Who: Anastasia, Tristan, and Rhiannon Where: Tristan and Rhiannon's apartment When: Tuesday morning after VDay shenanigans. What: LOTS of confusion.
warm. Naked and warm, in a bed that was not hers, but seemed strangely familiar. Something about the smell of the sheets...
She turned a bit, making contact with a very solid, very warm and very male body. Her eyes opened and straight ahead facing away from her she could see a mass of bright and vivid red curls. Her stomach clenched, her sleep-groggy mind starting to put together clues. She didn’t want to roll over. She didn’t want to see what her mind told her was impossible, but logic told her had to be true. Very slowly she turned and, because the universe was a big fucking bastard, was face to face with Tristan.
Who, fortunately or unfortunately, depending upon how you wanted to look at it, was also naked.
She stared down at him, slack-jawed and attempting to put together the pieces of the night before. She didn’t even remember seeing him at the party! How had she wound up here... Naked... Christ, with him and Rhiannon?!
She sat up, pulling the covers a bit with her when she did, and looked at Rhiannon who was still sleeping and also fully clothed. FUCK. What the hell?! She felt suddenly sick, the world spinning and her gut clenching hard as she covered her face with both hands and fought back the urge to vomit. Not that Tristan and Rhiannon were gross or anything - far from it - but the consequences of this, the way it could potentially change her relationship with Tristan - her very best friend and one of the people she loved most in the world - made her want to curl up and die. That was without even attempting to fathom what it was going to do to his relationship with Rhiannon, and how if it fell apart it would be entirely her fault. Christ, what had she been thinking?
She looked down at herself and began to slowly take mental inventory. She didn’t feel like she’d had sex. There was no mess, no wet spot on the sheets. Of course, waking up naked and in bed with someone who was also naked didn’t necessarily mean that you’d had sex, but it made for a pretty good argument. Whatever had happened, if something had, it had obviously been a mistake. She wouldn’t come between Tristan and Rhiannon like that, though apparently she’d literally been placed there. The best thing she could do, she figured, was leave and hope neither of them woke up in the process.
Very carefully, she extracted herself from the covers and began to crawl towards the foot of the bed, careful to mind both Tristan’s and Rhiannon’s limbs.
Tristan, feeling movement beside him, stirred just a little. He went to put his arm around Rhiannon, but the space in bed beside him was empty. Warm, but empty. That confused him since she never turned away from him in the morning, and his eyes opened just a little.
Rhiannon was in bed, as evident by her red curls that he could see on the pillow, but there was a gap between them. It didn’t sit right with Tristan, causing him to sit up in bed. It was then that he realized two things. First that he was naked, and second the warm space in his bed had apparently been created by Anastasia, who was also naked. He rubbed his eyes thinking that her naked form sneaking away could just be his imagination. When she hadn’t faded after he blinked and opened his eyes again, he tried to remember just what they’d done last night.
Anastasia went very still as she heard someone sit up, then turned around to see that it was Tristan sitting up and looking at her. She’d only managed to get her panties on thus far, but she wasn’t concerned with how naked she was just then. She stared back into Tristan’s face, a face that to her was as familiar as her own, and looked for any indication of what he knew. Thankfully, he seemed as genuinely confused as her.
It was only when she saw the form next to Tristan on the bed begin to shift that she was reminded of the severity of the situation and she grabbed up her dress, only managing to get it over her head before Rhiannon sat up in bed, catching her as she pulled her dress down over her bared breasts.
Rhiannon had been having a weird dream, likely brought on by the feeling that she was way too hot. Had she worn all her clothes to bed? What the hell was this?
She sat up, intent on standing and stripping out of her clothes when she came face to face with a naked Anastasia. Her eyes widened in confusion, then turned to look at Tristan who was sitting up in bed, the place Anastasia had apparently just left, as naked as she was.
Well, as naked as Anastasia was. Of course, Rhiannon was still fully clothed.
Her stomach lurched as her mind began to spin through the events of the previous evening, finding nothing that would place Anastasia in bed with her and Tristan. “Oh God,” she breathed, putting her face in her hands. What had happened? Was it something as bold as her passing out and Tristan cheating on her in their own bed? That seemed utterly ludicrous, so what could it have been? What was it?
“What is going on here, Shug?” He asked, keeping his tone questionable while his words were rather informal. His voice was low to not disturb Rhiannon, but it wasn’t like he could just pretend this hadn’t happened.
As she hurried without answering his question, he turned to look at Rhiannon. With a deep sigh he shifted closer, wanting to be near her to try diffusing anything major from happening. They’d gone to the party last night but left soon after because Rhiannon hadn’t felt good there. However this whole arrangement had evolved, Tristan didn’t remember the process. It was also perplexing the hell out of him that Rhiannon was still fully clothed. “Are you okay, Rhi?” He asked softly, hoping she wasn’t pissed off at him for something he didn’t remember.
“I don’t know,” Anastasia said, quickly tugging her dress down before looking at Rhiannon. “I don’t remember anything. I have no idea how I got up here. The last thing I remember is being at the party. At the bar.”
She looked at Rhiannon who was still sitting with her head in her hands and felt her stomach drop. She felt horrible. She didn’t know what she had or hadn’t done the night before, but she knew Rhiannon was never going to look at her the same way again.
It wasn’t like they’d been on BFF terms to start with.
Anastasia’s explanation made Rhiannon feel just a bit better as she didn’t remember anything either, but she still felt like she was going to vomit. She forced herself out of bed to stumble into the bathroom and heave into the toilet, leaving Anastasia looking at Tristan.
“I should go,” she said, not wanting to make the situation worse. She felt bad leaving Tristan to work things out with Rhiannon on his own, but she didn’t know how she could possibly help the situation.
Tristan waited until Rhiannon had gone to get out of bed. Knowing he was naked himself and that Anastasia had been, while Rhiannon was not he hadn’t wanted to make the mistake of completely alienating her. He wasn’t ashamed of being naked in front of her, nor was he ashamed that they’d been naked in bed together because he was fairly certain nothing had happened. Tristan just wished they had arranged it on purpose, with reason.
He grabbed up his boxers and pants, tugged them on as he held his hand up. “No, don’t go. We need to figure out just what the fuck happened last night.” Then he walked to the bathroom door, tapped lightly. “Are you okay in there hun?” He asked through the door.
Anastasia averted her eyes when Tristan got out of bed, as it just didn’t seem right to be sneaking peeks when she may or may not have done something very wrong. “She won’t want me here, Tristan,” Anastasia said, backing up. “I don’t remember anything. The last thing I remember is being at the bar. I have no idea how I got here, though... I don’t think anything happened. It, ah, doesn’t feel like it did.”
Rhiannon flushed the toilet, her forehead still resting against her forearm where it was braced across the toilet seat, her eyes closed as she attempted to reason this all out, blatantly eavesdropping on the conversation Anastasia and Tristan were having outside the door. The last thing Rhiannon remembered was coming home early because she hadn’t felt well, and Anastasia hadn’t been there then.
Sighing at her non answer, Tristan turned back to the bedroom and started making the bed. “I know. I don’t remember much about last night either. We went to the party, completely unplanned and I saw you at the bar.” He’d gone to get something non bubbling to drink and Anastasia had been wrapped up in conversation with some other guy. Tristan didn’t want to be a cockblocker so he hadn’t said anything to her.
“We came home because Rhi didn’t feel well. Regardless of whatever didn’t happen, or might have but highly didn’t happen, we need to at least figure out what we remember from last night.” With the bed made now he sat on it, head in his hands as he tried to remember more from the night. When he couldn’t, Tristan ran his fingers through his hair, making it more of a mess than it usually was.
Anastasia’s hands folded in front of her and she looked at the bathroom door. She couldn’t help but feel that Rhiannon wasn’t coming out because of her, but then she heard Rhiannon’s gag again and the wet splash of something hitting water before she turned her gaze back to Tristan. “It sounds like she’s still sick.”
Whatever had happened here likely hadn’t helped.
“I don’t even remember seeing you,” Anastasia continued. “Just... I’m going to leave.” She stated firmly. “You guys get something worked out, and if I remember anything I’ll call you, okay?” She felt like an imposition, like she was the catalyst for something horrible, and she wanted out of the situation.
Tristan shook his head. He didn’t want her to leave because he wanted them all to sit and talk. It wasn’t going to be comfortable and he knew that but it was something he felt needed to be done. “I think everybody will feel better afterward.” He said, voice low and trying to not sound frustrated.
Karma seemed to be getting her revenge on him just about now. He hoped Rhiannon didn’t need to go to the hospital or anything. Maybe something was up from the party last night. “You’re not feeling sick are you?” He asked Anastasia. “Not lightheaded, not queasy, nothing out of the ordinary besides the memory loss?”
Anastasia briefly took mental inventory of herself again, then shook her head no. The lump in her stomach hadn’t been there when she’d woken up, at least not before she’d realized where she was and what state she was in, so whatever mysterious happenings had occurred the night before couldn’t have anything to do with that.
Rhiannon finally stood, having heard that Tristan wasn’t going to let Anastasia leave until they’d all had a talk. She appreciated that Anastasia understood that Rhiannon wasn’t going to want to look at her or talk to her, because she didn’t. Had she been there alone she would’ve ordered Anastasia out of the apartment, but she hadn’t been, and now Tristan was determined to make them all look at each other when no one remembered anything.
She brushed her teeth and came out of the bathroom, not looking at either of them as she walked to her vanity and had a seat at the chair she usually reserved for when she was doing her hair and make up, running a hand through her hair. “I remember coming up here with you after we left the party, and that’s it. She wasn’t here. We were laying down.”
“I swear, Rhiannon,” Anastasia started in a very honest and apologetic tone. “I don’t remember coming up here. Nothing happened, I’m sure of it, but - “
Rhiannon lifted her hand, cutting off Anastasia’s explanation because if she heard any more she might vomit again. “It’s... Fine,” she said, shaking her head a little. “I believe you.”
Tristan was frustrated enough that he wanted to pull out his hair, find the party responsible for the confusion and knock them into next month. It was a mess and even though both Rhiannon and Anastasia seemed to acknowledge nothing happened, Tristan wasn’t content with the overall situation. “I don’t think anybody remembers after the party. I know I got a drink from the bar, you” he said gesturing to Anastasia “were talking with some other guy and I wasn’t going to interfere with that then we left because you” He said, eyes and face turning to Rhiannon “weren’t feeling good. I wanted to leave anyway. Waking up like this was a total surprise and if we’d planned it out, then this would be a different meeting.” He smirked just a little, trying to help lighten the mood. “But I’m not going to jeopardize my relationship or my friendship with every man’s fantasy.”
He was talking a lot and usually when he spoke that much he paced. This morning though, he sat on his bed, watching both women as he folded and unfolded his hands. There had to be something afoot with this whole thing and the only thing they had in common besides where they woke up was going to the party last night.
Anastasia winced a little when Tristan brought up the circumstances that would turn this into a ‘different meeting’, her bottom lip catching in her teeth as she looked at Rhiannon who simply looked ill and as uncomfortable as she felt.
“I think we both know that, Tristan,” Anastasia started, then cleared her throat. “And so it’s established - no one remembers much after the party.”
Rhiannon’s eyes rolled a little (though not in an unfond way) when Tristan brought up their establishing a threesome making it A OK, mostly because it was such a boy thing to say and do. Leave it to a man to think of such a thing when his best friend and girlfriend were both obviously quite upset over a situation. “Well,” she said, clearing her throat and looking at Anastasia. “Do you think the guy at the bar did it?”
Anastasia had to think hard. “No,” she finally said. “And anyway, how would he get in here unless you left your doors unlocked? Maybe I...” She trailed off. “Maybe I was sleepwalking and wound up here. I do that sometimes.”
Rhiannon snorted. “Hell of a way to sleep walk into my bedroom and put yourself naked beside my boyfriend.”
“I know,” Anastasia said in a quiet voice, her head dropping a bit. “I’m sorry.”
Rhiannon knew she’d snapped and she instantly felt bad, but she didn’t feel well, her head was pounding, and all she wanted to do was curl up and maybe have a bit of a cry out of frustration. “I know you are,” she said softly back to Anastasia. “But nothing happened. We’re all ok.”
Judging by both reactions he’d gotten, Tristan hung his head. He shouldn’t have made that joke. He’d figured at least one of them would have laughed about it... Or at least twitched a smile of sorts. Hefting a sigh he shook his head. “Nobody else has keys other than maintenance and security. Unless they don’t change locks and the people that lived here last still live here.” Which was highly unlikely given the security everywhere else in this place. They would have changed the door locks with every change of name on the lease agreement. “Maybe we’re not the only ones in odd situations today?”
He made a silent promise to himself that he’d be keeping his ears open for other rumors. Other discussions about weird things happening from people that had been at the party. There had to be something traceable, something that could tell him what had happened. Maybe the head of security here would know... Tristan would go talk to Mark Eisenhour and find out.
“Maybe not,” Rhiannon agreed, then ran her hands through her hair and stood slowly, moving to start digging through the closet. Tristan’s side, because she wanted to get out of those clothes and whenever she didn’t feel well, wearing one of his shirts always made her feel better. When she produced a black Rolling Stones t-shirt with the standard red lips on the front, Anastasia felt a teeny tiny pang in her stomach.
“Well,” Anastasia said, clearing her throat again. “I’ll keep an eye out. I’m going to go home and take a shower. Things to do today before going back to work tomorrow and all. “
She waved, not moving to hug either of them as she usually would have, then let herself out of the apartment. Rhiannon tugged the tshirt over her head, then climbed in the bed behind Tristan, running her hand up over his back. She was upset at the situation, but felt like she had no one to be upset with. It seemed ridiculous that if Tristan wanted to cheat with Anastasia that he’d bring her to their apartment and their bed while she was in it, and Anastasia had seemed earnestly sorry and upset and confused too. It was a huge clusterfuck.
Tristan felt the ping of guilt too, knowing that shirt had meaning with Anastasia since they had matching shirts and it was a thing between them. Even though he was sure nothing had happened, the whole situation made him feel horrible. And unlike the ladies, he had to work tonight. It wasn’t starting out to be a good day, he thought as Anastasia dismissed herself, but at least Rhiannon hadn’t walked out too.
Feeling her hands on him, knowing she’d gotten back into bed with him, Tristan felt a pressure lift off of his shoulders. “I’m sorry sweetheart.” He said to her softly, turning to face her and putting his arm around her. “I shouldn’t have made that joke. Forgive me for being a guy and trying to make things better by being a moron?”
Rhiannon smiled up at him a bit and pulled him closer, despite everything else just wanting to be close to and comforted by him. “It was a very boy thing to do,” she told him, still smiling a bit. “But of course I forgive you.”
He wrapped his other arm around her, then tugged her into his lap. She was the familiar scent he was used to in the morning. The only woman he wanted to wake up to, and this morning was concrete proof of that. “I love you Rhiannon.”
Nothing about this whole situation sat easy with her and she could tell it was going to stay with her for a long, long time. But what was there to do? It felt like a horrible practical joke - like someone had looked inside her and seen what she worried about, then attempted to make it real. She didn’t know Anastasia all that well, but she knew Tristan and he wasn’t lying. Someone had had some fun at their expense.
“I love you too,” she murmured, feeling ill enough to not focus on anything but the way he smelled and the comfort it provided her as she nestled her face into his neck.
He held her close, not saying anything for a long time. Just holding her, not wanting to move and sure that this was a terrible setup instead of just a misfortunate series of events. Tristan didn’t want to leave her today and he thought about just letting the feds have at his office, without him. Dave could handle them and there wasn’t anything incriminating in there. He didn’t handle that part of the business.
“That was one fucking horrifically shitty way to wake up,” she murmured, knowing she was stating the obvious but not caring. “Christ.” Things still weren’t relaxed, nor did they feel okay, but what was she going to do? She took solace in the one place she could, and hugged him tighter. “Come back to bed.”
Tristan nodded. “Lemme make a call first?” He asked, knowing he wouldn’t leave the room and he’d be calling Dave. Hell he’d even put it on speaker if it would make her feel better. “I want to have Dave keep an eye on things today.” He told her, pretty surprised she didn’t want to change the sheets on the bed before they slipped back into it.
She nodded, reading his mind. “I’m just going to change the sheets while you do that.”
No, she didn’t think anything had happened there, but there had still been a naked woman in their bed that wasn’t her. She felt like, at least on principle alone, she should change the sheets. She stood and walked into the linen closet, pulling down a new set of sheets and going back to the bedroom to begin the process of taking the old ones off and putting new ones on. While she was changing them, she couldn’t help stopping to look for any signs of activity where Tristan and Anastasia had been, just to double check. There were none. Thank God.
She tossed the old sheets into the hamper without looking back and crawled in the bed, snuggling in to her fresh, clean pillow that now smelled like nothing but downey and a hint of Tristan’s cologne that she cold never seem to get out of their bedclothes. Not that she wanted to.
He should have been changing the sheets with her, not calling Dave. He felt like shit for this but he needed to spend the day, the afternoon, the evening, and the night with her. He was firm and short with Dave, just stating that something had happened and he wasn’t going to be in. He gave instructions to not dawdle with whatever Dave had going on and to keep eagle eyes on the badges. Once off the phone, Tristan turned it to silent and put it back in the charge station on his dresser.
“There. Now we can go back to bed.” He said, turning to see her slipping between the sheets. He followed suit, sliding in between the covers and snuggling right up beside her. Tristan could tell her a small secret, but he decided to keep it for himself. Before he went to work he usually sprayed the sheets with his cologne, just so she would find the scent comforting while going to bed without him. That was the reason his scent never left the bed. It was likely in the mattress by now.
She hadn’t expected him to call off, but when he did she couldn’t stop herself from being pleased that he had, even if it was impractical. “Good,” she murmured as she put her nose to his chest and hugged him tighter. She wasn’t tired in the least and she doubt she’d be getting even remotely close to sleep while they laid there, but she just wanted to be close to him and this was the easiest way for her to do that.
He made a happy, content noise as he wrapped his arm around her. Laying with her, her head on his shoulder, he was perfectly content to waste the day. “We should do something fun today. Want to go shopping?” Sure they could stay here all day, but it would be funner out doing stuff. Plus he wanted to spoil her more. It had been one hell of a morning, and unfortunately Rhiannon was the one that had the shit end of the events.
“We can do that,” she said with a nod. Shopping with Tristan was always fun, and it’d be a good way to take her mind off of things. Sounded like a good way to spend the day, as as much as she was enjoying laying in bed with him right then, she doubted her enjoyment of being immobile would last. “Where would you like to go?”
“Everywhere.” He answered, knowing what he was committing to when he said it. Shopping wasn’t his thing, but he could hold his own like a champ when spoiling women he loved was the objective. “Where would you like to go?” He asked, curiosity getting the better of him.
She shrugged after thinking for a moment. “We can play it by ear. Figure it out when we wanna go.” He’d said everywhere, so that left them with lots of options. She snuggled in closer, pressing her nose against his neck, and sighed in contentment. “Stay here for right now though,” she murmured.
He nodded. “That sounds like a great idea.” To both of her ideas, playing it by ear while shopping and laying in bed for a while longer. As long as she wasn’t mad at him and he could hold her he was content.