sharing a laugh at Celeste’s expense.

“Did we just become best friends!?” Hal then asks you enthusiastically, and the reference is not lost on you.

“Yup!” You answer with just as much enthusiasm, before you both dap each other up.

“Oh God, I can already hear Hall and Oates singing.” Celeste says with a defeated sigh.

Just like that, Hal got you to let your guard down around him. If the shared love for pop culture references and the mutual inclination to tease and embarrass Celeste weren’t enough to lower your guard, whatever apprehensions you once had about him completely evaporates as he begins to sing ‘You Make My Dreams’ by Hall and Oates. You even join in as the secondary voice, with you and Hal on either side of Celeste, as you do the ‘oohs’ and ‘yous’ of the song. Once Celeste covers her face with her palm and rubs her temple with her fingers, you and Hal both die laughing.

“What’s going on? Why are you guys being so loud!?”

“Stella!?” You ask in shock, not realizing your daughter was even home, as she clearly stepped out of her room. You don’t know how you could’ve missed the fact she was home. You checked her room earlier this morning.

“Wait, Aunt Celeste? Is that you?” Stella asks from across the living room, not moving any closer.

“Stella, when did you get home? I checked your room and—” You start asking, before she cuts you off.

“Oh, uh~, I think I fell out of bed at some point and just didn’t bother getting back on it.” Stella answers with an awkward chuckle, while also scratching the back of her head in embarrassment as she does.

“Stella…” Celeste says, with undeniable concern in her voice.

That’s when you see it. Bloodshot eyes with dark shadows underneath them, like she’s been crying all night and hasn’t gotten a second of sleep. Her hair’s all messed up, and she’s still wearing the same sundress she was wearing last night.

“Baby… What happened?”