Everything comes back to you -J.MARIANO

[2.04]

𝓒hristmas, despite the minor Jess hiccup, was its usual perfect affair. Once Jess had left soon after their run in with each other, she had complete freedom and felt comfortable enough to finally go and see Luke. He, after apologizing for Jess' presence, greeted her with blueberry pancakes and her usual coffee order. She loved how he had kept up the no Taryn signs in the kitchen and all of her usual things were still hidden under the counter, including the freshly washed blanket. Most of all though, she loved the pride that showed plainly in his eyes when she noticed a frame hung up on the wall containing her first article in a magazine.

Upon returning to her dorm, Taryn dumped her bags and headed directly to Aria's room and greeted Olive along the way. She knocked on the open door and poked her head in, finding some disappointment when Ri was not inside the room as expected. "Hey Trina, good christmas?" she asked the darker clothed roommate, who had looked up from her sewing machine just to look back down almost instantly.

"You could say that," Trina responded in an ominous tone that she decided to simply not ask about, sensing she wouldn't want to talk about it anyway. "Ri's in the bath, has been for about half an hour."

"Thanks," she sighed softly, feeling slightly disheartened by yet another failed attempt to communicate with the only roommate she didn't know very well. Disappearing from the open doorway, Taryn headed to the bathroom door. "Ri!" she yelled against the black painted peeling wood. Without a response that she could hear, Taryn pushed the door open ever so slightly, just enough that sound would be able to escape. She couldn't see anywhere into the bathroom and they had done this particular move so many times that Aria didn't flinch when it opened.

"Taryn? When'd you get back?" she repeated, still carrying the same tone of surprise within her voice.

She sighed softly and rested her head against the door, hoping that no chips of paint would stick to her forehead. "Five seconds ago, hurry up, I've got things to tell you."

"Get in here!"

"Ri I love you but not that way," she yelled back through the door jokingly, referencing an inside joke that the two of them shared about a very similar circumstance that had happened at a random party in their building.

Ri laughed, the sound echoing around the tiled walls of the bathroom. "Shut up! I'm covered, I may have borrowed your bubble bath."

Taryn rolled her eyes as she slipped into the bathroom, gently closing the door behind herself. She turned and her eyes widened as she spotted the rather large bottle of wine in Ri's hand, as well as the masses of bubbles that had even managed to make their way into her pinned up hair. "That bad?"

Ri sighed and nodded, though she had always expected that going home for Christmas (or at all) would be bad. "My parents should have gotten divorced the moment I popped out of the womb."

"Sorry."

She shook her head, as if it didn't matter. "Come on, fill me in then."

Taryn sighed, remembering everything once again, as she sat down on the towel covered floor next to the bathtub. "Long or short story?"

"Long or nothing girl," Ri replied instantly and they both shared a look of hilarity as Taryn took a sip from the offered bottle of wine.

"Well...." she began and took her time going through everything that had happened in enough detail that Aria pretty much knew the exact layout of Stars Hollow. "And then he signed that he loved me before leaving again."

Ri, settling the now empty bottle of wine on the side of the tub, frowned. "So he learnt-"

"Yes."

"But he left again?"

She shrugged, feeling a certain welcomed blurriness within her mind. "Yes."

"What is this dude's damage? God," she laughed softly, unable to believe that someone could be like that.. "Did he look good though?"

Taryn shrugged again, trying to decide if she wanted to think about that. She didn't want to let herself see anything but what had actually happened. She didn't want to create anything within her head and think that she had done the wrong thing, initiating the spiral all over again. She had acted with her head, not her heart and figured that it was good to stay that way. In her head and never her heart. "I tried not to dwell on it for too long. Nor the fact that he was wearing the jacket I used to borrow and the gemstones that I stuck there on the inside and how we talked about that when he came over because I was sick."

"Speaking of not dwelling on it for too long... August stopped by earlier and I accepted a delivery on your behalf."

She frowned and wondered what could be in the package. "Stuff for C?"

"I don't know... It looks too neatly wrapped and cared for to be from C."

She rested her head on the back, moving slightly forward so she did not put her head on the tap. "He is nice, isn't he?"

"Gus is incredibly nice and completely obsessed with you, rightfully so I might add," Ri responded softly, the alcohol having loosened her lips. She watched for Taryn's reaction and found herself further intrigued by how she had slowly deepened her frown, creases forming between her brows.

She bit her tongue nervously, letting out a deep and heavy sigh. "I can't lead him on Ri, I'm still..."

"He knows Taryn " she replied gently and Taryn picked up her head, eyes widening. "Pass me the towel?"

Wordlessly, she did so and turned to face the wall so she could get out of the bath. "How?"

"Give the man some credit, he's smart. He can tell you're trying to prevent something between the two of you. He talked to me about it the other day. Not in a like, seeking information way," she paused as she tapped her shoulder, telling Taryn she could turn back around. "More in a concerned for your well-being."

"God i'm an awful person," she muttered, though Ri could hear it due to their close proximity. Ri sighed softly and wrapped her soaking wet arms around her best friend, who made absolutely no effort to move despite the cold water that seeped through her thin jumper.

"No you're not. You're just heartbroken and confused over your first love, happens to the best of us," she paused and pulled away from the hug. "Sad movie and pizza?"

She smiled as nothing sounded as good as that right now. "Absolutely."