Outer Masks: Chapter 9: It Clicks

“Are you still angry with us?” Rory hated how sad and upset her mother sounded as she spoke.

After Joe had told her about her parents confronting him at the bookstore, Rory had her own confrontation with them the next day.

She hated fighting with her parents, but she hated them trying to destroy her relationship with Joe even more.

A few days had passed since then, and Rory had taken to avoiding them. But Rory had failed to consider how persistent and stubborn her parents were, along with the fact that she worked for her father in the same building as him, shown by how her parents were currently standing in front of her desk.

Rory ignored her mother, continuing to focus on the document she was trying to read, until her father ripped it out of her hands.

Rory sighed, slowly looking up, “Is there a reason you are both here?”

“Rory, this is ridiculous! You can’t just ignore us forever, let us talk this through.” Walter said.

“And we can’t keep having the same damn argument all the time. I’ve told you this over a hundred times; stop trying to separate me and Joe, I’m not going to leave my brother behind and I’m tired of you going behind my back to try and do so. Why can't you both just listen to me?”

Walter let out a harsh breath, “Joe Goldberg is-"

“No!” Rory exclaimed, jumping to her feet as she glared at her parents. “If you want any kind of relationship with me than this will be the last time you will do this.”

Walter and Amber shared a look, wordlessly asking the other if they believed their daughter’s threat.

Rory’s eyes hardened as she watched this, “I am serious. I’m done with this bullshit. I don’t care if the three of you don’t like each other, but I don't want to hear any more of this, this fighting has to stop.”

“Okay, sweetheart. We’ll stop.” Amber said softly.

Rory turned to Walter, “Dad?”

“We'll stop, no more… bothering your brother.” Walter finally said.

“Thank you.” Rory said breathlessly, she was not sure if she genuinely believed them, but she desperately wanted to.

Walter and Amber stayed in theory daughter’s office for a few more minutes before leaving, getting Rory’s word that she would come to the penthouse that night for dinner.

Amber turned to her husband as they climbed into the elevator, “Are we truly letting this go?”

“Of course not.” Walter said plainly, “There is something not right with Jo Goldberg, and I will be dawned if it whatever it is affects our Rory.”

From the moment that Joe showed up on their doorstep, Walter knew there was something deeply wrong with the boy.

There was a twistedness that Walter could see in Joe's eyes that greatly unnerved him. And this feeling grew worse when he and Amber learned just what caused Joe and Rory to be orphaned.

With how far he had come in life, with how successful he made himself and his family, Walter knew better than to ignore a gut feeling, and with the minimal information they were able to find on Joe, Walter knew that his gut feeling was not wrong.

“We've been trying to get rid of the boy for years.” Amber said.

“No, we've been trying do them both the kindness of separating him from Rory, and it’s failed. Now we have to try and truly rid ourselves of this plague.”

“Expect from shooting his father and with Candace Stone's disappearance, both of which he has been cleared off, there is nothing on him.” Amber argued, remembering how smug Joe was when they had brought Candace’s disappearance to him.

“We'll just have to dig harder.” Walter growled.

Amber shook her head, “I don’t want to lose Rory over this. She was serious this time, Walter.”

“I know.” Was all Walter said in response, the two then falling into silence.

There was nothing more to say; they had resolved themselves to discredit Joe even if it meant bearing their daughter’s hatred.

~X~

“I don't get it, how is playing video games correcting my miserable childhood?” Peach asked as she pushed the buttons on the controller, still not knowing what any of them did.

“Because videos games are an integral part of every person’s childhood. They make everything better.” Rory argued as she effortlessly continued to beat up Peach’s character with her own.

After work, Rory had arrived at Peach’s door with her console, two large pizzas, and a case of beer.

This was because she had wanted to relax and used the excuse of remembering when Rory had brought her 3DS for Peach to use, Peach had told her that she had never used any video game console before.

So now, the two women were sitting on the floor of Peach’s living room, leaning against the couch as Rory tried to teach Peach how to play.

Peach scoffed, “So Mortal Kombat would have made me feel better about my parents’ divorce?”

“Well, it would’ve made the whole thing easier to ignore.” Rory smirked as the words ‘Finish Her,’ rang out through the speaker, watching Cassie Cage perform the ‘I <3 U’ Fatality on Subzero.

“I suppose this would have been easier than dating James Franco.” Peach said airily.

Rory made her confusion known, staring at the other woman. “What?”

“I dated James when I was in high school and until my first year of college before he became too obsessed with me. He’s also the one who introduced me to the wonders of Adderall.” Peach explained.

Rory’s eyes widened, “How- why did you date James Franco ?”

“Daddy hated James, thought he was lazy, uninspired, and pathetic, which is what I was going for. He’s never had a remarkably high opinion of actors, so it definitely worked in pissing him off.”

At the time, Barry had started dating a young French model that Peach had absolutely hated with every fiber of her being.

A year had passed since her parents' divorce had been finalized, but she had still held a tiny hope that they would work through their issues and get back together, until Barry introduced her to his new girlfriend and shattered that dream.

So, to show him what it felt like to watch someone you care about dating somebody that you could not stand, Peach had decided to give a chance to a guy that she had met at a friend’s party, one who had been begging for one for a while.

“Yeah, of course he would be pissed. I mean, how old is James Franco?” Rory asked, trying to think of just how old the celebrity was, especially as she was sure that he would not have been a teenager when Peach was in high school.

Before Peach could respond, the doorbell rang.

“You expecting anyone?” Rory asked.

“I wasn’t expecting you, and yet here you are.” Peach said playfully.

“I think you mean to thank me for bringing some fun to your boring night at home by yourself.” Rory shot back.

Peach rolled her eyes with a smile as she stood up to go and answer the door. As she opened the door, Peach was surprised to see who was on the other side. “Beck?”

Beck smiled, “Hey.”

“Hey, what are you doing here?” Peach asked, knowing that she would have remembered if she was expecting the other woman.

“Oh, Joe has to stay late at the bookstore, and I figured it's been a while since we’ve hung out, well, hung out just the two of us, so I thought I should come over so we’re both not alone.” Beck explained, still smiling. “So, can I come in?”

So, you’re only here because Joseph couldn’t be available for you? What, I’m just second place to your precious boyfriend? And why do you assume that I was alone? Have you always thought that I’m just waiting for you because I have no one else? Peach wanted to say but kept these questions in her head.

Peach stepped to the side to allow Beck entry, “Uh, yeah, you can come inside. But it’s not going to be just the two of us tonight.”

Beck looked back at Peach, “Oh, am I interrupting at date? Cause, I can come back so-”

“It’s not a date.” Peach immediately said, confused by the disappointment that the words elicited within her, “I was hanging out with a friend.”

“Is it Annika or Lynn?”

“Neither.” Peach said as she and Beck began walking to the end of the hallway.

“You have other friends?” Beck asked but began to back paddle when she realized how bad that sounded. “Shit, I didn't mean to sound like an asshole, it's just, I’ve never heard of you bringing anyone you weren’t sleeping with to your house. Fuck, that was even worse. What I meant was-”

Peach was quite thankful when they reached the living room and Beck removed her foot from her mouth when she saw who was sitting on Peach’s floor. “Rory?”

Rory smiled, “Hey, Beck. What’s up?"

Beck’s smile became strained, “Hey, Rory. I didn’t know you’d be here.”

“Well, Peaches didn’t know either, but she was grateful that I saved her from her boredom.” Rory said cheekily.

Peach rolled her eyes, “All you’ve done is give me a headache.”

Rory laughed, causing Peach to smile in response. Neither noticed Beck looking in between them, an uncomfortable and awkward expression on her face.

The blonde then cleared her throat, drawing the other women’s attention to her. “So, what were you guys up to?”

Peach walked around the couch, sitting back down on the floor next to Rory, “Rory was teaching me how to play her favorite video games because it's apparently a tragedy that I never played video games as a kid.”

“It’s a tragedy.” Rory told her before looking back at Beck, “Please tell me that you aren’t as fun deprived as she is.”

“I don’t know, unless spending a few hours a day playing Neopets on the family’s computer makes me a gamer.” Beck joked.

Rory shook her head in disapproval, “You’ve both lived such sad and terrible lives.”

Peach playfully pushed Rory shoulder as she spoke to Beck, “Do you want to join us? I'm sure this idiot brought another controller with her, although I’m letting you know now, she’s fucking insane about this crap.”

“Uh, yeah sure. I’d loved to play.” Beck said as she went to take a seat on Peach’s other side.

As soon as she sat down, Rory handed her a controller before changing Mortal Kombat for a different game, she then began explaining how to play the game and how to use the controller properly.

Beck noticed that Peach only had eyes for Rory, watching the younger woman fondly.

Peach had always been cold and stand offish, so Beck found it strange to see her best friend being soft towards anyone.

This is just a one off. It’s good that Peach is making new friends and Rory is really cool. So why don’t I like it? Beck thought.

As the hours passed, Beck’s feelings towards Peach and Rory’s newfound friendship did not improve, worsening with each minute.

Beck felt more like a third wheel who was intruding on the other two's time together.

She did not want to sound arrogant, but she was used to Peach paying the most amount of attention to her than anyone else. So, seeing Peach barely spare her a glance, only being spoken to a couple of times, burned Beck deeply.

But isn't this what I wanted? If Peach is paying more attention to and spending more time with Rory than I won't have to constantly pretend that I don't how Peach is in love with me. So, this is a good thing, isn’t it?

Eventually, as it grew late, Peach walked Beck and Rory to the door.

Once again, Beck felt that same uncomfortable burning sensation in her chest as she watched Peach and Rory saying good night to each other.

And as Peach closed the door behind her, Beck immediately began walking away, intent on getting as far away from Rory as quickly as possible.

But this plan was thwarted when Rory called out to her, “Hey, you want a ride?

“A ride?” Beck asked as she stopped walking.

“Yeah, it’s like 1am. You sure you feel comfortable walking home and taking the subway?” Rory asked.

And this was the reason Beck was confused and bothered by her feelings; Rory was a good person, someone who had done nothing to her, so she now felt ashamed of being upset.

Beck shook her head, still feeling weighed down, “Thanks, Rory.”

“No problem.” Rory said as the two walked towards her car.

I hate this so much, and I hate that I'm hating this. Beck thought as she entered Rory’s car.

~X~

Joe huffed as he stepped over a large tree foot emerging from the ground.

I’m cold, sweaty, and out of breath. How the hell did I carry Candace here in the first place? Joe thought.

The conversation he had with the Haydens was stuck in Joe's mind, feeding into his paranoia.

He knew that they could not have actual proof as the only evidence there was of Candace’s death was her body. And he knew that if they did find it then they would have him immediately arrested.

But it still did not stop that insistent part of his brain that demanded he check to be completely sure that his ex-girlfriend’s body was still where he buried it.

It is why he did not drive his car to the forest and decided to walk the way, not wanting to have the thing that could be pointed back to him by a witness.

I just need to see Candace for myself and then I go back home… back home to you, Beck. And then we can out my lying, cheating ex behind us and focus on getting rid of Peach from our lives.

After another hour of walking, Joe finally reached the burial spot. He sighed before using the shove he brought, beginning to dig.

As he continued to dig, he found it strange how he had yet to hit anything.

How far did I bury her?

His relaxed demeanor soon became frantic, digging fast as he had yet to find Candace’s corpse. He soon fell to his knees, throwing his shove to the side and using his hands to shift through the dirt.

After a few minutes, fell onto his back, breathing heavily with exhaustion as he stared up at the sky, his stomach twisting into knots.

She’s not here…. Her body isn’t here. Where the fuck did, she go?! Who-who took her?!

Someone or something had to have moved Candace’s body from the shallow grave that Joe had buried her in.

He was hoping that it was a wild animal, like a bear, that smell of rotting flesh attracted it, and the animal decided to unearth the corpse and devoured it.

But he knew it had to be a person, the dirt that would have been moved in the digging would not have simply moved back and filling the hole itself with the passage of time.

But who, who could have done it? I took Candace’s phone and wallet when I… ended our relationship, so if it were a random person they wouldn't know who she was right away, especially if Candace had decomposed enough. But a normal person would have called the police, and my life would have been over.

Amber and Walter would have called the police if they found Candace. The last thing I would've seen would’ve been their smug faces before I was locked away.

Unless it wasn't someone normal…

And even if it was some necrophiliac, I hit her head. There can't be much to tie to her death. Not like Peach and the rock…

Should I find that rock?

No, wait, focus on what’s important! It’s been years since then, I would have been caught by now.

Everything is fine…. Everything is perfectly fine…

~X~

“Joe? Yo, are you good?” Joe blinked and saw his sister standing in front of him.

Right, Rory said she was going to come over.

It had been a few hours since he came back from the forest, still reeling from the revelation that he did not know where the body of Candace Stone was.

Once he returned to his apartment, he sat down, staring at the wall as he tried to gather his thoughts.

“Hey, Rory. When did you get here?” Joe said.

“Just now, your door was open, and you were responding when I knocked and called so I let myself in. You were just staring at the wall when I walked in and ignoring me for a bit.” Rory then looked at him strangely, “And why are you covered in dirt?”

Joe looked down at himself before looking back up, “Oh, I, uh, fell when I was jogging.”

Rory gave her brother a playful once over, laughing to herself. “You jogging? Since when? And where were you jogging, the fucking woods?”

“For a while.” Joe said, the memory of the last time he went jogging flashing through his mind.

Rory looked concerned, “Are you sure you’re okay, Joe? You look scared.”

Oh, I’m perfectly fine. I just found out that my ex-girlfriend’s dead body is missing from the place the I buried it in.

And there’s the possibility that whoever took it could use it to throw me in prison for the rest of my life!

Joe hides his true thoughts as he smiled at his sister, “I’m fine, Rory, I’m just tired. It’s been a rough day.”

“Mooney's was busy?” Rory asked as she sat down next to Joe on his couch.

Joe leaned his head against the back of the couch. “Something like that.”

He then turned his head, staring at the side of his face as Rory talked, and tuned out what she was saying.

How would you react, Rory? If you found out about Candace? Would you ever be able to look past it, to forgive me?

Joe was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.

When he pulled out his phone, he smiled when he saw that Beck had texted him.

-Hey, can I come over?

Rory noticed the love-struck expression on her brother's face. “Beck texting?”

“She wants to come over.” Joe said as he sent Beck a text message, telling her that she could come over.

“Oh.” Rory said, her face becoming passive, “Well, I can go so you two can be alone.”

Joe turned back, “Leave? Why would you want to leave?”

Rory shrugged, “I don’t know, I just, I get the feeling that Beck doesn’t like me.”

Joe stared at her surprised, “What? Why wouldn’t Beck like you?”

No, Rory has to be mistaken. There is no way that you wouldn’t like her, Beck. Rory is the best person I know, someone untainted by this dirty world. This has to be a misunderstanding.

Rory sighed before going on to explain how Beck acted around her when they were both at Peach’s townhouse.

Joe forced a smile onto his face, “I’m sure that it was just some lingering tension from her and Peach’s fight.”

Rory did look as if she believed this, “Maybe. Beck told you about her and Peach’s fight?”

“Why wouldn’t she?” Joe asked defensively. He was still upset that his girlfriend did not feel the need to tell him everything that went down in Connecticut, only telling him that Peach crossed a line with something she said about their relationship.

And he knew that he could not ask her anything else about it otherwise it would become clear to Beck that he knew more than he should have. To Beck’s knowledge, Peach was the only other person who knew what happened, it was why he felt comfortable calling Peach out on her behavior at Max’s party, because Beck knew that Peach would not talk to him about anything.

And Joe knew that if Peach told Beck about what he said to her than she would have to admit, out loud that he confronted her about her feelings for Beck.

Why do I think she wouldn’t? Because it's clear that Beck knows about Peach being in love with her but neither of them want to do anything about it. Rory thought to herself, knowing most of what went on between Peach and Beck, and knowing that if Beck told her brother about it all then Joe would have confronted Peach as soon as he learned everything.

Rory sighed, “Look, I’m not trying to imply anything, I just mean that Peach was really... shaken after the fight, I figured it would be the same for Beck.”

Of course, Peach would act like the victim in all this. Joe thought with derision, his hatred of the woman growing with. “And you don’t think it's strange that she was so shaken after a fight that she caused?”

Rory looked at her brother with confusion, “You can feel bad even when you start a fight, it's called feeling guilty.”

“And yet, she keeps doing the same thing that she supposedly feels guilty about.”

Before Rory could respond, a knock was heard at the door, drawing the siblings’ attention. Joe stood and smiled when he opened the door and saw Beck standing on the other side.

“Hey, you.” Beck said, grabbing her boyfriend by the shoulders and kissing him deeply. Joe was surprised by how forceful Beck was being but happily accepted it.

Rory rolled her eyes as the couple clearly forgot that they were not alone and that she was also in the room. And once the kissing started to become indecent, she loudly cleared her throat, causing the couple to sheepishly break apart.

“On that note, I think I’m going to go.” Rory said standing up.

Joe wiped his lips with the back of his hand, “Wait, Rory you don’t have to-”

“No, it's cool.” Rory indifferently, “Besides, it's obvious you two need sometime alone together.”

Rory smiled at Beck before walking past the couple and into the hallway, quickly disappearing down the building stairs.

That was strange... Joe thought.

After closing his front door, Joe turned around and saw the conflicted and worried expression on Beck’s face, and when she noticed him staring at her, Beck immediately began smiling, but Joe could tell how fake it was.

Do you truly not like my sister, Beck? “Is everything okay?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t it be?” Beck asked, giving her boyfriend a fake smile in order to hide her true feelings.

“Uh, because you started acting differently when you noticed my sister was here. And Rory also said somethings.”

“What things?”

“She said that she thinks that you don’t like her. That you’ve been acting strange around-”

“I like her!” Beck exclaimed, becoming embarrassed not only at the knowledge of Rory was aware of her behavior, but at how Joe’s eyes widened at her interruption. “I-I like Rory, I just... it's hard to know how to act around Rory now.”

“What do you mean now?” Joe asked.

Beck shrugged, in all honesty, she herself did not know how or what she was feeling, all she knew was that Rory and Peach’s growing friendship made her uncomfortable. “It’s just... Peach can be.... difficulty, you know? She doesn’t make new friends, not really, and I just worry, cause Rory is really nice, and I don’t want her to get hurt. Fuck, that’s a bad shitty thing to say about my best friend, but-”

Joe reached forward and placed his hands on Beck's arms, smiling gently, “Beck, calm down, I get it.

“You do?”

“Yes, but you shouldn't let Peach being nasty and selfish as usual affect how you feel about Rory.”

Beck stepped back, “And what do you mean by that?”

To her, since Peach was her best friend, Beck could say those things about Peach, but Joe could not.

Joe realized that he may have been too honest, deciding to back pedal. “I was only saying what you were; that you were worried about Peach hurting Rory.”

Beck looked at him for a few moments before sighing and leaning into Joe's hold, hugging him, and resting her head on his shoulder. She did not feel like fighting with her boyfriend over the same argument about her and Peach’s friendship.

Joe moved to wrap his arms around Beck, “I didn’t mean to upset you. I just hate the idea of you and my sister not liking each other.”

Instead of responding, Beck placed her hands on the back of Joe's neck, pulling him closer and kissing him.

Joe leaned back, “Beck?”

“I really missed you.” Beck said, trying to kiss him again only for Joe to lean away.

“Beck, we should talk about this; I want you and Rory to be friends. I don't want there be any problems between you two.”

Beck groaned, “I know, I know. I’m… I'm being dumb. I'm sorry.”

Joe smiled, hugging Beck, “I know, thank you.”

A few hours later, Beck lay awake in the darkness of the room, staring at the ceiling as Joe slept next to her.

Despite it all, she could not get Rory and Peach out of her head. An uneasy feeling sat with her as she thought about how she would be able to be in the same room as Rory from now on.

She thought about every interaction she had with Rory since she and Peach became friends, and Beck became embarrassed when she realized how childish she had been to her boyfriend’s sister.

Beck knew that she had lied when she told Joe that she was scared that Peach would hurt Rory. And her uneasy feeling became worse as she wished from what she had sent that Peach was gearing up to throw Rory to the curb.

But after seeing Peach being so happy and soft with anyone but herself made Beck fear just how much closer Peach and Rory would grow to be.

Why do I care so fucking much? Why does all of this even matter? Beck thought, pushing her head deeper into her pillow.

I just… I fucking hate this!

Beck turned her head, staring at her boyfriend’s sleeping face. She did not know if she would be able to keep her promise, which only made her feel worse.

And all Beck could wish for was that she would get better at hiding her emotions as she struggled to find rest.

~X~

Rory could not stop herself from smiling as she watched Peach looking at the food in front of her questionably and slightly disgusted.

“This… thing cannot be safe for human consumption.” Peach said, using a fork to poke and prod the burger, wincing as she watched a line of oil flow out of it.

Rory had come to Peach's work and asked her to go out to lunch with her at The Bedford.

Peach immediately accepted the invitation but was now regretting it as Rory ordered two hamburgers that were topped with cheddar cheese sandwiched between two buns made with macaroni and cheese, expecting her to eat one.

“It’s perfectly safe, Peaches, plenty of people have eaten it and have been fine.” Rory said, trying and failing to hide how amused she was.

Peach scoffed, “Yeah right, I can practically feel my arteries clogging up just looking at this thing. I bet just one bite of this will take up all my allotted calories for the day.”

“Who knows.” Rory said simply, knowing that if she told the other woman that one burger had over thirteen hundred calories in it, then Peach would run out of the restaurant.

“Why did you take me here? If you just asked me, then I could have given you the directions to a less gaudy establishment.” Peach complained, continuing to look around the restaurant critically.

Rory laughed, “I brought you here because this is one of my favorite places to eat in the city and I wanted to share it with you. Plus, you can’t call yourself a real New Yorker without trying at least one of the best hybrid foods this city has to offer.”

Peach stared at her expressionless, “I was a fine New Yorker before you decided to force your way into my life.”

“So, I’m guessing this means you won’t be open to eating a pizza cake in the future, will you?” Rory asked humorously.

“That cannot be a real thing.” Peach commented, a horrified look on her face at the thought.

“Well, there’s no frosting or stuff like that, it's basically a bunch of pizzas stacked on top of each other, before being covered in a top layer of cheese.”

Peach looked even less like she was going to eat the burger and was contemplating leaving the restaurant and Rory entirely.

Rory noticed the growing hesitation, “Okay, I know it's not what you’re used to, but c’mon, just take one bite. If you don’t like it, we can leave and I’ll take you to a place that you do like, I’ll even promise to buy you lunch for the rest of the week. Please?”

Peach stared into Rory’s rich brown eyes, finding herself lost in them, and the thought of upsetting Rory made her feel terrible, like she just kicked a puppy down a flight of stairs.

Peach sighed in defeat, knowing what she was going to do, “Fine. Just one bite, Hayden.”

“Just one bite.” Rory repeated with a big grin.

Peach rolled her eyes, picking up her fork and knife and using them to cut a small part of the burger, her disgust returning as she watched oil and cheese start to bleed out of the meal.

“You know, you're supposed to use your hands-”

“If you want to me to eat this thing then I am doing so like a civilized person. I am not going to spend the rest of the day cleaning out grease from my nails.” Peach glared, raising her hand to show off her perfectly manicured fingernails.

Rory huffed but remained silent as she watched Peach cut a piece of the burger, holding it on her fork as she looked at it suspiciously.

Peach closed her eyes and quickly at the food, but instead of being revolted, Peach was surprised by how delicious the mac and cheese burger was. A moan escaped her as she chewed, opening her eyes, and cutting another, bigger piece of the burger and eating it.

Rory had figured that Peach would enjoy the burger once she put aside her bias and tried it, but she had not expected the other woman’s reaction to be so obscene. It did not feel as if she was watching something as innocent as another person eating as she heard Peach moan, her lips falling to Peach’s lips as Peach used her tongue to lick the excess cheese that had been left there.

Why is everything she does hot as hell? Rory thought, bewitched by the sight before her.

Peach spotted the way Rory was peering at her, “What?”

“Uh-I-I th-thought it was only going to be one bite. That’s clearly more than one.” Rory said, inwardly chastising herself for stuttering.

Peach looked down at her plate, recognizing that she had eaten almost half of the burger. She then looked back at Rory, “It was okay.”

Rory chuckled, “Just, okay?”

“Fuck off, asshole.” Peach said, going back to eating.

“I should feed you more; you’re always nicer to me when I do.”

“I just called you an asshole and told you to fuck off.”

“Exactly.”

Peach rolled her eyes, watching Rory as she laughed, the sunlight coming through the window near them at the perfect angle, hitting Rory giving her dark curls and golden skin to shine in a halo of radiance.

She’s beautiful... Peach thought.

Eventually Rory calmed down and began eating her burger, not caring that she was making a mess of her mouth, chin, and hands.

Peach huffed, grabbing a napkin, and using it to clean Rory’s face, “Where you raised in a barn? I swear I can’t go anywhere with you.”

“No, but you like me anyway.” Rory said, talking with her mouth full.

If this were anyone else, Peach would have been repulsed by this and thoroughly berated them before leaving, but with Rory, Peach found herself charmed.

And it was in this moment that Peach was hit with the realization that she truly did like Rory. Not in the way that found certain people likable, but in the romantic sense, a rarity for Peach.

I like Rory Hayden. No but I can’t, I-I-what about Beck?! I’m in love with Beck, I can’t love Rory. Fuck, love? Am I in love with Rory?!

“Hey, are you okay?” Rory asked, seeing that Peach was staring at her wide eyed and pale.

Peach gulped, “I-I’m fine.... the burger is sitting kind of heavy in my stomach.”

Rory became concerned, reaching over the table and putting her hand over Peach’s, “I’m sorry. Did you want to leave?”

Peach’s smile was pinched, “Could we?”

“Definitely.” Rory said before waving down a waiter.

As Rory was paying the bill, Peach felt a weight beginning to emerge in her stomach, a representation of her newly discovered infatuation.

It was a suffocating pressure that made her want to curl in on herself, a desire to run from her loud and complicated thoughts and never look back.