Circles ━ Evan Buckley

009: TOO SWEET (FOR ME)

CHAPTER NINE: TOO SWEET (FOR ME)
song of the chapter: too sweet, hozier

The thing is... Indiana doesn't mean for things to end up this way.

She had a plan, you see. A very important, thought out, meticulous plan. A plan that she intended to follow, to complete every step. It was not supposed to end up this way.

After their 'date' at Yoko's, Indiana and Buck part ways at her front door with a kiss on the cheek and a promise to keep in touch about when their next plans would be. Three more dates, maybe four, and then they would tell their friends and family that they were officially dating, and all would be well.

They would attend the wedding together, and a few weeks after that they would announce their split. They just weren't compatible in the long run, is what they would tell people. It was fun while it lasted, and they'd always be friends, but they were parting ways before anybody got hurt.

Indiana had a plan, god damn it.

Then Athena rounded the corner just as Buck pulled out of the driveway, and Indiana's entire plan fell apart right in front of her eyes.

And listen, Indiana could lie to Athena. She could look her older cousin (wise older sister, proxy mother, confidant) in the eye and say that she was really enjoying the time that she and Buck were spending together, and that she was really looking forward to seeing him again soon. She could do that.

She doesn't get the chance. The minute that Athena pulls into her driveway and steps out of the car in her civilian clothes, Indiana knows that she's a goner. There's no way that she can look the one woman who has always seen right through her in the eyes and lie, especially not when Athena is the person who set them up in the first place.

Athena is older. She is wiser. She has life experience that Indiana can only dream of having. She is a mother, and a wife, and the god damn strongest person that Indiana has ever met. She deserves better than a bald faced lie from the person who wouldn't be a functional human being right now if it weren't for her.

She'd know Indiana was lying, anyway. She knows her tells.

The front door clicks shut behind Athena, and Indiana breathes out a heavy sigh through her pursed lips. "Coffee?" She asks, just to be polite.

(Also to try and throw Athena off of her tail, but that's only secondary!)

"I'm good," Athena replies, from somewhere in the living room. Indiana hears the faint sound of the locks on Clover's crate open, followed by a small coo from Athena. "I'll take something stronger, if you've got it."

Indiana presses her palms into the cold stone of her kitchen counter, steadying herself. In through the nose, out through the mouth, she reminds herself, forcing a deep breath to pass through her lips. She removes a hand from the counter and reaches blindly into the fridge for a bottle of something, and comes out victorious as her fingers clutch a bottle of red.

She grabs two wine glasses out of the cabinet and balances them in one hand with the wine as she pulls her shoes off and throws them blindly into the hallway, a muffled thud echoing afterward. Then she walks to the living room, where she finds Athena sitting on the armchair with Clover perched at her feet, tilting her head sideways for Athena to scratch at her chin.