Back in Time: Belgium

Becca was worried all the way home on the plane from Belgium back to the United States. Not worried about what had happened while she was gone. Not worried about having to go back to school in the US. Worried because of what she had done while in Belgium.

Because the legal drinking age in Belgium was under that of the US, she and some of her girlfriends had gone to a bar on the last night there, to celebrate the good time they had in Belgium. The only thing was...they all got wasted.

One thing led to another, and a girl in Becca's clique named Carly had kissed her. One thing led to another, and soon they were making out in the hotel room that she shared with Mary. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, Mary came in the room right as some of the clothes were starting to come off.

"Becca, what the actual FUCK?" Mary had yelled. She hadn't been drinking at all, and was the one responsible for driving the two of them back to the airport the next morning.

A moment of clarity washed over Becca then. She realized that she was about to have sex with this other woman, something that she and John, her boyfriend of several years, hadn't done yet.

"I-I-I-", she stammered.

"You better come up with a good excuse when you're sober in the morning, or I'm gonna tell John," Mary said, shooing Carly out of the room and stomping off to bed.

Mary was beyond pissed. This was something that her boyfriend, Chris, had done to her last week, gotten drunk and had sex with someone else. And now Becca, someone who she ragged on but still held in high regard, does this to John, one of the nicest people she'd ever met.

Wait...maybe she could use this as something to...get her way for once.

The next morning, Becca woke up with her head pounding. She had drank way too much last night. She reached over to her bedside stand to get some ibuprofen to help with her hangover, and saw some messages from both John, who was talking about how excited he was for her to be coming home today, and Carly, talking about last night.

It all came flooding back. She was about to fuck Carly last night, but then Mary stepped in.

All five stages of grief went through her brain in that moment, and then her sister walked in, saying "Well, have you made your decision?"

Becca didn't know what she was talking about.

"You fucking idiot, you were about to cheat on John last night and you didn't even try coming up with an excuse? Did you even think about what a stupid-ass move that would be? Do you remember what I felt like last week when I found out about Chris fucking Savannah? Remember how distraught I was? Did you really want to bring that down on John, one of the nicest people I've ever met?" Mary asked rhetorically, with fire behind her voice.

"I-," Becca started before breaking down into tears. It was too much. The pain associated with her remembering the event, the pain of her sister yelling at her, and most importantly, the pain of John breaking up with her, rightfully so, if he found out.

"Okay, listen. Here's what we're going to do," Mary said. "You have two choices. One, you do nothing and I send a text to John about what you did, coupled with these pictures as evidence." She pulled up pictures on her phone that she had taken of Becca and Carly making out on the bed.

"What's...what's the second option?" Becca said between tears.

"Choice two. You convince John to be accepting of a polyamorous relationship."

"What...what?"

"You heard me."

"Why would that benefit me?"

"Well, both he and I are now victims of our partners cheating on us, so I think it would be dandy if we got together. However, I'm not cruel, and I'd be willing to share him with you."

"Are you insane?"

"No, you're the insane one. You're the one who was about to fuck Carly."

"Can you stop bringing it up?"

"What, you expect me to use some sort of euphemism? Fine, you were the one who was about to nuke your current relationship with your sweet, loving, caring, patient boyfriend because you were drunk. You have until we leave for the airport."

Mary carried her luggage out of the room towards the car and slammed the door. She left feeling pretty triumphant about that. She didn't want to seem like the villain, just in the right place at the right time.

Becca, however, was distraught. Option 2 seemed like the better option, because either of them resulted in Mary probably dating John, but at least with the second option, she got to stay with him. She felt like utter shit, but in her defense, she was drunk.

After collecting her thoughts and her luggage, she met Mary down by the car, who had a scowl on her face.

"Have you decided?" Mary asked.

Becca's eyes, red from crying, averted Mary's piercing glare, and she said, "I'll try to convince him to be in a polyamorous relationship. I know that means that you're probably gonna go after him too, but it's better than the other."

"No, it isn't 'try to convince him'," Mary said. "It's that you will convince him. If not, I'm sending that text."

"W-well I can't control his decisions!" Becca sputtered defensively.

"Yeah, and he couldn't control your decision to cheat. Your point?" Mary asked, somewhat smug.

And that's how she ended up in a plane seat, mulling over how on Earth she would convince him.