Vivian comes with news.

It’s 1:30 pm when you wake up to the sound of your phone buzzing. Shelly’s in your arms, still completely asleep.

You look at the phone and see it’s Vivian texting you to wake up and open the door.

Still in pajamas, you do as told. You wake up Shelly while you’re at it, and after a wet good morning kiss, she goes to the bathroom.

You open the door for Vivian and she quickly gets in.

“We need to give you a key…” You say groggily. “Opening the door is getting annoying.”

“W-What…!? A Key!?” Vivian reacts surprised, her head turning back to look at you in one swift, quick motion. “Isn’t it… too soon?” She asks with a flustered face, her feet fidgeting.

“Viv, the worst that could happen is you walking into Shelly and me doing it, and you’ve done that already, only I had to open the door.” You tell her. “You ended up joining in, so I’d say we’re past the point of worrying about that.”

“I… guess you’re right.” She chuckles at her own embarrassment, then walks up to you and kisses you. “Good morning.”

“Good morning.” You smile contently.

“Where’s Shelly? I need to tell you two something important.”

“In the bathroom. I don’t hear the water running, so she must not be in the shower yet.”

It’s only a couple of minutes later that Shelly comes out and greets Vivian.

“We need to give her a key already.” She tells you, to which you nod.

“So, what did you need to tell us?” You ask.

“Oh, right! I spoke with mom today.” She says. “She apologized for giving me the silent treatment.” Vivian smiles. “I can’t really blame her after the bomb I dropped on her, so I’m just glad she’s willing to keep working on our relationship.”

“That’s great!” Shelly gives Vivian a big hug. “See? Things are already looking better!”

“Yeah.” You nod in agreement. It seems she’s finally getting over the shock. Maybe it’s time to take a more active approach to this?

“There’s one thing though,” Vivian says, looking at you. “She wants to talk to you.”

You swallow.

“Right now?”

“Whenever you can, but now would be ok.”

“Alright. I’ll go.” You decide. You’ve lost some of your appetite, so you settle for a glass of milk for breakfast, take a shower (alone, due to the sudden tension), get dressed and leave your apartment.