Time to Face the Consequences (Lani.)

[Lani Hunter]

The first time Adrianna had seen Lani cry he had been falling and there was no sign of an end to the abyss. When he finally connected with rock bottom it had been a hard fall and taken a long time for him to climb back out. Lani wasn’t looking at her because he couldn’t stand to. He was trying to control the tears. This was a little much. Their breakup hadn’t been too long ago and though he was starting to move on he definitely wasn’t over it yet. Maybe he didn’t love her but losing her broke his heart all the same. Lani flinched a little at her hands on his neck. It didn’t feel right. She shouldn’t be trying to make him feel better. She should let him deal with it on his own. He reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose. This needed to stop. This needed to stop now.

Lani didn’t blame her for moving on. She was free. And they both knew what this meant. They loved each other but as friends. That wasn’t enough to keep their relationship afloat and they sank under the pressure. It wasn’t that she was moving on. Lani was moving on. It was that he had been replaced so quickly. He knew that wasn’t true but it was what the irrational part of his mind was trying to tell him. Replaced. He knew he had been more to here than that or they wouldn’t be here now. Their relationship wasn’t fair to either of them. And it wasn’t fair for Adrianna to wait on something that was never going to happen. It certainly wasn’t fair to keep her from going after what she felt was right. Not when Lani was working through doing the same. He didn’t want things to be so complicated. Why couldn’t things be easy? Like in movies where there was love at first sight and one could be absolutely sure.

Her words felt like an accusation. But then she said she knew it had been too soon. Lani had been scared by the words and pulled back in fear. Looking at her as she started to speak again Lani swallowed back whatever emotions had come rushing to the surface. Lani nodded and shook his head at the same time. Both agreeing and disagreeing simultaneously. He took a breath and nodded again. “No, you’re right.” Lani just listened as the flaws in their relationship were laid out in front of him. One had to move on with the show. Life didn’t stop because someone was having heartache. “I’m sorry things didn’t work out between us.” He put his hands over the ones she put on his cheeks and gently removed them. That was getting too close and he needed space to sort it out without things confusing him.

“I think I like us as friends,” Lani said a smile crossing his lips. He shook his head at himself and his lapse in emotional control. “And as your friend. I really am happy for you.” He meant it. Even if he couldn’t risk being in the same room with Venn without being punched in the face, he was happy for her. He was wondering if he should talk to Odion about this. The stress of the emotions and then Lani glanced at his desk. No he was going to turn off his phone when Adrianna left and escape into the pages of an old friend. Lani dried his eyes with his sleeve and shook his head to clear it. “It’s not too soon,” Lani said trying to fix this, “Eh, what will be will be, right? We weren’t meant to be. But you and Venn, maybe.” He smiled and patted her hand. Lani wasn’t faking anything and though his heart might not be in it fully but he knew it was for the best. He thought this would be easier. But it seemed that love or no love it was had adjusting to not being able to just hold Adrianna.

[Adrianna Carstyn]

Why did this have to be so hard? She figured telling him about her mother would be hard, but this was nearly as bad for different reasons. Lani was hurting, she knew he was, but she didn’t have any way of making things instantaneously better. Not to mention, the boundaries. The friend line was now drawn and she had to keep from crossing that line. It was hard though, being with him without actually being his. And vice versa. He was no longer her Lani and she couldn’t just hug him and cuddle with him whenever she wanted or needed to. What happened when he started dating someone? What would she do then? The very idea of it was a smack in the face and she knew that the boundaries would be even more constricting than these ones.

Once again, he apologized for them not working and she started to shake her head. His hands covered hers and he pulled them away from his face. The boundary had been crossed. It took everything in her not to show how hard it was feeling him distance himself from her. Adrian knew it wasn’t fair, but she hated that she couldn’t do things like that anymore without going overboard. In order to distract herself, she decided to speak, it was something to keep her mind busy. “I am too, we were a pretty kick ass couple for a while…” And yet her words sent another sharp pain through her chest. Another crack in her heart that left her breathless. If it weren’t for Venn, she’d be completely broken. He was there though, taping up all of the wounds.

Luckily, he spoke again and she saw the flash of a smile which made the pain lessen. If he could be happy with the new arrangements, maybe she could be too. It was a long shot, but for Lani she’d go through hell and back just to keep him in her life. She pulled her hair over her shoulder and backed up from him a little. The close proximity was making things even harder and she knew that if she didn’t back away, she’d end up crossing the line once more. The horrible thing was that even with friends she was so very comfortable with people and often didn’t care for personal space. Unfortunately, she couldn’t allow herself that with Lani because it would only hurt him more. “Yeah…maybe,” She whispered. She did love Venn and he loved her, she knew it in her core. It wasn’t fair that even when she knew that, she still had to have feelings for Lani.

Tears filled her eyes again and she looked away to keep him from seeing. The more and more she realized that they wouldn’t even get to have the same friendship they’d started off with, the more she started to break. What was so wrong with him just hugging her and keeping her close if it was meant to soothe her? But she knew the answer and she knew he’d never console her that way again.

[Lani Hunter]

Lani’s lips quirked into a smile at Adrianna’s comment and he drove his heels into his eyes rubbing out the last of the tears. He definitely agreed there. “It was fun,” Lani said with a smile, “I wouldn’t have taken it back.” It wasn’t a relationship that he wished he had never gotten into. It had been a good one, all things considered. They had both learned something at the very least and at least they were still friends. This could have ended a lot worse than it did. And Lani had been happy and he hoped that she had been happy. So they just weren’t compatible. It happened, that’s why people dated right? Venn had better take good care of Adrianna of Lani would make his life a living hell. So Venn had been pissed at Lani for his failure to protect Adrianna, but he would have to get in line after Lani himself to beat Lani up. Besides avoiding Venn had been easy for the thief. He doubted it would be so easy for Venn to avoid Lani. And no one wanted to meet an angry telekinetic.

She backed up and Lani turned his eyes away working hard to keep the smile from fading from his face. Why was this so hard? It had been agreed on. It was for the best, they loved each other as friends. Lani didn’t know why he couldn’t find himself romantically attached to her but it still felt like he was losing her. She looked terribly distraught and Lani wanted to hug her and make it all go away. “Hey,” Lani said nudging her arm with his fist, “I have a good feeling about this.” They really were better friends. But because dating hadn’t worked out it didn’t mean they loved each other any less. It just was different. If someone messed with Adrianna they would mess with Lani too. Lani had a feeling Adrianna was worried about Venn leaving. “And you know I have your back right? If that… meathead, hurts you, you let me know.” He said giving emphasis to that by putting his fist into his hand. He smiled to show he was joking, but there was a touch of seriousness in his voice. Lani knew Adrianna loved Venn, but Lani didn’t have to, and he had no qualms of calling a meathead when he saw one.

Adrianna was losing her strength he could see it in the way she turned away. If anything dating made them better friends. They already knew what hurt the other and how the other reacted when they were trying to hide something. “You know what,” Lani said leaning back on his hands and looking at Adrianna. “I think if he hurts you, I’ll be the least of his worries.” He smiled a little hoping to bring out a smile in Adrianna. She was strong now, she didn’t need to be protected. In a sense Lani’s job was done. But then it was only beginning. When Lani became friends with someone, unless they did something to betray him, which wasn’t often considering the small amount of trust he placed in them, he signed on to protect them for as long as he could. He would always be here if Adrianna needed muscle but she could take care of herself now.

He couldn’t console her as he used to when he could hold her. But he could do so in other ways. It was easy to be friend, but not so easy after being in a relationship. There were new boundaries that hadn’t been there before, different things that could and should be said. He’d do his best but she looked really torn up. “Adrianna,” he said touching her shoulder gently, “Maybe everything was meant to happen this way. Fate has a funny way of getting to the point.” Lani might not like Venn but if Adrianna loved him he would deal with it.